Project Lore

We loves us some Felicia Day here at Project Lore (pixiestixy even got to meet her in person), so we took it as good news that The Guild would finally mark its territory on retail shelves. That's right, you can now go to the store and purchase your very own copy of the Season 1 and Season 2 compilation DVD! Participating retailers at the moment are typical mall chains like FYE, Suncoast, and Coconuts, so you can't walk into your local big-box just yet. That said, I'm sure you'll be able to find it in those locations as well in due time. If you're a fan of The Guild, then you might be wondering what exactly makes this release so special. After all, you could previously order the DVDs through the show's official website, Amazon, or even from the crew directly if you were lucky enough to visit their booth at conventions. Well, to be honest, not a whole lot. The content on the included discs is precisely the same stuff you've seen before. No new extras, commentaries, or menus to sort through. The only changes come in cosmetic form, with new box art featuring the cast in slightly different poses from before surrounded by a gilded frame. There's also a mysterious "Note From Felicia" slipped into the case (which may be enough for some of the more... hardcore fans to obsess over, depending on what that might entail). But hey, you can't go wrong with the convenience of having both seasons in the same box, can you? If you have no idea what The Guild is, then this is a good way to catch up. Sure, you could always just watch the episodes online, but if you end up liking it, you'll probably want to support them with your dollars anyway. For the rest of us, it seems that Episode 5 of Season 3 has been released to MSN, as well.

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Earlier I discussed some of the hidden gems in the Wrath of the Lich King Collector's Edition Artbook. That article focused solely on the idea that a few artistic scribbles could be Tier loot that will be added to World of Warcraft in the near future. This post will have a much larger scope, peeling back the shrink wrap on all aspects of $69.99 Collector's Edition. A price that a few of us balked at.

Behind-the-scenes DVD

The DVD featured a widely varying collection of World of Warcraft related content. Naturally, we have some developer comments on things like The Burning Crusade versus Northrend, Northrend's art direction and environments and the in your face lore that so many people love about Wrath. The DVD includes trailers from TBC's content patches, v2.1, v2.3 and v2.4 and a collection of funny machinima. It is a pretty standard fare DVD pack-in, with no shocking revelations or insights we weren't already aware of. Content discussions aside, the sheer passion that Blizzard's employees emanate, especially their Lore Historian, is what makes them, and WoW, so great. Worth a watch when your internet is down.

Official Soundtrack

There is actually a section in the Behind-the-scenes DVD that perfectly expresses my feelings for the OST of WotLK. As I have been walking around Northrend, I have never been hit in the face by the ambient music kicking in. Instead it weaves in and out of the background, adding some stimulation to my auditory senses, while not being too disrupting. The OST simply gives us a continuous stream of this music, and while it doesn't flow as well as in the game, I do not expect it to. Nonetheless, I have added it to my playlist of game music which includes The Witcher: Enhanced Edition's OST and everything from The Advantage. Way more utility than the DVD.

Feelies

Feelies are a lost art in video games. The young whippersnappers out there - who won't stay off my lawn – missed out on the golden age of feelies. Back in the day of walking to school, up-hill, both ways, purchasers of PC games would be meet with trinkets galore in their ridiculously oversized boxes. Especially if you had just purchased an adventure game.

Nowadays, the only place to find anything remotely close to that is by paying extra for the “collector's edition” (Actually the aforementioned re-release of The Witcher had feelies included for only $39.99. Also, I like The Witcher: EE). Blizzard's best feelie, is not a physical item at all, but the mini Frost Wyrm pet that becomes account bound when you upgrade to Wrath. The initial oohs and ahhs of guildmates and friends have worn off though, so back to Egbert. The mousepad is cool, but not replacing my dirty Pokemon pad ('m' doesn't bring up a list of the badass Pokemans now does it?!) and I didn't score any godly cards from the two packs of WoW TCG. Not being a TCG player, they are now worthless, although some users will enjoy the free cards.

Wrath of the Lich King Artbook

I suck at art, but wow do I appreciate this book. The book, rather tome, is chock full of Northrend goodies and broken up by sections. Often with an introduction that was lifted from the official website. The book is probably the only thing in the CE that would interest anyone outside of the game. My casual gamer friend looked at it for about 20minutes yesterday after we watched the Behind-the-scenes DVD. Not counting the actually game, the art book is what defines the Collector's Edition and made the purchase worth it, even if there were a lot of prints straight from the cinematic.

While I don't feel that buying the CE was a waste of $30, I do wish there was a bit more to it. I mentioned that I would have loved a cloth map, well, I guess I can hang-up the mousepad since I won't be using it. Still, pre-loading the title would easily make the CE's hefty mark-up worth it to many users, while not upsetting the casual base as much as in-game items.

Blizzard, are you listening? We want more bang for our buck next time.

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