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Patch 5.2 PTR: Kill dinosaurs, get fabulous prizes
What's that Isle of Giants all about? Dinosaurs, apparently -- the island is crawling with an assortment of dinos that put Un'goro Crater to shame. But there doesn't appear to be any kind of quest hub on the island as of yet, with one small exception. Hidden in a cave on the western side of the island is a truly monstrous troll who looks like he's seen better days. Dataminers over at Wowhead dug up the details on this strange troll earlier today. Ku'ma is a bone collector. What, exactly, he does with all the bones he collects is unclear -- perhaps he is planning on building one of those fabulous Zandalari boats when he has enough of them. However, you don't really want to ignore Ku'ma or his bone-loving ways, because he has plenty of rewards to offer to those that bring him bones. Lots of bones. What kind of rewards? 10 bones will net you a Mote of Harmony. 100 will net you a Spirit of Harmony. If you get your hands on 1000 bones, you can turn them in for a Spectral Porcupette. And if you have the temerity to gather 9,999 bones ... you're rewarded with a mount. But not just any mount; the Reins of the Bone-White Primal Raptor, which is a dead ringer for the Ivory Raptor from the days of vanilla, long-gone from the game. So just how hard is it to collect these bones? It's not as bad as you'd think. I decided to make a trip to the Isle of Giants to see for myself, and while the larger dinosaurs seem to be pretty daunting, the smaller ones weren't too difficult to solo. Once dead, they dropped four bones -- so gathering isn't quite the painful process that I'd imagined. As it currently stands, getting a mount may take a while. But keep in mind that this is all PTR information, and these amounts may change by the time the patch hits. Regardless of whether or not the amount of bones required is altered, I'm pretty sure I know where I'll be when the patch goes live. 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.
Breakfast Topic: Are you a sucker for in-game pets and mounts?
Those cute little in-game pets -- they're not so innocent. Once you allow one of the little buggers to slip past your legs and dash into the house, there's no getting all those muddy little paw prints off the floor (or the couch). Is there anybody out there who can harden their heart after just one? I'm afraid to even dip a toe into those waters, fearful that Lil' Ragnaros will begin bellowing "By PayPal be purged!" as my pet tab ticks inexorably upward. Indeed, I whisked him from my Amazon wish list the morning I realized in horror that should someone ever bestow me with his code, the door would stand wide open to the rest of his irresistible little friends. So how are you fine, upstanding consumers coping with the pressure? Have you snatched up a brand new Swift Windsteed? Do purchasable pets and mounts hold no interest for you? Do you pick and choose? Collect them all? %Poll-79938%
World of Warcraft releases a new member of the sparklepony family
The Internet exploded with rage when World of Warcraft released a mount for $25 the first time around. But it sold well, and as a result we've seen several new mounts released for the game over the years. So the new Swift Windsteed likely won't raise many eyebrows over its release or its now-familiar price point, which is the same $25 you have probably come to expect. As with previous special mounts, the Swift Windsteed can operate as a flying mount and will scale to match your highest riding speed, making it a purely cosmetic option. The unlock is account-wide once purchased, giving all present and future characters a free mount for all-purpose use in perpetuity. So if you collect mounts or just feel like you could use a qilin to carry you across the skies of Azeroth, you've got reason to be excited.
Reputation in review: The Dominance Offensive
It took until patch 5.1, but we got it. The most perfect reputation grind in the game to date. I don't say these words lightly, because let's face it, I have pretty high standards for what I like and what I don't like with daily quests. But the Dominance Offensive appears to have taken the best out of all previous reputation grinds and wrapped it all together in a delightful ball of compelling story and quests that barely feels like a grind at all. Please note that this is a review for the Dominance Offensive, which is the Horde side of the 5.1 reputation. At this point in time, I don't have an Alliance character at level 90, so I'm unable to play through the Operation Shieldwall quests. However, I have been assured that not only are the Operation Shieldwall quests just as good, in some ways they are even better than the Dominance Offensive material. I'm not even sure how this is possible, because these dailies are just that good. But enough gushing. Let's get into the nuts and bolts of what makes this reputation grind so different from everything before it.
What should and shouldn't be on the Black Market Auction House?
Perculia of Wowhead recently posted an update about undocumented changes and vanity items, which included some new information on what was and wasn't on the Black Market Auction House, as far as mounts, pets and items. Perculia's update included the Sun-Lute of the Phoenix King, as used by Sig Nicious of the Elite Tauren Chieftains, but also the Reins of the Plagued Proto-Drake, which was a reward for completing Glory of the Raider back in Wrath of the Lich King. If you were wondering what else is sold on the Black Market Auction House, you can check out Wowhead's full list. While the "axe" is a fun item, the one likely to cause more of a stir is the Reins of the Plagued Proto-Drake. As Wowhead notes, this reward was removed from the game after the arrival of tier 8, and has therefore long been unavailable to players who didn't get the achievement before that time. So, since the arrival of Ulduar, that drake has been completely unavailable to new players until now. This raises a question which has been, and no doubt will continue to be, a hot topic of conversation surrounding the Black Market Auction House. Should old items such as these, which were a trophy for completing a fairly tricky achievement when it was relevant, now be available to players on the Black Market Auction House?
