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Reputation in review: The Dominance Offensive
It took until patch 5.1, but we got it. The most perfect reputation grind in the game to date. I don't say these words lightly, because let's face it, I have pretty high standards for what I like and what I don't like with daily quests. But the Dominance Offensive appears to have taken the best out of all previous reputation grinds and wrapped it all together in a delightful ball of compelling story and quests that barely feels like a grind at all. Please note that this is a review for the Dominance Offensive, which is the Horde side of the 5.1 reputation. At this point in time, I don't have an Alliance character at level 90, so I'm unable to play through the Operation Shieldwall quests. However, I have been assured that not only are the Operation Shieldwall quests just as good, in some ways they are even better than the Dominance Offensive material. I'm not even sure how this is possible, because these dailies are just that good. But enough gushing. Let's get into the nuts and bolts of what makes this reputation grind so different from everything before it.
Know Your Lore, Tinfoil Hat Edition: The seventh Sha
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 Jade Serpent circled the Vale, and spoke to the beleaguered Emperor. "Pandaria is more than just the Pandaren Empire," she told Shaohao. "Your enemies to the west are as much a part of this land as your empire behind the wall." Seeing that all things were connected in an eternal whole, and that his beloved land was more than just the Pandaren Empire, Shaohao at least understood. We know from the writings in The Emperor's Burdern that all of Pandaria is connected. But is it just Pandaria, or all of Azeroth? This week's Tinfoil Hat Edition leaps off of the theories presented by Matthew Rossi in Wednesday's Know Your Lore. If you haven't read it, I suggest you do so, because conspiracy theories abound in today's edition of Know Your Lore. Today's Know Your Lore is a Tinfoil Hat edition, meaning the following is a look into what has gone before with pure speculation on what is to come as a result. These speculations are merely theories and shouldn't be taken as fact or official lore.
Know Your Lore TFH: Something is wrong
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. Spoilers for Mists of Pandaria in this post There's a problem in what we're being told. Upon our arrival on the shores of Pandaria, we brought our war with us. And, if you've run the Jade Forest entry quests, you've seen the fruits of that war as the clash of arms and the battle of racial hatreds allowed the Sha to be released once more. Yes, we're told, it is the war we've brought that has allowed the Sha their freedom, that has caused corruption and madness to be unleased. And it would certainly seem to be the case that this true - we've seen the Sha erupt from underneath the very ground where the Alliance and Horde had their first major battle, right at the feet of the Serpent's Heart. But I started to have problems with this once I reached the Townlong Steppes and the Dread Wastes. This is a Tinfoil Hat KYL, speculating on the lore of the game, and is not meant to be taken as established lore
Reputation in review: The Shado-Pan
I gotta say, I really dig the Shado-Pan. I liked them from the first moment I saw them in the beta. I think a lot of it has to do with what kinds of characters make up the faction. While the rest of Pandaria is full of affable characters like the Tillers, who are free with food, drink, story and song, the Shado-Pan represent the other side of the pandaren race. They're the warriors, the fighters, the fierce, strong and sometimes dark side of pandaren culture. They are not welcoming, they are not particularly friendly, and to be perfectly honest the majority of them are pretty angry that we've shown up on Pandaria. Now perhaps it says something about me, but that fact in and of itself made me want to grind out this reputation. I mean, here I am, hero of Azeroth, killed Deathwing and interrupted what was going to be the end of the world and these guys are treating me like a total scrub? Oh it's on, guys. Not to mention the absolutely fantastic taste these guys have in hats. Have you seen the hats? I knew I needed one of those hats the moment I laid eyes on it.
Blizzard announces October comic competition winner
It's great how Blizzard encourages community art, with the Community Cosplay and these comic competitions. This month's contribution is a particular favorite here at WoW Insider, following our pledge of loyalty to the Sha of Happiness. The Sha of Procrastination is a formidable enemy, particularly for writers like us, and we really enjoyed his nonchalant shrug! Blizzard And the comic contest winner for October, 2012, is ... Ethan Cantrell (Jopte). The talented winner will receive a World of Warcraft® Poker Set. Congratulations! In November, we'll be giving away a BlizzCon®: Villian Messenger Bag to the winner of the next Blizzard Comic Contest. Keep those comics coming, and you might be the next artist to take home a prize! Also, be sure to set aside some time to check out our Warcraft and StarCraft comic sections. source Great job, Jopte! And all those talented artists out there should definitely get involved in these competitions! That bag looks great, for one. Mists of Pandaria is here! The level cap has been raised to 90, many players have returned to Azeroth, and pet battles are taking the world by storm. Keep an eye out for all of the latest news, and check out our comprehensive guide to Mists of Pandaria for everything you'll ever need to know.
