Project Lore

[caption id="attachment_9543" align="alignright" width="300" caption="We don't know much about S8 gear, but Paladin's can look forward to wearing this set."][/caption] Start wrapping up your career folks. Get all your Arena points and rankings in line, because it won't be much longer before the current season comes to a close:

We are currently planning to end Arena Season 7 as early as January 19. At that point we will go through our normal process to determine who is eligible for the end-of-season rewards. This process should take approximately one week. It's very important for players who feel that they may be eligible for the arena-specific titles and/or Relentless Gladiator’s Frostwyrm to refrain from transferring their character to another realm until after Arena Season 7 ends. The following Arena Season will not begin for at least one week after the current season ends. During this time between seasons, all rated matches will be turned off and only skirmishes will be available. When Arena Season 8 begins, all team ratings, personal rating, and arena points will be wiped, but matchmaking rating and honor points will remain.

Of course, the transition between Arena seasons can also be a portent of things to come. I'm sure by the end of tonight, when the best guilds in the world have no doubt blown through all the new encounters in Icecrown Citadel, we'll find out anyway, but why don't we do a little predicting ahead of time? A little bit of math could tell us when the next wing of the raid, The Crimson Hall, is set to open. If Season 7 ends on January 19th as cited above, that gives us two weeks right there. But it takes a whole extra week for Blizzard to go, tally up the scores, and hand out the rewards. There's a good chance we'll get a minor patch at this time that unlocks both Season 8 gear and the latest boss in the Vault of Archavon, Toravon the Ice Watcher. This Hodir-lookin' mofo will no doubt drop the usual PvP equipment, Tier 10 pieces, and even more Emblems of Frost for you to gobble up. This makes January 26th, three weeks away, the perfect time to drop the next wing of Icecrown Citadel. We will likely also find the fabled cinematic slipped stealthily into the game files in the process. So mark your calendars, everyone. January 26th the next date to mark on your calenders. Make sure to steel yourself for both more PvP and PvE conquests in the near future! Update: Looks like two weeks for the next wing is the official word. I suppose it will coincide with the end of Season 7 and not necessarily the beginning of Season 8.

[caption id="attachment_9526" align="alignright" width="300" caption="I bet if the dungeon was as sweet as this yacht, people would be running it all the time!"][/caption] Blizzard's tried. They really have. They've toned down the difficulty, they've increased the power of the drakes, and they've even made it easier to find a group for a dungeon that nobody wants to run. Alright, so they force you into a group for a dungeon nobody wants to run, and even then people bolt the minute they get past the rather telling loading screen. For a lot of players, getting Oculus out of the Dungeon Finder is more like playing the version of roulette where you have to use a six-shooter instead of a spinning, multi-colored wheel. At this point, what else could they possibly do to make the instance more popular with their players? Why, how about passing out even more loot? It's starting to look a lot like begging, Blizz. Next thing you know you'll be putting on the kneepads, and I'm not talking about the ones you use while praying for people to actually run the dungeon. But you heard me right. According to Zarhym, you get a free bag of goodies as long as you make it all the way to (and through) the final boss, Eregos:

To encourage players not to shy away from the many invigorating adventures to be had in The Oculus, we have applied a change to enhance the rewards players are provided when selected for this dungeon via the Random Heroic option in the Dungeon Finder. Once Ley-Guardian Eregos is defeated, one loot bag per character will be provided in his chest in addition to the current rewards. Each loot bag will offer players rare gems, two additional Emblems of Triumph, and a chance of being rewarded the Reins of the Blue Drake. These fine treasures could be yours should you honor your fellow party members by besting the challenges contained within The Oculus! Keep in mind, however, that these extra loot bags will only be awarded to each party member if Oculus is selected by the Dungeon Finder when players choose the Random Heroic option. In light of this change, the Reins of the Azure Drake will now have a chance of dropping in both 10- and 25-player versions of The Eye of Eternity.

Considering a good run of the Oculus takes about as long as it does for the 15-minute Dungeon Finder debuff to wear off anyway, this is a total steal! I'm already drowning in Emblems of Triumph, but hey, some rare gems and a shot at a new mount (it seems you don't even have to roll against other people for it) is decent enough for me. This update should be hotfixed in by the time maintenance is done tomorrow, but whether or not it will change the fate of what seems to be Wrath's least popular dungeon remains to be seen. But we can take an informal poll, right? Will this change in loot policy persuade you to stick around the next time Oculus pops up as your Random Daily?

