Project Lore

You young ones are spoiled these days, what with your multiple Battlegrounds and Arena matches. Heck, one of the most exciting features coming with Wrath of the Lich King is Lake Wintergrasp. An entire zone dedicated to uninstanced PvP, complete with siege weapons. Back in my day we had to travel across the ocean, uphill, through the snow while dodging bear and lion pies to get our PvP fix. Yea, I am talking about the good old days of Southshore versus Tarren Mill. All of those who leveled up before the invention of Alterac Valley and Wasrong Gulch know exactly what I speak of. The Horde and Alliance quest hubs in Hillsbrad Foothills are meant for mid-20 level players, but players of all levels used to pass by to get to the higher level zones like Eastern and Western Plaguelands. This was also the time before you could chain together flightpaths, forcing players to jump from node to node, rather than one continuous flight (node to node somehow makes it cheaper...). Tarren Mill and Southshore happened to only be a stones throw from each other, allowing for short trips from the graveyard to the battlefield. The conditions caused a perfect storm of PvP, the likes which have never been seen in World of Warcraft again. My first trip into crux of mayhem and death was early in my WoW career. Before Onyxia was released, my guild already had its fair share of players that were level 40+. I remained on my level 20ish Rogue, still too low to head to Southshore for quests, but always wanted to help my guild. My guildmates one night decided it was time to raid Thrall (we were under the impression that killing him would allow you to loot Thrall's Ear, Diablo-style, obviously we were mistaken), so the Guildmaster grabbed as many members as possible, along with anyone who was interested, and stormed off to Ogrimmar. After the Horde handed our ass to us, we turned back, dejected and depressed at our failure. We sought revenge, and what better target than the hotspot of Tarren Mill (on the way to Tyr's Hand, which was were most people were headed). Now about 30 strong, and mostly composed of Ventrilo-equipped guildmates, we laid waste to Tarren Mill and any Horde that dared enter the Hillsbrad Foothills. For almost two hours, we commandeered the zone for no better reason than that we could. The Horde had won the battle at the capital city of Ogrimmar, but the Alliance sent out a message. No town is safe. Tarren Mill versus Southshore battle royals are long gone, and unfortunately, will likely stay that way. If you wish to re-live or even experience the mess for the first time, there is a new website called YouTube. You may have heard about it? I have tried a few times to recreate those memories, but it never happens. Battlegrounds truly ended World PvP for WoW. Blizzard tried to bring World PvP back with The Burning Crusade's PvP objectives, but it wasn't the same. Thankfully, Blizzard is trying again, and what we have heard about Lake Wintergrasp keeps me hoping.

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I believe that one of the biggest issues with raiding and partying in World of Warcraft is ego. So many people out there think that they know the game better than the creators themselves.  That confidence can often be a player's downfall. The fact of the matter is this, probably less than 1% of World of Warcraft players know it well enough to be considered experts at the game. Sure, many players known their class very well, but do they know its utility for raids, parties, Battlegrounds, Arenas and every boss fight? Not likely. What about the other classes?  Do they know how to get the most out of the Auction House? The ins and outs of WoW's scripting language? The often neglected lore? Doubtful. You may think I am here to gripe about how we could all open our eyes and learn a little from our guildmates, PUG-mates or Buddhism, but I promise you that isn't the case. Sure, I showed an officer last night that he could link his professional abilities rather than telling everyone what he can do, but he was gracious about learning from the “new blood.” I am actually here to ask for help. If you have been following my blog here at Project Lore, then you know that I made a Priest alt for the Refer-a-Friend promotion. I have never, ever, in all the MMOs I have played, gone healing. With Wrath coming in less than a month's time, I figured now is as good a time as any. With the refunded talent points I created this healing spec. Let me restate this, while I know the basics of healing, I certainly do not know the nitty-gritty details. My spec was designed to reduce casting time and mana consumption, while bolstering heals and crit heals and the chance to crit. Survivability was an afterthought. I do realize that being new to the “keeping people alive” rather than “killing everything that moves” mentality will likely cause me to waste tons of mana on overheals. So, the Serendipity talent is something I will likely move too. So Priests, and healers in general, now is your time to shine. Constructive criticism is greatly appreciated – that means the first poster better have some good input – and it just doesn't have to be talent spec pointers. Good addon, macro or rotation suggestions are welcome too! I did create one macro already, my personal “Oh, shit!” button which I stole from my brother's old Priest. It yells, says, sends to party and raid the following message: “Fox! Get this guy off me!”

