Project Lore

One example of phased content: the Wrathgate event. The MMO is an odd beast. Like most games, or game series, it evolves and grows in expected ways over time. Players are provided with a bevy of new options or the graphics are given a shiny new coat of paint (especially if it's associated with a generational jump in hardware). But the online RPG is no moulting reptile. It can't simply shed its old skin. Expansions offer new content, but rarely do much for the old, so we're stuck with the less impressive aspects of the game, and the developers are consistently reminded by these ancient artifacts of their failings the first time around. I'm sure Blizzard would love to reshape the original continents as much as we players would like to see them do it, but the drain on resources would be absolutely massive. I know I've stated this in previous posts, but it entails so much more than a graphical overhaul. They'd have to reconsider how quests, dungeons, leveling, and other such balance-related aspects of the game are dealt with. What starts as one problem to deal with quickly spirals out of control. But let's be honest, who is it that wants to experience this content again? I'd wager it's largely people who are at the end game, and have been there for a very long time. Often, that means relegating yourself to a scant few zones worth of content, which, as we all know, can get boring very quickly. A first-time player should still have a lot of fun exploring the old world and those who are leveling alts likely want to progress through it as quickly as possible. Mainland Azeroth, specifically Kalimdor and Eastern Kingdoms, is the bread and butter of the Warcraft universe, though! It seems necessary to revisit and reinvigorate those areas so absolutely central to the lore. So, how do we do that? What can Blizzard do to persuade us to go back? Well, by moving forward, actually. Through the idea of phasing. It's already in the game, if you're looking for it. The go-to event whenever anyone talks about this sort of thing is the Wrathgate, and as great of a showcase as it might be, it doesn't really deal with the complexities of the concept's implementation.  Simply put, phasing allows parts of the world to look/act/behave differently for players at different stages of the game. The problem with Wrathgate is that it's mostly cosmetic: a player who hasn't completed the line will see a standing army and one who has will see, well, the aftermath. A better example to look towards, and perhaps a test bed for what we can expect looking forward (should Blizz choose to go down this road) is actually Icecrown Glacier. There are several questlines involving the Argent Crusade and Ebon Blade that slowly change certain parts of the zone, even opening up new questlines along the way (which otherwise wouldn't be available to players who haven't progressed that far yet). For phasing to truly be game-changing, it needs to be able to make sweeping changes to the player experience. What this all boils down to is this: why not phase the whole of Azeroth? If some world-changing event is ahead, make it so that level 80-90 players see a different kind of world. What if the Crossroads were in ruins or you suddenly had high-level mobs in the newbie zones? Those are simple examples, but they could scale with the amount of work Blizzard feels they want to put into it. It's the Battle for the Undercity on a much greater level! Of course, that does present some problems to overcome. Specifically, how two such versions of Azeroth can exist concurrently. Blizzard isn't completely shy about fudging the timeline (which would explain how Kael'Thas could exist as an uber raid boss in Tempest Keep and in his weaker, defeated form in Magister's Terrace at the same time), and you could argue that's necessary in a persistent-world MMO like Warcraft, but there are more practical concerns. For instance, would it be possible for a level 80+ character to return to the old version of Azeroth and how would that even be justified in the lore? What if they want to play with or help our some of their low-level buds, who they wouldn't be able to see in the phased version of the world? Would things like auction houses be connected across the great 4th-dimensional abyss? The disconnect between gameplay and practicality does eventually reach the point of becoming undesirable if you stretch players' suspension of disbelief too far. Nonetheless, I can think of at least one solution, as cliche as it might be: portals. WoW lore does have a few built-in fail safes for things like this. We already know there are alternate versions of Azeroth, like that of the Emerald Dream. And then there's the possibility of the Infinite Dragonflight finally finding success in corrupting the timeline, resulting in a completely different chain of events. Areas, or possibilities like these, can be accessed through special gateways opened up by the dragonflights in their attempt to restore order. What sorts of ideas might you readers have for this sort of thing? Is phasing a viable option? Would you be willing to excuse the lore to explore an alternate version of Azeroth at any cost, or should it have to jive with the existing story line? Let us know what you think in the comments section!

