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Northrend mount attunement will not be expensive
We've known for a little while now that our existing flying mounts will not be usable straight off the bat in Northrend. The reason for this is that they don't want us little level 70s hopping onto the frozen plains, mounting up, and zipping right off to Dalaran or Arthas or wherever; in short, they don't want us to skip content. After all, imagine if you had a flying mount at the beginning of Outland – you would've gone to Shattrath even sooner. We also know from the WWI Q&A live blog that there will be some kind of "attunement" process for getting our fliers working up there, which has jokingly been referred to as "mount mittens" (it's cold in Northrend, you know). What we haven't known is precisely when the mounts will be usable (though Ulduar's Halls of Stone, a level 77-79 dungeon, was said to require flying mounts), and whether the "mount mittens" (or whatever they actually implement) will be a tremendous gold sink. Today Bornakk puts as all at ease, by saying that flying mounts are currently set to be usable in Northrend at level 77, you will use the same mounts currently used in Outland, and it is not expected that "a large sum of gold" will be required (for another tier of mount skill or something). As always, this could change before the expansion goes live, but for now, it seems that we can look forward to not spending several thousand gold on griffin defrosting equipment.
Will there be flying mounts in Northrend?
Though the demo version we played at BlizzCon didn't allow the use of flying mounts, CM Vaneras on the EU forums tells us that we are going to be able to use our flying mounts in Northrend -- however, we may not be able to use them right away. Says Vaneras:...it has not yet been decided if they will be available as soon as you get there or how far into your exploration you will be soaring through the icy skies. The reason for the potential delay in free-roaming is to allow the development team a chance to design and create exciting and interesting content which people will not simply fly over and ignore. What sort of restrictions there will be on flying mounts in Northrend is yet to be decided, however. Will it be a level restriction or perhaps require some sort of quest? As soon as we find out, we'll let you know!
WoW Moviewatch: First look at the broom mount
No, the broom mount isn't a joke, because MMO-Champion has some nice video of it flying around in Shadowmoon Valley. And for my part, I'd much prefer it to the standard wyvern -- but we still don't know just how to acquire them.Previously, on Moviewatch....
Around Azeroth: It's a bird eat bird world
Liquidis of Dethecus sends in this shot taken from Netherwing Ledge in Shadowmoon Valley. Al I have to say is that you'd best be careful trying this trick at home -- those teeth look sharp, and the laws of gravity have to come into play at some point in time, don't they? (Well, in Outland, we're not sure if the rules of physics apply, are we?)Do you have a unique shot of Azeroth or Outland that you'd like to show off to the rest of the world? Tell us about it by e-mailing aroundazeroth@gmail.com! Or perhaps you'd just like to see more of your pics from Around Azeroth. %Gallery-1816%
Breakfast Topic: Little Red Riding Nether Ray
I know, I know... today's breakfast topic comic seems a bit dark and gloomy -- but don't worry! Things are not what they seem! The girl's grandma is actually a professional hunter of evil grandmavores. The girl-grandma team tricks the beasts into their doom: first, little Red lures the beasts close to the cottage, and then Granny springs a woodsman-shaped target dummy on them and mutilates them from behind with her epic daggers disguised as knitting needles. Annnywaaaay, the topic for today is these scary creatures known as nether rays! Now we can ride them! But... the question is, does anyone want to? I know the nether ray in this picture looks pretty spooky, and I'll admit that there are some screenshots in which they look okay at first. But over all, aren't they really rather ugly, pudgy and too much like a fish with serious dental problems? I was over there questing in Skettis with a friend of mine today, just earning some money in a few spare minutes I had to play, when we stopped to gawk at the Sha'tari Skyguard dwarf just swooshing along on his nether ray mount, looking as pudgy and as awkward as can be. I realized, this thing doesn't look like it should be a mount at all. Your legs kind of sink through the creature's tendril hood or whatever it is, and some races apparently have their hands hanging out in thin air, holding on to reins that should be there on any normal mount, but not on this one.Do you agree that this thing is an ugly waste of your reputation grinding time? or am I totally missing the aesthetic genius of this?
Around Azeroth: Fly me to the moon
Reader Daveyp sends in an interesting Outland shot taken on the border of Terokkar Forest and Zangarmarsh. Sure, sure, it's a perfectly ordinary Zangarmarsh mushroom shot (and if history tells you anything, it's that I love Zangarmarsh mushroom shots) until you look across the sky, and see the only-in-Outland image of the flying mount in the moon. It's probably not that unique of a shot, but it is, amazingly, the first such image to arrive in my mailbox.Do you have a unique shot of Azeroth or Outland that you'd like to show off to the rest of the world? Tell us about it by e-mailing aroundazeroth@gmail.com! Or perhaps you'd just like to see more of your pics from Around Azeroth. %Gallery-1816%
Around Azeroth: Idling ftl.
