auchindoun
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Six North American realms to open for BC
Blizzard has been telling us for a while that they will be launching new realms when the Burning Crusade hits (they'd be crazy not to). But what they haven't told us was how many, which kind, and most importantly, what their names will be. Haven't told us until now, that is. I present to you the following post from Drysc: We'll be launching the following six realms with the release of The Burning Crusade expansion on January 16, at 12:01 AM EST. Nagrand - PvE, Oceanic - Bloodlust battlegroup Velen - PvE, Pacific Coilfang - PvP, Pacific Terokkar - PvE, Central Exodar - PvE, Eastern Auchindoun - PvP, Eastern The majority of these realms will be placed in a new battlegroup, the name of which has yet to be announced. These are new non-transfer realms and as such the Gates of Ahn'Qiraj will be closed and they will not be open to character transfers for six months. Six realms seems a little skimpy to me; I think it's a safe bet that they'll be opening more either with the BC launch or shortly afterwards. The names follow the trend of BC-themed names that we saw with the European servers, which is cool. I like the new flavor they bring to my realm list. Speaking of the names, Drysc tells us that Auchindoun is pronounced "Aw-kin-dune." Good to know.Will you be rolling on one of these new servers when you get the expansion, or staying with your old home? Me, I could never leave Shadow Council, but I'm sentimental like that.
Blizzard releases interactive Outland map
Blizzard has posted an interactive map of Outland, the new lands showing up in the coming soon (we're told) expansion.Lots of groovy interesting stuff on there, including some new instances. The Black Temple and Hellfire Citadel we know about already, but Gruul's Lair sounds exquisitely interesting, and the crypty Auchindoun (centered in the middle of a massive crater) should be amazing. There's also cities for each faction marked in the zones, and more than a few cities marked "Faction," which undoubtedly hints at the locations where lots and lots of World PVP blood will be spilled.But maybe the most interesting thing on the map is a neutral city labeled, mysteriously, "Area 52," up in the southeast of Netherstorm. That lends a flavor I didn't expect to the new world, although it's one that seems likely, if you've been listening to what we've heard of the Draenei lore so far (and I do mean heard). Anyone want to take my 50g bet that we'll see an X-Files cultural reference in the NPCs when the expansion hits?Update: Looks like I was a little too fast on the PVP judgement: Tseric says Faction towns will be new faction homebases like Light's Hope (Argent Dawn) and Timbermaw Hold (TM Hold, obviously), while Neutral towns will be both places like Gadgetzan and World PVP objectives. Basically, don't read too much into the map before you see the game itself.Update2: Two more things-- one, check out the comments for a fun easter egg. And two, Pallysucks points out that the BE paladin is wearing the one set of pally armor in the game without +Str on it... and wielding a 2hander.[ Thanks, Dave! ]
