lunar-festival
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Breakfast Topic: Are you going for Elder?
So with the Lunar Festival finally upon us, many people are probably turning their eyes toward the "To Honor One's Elders" achievement. Even if they don't plan to wear the shiny new title, they'll probably want it if only for a shot at the Violet Proto-Drake. I myself am certainly no exception, and am currently running through Azeroth, paying my respects to the elders and getting those coins. One thing I did notice is that this holiday does have a few high level intensive requirements in the form of the Elders of the Dungeons. Not only do you have to be level 80, but you're going to have to delve into multiple high level dungeons to get all the credit you need for that title.
WRUP: Lunar Festival edition
The Lunar Festival will be starting tomorrow and though the WoW Insider team is doing all of their usual leveling and raiding and PvPing and whatever else they do... but with the achievement system and its associated swanky titles (and the long-term promise of a Violet Proto-Drake), everyone's going to be interested in hunting down Elders. (Hunting, at least, in the friendliest possible way.)And our resident Priest, Matticus? He's clearly fallen to the dark side.Matt Low: Whipping out Jin Rock. Time to level the Ret Pally of Doom. For the rest of the team -- and to chime in with what you're doing this weekend -- read on!
WoW Insider Show live tomorrow on Ustream at 3:30pm EST
(Or 20:30 GMT, or whatever time it is then where you are. We live in a global society people, it's not that hard!) Yes, our world famous podcast returns to the airwaves tomorrow, as Turpster, BRK and I will be on the Ustream channel (we've also embedded right on this post, so you can just come right back here) talking about all of the most popular stories in the last week of Warcraft. We'll definitely bring up patch 3.0.8, and talk about the Lunar Festival (which also starts tomorrow). And of course we'll answer your emails and chat live with everyone during the show and the aftershow.Don't forget, too, that we're still trying to round up some more fans on Facebook -- we've just recently topped the 3,000 mark, which means we're on the home stretch to 4,000, where Turpster says he will create a brand new song for us to play on the WoW Insider Show. So get your Facebook profile on there (or create one if you haven't yet, and then sign on as a fan), and tell your friends and guilds to get over there and become a fan of ours.The show starts up tomorrow afternoon at 3:30pm Eastern, and I usually come on a little bit before then to chat with whoever shows up and play some tunes. Should be fun -- see you then.
The OverAchiever: Completing the Lunar Festival Achievements [Updated x2]
Every week The Overachiever gives advice, walkthroughs and guides on completing your latest Achievement obsession.Saturday marks the beginning of this year's Lunar Festival, an in-game event celebrating the real life celebration of the Lunar New Year. With plenty of quests, party favors and, of course, shiny clothes, you'll have many chances to complete the meta-Achievement To Honor One's Elders. Not only will this result in the title "Elder", but you'll be another step closer to a Violet Proto-Drake, Having experienced this event twice, the big question is what's new this year? Though all of the Achievements are new, they cover older quests. The only difference is the brand new Elders of Northrend Achievement and the additional elders added to the Elders of Dungeons Achievement. After the jump, an overview of how to complete To Honor One's EldersUPDATE: Looks like the minimum level needed to complete the meta-Achievement is 80 as one of the Elders can only be found in the Heroic version of the Wrath instance Gundrak. According to this comment on WoWHead, you must kill Moorabi to open the secret tunnel to the Heroic-only boss Eck. Standing in the same room as Eck is Elder Ohanzee. Also, Omen has been verified as a level 80 raid mob this year.UPDATE v2: Updated a few directions and added link to player list of other Achievements to grab while pursuing coins.
The Queue: High Elves, great race or greatest race?
