Project Lore

It's almost here. The day where all hell breaks loose on the Internet and two-headed orcs attempt to make a mockery of the great Horde faction. So, in celebration of the hilarity that Blizzard will undoubtedly unleash starting midnight tonight, we at Project Lore wanted to take a look back at some of Blizzard's best attempts to make a fool of us all. Shortly after my first venture into WoW in early 2006, Blizzard revealed its best venture EVER! BurgerCraft.

IRVINE, Calif. -- April 1, 2006 -- Blizzard Entertainment, Inc. today unveiled BurgerCraft™, introducing the company’s latest business venture and revealing many details about the plans for its company-owned restaurant chain. The grand opening of the first BurgerCraft restaurant is set to take place on June 1, 2006 in downtown Los Angeles, California.

EPIC! Now it seems that the original WoW forum posts from 2005 that inspired this glorious idea have since been removed. But thankfully, WoWwiki and its infinite wiki wisdom have kept records of what started as a meme from poster Gilgamesh from Alleria. How many of you remember this?

WoB: Welcome to World of Burgercraft. Would you like a PVE value meal, a PVP value meal, or an RP value meal? Car 1: What is the difference between the PVE and PVP meals? WoB: The PVP burger has onions. The PVE burger does not. Except sometimes. You can add onions if you want. And we sneak some onions in toward the end of the PVE burger but you don't have to eat them. You can skip that part of the burger. Car 1: What about the RP burger? WoB: Vegetarian.

I appreciate that this joke stemmed from the players themselves. Blizzard knows how to appease its fan base! The previous year, Blizzard made a crack on its own battlegrounds system, which was then in development, by announcing that the battlegrounds would be pulled straight from Warcraft III, which Blizzard said would "allow us to better focus our efforts on creating game features that players really want, such as ordering various types of food in-game!" Apparently, food is a driving force for all WoW players. But Blizzard also is well aware of the fact that we are constantly scrounging for details on what's yet-to-come in game. They've taunted us with a great many new playable races - the mighty Pandaren, the air-headed Wisps and two-headed Ogres; items - the infamous tinfoil hat and related Troll Tears; a hero class - the Guitar Hero-styled Bard; and even a new console game - my personal favorite, World of Warcraft: The Molten Core. Each year, Blizzard seems to come up with a more elaborate prank involving fake screenshots, back stories and even bogus commercials. I would question whether it was all worth it except for one thing: it really energizes the fan community and gets us all talking. So, while I cringe at the thought of being duped into another April Fools' joke, I'm also really looking forward to seeing what Blizzard throws at us this year. Personally, I'm all for them shouting out to the fans once again and recruiting a certain legendary team to rule over Azeroth with an iron fist for the day. Your new overlords: Bowbins, Lylelovett, Winterstrike, Dorkins and Juggynaut. Perhaps you've heard of them? So, what are all your predictions for the coming mayhem? Are you looking forward to the madness, or do you plan to lie low until it's all over?

