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Adventures in Beta: The Aldors and the Scryers
Get ready for the reputation grind of all reputation grinds. The Aldors and the Scryers are two competing factions in the Burning Crusade -- and they offer enough profession recipes that you just might want to do the grind twice. The Aldors and the Scryers both make their home in Shattrath City, the Orgrimmar/Ironforge of the Outlands. The Aldors are a group of Draenei priests, while the Scryers are Blood Elf magic-users. Both factions are helping the Naaru fight the Burning Legion, but they're also competing with each other for power. This has a nasty effect on you, the player, because completing quests for the Scryers will decrease your Aldor faction, and vice versa. It's kind of like the Magram and Gelkis centaur clans all over again, except this one actually matters.
Blue teeches u 2 Burning Croosaid (also CoH is being looked at)
Here's a couple of notes on what you need to do, once you've got your claws on a copy of the expansion, to play.First, don't delete the WoW-2.0.0-to-2.0.3 patch. Apparently BC needs this patch to install, which makes sense, since the expansion went gold long before 2.0.3 rolled out. From Nethaera: As the Burning Crusade expansion was finished prior to the most current patch versions it will be necessary to re-patch to 2.0.3 once the expansion is installed. As some players remove their patches after they have been applied we would like to provide a helpful warning not to delete the "2.0.0-to-2.0.3" patch file as it will be required after the Burning Crusade is installed.
European midnight launch events
And the Europe-themed news keeps on coming. The Blizzard Europe team will be having some events of their own to celebrate the expansion, with copies to sell and developers signing. Locations are as follows: UK: HMV 150 Oxford Street London W1D 1DJ Phone: 020 7631 3423 Doors open: 11:00PM, January 15 FRANCE: FNAC 74 Ave des Champs ElyséesParis 8e Phone: 0153 53 64 64 Doors open: 0:00 - 04:00, January 16 GERMANY: Media Markt 10627 Berlin-Charlottenburg Krumme Straße 48 Phone: 030 31992 0 On sale: 0:00, January 16 SWEDEN: EB Games Gallerian Hamngatan 37 Stockholm Phone: 08 411 21 51 Doors open: 0:00, January 16 WHEN: Monday, January 15/Tuesday January 16, 2007 | On Sale at 0:00 As much as I won't be going to California for the US events, the extent to which I won't be going to Europe is even greater. What about you guys? Any of these convenient for you?[via Kotaku]
Countdown to Burning Crusade: Day 6 winner
"You not LOOK twenty one..."The people have spoken, and the winner of the day 6 horde caption contest is commenter 4, spencewah: "You not LOOK twenty one..." For his trouble, spencewah will take home an I survived Barrens chat tee-shirt. Grats to spencewah, thanks to all who participated (and those who voted!), and check after the jump for the complete poll results.
Eight European realms to open on BC launch
Not satisfied by your free transfers, European readers? You want more realms? Prepare for your wish to be fulfilled! Thundgot (can I call him Thundy yet?) dropped the following bombshell of love this morning. At 00:01 on the 16th, eight (8) new English realms will be opening: Normal (PvE) Hellfire Ghostlands Nagrand RP The Sha'tar PvP Auchindoun Karazhan Shattered Halls RP PvP Sporeggar They'll be the usual non-transfer realms. As far as I can tell, the realm names are all expansion-themed, which seems fitting. Get those character names ready, folks!
Dell to auction off custom World of Warcraft XPS M1710 laptops
Dell's in your laptop, airbrushing your WoW art -- in honor of the upcoming World of Warcraft Burning Crusade expansion release on January 16, they again commissioned artist Mike Lavalee to airbrush two limited edition XPS M1710 laptops with BC-inspired art; the lappies will be auctioned off to benefit World Harvest, an international humanitarian relief organization. For the non-addicted uninitiated, the artwork depicts the two new Blood Elf and Drainei races to be released in the expansion in the process of totally pwning each other. It'll be interesting to see how much these actually fetch on auction, as ironically the people who'd want them most may be unemployed and living in Mom's basement financially challenged.
