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Violet Eye ring exchanges at exalted only
I have good news and bad news, good readers. The good news is that if you are at exalted level with the Violet Eye, you can, in fact, exchange your reputation reward ring from Karazhan for a ring of a different type (if you are DPS, you can get a healing ring, and vice versa)-- all you have to do is destroy your ring, and then you'll be able to redo the quest to get a different ring, according to Hortus on the forums.However, I thought that the other question in the thread, the one about whether it works for people who are not exalted, was an excellent one. And since my Shaman is not actually exalted yet, I figured I'd get some hands-on experience and find out for you, dear readers, whether the Violet Eye would exchange your ring at a level below exalted. So, as you can see in the shot above, I destroyed my revered ring (I am not kidding-- I really did), and asked the quest giver for another one.Unfortunately, the bad news is that it does not work. I didn't actually get another ring. And apparently I'll have to work up to exalted to get my ring back. The things I do for you, my readers. The things I do.
Around Azeroth: A question of scale
Reader Fragile sends us this interesting shot of a graphical glitch in Orgrimmar. My question, however -- is the quest just that big or is the Orc just that small? Interestingly, though I have seen several shots of this nature from the wandering quest NPCs in Ogrimmar, I've never seen the giant quest markers anywhere else. Have any of you run into this graphical bug elsewhere in the world?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 a copy to aroundazeroth@wow.com, with as much or as little detail as you'd like to share with the world! %Gallery-1816%
Likely no 71+ champions of the Naaru
Yesterday a player on the official WoW forums asked if they'd still be able to attain the title "Champion of the Naaru" once patch 2.3 goes live. Eyonix answered that, yes, the title will be rewarded to any players that complete the necessary quest line, whether or not those quests are finished before or after the patch's release. He did warn that the title will probably not be given to characters that complete the quests after level 70. If you've been waiting for the next expansion to breeze through the requirements and easily pick up your title, you'll likely need to rethink your strategy.If you're unfamiliar with this epic quest line which was once required to enter the Tempest Keep raid instance, it all begins in Shadowmoon Valley. The very first quest is called "The Hand of Gul'dan" and can be picked up in your faction's main town of the zone (Shadowmoon Village for Horde and Wildhammer Stronghold for Alliance). About 25 steps into the chain (I told you it was epic) you'll unlock new quests from A'dal in the center of Shattrath. For many players this is where the challenge truly begins as you must venture into four of the more difficult heroic instances to complete these quests. The final step involves killing Magtheridon in a 25-player raid, after which you'll finally be deemed a "Champion of the Naaru". Good luck!
LotRO quest inspired by Apple II text adventures
It seems that most gamers these days haven't played any of the old Apple II computer games, much less the particularly ancient text-based adventure ones. Most people now see them as arcane and even intimidating. Those black & white fossils bear no relation to something as modern as say, The Lord of the Rings Online, right?Wrong! Gaming's old-timers will be tickled to hear that a quest in Tal Bruinen was inspired by a gameplay mechanic from an Apple II text adventure game. A Turbine employee revealed this behind-the-scenes tidbit in a thread about the quest on the official LotRO forums.The Apple II was the first widely successful personal computer. It had a large library of games, many of which are cornerstones of computer gaming history. You can play a lot of those games in your web browser at virtualapple.org, one of the best online emulators. It has many of the all-time classic RPGs like Ultima, Might and Magic, and Wizardry as well.
Phat Loot Phriday: Speedy Racer Goggles
Today's PLP is actually a request. Reader Pol sent a request for this one (a while ago, actually-- sorry, I've been busy), and wanted to know the story behind these one easy-to-obtain and now very rare goggles.Name: Speedy Racer GogglesType: Uncommon Cloth HeadArmor: 53 ArmorAbilities: +14 Intellect Pre 2.3, they've also got +14 Agility on them, but post 2.3, they've got +16 to healing and damage. Also, they're notable for being the only goggles in the game (I'm pretty sure-- someone speak up in the comments if this isn't true) that don't have an Engineering requirement to wear. If you have two professions that aren't Engineering, and you want to wear some shades, these are them. And as goggles in Azeroth go, they don't really look too bad. But there's a problem... How to Get It: Erm, while these things were once super easy to come by, they're gone now. They used to be a reward for the Gahz'rilla quest that had you killing the big lizard in Zul'Farrak, but the other option from this quest was the famous mountspeed increaser Carrot on a Stick, so these goggles got neglected by most players coming through. Eventually, Blizzard decided that if no one wanted them, no one would have them, and the goggles got removed from the quest rewards, and are currently unavailable ingame.But here's the thing. Blizzard, as you might know, recently did an upgrade of lowbie items, including lowbie quest items like these goggles. And these goggles, as you see above, did get upgraded. If anyone had them sitting in their bags, they'll see the +spell damage on the item, not the old Agility buff.Does this mean Blizzard is bringing them back. Not necessarily likely-- instead of just tweaking each item separately, odds are that Blizzard just tweaked the recipes for the items, and thus this item got tweaked automatically. It may be coming back as part of the upgrades to Engineering (wouldn't it be great if Engineers could sell goggles like these?), but that's pure speculation at this point.Still, this is a nice item. It's kind of a shame it got pushed out by Carrot on a Stick. Maybe we'll see the Speedy Racer Goggles again somewhere else in Azeroth in the future.Getting Rid of It: Sells for 67s 45c to vendors, but if you got em, might as well hold on to them. They're as antique as items get in Azeroth.Update: Commenter rockatansky points out that they are not the only non-Engie goggles. But I'd hazard a guess that they are the only vanilla WoW non-Engie goggles.
