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WoW Archivist: 10 years, 10 amazing moments, part 2
WoW Archivist explores the secrets of World of Warcraft's past. What did the game look like years ago? Who is etched into WoW's history? What secrets does the game still hold? Reflecting back on 10 years of WoW, I find it hard not to smile and shake my head in disbelief. If someone had told me early in 2004 that a game would be released that year and I'd still be playing it week in, week out in 2015, I never would have believed it. If you missed part 1, I covered world PvP near Uldaman, founding a guild, getting lost in Gnomeregan, earning my Rhok'delar bow, and my first night in Outland. Here are five more amazing moments. 6. The Wrathgate. In the weeks after Wrath of the Lich King launched, one achievement got instant attention in your guild chat: Veteran of the Wrathgate. Those who had already experienced the awesomeness congratulated the player who earned it. Those who hadn't waited in anticipation of that moment (and hopefully remained unspoiled until they did). And those who had just earned the achievement were left saying, simply, "whoa." It's a quest line that deserves its own Archivist column someday, so I won't go into detail about the lead-up to this incredible event. Once you completed it, the cinematic began. Going into it, we thought we knew what Wrath was all about. We thought it would be straightforward: The Lich King attacked us, so the Horde and Alliance would put aside their differences to take him down. No mess, no fuss. Four and a half minutes later, the champion of each faction was (apparently) dead, the Forsaken were in open rebellion, everything was on fire, and we realized that this story would be far messier and more interesting than we thought. Afterward, we gazed over the charred remains on the battlefield and listened to the screams of the dying, shellshocked from this devastating moment. It was over, or so it seemed. But Blizzard had another surprise in store for us a few quests later: the Battle for the Undercity.
Warlords of Draenor: The Kor'kron are officially out
Denizens of the Undercity can breathe a sigh of relief in Warlords of Draenor, as abominations have once more taken their rightful place as guards of the Forsaken capital. Ever since the disastrous events of the Wrathgate and subsequent Battle for the Undercity in Wrath of the Lich King, the Undercity's halls have been dutifully patrolled by Kor'kron -- the elite personal bodyguards and fighting force of the Horde's Warchief. Yet although the Kor'kron were originally sent to simply keep an eye on the Forsaken -- particularly the Royal Apothecary Society -- as expansions went on, the guard became more and more hostile. This, of course, led up to the events in Mists of Pandaria, where the Kor'kron crossed the line from loyal bodyguards to full-out fanatics working almost as secret police for Garrosh Hellscream. Led by Malkorok, the Kor'kron's ranks expanded considerably when Garrosh granted the Blackrock Clan amnesty and welcomed them into his new vision of the Horde. In the Siege of Orgrimmar, the Kor'kron fought against both rebel forces led by Vol'jin, and the Alliance army -- and found themselves systematically dismantled from both sides.
Breakfast Topic: When will the Siege of Orgrimmar reach Orgrimmar?
Though the Siege of Orgrimmar patch was released way back in September 2013, the situation in the live version of Orgrimmar has changed very little since the so-called siege begun. If you play a horde character, portals throughout the game send you to Orgrimmar as the horde capitol... even though Orgrimmar under the rule of Garrosh is hardly a friendly place. Patrolled by the all-orc Kor'Kron Guard, the city streets aren't particularly welcoming to non-orcs -- or anyone who disagrees with Garrosh's leadership. While this made for a strong story element when patch 5.4 was launched, it's rather outstayed its welcome. At this point, even a wrecked, post-siege Orgrimmar would seem a more welcoming place than the fear-filled city that's been the center of the horde's game world for nearly a year. So tell us, readers -- when do you think Orgrimmar will get a post-Garrosh makeover? And what will we see taking its place come Warlords?
