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Battlefield Barrens Reminder: Ending soon!
Patch 5.4 will be dropping in two weeks, and that means that the battle in the Barrens will be going away, forever. All of your Radical Mojos will need to before the patch drops, or else they'll become worthless. There are a couple things that are sticking around, but they're the exception (the pet, 24-slot bag, and Brawler's Guild item). Gear wise everything will be going away as well. Blizzard has made it clear that there are no plans to reintroduce the gear right now, for cosmetic reasons or otherwise, and I'd take them at their word. People have speculated, including myself, that it'd not be out of the picture for them to be introduced as Darkmoon Faire items at some point, but if Blizzard agrees with that, they're not letting on. Either way, as of this writing you have two more chances to get the gear you want -- so double time it over to the Barrens for your grinding! Crithto made a post on the forums concerning exactly what's happening, and you can read his full blue post after the break.
WoW Archivist: Two weeks as a noob in 2004
WoW Archivist explores the secrets of World of Warcraft's past. What did the game look like years ago? Who is etched into WoW's history? What secrets does the game still hold? When I took on the WoW Archivist mantle last year, I wanted to tell some personal stories as well as provide in-depth looks into the game's past. My first column talked about an early but extraordinary world PvP experience. Today I'd like to tell you about my first weeks of WoW in 2004, in a very different Azeroth than our modern version, with a very different incarnation of the hunter class. A hunter will rise In December 2004, a hunter stepped forward in Red Cloud Mesa. He was new to the ways of Azeroth, but eager to learn. What followed would be painful. But when the narrator shut up and the hunter proudly accepted his first quest from the Navajo minotaur guy with giant punctuation over his head, this new hunter set forth. He had nothing but a bow and a hope that his trials would forge him into a hero. He would become a hero, many months and scars later. His first two weeks, however, were marked with terror, failure, and shame in roughly equal parts.
Battlefield: Barrens ending soon
Still have shopping to do with the Darkspear Rebellion Quartermaster? Be sure to get it done before patch 5.4 goes live. In a forum post earlier this morning, Community Manager Crithto reminded players that the Battlefield: Barrens world event will be ending forever when the next patch is released. Crithto -- Battlefield: Barrens Ending Soon As the Orgrimmar invasion begins in 5.4, Vol'jin and his forces will move beyond gathering supplies and into a full assault on the Horde capital. This means that once the new patch goes live, the Battlefield: Barrens weekly quest will no longer be available. Those of you who have a Radical Mojo after the patch goes live will still be able to use it with existing armor tokens. However, Ravika, the Darkspear Rebellion Quartermaster, will no longer be available for purchases, but you will have a rare chance at receiving the Raptorhide Boxing Gloves and Gahz'rooki's Summoning Stone by killing the Kor'kron, and other associated mobs in Northern Barrens. source So if you were planning to buy vanity items like Xan'tish's Flute and Griftah's Authentic Troll Shoes, or wanted to earn the Darkspear Revolutionary or Hordebreaker achievements on an alt, get to work! The patch could be coming as soon as Tuesday, August 27th.
WoW Archivist: When Blizzard "hated" the Horde
WoW Archivist explores the secrets of World of Warcraft's past. What did the game look like years ago? Who is etched into WoW's history? What secrets does the game still hold? Which faction does Blizzard love more? For several years it's been all the rage to claim that Blizzard loves the Horde and hates the Alliance. Players trot out the "green Jesus" theory. They show how the past two expansions have focused far more on Horde characters and storylines than on Alliance intrigues. It's true that Blizzard placed Thrall and now Garrosh and Vol'jin in the spotlight over the past few years. Players also look at the shiny new Orgrimmar that the Horde got when the old one burned down, and how Stormwind also took a beating and still hasn't recovered. You can make the case that Blizzard has somewhat favored the Horde in WoW's recent history. But this is so very, very strange to vanilla players like me. Back then, players were convinced of the exact opposite. Players were so convinced, in fact, that some actually wanted a CM to die. In vanilla, Blizzard "loved" the Alliance and "hated" the Horde. Don't believe me? This quote is from a 2005 editorial called "Why the Horde is worse, and how Blizzard could fix it": In the end, I am just a jealous Horde player... It is up to Blizzard to fix this game; I have done all that I can. Either World of Warcraft can be remembered as a great MMORPG, or it can go down as a horribly imbalanced one, like many before it. That's for Blizzard to decide. Let's take a trip back to 2005. On a bus, perhaps. A bus made out of elemental electrical energy.