Rise and Shiny: Star Stable
Star Stable is what many would refer to as a "kid's game." More accurately, it could be described as a game for tween girls who love horses, but during my time with the game, I found that most of the players I met and talked to and most of those I saw on the official Facebook page seemed to be between the ages of 17 and 40. The players I chatted with in game and during my livestream of the game were over 19 (some well over), so it would be most accurate to describe the game as a linear world of adventure for horse-lovers to explore. While on horseback. With other players on horseback. There, perfect. There is the slightly glaring issue of every character's being gender-locked as a female rider, but I have no issue with it. The MMO stems from single-player games about a young girl and her horse, as I understand it, so playing as a girl fits perfectly. No "sexism" banners need be waved; for every one example of a game like Star Stable I can show you 100 examples of games that force women to play as men or represent them as scantily clad weaklings. So how much fun is it to ride around on virtual horses all day? Pretty darn fun.
50% off all Blizzard store mounts this week
This offer was just announced by Blizzard in the EU, and if previous promotions are anything to go by, it will be announced by Blizzard US very shortly. This offer allows the purchase of the Celestial Steed, the Winged Guardian, or the Heart of the Aspects for half price, which, in the EU, equates to €10 or £8.50. In the US, all three mounts are available for $12.50 each. With Christmas fast approaching, you may want to leave this article open on the computer of a family member, or a good friend, or maybe this is the perfect time to pick up a mount for someone special. If you're planning to give a mount as a gift, do remember that, while the codes can be redeemed on any account via the Item Redemption Page, they are region-specific, so players wishing to purchase a mount in the US will need to do so via the US version of the pet store. It follows, then, that players wishing to buy a mount in the EU need to visit the EU pet store. Within those regions, though, there are no country-specific limitations. Of course, these mounts count towards the various mount achievements available in-game, and with the changes in patch 5.0.4, are available on every character, rather than just on the one they were redeemed for. 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.
Mount achievement hotfix very soon
There have been several reports on the forums of a problem with mount achievements, such as Mountain o'Mounts and the newly added We're Going to Need More Saddles. The problem is that they're not doing what every mount collector wants them to do, which is, of course, awarding yet another mount! Naturally there have been quite a few complaints about this, no mount collector likes to be cheated out of a dragonhawk, nor out of an awesome jade kite, or even an albino drake. Blizzard's Community Management team have been swift in reassuring mount collectors that a hotfix is coming, that it's a known issue, and that there should be something in place by Tuesday (if not before). So if you are getting mount achievements, but no rewards, hold on to your hats. They should hopefully mysteriously materialize in your presumably TARDIS-like mount carrying facility before long. As Vrakthis said, it should just happen when you log in, so keep an eye out and you'll be rocking a new ride before you know it. The full blue post after the break.
ArcheAge trailer offers a look at locales, mounts, and more
While the big Thanksgiving meal may be over (except for the leftovers, of course!), ArcheAge fans get to feast their eyes on a new trailer filled with plenty of eye candy. From locales to mounts to combat, the video, which was created for Chinese publisher Tencent, depicts a variety of gameplay features. There are even clips of a storm on the high seas and what appears to be a wedding! Want to see more of what this world has to offer? Fill up on the new ArcheAge visuals in the trailer after the cut.
Coming soon: the Swift Windsteed
Blizzard posted a new and intriguing image on their Warcraft Facebook account -- a shot of a new mount with the caption "Across the land or in the sky, the Swift Windsteed can soon be your ride." Where exactly the mount is coming from or how players can obtain it is still a mystery. However, this flying mount is nothing like any we've really seen before. Considering the mention of the little fire kitten earlier this month, this could be a new store mount, or it could be tied to the factions that will be hitting the shores of Pandaria in patch 5.1. Or perhaps this is the next iteration of the Annual Pass? Regardless, the beast certainly looks interesting. Called the Swift Windsteed, it most closely resembles the Longma, or dragon horse, depicted in Chinese mythology. Between the horns, hooves and scales, this seems the most likely inspiration for the unique new steed. Although we don't currently know where we'll be able to get this crazy looking mount, it's nice to see that we'll have even more choices for crazy flying animals to get us around Pandaria. You can check out the full size image on the official Warcraft Facebook account. 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.
