Project Lore

Miss out on some of those awesome loot cards exclusive to the CCG? Well, here's your chance to score without playing booster pack roulette (especially since some of these come from older/limited expansion sets) or trawling eBay for stupidly expensive single. @Warcraft is giving away codes as part of their 5th anniversary sweepstakes, and entering is easy: just be on Twitter and follow Blizzard's account by November 30th!

In our continuing celebration of World of Warcraft’s five-year anniversary, we’re in the mood to give away some fantastic prizes to a lucky selection of those following us on Twitter. Our offices are brimming with spare World of Warcraft loot codes and we feel it’s time to give back to those who have made this gaming community so great. Are you a pet collector who has yet to get your hands on a Robotic Homing Chicken, Baby Hippogryph, Ethereal Plunderer, or Baby Monkey pet? Have you ever wanted to cruise Northrend on an Area 51 Rocket, a Riding Turtle, Spectral Tiger, or Rooster mount? Well here’s your chance to win these and other extremely rare loot codes! All you have to do is join the tens of thousands of people already following us at www.twitter.com/warcraft; and hey, if you’re already a follower, you may already have a chance to win. Between November 30 and December 11, 2009 we’ll be selecting random winners daily from our growing list of followers, so start following our feed today! Official Warcraft Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/warcraft Official contest rules coming soon

Now I'll be the first to admit that Twitter, even @Warcraft, plays host to an awful lot of fluff, but like many tools, it all depends on how you use it. So if you're still a nay-sayer, do understand that signing up only takes a minute of your time and you never have to type one character into the entry field if you don't feel like it! But if you do find that you enjoy using the service, don't forget to follow us @ProjectLore, too!

Remember that weird image posted on @Warcraft we told you about a couple of days ago? Well, that "stack of Ritz crackers" turned out to be the spout of a keg belonging to one very special Brewmaster: Chen Stormstout. Though his presence in the game world is relegated to a single quest involving one of his lost barrels of grog (and even then you never get to interact with him), you can now have a Pandaren of your very own by ordering the new deluxe figurine straight off of Blizzard's website.

The first pandaren collectible ever!  Capturing the elusive (and world-celebrated) Chen Stormstout for the first time in 3D, the Pandaren Brewmaster Deluxe Action Figure is a limited edition, one-of-a-kind Blizzard online store exclusive!  This premium-sculpted piece stands at a colossal 8", features Chen's signature bamboo Bo staff and Brewmaster's keg and comes packaged in a 4-color, spot UV collectors window box. Art Directed by Blizzard Cinematic Creative Director Nick Carpenter. Exquisitely sculpted by Ray Villafane and painstakingly painted by Eddie Wires. Pandaren Brewmaster Action Figure is a limited edition opportunity and is subject to a first-come, first-serve basis for distribution.

I've got to admit, it's quite a piece of work. Exquisitely detailed (and it better be for $49.99)! Still, I can't help but ask: what's with all the Pandaren lately? Are you trying to tell us something Blizzard? It's obvious you love them, and it's obvious that the fans love them. You know, it's probably too late for any truly significant additions to be made to Cataclysm, but I wouldn't be entirely surprised to see a small Pandaren presence in the expansion, even if it was relegated to a handful of NPCs. Certainly an event as earth-shattering as Deathwing emerging into the world would be enough to rattle their homeland of Pandaria, as well. Anyway, as awesome as the figure looks, I think it might be a little too expensive for my blood (though its a pittance for what "collectible figurines" would cost you in certain circles). But I'm sure some of you already have your credit cards out, so let us know if you plan on buying one! Do remember that this is a limited edition figure, so you better act fast!

