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Know Your Lore: Zul'Gurub, a historical survey
The World of Warcraft is an expansive universe. You're playing the game, you're fighting the bosses, you know the how -- but do you know the why? Each week, Matthew Rossi and Anne Stickney make sure you Know Your Lore by covering the history of the story behind World of Warcraft. The Gurubashi trolls were once the greatest empire of jungle trolls in the world, rivals to the great forest troll empire of Zul'Aman to the north and a power to be reckoned with. Their tens of thousands of years of history have seen wave after wave of humiliation, defeat and loss, and they are without a doubt responsible for much of that defeat. They have consorted with powers not to be trifled with and driven their neighboring troll tribes into slavery or exile. The empire of the Gurubashi, centered in their great city of Zul'Gurub, was founded after the great war with the Aqir that forever divided the insect state into the distant northern Nerubians and the southern Qiraji. While this defeat was near-total for the arthropod empire, it also fractured troll society forever. Before the war, the Zandalar tribe had stood preeminent, although it was the Amani and Gurubashi who led the charge against the Aqir. Theirs was the hereditary rulership of all troll tribes, theirs was the way of scholarship and it was to them that the hereditary priesthood of the trolls derived its furthest development. Yet none of these facts could prevent the division of the trolls. After the war, a weakened and shaken Zandalar tribe found itself no longer the center of troll society. It still ruled the ancient birthplace of all trolls, it was still respected ... but the power had forever shifted to the Amani and Gurubashi, and it was not to shift back for tens of thousands of years. (Spoilers for the Zul'Gurub 5-man are in this post.)
Patch 4.1 PTR: Running the new 5-man heroic Zul'Gurub
As we've learned this past week, two troll dungeon favorites are returning to Cataclysm as 5-man heroic dungeons for players level 85 to tackle, complete with new stories, new encounters, and a whole bunch of new mechanics. Today, I did a fairly complete run of Zul'Gurub with a great group of random players on the PTR servers, completing most of the encounters and bugging out poor old Bloodlord Mandokir. Click through for my first impressions, boss mechanics, and some difficulty assessments. This post and gallery contain fight and potential story spoilers for the new Zul'Gurub. %Gallery-117659%
Wrath's Violet Hold takes us down memory lane
I'll admit it: I liked Arcatraz. I know, I know! It's supposed to be awful, how could I like it!? Well, while I didn 't necessarily like the layout of the dungeon and some of the trash (ethereal room, I'm looking at you), I like how it brought a lot of nostalgia from WoW Classic with it. A few of the trash mobs were pulled straight out of level 60 raids, though toned down a bit, and the last boss was like the "Best of Level 60 Raiding." Flamewakers? Qiraji? Awesome!This is why I love the upcoming Violet Hold, too. Dalaran's Violet Hold in Wrath of the Lich King is a throwback to everything we've done so far. To the people who have been raiding since the beginning, this dungeon is going to prompt a great big, "Man, do you remember when..." moment. For the people who haven't been raiding since the beginning, this dungeon will show off a lot of fun mechanics they've never seen before.
One Boss Leaves: Jin'do vs. Moam wrap-up
The battle between Jin'do and Moam was our most closely contested battle to date -- with Moam emerging victorious by only a slim margin. You decided Moam would come out on top in this fight by a mere 26 votes! Your comments suggested that Jin'do's totems would be a challenge -- but that Moam's mana drains would overcome them in the end. So one fight is over -- but stay tuned, because our next fight is coming soon! (And for those of you keeping score at home, here are our current standings: though be warned, they can still be shuffled around.)
You Have a Friend Request From C'Thun
Well, you knew it had to happen. As soon as Blizzard made their entrance into that bastion of social networking and terrible design, Myspace.com, it was just plain expected that they'd have some company.And sure enough, in among World of Warcraft's 58,000 plus friends, there are a few familiar faces. Did you know you could be friends with Edwin Van Cleef, a "swinger" who's frustrated that all people want from him is the Cruel Barb? And of course if he's on Myspace, then so is Mr. Smite (who gets comments from someone who wants him to "stop stunning me!"), Jin'do the Hexxer, and High Inquisitor Whitemaine (who says "Hi there! <3" to all her friends). Even Raggy and Vael are in on the Myspace action-- Raggy likes some good tunes, but Vael likes Linkin Park. Go figure. I always saw him as more of a Slayer type.And if you're looking for expansion news, Myspace won't disappoint there either. What better way to learn about Tyrande Whisperwind and Arthas himself than befriending them and subscribing to their blogs? Like OMG, thx 4 the add, Lich King!