Massively's LotRO Riders of Rohan launch-day roundup
When you first heard about Lord of the Rings Online, you probably had an idea of which areas from the Lord of the Rings lore you'd want to visit and which events you'd like to take part in. Not all of the areas in Middle-earth were part of LotRO when it launched, but with each expansion the game world gets a bit more complete. Developer Turbine has been hard at work developing iconic areas like the Mines of Moria and Isengard, but the zone players have been anticipating the most is the Plains of Rohan. The Riders of Rohan expansion goes live today, opening the visually stunning Plains of Rohan area and introducing tons of new content, class updates and gameplay changes. Developers have been careful to capture the feel of the plains in not only the area's art style but also its impressive musical score. The Riders of Rohan expansion adds a new mounted combat feature that lets players fight on customisable war horses. The open plains are filled with roving warbands of orcs and other challenges to be overcome. Read on for a run-down of all the latest news on the Riders of Rohan expansion.
This is a very, VERY fast mount
While exploring The Veiled Stair, I found myself on a mountain cliff overlooking the very northwestern sliver of Jade Forest, on the border of Valley of the Four Winds. Down below me was a river, the green hills of Jade Forest, and ... Ooh a gold elite! Base jumping off the cliff, I began my merciless attack on the Sungraze Behemoth, a monstrous, sleeping Mushan. For a gold elite it didn't put up much of a fight (though it did have a lot of health) so I was quite surprised when I looted a mount from the Mushan's corpse. Wait -- no, that's not a mount. After reading the tooltip over a couple of times I realized that I had looted a curious sort of mount that could only be used in Valley of the Four Winds, and only had three charges. But it was a very, VERY fast mount, the tooltip told me. What could that mean? And only three charges? Since I hadn't finished leveling yet, I wondered if maybe I should save it for long trips between quest hubs. Not long after finding the Oddly-Shaped Horn, I was wandering around Kun-Lai Summit, just south of Shado-Pan Monastery when I found another gold elite with a name: the mountain goat Zhing. After killing the goat, I looted Bag of Kafa Beans and at this point I was too curious to care about it being a limited use item. I clicked on the bag and woosh! Off I went! Off a cliff. Yep, that's fall damage. Ow. Ow.
Captain's Log: The low-tier ships of Star Trek Online
It seems as if most MMOs have their own version of the "mount," something that allows for faster travel from one area of the game's world to another. Mounts are known as being one of the key "shinies" that players can buy in a game, and they come with different costumes or extended health parameters to allow a player to escape a surprise attack from an unseen enemy. For the most part, they're meant to be modes of transportation only. But in Star Trek Online, the game's mounts -- its ships -- are far more than just a means of getting from one area of sector space to another. They are the player's second character, a complementary entity that engages in battle in a very different way than the characters created at the beginning of the game. In this installment of my series of tips for new players, I will begin to address the ships of Star Trek Online, specifically the Federation ships available to the first three ranks in the game.
Pet and Mount pane searchable in patch 5.1
The new mount panel is fantastic, and avoids many a noob moment like I had back when my paladin was brand new and had just learned to summon the class mount -- I couldn't find it, not realising that there was a "Mounts" tab in my spellbook. However, it has its downsides. I don't suffer from this that much, as I'm not a huge collector of mounts, pets, or anything for that matter. I only have about 70 mounts, and that's a very ambitious estimate indeed! For those of us who are serious collectors, pet and mount panes new and old suffered from a serious problem: a lack of searchability! Last night, in a Twitter conversation with Community Manager Zarhym, Lead Encounter Designer Cory "Mumper" Stockton said that a search function for mounts is "en-route for 5.1". Even with my measly 70 mounts and even fewer pets, I'm rejoicing. And, of course, glaring at the Abyssal Seahorse that mocks me from the top of my mount list. What else could Blizzard do to improve the basic UI? I'd love to see a similar search added to the spellbook. My shaman was very confused indeed at the loss of Earth Shield, and eventually discovered that it had been taken away from her until level 26. A search could have made it far easier to find that! And I'd love to see a favorites section in the mount and pet journals. Mostly to get rid of that pesky seahorse. [Edit: Thanks to all readers who pointed out that the pet pane is searchable already! I must write pieces immediately after titles so I don't forget key details!]
