Totally unexpected…
# World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King # "The Art of World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King," an artbook featuring never-before-seen images from the game # An exclusive in-game pet - Frosty, the baby frost wyrm # A behind-the-scenes DVD containing over an hour of developer interviews, the Wrath of the Lich King intro cinematic with director's commentary, and more # The official soundtrack CD, containing 21 epic tracks from the game, along with exclusive bonus tracks # A mouse pad featuring a map of the newly opened continent of Northrend # Two "World of Warcraft: Trading Card Game - March of the Legion" starter decks, along with two exclusive cards available only in the Collector's Edition
Had a little shock this morning – I had to sign for the above, the Collector’s Edition of WoW’s new WotLK expansion. No, I didn’t order it & it left me scratching my head for a few seconds – why the hell have I just been sent this?!
No return address, no comp. slip with the packaging – nothing save a really large shiny box. The only conclusion that I could come up with is that my recent emails to the PR for Blizzard here in the UK, had paid dividends!
So, the question is, can I stay unbiased in my thoughts on WotLK, now that I have been sent such a promo? I remember Tobold confronting this head on when he got a Press beta invite to WAR, he dealt with it well & stated that he didn’t get paid for the time he spent writing his blog:
But the simple fact that my status as blogger has risen to the point where big companies send me press beta invites, let me interview their top people, and give me press passes for events makes me very proud. My apologies for that pride, but the blog is a huge amount of work, and I get zero financial benefits from it. Positive feedback from readers and companies alike is my only reward. So you must excuse if I appear to be bragging about things like special invitations, reader numbers, and blog milestones of numbers of visitors, posts, and years. Consider them to be my salary.
Even though I write freelance videogames reviews on another site, I am not on their payroll. This may change in the future but in the meantime, like Tobold(Construed also contains no ads), I am spending a good part of my spare time writing/researching for Construed & doing freelance writing.
I have always been an enthusiastic gamer but I always aim to tell it like it is when I write about my gaming experiences.
So…er…who thinks it’s time to reinstall WoW!?
DM∞
Nice, and enjoy it. I’ve not had a chance to play the new content myself but have heard nothing but good things about it.
JoBildo
December 10, 2008 at 1:40 pm
That is one fine looking box.
robustyoungsoul
December 10, 2008 at 1:46 pm
@ JoBildo – it may take me sometime before I can experience WotLK content as I have to dig-in through the BC content first which I didn’t enjoy but to combat this I think rolling a Death Knight will help.
@ robustyoungsoul – as I am still patching WoW, I haven’t even unwrapped it to look at all the items inside. Seems a shame to disturb it from its sealed state…I must be mad!?
dmosbon
December 10, 2008 at 1:59 pm
Come join the CoWs on Rexxar! They let me in, and if they let me in they’ll let *anybody* in!
Pete S
December 10, 2008 at 2:26 pm
The CE boxes have been getting nicer recently — WAR’s CE box was quite nice as well.
You knew you couldn’t resist the siren song of WoW! Have fun with the death knight!
Brendan
December 10, 2008 at 4:07 pm
Don’t do it DM. Don’t do it!
Lol – welcome back to mmorpg land. Although I haven’t played WoW in quite some time I have to admit that the hero class is a great concept for allowing folks who left the game to get back up to speed quickly. It is a pity there is only one choice of class though.
mbp
December 10, 2008 at 7:44 pm
Congrats brother! I think it is time, I have dove head fist into it and am really enjoying it. We can’t deny the quality Blizzard has brought us, so why not enjoy it?
sean
December 10, 2008 at 11:00 pm
Thanks Sean & Brendan…
@ mbp – I agree I don’t want to level a new class from level 1, so to be thrown in at level 55 with the Death Knight is just what I wanted. I hear the start levels for this HERO class are the best Blizzard have done so far & I’m only hearing good reports about Northrend.
dmosbon
December 11, 2008 at 11:31 am
[...] over Twitter about what the current trend in MMOs is. I’ll patch LotRO, may flick through my WoW artifacts or wonder what SWG is currently like to play – do we ALL get to be Jedi [...]
MMO bookends - twaddle of a lapsed MMO player, part 1 « Construed
March 21, 2009 at 11:01 am
Hi i currently play wow and recently bought this collectors edition. the content is great, just one probably stupid question: to get the in game pet Frosty do u have to reinstall the game using the WOLK thats in the box?
many thanks
Steve
May 25, 2009 at 12:32 pm