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The OverAchiever: Examining patch 4.3's new achievements
Every Thursday, The Overachiever shows you how to work toward those sweet achievement points. This week, all hell breaks loose. Hey folks. The Littlest Pet Shop option was the most popular choice in last week's The OverAchiever: Wrapping up Mountain O' Mounts, but that was before all manner of patch 4.3 goodness was datamined on Tuesday night. I spent the subsequent 24 hours in a caffeine-fueled haze running three characters around the PTR investigating the new achievements for you. I bring tidings of great, albeit currently bugged, joy to you all.
Patch 4.3 PTR: New achievements uncovered
Our friends over at Wowhead have uncovered the first batch of new patch 4.3 achievements, and there are some pretty awesome ones. Most of them refer to either new holiday content (primarily Winter Veil and Midsummer Fire Festival) or the new Darkmoon Faire, although there are a few achievements from the new dungeons. Be warned that the titles and descriptions of these achievements may contain spoilers. Here are a few of my favorites: That's Not Canon! comes from defeating a certain boss in the Caverns of Time in a certain manner. A bit of a thumbed nose at people who don't like all this time travel? Maybe, but the title's hilarious enough that I can't stop chuckling. A-Caroling We Will Go Now this is how you spread Winter Veil cheer. I don't know about you, but I can't wait to don my gaudiest sweater and break some Orcish eardrums. I Was Promised a Pony Looks like our good friend Ghostcrawler got some achievement naming duties this time around. You can't deny it forever, Greg. It's true, and you know it. We are still waiting. Brace yourselves for what could be some of most exciting updates to the game recently with patch 4.3. Look at what's ahead: new item storage options, cross-realm raiding, cosmetic armor skinning and your chance to battle the mighty Deathwing -- from astride his back!
Breakfast Topic: The new Darkmoon Faire
In case you missed it, Blizzard has unveiled the new and improved Darkmoon Faire that will be coming to Azeroth in patch 4.3. The Darkmoon Faire will occupy an entire island and be filled to the brim with new quests, rewards, fun novelty items, and even a brand new, free-for-all PVP arena in the same vein as the Gurubashi Arena. The changes are massive, turning the Darkmoon Faire into a whole new experience for players. There are so many features coming with the new Faire that it's hard to choose the coolest one. So that's what we should talk about this morning. What is your favorite feature coming with the new Darkmoon Faire? Is it the ability to purchase old vanity armor sets that are difficult to obtain or just don't exist anymore? What about the ability to gain five skill points in all of your professions per week while the Faire is in town? Are you a questaholic, excited to complete all of the new quests and storylines that the Faire will provide? How about collecting Darkmoon Artifacts, found all over the world, in order to earn prizes, rewards, and more?
Patch 4.3 preview: The all-new Darkmoon Faire
The Darkmoon Faire is getting a full-on revamp in the upcoming patch 4.3 update to Cataclysm, giving the Faire its own island secretly hidden away within the mists. The old ticket system from the Faire of yesteryear is being replaced with new quests, new games to play for tickets, and more. From the preview, we can expect a fez-wearing monkey companion pet, new toys and balloons, more heirlooms, fun souvenirs, and replica sets of long-lost armor that have been removed from the game or are extremely hard to get. New achievements and titles are also coming. This is a huge content update to the Darkmoon Faire. From the preview, this appears to be the Molten Front of the Darkmoon Faire, a huge, fun questing and game experience that involves fun toys, games, and more. Games include Whack-a-Gnoll, Tonk Battle Royale, the ominious-sounding Cannon, a ring toss game, a shooting gallery, and more to be announced. A new Gurubashi Arena-style free-for-all PVP arena called the Darkmoon Deathmatch will be introduced, as well. One of the most interesting parts of the new Darkmoon Faire is that you will be able to gain experience, prize tickets, and skill points for your professions -- up to five skills points per profession per Faire week. If you've been struggling with those last few points in a profession or want to level up alts' professions without spending too much on the Auction House, the first week of each month at the Faire opens up some new options.
WoW Rookie: All about Darkmoon cards
New around here? WoW Rookie has your back! Get all our collected tips, tricks and tactics for new players in the WoW Rookie Guide. WoW Rookie is about more than just being new to the game; it's about checking out new classes, new playstyles, and new zones. Last week, we talked about what it meant to be a rookie and casual in this crazy patch 4.2 world. Tharenar asked about something much different in the comments, though: Could you do a wow rookie: darkmoon cards column please? I started playing just before wrath and this whole section of the game is a mystery to me. What are the cards for? Why do I want them? Which cards are good and which are a waste of money etc. Thanks Fellow commenter Revnah provided a pretty good, short explanation of Darkmoon Cards, but I wanted to take the time expand on that this week. Darkmoon Cards are a big enough part of the end-game dynamic that it's worth our time to make sure we understand it. First, a little history. Darkmoon decks were created by combining crafted "cards." (The cards are made via Inscription.) You would then take these decks and turn them in at the Darkmoon Faire to get trinkets. Some trinkets, like those created by the Nobles deck, were so perfectly itemized that they never stopped being really, really good in the previous expansion. It's not that these trinkets possessed a very high item level. It's that they wasted no points on stats that weren't absolutely perfect. So later, when higher item level gear became available and spread their points among sub-optimal stats, the Darkmoon trinkets still had more of the stats that you really really wanted.
