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Become a Guardian of Hyjal with transmogrification
Players expecting the Cenarion Circle to show up in Hyjal might have been a little surprised to find the Guardians of Hyjal patrolling around up there instead in Cataclysm. These defenders of the world tree Nordrassil aren't actually the Cenarion Circle at all. While some may be members of the Cenarion Circle, the Guardians of Hyjal are their own organization in their own right. This is why you'll see druids roaming around as well as warriors in full plate standing guard at Nordrassil's roots. The Guardians of Hyjal are actually a collaboration between the druids of the Cenarion Circle and the Green Dragonflight. They've banded together to protect Hyjal from any would-be villains and to ensure Nordrassil's survival. With the uprising of Ragnaros in the region, it would seem that the group is sorely needed -- and as a faction in Cataclysm, players can join up with these guys and cash in on reputation rewards. And if you really like the look of Hyjal's plate defenders, it's actually pretty easy to replicate it with transmogrification!
Treating With the Enemy: RP guild greases cross-faction trade and parley
Most seasoned WoW players eventually figure out ways to confidently move money and items across faction lines. On top of that, the proliferation of voice communications like Ventrilo, realm-wide forums, and the ability to make characters on both factions of even a PvP realm (it hasn't always been possible!) all make it easy enough to chat up players on the other side of the divide. It's sort of the reverse of what happened to Darkshore in the Cataclysm -- whereas picking your way across that ravaged zone today is perilous to hoof and limb, it's relatively easy to treat with the enemy across faction lines. All those developments go out the window, however, if you're a roleplayer whose need for immersion and in-character realism trumps game mechanics. But speaking of trumps, lucky players on Cenarion Circle (US) and Thorium Brotherhood (US) hold a trump card when it comes to inter-faction relations: the services of the Anywhere Anytime Messenger Service, a set of guilds that provides delivery, translation and mediation services to Horde and Alliance characters seeking to breach the great faction divide. Our chat with the players behind the organization's CEO and branch manager positions is one of those interviews that'll make you want to create another character to join in this fun, social way to play (and the simple but charming guild jingle from the group's gnomish leader will earworm its way to your heart!).
The surreal concept of neutrality in Warcraft
Remember the Argent Crusade? It was a result of merging two factions -- the Argent Dawn, which spent its time in the Eastern Plaguelands trying to eradicate the Scourge, and the reformed Order of the Silver Hand, an Alliance order of paladins formed by Uther the Lightbringer and Alonsus Faol. The Argent Crusade accepted members of both Alliance and Horde who wanted to fight toward the Crusade's ultimate goal: the defeat of the Lich King. Today, the Argent Crusade sits in Hearthglen, working to restore the Western Plaguelands to their former beauty. The Argent Crusade is just one of the neutral factions in WoW, along with the Cenarion Circle, the Shattered Sun Offensive, the Earthen Ring and many others. Chris Metzen spoke about the Argent Crusade and the concept of neutral factions in our Mists of Pandaria press event interview, citing the Argent Crusade as one of the neutral factions that just rang true, whereas the Shattered Sun Offensive simply didn't feel quite as emotional. But here's the thing -- the Argent Crusade, while being very active in Wrath, is hardly doing anything at all in the Western Plaguelands. There's a fight for Andorhal going on on the Crusade's doorstep, but they aren't stepping in. The Forsaken -- members of the Horde -- are actively seeking out activities that look suspiciously like Scourge activity, even going so far as to recruit the val'kyr, former servants of Arthas. So ... what gives?
All the World's A Stage: Plot points for Cenarion Circle druids
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. The Cenarion Circle has had a presence in WoW ever since day one. Though the Cenarion Circle does have its own reputation grind that allows any player to join the ranks, the Circle itself is pretty much a druid-only organization. This has less to do with exclusivity and far more to do with the Circle's original purpose. It's that purpose that defines a druid, no matter what race that druid happens to be. ... sort of. The Cenarion Circle was originally founded by the Night Elves, thousands upon thousands of years ago. While they accepted the Tauren into their ranks, it wasn't without some contention among the Night Elf druids. These days, the Trolls of the Darkspear are made warily welcome, as are the Worgen of Gilneas. It's the Worgen who are the most interesting new addition to the Cenarion Circle, however, because without the Worgen, the Cenarion Circle simply wouldn't exist. In Cataclysm, the Cenarion Circle is just as active as ever, and for good reason -- the looming threat of Ragnaros the Firelord and the devastation wrought by Deathwing have done much to unsettle the natural balance of the world.
