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Things that don't annoy me
About half a year ago I wrote the article "Things that annoy me." However, I'm in a good mood tonight:1. The music in Storm Peaks and Howling Fjord, particularly the choral portion of the former. Spooky and haunting and ethereally on edge, like the Mormon Tabernacle Choir had just glimpsed a large angry dinosaur through the window.2. The leather boots available at exalted with the Argent Crusade. Yes, the stats are great, but it's how they look on Tauren that really vaults them into the realm of unbridled win. For all I know, the graphic on female Tauren is a serious bug that programmers are working frantically to correct, but I think that boots on a cow look awesome.3. Dalaran when it's not crawling with people.4. Which is to say never.5. Pretty much everything that High Overlord Saurfang says, does, thinks, or writes for the entirety of the Horde's Wrath storyline.
Creative gag hints at new Warhammer Online class reveal on Jan. 29th
We've known that it was likely Mythic wouldn't be bringing back one of the original melee DPS classes to Greenskins and Dwarves. Of course that doesn't mean the two races won't even have a new class -- as evidenced by the mind games Mythic is now playing with the Warhammer Online community.The box contains orange hair dye, a hair trimming kit and the ominous note that says, "More to come 1-29-09" How is this significant? Take a look at some official Warhammer Dwarven lore:"A notable aspect to Dwarf culture is the Slayer Oath. A Dwarf who has suffered a great shame, loss, or humiliation will dye his hair and beard orange, and cut it into a Mohawk using pig grease to stick it in place."Was this a little bit blunt? Maybe, but we don't mind, since it's got us excited for a possibly very awesome new class for Warhammer Online. We only hope that when the Greenskins get their melee DPS class it's as interesting as this announcement. WAR has gone 1.1! Check out our full coverage of the 1.1a patch, along with our interviews exploring upcoming content and the open RvR changes. Plus, don't miss any of our ongoing coverage as Massively goes to WAR!
Know Your LotRO Lore: The Dwarves
Welcome to Know Your LotRO Lore, a new weekly column here at Massively showcasing the lore of J.R.R. Tolkien's world as it intersects with Turbine's Lord of the Rings Online.In last week's Know Your LotRO Lore, we discussed the Elves and their origins in Tolkien's Middle-earth. This week we're going to continue along in that tradition by covering the Dwarven race, their origins and impact in Tolkien's works and Lord of the Rings Online.As with the Elves, Tolkien did not invent the Dwarf, but he did popularize and redefine the term, beginning with The Hobbit. The plural "dwarves" was also popularized by Tolkien, as it was more commonly known before that as "dwarfs", which now refers mainly to real people affected by dwarfism. This can get tricky when political correctness comes into play, but as it pertains to this article, we will focus purely on the mythical race. Follow along through the link below for more on Tolkien's Dwarves. Dwarven Origins >> %Gallery-39552%
Ask a Lore Nerd: Demons rule, naga drool
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.Just as a warning, today's Ask a Lore Nerd has a couple of spoilers for Wrath content. At this point, I assume that light Northrend spoilers isn't going to scare people off, but I figure I should mention it anyway. It's nothing major, so you won't ruin your experience by reading it anyway. Let's dig in!Tarean asked...Blizzard's said that there's enough material for plenty of more expansions after Wrath of the Lich King, and there's plenty of possibilities, but what expansion should come next lore-wise?
All the World's a Stage: So you want to be a Priest
This installment of All the World's a Stage is the seventeenth in a series of roleplaying guides in which we find out all the background information you need to roleplay a particular race or class well, without embarrassing yourself. Priests in the World of Warcraft are a single class that incorporates a wide variety of characters. They are best known for casting spells that call forth the power of the Holy Light, but the priest using these spells in the game mechanics doesn't necessarily have much connection to the Light as such -- rather they have a connection with their own religion which grants them similar effects to those of the Light.When WoW was being developed, Blizzard realized that night elves and trolls, for instance, would not follow the Light in the same way humans and dwarves do, so they tried to represent a bit of this diversity through race-specific spells. It didn't work out, though -- some were too powerful, while others weren't worth reading about, much less putting on one's action bar. The end result was that they made some of these spells universally available to all priests, and completely removed the rest. Here the lore had to surrender to the game mechanics in order to provide the best game balance.In roleplaying, however, there is a lot of room for players of different races to behave differently, and draw their powers from totally different sources. Greater Heal, for instance, could come either from the Light or the power of Elune. A Shadowfiend could either be a spawn of the Forgotten Shadow, or a dark trollish voodoo spirit. If you are roleplaying a priest, the only thing that really matters is that your character have some sort of faith or profound belief, which could serve as the source of their divine magical power. A priest's magic revolves around his or her strong beliefs and ideas -- but what those beliefs are is entirely up to you.