Drama Mamas: Proper AH etiquette when a guildie helps craft
Drama Mamas Lisa Poisso and Robin Torres are experienced gamers and real-life mamas -- and just as we don't want our precious babies to be the ones kicking and wailing on the floor of the checkout lane next to the candy, neither do we want you to become known as That Guy on your realm. So. Dreamy. I perhaps should have warned you that if you are going to send letters that contain even the slightest hint of a Jane Austen reference, this kind of thing would happen. Well, now you know. Hi, I recently had an issue with a guildie that I would like to ask about. At the beginning of the expansion, it was a goal of mine to get one of the Darkmoon Card trinkets crafted. As we all know, it is no small task. A fellow guildie (and fellow officer) offered to help me with the task. So I immediately flicked the farm herb switch, and set out to make it happen. After a couple of weeks, more research into available trinkets, and nearly 60 stacks of herbs, I was one card away from the deck. I was able to purchase the last card for a good sum of gold and finally had my deck ready for the Darkmoon Faire. With all of the gear research I had done, I concluded that the trinket I had worked so hard for was going to be replaced very quickly. So I decided that I'd try to sell it, reasoning that there were other personal goals I had in the game that could benefit from a chunk of gold. After posting it on the AH and being away for a day, my guildie that crafted it for me shot me a fairly aggressive tell saying how he thought selling it was a low thing to do. He explained that he even used some of his own herbs to craft the cards and that the only reason he offered to begin with was to help a guildie get raid-ready. I took it off the AH so as not to cause problems and explained that I wasn't aware he had to use his own mats to help make it all. I found out later that he had been ripping me to others about selling it before he spoke with me. I posted an explanation in our forums of why I was going to sell it at all. apologized if I offended anyone, and stated that I would be using it after all.
Insider Trader: Beat the RNG making Darkmoon cards
Insider Trader is a column about professions by Basil "Euripides" Berntsen, who also writes Gold Capped about how to make money using the auction house. Email Basil your questions. We've all heard someone say something to the effect of "I don't make Darkmoon cards because I don't have enough gold to beat the random number generator." What do they mean? Here's the situation: Darkmoon Cards of Destruction are craftable by maximum-skill scribes, and they award a completely random card. There are 32 possible cards they can give you in four different "suits" of eight, and if you match up a whole suit, you can create one of four Darkmoon decks. These decks start a quest that, when turned in at the Darkmoon Faire, provide one of the best trinkets in the game. The Darkmoon greatness decks last expansion "outlived their iLvl" in the sense that since they were so perfectly itemized for quite a few classes that they would reward their owners with better performance than later-tier trinkets, especially token-bought trinkets. Looking at the new decks, they are almost as perfectly itemized, so I suspect that they will provide their owners many months of use before they get overshadowed by some new drop. What this means is that everyone wants one of these, and they're very expensive to make and thus very rare.
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.
Worldbreaker preview and costume contest at Darkmoon Faire Los Angeles this weekend
If you're keen to experience the new Worldbreaker expansion for the WoW TCG before it releases on the 14th of December, you should seriously consider trying to find a way to get to Los Angeles for the Darkmoon Faire this Dec. 4 and 5. Cryptozoic will be hosting a costume contest as well as a tournament, with prizes ranging from the loot cards like the Spectral Tiger to boxed sets of the new expansion. There are even door prizes for contestants. Frankly, if you're even remotely interested in the TCG (or cool loot cards from it), I'd say you should be working on your costume or getting ready to play the new expansion. Either way, sounds like a good time and a way to get to see Worldbreaker before the world finishes up breaking this Dec. 7, 2010.
