DarkmoonFaire
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Alliance wins Darkmoon Faire contest; final video unlocked
The Alliance has vanquished their Horde foes in the first (incredibly unofficial) PvP battle of Cataclysm, the Darkmoon Faire: Your Fortune Awaits community unlockable "contest." As a result of their stunning victory, the Alliance won ... nothing. Don't spend it all in one place, guys! An hour or two after the Alliance reached 100 percent, the Horde too reached their 100 percent goal. With both factions at 100 percent, the final community video, "Reforging of the World," was unlocked (above). It's a look at some of the zones changed in the shattering, along with some videos of the new post-level-80 zones unlocked in Cataclysm. World of Warcraft: Cataclysm will destroy Azeroth as we know it; nothing will be the same! In WoW Insider's Guide to Cataclysm, you can find out everything you need to know about WoW's third expansion (available Dec. 7, 2010), from brand new races to revamped quests and zones. Visit our Cataclysm news category for the most recent posts having to do with the Cataclysm expansion.
Alliance get first community unlockable from Darkmoon Faire
The Alliance have unlocked the first community prize from Blizzard's Cataclysm ramp-up site, The Darkmoon Faire: Your Fortune Awaits. Visitors to the site choose a faction and "Like" certain pages on Facebook in order to earn points for their respective side. The Alliance, with 11 percent, has unlocked a video interview with Gary Platner, the leader environment artist on World of Warcraft. Head over to the Fortune website to check out the video. Update: The Horde has also unlocked its first community video, an interview with Jesse McCree, the lead level designer for World of Warcraft. World of Warcraft: Cataclysm will destroy Azeroth as we know it; nothing will be the same! In WoW Insider's Guide to Cataclysm, you can find out everything you need to know about WoW's third expansion (available Dec. 7, 2010), from brand new races to revamped quests and zones. Visit our Cataclysm news category for the most recent posts having to do with the Cataclysm expansion.
The Darkmoon Faire is in town
It's June 9th, and it's the time of the month for the Darkmoon Faire set up camp again. This time, they're stationed in Elwynn Forest, just outside of Goldshire. If you're looking for stuff to do at the Faire, or have never figured out just what it's all about, you're in luck. You can check out WoW Insider for all you need to know about getting the most out of the Faire. Check our Darkmoon Faire card deck guide for information on all the powerful trinkets you can pick up, and to find out if one of them is right for you. Check out our Darkmoon Faire ticket system guide for information on how to turn that tradeskill junk cluttering up your bank into fabulous prizes. Check out Alex's Gallery of a day at the faire to see all the fun you can have just hanging out, from food and drink to fortune telling to Tonks. Also, be sure to check if Professor Paleo or Lhara over at the exotic goods booth have any of their more valuable items up for sale: they can have potions, herbs, and even rare gems in stock from time to time. The Faire will be here until June 15th, after which time it will disappear again until July 7th, when it will return to Mulgore. Be sure to head over to Goldshire before then, and we'll see you at the Faire! %Gallery-20398%
Tickets, Please: A look at Darkmoon Faire's ticket reward system
It's the first full week of the month, and among other things, that means that the Darkmoon Faire is in town -- That town being Shattrath City, at least for February. We've said a few things about the Faire in the past, but I'd like to get into the meat of the thing, so you can figure out how to get all you can out of Silas and his merry band before they head out for another month, or at least start your preparations for their next gig in Elwynn Forest. This time, I'd like to talk about the ticket system, that lovely process whereby Gelvas Grimegate turns Darkmoon Faire Prize Tickets into loot. Fellow blogger Robin Torres posted a good introduction to the system a few months back, but I'd like to expand it a bit and see what we can find out about how it works and why -- or if -- you should take advantage of it.Check it out after the jump!
Around Azeroth: I can fly!