The Queue: The Frenzy of Patch 5.3
Welcome back to The Queue, the daily Q&A column in which the WoW Insider team answers your questions about the World of Warcraft. Matthew Rossi has upgraded his gear and is now waiting for the first night of raiding in 5.3 to discover what got broke. I have this weird thing where, if I see a lot of people doing something (like heroic scenarios or the new Battlefront: Barrens stuff) I tend to say "Eh, I'll wait until the furor has died down a bit" before I take part as well. So yesterday, I did a fun interview, logged on to upgrade all my gear with the 3000 valor I had saved up, then ran Black Temple for a bit before logging off. I don't know if it's simple obstinacy or simply the knowledge that all of this stuff will be here for at least a couple of months and there's no hurry to see it all right now. Anyway, on to your questions. Thieren said: Also, since we're not quoting the Beastie Boys tomorrow's Queue should feature the Sabotage video. I went with Intergalactic instead.
Patch 5.3: Battlefield Barrens Preview
Warning: this post may contain spoilers for patch 5.3, particularly content relating to the Battlefield: Barrens quests! If you don't want to read spoilers, don't read the section of this post that happens after the break! Blizzard Community Manager Nethaera has posted a blog providing both back-up information and useful clues about the events taking place in the areas surrounding Orgrimmar, giving players the heads up on the various new elements being introduced to those zones, how they are used and the stories behind them. As the devs commented in the recent live Q&A, this is a new angle on maximum level questing for WoW, and it's pretty fun. Again, beware spoilers, but you can also check out WoW Insider's initial look at the goings on in the area. Final spoiler warning! They lurk ominously after the break. Watching. Waiting.
WoW Archivist: Massacre at the Crossroads
WoW Archivist explores the secrets of World of Warcraft's past. What did the game look like years ago? Who is etched into WoW's history? What secrets does the game still hold? Last week, Tom Chilton revealed that Mists would have no dedicated world PvP zone like Wintergrasp or Tol Barad. Instead, Blizzard wants to encourage a more natural style of world PvP. It wants players to duke it out in actual questing zones. On PvP realms, it wants players to be free to attack towns and cities without overwhelming NPC intervention. Since we're reviving WoW Archivist here at WoW Insider after a seven-month hiatus, now seemed like a good time to revisit the earliest days of world PvP. It's no secret that world PvP has had a rough journey throughout WoW's history. Blizzard did all it could to discourage the wild Southshore vs. Tarren Mill clashes that made Hillsbrad Foothills a laggy, unplayable mess, often crashing the Eastern Kingdoms servers entirely. In patch 1.12, the developers gave us new objectives to fight over in Silithus and Eastern Plaguelands, far away from where new players were leveling. Ultimately, those objectives failed to capture much interest. Players mocked the Silithyst PvP objective as "sandlol." Further experiments in The Burning Crusade were only moderately more successful. In Wrath, Blizzard added the Wintergrasp PvP zone, and that has been the company's primary world PvP model through the last two expansions. Before all of that, however, when the game was still so young that the vast majority of the playerbase hadn't yet reached level 60, there were raids on the Crossroads, in the heart of the infamous Barrens. And they were glorious.
Know Your Lore: The war begins
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? Know Your Lore covers the history of the story behind World of Warcraft. It's going to get worse before it gets better. In his Dev Watercooler about faction favoritism, Blizzard's Dave Kosak made this point, and it's a good one to make. In a World of Warcraft, the lore works to drive us forward, cresting on the waves of what's coming next. In patch 4.3, we're finally going to get to see the events of the War of the Ancients, fight alongside dragon aspects and the great heroes of the past and secure Azeroth's future. But in so doing, we find ourselves forced to deal with the aftermath of Deathwing's actions. The Azeroth we inherit is one that bears the legacy of the Wrathgate, where Horde and Alliance forever surrendered tentative attempts at peace and cooperation. The Azeroth we save is battered by years of conflict against terrible adversaries, and in this diminished, broken world, the Horde eyes the Alliance like a wolf views a sick elk. This is where the war starts. The Fourth War, it may be called. The War for Azeroth, the battle between mortals, for mortal concerns. At last, at long last, the battle postponed by the Third War can finally happen.
