rare-mounts
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Breakfast Topic: Have you camped for Poundfist yet?
As a fan of large and obnoxious mounts, I simply couldn't say no to this guy. The Sunhide Gronnling drops off a rare mob called Poundfist in Gorgrond. This isn't your ordinary rare. This one actually lives up to its name. Poundfist has a 48-96 hour respawn timer, and on top of that this timer is reset back to zero whenever the server is reset (including maintenance). This kept Poundfist from spawning at all until the 10th day of Warlords of Draenor. All of the unscheduled maintenance and rolling restarts kept him from ever appearing. When he did start spawning about a week ago, people gathered by the hundreds at his spawn points. The one upside to Poundfist is that everyone who tags him will get the mount, regardless of group or faction. Unfortunately, he has 5 different spawn points. They are spread out enough that it's possible you'll miss him if he spawns at another one. He's only level 95 and his health doesn't scale up nearly enough to handle all of the people attacking him. On top of that, the phasing that was introduced to help server loads means that you could be in a different phase than the one he spawns in. Most frightening of all, these separate phases of Gorgond share the general chat channel. Getting this mount is half dedication and half luck.
Clarification on bonus rolls for mounts, pets, and heirlooms
Ever wondered if using a bonus roll on a particular boss would actually grant you another chance at a mount or pet? Item and Rewards Designer Owen Landgren took to Twitter to clarify where bonus rolls do and do not work for specific items. Bonus rolls do not work for Garrosh heirloom weapons. These only have a random chance to drop into your bags on each kill in flex, normal, or heroic. Sha of Anger, Galleon, Nalak, and Oondasta mounts can be obtained with a bonus roll. Raid mounts, such as the Reins of the Astral Cloud Serpent, cannot be obtained with a bonus roll. Kor'kron Shaman's Treasure (shaman transmog gear) cannot be won with a bonus roll. Battle pets which drop from Siege of Orgrimmar bosses can be won with a bonus roll and they do not affect your chance at getting regular loot (winning a pet will not replace potential loot you could have won). However, the Quivering Blob from Throne of Thunder can only be won with a bonus roll on LFR difficulty and not on normal or heroic. I'll admit I was surprised to learn that the Garrosh weapons could not be won with a bonus roll. Blizzard's reasoning is they do not want you choosing between account-wide and character-level power when you bonus roll. Hopefully these clarifications will help you better spend your precious bonus rolls.
Officers' Quarters: Loot system for mounts
Every Monday, Scott Andrews contributes Officers' Quarters, a column about the ins and outs of guild leadership. He is the author of The Guild Leader's Handbook. One situation that officers and raid leaders are frequently unprepared for is a rare mount dropping from a boss. Many times, players aren't even aware that specific bosses drop mounts, because they drop so rarely. Without a specific policy in place, you have to make one up on the spot -- which is not a great idea. One guild just ran into this problem, and they want to know the best system for mounts. Hi Scott, Last night the officers of our 25-man raid group encountered a bit of a dilemma. Heroic Ji-Kun dropped the Clutch of Ji-Kun mount and we, the officers, had to decide how to deal with it. We use the EPGP lootmaster system, but didn't have any rules in place for how our raiders should roll on the mount. After a brief discussion we decided that we would just put a free roll for all players of Raider status and it would go to the highest roller. Other officers began to bring up valid points for the future, the next time a rare mount drops. What sort of requirements should we put on who is allowed to roll on mounts the next time one drops from a boss? Most of the other officers are saying "Raider" status, at least 1 month with the guild, and 90% attendance should be required before we roll. I felt the attendance clause was a bit strict, because it's not a combat item and it doesn't enhance the raid's performance in any way. The others feel that we should be rewarding people for having good attendance, which I feel is a valid point.
