tanaris
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One Shots: Gone fishin'
Recently, I asked about the idea of logging out somewhere special in an MMO before you cancel your subscription. While many people felt that there really wasn't much point since you can always reactivate later, some still choose to take that option, perhaps for RP reasons. Today's One Shots is one such sign-off moment from World of Warcraft, sent in to us by Kilawhar. He took the option to wax a bit about this particular image, so like the Darkfall One Shots earlier, I'm going to post the entirety of the note with more behind the break. If you've got a great image with a story to tell about your MMO experiences, feel free to send it to me at oneshots [at] massively [dot] com along with your name, and the game it's from! That said, on with Kilawhar's tale!I took this screen shot the last time I was logged into World of Warcraft before letting my account expire. I have been playing since shortly after launch, and for many years have been the guild leader of a group of truly wonderful individuals. My obsession with fishing in the game was well known among the guild (I spent days and days of time trying to catch Mr. Pinchy, and I finally caught him only a week before Wrath came out), and I thought it was only appropriate that my character end the game doing what he did best (you don't get the "Salty" title for being a fishing novice, I can tell you). %Gallery-9798%
Neutral Auction houses (and putting them in Northrend)
You've probably heard, by now, the reason why there are no auction houses (or class trainers) in Dalaran or Shattrath. Blizzard doesn't want the old world towns (like Ironforge and Orgrimmar) to become ghost towns. Ghost towns like, for example, Shattrath -- have you been there lately? But as Gnomeaggedon pointed out last week, there's another option: neutral Auction houses.We haven't talked about the Neutral Auction houses in the game for a long time -- they exist only in Winterspring, Booty Bay, and Tanaris, and pretty much have only served the purpose of trading items back and forth between the two factions (or scamming between them). But Gnomeaggedon has a new idea: why not reintroduce them to the newer cities, and create another option for people rather than having to go all the way back to the old world (and waste a hearthstone cooldown)? Not only would you bring people back to the Neutral Auction houses (they really are empty right now), but you'd bring the auction house back to the people, at a slightly higher cost.I like it, and so does Mend Pet, though she sees a few issues: even with the higher cost, you might still get people forgetting about the normal Auction houses and then you've just switched where the problem is (not to mention that people leveling wouldn't see anyone in the big cities when they went). And Dalaran is laggy and crowded as it is -- creating another mess of characters won't help. And finally, this is a solution without a real problem: we're getting the Hearthstone cooldown lowered anyway, so it's not that big deal to go back home occasionally (or just use a bank alt). Still, the Neutral houses are just sort of sitting there. Giving us more access to them might be worth it.
WoW Moviewatch: R.A.M - Episode 1
M??xans! presented R.A.M - Episode 1 over on Machinima.com. He listed it as a comedy, but I'm forced to wonder if it wouldn't be better as "Surrealist" or something. The movie is shot in most black and white, but at the end, it spontaneously bursts into color. The plot seems simple. A gnome is out adventuring in Tanaris, when a undead rogue decides to grief him. (I know, the possibility of such an event is inconceivable to most of us.) After a bit of trial and tribulation, the gnome swaps out for his draenei. The draenei kills the rogue, and proceeds to camp his corpse.The whole video is very odd. The pacing is slow, and most of its framing shots are reminsicent of old, silent movies. For example, there are several face-frames given to the gnome while the rogue is creeping up. These imply the gnome is unaware of his pending disaster, and paying the creeping Undead no attention. This kind of technique was key to silent films, to help portray a better understanding of the events to its audience. I felt the technique was valuable to "R.A.M," but still felt slow and clunky over the duration of a long movie.I can't say whether I liked or disliked "R.A.M." It mostly confused me, and I wasn't quite sure what to make of it. If it's Episode 1, however, I look forward to Episode 2. Sometimes, these things make more sense as they play out.Click here to see it yourself!If you have any suggestions for WoW Moviewatch, you can mail them to us at machinima AT wowinsider DOT com.Previously on Moviewatch ..