NPC pathing and the living virtual world
In the early days of vanilla WoW, I played Alliance. It wasn't until after hitting 60 that I began playing Horde in earnest. Although I appreciated the bare, rough-and-tumble primitive nature of Orgrimmar, I always felt there was something missing -- namely, the NPCs that happily wandered Stormwind all day long. Orgrimmar didn't really have much of that sort of thing, back then. And of all the NPCs that wandered the human capital, none captured my attention so much as Ol' Emma. Emma was at the time part of a quest chain that took place in the Western Plaguelands -- a ghost in the upper level of a house in Felstone Field asked players to deliver a package to her. But Emma's charms weren't just wrapped into that quest. Ol' Emma spent her days -- and still spends her days -- walking the streets of Stormwind. I first found her walking to the well near the flight path in Stormwind, griping about how nobody respects their elders. Laughing, I moved on, but months later on a whim I decided to follow Ol' Emma to see exactly where she takes all that water she's been supposedly hauling. To my surprise, Emma walking into a building near Cathedral Square, went up the stairs, and ... stopped, facing a wall, still talking to nobody in particular. Unfortunately, this was kind of par for the course for NPCs back then.
Escape from Orgrimmar
Spoilers for Siege of Orgrimmar in this post. The whole post, pretty much past this line. I wouldn't keep reading if I wanted to avoid those. Yesterday I wrote a piece I intended as satirical. Besides giving me a big ol' reminder of Poe's Law, I learned the following: What I think is an absolutely ridiculous scenario -- the destruction of Orgrimmar by the Alliance following the Siege -- is not only plausible to some players, it's actually desired by some. Even people who oppose the idea treated it as one that is not ridiculous, or if it is ridiculous, is a real argument made by other players. That is because it is a real argument made by other players. I had managed to miss that. I had read suggestions for a garrison in Orgrimmar, for forcing reparations (the return of seized lands, for example) but I had not actually seen players make an argument for the destruction of Orgrimmar itself. No matter how ridiculous you think your idea is, someone is already surpassing you. While I don't apologize for writing the piece, I am now clearly aware that it didn't work. The problem becomes that I don't see how it could. What could I possibly have suggested that would be so ludicrous that it would be immediately apparent as farcical? Suggesting that the Alliance make stew meat of the Horde, perhaps? I'm not writing this post to bemoan my less than deft hand, however. Instead, since I've discovered that some people really think that the game should have a major faction capital city get destroyed and its population scattered across Kalimdor, I've decided to list all the ways that would be a terrible idea for the game as well as the story.
Know Your Lore: Delenda est Orgrimmar
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. An analysis of the aftermath of the Siege of Orgrimmar by SI:7 operative <name redacted> - contains top secret information about the aftermath of the Siege, including details on the new warchief - read only if you are cleared to know these details Jaina Proudmoore was right. The greatest threat to the people of Azeroth, the greatest obstacle to peace, the greatest impediment to a unified world capable of defeating the Burning Legion is the Horde. The original core of the Horde, the orcs of Draenor, have proved time and again that all they respect is military force and that they prefer to live by theft and conquest rather than trade or diplomacy - whether it be their sacking and burning of Stormwind at the end of the First War, their defeat at Blackrock Mountain at the end of the Second, or their uprising and flight that led to their arrival on Kalimdor, the orcs have always and will always choose conquest and war to achieve their aims. Leaving any and all morality out of the question, it's simply foolish to allow the Horde to continue to exist. Does King Varian Wrynn think Sylvanas Windrunner cares at all about the defeat of Hellscream? Why would she? Why should she? In defeating Garrosh and his Kor'kron, Varian has done her a favor - he's removed the only oversight capable of detecting and halting her more genocidal plans. This is a ruler who has repeatedly displayed that she is able and willing to dump plague on living populations - the writhing oozes of Southshore and the disease clouded streets of Gilneas City stand testament to her aims and means. Are we to believe that the new Warchief will have either the time or the motivation to pull Sylvanas back? It would make more sense from Vol'jin's perspective, as ruler of a weakened Horde, to let Sylvanas draw as much attention away from Kalimdor as she can - to draw Alliance attention away from him, and his crippled Horde. Letting the forsaken do whatever they want will give him time to rebuild and retrench. No, it's clear enough to even the most jaded observer - as long as the Horde exists, it will seek dominion over all the world of Azeroth. The Horde must be stopped. Furthermore, it is my opinion that Orgrimmar must be destroyed.
