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Vanessa VanCleef should come back from the dead
While getting ready to feature Welcome to the Deadmines, Alex Ziebart and I had a brief conversation about the lore of that classic dungeon. We felt it a shame that Vanessa VanCleef was unceremoniously murderized by the players as they completed the storyline. At first, I thought my regrets at Vanessa's death centered on losing a cool NPC. But the conversation's been on my mind and I kept mulling it over. And then the real reason Vanessa's death bothered me finally became clear. Vanessa VanCleef was the story the Alliance needed, and it was the one we deserved. Vanessa VanCleef's story was amazing. We need the VanCleefs back. I'll summarize the story for folks who maybe don't read quests or play Alliance. But keep in mind: all of this played out in World of Warcraft. You didn't need to play any game besides WoW or read anything except quests to see this entire story.
Two Bosses Enter: Vanessa VanCleef vs. Zanzil
In Two Bosses Enter, WoW Insider's series of fantasy death matches, the bosses of World of Warcraft face off in the squared circle. Your vote determines who wins and claims the season title. Lord Godfrey is moving on to the final matchup after a solid win against his opponent Foe Reaper 5000. Despite the mechanical reaper's resilience through the tournament and his hardcore following, Lord Godfrey's twin pistols dismantled every nut, bolt, and gizmo. Foe Reaper 5000, we hardly knew ye. Lord Godfrey will now have to face either Vanessa VanCleef or Zanzil in the final matchup of this season of Two Bosses Enter. I can guarantee that this matchup between Vanessa VanCleef and Zanzil will be the most epic match of this season of Two Bosses Enter. Sure, the finals are coming up, and that will definitely be an epic matchup, but these are the two biggest heavy hitters of the tournament. Will fanboy favorite Vanessa VanCleef be able to best the coolest Troll to rule the school since Zul'jin? Poison master versus potion master. This one is for the history books. %Poll-69848%
Two Bosses Enter: Jan'alai vs. Zanzil
In Two Bosses Enter, WoW Insider's series of fantasy death matches, the bosses of World of Warcraft face off in the squared circle. Your vote determines who wins and claims the season title. It's a rumble in the jungle where two big names in the Zul'circle face off in WoW Insider's ring. Jan'alai, avatar of the dragonhawk, faces off against potion master Zanzil and his crazy concoctions. I think that this could be one of the more interesting fights in this season of Two Bosses Enter. Troll versus Troll, Zul'Aman versus Zul'Gurub. Choose your empire! Last week's fight went as predicted. Vanessa VanCleef, mistress of poisons and daughter of the late, great Edwin VanCleef, beat out Daakara by just shy of a thousand votes. Wow. You guys sure do love Vanessa. I love her, too -- but come on lady, put on some pants. Azerothian winters are going to be cold this year. %Poll-69495%
Countdown to Cataclysm: The Deadmines dungeon guide
This article is part of our Countdown to Cataclysm series, preparing you for Cataclysm launch one day at a time. The Deadmines has been a classic staple dungeon for any leveling player. In patch 4.0.3, the instance received a complete facelift. Players will no longer be taking down Edwin VanCleef, as the game has progressed forward in time and has been updated to reflect the events that have occurred in the game. The Defias stronghold appears to be housing the next generation of Defias forces. They're being led by Vanessa Vancleef, Edwin's daughter. At a glance: five boss encounters level 15 - 21 Alliance and Horde players both have access to this dungeon via dungeon finder
Cataclysm Beta: A walk-through of the all-new Westfall
This article has been brought to you by Seed, the Aol guest writer program that brings your words to WoW Insider's pages. Editor's Note: This article contains heavy plot spoilers for the upcoming Cataclysm expansion. Read at your own risk! In the heart of every player who has leveled a human character lies a special place for the gentle, rolling plains of Westfall. Despite the fallow fields and barren hills, the region has a sort of natural beauty to it that many players have found irresistible, making it a favorite for Alliance players. Given its high popularity and my own nostalgia for the zone, I was a bit worried when Cataclysm was announced. What would happen to the great zone? Would it be so radically changed that it no longer resembled what it once was? Would it go by mostly untouched, leaving it unused in the wake of more polished zones? Fear not! The zone has retained its raw beauty and has received a number of much needed upgrades. The town of Sentinel Hill is now much more secure, with a large wall and greater defenses. The layout of the zone remains mostly the same, with the exception of the Raging Chasm. Once the Alexston Farmstead, this area is a swirling vortex of wind and dust, a remnant of the cataclysm. It adds a new feature to the skyline of Westfall, as it towers into the air at a distance that can be seen from any corner of the zone.
