Project Lore

Azeroth's "Season of Love" comes to a close at 11:59 Pacific Time this evening. Considering the coming events, it's amazing we'll see one at all this month next year.

After much frustration with Love Is In The Air in the past, and having my account hacked just a few days before the festivities began, I was initially fretful that I wouldn't get to participate much at all. But much to my surprise, it went smoothly, and I completed all essential meta-achievements except for "I Pitied The Fool" on the first day of my return.

Once I obtained that, and thus, my Violet Proto-Drake, I stopped collecting charms and tokens altogether, leaving several of my other achievements dangling in the wind. But today, on the last day of the event, I decided to pick myself up, turn in all those charms I got from running Icecrown Citadel the past week, and make the most of what was left. Following the jump is a short list of things you can do with the time remaining:

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With all the Patch 3.2 hullabaloo (and it's impending release on the PTR), it's easy to forget about other things that might be going on in the World of Warcraft. This Sunday marks the beginning of the seminal Midsummer Fire Festival, a gala event that recognizes the Summer Solstice and runs through the United States' real life Independence Day. Though most people don't celebrate the Solstice on Earth, it's an important holiday for Azerothians the world over. Despite the relative absurdity of lighting fires on the hottest days of the year, there's a lot more to see and do since its makeover in 2008. Below, I will detail what you need to check out to, ahem, "get your fire started." Update: Apparently, Blizzard has added fires in Northrend this year. Unfortunately, it seems as though you cannot repeat any of the fires you honor/extinguished last year for more blossoms, possibly preventing you from being able to complete the Midsummer set for the pole-dancing achievement. Word on the street is that this is a bug, but we have yet to receive an official response. Keepers of the Flame

Most world events have you running around willy-nilly collecting all sorts of strange objects, and Midsummer is no exception. If no new ones are added in Northrend, there are a total of 62 bonfires spread throughout the other three continents. These tend to be stationed at various faction-specific outposts in nearly every zone (there are none in the Plaguelands, Searing Gorge, Deadwind Pass, Azshara, Un'Goro Crater, Moonglade, or Felwood). When you come across one of your own faction, you're offered the chance to "honor" it and will earn 5 Burning Blossoms (the event's currency) and some experience (or several gold if you're level-capped). Likewise, if you find one of the opposite faction, you can choose to stamp it out for 10 Burning Blossoms and more experience (or about double the gold). Be warned, though, that it will flag you for PvP and, as other players are likely to be participating in the event, you'll might have to get a little sneaky. Many of the achievements for the holiday are centered around honoring or extinguishing these fires, so it's well within your interest to do so if you're itching for some points. Save for a few, it's not terribly hard to find all of them, just time consuming, and you actually get a nice chunk of extra change or xp out of it for relatively little effort. Note, however, that you can only honor or douse each fire once for the duration of the event.

Stealing Fire

It wouldn't be WoW without a little bit of racial conflict thrown in, would it? Each of the eight main home cities has its own sacred flame pit which you can "steal" by looting. Obtaining one will allow a player of level 50 or above to activate a quest in which they simply have to turn to the flame in to a Festival Talespinner. For each turn in, they will have their choice of event-themed consumables and a whopping 25 Burning Blossoms. Of course, turning a flame in is the easy part. Getting it in the first place is where the challenge begins! As a rogue, I had an immense amount of fun trying to sneak into the Alliance's cities. Sometimes avoiding the guards was tougher than avoiding the players. Enemy faction players still pose quite a problem, though, as there will almost certainly be plenty near the flame, where most of the daily quests and mini-games take place. I can't speak from an Alliance perspective, but each of their cities posed a unique problem (aside from, perhaps, The Exodar). Making the run for Darnassus' portal resulted in several deaths last year (note, this is not necessary for the City Flame, but it is for the bonfires in the Night Elves' starting zone, which you might as well grab if you're in the area), Ironforge's flame is located on the complete opposite side from the city's entrance, and Stormwind's practically demanded a dangerous trip right through the Trade District (though the addition of the Docks area may or may not make things easier). Let's not forget about the wandering superguards that can see through any manner of stealth, either. If you don't have a character capable of sneaking about, expect people to organize regular raids on the opposing factions' cities. While they sometimes end up in an "every man for themselves" kind of melee as people scramble for their chance to grab the flame, just keep on trying and you're sure to get it eventually! Turning in all four flames will open up A Thief's Reward, a simple quest that will allow you to obtain the Crown of the Fire Festival, which is necessary to complete one of the Achievements.