Know Your Lore: The Shattering, part 3
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. Garrosh Hellscream is probably one of the most contentious additions to the Cataclysm expansion. Oh sure, he existed all the way back in The Burning Crusade, but he wasn't Warchief at that point in time. Nobody thought for a moment that the depressed Orc in Garadar would one day be leading their characters into battle against the Lich King. And nobody dreamed that Garrosh would one day be sitting on the Horde's throne. It wasn't so much the surprise of the situation that people took issue with, however. Instead, it had much to do with Garrosh's attitude throughout Wrath of the Lich King. Headstrong, ruthless and downright bloodthirsty, Garrosh's decisions in Wrath didn't ring right or true with the playerbase. Even more jostling to players was the notion that despite the player dislike of the character, the NPCs of the world loved the guy. It may very well be the first time that a large chunk of a faction's players have blatantly disagreed with a fictional NPC faction -- and the NPC faction won out. The Shattering makes it clear that Garrosh's position is only temporary, but in Cataclysm, he's certainly attacking the job with gusto. Today's Know Your Lore contains pretty much every possible spoiler that exists for the novel The Shattering by Christie Golden. If you're avoiding spoilers, run away! Run away!
The Colosseum: Aethros of Cenarion Circle
I'm not sure whether I'd consider it a very fair reputation, but it definitely seems like roleplay servers have a reputation for not excelling at PvP. Aethros of Cenarion Circle defies that stereotype, with his team of 3v3 scoring 33rd ranked on Whirlwind battlegroup. Only a few weeks into the newest season, Aethros is already toting a personal rating of 2401. Aethros is the death knight member of prism plz go resto. This 3v3 team is a TSG composition. Named after the team who won the 2009 Blizzard Arena Tournament at BlizzCon, TSG teams are made up of a holy paladin, a warrior, and a death knight. Take a look behind the jump and see what Aethros had to say.
Congrats to our Creative headset winners
A couple of weeks ago, we announced a huge contest with Creative to give away twenty-five of their new World of Warcraft wireless headsets, one for each person in one big lucky raid. That contest has been over for a little bit, and we've finally picked a winner: congrats to all of the winners in the guild Rusty Blades on Cenarion Circle! They, along with the nine random winners in each of our single headset giveaways, as well as the lucky winners in the five man contest (who've all been contacted and confirmed) will all get their very own units when the headsets are finally released later on this month. And if you didn't win, don't worry -- Creative will of course be selling the headsets, so you can make sure to put them on your Christmas list, and maybe a loved one will help you out. The latest that we've heard is that they're still due out for release sometime this month, so stay tuned and when we know more about the release, you will too. Since our 25-man contest was actually a bit of a trivia contest as well (guilds had to find five locations in-game and then take pictures at each place), we've put the Rusty Blades' excellent answers after the break. Hopefully you haven't been wondering desperately about the answers for the last month but in case you were, there you go.
Searching for the most popular server
Kris over on the WoW LJ has an interesting question: what's the most popular server in the game? Blizzard never has (and likely never will) singled out one server as the most popular in the game, as the QQ that would ensue might bring the forums down (not to mention that it must change pretty often, as people transfer and reroll on other realms. It seems that everyone on a high population server thinks they must be top dog when they see queues during prime time, but the most widespread concrete numbers we have are probably from the unofficial Warcraft Realms census: they claim that, with over 35,000 characters on it, Whisperwind is number one.Of course, even that can't be trusted -- those numbers are picked up from the site's addon, all within the last 30 days, and it could just be that WR has more info about more people on that server. But at the same time, I'd guess that Warcraft Realms' numbers are in the ballpark, as long as you're talking about Yankee Stadium. Whisperwind, Cenarion Circle, Stormrage, Moon Guard, and Proudmoore are all big servers, I can promise you anecdotally, while Laughing Skull, Blood Furnace, and Malorne are definitely at the other end of the spectrum. As for a most popular realm, there probably isn't one specifically (it changes periodically, if not even at different times of the day). But if your realm is near the top of Warcraft Realms' list, it's probably busier than the others.
