class-quests
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Patch 6.1: Rogues have a new use for Dingy Iron Coins
Rogues who are stealthy fans of pickpocketing in Warlords of Draenor have more to cheer about in the upcoming patch 6.1. Griftah, the fence of dubious motives who has been taking Dingy Iron Coins and turning them around, in a roundabout way, for gold, has now expanded his inventory. Along with the usual fencing duties and quests to turn in coins for gold, Griftah also sells a variety of leather masks in a variety of colors, all for the low low price of a thousands or so Dingy Iron Coins -- more, if the masks are fancier. And if you're a toy collector to boot, Griftah's got a deal for you -- for 10,000 Dingy Iron Coins, you can be the proud owner of a Barrel of Bandanas. This toy summons a barrel of random bandanas for you and all your friends, so everyone can get in on the bandana-wearing fun. It's nice to see that Griftah hasn't forgotten his rogue pals -- and even nicer to see a steady supply of fashionable masks. Pickpocketing has never been this much fun. Check out the slideshow for screenshots of all available bandanas and their costs.
Warlords of Draenor: Rogues and the return of Griftah
I love playing a rogue. I like the sneaky fun of being able to stealth past mobs that would otherwise happily eat my face, I love being able to stun, kick, and poison my way to certain victory. And I love the little quirks of the class. But rogues, for all their entertainment value, don't exactly have a lot to offer in the way of flashy fun factor -- which is why I was pleasantly surprised to see a familiar face pop up in Warlords of Draenor in a rogue-only series of quests. Griftah, the wily troll who sells items of questionable value to players, has been a fixture in the game since Burning Crusade, where he underwent his own strange little storyline of being caught, punished, and allowed back into Shattrath City. Since then, he's been seen here and there in game -- but never in the kind of entertaining scope and capacity he had back in Burning Crusade. So what do rogues, fun factor, and everyone's favorite con artist troll have in common? Plenty, in the upcoming expansion.
The Daily Grind: Does double XP give you altitis?
My poor Gunslinger. He's been hovering around level 50 for weeks, and I planned on using last weekend's Star Wars: The Old Republic double XP event to finally get him moving toward Makeb. Alas, I opted to get a few more alts off the starter planets and past Coruscant instead. I did this because double XP in SWTOR really ought to be on all the time. See, the accelerated advancement is tuned almost perfectly if your aim is to level up doing nothing but your class story quests and a couple of flashpoint dungeons. There's no need to grind through all the repetitive filler in between the story missions, and so I wanted to get as many alts as possible off of the newbie planets so that I can get on with the business of finishing their story arcs. What about you, Massively readers? Do double experience events give you altitis, or do you normally stick with a main character? Every morning, the Massively bloggers probe the minds of their readers with deep, thought-provoking questions about that most serious of topics: massively online gaming. We crave your opinions, so grab your caffeinated beverage of choice and chime in on today's Daily Grind!
The Daily Grind: Do you like class quests?
Apart from Star Wars: The Old Republic, which has tailored half of the game to be such, class quests seems to be a concept on the way out of design popularity. These are quests that are specifically tailored to a class' abilities and story, while not being accessible by folks in other professions. I rather like class quests when I encountered them. They made me feel a little special, like I was part of an "exclusive" club that the rest of the game's classes wouldn't be able to see. What's better is that these missions helped me get into the spirit of the class and identify more strongly with it. What about you? Do you like class quests when you encounter them? Do you think there should be more class-specific activities or should they be eliminated altogether? Every morning, the Massively bloggers probe the minds of their readers with deep, thought-provoking questions about that most serious of topics: massively online gaming. We crave your opinions, so grab your caffeinated beverage of choice and chime in on today's Daily Grind!
Should Moonglade return to being the druid's Peak of Serenity?