Countdown to Burning Crusade: Day 10
Don't forget that the day 10 Countdown to BC contest was actually announced on Monday -- you have until 3pm EST today to send us your Caverns of Time screenshot at countdowntobc AT wowinsider DOT com with "Caverns of Time" in the email subject. The contributor of the best shot will receive a 60-day pre-paid time card. A couple of other reminders: you have until 3pm EST Thursday, January 11 to send us your best screenie of either Ironforge or Orgrimmar for the "Tale of Two Cities" contest -- the Ironforge winner will take home an Alliance crest t-shirt while the Orgrimmar winner will snag a Horde crest tee. And of course, you still have some time to get your entries in for our lyrics, fan art and machinima grand prize contests!
Midnight launch event confirmed
We posted a few days ago to tell you that the Fry's in Anaheim were having a midnight event for the launch of the Burning Crusade, and now we have official confirmation. Blizzard will be celebrating, selling, and signing copies at four California locations: Fry's Fountain Valley (4500 copies available) Fry's Anaheim (4500 copies available) Fry's Sunnyvale (4500 copies available) Universal Citywalk Gamestop/EB Games (1500 copies available) Lining up at each of these locations begins at 6 AM on the 15th, and wristbands will be distributed to make sure you get your copy. More details, including store addresses, are available at Blizzard's page. I won't be making it out to my state of birth for this particular party, but I do plan on going to a midnight event at my local GameStop.So which of you are lucky and dedicated enough to be attending one of these shindigs?
Dell makes custom BC laptop; '70s want their art back
Apparently there was more than one keynote today (who knew?). Michael Dell at CES this morning decided to strike while the BC iron is hot and come up with a very limited edition (read: 2 made) M1710 laptop with some custom airbrushed WoW art on it. I can't find a better picture than this one; it looks like your standard Blood Elf vs. Draenei shot. Kotaku writes that these are to be auctioned off on eBay, though Dell's own site appears to claim that only one of them ever existed, and it was given away at the keynote at CES. Being a Mac person, I didn't really want one anyway. And that art is giving me flashbacks to the Janitor's epic mural in the latest Scrubs episode: "usually you have to go to a van convention" indeed. I'd link to Dell's page on this device, but it's buried in a horrendous Flash layout, and therefore seems to be unlinkable. If you really feel the need to subject yourself to it, click here and then click "M1710 Burning Crusade" when the Flash loads. [via Kotaku]Update: Engadget confirms that the 2 laptops will be "auctioned off to benefit World Harvest."
Around Azeroth Extra: Chaos at the Dark Portal
So you've probably heard there was this patch today, and with it some sort of world event involving the Dark Portal. But perhaps you're stuck at work, school, or somewhere else where you're forbidden to log on to check out the excitement. Well, Around Azeroth is here to help! This shot, courtesy of Flyv of the guild We Know on Eitrigg, shows you exactly what you're missing right now. And I only imagine the crowds will get worse as we hit into prime US playing time...Do you have a unique shot of Azeroth that you'd like to show off to the rest of the world? Tell us about it by e-mailing aroundazeroth@gmail.com! You can attach a picture file or send us a link to one -- and don't worry about formatting, we'll take care of that part.See more of your pics from Around Azeroth.
Countdown to Burning Crusade: Vote for day 6 winners!
