Project Lore

Sit around in General or Trade chat long enough, and you're bound to see someone or other recruiting members for their freshly-formed guild. Part of the pitch almost always incorporates how "freakin' awesome" their guild tabard is. Now, I'm all for guild pride, but it's just so damn hard for me to get excited about tabards. iTZKooPA recently posted an article about fashion sense in WoW, namely how awful it can be at times (though nothing will ever compare to the Subligar class of armor from FFXI -- man-thong anyone?). One of his key complaints was the lack of available customization in the game and, indeed, if you play a certain class, you've got few options moving forward through each tier of equipment. I mean, if you've got an ugly set, you're pretty much stuck with it. So you say, "Hey, Amatera! What about tabards?! They're one of the few pieces of gear that anybody can put on!" And my response to that would be, "Maybe they can be worn by anybody, but I don't know why anybody would want to wear them!" Ugh.... it just ruins the entire outfit! Let's face it, tabards are a fashion faux pas. Even a cool design on the front (as rare as they actually are) doesn't prevent them from covering up that sweet, new breastplate you just picked up. What's the point in throwing a dirty bedsheet on top of your ass-kicking getup? It makes you look like you're getting ready for a sleepover with Ysera! Unfortunately, Blizzard sought to complicate matters with the release of Wrath of the Lich King. Leaving your guild tabard in the closet is one thing, but it's much tougher to stop yourself from wearing something that could greatly increase your ability to earn reputation. Generally, the rewards associated with the four factions that offer such tabards piddle away quickly the farther in content you get, but they still provide an easy avenue for completing rep-related Achievements, as well as add more incentive to go back and complete Heroic dungeon runs. I still hate wearing them, though. All except for the Tabard of the Ebon Blade completely clash with the dark hues of end-game Rogue armor. Just as well, they seem far too easy to come by these days. Used to be that if you were wearing a fancy Tabard of the Argent Dawn, it actually meant something! So, is there anyone else out there that hates tabards as much as I do? Or do you think they're the greatest thing to happen to fashion since Vera Bradley (and, yes, I'm ashamed to actually know what that is)? Granted, I'm pretty much a t-shirt and jeans kind of guy in real life, so if there are any experts out there, feel free to tell me off in the comments section!

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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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I’m sure everyone has noticed, the new world event is going on right now. Blizzard is now providing us with the reason we all need to charge into Northrend, and the reason is simple: A ZOMBIE ATTACK. Awesome. I am super excited as I missed the world event for BC. I'll just say: I think this is going to be really cool. It is obvious that this is an evolving event, and I can only imagine where this is going to go. It all started with a crate showing up in booty bay turning somewhat willing victims into zombies. Players get infected by the crate and in 10 minutes time if no action is taken, the turn into full fledged zombies with a whole host of new abilities. During the “infection phase” players can be cured by Argent Dawn healers in the major cities or by friendly (or unfriendly depending on how you look at it) priests and paladins. Now it is clear the plague is getting stronger. On the second day of the event crates and plagued critters are showing up in all the capitol cities. Additionally the infection is becoming harder to dispel, priests and pallies now usually have to try multiple times to remove the infection. While it will likely start affecting our play style some, I am very interested to see where this thing goes. The idea of my Paladin fighting off waves of undead zombies controlled by other players is just too cool to be ignored. I can only hope this whole ordeal will involve some sort of cool reward for participating such as a tabard like players received last year. Of course I want a souvenir from the great zombie attack of '08! While I did run around as a zombie for a little while earlier today I haven’t really had a chance to fully explore the zombie side of things. It appears that after a few days it may be unavoidable. While that may be bothersome to many players I am just along for the ride at this point. This event is only going to happen one time ever, so I intend to make the most of it. How about you? How are you enjoying your “zombie time?” Are you avoiding the whole scene, or are you running around feasting on delicious brains?

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