Leveling up a monk is good fun and rather speedy. Starting from level 20, monks can complete daily quests that allow them to practice key skills and also reward an experience buff that stacks up to 48 hours. All they have to do is use their Zen Pilgrimage skill to send their spirits to the Peak of Serenity and interact with their Monk trainers. No other class has this kind of training, but the druids used to have something similar in Moonglade. Once upon a time, leveling up a druid was much more difficult than it is now, and arguably more fun. Each form had a class quest to go with it and the Moonglade teleport spell was used to get these quests, as druids needed to speak to the druid trainers in the Cenarion Circle in order to advance as a shape-changer. Granted, the Aquatic Form quest was a royal pain, but it was a rite of passage that I thought made sense. There were no daily quests, nor was there repeated training as to how to use the forms, but the class quests did make advancing as a druid more rewarding. I think they should revamp Moonglade to return it to its former glory and use the Peak of Serenity as a model for training druids how to use their forms and other key skills.
Why should warlocks have all the class quest fun?
The warlock green fire quest is up on the PTR, and warlocks are slowly starting to complete the quest and revel in their new-found verdant projectiles. By all accounts, the quest was an epic experience. It required warlocks to dust off long-forgotten spells, enslave demons, and more, to take every ability out of their spell book and bind it for use. It sounds fantastic! And, while I have a warlock languishing at level 85, I'm jealous. Why should warlocks have all the class quest fun? I definitely don't think, though, that these warlock quests should be opened up to other players, just in the interest of completeness. The great thing about these quests is that they're tailored around warlocks and their class abilities, other classes would simply dilute that experience. No, I think this should herald the start of things to come. The start of epic questlines appearing for every class, old and new. But, importantly, they have to offer something similar to the warlock quests. I would want them to be similarly difficult, similarly demanding of competence, and similarly require players to reach back to the darkest recesses of their spellbook. However, a quest of that magnitude cannot offer something required for raiding, for PvP, for character advancement. It has to offer something like green fire, desirable but not necessary. And that's where the difficulty comes in. What could these hypothetical class quests offer?
Warlock green fire quest reward and more
The exclusive warlock quest to nab green fire now has a quest reward to go with it. Not the expected green fire, but an actual piece of gear. MMO-Champion managed to dig up Akama's Seal of Courage, which is the reward for helping Akama out in the Black Temple -- presumably part of the Black Temple portion of the warlock quest. But how does a clever warlock obtain the quest in the first place? We don't really know just yet. We do know that according to Ghostcrawler's tweet pictured above, it's not going to be something that players can grab immediately. There is a peculiar and interesting aspect to this whole chain, however, and it's in the form of Deathwing's meddling kiddo. That's right, Wrathion is somehow involved in the chain, according to quest information found over on WowDB. Why, exactly, Wrathion is so invested and involved in what warlocks are up to is also up in the air. For more information on the quest chain, Wowhead has a detailed guide available -- beware, spoilers abound! Even though we don't have the total picture just yet, the bits and pieces that have been dug up via datamining are making it much harder to ignore my long-forgotten warlock alt. The thought of wielding green fire is pretty cool of course, but it's more the story potential in the chain that fascinates me. Just what are those shadowy masters of demonic entities up to, anyway? Time will tell. Mists of Pandaria is here! The level cap has been raised to 90, many players have returned to Azeroth, and pet battles are taking the world by storm. Keep an eye out for all of the latest news, and check out our comprehensive guide to Mists of Pandaria for everything you'll ever need to know.
Patch 5.2 PTR: Warlock area datamined
Adriacraft have been at it again, datamining what is believed to be the containing zone for an element of the warlock-specific "green fire quest" area. On first look, the zone itself, though not the map, appears to bear a striking visual resemblance to the zone in which the Obsidian Sanctum raid takes place, but with additional items added. It seems from a brief glance at Wowhead's warlock-specific quests that the majority of the currently known quests refer, as expected, to the Black Temple, without mentioning another zone. Could this "island" be an instanced area accessed from within the Black Temple? It looks far too fiery for that to me at least, but with the little we know about the Council of the Black Harvest, also known as the Council of Six Daggers, and their ties to other, older zones, it could be that this is some area associated with that group. What do you think? I know I'm really pleased I leveled my warlock, these quests look really exciting, even with our very limited knowledge of how it will all unfurl. Do note, as ever, that this is datamined information, and place an according amount of weight upon it. Let's hope this leads to more class-specific quests in future! Mists of Pandaria is here! The level cap has been raised to 90, many players have returned to Azeroth, and pet battles are taking the world by storm. Keep an eye out for all of the latest news, and check out our comprehensive guide to Mists of Pandaria for everything you'll ever need to know.
