NobleGarden
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The OverAchiever: Guide to Noblegarden achievements
UPDATE: This guide has been revised for Noblegarden 2010. In honor of Noblegarden, we're running a special-edition OverAchiever today, dedicated to what you'll need for the meta-achievement Noble Gardener. Should you finish, not only do you get a spiffy new title, but you also get to check off another set of achievements toward What A Long, Strange Trip It's Been, the yearlong achievement-palooza rewarding a 310% speed Violet Proto-Drake. Because Noblegarden has been extensively reworked, most of what you'll be doing this year is completely new, and some of this guide is going to be comprised of educated (or not-so-educated) guesses as to the difficulty of the achievements on the live realms, and tips on how to get them done. I'll let you know if I just plain don't know something or have to hazard a guess based on PTR information, but fortunately most of the holiday is pretty straightforward. We're only going to cover the achievements you need to worry about for the meta, as everything else you can achieve is really based on luck and doesn't count toward Noble Gardener. Let's get started!
Revamped Noblegarden revealed
The seasonal revamped extravaganza that is Noblegarden is due to start tomorrow and the Blues have revealed a little more about the new week-long festival. Yesterday night Zarhym posted on the official forums, revealing some new details as well as linking to a revamped festival page on the official site.The new Noblegarden (which starts tomorrow) has its origins in a druidic festival, but the modern peoples of Azeroth seem more interested in egg-hunting and scoffing chocolates. Focusing on the starter towns like Brill and Goldshire, it's one of those great festivals which is aimed at newer players as well as die-hard level 80s.Zarhym promises egg hunts and new daily quests as well the chance to find cool items within brightly coloured chocolate eggs. There's also a stack of new achievements (you know you want that Violet Proto-Drake) and if you get sick of eating chocolate you can also use them as currency to buy awesome Noblegarden swag.WoW Insider will have guides and galleries up tomorrow. Noblegarden runs through next Saturday.
WRUP: What a long, strange trip edition
Though not everyone 'fessed up to it in this week's WRUP, I'm pretty sure there's a simple, one-word description for what we'll all be doing this weekend: Noblegarden. Ulduar's been out for weeks now, but Noblegarden is going to be brand new this year. And while not everyone may admit to running around hunting colored eggs, the proto-drake that awaits us at the end of this long, strange trip is getting closer every holiday. So what does the WoW Insider team admit to playing this weekend? Adam Holisky: My girlfriend and I will be paying good money to take a small white ball out to a very flat field filled with holes and swing at the aforementioned ball with a very hard metal stick. I'll then come home and try to earn another thousand gold over the weekend. Alex Ziebart: Ulduar 25. Wednesday night we cleared up to where we left off last week, so we have Sunday night and Monday night free to kill new bosses. Very exciting! Allison Robert: The game is still crashing my computer too much to properly enjoy doing much of anything there. I'll be writing a special edition of the OverAchiever for Noblegarden while wondering if I'll actually get to enjoy the actual in-game event. Daniel Whitcomb: I'm plugging along on the Argent Tournament, and I should finish out my Gnomeregan champion status at some point this weekend. I'm also thinking of buying a pair of heirloom shoulders and powering my Druid through to 80, but I am torn between grabbing Feral or Healer shoulders, so I may just run heroics until I can afford both. Also, I'm getting into Wintergrasp some, if only to grab the Mammoth for achievement purposes. Eliah Hecht: I gave my Warlock a new spec (and Cold Weather Flying) as a level 77 present, so I'll be Incinerating my way to my fourth level 80 character. Elizabeth Harper: Noblegarden! Elizabeth Wachowski: I'm still running into the getting-disconnected-every-few-minutes problem, so I'll probably be playing Oblivion and watching my boyfriend accidentally blow himself up with grenades in GTAIV. Jennie Lees: I'm going to be playing a lot of in-game Peggle. Matt Low: Ool-doo-ar. Perhaps some sleep here and there too. Matthew Rossi: Between continuous bouts of bad news I'm running Ulduar -10, having cleared up to Yoggy in 25 man this week. Hoping for a full clear of 10 this weekend, and then we can start on hard modes. I'm also re-playing Jade Empire because I like to kick things in the face but society frowns on it. So, what are you playing this weekend?
