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The Feast of Winter Veil begins tomorrow, December 16th
Every year, Greatfather Winter brings treats to all the good boys and girls of Azeroth, and this year is no exception. From December 16th until January 2nd, the Feast of Winter Veil teaches us all the true meaning of Winter Veil with a cavalcade of gifts and other fun things like toys. A variety of seasonal pets, achievements, and hats are yours for the taking, including the brand new Rotten Little Helper. For the complete skinny on what you can get and what you can do, Wowhead has this helpful guide. If you're looking for one of those toys for your toybox, a rare pet, or a hat from one of the bosses (with several new Draenor bosses as well) then you have until January 2nd to get started. May Greatfather Winter watch over you.
Patch 6.0.2 preview highlights upcoming UI changes
Those bags in that header image may look like a disorganized wreck now, but they're about to get cleared out a little sooner than expected. Blizzard released a preview of upcoming UI changes for patch 6.0.2 yesterday -- that's patch 6.0.2, the pre-patch for Warlords of Draenor, not the expansion itself. Along with all the pre-expansion content quests, the new character models, and the preview of Upper Blackrock Spire, we also get all those lovely space-saving improvements ahead of time. That's on top of a host of other really cool UI improvements, including a new and improved Group Finder that includes the Premade Groups function. In addition, the new map and quest log will make an appearance, the new Void Storage tab will be unlocked, you'll be able to check out your handy new reagent tab in your bank, and you'll be able to sort your bags more easily than ever before. I have to admit, while I'm excited about being able to sort my mounts and pick a few favorites, I'm far more excited to see rows and rows and rows of empty bag slots. For more of what to expect in patch 6.0.2 and how this will change the way you play, check out Blizzard's full preview on the official site.
Did you miss in Pandaria?: Shado-Pan Geyser Gun
The latest build of the Warlords beta shows a number of achievements for toy collecting. You can earn a "Robo-Gnomebulator" (whatever that is) when you amass 150 of them. For those dedicated collectors, one of the most obscure toys in Mists is the Shado-Pan Geyser Gun. To earn it, you must return to the Throne of Thunder raid. You can queue for the Forgotten Depths section of ToT's LFR if you can't convince your guild to clear to Tortos. Once your LFR group has defeated Ji-Kun, you can return to the Tortos area by clicking on a feather and flying into the red portal above. Make sure you don't aggro any leftover trash on the way back! The geysers in ToT have a hidden minigame. Standing on top of one gives you a stacking debuff called Spray Water. Continue riding the geysers until the debuff stacks to 250, which takes both practice and patience. There's no achievement for this, so look for the "new mail" icon instead. You'll receive a message in your mailbox from Taoshi of the Shado-Pan congratulating you on your "ninja-like geyser-jumping abilities." She includes the geyser gun as a reward. Now you can douse friend and foe alike in lukewarm water that smells strongly of Tortos. If you want to be a really awesome person, you can earn the gun for several friends at once by allowing them to ride on your mount while you deal with those fickle geysers. Good luck!
Did you miss in Pandaria?: Carefully packaged rodents
As we approach the end of Mists, you may have characters with a vast pile of Lion's Landing/Domination Point Commissions from patch 5.1's Krasarang war clogging up your bags. Temporary world PvP boosts probably aren't of much interest these days, so here is a great way to spend them that will give you a more permanent reward. The Rodent Crate costs 2000 commissions. But what does it actually do? The tooltip doesn't specify. Using it will spawn Sumprush Rodents for one hour that can be battled and captured by anyone wandering by. Like other battle pets, they have a chance to be rare when you engage them. The crate is the only way to get this particular pet. If you haven't heard of these beaver-like rats, that may be because they are not part of the Pandaria Safari achievement. They have different abilities and colors than the similar Bucktooth Flapper from Jade Forest. Be sure to tell your friends when you're releasing the rodents so everyone can get one. The actual crate is so cute and weird when you place it down, I hope it becomes a Toybox item someday.
Warlords of Draenor: Bag space solutions, illustrated
I will be the first to admit that I am probably a little overzealous when it comes to collecting items and carrying stuff around in WoW. Most of what I collect is one of two things -- armor and weapons for transmogrification, or toys and little trinkets that were pretty cool while I was leveling. Because of this, I was ridiculously excited to hear about getting a new Void Storage tab, as well as the new Toy Box tab. Anything that opens up more bag space for the stuff I like to collect is automatically a good thing. That image above is my main character's bags and my bank when I first logged on to the beta servers. It's a chaotic mess, I know. At the time of that screenshot, I had 20 bag spaces free, and one spot in my bank. As for Void Storage, it's completely full on live. So how much bag space can you expect to get with just the Toy Box and Void Storage tabs available to play with? If there was anyone to test that out on, it was me and my admittedly insane collection.