Insider Trader: Inscription heads into Cataclysm
Insider Trader is a column about professions by Basil "Euripides" Berntsen, who also writes Gold Capped about how to make money using the auction house. Email Basil your questions. Inscription is going to be going through some changes in Cataclysm. We've already had a pretty massive overhaul in patch 4.0 with the changes to glyphs, but we're in for some more after the expansion ships. Obviously, the mats we use will change: the new common pigment from milling is Ashen Pigment (for BlackFallow Ink), and the uncommon one is Burning Embers (for Inferno Ink). Kaliope, who I've come to rely on for beta profession information, informs us that the best herb to get the Burning Embers from is Twilight Jasmine, found in the Twilight Highlands. As in Wrath of the Lich King, we will be able to trade the common inks for the uncommon ones; Jessica Sellers has updated her price list to accept Blackfallow Ink. It's going to be a single Blackfallow for a single older ink, as well as 10 for an Inferno Ink or Snowfall Ink.
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.
Darkmoon Faire site announced to herald the Cataclysm
Blizzard today released a new website modeled after the Darkmoon Faire, presumably to herald the coming Cataclysm. You can get your fate cards read by a grizzly fortune teller and unlock content for your faction by Sharing and Liking stuff on your favorite social network. Check out the official announcement, and definitely check out the Darkmoon Faire site itself. The ground trembles beneath your feet and sinister cultists speak of impending doom. Loved ones have gone missing and the appearance of angered elementals only adds to the confusion. What does the future hold for Azeroth's heroes? What fortune awaits within Sayge's cards? Visit the Darkmoon Faire and shed light on these mysteries. Join the ranks of the Horde or the Alliance by taking the World of Warcraft: Cataclysm personality test. Gain insight into your destiny by answering a series of questions that probe into your inner workings and draw fortune's cards to catch a glimpse of the future. By "Liking" and "Sharing" content on the site, taking the personality test, and submitting original images or videos to our contests, you can help unlock exclusive content for the Horde or Alliance! source
The Queue: Definitely not a kitten, at all
Welcome back to The Queue, WoW Insider's daily Q&A column in which the WoW Insider team answers your questions about the World of Warcraft. Mike Sacco will be your host today. I think we can all agree that the above picture is not a kitten, thus ending the cute-baby-animals theme used in header images in The Queue once and for all. The Dark Wayne asked: There's one question that's been on my mind ever since 3.3 came out: Will we be able to obtain Shadowmourne or at least Shadow's Edge in Cataclysm? If we can, will we also still be able to get the fancy box of lore trinkets that drop when you kill the LK with it? Given that it's part of the We Are Legendary guild achievement, all signs point to yes.
Breakfast Topic: Brewing up better faires and festivals
This Breakfast Topic has been brought to you by Seed, the Aol guest writer program that brings your words to WoW.com. I've just spent a day being Scottish. My father's family hails from Scotland, and the summer months will find me out and about at a variety of highland games in the Midwest. Sometimes I'm a spectator, and sometimes I run a tent for my clan. There's a general understanding that the highland games were created to prepare men for doing battle with the English. Each part of what has become the athletic portion of the games can be traced back a need for hurling hurl rocks, logs or flaming bales of vegetation at advancing troops or fortified positions. At the games I just attended, a group gave demonstrations on medieval swordplay. In World of Warcraft, the Argent Tournament springs immediately to mind. We were informed this was a training ground to prepare us for an assault on the LIch King and his forces. The Darkmoon Faire and Brewfest are examples of festivals with games of chance, food and vendors, and tickets you have to procure by participating in events or getting lots of items requested by vendors. We've heard rumors (or perhaps it was a column of wishful thinking on WoW.com's part) about an upgrade to the Darkmoon Faire. I'd go more often if I could make an attempt to toss a caber, the stone or the sheaf. These are strength and agility events; having purchasable trinkets for both attributes would give everyone a chance to succeed. Rewards could be class-specific buff items of a certain duration. If you can get the caber to twelve o'clock (the prime position for this event; check out the North American Scottish Games Association for the rules), you get a scroll that will give a hunter an additional 50 agility for 10 minutes. It might be something of minor interest to a level 80 -- but you can be sure I'd be at the faire, just to try to toss a caber.
For Gnomeregan! Distractions
For Gnomeregan! is where the members of <B.L.O.G.> on Shadow Council (US-RP-A) roleplay guild meetings as part of an in-blog and in-game RP campaign. The rules for this campaign are no ERP (Erotic RolePlay) and no vampires (though death knights are welcome). Everyone is invited to participate. Assume that to get into the guild, you at least pretended to be in full use of your faculties and are willing to fight for the cause. You are all welcome to join us here in the comments and those who wish to play with us in-game should friend Peenk and ask for an invite on Shadow Council (US-RP-A). Kixi Sparklebolt here again. Let's talk this week about distractions. We are supposed to be focused on training for the upcoming offensive to free Gnomeregan, but it is easy to get distracted. For example, here I am at the Darkmoon Faire in Elwynn Forest. I came here because some guy in Ironforge handed me a piece of paper so that I could get some smaller pieces of paper. And though I have no use for pieces of paper, or a home to display them in, I accepted the one paper and went off to exchange it for the other ones. Does this help me fight troggs, Thermaplugg or even the Horde? No. Does this help me earn better equipment to train with? No. But I did get to dance with a night elf and his leashed dog. That was something.