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Wow.  What a mess the Echoes of Doom patch has been.  I do not know about the rest of you, but I have had a hell of a time with the latest content patch.  Blizzard Entertainment warned us that the maintenance would be extended, but my main server experienced over 12 hours of down time. Then it was hit with shoddy performance when the realm finally came up.  In fairness, I would rather take the downtime now, than when all the new content from Wrath of the Lich King goes live.  Of course, that is the exact reason Blizzard does these patches ahead of time, to work out the kinks. My server being down was only half the battle though.  I don't think I have mentioned this before, but I actually play World of Warcraft on three separate computers.  Keeping the WoW installations on the myriad of computers I have is difficult enough for common play (no, I don't want to carry around my WoW installation on an external harddrive).  So you can imagine how annoying it is to go through the motions of patching and reinstalling addons on three computers for a major content patch.  Tools like  the BLASC Client can only do so much. My two Windows XP boxes patched up nicely, although I had to transfer the patch from one box to the other because a download was corrupt.  Thankfully, Blizzard's repair tool managed to revert the MMORPG to 2.0.0 rather than having to reinstall everything.  Things went smoothly after that. My Windows Vista 64-bit box has been, and continues to be, a bit more difficult though.  I have the User Access Controls disabled - because they suck - and still get harassed by Blizzard's installer telling me to move the files to a public directory.  I told it to do what it wants and it failed to copy data from the original installation location into the public area.  I figured it was a PEBKAC issue and tried again, this time not moving the files.  Failed again with much the same error, unable to copy data. I then did a whole bunch of dumb things like copied the patch files into the installation folder, ran it as administrator, ran it as administrator while on one foot and ran it as administrator while I played The Witcher.  At this point I was worried about the installation as a whole, thinking that the failures may just cause a chain reaction of destruction.  Double-clicked the repair tool (as admin, while I prayed to Pagan gods) and got reverted to 2.0.0 on the Vista box. It took me awhile, but I finally gave up in frustration and began to download a new copy of the patch.  Hours later, in fact, it ended up being early this morning, it completed and installed correctly.  Looks like I was blaming Vista for another corrupted download.  Sorry Microsoft! Things are up and running on all of my computers now, and I have begun taking a hard look at which specs to select for my Rogue and Priest.  I think I am going to roll with a healer Priest from now until level 80, so that should be different.  How did the conversion to the Wrath of the Lich King's launch screen - which rocks by the way - go for all of you?

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Late yesterday afternoon the Player Test Realms were finally closed, marking the end of testing for patch 3.0.2.  At the same time, players were met with the typical “Breaking News” window at the login screen.  The latest in “Breaking News” was a message telling everyone that maintenance would be longer than normal.  Gee, what could possibly make maintenance longer than normal.  Oh, I know, Blizzard Entertainment is finally putting the Echoes of Doom patch live!

Just because we can't play World of Warcraft right now doesn't mean we should put it out of our minds.  There is plenty to worry about and do while waiting for Blizzard's techies to finish their job.  Hopefully most of you managed to empty out your inventories and cash out while you could.  If not, be sure to do so right away.  I expect that once the servers go live, the market will start its steady decline on those soon-to-be-replaced items.  The patch may make many items relatively worthless, but it will also allow many players to get some epic quality gems on the cheap.

Thanks to the removal of BoP and unique-equipped tags on PvP gems, those epic stones can soon be purchased by your PvP-dominating main and socketed into your whimpy alt's gear.  The change in PvP items – initially added because Blizzard was going to wipe Honor points and Battleground marks – is just one of the cavalcade of changes coming with Echoes of Doom.  There is another thing you can do, put on your reading glasses and hit up the latest official PTR patch notes for 3.0.2.

Done reading that ridiculous amount of class changes?  Well, then it is time to go lay out your new spec for your main and handful of alts.  I am actually still working on that myself, although I am kind of stuck with dagger builds for the moment.