Ask a Faction Leader: Master Mathias Shaw
WoW.com's prestige in the community has afforded us the opportunity to speak with major Azerothian leadership figures on any subject, and we're letting you, the reader, Ask a Faction Leader! We recently spoke to Sylvanas Windrunner, Banshee Queen of the forsaken, and she shed light on several key issues, including undieting, hunter training, building this city, and bouncing idly. In this installment of Ask a Faction Leader, we'll be sitting with Master Mathias Shaw, leader of Stormwind's SI:7, covert agents of the crown. Our first reader question... Hello Mathias, Can you describe the feeling you got when you found out that you couldn't beat your granny? Verenor, Warlock - Defias Brotherhood Mathias responds: Gahaha, that's what I like to see! Pullin' no punches, right from the get-go. Hard-hittin' questions.
BlizzCon 2009: World of Warcraft Preview Panel liveblog
The World of Warcraft preview panel starts in about five minutes at 12:30 PST. Liveblogging will begin right after the jump.Expect to hear more about the newly announced Cataclysm expansion, as well as all of the new features we just heard about at the BlizzCon 2009 opening ceremony. Should be exciting!
Breakfast Topic: New Old Heroics
So we were randomly discussing lore and the like here in the WoW Insider offices yesterday, and Alex came up with what I thought was a pretty awesome idea. With Wrath, Blizzard's worked at subtly moving along the story of Warcraft, with for example, taking the Westfall Brigade away from a now peaceful Westfall to serve in Northrend. Of course, back in Westfall, young players can still get missions from Gyran Stoutmantle to cut off Van Cleef's head as if nothing had happen.
All the World's a Stage: Raiding and RP don't mix, or do they? -- A question of continuity.
All the World's a Stage is brought to you by David Bowers every Sunday evening, investigating the mysterious art of roleplaying in the World of Warcraft.The Warcraft storyline is part of a great tradition of fantasy literature, and, as with any form of storytelling, the entire span of WoW lore involves a series of events and changes. Arthas wasn't always the Lich King, Illidan used to be able to wear shoes, and your character was once a little child, with no spells or epic weapons at all. All these things fit together in a single story universe, in which the progressive changes taking place in the story made the world what it is today.But what is it today? Is Illidan now dead or alive? Is VanCleef dead or alive, for that matter? As a gaming environment, any boss you kill today has to be there for me to kill tomorrow. The WoW game world needs to remain basically unchangeable -- but over time this can stifle a roleplayer's sense of immersion in its narrative. To illustrate the impact this sort of immutability has on storytelling, let us take a page from a certain fantasy story you might have read, and see how it might work as a WoW raid instance.Welcome to Mines of Moria! This raid instance will reset in 6 days, 10 hours and 41 minutes.[Raidleader] [Gandalf]: Beware! There are older and fouler things than orcs in the deep places of the world. Follow my glowing staff! [Raidleader] [Gandalf]: ... and um... get ready to pull that first group of orcs. Kill order is skull, x, circle... Gimli, can you offtank that cave troll?
For great (Badge of) Justice!