WoW Moviewatch: The Other Sha
Mr. Gray is out for the day, but he left this new machinima from Slightly Impressive for us to watch. The short, 2-minute video presents us with some of the other Sha players can find in Pandaria, such as the Sha of Fanboyism and the Sha of Elitism. Oddly, none of these other Sha have been incorporated into the game lore yet, possibly because they afflict players more than NPCs. The production of the video is pretty simple overall, but it seems like it was a lot of fun to make for Griffter and his ensemble of voice actors. Each cycle of the joke gives an opportunity for more humor and I'd say, for the most part, the script and the actors deliver. The light and amusing commentary on the player base is nothing new of course, but I always appreciate a new take on it. My favorite Sha is the last one -- I won't say what it is so I don't spoil the joke, but what's yours? Interested in the wide world of machinima? We have new movies every weekday here on WoW Moviewatch! Have suggestions for machinima we ought to feature? Toss us an email at moviewatch@wowinsider.com.
Know Your Lore: 5 frequently asked Mists lore questions
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. Mists of Pandaria contains an utter truckload of new lore. Pandaria has been hidden behind mists for ten thousand years and the elusive pandaren were little more than a myth to most, a rare sighting to others. Because of this, there was little to no record of anything related to the lost continent of Pandaria or its history. And because of that, Pandaria is packed with tons of new stories and information regarding the continent and the races that live upon it. Even to someone familiar with lore, that overload of information can be a little overwhelming. We're all starting out at the same point in Pandaria, a point where we know nothing at all. So I find myself frequently getting asked questions about what's going on in this strange new world, and why we're doing what we're doing. As I answered the questions to various friends and guildmates, I thought perhaps I should share the answers to the most frequently asked of these questions with you all.
Know Your Lore, TFH Edition: The dark secrets of the mogu
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. They were once rulers of an empire that rivaled the Zandalar in size and scope, but they possessed powers far greater than the trolls could ever dream of. They used their power to shape the grummels and saurok from the lesser races of Pandaria. They enslaved the pandaren race as a whole, using them to build structures and gather supplies all under threat of their iron fists. Their great empires trace back to thousands of years ago, before even the War of the Ancients, and possibly before the rise of the kaldorei race. The mogu are one of the clear villains of this expansion, and our arrival denotes the sudden uprising of this strange, curious, violent race. While the mogu may have been relatively quiet for centuries, they are certainly far from it now. And as we make our way through Pandaria we see more and more evidence that these violent beings are on the move -- something that disturbs the gentle pandaren greatly. The mogu hide secrets, and over the course of raiding, we uncover a few. But their greatest secret may just be something so unfathomable, so bizarre, that it shakes the roots of everything we currently know and believe. Today's Know Your Lore is a Tinfoil Hat edition, meaning the following is a look into what has gone before with pure speculation on why and what is to come as a result. These speculations are merely theories and shouldn't be taken as fact or official lore. Please note: This post contains some content spoilers from Mists of Pandaria.
Know Your Lore: The Sha
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. Have you had the dream again? A black goat with seven eyes that watches from the outside. - The Puzzle Box of Yogg Saron We did not bring them to this land, they were there all along. But we unleashed them from their prison, allowing them to run rampant over the verdant hills and fields of Pandaria. Our arrival on Pandaria's coast was nothing more than a catalyst that sparked a chain of disastrous events the likes of which Pandaria has never before seen ... at least, not in written history. The Sha are a unique villain, the first in Azeroth's history that we alone are responsible for. We've dealt with the horrors of the Burning Legion, we've fought the armies of the Lich King, we've even brought down and vanquished the fallen Aspect Deathwing. But we've never before had to fight something that was spawned not from the evil of the universe, but the evil within ourselves. Which makes the Sha utterly fascinating ... and their origins even more so. Please note: The following post is chock-full of spoilers for Mists of Pandaria.
Roleplaying in Pandaria: The basics
All the world's a stage, and all the men and women merely players. In World of Warcraft, that player is you! Each week, Anne Stickney brings you All the World's a Stage with helpful hints, tips and tricks on the art of roleplay in WoW. Welcome to Pandaria, roleplayers! With the launch of Mists, players suddenly have a lot of leveling to do, and countless things to keep them occupied at level 90. However, that doesn't mean that roleplay should come to a halt. Because Pandaria is a land we've never before seen, there's a ton of information to be absorbed, stories to be heard, and lessons to be learned along the way. The things your character will see and hear in Pandaria will affect them throughout the course of the new expansion, every step of the way. But what if you leveled in a frenzy, or you missed some important points? There's so much to see in Pandaria that frankly, it can be overwhelming to even the most seasoned roleplayers. Today we've got a primer of basic plot points for you to consider for your character as they travel the Pandarian wilds and make that trek to level 90 -- or a refresher course if you've already hit max level.