EverQuest Halloween event live today -- late start due to fires
By now you will all be aware of the wildfires last week in San Diego, and that the Sony Online Entertainment offices were affected by them. Now that everyone is getting back on their feet, the EverQuest team are able to launch their Halloween event, "The Haunting of Norrath". Whilst it is being implemented a little late, the event has been extended and runs from October 30th to November 4th -- fans of Halloween will get to cling on to their favorite holiday for just that little bit longer.The Haunting of Norrath will feature a generous helping of Halloween quest-lines (with the event's homepage filling you in on where to get started). There will be merchants selling candy and costumes, and a number of other things to do including trick-or-treating, bone-collecting, and -- my personal favorite -- a hungry halfling event. Players are advised to seek Zigand Ribshard in the Plane of Knowledge to find out more, and be sure to visit the link below for other Haunting of Norrath details.
PTR Notes: Wintersaber reputation easier
Testers are reporting on the official PTR forums that the gains for Wintersaber Trainers reputation have been drastically increased. This Alliance-only grind has long been the worst in the game, with quests originally rewarding 50 reputation points at a time. Considering the fact that players start at neutral with the faction and receive their one and only reward at exalted reputation, that's about 42,000 points to earn (or about 840 quests to complete) without any motivational incentives gained along the way. It retained this infamous status even when the reputation gain was raised to 75 points in patch 2.0.1, but now it has reportedly been raised even further to 250 points for each quest completed.Befitting the grueling nature of the grind, there has been a lot of solidarity between those undertaking it, inspiring "Wintersaber Support Group" threads on the WoW forums for as long as I can remember. Understandably, a lot of the players that have already earned their "stripes" are concerned that their dearly won Winterspring Frostsaber mount will become more common, thus lowering its uniqueness and invalidating their hard work. On the other hand, many players, like myself, are relieved that this grind has finally become realistically achievable. Where do your opinions lie on this issue?
Cooking with Kaliris
Okay, so maybe we aren't quite serving up [Kaliri Stew] just yet, but new information regarding the upcoming daily cooking quests, set to arrive via patch 2.3, has surfaced on Kaliope's WoW Crafting Blog. It seems as though we will finally be getting some dailies that aren't repetitive, sending us all over Outland to complete different objectives, for varying rewards, every day. The questgiver, "Rokk" (can't wait to smell what Rokk has cooking - sorry, I had to) sent Kaliope first to Netherstorm to gather berries. The 'fruits' of this labour? Some junk items, some meat for cooking, and a new recipe.
Around Azeroth: A child knows no hatred
Uda of Blackhand sends us this shot of a heart-warming moment in Redridge Mountains. Though we're in the middle of an Alliance town, apparently little Hilary knows no hatred for the Horde. Uda found her necklace in the lake and she rewarded him with a copper and a smile!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 a copy to aroundazeroth@wow.com, with as much or as little detail as you'd like to share with the world! %Gallery-1816%
The Missing Diplomat might be found in Northrend
We've talked quite a bit about Sylvanas and her history with Arthas in the past, but let's not forget that there is another woman Arthas has a nice long history with on the opposite faction: Jaina Proudmoore. Jaina's biggest moment in WoW is probably the Missing Diplomat quest-- after a long goose chase to find out where the lost King of Stormwind is, all you do is end up finding the man who betrayed him, and then Jaina thanks you and wishes you farewell. Wha? Players have always though the quest ended a little too quick, and Blizzard has admitted that they plan to continue the storyline at a later day.As in, during the next expansion. When a player asks what happened to Jaina and the Missing Diplomat, Drysc mysteriously says "Northrend holds many secrets, and many answers." So it's a good guess that we'll find out at least another piece of the puzzle to where the Lost King of Stormwind has gone.And it's also a pretty good guess that Jaina will be there, somehow. Despite the fact that she's pretty much the strongest leader the Alliance has, she's also pretty buddy-buddy with Thrall, and she's got that history with Arthas-- they were friends (and possibly romantically linked) before he went all power-crazy and possessed. There's no question that some of the answers we uncover in Northrend, whatever they may be, will involve Jaina Proudmoore.
