With how slow things are getting in the game right now while everyone is impatiently awaiting the Cataclysm, it’s the perfect time to bolster your guild’s cohesiveness with some fun guild events!  You can check out the list of fun guild events I wrote last year, or try this new one I’m adding to it: 

Themed Screenshot Contests

 This contest is perfect for this time of the season, because even your guildies who have temporarily suspended their accounts could participate if they’ve saved up some decent screenshots, and it can keep your guild forums active during downtime.

 What you need to do is come up with some sort of theme appropriate to your guild.  Some ideas are:

• Best guild moment (maybe an important achievement or boss kill)
• Best guildie mistell (because we all SS them for blackmail purposes, right?)
• Screenshot of a suggested “guild headquarters/hideout” (good opportunity to explore all the cool hidden places that might be gone soon!)
• Screenshot of “Guildiewhodiesalot” dead in some awkward/funny position or situation

 If you get some solid interest, I suggest turning this into a monthly contest!  Schedule the first 3 weeks of the month for submitting screenshots and allow the last week for voting.  Of course, prizes are great motivators.  Depending on your situation I might suggest a game timecard, a pet/mount from the Blizzard Pet Store or the right to redesign the guild tabard for the next month.

Scavenger Hunts are amazing guild events.  They get everyone involved doing something where gear doesn’t really matter.  It does, however, require a ton of planning ahead of time.  Previously, Unemployed celebrated a Feast for Thrall, where the scavenger hunt employed the participants to gather materials for food and party favours.

Well, I finally came up with a story for a new Employment Opportunity (Scavenger Hunt for Unemployed), and here is how it will begin:

URGENT NOTICE FROM THE AZEROTH HEALTH ADVISORY BOARD

A plague is upon us! No, not that plague. A NEW plague! No… not THAT new plague…

Some warriors have returned from their journey to Northrend and are exhibiting strange symptoms. We have isolated the disease, and it seems to be related to contact with the Boars of Borean Tundra. Naturally we’ve consulted the most powerful shaman, priests and druids of the Horde, but none of the conventional methods seem to have any effect.

After working with the greatest healers and the most clever apothecaries, we may yet have a solution to end this pandemic. But it will not be easy. Strange reagents gathered from all over Azeroth, Outland and even Northrend will be needed. There will be dangers untold, there will be blood, and there will be sweat.

We ask only the bravest members of the Horde to offer their hand to help eliminate the Swine Flu threat.  If health and safety is not enough of a motivator for you, be aware that there will be grand rewards for the one who helps develop the cure!

Sincerely,
Thrum Bloodbringer
Head Shaman
Azeroth Health Advisory Board

NOTE: All further Zeppelin flights returning from the Borean Tundra will be strictly monitored. Import and sale of Boar Ribs is prohibited at this time. Please wash your hands regularly. If you are feeling ill, please remain at home and do not attempt to attend any raids.

The official date for this event is yet to be determined, but I will be sure to follow up here with more details as it gets closer!

And here is the last entry, the winner of our contest and the 60-day game card!  I really enjoyed her creative description of the ingredients and directions.

The idea for this stew came to me one afternoon following a long grueling battle against the alliance in Warsong Gulch. My allies and I dirty and bloody from mopping the grounds with alliance scum found ourselves sitting around discussing some of our favorite meals and the inspiration came to me. Trust me you will find no stew more satisfying to consume after battle than this one!

Ingredients:

• Gryphon Blood (as much as desired or able to acquire)
• Water (if needed to mix with blood)
• Chilled Meat*
• Nightelf Innards*
• Dwarven Fingers*
• Gnome Ears*
• Human Teeth*
• Northern spices

*Amount is based on what you can gather or have on hand. Fresh is reccomended of course.

Directions:

Brown the chilled meat to desired color. (Some prefer a bloodier taste than others) Mix all the above ingrediants together. The spices are done to taste. Cook on high flame for about seven hours. For best results cook outside of an alliance base while hurling insults at those within earshot. Reduce flame and simmer for a few hours more. You want the ears and fingers to be soft and gushy and teeth to be easy to bite into. Serve the stew in the skull of a fallen Draenei and enjoy!