Mists of Pandaria Beta: Reputation rewards for the Shado-Pan
The Order of the Shado-Pan was formed 10,000 years ago when Pandaria first split from the rest of the Kalimdor continent and floated off into the sea. The Shado-Pan were charged by the last emperor of Pandaria with the task of protecting Pandaria from the Sha that had been imprisoned. With such a grim, serious task at hand, most of the Shado-Pan order are nowhere near as lighthearted as the rest of the pandaren players will encounter in their travels. The Shado-Pan offer a variety of rewards for those who choose to gain reputation with their Order. Cloaks, trinkets and helms await those who become revered with the Shado-Pan. And for those who work their way to exalted reputation, the Shado-Pan offer mounts. Three Shado-Pan riding tigers in red, green and blue are available for purchase. Quests and dailies for the Shado-Pan mainly take place in Townlong Steppes, although players first encounter the Shado-Pan in the Valley of the Four Winds. The Shado-Pan are working hard to keep several different threats at bay. Not only are there mantid to worry about, there's also the odd case of the mogu on the isles off the coast of the Townlong Steppes, who appear to be up to no good. Take a look at the gallery below for the full list of Shado-Pan reputation rewards. And remember, point and price totals for items may not be final. We're still in beta, after all! %Gallery-160434% It's open warfare between Alliance and Horde in Mists of Pandaria, World of Warcraft's next expansion. Jump into five new levels with new talents and class mechanics, try the new monk class, and create a pandaren character to ally with either Horde or Alliance. Look for expansion basics in our Mists FAQ, or dig into our spring press event coverage for more details!
Know Your Lore: The final boss of Mists of Pandaria
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. We've heard various and sundry conflicting tales about Mists of Pandaria, tales of various pandaren groups, tales of faction warfare, tales of a warchief's downfall. But in and among all of the tales, one theme pervades, one thing stands out as something people point to in dismay. This thing is the lack of a final boss that is a powerhouse in Warcraft lore, something that we've had with every prior expansion. Illidan, Kil'jaeden, the Lich King, and Deathwing were all prominent figures in Warcraft lore before we rose up to defeat them. They were terrible threats to our world, threats that had to be dealt with. But in Mists of Pandaria, we don't have the reassuring face of a villain to charge after. We don't have a major lore figure to take care of. We have no idea what we're facing other than some rumblings about the warchief's downfall -- and even then, we're not sure if those rumblings are correct. For the first time in World of Warcraft's history, we don't have an easily recognizable, high-profile figure to contend with. Or perhaps we do. We have to deal with one of the greatest threats we've ever seen. We just aren't looking closely enough.
Know Your Lore: The true end boss of Mists of Pandaria?
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. There will be spoilers for Mists of Pandaria in this post. Also, it's a Tinfoil Hat post, so I'm making stuff up in it -- do not mistake the conclusions of this post for what Blizzard will actually do. We're used to how expansions work. From The Burning Crusade's focus on Illidan (only to pull a switcheroo at the end and toss Kil'Jaeden at us) to Wrath of the Lich King's use of Arthas, and of course Cataclysm and our old friend Deathwing, we have an idea of how expansions build up through their life cycle with dungeons and raids. Sometimes these dungeons and raids are side trips or tangentially related to the final end boss of the expansion as a while. (Ulduar was related to ICC and Arthas in that the end boss of the instance, Yogg-Saron, was a rival to Arthas' status as a "death god," and the old god's blood was being mined from the earth and used as Saronite by the Scourge forces, as an example.) But overall, the expansion aims you squarely at the final confrontation. With Mists of Pandaria, we're heading in a new way of handling the story of an expansion. Rather than each patch serving as a chapter in an overarching story ending in a confrontation with the big bad of the expansion, Mists is aiming for a more episodic feeling, similar to how the story of classic World of Warcraft played out. Each patch of the expansion will seem more sequential, as if the game in patch 5.0 were a movie and then subsequent major content patches its sequels. By comparison, Cataclysm is more like a story with several chapters, a TV show with several episodes, or a comic book miniseries with several issues. All of this has me thinking. We've been told that Garrosh Hellscream's removal as warchief is the big climax of Mists of Pandaria, and then we've been told that not all is what it seems on that score. What if Garrosh is a smokescreen? What if his removal or lack thereof is not, in fact, even the middle of Mists of Pandaria's story?