Enjoying the Festival

If you're not one for traveling (or you're simply not a high enough level to fully participate in hunting flames), there are still other ways to enjoy Midsummer (although "enjoy" may not be the operative word). You see, near the City Flame of each home town, there are several mini-games that you can engage in, even at a lowly level one. The problem is that my memories of them contain no merriment or fun, only pain and a heck of a lot of suffering. OK, well, Torch Tossing isn't so bad. This game requires you to stand near a bonfire and, within a specified amount of time, toss torches so that they light up braziers several feet away. The goal is to aim at the braziers lit up with an arrow, which will change constantly, much like the classic game Whack-A-Mole. Timing is key, so make sure that you bind the torches you're given to a hotkey, so that you only really have to worry about aiming the green reticule that appears on the ground. It may take several tries to get Torch Tossing down, but at least it's not as treacherous as the dreaded Torch Catching. Starting from the bonfire, you have to click on the lit torches in your inventory, which will send it arcing behind you in a semi-random direction. Your goal is to run over to where you think it's going to land and "catch" it, which will toss it back up in the air again. The initial quest asks you to do this four times in a row, while the daily version requires ten volleys. This may not seem very difficult until you actually try to catch a torch for yourself. First of all, it's not entirely accurate. I found that, last year, I had to slightly lead where I expected the torch to fall in order to catch it. Second, the shadow that you're supposed to use as a guide has a habit of fading out or or disappearing altogether. Considering that the last time this event ran there were no advanced shadowing options, this problem may have been rectified by now. Lastly, there are probably going to be other players attempting to catch torches at the same time, and it's not hard to lose sight of which one is yours, causing you to miss completely. If that weren't enough, missing a torch will cause it to explode on the ground, scorching you for several thousand damage in the process. If you are not careful, you can die catching torches! So why would you want to do this? Once you've run out of flames to honor/douse/steal, which may happen during the first several days of the event, this is going to be your primary means of obtaining more Burning Blossoms (5 for each, plus some gold). After you've worn yourself out playing with torches, why not relax by spinning around a giant blazing pole? Sounds like a blast, right? In Midsummer's version of a ribbon dance, simply clicking on the flagstaff will send your character whirling, accompanied by a stream of multi-colored flame. There's an achievement for dancing around for 60 seconds in full Fire Festival Regalia (this does not require the crown obtained from the City Flame quests, only the shoes, mantle, and dress, which can be bought from event vendors); otherwise, it will give you a 10% stacking experience buff (3 minutes added per 3 seconds of dancing, up to 60 minutes).

