karazhan
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The raiding grind begins again ...
... as Death and Taxes clears Karazhan, and a couple of other guilds take some shots at the first 25-man raid boss, Gruul. Death and Taxes also killed the new Kazzak, but I'll be damned if I can figure out what he looks like from the screenshot. I'm not even quite sure what else is in the game right now, raid-wise -- Lady Vashj, Kael'Thas, and Magtheridon were supposed to ship with the expansion, but is it even possible to get to them right now? And since those are mostly one-shot encounters, how long will it be before the top-tier guids begin clamoring for the head of Illidan Stormrage? (Black Temple is still under development.) This also makes me wonder what instances will be patched in later. Blizzard has said they're trying to move away from raiding as the only means of gear progression, but if guilds blow through BC raids like they were nothing, they may find themselves once again forced to invest a lot of their resources in keeping the top raiders happy. The only way to really slow guild progression is with bugged/unbeatable encounters (like C'thun at the beginning), gear checks (like Patchwerk) and long raid attunements (like Mount Hyjal.) No one likes bugged encounters, and you can only stretch raid attunements out for so long, so it seems that the only real option is to make a lot of encounters gear checks. But gear checks meant to slow down quick-progressing raiders can be fatal for less hardcore guilds -- how many guilds died on Razorgore and Vael or the Twin Emps? I'm not hating on raiders, since I am one myself (although significantly more casual than hardcore), but how will Blizzard manage to balance the needs of large raid guilds, small guilds, PVPers, and soloers? Will raid guilds just have to get used to slower progression and less content, or will we be seeing Naxxramas v. 2.0 before we see more 10-man or 5-man instances?
Around Azeroth: The crypts of Karazhan
Reader Matt sends in this, one of the creepiest shots of Azeroth I've seen. (And beyond "creepy" I can't come up with any good words to describe it.) It is the interior of the crypts of Karazhan, dungeon to be opened with the Burning Crusade. Not officially opened, but some people will always find ways...Do you have a unique shot of Azeroth that you'd like to show off to the rest of the world? Tell us about it by e-mailing aroundazeroth@gmail.com! You can attach a picture file or send us a link to one -- and don't worry about formatting, we'll take care of that part.
Around Azeroth: Karazhan
Karlik of Proudmoore (EU) sends in this shot of Karazhan -- Medivh's tower, located within Deadwind Pass (or, for those playing in German, Gebirgspass der Totenwinde). In the expansion, it will be a 10-player instance, but right now we can only admire the place's charming exterior. Medivh's really let the place get run-down...!Do you have a unique shot of Azeroth that you'd like to show off to the rest of the world? Tell us about it by e-mailing aroundazeroth@gmail.com! You can attach a picture file or send us a link to one -- and don't worry about formatting, we'll take care of that part. If yours isn't posted immediately, don't fret! Shots are posted (more or less) in the order received, and yours will come up eventually.
The Burning Crusade: Karazhan Preview!
Blizzard recently posted an official preview of the level 70 10-man Karazhan instance in Deadwind Pass, with screenshots and story information. The screenshots of this abandoned palace look fascinating, with a unique look and feel. I'm sure everyone can agree that you can only run Scholomance (an abandoned palace with a very different look and feel!) so many times before growing bored, so bored. If you feel this strange "Karazhan" thing has come out of the blue, current information about Karazhan is nicely summarized in this WoWWiki article.
New Karazhan Screens!
Our buddies over at OGaming have posted new Karazhan screenshots. Karazhan is an instance to be introduced in the Burning Crusade expansion that is inside Medivh's tower in Deadwind Pass.I have always been a little disappointed that the particularly interesting Medivh storyline wasn't fleshed out as much as it could have been in WoW, so I'm happy to see that those level 60 characters who choose to can delve a little deeper into the history of Karazhan and the lore of Azeroth.WoWWiki has a good article on the lore related to this dungeon, in case everyone isn't as big of an Azerothian history freak as myself.