Know Your Lore, Tinfoil Hat Edition: The secret of Pandaria
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. "It's just possible that the curious race we're going to meet in this mystic land, may just teach us a thing or two about who we are, and why we fight." -- Chris Metzen, BlizzCon 2011 What do we know about Mists of Pandaria? We've been told that the major conflict highlighted in this expansion will be between Alliance and Horde. We've also been told that this will be one of the bloodiest wars since the days of Warcraft II. We've been told that there will be consequences for our actions, and we were told when the expansion was announced at BlizzCon that the pandaren have something to teach us. So what's up with that? And what's up with the crazy map making a reappearance? That's the funny thing -- it's all interconnected, possibly. Today we're going on a Tinfoil Hat trip through Mists of Pandaria to talk about my favorite crazy map, some theories on Azeroth, and why exactly Garrosh needs to be removed. Today's Know Your Lore is a Tinfoil Hat edition, meaning the following is a look into what has gone before with pure speculation on how it happened and what is to come as a result. These speculations are merely theories and shouldn't be taken as fact or official lore.
Super High Aperture: it's why the new iPad's Retina display is so dense
Super High Aperture. Heard of it? Probably not, but thanks to Apple, you'll probably long for days when you didn't in just a few months. According to an in-depth look from the folks at DisplaySearch, the aforesaid technique is the primary reason that Apple was able to shove 2,048 x 1,536 pixels into the 9.7-inch panel on the new iPad. Not surprisingly, it wasn't Apple that conjured up the magic; instead, it was crafted by engineers at Sharp and JSR (a display materials maker from Japan), but it'll be the iPad that makes an otherwise geeky achievement something that the mainstream covets. According to the science behind it, SHA is "a method of increasing aperture ratio by applying approximately a 3 [micrometer] thick photo-definable acrylic resin layer to planarize the device and increase the vertical gap between the [indium tin oxide] pixel electrodes and signal lines." Reportedly, there are also "at least twice as many" LEDs in the panel compared to that on the iPad 2, further suggesting that there's way more battery within the new guy than the last. Technophiles need only dig into the links below to find plenty more where this came from.
Know Your Lore, TFH edition: The true battle between Light and Darkness
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. Even now, the true battle between the forces of Light and Darkness approaches. We will all be called to join, and in the face of this conflict, all mortal suffering will be meaningless. Cataclysm is an expansion about the struggle to stop the end of the world and the struggle between Horde and Alliance. But in the 1-to-60 zone revamps, there are fascinating little bits of lore to be discovered. Most of these involve the Alliance/Horde conflict, but every now and again, you'll find a quest chain that leaves more questions than answers, more mystery than resolution. One of these chains begins for Alliance players in the Swamp of Sorrows, and it seems to be harmless enough. A Broken draenei named Magtoor is on his deathbed, and Anchorite Avuun is desperately looking for a cure. In Magtoor's final moments, Prophet Velen appears and returns Magtoor to the embrace of the Light with a little speech, including the quote above. The quest chain is fairly straightforward ... until we start picking at the potential meanings of that phrase. Today's Know Your Lore is a Tinfoil Hat edition, meaning the following is a look into what has gone before with pure speculation on how it happened. These speculations are merely theories and shouldn't be taken as fact or official lore.
Lichborne: Divining the direction of death knight lore in Pandaria
Every week, WoW Insider brings you Lichborne for blood, frost, and unholy death knights. In the post-Cataclysm era, death knights are no longer the new kids on the block. Let's show the other classes how a hero class gets things done. Let's face it: We had it pretty good in Wrath. Since that expansion was our grand debut, we were everywhere. We had an opening experience where we connected with our origin and found out that our own factions, for obvious reasons, barely trusted us. We were instrumental to the battle in Northrend, doing things other factions wouldn't do, with a clear goal of destroying those who wronged us. We were perfect tragic figures with some robust story and great characters in the form of Thassarian, Crok Scourgebane, and Darion Mograine, among others. In Cataclysm, things have been, to say the least, a little bit sparser. With Arthas dead, do death knights have a purpose in lore anymore, or are we just around because it'd be sort of silly to remove the class and have everyone reroll? I tend to think death knights are still a pretty interesting and dynamic class, story-wise, and this week, we'll look at where we are at the end of Cataclysm and where our story might go in Mists of Pandaria.