While we had a lot of excellent entries for the caption contest on day 6 of our countdown to the Burning Crusade, we've narrowed the field down to ten finalists -- and we want you to pick the winner! You have 24 hours to submit your votes, which gives you until 2:30PM EST on Wednesday -- so get voting! Who's the winner of our Horde caption contest? Troll: "Take it easy on the booze Mankrik, it's wasn't your fault she died" Are those leftover Christmas M&Ms coming out of your forehead, or have I had too many Zimas? "You not LOOK twenty one..." On hearing the Horde would soon be flooded with Paladins, an orc consoles his troll friend: "My advice: start drinking heavily." "So you say your a girl IRL..." Unkthar failed, once again, to impress the ladies with his ability to play "Ride of the Valkyrie" on the bottles. "20 gold, same as downtown." "Sorry. Go to an Alliance bar if you want drinks with little unbrellas." "Do you like my barrels?" 6 bottles of troll sweat: 2 gold 3 barrels of Darkmoon Faire Reserve: 15 gold Getting drunk with some friends right before the raid starts: pricle Free polls from Pollhost.com
Countdown to Burning Crusade: Day 9
We're past the halfway mark in our Countdown to Burning Crusade, but there is still loot to be had. Don't forget you've got until tomorrow at 3pm to send us your best screenshot of Caverns of Time to win a 60-day game card. You've also got til 3pm Thursday EST to get us your best Ironforge or Orgrimmar screenshot for a shot at winning an Alliance or Horde crest t-shirt, respectively. On to today's bidness: you have free rein on the above image (right-click it to snag a hi-res version) to work your Photoshop magic. Do whatever thou wilst, and if it's the best submission you'll be the receipient of The Art of World of Warcraft book. You have 48 hours for this one, so send your less than 5MB submission (one entry only) to us at countdowntobc AT wow.com with "day 9" in the email subject by 2pm EST on Thursday, January 11.[Thanks to Basem for the image!]
Faience's adventures in Outland: Welcome to the Cenarion Refuge
I've come through the Dark Portal and fought my way past legions of demons and inward through Hellfire Peninsula... all to get tired of the crowds and almost immediately relocate to the next zone over. That zone, Zangarmarsh, is everything Hellfire Peninsula is not, starting with the color palette. Immediately upon entering the zone, I found myself in Cenarion Refuge, a neutral faction that, no, does not care about that Cenarion Circle reputation you spent so long trying to gain.Lucky for all of us, then, that reputation is more easily gained these days...
Countdown to Burning Crusade: Day 5 winner
We've got a winner for the day 5's four little words contest who's going to be taking home a 60-day game card! For the win, we have:"Choose: Laid or Raid" by DarrenAnd our runners-up include:"Rock, Paper, Scissors, Warlock" by Ravenite"Virtual Characters. Real People." by GG"Kill How Many Boars?" by Noctem"ITS NOT ROCKET SURGERY!" by Unkle"I can quit anytime" by qwertyAnd remember -- you still have until 2PM EST today to get in your entry for day 8's screenshot contest -- so if you haven't already, be sure to mail yours in!
Countdown to Burning Crusade: Day 8
We gave you some screenshots to caption last week in our Countdown to Burning Crusade, but this week it's your turn to provide us with some screenshots. We're going to do a series of three "best screenshot of location" contests, and we're going to give you some extra lead time on a couple of them, so listen up for the appropriate deadlines. For today, we want to see your best screenshot from Feralas -- anywhere within the zone is kosher, but you'll have to find a way to make it unique, funny, or particularly beautiful to catch our eye. You have until 2pm EST tomorrow, January 9 to send your best Feralas screenshot to us at countdowntobc AT wow.com for a chance to win the analog companion to WoW: the World Of Warcraft The Roleplaying Game. You must include the word "Feralas" in the subject of your email, and your image must be less than 5MB in size. You've got a bit more lead time for the next two "best of location" contests. You have until Wednesday, January 10 at 3pm EST to send us your best screenshot of the Caverns of Time, which you should be able to access (sans the instances) even if you're not in the beta. Send us the best screenshot to countdowntobc AT wow.com with "Caverns of Time" in the subject of your email and you'll take home a 60-day game card. And if you haven't been one of the lucky winners of a 60-day prepaid card so far, you'll have one more chance this weekend. The last "best of location" contest will be two, two, two contests in one: for "Tale of Two Cities" we want you to send in your best/funniest/most original screenshot of either Ironforge or Orgrimmar (you have to choose one and only one -- no double entries allowed). The best Ironforge screenshot winner will walk away with an Alliance crest t-shirt in your choice of size, while the best Orgrimmar screenshot will take home a Horde crest tee; we'll publish the winners and runners up on Friday, so you'll need to get your entries in to countdowntobc AT wow.com by 3pm EST, Thursday January 11. You must include "Tale of Two Cities" in the subject of your email, and all screenshot submissions must be less than 5MB in size. Good luck to all!
