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New faction short story: The Jade Hunters
While the August Celestials weren't my favorite reputation grind in Pandaria -- not by a long shot -- I spent most of the expansion fascinated by the Celestials themselves. Where did they come from? What was their purpose in Pandaria? What was up with that statue of the Jade Serpent in the Jade Forest, why was Yu'lon's life bound to it, and were the other Celestials similarly bound? Blizzard's latest and last offering in the faction short story releases we've seen all expansion is the one I was looking forward to most of all, because of those questions. The Jade Hunters by Matt Burns touches on the story of the August Celestials -- not the creatures themselves, but the organization, and how it came to be. But that's all a backdrop to the far larger story being told, one that finally highlights and talks about the three dwarf clans brought together in Cataclysm. Oh, and it also talks about that statue that we completely destroyed in the Jade Forest.
The Queue: Not what it was a moment ago
Welcome back to The Queue, the daily Q&A column in which the WoW Insider team answers your questions about the World of Warcraft. Alex Ziebart will be your host today. My original subtitle for today's edition of The Queue was "afadsgsg." Figured I should probably change it. Furthermore, I chose today's header image by going to a depth of 200 pages in our archive. Kruphix asked: How do you feel about sub-race options? For example, you can choose, once you pick a dwarf for your race, to be a bronzebeard, wildhammer, or dark iron dwarf. Each would have its own benefits - maybe cosmetic, maybe more practical in terms of gameplay. Different orcish clans (Frostwolf, warsong), maybe some troll tribes uniting under the horde, etc.
Patch 5.3 PTR: Blood in the Snow overview
If you've been wondering what's been going on in Ironforge during Cataclysm and Mists, patch 5.3 ought to fill you in. The first of two scenarios required to unlock the quest chain for 5.3, Blood in the Snow tells the story of Moira Bronzebeard and her attempt to prove to both the Bronzebeard, Wildhammer, and the Alliance itself that the Dark Iron are worthy allies. One tends to forget that Moira's roots lay originally with the Bronzebeard clan -- and she's not out for blood, she's out to prove that both she and the clan she now runs aren't the one-dimensional villains everyone would like to make them out to be. Does she succeed in this goal? Well ... that remains to be seen. But given Cho's story of the three clans, the tale that pointed out that both Wildhammer and Bronzebeard were being perhaps unnecessarily paranoid, it looks like the dwarves might finally be moving in a direction of actual unity. Meanwhile, the scenario itself is actually pretty fun, and presents a bit of a challenge without being impossible. Please note: This post contains spoilers for patch 5.3 content.
The Council of Three Hammers: Fire and Iron newest leader short story
The fourth leader short story, The Council of Three Hammers: Fire and Iron, was released late last week and chronicles the beginning and the end of Kurdran Wildhammer's time on the newly formed ruling council of Ironforge. The story describes the early days of the council, the Dark Iron dwarves' rough integration back into Ironforge society, and the relationship between Kurdran and his stalwart gryphon Sky'ree. The leader short stories have been great so far, and this story is definitely no exception. We've got a summary (spoiler warning) and the full announcement after the jump.
Know Your Lore: Grim Batol
The World of Warcraft is an expansive universe. You're playing the game, you're fighting the bosses, you know the how -- but do you know the why? Each week, Matthew Rossi and Anne Stickney make sure you Know Your Lore by covering the history of the story behind World of Warcraft. Grim Batol was founded by Wildhammer dwarves seeking to escape the legacy of the war that tore dwarf society apart. Led by Khadros, their thane, they marched north from Ironforge (originally the home of all dwarves, from Dark Irons to Bronzebeards to Wildhammers) after the death of King Anvilmar and the civil war that pitted the three main clans of their people against one another. Having lost the war, the Wildhammers chose to build a new, grand home for themselves in the mountains between the Wetlands and the Highlands. And it was grand indeed, for a time. In terms of pure architectural splendor, Grim Batol threatens both Ironforge and the massive constructions of the Dark Irons inside the Blackrock Mountain. The Wildhammers did not dwell on their loss to the Bronzebeards. If making a new life for themselves in Grim Batol and the Highlands was hard, it was also exciting and a new challenge to be overcome, a new way of life to meet head on and overcome. Sadly, from these auspicious beginnings disaster would pile upon disaster. Armies would invade, fell sorceries would be unleashed, and in the end, the Wildhammers would abandon their once-great home. It did not rest quietly.
