Project Lore

I had a lot of plush figures growing up. Like most children, they kind of served as my little protectors. I'd line them up around the edge of my bed at night, a fortress of fur to keep the monsters lurking in the darkness at bay.

And, of course, I had one special, raggedy dog that I kept closest of all, wrapped up in my arms like the greatest treasure I would ever possess. As time wore on, I let go of these habits, and even retired my faithful friend in the fear that I would only wear his already threadbare body out completely.

But that didn't stop me from collecting others as time went on. An alligator (graduation present after leaving the University of Florida), several dogs (total dog person here), and a few random characters that I liked over the years. In fact, they're all lined up at the top of the computer desk I'm sitting at right now. Yes, that's right, a big, burly, bearded man like me is not afraid to admit he still has stuffed animals!

I may not sleep with them anymore, but in many ways, they still define me. And I can't think of anything that has defined me more over the past few years as World of Warcraft. 

You know those Gryphon Hatchling and Wind Rider Cub plushies we announced a couple weeks ago? Well, they're finally available for purchase from the official store, and Blizzard is about this close to goading me into adding another member to the family!

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Azeroth's "Season of Love" comes to a close at 11:59 Pacific Time this evening. Considering the coming events, it's amazing we'll see one at all this month next year.

After much frustration with Love Is In The Air in the past, and having my account hacked just a few days before the festivities began, I was initially fretful that I wouldn't get to participate much at all. But much to my surprise, it went smoothly, and I completed all essential meta-achievements except for "I Pitied The Fool" on the first day of my return.

Once I obtained that, and thus, my Violet Proto-Drake, I stopped collecting charms and tokens altogether, leaving several of my other achievements dangling in the wind. But today, on the last day of the event, I decided to pick myself up, turn in all those charms I got from running Icecrown Citadel the past week, and make the most of what was left. Following the jump is a short list of things you can do with the time remaining:

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Oh, data-mining always brings such wonderful news! The artifacts of code and unfinished content often give you a fair idea as to what's coming in the near future and, considering where we're at right now, that means getting the goods on pre-expansion events.

At this point, most of you have already read about the new Ruby Sanctum raid dungeon and how that plays into the lore leading up to rebirth of Deathwing, but if we dial things back a notch we find that even the smaller, somewhat forgotten factions will have their role to play in what's to come.

You may recall a little piece that iTZKooPA wrote a couple of weeks ago. It's also something that we discussed on the podcast, wondering why Blizzard didn't give any of the "assault on Northrend" roles to existing faction leaders instead of brand new characters whose importance to the game would likely begin and end with the questline they're associated with.

I think we spoke a little too soon, as both High Tinker Gelbin Mekkatorque and Vol'Jin will be getting their due in an upcoming patch, starting with the reclamation of their respective homelands!

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When you announce something like a new raid dungeon so far ahead of time, you're bound to get a bunch of questions. Thankfully, unlike so many other things lately, Blizzard is being surprisingly open about answering them (looks like you can blame Tom Chilton for spilling the beans on that one).

And with data-miners around the world already yanking gobs of information out of the latest set of PTR files, there's really little reason not to.

Zarhym was kind enough to continue the dialog with fans, touching on issues such as the nature and difficulty of the fight, as well as its position within the lore. As someone who chided the idea of another one-room boss at first, I have to admit I'm starting to come around to the idea.

Hit the jump to read what he had to say.

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To paraphrase what a guildmate of mine said recently, "They almost vendor for more than they go on the Auction House." Yes, I'm talking about Frozen Orbs, which drop relentlessly from 5-man dungeon bosses, their numbers swollen from the frequency at which people run them these days.

You probably don't know, or even care, how many of them you have in your bags right now. When the loot boxes pop up, in your sublime state, you mindlessly click through them like a zombie gnawing on the cerebellum of some poor dead chap.

I'm thoroughly convinced at this point that most people could run a 5-man whilst mired in the depths of REM sleep, Frozen Orbs the latent rewards you collect in the dream state, only to forget entirely once you are roused from you Dungeon Finder-induced slumber. They're really just... kind of there at this point, aren't they?

It seems that Blizzard has also recognized how terribly worthless the Frozen Orb has become, and in Patch 3.3.3, they plan to rectify it. With the introduction of Frozo the Renowned to the Dalaran Magus Commerce Exchange, you can now trade them in for a collection of infinitely more useful items including other Orbs and various Eternals.