Frost Lord Ahune

You think everyone would just like to chill out during the hottest days of the year, but Azerothians have to battle the cold, literally. A holiday-specific boss called Ahune, The Frost Lord appears in the depths of The Slave Pens, a 5-man dungeon underneath Zangarmarsh in Outland. Frost Lord Ahune The questline needed to fight him begins with a Festival Talespinner and you must be level 70 in order to complete it (though, I believe it is possible to participate in the encounter, even if you're a few levels lower). There are two different encounters with Ahune (who looks like a dark blue version of Murmur or Ragnaros), one for either the normal or heroic version of the dungeon. This is not a hard fight at all, and since Blizzard has not upgraded him from last year, it's going to be even easier. However, there are a few quirks that make it fun. The first phase is an add phase, during which Ahune only takes a quarter of the damage inflicted upon him. Ranged DPS can do little to hurt him, and melee shouldn't even bother at all, as Ahune will flick them away if they try to get too close. So forget about the boss and focus on his summons, which should comprise of one elite elemental and several smaller ones. After 90 seconds, he will submerge and go into Phase 2. At this point everyone should be attacking his exposed core. He will not summon adds while submerged, but he will cast Ice Spears that will shoot up from the ground and knock players into the air. Likewise, be wary of the ice slicks covering the ground, as you can slip and fall on them. After 30 seconds, he'll come back up again. This cycle will repeat until you defeat him, with the only change being that he will summon additional adds every time he goes back into Phase 1. As for rewards? He gave out some pretty sweet cloaks last year, and there are a few of the usual, unique trinkets event bosses tend to hand out like a Scorchling Pet or the Deathfrost Enchantment. Also, by returning the Shards of Ahune he drops, you have your choice of two tabards.

The Rest of the Fest

Festival vendors offer the following items (and their costs, in Burning Blossoms) for purchase:

• Handful of Summer Petals - 2 BB - Using these will shower a fellow player in the sweet flowers of Summer.
• Mantle of the Fire Festival - 100 BB - Equipping these will post two large braziers on your shoulders (also festive during Hanukkah!).
• Vestment of Summer - 100 BB - A nice, long Summer dress that casts an orange glow over your body and causes your hands to flame up when you /dance
• Sandals of Summer- 200 BB - Wearing these shoes causes a small fire to form around your feet, though being a troll, I'll never know the pleasure of fine footwear!
• Brazier of Dancing Flames - 350 BB - Dancing? Fire? I'm noticing a trend here... this brazier will summon a tiny, hot-footin' female elemental (looks like a Draenei) to shake it for you. It will respond to your emotes and using /dance while targeting it will turn your character into a larger version of the elemental.
• Captured Flame - 350 BB - Summons a "Spirit of Summer" pet, which looks like a small, red-colored wisp.
• Elderberry Pie - 5 BB
• Fire-toasted Bun - 5 BB
• Midsummer Sausage - 5 BB
• Toasted Smorc - 5 BB
• Bag of Smorc Ingredients - 5 BB - Allows you to create the Summer favorite at campfires around Azeroth.
• Fiery Festival Brew - 2 BB

Note that, even if you collect every Blossom possible during the event, you will not be able to purchase everything. If you're going for achievements, I'd spend all of your Burning Blossoms on the clothing first, which should leave you enough for either the Brazier of Dancing Flames or the Capture Flame. The former, in my opinion, is the better reward. On the note of Achievements, it seems that the Alliance and Horde will received slightly different titles upon completion. Here's the lineup:

• Flame Warden/Flame Keeper of Eastern Kingdoms - 10 AP - Honor all of the fires for your faction in the Eastern Kingdoms.
• Flame Warden/Flame Keeper of Kalimdor - 10 AP - Honor all of the fires for your faction in Kalimdor.
• Flame Warden/Flame Keeper of Outland - 10 AP - Honor all of the fires for your faction in Outland
• The Fires of Azeroth - 10 AP - Complete the above three achievements.
• Extinguishing Eastern Kingdoms - 10 AP - Douse all of the opposing faction's fires in Eastern Kingdoms
• Extinguishing Kalimdor - 10 AP - Douse all of the opposing faction's fires in Kalimdor.
• Extinguishing Outland - 10 AP - Douse all of the opposing faction's fires in Outland.
• Desecration of the Horde (or Alliance) - 10 AP - Complete the above three achievements.
• King of the Fire Festival - 10 AP - Steal all of the opposing cities' flames and complete the quest "A Thief's Reward."
• Ice the Frost Lord - 10 AP - Kill Ahune, the Frost Lord in the Slave Pens.
• Burning Hot Pole Dance - 10 AP - Dance around a ribbon pole for 60 seconds while wearing all three pieces of the Midsummer clothing set.
• Torch Juggler - 10 AP - Juggle 40 torches in 15 seconds in Dalaran.
• The Flame Warden - 20 AP - This is the event's meta-achievement. You need to complete: The Fires of Azeroth, Ice the Frost Lord, King of the Fire Festival, Desecration of the Horde (or Alliance), Burning Hot Pole Dance, and Torch Juggler. Your reward is either the title of Flame Warden (Alliance) or Flame Keeper (Horde).