Today I PvP just about as much as I did several years ago, which is to say not very much at all. But I did partake in the occasional Battleground and earned myself the meager rank of Sergeant before the ability to do so was taken away in Burning Crusade. Sure, the Arena system has its own set, but I know I can't be the only one out there who misses the chance to win titles for good old "regular" PvP. Plus, you could get access to some pretty cool loot in the process! [caption id="attachment_8767" align="alignright" width="300" caption="You should be able to earn all sorts of things through rated Battlegrounds, but this badge for peace is certainly not one of them!"][/caption] Blizzard has apparently been listening, and stated today on the official forums that they might just be bringing them back with the rated Battleground system being introduced in the expansion. According to Zarhym in a series of posts:

In Cataclysm, we plan to make the old PvP titles available based on your performance in our upcoming rated Battleground system, similar to the current Arena titles which are based on your performance in the Arenas. Keep in mind, however, that Cataclysm is still relatively early in the development stages and this information is subject to change. We'll have more on the rated Battleground system and associated rewards in the months ahead... I'm going to clarify my original post, as I don't believe it's been decided yet whether they'll be purchased with Arena points or Honor points, or if a specific Battleground rating is the only requirement to unlock them. There are no plans to make these titles available for real-world money...

Of course, some of the quote-unquote "old" PvP community was up in arms over this revelation. And for what reason? We've been hearing this excuse a lot lately: because Blizzard is dumbing down the game. But Zarhym insists that the only reason titles were taken away initially was because the system used for earning them was archaic and largely championed time spent over skill. He assures us that this will not be the case with rated Battlegrounds:

We feel they're going to fit well with the new rated Battleground system. The titles were previously earned through a very cumbersome experience that didn't necessarily measure a player's PvP skill. With a new system for measuring performance in the Battlegrounds, we feel it's a good fit to award the honor titles to those who excel. We do not intend for the top titles to be earned in a trivial manner. It's going to be quite hard to get High Warlord or Grand Marshal; and not because it's going to require that someone plays in the Battlegrounds more than everyone else on their realm each week, but because it's going to require a very impressive win/loss ratio.

To me, it sounds like a bunch of whining from people who think their prestige will be hurt when their "unobtainable" titles suddenly become attainable again and, shock and awe, by people who may have only started playing in the last couple of years. I'm not a fan of making things easier on players either (more fun or more convenient, sure), but I also know how to appreciate skill and if what Zarhym says is true, then it will be hard, if not more difficult to earn titles than it used to be. I think those that are complaining are just afraid they won't be able to turn it into a pure timesink again. Regardless of my perspective, I think this would be a wonderful thing to add back into the game. Maybe it's just because I've been playing an awful lot of Modern Warfare 2 lately, but I wouldn't mind sporting a nice, shiny rank next to my name to show off how awesome I am! What about you readers? How do you feel about the prospect of PvP titles coming back? Did you participate in the system originally?

[caption id="attachment_8169" align="alignright" width="300" caption="Healers rejoice! A fight just for you!"][/caption] Looks like there will be some testing during Turkey Week after all! Why so short a list? Well, according to Lead Encounter Designer Daelo, server issues prevented them from properly testing one of the encounters the previous week, so it's been moved to tomorrow (November 24th), instead. And it can be easily assumed that with the long holiday weekend coming up, the team would rather be stuffing their faces than stuffing their schedule with fruitless tests.

We are scheduling a raid test for Valithria Dreamwalker in Icecrown Citadel for November 24, since we had some server problems last week when trying to test this encounter. The schedule is as follows: US Servers Tuesday, November 24 at 7PM EST / 4 PM PST – Valithria Dreamwalker Heroic difficulties will be available for testing. The Icecrown Citadel raid test schedule will be very flexible, and can change at a moment's notice due to build status, bugs, and server issues. Remember that this is the test server, so things can, do, and will break from time to time. Check this forum for the latest Icecrown Citadel raid testing schedule information in the weeks to come.

Valithria Dreamwalker is certainly one of the most interesting fights in Icecrown Citadel so if you haven't had a chance to check it out yet, I'd recommend getting your test client up-to-date tonight so that you're all prepared for tomorrow. After all, now that we know ICC is being gated, it might be a long time before the encounter becomes available on live servers (the Frostwing Halls will be the final wing released). Edit: I'm editing the updated patch notes into this post because they're too insignificant to form a full post on their own. In fact, there is but one lonely item:

Druid

• Eclipse: This effect will not activate again within 15 seconds of either type of Eclipse effect firing, in addition to the existing 30-second cooldown for each type of Eclipse.

Yep, that's it! A little old tweak to a a Druid skill!