EverQuest II's Qeynos revamp goes live July 24th
Say bye-bye to the Baubbleshire. Anyone wanting screenshots of his favorite EverQuest II boroughs will want to log in and get them quick because Sony Online Entertainment has announced the day that Qeynos will be reborn on the live servers. On July 24th, players will log into to find a city with more intrigue and conflict as the Queen and the Circle of Ten struggle for power. Familiar boroughs (such as the Baubbleshire and the Willow Wood) will be replaced by instanced zones accessible only via new racial and class quest chains. The remaining zones will be consolidated, and the entire city will receive a graphical facelift. The announcement also highlights other July plans for EQII, including a preview of the changes coming to PvP and the battlegrounds. There are also tidbits about the changes in class focus effects, notes about tweaks to the New Halas and Neriak starting areas, and a reminder that playing as your character in the dungeon maker should launch this month using the same level-agnostic gameplay as the battlegrounds. Complete details can be found in the official announcement. And for a more personal look at the revamp, check out The Tattered Notebook's tour on test.
Legendary Weapons: Story chains or class quests?
So last week, the first rogue in my guild got the Fangs of the Father set, and I started working on my set. Right now, I'm about a third of the way to stage two, and then I'll have stage three to contend with. Though there are fewer pieces to collect for the daggers, unlike the items for Dragonwrath, only one rogue can proceed on the chain at a time. That's OK with me -- I don't mind the wait, and I know I have fun stuff to look forward to in between stages. I wasn't expecting a cutscene after starting the chain, but I was absolutely delighted with the fact that I got a bit of story to play through instead of "You killed Illidan and you're very lucky -- have a Warglaive!" However, there was another, slightly more bothersome difference between Dragonwrath and the Fangs of the Father, one I'm not quite sure how I feel about. When our first raider got his Dragonwrath, everyone rushed to Orgrimmar and watched Kalecgos appear and deliver the staff in front of everyone that happened to be idling in town at the time. It was a moment of sheer excitement, joy, and fun, both for the player who got the staff and the guild who had helped him along the long road to getting it. We didn't get that with Fangs of the Father.
Ol' Grumpy and the return of class-based quests
Hi, I'm Ol' Grumpy. You may remember me from such posts as every single other post with "Ol' Grumpy" in the title. Today, since I have this incredibly uncomfortable rocking chair to sit on, I figured I'd grump about class quests and why I think they should come back. Back in the day (that day being 2004 to 2005), I leveled the first of many warriors to the experience cap of level 60. At that time, one of the things that set the warrior class (and other classes) apart was a long, involved quest line that sent you all over Azeroth to gather materials and finally face and defeat Cyclonian. As a result, you gained one of three iconic weapons. (Most people took the axe. As a human at the time, I took the sword.) This extremely long quest line took you from Fray Island to the area north of Tarren Mill and then to Arathi Highlands (giving them a reason to exist) and Stranglethorn Vale before bringing you back to face Cyclonian. It was a rite of passage for a leveling toon. As a 60th-level, 70th-level and then an 80th-level warrior, I would often go back and help warriors on the quest to defeat Cyclonian, who posed an extreme challenge to anyone attempting to solo him. I lamented the removal of class-specific quests at the time it was announced. Now, over a year later, I still think removing them was a mistake. Being soaked in ancient wisdom like a turkey soaked in ancient wisdom, here are my reasons.
Maps and quest levels explained for Final Fantasy XIV
Since the earliest days of MMOs, players have asked a very simple question: "Where the heck am I?" And thankfully, the ubiquitous in-game map is there to provide an answer to the question. Of course, it's all too easy to feel a bit lost anyway with Final Fantasy XIV's maps, which are long on flavor and in-game writing and a bit short on what the various symbols actually mean. So the most recent developer dispatch on the official player site has clarified the symbols on the map and helped explain where to find crucial information. In addition, the dispatch covers the game's strength-indicating icons for monsters, as well as the intervals for new quests. There are also unlocking intervals for new class-specific guildleves, both regional and local. It's a good incentive to continue leveling a few classes instead of dabbling too broadly, something that's a definite possibility with Final Fantasy XIV's permissive cross-class system. Take a look at the full dispatch for more details on the most recent round of developer-answered questions.
