Filed under: Machinima

It's true that nearly every day we feature a machinima on WoW Moviewatch, but we here at WoW Insider occasionally feel compelled to pick favorites, or at least memorable ones. Today, I want to focus on some older gems that haven't had any time in the spotlight for a while and deserve some love. If you're new to the game these videos might provide you a glimpse into an inaccessible time now gone, and if you're new to machinima it might spark a desire to seek out more. Regardless, I've chosen a variety of films that hopefully showcase the enormous potential in using WoW's game engine to produce cinematic content, as well as the boundless creativity and talent within the WoW community. Read and watch on below the cut.

I think this is the first full-out Mists of Pandaria rap. So, hat's off to Wowcrendor for that achievement. Of course, I still couldn't quite sum up this video. It's just that awesome. So I reached out to Matthew "Uncle Grumpy" Rossi and asked him for three sentences to decribe it. This is what he said:

It's catchy. It's a touch too long. Don't listen to it if you don't want it to earworm you all day.

There you have it. Check out the Luckydo Rap by Wowcrendor and get it stuck in your head all day.

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Interested in the wide world of machinima? We have new movies every weekday here on WoW Moviewatch! Have suggestions for machinima we ought to feature? Toss us an email at moviewatch@wowinsider.com.

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We're expecting the Mists of Pandaria cinematic to be revealed tomorrow at the gamescon 2012 Blizzard booth. Are we excited? Yeah, you could say that. Each expansion's cinematic sets the thematic tones for the playerbase. We've all been playing the beta for what feels like a year, but that's not the same thing as seeing the cinematic tell us why we should be gripping the edge of the seat in anticipation. And don't forget, patch 5.0.4 is right around the corner. Now is absolutely the best time for MoP to get its cinematic flavoring.

Let's get this out of the way. There's probably not going to be a gnome in the cinematic. A pandaren will almost definitely be featured, and I'm drooling to think how detailed and gorgeous it'll look. So, what about you? We've known this cinematic would be coming, so now's the time for you to let fly your best hope-fors and wild guesses for its contents. What's the cinematic going to be like?

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It's open warfare between Alliance and Horde in Mists of Pandaria, World of Warcraft's next expansion. Jump into five new levels with new talents and class mechanics, try the new monk class, and create a pandaren character to ally with either Horde or Alliance. Look for expansion basics in our Mists FAQ, or dig into our spring press event coverage for more details!

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In my opinion, one of the best parts of WoW's incredible community is the machinima it produces. Machinima unleashes astounding talent, great stories, fun songs, and a general roundup of all the creativity we hold near and dear about our hobby. Machinima is just plain awesome.

At this point, though, it can be tough to get started. Technique and technology have grown so complex that machinima can be incredibly intimidating to a new creator. That's why Bloodvein has put together a series of tutorials to help new machinimators get started.

Bloodvein's information goes far beyond simple things like "use Fraps." He talks about how to color correct characters, how to control noise with Audacity, and much more. If you've ever considered getting started with machinima, Bloodvein's tutorials are the best place to begin.

He's even making available assets and project files on his website. You won't need it all right away, but this is a ton of great information -- for free. Even if you don't plan on making your own movies, you should still check it out. You'll get a better appreciation for the work that goes into the craft.

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Raegwyn, one of WoW Insider's favorite blood death knights (sorry, Daniel!), is at it again. The blood elf death knight of Onyxia (EU) holds a stunning array of previous solo kill achievements including The Lich King, Kael'thas Sunstrider (at level 80!), and two of the four bosses in heroic Stonecore. Now he's released a new video highlighting the ridiculously cool self-healing power of blood death knights -- except this time, rather than riding solo, Raegwyn brought along nine other blood death knight friends for an epic romp in Firelands. No healers, no DPS ... just 10 tanks.

Part 1 of their adventure has the band of blooders facing off against heroic mode Rhyolith, Alysrazor, and Baleroc. My favorite moment of the video is at 7:30, when all 10 players simultaneously pop their Army of the Dead right before the pull. Part 2 includes normal Beth'tilac, heroic Shannox, normal Majordomo Staghelm, and the fiesty firelord himself. Some of the fun moments here are watching the sole surviving death knight tank Shannox for his last few hundred thousand hit points, and marveling at the talent of these 10 players on the incredibly high-magic-damage fight that is Ragnaros.

As an enhancement shaman whose preferred form of making money is soloing old raids like Caverns of Time: Mt. Hyjal, Raegwyn's videos constantly both amaze and humble me. I get excited when I can manage to down Karazhan's chess encounter weekly, but Raegwyn is a player who constantly manages to push the boundaries of traditional playing, and I'm always excited to see what he has in store for us next. If you'd like to read more about Raegwyn's approach to soloing and what he considers to be the hardest aspects, check out Lisa Poisso's interview with him.

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Brace yourselves for what could be some of most exciting updates to the game recently with patch 4.3. Review the official patch notes, and then dig into what's ahead: new item storage options, cross-realm raiding, cosmetic armor skinning and your chance to battle the mighty Deathwing -- from astride his back!

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After Blizzard's machinima team stretched its wings with the inclusion of WoW's first in-game cutscene, The Wrathgate, players have expressed their praise and hope that more cinematics would be included in Warcraft in coming expansions. With the success of The Wrathgate, Blizzard included Arthas' end in cinematic form after his defeat on Icecrown. When Cataclysm released, both the goblins and worgen were treated to cinematics that transitioned the player from starting zone to a larger world with an epic cutscene and story. Now, the Dragon Soul raid and the ending of Cataclysm are marked with story cutscenes showing off Deathwing's anger, Thrall blasting Deathwing out of the sky and parachuting onto Deathwing's back. Even Cataclysm's twist ending got a cinematic.