The 5 mounts I'm going to farm until the end of the world
Mount collecting in World of Warcraft is a common passion. There are some really beautiful designs out there, and showing off a rare collection is one of the ways in which people take pleasure from the game. A number of mounts are also a testament to dedication or skill in the game: the arena drakes, the Pureblood Fire Hawk, Invincible... for those who have earned them these mounts and others like them stand as a visual marker to their accomplishments. For those of us who tend to be a bit behind on the raiding or PvP curve, there are still plenty of obtainable mounts out there. Some of them were formerly unattainable without groups, but thanks to the inevitable passage of time and raising of the level cap, the bosses which drop them are now soloable. Unfortunately, mounts tend to have a very low drop rate, so getting them can be a challenge of determination, diligence, and of course, luck. Here are a few that I have yet to earn for myself, but I remain determined to acquire! 1. Raven Lord Can you believe I am a druid who still doesn't have this one? A Burning Crusade-era druid, too. I've been farming this mount since Anzu was only summonable by druids such as myself, and I still haven't seen it drop. Admittedly I've slacked off more recently, mostly because I'm sick of Sethekk Halls. I should hop back to it, though. The Raven Lord is one of the most gorgeous ground mounts in the game.
3 things the Black Market Auction House needs to succeed
The Black Market Auction House seems to be a controversial topic. Some players love the idea, while some players utterly detest the idea with every ounce of their being. Regardless, the theory behind the Black Market Auction House is a solid one. Removing gold from the WoW economy is something that is desperately needed in the days of Auction House kings, in order to balance everything out. If the Black Market Auction House works, it'll even out player gold to a reasonable level, keeping items on the regular Auction House at reasonable prices. And for those who spent the tremendous amount of time it takes to amass their fortunes, it means that they finally have something to spend their reward on, something tangible and -- let's face it -- something pretty cool. In expansions past, we've only had one or two really major gold sinks to speak of, whether crafted mounts, or really useful mounts purchased from a vendor. Once those mounts were purchased or crafted, there was a vast sea of nothing for people to spend that gold on. But the potential for abuse runs pretty high with this thing. And as I pondered the potential side effects of the Black Market Auction House, I realized there are certain things that really need to be in place to make it work effectively.
Is the thought of the Black Market Auction House bugging you?
Ever since the Black Market Auction House was mentioned, people wondered what the heck would be in it. We were told it would sell rare items, but what we weren't told was the extent of those rare items. It's not just level 90 recipes and things along those lines; it's also rare mounts and items that have been removed from game. This includes the elusive tier 3 that was lost presumably for all time when Naxxramas was changed from a 40-man raid to a 10- and 25-man raid and moved from the Eastern Plaguelands up to Northrend. As shown in the screenshot above, this also includes the Ashes of Al'ar, a rare mount drop from Kael'thas Sunstrider in Tempest Keep. And that seems to be a hot topic for a lot of players right now, particularly players who already have the mount and obtained it the old-fashioned way. It's an even bigger topic among those who don't necessarily have gigantic piles of gold stashed away, because it's obvious the prices on these items are going to be incredibly high. Some have said that Blizzard is catering to the 1% of players who have stockpiled mass amounts of gold. Well, that's not it at all, really. And the Black Market Auction House is something that we've needed for a very, very long time here.
Mists of Pandaria: Black Market Auction House offers rare and removed items
According to reports by MMO-Champion, the Black Market Auction House is now live on beta realms. Attempts to confirm this by chatting with Madam Goya just kicked back a UI error at me, but there seem to be plenty of people stopping by to check her out. Madam Goya makes her home at the Tavern of the Mists in the Veiled Stair, north of the Valley of the Four Winds. She's not alone, as Wrathion is still quietly hanging out in the tavern as well. So what's available at the Black Market? A little bit of everything, including rare mounts like the Ashes of Al'ar, pictured above. Also included are pets that require a grind to obtain such as the Sen'jin Fetish, previously available only from grinding out Argent Tournament reputation, and high-level crafting recipes, although we don't have a lot of information on what those recipes are exactly. However, perhaps the most interesting note to glean from this is that the Black Market Auction House appears to be carrying the original tier 3 sets that were removed from the game when Naxxramas was moved to Northrend and changed from a 40-man raid to a 10- and 25-man raid in Wrath of the Lich King. Obviously, this means that those looking to transmogrify into these rare tier sets can now pay to do so -- provided they've got the gold to fling around.
Win a Wizard101 rare mount package from Massively!