Welcome back to The Queue, WoW Insider's daily Q&A column where the WoW Insider team answers your questions about the World of Warcraft. I have to admit, there were one idea brought up in the comments yesterday that I'm completely in support of: Kael'thas returning as a Lich. Hell. Yes. Not aligned with the Scourge, but self-fueled and up to his own machinations again. Kael'thas has been one of my favorite villains, watching his fall into desperation through WCIII and The Burning Crusade. Lich Kael would own so hard.That's enough of that, though. On with the questions!Leprakahn asked... I remember reading during Wrath beta that at the end of inscription scribes were going to get a 7th glyph slot, what happened to that? Did it get scrapped completely or will it come with a later patch?
Breakfast Topic: Happy Winter's Veil!
Ah, the sights, scents, and sounds of Winter's Veil: the gingerbread cookies, the eggnog, the beautifully-wrapped presents beneath the tree, bestowing cheer unto all in addition to -- coal? I wanted a Clockwork Rocket Bot! Man, screw this holiday. When's the Lunar Festival coming?Ignoring all the usual bah-humbuggish sentiments to which one might be prone during this wonderful and joyous holiday season (hmph), Winter's Veil seems to be one of the ingame events with the most staying power. There's not a single month out of the year where I haven't seen someone rolling around on a reindeer mount courtesy of a Preserved Holly, or a snowman suddenly pop in the middle of a raid while people are waiting for buffs. This year the new Winter's Veil achievements will ensure these items and quests get even more traffic than they have previously, so you can bet that both the 2008 holiday -- and older content, in the form of Fa-la-la-la-Ogri'la -- are going to be well-trod.As for me, well, my shaman wants a rocket bot. My druid hopes for peace on Azeroth and good will towards all men (and cows, and space goats, and dwarves, and...). My warrior would like a new sword. My warlock wants to see the world burn. I'm not entirely certain how to balance these competing desires, but I'll be keeping an eye on the gifts under Orgrimmar's tree.
Insider Trader: Fishing, the final stretch
Until very recently, with patches 2.3 and 2.4, fishing was a skill mainly taken up by those players aching to relax. Casual questers who couldn't play for hours and be all business, or raiders looking to escape the pressure, took to their favorite remote and beautiful areas with a rod, some music, and a <DND> tag. In my small and tight-knit guild, fishing often meant story time. While I was feeling Zen fishing from the Forgotten Coast, another guildmate was storming the shores along Stranglethorn Vale, and we would exchange anecdotes and gossip. We took pleasure in our secret source for cloth, leather, ore and greens, as well as fish for alchemy, and helped finance our level 40 mounts through fishing. Still, many players, if not most players, seemed to find fishing boring, slow and annoying. Fortunately, fishing has never been necessary for any character if it does not provide pleasure. Even cooks, who stood to benefit the most from fishing, could work around it, and push through any rough patches by buying small stashes of certain fish from other players. Of course, now that fishing is more lucrative, its secrets more widely known, more people have shown an interest. As cooking became more important, so did fishing, not because you couldn't maximize cooking without it, but because some of the best buff foods are made with fish. Those who need a constant supply can't rely on the auction house. Recently, Robin Torres wrote up some tips to leveling fishing at level 70, and this week, Insider Trader is taking an in-depth look at maximizing your fishing skill. For the inside scoop on reaching 375 as quickly as possible, or as profitably as possible, head on through the break.
How to use the Lunar Festival for easy lowbie travel
Are you new to the game and would like to visit all the major cities of your faction? Or do you have a bunch of lowbie alts (like me) that are stranded near their starting area? If so, make use of the Lunar Festival to get your lowbies out and about.One of the great things about the Lunar Festival is that you get a free trip to Moonglade and then you can teleport to all of the major old world cities in your faction. (No, they won't let you travel to the major cities of the opposite faction. Sorry.) I found this particularly useful with my Draenei and Blood Elf noobs so that they can go out and see the world.Why would you want to get your lowbie out and about so young?Weapon skills: You can use the teleports to go to the Weapons Masters in each city and get all of your missing weapons skills. Don't forget training weapons skills costs 10 silver each, so if you are new to the game or just the server, you may need to make some money before you take the trip.
