ragnaros
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Forum Post of the Day: Your favorite boss quote
Unlike boring trash mobs, bosses in World of Warcraft all have their interesting catchphrases, some more memorable than others. And over on the EU forums, poster Lindey is looking to figure out what other players think is the best boss quote in the game. At the top, so far? Molten Core's Ragnaros and Blackwing Lair's Vaelazstraz with their classic introductions:Ragnaros: Too soon, you have awakened me to soon Executus! What is the meaning of this intrusion?Vaelastraz: Too late... friends. Nefarius' corruption has taken hold. I cannot... control myself. I beg you Mortals, flee! Flee before I lose all sense of control. The Black Fire rages within my heart. I must release it! FLAME! DEATH! DESTRUCTION! COWER MORTALS BEFORE THE WRATH OF LORD....NO! I MUST FIGHT THIS!But beyond Lindey's list of player favorites, the thread itself is a collection of some of the most entertaining dialog tidbits Blizzard's thrown into the game. Take a look for yourself!
Around Azeroth: Inside Ragnaros
This shot is very old Azeroth, but while I've died a great many times to Ragnaros in the past, I can't say I've seen him from quite this angle before. From reader Shmoobedoobe of Kilrogg comes this screenshot of Ragnaros' oddly hollow interior, which you get a glimpse of if you die in just the wrong spot. Look at that -- you can even see his name floating above his head (obviously equipped with sunroof!).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%
New Molten Core Raid Deck released
The constant expansion of the Warcraft universe never ceases to amaze me. We've seen novels, free online manga, credit cards, clothing, soundtracks, boardgames, a pen & paper RPG system, plus the tightly-under-wraps movie. And now, the newest addition to their Trading Card Game: the limited-edition Molten Core Raid Deck.Upper Deck Entertainment has announced this new deck has shipped to retail outlets. What's cool about it is you can either play the heroes fighting Ragnaros or, get this, you can play Ragnaros himself. He has his own deck and comes with ten loot cards to unseal when defeated. There are also many other Molten Core bosses to face down including Lucifron and Majordomo Executus.And let's not forget the randomly inserted cards that give players access to in-game items. Anyone looking to learn more can head to the WoW TCG official site for demos, instructions and previews of different cards. They also have an online walkthrough of the new deck in three parts. So who among the WoW Insider faithful enjoy the Trading Card Game? Let's hear from you!
More on making the old instances new again
Yesterday, I suggested a few ways that Blizzard could make the "old" instances (Scholo, Strat, UBRS, MC, and on up) relevant to players again, and from that conversation came a few good points that I figured were worth mentioning. The problem isn't that the old instances aren't fun (they are still fun, and I've heard that some guilds are still planning to run them, even if they don't need the equipment from them). But the problem is that if you want your character to have the best gear in the least time, the "old" instances are a waste of time. At 58 you should be in Outland, doing 15 minute quests for better-than-tier 1 items.Tobold agrees with me-- it's very likely that players who reach 60 after expansion release will never run Molten Core or the other instances the way they've been run in the past. Either Blizzard will change the levels on them, or players will go back to them for fun with a mix of 60s and 70s. Both of those are very different experiences than the one of learning as a guild, week after week, how to run MC. I don't mean to be depressing (the idea is a little bit softened by the fact that the same thing will be happening at 70 now, only in smaller, easier to manage groups), but it's true. Goodbye, MC.There is one more idea, however, that came out of yesterday's thread that I thought was pretty good. Reader Skew came up with an idea that seems so ingenious, I wish I'd thought of it. What if Blizzard turned all the pre-Outland instance gear into BOE? That would create a demand for someone to constantly run them, not just for the gear, but for the enchanting mats and so on. Yes, it means that with enough money, you could come by a set of tier 2 without ever going to BWL, but also remember that tier 2 isn't that valuable anymore-- the stuff in Outland is what we really want. I doubt Blizzard will go for such a "giving" solution, but you gotta admit: it solves a lot of problems with a pretty simple change to the code.
Around Azeroth: Remembering Ragnaros
I remember my first trips to Molten Core, those very first attempts at downing Ragnaros, the thrill of a first kill, and the cheers on Ventrillo when we managed to down him pre-Sons (a feat for which we were promised extra DKP at the time). But before any of us reach raiding success, there's an endless stream of frustrating wipes (practice does make perfect, after all), such as this one, sent in by Brixie of Prelude to Chaos on Guldan. Not that I miss the wipes, but I do feel sort of sorry for people leveling to 60 after the release of the Burning Crusade. Will they ever run Molten Core and challenge Ragnaros? 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.See more of your pics from Around Azeroth.%Gallery-1816%
WoW Moviewatch: Behold, the power of a GM
Digg is linking to this blog post (who knows how long it will last) about "the Top 10 WoW Exploits of All Time." Like most Digg stuff, it's a few things you've probably seen before, compiled and hyped up to be much cooler than it is. But of the exploits-- Old Ironforge, falling under Stormwind, the airport, and the top of Ogrimmar-- the last one is the most interesting (and not really an exploit). It's video of someone setting up a private server and showing off just how much control a GM has over the game. The comments in Digg point out that these "commands" are probably not what the actual Blizzard GMs use to control the game-- they're placeholder commands created by whoever hacked the server code. And while all of this stuff is pretty cool, we're guessing that if you're actually a GM, the chance to use it is rare-- usually you're fixing tickets, not spawning legendary weapons or Rag in the middle of Stormwind. Still, it's a fun little watch.