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There's a crapload of stuff to do in this upcoming patch.  Thanks to Blizzard's shift in patch design, from just high end content to a solid mix of content for all player types, the Call of the Crusade patch has my head spinning.  I hope you have a grasp on the content thanks to our extensive coverage, but that doesn't mean you have a plan for tonight.  I love content, so my plan is already in the works. I'm a realist.  I will be shocked, stunned, stupefied if the servers come up on time.  Let alone coming up and being stable enough to raid, heroic get anything of substance done.  My pessimistic outlook on patching doesn't mean I won't be logging in though.  You damn well better believe I will be spamming the servers next to each and everyone of you.  Downloading the patch is of the utmost importance, but I haven't seen it available anywhere as of the time of this writing.  The first order of business that we should all take care of upon logging in is following Heartbourne's advice, and dumping the old and busted emblems for some new hotness.  With a purse full of Emblems of Conquest I will be able to pick up a few minor upgrades before venturing into the new 5-man and old heroics.  Then Solidsamm will revisit his old stomping ground of the Argent Tournament.  He's heard through the grapevine that there's a lot more to do up there these days.  Not to mention that the Black Knight has been heard calling him out. My little stabbing machine can receive his fair share of upgrades from Conquest and Triumph badges, but its Solidsagart who can benefit the most.  I'll surely get called into heroics and raids during the week, but my main focus is going to be on the priest.  I'd be absolutely stupid to not hit level 80 on my healer ASAP.  With everyone and their brother once again running heroics it'll be incredibly easy to find groups, and fairly easy to collect badges for her.  Much to the hardcore playerbase's chagrin, she'll be geared out the wazoo in no time.  She'll just have to wait until Solidsamm conquers the new 5-man dungeon. Those are the basic starting points for me.  What are you going to do as soon as the servers return to a stable state?  Return to the Argent Tournament grounds for the new dailies and easy money?  Continue working on your pile of Champion's Seals for the mounts and pets?  Go Raptor hunting?  Or are you going to just dive right into one of the four levels of the Argent Coliseum's raid content? As with all patches, I will be rapidly filling my coffers thanks to all the needed materials I have been hording for weeks.  Gnomes love gold almost as much as Goblins.

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This former Tuskarr-inhabited island has been turned into a staging ground by the Vrykul. With so many new details about Patch 3.2 trickling out of Blizzard lately, it surely won't be too long before we see it pop up on the PTR! This time, they're letting us know a little bit more about what to expect from the expanded Argent Tournament. There's plenty to get excited about for those that have worn themselves out on the existing dailies, Paladin players, and even fans of the Black Knight. Two entirely new quest hubs have been added to the event. One lies within a Cult of the Damned camp that's just been set up to spy on the Crusade's activities (does this mean you'll be able to work for the bad guys in some capacity?), and the other takes place on a sizable island just off the coast that Sea Vrykul have claimed as their own. Remember those guys in Borean Tundra who made everything so misty? Well, they're back to pester you again and they're apparently attacking the Sunreavers' ships, which occupy the waters between the coast and the island. More quests will be available for those that have already achieved notoriety in the Tournament, itself. Those who are exalted with the Silver Covenant or Sunreavers will gain access to three new (randomized) dailies through which they will be able to earn more seals. New rewards have, of course, been added for you to spend your hard-earned seals on including tabards and two new mounts (one flying and one ground) representative of either faction, and a vanity pet called the Shimmering Wyrmling which will be available to players of both sides. For the true Argent Tournament Obsessives, the ones who have achieved the Crusader title already, even more quests and rewards will open up. Yet another new line of dailies will appear (at least two will reward seals), but the things you can purchase are even more exciting! There will be new heirloom goodies to send to your alts, an Argent Crusade Banner and Tabard (the latter of which has the ability to transport you directly to the Tournament from anywhere), and an upgraded squire who comes with his own summonable mount. It has a reported eight-hour cooldown, but the upgraded squire can serve as either a bank, vendor, or mailbox! Likewise, Paladins who are tired of their old Charger can trade it in for a fresh, new Argent Crusade-themed one. Blizzard also reports that the terrible Black Knight will make his triumphant return. What, you thought you killed him? Is this the true face of the Black Knight?! Pfft! That was only a flesh wound! For those that have run themselves ragged on the Argent Tournament, it seems like there is a whole lot of new stuff to look forward to. With so many dailies, there's no doubt it'll become the "go-to" place for anyone looking to earn some extra gold to foot the repair bills they get from the included instances! And for those that haven't bothered with it yet, there's no sign of them getting rid of any of the old quests (aside, perhaps, from the coliseum-building ones offered by the goblins out front) any time soon. Full notes can be be perused at your leisure here. Chime in below, readers. What do you think of all the new additions to the Argent Tournament? Does the amount of dailies make your head spin, like it does mine?