Trinkets, legendaries, and set bonuses aside, the idea of having a proc on any individual piece of gear has rarely been seen since the days of pre-expansion World of Warcraft. It has been left to collect dust in the back of the itemization closet along with other "genius" ideas like Let's Put Spirit On Everything! and How About Negative Stats? But last night I faced a dilemma that I haven't had to in a very long time: to proc or not to proc? The problematic item in question comes in the form of the Heartpierce, one of several new weapons added to the game with Patch 3.3. I already have some of the greatest daggers in the game (both from Trial of the Crusader 25, but not the Heroic versions). Normally, any new weapon would make my eyes light up and my ticker go all pitter-patter in excitement. Deciding to upgrade is rather easy when you can eyeball the numbers and figure out which are greater on the spot, but the nebulous properties of a proc in lieu of straight stats will send you scrambling to the internet for advice for the experts. My problem was exacerbated by the fact that we have a couple new raiding Rogues in the guild. Until recently, I was the only one, and thus gear was often just handed out to me for the minimum DKP bid because nobody else desired or could possibly use it. And it's not our guild's policy to pussy-foot around waiting for people when we pass out loot, so not only was I faced with direct competition for a hot new dagger, but a very limited time in which to decide whether or not I wanted to spend the points. Seeing an EP rating (a convenient, weighted number assigned by the collective community that takes into account all of the piece's stats) higher than either of my current weapons, I took the leap and made off with Heartpierce for a mean 25 DKP. Hardly the worst deal anyone's ever got, but it still felt like a big gamble. It could mean the difference between me winning or losing something assuredly better later down the line. Either way, I like kitsch gear. I still keep things like my Carrot on a Stick around just because, even though it doesn't even affect players above Level 70. If it's something unique or interesting, useful or not, it's staying in my bank (you should see my collection of daggers). The inevitable purge I'm going to have to carry out when Cataclysm hits will be mighty painful! So I'd have likely procured a Heartpierce one way or another. But the problem is how much is it worth to me right now? Was snatching it up the right decision? Even the other Rogues were confused as to its eventual value. And, after much research, I've determined that the rest of the community is split on it, too. Well, OK, not so much split. Not in terms of pure DPS. The theorycrafting whizzes over at Elitist Jerks have parsed the numbers as well as they can, and it seems that I made a respectable choice. Heartpierce is somewhat of an upgrade to the Gouge of the Frigid Heart (the one I had), but not to the Heroic version of the same item. Still, Heartpierce has a greater Item Level than either of those weapons, meaning that, on some plane, it should be worth the upgrade no matter what. And I'm pretty sure Ghostcrawler said something about wanting to make proc weapons worth picking up when discussing ICC itemization, though I'm admittedly having trouble finding the quote at the moment. Either way, proc items remain a point of controversy. As middling as Heartpierce might ultimately be, players do seem to like the idea of it enough to beg for a bigger buff, and I have to agree. If Blizzard doesn't jazz it up a little bit, it looks like I'm going to have to save up my DKP and make a run for the Rib Spreader, a true best-in-slot that could land in my lap as early as next week's release of the Plagueworks. Has anyone else yet faced this dilemma while running through the new content? If you haven't, my advice would be to read up on the loot tables ahead of time so you're not stuck like me, making a split-second decision on a piece of gear that offers so foggy an upgrade, and a few more DKP short than you want to be.

