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Q u o t e:

Anvilbeard is:
a top notch instance of achievement!
a brave paradigm of insight!
an astounding harbinger of a prodigy!
a brilliant paradigm of sagacity!
a sublime example of perfection!
a confident visionary of principle!
an excellent fountain of prognostication!
a dedicated sample of valor!
a top notch avatar of strength!
a quintessential harbinger of piety!
an enviable archetype of adventure!
a pleasant archetype of manhood!
a dynamic wonder of power!
a dwarf with a drinking problem!

Seriously. I'm simply an active member of the World of Warcraft community. I've become well known for posting constructively and answering questions on the boards. I have seen forum legends like Worms, Chain and Safas come and go, I posses the largest non-blizz sticky count(over 50), and have received an official commendation for helping in the Technical Support Forum. Hated by some, loved by some, stalked by Aeus, I continue fighting noobs for the good of the players everywhere. My philosophy is that it is the players who truly make the game, the devs only control the limit on what it can be.

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Q u o t e:

I've always loved writing that kind of thing. I've been involved in gaming magazines before and have been a staff member on many websites, especially for Blizzard games. This is really the first time I've been involved with the official website. I guess I have to attribute it to the good community team and the attractive(Though non-functional) official forums. The final push that got me to try it was when the US released a 'Warcraft Weekly' of there own. Theirs was simply a mass of random links to Blue posts, and I thought it could be much more. Following that quite a few people made threads asking for a similar sticky, which never came. So I set myself the gauntlet of doing it myself. I was a relatively well known poster back then, but nothing like today where Anvilbeard is a household name.

Over the year, the idea of WW developed with multiple columns being added and rearranged. The definitive original layout was 'What - Why - When'(a news breakdown of the more important notices), then all the major articles, then community regulars and news, then EU forum threads, US forum threads, any other small news, then a link to the archive. It covered all angles from game changes to community spots, and I think it worked very well.

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Q u o t e:

Never. I was going to rely on bumps to keep the post on the first page, and only have a few random readers rather than any regulars. Yet a smart blue saw the potential for a weekly thread of that nature, stickied it and put it on the front page, and the readers just kept going up. WW was averaging 30-50 thousand views a week, mostly regulars. It was amazing, to say the least.

From fan sites linking it to US players whining about it, WW had conquered the WoW community.

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Q u o t e:

That better be a rhetorical question :P

Of course I am. There have been a few annoying trolls along the way making it hard, but the majority made it worth doing. The WW was a demonstration of the power of community. And the readers are as much a part of it as I.

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Q u o t e:

It did, quite a lot. No longer did players have to scour the forums for information, it was all available in a simple weekly read. Perfect.

However, I did notice a decline in readers in the late 30s, maybe 10k a week average, which I attribute to the growing number of people who either gave up news altogether and simply played WoW or took a special interest and camped out the forums, fan sites and the main page for anything new. The WW lost a lot of it's purpose around then, which eventually contributed to me handing the reigns over to Schwick.

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Q u o t e:

Haha, I'm far from retired. WW was just one chapter of the forums, there is more to come...

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Q u o t e:

I think he's doing fine. Elitists and Grammar Nazis may not like it, but he's keeping a window open for any people who still need it. Mad props to him!

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Q u o t e:

Another rhetorical question?

Of course I am. Two new races to mix and match with classes(I'm an altaholic), a whole new world, and some more casual(non-raider. *glares at tb*) PvE and PvP content. This looks like the thing that will finally balance the problem experienced at launch where millions more players than Blizzard expected appeared from nowhere and started making demands. TBC is looking great and I can't wait.

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Q u o t e:

He died in a gryphon crash. The level 54 AB is a compromise. I don't want to post with my highest level char for privacy reasons, and 54 got rid of most the 'post with ur main nub' comments. I am levelling this guy a bit too so he'll be 60 in a while anyway.

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Q u o t e:

Fight the power. Be yourself. Buy me a drink.

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Q u o t e:

V: No need to ask as the answer is of course :-)

A: What he said.

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Q u o t e:

A: I can't really say whether it does or not, but we were playing with a
very similar idea when Anvilbeard decided to start the Warcraft Weekly.
So I would say it saves the whole community time, because the
information you want is right there :-)

V: We sure do appreciate it a lot :-) Warcraft Weekly does provide us
with some benefits since it always lists the most interesting and
constructive threads made by players, and these threads are always good
for creating feedback to the "big boys" within Blizzard and to assess
the general mood of the community. Warcraft Weekly is an entirely
community invented phenomenon and the best way to keep the great quality
and popularity of Warcraft Weekly is by keeping it like it has always
been; a complete player made "newsletter".

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Q u o t e:

V: Yes... I expected that Warcraft Weekly would get big, but I can
honestly say that I did not expect Warcraft Weekly to stay big and last
as long as it has. Warcraft Weekly was started by our good old friend
Anvilbeard, and when he started this franchise he was by then an already
well known and respected member of the community. The things Anvilbeard
involves himself in usually becomes popular and thus used a lot by the
community.

A: I was a bit more skeptical when it started, sort of a "let's see if
this keeps going". And I guess it did! For which I'm grateful ;)

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Q u o t e:

V: It did look a bit grim when Anvilbeard decided not to do it anymore,
but luckily for all of us, you decided to take over where he left and I
must say that you are doing a great job on Warcraft Weekly :-)

A: I was already writing a eulogy :/ So I can only agree with Vaneras,
your timing couldn't have been better.

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Q u o t e:

V: In my humble opinion, I do not think that the US Warcraft Weekly can
be compared to the European one, since the US version is made by the US
community team and focuses more on "blue" posts. The European one is so
special because it is run by players and primarily lists player made
threads, topics and discussions.

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Q u o t e:

A: Definitely!

V: Of course, and I hope that you yourself are not discouraged by the
thought of making Warcraft Weekly for a whole new year :-)

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Q u o t e:

V: Not to 1st!... 1st is spam and we do not like spam :-)

A: Again, I agree with my esteemed colleague; every time I post
something I wait for it, and it never takes long. I still cringe with
every "first" I see.

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