Warlords of Draenor: More toybox details revealed
Collectors with limited inventory space in World of Warcraft (read: all of us) will be glad to hear more info on the toybox feature -- an in-game interface where toys and vanity items can be stored -- that's coming to the game in Warlords of Draenor. Details are still scarce, but Wowhead has collected some tweets that shed additional light on how the toybox will work. You'll add items to your toybox manually, but if you've deleted an item it may be lost for good. Perhaps most importantly, the list of items we've seen bouncing around the forums isn't complete -- so your favorite vanity item not being listed isn't room for panic. Lots of details are still up in the air about which items you'll be able to add to your toybox -- Don Carlos' Famous Hat and Bloodsail Admiral's Hat are both questionable. You will, however, still be able to wear and use items that are allowed to live in your toybox.
Warlords of Draenor: More information on the new toybox feature
Blizzard Community Manager Rygarius has posted on the US forums giving readers a good deal more information about the new Toybox feature planned for Warlords of Draenor. This follows a couple of snippets from Bashiok yesterday, where he mentioned that players will be called upon to provide feedback on what should and shouldn't be in the Toybox. As ever, you can read all Rygarius' responses to player questions after the break -- there's a lot of great information on how they're categorizing toys before players get to weigh in with their feedback. It seems likely that Archaeology items will be included, for example, and equippable items with effects will likely be turned into a spell, allowing the player to use the effect without having to have the item equipped. However, Rygarius does point out that certain items (the particular one under discussion being Sylvanas' Music Box) may remain character specific. Other things such as the Jade Raccoon are under consideration as toys, but not confirmed either way. Regardless, the goal is to free up more space in your inventory, something that will be welcomed by all!
Disney Infinity opens up its Toy Box, gives us a look inside
Toy Box mode is Disney Infinity's sandbox creation side, allowing you to construct your own worlds in real-time. What you create is based on what in-game content you've unlocked. It's an open-ended mode where Disney franchises can collide within the same arena, though we suppose that can be said about Disney infinity in general too. %Gallery-192438%
Hometown Story hopes to recapture that Harvest Moon magic
The Natsume booth feels more than a little out of place amid the murder and mayhem that defines the E3 show floor experience. For those weary of the pulsing music, constant explosions and gruff voice-overs blasting from every ear-level speaker in sight, Natsume's display of gentle, colorful games about farming and fishing can feel like an oasis from sensory overload. While they've dabbled in just abut every genre known to man, an unexpected game called Harvest Moon – which hit the SNES long after it withered on the vine – has since become Natsume's strongest brand, with 19 prime series games to date. There's no end in sight for this strangely compelling series, though its creator Yasuhiro Wada has moved on to a new IP called Hometown Story, which he hopes will have the same longevity as the series that introduced the curious addictiveness of simulating mundane tasks years before The Sims.%Gallery-191606%
Wada's Project Happiness is now Hometown Story
"Project Happiness," the enchantingly adorable shopkeeper simulation by Harvest Moon creator Yasuhiro Wada, now has an official title: Hometown Story. The "story" in the title is meant to show the game's emphasis on meeting and learning about new townspeople by growing your shop, over simply conducting business for its own sake.The character designs, by Atsuko Nishida, have simplified since the prototype footage, showing a game that looks more like it's running on a 3DS. And it's still really, really, really heartwarmingly cute. It's due this year; Natsume has said it's coming to 3DS and mobile.
Cut the Rope update, plush toys coming soon
The video below highlights an upcoming update for the popular Cut the Rope title on iOS -- Chillingo is bringing 25 new levels to the title, complete with some new game mechanics and features. Cartoon creature Om Nom will be able to be fed various types of foods, not just the candy he so craves, and as you can see in the video, there are some new bounce pads to deal with and a few new drawings to find and collect. Finding those drawings can apparently unlock prizes, like the chance to gift the game to a friend on Facebook. The update is version 1.4, called Toy Box, and should be available in the game soon. And there are also some plush dolls coming, as you can see above. Om Nom is portrayed in a few different moods and sizes, and all of these toys will be out sometime in October. I don't usually go in for stuffed toys, but I will say this: that's one cute little fella.