Siege of Orgrimmar and the world of the idea
Last night while raiding Orgrimmar, specifically while coming into the gates of the city past the Iron Juggernaut, I had this intense feeling of recognition layered with the discontinuity changes bring. It's a similar feeling to when you go back to the city or town you grew up in after a few years. Things have changed, but you still recognize most of it - tiny flashes of memory jump out, saying (in this case) "Hey, remember hovering over Grommash Hold in your flying mount waiting for raid" and then "This was always my favorite Auction House, I wonder if I left anything up before I switched factions" but at the same time the cages and wandering Kor'kron mobs lent a surreal air to the whole experience. I'd spent the whole night distracted anyway by the little touches of the raid so far - the fight with the Fallen Protectors started a chain of thought that stayed with me. These people were dead because, in part, of actions I'd taken while I was playing as Horde. After all, I stood next to Garrosh in the Shrine of Two Moons as he said that he would learn from the mogu. I helped him steal the Divine Bell from Darnassus. I watched him use it on Ichi, discarding a loyal servant like a broken toy when it didn't work. And more of course - I served Hellscream in breaching the Jade Forest, bringing the war that my faction was waging to foreign shores, and disrupted the cycle of rebirth for the Jade Serpent, loosing the Sha upon the forest. I snuck into Theramore and freed the Horde agent who helped keep Alliance civilians in the city for the bomb to destroy. Now of course, I didn't actually do any of those things because it is a game. Garrosh Hellscream is a voice actor's craft and a mass of pixels reading lines written by Blizzard's team of writers. What I find interesting, and overlooked at times by players like myself, is the opportunity to muse on the ideas presented to us by the game. What would it be like to return to Orgrimmar as a soldier invading it? What would it feel like to bear a certain responsibility for the ruin of a peaceful valley, the destruction of people who had only sought to protect their home? To see a beautiful land scarred by a monstrous act, and know that the act couldn't have happened without your assistance, however small, and however deeply you regretted it? For me, part of the fun of playing the game is in thinking differently than I usually do, to explore the ideas presented by the story as I move through it. I mean, at one point we actually have to kill pride. That's the subtext leaping forth from the head of the text, that is.
Possible hint to the next patch?
Mists of Pandaria has brought about a ton of visual changes, and not just to Pandaria -- Orgrimmar has seen a lot of evolution over the course of the expansion, what with the abrupt shut down of the Valley of Spirits and the wild Gamon chase all throughout the city. However, it looks like the Siege of Orgrimmar might not be the last patch we'll see in Mists of Pandaria after all -- Lead Quest Designer Dave Kosak made an interesting comment on Twitter regarding the future of Orgrimmar. @Leviathonlx Most of Orgrimmar permanent changes will happen in a future patch, but before next expansion. - Dave Kosak (@DaveKosak) July 17, 2013 Whether this is pointing to the usual lead-in patch for the next expansion, or a patch 5.5 in the works is, of course, completely up in the air. But it's nice to see that Orgrimmar won't be in a state of perpetual lockdown for good. It would be even nicer, however, to see the Vale restored at least a little bit in some sort of resolution -- after all, its appearance in 5.4 is kind of a shock. And if we're dead set on cleaning up Pandaria, wouldn't it be lovely to see some kind of evidence that we're serious about it? For that matter, seeing the Jade Forest cleaned up would be nice, too. Sure, it might take another hundred years to build another statue for the Jade Serpent, but I miss the orange trees.
Après Hellscream, le déluge: A Lore Projection
Spoilers for Patch 5.4 lurk within this post, like a hideous phalanx of grue. I can't shake this feeling of dread lately. Thinking about the Siege of Orgrimmar, about Garrosh Hellscream, about the Horde and what's to become of it, and of the Alliance. Thanks to the most recent sound files, we know a few things, but what we don't learn from those files is as interesting as what we do learn. And yet, I can't shake this feeling of dread. What am I dreading? The villain will be defeated, right? The heroes will be triumphant, the rebels and the Alliance will storm Orgrimmar and the 'True Horde' will be toppled from the fortresses it has made of a formerly vibrant, brawling town. All will be right with the world, yes? Maybe yes, but maybe no. I keep looking at Garrosh Hellscream -- the orc who successfully led a disorganized Horde rabble to Northrend and welded an army out of it -- and thinking about what comes after the siege. What happens when the son of Grom is defeated? What happens to the Horde? What happens to the Alliance? What happens to Azeroth? What happens to us?