I would personally recommend completing all of the fire honoring/dousing/stealing achievements first, so that you have plenty of Burning Blossoms to buy all of the Midsummer clothing with. Ahune can be done at pretty much any time, and the others are relatively easy to complete. There are a few other, minor aspects to the event, including the ability to receive buffs (or extinguish them) utilizing the bonfires scattered throughout Azeroth, as well as a daily quest from the Earthen Ring called Striking Back, which asks you to kill a Twilight Cultist out on the Zoram Strand in Ashenvale.

Personally, I'd have to say that, since its revamp, this is one of my favorite world events in the game, and probably the first one I took seriously. I won't lie, I look forward to stealing the Alliance's fires all over again! What about you guys and gals? Share some memories or thoughts about the Midsummer Fire Festival in our comments section! This is a lengthy article, and it contains a lot of information, but I may not have covered everything you wanted to know. If you have any questions, please feel free to post those, as well.

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Noblegarden started on Sunday, and if you're like me, you want that Violet Proto Drake, which means you'll have to get your egg hunt on. Being a late addition to the Long, Strange Trip world event meta-achievement, the collection of achievements required to attain "the Noble" title was quite certainly affected by feedback from the player community regarding other similar achievements. If you remember, many players were upset that they had to rely heavily on the Random Number Generator (RNG) for certain parts of the other holiday meta-achievements. Luckily, Blizzard recognized this fact and both retroactively changed the Fool for Love achievement and decided against including random achievements in the Noble Gardener meta-achievement. While there are still Noblegarden achievements that do rely on the RNG - Sunday's Finest and Dressed for the Occasion - they are not part of the Meta. This means it is basically possible - even with the worst of luck - to brute force your way to the title, getting one step closer to that 310% flying mount. Breaking it down, you'll have to open the following number of eggs to complete all of the required achievements: 100 for eating (Required for Chocoholic) 100 for Spring Rabbit's Foot (Required for Spring Fling) 50 for Spring Flowers (Required for Shake Your Bunny-Maker) 50 for Spring Robes (Required for Desert Rose) 5 for Noblegarden Egg (Required for Noble Garden) This totals out to 305 eggs, which will take a bit of a time investment. If you manage to find an egg every 15 seconds, that will come out to over an hour of egg hunting. If you have more trouble finding the eggs, it will take even longer. Remember, this is the maximum number of eggs you'll have to open. Most people I talked to got at least one required item within the first 50 or so eggs they opened, so you'll probably need to open fewer eggs. By the time I had looted 300 eggs, I already found nearly everything I needed from the eggs, so I purchased the last thing I needed - the spring flowers - and picked up the Spring Circlet to complete my collection. All of the other items you'll need for achievements are obtainable through other means. The Tuxedo Shirt, Tuxedo Pants, and Elegant Dress are all tradeable, meaning you can get Blushing Bride for a few coins at the auction house or even free if you find a generous person who will loan or give you a tux. Remember, though, you will not get Sunday's Finest or Dressed for the Occasion unless you specifically loot the items from eggs. The Blossoming Branch is a reward for the daily quest to turn in 20 egg shells and can be used on other players to help them get Hard Boiled. Remember to find someone who has one in their inventory to help you get that one. The Spring Circlet, for 50 chocolates, is not used in any achievements. Mages may want to collect the Tome of Polymorph: Rabbit, which can be purchased for another 100 chocolates. Even though the requirements for the meta-achievement are not completely dictated by the RNG like Be Mine! was, they can still take a significant amount of time to complete. I'd estimate that it took me three to four hours to complete all of them, including collecting eggs, traveling, and finding all of those females for Shake Your Bunny-Maker. So, do you guys prefer having alternative ways of getting items in addition to the RNG, or would you rather just leave out the randomness completely? Or heck, would you prefer all of it to be in fate's hands?