WoW Rookie: Dungeon and world travel tips for Cataclysm lowbies
New around here? WoW Rookie has your back! Get all our collected tips, tricks and tactics for new players in the WoW Rookie Guide. Classic WoW might have been pretty revolutionary for its time in terms of ease of leveling, but looking back, it was kind of terrible. It was just a lot better than what we had at the time. Thankfully, Cataclysm has fixed a lot of the original game's leveling issues, and I can say from personal experience that bringing a character from 1 to 60 is more fun than anything I've ever done in WoW before. And that's with no heirlooms, no gold from my main, no auction house, no nothing. Let's talk ways to maximize your fun while leveling in Cataclysm.
The Daily Quest: Of class quests, Warcraft music and Big Black Kitties
Patch 3.1 is still burning up the PTR and sending most classes into a tail spin trying to figure out what their new talent builds will be when the patch goes live. Forget the madness of the ever-changing class mechanics for a few minutes to peruse today's WoW-related posts from around the blogosphere. Big Red Kitty shows off what could be the latest Hunter pet models or what could be a texture glitch seen running amok on the Test realm (see pic above.) More on his site. To PTR or not PTR, that is the question explored at Shields Up. They look at both sides of the controversial topic. Tier 8 gear have you interested in raiding for the first time? Check out The Virtues of the Effective Raider, a good primer for people first dipping their toe into WoW raiding. And for those more experienced in raiding, check out our weekly raiding columns, Ready Check and Raid Rx. Though the Echoes of War music was released months ago, Blizzard made an official announcement this week. Next week, they'll be announcing the launch of The Burning Crusade... Hoping for more class-specific quests? You'll have to wait a little longer according to European CM Vaneras. They take time to create and implement. He doesn't specifically say they are making more, but does go into the process involved.
Ask a Beta Tester: Starter zones and starter epics
Just a little earlier, Allison Robert posted questions we wish we had been asked on Ask a Beta Tester. Me? I'm still going to answer the questions we have been asked, starting with Jay's question... In Warcraft III:The Frozen Throne, the Blood Elves and Naga teamed up to wage a massive battle against Arthas right on the slopes of Icecrown. It's already been mentioned that settlements and Ruins from further back, when Arthas's expedition land are still there. Is there any sign of the Belf and Naga ruins from their assault? In Icecrown it's nothing but Scourge and the Scourge's servants as far as the eye can see. Anything that had been there previously is gone. There are Naga ruins further out, though. Off the coast of the Borean Tundra there are some Naga structures you'll be questing in. For those of you sick of killing Naga like I am, don't worry. There's a twist.
Another option for new content: factional class flipping?
Last week I talked about mid-level content and as expected, many of you expressed an opinion. One comment in particular from autumnbear got me thinking. Autumnbear writes:"How about updating the overall lore for the game, and allowing more class choices for the current playable races. Still waiting for the Night Elves to teach my Human how to be a Druid, especially since he's Exalted with both Darnassus AND the Cenarion Circle."Now that's something I can chew on. What about quests that will allow you to make race/class combinations that are not otherwise available in the game? I think this is a tremendous idea if the process is sufficiently difficult to prevent everybody and their uncle's cat from doing it. The original Everquest had epic quests that took some players months to complete. Everquest 2 had the betrayal quests which allowed you to change factions which took a really long time to complete.Why shouldn't a human, in Autumnbear's case, who has earned significant faction with Darnassus not be able to learn the finer points of being a druid? Gnomes have no healing classes. Why not create a very difficult quest line for those gnomes who are exalted with Stormwind that would allow them to become a paladin or priest?I know I'm going to get a billion comments about game balance. Admittedly this would likely not count as "mid-level" either, but I think that if it was properly implemented it could be a valid source of that new content that everybody is craving.
