Project Lore

Yesterday at the Leipzig Games Convention, Blizzard gave the world the first look at Wrath of the Lich King's cinematic trailer. The trailer initially blew me away with its fantastic animation, beautifully crafted landscapes, epic music and spot on narration by Arthas' father, King Terenas Menethil. Then a friend and I began discussing it and finally, comparing it to previous Warcraft trailers. We decided that it's lacking in content. I have seen all of Blizzard's cinematic trailers, for all their titles - heck, I even own the Blizzard Entertainment DVD Collection. This allows me to see the progression of their craft. Since the release of Diablo II, the technology, art, and design of their cinematics have always been groundbreaking. Especially the technology. But what is a cutscene without story? Arthas' turn in Warcraft III still resonates in my mind as one of the coolest things I have seen from the game industry. Was it an original twist? No, but the video's presentation made it amazing. But that comparison isn't entirely far. After all, that cutscene was just that, a cutscene. What I am actually discussing is a cinematic trailer, so let us compare apples to apples. In the original World of Warcraft trailer Blizzard introduced us to everything. The classes, the races, the setting, the landscape. The trailer told players what to expect - an epic struggle. The Burning Crusade cinematic featured a cocky Illidan Stormrage daring us to come out and do battle with him. Shortly after being told that "You are not prepared" the cinematic shifts gears, introducing the new playable races. What does the Wrath of the Lich King offer us? It shows Arthas crossing a frozen lake in Northrend shortly before he plunges Frostmourne into the ice. We see the release of a large dragon (probably Sindragosa) that then stirs Arthas' undead army as it passes overhead. An epic presentation but it doesn't lead us, or the story, on, as previous trailers did. Heck, even the Sunwell Plateau trailer (basically machinima) pushed the story forward. And where is the action that the other two presentations had? Sorry Blizzard, but for all you put into the presentation, you left the story at the door. I don't enjoy or expect the formulaic movie plot of build up, climax and close in my video game trailers. Your previous formula of slight build-up and a lot of climax always had me on the edge of my seat. Ultimately, those previous trailers lead me to want the game (which would present the close) that much more. Stream the trailer here, download the high resolution version for PC or Mac or an alternate mirror for streaming and download can be found at FileFront.

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Late last week, news started coming out about the new mounts that would be introduced with the launch of Wrath of the Lich King. I, for one, am not a mount collector, so I simply read the news and moved on with my life. That is, until last night when I caught a glimpse of one of those mounts, The Hog. The Hog is an upcoming rideable mount that, according to reports, is a permanent mount (not a temporary quest reward) which can be summoned like all other Wrath mounts. To top it off, it is even in the current build of the beta! There is other information about The Hog that has been gathered through datamining of the game files. First off, the mount currently isn't flagged for Engineers, but due to its look it will likely be restricted when it goes live. So be sure to take it for a spin in the beta. Next, it appears that the bike's speed might be tied to its rider's level, much like the Winged Steed of the Ebon Blade. Therefore, the higher the toon, the faster the bike will go. As of now, I haven't spoken with anyone who actually owns the sweet ride, so this information is simply rumors based on the aforementioned mined data. That hasn't stopped me from getting incredibly excited though. I have always fancied the engineering mounts over the animals since The Burning Crusade. Not only do I think the engineering mounts look better, but they are just far less common due to the restriction. But wow, does The Hog look awesome or what? The screenshots even make it look like The Hog may allow for an extra passenger! Sadly, The Hog does have a knock against it. It seems that the developers have seen fit to put some restrictions on the bike - possibly for noise pollution. The Hog can only take you around in style in Northrend and Outland. Shucks, can't tear down the shores of Westfall. Oh and in response to one of my earlier blogs, is that close enough to a car for you?

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I was on vacation in the Outer Banks of North Carolina until August 10th. Yes, the day before BlizzCon tickets went on sale. I actually cut that vacation two days short so I could get home to a solid internet connection. I knew that I would need one to scoop up the two tickets I wanted to purchase. There I was, August 11th, stuck in the epic "fail Murloc" and XML error cycle like thousands of other users. F5, F5, F5, still the murloc haunts me. After Blizzard Poster Nethaera said the tickets had been sold out, I thought all hope was lost and began looking at eBay. Don't look at eBay. It is simply heart-breaking. Yes I saw that there would also be a small reserve of tickets to be sold at 8PM but that is PST time, and I was going to be unavailable then. My BlizzCon hopes were dashed. Just two days later, Mike Morhaime, the big cheese at Blizzard, pulled some strings and reworked the show's floor to allow room for 3,000 more people. To top it off they decided that these tickets would only be made available via a lottery system for those with an active Blizzard account (meaning their Online Store) as of August 12th. Huzzah, less chance that the last batch will be placed on eBay! The details on the lottery came out yesterday and will include an opt-in period much like the Wrath Beta. After that time frame elapses - still unknown - Blizzard will select 1,500 lucky members and allow them to purchase two tickets each. Should there be any tickets left, there will be another drawing and so on until all remaining tickets are sold. I have been fairly lucky at bingo in my life so I hope that luck carries over into this process. I really, really, want to snag that BlizzCon Polar Bear mount. Should anyone want to feel my pain, I invite you to play BlizzCon 08 - The Game. You can learn more about the lottery system via the BlizzCon Drawing FAQ. Good luck.

