tanaan-jungle
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Breakfast Topic: What do you want out of patch 6.1?
While we have no confirmation, we can reasonably expect we'll see murmurings on the patch 6.1 front once the holiday season has passed -- that is, in the weeks following New Year's Day. We know the new blood elf models will be in that patch barring any unforeseen circumstances, but beyond that, it's mostly guesswork. Tanaan Jungle might open in that patch ... or it may come a little later. What do you want to happen in that patch, though? Personally, I only want more solo-oriented max level content. Right now, solo content is largely the one daily apexis quest and grinding mobs for either more apexis or some not-very-useful reputation. Having the barn in your garrison gives you a few more quests for taming your new mounts, but they aren't very substantial. I have no issue with grinding mobs; I find it quite peaceful. It would be nice to have more variety, though. Whether that be daily quests or a sandbox akin to the Timeless Isle, I'm not picky. Either one is fine by me.
Warlords of Draenor: Tanaan stress test today at 3:00 p.m. Pacific
If you've got the free time and access to the Warlords beta, consider lending a hand to the development team and joining the Tanaan Jungle stress test, today, September 10th, at 3:00 pm Pacific time. The level 100 realms will be turned off for the duration of the test, and the Blues are encouraging us all to create new level 90s in order to test the server load on the Tanaan Jungle introductory quests. This is an important aspect of Warlords of Draenor, particularly because everyone will have to do these quests at the beginning of the expansion. The more accurate data Blizzard has on what their servers can handle, the better they can make the early expansion experience for all of us.
The Queue: How creepy
Welcome back to The Queue, the daily Q&A column in which the WoW Insider team answers your questions about the World of Warcraft. Alex Ziebart will be your host today. Those cyclops critters always freak me out a little bit. They look so happy. Therefore, I find being happy creepy, I guess? @AeroCross asked: Do you think there's going to be a WoD version of the Timeless (aka Loot) Isle sometime in the future? How would that work?
Know Your Lore: Quests, story, and you in Warlords of Draenor
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. A new expansion is certainly about delivering new content, but it's also a vehicle for story progression -- and the end of Mists of Pandaria left behind plenty of questions waiting to be answered. Unfortunately, any questions having to do with Pandaria or Azeroth will have to wait, as we have other, more pressing matters to think about. In Warlords of Draenor, the Iron Horde looms just over the horizon, a threat eerily reminiscent of the old Horde that began the First War so many years ago. Except the Iron Horde is stronger, more organized, and bolstered by the knowledge of just what's on the other side of that Dark Portal they are constructing, thanks to Garrosh Hellscream. That story, the story of Warlords of Draenor, is taking us in a different kind of direction, the likes of which we haven't seen before. While Mists may have pushed the button on innovation as far as max-level content was concerned, its seemingly never-ending cycle of daily quests upon daily quests quickly grew from entertainment to frustration as players quickly grew tired of the cycle of daily gated content and rewards. Warlords has none of that -- but it does have a whole host of new ways to make the story feel important, without overpowering how the player approaches the game. Please note: The following Know Your Lore contains small spoilers for Warlords of Draenor.
Know Your Lore: Yrel, Draenor's Light
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. At the moment, we've only got two full zones open in the Warlords of Draenor beta -- Frostfire Ridge, and Shadowmoon Valley. Also open is the introductory lead-in to Draenor through the Tanaan Jungle. It's there that we first meet her, fairly unassuming and not exactly remarkable in any way. Yrel was first mentioned at BlizzCon during the story and lore panel -- a draenei whose story was going to be a major part of the Warlords expansion, the comparison made that she is a Joan of Arc-like figure. We've only seen the first few steps of Yrel's journey so far in the beta, so the accuracy of that comparison remains to be seen. But Yrel, unassuming as she may seem, already appears to hold a bright spot in the canvas of Draenor's future. So just who is this draenei, and what makes her a lore figure to watch for? Please note: The following Know Your Lore contains spoilers for Warlords of Draenor. If you are avoiding spoiler content, turn away!
Warlords of Draenor: Tanaan Jungle introduction
Warlords of Draenor begins in a different kind of way than any expansion prior. All players, including newly-boosted level 90's, play through the same short introductory experience. This sequence serves a few different purposes -- partially to ease newly boosted 90's into their abilities, partially to purposefully get players from Azeroth to Draenor, and partially to introduce some of the key players we'll be seeing on Draenor itself, as the expansion progresses. While I'm not about to spoil everything under the sun in regards to this experience, I did want to review Tanaan as it stands so far on the beta. The latest beta build has fixed many missing textures, as well as adding some new ones -- but the story has by and large stayed exactly the same. So what's it like, playing through this experience? Read on to find out -- and if you'd just like some idea of what the Tanaan experience looks like, check out the included gallery. Please note: Both the gallery and the following post will contain some spoilers for Warlords of Draenor. If you're avoiding spoilers, don't click!
World of Warcraft previews the Tanaan Jungle
The first two zone previews for World of Warcraft's next expansion focused on the areas that will lie at the heart of each faction, but Warlords of Draenor doesn't start in either of those areas. No, players will begin by setting foot (or hoof) into the Tanaan Jungle, a lush land filled with warriors of the Iron Horde as well as no shortage of vicious beasts. Yes, it's dangerous even without the orcs, that's kind of a running theme here. Players using characters boosted to level 90 will be learning their classes for the first time in the jungle, meeting orc luminaries such as Grom Hellscream and Khadgar Bladefist. (They're with the Iron Horde; they won't be happy to see you.) Players are also teased that they might need to make a deal with the warlock Gul'dan to get out in one piece, which is an activity that has never worked out well for anyone. Check out the full preview and all the lore it implies on the official site.
Warlords of Draenor: Tanaan Jungle preview
One of the aspects of Draenor that's most interesting (to me, at least) is how it subverts what we think we know about the place. To use, the Dark Portal opens onto the blasted and sere Hellfire Peninsula. But it wasn't always so, and we're about to get a sense of what the place was like before the rise of the Old Horde. Welcome to the Tanaan Jungle, a lush yet treacherous land where the Iron Horde prepares its conquest of our Azeroth. Head on over to the official site and read up on Tanaan - the place where boosted 90's will learn how to use their new abilities once Warlords of Draenor launches, as well as the staging ground for the Iron Horde's invasion. Can a band of heroes prevent it? Can they fight their way free of the Iron Horde war machine and find allies in this strange world they find themselves in? Find out.
