Ashen Verdict Reinforcements

So a friend popped into vent tonight and as we talked this picture on the Simple Math forums was brought up. I did a double take and then was pulling up the breaks. It didn't look quite right. Something about how things were laid out in the text, or the graphics.... The image for the item seemed off. But I was willing to second guess it and went to the store to look it up. Nothing came up. Convinced it was photoshopped I decided to have some fun with it.

The image I chose was official artwork, which seemed more logical that a capture from the trailer. Next was making sure the text was appropriate. I needed a slightly believable name for the sales item. Then I needed appropriate text. Finally I needed to go in and carefully write in and match the font type, size, coloring and spacing. Finally I needed a good display picture of the in game item. To do that i found a large image of what looked like an Ashen Verdict image and shopped it up to be a bit more glowy with an emboss. Then to duplicate the background the pets sit on (which should be a reflective solid), I created a solid with a gradient. The reflection was created by shearing the icon and putting its opacity down with a overlay layer type.

This being done I showed it to the guys in vent and got a series of double takes and lol's. I was told I should post it on a forum. So I took it to: MMO-Champion & the Blizzard forums (The latter I started praying wouldn't get me banned).

I've not been disappointed. So far responses have amused me. Not just those who call me out for the shop, but the few serious responses and those playing off of the image. An hour of shopping = a few hours of amusement.

http://www.mmo-champion.com/general-discussions-22/ashen-verdict-reinforcements/
http://forums.worldofwarcraft.com/thread.html?topicId=21254576169&sid=1