Recently in Events Category

I have been blogging a little less than often in the last few days, but I promise I have a few good reasons. I tried to get some posting done in advance, and it worked, to a degree. I did run out of advance writing on Friday. The reason I was in need of working ahead, is because I had a couple of important events in the last week. The first was a private event in game, and while I will not go into what it entailed, let's just say it was an added level of connection for me, and involved a collar.

The second, this past Saturday, my Draenei Paladin was married at an as yet undiscovered location in the world by most players. I will be posting screenshots as soon as possible, but I had several high stress days where I tried to write the  words and timelines for both of these ceremonies, which mean a lot to me. Once the wedding was done, I decided to take a day to relax, and then I realized that my game time expires on the 30th, and I wanted to spend as much time as I can in game, in case I can't come back until around the time that Wrath is released.

I should be back into the writing now, and will do my best to get a few more 'in case' posts which can be posted just in case I am not able to write something on the day of. I also plan to do a podcast episode in the next day or two, and will try to edit it for release by the end of the week. In the meantime, enjoy the vibrant worldwide economy, check out my past posts, and see ya soon!

As you likely know by now, Brewfest, the Oktoberfest of World of Warcraft, and the holiday has a fair number of new things that weren't around in 2007. First off, the new holiday boss. Coren Direbrew can be found, when you have the quest at 70, in the Grim Guzzler in Blackrock Depths. He is a fairly hard fight, with different phases. Much like the Lord Ahune fight at midsummer, there are things that pop up out of the ground to knock you in the air, there are adds that make things difficult, and of course awesome loot.

At the last minute Blizzard announced they will allow all races to get both the Kodo and Ram mounts, though they will now be dropped by Coren, not purchased for tokens. While Kisirani just a day before had adamantly argued in this lengthy thread that they would not be allowing Alliance to get Kodos, we did find out due to this post that Blizzard had hotfixed the two mounts into Coren's loot table and all races would be able to win the mounts.

To get to Coren,you pick up a quest in Kharanos, Dun Morogh, though some requisites might be needed, then you head to the Blackrock Depths. When inside the instance, you kill off the level 70 Dark Irons, then use the controller to travel through the Depths to the Grim Guzzler. That's right, no need to clear the way. Once there, you talk to the dwarven spy, admire some demonic tail, and when you are all ready, you go and toss a few 'Yo Mama's at Coren, causing him to attack.

My advice is this: Run away when he disarms, have a healthstone ready, and burn him down as fast as you possibly can. There will be stuns, throws, and adds, and all of those will be dealt with in the proper times, but the big thing is to get him down as fast as you can. The loot is decent, though there is no known pet that he drops. He does have two trinkets that summon mobs to help you, but those are not vanity pets. Our group had 4 summons and killed him twice, which got me Empty Mug of Direbrew on Telaan. Enjoy Brewfest, and be sure to act responsibly and to not drink and ride!

Today saw an announcement that the next patch to World of Warcraft will be incoming soon, which will be the pre expansion patch we have all been waiting for. I was luckily in the beta when the news hit, and I got a bit of the early reactions that those in the thick of testing have about the impending release. The first impression I got was that many think it is too early, and others thought that this was one of the many 'Soon™' promises that Blizzard is both legendary and frequently mocked for.

I did a bit of research based on the first expansion, Burning Crusade, and I got some insights into how things might go this time. I would like to point out first that this is not last time, and that was Blizzard's first expansion to an MMO, and they have most likely learned a bit since then. So, the first fact we need to keep in mind was the January 16th release date of Burning Crusade. The next one I dug up was that the 2.0.1 content patch was released on the 5th of December. This was 1 month and 11 days before the release of the expansion.

Now, these two dates do not really have much of a connection now, since we still do not know the date that 3.0.1 will be pushed to the live realms, but keep that in mind when we do get that anticipated patch. The other piece of data we have is that Blizzard, after weeks of speculation about the release date, confirmed the release date on the 9th of November. This was 1 month and 4 days before the patch was released and over 2 months before the expansion was actually released.