[caption id="attachment_8703" align="alignright" width="200" caption="What in the World of Warcraft could it be?"][/caption] Something is astir at Blizzard, but they're not letting the cat out of the bag... yet, anyway. An image popped up on the Warcraft Twitter account earlier today, followed by the words "It's Coming - 11/25." Being only two days out, that means that we'll get to find out pretty soon, but that's more than enough time for the interwebs to go crazy over a mysterious picture. So what could it mean? Time to get all detective on this mother. We're going to analyze this photo so hard, it'll make Billy Bush blush! As you can plainly see, the picture is an upside-down, close-up view of several objects placed in a tableau, though not one of them seems to make any sense with the others (I suppose that's the point). And that's if we're at all correct about what the objects are in the first place:

Exhibit 1 (That Brown Thing In The Middle) -- Honestly, the best guess I've heard about this so far? A stack of Ritz crackers with peanut butter on top. I'm not sure about the peanut butter (the consistency looks a little off), but the "stack" does seem to feature the distinctive ridges on the outside of a Ritz. And down at the bottom there, it looks like a couple of the crackers have had their edges chipped off. Not on purpose, of course. Everyone who's ever eaten a pack of Ritz knows that this an incomplete cracker or two is simply part of the deal! Exhibit 2 (The Long White Thing Along The Side) -- People have speculated that this might be a length of rope or a rubber dog toy. But if it was rope, I'd expect it twine to be wound all the way around, which it isn't. As for the dog toy, they'll make just about anything into a chewable, rubberized plaything these days, won't they? Personally, I think it looks more like bone, which would be decidedly more Warcraft-y than a lot of the other guesses. Exhibit 3 (The "Surface") -- These objects are resting on something, but even what that is isn't entirely clear. The surface appears to be grey and flecked with mineral, like stone. And also like your average rock, it's not completely flat, either. There are clear indentations and curves running along the face of it. There is a flame pattern painted onto it, which a few have speculated to be the Scarlet Crusade tabard design. But that doesn't seem quite right, because the "fire" in this image is double-pronged, and the Scarlet Crusade emblem is not. Exhibit 4 (The Black Disc) -- No idea what this is. We can only see a small part of it, and it may either be attached to or laying on top of "The Long White Thing."

When whatever this is is eventually revealed, I'm sure all of these guesses will be rendered completely wrong, but it's the best we've got for the time being. The quality of the image, undoubtedly intentional, does a lot to obscure the fine details, but the last time Blizzard pulled an image puzzle like this, it resulted in a really odd purple penguin thing somehow related to the announcement of Diablo III. In that sense, it makes you wonder whether or not we'll get better or more full glimpses of these objects over the next couple of days. Likewise, the last time @Warcraft  teased anything significant, we got a preview for The Abyssal Maw. So far I've heard everything from Cataclysm Alpha (false, they never announce those, and they're highly restrictive anyway) to a 5th Anniversary birthday cake (possible?) to a teaser for the World of Warcraft movie (seems a little early, doesn't it?). The best guess I've found is a trailer for 3.3, as well as a solid release date for the upcoming patch, which would be nice and, I think, wound fit the "scope" of a Twitter-based announcement. Trouble is that even a good idea like that doesn't make the mysterious teaser image any easier to decipher. So I leave it up to you, readers! Maybe you can connect the dots better than the rest of us! Tell us what you make of this picture, as well as what you think it might be announcing!

[caption id="attachment_8630" align="alignright" width="300" caption="D'aawwwww...."][/caption] It looks like Pilgrim's Bounty isn't the only thing being celebrated right now. A day ahead of World of Warcraft's official fifth anniversary, players are already being treated to the special vanity pet associated with the event. People who were online when the clock struck 12 AM on November 22nd soon found the Onyxia Whelpling in their in-game mailbox as well as a Feat of Strength signifying that they were there when the game reached its fifth. Honestly, it's quite  a feat for any game to maintain the popularity that World of Warcraft has for half a decade, and that's only set to increase! Don't fret if you weren't logged into the game for the roll-over though, you'll still be able to get both the Onyxia Whelpling pet and the achievement. Blizzard hasn't stated a specific duration for the event, but they have said that you'll be privy to bother rewards as long as you're online at some point over the next few weeks. The Whelpling is terribly cute, more than it has any right to be considering its namesake, but who can resist its mindless fluttering about and goggle-eyed stare? And, of course, if you've read about it in the past, you know that it occasionally attempts a Deep Breath maneuver, which only results in coughing up a handful of wimpy smoke rings. Now that you can get your hands on the pet yourself, tell us what you think about it! In a time when you have to pay for premium companions like the Pandaren Monk, its nice to know that Blizzard is still willing to give us some really cool things for free (if you count paying $14.99 a month free).

