Project Lore

Ah, yes. All of your favorite Blues are back from their trip to BlizzCon, ready to tackle the never-ending Q&A session that is the official World of Warcraft forums. And those of you that didn't attend the convention certainly aren't scared to toss a few inquiries their way! Ghostcrawler was bemused that his sarcasm didn't come off very well over the internet when he unwittingly convinced people that Icecrown Citadel would be home to a whopping 31 different bosses (we now know it to be 12). Well, it seems that it doesn't work any better in real life, either. Ghostcrawler when he doesn't have to deal with the official forums. Referring to the top drop from the very same dungeon (the Legendary 2-handed axe, Shadowmourne) as a "Hunter weapon" didn't fly with the WoW community, apparently. Constantly fretting over nerfs and the unfair advantages of rival classes tends to keep the obsessive players on their toes. While I think most people got the joke, it seems as though GC still had to come right out and say it:

Anyone capable of using a two-handed axe can use Shadowmourne. The stat allocation may not benefit hunters or shamans as much as warriors, DKs or paladins.

So there you go. No need to whine (unless you like to run around in tights with a large wooden stick strapped to your back and make your pet do all the work). It might not even work for Hunters. But even if it does, it's certainly not an exclusive prize. Also, Nethaera is doing her best to keep eager players safe:

As always, when there is a beta, we will announce it. Please be wary of any and all claims of a beta or alpha for the new expansion being held.

Boubouille over at MMO-Champion says he's already received his first beta-invite spam, so let that be a warning to all of ya. If you see anything in your inbox claiming to give you exclusive access to the alpha, beta, or Cataclysm in any form, you might as well just go ahead and drag it to your trash can (or better yet, report the spam). With those caveats out of the way, we can see what Blizzard's saying about all of the interesting new systems they introduced over the past weekend. Here are the paraphrased highlights:

• On the simplification of stats: They were actually worried about oversimplification of items, citing that while some people enjoy doing the complex math associated with min-maxing their gear, most people took this information and just plugged it in on best-in-slot sites (like MaxDPS). In other words, they could probably get away with just giving equipment a name and some art if the trend continued. Folding extraneous stats back into the basic ones allows most players to eyeball which drops they want on the spot. (Amatera's conjecture: This doesn't preclude them from adding new stats again in the future, but this time they'll have a better understanding of how to do so without confusing players.)
• On the guild leveling system: Advancement is based on the Top 20 producers of the guild each day. If your guild is smaller than that, then everyone's contributions will count. Even if you think you've done a lot for the guild on a certain day and still don't appear in the Top 20, it shouldn't affect guild progression much anyway, and since you're doing the sorts of things you'd normally be doing to earn those points, it won't feel like wasted time, either.
• On the lack of new Draenei classes: They didn't think that any of the classes Draenei currently didn't have access to would fit them if they did. Ghostcrawler acknowledges that they have implemented some interesting new choices that some people would find hard to justify in the pre-Cataclysm lore, but maintained that the Draenei already have a well-rounded class structure.
• On changes to old zones: Bornakk says that while the terrain will not change for every zone (aside from those needed to be made to accommodate flying, of course), quest lines within them will be modified to allow for a more natural flow of leveling. Essentially, all those "bread crumb" quests that lead you halfway around the world will now send you, logically, to the hub in an  adjacent leveling area.
• On the new system of Reforging: Blizzard is reinforcing the idea of restrictions. This system is designed to make undesirable drops somewhat more desirable by giving players the ability to restructure its existing stats (the operative term here is "consolation prize"). This should not make said undesirable gear better than those designed to advance your class. Likewise, the best gear you can obtain benefits from Reforging the least, so that it cannot be extensively manipulated by min-maxers to break equipment progression.

So what do you guys think of this clarifications? Do they make you more excited? Have they eased some of your fears or have they made some of these new feature less interesting?