Ask a Lore Nerd: Like finding a needle in a boneyard
Welcome to Ask a Lore Nerd, where each week blogger and columnist Alex Ziebart answers your questions about the lore and history of the World of Warcraft. Ask your questions in the comments section below, and we'll try to answer it in a future edition.Welcome to another fine Sunday evening! Things are going to be shorter and sweeter than usual this week, as I've only recently gotten the internet back. Moving into a new apartment has its drawbacks, and needing to wait a week for Time Warner to get things installed is one of the worst. It's done now though, so next week will be grand, I just need to get my bearings back.Remember, the entire history of Warcraft is fair game in this column, not just Wrath of the Lich King. If you have a question that's a blast from the past, that's fine! We'll take it. Now, on with the show.Jardal asked...What's going on in the Ebon Hold where the DK trainer is killing a druid to explain how plague strike is the lifebloom eater? Wouldn't the alliance kind of frown on killing their allies or is this kind of a "what they don't know won't hurt them" thing?
Ask a Lore Nerd: Which came first, the Lich King or the Egg?
Welcome to Ask a Lore Nerd, where each week Alex Ziebart answers your quests about the lore in the World of Warcraft. If you have any questions, no matter how big or small they might be, ask them in the comments section below and we'll try to answer it in a future edition.It's another beautiful Sunday, and it's time for another edition of Ask a Lore Nerd! Let's jump righ tin with realmreaver's question... If the humans turned their back on the Forsaken due to their undead condition. Why are they all lovely dovey towards the Death Knights? Are not an army of undead LOVED ONES a necessary evil too?The Death Knight questline explains their return to the Horde/Alliance, and supplies some reasoning for why their factions are okay with them. Forsaken, on the other hand, are painted by the game to be very anti-Human. Why in the world would Humans accept them, former loved ones or not? One of their battle cries is, "Death to the living!" and they say such things consciously aware of their words. It's a completely different situation.If a group of Forsaken went through the same thing our Death Knights did and atoned the same way our Death Knights are, they'd potentially have a shot of joining the fold, at least for awhile. As it stands, the Forsaken reject Humanity just as much as Humans reject the Forsaken. Sylvanas is their Queen, Varian Wrynn is not their King.
Breakfast Topic: Last minute preparations
When Wrath comes, I'm pretty much abandoning my Druid. He's served me well through Battlegrounds, Arenas, and 10,20, and 40 man raiding, but be it burn out on Druids in general or just the need for the change of pace, he's fallen by the wayside. My Hunter is my main now, and my Death Knight will be a co-main come Wrath of the Lich King. Despite this, I'm actually playing my Druid quite a lot these days. Why? Because I just have to get the Guardian of Cenarius title for him, and I'm still a few thousand points shy of Exalted with Cenarion Circle reputation. It may seem to weird to be putting so much work into a character I'm not going to play for quite a while once Wrath comes out, but I feel like I owe it to him. He still has a rich, ongoing roleplaying backstory, and he's still been through a lot with me. So getting him to the pinnacle of Druidism is easily the best tribute I can think of. So he's in Silithus, slaughtering Twilight Cultists by the bucketload, looking for those Encrypted Twilight Texts.In addition, of course, I'm preparing for the 3.0.2 patch and Wrath in other ways. I already have enough Bog Lord Tendrils and Unidentified Plant Parts for my Death Knight to get a foothold in Zangarmarsh, and I'm gathering Arrakoa Feathers as well. If I have time, I may also gather a bunch of herbs and let my DK powerlevel inscription. Now that we're probably about 10 days away from 3.0.2, how are your preparations coming? I know a lot of you probably chimed in with your goals for pre-Wrath a few weeks back.. Are you making any progress on them, or are you like me, scrambling for those last few points of Cenarion Circle reputation before next Tuesday?
Ask a Beta Tester: Soundtracks, trinkets, and travel
Welcome back to Ask a Beta Tester! We'll jump right into things today with Graham's question... What is the music like in Dalaran? Is there a web site where I can hear some/all of it?Dalaran's music is some kind of weird cross between Draenei-style and Human-style music. It's like they picked up Stormwind City and dropped it on Azuremyst Isle. I don't think there's anywhere that you can download the entire Wrath of the Lich King soundtrack yet, but for sample you can stream just about anything on Songza if it's somewhere on the intertubes. And really, nowadays, what isn't?
Oh, what fresh hell is this?
