15 Minutes of Fame is our look at World of Warcraft players of all shapes and sizes – from the renowned to the relatively anonymous, the remarkable to the player next door. Tip us off to players you'd like to hear more about.

I really can't think of a more enjoyable way to game than in the same room as your friends. Even back in the EverQuest era, when my husband's Monk and my own Magician actively avoided one another outside of raids (incompatible characters, incompatible playstyles – we couldn't have been a worse mix), we got plenty of kicks and giggles from keeping an eye on one another's screens. These days, raid nights at our house mean not two but four players (three in my office, one upstairs – more, if friends with laptops are here). AFK breaks spawn a queue at the fridge that inevitably coalesces into a rowdy debate over the evening's tactics and drops.

So when I spotted these kindred spirits in a news tip from Khaz Modan-US, I knew I'd found a group of players who could show WoW.com readers the glories of playing in the same room. "We're a group of eight friends in real life that get together once a week for what we call 'Craft Dinner,' which involves lugging all our gear to one of our houses, sharing a meal together, then hitting up a 10-man raid (we PuG the last two to three spots, generally)," wrote Stumpsky. "Last night, we just cleared 10-man Naxx for the first time -- which was a big accomplishment, as we just started to raid as a full group at the beginning of May. We don't use Vent, because we're all in the same room, and we all find it the most enjoyable way to play the game we love."

15 Minutes of Fame is our look at World of Warcraft players of all shapes and sizes – from the renowned to the relatively anonymous, the remarkable to the player next door. Tip us off to players you'd like to hear more about.

Did you know that players on Argent Dawn-US have their own soundtrack? Fellow AD player Aspeth -- aka DJ Aspeth of Sao Paulo, Brazil – has been posting trance mixes on the AD forums since she was a lowbie DJ still spinning her first talent points. Now, she jet sets from continent to continent (hope the screenshots for this profile make it in before she hops her next plane for Europe; if you don't see them, you'll know why!) to mix it up for a ballooning fan base entranced with the Aspeth sound.

Her fans on Argent Dawn are both vocal and loyal. "Thanks for the new mix! I've been a huge fan of yours for years," posted Athraku. She repays that following by dropping by the AD forums with a sample of her latest work. "Whenever I can, I share a mix in the forums," she says. "I haven't been able to do it monthly lately, but I try to at least once every two months or so." When you get a look at Aspeth's wicked schedule, you'll wonder how she ever finds time – but find it she does, as well as carving out a few moments to keep her little Druid soaking up the sounds (and sights) of Azeroth.

15 Minutes of Fame is our look at World of Warcraft players of all shapes and sizes – from the renowned to the relatively anonymous, the remarkable to the player next door. Tip us off to players you'd like to hear more about.

If you think "the furry fandom" sounds like a bunch of players who like playing Tauren, you'd be right -- to a tip-of-the-iceberg degree. This week's 15 Minutes of Fame looks at a often maligned, frequently mocked yet little understood hobby and lifestyle: the furry fandom, or furries. Furries (or "furs") are fans of fictional, anthropomorphic animal characters with human personalities and characteristics. Together, these furries form the furry fandom, a community of artists, writers, roleplayers and general fans of the furry art forms who gather on the internet and at conventions. Yes, these are cosplayers in fur suits – but there's a lot more to it, as this week's profile will show.

Now, before we proceed: Yes, there's a segment of the furry community that's into erotic art. While the media have had the proverbial field day with this furry fodder, the sex-focused furs are by no means an especially representative segment of furry fandom. Even if they were, this profile is not headed there. Instead, let's head back to the WoW.com context of the furry fandom: a World of Warcraft player (and frequent WoW.com commenter) who expresses himself emotionally and spiritually through his furry persona.

EDIT: As always, hateful, insulting and trollish posts will get deleted. You don't have to agree, but you can disagree without resorting to personal attacks. Multiple offenders will be banned, k thx ~ The Management

15 Minutes of Fame is our look at World of Warcraft players of all shapes and sizes – from the renowned to the relatively anonymous, the remarkable to the player next door. Tip us off to players you'd like to hear more about.

We've already shown you how one WoW player got lean and mean while playing WoW. This week, we'd like to introduce you to what we think is one of the coolest new web resources for geeks and gamers seeking to uncover their inner Hugh Jackman: ShrinkGeek. ShrinkGeek is exactly what it sounds like: a fitness blog for gamers and, well, geeks.