All the World's a Stage: The passing of the Beast
All the World's a Stage isn't just a column for loony and creative geeks, playing with roles every Sunday evening.The Lunar Festival has been with us for a few days now, and I can tell you as one living in China, the real life version of this holiday, the Chinese Spring Festival, is quite the treat. Everyone seems to walk around charged with a special happiness, traveling all around the country, glad to be reunited with family after spending months away. Shops are closed, streets have more people walking than driving, and nights ring loud with the sound of fireworks bursting from all around you.The WoW version is a pale imitation, to be honest, but it does manage to capture a portion of the Spring Festival's spirit. While setting off fireworks is not the awesomest eye-candy, it's not that bad; also, traveling all over the world to visit the Elder ghosts scattered all around Azeroth is charming in its own way. The main thing that's missing, however, is a real understanding of what the holiday is all about.Few Westerners realize that the annual attack of the monster "Nian" (on which the story of WoW's Omen is based) forms the mythological backstory for the Spring Festival -- sort of an equivalent of the Nativity story of Christmas. The Chinese words for "Celebrate the New Year," Guo Nian, could also be literally translated as "The passing of the Beast." If we look at the symbolism behind this Chinese myth, it can give the Lunar Festival new meaning for our characters in Azeroth as well.
The Lunar Festival's greatest prize: Rep!
If you're a human after a saber, troll after a kodo, or any other combination like that, don't let this opportunity pass you by!As most of you know, during the Lunar Festival there are 50 Elders scattered across Azeroth that hand out Coins of Ancestry which you can turn in for prizes in Moonglade. There is another prize, however: Reputation! For every elder you speak to, you earn 75 reputation toward your entire faction. Yes, all five races.If you put the time in to talk to every single elder, some of which might be a pain to reach, you'll net just shy of 4,000 reputation. 3,750 to be exact. For humans, this will come out to about 4,125 rep, give or take a bit. Nerf Diplomacy!This won't drastically lessen a rep grind, especially after the reputation gain changes they put in awhile back, but its certainly more interesting than tearing apart low level quests or farming endless amounts of Runecloth.
Omen meet Orgrimmar, Orgrimmar meet Omen
The Lunar Festival is in full swing, and every once in a while Omen is no where to be found. I talked about killing him earlier in the week, but there is another strategy that's been popping up. Have you ever wondered what it's like to kite something across half a continent? Well, now's your chance!I've tried this with a few friends, and the trick is to keep Omen moving along with as many movement-impairing effects up on him as possible. We had a mage there slinging Frostbolts at him, a shaman shocking him with Frost Shock, and of course a hunter laying down his Concussive Shots and Frost Traps. I was there on my warrior issuing the occasional Taunt just in case one of the DPS made a mistake and got too close (this was never a problem).
Around Azeroth: Elder's Moonstone madness
Sheltem of the Scarlet Crusade server was role playing in Stormwind with his friends. Taking advantage of the Lunar Festival rewards, they stacked four Elder's Moonstones together in the same spot to create this solid shaft of light. It's so brilliant that you can neither see in nor out of it. Hmm, sounds like we have a new PvP strat to consider.Do you have any unusual World of Warcraft images that are just collecting dust in your screenshots folder? Because we'd love to see it on Around Azeroth! Sharing your screenshot is as simple as e-mailing aroundazeroth@wow.com with a copy of your shot and a brief explanation of the scene. You could be featured here next! Remember to include your player name, server and/or guild if you want it mentioned. We prefer full screen shots without the UI showing. And please, no more sunsets. No, really. Ok, only if it's a sunrise in new Patch 2.4 lands. We'll take those anytime.%Gallery-1816%
Blood Sport: Predictions for the Year of the Rat
Every week, V'Ming - who thinks that gnome warlocks are travesties of nature and need to be KOSed - shares thoughts and ideas on becoming deadlier at the Arenas. He also dabbles in the dark arts in Blood Pact.The year of the Rat is upon us and while this column usually relies on cold hard numbers and shies away from wild speculation and baseless assertions, I shall indulge my Lunar New Year festive mood to venture into some strictly amateur crystal ball gazing for the classes. As with any prediction - astrology, fortune cookies or otherwise - read this with a large pinch of deeprock salt, and understand that a positive attitude is always a good way to overcome defeats and disappointments.This year is the beginning of a new 12-year cycle of the Chinese zodiac and is a better year than the last. However, many changes are still afoot, especially with Wrath of the Lich King on the horizon. The Rat's resourcefulness and enterprising nature gives rise to many opportunities along the way, and you'll have to be as nimble and smart as the Rat to take full advantage of them. Mobility and haste ratings become differentiating factors in winning Arena matches, as Resilience becomes increasingly ubiquitous when more and more players get their Arena gear.Unfortunately, the Rat's intelligence has a dark side and manipulating the system for individual gain is certainly not above the Rat. Good examples are players selling entire Arena teams and other manipulation of the ladder system. There will also be more betrayals and confrontations - also known as drama, whether at the guild or Arena team level - as people grow increasingly restless during this period leading up to the expansion.Let's look at what the year of the Rat means for the various classes in the Arenas, in no particular order.