Teech from Cenarion Circle penned a brief note on the forums today about the utter agony of farming Timbermaw Hold reputation at level 70. It seems like a lot of people are revisiting this particular rep grind in the interest of obtaining "The Diplomat" title and Achievement in Wrath, for which you need to be Exalted with Sporereggar, the Timbermaw, and the Mag'har/Kurenai. I'm giving some thought to doing it myself because I've already gotten to exalted with Sporereggar and the Mag'har on my main, but Timbermaw is...something else entirely. As a matter of fact, Timbermaw makes no sense. I can understand getting a Diplomat title for being an Alliance or Horde liasion to the embattled peoples of Outland no matter how bad their sense of tabard design, but someone's going to have to explain to me how committing genocide on behalf of a pissed-off subgroup of bears in loincloths does anything to advance the cause of diplomacy in Azeroth. Why are we so willing to believe the story being peddled by the first furbolg we see in Felwood? For all we know there's nothing wrong with the other furbolg tribes that some micro-lending couldn't cure. And let's face, it, there are other factions in the game for whom both the Alliance and Horde would be much better served by maintaining close diplomatic ties. Take the Consortium, for example. They ask you to lay waste to their colleagues all the time, but at least everyone concerned makes a buck off of it. What do the Timbermaw have to offer but a tunnel that you can fly over? Isn't the national interest of the Horde or Alliance better served by pursuing ties to factions with lots of money or weapons, or at least a massive grudge against things we already hate, rather than involving ourselves in some pointless internecine spat among NPC's whose death animation makes me squirm?Yeah, I might just be mad I have to kill so many of them. I'll grant that the dubious honor of most legendarily awful rep grind of all time still seems to belong to the Wintersaber Trainers (although the Cenarion Circle is also getting a lot of grief in the thread), but at least the Trainers' rep isn't linked to an amusingly ironic new title. Now if you'll pardon me, I have to go slaughter another several dozen bear men in the interests of social justice for...I'm not sure. Other bears who claim it's the right thing to do. But I get something out of it anyhow, and that makes me an ambassadorial hero.
Breakfast Topic: Does the levity mess up the lore?
Warning: Wrath spoilers ahead! Blizzard's pretty good at Lore when they want to be, with the whole 2.4 storyline, the Battle of Ahn'Qiraj, and many epic storylines promising to come out of Northrend. At the same time, they also have their own offbeat brand of humor that is never far gone from their design philosophy, and it shows up in their stories too. Sometimes it serves them well and adds a bit of levity, but other time, it seems to take on a life of its own, a life that can strangle what could have otherwise been something compelling and interesting. Zul'Aman is perhaps the most pertinent example. What could have been the last attempt of the Farstriders to shut down the troll menace threatening their people, what could have been a revival of the Troll killing tradition of the Arathi, or an examination of the High Elves who stayed loyal to the Alliance but still hate the Amani, instead turned into a cheap redneck treasure hunt. It killed much of the allure of the zone and turned what could have been a epic struggle against a former hero of the Horde into a run of the mill bunny bashing session.
Ask a Beta Tester: The Argent Crusade
It's that time again, ladies and gents. Alex here with today's round of answers to your Wrath Beta questions. Keep the questions coming, and we'll keep answering. To everyone that asked about Arena points: We don't know anything about that yet, and Blizzard doesn't either. As soon as they know, we'll know, and then you'll know.Gurluas asks...How many high elves are there in Wrath, and what are their role now that they have thier own faction?The High Elves actually have a pretty strong presence, which I'm rather excited about. The High Elves (and Blood Elves to a much lesser extent) are one of my favorite Warcraft races, and it makes me sad I can't play one. Alliance FTW. Dalaran, first of all, is packed full of them. Most of them are under the banner of the Silver Covenant, an Alliance-aligned faction of High Elves that aren't too happy about the Blood Elves being given a sizable section of Dalaran.There are also High Elves scattered throughout the Alliance forces in Northrend. There are a few of them in the 7th Legion (no, they're not all High Elves), the Argent Crusade, and just the Alliance forces overall. The fellow in charge of the Alliance contingent helping the Red Dragonflight at the Red Dragonshrine is a High Elf. He's a total badass, by the way. Check him out up there. Ashkandi is Draconic for Awesome.
About the Bloggers: Alex Ziebart
Twice a week, our writers will tell you more about themselves, and let you get to know them and the characters they play a little better. Click here to read more About the Bloggers. What do you do for WoW Insider?I'm primarily a weekend blogger for WoW Insider, but I also stick my nose in during the week when I can. I am also a columnist for Hybrid Theory and I take turns with Elizabeth Wachowski writing Know Your Lore.For the Horde or Glory to the Alliance? Glory to the Alliance! While orcs bug me for some reason I can't decipher, I don't really have anything against the Horde. I started playing Alliance because that's where my friends rolled and we started a pretty awesome guild there, so I stuck around and came to love it. If those people had rolled Horde instead, I might be playing there. Both factions have their own feel, and they're both very cool.