If you find yourself short of some of the above ingrediants you may substitute with the following:

• Gryphon Blood ~ Tomato Soup or Juice
• Nightelf Innards ~ Diced Tomatoes
• Dwarven Fingers ~ Baby Carrots
• Gnome Ears ~ Sliced Potatoes
• Human Teeth ~ Corn

Also if you find yourself without a Draenei skull you can use a regular bowl but honestly what kind of a fighter doesn’t already have a supply of alliance skulls in their home?

Okay, so the ingredients don’t totally match up, but it’s a fish and looks like the one you get ingame. And yes, that’s a cellphone picture. My apologies for not looking too appetizing.

Fish Feast

Ingredients:

• Whole fish (I prefer snapper, but any whole fish should be okay. Make sure it’s cleaned and scaled.)
• 3-4 teeth of garlic
• Salt and pepper to taste
• Juice of 1 lime
• Mayonnaise
• Bottle of beer (I like a nice wheat, such as Sierra Nevada, for this.)
• 1-2 oranges

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350F. Double check to make sure fish is clean and completely scaled. If you’d like, remove the tail and fins to fry separately. Score the fish on both sides. Salt and pepper inside and outside. Throw the garlic teeth inside the cavity. Place fish in a shallow baking pan (deep enough to hold the beer though). Drizzle the lemon juice all over the fish, then spread mayonnaise on the top of it. Don’t go crazy with the mayo; it’s there mainly to keep the fish from drying out. Pour the beer into the pan, as much as needed to get about a 1/4 inch deep lake of hoppy goodness.

Pop into oven for 15-25 minutes, depending on the size of the fish. A 1-2lb fish should take closer to 15 minutes, whereas a 3-4lb fish will be closer to 25 minutes.

When the fish is done, take it out. Cut the orange(s) in halves or quarters, use as garnish and for drizzling over the fish in place of more lime.

The end.

I hope the mayo doesn’t scare anyone. It really doesn’t taste of mayonnaise at all, and the fish stays very moist.

Delicious Chocolate Cake

I was really hoping someone would choose this recipe!  And Guin sure did   I was quite interested once I saw it… mayonnaise and coffee? In my cake?  Huh!  It’s worth a try   Unfortunately, since I don’t drink coffee, I had no way of brewing a cup of coffee… so I took a short walk to the closest Tim Horton’s to pick one up.

I decided to make cupcakes from this recipe, and used some chocolate frosting I had handy instead of making hers, which was probably a mistake, as the frosting I used wasn’t very good.  The cupcakes themselves, however, were great.  And you could taste the coffee a bit, which gave it a neat difference to regular cupcakes!

This recipe caused our guild to develop a new innuendo – because I had to AFK saying: “brb guys, I have to go frost my cupcakes”.

Ingredients:

• 2 cups Simple Flour
  
• 1/2 cup Ghirardeli cocoa
  
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
  
• 1/4 teaspoon Mild Spices (salt)
  
• 1 cup sugar
  
• 3/4 cup Helman’s Mayonnaise
  
• 1 Flask (cup) brewed black coffee
  
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
  
• “Mageroyal” (optional) to taste

Frosting:

• 1 stick unsalted sweet butter
  
• 2 drops of vanilla
  
• 2-3 cups powdered sugar, (adjust for humidity by adding a little milk or extra sugar)

Preparation:

Sift together the flour, cocoa, baking soda, “Mageroyal” (optional), and Mild Spices (salt). Cream together the sugar, mayonnaise, brewed black coffee and vanilla. Add dry ingredients to the creamed mixture; stir until well blended. Pour batter into greased and floured layer cake pans (or a 9- x 13-inch pan). Bake at 350°F. for about 35-40 minutes if cooking in a 9 X 13 inch pan. 25-30 minutes for layers, or 20-25 minutes for cupcakes.