One Shots: Slaughter at the Lunar Festival
Today we have a wild screenshot from the Lunar Festival in World of Warcraft from Edward. (No character name given, but we know he's on Bronzebeard.) Apparently people were dragging Omen (the large two-headed dog) onto the lower-level players teleporting into Moonglade -- and having a great time watching Omen eat them. Here's what Edward had to say:This was my first experience at the Lunar Festival in Moonglade. That's Omen coming down the path, raining one hit death on my poor Mage (not pictured). I'm on Bronzebeard, but I'm sure other servers looked similar. I wish I'd caught an earlier picture of the carnage. It was easily four times this many skeletons littering the ground. Fantastic.Having been in similar situations where big nasty things ate our face, we can certainly sympathize. How about you? Do you have any screenshots of massive carnage and mayhem that you'd like to share with the rest of the world? Send those puppies (no pun intended) to us here at oneshots@massively.com. Your picture could be the next one we feature!%Gallery-9798%
The Lunar Festival is underway in Azeroth!
World of Warcraft has a ton of special holiday events all year 'round, most of them in homage to real-world events. The Lunar Festival is no exception. Coinciding with Chinese New Year, the Lunar Festival has more to offer players than just eye candy. Inhabiting every major city in Azeroth, on both sides of the fence, stand elders of each race, ready to provide special Coins of Ancestry to those who show respect. These Coins may be redeemed for various novelty items.And don't forget to check out the fireworks celebration in each city that begins after sunset and runs each hour. This event will run until February 23rd, and today, which marks the actual Lunar New Year, there will be festivities Stormwind, Thunder Bluff, Booty Bay, and Moonglade. For a complete listing of elder locations and rewards, check out this link. Kung Hei Fat Choi, warriors!
Blood Pact: The real Lunar Festival
Between Arenas, V'Ming spends his time as a lock laughing ominously in AV, tanking Olm with his own minions and pondering troll fashion from Zul'Aman. He's recently started to plumb the depths of SSC with his 0/21/40 build and bragging about 8k shadow bolts.Today being the first day of the lunar new year (for the eastern hemisphere at least), I shall lay my shadow bolts down and talk about something close to my roots: the Lunar Festival. Hey, even evil warlocks come from somewhere, you know.WoW's Lunar Festival is based pretty closely on the real life Lunar New Year that millions celebrate all around the world. It's a really nice gesture on Blizzard's part to move in-game festivities each year to match the real life celebrations, as Lunar New Year doesn't fall on the same day each year on the 'normal' or Gregorian calendar. In fact the 15-day festival is determined by the lunisolar calendar, and it begins on the first day with a new moon of the new lunar year. This is the third year we're having the Lunar Festival in WoW: 2006 – The Lunar New Year was on Jan 29; WoW's Lunar Festival was held Jan 27 to Feb 14. 2007 – The Lunar New Year was on Feb 18; WoW's Lunar Festival was held Feb 16 to Mar 8. 2008 – The Lunar New Year is on Feb 7; WoW's Lunar Festival started yesterday and will continue till February 23rd. What happens during WoW's Lunar Festival, besides Asian-style outfits, fireworks and funky red decor around towns?