BigRedKitty: It's Thanksgiving, so we're stirring the pot
Daniel Howell contributes BigRedKitty, a column with strategies, tips and tricks for and about the Hunter class, sprinkled with a healthy dose of completely improper, sometimes libelous, personal commentary. If we were to ever re-roll Horde, we'd be a female Troll hunter. Yes, the Trolls got their kiesters kicked by rampaging murlocs -- murlocs! -- but the ladies can be hunters, and have just enough 'oomph' in both looks and performance to make them our first choice should the Alliance ever be eliminated. What about our other options? Orcs are just too steel-plate-in-the-skull dumb for our liking. Nobody does nude better than Orcs, but who hunts in the buff? ... Wait, these are Orcs we're talking about... OK, who seriously hunts in the buff? Taurens should either be warriors or druids, period, not hunters. Tauren warriors rock our socks, but Tauren hunters? Excluding Rhino-pets, the size difference between a Tauren and his pet is just silly. If you're a Tauren hunter and don't have a Rhino, you're not bringing it like you should. A Survivalist Tauren hunter is about as wrong an idea as there can possibly be. Survivalist? How are you going to 'survive' when every member of the Alliance has targeted you, just because you take up one quarter of their screen! Nobody likes Blood Elves, not even other Horde. Are we right? Of course we are. And the Forsaken can't even be hunters; they deserve our pity more than anything else. But we're not going to re-roll, for we are a member of the best race in the game. The race that Warcraft made its cover picture, the race that introduced WoW to millions, the race that oozes -- both literally and figuratively -- charisma, competence, and warm ale: The Dwarves.
Know Your LotRO Lore: Khazad-dum and the origins of Moria
Welcome to Know Your LotRO Lore, a new weekly column here at Massively showcasing the lore of J.R.R. Tolkien's world as it intersects with Turbine's Lord of the Rings Online.Long ago, the Dwarves were numerous and mighty. This was an age when the Elves, Men and Dwarves lived in harmony, the mithril was plentiful and the Orcs were driven back to Sauron's lair. This was the end of the Second Age: the age of Khazad-dûm. To first understand Khazad-dûm, we must start at the very beginning.Early in the First Age, "long before the creation of the Sun and Moon," according to Tolkien, Durin "The Deathless" had awoken at Mount Gundabad, far to the north in the Misty Mountains. His growing clan of Longbeards eventually moved southward down the vales of Anduin, being driven out of Gundabad due to constant attacks from the Orcs of Morgoth. It was during this journey that he discovered "a glen of shadows between two great arms of the mountains." He followed a series of short waterfalls down into an oval lake, which he believed to have a magical quality. The glow of this lake and the reflection of stars in the water led Durin to believe it was a sign, and he went on to name it the Mirrormere. It is near this area where Durin chose to create his ultimate stronghold: The Dwarrowdelf, or Khazad-dûm in his native tongue.
All the World's a Stage: So you want to be an Alliance Warrior
This installment of All the World's a Stage is the twelfth in a series of roleplaying guides in which we find out all the background information you need to roleplay a particular race or class well, without embarrassing yourself. From the way that warriors are available to nearly every race in the game as a sort of default fighter person, you'd think that they would be the fallback choice for any number of different sort of characters you might imagine. Any sort of regular shmuck could be a warrior right? You just gotta pick up some sort of weapon and start swinging it around at an enemy, yes?No. Even though the Warrior class is available to almost every race in the game, every race has its own tradition of what it means to be a warrior -- it's not just a farmer with a pitchfork running around and trying to kill things. Warriors go through extensive training, learn to wield a wide variety of weapons, and train themselves in staying upright and charging about even while wearing all kinds of heavy metal on their bodies.So today we'll look into some of the ways that the races of the Alliance understand what it means to be a warrior, and see which heroes your character might look up to, as well as the archetypes these heroes represent.