When bosses get bored
The latest news from the front, both Horde and Alliance, is that there's another planet on the other side of the Dark Portal! It's called "Azeroth," and it's supposed to be two continents full of instances and dragons and quests! I don't ever remember visiting the place myself, but it's supposed to be pretty cool.From that distant realm comes this conversation from the forums, about what all the bosses "back home" are up to.{Drakkisath} dammit i'm bored. where are all the mobs? {Ragnaros has come online} {Nefarian} hey rag. {Ragnaros} TASTE THE FLAMES OF SULFURON {MajordomoExecutus} wtf caps {BaronRivendare} o_O {Nefarian} you dont have to put on your show, there arent any mobs around {Ragnaros} where the hell is everyone {Level 64 human warrior has come online} {Nefarian} niiiiiice {Nefarian} Im not even gonna use my skellies {BaronRivendare} same {Level 64 human warrior has killed Drakkisath} {Nefarian} .... {BaronRivendare} wt... {Level 64 human warrior has killed BaronRivendare} {Nefarian} jesus {MajordomoExecutus} /inspect {MajordomoExecutus} wtf he's wearing greens!Funny. Wherever this "Azeroth" place is, I'll have to check it out sometime.
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Breakfast Topic: Hand of Ragnaros is a druid weapon
I have seen reports of druids winning the Hand of Ragnaros before. I seem to recall one raidleader handing off the Eye of Sulfuras to his druid girlfriend, but I could be wrong. Hey, it isn't like I committed the brilliant forum thread to memory. Well, now we have another report of a druid snagging the HoR, this time it's Napier, a druid from the Greymane server. As you can imagine, this thread is dominated by folks either calling Napier the most selfish player in the history of MMORPGs or defending his right to spend his DKP as he sees fit. And yes, Napier has a long-winded response to the haters, which contains his rationale for spending his DKP on the mace. All in all, a typical forum thread, but there are aspects to it which raise some interesting questions...Shouldn't any DKP system have some kind of priority list or mechanism which prevents warriors from bidding on a caster staff or a druid from, I don't know, snagging a legendary mace which serves him no purpose whatsoever? I have never been in a guild that employed a straight DKP system which didn't make allowances for class needs. There is no way, for example, a hunter could bid on leather, simply because he could wear it. Is a druid with the HoR the absolute worst example of misguided DKP use? Or have you seen worse? Does your guild restrict rolling on certain items to particular classes? Or is it a free-for-all? And at this point, so close to the expansion release, does it matter who gets what? I mean, we will be upgrading everything very, very soon.
World of prankcraft
My guild (the uberl33t Gothic Bunnies on Thunderhorn-H) has been really rolling through MC lately-- we've got everything but Rag on farm status (and we'll have him soon, don't worry). But since the zone is so easy for us now, we need to do something to keep each other interested, and tonight that something came in the form of pranks.One of our warlocks stepped away on /afk and put himself on /follow to another player... who then jumped in the lava, with the warlock following right behind him. We summoned the other player out, and left the lock to flounder in the flow. And while the summon out of the lava was going on, one of our mages put a portal to Orgrimmar right over the summon portal, and three of our guildies ended up in Orgrimmar before they realized they were clicking on the wrong thing. Two fights later, our MT dragged Garr's last minion away from us back towards the lava (we had all crowded around him before he exploded just to send us all flying), and instead sent a few guildies flying into the drink. Basically, there was shenanigans aplenty in Molten Core tonight.And this is definitely not the first time I've seen this kind of thing go down, either. Our mages love to give out level 1 conjured water, just to make us mana users angry. And way back when I was going through UBRS on my first time (on my gnome warrior), I got freaked out when Vael (who I later learned is a friendly NPC in UBRS) appeared and I was frantically told by my guildies to "tank the red dragon!" It took me a few seconds to figure out why my taunt button wasn't working.Are you the same way-- does your guild prank each other mercilessly, or are we all just crazy?
