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Breakfast Topic: What did you do once you got your hands on the expansion?
Yesterday, we asked you what you were going to do after you installed BC. Since many of you have gotten a chance to buy and install BC by now, I'd like to see if you lived up to your predictions. What's the first think you did do when you installed BC? Personally, I did what I thought I would: rolled a male Draenei warrior named Giles. So let's have it -- new toon or Outland adventures? Feel free to come back and post here whenever you get the expansion.
Midnight launch event: Burning Crusade, Southern style
(Picture left on a table at the mall by an unknown, presumably disgruntled Alliance rogue at the North Raleigh BC midnight sale event.) At about 11:30 p.m., I headed out to EB Games at my local mall in Raleigh, North Carolina, with an understanding and tolerant warlock friend, to pick up my Burning Crusade preorder. It was 75 degrees out today, so I took a quiet moment to gloat over people like Mike and Barb who had to brave the ice and snow to get their copies. Since I live in a fairly suburban part of town, we figured that there wouldn't be a lot of geeky folk out getting their preorders in the middle of the night. How wrong we were.
So, how's it going?
It's been a flurry of swapping discs, upgrading accounts, installing patches, blindly accepting EULAs (does anyone read these things other than Blizzard's lawyers? do they even read them?), and installing some more patches -- and now we're totally fresh and ready to... fall asleep exhausted. We saw the login portal once, we know it can't be long now -- we and 5 million other insomniacs are waiting for that last 0.32MB of patch 2.0.5.6320 to finish downloading. Other than a few minutes of "unable to connect" whilst attempting to upgrade our account we've had no issues thus far. How is everyone out there -- are you in yet? Any problems upgrading? Are you level 70 yet? Let us know how it's going for you in the comments.
Midnight launch event: The Freezing Crusade
We braved the elements here in Ithaca, NY to join with our WoW-besotted brethren and sistren (sistren? it's a word now.) for our local launch event, and while the expansion is installing (disc 3 of 4!) we're updating you on our launch experience. Check after the break for what went down.
GameDaily gets a copy of the Collector's Edition
I won't be buying the Collector's Edition, because it's just not my sort of thing. However, the people at GameDaily have gotten ahold of one a bit early, and have posted a lovely series of pictures with the full contents, so cheap people like me can lust over the glory that is Blizzard ephemera. I do rather fancy the Outland map mouse pad, even though I usually play on my laptop's trackpad (I know, I know). And for those of you who will be getting a CE, here's what's in store.[via Joystiq]
Send us your launch event photos
Are you heading out to brave the thronging masses at your nearby midnight launch event tonight? So are we -- so tune in late night tonight and tomorrow for some tales from our launch event experiences. If you snag any great pics from your own local launch, send them to us and we'll publish a compendium of the best Burning Crusade launch event photos. If we use your photo(s) we'll credit you and link to your site or blog, your guild's site, your Myspace page -- whatever you want us to link to, just send it along with your photos. Send your images in JPG format to countdowntobc AT wowinsider DOT com -- you can send multiple images per email, but no single email may be over 10MB in size. Please put "launch event" in the title of your email or emails, thanks!
Countdown to Burning Crusade: Day 13 winner
We have a winner from the day 13 ez-mode /need roll contest -- commenter number 239, sive, is going to take the 60-day game card. Grats to sive, and thanks again to everyone who entered -- we still have a few more prizes to give away in the Countdown to Burning Crusade contest fest, including our three grand prizes. The entry deadlines have now passed, so we hope you got your entries in! Stay tuned as we announce the winners of the last few contests over the next few days.
Countdown to Burning Crusade: Vote for best Caverns of Time pic
Put your adjudication hats on and submit your vote for the best Caverns of Time screenshot -- one lucky winner will take home a 60-day game card. Walk this way to submit your vote -- polls will be open until 3pm EST tomorrow January 16, so either get your vote in now or take a break while the expansion is installing... check after the break for a quick rundown of the seven finalists.
Some people have all the luck...
When Ramanan tipped us off that he'd managed to snag a copy of the Burning Crusade on January the 12th -- four entire days before the official release -- the very first thing I did was to scout all possible stores near my house to see if I could find anyone else making a similar mistake. No such luck! However, despite Wal-Mart's careful planning, it seems that at least some stores have stocked shelves with the expansion a bit early. Ramanan made off with a copy from his local Wal-Mart and was able to install and upgrade his account -- though it still sounds as though expansion content is blocked. At least for a while longer.
