Shandris
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What if: Rage of the Kaldorei
If you saw the previous installments in this little fictive game Anne and I are playing, you know the score. You take an unlikely character from Warcraft lore (they have to be alive as of the time of the writing) and you speculate on how you could build an expansion pack around that person. I went first, so I got to pick Velen for myself and gave Anne Alexstrasza, and she retaliated by handing me Shandris Feathermoon. And if you know me, you know I happen to think Shandris is a heck of a character and I'd love to see her get used more. But how do we even conceive of an expansion with Shandris as the main antagonist? Note, I didn't say villain. Shandris Feathermoon has been through a lot over the past ten thousand years. A child when the Burning Legion first came to Azeroth, she lost her family and indeed her very home village to the Legion. Effectively 'adopted' by Tyrande, Shandris grew up with a bow in her hand, and following the Legion's defeat she became leader of the Sentinels, the Kaldorei military, when her erstwhile paramour Jarod Shadowsong, who had led the night elves in battle against the Legion, turned his back on their people and walked away. Not Shandris - she has spent the past ten thousand years defending the night elves of Kalimdor. And at present, Kalimdor has become a very hostile place for the night elves.
Tyrande Whisperwind leader story up on official site
The night elves have taken a beating in Cataclysm, even with their role in adding the worgen of Gilneas to the Alliance. The Horde has attacked them in Ashenvale, disasters have wiped out their settlements in Darkshore, Azshara is lost and Feralas in danger of being lost as well. What is Tyrande Whisperwind, high priestess of Elune and leader of the kaldorei, doing about all of this? Well, in Seeds of Faith, you'll get your chance to find out. Disaster after disaster besets the night elves. With news from all over their ancient lands coming back and the tides of war turning against them, can Tyrande afford to let her personal feelings overwhelm her leadership? And what of the fate of Shandris Feathermoon? These questions are answered in the short story by Valerie Waltrous, available now on the official site.
The Care and Feeding of Warriors: Warriors in lore, part 2
The Care and Feeding of Warriors is about warriors, who hurl themselves into the fray, the very teeth of danger, armed with nothing more than the biggest weapons and armored with the absolutely heaviest armor we can find. Hey, we're not stupid -- we're just crazy. I decided to spend next week talking about protection in the beta in more detail, because between moving house this month and a bout of feeling sick, I haven't had time to push that last level to 85. I'd rather talk in depth about the spec after a few more runs, frankly, with as much improved itemization as I can get. I will say that as a level 84 warrior tanking his way through instances, threat seems wildly inconsistent. Sometimes it seems like Thunder Clap or Shockwave don't hit for peanuts, whereas on other pulls, I can glue things to myself. Part of it might simply be the shock of going from well-geared in ICC epics at 80 to poorly geared in quest greens and blues at 84, but I definitely think threat issues are pretty widespread for the class right now. Still, I'm going to reserve final judgment until 85. (Also, they went and dropped beta build 12942, but that doesn't seem to have many consequences for tank warriors.) So that means we go back to the lore. We had lots of votes for specific characters last time, so in an effort to give folks what they want, here are more famous or infamous warriors in the World of Warcraft. Rather than trying to hit both factions, this time we'll look at the notable warriors of the night elves. Feel free to suggest which race you'd like to see get the spotlight next; I'm leaning toward tauren or trolls, but I can be swayed.
Scattered Shots: The Hunters of lore
Scattered Shots is your weekly guide to improving your Hunter skills, brought to you by Jessica "Lassirra" Klein of The Hunter's Mark, covering a wide variety of Huntery topics. Today, we'll be looking at some prominent historic figures in Hunter lore. For Hunters looking to get into role playing, a good place to start is to look at the Hunters that came before you to get a feel for common themes upon which you can base your character concept. There are many prominent Hunters in Blizzard lore that spans multiple Warcraft titles, both for the Horde and the Alliance, which you can look to for inspiration. Today, I'd like to spend some time getting to know some of the great Hunters of Azeroth.
Tevri of Shandris royally screws us
Well, say goodbye to patch 3.1, guys. Tevri of Shandris has made sure that the developers will never release it. All those who say Blizzard never listens to its customers, well, here's your proof you're wrong. 3.1 is cancelled. Forever. In a thread innocently asking when 3.1 would be coming out, Blizzard CM Crygil remarked that it would be out soon. Tevri, in his infinite wisdom, decided that this was, in fact, too soon, and told Crygil as much. Crygil immediately responded that he would inform the devs to cancel 3.1 development. So, great job, Tevri! Way to royally screw us! My dream of not being able to cast Slow Fall on NPCs has completely disappeared, and it's all your fault.Tomorrow's Breakfast Topic: How are we going to gank Tevri?
New servers (must be Thursday!)
From the continuing-battles-against-queues department, I bring you the following tidbit. Six new realms are now open, forming their own new battlegroup, Emberstorm. The realms are closed to transfers for six months and the gates of AQ are starting out closed. Ordinn says that a few more realms are planned to be opened next week, in addition to an unspecified number when the Burning Crusade hits the streets, though he says "the exact timing will depend on the amount of those new and return players."The new realms open now are as follows:
