World of Warcraft: Quest For Vulpera

By Bixyl Shuftan

Some of my Second Life friends have been going at Warcraft lately. The objective: to go about the game as a foxy character: one of the Vulpera.

Clever and resourceful, the vulpera have survived amidst the harsh desert of Vol'dun for generations. Traveling in close-knit caravans, they watch out for each other as they scavenge supplies from across the dunes. Despite their small stature, they are fierce and cunning in battle, bringing down any enemy foolish enough to underestimate them. Now full-fledged members of the Horde, their wagons have left the sands in search of adventure.

The Vulpera are not a regular race that one can simply play from the start, but an "Allied Race." This means one has to unlock certain achievements to be able to play one. For the Vulpera, this means as a Horde character, doing several things. (1) Go to the continent of Zandalar to the desert of Vol'dun (which you'll be doing anyway as part of a couple quests), complete enough storylines to get the achievement "Secret in the Sands." (2) Unlocking World Quests by getting the three footholds in Kul Tiras in the Horde's War Campaign , reaching "Freindly" with all three major factions on Zandalar, and hitting Level 120 (this will change sometime in the future). (3) Do enough quests, to reach Exalted status with the Voldunai faction.

So many of my gaming friends, including some whom had been playing mostly Alliance Worgen, have been trying to get a Vulpera. This included some starting up a new Horde guild. Yours truly went ahead and started up a Demon Hunter character to get a head start in being able to try to get these achievements.  I finally got to the "Battle of Azeroth" level, which is the current version of the game, and the quests took me to the two continents the action takes place, Zandalar and Kul Tiras. With lots of gaming (and egging on by certain friends), I finally did steps one and two. Now comes the long haul, the grind of world quests to raise my status among the Voldunai from Friendly to Honored to Revered to Exalted.

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I'm not sure how long it will take to finally be able to be foxy in Warcraft as well as in Second Life.  Only that it will probably be a while. They're not very big compared to some characters, about to my Tauren character's waist (or "anklebiters" as my friend Jasmine called them). But as most of us know, big surprises can come in small packages. I've seen a number of Vulpera shamans, mages, priests, rouges, and monks as player characters. Which one will I choose? I still have plenty of time to think on it.

To certain friends (you know who you are) don't worry, I'll eventually get there.

Bixyl Shuftan

Addition: It seems there's one more thing to do after you the things I mentioned, complete a questline for the final step. 

Getting a Luskwood Avatar In InWorldz

By Bixyl Shuftan

One issue some friends of mine have with InWorldz is the lack of variety of furry avatars. Although the Wingless freebie avs apparently have been around for a while, for some, this isn't enough. Some find the design a little dated. Others find them quite different from the particular look their used to. And of course people usually want as many choices as possible. While some might be tempted to get a copybotted avatar, this isn't a good idea. InWorldz's residents consider those just as bad as those in Second Life, if not worse.

So it seems for now InWorldz residents are limited to either sticking with the Wingless or learning to make their own avatar. As most are not really builders, the second seems like not really an option. So what about getting someone already skilled at making avatars here? If you're a user of Kinzart Kreatures (KzK) avatars, you can pretty much forget about having your look in InWorldz. On their Tumblr, the KzK spokesman branded Second Life residents thinking of moving to the smaller grid as cowardly, and dismissed the virtual world as a "haven for thieves and copybotters alike."

Luskwood had a different answer. Michi Lumin and others on the Lusk team have accounts on InWorldz.  Talking with Michi, she told me since I was a customer of theirs, they'd send me a copy of my red Fox avatar to me in InWorldz. Just allow for some time for it to arrive. After a few weeks, Michi sent me a message to look for a package when I returned there from Drew Luskwood. And heading back, I found a new box in my inventory, one for a Luskwood Red Fox. So I rezzed it on the ground, unpacked, and changed avs ...

And I was back to my familiar look from Second Life. Well, almost. I have a preference for flexi-tails, so I kept the one from the Wingless. Here's the avatar at Podex InWorldz.

Drew, whom is considered part of the Luskwood Core on his profile,  had sent a message asking if I got the avatar. I answered, and we had a short conversation.  Drew told me Luskwood wasn't quite ready to be setting up kiosks in InWorldz. They were waiting for the place to become a little larger, notably in the number of residents logging on daily. For now, they would have a limited presence in the smaller Grid, delivering avatars to individuals.

Still, Drew and others at Luskwood were impressed with InWorldz's rate of growth. It might not be long before Second Life's first avatar company has vendors in this virtual world.

Now if I can only find a fedora and light brown trenchcoat ...

Bixyl Shuftan.