I rarely highlight items that aren’t specifically related to Druids in some way, but this was just too great not to share. Gnomish Rogue Fenrix is retelling the story from Quentin Tarantino’s Kill Bill film. The story is entitled “Gank Frank”, and only the first volume has been released so far. It’s already more than 60 images in length, each of which is enhanced by hand. The translation from movie to comic strip is incredibly well done, and I laughed out loud at some of the revised dialogue. Anyone who appreciated the Kill Bill movie(s) will love this!

» “Watch” Fenrix Tarantino’s “Gank Frank” via Funkytown Forums

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Readers should be aware that Blizzard has been cracking down on the use of a particular application called “Model Edit.” While this application employs a method different than the one required for the use of Andrige’s modifications to Druid forms, this could be an indication that Blizzard is cracking down on all forms of model modification. The decision, of course, remains in your hands, but I would feel remiss if I didn’t share this information with you. Thanks to readers Luke and Wynn for writing in to let me know about this!

From World of Raids:

Blizzard has recently updated the WoW client files to detect the Model Edit (it’s a tool that let’s you change your in-game character looks, however the use of that software is against Blizzard’s ToS). You will probably not get ban right away if you received that alert, but according to several users a GM might contact you in-game to give you a warning, and if you reuse the model edit after that, you will get a 72-hour ban for abusing World of Warcraft ToS, so consider yourself warned.

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This is in response to the Shared Topic from Blog Azeroth entitled Preparing for Wrath of the Lich King.

Even while still in the midst of the Friends-and-Family Alpha, the Wrath of the Lich King has managed to assert itself into the forefront of many players’ minds. As with Burning Crusade, many players are feeling a sense of general apathy toward character progression, knowing that their efforts will appear insignificant in the face of the items and abilities we’ll likely to acquire on the all-too-short trek to level 80 in Northrend.

While many players — particularly those on the upper end of raid progression — bemoan the future obsolescence of all their hard work and distinction, I’m personally looking forward to the day when I can replace my legs or chest with a blue quest drop. Of course, the level 71 chest piece is likely to look like something tailored by a colorblind hobo with a terrible sense of humor, but still — loot is loot, right? (WRONG. The best loot complements my hair and shows off my lithe figure.)

Knowing that Wrath of the Lich King is rumored for a release later this year has made me dither at spending my Heroic badges. I spent a few hours planning a spell damage/crit set a couple of weekends ago, but uncertainty regarding the changes to +Healing and universal Spell Power and the increased emphasis on wearing leather armor we may see from the Improved Tree of Life talent has me at a loss for what items would be the best for the purposes of leveling. I’m still undecided whether I will spec deep into Balance (!) so that my husband’s Mage and I can AOE our way to level 80 or if I’ll stay Tree of Life and gather up and tank the mobs for him to Blizzard into Oblivion (look out, Bethesda — level 73 Elite Furbolgs headed your way). Assuming that the changes to +Healing go live, I probably won’t need to pick up Balance gear for the expansion. Although it might not be a bad idea to find a leather chest piece …

Sadly, despite my guild’s recent progress in Tempest Keep and into Mount Hyjal, I find myself pretty disinterested in raiding. I don’t feel like this is necessarily related to Wrath of the Lich King’s readily available upgrades over what I might acquire in those zones but almost more related to the 10-man progression track Blizzard is promising. To me, 25-man raids have always felt impersonal, especially when I’m raiding with my husband. 10-man raids like Zul’Aman and Karazhan have always been much more fun and make me feel more like my husband and I have actually been playing a game together rather than both playing the same single-player game simultaneously. While I’m not considering leaving my guild, I have to admit the idea of a tight-knit group of friends progressing through content like a cadre of elite assassins (and healers!) sounds idyllic.

