questlines
Latest
Breakfast Topic: What is WoW's most moving storyline?
It's my firm opinion that the most moving moments in World of Warcraft are the ones that sneak up on you. You're nonchalantly questing through a zone when you realize you've become anxious about the fate of a particular character. As the whole picture begins to come into focus, you find yourself racing to find out what happens -– or if you're like me, you find yourself holding back, stricken with horror at the possibilities you suspect may unfold at your next destination. Most players seem to have fond memories of a story they encountered somewhere in Azeroth that unexpectedly tugged at their hearts. We've created a poll with a few staff favorites, although we know there are many, many other storylines that have become beloved to players. Which storyline was the one that did it for you? (We've linked to the quest lines in the paragraph just below the poll, if you'd like to refresh your memory.) %Poll-83423% For more information, see: The fate of Crusader Bridenbrad; Pamela Redpath and Darrowshire; Tirion Fordring's quest to free Taelan; Oronok Torn-heart and his sons; Sunwalker Dezco in Krasarang; Gidwin and Tarenar in E. Plaguelands; Ezra Chatterton; Leyara's story; or (oh, happy day!) the Draenei starting zone culmination.
Should green fire be prestigious?
Every week, WoW Insider brings you Blood Pact for affliction, demonology, and destruction warlocks. This week, Megan O'Neill wishes the mages would stop sending out the bad voodoo vibes to everything she owns so she can buy new fun things for her birthday instead of old replacements. There's plenty to look for through the datamining, but the question on everyone's mind is, "How do I start the questline?" Trust me, when someone finds out, I'm sure the internet will explode about it. It'll probably be on a Monday, during my other job's hours, and right after this column posts, knowing my luck. But before I get into an all-out walkthrough of the questline, I want to discuss one thing: does green fire have to be exclusive? Is exclusivity required for meaningfulness?
Patch 3.3 PTR: WoW.com's stream of the Frozen Halls
We ran our livestream of the Halls of Reflection on the PTR yesterday, and other than one little hitch (I figured I'd save us all the trouble of raiding the Lich King and just jump in and take him down myself, with disastrous consequences), it went pretty well. Turns out you need to run through the main quest to unlock the last two Frozen Halls instances, so we ended up doing all three: Forge of Souls and Pit of Saron on normal, and then the Halls of Reflection on both normal and Heroic. On the way, you can see all of the bosses, dropped loot, the various lore and questlines that weave throughout the new 5-man, and the final epic confrontation. Obviously, considering this is straight video of these instances (with commentary and audio from the game), these things are full of spoilers -- if you don't want to know what happens when you enter Icecrown Citadel, steer clear. That said, the video we recorded is after the break. You don't have to watch the whole thing (in fact, at over two hours, you'd be crazy to), as I've tagged the Forge of Souls run, the Pit of Saron run, and the final heroic Halls of Reflection run on their own. Clicking those links or the markers on the video below should take you to the specific parts of the video. Enjoy. Patch 3.3 is the last major patch of Wrath of the Lich King. With the new Icecrown Citadel 5-man dungeons and 10/25-man raid arriving soon, patch 3.3 will deal the final blow to Arthas. WoW.com's Guide to Patch 3.3 will keep you updated with all the latest patch news.
Sleeper Cartel hosts a Dead Man's Party next Saturday
Those party hosts in Sleeper Cartel on Perenolde are at it again -- they're holding yet another in-game party, this time to celebrate Halloween, and it sounds like another player-run blowout: free food and drinks, costume and trivia contests, and lots more. There's something called the Dead Man's Run, and we have no idea what that is, but it sounds like a bunch of low level gnomes will die, which is always run. They tell us they're planning on having a live DJ spin tunes, just as they did at their summer party. And they'll have player-run questlines to do as well. You have to give it to them: Sleeper Cartel never seems to run short on creative things to do in-game.I'm sorry to say that, as much as I've reported on these, I've never actually been to one. But I think that'll change with this party -- it kicks off at 7pm MST next Saturday, October 24th, on the US server of Perenolde, and they're holding it at what they say is one of the creepiest places in the game, the Ruins of the Scarlet Enclave (a.k.a. the Death Knight starting area, sans leveling Death Knights). I just marked it on my calendar, so I do believe that I will see you there.