What's a better way to relax and unwind after scarfing down some turkey than by scarfing down some virtual turkey? Frankly, I'm surprised it's taken Blizzard this long to do it, but one of the great world holidays as finally turned Azerothian. The denizens of Kalimdor and the Eastern Kingdoms now have their own Thanksgiving in the form of Pilgrim's Bounty, complete with the themes of food and familial strife around the dinner table! And if there's something to be thankful for, it's that unlike the last two additions to the calendar, this event is as fully featured as any of the other existing holidays. Considering this is the first year the holiday is being run, we aren't sure of what all we can expect to see, but we will guide you as best we can through the things that we do know.

Things To Do During Pilgrim's Bounty

• As you might expect, cooking is a major part of Pilgrim's Bounty and there are at least several new recipes for players to learn. Right now it seems as though these are the sorts of foods anyone, even those who just pick up the Cooking skill for the event, should be able to make: [Candied Sweet Potato], [Cranberry Chutney], [Pumpkin Pie], [Slow-Roasted Turkey], [Spice Bread Stuffing]. It's unknown what buffs, if any, consuming these foods might give you. Several achievements involve creating these tasty treats, so its unknown whether the materials are easily purchased or must be gathered in some other way.
• Bountiful Tables will also be placed in every racial Capitol City (they may also be placed in Dalaran or Shattrath, but those aren't involved in the achievements below). Just as during Thanksgiving, these are major hubs of activity and in true Azerothian holiday fashion, you will have to visit not only your own, but those of your enemies.
• Hunting plays into a couple of the achievements, including both Wild Turkeys and the most dangerous game of all, Rogues. I'm not sure how I feel about having a bounty on my head the entire week, or stalking my fellow classmates for that matter! It seems that you'll be able to purchase or earn a [Turkey Shooter] for these tasks.
• Dress-up time! Traditional Pilgrims' attire will be available so that you can look like one without having to worry about that pesky Puritanical code!

Pilgrim's Bounty Achievements

These are the achievements you can expect to earn during Pilgrim's Bounty. Each is worth ten points. The meta will award you the Title of Pilgrim and a Plump Turkey pet.

• FOOD FIGHT! -- Bounce food off a fellow feaster's head at a Bountiful Table.
• Now We're Cookin'-- Cook up one of every Pilgrim's Bounty dish: Candied Sweet Potato, Cranberry Chutney, Pumpkin Pie, Slow-Roasted Tureky, Spice Bread Stuffing.
• Pilgrim's Paunch -- Acquire the Spirit of Sharing from a complete Bountiful Table feast at every Alliance and Horde capital.
• Pilgrim's Peril -- While wearing either a [Pilgrim's Dress], [Robe], or [Attire], take a seat at each enemy capital's Bountiful Table.
• Pilgrim's Progress -- Complete each of the Pilgrim's Bounty dailies: Can't Get Enough Turkey, Don't Forget the Stuffing!, Easy as Pie, She Says Potato, We're Out of Cranberry Chutney Again?
• Sharing is Caring -- Pass one of every dish at a Bountiful Table: Candied Sweet Potato, Cranberry Chutney, Pumpkin Pie, Slow-Roasted Tureky, Spice Bread Stuffing.
• Terrokar Turkey Time -- Defeat Talon King Ikiss (Sethekk Halls) while wearing a [Pilgrim's Hat] and either a [Pilgrim's Dress], [Robe], or [Attire].
• The Turkinator -- Hunt enough Wild Turkeys quickly enough to gain Turkey Triumph.
• Turkey Lurkey -- Blast those dirty, sneaking rogues with your [Turkey Shooter]: Blood Elf, Dwarf, Gnome, Human, Night Elf, Orc, Troll, Undead.
• Pilgrim (Meta) -- Complete the Pilgrim's Bounty achievements listed below: FOOD FIGHT!, Pilgrim's Paunch, Pilgrim's Progress, Terrokar Turkey Time, Turkey Lurkey, Now We're Cookin', Pilgrim's Peril, Sharing is Caring, The Turkinator.