[caption id="attachment_9427" align="alignright" width="300" caption="Nothing says forget about the past like terrible webart."][/caption] As we look forward towards the new year, we must also look back. The firey, frothy rage of Deathwing seems almost inviting after spending a year in the chilly wastes of Northrend. No longer will we be relegated to a single climate in 2010 (well, except for the anomaly that is Sholazar Basin, I supposed), but that doesn't mean the experience was totally worthless. In fact, it's arguably one of the best we've ever had in the game's five-year history! That makes it no less a bumpy road for some players out there, though, myself included. Indulge me as I describe my journey through 2009 in the World of Warcraft, and then tell us about your own in the comments section (and don't forget to check out iTZKooPA's 2009 Project Lore retrospective, either)! I actually want to start by dipping back into 2008 for a little bit, around about the time that Patch 3.0 hit (and the subsequent release of Wrath of the Lich King several weeks later). The big split. As usual, caused by some thoroughly unnecessary guild drama. Our de facto guild leader (in everything but title, which the absentee patriarch still maintained for some reason I can only attribute to vanity or neglect) was besieged by guilt from certain members who claimed that nobody was helping them procure a piece of loot (the Shard of Contempt, if you're curious). This, of course, after numerous attempts to help them in many other ways, organizing raids and other event notwithstanding. It was the last straw laid upon an already mountainous pile of hay, and like the hair trigger of a mouse trap, our guild leader snapped. A fair few of house had had enough of the abuse, as well, and were no longer interested in being held back by the stragglers. Exiled Epics (now defunct) was dead, and from its ashes Severance Pay was born. Partially due to finally "getting it together" and partially due to the class buffs provided by 3.0, we went on to several quick victories in late Burning Crusade content. It was clear that SevPay (as we affectionately call it) was working like a well oiled machine. When Wrath landed, our core group blew through the 5-man dungeons like the wind through a Scotsman's kilt. And when enough of us were at 80, Naxxramas proved little problem, either. We didn't get any server firsts, but we performed well, and made progress nearly as quick as the server's top guilds. There was no way to go but up. Well, that's until we polished off good old Naxx (in 2009 at this point). People grew complacent, bored. They disappeared from the server, not logging on for days or weeks. Then, a portion of our core, who all knew each other in real life, decided they were going to transfer servers, citing that our raid time, despite sticking to it for so long, had left them fatigued. A valid complaint, but no less shocking when the revelation comes too soon for anybody to properly react. Before we knew it, they were gone, and not long after, we lost a few more people to the darkest regions of their textbooks. Midterms and finals really can be a bitch. Where did this leave SevPay? With less than twenty regular members logging on. People were still burned out on Naxx and Ulduar was, apparently, not enough to bring them back. So for months, aside from the (very odd) occurrence, we only fielded 10-man dungeons. It stayed this way for nearly the entire summer. The guild very nearly died, with the officer core and morale dwindling. And then, once the vacation season started to wind down, a few people came back. Trial of the Crusader was about halfway unlocked, and we started to claw our way back to 25-mans. But I had two very big personal problems to deal with. One, I was making a huge move across the country, from (not-as-sunny-as-you'd-think) Florida all the way to the Emerald City in Oregon. This meant that I had to take several weeks leave from the game. Likewise, my once mighty laptop was starting to succumb to the woes of  intensifying content. Both in terms of the game's increasing visual complexity and the number of players we had in the raids. 10-mans were serviceable, but 25-mans caused my frames to tank, sometimes well below ten. After the move I made a tough, but ultimately wise, decision to purchase a new rig and soon, I was back in the game. And so was Severance Pay. Since around September, we've slowly built up our membership, grabbing the odd straggler or skilled friend here and there. The wholesale transfer of the top Horde guild off our server didn't hurt, either, as some of the leftovers now sought a new place to call home. We're still not where we want to be, but we're strong and consistent. Losing out on so many achievements in Ulduar during our bad months has hurt our rankings a lot, and it may stay that way with Icecrown Citadel now taking up most of attention. I have a feeling that we will make strides as we march towards the Lich King and that even if 2009 was bumpy, we'll be rightly prepared and ready for all that Deathwing has to throw at us in 2010. To cite one of the worst ad campaigns in history, Severance Pay is about to make Cataclysm our bitch! May that not be a portent for an Ion Storm level of epic failure.