The other night my guild stepped into a heroic instance for the first time. Now this isn't great news for those of you who already spend your weekend nights huggling Gruul, but it's a great accomplishment for us. Since we all have the Coilfang Resevoir key we started with Slave Pens, and I must say it was a joy to have challenge in that instance again. It felt like I had been given the instance back, as it were. If I were to walk into Slave Pens at the normal level I would feel little interest since it's tuned for 62-64. I finally understand the method behind the heroic dungeon concept, to allow level 70 players to have fun going to those dungeons again. But what I'd really like is heroic dungeon settings for the old instances in Azeroth. Can you imagine what Van Cleef would be like at level 70? It makes me giddy just to think of it. We only got as far as the first boss, and then the trash beat us to a complete pulp before exhaustion forced us to quit. I really was surprised how the tides shift with heroics. I have a hard time reconciling trash mobs who are impossible to kill and bosses who are manageable. Either way I am excited to have such a novel experience added to our game play. Whoever came up with the concept of heroic dungeons was brilliant. I have my first Badge of Justice, now. Only 112 to go.
WoW Moviewatch: Rogue solos Van Cleef
While the title of this post may not seem that amazing, the actual video and character used are impressive. Theotwink of Malygos has twinked his character's basic gear, causing his dodge rate to exceed 100%. At level 10 (base level to enter the Deadmines) his high-level allies helped clear him to Van Cleef, where the showdown began. In what I can only guess was an excruciatingly long and probably boring fight, given all the guild/tell chat that was taking place, Theotwink emerges victorious over Van Cleef and his adds that he calls during the fight.
Showdown: Van Cleef vs. Arthas
I can't believe this thread went on as long as it did in a relatively unironic tone. Seriously, they made it to page three before anybody even mentioned laughing at the idea-- at least three pages of people seriously considered what would happen in a fight between Van Cleef and Arthas.For the record, Van Cleef would do the exact same thing he does to everyone he fights-- call his opponent a lapdog, summon adds around 50%, and then die horribly. I'm calling Arthas on this one for sure. Better question: Ony vs. Hakkar (with aspects or without?). Or Vael vs. Nef (as a legendary forum thread, now lost to history in the old forums, once postulated). Or C'thun vs. Kel Thuzad! I'm going to have to go with C'thun for sure-- KT is a lich, but C'thun is an Old God, man!So, so nerdy. And yet, if you're into the lore at all, so very intriguing. Especially with the Caverns of Time upcoming, expect to see lots more of this stuff. When you're able to get up close and personal with some of the biggest figures in the Warcraft universe, you can't help but imagine what these showdowns would be like.
Phat Loot Phriday: Cruel Barb
Since pretty much all of our phat loot so far has been crazy awesome endgame stuff, I thought it might be nice to take a look at some lower level lewts. And so here's this, a dual sword twink's favorite weapon.Name: Cruel BarbType: Rare One-Hand SwordDamage, Speed: 30-57, 2.80 (15.5 DPS)Abilities: On Equip: +12 Attack Power Usable at level 19, this sword is a no brainer for WSG twinks. It's not the only weapon you could choose to equip your overpowered lowbie with, but with a respectable drop rate, a nice attack power bonus, and the ability to dual wield them for a double bonus, it's an easy choice for any melee class. How to Get It: If you've ever made it past level 20, you've probably already gotten it already. Cruel Barb is dropped by the great Van Cleef (VC, if you're LFG in Westfall), the main boss of the Deadmines, the game's first major instance (can we consider Ragefire Caverns major? I'll let you guys decide that). There's a droprate of around 13%, so if you don't see one after eight runs through or so, you're just really unlucky. Keep in mind that it's BOP, though, so while it's tempting to run your high level alt through Deadmines to get it, you won't be able to pass it off to your twink... unless you bring a friend and have them reinvite you into the instance, of course. Ah, the pleasures of twinking!Auction Price: Would probably be high if you could actually put it on the AH. But instead you'll have to settle for 29s 64c to a vendor-- or just go ahead and DE it. After all, how else are you going to be able to do that +15 agility enchant on both your weapons?
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!