WoW Insider's Patch 3.1 FAQ
Our own Elizabeth Harper has been hard at work gathering together all of the most frequently asked questions that we've received over the last few weeks regarding patch 3.1. Now that the realms are finally coming up, it's a good time to get these out to you all because many of you will probably be asking them soon, too!Our FAQ is listed below, and if you ever want to find it again just bookmark this page. It will always be there, and should there be a need to update it at any point, we'll be sure to do so! Thanks for sticking with us today, ladies and gentlemen.
Patch 3.1 achievements round up
Everybody loves achievements, right? ...no, I guess not. Some people like achievements, right? Yes! Patch 3.1 brings a lot of cool stuff for you guys to do as well, so here's all of it in a nice little package for you to pick through. Have fun! There's already a few people ready to pick up the Insane title, but we'd like to assume most of you are slightly less insane. Only slightly. For you guys, we have a get to completing Insane in the Membrane. As of today, the Black and Plagued Proto-Drakes are gone for good. A batch of brand new achievements have been added to the Noblegarden event, which has been extended to a week and will begin on April 26th. Note that you will need these for What a Long, Strange Trip Its Been. We've posted an early version of Ulduar's achievements, too! Chef de Cuisine is getting a bit easier for Alliance players. They can get their hands on Dig Rat Stew on their own now! In exchange, Lil' Game Hunter is becoming easier for the Horde. Enjoy your Sprite Darters and Westfall Chickens! The Argent Tournament has a load of its own achievements as well. If you enjoyed this stuff, keep an eye on our achievements column, The Overachiever. We'll probably be going over a lot of this, especially the Noblegarden and Argent Tournament achievements, in the coming weeks. Patch 3.1 is live and it takes us into Ulduar, delivers us dual specs, and brings significant changes to all the classes! We've got you covered from top to bottom with our Guide to Patch 3.1 and the official patch notes!
Breakfast Topic: Your most anticipated Patch 3.1 feature
It's been a long time coming, but Patch 3.1 Secrets of Ulduar has arrived and with it comes a long list of shiny, shiny features. Ready for new content? It's got Ulduar, the prison for Yogg-Saron and his floating brain of death, plus more epic loot than all of The Burning Crusade raids. It comes in both 10-man and 25-man versions, and each boss has a Hard Mode for you crazy kids trying to get your hands on the new Legendary healing mace. Oh, and did I mention the new related Ulduar Achievements? Revamped Noblegarden with its own meta-Achievement? Dual specs? The Argent Tournament? Swimming mounts?! The list goes on and on.So tell us, which of the new features are you most looking forward to today.%Poll-29100% Patch 3.1 is live and it takes us into Ulduar, delivers us dual specs, and brings significant changes to all the classes! We've got you covered from top to bottom with our Guide to Patch 3.1 and the official patch notes!
The Daily Grind: Your favorite spring holiday event?
For many people this weekend will be a time of chocolate and seeing family. For others, this may well prove the nice and quiet time (and days off from work or school, depending) to get in some extra MMO time. Lord of the Rings Online has the Spring Festival, World of Warcraft has Noblegarden. We've recently had Bristlebane's Day in EverQuest II, and there were St. Patrick's events in everything from FusionFall onwards. That said, all of these events are vying for you to log in and enjoy - to give you a bit of spring-tinged cheer; but which one has consistently proven to be your favorite? Which game do you think has the most awesome, well-scripted, fun spring events?