Ask a Beta Tester: It's all about the money
We have a lot of profession questions today, but also a few about Achievements, the Beast Mastery 51-point talent, and what happens when you push Death Knights off a cliff:Riley asks...How is the Shaman Hex ability working? Does the target still have control of movement and does the PvP trinket work against it?Hex is a the crowd-control spell for Shamans referenced by the devs at the class panel here, and it's been tinkered with a lot since we first heard about it. It was originally meant to be more of an emergency-only, short-duration CC. In its present form, Hex's duration has been increased to 30 seconds and it doesn't necessarily break on damage. However, in PvP the target can control where they go, the PvP trinket does work (you can also shapeshift out of it as a Druid), and it's considered a curse and can be dispelled by Mages, Druids, and restoration Shamans (who will have the ability do dispel curses with a 31-point talent Cleanse Spirit). Think of it as a somewhat odd combination of Counterspell, Fear, and Polymorph.
Know Your Lore: Nozdormu the Timeless
Welcome to Know Your Lore, where each week Alex Ziebart brings you a tasty little morsel of lore to wrap your mind around. Sweet, sweet lore. Mmmm. Have suggestions for future KYL topics? E-mail us! Or, if you have a question for our sister column Ask a Lore Nerd, e-mail us those, too! Nozdormu is the fifth and final dragon aspect, since the filthy Netherwing aspect doesn't count! Silly mutant spawn of Deathwing, thinking they're special or something. Anyhow, Nozdormu the Timeless is the aspect of the Bronze Dragonflight, and was given his power by the titan lord Aman'Thul. Nozdormu has power over time and can, technically, alter it to his whims. Though he's capable of doing such, he is meant to watch over the timeline and prevent it from being altered by outside forces.Nozdormu, more or less, oversees the Caverns of Time. Or rather, he has in the past. Currently Nozdormu is preoccupied with some uberpowerful anomaly in the timeline, and has left his prime consort Soridormi in charge. You would think the Timeless One would have all the time in the world to get things done, but his history in Warcraft thus far says otherwise.
Soon to be 2.4.3
As you've likely already heard, patch 2.4.3 will finally be going live today, and we have the full set of notes. While the realms aren't up yet, the new patch excitement and QQs are already building. How is this patch going to affect you? Do you have an army of level 30 alts lined up and waiting to purchase their phat new rides? Personally, I'll be heading out to pick up the new tailoring patterns in Tanaris and purchasing the non-combat pet from the Sha'tari Skyguard. Then, I might level my own handful of alts. While I meant to push them all to 30 before the patch landed, I got sidetracked. What will you be doing?
Maintenance for June 17th will be short
Here's a heads-up to all our North American night owls early risers and Oceanic readers: It's Tuesday morning, and that means maintenance. Luckily, it's a short one today. Bornakk has said that they expect most servers to only be down a half hour, starting at 5AM PDT and ending a 5:30AM PDT. There are some extra servers that will be down slightly longer, until 6:30AM PDT. Those servers will be listed after the break. Aussies can rejoice as well, as any Oceanic servers not on this list won't be taken down until 5AM AEST (Which is noon over here on the American west coast). For the list of servers that will have a longer downtime, read on:
Select realms to undergo maintenance (updated!)
Drysc reports that a number of realms are under investigation for performance issues and will be undergoing a scheduled maintenance at 5:00 AM PDT on Wednesday, March 12 with a foreseeable downtime of 1 hour (update: Zorayn notes that downtime will be extended to 2 hours as opposed to one). As Drysc edits the thread, realms are added (or removed) regularly. From a quick perusal of the realms, it seems as though it is the Nightfall Battlegroup that is affected. Blizzard currently lists the affected realms as follows:Aerie PeakAltar of StormsAlterac MountainsAnvilmarArygosBlackwing LairDeathwingDemon SoulDoomhammerGnomereganIcecrownJaedenarKel'ThuzadLethonOnyxiaSentinelsTanarisThe Venture CoUldamanUndermineDrysc further notes that other Battlegroups are under close observation and will be taken down for maintenance should any issues arise that might require it.
