Project Lore

Once again, fan clamor gets things done. You guys have been so enthusiastic about Project Lore, and one of our top requests has been for Project Lore shirts. Well, we at Project Lore are extremely excited to announce that we have partnered with J!NX to bring to you the Lore Store, accessible from www.JINX.com/projectlore. Initially, we'll have two great shirt designs, available on September 5th: the Classic Logo design, as seen on this week's wrap up episode, and the Wings of Victory design, featuring silhouettes of all the World of Warcraft classes. You can sign up to be informed when they are available using the notify me tool at J!NX. We can't wait to start seeing you guys wearing 'em!

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Episode 6 has wrapped, and here's proof. Alexis Knapp is back with a recap of the episode, a bit of Project Lore news, and a viewer question for Juggynaut. Remember, if you've got questions for us, send them to editor@projectlore.com or post them on the wrap up! Armory links for characters featured in episode 6: DrDark, Dorkins, Goggins, Lylelovett, and Shnoobins Check out our subscribe page to find tons of places where you can follow us. Some quick links here for the Episodes RSS feed, the Blog RSS feed, our Twitter, our  Facebook Group, Facebook Page, and MySpace. That's it for Episode 6, so stay tuned to the blog for info on Episode 7 and its release schedule.

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Yesterday at the Leipzig Games Convention, Blizzard gave the world the first look at Wrath of the Lich King's cinematic trailer. The trailer initially blew me away with its fantastic animation, beautifully crafted landscapes, epic music and spot on narration by Arthas' father, King Terenas Menethil. Then a friend and I began discussing it and finally, comparing it to previous Warcraft trailers. We decided that it's lacking in content. I have seen all of Blizzard's cinematic trailers, for all their titles - heck, I even own the Blizzard Entertainment DVD Collection. This allows me to see the progression of their craft. Since the release of Diablo II, the technology, art, and design of their cinematics have always been groundbreaking. Especially the technology. But what is a cutscene without story? Arthas' turn in Warcraft III still resonates in my mind as one of the coolest things I have seen from the game industry. Was it an original twist? No, but the video's presentation made it amazing. But that comparison isn't entirely far. After all, that cutscene was just that, a cutscene. What I am actually discussing is a cinematic trailer, so let us compare apples to apples. In the original World of Warcraft trailer Blizzard introduced us to everything. The classes, the races, the setting, the landscape. The trailer told players what to expect - an epic struggle. The Burning Crusade cinematic featured a cocky Illidan Stormrage daring us to come out and do battle with him. Shortly after being told that "You are not prepared" the cinematic shifts gears, introducing the new playable races. What does the Wrath of the Lich King offer us? It shows Arthas crossing a frozen lake in Northrend shortly before he plunges Frostmourne into the ice. We see the release of a large dragon (probably Sindragosa) that then stirs Arthas' undead army as it passes overhead. An epic presentation but it doesn't lead us, or the story, on, as previous trailers did. Heck, even the Sunwell Plateau trailer (basically machinima) pushed the story forward. And where is the action that the other two presentations had? Sorry Blizzard, but for all you put into the presentation, you left the story at the door. I don't enjoy or expect the formulaic movie plot of build up, climax and close in my video game trailers. Your previous formula of slight build-up and a lot of climax always had me on the edge of my seat. Ultimately, those previous trailers lead me to want the game (which would present the close) that much more. Stream the trailer here, download the high resolution version for PC or Mac or an alternate mirror for streaming and download can be found at FileFront.

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Late last week, news started coming out about the new mounts that would be introduced with the launch of Wrath of the Lich King. I, for one, am not a mount collector, so I simply read the news and moved on with my life. That is, until last night when I caught a glimpse of one of those mounts, The Hog. The Hog is an upcoming rideable mount that, according to reports, is a permanent mount (not a temporary quest reward) which can be summoned like all other Wrath mounts. To top it off, it is even in the current build of the beta! There is other information about The Hog that has been gathered through datamining of the game files. First off, the mount currently isn't flagged for Engineers, but due to its look it will likely be restricted when it goes live. So be sure to take it for a spin in the beta. Next, it appears that the bike's speed might be tied to its rider's level, much like the Winged Steed of the Ebon Blade. Therefore, the higher the toon, the faster the bike will go. As of now, I haven't spoken with anyone who actually owns the sweet ride, so this information is simply rumors based on the aforementioned mined data. That hasn't stopped me from getting incredibly excited though. I have always fancied the engineering mounts over the animals since The Burning Crusade. Not only do I think the engineering mounts look better, but they are just far less common due to the restriction. But wow, does The Hog look awesome or what? The screenshots even make it look like The Hog may allow for an extra passenger! Sadly, The Hog does have a knock against it. It seems that the developers have seen fit to put some restrictions on the bike - possibly for noise pollution. The Hog can only take you around in style in Northrend and Outland. Shucks, can't tear down the shores of Westfall. Oh and in response to one of my earlier blogs, is that close enough to a car for you?

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Finally, Episode 6.2 is available for your viewing pleasure. The guys destroyed Syth with their offensive strategy, and now they've got Talon King Ikiss to beat down. It's a tough fight, so check out our Sethekk Halls Guide for more deets. Let us know if you know a good way to take him down. Armory links for characters featured in this episode: DrDark, Dorkins, Goggins, Lylelovett, and Shnoobins Head to our subscribe page and follow us on your favorite sites. Use the Episodes RSS feed, the Blog RSS feed, or Twitter to find out when new episodes are out, and join our Facebook Group, Facebook Page, and MySpace. Alexis will be back tomorrow with another wrap-up, so check back at 6PM Eastern/3PM Pacific to catch it.