One of my favorite games at the Darkmoon Faire is the cannon that you can shoot yourself from. When you launch from the cannon, you will have a lovely set of wings (as seen above) which come with a quite handy slow fall effect. However, this is the first time I've seen the cannon launch cats into the air... or perhaps this shot, sent in by reader Donna, is a preview of the upcoming Druid Gryphon form? Only time will tell!Do you have a unique shot of Azeroth or Outland that you'd like to show off to the rest of the world? Tell us about it by e-mailing aroundazeroth@gmail.com! Or perhaps you'd just like to see more of your pics from Around Azeroth. %Gallery-1816%
Changes to the events calendar
It would appear that the appearance of L70ETC at the Darkmoon Faire heralded a couple of changes to the overall in-game events calendar. One fairly cool, and another that stands to cause some questions. It would appear the schedule for the Darkmoon Faire has changed so that once every three months, it will now cycle through Terokkar Forest, ostensibly in the location it is in now. For those collecting the new cards this is a useful change, as it saves you from having to portal back to Azeroth, and then hearth back to Shattrath just to get your item. For everyone else who isn't collecting cards, it gives you a chance to blow your fellow players to bits in a game of Tonks. It also marks the first permanent location with the Darkmoon Faire in neutral territory, which will probably lead to some fairly decent World PvP.The other thing that is different with the in-game events calendar is that the Halloween holiday, Hallow's End is missing. Now, we don't know if this is simply an oversight on Blizzard's part since the Hallow's End page is still there (after all, they did just get finished with an awesome weekend full of Blizzcon festivities!) or if this is an intentional removal from the calendar. I do know that if it was an intentional removal, I'm going to miss getting those silly costume wands that you could use on other folks in your party. Sure, the wisp forms got annoying as they removed just about all chance of fighting. But it was fun to flap around as a bat, or try to make your Skeletal form jump -- and watch it fail miserably, thus just making it hop-levitate without moving its feet. And what about throwing rotten eggs at the opposite faction? There again, Blizzard may have something even spookier up their sleeves to start ramping up for Wrath of the Lich King... Perhaps another Scourge invasion? I guess we'll have to wait and see. [thanks RogueJedi86!]
Level 70 Elite Tauren Chieftain performing now!
Drysc announced earlier today that starting at midnight server time, Level 70 Elite Tauren Chieftain is performing at the new Darkmoon Faire location outside of Shattrath City. Don't be afraid if you've missed your server's performance time, because they will be performing at the top of every hour until BlizzCon is over.You don't need to be high level to attend if you can get a Warlock to summon you, but you do need The Burning Crusade.Happy BlizzCon Week everyone!Update: It seems that the concert has begun on some servers at 1am, instead of midnight and others not at all. The stage should be located at 36, 34 in Terrokar Forest, if you have a coordinate mod -- just outside of the southeast exit of the Lower City.Update2: Screenshot of the show after the jump. Rock on, L70ETC!
It came from the Blog: Into the portals we go
Yup, as you can see, our little Zangarmarsh guild, It came from the Blog, is growing and growing-- we've made it to 188 members, and a good 90% of them are really fun people (the remaining 10% of them is me, and then some BigRedKitty haterz). If you'd like to find out personally who's who, just come over and roll a Horde character on Zangarmarsh, then whisper anyone in the guild for an invite. You can also come by our new forums and leave a note there, and we'll look for you ingame.We're trying to have one big guild event per week, and this week's event is going to be this Friday evening, June 15th, at 8pm server time. This time around, we're going to run some instances! Most of us are still fairly low, and all of us are Horde, so there'll probably be a lot of Ragefire Chasm and Wailing Caverns, but hopefully we'll also get a group into Deadmines, and maybe even try Blackfathom Deeps (one of my favorite instances) or Shadowfang Keep. Unfortunately I won't be there (I'll be off covering the Darkmoon Faire in Chicago, so look for pictures and reports from that this weekend), but if you join us, you'll have the chance to play alongside "Krystalle" Voecks, Robin "Robiness" Torres, and Elizabeth "Lizzie" Harper. You may also see Dan O'Halloran, Amanda Riviera, and Lisa Poisso there in some form as well. Not to mention that you'll get to play alongside up and coming IctfB superstars like Pingles, Hudson, Mogwai, and, if you're lucky, Zungaba. Shoutouts for the win! (Don't worry, rest of the guild, I'll get you in later.)So please come join us this Friday when we finally take the guild into some instances. Wipes for everyone, and loot for most!
