celestial-steed
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Phat Loot Phriday: Celestial Steed
How could I not cover the Celestial Steed for this week's Phat Loot Phriday? My Starry Pony has absolutely been the talk of the town ever since it went on sale this week. I went into a Warsong Gulch today . . . and my entire team was riding one. What's so cool about My Starry Pony? First, it's full of stars. I mean, look at that. It's made of stars. Of course, this was a model technique made popular by Algalon, who's all about warning the Titans that we mortals have totally run amuck. But the design is absolutely awesome. It's made of stars! What else is cool about My Starry Pony? You never have to buy another mount. It scales from level 1 all the way through level 80. (No way to know yet whether or not the mount will do whatever cool trick mounts do in Cataclysm.) The Celestial Steed will automatically become the context appropriate mount for your character, moving at the appropriate speed according to your level and training. It will even switch between being a normal ground mount for old Azeroth, or an airborne princess in Northrend. You will only need a single action bar button for your mount -- it'll fly or fall appropriate to the area you're in. The last thing that's cool about it is that it shows up in your mailbox, even for character you've created. That makes it the single, easiest mount to get. Warning, though: you do still have to train the riding skill, just like you would have to with a normal, mundane, boring, not-full-of-stars mount. While requiring the training skill means that the Steed doesn't vastly change gameplay, its one-size-fit-all nature definitely makes it the most convenient mount, especially since you won't ever need to spend gold on another mount. (At least, not until Cataclysm changes the rules again.) All you have to do to get it is head over to the Blizzard Store, and pick one up for 25 bucks. Did I mention it's full of stars? %Gallery-33600%
Anti-Aliased: Shut up people, come buy my horse
So last week's little diversion into Net Neutrality (and me apparently being a right wing liberal jackhole) was fun, but this week brings me back on track with things happening in the gaming world. And, lucky for me, there's been a spot of news yesterday that's just caught my attention -- World of Warcraft's new Celestial Steed. Microtransaction discussions are nothing new in my column. From Cryptic to Free Realms, I've been all over the different payment structures that games implement. But, no matter the topic, one thing seems to stay the same: people really, really, really dislike microtransactions overall. The comments on these columns, and pretty much any other article we write on microtransactions, tend to end with angry commenters spewing their dissatisfaction. And you know what? Good for them. If that's their opinion, then totally go for it! But, what I really hate more than anything else is when people have double standards. It seems that people really hate microtransactions, yet Blizzard's newest buyable mount doesn't have people quitting the game left and right. In fact, it seems everyone is cramming in to buy one!
Win a pony from WoW.com
Is $25 too steep a price for you to pay for a pony made of stars? $10 too much for a train-smashing vanity pet? No worries, because we're giving away two of each right here, right now on WoW.com. To enter, leave a comment on this post between now and the same time tomorrow. To be specific, the contest ends on April 16th at 5:00 PM EDT. Winners must be legal residents of the United States or Canada (except Quebec). You may only enter once, and winners must be 18 years of age or older. Four winners will be chosen at random. The prizes up for grabs are: Two Celestial Steeds worth $25 each Two Lil' XTs worth $10 each Click here for complete official rules.
Queue for Celestial Steed and Lil' XT is above 140,000
The picture it says it all... If there was any doubt in the popularity of the new items, this is all you need. For virtual items to be going so fast and furious is unheard of. But here we have it. The most that WoW.com has seen is the number reach around 70,000. It could be more or less when you get in-line to buy one. Edit at 4:45 p.m. EDT: It's now above 80,000, which is nearly 10 times OVER 9000. Edit at 7:30 p.m. EDT: The queue is now above 140,000. Coverage of the new purchasable in-game mount and pet today: Initial Blizzard Store Discovery Mount available to be purchased Poll: Selling the Celestial Steed is... WoW.com will be giving away a few Celestial Steeds and Lil' XTs soon. Stay tuned and keep an eye out for the post!
Blizzard selling armored horse in WoW for $25
First it was virtual pets, now Blizzard is selling an in-game beast that actually has a function in World of Warcraft. For $25, you can buy the "Celestial Steed," which is an admittedly awesome-looking winged horse with constellations for bones. You don't really get any advantage beyond any other mount, as its performance is tied to your own riding skill -- except for the advantage of not having to take part in any bothersome gameplay to acquire it. Along with the steed, a new pet, the "Lil' XT," is available for $10. Of course, if this is the kind of thing that interests you, you not only already know about it, but are currently in line for it. Queues in North America alone have reached 15,000, meaning that at one time, there was $375,000 waiting to be poured into Blizzard's coffers. Our friends at WoW.com note that "If queue numbers in the Store are correct, Blizzard is making over half a million dollars an hour on the Celestial Steed." In other words, it's already a resounding success. All we can do is hope that Blizzard finishes developing StarCraft 2 and Diablo 3 before shifting its operations entirely into the fake horse business. Update: What does WoW.com say about the number of people in the queue? It's over 70,000! [Via WoW.com]
Poll: Selling the Celestial Steed is...