Last but not least, and this one is often torture, it is time to start collecting 3.0.2 ready addons.  Many addons will be broken with the launch of 3.0.2, so updates will surely be needed for a handful of your mods.  The most popular mods have already been updated for the beta of Wrath of the Lich King itself, and therefore work fine in 3.0.2.  WoWWiki has a comprehensive list, complete with funny little icons, to keep us informed.  Most of my favorite addons are ready such as the Auctioneer suite, FuBar and tons of its plugins, Bejeweled, Itemrack, Rating Buster.  Some of my other favorites are in limbo right now, including the popular BankItems, AutoBar and Omen Threat Meter.  To make matters a little less time consuming, you may want to install the BLASC Client, which will keep your mods up-to-date via WoWAce's database.

Oh, and how could we forget the Achievements.  Which ones are you shooting for on day one?

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BlizzCon has come and gone, but that doesn't mean I have been able to absorb the insane amount of information to come from the event. Tons of information and yet Blizzard Entertainment had a bit of a lackluster announcement to make this year – as it wasn't a new game. Instead we got news such as the unveiling of the third class for Diablo III, the Wizard, and the splitting of StarCraft II into three games.

I know this isn't ProjectStarCraft but I need a soapbox for a minute. What the crap is this? Blizzard claims that the main reasoning behind the trilogy is cost, stating that StarCraft II has become a far larger project compared to the first game. Thus, they have split the title into three editions, the “full” game will focus on the Terran campaign and be titled Wings of Liberty. Then we will have the Zerg title, Heart of the Swarm, followed by the Protoss' Legacy of the Void.

In fairness, Rob Pardo stated that the second and third games will feature fleshed out campaigns, featuring 26-30 missions each. He comments that the second two titles should be viewed as expansion packs, rather than the rest of StarCraft II. Pardo states “we really want them to feel like stand-alone products.” Personally, Blizzard didn't divulge enough information about the second and third releases to keep me happy. If the additions are full-fledged expansions like Relic Entertainment's Dawn of War expansions, which went so far as to add a new campaigns, new races and units, then I will gladly pay full expansion price. If Blizzard only delivers campaigns for the focused race, then I feel like we may end up paying ~$100 for a single game.  Time will tell as more information comes out.

Diablo and StarCraft aside, Blizzard hit us with plenty of World of Warcraft information. As I mentioned, I am still digesting it all, but have been excited by numerous headlines:

• Patch 3.1 is already completed and will be the first content patch for Wrath. It will feature Ulduar raid instance.
• Patch 3.2 is in the works and will feature an unknown instance.
• Patch 3.3, the last patch for Wrath, will feature the Icecrown Citadel, Arthas and resolve the Ashbringer story.
• Dual-Talent spec will allow players to switch between specs without going back to a trainer. Specs can be switched between raid pulls, but not during Arena matches.
• Blizzard will be trying to create raids that are more accessible than Sunwell Plateau. Meaning, they believe it is too difficult.
• Toying with the idea of awarding XP for PvP.
• Battlegrounds are supposed to be brought back to the forefront of PvP.
• Queuing to Battlegrounds and Arenas from anywhere in the world coming.
• Strand of the Ancients, the upcoming Wrath Battleground, bumped to 15v15 with double the siege weapons.
• Unrelated to WoW – Blizzard confirmed their upcoming MMO is a brand-new universe.

Echoes of Doom (Patch 3.0.2) is coming soon, are you ready for the changes?! Hit the recommended sites to the right for further details and coverage of BlizzCon 2008.

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I have been on a bit of a financial kick lately. Although all the advisors out there say someone my age (less than 35) shouldn't worry too much about their portfolio, it is hard to break a daily routine. This daily routine actually extends into my digital life as well, as I am constantly monitoring fluctuations in the Azerothian market as well.

Being a self-proclaimed financial analyst, I figured I could give you guys a few pointers on how to cash in before the launch of Wrath. You see, as with any content patch, let alone an expansion, many things will change. It is pretty safe to say that no item from The Burning Crusade will remain at its current level of value once Wrath launches in mid-November. Although this may sound like a doomsday statement, there is still plenty of money to be made in the market.