It came from the Blog: We killed Hogger
... and died to tell about it. Yup, on Wednesday night a whole bunch of WoW Insider readers and writers took our Horde guild on Zangarmarsh to Elywnn Forest to visit the Darkmoon Faire, and much, much fun was had. To get there, we congregated in Grom'gol, and along with the help of Krystalle's lock and another nice lock named Dartruby, we summoned up. When we numbered about 30 or so, we ran out onto the road in STV and.. died.We didn't last long. But once we got up to Elwynn, we did kill Hogger! After a little PvP (read: getting killed by a 70 Pally), we headed up to Stormwind as ghosts, and took some nice pictures of our ghostly selves outside the Cathedral. Finally we rezzed and avoided the guards long enough to visit the Darkmoon Faire (I'm surprised I remember it, as I had a little too much Shpecial Resherve, if you know what I mean). Afterwards, Brab and I took a small group into WSG where, just to finish off a perfect evening, we died over and over again.But I think good times were had by all, so we're going to do it again! Next Friday, June 15th at 8pm Server (we're switching up the times constantly so more people can join us), we'll finally take ICftB into those swirly portal things-- we're going to be running Deadmines, Wailing Caverns, SFK, RFC, and any other instances you crazy people want to run with us. And as always, you can join us if you haven't yet-- just roll Horde on Zangarmarsh and /whisper anyone in the guild for an invite. Check the gallery below to see what we did on Wednesday, and join us next week for a little Instancy fun.%Gallery-3739%
It came from the Blog: Serving Azeroth's orphans
Big thanks to everyone who came out and played with us, the WoW Insider staff, in our new guild on the Horde side of Zangarmarsh last night. I'm playing an undead priest named Mikril, and I had a good time questing around with a shaman named Gambu (he made a good tank). All told, we picked up almost 60 guildmembers in our first night, and even rolled a few people to 10 so they could run orphans around Azeroth for the last day of Children's Week. We'll continue to keep the guild running for some fun and casual gameplay, so If you want to join up, just roll a toon on the Horde side of Zangarmarsh and send a whisper to anyone in "It came from the Blog."We are keeping it totally and completely casual -- I don't want to give up on my own usual characters, and you likely don't want to give up yours -- so there's absolutely no pressure to level up at all. We're just planning on making it a fun place to hang out once a week or so. While we will probably be around at various times throughout the week (I'll be working my way up to 19 so I can get a good WSG group going), our next organized game night will be Wednesday, June 6th at 7 pm EST. The Darkmoon Faire will be in Elywnn Forest then, I'm told, so we'll lead a Horde lowbie party into the Human starting area to run some tonk wars, shoot the cannon, drink some ale (and start some drunken fights with Alliance), and have a grand ol' time.So mark your calendar, and in the meantime feel free to roll your own alt and come join us on Zangarmarsh. When you need a break from hardcore endgame raiding, or just want to come meet and greet all of us here at WoW Insider, we'll see you there.