New Mines of Moria screens depict the Redhorn Lodes
If the immensity of the new underground zones featured in the Mines of Moria expansion hasn't sunk in just yet, the newest set of screens should help clear any fog of uncertainty. While no exciting new mobs or strange-yet-endearing goat mounts seem to have popped up in these screens, there's still plenty to gawk at auspiciously.One image features a rather large set of stairs that would cause even Rocky Balboa to faint if he tried to run up them in a triumphant montage finisher. So the images may not be packed with high action like our exclusive video, but if you use your imagination they can entertain for minutes on end. You may even waste a whole quarter of an hour with them, especially if you're into Dwarven architecture. And after you're done with that, go check out our exclusive screenshot tour of the expansion! Catch the new screens >> %Gallery-18340%
Massively's WAR Camp: Tier 1 Scenario Guides pt. 2
The next scenario in our lineup is the Gates of Ekrund. Tier 1 players in the Mount Bloodhorn and Ekrund zones are able to queue up for this scenario, and battle for control of the mighty Gates that separate the two regions. Featuring three objectives to capture, the real fight will almost always take place at the Gate Switch in the middle. Click the magic button to view our gallery guide, for a better look at how the Dwarfs and Greenskins like to get their Waaagh! on. The next page features the Empire vs. Chaos pairing scenario, Nordenwatch. Gates of Ekrund << Previous page Next page: Nordenwatch >> %Gallery-34148%
All the World's a Stage: So you want to be a dwarf
This installment of All the World's a Stage is the fourth in a series of roleplaying guides in which we find out all the background information you need to roleplay a particular race or class well, without embarrassing yourself.Imagine if you were raised in a culture who took playing in the mud very very seriously. As a young lad or lassie, your parents advised you that it would be wise of you to learn digging as your profession, and they hoped that one day you would marry a forger. Your people loved the earth so much that they built their homes and cities underground, and reached as deep as they could into the ground to see what they could find there.Then... imagine if, just a few years ago, someone discovered evidence that your people had once been made by giant Titans out of the very stone and earth you now craft with such care. Wouldn't you be pretty psyched?There's so much more to dwarves than just a Scottish accent and short stature, you see. Dwarves are the Indiana-Joneses of World of Warcraft. After eons of digging into and sculpting the earth of Azeroth, they suddenly have a clue as to where they came from and how everything came to be the way it is for them. They are now spread across distant places of the world, digging and plumbing ancient ruins in order to unravel the mystery of their existence, and discover the ultimate reason for being.
How to get to Altdorf, Ekrund, the Blighted Isle, or Nordland at level 1
You've jumped into Warhammer Online, and you're ready to go. You've picked your class and you're happy with your class mechanics ... but perhaps you don't want to play in your race's assigned tiers. Or maybe you just want to head to the mighty human city of Altdorf. We hear it's lovely this time of year. Heading to the Order capital city or one of the other starting zones is as easy as hiking to the first RvR War Camp in your starting zone ... but where is that? If you've never played before, how do you know?Well, we've got what you need. Click through below the cut for full details and maps on how to get to the first war camps in Nordland, the Blighted Isle, and the zone of Ekrund. Make sure you tell the Dwarven flight masters that Massively sent you!%Gallery-31341%
Ask a Beta Tester: The Drakkensryd, Dispersion, and other stuff
We'll get started with Gareth's question... How is the Storm Peaks coming along? Seems like it has a lot of history and culture behind it. This zone has been closed off more than it's been open. There are a few hefty bugs that they're trying to iron out that forces them to seal it off now and then, since the bugs bring the entire world server down. That and there was an XP exploit that the beta testers found and needed to be dealt with mighty quickly, so it was sealed off for that as well. As far as the history and culture, I loved what I saw. A lot of Titan lore, a lot of Dwarven history. The introduction to the zone is pretty awful, though. Your first quest hub in the culture-rich zone is a Goblin town (K3) full of whimsy that has little to do with the zone's overall story. I guess you need to keep the mood light sometimes, though. Still, despite the silly Goblins, it was one of my favorite zones while I could get in there. Blizzard has thrown around the term "epic scale" quite a bit, and I think Storm Peaks really displays that. The place is absolutely massive, in the good way. Watch the video above if you want an example of the quests you'll be seeing. Be warned, it's kind of a spoiler in that doing this quest for the first time really leaves you in awe. Watching it beforehand might take that away a little.dotorion asked...Does Northrend have a 'level requirement' like Outlands?
Ask a WAR Beta Tester: Greenskins and Chaos and Dark Elves, oh my
The road to Wahammer Online's release has been a lengthy walk for everyone. We've all been through ups and downs, but now that it's almost here we're more than happy to answer whatever questions are floating about your minds. So, in our second installment of Ask a WAR Beta Tester, we offer up some insight into the cut careers, leveling time and other questions of intrigue. All for the sake of satiating your burning desire to know more. Of course, we know that no matter how many answers are given there will be more questions asked. So if you've got something banging around in your brain that we haven't addressed, feel free to post a comment containing your question.
The Digital Continuum: Memoirs of a WAR beta tester
I've given my thoughts on the Dark Elf section of Warhammer Online, but now that the whole NDA is lifted I can finally speak about my experience with the beta as a whole. I've been in it for a long time. A really long time, in fact. We're talking about, well, since the thing started. Which gives me something more to say than the typical tester talking about this game. In my time interacting as a member of the beta community with Mythic -- concerning Warhammer Online, of course -- I think I've seen more progress made on any MMO in the span of about a year than I have in any other in beta. And I've been in a lot of them.So what's the big deal? New MMOs are always facing the issue of going up against World of Warcraft's several years of polishing. Everyone has always wondered what it would take to deal with that issue, too. Mythic seems to have decided it will take raw, unadulterated determination. The kind that a child displays when presented with the opportunity to have a new toy. It also helps to have a license that Blizzard themselves once attempted to acquire because of its depth. Ironic? Only if WAR really does take a big chug out of the World of Warcraft milkshake.
