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Blizzard: Expect more in-game cinematics in the future
World of Warcraft is, first and foremost, a roleplaying game. It's not just a game; not just a story, but a blessed nexus of both that totally immerses you in another world. The quests you undergo set up and advance the story, and -- at least in Wrath -- major storylines are wrapped up with in-game cinematics. Arthas' death, the Wrathgate -- both are epic events in Wrath of the Lich King lore, and both are comprised entirely of in-game assets. But are we being cheated? After all, the trailer to Cataclysm, in which Deathwing emerges to tear Azeroth asunder, is an epic piece of pre-rendered majesty. Shouldn't Blizzard offer us more pre-rendered video moments instead of what amounts to a well-produced piece of machinima? On the official Blizzard forums today, in response to a complaint about the extended use of in-game cinematics (like the worgen in-game cinematic above), blue poster Zarhym talked about -- and defended -- Blizzard's approach to cinematics: Blizzard - Better cinematics, please. With the advent of in-game cinematics, in the case of Starcraft II, we were able to over triple the amount of cinematic storytelling compared to any previous Blizzard release. As mentioned by another poster, these moments, without in-game assets, would have been character portraits plus voice-over. Instead, they were able to be brought to life with a much more vivid realization by using in-game cinematics to help tell the story. source The full text of Zarhym's post is available just after the cut.
Paragon's world first heroic Fall of the Lich King video
<Paragon> of EU Lightning's Blade has released the video of their world-first kill of the Lich King on 25-man heroic mode. The video itself is in three parts and includes the viewpoints of a combat rogue, restoration shaman and holy priest over the course of the fight. Only one other guild to date has made the 25-man heroic kill; the guild <For The Horde> of EU Nazjatar claimed the world-second kill earlier today. Congratulations to <For The Horde> on the kill, and congratulations to <Paragon> on not only the world first but the absolutely gorgeous video they've put together. Check out part two and part three of the kill video after the break.
Paragon scores world first heroic Fall of the Lich King
Our tipline has just exploded with tips about the latest raiding news: Paragon of Lightning's Blade (EU) has just scored the world first Heroic Lich King (25-man) kill. GuildOx backs up the tips with a brand new listing for the achievement and you can see it for yourself on the armory. Each member of the raid is now the proud owner of the title 'the Light of Dawn.' Not the coolest sounding title around, but the level of prestige is through the roof. We would include a screenshot of the kill in this post, but their guild website seems to be down for the count. Congratulations to all of the players involved. The Lich King is a harsh fight on its own, and we don't imagine doing it on heroic is a walk in the park. How did Defile treat you? Update: Azizrael supplied a kill shot in the comments below.
Ensidia scores world first 25-man Lich King kill [Updated]
Last night was the world first 10-man kill, tonight it's the world first 25-man kill. The infamous Ensidia of Tarren Mill-EU has scored the kill, and there's a news post on their website confirming it. (Ensidia's site seems to have fallen offline, but you can still read their story via Google cache.) They walked away with Glorenzelg, High-Blade of the Silver Hand and Fal'inrush, Defender of Quel'thalas. Well done, crew! WoW raiding is a bit strange these days, because this kill is actually just the beginning of the road. Now we get to watch the hard modes, which is likely to take quite a bit longer. That's our hope, at least. Will Ensidia walk away with hard mode Lich King as well, or will a group of underdogs come from behind? Will Stars show up in the spotlight again? Only time will tell. Update: Ensidia's raiders have received a 72-hour ban from the game for "abuse of in-game mechanics or glitches with intent to exploit or cheat in World of Warcraft." A hotfix was applied last night to prevent the use of Saronite Bombs (which Ensidia used) in the encounter and Ensidia's loot and achievements have been removed. So that world first? Still up for grabs.
Blood Legion scores world first Lich King kill
About one hour ago, WoW.com was notified that Blood Legion of Illidan-US has scored the world first of 10-man The Fall of the Lich King (as well as The Frozen Throne.) Ten lucky Blood Legion members walk away with the Kingslayer title, and a... statue of Tirion Fordring? Well... okay. Why not? Congratulations, Blood Legion. Good luck on the hard modes next week! Before everyone jumps to conclusions and bemoans WoW being easy mode, keep in mind this is only the normal mode of the 10-man difficulty. Blood Legion is a high end 25-man guild, so this kill was not what you would call "pure." A kill this quickly doesn't mean the encounter was trivial, because if that were the case we'd have seen many more kills last night. It simply means Blood Legion had an edge, to say the least.