Run On The Banks

The first thing you guys should do is take a hard look at your banks on all of your characters. Grab one of my favorite UI addons to make things easier. BankItems will allow you to look at all inventory - bank, mailbox and bags - on any character. Now that you can browse things easily, grab any items that will be worthless in Wrath and get the money for them while you can. Things like Primals, some enchanting mats and potions will all be replaced by better versions once Wrath launches.  Dump 'em like an abusive boyfriend.

Players should be able to pocket a sizable amount of gold by clearing out their banks of useless junk that they have been saving “for a rainy day.” Not only that, but your bank, and bags will be nice and tidy for the level grind to 80.

To The Market

Ore, leather, and cloth are a different story though. The market for these items will be different than the higher end gear, mainly because they are profession based. As mentioned in the comments section of my other economic post, things like low to mid-range cloth are actually selling at inflated prices. The reasoning behind this is due to many people leveling up alts for Wrath. Why stop and eat something when you can transmute some bandages and just keep on grinding?

This sets the old supply-and-demand graph on its head, with almost no supply but a high demand. Time is money friends and that jacks up the price on many trade profession goods.  If you have time, go farm some of these mid-range items on your main, and reap the benefits.

While running on your bank is making you money, it's more about cashing in while the items are worth something. In the trade profession market, you could make a good amount of gold by resale alone. If you are going to give this a run, be sure to pick up the Auctioneer Addon suite. It is a must have for any Auction House monitor, recording, scanning and adding functionality to the standard AH layout.

I should mention that each realm is different. What is selling like hotcakes for me may not be worth looting on yours. As an example, the ore market on Magetheridon-A has bottomed out recently, with high-end ore being at its lowest point since I reformatted some time ago. In contrast to that, mid-range ore, like Thorium, is through the roof. The evidence – that the bars are selling for much less than the ore – points to miners just buying it to smelt for skill points.

Be Careful - It Isn't Fool Proof

Be careful and do your research before you dump your stuff. Selling on the weekend and buying on weekdays (or bidding right before the servers go down) are also handy tricks to pulling in extra cash. Everything counts but it is still a risky market out there. Use my tips at your own risk but please, treat your financial advisor right. The last time I gave our readers some tips I couldn't use the ideas myself for a few weeks. I have no problem with players on my server making a buck, but send me (Solidsamm of the Alliance) 5% of the profit! Kthxbye.

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No, not the Amani War Bear. That will be going the way of the Dodo once the Echoes of Doom patch hits. For your information, the patch previously known as 3.0.2. is rumored to be going live next Tuesday, October 14. So if you do want the mount, then get to work because it will no longer be obtainable after that.

When Tigole first announced the upcoming removal of the Amani War Bear, players (well, most players) were distraught at losing such an exclusive and prized item. To hold off the storm of anger Tigole promised that Wrath would offer another bear, a Polar Bear. As we know, that bear is going to be given away this weekend as part of the BlizzCon 2008 goodie bag.

Fear not bear-lovers, for you have another chance at scoring a bulky mount that shows off your dedication to World of Warcraft. Upper Deck Entertainment announced the new loot cards for the Drums of War TCG expansion and the Rare card unlocks a pissed off bear mount!

• Slashdance (Super Common) – This card is the new Piccolo of the Flaming Fire, and as such, will get abused to hell and back. Unlike the Piccolo, which forces everyone around you to dance, the Slashdance card will give you a targetable consumable known as the Party G.R.E.N.A.D.E.. When thrown, all those in its radius will break out into the international language of dance.
• Owned! (Uncommon) – Surely this will be bound to keys or added to macros worldwide. What is a teabagging and spitting macro without a little flag taunting in the mix? Owned! will grant the lucky gamer with a flag which can be staked into a fallen opponent. Said flag sports a large thumbs-down icon, allowing all to know who you just ganked.
• The Red Bearon (Rare) – This is the one most of the readers are here for. The Red Bearon will grant players with the newest mount (pictured above) to grace the lands of Azeroth. Being a Rare card the mount should be somewhat exclusive, not to mention incredibly pricey on eBay. The angry beast will come in both a normal and epic variety.

Personally, I do not play the WoW TCG, but I do pick up a few packs here and there when I see them. Mainly I make the purchases because I enjoy the artwork and want to support the team behind the game. The lure of the awesome loot cards certainly helps. Damn cross-branding.