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The Argent Tournament has become my first destination when I log on every day. The reputation with both the Sunreavers and the Argent Crusade is easy, the gold is insane for the amount of time invested, and there are all the cool mounts and pets to pick up. We've already discussed the dailies and goals of an Argent Tournament participant, but there are a few things you might want to be aware of when you make the trip to the far reaches of Icecrown every day. First up, its important to note that there are some daily quests available that are much quicker than the others, and there are some that just don't have as high a reward. If you are going for any of the pets, mounts, or most rewards, you probably want to get as many Champion's Seals per day as possible. This means doing Battle Before the Citadel, Taking Battle to the Enemy, Among the Champions, and Threat from Above for a total of 5 seals a day. However, while you are doing Battle Before the Citadel and Taking Battle to the Enemy, the same mobs you are killing are also the objectives of the valiant's dailies, A Valiant's Field Training and At the Enemy's Gates. These are, in fact, the only Argent Tournament dailies I do! It shouldn't be difficult to see why the goblin's quests, A Chip Off the Ulduar Block and Jack Me Some Lumber, are pointless. They require you to travel far and reward nothing but the standard 13 gold and 23 silver. At that rate, you might as well do dailies that reward reputation as well, such as the Sons of Hodir, Oracles, Frenzyheart, or Kalu'ak dailies. Contributin' to the Cause is not worth doing because it costs you gold and only rewards Argent Crusade reputation. If you do the other dailies for a couple weeks, you will quickly hit exalted with the Argent Crusade and will have wasted all that donated gold! As for the other valiant's quests, consider this: if you want all of the mounts and/or all of the pets, you will be doing a lot of these dailies. In fact, just the pets and the hippogryph will run you 450 seals, which is 90 days! Since getting the Champion's Seals also gets you a couple Valiant's Seals if you do the overlapping quests, why go out of your way to do the other valiant's dailies? Unless you are in a rush to get all the titles, you might as well do dailies of another faction, as you will eventually get enough Valiant's Seals doing the champion's quests to champion all the factions anyway! The quests you are already doing will get you all the reputation you need for the Argent Crusade and the Sunreavers/Silver Covenant anyway. Additionally, after you champion all the factions, you lose the ability to pick up the valiant's quests. Since you are completing their objectives for the champions quests, losing the ability to do the valiant's quests is a severe loss of gold. Therefore, I've decided not to champion one of the factions until I'm done grinding away at my goals for the Argent Tournament. It would be a loss of hundreds, even thousands of gold. I hope Blizzard remedies this somehow, that Crusader title is sweet! Are you going to rush to get the Crusader title and do all the Argent Tournament dailies you can, or are you going to use similar moderation?

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Via Washington Interscholastic Activities Association (WIAA)