LotRO explains history of mounted combat
As the core feature for Lord of the Rings Online's upcoming Riders of Rohan expansion, mounted combat is understandably the focus of many player concerns and questions. To hopefully answer a few, Turbine's unleashed a horse-sized developer diary about how mounted combat came to be and how it functions in the game right now. The diary begins by recalling the history of mounts in the game, back to the very earliest days when they were barely implemented in time for launch. The notion of mounted combat went from insurmountable to a strict on-rails system to a much more free-form system. It also dropped several ideas along the way, such as momentum, horse attacks, and purely generic combat skills. War-steeds will take some getting used to, according to the devs: "Probably the very first thing you notice when you ride your War-steed for the first time is that it moves completely differently than your standard horse or goat. The War-steed is a large creature and its part of a much larger system, one that requires some skill, time, and practice to master."
Remember to watch for Lorewalker items while leveling!
Are you in the midst of a leveling frenzy? Mists of Pandaria has arrived, and while you may be rushing the way to level 90, don't forget to slow down and take in the sights. In some cases, those sights can be lucrative indeed. One thing to watch for while taking in all that Pandaria has to offer are lore scrolls like the one pictured above. These items are part of the achievements for the Lorewalkers faction. If you have not read the scroll, it will be glowing a soft blue, just to make sure you notice that it's there. Completing the various achievement stories about Pandaria's varied factions and history will net you achievements, but that's not all. You'll receive a quest item in the mail from Lorewalker Cho, asking you to come pay him a visit. This is not possible until you've hit level 90 and can fly, as the Lorewalker's area is perched high above the entrance to Mogu'shan Palace in the Vale of Eternal Blossoms. However, once you arrive and drop off the quest item, you'll receive a substantial chunk of reputation with the Lorewalkers. Exalted reputation with the Lorewalkers will net you the option of purchasing the Disc of the Red Flying Cloud, among other goodies. And who doesn't want another flying mount to add to the collection? Keep your eyes peeled for these unique pieces of pandaren history! It's open warfare between Alliance and Horde in Mists of Pandaria, World of Warcraft's next expansion. Jump into five new levels with new talents and class mechanics, try the new monk class, and create a pandaren character to ally with either Horde or Alliance. Look for expansion basics in our Mists FAQ, or dig into our spring press event coverage for more details!
LotRO hands over war-steed reins in dev diary
The Lord of the Rings Online team is hard at work putting the final touches on next month's Riders of Rohan, and a new dev diary shines a spotlight on the expansion's star attraction: trainable war-steeds. The article gives a brief overview of the types of mounts -- light, medium, and heavy -- as well as the trait trees that accompany them. According to the devs, each war-steed will have 32 potential traits to unlock. The good news, they say, is that retraiting a mount is easily accomplished on the fly for the cost of a few coins. The devs round out the post by sharing a few of their favorite traits and skills that war-steeds boast. These include feigning injury to dump threat, trampling enemies, giving additional damage to attacking from behind, and boosting crit chance by a whopping 25%.
The Road to Mordor: Three things LotRO needs from Guild Wars 2 (and vice versa)
Whenever a new big MMO releases, it causes a shockwave of predictable conversations and comparisons. I'm not interested in the "winning/losing" or "killing/dying" debate so much as a contemporary meeting of minds to share ideas. MMOs used to develop in a vacuum, but now they're much more interconnected (for better and worse). The upside for consumers is that proven features often spread to the competition, hopefully improving the whole playing field. In our case, it's the impact of Guild Wars 2 on the industry and what it might have to teach Lord of the Rings Online. Yet I don't think it's quite fair (or true) to just look at it from the lens of "Everything GW2 has is better"; it's more productive to theorize how to swap the best of both games in order to improve them. So here are three things that LotRO could use to implement from Guild Wars 2 -- and three that Guild Wars 2 could use from LotRO.
Mists of Pandaria mount preview mounts up on official site
If you're a mount collector, Mists of Pandaria aims to please. Over at the official site, this official mounts preview covers a selection of the new mounts available in the new expansion, from Jeweled Panthers to Water Striders to the new Phoenix models -- and of course yaks, mustn't forget yaks. If you're wondering what the new mounts will look like, wonder no more. Blizzard has you covered. It's open warfare between Alliance and Horde in Mists of Pandaria, World of Warcraft's next expansion. Jump into five new levels with new talents and class mechanics, try the new monk class, and create a pandaren character to ally with either Horde or Alliance. Look for expansion basics in our Mists FAQ, or dig into our spring press event coverage for more details!
What you should know about account-wide pets, mounts and achievements
Patch 5.0.4 is live and most of your achievements, pets and mounts are now account-wide. The problem is that they will not all show up when you first log in. You also may find that you don't have as many of each pet as you thought you did. Here's what you should know: You must log in to all of your characters for their pets, mounts and achievements to show up across your account. All learned pets that are unique will be merged into one pet. All learned, non-unique pets will be reduced to three. You can only learn 500 pets. So if you logged in and didn't like the size of your pet and mount journal, log on to all of your characters. The full posts from Blizzard with this information are after the break.