Cataclysm Daily Quests, Part 5: Uldum, Twilight Highlands and daily priorities
This article has been brought to you by Seed, the Aol guest writer program that brings your words to WoW Insider's pages. Welcome to part 5 of the epic guide to Cataclysm daily quests! Previously, we discussed profession dailies, Therazane dailies, Tol Barad permanent dailies, and Tol Barad dailies received by the faction in control of Tol Barad. Today, we'll wrap up the last few dailies in Uldum and Twilight Highlands and then discuss getting the most out of your Cataclysm daily limit. Uldum dailies There are only two dailies in Uldum, one infinitely preferable to the other. The first is a short, sweet, entertaining quest called Thieving Little Pluckers. It's fast, fun to do, located near the center of Uldum where you port in, and awards 150 reputation with Ramkahen, otherwise known as the guys who'll sell you a camel when you hit exalted. The other, Fire From the Sky, is the daily version of the quest by the same name that is part of the Harrison Jones quest line. This was hands down the most broken, miserable quest I had to do on my way to 85. It involves using a cannon vehicle to shoot slow-moving bombs at tiny, moving soldiers on a large map. Initially, all players shared the available mobs; grouped players' kills did not count for other group members; and worst, you couldn't see any bombs except your own. The group you'd been oh so carefully targeting would blow up seconds before your bomb hit, leading to massive nerd rage. Luckily, this has been hotfixed. Mobs are still shared, but group kills count for everyone, and all players' bomb targets are visible on the map. I still advise skipping it as soon as you get the associated achievement.
The OverAchiever: Reputation factions in Cataclysm
Every Thursday, The Overachiever shows you how to work toward those sweet achievement points. This week, we find ourselves the designated butt-monkey of several new factions. Hello again, fellow achievement-hunters. This week we're going to finish up with a look at the new reputation factions available in Cataclysm and a quick look at new world events. "There aren't any new world events," you point out. That's what makes it so quick. Although this goes without saying in any article discussing new achievements, there are a few spoilers in here discussing how you meet and work with various Cataclysm factions. If you'd rather stay unspoiled about upcoming quests, don't go past the cut. 45 Exalted Reputations This is now the highest reputation-related achievement in the game. Interestingly, there is not a new title associated with it; you'll still receive The Exalted at 40 Exalted Reputations, although it's possible that it's just a placeholder. Then again, if you already have 40 exalted reputations, getting 45 should be very simple during Cataclysm, as there'll be at least six new reputation factions available. I'm not sure a new title's going to be in the cards as a result.
Cataclysm Beta: Reputation rewards revealed
As the beta progresses and we get closer and closer to release, new details continue to pop up over on MMO-Champion. The faction rewards popping up recently should be familiar in concept to anyone who played through Wrath of the Lich King or The Burning Crusade. So far, we have reputation rewards for Therazane the Stonemother in Deepholm, the Baradin Watchers and Hellscream's Reach in Tol Barad, the Wildhammers and Dragonmaw Clan in the Twilight Highlands, and the Ramakhen faction of Tol'vir from Uldum. Right now, all rewards are itemized for Alliance in the case of the Hellscream's Watch and Dragonmaw, but new models and names should come in a later build. While these are not necessarily the complete lists for each faction, you get an idea of what will be available.
Blizzard releases information on new Cataclysm Twin Peaks battleground
PvP fans can rejoice -- Blizzard released information today regarding the new Twin Peaks battleground today, located inside the Eastern Kingdoms' new Twilight Highlands zone. Twin Peaks is described as a "10 vs. 10, capture-the-flag style battleground" reminiscent of Warsong Gulch. Alliance players will be called to the defense of the Wildhammer Dwarves, who are fighting to regain control of their home territory of Grim Batol. The Horde will be forging a new coalition with the Dragonmaw Clan, who seek to take hold on the territory as well. More details are beyond the break.
The Queue: More like Porkrend, am I right
Welcome back to The Queue, WoW.com's daily Q&A column where the WoW.com team answers your questions about the World of Warcraft. Michael Sacco will be your host today. That's influenza A virus subtype H1N1 up there, but I'm pretty sure you thought it was just a really blurry map of Northrend at first glance. I'm not wrong. You thought it. Mr. Shinra asked... Why exactly are there places where we suddenly and magically cannot mount up (I mean *aside* from combat which is obvious), such as getting killed by the trash after Ionar in Halls of Lightning and having to run all the way back. You've seen how big and expansive those halls are, I don't see a major reason why we cannot mount up to get back a bit quicker. At least in Culling of Stratholme we can ride from that house to the city proper-- so its not a consistent rule entirely either. I'm not suggesting there aren't places where it makes a bit more sense; I can understand small areas such as the various vendors in Orgimmar and their tiny huts, where there just isn't enough room, but a lot of the times, it seems like we have to dismount because... the game said so, and nothing else. For the majority of locations where it occurs, why do we have to dismount? The rule in place for 99% of the game is that you cannot mount indoors. There are some exceptions to the rule, such as Ironforge, but that's the basic idea.
Patch 3.3 PTR: Dwarf, orc, and troll shaman totem gallery
While we have covered the fact that new totems are coming out for orcs and trolls in patch 3.3 so that the taurens don't have to keep sharing with everyone. We've also mentioned the fact that dwarf totems have been added into the PTR files for when Cataclysm hits. At the time, we only had the front view images from MMO-Champion. This caused a bit of an issue with the Dwarf totems as it's hard to distinguish what exactly they're supposed to look like without a side view. So, after some datamining and image editing of our own, we've put together a little gallery of the new totems for you all to enjoy.%Gallery-75215% 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.