Take a look at some of these post titles:

• Better bio breaks
• Make a saving throw vs. Stinky
• Encumbrance and equivalencies
• Reroll your diet/exercise routine
• 'A Lesser Blood Clot' hits 'YOU' for 96!

Yeah, we're geeking out, too. "In the words of the immortal Mr. Spock," writes ShrinkGeek cofounder (and former WoW guild GM and blogger) Michael C. McGreevy, "our ultimate goal is to help you 'Live long and prosper.'"

To bring you this behind-the-scenes on ShrinkGeek, we visited with WoW-playing ShrinkGeek Rafe Brox. To be honest, actually, we merely directed the flow by interjecting the occasional question or comment. We suspect we've pinpointed one of the sources of ShrinkGeek's pump-it-up energy -- no shrinking violets here. Come geek out while getting pumped, after the break.

15 Minutes of Fame is our look at World of Warcraft players of all shapes and sizes – from the renowned to the relatively anonymous, the remarkable to the player next door. Tip us off to players you'd like to hear more about.

WoW.com's Adam Holisky has been itching to take a WoW course for quite a while now -- so Adam, this 15 Minutes of Fame is for you. While some people still don't get that playing WoW doesn't lead to becoming a college dropout, there are plenty of others who recognize the game to be a rich resource not only as entertainment but even as a venue for anthropological research.

And now, this: "Warcraft: Culture, Gender and Identity," a credit-awarding class being offered at Inver Hills Community College in Minnesota. At the helm of this innovative course is Landon Pirius, Ph.D., also known as Nodnal the Gnome Warrior of Blackwater Raiders-US. No stranger to the convergence of WoW and academia, Dr. Pirius wrote his doctoral dissertation on "Massively Multiplayer Online Virtual Environments: A Potential Locale for Intercultural Training." We didn't go quite that deep in this interview; we simply visited with him about his wildly successful college course and how it's helping shape modern educational methodologies.

And before you ask -- yes, Dr. Pirius returned the answers to our interview questions in impeccable outline form.

15 Minutes of Fame is our look at World of Warcraft players of all shapes and sizes – from the renowned to the relatively anonymous, the remarkable to the player next door. Tip us off to players you'd like to hear more about.

(Update: Since our 15 Minutes of Fame interview, the bright light of internet scrutiny has uncovered some cracks in Ferarro's online persona. Whatever the truth may be, it's a shame to see a once positive, entertaining resource for the Paladin community sink into the mire.)

"'Paladin, Schmaladin' ... No way a blog with a dumb name like that could be a decent web resour -- Oh, wait, what was that about MP5? Let me just crunch -- oh never mind, she's already ... Ahh, hang on, lemme just finish this how-to; seems pretty spot-on to me ... But first, I need to click on this blonde over here, because this cannot possibly be a real photo of the person who wrote all this stuff ..."

Before you get your Purifier's Pantaloons in a twist, we checked out frequent WoW.com reader/commenter Ferarro and her blog, Paladin Schmaladin -- and we'd say they both pass the sniff test quite swimmingly. You want the Real Thing? You've got it. Besides her own blog, Ferarro writes at RetPaladin.com and is a full-time WoW game tester. That's right: the lady raids for a living. More to the point, Ferarro serves up the inside line on playing a better Paladin with a quick wit, impeccable theorycrafting and a willingness to lend a good-humored, personal touch to the whole endeavor. We've got the inside scoop on the lady with the inside scoop, after the break.

15 Minutes of Fame is our look at World of Warcraft players of all shapes and sizes – from the renowned to the relatively anonymous, the remarkable to the player next door. Tip us off to players you'd like to hear more about.

Let's jump right in – because appropriately enough, that's the modus operandi of this week's profile subject, blogger/cartoonist/gag writer/self-proclaimed "older" player/sci-fi writer John Zakour. With a WoW column at Pink Raygun, a daily web comic with some 50,000 readers, a 2180-rated Mage and a steady stream of published sci-fi books, Zakour keeps the one-liners flowing.

A recent review of Zakour's The Flaxen Femme Fatale does a neat job of summarizing his outlook: "I'm always glad to see new books in this series come out, as there's a serious deficit of comedic hardboiled science fiction adventures on the market, and John Zakour has filled that niche quite adeptly," wrote the SF Site reviewer. "It's goofy, it's quirky, it's iconic in its own way, and it's way too much fun. Like the rest, The Flaxen Femme Fatale borders on parody, but maintains enough good-natured charm to maintain an air of legitimacy. It may be a world full of robots, psychics, aliens, genetically-engineered superhumans, and wacky technology, where anything is possible, but it has the internal consistency and earnestness required to sustain such a setting."