Championing, all the kids are doing it now, so why aren't you?  Championing is the fun way to gain reputation with a few select factions in Wrath of the Lich King.  With Championing, you can go from Friendly to Exalted in a matter of minutes, instead of weeks.  No longer will you have to wait for mobs to respawn or fight with other aggressive characters when you wish to mind your own business.  Yes folks, Championing is the way of the future, the easiest, most convenient way to become best friends with a faction that previously despised the ground you walked on.  Championing - the new hotness. Championing offers players an easier way to farm reputation, but you can only Champion certain classes.  However, every player who wishes to have the best head enchant available needs to Champion at least one faction.  Before we get into those factions, allow me to explain the process before I drop the C-word for the tenth time.  The new reputation mechanic enables players to run any level 80 dungeon while still gaining reputation for a chosen faction.  This is accomplished by wearing a faction-specific tabard that can be acquired when your toon reaches Friendly with the select Northrend posse.  Mages get it a tad easier, the wielders of physics breaking magic can obtain the Kirin Tor Tabard at the incredibly low rank of Level 1. Four Champion-able factions and their associated head enchantment: The Argent Crusade - Stamina & Defense Rating Kirin Tor - Spell Power & Critical Strike Rating Knights of the Ebon Blade - Attack Power & Critical Strike Rating The Wyrmrest Accord - Spell Power & Mana Per 5 Seconds Blizzard's mechanic allows players to break the monotonous cycle of grinding dailies for every faction, but we can't escape it completely.  Aside from a new way to gain status among our peers, the hidden benefit is that Championing will - at least theoretically - open up more people to a selection of instances.  The ability to gain Ebon Blade rep in any Heroic means that SolidSamm won't have to grind the same instance like he did in The Burning Crusade's day.  This opens up the possibility of my rogue joining any instance group that is looking for DPS (read: none).  Choice is good. The above aside, there really is no "guide" to Championing.  Simply hit Friendly with whatever faction you need, grab the tabard from their vendor and you are on your way.  As a side note, if you fail to don one of the faction tabards, your toon's Northrend rep (Alliance Vanguard/Horde Expedition) will be raised instead. SolidSamm is working on his AP/Crit Arcanum as you read this, but don't forget to look at the other items the factions of to offer.  The little ankle biter will replace his Ebon Blade tabard with the Kirin Tor's in an effort to lower the high price of their sexy ring.  Who's colors are you sporting? On a more hardcore note, how many of you have taken the time to score the Championing achievement?  Serious props if you have.

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Project Lore has been hitting Patch 3.1 pretty hard this week.  It all started on Tuesday when the servers went down for general maintenance.  This allowed Blizzard to pop v3.1 onto the PTR and post the official patch notes.  As the week has rolled past, various bloggers have plugged their thoughts on the big picture, small but exciting details and incremental changes.  Today we will give you hard information on the ninja implementation of the Argent Tournament and a first look at some of the upcoming gear. We didn't get many details when the Argent Tournament was announced on Tuesday.  Basically, all we knew was that it would be organized by the Argent Crusade, and would open up new daily quests with a collection of rewards from gear to mounts.  After much poking and prodding by the community, Blizzard Poster Zarhym laid the groundwork for the tourney .

• The Argent Tournament is a permanent event .  It will not disappear like the Naxxramas/Wrath Invasion or end upon completion like the Gates of Ahn'Qiraj.
• Players will begin working with the Crusade to construct a massive, instanced, none PvP-based, coliseum.  It'll be added in a later patch indefinitely - think Isle of Quel'Danas mechanic.
• The event is currently in Icecrown, but Blizzard is still working on the content.  So it may not be relegated to a single zone.
• The tournament itself will launch with Patch v3.1.  Additional content will be forthcoming in subsequent patches.
• Blizzard has given a reason for such a tournament when a war against the scourge is progressing.  The Crusade believes that their competition will breed the best warriors and filter out those who can lead.  Coupled with that, it unites all contenders behind a single banner and purpose.

Courtesy of MMO-Champion, I present you with the Argent Tournament's collection of banners and tabards.  The gear and mounts can be found individualy in this meta post, but don't get too giddy.  Some of this stuff will cost hundreds of Champion's Seals - the new currency being launched with the tournament. You also may want to take a peak at the Tier 8 weapons and sets that Boubouille and co. have dug up.  Everything looks awesome, so long as you ignore the diamond-shaped 2h sword series and the atrocious Druid set.  My personal aversion to Blizzard's interpretation of daggers continues however.  In my opinion, daggers should be very small blades, not the size of my arm - or SolidSamm's entire body - but they new ones do look cool.  I just wish they were more compact. Can I get an Amen on the Druid set being awful?  I know they are earthy and all, but come on.  That is probably the most ridiculous set of shoulder armor I have ever seen.  On the flip side, I absolutley love the Rogue set.  The helm and the rest of glowing aspects of the collection make it simply badass.  I can't wait to fail at collecting it.  Why a stealth character would want to glow is beyond me though...