[caption id="attachment_6007" align="alignright" width="300" caption="Deathwing: The New Year's Baby to the Lich King's Dying, Old Man."][/caption] As I sit here, deep in the Central Time Zone of the United States, I know that some parts of the world have already crossed over the invisible threshold into the waiting arms of a brand new year. It's still kind of depressing on this end, what with all the famous deaths and seemingly endless problems plaguing our tiny, blue marble. Maybe you people from the future are already reporting a brighter, more promising life ahead. Those of us still in 2009 could use a little bit of your tangible optimism, because the only brand we'll experience until the clock strikes twelve is that of an empty bottle of champagne. However, for us gamers, us World of Warcraft players, at least one bright spot beckons from beyond the horizon: 2010 is the year of Cataclysm. Where we might think our troubles can't get any worse, the denizens of Azeroth are in for one of the biggest world-shaking events they've ever experienced. Their planet is about to be torn asunder and thrown into another veritable dark age of destruction and strife. With disaster also comes a chance for rebirth. Sure, players will get to experience a whole new world with limitless possibilities; new races, new zones, new dungeons, new paths of progression are all part of the usual package. But there is also the possibility of starting again. Maybe that means something as simple as creating a fresh alt to experience the new leveling process, or something more meaningful, like finally revisiting the game after writing it off so long ago. Perhaps you'll even bring in a few new friends to experience it with, too. I fully expect the population to surge the day that Cataclysm lands on shelves. Let's not beat around the bush: patch numbers aside, this is effectively World of Warcraft 2.0. Never has a revamp this large been attempted in a game before without calling it a sequel. In the more immediate future, we will face and finally defeat the dreaded Lich King. This represents the culmination of a storyline nearly eight years in the making. Those worried that Deathwing will not make as effective a villain should take note that the world's conflict with him is significantly older! But it is nonetheless important for these events to transpire. Blizzard can, once and for all, collectively move the story forward into new and exciting territory. And that is what will make 2010 such a fantastic year for World of Warcraft. I'm already giddy about it! Aren't you? I think it's safe to say that we'll all be indulging in the expansion, but do you have any other resolutions for the next year of WoW? Do you plan on coming back to the game after a long hiatus? Do you have any unmet goals you finally want to complete? How about finishing content or achievements that might disappear with the launch of patch 4.0? Personally, I foresee great things for my guild. It's a good one, no doubt, but I also know that we can be so much better. I'm aiming for realm (or at least faction) firsts in the expansion. And with a swelling roster of capable folks, I think 2010 is the year of Severance Pay! Of course, last year saw the near death of the guild over the summer months, but hopefully a timely release of Cataclysm will stave off the mid-year woes this time around. So please, we're eager to hear your resolutions and expectations for World of Warcraft in 2010.

Wait! Stop! Did you feel that?! Players all over Azeroth are asking each other this same question as minor tremors begin to rock their screens all over the world. But what's causing them? Reports have cited earthquakes where they don't normally occur and with no over-sized Hunter pets or other big baddies in sight (think Fel Reavers or the Giants in Howling Fjord). The cause is currently theorized to be unseen mobs called "Shakers." Some players managed to spot, or at least target them, back when 3.3 was still on the Patch Test Realm, and even though they have long since become undetectable again, they were found in areas that are currently experiencing the tremors. Of course, they're more like widgets than NPCs, special markers used to tell the game to use a certain special effect within a specific area for a set amount of time. You aren't supposed to see them! All this begs the question, though: why are they just now becoming active? The most obvious explanation is that they're part of the early setup for a Cataclysm-related world event. Shivers turn into shakes and eventually into full-blown earthquakes as Deathwing bores his way through the dimensional plane. But the plot thickens a little bit when you realize that Blizzard already employs Shakers to warn people about flying too close over Dalaran. That these tremors mostly seem to occur around capital cities has led some to speculate that said Shakers are being implemented because players won't be able to hover over them when they gain otherwise free use of their flying mounts in the next expansion. I'm still inclined to believe this is part of the run up, though. Why implement a Dalaran-style warning system when the updated city models haven't been added to the game yet? And furthermore, in places where it shouldn't be a concern at all, like Ironforge? I suspect that tremors are happening in these areas simply because they're where the most players gather and, subsequently, where most players will notice them. After all, it wouldn't be the first of the expansion hints placed in the game. Several minor quests and NPCs have been added to help explain the new class/race combinations to be introduced in Cataclysm. Whatever the real reason for the Shakers, and the mysterious tremors they cause, might be, it's clearly with an eye towards the future and a portent for exciting things to come. Blizzard is keeping mum for now, but we'll keep you updated if any further hints are dropped. In the mean time, speculate away! Let us know what you make of these puzzling events!

Chances are if you're reading this post, you're a fan of World of Warcraft, but are you a big enough fan to ask for some Azeroth-themed gifts over the holidays? Merchandising has absolutely exploded over the past year. Sure, all the usuals are there. You can find most of the basic shirts, hats, and other accessories on the Blizzard Store (as well as more esoteric ephemera like the Pandaren Brewmaster figure and a Murloc plush doll), but what about all the 3rd party stuff? Jinx has a litany of exclusive apparel to purchase (though some of it can also be found at your local Hot Topic store), including several new items for the Holiday '09 period. Then there's good old FigurePrints. What better way to immortalize your or a loved one's favorite WoW toon than ordering a highly-detailed statuette for the holidays? Adult gamers would no doubt enjoy a professionally-made beer stein for loading up some eggnog on Christmas Day, or they could save it for a week later and put it to good use for New Year's Eve! And that's really just the tip of the iceberg. You can find Warcraft-related calendars, gaming mice, action figures, posters, authenticators, trading cards, miniatures, boardgames, novels, comics, and hell, even the game itself! It's too late to order most of this stuff, of course, but if you or someone you know is looking for a last minute gift for a WoW player, might I recommend a code for one of the deluxe in-game vanity pets? Maybe something for a distant Warcraft-playing SO or to show a little bit of appreciation to your guild leader for putting up with so much crap the rest of the year? This year, all I've requested is this fancy Horde wallet (depicted above). Geeky, I know, but my old one's busted and this one seems like a suitable replacement (not to mention a convenient way of wordlessly displaying my faction of choice to anyone who might recognize the symbol on the front!) We here at Project Lore would also like to know if you're planning on giving or receiving any related gifts this holiday season. At the very least, did you ask for anything or is it just far too dorky and embarrassing to have under the tree?