Which cinematic was your favorite? The betrayal of the Forsaken at the Wrathgate still holds a very special place in my heart since it was the first time cinematics were done in WoW. It was a home run from the start. Watching Sky Captain Swayze and Ka'anu jump out of the Skyfire, along with my raid, also ranks high on the list of cutscenes for me, even if it's only a few seconds long.

What do you guys think? Vote!

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Brace yourselves for what could be some of most exciting updates to the game recently with patch 4.3. Review the official patch notes, and then dig into what's ahead: new item storage options, cross-realm raiding, cosmetic armor skinning and your chance to battle the mighty Deathwing -- from astride his back!

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Work warning: This video has some adult themes and scantily clad video game characters.

With Christmas ticking closer every day, we're starting to see some new holiday-themed machinima. We're also seeing the inevitable creep toward SW:TOR come around. It makes sense that someone would merge the two into a single machinima.

Kick back with a cup of coffee and watch a SW:TOR and a WoW player battle it out for which game will enjoy Christmas superiority. Gamebreaker knocked this out of the park; we can expect this to be a favorite for WoW and SW:TOR fans both. Absolutely.

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Interested in the wide world of machinima? We have new movies every weekday here on WoW Moviewatch! Have suggestions for machinima we ought to feature? Toss us an email at moviewatch@wowinsider.com.

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Spoiler alert: If you would rather check out these cinematics in game during the Dragon Soul raid, avoid clicking after the jump.

The Dragon Soul raid is finally here, and Deathwing's time is up. Now that brave heroes have thwarted Murazond's plans in the future, reclaimed the Dragon Soul artifact in the past, and escorted Thrall to Wyrmrest Temple in the present, it's time to put that bad boy to use. There are a total of four cinematics in the Dragon Soul raid, most of them 10- to 20-second transitional movies you get to watch as the action ramps up and Deathwing gets a face full of Dragon Soul.

Hit the jump for the three cinematics that are currently available to watch. We still have not seen the final cinematic, presumably Deathwing's ultimate demise, as of the writing of this article. Hopefully we will have it soon enough.

Spoiler alert: Do not hit the jump unless you want to be spoiled on these cinematics.

Happy Tuesday morning, everyone. CM Bashiok has already confirmed that patch 4.3 will going live today, after the traditional 3 a.m.-to-11 a.m. Pacific downtime. The patch may even be downloadable by the time you read this. With that in mind, it may be a good idea to spend this downtime getting ready and reading up on some of the week's news. To start, I'd strongly suggest you check our guides to the three new 5-man dungeons:

• End Time
• Well of Eternity
• Hour of Twilight

You'll probably be queuing up soon to get your first valor points, so make sure you're in the know. Beyond that, we'll have more patch 4.3 FAQs and guides for you as the day goes on, and you'll want to check our guide to patch 4.3 as well. Our usual roundup of the past week's news awaits you after the break.

This an older machinima, created by Baron Soosdon four years ago. Shake That! shows off what the bosses and NPCs do while servers are down for maintenance ... they shake that thing! This video came up in conversation among the hallowed halls of WoW Insider's news room, so we absolutely had to share it with our devoted fans.

Shake That! is a great machinima for hanging out with friends and getting your groove on. I've been putting together a Machinima Dance Party YouTube playlist lately, and now I'm going to stamp this video at the very top of it.

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Interested in the wide world of machinima? We have new movies every weekday here on WoW Moviewatch! Have suggestions for machinima we ought to feature? Toss us an email at moviewatch@wowinsider.com.

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As seen on G-TV was the entry into the Cataclysm commercial contest by Firebolt Productions. This is the tale of a pair of goblin products guaranteed to help make you irresistible to the ladies ... and to worgen. Respectively. If the product can make you the apple of every female worgen's eye, then I guess that's even better.

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Interested in the wide world of machinima? We have new movies every weekday here on WoW Moviewatch! Have suggestions for machinima we ought to feature? Toss us an email at machinima@wow.com.

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World of Warcraft is, first and foremost, a roleplaying game. It's not just a game; not just a story, but a blessed nexus of both that totally immerses you in another world. The quests you undergo set up and advance the story, and -- at least in Wrath -- major storylines are wrapped up with in-game cinematics. Arthas' death, the Wrathgate -- both are epic events in Wrath of the Lich King lore, and both are comprised entirely of in-game assets.

But are we being cheated? After all, the trailer to Cataclysm, in which Deathwing emerges to tear Azeroth asunder, is an epic piece of pre-rendered majesty. Shouldn't Blizzard offer us more pre-rendered video moments instead of what amounts to a well-produced piece of machinima?

On the official Blizzard forums today, in response to a complaint about the extended use of in-game cinematics (like the worgen in-game cinematic above), blue poster Zarhym talked about -- and defended -- Blizzard's approach to cinematics:

Blizzard - Better cinematics, please.

With the advent of in-game cinematics, in the case of Starcraft II, we were able to over triple the amount of cinematic storytelling compared to any previous Blizzard release. As mentioned by another poster, these moments, without in-game assets, would have been character portraits plus voice-over. Instead, they were able to be brought to life with a much more vivid realization by using in-game cinematics to help tell the story.

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The full text of Zarhym's post is available just after the cut.