Pilgrim's Bounty Dailies

There are several daily events associated with Pilgrim's Bounty and they all involve cooking and/or bringing twenty of a particular dish to an NPC at the feasting area in a capital city.

• Can't Get Enough Turkey -- Bring 20 Slow-Roasted Turkeys to <Caitrin Ironkettle/Ondani Greatmill> outside of <Ironforge/Orgrimmar>.
• Don't Forget The Stuffing -- Bring 20 Spice Bread Stuffing to <Caitrin Ironkettle/Ondani Greatmill> at the feasting area outside <Ironforge/Orgrimmar>.
• Easy As Pie -- Bring 20 pieces of Pumpkin Pie to <Mary Allerton/Marhara Goldwheat> at the feasting area <near the gates of Darnassus/outside Thunder Bluff>.
• She Says Potato -- Bring 20 Candied Sweet Potatoes to <Jasper Moore/William Mullins> at the feasting area <outside of Stormwind/above Undercity>.
• We're Out Of Cranberry Chutney Again? -- Bring 20 servings of Cranberry Chutney to <Ellen Moore/Roberta Carter> at the feasting area <outside Stormwind/in the courtyard above Undercity>.

The holiday will run from November 22nd to November 28th, giving you just under a week to complete all the tasks. Don't fret if you won't be able to participate in the activities, though, as Pilgrim's Bounty does not count towards the Violet Proto-Drake meta-achievement. We here at Project Lore hope to see you around the Bountiful Tables in the coming week and no doubt will be covering the holiday to the best of our capabilities for the duration of the event. Stay tuned!

Interactive online magazine MMOZine recently scored an interview with one Mr. Greg Street, a.k.a. the infamous Ghostcrawler. The first part of three focuses squarely on the production and coming release of Patch 3.3, which as you all probably know by now will wrap up the whole Lich King plot-line that's been brewing since Warcraft III. Most of the questions relate directly to the design of the Icecrown Citadel raid and 5-man dungeons, but one answer caught my eye in particular, especially with this whole release date mess we've been going through lately:

MMOZine: Will all the bosses in Icecrown Citadel be made available immediately or are you going to stagger them, as you did in Sunwell Plateau? GS:Well we've not announced when it's coming out yet but we don't want to throw players against challenging raid content right over the holidays, so we're trying to avoid that a little bit.

If we've been looking for a reason as to why a Blizzard CM might tell a player that 3.3 is over a month out, then Ghostcrawler may have just given us our answer. I think a lot of us assumed that Thanksgiving would be an issue, but they might just be lumping the December holidays right in there with it. I still think that's a questionable decision to make, if it's true. However, note that Street is addressing the issue of gating ICC content specifically. He doesn't want to throw players into challenging raid content right away, which is a statement that jives with the whole idea of making only the first wing available until after the first of the year. It's clear that Blizzard wants to stretch the content, but it's comforting to know that they don't necessarily want to use that as an excuse to keep Cataclysm from coming out any sooner:

MMOZine: Are you concerned - hypothetically assuming it's going to be released around Q2/3 next year - that players are going to get a little bored waiting for Cataclysm? GS: It's definitely a challenge to make sure too much time doesn't go by. At the same time, if we stop and make a 3.4 patch, then that just pushes Cataclysm farther away. We know from the past, from Burning Crusade and Wrath, that when the beta comes out that's a really big moment and it gets people really excited again. What we've traditionally done is change the game and put in the new spells and talent trees quite a bit before the actual box goes up on the shelf. There's a couple of really big milestones along the way, even though they're not going to be playing Cataclysm as a Goblin or a Worgen right away.