As for the blog, I’m pensive about the inevitable updates that will need to be made to theorycrafting articles. I suspect many pieces will end up in the Obsolete Category, and it will likely take several months to “catch up” on the different topics I’ve covered in the past. I’m also thinking forward to articles I will be able to write should the indoor roots change actually go live. Between that, the hopefully high number of mobs susceptible to Hibernate, and Cyclone, we’ll be gods of crowd control. Also healing, though many of the talent changes to Restoration are likely to get the axe (HAHA! Get it? ‘Cause we’re trees!) instead of making it through to release.

So how has the news about and impending release of the Wrath of the Lich King expansion affected the way YOU play?

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Larina and Fluff by Nicole Chartrand

Here are a fresh crop of blogs to read and subscribe to — only some are about Druids, but all are fantastic!

• Banana Shoulders
  Named for the iconic Lawbringer Spaulders of T1 infamy, Banana Shoulders is a Holy Paladin blog … with great content for readers of all classes!
• Bringin’ the Wood
  Jive of Kul’Tiras (US) shares Tier 6 Raiding from a Restoration Druid point of view.
• Death from a Distance
  Knurd of Greymane (US) raids primarily as a Hunter but occasionally plays as his Dwarf Priest, Benedykt.
• Druid of the Moon
  More Feral fun from Jacemora of Drenden (US), a bear tank raiding TK+!
• Epic Dolls
  Epic Dolls is an all-female podcast that includes discussion on all aspects of the game!
• Eye for an Eye
  Cathmor of Malfurion (US) writes and theorycrafts about the Retribution spec for Paladins!
• Friendly Feral Druid
  Shasmo of Dath’Remar (US) is leveling her Druid Feral with the intention of respeccing to Restoration at 70 but has found she loves tanking too much to give it up.
• Gun Lovin’ Dwarf Chick
  Breana of Bleeding Hollow (US) is not only one of the regular hosts for the Twisted Nether blogcast but maintains a great blog of her own through Gun Lovin’ Dwarf Chick!
• Hots and Dots
  Doodlebug and Doozie play a Druid and a Warlock respectively and toss HoTs and DoTs accordingly!
• Incompetent Warrior
  Personality and hijinx from a vertically challenged Warrior named Stuntyone!
• Misery
  Merlot of Darkspear (EU) teaches you to melt faces. Why not check her out? I hear she just LOVES company.
• Resto Juice
  With her cutely named blog, Nectar of Dalaran (US) gives me a hankering for a strawberry-flavored Rejuvenation Smoothie!
• The Life a Rogue Named Gweedo
  The blogosphere always needs more Rogue blogs and Gweedo of Gnomergan (US) delivers!
• Twisted Nether Blogcast
  From a collection of Azerothian bloggers comes Twisted Nether, a blogcast that focuses on both WoW and blogging about WoW!
• Wulf’s Warcraft Weblog
  Wulf of Hellscream (US) brings you a beautiful Hunter blog that makes extensive (and successful) use of the Model Viewer!

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No, this isn’t about Chinese gold farmers. It’s about the subtle Asian influence that Blizzard choose to use for the Night Elves and by association, Druids. Whether because Night Elves have several anime qualities like long ears and angular faces, or because Blizzard simply wanted an Asian theme applied to one of the races, it’s undeniable. From the Night Elf pagoda roofs in Darnassus (as pointed out by Keredria) to the open air architecture of the Night Elf buildings to Moonglade’s hosting of the Lunar Festival mirroring the Chinese New Year in real life, it’s clear that there’s a connection. I’m a big fan of Asian culture myself and it was probably this connection that has always drawn me to the Night Elves.

But why do I mention this today? Because I wanted to highlight Runy’s haiku contest over at Unbearably Hot! Celebrate your Cenarion heritage by writing up a quick haiku about being a Druid. I’m very excited about the contest and just wrote this for one of my three entries I’ll be making:

A rustle of leaves
Life to the fallen warrior
By Elune’s grace born

So, head over to Unbearably Hot to submit your entries. Do not post them here! The contest, featuring a prize, ends on June 15th, so make your entries before the deadline!

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