Patch 5.4 PTR: Siege of Orgimmar raid testing schedule
Welcome to the first of many upcoming raid tests on the patch 5.4 PTR! The Siege of Orgrimmar is about to take place and both the Horde and the Alliance are invited! This is your chance to preview the upcoming encounters in a blank slate with no prior information. No strategies. No videos. No writeups. It's going to be you, your raid, and your brains as you figure out how to best these encounters (or break them). Blizzard will be starting with 10-player encounters before moving on to their Heroic and 25-player iterations. Testing starts Monday, June 24 and Tuesday, June 25. Like the previous Throne of Thunder tests for patch 5.2, the bosses will only be available for a limited window of time. Get your characters copied over or create a new level 90 premade if you wish to help! Monday, June 24 Fallen Protectors - 10 Player Normal - 10:30 PDT (13:30 EDT, 19:30 CEST) Kor'kron Dark Shaman (Who are the Dark Shaman?) - 10 Player Normal - 16:00 PDT (19:00 EDT, 01:00 CEST) Tuesday, June 25 Immerseus - 10 Player Normal - 10:30 PDT (13:30 EDT, 19:30 CEST) General Nazgrim - 10 Player Normal 16:00 PDT (19:00 EDT, 01:00 CEST) Catch the official blue post after the jump!
The Queue: I feel pretty
Welcome back to The Queue, the daily Q&A column in which the WoW Insider team answers your questions about the World of Warcraft. Alex Ziebart will be your host today. Oh, so pretty. JeffLaBowski asked: Now that Mists has been out for a while, what would you have changed storywise? From the way the Pandaren were introduced to how both major plot lines were dealt with? I know a lot was changed in Beta. Do you think it played out as well as was planned?
Know Your Lore: Is Garrosh Hellscream corrupt?
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. As the expansion rolls on, we are lurching towards something that we've known was coming since the beta for Mists of Pandaria -- Garrosh Hellscream's downfall and the Siege of Orgrimmar. Yet what we didn't know that day that were were informed of the expansions focus, is just how the new Warchief's reign would end. And as the patches have continued to roll out, we have more of an idea and a solid picture of both the Alliance and the Horde's place in this conflict. Make no mistake, Hellscream has made far too many enemies in his short reign, both within and without. Yet there are those who point out Garrosh's actions and the possibility that his actions may not be under his control. That perhaps he's been corrupted by the Sha while searching for power in Pandaria. Or perhaps the bones of Mannoroth that Garrosh uses as his throne still have some vestige of darkness that lingers within. Or that perhaps the Old Gods have been slowly leeching their influence into Garrosh. Regardless of the methods behind it, there are plenty of people all wondering the same thing -- is Garrosh Hellscream corrupt? Are we going to fight the Warchief, only to discover a far greater horror waiting for us?
Updated! Spoiler Alert: Patch 5.3 Datamined sound files
Spoiler Alert! Beyond the break are several YouTube video embeds which contain considerable spoilers for the latter half of this expansion, as well as, potentially, for the next one. Our friends over at Adriacraft have been at it again, digging around in the latest patch 5.3 PTR files. There's audio from several key characters in the game (including a great deal of Wrathion), revealing what could well be coming our way. Of course, take this with a hefty pinch of salt. This is datamined information and should be treated as such, so don't take it as confirmation of anything. As ever, spoilers lurk after the break. Do not hit the break unless you are happy to hear spoilers for upcoming content. Do not read the comments unless you are happy to read people talking about spoilers. Fair warning.