How does he manage to stick it all together, with time left over for WoW?

15 Minutes of Fame is our look at World of Warcraft players of all shapes and sizes – from the renowned to the relatively anonymous, the remarkable to the player next door. Tip us off to players you'd like to hear more about.

Last week, we went behind the scenes with Boubouille of MMO-Champion to learn more about the non-stop pace of bringing readers a never-ending stream of fresh news tips and datamined tidbits. Serious stuff – and readers expressed some serious appreciation for his efforts.

This week, however, we're off on an entirely lighter tangent: a standup comedian (and WoW player, of course) who brings both his WoW sensibilities and experience as a game programmer to the stage. Jeff Reitman (aka Drelana of Azuremyst-US) is all about geek entertainment, whether it's playing games himself, working on them for others to play, or yukking it up over the whole package.

Read our interview with Jeff, plus video of Jeff on stage (sending up WoW plus wives, Rock Band and more), after the break.

15 Minutes of Fame is our look at World of Warcraft players of all shapes and sizes – from the renowned to the relatively anonymous, the remarkable to the player next door. Tip us off to players you'd like to hear more about.

What does it take to bring WoW fanatics the freshest World of Warcraft news on the planet? Imagine, if you will, a guy who sleeps literally no more than three or four hours at a stretch so he won't miss any World of Warcraft news. Imagine a guy who spends hour upon hour digging through game database files searching for anything that appears remotely different. Imagine a guy who no longer raids because he's so weary from 10-hour stretches on the PTR (public test realm).

Meet Boubouille, the force behind MMO-Champion. The hard-working Boubouille is also one of the friendliest, most genuine voices in the WoWosphere. Ever notice how often WoW Insider links developments, new items and spells and breaking news back to MMO-Champion? While Boubouille's first on the money, he's also quick on the tips and first to share a really interesting scoop – that's just the way he rolls. We poked our heads into his insane, non-stop schedule to find out what keeps him ticking along and where MMO-Champion is headed as WoW evolves over time.

15 Minutes of Fame is our look at World of Warcraft players of all shapes and sizes – from the renowned to the relatively anonymous, the remarkable to the player next door. Tip us off to players you'd like to hear more about.

Last week, we met Lileya of Lightbringer-EU, who has a rare, lifelong condition that causes her joints dislocate at the drop of a pin. Stacking up a Lifebloom roll can literally dislocate a finger or her wrist. "I get up in the morning, and the first thing we do is check to make sure that all my joints are in place -- which they rarely are," she recounts. "I need help sitting up, and the first thing my husband says when I put my feet on the ground is 'Slowly, let's not dislocate those ankles standing up.' Each day is different but the same."

What keeps Lileya at the keyboard despite these seemingly insurmountable challenges? We visited with Lileya to explore how her love of end-game raiding and her struggle to balance a precarious collection of symptoms and physical challenges keeps her connected to WoW and to life. This week, Part 2 of our interview with this determined player.

15 Minutes of Fame is our look at World of Warcraft players of all shapes and sizes – from the renowned to the relatively anonymous, the remarkable to the player next door. Tip us off to players you'd like to hear more about.

We've written about disabled gamers before, but Lileya of Lightbringer-EU brings a perspective to playing WoW that we haven't heard. Lileya's disability is a rare, lifelong condition that makes even the simplest tasks impossible some days. From her ankles to her knees, from her fingers to her shoulders, Lileya's joints dislocate at the drop of a pin. Even stacking up a Lifebloom roll can dislocate her wrist. "I don't have all that much in common with Aaron who has recovered enough that he can walk without assistance and drive, or Kalzedhan who plays for 12 to 14 hours a day, or Catten," she muses. "I have a rare genetic disorder that I have never lived without. My life is very different from theirs."

Lileya's relentlessly frank, articulate blog, In the Fringes, exposes what it's like to live with the horrifying prospect of keeping track of all your joints on a minute-by-minute basis. We visited with Lileya for a two-part interview exploring how her love of end-game raiding and her struggle to balance a precarious collection of symptoms and physical challenges keeps her connected to WoW and to life.