Now, again, as I said before, things may well be different this time. Mike Morhaime has stated emphatically that the expansion will be released in 2008, so even if the date is announced on December 1st, I would think it is unlikely it will be a 2 month wait. Second, Blizzard was being pummeled by it's fans and the press for a release date, or at least a confirm or deny on the matter. This could have forced Blizzard to give a release date before they were ready. Lastly, as I said in the beginning and repeatedly, things can be different. Things likely will be different. Tomorrow Blizz could give us a release date. They could do it at Blizzcon. They could release it at Blizzcon! In the end, we'll have to wait and see, but these are just a few of my ideas of what the announcement could mean.

I was sitting in IRC chat, discussing the beta, and a friend going by the name MrCynical pointed out that it seems Orcs get more play, again, in this expansion than his beloved undead, who you would think have more reason to want to take down the Lich King. I spent time last night exploring a bit and found the Westfall based human settlements in Grizzly Hills, which I noted made major human settlements in Howling Fjord, Borean Tundra, and Grizzly Hills, in addition to a human leading the Kirin' Tor, Rhonin.

I guess the two separate points struck me as odd. Then I realized something: The majority of the conflicts in the game from start to now seem to boil down to the hatred between Orcs and Humans. In fact, if you look back through the entire franchise, there seems to be a pivotal connection that boils all battles down to these two races. The biggest connection is that these two are the lead races of their faction, making them the big center pieces of many conflicts.

Sure, we have Undead and Humans, Orcs and Night Elves, Orcs and Dwarves, and Draenei and Blood Elves, but most of the major stuff, like the expansions and stuff, is pitting those two lead races against each other. From the start of Warcraft to the upcoming Wrath of the Lich King, these two races have taken the lead in the events of the people of Azeroth and Outlands. What do you think about this breakdown? Would you like to see more major roles for other races? Or are you happy with these two races sharing the lead of the game? Let me know in the comments. 

I have four 70s now, and all but one has epic flying, which he will no doubt have by the time Wrath hits until it hits in the next five weeks or so. While yes, there are quests that can be done, I am honestly almost out of quests to do on those four 70s. It is therefore a really nice thing when Blizzard gives me something to spend a bit of my time on other than dailies and other gold building pass times.

Late last night WoW Insider posted that European and Chinese servers had reportedly received a special Olympics based PvP reward set. It seems that when you participate in a Battleground you get a Competitor's Tabard. Yes, that's right, the item is so new and so undiscovered in the many data mines, that I had to link to the WoW Armory for it, instead of WoW Head. If you win the battleground, you have a chance, seems about 50%, to get a Gold Medallion. The medallion summons a really neat Spirit of Competition, which is a little Chinese dragon looking vanity pet.

As soon as I saw this news, I knew I had to have it. Well, on a hop over to my mule to buy the last few Mark of Sargeras I needed to take Telaan to Exalted(yay!), I saw Ciarda, an old and dear friend, who had both the tabard and the pet. I made arrangements to go do some PvP with her group when she had gotten some food, and went back to Medros to wait. I must say, the few minutes I waited were more than worth it!.

I joined her, Silvarius, and a couple of their friends, though I failed to grab screen shots or the names, and we headed to the shortest of winnable BGs, Warsong Gulch. This was a night of firsts. I cannot recall the last time I won back to back Battlegrounds. I also do not recall any time when all four of the BGs were in the 1000+ range of open matches. PvP was smoking! The first win netted me a tabard, a few deaths, and some good times. The second netted me the Medallion, and it almost felt like a blow out, as the other side seemed to almost give up around the final flag cap, barely defending and using poor strategy.

The other side had little chance, with a concerted and well played offense, mixed with defense at just the right times. I can't say that me and my Kara level gear did a whole lot to contribute, but sometimes all you need is a well placed stun, AoE, or Hammer of Wrath. I want to thank Ciarda, Silvarius and their friends for helping make the BGs seem fun again. Now, who wants to help me other three 70s get their own tabards and pets??