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Undeniably one of the best aspects of attending BlizzCon for us WoW fans was the chance to play the World of Warcraft: Cataclysm demo. Take a look here to see a little bit of gameplay on the new races, narrated a bit by me (don't mind the short little bit on Frostmourne while I was getting my camera set), and scroll down below for my thoughts! For both races’ demos, we start off with the level 5 characters in a bind. As iTZKooPA detailed, the Goblin has fainted and needs revival, while the Worgen has been taken hostage and faces an angry mob of humans who have him in a medieval pillory. But (surprise!) in both cases you regain control of the characters and move along to some pretty standard low-level quests of collecting shiny things hidden in the area around you and killing random creatures. The demo only allowed choosing either race as a male. We obviously have an idea of what the female Goblin will look like from released screenshots, artwork, and based on how they’ve appeared in the game thus far. But I am still incredibly curious about how the Worgen female will look. So far, the only thing we really have to base that on is the Worgen female mask found through data-mining, and who knows if that will even end up being an accurate picture when the game comes out. Another note on appearance: Goblins look downright mean. I scrolled through every available facial expression combination, and it seemed each was a varying level of permanent scowl. Granted, Goblins have a lot to be pissed off about right now, but can’t at least one version have a smile, or a smirk, even? Perhaps they’ll add one in before all is said and done. I guess I shouldn’t fret since I’ll roll female anyway! As for the Worgens – they all have pointy teeth, obviously, but they didn’t all look as angry. Perhaps all that fur makes them soft on the inside, too. Blizzard is also leaving plenty up to speculation, since the Cataclysm demo obviously was not the complete game. I mention this in the video as well, but another unknown is the dance that each race will perform (or any of their other emotes for that matter). One of the first thing I tried out while on both characters was a /dance, but to no avail. Only when the Worgen was in human form would he dance, and it was the usual Saturday Night Fever groove. The world map wouldn't zoom out beyond just the zone view, either, and based on panel discussions it sounds like they’re still working on the exact placement of new areas and how the post-Cataclysm map will appear. So other than seeing how the characters move, and what kind of quests they're up to at level 5, it's hard to glean too much from the gameplay. Regardless, it was still an awesome opportunity to get an up-close look at how the new races will play. So how are you guys feeling so far about what you've seen of gameplay? The video can be difficult to discern at parts -- some of the screens were too bright for my camera to handle -- but I hope you've enjoyed getting a bit of a sneak peek!

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BlizzCon held some pretty fun events this year for fans to watch, including a live raid event with Premonition, the guild known most recently as the first guild in the U.S. to achieve Alone in the Darkness. Coliseum style, the guild took on several bosses at once as they came in five waves. And a very large audience looked on, making for a crowded venue but also a lot of fun as everyone cheered on Premonition. They were successful at downing the first few sets of bosses, then had some trouble when they focused on Thaddius first in his set with fellow Naxx bosses Patchwerk and Anub'Rekhan. The team wiped on that first try, then re-set, this time focusing on Patchwerk first. That proved to be more successful, and they downed the group. But that sneaky team at Blizzard had something clever in store for the final fight. Hogger. Yes, the mighty level 11 elite Riverpaw gnoll chieftain from Elwynn Forest (he's actually Arthas in disguise [/silly]) made his appearance as an upgraded level 80 elite. As you'll see, he wasn't exactly an easy fight: Another pretty standard attraction at the convention was halls of artwork created for WoW. As a neat addition this year, Blizzard also displayed a group of showcases full of "n00bz." Blizzard handed out 225+ of these neat little figurines as complete blanks to select employees, and many of them wound up on display at BlizzCon. Here's a quick video I took so you can see them for yourself. I narrated a bit along the way, and paused at some of my favorites: A final note on the N00bz - part of each BlizzCon goer's swag bag included an exclusive StarCraft II "Raynor" figure. It's part of a new series of collectible Blizzard-inspired toys. Hopefully we'll see more of these soon. Among my other fave sightings at BlizzCon, I can't fail to mention being dazzled by Felicia Day and the cast of The Guild. As you can see, I went in full fan-girl mode to get a signed cast photo (for my husband, really!) and a snapshot with Felicia Day, since I've also loved her in Dr. Horrible, Buffy and Dollhouse :). Unfortunately, I failed to shoot video of the crew, so you all will have to settle for the lovely photo of Felicia and I! At least the memory will live on in my heart... I just wish I was as lucky as iTZKooPA, who was being inadvertently followed by the Guild cast. Lucky guy! Well, this turned out to be a bit of a random look at some of my fave random sightings at BlizzCon 2009. Hope you've enjoyed it. Let us know what you think!