Guide to the Shartuul event in Blade's Edge
Amanna posted a link to this extremely in-depth guide to the Eye of Shartuul event in Blade's Edge. If you've never done it (or heard of it-- seems like a majority of players might not actually know it exists), it's pretty cool. With the Ogri'la reputation chain, Blizzard introduced a solo quest series in Blade's Edge that can actually grant Epic gear.First things first, you've got to get Honored with Ogri'la, and then do the Banish the Demons quest, which allows you to get the items necessary to start the event itself. After that, you can pretty much follow Sadiki's guide-- he walks you through setting up the event, and all the different phases. The event itself is fun, too-- you abandon your own body, and instead fight through the even by controlling the demons. The final demon (which is actually pretty close in mechanics to C'thun in AQ) will actually drop Epic gear... kind of.What he'll drop is "Depleted" gear, which you then have to activate with Apexis Shards. The Epic gear created isn't completely great, but there is one amazing piece-- the Depleted Badge drop turns into the Badge of Tenacity, which is so phat for tanking druids we'll have to feature it in an upcoming Phat Loot Phriday.So yes, the event is some good solo fun, and though there's quite a bit of questing you have to do to set it up, getting Epic loot from a solo quest is always awesome, and following the great guide should make it easy.
Forum Thread of the Day: Quest text that makes you laugh
Relyndrel sets us off on a hilarious ride through Blizzard's real genius: turning something as straightforward as playing a videogame into a rich, entertaining, and sometimes even meta experience. He starts off a collection of the best quest text in the game, including the various letters, yells, and whispers that float around while doing said quests. All the best stuff is here: Fruit vendor, do you not value your life?! Rend Blackhand's note to a stupid orc: "Destroy this letter, idiot!" Blizzard's sly reply to AV whiners And the terrific Digging Through Bones dialogue I don't see my favorite mentioned in the first few pages-- as I've said before, my favorite quest in the whole game is probably the Absent Minded Prospector, in which a dwarf leisurely browses through a dig while you're left to fight off all kinds of huge golems.Really, this game is just all about clicking buttons-- you click a button to start a quest, you click some buttons to kill things (or do some thing), and then you click another button to end a quest. But it's the flavor that Blizzard adds-- all of these weird characters, strange stories, and references to everything else we know-- that really make the experience what it is, and show off just how good Blizzard is at making clicking buttons interesting and fun.
Blizzard's Hero class implementation 101
Toeo of Dragonmaw wrote in to ask about a clarification on Hero classes (of which the Death Knight will be the first). What are they, what will they require, and what does it mean to be a Hero class? We are nothing if not helpful, so here's what we know about Hero classes (mostly from BlizzCon).There were a number of ideas floating around about how Blizzard might implement Hero classes (mostly from D&D, in which Prestige classes are the precursor), but what they landed on was an "unlockable class," that's opened up to your account via a quest with a level 80 character-- that quest hasn't been created yet, so we're not sure what it will require*. So, to play as a Death Knight, you get a character of any class to level 80, do the Death Knight quest, and once your character has completed the quest, you can log on, and create a new character (of any race, we're told) that is of the Death Knight class.That new character then starts at a higher level (anywhere from 55-70, but Blizzard hasn't decided where yet), with starter equipment of the appropriate level (again, Blizzard hasn't decided exactly which equipment yet or how it will work), and then the Death Knight character can work their way up to level 80 as well as a completely different character. Death Knights will have their own Rune resource system, and they will have their own three talent trees, just like all the other classes. It is a completely separate character, unlocked and able to be created when one of your level 80 characters finishes the quest.*Update: Commenter Avalanche makes a good point: we don't know much about the quest, but we know it will be similar to the Warlock epic mount quest, and that it will not require raiding. Thanks, A.!