So you can see there's won't be a 3.4 and that there's a good chance of 4.0 arriving at least a couple weeks earlier than Cataclysm goes retail in order to implement all of the changes that affect players across the board (inculding those that can't or don't purchase the expansion right away). In truth, that means a whole lot more than the release of 3.0 did before Wrath, because this time around, it would have to include the remade Azeroth. In other developer interview news, the WoW Community Site has put up their own interview with Greg Street (and Lead Content Designer Cory Stockton) concerning Patch 3.3. Considering it's internal nature, it's mostly fluff and softball questions. Do remember that these sorts of things are tailored to the portion of the playerbase out there that doesn't go out of their way to find out what's coming down the pike, but you still might learn a thing or two about the design philosophy behind ICC by checking it out.

Oh Blizzard, you're so sneaky! With a notice surreptitiously tucked away at the bottom of the launcher, and a download utility that chugs away at forthcoming patches minimized on your taskbar, you wouldn't even realize you were downloading anything at all unless you were looking for it! But if you've used your World of Warcraft client today, chances are you've already got pieces of 3.3 on your hard drive. Exciting, isn't it?! The pre-patching process allows Blizzard to push information such as texture and environment data (in other words, stuff that wouldn't currently affect gameplay) well ahead of patch day, so that when that moment comes, the process runs just a little bit smoother. As much as it might lighten the load on the data servers, though, it rarely does anything for the mountain of people trying to access the latest content, leading to lag on live servers, which leads to frustration and disappointment anyway, which leads to the Dark Side. Of course, the first thing your mind probably jumps to when you hear news like this is "the patch is coming next week," right? Well, the answer to that is... possibly. Now that we know Blizzard is gating content in Icecrown Citadel, that gives them plenty of time to continue testing encounters featured later in the dungeon in the background while hungry players sink their teeth into the first bites of the instance on live servers. From all I've experienced, the first set of bosses is more or less ready to go and itemization is in place. Nonetheless, it may still be unwise to release 3.3 the week of Thanksgiving, since most players will probably be vacationing, out of town, or otherwise spending time with their families. But either way, with data being pre-loaded, I don't expect the patch to be more than two weeks out. Only time will tell, so keep your eyes on the downloader and on Project Lore for more information on 3.3's release!

We expected it might the case for some time now, but Blizzard has confirmed it: Icecrown Citadel will subject players to gated progression in an attempt to stretch the content out as far as possible. However, as you will see below, it gets a little bit more complicated than just restricting you from accessing certain wings. Just as well, it seems that several weeks (as opposed to one) will pass before the next chunk of the raid zone is available. Here are the highlights you should be looking for:

• Each wing will be gated, with several weeks between each release. It has not been stated how long this period will be.
• The Wings are Lower Spire (4 fights), Plagueworks (3 fights), Crimson Halls (2 fights), Frostwing Halls (3 fights, including The Lich King). They will be released in that order.
• Each wing, aside from the Lower Spire, will have a marquee boss fight (Putricide, Queen Lana'Thel, Sindragosa). Every time one of these encounters is opened up, 5 more attempts will be available on these specific fights for a total of 15 (Lich King is included, though he doesn't supply any additional attempts).
• Once your attempts are expended, these four bosses will despawn from the zone until the next week. Likewise, these attempts only act as a limiter. You will not get any special rewards for not dying or only using up a certain number of attempts.
• As the weeks move forward, the Ashen Verdict's forces will "grow stronger," giving players the ability to pick up an optional buff which will make their raiding experience easier if they're having trouble.
• Heroic difficulty will not be accessible for any boss until the Lich King has been defeated on Normal.
• Heroic difficulty for the Lich King will not be available until the three aforementioned marquee boss fights have been completed on Heroic on a week-by-week basis.