No, it is not Starcraft 2. Not Diablo 3 either, though both would be very worthy of pre order if they were able to be. No, in this I refer to Wrath of the Lich King. I was planning, originally, to wait until the CE was announced, but I decided, since I was near EB and had $5, I would pop in and get my name in for the next expansion. I also talked game with a fellow WoW fan, a woman no less, and we exchanged theories on the expansion, Blizzcon, and more.

While I was there I also clarified the process and speed I would need to use to get my name in for a CE of the Wrath of the Lich King when it is announced, though I will be checking every couple of weeks for any updates. I didn't catch the name of the attractive young lady behind the counter, but I think we could have possibly come up with what might be the utter pinnacle of WoW content progression.

First, they need to get a beta out. Soon. No, not Soon™ as per the forums. Second, they need to sell tickets soon for Blizzcon. At the same time, they would announce that Wrath went gold, somewhere in the time frame of late August. They would then announce that the release date for Wrath would be October 10, 2008. Yes, the first day of Blizzcon, or even the 11th, so it could be a perfect midnight launch. Then, either at the opening ceremony, or at the closing, Mike Morhaim would announce the next expansion. Well, what do ya think?

You may have noticed, perhaps, that there was a small gathering of gamers, 8,000 or so in number, in Paris, France this morning. There has been speculation and coverage leading up to this Invitational for days now, so much so that any reasonable player would be sick of hearing about it by now. Of course, I am not reasonable, sane, or anything of the sort, because I was one of many who were up at the ungodly hour of 4:30 AM central time to tune into the stream.

Diablo 3? Wrath Beta? Release dates for either Wrath or Starcraft 2? Both maybe? The splash screen on the Blizzard.com web site has been hinting at something, and even before the opening ceremonies began the word had leaked about the biggest announcement of the event, but as I said earlier, I really did not feel that one big announcement would be all we would get from the ceremony. If Apple can do several products in one keynote, Mike Morhaim can!

The Big News
As I was downing Coke Zero by the can to wake up enough to actually report on what we heard, what we were all excited about, when BA chat saw a pointer to MMO Champion, who had a leak from the big screen at the Invitational that showed the new title would be Diablo 3. Being that this was not overly surprising news, I hunkered down and waited for the announcements to start. Once the high res stream began working, missing little of importance, the stream stuttered and buffered it's way to the end.

Mike Morhaim proudly announced Diablo 3, an amazing teaser for the upcoming title showing a totally awesome cinematic with voice over. While I only caught part of it, I am sure that Blizzard's web site will have a copy of that video later today. Mike then introduced the Diablo 3 Lead Developer, who went into a couple of the classes, showed some of the improvements since Diablo 2, and showed a few fights.

Expecting that Mike would come back and begin the process of announcing the Wrath stuff, I was cursing when my stream kept stopping for minutes at a time. isheepthings, who was in BA chat at the time, was kind enough to give a description of the stuff, since apparently the stream wasn't crappy for all of the users, just most. I was saddened, though, to hear they went back to thanking folks in the audience and then moved onto some fire dancers to close out the opening ceremony.

While we will undoubtedly see a nice amount of information out of the unlabeled discussion panels, at least some of which will have WoW content as wrath draws near, it is not the level of information I was hoping for. Discussion panels will not have release dates, cinematic, or other Wrath information that many of us want so bad. I will report again when we have more information on whatever they decide to tell us about the Wrath expansion and current game. 

Going to be cross posting this on the Blog and the Podcast site between twitters as the Invitational news rolls in.

4:45 AM CST - Event begins
5:06 AM CST - Mike Morhaim takes the stage as the High Res audio and video begins working
5:20 AM CST - Diablo 3 is revealed as the next title from Blizzard Entertainment
5:45 AM CST - Dancers closing out ceremonies

Ok, so no Starcraft 2 news. No Wrath of the Lich King News. But we have Barbarians! And Witch Doctors! *yawn* What a waste of an hour's sleep.

'Tis the season for predictions, and boy are there some good ones. We sit at day 5 of the progressive splash screen on Blizzard's site, which has many interesting possibilities and ideas that could be hidden within, and of course breeding much speculation. Having read several of the varied perspectives online, I can tell you I have seen all kinds of theories and ideas for what might be coming when the Invitational starts at 11:45 AM in Paris on Saturday.