Addon Spotlight: QuestsFu
In previous weeks we've looked at Lightheaded, which helps you understand how to do your quests, and Fubar, which can present all sorts of information concisely. Today's addon is a Fubar plugin that can work with Lightheaded to show you everything you need to know about your quests without having to click a lot of buttons or obscure your screen with your entire quest log.QuestsFu presents you with a handy quest list in two ways. First of all, you can hover over its space on your Fubar and it'll give you a collapsable list of all the quests you're working on in a tooltip. In addition, you can have QuestsFu put up its own little quest tracker to replace Blizzard's standard tracker. The advantage to either of these color-coded quest lists is that you can just click on any of the quests themselves to open up a little window with all the quest information in it (pictured on the right). This is great for when you're in the middle of a quest and you don't want to stop moving, but you still forgot where exactly you were supposed to go or what the quest rewards are.If you have Lightheaded installed too, then you can arrange an additional Lightheaded comments popup on the other side of your screen, and get hints about your quest without opening the big old quest log. There are other quest managers out there, but this is my favorite because it feels so light weight, looks so attractive, works together with other addons so nicely, and also has such nice features, above and beyond what I've already mentioned: Edit the questlog on the fly, adding or removing quests with ease. Display quest levels, difficulty, zones, and objectives clearly. Put objective info into monster and item tooltips Show the quest level before you accept the quest Show other party members' completion of quest objectives (if they have the addon too) Optionally (I have this turned off) notify party members in /p chat when you complete a quest. Check out QuestsFu at WoW Interface.
Phat Loot Phriday: Everglow Lantern
This twinkalicious quest reward isn't exactly much loved, but it has its place.Name: Everglow LanternType: Uncommon OffhandDamage/Speed: NAAbilities: +3 Stamina Use: Heal your target for 135 to 165. Unfortunately, there's a gigantic 30 minute cooldown on this one, so it's not extremely useful. But in certain situations it comes in handy, and while it's likely you'll ditch this one fairly quickly, for the level or two that you have this paired with a good one hand weapon, the extra healing helps in a pinch. The thing looks pretty cool, too, as the glow spreads on your character, other characters, and in the surrounding area. Kind of fun to carry around at night with all the graphic options turned up, and RPers may even keep it around for those nighttime play sessions. How to Get It: This is a quest reward, that's available to both factions via two different quests. For Alliance, you've got to do Supplies to Auberdine, an escort quest in Ashenvale, and Horde can do Weapons of Choice at Camp T in the Barrens. Horde can get their quest at level 17 (though the mobs are much higher level, around 23-25), and Alliance can get the quest at 19 (though it too will be hard for someone that low to complete. But with help it's more than possible, so if you really wanted to put this on a 19 WSG twink, you definitely could.Truthfully, there are better items you could put on a twink, but speaking as a Mage who brings this thing into the lowbie battlegrounds, there's nothing like getting funny tells when people wonder how you heal yourself. I can only hope the other side wonders, too.Getting Rid of It: Oh right-- this is why I have this section. Because not all the phat loot you get is worth keeping. A vendor will give you 16s 32c for this, or it will DE into a Strange Dust, Lesser Astral Essence, or a Small Glimmering Shard.And speaking of Phat Loot, have you left a comment on our Spectral Tiger Mount contest yet? The contest ends tonight at 7:00pm EST-- if you haven't, hurry over and get it done!