The best of WoW Insider: March 31 - April 7, 2009
That big baddie above is rumored to be the second boss in the Vault of Archavon, an instance in Northrend that can only be reached when either the Horde or the Alliance conquer the contested territory of Wintergrasp. He looks dangerous, no? But worry not -- whether you're fighting for the Orcs or the Humans, Joystiq's WoW Insider has tips, tricks, and everything you need to conquer the Vault of Archavon or anywhere else in the World of Warcraft. Read on for some of our most popular posts. News WoW Insider's Guide to Patch 3.1We're closer than ever to the next big content patch -- which means we know more than ever about what's in it. April Fools 2009 roundupA bevy of Warcraft-related jokes from the 4/1 holiday last week. WoW subscriber numbers still increasing, multiboxers trivialThe devs confirm that the number of people in Azeroth is still going up. Noblegarden tentatively rescheduled for April 26thBlizzard goes a little late on a patch, so it actually reschedules the in-game Easter holiday. Battle.net login servers down again tonightBlizzard just recently transferred lots of player accounts onto the new Battle.net servers, but apparently they weren't quite up to the job. Features Opinion: 25-man gear should not be better than 10-man gearThe 10-man raids are actually harder than the 25-mans. So why is the gear worse? WoW Rookie: Gaming terminology 101Don't know your "LFG" from your "PST"? Let WoW Rookie help. The Art of War(craft): Wintergrasp in patch 3.1 and beyondAll the news that's fit to print on the changes to the game's most popular battleground. Guildwatch: A kinder, gentler GWFor April Fool's Day, our guild drama column decides to focus on the positive instead. Lichborne: Tradeskills for Death KnightsProfession help for former members of Arthas' army.
Noblegarden tentatively rescheduled for April 26th
All of you achievement fiends better be prepared for the end of April through early May. It was reported earlier that Noblegarden was being delayed until patch 3.1 was ready, and we have a new date for it according to the latest PTR build. While it could change again, the current date listed for the holiday is April 26th and it will last until May 2nd. I warn you to be prepared because Children's Week begins (May 1st) before Noblegarden even ends (May 2nd), so you're going to be working on two sets of holiday achievements at the same time for that brief overlap period. Since Noblegarden's achievements are a part of What A Long, Strange Trip It's Been now, you'll have your work cut out for you for those two weeks.Make sure you don't get too desperate, though. You could get yourself into some pretty serious trouble. Remember that the gals need to be 18 (levels) to Shake Their Bunny Maker for you. Also, I used that picture of the Paladin in a pink dress again because that guy is a friend of mine and I love making him cry.
Noblegarden delayed
As we suspected might happen when we learned that Noblegarden was removed from the in-game calendar, the Easter-themed holiday has been delayed. CMs are quick to note that it will be implemented "at a future date," but it won't be going live on April 12 as usual. We were warned that this might happen, so it isn't a huge surprise. The likely reason for the delay is that patch 3.1 won't be ready in time, or at least that Blizzard isn't sure it will be - it would have to ship next Tuesday, April 7, to make it. 3.1 is a massive patch and I'm sure they don't want to rush it. Nethaera did mention in a reply that they are "still doing a little bug dance and squishing a few more before we decide [the patch is] ready to have its coming out party," which may imply that all that's left before the patch is ready is debugging. On the other hand, debugging can take a very long time, so we can't conclude too much from that. Whenever it does come out (probably sometime this month), we will be enjoying a new, expanded Noblegarden. It's going for one week (previously, it was just a single day), and there will be additional content for us to experience, as well as presumably a title (since it'll be part of What a Long, Strange Trip, everyone's favorite holiday meta-achievement).
Noblegarden removed from in-game calendar
Thanks to the astute eyes of reader Jadissa, we can report that Noblegarden is no longer present on the in-game calendar. This is likely a clear indicator that the in-game world event is getting pushed back. Based on what we know already (that it will be part of other achievements), it should not be assumed that the event was removed.We've spoke about the upcoming changes to Noblegarden before: it might get delayed, and it will be part of the overall world event achievement What a Long, Strange Trip.There has been no indication from Blizzard when exactly it will start up, but I wouldn't be surprised to see it go live towards the end of the month. We'll have to wait and see when this start date is, and we'll be sure to announce it here on WoW Insider as soon as we know.This is not an April Fools joke.