Counterpoint: Yes, we should track raiding progression
There's been a lot of hemming and hawing lately about how Wrath is too easy. And there's no question that it is: Ensidia cut through the endgame like an epic dagger through the Vykrul, and any guild that steps into the endgame these days, even with low numbers or cheap gear, finds success. Adam suggested this morning that raiding is so easy these days that we shouldn't bother to track progression, and while Adam is a great writer and a terrific player, I'm here to disagree with his opinion: progression is exactly what the new endgame is all about.While Karazhan was one of the (if not the) most successful instances ever, it had one big problem: it killed guilds. It murdered progression. It was a roadblock after a roadblock, so much so that it took some guilds months to conquer, if they survived at all. Ten man Naxx obviously doesn't have that problem -- anyone with a little raiding experience who wants to beat bosses in there can do so, and Obsidian Sanctum is just as easy. The problem now, however, is that guilds like Ensidia and guilds who pushed through to Sunwell in the old endgame, are finishing the content already, and wondering what's next? They were 80 two weeks ago, and now, barely a month after the expansion's release, they've toppled every dungeon they can find.And what's wrong with that? Nothing.
Continuing quest chains (and a new [fake] Quel'serrar!)
A few weeks ago on Phat Loot Phriday, I wrote about the Essence of Eranikus, a cool little trinket from the dragon in Sunken Temple. It's actually part of an unfinished questline-- a few steps after you get the gem from Eranikus, the questline ends in Winterspring with no explanation as to what happened with the rest of the story. Like many players (including myself), Falandan wants to know if Blizzard has any plans to finish up this series of quests.Tseric answers on the forums, and says that while Blizz is leaving their option open, the main problem with returning to unfinished quests (The Missing Diplomat/King of Stormwind is another) is that they'd have players of a high level doing low level quests. Either that, or they'd have to interrupt the normal leveling game, and you'd be doing quests in the same line with ten (or more) levels between them.But while that's an obstacle Blizzard is considering, apparently it's not going to stop them from revisiting some old questlines: reader anobolic (thanks!) sends a link to this flickr account, with what looks like an extension of the Quel'serrar questline!If you've got Quel'serrar now (not sure yet if Blizzard will give it back to you if you've sold or destroyed it for some reason), you'll be able to do another set of quests (rumored to involve another dragon, and maybe even an Undead Onyxia-- she's back?!?) that will either get you the Daughter of Quel'serrar (more purple for paladins), the Son of Quel'serrar (for warriors), or, if you're the first person on the server to complete the quest, Quel'serrar Reborn (and apparently you get a "dragonslayer" title with that as well). Oh, and there's also a rumor of a Quel'serrar shield to come. Very cool! Of course, all this is rumor so far-- it's not even certain that this is coming in patch 2.1 is real at all (see Update) -- but if Blizzard is rewarding those who worked for the High Blade with another questline to work through, it's a good sign that we might see updates to the old unfinished ones as well.Update: Commenters are casting doubt on the authenticity of the pictures. Stuff like this could be easily photoshopped, and we have no other source for it, so take the info about Quel'serrar with a grain of salt.Update2: Commenter Leggend (thanks!) says this is proof the images were just adjusted in Photoshop. Oh well. Maybe someday Blizzard will actually finish off some of these old questlines.
Five must-see quests at 70
When I finally hit 70 on my main, the last thing I wanted to do was more quests. But lately, after a lot of prodding from guildies and a lot of drooling over the thought of a quest reward Netherwing mount, I've gotten back into questing with my main. And after going at it for a week or so now, I've discovered there are some pretty awesome quests to do even after you hit that final ding in Outland. If you're just getting ready to start questing for gold instead of XP, here's five terrific quest chains you can seek out and work through.(And yes, I do realize that most hardcore players will have already found and completed these chains-- if you know of more fun, rewarding, or cool quests to do post-70, feel free to add them in the comments below.)1. The Cipher of Damnation. This is a loooong, long questline that will get you ready to do The Eye, the 25-man raid in Tempest Keep. It starts off with some solo quests in Shadowmoon, and then takes you through all the Heroic instances in TK. Along the way, you'll use boars to dig for tubers, and puke your guts out going through rotten Arrakoa eggs. Lots of fun. It starts in Shadowmoon Valley's Wildhammer Stronghold if you're Alliance, or Shadowmoon Village if you're Horde.2. Entry Into the Citadel. This questline and the next one are key quests-- they'll finish with key rewards that will let you into endgame dungeons. This questline is the making of the Shattered Halls key, necessary to enter the toughest 5 man in Hellfire Citadel (not every group member needs these keys to enter these instances, just one-- unlike the raid instances). So lots of guildies will love you if you finish these quests, and for this questline, you get to kill a Fel Reaver in the process. The Shattered Halls key questline starts from a drop from Smith Gorlunk, on the Northern Terraces outside of the Black Temple in Shadowmoon Valley.
