yearly-events
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Breakfast Topic: Hello, Hallow's End!
Hallow's End falls upon Azeroth once again, and it's the same old, same old. But the same old thing actually never gets old, because this is quite possibly the most fun yearly event in the game. It's that time of the year where the typically empty and unloved Scarlet Monastery graveyard gets more than its welcome share of visitors and its summoned inhabitant gets farmed endlessly for his drops -- or I should say, one particular drop. At this point in the game with Cataclysm on the horizon, pretty much everybody has gotten what he needs from the Headless Horseman, who drops mostly ilevel 200 gear. With just a few weeks to go before players level past 80, there isn't anything that won't be obsolete. That said, I have a sentimental attachment to the Horseman's Horrific Helm, which I have macroed to use with my Hammer of Wrath, which I have to admit is terribly annoying (and extremely spammy now in 4.0.1). I think I'll be paying the horseman a visit again this year, even though the only thing I really want off him is his horse. What are your Hallow's End plans? Is this the only holiday you need to finally get that 310 percent mount speed? Perhaps you want that Sinister Squashling pet? Are you complete with all your achievements for this holiday -- on all your alts? Tell us your plans for this holiday, one of the last yearly events we'll see in old Azeroth.
Breakfast Topic: Harvest Festival
The Harvest Festival is kind of the garbage holiday. It's the holiday that all the cooler holidays like Hallow's End and Brewfest make fun of, trip along the hall, and ostracize in the cafeteria. Harvest Festival is the weird kid who doesn't have any friends, smells funny, and whom teachers forget when making a headcount on the school bus. As far as holidays go, it's kind of the nothing holiday. It's there, but nobody really knows what it's all about and very few people bother to participate. I mean, hey, feast table outside of Orgrimmar! Then what?Then nothing! Well, you see all sorts of ghosts all over the place (which is creepy, but hey, it's almost Hallow's End, anyway), but there's really nothing that stands out. At least the ghosts from the Lunar Festival had those cool moonbeams. No, Harvest Festival is the half-baked holiday that doesn't even have an Achievement. Yep, it's so bad that even a one day event such as Pirates' Day trumps it with an Achievement, and was even cool enough for WoW.com to organize some shenanigans around it. No wonder nobody hangs around that smelly kid!So today, on the beginning of Harvest Festival, let's dedicate a word or two to World of Warcraft's most unimpressive holiday. What are you planning to do? Without any Achievements, you can even ignore it! If you're Horde, there's that quest to visit Grom Hellscream's monument in Ashenvale, but his son Garrosh has been such an unbearable asshat that even that has lost its charm. Unless Blizzard plans to hotfix the event and dredge it from the murky depths of suck, here's a Breakfast Topic to welcome the holiday that's so uncool that even artwork of a Harvest Golem looks better. And man, Harvest Golems are ugly mothers.
Guild Wars Dragon Festival offers a roaring good time
If you're one of the many Guild Wars players out there, you're probably well aware of the festival that occurs right around this time each year. If, like some others, you have Guild Wars - probably even installed on your machine, but haven't logged in for a little while - then now is the time to head back in-game! Why? Because it's time for the Shing Jea Boardwalk to reappear, heralding the opening of the annual Dragon Festival.Compared to the demon mask being offered as a turn-in for 250 Victory Tokens last year, the team at Arenanet have really outdone themselves with this year's wicked-looking Imperial Dragon Mask, seen above. Players who want one of these shiny, limited-time holiday masks will have to bring their best skills to the mini-games on the boardwalk like Dragon Arena and the Rollerbeetle Races. The event runs through Sunday, July 5th for those wanting to get in on the party and score some wicked limited-time Guild Wars goodies.
The Brewfest Kodo and what it may mean for WotLK's release date
Tipster Graffias pointed out an exciting find in the latest leaked Alpha files for WoTLK: An Icon for a Brewfest Kodo. You may recall that last year's Brewfest included a Ram mount that was purchasable with tickets by both sides, allowing the Horde very easy access to an Alliance mount with a few days of grinding for Brewfest Prize Tickets. Many Alliance weren't happy with this, annoyed that the Horde got such easy access to an Alliance mount without having to kill Baron Rivendare or a Troll a couple hundred times. Bornakk decided that the best way to answer this criticism would be by promising the Alliance that the Horde would be getting access to yet another previously alliance-only mount skin in the Cenarion War Hippogryph. Of course, Kisirani, being as awesome as she is, later said that we should have patience and things would work out in the end. Listening to the words of the world designer seem to have paid off, as it looks like the Dwarves are going to turn the tables on the Goblins this year and steal some Kodos from them. I can finally fulfill my dream of owning my very own Kodo. My Night Elf Druid is from Kalimdor after all, and you would think there would be some Night Elves who decided to domesticate Kodos as beasts of burden too. But really, as much as I am looking forward to grabbing myself a Kodo (and seeing a tiny Gnome riding around on a huge beast of burden), what's really exciting is this thought: If the Brewfest is in late September to early October, does that mean Blizzard is planning to give us WoTLK by September, Brewfest Kodo and all?