Breakfast Topic: What are you doing once you get your hands on the expansion?
It's nearly time! By this time tomorrow we can all have our hands on an official copy of the Burning Crusade. And once you've got the game box in your hands, what do you plan on doing? Rushing into Outland with your favorite level 60? Rerolling a new Draenei or Blood Elf? Inquiring minds want to know!
Six North American realms to open for BC
Blizzard has been telling us for a while that they will be launching new realms when the Burning Crusade hits (they'd be crazy not to). But what they haven't told us was how many, which kind, and most importantly, what their names will be. Haven't told us until now, that is. I present to you the following post from Drysc: We'll be launching the following six realms with the release of The Burning Crusade expansion on January 16, at 12:01 AM EST. Nagrand - PvE, Oceanic - Bloodlust battlegroup Velen - PvE, Pacific Coilfang - PvP, Pacific Terokkar - PvE, Central Exodar - PvE, Eastern Auchindoun - PvP, Eastern The majority of these realms will be placed in a new battlegroup, the name of which has yet to be announced. These are new non-transfer realms and as such the Gates of Ahn'Qiraj will be closed and they will not be open to character transfers for six months. Six realms seems a little skimpy to me; I think it's a safe bet that they'll be opening more either with the BC launch or shortly afterwards. The names follow the trend of BC-themed names that we saw with the European servers, which is cool. I like the new flavor they bring to my realm list. Speaking of the names, Drysc tells us that Auchindoun is pronounced "Aw-kin-dune." Good to know.Will you be rolling on one of these new servers when you get the expansion, or staying with your old home? Me, I could never leave Shadow Council, but I'm sentimental like that.
Countdown to Burning Crusade: Day 9 winner
We have our winner from the day 9 Photoshop contest. You were tasked with working your magic on this image (thanks to Basem for the screenshot!), and reader Pulse is going to take home the prize for the above "Where's Waldo?" image (click for a full-size version). Grats to Pulse, who will be the recipient of a copy of The Art of World of Warcraft. Don't forget, the Countdown to Burning Crusade isn't over yet-- you've still got until midnight EST tonight to get us your fan art, and til noon tomorrow EST to get your machinima contest entries in for a chance to win a Sennheiser PC 160 headset and a More Dots! t-shirt, and a Logitech G15 keyboard and World of Warcraft hoodie, respectively!
Countdown to Burning Crusade: Day 13
It's hard to believe, but we're coming close to the end of our Countdown to Burning Crusade contest extravaganza -- which means it's almost time to get our expansion on! We still have the three grand prize contests left to come (be sure to get your entries in, mkay?), and a few lingering prizes from earlier contests to award, so it ain't over until Princess Theradras sings -- stick with us! Today is the last day you've got it easy. We're giving away the last 60-day game card, and all you have to do is comment in this thread for a chance to win. Yep, just an easy ol' /Need roll is going to take this one home. You have until tomorrow, Sunday January 14, at 3pm EST to get your comment in. Happy /rolling!
Countdown to Burning Crusade: Day 7 winner
Dwarf: "Actually, I prefer to think of myself as 'in weapons range of your groin'."Aight folks, the official winner is in for the day 7 Alliance caption contest -- you voted for Dwarf: "Actually, I prefer to think of myself as 'in weapons range of your groin'." by Rothoscand. Rothoscand is the lucky winner of a Team Paladins t-shirt. Grats to everyone who entered, and thanks to everyone who voted -- check after the jump for the complete breakdown of votes, and a list of the runners up.
Faience's Adventures in Outland: It's the end of the world as we know it...
...and after my dozenth death, I'm not so sure that I feel fine. Sure, it started out all fun and games with Tyren's announcement on the forums that there might be some "cool events" on the beta realms this evening. But cool, I wonder, for whom? Certainly not for the poor denizens of the now ravaged Shattrath City -- the Outland's only major city. On the beta realm Hellfire, CMs Ordinn and Tseric orchestrated the destruction of this fine city, throwing wave after wave of bosses at the city's populace. Want to see what happens when the game's most dangerous monsters converge on a single city center? Well, read on to find out.
Faience's adventures in Outland: Elites? What elites?