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Whether you just thinking of dabbling in PvP or a hardcore arena player, its nice to have a good outline of all the different ways you can get PvP gear. This usually changes from season to season, but if you haven't gotten any PvP gear yet, then your best bets are crafted gear or the Savage Gladiator set. The first introduction to PvP you get in the 70-80 level range are the crafted PvP sets. These are BoE and wearable at 78. They are cheap and have good all around stats, including some resilience for PvP. The Savage Gladiator's set is undoubtedly better, but for the price, this can't be beat. It also has more pieces than Savage Gladiator. I'd recommend picking it up before jumping into battlegrounds at 80. Rogue/Feral Druid - "Eviscerator's" - crafted by Leatherworkers of skill 420 for some pieces and 425 for the rest. Learned from patterns sold by Braeg Soutbeard for 3 Heavy Borean Leathers each. If a Leatherworker doesn't know the recipe, offer them the required Heavy Borean leather to learn how to make it. Materials are included in the item links. Total materials: 8 Eternal Air, 84 Heavy Borean Leather Total stats: 450 Agility, 449 Stamina, 299 Critical Strike Rating, 300 Resilience Eviscerator's Bindings Eviscerator's Chestguard Eviscerator's Facemask Eviscerator's Gauntlets Eviscerator's Legguards Eviscerator's Shoulderpads Eviscerator's Treads Eviscerator's Waistguard Druid - "Overcast" - crafted by Leatherworkers of skill 420 for some pieces and 425 for the rest. Learned from patterns sold by Braeg Soutbeard for 3 Heavy Borean Leathers each. If a Leatherworker doesn't know the recipe, offer them the required Heavy Borean leather to learn how to make it. Materials are included in the item link. Total materials: 8 Eternal Water, 84 Heavy Borean Leather Total stats: 300 Intellect, 450 Stamina, 299 Spirit, 527 Spell Power, 300 Resilience Overcast Belt Overcast Boots Overcast Bracers Overcast Chestguard Overcast Handwraps Overcast Headguard Overcast Leggings Overcast Spaulders Mage/Warlock/Priest - "Frostsavage" - crafted by Tailors. Learned from Tailoring trainers in Dalaran and Horde/Alliance entry towns in Howling Fjord and Borean Tundra. Materials are included in the item link. Total materials: 27 Bolt of Imbued Frostweave, 33 Crystallized Fire, 33 Crystallized Earth, 16 Eternium Thread Total stats: 300 Intellect, 450 Stamina, 299 Critical Strike Rating, 527 Spell Power, 300 Resilience Frostsavage Belt Frostsavage Boots Frostsavage Bracers Frostsavage Cowl Frostsavage Gloves Frostsavage Leggings Frostsavage Robe Frostsavage Shoulders Hunters/Enhancement Shaman - "Swiftarrow" - crafted by Leatherworkers of skill 420 for some pieces and 425 for the rest. Learned from patterns sold by Braeg Soutbeard for 3 Heavy Borean Leathers each. If a Leatherworker doesn't know the recipe, offer them the required Heavy Borean leather to learn how to make it. Materials are included in the item link. Total materials: 8 Eternal Air, 84 Heavy Borean Leather Total stats: 300 Agility, 450 Stamina, 299 Intellect, 598 AP, 297 Critical Strike Rating, 299 Resilience Swiftarrow Belt Swiftarrow Boots Swiftarrow Bracers Swiftarrow Gauntlets Swiftarrow Hauberk Swiftarrow Helm Swiftarrow Leggings Swiftarrow Shoulderguards Restoration/Elemental Shaman - "Stormhide" - crafted by Leatherworkers of skill 420 for some pieces and 425 for the rest. Learned from patterns sold by Braeg Soutbeard for 3 Heavy Borean Leathers each. If a Leatherworker doesn't know the recipe, offer them the required Heavy Borean leather to learn how to make it. Materials are included in the item link. Total materials: 8 Eternal Water, 84 Heavy Borean Leather Total stats: 120 MP5, 448 Stamina, 300 Intellect, 526 Spell Power, 300 Resilience Stormhide Belt Stormhide Crown Stormhide Grips Stormhide Hauberk Stormhide Legguards Stormhide Shoulders Stormhide Stompers Stormhide Wristguards Warrior/Death Knight - "Savage Saronite" - Crafted by Blacksmiths at a skill level of 420 for some pieces and 425 for the rest. Taught by all Grand Master Blacksmiths in Dalaran, starting towns in Howling Fjord and Borean Tundra, among others. Total materials: 2 Eternal Air, 2 Eternal Shadow, 2 Eternal Water, 1 Eternal Fire, 1 Eternal Earth, 102 Saronite Bar Total stats: 559 Stamina, 380 Strength, 340 Critical Strike Rating, 360 Resilience Savage Saronite Bracers Savage Saronite Gaunlets Savage Saronite Hauberk Savage Saronite Legplates Savage Saronite Pauldrons Savage Saronite Skullshield Savage Saronite Waistguard Savage Saronite Walkers Paladin - "Ornate Saronite" - Crafted by Blacksmiths at a skill level of 420 for some pieces and 425 for the rest. Taught by all Grand Master Blacksmiths in Dalaran, starting towns in Howling Fjord and Borean Tundra, among others. Total materials: 2 Eternal Air, 2 Eternal Shadow, 2 Eternal Water, 1 Eternal Fire, 1 Eternal Earth, 102 Saronite Bar Total stats: 36 MP5 87 Intellect, 567 Stamina, 44 Strength, 139 Critical Strike Rating, 355 Resilience Rating Ornate Saronite Bracers Ornate Saronite Gaunlets Ornate Saronite Hauberk Ornate Saronite Legplates Ornate Saronite Pauldrons Ornate Saronite Skullshield Ornate Saronite Waistguards Ornate Saronite Walkers Later on we'll look at the next level of PvP gear, the Savage Gladiator Set, and beyond!

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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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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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"Oh yeah, oh yeah... Hell yeah! Suck it! LOL. I pwned u foo. I got teh FARM!!! Mmuhahahaaaaaaa!!!" So what? You took the farm in AB. And next time they'll take the Stables. And the next time I'll take the Mine, or they'll take the Lumber Mill. Or maybe the Blacksmith for fun. Those people who boast in bgs how cool they are or how what they just did was so cool or how big their sword is are usually idiots. They're usually the ones who suck so bad cuz they just lost the LM and BS and are now calling themself a hero by taking a flag that wasn't guarded. What is cool is if you do it as a team, as a focused effort and in response to an objective to win as a team instead of just being a pompas ass spouting how freakin' cool they are or how they 'pwned' someone three levels below them. Battle grounds is a team effort. Communicate and work together as best you can. And to all you idiot who think your gawds gift to Wow - Get a freakin clue! Until you can work as a team in bgs, you still suck!

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As we all know, Season 4 is almost upon us. What does that mean for me? It means Season 2 equipment will be available for Honor. Ideally, I would be grinding out Honor and tokens with the rest of the noobs who don't have Merciless or Vengeful gear yet. I'd love to buy a whole set of Epics, since both my Enhancment and Restoration sets have ugly blue holes in them. Unfortunately, I decided long ago that battlegrounds alone are much worse than battlegrounds with friends. Now, for me, this is pretty much the case with anything in WoW. But most of my time is spent dealing with guild organization (I had no idea what I was getting myself into), raids (same), or financing my habits, both in game and IRL. This leaves precious little time for battlegrounds and even less when friends are available. Alas, Season 2 gear, it seems we are not meant to be. I guess I will have to try and make those ZA runs in the future.

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