[caption id="attachment_9257" align="alignright" width="300" caption="European Player Nymh saw this when he was the first player to reach 80."][/caption] I've never earned a server first achievement. I haven't even ever come close enough to taste it. Some would argue that trying to obtain them, for most people, is a fruitless venture; that they're the domain of a realm's absolute top guilds. And fundamentally they'd be right. We are all careful observers of the world around us. We don't need online, 3rd party ranking sites telling us whose the best, because we interact with them all the time. Like any enclosed community, word travels quickly around a server, through tells, trade chat, and guild website, that "Group X" has done "Goal Y" before anyone else has. Was there ever a need to rub it in by giving them an achievement, too? But there's an extra dimension to the world first, indeed, to anything in the game that's remotely challenging at all, and that's the waning underdog hope that things will be different next time. That you'll be at the top, you'll finish the latest dungeon before anyone else in the world. Even .01% means there's still a chance! But also like any close-knit community, a server's players are that server's players. In-fighting and jealousy be damned! They don't take kindly to outsiders transferring over from another realm and taking over the scene, especially if they're intent on skirting the system to take that coveted server first title away from those who have otherwise worked so hard to earn it. So Blizzard's changing the rules. From here on forward, a player must remain on a new server for at least 60 days before they're eligible to receive any such rewards:

Any player who has been on the realm for longer than 60 days is entitled to a realm first achievement. In this particular case, the matter was investigated thoroughly for all parties involved and everyone who was entitled to the achievement should now have received it. The reason it was changed was to stop players practise on one realm then transfer over to a newer realm and get the achievement, potentially blocking the players on that realm who have been there longer earning it themselves.

In the end, this won't affect me much. And it probably won't affect you, either. After all, the server first club is awfully exclusive. But if we don't take up for and cheer on our own, then what are we worth in the end?

Hey, guess what?! Bornakk brings us another day of in-game fixes! What is this, the third in a row now? But I know it's better to make sure everything is working right than worry about how many they're pumping out in such an incredibly short amount of time. Changes in this round primarily focus on further shaping up the Icecrown Citadel raid experience, but it's interesting to see how the popularity of the Dungeon Finder system has turned Blizzard's eye towards the old Heroics, giving them fixes and tweaks that perhaps should have come a long time ago. Those come in the form of making the fights with both Ionar and Prophet Tharon'ja just a little less annoying than they were before. While these changes seem like nerfs (and they effectively are), I doubt anyone was having trouble with these bosses before. Just be glad Blizz is allowing you to funnel through them so you can get to that next Random Dungeon run even faster. You can review the changes below:

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=20677858456&sid=1 12/16/09

• Ionar, in the Halls of Lightning, will now only disperse once during the course of the fight.
• Prophet Tharon’Ja of Drak'Tharon will now only steal your flesh one time during the encounter.
• Players with the quest “Wrath of the Lich King” will now properly receive quest credit.
• Muradin and Saurfang will no longer gain stacks of Battlefury from totems. Additionally, the duration of Battlefury has also been reduced.
• Lord Marrowgar is now tauntable.
• The Looking For Group item level requirement for Halls of Reflection has been raised to match the difficulty of the encounters.

As it turns out, there is one more change not listed with the rest, and it concerns the Deathbringer Saurfang encounter. The healing effect of his Blood Rune ability is being doubled in order to reinforce the idea that you need two tanks on the boss to properly defeat him:

Deathbringer Saurfang's Rune of Blood has been modified to heal 10 times the amount of damage dealt instead of 5 times the damage. This will make the encounter more difficult if you try to tank Saurfang with just one character. The tooltip does not reflect this change, but it will in a future patch.