Chuck Norris plays a melee hunter in latest WoW commercial
Blizzard has just posted an official copy of the newest Warcraft commercial, in which Chuck Norris plays a human melee hunter with a cat pet. The commercial shows Chuck punching and kicking his way across Azeroth in a particularly monk-like style, fighting orcs and kodos in The Barrens and Westfall, and beating up gnomes in seedy bars. Chuck Norris jokes have been a fixture of Warcraft Barrens and trade chat lore for years, so it was probably inevitable that we'd get something like this eventually. Personally, I'm still a bigger fan of Vin Diesel jokes (and Vin Diesel the human being, for that matter), but it's hard to deny that Chuck doesn't have his place in pop culture and in the WoW community. Now, with this commercial, it's official. And I won't lie, I'd probably give my humans that hairstyle and beard if they showed up in game.
WoW Insider's Weekly Webcomic: Safe Passage
Welcome to another edition of WoW Insider's Weekly Comic, Safe Passage. This comic takes place post-Cataclysm, so there will be minor spoilers. Ash'gor, an orc of considerable honor and experience, isn't taking kindly to a skirmish attack in the dead of night. Mig'ai steps in to help out, but just how much can he help? Check out the full comic right here, and tune in next Tuesday morning for a new page. You can also see all the previous pages in the gallery below. %Gallery-102091%
Blizzard posts interview with designers of Southern Barrens
Today, Blizzard released an interview with Dave Kosak and Roman Marotte, two of Blizzard's game designers, about their work in the cleft-in-twain Barrens of Cataclysm. Specifically, this interview deals with the Southern Barrens, which is almost completely redesigned from its vanilla counterpart. Taking place in the level 35 to 40 block in Kalimdor leveling, Southern Barrens should give both Alliance and Horde players plenty to talk about, according to Kosak and Marotte. Cataclysm Preview - Southern Barrens Q. What was the original concept for the zone? A. The Barrens is one of the areas of Kalimdor hardest-hit by the Cataclysm. It has literally been ripped in two! The Northern Barrens retains much of the feel of the original zone and fulfills a similar gameplay purpose: it's primarily a training ground for low-level Horde characters. That gave us enormous freedom to create a whole new gameplay experience for the Southern Barrens. In the wake of the Cataclysm, the Alliance has been aggressively expanding into the heart of the continent from the east coast. As players enter the zone, they'll find that the Horde is really up against the ropes. The escalating conflict between the two rival factions is front and center here, providing a backdrop for much of the area's quests. source Those wanting more details about this new/old Cataclysm zone can check out the full interview here.
The Queue: Not quite mutual destruction
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. Alex Ziebart will be your host today. I want to kick off this edition of The Queue by thanking you guys for submitting your armories to the reboot of Pimp My Profile. Our first edition will be hitting this upcoming Wednesday. In an ideal world, we'll have one for you every single Wednesday after that. On to the Q&A! RogueJedi86 asked... "Why were the Dragonflight Aspects created/assigned if they can be killed with no repercussions whatsoever? Killing Malygos didn't do so much as give Mages a nosebleed, despite being the Custodian of Magic. And I doubt killing Deathwing will do anything to the earth either."