My first week as Horde
I've been playing World of Warcraft for a very long time. Since it was closed beta, in fact. Back when the game was still brand new, I mean right when the servers first opened up, I played for team red. I was a Horde shaman, and proud to be so. My first shaman was not named Lodur, in fact it was what I thought at the time was the ever clever name of Rum. I played with one of my buddies who named his warrior Coke. We played with a bunch of coworkers and friends from college until partway through Classic WoW when they either got promoted at work, graduated or stopped playing. Some of our group though decided to move to another server and see how things were going on the Alliance side of things. Off to Zul'jin we went, and with moving servers and factions in a time before server transfers or faction swaps were around, came a new toon. Abigail, the night elf hunter was born. She's traveled servers, and been race changed multiple times since she was born. I finished Classic WoW on her raiding with friends all the way through the original Naxxramas. I still gave a lot of love to Rum though, and even found time to run him through Ahn'Qiraj 40. When Burning Crusade released, though, Rum fell to the wayside as Lodur was born over with my Alliance family. I hadn't returned to horde except for a brief tour with the Choose My Adventure here on the site, that was until this past week when I server and faction changed my long time hunter over to play Horde side again with friends.
Know Your Lore: The genesis of Garrosh Hellscream
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 almost an enigma in his own right. You wouldn't think that, by first glance -- after all, right now he fits the bill of brutal orc bent on global domination. But Garrosh's story has had so many moments between the depressed and unwilling would-be leader of Garadar, and the bloodthirsty warleader of Mists of Pandaria that it's difficult to determine where, exactly, he went from point A to point B. I've been asked about it before by many, but KyleCaligiuri phrased it really well, so I'll reprint the question here. Is there some piece of lore I'm missing explaining Garrosh's actions between Cataclysm and Tides of War? Shattering helped put a *bit* of a positive light on Garrosh after WotLK, I felt, since he was remorseful about what happened with Cairne (in that he didn't want to win by cheating...) and I felt his leader short story did as well, if I remember correctly. I'm now playing through the Horde campaign finally, and the events in Stonetalon further point that he is all about honor and pride in the Horde. Also, Ragefire Chasm is all about defeating the dark shaman so that they don't end up with another threat like the Twilight's Hammer or Burning Blade. Yet, this is all contradicted in Tides of War, where he drops a bomb just as Krom'gar did in Stonetalon, and embraces the dark shaman. I'm only up to Desolace right now in the Horde campaign, so do we see his progression toward the more corrupt Garrosh, or is this still yet to be explained? It's that disconnect between moments that confuses people. Garrosh may be many things, but two-dimensional is not one of them. Who is Garrosh Hellscream, and how did he find his way to this path that flies in the face of his previous actions?
Stormwind and Orgrimmar get repaired, somewhat, on the patch 5.2 PTR
The builders in Stormwind and Orgrimmar have finally got their act together and fixed up the front gates of both cities, after Deathwing left his fiery marks throughout Azeroth. It's about time, given that Cataclysm launched back in December 2010, but it seems reasonable that the builders would be wary of starting any work while Deathwing still roamed the world, breathing fire on unsuspecting citizens. Orgrimmar's front gates, as can be seen from the video above, have been completely repaired, as have the ones in Stormwind, along with a couple of previously scorched clock towers, but the Night Elf builders have obviously been struggling to keep up, as the Park area remains a crumbling ruin. In all fairness, they have a little more to contend with than a few slightly singed stones, the whole area was decimated, and the ground it was constructed on is now a smoldering cliff face. Do you think the Night Elves will rebuild the Stormwind zone they used to inhabit? Or will it remain a wreck for years to come? Mists of Pandaria is here! The level cap has been raised to 90, many players have returned to Azeroth, and pet battles are taking the world by storm. Keep an eye out for all of the latest news, and check out our comprehensive guide to Mists of Pandaria for everything you'll ever need to know.