Spoilers: Fall of the Lich King cinematic
Be warned, there are incredibly massive spoilers for the end of Icecrown Citadel beyond the cut below, and in the embedded video. We will say no more until you've clicked through. If you don't want to be spoiled, stop reading right now. Seriously! Update: The video has been removed due to a copyright claim by Blizzard.
The best of WoW.com: December 8-15, 2009
Patch 3.3 is out in the World of Warcraft, and the game is experiencing a new influx of excitement. The new Dungeon Finder system means almost anyone can jump into an instance whenever they want, and new raiding and 5-man content means players are off and questing again. Just in case you're wondering what this new patch is all about, WoW.com has you covered. Hit the links after the break for our top 10 posts of the past week, and head on over to the site for up-to-date information about the the World of Warcraft.
Breakfast Topic: Sylvanas, my new BFF
Okay, the best part of running random dungeons on my tauren is getting to hang out with Sylvanas. In the new five mans (Forge of Souls, Pit of Saron and Halls of Reflection) Jaina Proudmoore is the Alliance NPC with a score to settle with Arthas, and she does a fine job and all, but Sylvanas... none of this conflicted, he was once my boyfriend, how can I kill the man I once loved stuff with Sylvanas. No, Sylvanas is all about one thing, and that one thing is killing Arthas: she only retreats when she's taken over five million damage! That's pretty stubborn. In general I really enjoy the lore moments in both versions of the new five man, enough that I'll keep trying to run them as many times as is possible just to get to see them. Not to mention the climactic moment of the Deathbringer Saurfang encounter (which I completely spoiled for my Alliance guild... sorry, guys!) and I'd love to see the (heavy spoilers ahead please don't watch if you don't want to be spoiled I warned you this link is spoilertastic) Horde equivalent, perhaps on 10 man sometime soon. So, how are you liking the lore of Fall of the Lich King so far? Not enough, too much, just right? How is your lore porridge, baby bear? Sorry, I haven't gotten to sleep much, too much PuGging. Patch 3.3 is the last major patch of Wrath of the Lich King. With the new Icecrown Citadel 5-man dungeons and 10/25-man raid arriving soon, patch 3.3 will deal the final blow to Arthas. WoW.com's Guide to Patch 3.3 will keep you updated with all the latest patch news.
Blizzard announces Rise and Fall of the Lich King screenshot contest
Blizzard's community team is working like crazy before the holidays -- just a few days after the dessert contest kicked off, they've now announced a screenshot contest, this one centering on "The Rise and Fall of the Lich King." Basically, they want you to take a screenshot of your character somehow fighting the Scourge, and in return, they're giving away 11 steins. Ten lucky winners will pick up Rise of the Lich King steins from Taverncraft, and one lucky grand prize winner will win the #1 of 750 out of the limited quantity of signed Legendary Collection Rise of the Lich King steins released. That's actually pretty awesome -- I haven't been enticed to buy a stein yet, but I will definitely submit a screenshot to win one. And we can even help you win -- check out our recent post on how to screenshot for tips and tricks on how to do it exactly right. Keep your photographer's eye open as you play against the Scourge this month (the contest ends on midnight January 1st, 2010), and one of your captures might pick up some real-life loot.
Patch 3.3: Fall of the Lich King Trailer
Blizzard has finally released the official trailer for Patch 3.3: Fall of the Lich King. You can view it over on their site right now, or just enjoy it via the YouTube video embedded above. The Blizzard site is extremely slow right now, so we recommend just watching it here. The trailer sends chills down your spine, especially if you've been paying attention to the lore of Warcraft since the RTS games back in the 90's and early 2000's. It shows a certain very important figure in Arthas' life, letting him know the Fall of the Lich King is bound to take place. For additional information about the lore in this patch, check out our article on the Lore of Patch 3.3. To see more of the dungeons and have a bit more of the story explained to you, check out vodka's trailer. We understand that the YouTube trailer might be taking some time to load. There's a lot of people trying to access everything at once, and most internet services are getting bogged down. WoW.com is on AOL webservers, so we should be fine, but other sites, include Blizzard's sites, are not able to handle the load as well.