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Big news on the content front, Content Patch 3.1 has hit the Public Test Realms and is now ready for testing.  This isn't entirely shocking, the PTR Character Copy went live on Friday so it was just a matter of time.  Unfortunately, if you didn't get the memo over the weekend then you are out of luck.  As of press time, you can no longer get in the Character Copy queue.  On the flip side, this is Blizzard, so they could open up additional slots at any moment. Once you manage to get on the queue, half the battle is won.  The wait time on the queue has dropped from a few weeks to a few days in the span of hours.  Fear not prospective testers of Ulduar, the controversial Dual Spec and all of those class changes, you should be tearing it up in v3.1 by the end of the week.  Players quicker on the draw than myself have already logged into the the PTR and given us some early information on the unnamed patch's changes. For starters, the poor toons out there better read up on our collection of gold generating posts.  As it stands now, the Dual Spec feature will cost level 80s 1000g to train, which should not be difficult to swing.  The big news of the PTR isn't these small kind of details in my opinion.  That would be reserved for the discovery of a previously unannounced feature, the Argent Tournament. The new world tournament will open up mounted combat to us and a whole lot more.  The super secret Argent Tournament - props to keeping the feature on lockdown this long - will unleash a new set of daily quests for the Argent Crusade, enabling players to score new items, titles, banners, tabards, pets, mounts, all new achievements and more.  Being a bit of a lore nut, I find the tournament a creative way to subtly hint to players that the Crusade is extending its reach into Icecrown , while becoming a powerful faction to the rest of the citizens of Azeroth.  This will make their move against Arthas more progressive - thus, realistic - than just having them pop-up next to the Citadel en masse. I have never been one to go nuts on the PTR.  For starters, I hate spoilers.  Past that, I tend to dislike having abilities or features, getting used to them, and then seeing them ripped away from my grasp when the patch goes live.  Perhaps SolidSamm will spend more time than normal, but I highly doubt it. Anyone lucky enough to get on the PTR already?  Like what you see?  Or, are you stuck waiting like most of us?  What are your thoughts on the new tournament?

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I was around during the initial Scourge Invasion.  In fact, I was still playing WoW hours upon hours a day, many of them spent in raids, instances or just farming for gold.  Yet, I never really joined in on the fun of the Scourge Invasion.  I checked it out, but you wouldn't find me there day in and day out, in an attempt to stop the Necropoli from taking over.  I can't recall my reasoning, but it probably had something to do with the fact that I already had the Argent Dawn reputation that I needed for Naxxaramas.  This time around, I have been all over the invasion. This year's invasion started off with the infamous plague that turned so many of Azeroth's heroes into minions for the Scourge.  The Horde and Alliance put aside their differences, got together, and rid the lands of the threat in only a few days time.  But the plague was only an attempt by the Lich King to weaken Azeroth before sending out his Necropoli and Undead fodder. I enjoyed the plague for all that it was worth, and the continuation into the Scourge Invasion is partially what sucked me into the re-hashed event.  Invasion 2.0 is not all that different from the original pre-Naxxaramas event, if I remember correctly.  We have the areas under attack by the Necropoli, Necrotic Shards, Shadow of Dooms, Undead weapon enchants, and extra bosses in select instances. Only a few things have been added, namely rewards for participating.  Rather than receiving superior gear for our efforts, players can now select from almost Karazhan-quality gear that bump up one's Undead slaughtering capabilities.  We even have a few trinkets that summon an Argent Dawn agent or abilities to our side.  On the content side of things, players can still tackle the new Karazhan boss, Tenris Mirkblood, who seems to be the only thing remaining from the plague days gone by.  Not to mention, the only thing I have found that could really link the two events. This Rogue and Priest combo will be continuing the purging of the Undead from the Plaguelands until the event ends.  I am mainly doing it so I can try out Solidsamm's new spec, but I tend to be a sucker for summonable buddies.  So if you see a purple skull appear on your map (and are on Magtheridon), I will likely be in their base, killing their mans.  To bad the Argent Dawn reputation has been replaced by the Argent Crusade in Wrath of the Lich King and will be useless. Sadly, I haven't seen many other people partaking in the Scourge Invasion, is it just too old hat for you?  Or are you burned out from the plague - as the Lich King intended?

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