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After all of the panels, all of our surprise and not-so-surprise announcements, all the shopping and meeting other players, and of course all the demo playing that we could squeeze in, Blizzard still had one hell of a closing ceremony in for BlizzCon ticket holders. The closing ceremony began with Blizzard Chief Operating Officer Paul Sams recapping the overall feel of the convention and announcing that 1,000 BlizzCon-goers and watchers on Direct TV would receive guaranteed beta slots for Starcraft II. Take a look to see the closing ceremony remarks and a video Blizzard put together highlighting the events of the weekend: Next up on stage, we had the band Level 80 Elite Tauren Chieftans. Excuse me, now that the level cap is getting raised to 85, they’ll be The Artists Formerly Known as Level 80 Elite Tauren Chieftans. The band rocked out to songs including "Power of the Horde" (for the Horde!) and "I Am Murloc." Here’s a clip from their first song of the night, "Rogues Do It from Behind" (yes we do, thank you very much.) These guys know how to rock hard, and as you probably tell from the audio in this video, the bass was pumping so hard that I could feel it reverberating in my chest. Awesome. The most anticipated performer of the night had a drawn-out entrance. After L80ETC (TAFKAL80ETC) finished their set, the Direct TV broadcast came on the screens around stage, as the audience (including me and Juggy) grew antsy. Ropes that designated aisles and a mosh pit area were taken away, and the audience brave enough to be right up front crowded in toward the stage. Finally, the Prince of Darkness made his appearance with some shouts to the audience and introductory music accompanied with glowing red lights throughout the room. The audience grew so loud that I couldn’t even hear myself as a I screamed along. Ozzy played almost a full setlist of 10 tracks, including classics such as "War Pigs," "Iron Man" and "Crazy Train" (with special accompaniment by 9-year-old guitar prodigy Yuto Miyazawa). And at several points mid-show while singing, he doused the audience up front with buckets and hose streams of foam. The concert was an epic ending to an epic event. Wish you all could have been there rocking along with us! Here, Ozzy opens up the show with "Bark at the Moon." This one contains some NSFW language! That's it for now, but keep checking back at Project Lore for more videos from BlizzCon. Coming up in the next couple of days we'll have more footage of live gameplay of the new races as well as more sights and sounds from the event. Leave us a comment and let us know what you think!

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I was lucky enough to get a round and a half of playtime with Cataclysm over the weekend, despite the lengthy lines. For both of my expeditions I chose a backstabbing goblin to ease my transition, and to allow me to experience the maximum amount of content in the short windows allotted to me.

The World of Warcraft: Cataclysm demo started off with my goblin near death, or so the debuff explained. A shock with jumper cables didn't manage to awaken my heroic avatar – he saved the people around him – but accepting a quest revived his spirits. I quickly learned that my level 5 rogue, quickly named 'Asffda', arrived in his dire circumstances thanks to an explosive payload from the local Alliance navy. I was then tasked with rescuing my comrades from their escape pods. The escape pods exploded upon interaction. Miraculously, the diminutive greenskins inside are able to survive the blasts. Blizzard forgot to announce their other racial, Immunity to explosive, I guess.

Asffda then paddled ashore to tackle other missions. Missions of pure goblin bliss. I collected a trio of quests at the first hub, only one of which was cheesy. Everyone single one of them was along the generic lines of “Kill 10 foozles”, but they possessed some unique goblin twist that made them amusing. One had me collecting tools, while the other one had me tossing explosive banana bunches at the local monkey population. An incredibly effective method of pest control.

Due to the amount of people in the starting areas (hello WoW in late November 2004), I decided to break away from the pack after bagging those quests. I spent the rest of my time taking in the sights, soaking up the rays in my new home and greeting the locals. A few things became quite apparent. First off, the Alliance is definitely put in a position as the absolute enemy from the get go. For starters, their dastardly navy nearly killed me. Compounding one's hatred would be the incessant attacks by the local SI:7 who inhabit the tiny island. The instigators even randomly attacked the local Orc Camp while I was having my gear repaired and feeding the vendors. The audacity of those cretins! Down with the Alliance!

/me clears head

Goblin culture was also expressed in the very environments that I traversed over my sessions. In true goblin form, the inventive creatures managed to train the local monkey population to help in their mining operations. Although they had just made camp, the cave looked well mined, and operations were running smoothly. I highly expect Blizzard to focus most of the early goblin experience on the race's fondness for environmental...shall we say, "enhancements?" Supporters of Al Gore they are not.

Speaking of environments, the water in Cataclysm looks pretty amazing. Considering how wet we will be (underwater dungeons!), it's a good thing that Blizzard updated the dual hydrogen compound's effects.

