midsummer-fire-festival
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Instance servers busted, Lord Ahune to blame
In between the weather knocking out my power here in Milwaukee, WI, I managed to sit in the dungeon queues long enough to discover that ... they're broken! Thanks to Lord Ahune, instance servers are overall stressed beyond capacity despite Blizzard's constant upgrades over the years. Vrakthris It looks like overall it is due to the influx of everyone running the Fire Festival encounter, plus arenas, and normal dungeons. http://us.battle.net/wow/en/forum/topic/2712201373 Our Realm Technicians are looking into it and making what adjustments they can to improve connectivity and performance. If more information becomes available we'll be certain to pass it along. source We have no ETA on when the situation will be resolved, but the most recent post in the above-linked thread was a mere 5 minutes ago as of this writing, so it continues to be an ongoing issue.
Midsummer Fire Festival: Frostscythe of Ahune stats to remain uncool
Things are heating up all over Azeroth for the Midsummer Fire Festival. Well, everything except the Frostscythe of Lore Ahune, that is. Blizzard updated the holiday Ahune cloaks to ilevel 353 for players to grab, but Ahune's trademark staff just got the "scale" upgrade -- it's not really ideal for the classes it is intended for. In fact, it's fairly worthless for intellect-reliant classes. Bashiok responded on the official forums that to make Ahune's Frostscythe an ideal weapon stat-wise would be to dissuade players from getting their weapon upgrade in ZA or ZG. Many players were concerned with the Frostscythe's stats because of its inflated +700 stamina instead of plus intellect, which casters obviously prefer, since stamina has been normalized across gear. To be fair, I think it is completely fine to have this holiday fluff item be a non-ideal, cosmetic item that players can wear for it's on-use effect and prestige-luck. Not every item that drops has to be the ideal, especially during a holiday that is coinciding (potentially) with patch 4.2 dropping. That staff you want to be ideal so badly isn't going to be exactly ideal in week if the patch hits June 28. For now, it was an easier alternative to just scale the item opposed to tinkering around and making something perfect. I'd say just leave it as a fun, unique item.
Breakfast Topic: The Midsummer Fire Festival has begun!
The Midsummer Fire Festival begins today all across Azeroth. The celebration runs from June 21 through July 2. This year, however, the celebration of all things fire has a somewhat different meaning for players. Soon, the tenuous alliance we all have with fire is set on its head, as the very essence of fire himself launches his final attack on Hyjal and the world tree Nordrassil. This is the last Fire Festival that Ragnaros will exist in -- we will most likely defeat him in the Firelands during this festival. For me, the Fire Festival is the final holiday achievement I need for the mega meta-achievement What a Long, Strange Trip It's Been on my warrior, who was created around this time last year when I decided to change classes. The warrior went from orc to goblin to blood elf and finally night elf when I moved over to Alliance to raid with a new group. He's had a shaky year, but every challenge has been met with resolve. The Fire Festival represents my new beginning into a different class, and it is interesting to see how much has changed in a year. But for Ragnaros, King Fire himself, this will be his last. Little fire elementals all across the land who aspire to greatness like Ragnaros will have their hopes dashed and dreams crushed -- the Firelord's end will begin, ironically, while we celebrate fire. What are you looking forward to most about the Midsummer Fire Festival? Are you going to queue up for Ahune right away when the servers come up? If you're not sure what you're doing this holiday, check out WoW Insider's guide to the Midsummer Fire Festival achievements.
The OverAchiever: Guide to Midsummer Festival 2011 achievements
Every Thursday, The Overachiever shows you how to work toward those sweet achievement points. This week, we may actually nab that damn pet off the Midsummer boss this year. The Midsummer Fire Festival will run from Tuesday, June 21 to Monday, July 4 this year. While there aren't actually a lot of achievements associated with the Festival -- the meta, which awards the Flame Warden title to Alliance players and Flame Keeper title to Horde players, consists of only six achievements -- three of them require you to put in some serious travel time, and one also requires a set of dangerous trips to enemy capitals. If you're starting from scratch, this is definitely one of the more work-intensive holidays you'll have to clear for What A Long, Strange Trip It's Been. The holiday's unlikely to have changed significantly from its 2009 and 2010 incarnations, but we do know that Lord Ahune (the holiday boss) has an updated loot table with ilevel 353 drops. As you might have guessed, coordinates for Cataclysm-era fires to honor/desecrate have almost certainly changed as well. Consequently, I've expanded our previous guides to reflect the changes we know about. I'll also be updating fire coordinates to reflect Cataclysm zone overhauls once the holiday goes live. EDIT: This article is undergoing revision to make updates to fire coordinates. Please bear with us as we make corrections, and remember: If in doubt, fires are nearly always within a very short walk from a local flight path! And thank you to all of our readers who've written in!