Reminder: It Came from the Blog Elwynn Extravaganza today
The Elwynn Extravaganza is today! It came from the Blog will be meeting at Orgrimmar and running to Elwynn Forest for the festivities. Here is the basic info: When: Saturday, December 12th, 5pm EST (2pm PST, 3pm Server) Where: Meet in front of Orgrimmar on Zangarmarsh (U.S.) Who: Any level Horde character How: Just send a tell to Robinator or any It came from the Blog Lurker for a guild invite. Not familiar with the WoW.com guild? Then please read our FAQ. The events are fun and you are all invited. So after you finish listening to the WoW Insider Show, please join us for some in-game fun. More details are after the break.
It came from the Blog: Elwynn Extravaganza
The Darkmoon Faire is in Elwynn Forest this week, and that means it's time for another It came from the Blog event. The event will be in three parts: The run to Elwynn: We will be running from Orgrimmar to Elwynn using a path I plotted out for maximum lowbie protection -- also, photo opportunities. Hogger Fist Fight: This is not a level 1 Hogger raid. That's so 2007 (ok that link does not go to a level 1 Hogger raid either, but you know what I mean). All levels are invited to this event, but we will be removing our weapons, and not using spells, so we can punch Hogger and his buddies. Darkmoon Faire fun: We'll buy frog pets, shoot ourselves out of cannons and even turn in stuff if we've been collecting it. Here are the particulars: When: Saturday, December 12th, 5pm EST (2pm PST, 3pm Server) Where: Meet in front of Orgrimmar on Zangarmarsh (U.S.) Who: Any level Horde character How: Just send a tell to Robinator or any It came from the Blog Lurker for a guild invite. If you have any questions about our WoW.com guild in general, please see our FAQ. There are more event details after the break.
Official WoW EU sites covers upcoming player-run events
I don't think this page is necessarily new, but I haven't seen it before, and I think it's a great idea. Over on the official WoW Europe site, they've started tracking player-run and community events on their Community Events page. Slorkuz is even posting on the forums when specific community events are coming up, including their latest, an in-game beauty contest called "Miss Undercity" happening on the EU Darkmoon Faire realm this weekend. I think that's great -- these are completely unofficial player-run events, but Blizzard is still helping spread the word about them on an official page. In fact, I wish they had something like that on the US page -- if there is one in there, I don't see it linked in the "Community" section as it should be. As an example (and a reminder), Sleeper Cartel is hosting that Dead Man's Party this coming Saturday evening on Perenolde. It would be great for Blizzard to give a little extra official punch (and maybe even some pie) to these player-planned parties.
Cashing in at the Darkmoon Faire
I just posted a little while back that the Darkmoon Faire needed a change, but apparently there's still some benefit to be had over there -- Valdesta of WoWGrrl has found at least one way to keep the Faire interesting. She's been keeping a character over there, apparently, and periodically checking in on what the vendors have. They sell not only little pets and miscellaneous items like the Heavy Leather Ball (which often sell for a tidy profit on the AH, since people aren't always aware that the Faire vendors sell them), but there are also vendors there who sell profession items like herbs, motes, eternals, leathers, and so on.And as anyone who's ever levelled a profession knows, those are often worth their weight in gold, not just on the AH, but in terms of leveling up your own alt professions as well. As Valdesta says, it's worth camping an alt over there just to check in during raiding downtime or on a flight path with your other character, for the same reason you should always check and see just what other vendors around the world might have for sale -- sure, you won't make much with just one buy, but over time, picking up cheap crafting mats from the DF can lead to some solid profits on the AH.
Battle and victory at the TCG and minis World Championships
Upper Deck held the WoW TCG and Minis world championships in Austin, Texas as planned this past weekend, and they've got all the results and news up on their website now if you're interested. Billy Postlethwait, above, won the Darkmoon Faire in Columbus, Ohio to gain entry to the championships, and after going into the finals 0 and 2, won three games to win the whole shebang outright. Apparently mages were the class to play in the Trading Card Game: six of the top 8 players were playing that class.In the minis tournament, Derek Richardson emerged victorious, with a group lead by none other than Jaina Proudmoore (with two NE hunters in for backup). All told, the event sounds like a lot of fun, and you can check out Upper Deck's official site for all of the coverage, including interviews with the players, photos of the action, and wrapups of the gameplay. Stay tuned for more news from next year's TCG and minis circuits as well.