Countdown to Burning Crusade: Day 7
Horde lovers, yesterday you had a chance to win an I survived Barrens chat t-shirt, and today is the day of the Alliance. The same deal applies as yesterday -- you need to provide the best caption for the image above in order to take home a Team Paladins shirt in your choice of size. We'll choose 10 finalists from all the entries received by 2pm EST tomorrow, January 7, and put it to a vote to let the popular opinion determine the winner. Happy captioning!P.S. Don't forget to get your entries in for the lyrics, fan art and machinima contests!
Breakfast Topic: Gear we wanted but never got
With the expansion right around the corner, many of us will be setting new and higher gear goals than the vast majority of what was available B.B.C. (that's Before Burning Crusade, natch). I still have a few items on my list that I craved heavily for a long time that I'm probably no longer going to care about once BC hits -- for my rogue the item I always wanted but never got is the Core Hound Tooth. The first time it dropped for my guild, I was outbid by a hunter who had more DKP than I did. The second time it dropped, I was on vacation and not in the raid for the first time in months of perfect attendance. After that it never dropped when I was in the raid, and to this day my rogue limps along with the Gutgore ripper in his offhand, long after scoring my Perdition's for his main hand. So, what gear dreams do you leave behind as the expansion looms?
Faience's adventures in Outland: Of quests and bombing runs...
I admit -- I've been playing this game long enough to be a little bored. And not just this-is-my-three-hundred-and-fifty-second-Ragnaros-kill kind of bored, but that the standard quest types have started to loose interest. So many of these quests read like mad libs: kill <number> of <monster type> because of <very convincing reason> and return to me with their <personal item of some sort> as proof of your heroic deed. You will receive <amount> of gold and your choice of <really nifty items>. It doesn't encourage me to do more than skim the quest text. (Though if you do this, you occasionally miss some downright hilarious comments in the quest text.) If you could picture my typical encounter with a quest giver, I think it would go something like this... Quest giver: The Naga have been...Me: You want me to kill Naga?Quest giver: Yes, they're...Me: How many?Quest giver: If you'd thin their numbers by 30, then...Me: Great! Where are they?Quest giver: Around Umbrafen Lake, to the south.Me: What'll you give me for it?Quest giver: Well, I suppose two gold coins and some experience points.Me: Sounds perfect! I'll be right back.Quest giver: Wait! Don't you want to know why?Me (riding away): I'm sure they're all bad. But really, those experience points are all I need to know about!So I must admit that I'm a bit excited to encounter a few new types of quests, which are, to me, at least, tremendous amounts of fun. Want to know what I'm talking about? Keep reading!
Countdown to Burning Crusade: Day 6
We're 10 days away from the big day, and we're counting it down with a contest every day. You still have two hours to get your entry in to win a 60-day time card for the low, low price of four little words. Today, it's a Horde-themed caption contest -- Alliance diehards, you'll get your chance tomorrow. This time, we're going to pick a slate of 10 finalists and have you folks vote to pick the best caption, so you'll have no excuse to flame us over the winner. So get cracking and come up with the best caption for the image above, and hope your fellow WoW fans have the good sense to pick yours as the winner of today's prize: an I survived Barrens chat t-shirt in your choice of size. You have until 1pm EST tomorrow, January 7 to enter the best caption. Go!
Countdown to Burning Crusade: Day 4 winner
We've got a winner for the day 4 Leeroy t-shirt contest: commenter 170 wins the lucky need roll, and we wish March and her boyfriend a happy unwrapping. You've still got some time to get your four word entry in to win a 60-day prepaid time card, and do join us later this afternoon to check out what today's Countdown to Burning Crusade contest will be.