There is no Dana, only Omen
Happy Lunar Festival! Ae as we celebrate the festival of the moon in World of Warcraft, we should take pause to reflect on the many dogs in our life. From the hounds in MC (can't you just hear your old raid leader yell: "LOOT THE DOGS!"), to the annoying wolves that get in our way when farming Netherweb Spider Silk. But for a short time, there is no other top dog on the block then Omen.Hanging out in Moonglade, he's a real pain. Before you even think of killing him, you need to get to Moonglade first. Since I mainly roll with my warrior when attempting new things, I wasn't able to just take the easy way to Moonglade and teleport myself there. However, many thanks to Toast who filled me in on a little tip: talk to the Lunar Festival Night Elves in any major city to get a scroll that'll teleport you to Moonglade. To get the scroll all you have to do is complete a quest that has you light off a few fireworks that you can purchase from a near by vendor. Easy as pie.Once you arrive in Moonglade, head up to the northeast corner of the map, in particular around coordinates 53, 35. You'll find the quest "Elune's Blessing" from Valadar Starsong, giving you the task of killing Omen for some handy rewards.
Lunar Festival is up to its old tricks
Blizzard has previously told us that they plan to renovate as many of the holidays as possible, but from what we've seen so far, the Lunar Festival hasn't really recieved any of that love-- as Lodran says, players who've done the Lunar Festival quests in the pasts aren't finding anything new to do this year.Not that there's anything really wrong with that-- Omen is still out there to be taken down, and for a lot of people, Omen was the first raid boss they'd seen (in fact, he was the Horseman before there was a Horseman-- a seasonal boss, except that Omen didn't drop epic loot). And lots of people are still having fun running the old Lunar Festival quests and turning those in.But it is too bad there's nothing new yet. Guess we'll have to wait for Love is in the Air and Noblegarden to see if Blizzard's done any more seasonal updating. Love is in the Air and on WoW Insider. Check out our continuing coverage of the event and our guide to earning the achievement. And you better hurry; the holiday only lasts five days!
The Lunar Festival begins today in Azeroth
This annual in-game holiday is scheduled to coincide with real life Chinese New Years. Asian style outfits, ceremonial fireworks, delicious dumplings and a once-a-year raid boss are all part of the celebration. Quests send you to find 50 coins and turn them in for various goodies as well. It's a fun RP event taking place across player cities throughout Azeroth, but mostly centered in the Druid village of Moonglade.The real question this year is if this holiday is going to upgrade the event like they did for Hallow's End. Will there be fireworks in Shattrath? Elders in Arcatraz? Revelers in Zul'Aman? Shouldn't a major celebration like this have Omen dropping some welfare epics, too? Recently they promised an older holiday would get a make over. Is this the one? We'll have until February 23 to find out.%Gallery-15360%
Beefing up the holidays
Okinos does a little trolling on the forums about holidays supposedly being boring (when actually, with the exception of no new content for Winter's Veil, they have been anything but), but at least something good did come out of the thread: not only does Drysc lay down a huge burn, but we're rewarded with a visit from Kisirani, part of Blizzard's world events team.And she's got great news for those who love holidays-- all of the holiday events are scheduled to get a makeover, Hallow's End style. Darkmoon Faire is getting beefed up, as is "an older holiday" that is getting "a significant amount of punch" added to it. Chinese New Year, aka the Lunar Festival? Valentine's Day? Your guess is as good as ours.Blizzard's team has to take time off, too, so it's not too surprising that there wasn't too much new content to go through this year (although the Clockwork Bots definitely make up for it, if only they'd work right). But it's definitely awesome to hear that there's more in store for holiday events around the realms.