What, you thought I forgot about the racials? Heavens no, I am simply saving the best for last. Rocket Barrage could be cooler, but it's pretty fun either way. The ability fires a single goblin-constructed incendiary device at your target. I forgot to check the range on it, but it may be useful as a pulling ability for melee classes. I just don't see it having much utility unless it scales to have multiple explosives. The Rocket Jump is where it's at. Triggering this spell on your utility belt will vault you into the air as your arc over some 20 yards. You can easily leap over foes in the way (I kept pulling aggro), vault to higher ground, across canyons or launch yourself out of the water. No matter what your end goal is with a lift-off, the character is beautifully animated with pyrotechnics, swinging arms and all. It's easily the most enjoyable racial in the game.

I really want to roll a toon for both of the upcoming races. Who else got to take a goblin for a spin? What'd you think? What class are you gonna roll? If I didn't already have a gnomish Death Knight, I'd rock that.

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Here are The Rockstars Of The Day Note: The below information was covered as part of our Live Blogging & Tweeting during the show.  But the information is simply too important to be glossed over.  Here are the major gameplay changes in one convenient, to the point package. I love math, but the number crunching in World of Warcraft has become incredibly complex lately.  To the point were it can become very difficult to decipher which piece of gear is best for one's spec.  I'm not referring to weighing just a few extra crit to a couple additional attack power.  I refer to the complex matrix of attack power, crit, hit, expertise, agility, armor penetration and stamina that Solidsamm has to worry about on a daily basis.  Then there are some statistics that overlap, Spirit and Mana per 5 seconds, or the stats that are damn near impossible to figure out without Blizzard's help.  It's because of this that Blizzard has decided to reorganize the core statistics, merging the overlaps, dropping some from gear or abandoning others entirely.

• Attack Power - AP is being removed from gear, and replaced with Agility for most classes (Druid, Rogues, Hunters, Shamans).  It's unconfirmed, but assumed, that plate wearers will gain AP from Strength.  We'll be receiving 2AP from each Agil/Str point.  One panelist stated that the side effect is that plate wearers will no longer want to steal "lesser" gear.
• Haste - Haste will no longer increase the speed of one's attacks.  Instead it is going to increase the rate of resource generation (energy, rage, runes, focus), excluding mana (see below).
• Spell Power - Spell Power is being tossed in with Intellect "to make it (Intellect) stop sucking".  Wasn't that a side effect of Intellect back in vanilla WoW?  I can't remember.
• Mana Per 5 Seconds (Mp5) - Like Spell Power, this stat will be merged with another, Spirit.  Spirit is to become the catch all statistic for mana regeneration.  Following that logic, every mana user will be given a Meditation type spell for situational regen purposes.
• Armor Penetration - The fact that Blizzard had to outright explain this stat, in detail, eludes to its confusing nature.  All you need to know is that it'll be gone when Cataclysm drops.
• Tanking - There's actually a pair of changes for the tanks out there.  Most importantly the Defense stat is getting booted from gear.  Instead, tank capable classes will cap the needed statistic via talents, like bear tanks.  Block Value is also taking a walk.  Let's not confuse this with the change made to blocking an attack.  A blocked attack will mitigate a percentage of the damage.
• Stamina - "GONE!" Obviously the panel was joking.  Stamina isn't seeing any direct changes, but the designers believe it will be a more level HP pool after all the other changes are put in place.  I believe it was Ghostcrawler that put it as "no more plate HP envy."

There are many players out there claiming that Blizzard is once again dumbing down the game, but I just don't see it that way.  As evidenced by the details above, most of the categories that are disappearing are being merged into another statistic because they were redundant.  Agility has always given Attack Power, so why have them be distinct points on gear?  Spell Power has always been a caster's AP, so the same logic follows. Tanks still need to worry about picking up the right talents to be defense capped, so that isn't any "dumber." The only changes that I can see as a dumbing down of WoW are the removal of Armor Penetration and the merger of Mp5 into Spirit.  That being said, Mp5 effectively is Spirit, just in an incredibly convoluted (quadratic equation fun time!) form.  And as I stated a few times already, ArmPen was drastically misunderstood until it was explained. I'll have follow up post(s) for other major changes later this week.  If there is anything specific you want us to go into then leave a comment here, @ProjectLore, @iTZKooPA or for one of the other bloggers.

