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Ask a Beta Tester: The mystery of Crystalsong and other things

I showed you the Alliance airship on yesterday's Ask a Beta Tester, now you get to see the Horde version! And now that that's out of the way, let's start with a couple of questions from Aerei...

I've got possibly the most important question ever asked in this column! Are we going to see NPCs rocking the new hairstyles now available? I don't think it's fair only PCs should get them.

Yep! You'll spot the new hairstyles on NPCs here and there. Not super often yet, but you definitely see them. A lot of the guards in the Argent Crusade camp are rockin' the new styles. They're very progressive!

Also, if Dalaran gets mage trainers because it's the mage city, how come Shattrath doesn't have paladin trainers? Huh?

Because Shattrath sucks.



Roscoe
asked...

I have a question about the blacksmithing sockets. When a blacksmith adds a socket to an item, is there any rule as to what color the socket is? And does the item get a socket bonus that's randomized, or do they not have a socket bonus at all?

The new socket has no color whatsoever. It also has no impact on socket bonuses. It doesn't add new ones, it doesn't alter old ones. It's just a free gem slot, nothing more, nothing less.

Kolo asked...

Do Reputations from TBC instances scale down? For example, doing Scholo at level 70 grants almost no reputation with Argent Dawn. Does this apply to doing level 70 heroics at level 80?

I'm pretty sure level doesn't effect reputation gains anymore, but if I'm wrong hopefully someone will correct me. I think you're just seeing what reputations were like before The Burning Crusade. Rep was truly a grind. If you think TBC reps are grindy, they pale in comparison to what we had to do before. You didn't run Stratholme or Scholomance for the reputation you got from killing things. You ran it for the Scourgestones. The white drops, and the green Corruptor's Scourgestones which you had to pray you won the roll on. You turn those in, and that's where the bulk of your reputation came from, not the actual mobs after Honored or so. I'm pretty sure that's what you're experiencing, and rep gains from TBC instances won't change as you level.

Timothy asked...

Regarding the nether drakes now... Will we still be able to complete the questlines and get a nether drake mount after Wrath hits?

Yes.

Magrresha asked...

I've noticed on Wowhead and Wowwiki that there aren't any quests under a Crystalsong Forest Category - nor is there an achievement for completing quests in this zone. Yet there are two camps, one for the Silver Covenant and one for the Sunreavers - if there are no quests here, then what are they for? Or are the quests simply not implemented yet?


This is one of the most nagging mysteries from beta for me. I like the look of the zone, I have a thing for Blood Elves and High Elves (though I don't play a blood elf, oddly) and it sits right in the middle of Northrend with various battles on all sides. And there are no quests here. Well, that's kind of a lie. There are quests you pick up in a couple of other zones that you fly back to Crystalsong to finish, but there are no quests you pick up in the zone itself.

I can only assume this zone is being reserved for a content patch, because it absolutely hasn't been touched. It was populated with NPCs and mobs, but that's about it. It's very confusing, and oddly tranquil. People are in the zone, but they're not really... doing anything. Everyone just sort of wanders around wondering what the deal is with the place. Maybe it opens up later on and I haven't seen it yet, but then Wowwiki would have some information. Wowhead might not, because phasing does some screwy things with it sometimes, but you never know. It's all very strange.

The Wrath of the Lich King beta is in full swing, and the WoW Insider crew is here to sate your curiosity with Ask a Beta Tester! Leave your beta questions in the comments and we'll do our best to answer 'em! And if you can't get enough Wrath, don't forget to check WoW Insider's Wrath Roundup page for anything we haven't answered here!