stranglethorn-fishing-extravaganza
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Player sweeps all three Stranglethorn Fishing winning spots in one day
Relatively few WoW players will ever experience the alignment of timing and luck required to nab a win at the Stranglethorn Fishing Extravaganza. Contestants vie for only three prize-winning places that award a handful of coveted items including unique fishing trinkets and baubles and an experience-boosting account-bound ring. The weekly tournament tests anglers' efficiency and resolve with a race to the turn-in in neutral Booty Bay. Particularly on a PvP realm, a win can be less about catching 40 Speckled Tastyfish than surviving the combat on the way to turn them in. So it was a great surprise to everyone involved when early this summer, Nirad of The Underbog (US-PvP) snagged not only first place in the tourney but also second place and then third as well -- all in a single day. "The contest wasn't a ghost town event," Nirad says. "I was killed once and had to avoid seven or eight Horde. I fished around Yojamba Isle and Grom' gol Base Camp, as well as inland. I set my hearthstone to the inn and teleported in all three times. I stealthed to hand in the quests all three times, as there were 5 or 6 horde immediately around the NPC you hand in the quests to. Later I heard that a number of Horde were also at the entrance to the tunnel heading into the city to keep people from running in."
Patch 5.1: The Stranglethorn Fishing Extravaganza returns
This Sunday at 2 p.m. PST, the Stranglethorn Fishing Extravaganza returns to Azeroth. Due to the normalization of event times to counteract cross realm zone issues, the tournament will go back to being held every Sunday. Other changes have been implemented as well. Three winners for every tournament Kalu'ak Fishing Derby rewards will be available as the Derby will no longer be held Tastyfish can be caught from any fishing nodes, even wreckage and inland ones No more nodes that are only tastyfish For Oceanic realms, the Extravaganza will begin at 2 p.m. EST. According to Zarhym, a similar system is already in place in the EU. So put on your fishing hat and mosey on over to STV this Sunday if you want to participate in some competitive angling.
Patch 5.1 alters US and Oceanic realm event times
Blizzard Senior Community Manager Zarhym has posted on the US forums, informing players that, with the arrival of patch 5.1, substantial changes have been made to realm reset times throughout the US realm region, including oceanic servers. The reason behind this is the impact of cross-realm zones, or CRZ, on times events such as the Stranglethorn Fishing Extravaganza. Previously, players were able to manipulate the new feature to "realm-hop" to hand in the quests the moment the tournaments began, so Blizzard shut them down while the devs worked on a solution. The solution they've reached for patch 5.1 is to normalize event times across the US, and set up a different group of normalized times for the Oceanic region. The EU's servers have worked like this for many years, and it seems a viable answer to the problem, although some adjustment will be necessary for those who are inconvenienced by the changes. Due to the huge time difference, as noted, Oceanic servers have different reset times, but they continue to share raid and dungeon lockouts with US servers as Blizzard's team wish to maintain the large player pool for their matchmaking systems to draw from. Hit the break for Zarhym's full post and to see when your new reset times are.
Patch 3.3 PTR: Kalu'ak Fishing Derby details
News flash! Tired of getting ganked in Stranglethorn Vale for the weekly fishing contest? Well worry no more as our favourite walking walruses, the Kalu'ak, are hosting their own fishing tournament in Northrend every Wednesday when patch 3.3 drops! Some details have been released in the recent 10676 build. Great! What are the details? Elder Clearwater is going to hang out in Dalaran for exactly one hour for a Blacktip Shark that you have to catch and return to him. The event starts at 8:00 PM on Wednesday. If you're looking for a tip though, apparently the elusive Blacktip Shark seems to favour Pygmy Suckerfish. Keep a few handy in your bags when you're going fishing. Don't worry though as even if you don't end up being the champion angler, you'll still receive a reward just for turning the shark in. On an achievement related note, the Master Angler of Stranglethorn achievement has been changed to Master Angler of Azeroth. Winning the Stranglethorn Fishing Extravaganza or the Kalu'ak Fishing Derby will be enough to meet the requirements for the achievement. We're not quite sure as to what the prizes are yet, but according to the Warcraft twitter, a new heirloom ring awaits the winner! 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 the Arthas. WoW.com's Guide to Patch 3.3 will keep you updated with all the latest patch news.
Insider Trader: Your bad self
Insider Trader is your inside line on making, selling, buying and using player-made products.In the World of Warcraft, as in life, we are constantly being faced with morally significant choices. Some players try their best to listen to the Angel on their shoulder, while others will do whatever suits them at the time. Proper etiquette is always in debate.Of course, as this is a virtual world, the moral implications of our actions are on a much smaller scale. Hitting someone for being annoying could cause many problems in my personal and professional lives, yet blasting someone similar off of a cliff in-game can be almost therapeutic. When it comes to gathering and crafting, greed crops up. There are many ways to get what you want, often at the expense of others. This week, Insider Trader will discuss the underhanded side of the professional world.
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.
WoW, Casually: Thanksgiving edition
Each week, Robin Torres writes WoW, Casually for the player who has 2 hours or less to play at a time.I hope everyone had a drama-free Thanksgiving (void where prohibited). And for those of you in retail, it's been nice knowing you. We'll see you at Christmas.This weekend, the Call to Arms is for Alterac Valley. I expect AV to be packed with people because of the holiday weekend. Those of you who have some extra playtime this weekend should take advantage of the lower queues for AV in order to save up more honor for the Season 1 gear that will be available for honor purchase on Tuesday. Those purplez will be the best gear available for the playtime challenged, so if you are at all PvP inclined, go forth and play in the snows of Alterac Valley this weekend.