The Drums of War expansion pack will hit retail stores on October 28th.  So when you go to pick up Guitar Hero World Tour, Red Alert 3 and Fallout 3 you might as well grab a few packs.

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Blizzard Entertainment announced the official System Requirements for their second expansion to World of Warcraft. Wrath of the Lich King sports higher requirements in a few areas that will likely force some users to upgrade their computers, or go nuts and get new ones. The announcement comes by way of Bornakk and the official forums. If you are interested in the full run down, then click that link. I will simply highlight and discuss the major changes. We learned shortly after Wrath's official release date was announced that the title would only be available on DVD. According to a poll run by WoWInsider, this means that some 7.5% of WoW users will need to upgrade their CD-ROM or CD-RW drive to a DVD-ROM or DVD+-RW. Thankfully, that cost is only about $30-$50, if you have the know how to install it yourself. Of course, there are some tricks around this, such as loading the game off an ISO image by way of an external harddrive. The rest of the upgrades are likely caused by Wrath's bump in graphics capabilities, like real-time shadows. The upgrades fragment a bit for the different platforms, PC or Mac. First off, PC users must have Windows XP SP3 or Vista SP1, but both service packs are free upgrades (for legal owners). This means that users of Windows 2000 will finally have to make the jump to Vista. Those who are scared of Vista should start searching for copies of XP now. Then comes the most drastic change for PC users. PC machines are required to have a faster processor than before, a 1.3GHz processor (or equivalent) instead of that old 800MHz dog. That is almost a 40% boost and will cause people on the low end to upgrade.  If you have the know-how this can be cheap, but most people will probably just opt for a new machine.  Ram and video card requirements remain the same, although Vista users need double the Ram than XP players, since that OS is a hog. Mac gamers are an entirely different story though. I will start it off with the worse news, all G4 machines will be unable to play Wrath of the Lich King. Blizzard states that the minimum processor requirement for Mac machines is a Power PC G5 1.6GHz processor.  This kills G4s across the board, PowerMac and PowerBooks. As for the OS, 10.3.x is being dropped in favor of 10.4.11 or higher. Look on the bright side , at least your OS doesn't cost hundreds of dollars.  Mac players will also need double the Ram at 1GB required, another low-cost upgrade. Lastly and most costly, Mac Minis and most MacBooks have been dropped due to their on-board video cards being a bit behind. MacBooks released almost three years after World of Warcraft can not play Wrath due to Apple's poor choice in graphics processors. Models from Late 2007 were finally updated with the Intel GMA X3100 on-board graphics solution, which can do the needed Lighting and Hardware Transform.  However, as of press time Blizzard has not confirmed them as suitable for Wrath, but it meets the announcement's listed requirements. It seems that many Apple supporters got the short end of the stick on this deal. This isn't to say that all year old PC laptops will be able to play Wrath.  Many OEM manufacturers (Dell, HP, Sony, etc) cut costs on the low- and mid-range machines the same way. Rule of thumb for those PC gamers, if you have an Intel on-board solution, there is cause for concern.  Lucky for me, my third gaming machine (I have a problem) squeaks by the requirements with a Radeon 9700 Pro. How do your machines hold up?

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Wrath of the Lich King has me far more excited than The Burning Crusade ever did. I don't know what it was about TBC that turned me off so much, because I was interested in what it had to offer. I was in TBC's beta, but I didn't burn myself out in it. In fact, that is where I realized that I wasn't as intrigued by The Burning Crusade as much as I was for World of Warcraft. I bought the first expansion regardless, hoping that Blizzard would manage to wow me in some way. I don't believe TBC struck me as much as vanilla WoW, but the expansion – and the community - managed to keep me entertained for the past 21 months and counting. Thankfully, WotLK seems like it will do more than just hold on to me.  With exciting features like these, how could it fail?

