Project Lore

Patch 3.2 is finally available on the PTR, which means that players will be able to find out all sorts of fun information about what changes lay ahead for us. Most of the changes are covered in the patch notes, but MMO-Champion found a bunch of new achievements to go along with the new patch. I, as an achievement whore, am very excited about these new (pointless) goals. Browsing through the list of achievements, they come out in a few different categories, covering the 10- and 25-player versions of the Crusader's Colloseum along with their heroic modes, Isle of Conquest (the brand new battleground), Koralon (the new Vault boss), and Pilgrim's Bounty and Pirate Day/Day of the dead. Wait, Pilgrim's Bounty? Pirate Day? Day of the Dead? New world events! Since Pirate Day and Day of the Dead only have one achievement listed for each of them, I'd assume they'll occur for only one day and have minimal impact on the world for their duration. But Pilgrim's Bounty raises my excitement level! There are a number of fun looking achievements to go along with the new holiday that I'll assume will take place over Thanksgiving week. For those of you unaware, Thanksgiving takes place on the fourth Thursday of every November in the United States. Of course, Blizzard could always adopt the Canadian version, which takes place on the second Monday of October each year. The only question I have is whether or not we'll have to participate in this new world event to get our Violet Proto Drakes from the Long Strange Trip achievement. If it's anything like the new and improved Noblegarden, then we will. I'm OK with that, but I'm sure some of the other players hoping to get that 310% mount might get upset. In addition to those new holiday achievements, there are a few new Feats of Strength, which hint at some more free pets for logging in. A Jade Tiger sounds like fun! What are your thoughts on these new achievements? Anything in particular draw your interest? What about the new world event? Can't wait or sick of holidays?

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So by now we have all heard about the great stuff coming in patch 3.2. While mount changes, battlegrounds, and dailies are fun and all… I wanted to take a second to talk about what, to me, is the most exciting thing about any content patch. The new raid!

As many of you have figured out by now, raiding is really what I play this game for so naturally I want as many details on the new Crusaders Colosseum as possible. Unfortunately at this point, details are a bit lacking. So that just leaves me to do one thing: make wild assumptions based on too little information and discuss possibilities that may have no basis in fact!

So let me first say this. I am a bit skeptical about this whole “ring of blood, but more epic” thing. When we first heard about Ulduar the possibilities seemed limitless. It was a huge dungeon with a great story 14 bosses tons of hard modes. Sounded great! This on the other hand sounds like it could very well be a hole in the wall that bosses come out of.

Perhaps that is what some people want. No trash, no dungeons to walk through, just one room where bosses come and drop their loot. I honestly hope this isn’t the case. To me raiding a new dungeon is more about the experience than just the bosses. It’s no wonder some of my favorite raids of all time are the ones with story and tons of design like Karazhan, Black Temple, and even Ulduar.

In my mind the only basis for comparison I can even think for the new Colloseum would maybe be Violet Hold, or perhaps on a bigger scale Mount Hyjal. Those were both dungeons when the mobs and bosses came to you. But if Blizzard is comparing this to Ring of Blood (which we have already done 3 times by the way), then it makes me question if trash will even be in the equation. Seems a bit lazy from a design perspective.

I guess we can only hope for some really interesting boss fights to hold us over until Icecrown. While I’m not totally discouraged just yet, let me say I can only hope that Blizzard has some good tricks up their sleeve.

Until we get more details all we can do is wonder. So what do you guys think?

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