Noblegarden may get delayed
Well that'll teach us to assume -- earlier this week when mentioning the upcoming Noblegarden holiday, we pointed out that considering it was being tested on the PTR right now, we'd likely see 3.1 hit the live realms by the time Easter came around in the real world. But Kisirani has appeared on the forums saying, "Not so fast." Blizzard has apparently gained the power to cancel Easter, because they say Noblegarden and 3.1 will start when it's ready, not because there are kids hunting for eggs on the White House lawn.So basically, if patch 3.1 isn't done by Easter, we won't see the holiday ingame until it is done. And while it'll be a little strange to be looking for eggs in May (if it comes to that), we have to agree that's the right decision: we all know what happens when Blizzard releases a patch that isn't fully tested.We can wait. Noblegarden might not match up with the real-life holiday this year (if the patch does come late -- Kisirani still says this is a plan, so maybe the patch will be done by April 12th), but hopefully when it does appear, it won't be broken.
Noblegarden will apply to What a Long, Strange Trip
So remember last week, when we reported that, to the tune of relieved sighs from Violet Proto-drake seekers everywhere, the Noblegarden achievements wouldn't apply to the What a Long, Strange Trip It's Been meta-holiday achievement? Not so fast, says Bornakk. While the achievements didn't appear in the meta one on the PTR, they will eventually apply. If you want your Violet Proto-drake, you better start getting your egg-searching eyes ready.Sacco actually posted about this in an update on Saturday, but it was overshadowed by the news about the Brewmaster achievement changes, and it's a pretty big deal: we thought we were getting a break on this one, but apparently not. Though it makes sense that all the holidays should be in there (and this explains, of course, why the holiday was extended to a full week), it still is kind of a bummer that we've suddenly got a whole other holiday to do.But Violet Proto-drakes should be tough to get anyway, and we're sure that, as usual, Blizzard will end up removing any achievements that they figure are unfair (or at least that people whine about until Blizzard doesn't want to hear it any more). And there's one more thought to take away from this: considering that all of this Noblegarden talk is going along with the 3.1 PTR, does that mean we'll see Ulduar on the live realms by Easter?
Arena Season 5 to close soon
We've been hearing an awful lot about Ulduar and patch 3.1 lately. As such, this announcement is really not a surprise. Vaneras and Bornakk posted on the forums today to warn us all that Season 5 is drawing near an end. The current season should close at the same time 3.1 drops, or very shortly afterward. (I'd guess "very shortly afterward" means "the following Tuesday.") Your Arena points will reset with the season transition, though your Honor points will remain banked. The announcement doesn't set a specific date. He just says "soon." Since we traditionally get at least two weeks' warning before an official season ends, that does mean that the patch probably won't drop for at least three. And since Noblegarden has been expanded on the PTR, then I expect the patch to hit and season to wrap up in the beginning of April.We haven't heard details about season-end rewards yet. That's important because we don't demonstrably know whether those rewards are going to be based on personal rating, team rating, or even the Match-Making Rating. The details of season-end rewards tend to fluctuate a little, but the best Arena teams can probably expect a title. The very, very best can expect the Arena mount. However, we don't know if it'll be a Nether Drake or maybe even a Proto-Drake. We'll let you know as we find out more.
The OverAchiever: Lil' Game Hunter
Every week The OverAchiever gives advice, walkthroughs and guides on completing your latest Achievement obsession. This week we look at how to track down 75 critters with a minimum of pain.At some point in your pet collecting career, it's best just to give up and admit you're obsessed. When Lil' Game Hunter went live with 3.0.8, I started looking at my options to get to 75 pets. Most people shouldn't have too much difficulty reaching 50 (Shop Smart, Shop Pet...Smart), but 75 is a little unnerving. I don't have any of the Collector's Edition, Trading Card Game, or fan event pets, and I also play Horde. That leaves me without access to the Sprite Darter Hatchling, and on a lot of realms also makes it harder and more expensive to get the White Kitten, on top of being more expensive to get the lion's share of the faction-specific pets (which, naturellement, are Alliance). What's up with the Horde and pet hate? Sheesh. So that was somewhat worrying, and I approach this achievement with one question in mind: is it possible to do this without having dropped money on CE, TCG, or event pets?