• Questing & Exploration – I love exploring these digital worlds that we spend so much of our time in and the new quests should make it that much more enjoyable.  To top it off, the lands are full of unseen monsters living in harsh conditions.
• Phasing – Phasing is the new black. The idea of phasing is to allow players to have their own unique world. Did you manage to do an escort quest and your buddy didn't? Well, to you, the person you escorted may appear in the nearby town, while for your buddy, he is still held captive by the forces of the scourge.  Same game, but appearing to each player in its own special way.
• Stormwind Harbor – Stormwind is getting a large addition that will gradually be introduced to the Human stronghold.  For the aesthetics alone, it is nice to see the major cities change over time.
• Naxxaramas – My hardore raiding days ended with Naxxaramas 40-man. No guild on my main server managed to clear it before TBC went live, although we were the closest. I can't wait to dance tackle it again, only this time at level 80.
• New talents & Level 80 – The idea of dual specs are interesting and so are all the new talents, for all classes.
• World PvP – World PvP and Battlegrounds are to make a comeback in Wrath. Arenas with environmental hazards are all well and good, but Lake Wintergrasp and Strand of The Ancients are where it is at for me.
• Enchanting Changes - Being able to sell and purchase Enchants on the Auction House = priceless.
• Death Knights – Forget about new races, that is old hat. Yea, we will have new racial abilities, but what could be more exciting than the first Hero class? I won't be leveling a Death Knight right away, but I will definitely take one for a spin due to the quest chains and lore associated with starting one.
• Lore – This is actually the number one thing I am waiting for. Wrath of the Lich King promises to have some killer lore.  With the introduction of the new Death Knight class, new quests, the lead up to Icecrown Glacier and the battle against the Lich King/Arthas, how could it not be awesome? I guarantee you that there will be one quest chain in the game that will blow you away. KooPA's are known for their truthiness...and walking off cliffs.

There is tons more to Wrath of the Lich King than what I have listed, another reason that I can't wait to jump in on November 13th. What has you all in a tither?

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Juggynaut was one of those lucky players to see a Brewfest mount drop during the seasonal event.  Sadly, Juggy was not lucky enough to win, rolling an amazing 30.  On the last possible run of the event, started at 11:59PM server time, Juggynaut's squad was once again met with a trinket drop.  So long to Brewfest for another year.  But don't worry folks, like in the real world, the citizens of Azeroth have plenty of holidays coming in the next few months.

• Hallow's End (October 18th – November 1st) – Blizzard's take on the North American holiday of Halloween.  Event includes the Headless Horsemen, Bobbing for Apples, Innkeepers handing out Tricks or Treats and more.
• Feast of Winter Veil (December 15th – January 2nd) – Celebration of various religious holidays although primarily focuses on the idea of Santa Claus and gift giving.  The event allows all players to receive free loot from the main cities, kissing under Mistletoe and the always annoying fun, snowballs.
• New Year (December 31st – January 1st) – This one should be fairly obvious, the celebration of the new year by the Gregorian calendar.  This event doesn't have too much to do but does have fireworks at Stormwind, Thunder Bluff, and Booty Bay.

Those three events, which are subject to change before they go live, round out the end of another year for World of Warcraft.  In mid-February we have Love is in the Air, commonly known in our realm as Valentine's Day.  Then we hit a bit of a dry spell until Noblegarden, an event that is timed with Easter's revolving celebration. Blizzard managed to find time to add two brand new calendar events this year.  The first addition, Spirit of Competition for the Olympic Games, promoted many strict PvEers to PvP for the first time in ages.  The second was to highlight the made-up holiday known as International Talk like a Pirate Day, which Azerothians know simply as Pirate's Day. Brewfest has become my favorite holiday due to Blizzard's addition of Coren Direbew in Black Rock Depths.  Mainly, I love the fact that Blizzard took the time out not only to add another boss with good loot, but to add it to old content.  It wouldn't be that hard for them to continue the trend lore-wise. Have Greatfather Winter be late to his event because he is held captive by Troggs in Gnomeregan and Ragefire Chasm and needs to be rescued.  The Fireworks shipment can be stolen for the New Year celebration and kept in Uldaman.  Why Uldaman you ask?  Simple, because everyone hates Dark Iron Dwarves. I don't expect Blizzard to go nuts on seasonal content, but I am sure they could give some developers a break from the norm to flesh out one seasonal event per year.  How did you guys do on your mount drops and what is your favorite seasonal event? Oh, and one more event I should mention.  Wrath of the Lich King goes live Novemeber 13th.

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