Peter Molyneux on WoW's reward system
You probably know Peter Molyneux's name if you've been playing video games for any significant amount of time -- he's the mind behind such classics as Populous and Dungeon Keeper, all the way up to Black and White and the current Fable series. He recently gave a talk to the British Academy of Film and Television Arts, and early on his talk (part 1 is here, part 2 and part 3 are also online), he speaks out about our favorite game, World of Warcraft. Specifically, he mentions it as an influence on his game design, and says the most brilliant thing about the game are "the steeds," or the mounts you could pick up at level 40 (nowadays, of course, they're available at level 20). He says that in his own games, he tries to give everything out to the player as soon as possible, but the fact that Blizzard made you wait to ride a mount around, made you work up a few levels for it, really stuck with him. Now, of course, he's taking away his own lessons here -- Blizzard's philosophy with the game as a whole seems to reward the player as much as possible, and especially lately, with emblems and the different modes and all of the other daily and weekly quests they've come up with, they're making you do less waiting for prizes than they ever have before (in fact, compared to MMOs when they first started, much, much less waiting). And Molyneux's own games are very "rewarding" -- I don't think more than two minutes went by in Fable without me getting a level or a new spell or a new item to play around with. But his point is still good, even after all that: anticipation of a reward can be just as strong a motivator as the reward itself.
What does Blizzard have planned for a Cataclysm in-game launch event?
So Cataclysm is coming and Kisirani is already working on an in-game launch event. It's gotta mean something right? Now don't get me wrong, even with my self-confessed zombiephobia, I loved last November's zombie invasion (though, at times, it got really frustrating). So now Kisirani is officially hard at work planning a new event to herald the beginning of an Azerothian cataclysm, I can't help but wonder what she has up her sleeves for us.Is anyone else excited? I certainly am and it gives us something to focus on during the inevitable wait. To be fair, at least Cataclysm's not scheduled for 2012! We don't have that long to wait, we could be rolling Worgen and Goblins in just under/over a year's time. That just about makes it bearable. But it also leaves us with time to think about what Blizzard will do to introduce players to this brave new world.Hit the jump to find out what we think could well happen prior to the launch of Cataclysm.
Breakfast Topic: Will you miss the Old World?
So when I first heard about the Cataclysm, I actually sort of figured Blizzard would use a sort of phasing system on the old world: You'd start in the current old world, and at some point, you'd do a quest series that would phase you into the new, Deathwinged Azeroth similar to the way one progresses into Icecrown in Northrend. However, the word has come down: When Azeroth burns, it'll be changed for good. There's no going back. Even those who don't buy the expansion will still find themselves in Deathwing's new world.While we're told some zones will remain relatively unscathed, almost every zone will be touched in some way, whether it be simple storyline changes or more massive shakeups from rivers of lava or shrunken coastlines or war, or even more greenery thanks to shifting water sources. So here's my simple question: Will you miss it? Will you be nostalgic for a desolate Desolace or the massive Barrens? Will you mourn for fallen Astranaar and Auberdine? I'm sure some things will be missed more than others, but then again, change can be good. Being able to move on to new challenges and new excitements has me pretty psyched all told. But then again, what if they get rid of Lakeshire Bridge? I have been waiting a long time to see that done. When the Cataclysm comes, what will you miss? What will you be glad to be rid of?
The Spreading Taint plans pride parade on Proudmoore
The Spreading Taint, a GLBT guild that we've featured here on the site before, is hosting an in-game event next Saturday, their fifth annual Pride Celebration. Just like real-life Pride events, they're planning quite the spectacle, from floats of all kinds (I'm curious to see the ">8< Spider Pride" float, featuring spider pets aplenty, both Hunter and vanity), a crafting fair in Booty Bay, and contests like a Naked Dueling event and a modeling competition. They've even got "a professional" shooting footage of everything, so you might be able to see yourself in the official video as well.As we talked about in our 15 Minutes interview with them, these folks are very social and a lot of fun -- while their roots are in the GLBT community, they're interested in including people from all backgrounds, and obviously this event is open to everyone who wants to have a good time in-game (though they are strictly disallowing PvP -- if you want to fight, go elsewhere). The event kicks off next Saturday, June 20th, at noon server time over on Proudmoore. The parade itself starts at Camp Taurajo in the Barrens, but we're sure no matter where you are on the server, you'll probably hear about them -- just follow the wackiness.NOTE: All hateful comments will get deleted and repeat offenders will be banned. You don't have to agree, but you can disagree respectfully without personal attacks or insults.