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And when I say "Project Lore," I really mean "myself." I don't want to speak for the rest of my fellow bloggers, but I made a great number of predictions in my series of Cataclysm Countdown articles, leading up to the events this weekend. While I still maintain that most of them were logical considering what we knew at the time, Blizzard threw a major curveball that negated many of my initial preconceptions. Lore Malfurion Stormrage, Lord of the Druids A lot of people predicted that Queen Azshara would be the big baddie, the number one villain, of Cataclysm. But she was rarely referenced in any of the panels, and was all but missing from the expansion's reveal. At first, I believed that she might be brought into the story as Cataclysm rolls along. Maybe you'd defeat Deathwing after the first patch or something, and then Azshara would rise from the depths, ready to challenge players in the wake of the Black Dragon Aspect's demise. But through all of the live feed interviews and panel Q&As, it's been brought to light that they have no plans at all for Azshara or the Maelstrom to be included in this expansion. The best we can hope for, it seems, are a few related story elements revealed in the Vashj'ir zone. Other lore elements, such as Thrall becoming the next Guardian of Tirisfal or Cairne Bloodhoof being framed for betrayal, were completely side-stepped. I'm not sure anybody even bothered to ask during the Q&A sessions. However, a few revealed plot details do cooberate these ideas. Malfurion, who is supposed to be key in turning Thrall into the next Guardian, has indeed returned from the Emerald Dream to defend the World Tree from Ragnaros, and it was also mentioned that Garrosh is the one behind the changes to Orgrimmar (Dark Iron reinforcements) and the creation of a new Horde base near Darkshore. They stopped short of calling him the new Warchief , but clearly, he is privy to some power and influence that he didn't have before. Azeroth Remade Oh yes, the old Azeroth is gone, but not quite in the way we expected it to be. Once again, the supposed inclusion of Azshara implied something happening with the Maelstrom, and a water-related apocalypse. We've yet to see how Deathwing's explosion into the world has affected every zone (my guess is that Blizzard has shown those that are farther along like The Barrens and Darkshore), but we do know that lava, fire, and large gutters literally burned into the earth feature far more prominently than any sort of flooding. And in places where water has affected the environment (Desolace), it seems more like a positive change. Likewise, if the world map used to display the new zones is any indication, we will not be seeing any large, sweeping changes to the coastline. In some places, there may be light flooding, or new estuaries formed as the ocean fills in ancient rivers, but we have not seen anything on the scale of Swamp of Sorrows being completely washed away or Durotar being destroyed. Then again, there is still plenty of time for things to change, and as development progresses, we may still see several classic zones undergo similarly drastic transformations. New Zones I sincerely thought that we'd see a lot of the South Seas and the Maelstrom open up with the expansion, but with Azshara being nixed, that no longer seems to be the case. The two zones which represent the area, The Lost Isles and Vashj'ir, are both completely new, previously unrevealed in the lore. It is reported that Kezan will make a brief appearance (I'm guessing in the 1-5 level Goblin content, before they are forced to flee), but that's about it. Instead, we received a rather large surprise. To supplement the opening of previously closed mainland zones like Uldum and the area near Grim Batol (now the Twlight Highlands), we're also getting access to the Elemental Planes. These were long supposed to comprise an expansion all their own, and while it's slightly disappointing that we'll only be able to see small parts of them (aside from Deepholm, which we'll get to see all of), they are an exciting and interesting addition. My biggest disappointment? Probably the distinct lack of anything related to Trolls! I suppose there's always a chance that Zandalar could show up in a content patch somewhere down the road. Kul Tiras was missing, too. Mention of the Alliance nation was nowhere to be seen, but the prison in the new PvP/daily zone Tol Barad was reportedly built by then. That's something, I guess. Raids The first article in my Cataclysm Countdown series dealt