Project Lore

Good lord.  You do a post on just recently announced content and the day it goes live Blizzard drops a cavalcade of new information on the WoW playing populace.  I don't know about you, but when this much information comes out at once I tend to become overwhelmed.   Sure, there isn't much to digest rogue-wise (yay Axes! </sarcasm> Daggers fo' lyfe yo!), or even priest-wise, so that cuts out most of the critical thinking that goes into patch notes for me.  With nothing to QQ about I have been focusing on the little gems and locating overlooked modifications. For example, the ability to level in battlegrounds (via quests, not killing people, which would be cooler) is one hot tamale.  It's also a feature that has been requested for some time.  When this was originally discovered pre-patch notes, people were worried about the state of twinking.  Well, Blizzard has all those level 19 rogues in VanCleef gear covered with the power to turn off XP gain.  That feature is simply huge and goes well beyond twinking to "classic" servers.  While not exactly the same as a vanilla or TBC locked server, turning off your XP gain can enable nostalgic gamers to level a character to 60, or 70, and play as if it were 2004, or 2007!  In the end I think this is a great solution to the classic server problem.  It enables those rosey-eyed gamers to (almost) get what they want, but doesn't cost Blizzard much of anything. My fellow vanity pet collectors are likely rejoicing over the new critters we can add to our stables.  It isn't just a token addition either.  Sure, the Argent Tournament has another one, and you can go the cheesy way and purchase one from Breanni, but the true nuts will be out in Un'Goro, Stranglethorn Vale and numerous other areas farming the pets from elite raptors across Azeroth.  A total of 8 vanity pets have been added to the game (not including Argent Tournament rewards).  Pet owners aren't the only players getting some dinosaur action.  Horde players can pick up a poisonous Ravasaur mount from the trainer in Un'Goro.  Yes, the mount is Horde only. We also have more profession changes.  The biggest one that I came across was the change to potion stacking.  No longer will raiders have to dedicate a full bag to their assorted potions, as they will now stack to a respectable amount, 20.  Of course I foresee most raiders filling their bags with stacks of 20 anyways, crazy blocks that they are.  In Cooking we have the tweak to the Chef's Hat.  The fashionable cookware not only makes you looks good, no to mention dedicated to the art of cuisine, but enables Wolfgang Puck impersonators to cook faster.  I'll be picking up one of these bad boys for that utility.  Still no concrete data on the "increase benefits" to the Engineering goodies though, but it's nice to see that Potion Injectors give an added 25% benefit when used by a tinkerer.  Gas cloud discovery is being moved to the Mote Extractor and off the Goggles.  What the hell took so long? Call of the Crusade is shaping up to be a nice patch.  It may not have an ostentatious sized raid like Secrets of Ulduar, but it does have a copious collection of changes.  What diamonds in the rough have you most excited?  Perhaps actual (epic) diamonds?  Maybe the bloating of the Dalaran Sewers Arena map?

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With Wrath of the Lich King's first content patch looming on the horizon, I thought it would be a good idea to take a stroll down memory lane.  Molten Core was the only 40-man raid instance when World of Warcraft launched in 2004.  The lengthy instance was considered unbeatable for quite some time, with most servers leaving Ragnaros untouched until well after Onyxia - who was added later on via a patch - was killed.  The depths of Blackrock Spire held 9 bosses, tons of trash mobs, quick respawn times, diverse encounters and eons for early guilds to get to know each other.  All these attributes lead to intense battles, failure, drama, success, full Tier 1 sets, Tier 2 pants and additional drama.  I'll never forget it. When my guild began running Molten Core, I was in my last stretch of leveling.  Thanks to a hefty load of work from my pre-Junior year at Drexel, I had already missed the server first Onyxia kill and vowed not to miss any other.  I failed at participating, but managed to view the deaths of Lucifron and Magmadar from my roommate's screen.  The following day I was invited for the guilds second round of attempts at Gehennes.  After four years, I can't recall how long it took us to down the Flamewalker and his guards, but it was the first time I had been a part of a raid kill in an MMORPG. I poured hours upon hours into the instance, for the guild and for my Tier 2 pants.  Through all of the memories - the lava swimming druids, Aqual Quintessence smashing, Core Hound looting, suicide bombing, giant stomping, lava leaps of faith - nothing stands out in my mind as much as my first glance at the firelord himself, Ragnaros.  Not only was his model incredibly awesome and original, but he was freaking GINORMOUS.  "Surely, he must be nerfed by Lucifron before the fight," I thought to myself.  No, not at all.  The shock I experienced at his first site has never left me, and as of yet, has never been topped in a virtual world. It took All That Remains (long defunct) weeks to down Ragnaros, mainly due to many members not having the required Fire Resistance gear/Stamina (thank god those fights are gone).  It became so bad that Officers decided to only accept the members with the highest FR sets to the raid.  The new rule forced many of us to spend stupids amounts of time and gold one that one extra point of FR.  The price for rings with FR stats went through the roof, and we even began heading to UBRS to steal the FR buffs.  This was at a time when 1000 gold was Bill Gates rich.  The guild's commodore, dedication and expertise was never at a higher point than the end of Molten Core, and we needed all of it. When Ragnaros finally sank into his relatively small hitbox for the last time, everyone tossed up virtual high fives via Ventrilo, and sang Kumbaya as his hammer fell to the ground. Weeks, possibly months passed before SolidSamm finally got his T2 pants, and with Blackwing Lair launching shortly after, it was perfect timing.  My Tyr's Hand days were an ends to a means, my days spent in Molten Core and the jaw-dropping sight of Ragnaros were simply an experience.  One that I will never forget, but hopefully a memory that is eventually one-upped.  Hell, I still don my MC items including my Perdition's Blade from time to time. I have always wondered one thing.  For those of you that were big PvEers in earlier MMORPGs, did Ragnaros still manage to floor you?  Or was it more old hat because you have been downing gigantic dragons for so long?  If you are new to World of Warcraft, then I suggest you try to run a Molten Core on the weekend, if not for the two achievements, then just so you can experience his impact.  It can be done quickly and easily at level 80 with only a handful of players. Hey, look what I found!

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The first major raid instance to be added to World of Warcraft is getting modified once again. The encounter with Onyxia will not be changed but the process to get to her will. Blizzard Poster Valnoth updated the community via the beta forums that the attunement requirements for Onyxia's Lair will finally be lifted. Valnoth failed to mention when the change would go live – patch 3.0.2 or Wrath's launch – but did give us a good reason for the change. The modification has been made due to lore presented in Wrath that will see the return of King Wyrnn to Stormwind. With Onyxia's, Black Temple's and Karazhan's attunement processes removed, the next two oldest raid instances take over as the most annoying. Once the change is made, Blackwing Lair and Molten Core will have the longest attunement processes in the game (although longer ones may be added later). It should be noted that this is actually a temporary change. Blizzard plans on reinstating Onyxia's attunement process by adjusting the questline to fit with the Wrath timeline. However, those changes will not be made in time for Wrath's launch. I have been doing Onyxia on and off for a few months in an attempt to get all my main characters an assortment of cheap 18 slot bags. But the removal of the attunement process will allow a few more of my characters to get the bags without going through that incredibly long process. If anyone else out there needs some 18 slot bags on the cheap that isn't already attuned, make sure you start grinding them during this window of opportunity. My question to you is, do you think she will Deep Breath more after the change?

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