Update: PVP Season 9 ending as soon as June 28
The WoW community site was recently updated to let players know that the ninth PVP season would be ending as soon as June 28 rather than the June 21. What does this mean for us? Unofficial confirmation that patch 4.2 has been moved back at least a week. The new probable release date is June 28. Earlier this week, a new balance patch hit the PTR and some decently sized changes to abilities and their associated numbers were made. No new assets were added, but a lot of numbers were moved around. After Ghostcrawler's excellent balance post and call for feedback, we guessed that this PTR patch could have the potential to push the 4.2 back a week. Well, it looks like it did. Update your calendars, folks. You've got an extra week to push tier 11 content and have a patch-free Midsummer Fire Festival, which launches on June 21. The news is already rolling out for the upcoming WoW Patch 4.2! Preview the new Firelands raid, marvel at the new legendary staff, and get the inside scoop on new quest hubs -- plus new Tier 12 armor!
Midsummer Festival items get patch 4.1 updates
If you're a fan of the in-game holiday events, rejoice as we're now seeing updated loot for the Midsummer Festival. It appears that in addition to the infamous Frostscythe, all the cloaks from the event have been updated to iLevel 353 epics on par with the new Zul'Gurub and Zul'Aman instance drops. That means we have the following items available: Frostscythe of Lord Ahune The Frost Lord's War Cloak The Frost Lord's Battle Shroud Cloak of the Frigid Winds Shroud of Winter's Chill Icebound Cloak Thanks to the folks at Wowhead, you can see these items and others new to patch 4.1. WoW Patch 4.1 is on the PTR and WoW Insider has all the latest news for you. From previews of the revamped Zul'Aman and Zul'Gurub to new Valor point mechanics to the new Archaeology items.
Know Your Lore: The naga, part 2
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. The naga of Outland led by Lady Vashj all swore themselves to serve Illidan Stormrage. It's never explained whether or not Vashj had any ties left to Queen Azshara, though it can be assumed that since Azshara sent Vashj to Illidan to begin with, Lady Vashj hasn't really done anything to earn Azshara's wrath. Or perhaps when Vashj slithered through the portal to the shattered world of Outland, she slithered out of Azshara's notice entirely. Though Lady Vashj and her meddling with the water flow of Zangarmarsh in Outland had little to do with Azeroth, there were still repercussions for her actions. Not everyone followed her blindly, and not everyone approved of her plans for the shattered world. Skar'this the Heretic can be found in the heroic version of the Slave Pens instance in Coilfang, and he is not happy with Vashj or her plans. Skar'this is the only friendly naga in Outland and seeks revenge against Vashj and all the other naga of Outland for their supposed affront to Neptulon. WARNING: The following post contains spoilers for the upcoming Cataclysm expansion. If you wish to remain spoiler-free, do not continue.
For Gnomeregan! Your thoughts on the Midsummer Fire Festival
For Gnomeregan! is where the members of <B.L.O.G.> on Shadow Council (US-RP-A) roleplay guild meetings as part of an in-blog and in-game RP campaign. The rules for this campaign are: no ERP (Erotic RolePlay) and no vampires (though death knights are welcome). Everyone is invited to participate. Assume that to get into the guild, you at least pretended to be in full use of your faculties and are willing to fight for the cause. You are all welcome to join us here in the comments and those who wish to play with us in game should friend Peenk and ask for an invite on Shadow Council (US-RP-A). I am Peenk the Scorchling! Flame on! It's like magic! I love this holiday! Woohoo! I will admit, however, that I am squeamish about all of that fiery torch tossing and what have you. But those bonfires make me feel like I am magic or a fire elemental or both! My cousin Kixi was right about this holiday. I feel so wise and more experienced when I participate in some of these rituals. It's like things just come more easily to me. The enchantments are so strong! It seems an invaluable way to speed up our training.