WoW Rookie: Pre-Burning Crusade endgame reputations
WoW Rookie is brought to our readers to help our newest players get acclimated to the game. Make sure you send a note to WoW Insider if you have suggestions for what new players need to know. For the last couple of week's we've been discussing reputations here on WoW Rookie. By leveling up reputation with factions you will open yourself up to special content, rewards, and discounts. Last week we examined some of the factions encountered while leveling from 1 to 60 in Azeroth. Some people still rep up with these factions, but for the most part these NPCs have been pretty lonely since the expansion. When the level cap was at 60, prior to the Burning Crusade, players spent a most of their time at level 60 repping up with PvP and raid factions. Many players gain reputation with these factions for the right to purchase crafting patterns from their vendors.
BRK and Ratshag organize a Running of Da Bulls
Many of you might remember that a while back, we organized a Stormwind Stampede, where a bunch of us created a herd of Tauren over on Zangarmarsh, and then had a little footrace all the way to Stormwind. Our friend BigRedKitty is apparently putting something similar together this weekend -- he's calling it the Cinco de Mayo Running of da Bulls, and the final goal appears to be from Mulgore to Hammerfall (which means there's an Org to Undercity zepplin ride in there somewhere).The whole event kicks off this Saturday, May 3rd over on Cenarion Circle. BRK is organizing the thing along with Ratshag of Need More Rage (he's the one who created the route, and it'll be his friend you're hunting for in Hammerfall). He's got more on his blog, including that the race is a tribute to a friend of theirs who passed away, and all the Tauren will be saying "moo" in respect.Sounds like a lot of fun. If you want to join them, meet up in Mulgore on Cenarion Circle at 4:00 server time (which works out to 7:00 Eastern). And make sure to take some screenshots. For the Herd!
Breakfast Topic: Where would you go if you were a tourist in Azeroth?
On April 1st, Gadling blogger Erik Mclaughlin took a little trip to a place we all know well: Azeroth! He describes a bit of a lowbie safari than spans from the the treetops of Darnassus, to a safari in the Barrens, to the Mage Quarter of Stormwind. It's a fun little read, and reminded me of a question posed by Temperius of Cenarion Circle a bit back on the official forums: Assuming you didn't have to worry about being attacked, at least not too much, Where would you go if you could be a tourist in the World of Warcraft? To be honest, I'd have a hard time deciding because there's very few places I wouldn't want to go. Some of the more demon infested places might end up being too ugly, but I have to say, I'd love to attend a banquet in Karazhan and take in an actual non-ghostly Opera or watching the patterns of the twisting nether from a high cliff in Netherstorm. I'd have to do some cliff diving from the Twin Colossals, and meditate by the moonwell outside Stormrage Barrow Den in Moonglade. And those would just be the beginning. How about fishing in Booty Bay, or joining the Shatterspear tribe for a bonfire dance party? What about joining Hemet on his almost certain-to-happen hunting trip up to the Grizzly Hills of Northrend? Assuming you could do it all in relative safety (Let's say you had a magic item that gave you exalted reputation with everything), how would you do the touristy thing in Azeroth? Where would you go? What would you do?
Blizzard announces Tauren Marines as the latest Starcraft 2 unit
The Tauren Marines are coming! That's right, for all of you lore enthusiasts who like to speculate as to whether Azeroth is in the same universe as Aiur, here's your proof. The Terran confederacy, on the lookout for new recruits for the meat grinder, has stumbled upon a planet known to its inhabitants as Azeroth, and has taken a special interest in a group of anthropomorphic bovines with bizarrely well developed horticultural skills. They've managed to recruit a group of the younger, wilder bulls, creating a new corps of soldiers that have taken on the nickname of "Mad Cows." We're incredibly excited to see what repercussions this could have not only for Starcraft, but for the World of Warcraft itself! It is likely that we'll see an in-game event or patch soon in which the Terrans land on Azeroth in order to recruit the Tauren. How will the Tauren accept a group of space-faring aliens who look suspiciously like the Humans who are usually regarded as their enemies? How will the Terrans react to the Humans themselves? Will there be any technology sharing? I'm sure many Engineers will be dying to get their hands on the schematics for their very own Vulture land mount, and the Cenarion Circle may want to compare notes with the Terrans on fighting giant bug-like creatures. Of course, those of you with the Zergling pet may want to consider hiding them for a while, lest a Firebat mistake you for an Infected Terran.