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It’s one of my favorite times of the year again, holiday time in Azeroth! This means one thing for me, tons of new achievements to do. I have just started them myself, but looking over the list it seems to me that this event is going to bring out some of the best and worst in WoW achievements. Many of them seem awesomely exciting, while even more of them seem mind numbingly boring.

Let me start with the good. The achievement to honor the elders in the opposing factions cities is great. It encourages world PvP, gives you a reason to go some places you rarely go, and gives you the impression of a really fun adventure. I am glad blizzard included this, and I am looking forward to charging into Orgrimmar. I think I may be even more excited to rack up my city defender by killing Horde trying to do the same.

Now the not so good… just about everything else. Sure seasonal bosses are cool, fireworks are cool, but I really don’t like feeling like I have to wander all over the old world finding random guys in random zones, and not even getting any gold for my time. I’ve wandered around these places plenty before, first to get explorer, then to trick or treat during Hallow’s End, now I’m back at it. In my eyes this is little more than a time sink.

I can’t say I’m particularly fond of having to run through a bunch of lowbie instances either. Sure doing some of the more current content is fun, but do I really need to go do ZF of Stratholme again (especially now that I’ve got my Baron Mount)?

My one piece of advice as you embark on this incredibly dull task would be to look at your other achievements and see if you can knock anything out at the same time. Are there  squirrels that need lovin’, pests that need controlin’, or zones that need explorin'? Now is the time to do them. If you have to do something boring you might as well kill two birds with one stone.

Just keep reminding yourself, this is all for the Violet Proto-Drake.

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Wow, is my Google Reader ever full after my little excursion to the east and west coast of St. Croix. Good thing I took that little ski trip a few weeks ago as a warm up to the withdrawal. Otherwise, I do not know if I could have made nine days without a PC to entertain me and record my thoughts. Like a good little rogue (Irish to boot), I did my best to stay in the shadows at all times.

Boy, oh boy, do I have a lot of catching up to do. It will likely take a whole week to be up to snuff on everything that has happened. The prolific writers over at WoWInsider have over 200 articles for me alone – not that I will read it all – then there are all the blues to filter through and likely a good amount of in-game mail to round out the schedule.

I am sure I am not the only person who managed to sneak away for the holiday season, so just in case you missed them, here are some of the stories that perked my interest.

Donations to the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society = WoW Subscriptions – A Blizzard Employee will be offering those who donate a chance at one of three one-year subscriptions to WoW. One lucky winner will score themselves a LIFETIME SUBSCRIPTION  ($_$).  This is still running, so be sure to donate.

2008 MMO Trends Analyzed – Get this, GamerDNA and Massively find out that WoW is the most popular MMO! They also believe that the title's reign is coming closer to its end, due to additional subscribers plateauing in recent months.  Me likey graffs!

FCC Commissioner Resigns – Deborah Tate, the commissioner that WoW players love to hate (...) decided to step down after getting made fun of on the Internet. Okay, that wasn't the real reason, her previous actions – like taking corporation opinions into consideration – probably had more to do with it.

Ulduar Won't Be “Hard” In The Normal Sense – PvEers have proclaimed Wrath to be entirely too easy, but Blizzard demands that available raids are just the beginning. Vaneras promised that Ulduar will be more difficult, but only if your guild is brave enough to try a more challenging encounter than the norm.

Mage Solos Naxxaramas Military Quarter – Just watch the video, Ms. Mage did some creative stuff to pull this off.

These are the items that jumped off the page for me, but I am sure there is additional interesting stuff that has happened in the last week and a half. For instance, the nerf to required enchanting materials is one. Anything big that I should make sure I speed read?

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So I am now proudly wearing the Merrymaker title over my head, and am still on track for my violet proto-drake. As I look back at the Winter Veil holiday event there is one thing above all else I am grateful for. There was not special holiday boss with a super rare mount drop!! Don’t get me wrong, new bosses are fun, seasonal loot is fun, but for my own personal sanity I am glad I didn’t have to put myself through the grinder this holiday season.

Yes I am the guy that killed Coren Direbrew over 200X during Brewfest, and no Kodo mount for me. Then I kill The Headless Horseman about 100X before I lost my sanity at not seeing the Horseman’s Reins drop, and swore off mount grinding (at least until the next opportunity).

See somewhere in those hours and days of praying for a mount to drop, I lost perspective on the whole thing. It stopped being a game and started being an obsession. Something about limited time only exclusive items just flips a switch in my head.

I would like to think I have learned my lesson, but I know that I haven’t. After all I did log every alt I have opening every gift under the tree for all the seasonal pets. Fortunately for me that was a 30 minute activity and not a 30 hour one.

All in all I am relieved. The event was fun, there was lots of to do, and great achievements to achieve. All this and I didn’t have to live in some obscure dungeon begging guildies to let me use their summon. It was a happy Winter Veil!

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Now with presents actually under the Winter Veil Trees in Ironforge and Orgrimmar, all of us in Azeroth have a bunch of ways to show off our holiday cheer. Blizzard has put in a lot of great ways for players to interact with each other - we can sprinkle handfuls of snowflakes on people, kiss under the mistletoe, have snowball fights, play with our new racecars, build a snowman, bake cookies for our friends, or do all of the above and show off our new Merrymaker titles. I've always been a proponent of using the in game mechanics as a jumping off point for having fun with other players, which is why what happened a few days ago in Dalaran really amused me. A couple of days back I was hoping for a heroic group to form or I don't know what else, but I was wandering around Dalaran as usual. I saw a horde character named Byerly walking around, and I mean press the slash button on your keypad walking, on his reindeer mount. It was interesting to me, and the walk/run toggle button is one of my favorites for horsing around during downtime. Anyway, I hopped on my mount and used some fresh holly to transform it into a reindeer and joined him in his slow march around the main portion of Dalaran. More players were intrigued and joined in on their reindeer, and eventually we had a mixture of about ten horde and alliance marching around Dalaran at a slow pace spreading holiday cheer... or at least having a good time. It was hilarious watching the slow line of riders. I got a couple of screen shots but only the above one turned out any good. It was nice to see that some horde can have fun with the alliance at least during the holiday season. Have you guys seen any interesting ways that players have been celebrating the holidays? Or what about gifts, did you get anything good this year?

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I don't know about you guys, but I have enough turkey left in the fridge to make open-face turkey sammies for a week. Coincidentally, that is the perfect meal to eat while you are slaving away at those XP bubbles or taking down your next heroic. Quick and easy to prepare, with little need to devour it in a timely manner. Damn, I am hungry now.

I knew it was going to be fairly difficult for me to get a lot of play time in during the holiday, so I came up with a different kind of Warcraft-based goal. Rather than do a mad push to level 80 (which, I did my best at anyways) or get trampled at Walmart, I decided to try and sign up that 11,000,001st subscriber to World of Warcraft.

My brother was my first target, seeing as he is a retired hardcore raider. The numerous Priest changes, a demonstration of the differences between vanilla WoW and Wrath with my Holy alt, and general curiosity drew him towards the dark side. After playing for a bit, and seemingly having fun, he put the laptop down and walked away muttering something like “QQ in the channels and guild drama is why I left in the first place.” Damn you new Barrens Chat!

My younger cousin (who can now out bench press me...) was my secondary target. He took up gaming during the GoldenEye days, and has played most big titles since then. The little punk is by no means a hardcore gamer, but he is certainly not casual either. One would think that World of Warcraft would be on his PC gaming rig, and it was! It turns out that he had joined an Azerothian race without consulting me. Sad fact is that his friends set him up, having him roll the opposing faction so they could corpse camp him for hours as he tried to level. He didn't make it past level 20 before his experience was ruined, and has sworn off the genre entirely. I'll have to work on him further.