Dig Rat Stew easier to acquire in patch 3.1
One of the simpler changes in patch 3.1 is the fact that both factions will be able to purchase the Dig Rat Stew recipe. The Horde from Grub once they've completed the quest (in case you tossed it out on accident), and Alliance players from Prospector Khazgorm in Bael Modan. That's in the Southern Barrens, if you don't frequent that part of the world on your Alliance characters.It's a very small change, but has generated tremendous excitement already. All of the completionists and achievement seekers around the world jumped for joy in unison. Yet another recipe that may have been out of reach is now very easily acquired. I don't often bend over backwards for achievements so this change didn't really blow my mind like it did for Danny, but I admit it'll be pretty funny to take my Priestess down to Bael Modan and learn the fine art of cooking with rats.You know, this gives me a good idea for Well Fed Buff...
All the World's a Stage: So you want to be a tauren
This installment of All the World's a Stage is the sixth in a series of roleplaying guides in which we find out all the background information you need to roleplay a particular race or class well, without embarrassing yourself. The first cultural influence you'll probably think of when you see the tauren and walk around in their villages is "Native American." That's fine as far as it goes, but you should remember that they're mainly based on the stereotypical image of what Native Americans are rather than their actual reality. I'm hardly an expert on Native Americans, however, so rather than try and speak for these differences, I'm just going to put the whole issue aside and take tauren as tauren rather than parallels to any human culture. Besides, aside from certain aspects of architecture, music, clothing, and mythology, the tauren are really their own species. They are quite general enough to remind us of all kinds of different cultures around the world, many of whom cherish the earth, revere their ancestors, and try to live in harmony with the world. Some people say that the tauren are the noblest and most peaceful of the races in World of Warcraft, but for most of their history, they have been at war with the vicious centaur -- though not by choice. The centaur have always been very hostile towards tauren, driving them out of their ancestral homelands, slaughtering them and even cannibalizing them whenever possible. In a way, the centaur seem like four-legged versions of the nastier trolls who never joined the Horde. When Thrall came to Kalimdor and encountered the tauren in the midst of their struggle against the centaur, it marked the beginning of one of the greatest changes in tauren history.
Barrens Chat: Revenge for all those missing hooves
I'm moving this weekend, and packing and cleaning all week, so this week's episode is a short one!When I first heard that Blizzard announced the Recruit-a-Friend program was going to be giving zhevra mounts as incentive, I must say that I heaved a very audible groan. You see, we've already referred all the friends we can talk into playing, the last of which we drug into our mad little World (of Warcraft) not even a month ago.So, after reading through all the things being offered as referral incentive, my significant other decided to make the suggestion that I start a new account so that he can have a zhevra mount. My response was something very similar to what you see when you click the banner. That and I had to torture the target of what I consider to be one of the most annoying quests ever. Two hours for four hooves is crazy, and I am apparently that unlucky!See you next week! %Gallery-22361% Barrens Chat is a weekly comic strip brought to you by Megan Harris, who likes to pretend she belongs to a secret society of assassins. When she's not laughing at the misfortune of children, she's explaining why some people's Taurens shouldn't ride anything smaller than a Kodo. If she doesn't get packed into one of those boxes that say "Kitchen" and forgotten--you know, the ones people just never got around to unpacking?--a new comic will be up next week!
One Shots: Peace in the Crossroads
For anyone who has ever played World of Warcraft (especially as a Horde player leveling through this area) you'll understand just how unusual this screenshot is. It was taken in the Barrens area in World of Warcraft. The unique thing is that this doesn't involve Alliance rolling into the area, guards attacking, players PvPing, or any Chuck Norris jokes. Not one! It's just a pure, unspoiled landscape -- a rare find. Nate D. figured he'd send this in, since he caught a quiet moment at dawn. Quiet moments in the Barrens are certainly hard enough to find on many servers! (Of course, it helps if you turn the UI off or /leave general too.)Do you have a screenshot you've taken from your daily journeys? If so, we'd love to see them. Just send them to us here at oneshots AT massively.com. We'll get them all set up and ready to go, and you get the credit for snapping a cool picture and telling us a bit about it. Can't beat that!%Gallery-9798%