I'm sure we're all familiar with the elite quests scattered throughout Azeroth. Or if not familiar with the particulars of each and every one of them, at least aware that there exists such a thing as quests that are flagged "elite" that involve killing more powerful "elite" monsters. Well, in the Burning Crusade you won't be seeing any of those. And, no it's not because Blizzard has decided to remove elites from the game. Instead, Blizzard has dropped the "elite" flag from quests and replaced it with a "group" flag, which I first noticed when questing on my new level 12 Blood Elf. Curious about the above Anok'suten quest, I located a partner and headed out to complete it immediately -- in the end it involved killing a single level 11 elite, surrounded by non-elites of around the same level. I might have been able to solo it -- but the suggested players hint is appreciated.And this trend continues into Outland -- only the elites are a bit bigger.
Countdown to Burning Crusade: Day 8 winner!
Congrats to Robert Rathburn for sending in the above of Feralas and winning our day 8 contest! But while the winner of this one has been decided, the Burning Crusade isn't out yet -- and our countdown continues! Don't forget the deadlines for our three grand prize contests are quickly approaching. You've got until midnight on Friday January 12 to get your WoW-themed song lyrics in, midnight on Saturday January 13 to get your fan art in, and noon on Sunday, January 14 to get your machinima contest entry to us. All entries are going to countdowntobc AT wowinsider DOT com -- remember you're not just sending us a video file! Read the official rules for submitting your video to YouTube and to us. Good luck to everyone!
Countdown to Burning Crusade: Vote for day 7 winners!
We had a ton of excellent entries for the Alliance caption contest on day 7 of our countdown to the Burning Crusade, we've narrowed the field down to ten finalists -- and we want your help to pick the winner! You have 24 hours to submit your votes, which gives you until 5:30PM EST on Friday -- so get voting, everyone! Who's the winner of our Alliance caption contest? Darwf: May I help you? Night Elf: Uh yes, where's Stormwind? Crap, you're a guy. From far away you all look the same. Ok, I'm only gonna tell you this one more time. Dancing like Michael Jackson will *not* get you hot Night Elf chicks. Donald Trump brings his army of real estate to bear against an increasingly chunky Rosie O'Donnell. You are the Barry Bonds of dwarves! Hey, where the gnome women at? 1960 called, they want their overalls back. My name is Inigo Montoya. you stole my shoulder pads... prepare to die. Dwarf: Actually, I prefer to think of myself as 'in weapons range of your groin'. I wish I knew how to quit you. Free polls from Pollhost.com
Blizzard posts Burning Crusade FAQ
Well, this should cut down on forum spam. Blizzard his posted a pretty extensive FAQ on the ins and outs of installing BC, upgrading your account, et cetera. Points of interest include: What time will I be able to log in and play BC? You will be able to log in and play as soon as you have purchased your copy of the Burning Crusade, installed it, and activated your key. Many retailers will be open at midnight. Please check with your local store for more information. Will I need to install from the CD? Why? It will be necessary to have a Burning Crusade CD and a Burning Crusade authentication key in order to play The Burning Crusade expansion. There is content on the Burning Crusade CD that will need to be installed that was not included in the patches we recently released. Each account (in the event multiple are played by one person) will need its own copy of The Burning Crusade expansion to install the additional content, and be upgraded with the included authentication key. If I have the beta already, do I need to delete the beta and install fresh? When the game goes live, you will need to uninstall your beta client before installing the expansion. Use your computer's Add or Remove Programs function to remove it. If you do not see the beta listed there, just simply delete the Burning Crusade Closed Beta folder. Remember to back up any screenshots or UI settings that you may want to keep. The whole FAQ is reposted after the jump, for those of you reading from work.
Countdown to Burning Crusade: Day 11
Welcome to day 11 of the Countdown to Burning Crusade -- only a few short days until we get to line up with a bunch of other geeks around the world to pick up our copies of the expansion. We're continuing our screenshot theme this week with today's contest: we want your best PVP screenshot. It doesn't have to be taken specifically for this contest (although of course it can be) -- if you have a great PVP shot in your screencap library, send it on in to us at countdowntobc AT wowinsider DOT com. You've got 48 hours for this -- your submissions with "best PVP screenshot" in the title must be to us by 3pm EST Saturday January 13 to score a copy of the freshly updated Burning Crusade Official Strategy Guide from Bradygames. Get on it! Don't forget the deadlines for our three grand prize contests are quickly approaching. You've got until midnight on Friday January 12 to get your WoW-themed song lyrics in, midnight on Saturday January 13 to get your fan art in, and noon on Sunday, January 14 to get your machinima contest entry to us. All entries are going to countdowntobc AT wowinsider DOT com -- remember you're not just sending us a video file! Read the official rules for submitting your video to YouTube and to us. Good luck to everyone!