with potential raid content. I proposed six different raid zones: Nazjatar, The Rift, Zandalar, Grim Batol, CoT: War of the Ancients, and Blackrock Mountain. Without the Maelstrom, those first two are completely out. Zandalar, as I've already said, I lament the exclusion of. And the War of the Ancients is no longer as integral to the expansion's story as it would've been (though Deathwing still played his part). That leaves Grim Batol and Blackrock Mountain (specifically, Blackwing Descent). I suppose one-third of my predictions isn't too bad in the grand scheme of thing, and I nailed two of the four raids. Right? Right? Blackwing Descent 2D Concept I'm also glad that we got to hear some details about Icecrown Citadel, something I was afraid might get completely overshadowed by the expansion announcement. PvP Now I was way, way off here. I anticipated all sorts of new PvP options to be implemented with the expansion, but it seems that Blizzard is largely content to stick to their roots. We get a new Wintergrasp-style area (Tol Barad, complete with Vault of Archavon-style raid instance) and the promise of three new Battlegrounds. The first of which will be the Battle for Gilneas, a fight for control of the capital city's various districts. Though I cited Hillsbrad as the primary area of contention, it's nice to know that I wasn't completely off when I said that the Forsaken would be causing havoc in the area. The only other revelations we saw at the convention were the promise of new arena maps and ranked Battlegrounds. I suppose this is something we'll be hearing a lot more about down the road. The Right of Wrong My final article laid out several rumors to be wary of going into BlizzCon, and I think I scored on every one of those. The oft-cited list of expansion zone sets was completely disproved. Just like my own predictions, it's easy to assume what zones might be included when you think you know what the next expansion is about. Both "The List" and I considered the whole of the South Seas fair game, but that was when we all thought Cataclysm was simply code for the Maelstrom. Then there was Cataclysm's release date. As expected, no specific date was given, but it was made clear that StarCraft 2 was their first priority for 2010. Nonetheless, while Blizzard CEO Mike Morhaime tried his best to side-step saying anything definitive, he couldn't deny that they were, indeed, targeting two releases for next year. Finally, we got confirmation on the status of the old Azeroth. It's gone. For good. Finito. You'll never be able to go back and, no, the new version of the world won't simply be phased over it. There is one, single Azeroth. But phasing will still be used extensively. Perhaps even more exciting is that Blizz has figured out how to phase terrain, something previously said to be a limitation. This means that phasing can make the play experience even more dynamic. I questioned the Globes of Ulduar and came away with a win. The artwork included in both the Ulduar raid instance and Halls of Lightning displayed a freshly sundered Azeroth, in several stages. Many of the zones have changed, but we have seen no evidence of any of them completely disappearing or being underwater. There was an awful lot of denial going around before the reveal. A lot of people read the spoilers and said that most of it couldn't be done. That Azeroth wouldn't change so drastically. That the new race/combinations were impossible because they didn't jive with the lore. Well, most of it ended up being true, proving that the developers are the true masters of their lore. But that doesn't make them appreciate their watchdog fans any less. Chris Metzen stated, in one of the live feed interviews, that there is so much lore to consider, that during heavy and rapid development, it is quite possible for them to miss inconsistencies, and that the fans do a lot to keep them in check. So that's it for BlizzCon 2009. We (I) got a few things right, and a lot of things wrong. I'm willing to admit it! In the end, I'm glad we couldn't predict everything, as that would've taken the punch out of many of the surprises they had in store. But I still hope that we end up seeing all the things I touched on somewhere down the line. For now, it seems like Blizzard has their hands full implementing all of the content they revealed over the past few days! As usual, keep your eyes on Project Lore. After all, the more you know, the more questions you have. And the more questions you have, the more they consume your mind. We are in for another good year of speculation!