Hit the jump for the rest of the details, as relayed by Zarhym:

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Chilton promises Deathwing will be one of the most captivating villains yet.Twitter buddy and gaming journalist extraordinaire Phil Kollar posted a new interview with Tom Chilton on Game Informer's website yesterday. The piece, as part of the site's "Afterwords" column, is primarily a retrospective on the past expansion (and what a better time to do it than at the tail end of Wrath content?).

The three-page chat covers plenty of content and Chilton talks at length about several subjects including:

• Death Knights and what other options were in the running for the expansion's hero class
• Satisfaction with the Lich King storyline and progression of Icecrown Citadel
• Graphical improvements and system requirements going forward
• Pure DPS class versus hybrid class performance
• Successes and failures with the design of Lake Wintergrasp
• How world PvP will be handled differently in Cataclysm with Tol'Barad
• Ulduar's position in the storyline (and how it could've been explained better)
• How awesome Deathwing is going to be as a character and villain

Perhaps one of the interview's most interesting points comes towards the end, when Kollar asks if there are any more immediate plans for adding content to the game. We've already received some hints about what will change in terms of PvP, but Chilton mentions the possibility of opening up a boss in the Ruby Sanctum underneath Wyrmrest Temple.

It's comforting to know that they're working on something, but at the same time disappointing to realize that it likely won't be anything extensive. Either way, Chilton emphasizes that content coming before Cataclysm is more an extension of 3.3 than a true 3.4, so it's best to expect nothing but minor patches until the expansion.

So go read the interview, then come back here, and tell us what you think. Do your feelings on Wrath of the Lich King jive with those of the WoW's Lead Game Designer?

Zarhym announced today that there would be several major changes coming to the Battleground system in the near future, and that these tweaks are directly related to the next PTR phase that we alluded to earlier today.

One of the major things being addressed is the issue of Battleground currency. Essentially, you can say goodbye to earning marks. Instead, it seems like Blizzard is folding almost all PvP rewards back into the Honor system.

Also on the docket: replacing the Battleground Holiday with Call to Arms and a Random Battleground feature which should function similar to the Dungeon Finder (complete with extra Honor rewards).

There are a lot more details and specifics in Zarhym's post, which you can find after the jump.

It is currently unknown what Blizz means by a minor content patch, though history would cause me to lean towards a 3.3.3 instead of 3.4.

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The in-game fixes for 2/17 are not very extensive. In fact, there's only one item listed at all this week, but it's a fairly important one, especially for herbalists and those that consistently raid with flasks.

According to Bornakk:

Listed below are recent fixes we have applied to the game. Keep in mind that some of these changes may not be active until after the realm has been restarted. 

To review previous in-game fixes, please visit: http://forums.worldofwarcraft.com/thread.html?topicId=21723843880&sid=1 


2/17 

• The drop rate of Frost Lotus, from herbs in Northrend, has been increased by 50%. 

The primary justification for this move seems to be lowering the currently exorbitant Auction House prizes on the valued herbs.

Undoubtedly, this is going to mean a whole lot of different things to different people inside World of Warcraft's economic spectrum. As a raider who only casually hunts herbs on an alt, I couldn't be more elated.

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What? So soon?! With the Lich King Hard Mode the only remaining unconquered content in Icecrown Citadel (well, for the guilds at the tip of the top, anyway), it may not be that big of a surprise.

Nonetheless, my ears perked up when I heard that WoW-Europe had recently activated their Patch Test Realm forum again, indicating that a new testing phase may be on the way.

Do keep in mind that, despite the curiosity of these events, there is no official indication that anything is about to happen. In fact, Wryxian emphasizes that the PTR is not currently live in one of his posts on the forum:

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Blizzard's decision to release pay-for vanity pets several months ago was met with open controversy. Chief among the players' concerns was the idea that they seemed to be taking their first steps down the road towards charging for virtual content, a business model that has become standard fare in Asian MMOs. Even console gamers have been faced with the threat of paying several dollars for a code that would unlock content on the game disc they already bought.

Even getting beyond that issue, though, Blizzard was chided for their decision to give only half the proceeds from the sales of their Pandaren Monk pet to charity (not to mention they were keeping the full take of companion pet Lil' TK for themselves).

People felt like this was disingenuous. If they weren't going to give all the profit, why bother giving any at all?

Regardless of how you might personally feel about the issue, there's little denying that $1.1 million dollars is a weighty figure. According to a press release from Blizzard, that's the amount of money they raised for the Make-A-Wish Foundation via sales of the Pandaren Monk pet through December 31, 2009.

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