Around Azeroth: Death in the desert
Reader Lantanian from Quel'dorei offers up this screenshot straight from the Tanaris desert. Though you can clearly see Gadgetzan not-too-far in the distance, it was apparently too far for one poor traveler, who succumbed to the wilderness just outside of town.Do you have any unusual World of Warcraft images that are just collecting dust in your screenshots folder? Because we'd love to see your idea of the best looking instance on Around Azeroth! Sharing your screenshot is as simple as e-mailing aroundazeroth@wow.com with a copy of your shot and a brief explanation of the scene. You could be featured here next! %Gallery-1816%
Around Azeroth: Forgotten Uldum
Reader Jason sends us this screenshot of the gates of Uldum on the edge of Tanaris. It's an easy area to miss, as this facade is only set-dressing to a larger area which, perhaps, Blizzard plans to add later. (There is one quest that points you this way, for those persistent enough to have completed all of the Uldaman quests -- though it dead-ends in the scene we see above.) It is speculated that the Earthen, creators of the Dwarves, dwell inside, though we'll learn more when Blizzard implements the zone.Do you have an image that shows off a mystery location in Azeroth? Just finished a long quest-chain that's been left to dead-end in the middle of nowhere? We want to know all about it here on Around Azeroth! Sharing your screenshot is as simple as e-mailing aroundazeroth@wow.com with a copy of your shot and a brief explanation of the scene. You could be featured here next!%Gallery-1816%
Around Azeroth: Ship + moon = ??
Reader Arsenie sends along this shot of the full moon along-side a pirate ship off the coast of Tanaris. What's unusual about the image, besides a nice composition (hey, are you sure we're not playing Pirates of the Burning Sea?) is the fact that these ships are way, way, way out at sea. Arsenie tells us that on the map they look like islands and that it took two corpse runs (fatigue is a killer) to get this shot!Have you managed to visit a unique spot that no one else has seen? Gone through trials and tribulations to find that perfect screenshot? We'd like to see it on Around Azeroth! All you have to do is e-mail aroundazeroth@wow.com with a copy of your screenshot and a brief explanation of the scene. You could find your pictures and story featured next!%Gallery-1816%
New graveyards in 2.2.2
Hot on the heels of tomorrow's expected 2.2 release, Neth has posted the short-but-sweet 2.2.2 patch notes, which include Brewfest and Hallow's End, featuring lots of new seasonal rewards and quests. As we've said before, the fact that both of these holidays are coming up quick means we can't be more than one or two weeks away from this patch's release.And the other interesting feature of this patch is the addition of quite a few new graveyards all over Old Azeroth. Southern Barrens, Western Plaguelands, Alterac Mountains, Searing Gorge and the Badlands are all getting extra graveyards (there's no indication whether they're Horde or Alliance specific or otherwise), and Tanaris, Winterspring, Stonetalon and Un'Goro are all getting two.Wow. That should significantly speed things up in Un'Goro, Tanaris, and the Southern Barrens especially, since I have less-than-fond memories of super-long corpse runs there. Badlands, too, was pretty maddening, and while the long corpse run wasn't the only reason most players aren't big fans of Uldaman, it was definitely a reason for that. This is no doubt part of Blizzard's aim to speed up levels 1-60 for players. This alone, of course, doesn't exactly make me want to go back and run another alt through (only new content would do that), but at least when we do run another alt through, it'll be a little easier.
