BurningCrusade
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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!
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Dragonkillers, draenei and deranged elves: An overview of Burning Crusade instances
Are you ready to step into the dungeons of the Burning Crusade, but are quaking in terror upon reading the Raid Attunement Chart? Fear not! WOW Insider present a quick and relatively painless guide to the dungeons available in the Burning Crusade, including level recommendations, bosses, and links to loot if we've got it!
WoW Moviewatch: The Black Temple and the Battle for Mount Hyjal
Fanatik, a Blizzard devotee (or, as rumor has it, something else beginning with dev at Blizzard), posts a seven-minute preview of his final Exploration movie, due out on the 16th. Since most of us have plans for the 16th that don't involve watching movies on Youtube, we'll have to be content with the preview for now. Luckily it's a good preview that shows both the interior of Illidan's Black Temple and Archimonde at the Battle of Mount Hyjal. Check out the somewhat amusing in-development sequence at the end!
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 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.
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Adventures in Beta: This is why we can't have nice things
Like Faience, I spent my end of beta event stuck in Shattrath City, watching world dragons get totally ignored by the city defenders. But apparently there was quite a lot of stuff going on in Azeroth that we missed, including ... Thrall leading a giant raid on Southshore, and Jaina Proudmoore doing the same in Crossroads. Tyrande Whisperwind also paid a visit to Tirasfal Glades. Dreadlord Tseric destroying Stormwind with giant warlocks. Developers Tyren and Ordinn turning into mechanicals and fighting in the Booty Bay arena. CM Eyonix spawning Ragnaros on top of community MVP Faizaniel. GMs taking requests for mob attacks outside of Orgrimmar. GM Kaellarina turning into a giraffe and trampling everyone. Boss on boss action, including Azerugos v. Kazzak, four Baron Rivendares fighting, and an invasion of Abominable Greenches. Everyone was waiting to catch a glimpse of Vashj, Kael'Thas and Illidan, but the GMs chose not to have them running wild around the world. It's too bad that events like this can't happen on live servers -- there are too many servers for GMs to cover them all, and people would complain about their playtime being disrupted. But still, thanks for a lovely end of beta event!
Secrets of the Burning Crusade minisite
Blizzard has posted a brand new Burning Crusade mini site, and it's pretty spiffy. After a quick intro (how can I have missed that the Blood Elf mount is now called the "Hawkstrider"? What was wrong with the other name, Co-- ohhh, I see.), the music starts and you can enter the lush world of... a flash website.There's not much news in it, if you've been paying attention to BC previews at all. It runs you quickly through all the new content-- flying mounts, the new jewelcrafting profession, the new races, Arena PVP, and the new world of Outland, and even has a few good writeups of the different dungeons and factions you'll see in Outland. Overall, nothing really new, but there's good music throughout, and it's easy to check out. If you're already excited for BC (and how could you not be?), this will only add to the trembling in expectation.Oh, almost forgot-- there's a secret minigame hidden among all the content. Poke around, if you like-- Blizzard has hidden some secret clicks in there that allow you to eventually access top secret content. It's not hard to figure out, but if you really don't want to bother with it, we'll even provide you with a walkthrough after the jump.
Know Your Lore: Illidan
It has come to our attention that there are quite a few people out there who don't know anything about the Warcraft universe. Considering that the Burning Crusade expansion is chock-full of major lore characters, this is somewhat disturbing. While it's definitely not necessary to play the previous Warcraft games to enjoy WoW, this is an online roleplaying game set in a particular universe, and understanding a little bit of the history behind the game can make your time in Azeroth more enjoyable. Sure, it's not exactly The Wheel Of Time in complexity, but there's some cool stuff going on in the world that you can only "get" if you know who's who. With that in mind, the new Know Your Lore feature will present quick and dirty biographies of some of the most famous names in Azeroth. Our inaugural article showcases someone you've definitely heard of, and will be hearing much more from in the near future -- Illidan Stormrage, the ultimate boss of the Burning Crusade expansion.
Dungeon 3 Set information, pictures, and video
Stalwart reader and advisor Wreck sent me scurrying over to World of Raids this morning to see what's going on with the Dungeon 3 Sets. Dungeon 3 are the rare 5-piece sets you'll be gathering from dungeons until you're ready for Tier 4 and 5 gear at level 70. It seems like the pieces are actual drops, rather than requiring tokens or pieces, so these are the true heirs to your Dungeon 1 and 2 (formerly known as Tier 0, Tier 0.5) sets. Here are the names of the sets, but click on Read below to head over to World of Raids and see tons of stats, images, and a movie:
