Project Lore

At BlizzCon, we learned that parts of Azeroth would be reshaped as Deathwing broke the the Plane of Earth and shattered the world. Azshara, The Barrens, Ashenvale, Desolace, and several more were showcased, both in panels and in the trailer for Cataclysm released during the event. But that doesn't mean those are the only areas that would be greatly affected by the destruction, just because that's all we saw at the time. I think it's reasonable to believe that Blizzard only showed those that were farthest along in development at the time. Stranglethorn in all its (current) glory. Well, thanks to the most recent issue of PC Gamer UK, we now know that the oh-so-infamous Stranglethorn Vale is set to join the ranks of those zones receiving a substantial face lift in the next expansion. But, you might ask, what's wrong with Stranglethorn? Clearly, something. In his interview with Gamasutra, Lead World Designer Alex Afrasiabi mentioned that they've taken a hard look at every zone internally, giving each a rating depending on how happy they are with it currently. So, if Stranglethorn is getting reworked as drastically as implied, either the development team has a really big beef with its present incarnation, or the redesigns are important to the continuation of the story. Knowing that, I'd like to examine several possibilities for the Vale of the future. Right from the start, I think it's safe to assume that the zone will undergo the typical terrain changes. There's always the possibility of seeing volcanic ruptures tearing through the ground, just as they do in several of the other transformed zones. And with most of its landmass being coastal, we may see parts of Stranglethorn flood or be washed away by tidal waves (hey, it's happening to Southshore). By doing this, they could potentially eliminate some of the quest-lines and reduce the overall amount of time that you'll be spending here as opposed to the past. Sometimes streamlining means trimming the fat, and while the zone currently showcases a wealth of content, it both completely supplants leveling in other areas (like Desolace) and requires a lot of back-and-forth between those of the same band. Leveling zones in Cataclysm will usually be right next to each other. As an example, Horde players often have to split their leveling with far away regions like Thousand Needles, Arathi Highlands, and Badlands from 28-45. If we take a look at the slides from the Preview panel at BlizzCon, they show new leveling paths moving from one adjacent zone to the next, largely eliminating the ludicrous amounts of globe-trotting required in the game now. We'll still go to Stranglethorn, but I think the question now is "when?" That's a tough one. The zone has always been closer to Alliance territory, perhaps implying that it will now be more integral to their mid-range leveling experience, but at the same time, they've only ever had a meager presence in the area. One might argue that neither has the Horde, but now we have a bit of a wild card to consider -- Garrosh Hellscream. We already know that he's bent on not only fortifying the faction's capital, Orgrimmar, but also tightening the grip on Alliance lands. If Zoram'Gar Outpost in Ashenvale is set to swell in size and importance, it's not a huge jump in logic to think that the Grom'Gol Base Camp might, too. Going a bit farther, I have a feeling that it will also move more in-land, with the original encampment being overtaken by the sea. Figuring out which level band Stranglethorn might occupy in the future isn't easy, but I imagine it'll be a lot more homogeneous, requiring only one trip around the zone, instead of making the Northern and Southern halves effectively separate in terms of difficulty. But let's take it to the next level, beyond the fundamental changes that have become a part of the Cataclysm experience. What's been going on there the entire time? For one, the animals of have been experiencing a small-scale Cataclysm all their own. Hemet Nesingwary and his cohorts have been decimating the local wildlife population unchecked for the past few years. And what about D.E.H.T.A.? Though I was surprised that it took them until Wrath of the Lich King to react to his genocidal ways, perhaps they'll return here in the expansion to protect the rich floral and faunal habitat that is Stranglethorn Vale. If we combine the threat of new found ecological disaster (as well as an old one, if the Venture Co. sticks around) with the Nesingwary onslaught, I'd be astonished if they didn't show up once again. Whether they do or not, I fully expect a revamp of Nesingwary's (or Nesingwary Jr.'s, if they keep him here) quests to be more in line with those in Sholazar Basin. In other words, a lot less "grindy" than they are now. Something else I'd really like to see is an extension of the war between the Blackwater Raiders and the Bloodsail Buccaneers. After all, who doesn't want more pirate action? Undoubtedly, the local swashbucklers will find some way to exploit the chaos of the Cataclysm, whether that be open plundering or an escalation of their conflict. This could have dire consequences for Booty Bay. Though I fully expect it to remain a hub of transportation, I suspect that it will not survive the Armageddon unscathed. And then there are the Gurubashi Trolls and Zul'Gurub. Now that we'll be able to fly over it, will we see activity, or will it look barren until you jump through the portal, like most current outdoor instances? If I recall correctly, the Darkspear Trolls (the faction associated with the Horde) once lived here, and I think it's high time that we got a look at their story again. I would love to see them join the other Horde forces in establishing a greater presence here, perhaps reclaiming their homeland from their corrupted brothers and sisters. If anything can be said about the Cataclysm, though, it's that it has affected the world in completely unexpected ways, and that may be the case with Stranglethorn Vale, too. The expansion provides Blizzard with the chance to really move the existing story in each zone forward, but at the end of the day, there's no way to tell exactly what they have planned until they let us in on it. Let's hope that day comes sooner rather than later! In the meantime, please chime in with your thought on the future of Stranglethorn, and what things you'd like to see change from the current version!

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I'm a huge proponent of ending animal cruelty. I'm not going to jump on a soapbox here, but PETA's causes are certainly noble. However, sometimes I wonder who is organizing their awareness campaigns. One of PETA's main projects right now is fighting the baby seal slaughter in Canada, as Vancouver will host the 2010 winter Olympics. Where else are there baby seals? Why, the Howling Fjord of course! Or are there? I've looked high and low. In fact, I'm pretty sure that is the point behind that annoying Kalu'ak daily quest. There are reef cows and reef bulls, but no reef babies! If I am wrong here, someone please correct me! PETA's Ryan Huling writes on their blog:

The fight against the Canadian seal slaughter has gone digital! That's right, gamers, get ready: This Saturday, World of Warcraft (WoW) players will have the opportunity to combat a team of four Horde seal killers. We need your help to stop them from bashing in the heads of any more seals! Thrall refused to ban the slaughter of seals, despite multiple requests from the Alliance to do so, because Orgrimmar stands to make a large profit from the fur. Activists from across the Eastern Kingdoms and Kalimdor are banding together to put a stop to the atrocious seal slaughter. Anyone who slaughters baby seals for their fur must surely be in service to the evil Lich King. Here's what you need to know in order to battle:

• You must be in the WhisperWind realm in order to fight. Visit WorldofWarcraft.com if you need information about how to switch into this realm.
• Once in the WhisperWind realm, go to Northrend, where you will find a zone called Howling Fjord, where the baby seals live on glaciers and boats float in the fjords. This will be the battleground to stop the slaughter. (Note: You must be at least a Level 70 player in order to enter Howling Fjord.)
• The battle will take place on Saturday, April 11, at 1 p.m. EST.

Make sure to check out videos about the upcoming battle here, and use our Facebook event to get all your friends to join you in the fight. Be sure to check back for the battle coordinates. Think you can stop the seal killers?

PETA is pushing this on their blog, Facebook, and Youtube. They made a short series of videos that you can check out. There are some painfully obvious problems this whole thing. First off, THERE ARE NO BABY SEALS TO PROTECT HERE, not even virtual ones. The whole premise of the event is flawed. Secondly, they are blaming the Horde for this and claiming they are working for the Lich King, which simply is not true and a common misconception. The Horde is not evil. Nor do players have be level 70 to go to the Howling Fjord as PETA claims; most players go there as early as 68. Additionally, players have to be on Whisperwind. This is a high population PvE server. If this is supposed to be some big PvP fest to bring attention to an issue, shouldn't they be doing this on a PvP realm? Or maybe all realms so everyone can participate without transfering servers (which PETA suggested players do)? Couldn't the seal clubbers just unflag themselves? So in short, PETA wants a mass of level 70+ Alliance players on a PvE server to defend some nonexistent baby seals from... from who? Are there going to be any Horde clubbing these invisible baby seals? Or is it going to be a couple random PETA players? PETA should be highlighting things like D.E.H.T.A if they wants to be halfway serious about this.. They are even referenced to directly in that achievement! They could highlight people like Bedrock who are evil poachers and encourage RP players to avoid that quest line or something. Its still insane and fruitless, but at least its consistent and well thought out! I suggest watching the videos if you want a good laugh. The voice-overs are terrible on top of the stupid premise of the whole campaign.

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It certainly didn't take me long before I found some noteworthy quests in Storm Peaks. I went about doing the first round of SP quests after heading into K3 to initiate my Sons of Hodir questline. At first I was just trying to get a feel for the land with the opening quests, but as it turned out, one of them is the first tasks for the Sons. Only 24 more quests to go...before I am neutral.

If there is one thing the Goblin race is known for it is their love of technology. Often the more dangerous the technological “advances” the better. With that I strolled, no, actually, I flew over a minefield without realizing it before being blasted out of the sky by a pair of AA guns. I then turned into a gnomish pinball as I was blasted from land mine to land mine before finally landing in a relative safe zone. I guess stacking that stamina a few levels ago was a smart move. Once landed, Disarm Trap made the quest trivial for me.

As I watched myself being launched from location to explosive location I couldn't help but laugh at Solidsamm's misfortune. He didn't get the worst of it though, turns out Jeer Sparksocket left his buddy in the middle of the field with no intentions of saving him! Perhaps he should go for the aptly named Mine Sweeper achievement.

That one was all fun and games, then next quest I participated in had me a little emo. If you haven't figured it out by now I am an animal lover. I have four fluffy ferrets, nearly a dozen finned friends, a pinchy crayfish, a trove of snails and a girlfriend (until she reads that). So when I was tasked with collecting some animal meat from the local mammoths by way of explosion, I balked.

I know it's just a game, but I have a soft spot for the wooly beasts for some reason. The catch is that like any self-respecting action junkie I love explosions. My soft spot for things that go boom lead me to toss a U.D.E.D. (ideas on the acronym?) at the first modified elephant I saw.  I regretted it as soon as the animation started. With that I quietly picked up the pieces – already did the damage might as well make his death worth something! - and logged off for the evening. With a tear in my eye.

Despite my tyrantical treatment of the mammoth, I would argue that it is more humane than previous methods. Mr. Mammoth had a quick demise by way of goblin engineering.  Had I done it my way he would have suffered multiple stables wounds from my rusty daggers, not to mention a belly full of poison during a 10-20 second struggle for his life. To top it off, he would have only dropped one piece of meet, forcing me to hunt down his family members! How is that for a justification D.E.H.T.A?

How many of you fancy the wildlife of Azeroth enough to say no to these types of quests? I am sure many of you have picked up the achievement, but I bet it was just for the points. Or do you have more of a soft spot for the evil humanoid types?

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Here is the latest version of our WoW Web Comic, Random Heroes. If you haven't already, check out the previous Random Heroes comic or all of the Random Heores comics.

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