The text of the announcement in full follows:

Icecrown Citadel testing has been progressing very well over the last few weeks, and this has been a huge help to the encounter design team. I want to thank everyone who has logged onto the PTR and tried the encounters there. As we're now getting closer to the release of 3.3.0, I wanted to talk about our plans for access progression within Icecrown Citadel. Icecrown Citadel is going to be broken up into four distinct sections: The Lower Spire, Plagueworks, Crimson Hall, and Frostwing Halls. We plan on releasing these four sections of Icecrown Citadel over time and not all immediately when patch 3.3.0 goes live. At this point I can't give precise dates for these release dates as they are determined by when patch 3.3.0 goes live. Once dates are known with more certainty, I'll update the community so they can plan appropriately. The first section that opens will include the Lord Marrowgar, Lady Deathwhisper, Icecrown Gunship Battle, and Deathbringer Saurfang encounters. Progress beyond that point will be prevented for several weeks. Then the Plagueworks will open with Rotface, Festergut, and Professor Putricide becoming available. After another period of time, the Crimson Hall will open and you can then fight the Blood Princes and Blood-Queen Lana'thel. The final Frostwing Halls unlock then occurs after that, making Valithria Dreamwalker, Sindragosa, and the Lich King available. We believe a staggered release of the content will allow players to experience Icecrown Citadel at a sustainable, measured, and ultimately more enjoyable pace. There are other elements that gate access along the way. Players may not attempt any Heroic versions of 10 player encounters until they have defeated the Lich King in a 10 player raid. Similarly, players must defeat the Lich King in a 25 player raid before they can attempt a Heroic 25 player encounter. So players must master every normal difficulty encounter in Icecrown Citadel before attempting Heroic difficulty. The Lich King may not be attempted until Professor Putricide, Blood-Queen Lana'thel, and Sindragosa are defeated. Furthermore, the Heroic difficulty of The Lich King encounter may not be attempted in any week unless the three aforementioned encounters have been defeated in Heroic difficulty that week. The Ashen Verdict provides reinforcements and material for players to assault Icecrown Citadel, but this support is not endless. Raids will have a limited number of attempts total each week to defeat the four most difficult encounters in Icecrown Citadel: Professor Putricide, Blood-Queen Lana'thel, Sindragosa, and the Lich King. As these boss encounters are unlocked, the number of attempts available per week will increase. The initial number of attempts provided for defeating Professor Putricide is only five. When Blood-Queen Lana'thel unlocks, the amount of total attempts remaining will increase to 10. Then when Sindragosa and the Lich King unlock, 15 total attempts will be available to defeat all four bosses. After a raid has exhausted their attempts for the week, the Ashen Verdict must withdraw their support and the four most difficult bosses all despawn and become unavailable for the week. The limited attempt system is a feature of both Normal and Heroic difficulty. There will be no explicit rewards for defeating the Lich King with a specific number of attempts remaining as there was with Trial of the Grand Crusader. There will also not be an achievement to complete Icecrown Citadel without being defeated by a boss encounter, or letting a raid member die. (i.e. A Tribute to Insanity). In the weeks and months after all twelve encounters are unlocked, additional attempts against the final four boss encounters become available. This represents the Ashen Verdict growing more powerful and gaining a stronger foothold in Icecrown Citadel. To further help raids, Varian Wrynn and Garrosh Hellscream will begin to provide assistance by inspiring the armies attacking Icecrown Citadel. This is represented as an additional zone wide spell effect applied to all players that will increase their hit points, damage dealt, and healing done. This effect will also increase in effectiveness over time. Players may opt out of the spell's effect if they so wish.

So what do you think about this? Personally, I like it. Gating does make the content last a little longer, and from what I've experienced on the PTR so far the "marquee" fights (including Deathbringer Sarufang) are sufficiently difficult, meaning that nobody should feel slighted that they don't get to pop a cap in the Lich King on the day one. It also keeps a lock on the "world first" crowd. While they're certainly free to raid how they see fit, the trend of conquering a dungeon on its first night also has a dangerous side effect on the community, creating the perception that the content isn't as difficult or engaging as people want it to be. The only real problem I have is that it feels like the content may be stretched just a little too thin. This entirely depends on what Blizzard means by "several weeks" between each wing is released. One or two weeks is more acceptable than three or four. But even if they do let it go that long, hopefully it's just to tide us over until Cataclysm and not used as an excuse to delay the expansion any further.