Around Azeroth: Trekking across Tanaris
Yoma of Defias Brotherhood (EU) sends in this cute little shot of guildmate Lywon trekking across the Tanaris desert with his pet. I always thought the footprints (or in this case, hoof and pawprints) were a nice visual touch, and this screenshot shows why.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%
Around Azeroth: Racing across Tanaris
Reader Sanari of Khaz Modan sends in this nicely composed shot that really catches the speed of the Druid's travel form. Here we see a Druid speeding across the Tanaris desert towards the moonrise. (I want to say towards Un'goro, but with the landmarks in this shot, it could just as easily be running the other way.)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%
Around Azeroth: Looking out over Zul'Farrak
Seen from above, Zul'Farrak looks peaceful and scenic. A pleasant tourist spot, perhaps? Of course, it only looks this way when viewed from afar, as in this shot sent in by reader Raileh of Turalyon. If you get much closer, you start to see a very unpleasant tribe of Trolls who aren't at all fond of strangers.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%
Around Azeroth: It's all in the braids
Reader Whiskerwing sent in an entire gallery of screenshots, but out of all of them, I chose this one to post. Why? I just love the way the Dwarf braids fly up when casting spells. It's a minor detail, to be sure, but it's a detail I haven't noticed in any other race. 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%
Around Azeroth: Are we there yet?
If you've never done Tooga's Quest in the past, you may find yourself confused as to why there's a large tortoise in the middle of the Tanaris desert. It's an escort quest (my least favorite kind) that takes you from one end of the desert to the other -- all the while being trailed by Tooga, who's just as slow as you would expect him to be. However, the quest is worthwhile if only for Tooga's sparkling personality, which comes through quite clearly in this screenshot from reader Celwynn.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! 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%
A few BC items available now
I found out about this when I spotted a player trying to sell the Ring of Bitter Shadows in chat. I asked them where they got it, since I remembered that it was jewelcrafted, and they sent me to a vendor named Jase Farlan up at Light's Hope Chapel, who sells it for a pretty decent price, in my opinion. It looks like a few other jewelcrafting items are currently available from vendors. This includes some of the figurines -- at least Figurine - Black Pearl Panther and Figurine - Truesilver Crab. The question in my mind is whether these items will remain available post-expansion. My bet would be that they'll vanish, and this will just have been a fun little jewelcrafting preview. As far as I know, no significant crafted items are currently available from vendors, but maybe that's set to change.Additionally, new and more powerful water, food, arrows, and bullets can be bought from an orc vendor named Galgrom deep in the Caverns of Time in Tanaris. The arrows and bullets are also available from general goods vendors throughout Azeroth, and seem to be a much better deal than the water, which as far as I can tell is exclusive to Galgrom. At over 10s for one drink, I probably won't be buying the water for general use, at least not until after I get my epic mount; the ammo costs 10s for a whole stack.Have you all spotted any other BC items that have snuck in with the patch? And those of you who have tried the Filtered Draenic Water, how would you rate it? Does it make financial sense for someone with a mana pool around 6k?
Lesser Known Quests: Tooga
I'm classifying this quest as lesser-known, as I have just finally come across it after 2 1/2 years and 5 level 60's. Yes, you may call me ignorant and tell me I'm not paying attention in the comments.Tooga is a giant tortoise who's lost and roaming somewhere in southern Tanaris. I found him just south of the Thistleshrub Valley, wandering aimlessly in search of dinner for his wife.As far as escort quests go, Tooga's Quest is remarkably simple and rewarding. Instead of chasing across the desert like some other quest I know, Tooga is actually quite happy to follow you, giving you a 30-minute timer to take him to the coast just south of Steamwheedle Port.Given that Tooga will actually help you in combat, it's a bit like you get a level 50 turtle pet for 30 minutes who then hands over the experience and loot.I won't give away the entire dialog here, but let's just say that even though you get 5900xp and your choice of great shaman bracers or a druid ring, you almost feel bad for Tooga as his wife Torta treats the poor fella like a baby treats a diaper.If you're out and about in Tanaris, take some time to lead Tooga to the shore, killing mobs along the way. You could run straight to the shore in 10 minutes, but take the time with this pet - he makes for a good tank.If you've done this quest, let us know of your experience with it, and if you used Tooga as a combat pet or just ran him straight home.
Around Azeroth: Steamwheedle Port
Ah, Steamwheedle Port! This jewel of the coast is the charming vacation hotspot of Tanaris. Lithia of Gnomeburgers on Suramar realm sends this in, reminiscing of many fond (or perhaps not-so-fond) hours of fishing for Stonescale Eel on the docks here.So 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.