There's a reason you don't idle in the open on PvP servers. It's because people will kill you. And if you happen to be in a amusing spot, say, floating in the air over Area 52 when you meet your untimely end? People, like reader Goroth of Onyxia, will immortalize your corpse in screenshots. Do you have a unique shot of Azeroth or Outland that you'd like to show off to the rest of the world? Tell us about it by e-mailing aroundazeroth@gmail.com! Or perhaps you'd just like to see more of your pics from Around Azeroth. %Gallery-1816%
Around Azeroth: A wrong turn somewhere...
In this single screenshot we see a sad tale unfolding as Pruflas of Blood Reign on Blackwater Raiders takes a wrong turn on his flying mount. In all honesty, this Kraator fellow -- a rare spawn in Shadowmoon Valley -- looks extremely unfriendly. It's a sad wrong turn indeed to send you flying directly into his face... Do you have a unique shot of Azeroth or Outland that you'd like to show off to the rest of the world? Tell us about it by e-mailing aroundazeroth@gmail.com! Or perhaps you'd just like to see more of your pics from Around Azeroth. %Gallery-1816%
Around Azeroth: The solution to warlock pet problems...
Reader George sends in this buggy screenshot that, perhaps, is a reasonable way to solve the problems with warlock and hunter pets when getting on flying mounts. Oh, sure -- Blizzard's made a change that will cause pets to be dismissed when you mount up, but, really, having them ride along with you, perhaps in a little basket or side-car of some sort, is much more entertaining.Do you have a unique shot of Azeroth or Outland that you'd like to show off to the rest of the world? Tell us about it by e-mailing aroundazeroth@gmail.com! Or perhaps you'd just like to see more of your pics from Around Azeroth. %Gallery-1816%
Flying the not-so-friendly skies
Gustav of Nazjatar started a long thread the other day about air kills (and many times, the lack thereof) in World PvP. These concerns got raised before the expansion, but I haven't heard too much about them since until now (maybe that's what I get for playing on a PvE server). Basically players are saying that when you get a flying mount at 70, you suddenly become immune to PvP-- because there's no way to pull people out of the air, a flying target is no target at all. And that, says Gustav, is yet another example of the "carebearization" (nice) of world PvP by Blizzard.The other issue Gustav has is an upcoming change that will make dead players' bodies fall to the ground after death, instead of remaining suspended there in the air like, as Drysc says, "a magic trick gone wrong." Blue's word on this one is that it's just not "natural" to leave players in the air-- Gustav thinks it's because Blizzard wanted to give people a break on repairs (because now, players left in the air have to rez at the spirit healer), but Drysc says it's just artistic-- let the bodies hit the floor, man.But Gustav's more interesting idea is that every class should have an anti-air ability-- a way to bring your PvP opponent out of the air. To my mind, that kind of thing just opens the door to griefing-- actual air-to-air combat seems like a better idea to me. Drysc's response to the news that PvPers are avoiding a fight by flying sounds about right: staying on a mount when someone below is taunting you just makes you chicken. If you're really interested in world PvP, then get off the mount-- it's time to drop down and throw down.
WoW Moviewatch: Mount up for Burning Crusade
Is it too late to get excited about spoilers from the Burning Crusade? If you don't want to see what all the mounts to come in Outland look like, don't watch this video. They've got everything, from the flying mounts to the Chocobos sorry, the Cockatrice sorry, the Hawkstrider. Common to epic, Griffon to Nether Drake-- watch at your own spoilery risk. Of course this is clearly on a hacked server (we're not going to see mounts flying around IF, ZG, or TB for a long time), but it's still awesome. I can't wait to get my soon-to-be-created Blood Elf mage to 40, just so I can get me a non-mechanical birdie. WARK!
Why Azeroth is a no flying (mount) zone
Jr doesn't phrase his question very well (he's actually whining), but he does have what seems like a valid concern on the message boards: We're all paying Blizzard fifteen bucks a month, so why can't they assign two guys to make sure we can use our flying mounts outside of Outland? When I first heard that flying mounts would be restricted to Outland, I had the same issue. The CMs informed us that they'd have to rework the world to make flying mounts possible in Azeroth (because the world hadn't been planned for that), but why not just rework the world? How hard can it be?Very hard, says Drysc. First off, they'd have to fix the tops of mountains and such that can't currently be seen (which, admittedly, I realized when I first learned about flying mounts). But then they'd have to make sure all of those locations matched what was supposed to be there-- if you actually flew up to see Nef's balcony, you'd have to see Nef sitting there. And they'd also have to completely finish Mount Hyjal and all the other currently non accessible zones, including every building and town that's supposed to be there, because of the lore. By the time you get to whether players should be able to fly from one continent to another with or without a loading screen, you're talking, as Drysc says, about completely reworking the server architecture, and we all know how good Blizzard is with changing server architecture.I don't mean to defend Blizzard-- someday I do want to swoop down low on my Nether Drake over the Barrens as lowbies run and cower in fear at my epic-ness. But I can see why that wouldn't happen for a good long while. More importantly, I can't wait to be impressed by what they have done-- all of those problems will (we hope) be solved in Outland, where everything's been built from the ground up (literally) to be explored by flying mounts aplenty.