The Queue: Missing out
Welcome back to The Queue, WoW Insider's daily Q&A column where the WoW Insider team answers your questions about the World of Warcraft. Alex Ziebart will be your host today.Before we get started today, I just wanted to take a moment and mention that I'm working on a Special Edition (super special!) of The Queue focusing on Dual Specs. It won't interrupt our regular daily doses of The Queue, it'll come seperately. It might take me awhile to piece it together because people have asked a lot of Dual Spec questions, but it's coming! Slowly but surely.jam asked...What happened to the new instance that was supposed to be in Un'Goro crater, accessible only by through the Waygate in Sholazar Basin?
Massively Spring Event coverage in pictures (and a video)
Springtime brought many events to our favorite MMOs and Massively was there to report on them. From St. Patricks Day to Easter to April Fools, there was no end to seasonal fare. Click the images below to take a tour of the pictures and places of Spring 2008 in MMOs.Easter More event coverage after the jump.
Sunday Morning Funnies: Subtle hostility
Sunday Morning Funnies has quite the line-up this week, with even more on the horizon for next week. As always, don't forget to leave a tip about a WoW-themed comic you know! A new WoW-themed comic from Action Trip. I would explain but I think I'll just let you click through and see for yourselves. Regrettable Choice from Extra Life. Just mentally scratch out "Youtube" and replace it with "WoW Community Forums." A New Beginning with Shakes and Fidget. It comes complete with gratuitous Bar Maiden. Feel like an economic squabble? GU Comics has Just a Little Suggestion for Activision and Gibson. If you'd rather chew on politics, LFG lays out the facts of a prison break. Manic Graffiti has some insight on the Frostmourne Replica. That's pretty self-explanatory, but if you'd like more information, check out our coverage and opinions. Ding! has an opinion on Tauren hunters. From Teh Gladiators comes an intro, or a prequel, to soon-to-come shenanigans. The Brotherhood of the Hat from The Adventures of Disgraph T. Dwarf. Head through the break in order to vote on the one you liked best.
Noblegarden in Pictures
After having the chance to actually get out there and start my Egg Hunting, I can confirm that no, there really isn't anything new for the Noblegarden event this year. That's alright though, it entertained me for awhile, and I know for a fact that the Midsummer Fire Festival has a lot more in store.On the bright side, I did get my Elegant Dress this year! An entire day dedicated to finding this dress last year got me nothing but cruddy candy. Within twenty minutes this year, I got my dress! Of course, it doesn't look very good so I'll probably never put it on my character again, but I have it. That's good enough for me.If you're not able to participate in the event, or you're reading this after it has ended, do not fear! You didn't miss out on any leet items, and I did my best to capture the fun of the event in the gallery below. Go on, take a look! You know you want to. %Gallery-19015%
Massively surveys MMO Easter events
Seasonal events are often the most popular in-game events in many of today's MMOs. But each game's designers have to find a way to slip these real world celebrations into the lore and mechanics of their persistent worlds. Let's look at this year's crop of Easter events transmogrified into online fun.Some designers do little more than blatantly throw in eggs hidden in the bushes such as World of Warcraft's Noblegarden. You can spend the day in the newbie zones and collect eggs that hold minor items. Not very much to this, especially considering the way Blizzard has been revamping other seasonal events like Hallow's End into something drool worthy. Fortunately, our friends at WoW Insider have created a gallery of the 25 best Easter Eggs of WoW. Not the kind of Easter eggs mentioned above, but the little hidden in jokes placed in the game by the designers from 'Snakes on a Plane' visual gags to Clint Eastwood nods to 'Firefly' shout-outs.You can begin your tour of these hidden gems by clicking on the first picture below, check out what little Noblegarden does have to offer in the second gallery or continue to read about Easter events in other MMOs after the jump. Gallery: Burning Crusade Easter eggs Gallery: Noblegarden