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The picture really says it all. Garbage, waste, refuse, rubbish, whatever you want to call it - Azeroth does not have it. I am from the city of the most murders in 2007 brotherly love and here we have tons of it. Come garbage day it gets worse, as cans are knocked, dumped or blown over causing the streets to become even more cluttered. But head to Azeroth and you see nothing of the sort. Azeroth and Outlands are spic and span, yet you never see an Ironforge Sanitation Engineer. Why is that? True, there is no gum to spit on the ground inside World of Warcraft, but there certainly is a lot of vendor trash. All those vendors can't possibly keep everything to themselves! At this point in my life I am so used to trash being everywhere that it has become a staple of living in the city. But why isn't it around for my digital self? Here is what I think the Horde and Alliance does with their waste. Instead of ruining the glaciers of Northrend by burning the rubbish, we Azerothians recycle the trash into our most commonly used abilities. Here's what the tooltips should really say: Warrior's Charge/Intercept Stun: Warrior sprints at the target, throwing a pile of glass and nails at their feet causing them to ignore everything else as they attempt to maneuver the danger. Druid's Entangle: Druid throws down a pile of brush, tripping up the target. Can spec for added damage by including discarded needles in the organic matter. Rogue's Kidney Punch: Rogue swings a discarded tire at the target, rendering them unconscious. Duration dependent upon object's size. Added damage if the tire is filled with mosquito larvae. Hunter's Distracting Shot: Hunter throws a pile of trash right in front of the target, causing them to become distracted by disbelief. Priest's Psychic Scream: Priest pulls a gun from a storm drain and screams "Stop! Or My Mom Will Shoot". Yes Stallone, I went there. I am sure our community can add some creative ones to the list.

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So you have finally hit level 70 on your alt, or perhaps it is your main.  As you begin to run the 5-man content while trying to get into Karazhan and doing PvP in between it dawns on you that most of your gear lacks enchantments.  Whatever shall you do? Most players will quickly look-up what materials are required for class-appropriate enchantments, only to be shocked or annoyed at how much the enchantments will cost them.  For this discussion we will focus on weapon enchants, generally the most expensive and often the most important. Being a melee class character - a Rogue to be exact - Mongoose is the best enchantment, its tooltip reads "to occasionally increase Agility by 120 and attack speed slightly."  Yum.  But here's the catch, the materials are expensive, costing:

• 6 x Void Crystal
• 10 x Large Prismatic Shard
• 8 x Greater Planar Essence
• 40 x Arcane Dust

Not to mention the fact that you have to find someone to do this for you, which may cost you a little extra. Well maybe Mongoose is a bit nuts, after all you did just hit 70 and are likely to replace your gear soon.  So how about Executioner which will allow you "to occasionally ignore 840 of your enemy's armor."  Not to shabby in this day where bear tanks easily have over 16,000 armor.  Materials for this one?  Not much different:

• 6 x Void Crystal
• 10 x Large Prismatic Shard
• 6 x Greater Planar Essence ( - 2 GPE)
• 30 x Arcane Dust (-10 AD)
• 3 x Elixir of Major Strength (+3 Elixirs)

This begs the question, to enchant or not to enchant? The benefits of such should be readily obvious, you get a boost in selected stats but at what cost?  A character in my predicament, just hit 70 with some basic Karazhan and PvP gear, will easily replace much of their gear in a the coming weeks.  So should they waste all of those mats on a high end enchant?  Probably not and the drawbacks aren't horrible. Lower stats mean lower DPS in my case, or lower healing or crappier tanking in other cases, but not matter what the reduction is by an incredibly small percentage.  Of course, we cannot forget the endless ridicule that may ensue fromguildmates or persons in your party.  Avoiding the constant teasing could make the decision for you. There is one other route, a compromise of sorts.  Instead of getting a high end enchant like Mongoose or Executioner on my Emerald Ripper - an item easily replaced - I will get a medium grade enchant.  Therefore I have SOMETHING which will help me avoid some ridicule while gaining SOME stats but not "wasting" obtuse amounts of gold on mats.  One could argue that I should just save that gold to put into the high end enchant later, but then we get into a vicious cycle and I hate those.  As for my Merciless Gladiator's Shiv?  Well, it won't be replaced nearly as quickly as the Ripper, so Executioner it is. This was my first post here at ProjectLore.com.  Was it good for you?

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