Perhaps one of the more controversial moves done by Blizzard is making the Celestial Steed, a useful in-game item, available for digital purchase via the Blizzard Store. This is something that previously many people thought Blizzard wouldn't do. However, it appears that they are not against exchanging useful in-game items for real money. So let's hear what you think. Vote in the poll. Is selling the Celestial Steed for $25 okay or not? Or do you just not care? %Poll-44641%
Celestial Steed, Lil' XT now active on the Blizzard Store
The Celestial Steed mount and Lil' XT pet are now active and available for purchase at the Blizzard Store. Both the mount and the pet are account bound, meaning any current and future characters on a single account get them. Use the following links to get to the items now to buy them: Buy the Celestial Steed mount - $25 in the US or 20 euros in the EU Buy the Lil' XT pet - $10 in the US or 10 euros in the EU The mount will operate at whatever level of riding skill you've trained. This includes both ground mounts and flying mounts. We now also have a blue post on the matter: Nethaera -- Pet Store Additions We're pleased to be able to bring two new additions to the Blizzard Pet Store: the miniature robot Lil' XT and the Celestial Steed, the first mount to be available there. These fun options are available exclusively through the online Blizzard Store. [http://www.blizzard.com/store] For more information, check out the Pet Store FAQ, which holds answers to most common questions: http://us.blizzard.com/support/article.xml?locale=en_US&articleId=29845 source
Celestial Steed mount and Lil' XT pet to be sold on the Blizzard store
Early this morning our staff uncovered pictographic evidence of the Celestial Steed and Lil' XT Pet being sold soon at the Blizzard Store. The image is no longer in their front page rotation, but likely it won't be gone for long. We don't know any details. That's all there is to say on that. So any speculation about price, functionality, etc... it's all just that. Speculation. We do know, however, that this is the first mount being sold at the store; and the first useful in-game item you can directly buy with real world money (if you don't count the mounts from the WoW TCG game). Video of the steed after the break.
Patch 3.3.3 PTR: Build 11643 notes
MMO Champion's got the goods on an upcoming build of patch 3.3.3. Mounts and pets But first, check out Lil' XT! Doesn't your Lil' KT want a lil' company? No idea where this lil' guy will come from as of yet, but it could be a future purchasable pet joining the likes of the Pandaren Monk and Lil' KT! Both the Celestial Steed and X-53 Touring Rocket (screenshot) now have their own spells and have 310% flying speed. Icecrown Citadel There's been some issues with absorption effects like Power Word: Shield not benefiting from the raid buffs that Wrynn and Hellscream provide. That will be addressed shortly with patch 3.3.3. Strength of Wrynn and Hellscream's Warsong now also boost the effect of damage absorption spells. Glyph changes These changes could be temporary and could be reversed at any time. They're not in the official notes. Death Knights Glyph of Icebound Fortitude now always grants at least 40% damage reduction. Priests Glyph of Scourge Imprisonment now reduces the cast time of your Shackle Undead by 1 sec. (Up from 0.5 sec) Rogues Glyph of Feint now reduces the energy cost of Feint by 20. (Up from 10) Glyph of Expose Armor now increases the duration of Expose Armor by 12 sec. (Up from 10 sec) Glyph of Deadly Throw now increases the slowing effect on Deadly Throw by 20%. (Up from 10%) Other changes Warlocks Dark Pact now has a 100 yards range (up from 30 yards) and ignores the line of sight. Patch 3.3.3 brings about small but noteworthy changes to the World of Warcraft. From a faster CoT, to putting those old Frozen Orbs to better use, to changes to the auction house -- there's several things all WoW players need to know. WoW.com's Guide to Patch 3.3.3 will keep you up to date!
Patch 3.3.3 PTR: Celestial steed video
We just received this mouth-gaping footage of the celestial steed mount in action. The model for the mount was uncovered in the latest patch 3.3.3 PTR but as of now no one knows where it will come from or when. The video shows what looks like an orc warlock flying over Icecrown, then swooping down to the steps of Icecrown Citadel into a gallop. At around 2:30, the steed rears and you can see a small galaxy of particles that have accumulated from the mount idling. The celestial steed is certainly drool-inducing, and the music in the video adds an extra "oomph" to its beauty. (Or hamminess, depending on how you look at it.)
Patch 3.3.3 PTR: Companion pet and mount updates
Another PTR build has been deployed on the public test realms for patch 3.3.3. We'll be seeing some new pets and mounts it seems. I admit I'm not as dedicated to pets or mounts as my friends are, but that doesn't mean I'm not interested in any new updates. Mounts The Celestial Steed has been added into the game and it looks to be an all around mount that can function is a ground mount in the old world and a flying mount in Outland or Northrend. There are no screenshots of it yet, but my guess is that it's a horse with wings that could double as a constellation. Check out the picture above for an idea.