Know Your Lore: Living Relics of the Barrens
Welcome to Know Your Lore, where each week Alex Ziebart brings you a tasty little morsel of lore to wrap your mind around. Sweet, sweet lore. Mmmm. Have suggestions for future KYL topics? E-mail us! Or, if you have a question for our sister column Ask a Lore Nerd, e-mail us those, too!Most of us probably know the Barrens as the far, far too big and empty zone that we all spent too long running through. I know I do. You whippersnappers these days and your three flight paths. In my day, we had one and we ran to Ratchet on foot every single time. You kids nowadays have it easy. All of that aside, though, did you know it was originally a lush forest, some of which was part of the ancient Kaldorei territory?It used to be a much more peaceful (and tolerable) place than it is now. Of course, we're talking ten thousand years ago. That place totally sucks now. Don't get all sentimental on me and pretend it's deep and meaningful and spiritual to quest there or something. It's horrible. Let's learn about it anyway, because learning is fun! ...Right?
First Impressions: SAGA
SAGA (not to be confused with Saga, who gave us the immortal "On the Loose") is an MMORTS -- massively multiplayer online real-time strategy game. While there are few enough of these on the market -- making its very existence worthy of approbation -- we thought it would be worth taking a closer look, to offer up an opinion of our first couple of hours into gameplay. Thus, this First Impressions post.Remember: this is not a guide, nor was this in any way influenced by the development studio. This is an entirely subjective look at SAGA, from an average gamer's point of view. And now, on with the show! Game. Thing. Whatever. Onward!%Gallery-28014%
The Digital Continuum: Diet WAR
Diet Warhammer Online: same great taste, less content. Is it bad that the recently re-branded Mythic Entertainment just cut out a large portion of our Warhammer Online pie and put it in the deep freeze? Well it's certainly not good when a developer cuts content they've been talking about publicly for so long, especially when launch is only three or four months away. I've already written about why this MMO ode to classic tabletop trappings shouldn't be shoved onto shelves half-baked and I still feel like I'd rather see a delay than see so much content cut. While there have been plenty of delays already, that doesn't mean more would have been intolerable. I'm going to try and take an honest look at what the removal of four capital cities and four classes means for Warhammer Online. I will admit that when the news first hit, a vile and seemingly ancient sort of anger began to boil up inside my lungs. It was the onset of some form of draconian rage at the removal of so much content that I'd been personally invested in as a future player. I never really got into Chaos and planned on playing Dark Elves, but now a large part of that content is gone. At first I felt anger and confusion towards Mythic. It wasn't until after that initial knee-jerk anger passed that I was able to give some real thought to their choice and was able to consider the varied consequences.
Ask a Lore Nerd: The swirling vortex of death
Welcome to Ask a Lore Nerd, the column that answers your questions about the story and lore of the Warcraft universe. Click the Comments link below, ask your question, and blogger/columnist Alex Ziebart will answer you in a future installment!Terrant asks...I have questions about Kalimdor. How aware were the Alliance races of the continent before the events of Warcraft III? Was it completely unknown, known but unexplored, or frequented by the adventurous? The only Alliance settlement seems to be the recent Theramore, but at the same time, the goblins' trading network and cities seem to be well-established, so you'd think word of the continent must have gotten around. And there are pirate organizations that include humans and dwarves on the continent, too.
Gnomes or Dwarves: Which would be better to attach to a bottle rocket?
I don't know if it's just the kid in me that likes to blow things up, but I always find myself aiming to make a few explosions happen around this time of year. As I've grown older and understood more about physics, chemistry, etc., I've come to make the explosions even larger. For instance, putting a bunch of fireworks in a barrel, lightening them all on fire at the same time, and then funneling the explosion towards the ground usually has a humorous result. Humorous might be a few missing fingers, but they can be reattached. And really, who needs their middle finger for anything good? This year I'm going to try to attach things to bottle rockets, perhaps 10 to 20 all tied together in a bundle. My goal is to see how high I can make things go up in the air. It's going to be a grand ol' time. And after all, what better way to celebrate the birth of America than to blow your own little part of it up? All this talk about blowing things up has got me thinking though, which race would fit better on a rocket, and which would fly farther? Gnomes or Dwarves? Let's look at the strengths and weaknesses of both. %Poll-16438%