At this point, my hopes were dashed and the family get togethers had all past. With no more targets I sat down with little old SolidSamm to work his way towards level 80 and noticed that I had caught the attention from one of the last people I would expect, my girlfriend. “Your guy is so little” she said. “Yes,” I replied, “but he can do big things.” I quickly ran off to find the biggest mob in Dragonblight and showed her how rogues like to do it.

Perhaps, just maybe, I can suck her in? Tips, tricks, strategies and secret potions are appreciated. How many of you managed to ding level 80 over the holiday break? Or did you have alternative goals like I did?

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I'm not sure if you've noticed, but Hallow's End is here in the World of Warcraft. With all of the new achievements in the game, there are tons of people heading to the Scarlet Monastery to kill the Headless Horseman for his rings, helm, sword, or mount. It seems like the hardest thing to get for the long list of Hallow's End achievements, other than all twenty masks, is the squashling pet. I'm one of the many people in the Totally Rad Guild who, once the twenty mask achievement is removed from the meta achievement requirements, only needs that pet in order to complete the Hallow's End world event achievement and get the Hallowed title. I've seen that pet drop maybe five times in the past few days, and the last one I rolled a two on. That's ok though, there's still a lot of days left in the holiday. The Horseman, though, is starting to feel a lot like that other farmable holiday boss, Coren, from BRD just a few weeks ago. I've got every single drop off of the rider without a skull that I want, including the Horseman's Reigns (which I rolled a 100 on the first night of Hallow's End). I feel like it's really only a matter of time until I get that pet. Of course, that's how I felt about the Kodo Mount, and I never got that drop. Although, as much as I would have liked a kodo, the Headless Horseman's mount is about a quadrillion and five times cooler to me. I personally never really participated in the world event quests until now, but the seemingly improved rewards that have been creeping into the game have made it worth my while. While browsing through the hundreds of achievements, these useless points really encourage players to go out and experience all of the world events that Blizzard puts together so well. My only worry is that every time one of these new holidays comes up, we'll have another flavor of the month title. Right now, it seems like at least half of the people I see are in the Jenkins family. I'm sure after the Hallowed achievement is changed, most of those people will that one up. I'm sure it's only a result of new titles and achievements having just been implemented, but I look forward to seeing all sorts of new titles around, instead of everyone having the exact same one. Either way, I am loving the holiday season in WoW so far.

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Avast! The fine fellas at Blizzard have hopped on the holiday that be growin' every year, International Talk Like A Pirate Day. September 19th be the day that captains n land lubbers alike be speakin' with style and flair only fit for a pirate. T' celebrate this momentous occasion, Dread Captain DeMeza, Scourge of the South Seas be perched atop the Auction House in Booty Bay, lending a fine set of threads to all who drink with her. Goblin Commoners be givin' out lesser attire all over the lands. Okay, I can only keep that up for so long. I've never been much of a Pirate Talker, but Kisirani has confirmed that this event is for one day only, so have fun while it lasts. There is also apparently no loot to be had, which is a little unfortunate, though understandable considering the short duration of the holiday. There is still plenty of novelty in the new pirate outfits. Both costumes are temporary buffs that dress you like me in the picture (I'm in the middle). The only equipped items visible on your avatar will be whatever is in your hands. The buff given by the Goblin Commoners lasts for one hour, while the one bestowed by the Dread Captain herself will last up to 12. Both are lost whenever a shapeshift is cast, which is too bad for druids and shaman, but the 12 hour version lasts through death (I didn't get a chance to test the 1 hour version). This is a very good thing, considering there are no guards immediately surrounding the Captain who gives it. So, lots of ganking is bound to occur in BB for the next day or so. I've already had some fun with PvP in Booty Bay as a pirate, so come on out and join the fun! What do you all think of this short holiday?

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