Phat Loot Phriday: Darkmoon Special Reserve
Yes, there's lots of things to do in Azeroth, and fortunately, getting drunk is one of them. Our expansion finally shows up next week, so before then, let's have another round on the best tasting stuff you can find.Name: Darkmoon Special ReserveType: BeverageDamage / Speed: Messes you up but quickAbilities: "An extremely potent alcoholic beverage." Yup, this is the hard stuff. When you want to get virtually drunk, settle for nothing less. It's the official beverage of fishing superstar Nat Pagle! You know how when you get a few in you, it feels like you can take on the world? This beverage is no different-- after consuming it, not only do you get the normal blurry vision (seen above), but mobs will actually look lower in level to you. Get smashed on this stuff, and a level 50 mob will actually look level 45 or 46. Careful though-- this stuff packs a heck of a hangover. Too bad you can't find a chocolate milkshake anywhere in the game (trust me, that's the best hangover cure ever). How to Get It: As the name implies, you can get it at the Darkmoon Faire-- the beverage vendor there sells it cheap. The Faire shows up either outside Thunder Bluff or Stormwind, depending on where it happens to be at a certain time. But the vendor will sell it to you anytime, no matter what faction you are, as long as you make your way over there.But the other, better way to get it is to stop by the most legendary fishing spot in all of Azeroth. Nat Pagle, fisherman extraordinaire (named after Blue's Pat Nagle), has a nice little fishing spot hidden in none other than Zul'Gurub. At the camp (where you also summon Gahz'ranka). There's a few boxes there, and you can stock up on the Special Reserve to your heart's content. Pagle fished in style, baby!Getting Rid of It: Drink the stuff-- it does a body good. If, for some reason, you've decided to cut down on the consumption, a vendor will buy it back for 12 copper. Cheers! Here's to the Burning Crusade! See you in Outland!
WoW Moviewatch: Learn to fly
It wasn't that long ago that I was talking about the super nifty cannon at the Darkmoon Faire. And while players from either faction can visit this cannon when the Faire is set up in Elwynn Forest, it's a bit more challenging for an alliance player to visit the cannon when the Faire is in Mulgore -- you see, it's stationed inside Thunder Bluff itself. Of course, the enterprising alliance player can still have loads of fun shooting themselves out of the cannon and plummeting to their deaths -- it's just a bit riskier, as seen in the video.
Around Azeroth: Darkmoon wings
Even if you've visited the Darkmoon Faire on its passes through Elywnn Forest or Mulgore, you might have missed this little toy. There's a cannon (hint: the cannon in Mulgore is actually hiding in Thunder Bluff) that you can hop into and fly half-way across the zone. Usually doing so leads to your untimely death, but sometimes you'll manage to hit the target landing zone -- in deep water where you take no fall damage. (Personally, I haven't figured out the trick to it -- unless I use a second skill, like levitate, to slow my final fall.) This shot shows Flux sailing off to probable demise over Elwynn forest... poor guy.Do you have a unique shot of Azeroth that you'd like to show off to the rest of the world? Tell us about it by e-mailing aroundazeroth@gmail.com! You can attach a picture file or send us a link to one -- and don't worry about formatting, we'll take care of that part. If yours isn't posted immediately, don't fret! Shots are posted (more or less) in the order received, and yours will come up eventually.
Darkmoon Faire Back in Town
I don't know if it's happening WoW-wide, but on my server, at least, the Darkmoon Faire is back in town this week. Those enterprising little goblins have set up camp outside of Goldshire with the usual host of games & prizes.Personally, I love the Faire, especially the human cannonball...I can never resist giving it a whirl. I always enjoy stopping by the fortune teller, as well, even though I usually wind up with a buff that I can't really use. Last time they came through town, I also got a nice 2-handed sword out of a prize box that I ended up using for several levels...much more useful than that silkscreened Def Leppard mirror that I won at the last real-life fair I went too.What about you guys? Does the Faire live up to the hype? Do you actually go collect the items for the various ticket booths, or do you just buy them on the AH? Have you collected any card decks? Gotten any good prizes? Let us know....
WoW Moviewatch: The Darkmoon Faire trailer from E3
This is the first part of a series of press release videos from E3; this one spotlighting the events at the Darkmoon Faire. It probably doesn't contain anything that most of us haven't seen, but it's a nice little video, in any case...although it could really use one of those carnival barkers yelling "Sunday, SUNday, SUNDAY!". Enjoy...