The flood of BC info begins...
Now that the Burning Crusade beta is underway, will we be able to keep up with the flood of info coming out about it? My guess is no-- but we're sure gonna try! Arena teams can be named, just like guilds. I call dibs on "Two Men Enter One Man Leaves". Yes, I know 1v1 isn't possible but it's Mad Max, man! Also, no requirements on classes, but I didn't think there were, anyway. Tree of Life. And apparently the droods love it. Even the whiny ones. Dual wielding shamans will get to put one buff on each weapon, and that is awesome. BC will have a brand-new cinematic. Woohah! If you were worried about flying mounts costing 5000g, don't worry too much. There'll be lots of gold to go around, and the price may even change. Holy moly, this Burning Crusade release is going to be a thing to see. Expect more info as we get it-- lots and lots more.
Burning Crusade Forums tidbits
A few tidbits about changes in the expansion have popped up in the forums... Tseric says that certain Crowd Control abilities (of course no specifics yet) will be downgraded, if not disabled in Arena PVP. Spells like Polymorph or Sleep may have a 15-20 second duration when used in PVE, but only a 5-10 second duration in Arena PVP. This is meant to "prevent extended removal [of players] from combat." On a question about how PVP ranks will show in BC, Drysc says there will be a title menu in the UI, and that players will be able to choose up to their highest rank to display. He also says there will be more titles for Arena PVP, as well as other titles through "various other means." World PVP? PVE titles? Last names? Your guess is as good as ours. We've covered mount changes in 1.12.1 pretty extensively but in case you still have questions, Hortus has all the answers you need. A player asks if flying mounts will make players immune to attacks, but Neth says they haven't decided for sure yet. This was the first concern that came to mind when I saw the Druids' new flying form-- will Druids have an instant escape plan? Considering all the classes seem to be getting pets in the expansion, Eskar has an idea for what to give rogues. And can't remember where I heard this rumor (I'm thinking it was one of our esteemed commenters?), but rumor (only rumor!) has it Blizzard has dropped the expansion price the game's price from $39.99 to $19.99** (updated-- see below). If that's true, it pretty much ensures that World of Warcraft will move from seven million players to something literally engulfing the known universe, thus creating some sort of new, superuniverse in which multidimensional beings shout jokes about Chuck Norris and Steve Irwin at each other while other beings yell at them to "stop spamming LFG." Exciting stuff! Can't wait for the expansion.. whenever it is released,Update: Our commenters, God bless 'em, have confirmed the price drop, kind of. Blizzard will be dropping the original game to the price of $19.99-- the expansion will be $39.99. But that still means the game will be cheaper than ever to play, which means we're probably due for all that multidimensional universe stuff. Plan 2007 accordingly.
Burning Crusade Update: Nether Drakes
The Burning Crusade site has been updated with further information on the flying mounts that may be found in the Outlands. Lore-wise these creatures are the offspring of the black dragon Deathwing, who traveled through the Dark Portal to Draenor, believing it to be a safe haven for some of his eggs. When Ner'zhul opened multiple portals on Draenor with the intent of invading foreign lands, the magical energies released tore the planet apart - and altered the eggs, causing the resulting creatures to have the ability to shift between the physical and astral planes. In use, a Nether Drake will have the speed of an epic mount and be able to run on the ground as well as fly through the air. How they may be obtained or what they might cost, however, remains a mystery!
More Video of Flying Mounts
IGN has a great new video of the new flying mounts we'll be seeing in the Burning Crusade expansion. The video gives us a good show of flight and range of motion, and presents it in an amusing format. Of course, we're still missing details on how to get the mount or what it will cost us, but the video does have me excited about the possibilities opened by a flying mount.
More Dev Interviews from E3
Tentonhammer has an exclusive piece from E3, featuring interviews with WoW developer Tyven, where he discusses much of the news we've already heard from E3; the main subjects being Draenei, flying mounts, and the rest of the announced content. Nothing shockingly new, but for all you E3 news completists, there's some good info there.Also included are a few tidbits of information from Blizzard's Mac team member Rob Barris, discussing Bootcamp on the Imac & other platform news. The full article can be found here.
WoW Moviewatch: Flying Mounts at E3
Again, from an anonymous, on-the-spot cameraman, some hazy, blurry, brief, yet extremely cool glimpses of flying mounts at E3. Take off, eh?
Nether Drake is first flying mount
We already knew that the Burning Crusade expansion will feature flying mounts, but at E3 we've seen firsthand the Flying Drake, one of these mounts. Zones like Outland are being designed with flying mounts -- which are available at level 70 -- in mind, so getting your new mount will unlock new content within these zones.The Flying Drake was demonstrated with a Draenei character, but we don't know which other mounts will be available, or to whom. Given the existing quest storylines, gryphons or hippogryphs may be a possibility, but it's likely that Blizzard will introduce some brand new mounts as well.