Around Azeroth: Confronting Medivh
Reader Joe sends in this shot taken while doing the quest The Master's Terrace, where you're told to go and read a page of Medivh's journal. When you're given the quest, you're told, "Did you know that while other people's journals serve as a record of their memories, Medivh's is literally just that?"And when you follow the quest's instructions, you're greeted to the sight above, where the following dialog plays out: Medivh: You've got my attention, dragon. You'll find I'm not as easily scared as the villagers below.Arcanagos: Your dabbling in the arcane has gone too far Medivh. You've attracted the attention of powers beyond your understanding. You must leave Karazhan at once!Medivh: You dare challenge me at my own dwelling? You're arrogance is astounding, even for a dragon.Arcanagos: A dark power seeks to use you, Medivh! If you stay, dire days will follow. You must hurry, we don't have much time!Medivh: I do not know what you speak of dragon... but I will not be bullied by this display of insolence. Ill leave Karazhan when it suits me!Arcanagos: You leave me no alternative. I will stop you by force if you wont listen to reason....insert cool fight scene...Arcanagos: What have you done, wizard? This cannot be! I'm burning from... within!...Arcanagos flies off...Medivh: He should not have angered me. I must go... recover my strength now... 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%
Addon Spotlight: Lightheaded (and DoubleWide)
Quests are a pain sometimes. You may already know that database sites like wowhead.com can help, since players reliably contribute their wisdom about the best way to solve quests there. The comments these players left have helped me many times when I knew that a certain series of quests might be hard and wanted to make a plan for it before logging in.But after I've already started playing, I typically don't like to bother with external programs and websites. To illustrate, consider the following hypothetical situation: you're in the middle of a quest you thought would be simple and those Disgusting Whosamawidgets simply refuse to drop the required Sticky Yellow Fluid. You've been wandering around for an hour killing (and getting killed by) these horrid creatures, and you feel stopping to open up your web browser and check Wowhead would only add to your frustration. Finally you call out in desperate all-caps leetspeak on the general channel, only to be thoroughly ignored! Then finally one wise and tender-hearted player informs you that were actually supposed to be killing the Grotesque Whosamawidgets just next door, not the Disgusting ones. You thank her, of course, but in your gut you're still feeling dumb and regretting having wasted so much time and energy.It's enough to make you feel lightheaded indeed! Thankfully that's where Cladhaire comes to the rescue with his addon designed to bring those helpful sorts of people and their comments on Wowhead right into the game for you. Lightheaded (the addon) opens up just to the right of your questlog and shows whatever wowhead's commenters have to say about the quest you click on. It only loads that portion of the quest comment database your quest is in, too. This helps to save on memory usage, save on trips to a website, and also save on massive frustration all in one lovely addon.And... on a related note, consider using DoubleWide (shown above, working with Lightheaded) to make the questlog into two panels instead of one. This makes quests and quest lists so much easier to read, Blizzard really should incorporate it into the standard interface.
The letter of Sully Ballou
The Lady Bird over on WoW Ladies posted about a quest I've heard about but never done before. It's the Sully Ballou's Letter quest-- it starts from a poor deceased dwarf that you can find in the water beneath the Thandol Span (that's the bridge just north of Dun Morogh). In his hand, there's a letter that you can read, and that needs to be delivered to a woman in Ironforge.Lady Bird read the letter and found it suprisingly emotional, and then found out the reason for that is because it's real-- it was written by one Major Sullivan Ballou, directly before the Battle of Bull Run in the Civil war. It was famously read in Ken Burns' Civil War documentary, and the full text of the original letter is also available online. It is pretty darn touching, both as a love letter, and as a meditation on what real life war really costs us, both for those directly involved, and for those waiting at home for them to return.Blizzard has put a lot of hidden gems in this game, of course, but this might be one of the most touching.
A quest to switch sides
Even though almost all you hear from players is Horde pride or Alliance cheerleading, let's face it, there have to be a lot of people out there who believe they've made a mistake. Personally, I love the first character I made-- Hunter is still my favorite class, and I'd love to finally get my first Hunter all the way up to 70 and into some epic gear. Why haven't I? Because it's a Night Elf-- I was young then, and confused, and I accidentally rolled Alliance. I can't really play without my awesome Horde guild now, so that Hunter has been sitting there at 59 for a long time.So there are probably plenty of people that want to switch, but there's no way to do so without completely rerolling. Yet, anyway. Here's the best idea I've heard on the subject so far: create a quest that would let players change factions.Yes, I know, there's lots of reasons for Blizzard not to do it (not least of which is the whole interfaction communication thing). But consider it seriously-- it would be a once-in-a-lifetime quest that would have serious costs (so no nightly switching back and forth), and take a long, long (maybe even a series of daily quests) time to get done. This isn't some frivolous thing-- it's a serious decision, a second chance to reconsider a faction choice you might have made 70 levels ago. Right now, you only get once chance to choose a faction, and it's before you even know your character. Surely you should get one chance to reconsider, right?And originally I was thinking that a faction change would be a "Horde in Durnholde" kind of thing-- if you're an Orc, then you suddenly become Human forever. But Blizzard could even work it so that you could stay the same race, and just switch sides. Imagine it-- Gnome and Undead Rogues alongside each other, dogs and cats living together, mass hysteria! Although it would get confusing in the battlegrounds, wouldn't it?
A road map of Itadaki Street
Having never come out in the US, the Itadaki Street franchise is somewhat of a mystery. But the series has been thrust into our attention with its entry on the DS and the included Mario and Dragon Quest characters. We know we like the characters, and we are vaguely aware of a board game of some kind, but how exactly does the game play?Siliconera, who previously helped us identify all the Dragon Quest folks, has a piece up now about the game that's half review, half tutorial. It's an excellent resource for the Itadaki curious, and should help you in your soul-searching about whether or not you're interested in a Japanese board game about property.