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I was on vacation in the Outer Banks of North Carolina until August 10th. Yes, the day before BlizzCon tickets went on sale. I actually cut that vacation two days short so I could get home to a solid internet connection. I knew that I would need one to scoop up the two tickets I wanted to purchase. There I was, August 11th, stuck in the epic "fail Murloc" and XML error cycle like thousands of other users. F5, F5, F5, still the murloc haunts me. After Blizzard Poster Nethaera said the tickets had been sold out, I thought all hope was lost and began looking at eBay. Don't look at eBay. It is simply heart-breaking. Yes I saw that there would also be a small reserve of tickets to be sold at 8PM but that is PST time, and I was going to be unavailable then. My BlizzCon hopes were dashed. Just two days later, Mike Morhaime, the big cheese at Blizzard, pulled some strings and reworked the show's floor to allow room for 3,000 more people. To top it off they decided that these tickets would only be made available via a lottery system for those with an active Blizzard account (meaning their Online Store) as of August 12th. Huzzah, less chance that the last batch will be placed on eBay! The details on the lottery came out yesterday and will include an opt-in period much like the Wrath Beta. After that time frame elapses - still unknown - Blizzard will select 1,500 lucky members and allow them to purchase two tickets each. Should there be any tickets left, there will be another drawing and so on until all remaining tickets are sold. I have been fairly lucky at bingo in my life so I hope that luck carries over into this process. I really, really, want to snag that BlizzCon Polar Bear mount. Should anyone want to feel my pain, I invite you to play BlizzCon 08 - The Game. You can learn more about the lottery system via the BlizzCon Drawing FAQ. Good luck.

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All of us here at Project Lore have recieved a lot of great feedback and enthusiastic community interaction. Earlier this week, one fan named Rob created this awesome Goggins theme that we thought you guys might enjoy. Maybe it will help hold you guys over until we release the next episode, which has been pushed forward to Thursday. Thanks, SaintGermain! So without further ado, It's Goggins by Rob Houghton. We at Project Lore all got a kick out of it, so let us know what you think. Also, if you've any remixes of songs or anything else super cool like this, send em in to editor@projectlore.com! Just to reiterate, due to fan clamor, we'll have episode 6.2 for you guys tomorrow with the wrap up at 3PM PDT on Friday!

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Project Lore's Alexis Knapp recaps episode 6 in this week's Community Wrap-Up. Alexis answers your questions and keeps you informed with WoW news and things going on here at Project Lore.

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Well here's an interesting follow-up to my last post here at ProjectLore.com. In a strange turn of events, I was on WoW the other night. I haven't had much time to play 'cuz I got all these episodes to make for you, but I had a moment or two to do a fishing daily. While I was running around Shatt, I saw a friend pop on that I hadn't seen in some time. I clicked on his name to see where he was and saw that he was no longer in a guild. What happened? This guy was a great pali tank and he wasn't in a guild? Kara, SSC, TK, BT, Hyjal, some Sunwell and no guild? I watched this guy go from pali healer to pali tank over the course of a few months to be one of the best tanks I've ever seen. So what gives? As you can see from the screen capture, something stupid happened (btw - the names have been blurred to protect the innocent (I think they're innocent - who knows)). His guild /gbooted him right out of the guild for being afk for too long. WTF? Their main tank booted 'cause he had to go afk to help his kids out? His RL children needed help and the guild booted him. What a-holes. Now who knows if the his side of the story is the complete picture, but I do know of more stories where someone was kicked out of a guild for some of the stupidest reasons I have ever heard. I've seen people get booted for not showing up to raids or bad mouthing the guild or ninjaing gear in pugs thus soiling the guild's name - all of which are mostly legit reasons to /gkick someone, but I've also seen some absolutely stupid reasons people have been booted. What's the raziest /gboot you've seen or heard of? Did someone not wear their tabard to a raid? Did they not rez someone when it was easier for them to run back? Did they not bring enough mana biscuits? So what was it? Let me know.

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The picture really says it all. Garbage, waste, refuse, rubbish, whatever you want to call it - Azeroth does not have it. I am from the city of the most murders in 2007 brotherly love and here we have tons of it. Come garbage day it gets worse, as cans are knocked, dumped or blown over causing the streets to become even more cluttered. But head to Azeroth and you see nothing of the sort. Azeroth and Outlands are spic and span, yet you never see an Ironforge Sanitation Engineer. Why is that? True, there is no gum to spit on the ground inside World of Warcraft, but there certainly is a lot of vendor trash. All those vendors can't possibly keep everything to themselves! At this point in my life I am so used to trash being everywhere that it has become a staple of living in the city. But why isn't it around for my digital self? Here is what I think the Horde and Alliance does with their waste. Instead of ruining the glaciers of Northrend by burning the rubbish, we Azerothians recycle the trash into our most commonly used abilities. Here's what the tooltips should really say: Warrior's Charge/Intercept Stun: Warrior sprints at the target, throwing a pile of glass and nails at their feet causing them to ignore everything else as they attempt to maneuver the danger. Druid's Entangle: Druid throws down a pile of brush, tripping up the target. Can spec for added damage by including discarded needles in the organic matter. Rogue's Kidney Punch: Rogue swings a discarded tire at the target, rendering them unconscious. Duration dependent upon object's size. Added damage if the tire is filled with mosquito larvae. Hunter's Distracting Shot: Hunter throws a pile of trash right in front of the target, causing them to become distracted by disbelief. Priest's Psychic Scream: Priest pulls a gun from a storm drain and screams "Stop! Or My Mom Will Shoot". Yes Stallone, I went there. I am sure our community can add some creative ones to the list.

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