Taking a PVE guild to the expansion
So the endgame guild I'm a part of (shout out to Gothic Bunnies on Thunderhorn-H!) is doing really well lately. We just got a nice influx of new members right around the time we started getting serious about MC and ZG, and just this last weekend, we finally made it to Domo (Rag, you're on notice) and, later the same day, downed Hakkar (that was an experience, let me tell you). So we're rolling right along-- we're already getting set for Onyxia, and by the time the expansion hits, we'll be ready for BWL.Oh, right-- the expansion. I'm not in a position of leadership in this guild (or any guild), but you have to think the sudden influx of great items, new instances, and ten more levels (I just kind of assume everyone in the guild plays WoW enough to buy it as early as possible) might throw things off a bit. What's the point in farming MC for tier 1 stuff when even quest rewards in the expansion look better? And how can you get a group of 20 together for AQ Ruins when everyone has to work up ten levels again, will be starting new alts with the new races, and LFGing (with the new system) for PVP and the new instances?In short, how do you keep a "mid-endgame" guild together when all the cool new stuff hits?Now, if you're in Naxx already and half the guild is dressed in Tier 3, I'm sure it's not that big a problem-- you'll probably all go to Outland and level up together. And if you haven't made it to 60 yet, you're probably not worried at all-- you haven't invested enough time in this raiding system to care too much. But it seems to me that things are going to be pretty scattered when the expansion hits, and it's coming right at a time when a guild like mine is hitting our stride on the old stuff. I do trust our leadership-- I'm sure that if anyone can strike a balance between leading the guild into the new content and staying busy on the "old" content, they can. But I expect it to be pretty tough. I don't think we're wasting our time on the "old" content-- even if my ZG gear will be outdated by the end of the year, downing Hakkar was an experience I'll never forget. But with all the new instances calling, along with the phat lewts and new encounters, will current "mid-endgame" guilds ever feel the need to go for C'thun? Or will AQ become the new Dire Maul-- an instance that has some cool stuff and fun encounters, but often gets overlooked on the way to endgame?
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GuildWatch: Attack of the Ninjas!
Our new weekly feature GuildWatch is back, featuring as much guild drama, raiding, and recruiting as you'd want in a week. This week, we've put things in a new, easier to read format, and it all starts right after the jump.And remember, GuildWatch runs on your submissions. If you want your guild listed as recruiting, downed someone awesome over the weekend, or know about some great guild drama going on, drop us an email at wowguildwatch@gmail.com.
You Have a Friend Request From C'Thun
Well, you knew it had to happen. As soon as Blizzard made their entrance into that bastion of social networking and terrible design, Myspace.com, it was just plain expected that they'd have some company.And sure enough, in among World of Warcraft's 58,000 plus friends, there are a few familiar faces. Did you know you could be friends with Edwin Van Cleef, a "swinger" who's frustrated that all people want from him is the Cruel Barb? And of course if he's on Myspace, then so is Mr. Smite (who gets comments from someone who wants him to "stop stunning me!"), Jin'do the Hexxer, and High Inquisitor Whitemaine (who says "Hi there! <3" to all her friends). Even Raggy and Vael are in on the Myspace action-- Raggy likes some good tunes, but Vael likes Linkin Park. Go figure. I always saw him as more of a Slayer type.And if you're looking for expansion news, Myspace won't disappoint there either. What better way to learn about Tyrande Whisperwind and Arthas himself than befriending them and subscribing to their blogs? Like OMG, thx 4 the add, Lich King!
Molten Core Done Quick(er)
Ever been to Molten Core? Well, some people have been there few too many times - as you can tell by watching this speed-run through the core by Norwegian guild The Axemen (EU - Ravencrest). Time? 70 minutes (though the video is only 36 minutes long, speeding through non-boss pulls). My best times through MC have been closer to three hours, and were more commonly three and a half to four, with loot distribution and the occasional stupid wipe, so I must say I find 70 minutes exceedingly impressive. And if you've never been to Molten Core, but are curious as to what the place is like, this video should give you a good idea of what you'd see inside.
From Ragnaros to C'thun
Interestingly enough, the day of the first world C'thun kill is exactly a year to the day of the first Ragnaros kill. This must make one wonder, due to the timing of revisions to the C'thun encounter - has this all, in fact, been orchestrated by Blizzard?[Thanks, spencer]
EU Server Transfers Announced
Thundgot has announced upcoming server transfers and new transfer-only realms to be introduced over the next month. These are still subject to change, but hopefully will give EU players an idea of what to expect.April 17th - 21st Shattered Hand and Ragnaros --> Frostmane (new realm) Bladefist and Daggerspine --> Outland (new realm) April 24th - 28th Warsong and Skullcrusher --> Stonemaul (new realm) Burning Legion and Stormscale --> Grim Batol (new realm) May 1st - 5th Dragonmaw and Spinebreaker --> (to be decided) Burning Blade and Stormreaver --> (to be decided) May 8th - 12th Zenedar and Ravencrest --> (to be decided) Dunemaul and Deathwing --> (to be decided)