Reminder: Midsummer Fire Festival ends today
Just before midnight (realm time) tonight, the Midsummer Fire Festival comes to a close. So today is your last day to desecrate fires, pole dance and flame up the countryside. The Fireworks Spectacular begins just after sunset ... wait. Since when does the sun set at 6 a.m.? Well, according to the in-game calendar, fireworks will be going off hourly in all capital cities and Booty Bay, starting at 6 a.m. realm time or sunset. Apparently. So go forth and get all of your Midsummer achievements done. Or just soak up the massive XP, gold and buffs. After all, the next official in-game holiday isn't until September. Shameless plug: <It came from the Blog> will continue to run events at least once a month, whether there is an official holiday or not.
Reminder: It came from the Blog server maintenance party tonight
Is your server down today? Join us tonight for the Server Maintenance Party! We will be stealing the fires in the Alliance capitals for Midsummer Fire Festival. This will be an all-levels event, so don't worry if you don't have a character already in <It came from the Blog>. Here are the particulars: When: Tuesday, June 29 at 10:15 p.m. EDT (7:15 p.m. PDT, 8:15 p.m. realm time) Where: Meet at Splintertree Post in Ashenvale on Zangarmarsh (US-PvE-H) Who: Your highest Horde character, even if that means level 1 What: Hopefully, a Thief's Reward hat for all How: Ask Robinator or any <It came from the Blog> guildie to join the guild; ranks of Lurker or higher can invite. Get to Splintertree Post by 10:15 p.m. so you will be ready to leave right at 10:30 p.m. Summons are for sissies, so log on early to make sure you're there on time. Expect to die many deaths. Expect to not be rezzed. Expect to pick up your bod and catch up. Expect to have to run a lot. Expect it all to be fun anyway. If you are unable to make it, but would like to watch it streaming and listen to me be chatty, we've embedded the stream along with the chat after the break. If you will be joining us, there are also tips after the break and you may want to listen to at least the audio stream.
It came from the Blog: Server maintenance party
So your server will be down for a whole day (and probably then some) this Tuesday? Zangarmarsh (US-PvE) isn't. No, we're not taunting you. We're inviting you to join us for a server maintenance party. Our activity Tuesday night will be the stealing of fires in the Alliance capitals, to continue our Midsummer Fire Festival themed events. This will be an all-levels event. So go ahead and create a level 1 to join us, if you don't already have a Horde character on Zangarmarsh. If you do, please bring your highest level character to make this go more smoothly. Here are the particulars: When: Tuesday, June 29 at 10:15 p.m. EDT (7:15 p.m. PDT, 8:15 p.m. realm time) Where: Meet at Splintertree Post in Ashenvale on Zangarmarsh (US-PvE-H) Who: Your highest Horde character, even if that means level 1 What: Hopefully, a Thief's Reward hat for all How: Ask Robinator or any <It came from the Blog> guildie to join the guild; ranks of Lurker or higher can invite. We will be gathering at Splintertree Post at 10:15 p.m., but will be leaving right at 10:30 p.m. Summons are for sissies, so log on early to make sure you're there on time. There will be deaths -- many, many deaths. In the interest of time and everyone's fun, just grab your bod and catch up. More details and some suggestions are after the break.
Midsummer Fire Festival: Need help juggling?