The Soapbox: Using MMOs to relax and unwind
Every now and then, everyone needs to take a break from the hustle and bustle of everyday life to relax and unwind. The outside world can be loud, and the stresses of work and home life can add up quickly, so it helps to be able to switch off for a while. Some of us find relaxation in sitting down in front of the TV, others in zoning out to their favourite music, and an increasing number of people now wind down with computer games. I've personally found MMOs to be incredibly effective refuges from stress and anxiety, but until now I've never really thought about why that might be. Any game can provide a few hours of escape from the daily grind, but there's something special about MMOs that seems to make them more comforting places to be. Certainly MMOs are manufactured to give a sense of solid progress as you play, a fairness that the unpredictability of real life often can't deliver, but there has to be more to it. Do the music and ambient sounds in EverQuest II's virtual forests and glens produce the same reaction as walking through a real life wood? Likewise, does EVE Online trick us into slowing down, and is spending time in a virtual world just more appealing than slogging along in the real one? In this opinion piece, I look at some of the most relaxing areas and activities I've found in MMOs and try to figure out what makes them tick.
World of Warcraft exploiters wipe out entire cities
Imagine logging into your favorite MMO only to find that a previously populated capital city is a barren wasteland devoid of life. This actually happened yesterday to some denizens of World of Warcraft, as mischief-makers used an exploit to kill everyone -- human players and NPCs alike -- in the biggest cities. Stormwind and Orgrimmar were completely wiped out on several servers, with other towns reportedly coming under nefarious attacks. Blizzard leaped into action and quickly hotfixed the game, promising that the exploit cannot happen again. The studio said that it is taking this apocalypse action "very seriously" and has launched an investigation into it.
Prepare for Pandaria: Transmogrify your way into Hellscream's Vanguard
It's almost time to hit the seas and head to Pandaria, so why spend these last few weeks pulling together a set to look the part? Last time, we covered the unique look of the Ravenholdt elite, a black and blue leather number with a snazzy sword to boot. This isn't just a Ravenholdt uniform. It's also used by the Blacktalon Watchers that work as the eyes and ears of Wrathion the Black Prince in Mists of Pandaria. Speaking of Pandaria, in order to head to Pandaria's shores, players must complete quests in their respective capital cities. From there, you hop aboard an airship and make your way to the mysterious, mist-cloaked isle. For the Horde, this means a trip with General Nazgrim and a select force of Hellscream's Vanguard, whose black, brown and gold set makes a pretty distinctive look. If you're going to head to Pandaria as part of Garrosh's forces, you may as well find a uniform that fits -- if you're a plate wearer, that is. Thankfully, most of this set is quite easy to obtain, with one glaring exception that can be substituted with something similiar, with a little creativity.
What do you want in a city?
Nestled on the eastern half of the Vale of Eternal Blossoms, players will find two nearly identical shrines, the Shrine of Two Moons and the Shrine of Seven Stars. In the next expansion, these two locations will serve Horde and Alliance players as miniature capital cities, conveniently located in the heart of Pandaria for easy access to the rest of the continent. Both shrines currently offer most of the usual commodities you'd find in a capital city: Auction House, bank, profession trainers, and arcane reforging. Unfortunately, the shrines also appear to lack other basic essentials, such as class trainers, portals, transmogrification, void storage, and the ability to mount up on a flying or ground mount. The good news is the shrines still appear to be under significant development. City chat channels (such as trade chat) were only just added yesterday with the latest beta patch, and most of the vendor and trainer NPCs still can't be interacted with. Additionally, you're not currently considered at rest while within the confines of a shrine, meaning you have to sit through that annoying pop-up for 20 seconds before you can log out. It also looks like the mount issue will be handled by an NPC in the shrines who casts Cyclonic Inspiration on you, allowing you to move about the city at high speeds, but the buff doesn't always take and falls off before you can run simple errands between the bank and Auction House. Since I didn't participate in the Wrath of the Lich King beta, this is the first city I've seen while it was in development, which got me wondering: What would the perfect city be? What would I want a new city in the game to have? Maybe a transmogrification ethereal right next to the bank so it's easier for me to swap outfits? I bet players who deal in lots of buying and trading on the Auction House would want the bank right next door, if not inside the Auction House itself. What kind of features do role players want? How about raiders and PvPers? What do you want in a city, and why? It's open warfare between Alliance and Horde in Mists of Pandaria, World of Warcraft's next expansion. Jump into five new levels with new talents and class mechanics, try the new monk class, and create a pandaren character to ally with either Horde or Alliance. Look for expansion basics in our Mists FAQ, or dig into our spring press event coverage for more details!