Ask a Lore Nerd: Of Nerubians, Dwarves and Titans
Welcome to Ask a Lore Nerd, where each week blogger and columnist Alex Ziebart answers your questions about the lore and history of the World of Warcraft. Ask your questions in the comments section below, and we'll try to answer it in a future edition. I'm going to get this out of the way right off the bat since I know I'll get a dozen people asking again this week: Yes, Know Your Lore will be coming back, it is not gone forever. I promise. I will pinkie swear on it, even. Come on, who wants to pinkie swear? Anybody? Anybody?Aler asked..."On the topic of the Nerubians and the Qiraji, is there any relation in the lore between the two? Or are two insect civilizations coincidental?"There's absolutely a relation between the two. They hold a common ancestry. Both the Qiraji and the Nerubians are offshoots of an even more ancient race, the Aqir. Way back when Azeroth was still very primal, and Trolls were the top dogs. There were three major players in the world: The Amani Trolls, the Gurubashi Trolls, and the Aqir. They warred for thousands of years. Thousands. It was a war of attrition on the grandest scale possible, and all involved more or less broke under the weight of their losses.
Restarts and maintenance for Tuesday, May 20th
It's a relatively painless Tuesday Morning this time around for those who play in what are the early morning hours at Blizzard HQ. This time, most US servers will just recieve a quick rolling restart at 5 AM PDT, about half an hour from now, which should result in no more than 15 minutes of downtime. However, there are some servers that will get 2 hours of downtime: Agamaggan, Azshara, Baelgun, Dark Iron, Detheroc, Emerald Dream, Greymane, Kalecgos, Lightninghoof, Maelstrom, Malfurion, Moonrunner, Nazjatar, Sargeras, Staghelm, Twisting Nether, Ursin, and Wildhammer. Also, here's something that should please a lot of Australian players: Their realms won't get the rolling restarts until 5AM AEST -- which translates to noon PDT. That should translate to lots of time for night owls to finish their raids before the restarts kick them off. So in that 15 minutes to 2 hours of down time you'll have to go through, or if you're stuck at school or work, here's a few WoW Insider articles from the last week that are worth checking out. First, last week's major news and views: The WoTLK Friends and Family Alpha is underway, and we have the leaked patch notes. A Vivendi earnings statement gave us the first real official word on WoTLK's expected release date. The Hunter Growl and Scare Beast changes from patch 2.4.2 didn't turn out so great after all. Raiders rejoice: M'uru got a little easier, and those nasty Archimonde and Eredar Twin bugs got a hotfix. Death and Taxes, the premiere US WoW raiding guild, disbanded. That set a few of us to pontificating on the problems of raid guild drama here and here. We covered a few more tidbits of WoTLK info, such as Death Knight "reruning." Check out sister site BigDownload's interview with Blizzard on that whole eSport thing. In Hybrid Theory, Alex soothes your fears about Death Knights taking your jobs. If these aren't enough for you, there's more after the break.
Forum Post of the Day: What type of music do Azerothians make?
Acerba of Cenarion Circle started a pretty fun discussion the other day on her server boards: What type of music would typify various races and cultures of Azeroth? Sure, we all have our soundtracks for when we get tired of the in-game music, and the in-game music itself often has various themes that show again and again music to represent various concepts, but thinking about what music your character would listen to or what sounds you might here around a bonfire at Razor Hill (Well, besides L70ETC) or in a fine mansion in Silvermoon City is a really fun exercise. I'm one who often creates soundtracks for my PnP and MMORPG characters alike in order to understand this, so I find it a useful exercise for us roleplayers, as well.
Around Azeroth: Even in Outland, you need a place to sit and relax
It's the little details around the World of Warcraft that surprise you sometime. Like this scene inside the Wildhammer Stronghold in Shadowmoon Valley. No, it's not the sight of Lyxis of Silverhand (who sent is this screenshot) that we find so fascinating, but the choice of artwork on the walls. And if you pay attention as you adventure around, you'll find that many interior settings are detailed right down to the art on the walls.Do you have a unique shot of Azeroth or Outland that you'd like to show off to the rest of the world? Tell us about it by e-mailing aroundazeroth@gmail.com! Or perhaps you'd just like to see more of your pics from Around Azeroth. %Gallery-1816%
Guild version 2.1.0
Last night, in honor of today's patch, my guild leader restructured our guild. We've been having some tough times with motivation as of late, it the general consensus amongst the officers was that the guild members felt no progression as the guild was organized. We therefore sat down as a group in the Wildhammer Stronghold inn and took stock of what we had available. A lot of great ideas came up, and one of them was what we implemented last night. The guild ranks are now focused around the Burning Crusade attunements, and each member receives a rank for which of the raid levels he is ready for. Although only a few of us (read one) are ready for Karazhan, the ranking system includes readiness for Black Temple. Yes, we are setting our sights high, but it's time to think big. If you don't have high expectations, how can anyone meet them? As we were finishing up the planning of the new guild structure, I began to wonder about what other guilds do as far as ranks are concerned. In all my time playing World of Warcraft I have only been in one guild, so I can't use my experience to satiate my curiosity. Instead, I'll use yours. How are your guilds organized? What challenges do you face in keeping guilds motivated, and how do you tackle those challenges?