The Midsummer Fire Festival is pretty decent for a WoW holiday -- good experience and gold from extinguishing and honoring fires, fun cosmetic rewards and occasionally mind-numbing achievements. Wait, what was that last one? Torch Juggler has become notorious this year, as the achievement is not only difficult for people who are unable to click their mouses and buttons fast enough, but it is also part of the meta-achievement for completing the Midsummer Fire Festival and gaining the title "Flame Keeper." So, here's how to get Torch Juggler in three easy steps. Get about 15 Juggling Torches. For five Burning Blossoms, the holiday's currency gained through honoring fires, desecrating fires and dailies, you can purchase five Juggling Torches. Go to Dalaran. A common mistake is that many players attempt this achievement in other capital cities. You need to be in Dalaran! Download and install the mod Juggler. Juggler is a simple addon that you activate with /juggle or /juggler. The addon replaces your mouse wheel with a series of actions that select a torch and then selects where to throw the torch. Download Juggler at [Curse]. Activate Juggler, aim your mouse underneath your character and spin your mouse wheel faster than you've ever spun it before. Is this cheesing the achievement? You bet it is. But frankly, the achievement requires dexterity that might not be possible for many people, and factoring in other variables like lag time in Dalaran makes this addon worthwhile. And there you have it. The worst part of the Midsummer Fire Festival is now put to rest, so you can go on having fun.
Reminder: It came from the Blog's Midsummer Flamefest today
Today is the day <It came from the Blog> flames an entire continent in honor of the Midsummer Fire Festival. Day: Saturday, June 26 Time: The Pre-Event Mixer will be at 5 p.m. EDT (2 p.m. PDT, 3 p.m. realm time) and the flaming starts at 5:30 p.m. EDT Meet at: The fountain in front of the Court of the Sun in Silvermoon City on Zangarmarsh (US-PVE-H) We'll have our usual get together before we embark on the Flamefest. The first half of the event will be for all levels and the second half will be for epic mounted characters that have all the flightpaths. For first timers: We will not have a raid, because there will be too many people. I use all caps to make myself heard, so there is no shouting but me. I haven't decided whether I am bringing Robinator or Robinella to the party, so look for either. The italics below have details as to how to join the guild. Hope to see you there! Update: The event will be streamed (at least audio, possibly video) from Ustream. Join us there if you can't join us in game. Please join us on Zangarmarsh (US-PVE-H) in <It came from the Blog>. Ask Robiness, Robinemia or any member online for an invite. Guild ranks of Lurker or above have the ability to invite. You are all welcome as long as you play by our simple rules, that can be summed up with "Don't be a Funsucker!" Also, please see the guild FAQ for the most common questions.
WRUP: Post 3.3.5 edition
Every week, just at the start of the weekend, we catch up with the WoW.com staff and ask them, "What are you playing this week?" (Otherwise known as WRUP.) Join us to see what we're up to in and out of game -- and catch us in the comments to let us know what you're playing, too! This week is all about stalking our co-workers Real ID. We knew what Real ID was before the patch hit, of course, but who among us could have been prepared for the flood of email it would bring to our virtual doorsteps? I do hope Blizzard is still working to improve their Real ID feature, but in the meanwhile, remember that you don't have to use it if you don't want to. Though anyone opting out isn't going to see me around after Diablo 3 is released ... But on to the subject at hand: keep reading for a round-up of what the WoW.com staff is up to this weekend, in game and otherwise. A smattering of them even answered this week's bonus question and tell us about their favorite patch feature.
For Gnomeregan! Who's your daddy?
For Gnomeregan! is where the members of <B.L.O.G.> on Shadow Council (US-RP-A) roleplay guild meetings as part of an in-blog and in-game RP campaign. The rules for this campaign are no ERP (Erotic RolePlay) and no vampires (though death knights are welcome). Everyone is invited to participate. Assume that to get into the guild, you at least pretended to be in full use of your faculties and are willing to fight for the cause. You are all welcome to join us here in the comments and those who wish to play with us in-game should friend Peenk and ask for an invite on Shadow Council (US-RP-A). Hey! It's Peenk! Remember me? I'm toning down my dialect again so that I am more easily understood. I have been informed that leaders should try to ... ah whatever. BORING. Anyway, I'd like to know a bit about your families. Who are your parents? Are they alive? Do they support the cause? Do they support you? Where are they? Are these enough questions? Do you want more? How about beer? Yeah, I know you want that.