A few of the more thoughtful and educated predictions I have read made me think back. The 'Jobs' section of the Blizzard web site has had a lot of interesting entries over the last few years. The employment section of the Blizzard site has long been the fuel to launch rumors, and I think that what we hear from Mike Morhaim and company on Saturday will have at least something to do with those numerous and widely varying job postings.

The job postings I recall at the time of this writing are for a mobile game developer and a next gen MMO developer/designer. While it is possible that the next gen MMO spot(s) were for Wrath or the following expansion, I think they have at least some small thing to do with the bigger announcement we will see in the Worldwide Invitational, the one hinted by Rob Pardo, though by far not the only big announcement.

The mobile developer, I think, will be the mentioned-as-possible Mobile version of WoW, allowing us to chat, check mail, and other low resource functions. What platforms and devices this will work on, I do not know, but I would say that WoW Mobile for the iPhone is an obvious choice with the App Store coming to iTunes. I sadly do not know the other devices and platforms well enough to actually speak to what else might be possible, though feel free to comment your opinions and possible devices.

The second position could be a fit for the more common predictions. These seem to take one of two lies of thought. Thought number one is 'no brainer, it's Diablo 3'. This is the only major property of Blizzards without something in the production or release phase right now, so this is a decent guess. I do not recall much ice in the Diablo universe, but I am told Diablo 2 had an ice zone. This means that it could be Diablo or a Diablo universe title in the splash screen, which is now progressed to the point of five runes and a pair of glowing eyes.

Add onto this theory that the 8th anniversary of Diablo 2 is on the Sunday of the Invitational and it gets to be an interesting theory, gaining a bit more credibility. At least one of the runes in the ice is also said to be from the earlier Diablo games, though there is also a theory that compares other runes to the 2 other known Blizzard titles.

The other line of thought is the 'D3 would be too obvious!'. These people have a few reasons, such as the one I mention above about Diablo 3 being the only franchise not in the works or released at this point. With Rob Pardo pretty much telling the press that there will be a game announced, it is only a logical conclusion that Diablo would be the title, which is a conclusion Blizzard could expect and prey upon.

Blizzard knows their customers and their fans quite well, so it is not hard for them to lead them down the path of thinking that they want them to. This could be an entirely new title, or as one person put it, the eyes could just by the Lich King Arthas, perhaps heralding the much anticipated teaser or even the cinematic being released at the invitational. What do you think is coming? What juicy Wrath news, smoking Starcraft 2 tidbits, and Diablo 3 revelations will we see?

Stay tuned to my twitter and this blog for the news from the Invitational, which I will be paying great attention to for you all. 

[Note: As this was being written, it was revealed that a secure authentication tool will be made available. A pseudo random code generator, the authenticator will be associated with your account and the code it generates will be connected to the account once registered. Priced at roughly $7, it is a small pittance to pay to prevent the loss of years of work. I know I will be finding some way to buy one of these. Good though this is, it is unlikely to be the big news of the Invitational.]

I am extremely happy to announce that I now have a 4th 70, Telaan the Draenei. The plan with Telaan was to spend two levels in each Outlands zone with a mixture of instances, questing, and some rep grinding. There were a few times when I left a zone with an unfinished quest, but never without my 2 levels dinged. I saw Ramparts, Blood Furnace, Underbog and Slave Pens. As I planned, I spent time in Hellfire, Zangar, Terrokar, Nagrand, and finally dinged in Blade's Edge Mountain.

As I mentioned a few hours ago, a great deal of level 68 was spent on the holiday fires, so I cannot take full credit for my plan working completely, but I am fairly confident I would have still dinged in Blade's Edge Mountain, though it may have been a last remnant of the quests, not in the middle of them like I did. I wanted to thank the many guild mates who helped me out along the way to this level. I can't name you all, but my thanks go out to you none the less. I began my 4 days off hoping to hit 70 by the end of them, and my guildies made it possible to hit it halfway through. Now, to the Isle!