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I Guess I Found The Manga's Matching Bookmark Every year Blizzard has given show goers a real life quest to complete.  This year was no different.  The company essentially had us running around, standing in line (or cutting them),  collecting junk, or simple signatures a few times before we could score a chance at some truly epic loot. I wasn't aware of the quest at first, but I luckily managed to complete my mission despite being a day behind.  Not to mention being incredibly busy with coverage, picture taking and interviews.  Perhaps my press badge had something to do with it. This year we had to run to five separate vendors, not including the starting area of Brady Merchantile.  From there participants had to go to the following wares vendors, in no particular order.

• J!nx
• Tokyopop
• SteelSeries
• Upper Deck
• Swag Dog

With junk in hand I headed back to Brady Merchantile for my chance at the top prize, a free WoW Beer Stein.  I obviously failed or it'd be full of brew right now (long weekend!).  Instead I scored myself an advanced copy of Warcraft: Legends Vol. 5 (review forthcoming). Prizes in my particular order of appreciation.  Don't worry, none of it is exclusive to BlizzCon.

• WoW Beer Stein
• FigurePrints Paper Model
• Warcraft: Legends Vol. 5
• Upper Deck TCG booster packs (chance at loot!)
• Steelseries mouse and mousepad
• Pair of Wildstorm monthly comics
• Swagdog hat & shirt
• Ulduar Patch v3.2 poster
• J!nx keychain

It'd be nice if there was something more to the quest than getting a signature and some fishing lures.  Sadly, that would make things incredibly complicated with 20,000+ bodies running around the convention center.  I imagine that the quest areas would end up looking like the Worgen and Goblin starting zones.  I guess the simpler the better when things involve real people, a limited amount of SWAG, and a time frame. Whoa, BlizzCon's closing ceremonies will be commencing shortly.  What a whirlwind, information-filled weekend it's been.  That's all from me live from BlizzCon.  Fear not thought, our coverage isn't over.  I'll have at least one more post for you tomorrow.  Then it's off to battle jet lag.

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In case you missed it the first time, Onyxia, the fearsome black dragon that was among many people's first introduction to raiding, will be re-released in patch 3.2.2 as a 10-man and 25-man level 80 instance. The encounter will be slightly modified to be put on par with the difficulty of recent raids. The 40-man level 60 version will no longer be accessible. Perhaps the best part of this are the new rewards. Anyone who logs in (within a three week time frame) for WoW's 5th anniversary will get an Onyxia Whelpling pet, likely BoA like the Baby Blizzard Bear from last year's anniversary. The pet attempts to Deep Breath occasionally, but usually fails and blows out smoke rings. The loot table from Onyxia includes the following:

• A 310% movement speed mount modeled after Onyxia called an Onyxia Broodling.
• Re-tuned items with similar skins to original gear, including the tier 2 helms.

Zarhym broke the news earlier this month with the following post:

She has lurked in her lair and done battle with the many brave adventurers who travelled to that familiar location over the years. Now, in honor of the World of Warcraft 5-year anniversary, the dreaded brood mother Onyxia is being revamped to make a return to the forefront of Azeroth, as part of our big plans for the upcoming 3.2.2 content patch. This permanent update to Onyxia will convert the dungeon into 10- and 25-player modes. We will be adding new items to Onyxia’s loot table that have the same model as some of the classic loot from this dungeon, like Tier 2 helms, with stats updated to match the current level of content. There will be a special new item too: a normal drake-sized 310% speed flying mount modeled after Onyxia herself called an Onyxia Broodling. We will also be updating the encounter mechanics to be more fitting for modern raiding, but we can guarantee players will get to experience the frightening horror of deep breaths once again. Then for a limited time, after the 5-year anniversary event officially begins in November, anybody who logs in will receive an Onyxia Brood Whelpling pet. We’re very excited to bring this classic encounter back to provide a fun new experience for both new and veteran players. Further details will be available in the near future, and we will be setting up the Public Test Realms soon to help test out this fight along with all the new content we have planned for the patch. Keep an eye on the forums for updates!

Deep Breath will be more random, and there will be lots of whelps. We will also need more DoTs. Check out the awesome mount you have a chance at:

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The dungeons and raids panel made a lot of big revelations. On top of the huge amount of Cataclysm information, we also got a glimpse of what to expect from patch 3.3 and Icecrown Citadel. Icecrown Citadel will include the main raid instance, which will come in 10 and 25 man versions, and a series of 3 5-man dungeons. There will be an epic questline to unlock the dungeons; players who have not progressed through the story will be unable to enter the second and third dungeons. Once you complete the dungeon, you will be able to go back and farm purples until your heart is content. There will be about 8 bosses distributed across the dungeons Click on the map on the left to see a general layout of the dungeons. The main raid enters on a first floor and progresses up the citadel. There about 12 bosses in this epic raid, and it certainly sounds epic. The first floor has a few bosses, and you see the base of the spire of the Frozen Throne. The second floor has you taking an airships up the spire. Varian mans the Alliance one and Saurfang mans the Horde one. Each faction races to reach the top to defeat Arthas. Players will battle the other airship directly with cannons. Enemy NPCs will use jetpacks to land on your airship and try to sabotage it. Some of your players will have to do the same to the enemy's airship. The third floor has three different wings, which seem to be accessed from different points on the second floor. It seems that Sindragosa will be somewhere in here. The fourth and final floor is the epic battle with Arthas. Parts of the floor will break off and if you fall, "its bad". There will be waypoints, like in Ulduar, to teleport throughout the dungeon and not have long runs after wipes. Major characters will make an appearance in the raid, including Jaina and Sylvanas. In addition, Frostmourne will have a "unique fate" and will not be a weapon that players can loot. There will be a new, legendary 2-handed axe called Shadowmourne which players can get from Arthas instead. Check out the maps for a more visual idea of whats going on. Click them for a full view:

First floor Second floor Third floor Fourth Floor

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