The Daily Quest: The Midsummer Fire Festival
Here at WoW.com, we're on a Daily Quest (which we try to do every day, honest) to bring you interesting, informative and entertaining WoW-related links from around the blogosphere. Is there a story out there we ought to link or a blog we should be following? Just leave us a comment and you may see it here tomorrow! Take a look at the links below, and be sure to check out our WoW Resources Guide for more WoW-related sites. Whether pandering to our pyromaniac tendencies or not, who doesn't enjoy a good world event? And if you really don't enjoy world events, well, my apologies -- though I dare say a lot of players find them a fun diversion from the daily grind. Regardless, if you're interested in checking out this year's Fire Festival, we've got you covered. WoW.com has a guide to the achievements and a video guide to killing Ahune. Wowhead has a comprehensive guide to the festival. WoWWiki gives you a rundown on the event's history as well as the quests and rewards. The Lazy Sniper walks you through achievements, quests, and flames. Don't want to go it alone? <It came from the Blog> is doing doing a fire festival run this Saturday, the 26th. Has the Ice Stone melted? Almost Evil directs us to this helpful answer.
WoW.com's guide to Ahune
Lord Ahune, the Frost Lord, hates fire. We, however, love fire! We're celebrating fire for two weeks, and this party pooper needs to go. The great Kinaesthesia, who created the excellent Marrowgar hard mode and Lich King tutorial videos for WoW.com, has made an excellent video guiding players through the Ahune fight. The Ahune fight isn't terribly complicated, but for newer players, players experiencing the Midsummer Fire Festival for the first time, or just people who love Kinesthesia's boss tutorials, the video is definitely worth a watch. Check it out!
Breakfast Topic: Holiday boss in the dungeon finder is the best thing ever
Ah, summer in Azeroth. The sun is shining, the birds are singing, and blood elf rogues are camping the poor Alliance at the Orgrimmar Midsummer bonfire. Truly, the greatest holiday. However, something is amiss! Mean old Lord Ahune is out to stop summer forever! Whatever shall we do?! (Actually, I live in New York. Please, take the humidity, Ahune.) With 2010's Midsummer Fire Festival, Blizzard has introduced a new avenue to enjoy the holiday bosses that creep up for most special events. This year, for the first time, Frost Lord Ahune is queue-able in the random dungeon finder. Have you tried it yet? Because it is amazing. Spectacular. Mind-blowingly awesome. Hands down, the addition of the holiday bosses to the random dungeon finder is the single best thing to happen to WoW since the dungeon finder itself. All of the petty crap that came along with finding people to summon the holiday boss, people demanding item reservations and a million other hurdles are gone. Years have been added on to my life because I never have to put together that perfect group again for maximum summons of the holiday boss. What do you think about the inclusion of the holiday bosses to the random dungeon finder? Do you miss the old days of the rolling boss summons, or do you cherish the new days of one-chance-bag-per-day? You know how I feel, so let's hear from you!
World of WarCrafts: Papercraft-y
World of WarCrafts spotlights art and creativity by WoW players, including fan art, cooking, comics, cosplay, music and fan fiction. Show us how you express yourself; email lisa@wow.com with your not-for-profit, WoW-inspired creations. If your summer is turning out to be quite cold and dreary (such is life up here in Canada), then nothing passes the time better than picking up a creative and fun hobby -- like scrap booking, or paper craft. WoW-loving artist Ruth, author of Stamp Off, Eh! has created an adorable duo of cards representing the iconic druid forms of the Moonkin. Pictured above is the Horde version, although she states that she "opted out of doing horns on the Horde one."
Scorchling not available in this year's Midsummer Fire Festival
Looks like mini-pet collectors are going to be unable to get the Scorchling this year. Aredek posted in the official forums that the Scorched Stone is no longer on the Ice Chest's drop table from Ahune. Aredek I'm afraid that the Scorchling does not appear to be available this year, folks. I cannot say for certain whether or not it will be made available in the future; however, we encourage you to share your thoughts on the Suggestions forum if you would like to see the Scorched Stone be obtainable in some other way. source It's unclear why they elected to leave it out this year, however it almost looks like it might have been a simple error rather than a design decision. Either way, the historical drop rates for this were so low that most players won't be able to tell the difference. Also, despite this, the Lil' Game Hunter achievement is much more easily obtainable now than it was this time last year, with the introduction of many new sources for non-combat pets. Still, that's a very cute fireball.
