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5 stupid-awesome uses for the Glyph of Disguise
Last year, we examined the curious possibilities of the remarkable Potion of Illusion, introduced in Cataclysm and hailed for its potential as a tool for amusement and mayhem. Potions of Illusion were my guild's go-to ingredient in what were otherwise boring waits for raiding to start, and my guild thoroughly enjoyed playing around and seeing what different kinds of effects we could mimic. Although the days of Cataclysm are over, the Potion of Illusion still has its uses. And in Mists of Pandaria, the possibilities have opened just a little wider due to the introduction of a glyph that works hand-in-hand with the Potion of Illusion. In Mists, rogues were given the Glyph of Disguise. This minor glyph allows rogues to copy the appearance of an enemy, simply by pickpocketing it. Sadly, the Glyph does have its limits -- rogues can no longer pickpocket Durn the Hungerer, a source of endless hours of amusement in beta -- but that doesn't mean the glyph is devoid of all fun. In fact, there are plenty of cool mobs out there in the world, waiting to be mimicked.
Breakfast Topic: I found a tol'vir rare... oh, no
I'm not kidding you guys. Seriously. I was doing archaeology the other day, flying around happily on the new Heart of the Aspects, listening to some music, when the most amazing thing happened. After solving for a Castle of Sand, I began my tol'vir archaeology ritual of pressing the solve button, closing my eyes, turning around and running out of the room. When I return, hopefully a rare tol'vir artifact will be waiting for me to obsess over. This phenomenon known as the tol'vir rare find is an anomaly. Two quickly made their appearance for me, then vanished, forever leaving me to a storeroom full of Canopic Jars and Sketches of Desert Palaces. It's getting quite full in there. But not this faithful day. This day would be different. Finally, the impossible happened -- another tol'vir rare. I'm freaking out, man. It's the monkey paw! And the worst part about this blessed miracle is that I can't go to sleep until I solve it. Have you ever experienced the pain of the double-edged sword in World of Warcraft? Have you ever been the victim of something lucky that turned into an obsession?
Cataclysm Post-Mortem: Uldum
Alex Ziebart and Mathew McCurley (that's me) decided to give each Cataclysm zone the once-over now that we're many months out from the release of the expansion. In this post-mortem series, we'll examine what worked and what didn't work in terms of story, quests, and overall feel for the zones and the cool moments that dotted the landscape. On the southern end of Kalimdor, a forgotten civilization hides behind otherworldly technology, forged by the Titans to protect the great machinery of Reorigination. The tol'vir, great protectors of the ancient machinery, stand stalwart against the corruption and fighting. Some tol'vir have succumbed to the aqir long ago, but the civilization remained unknown to the whole of Azeroth. After Deathwing's violent breach from the Maelstrom changed the world forever, the resulting chaos broke the shield that hid Uldum and revealed its sands. Now, Deathwing and his allies fight to corrupt the tol'vir and bring chaos to Uldum and beyond. Uldum continued the Cataclysm zone progression by moving you from the rocky, subterranean world of Deepholm into an open-air desert, a welcome change for the claustrophobic adventurer. Giant pyramids, monumental statues, and an Egyptian motif made Uldum one of the most beautiful and well-realized zones in Cataclysm. As players embarked on two very distinct quest lines, the story of Uldum unfolded as the forces of the wind broke the Skywall through the desert sky and into Azeroth's realm. On the other side of the zone, players were sent on a sprawling adventure with fan favorite Harrison Jones on a bumbling expedition to figure out the purpose of the Obelisks of Uldum and get into some wacky trouble. This is going to be the most controversial of the Cataclysm post-mortems. I can feel it. Uldum was a zone that people either loved or hated during the content push to 85. We are going to try to keep it civil.