If you haven't had a chance to make your purchase in Wizard101's Mount-a-Palooza sale going on right now, fear not! We're giving you a chance to get the five rarest mounts in the game in one set, all for free! KingsIsle Entertainment was kind enough to send us 25 codes for these rare mount sets, which we'll be giving away through our Twitter page, our Facebook page, and a random drawing. Each rare mount set contains: Swift Gryphon, Bone Dragon, Great Hornocerous (2 person), Nightmare, and Blood Raven (2-person). For a chance at your own set, simply send an email to shawn@massively.com with the subject line "Gimme My Wizard101 Mount Code!" before Sunday, April 15th, at 8 p.m. EDT. On Monday, we'll present 15 random winners their very own code. Be sure to copy and paste those exact words into the subject line of your email, or it won't get filtered properly. The remaining 10 codes will be randomly released on our Twitter and/or Facebook pages throughout this entire weekend, so keep your eyes open! Also be sure to check past the cut below for images of three of the mounts in the package.
Certain mounts and items no longer available in patch 4.0.3
As promised, Blizzard has provided a list of the mounts and items that will no longer be available as of patch 4.0.3, The Shattering. The brief list is below, followed by the full Blizzard statement after the break. Swift Zulian Tiger and Swift Razzashi Raptor are no longer available. Razzashi Hatchling is no longer available. Tome of Polymorph: Turtle will continue to be available through other means. Mounts from Trial of the Crusader will no longer be available. Reins of the Blue Drake will return to their place as a 10-man rare drop from Malygos. The Azure Drake will continue to be available in 25-man mode as normal. Mimiron's Head and Invincible will be rare drops from their respective bosses on hard mode.
The OverAchiever: The 25 most entertaining achievements, part 3
Every so often, I get tired of the self-seriousness that infests some of (OK, most of) the other work I do here and get the urge to write something purely for fun. After our series on evil achievements and the relentless misery of School of Hard Knocks, I'd like to spend some time on achievements that are nothing but an absolute joy from beginning to end. This week we continue our series on World of Warcraft's most entertaining achievements. This is the full series to date, if you're just catching up with us: OverAchiever: Pure Win The 25 most entertaining achievements, #25-21 The 25 most entertaining achievements, #20-16 The 25 most entertaining achievements, #15-11 (today's post)
Patch 3.3.3 PTR: Zarhym clarifies new holiday boss mechanics
So one of the new changes coming in Patch 3.3.3 is that one will be able queue up using the dungeon finder in order to fight world event bosses such as the Crown Chemical Trio or the Headless Horseman. However, the actual extent of the changes is a bit more involved, as Zarhym clarified in a recent forums post. Here's the rundown:
Forum post of the day: For fun and profit
What does a spiffy rare mount cost? You can get a Spectral Tiger for about $900 (once sold for $2,000) on eBay. You could pay 20,000 gold for an Amani Warbear. BlizzCon 2008 World of Warcraft in-game polar bear mount with mounted, flag-waving murloc? $40 bucks. All you have to do is sign up for the DirecTV package and that fabulous bear is all yours. If I were a mount collector, I might persuade my friends to sign up for the package in my name. Kothor of Skywall is ordering the video package even though he's planning on attending Blizzcon. He suggested that Blizzard should make all of the rare mounts available for purchase. This suggestion was welcomed by several who have spent countless hours grinding for their prized ponies.
The Brewfest Kodo and what it may mean for WotLK's release date
Tipster Graffias pointed out an exciting find in the latest leaked Alpha files for WoTLK: An Icon for a Brewfest Kodo. You may recall that last year's Brewfest included a Ram mount that was purchasable with tickets by both sides, allowing the Horde very easy access to an Alliance mount with a few days of grinding for Brewfest Prize Tickets. Many Alliance weren't happy with this, annoyed that the Horde got such easy access to an Alliance mount without having to kill Baron Rivendare or a Troll a couple hundred times. Bornakk decided that the best way to answer this criticism would be by promising the Alliance that the Horde would be getting access to yet another previously alliance-only mount skin in the Cenarion War Hippogryph. Of course, Kisirani, being as awesome as she is, later said that we should have patience and things would work out in the end. Listening to the words of the world designer seem to have paid off, as it looks like the Dwarves are going to turn the tables on the Goblins this year and steal some Kodos from them. I can finally fulfill my dream of owning my very own Kodo. My Night Elf Druid is from Kalimdor after all, and you would think there would be some Night Elves who decided to domesticate Kodos as beasts of burden too. But really, as much as I am looking forward to grabbing myself a Kodo (and seeing a tiny Gnome riding around on a huge beast of burden), what's really exciting is this thought: If the Brewfest is in late September to early October, does that mean Blizzard is planning to give us WoTLK by September, Brewfest Kodo and all?
