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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I still remember my first encounter with the terror of a Fel Reaver. It wasn't long after my first trip through the Dark Portal at a respectable level 58. I was heading along the main road - usually a fairly safe route. Then, I took the fork up toward Thrallmar, and stopped along the way to kill a Helboar annoyance. And made the unfortunate decision to turn my back on my destination. Then, it came. The ground started shaking; first slightly, then more and more jarring. By the time I heard the Fel Reaver's loud, train-like warning sound, it was too late. I couldn't run. All I could do was fail at my feeble attempts to defend myself as the Fel Reaver stomped my tiny figure into oblivion. My fate was the same of that Helboar that happened into my path. I think Blizzard has taken up some kind of sick fascination with terrorizing the comparatively tiny folk that take up residence in Outland and now Northrend. The torment started with the Fel Reaver and continued with the Storm Giant roaming in the Howling Fjord and Thrym the Hope Ender, who patrols the first major corridor you come upon in Zul'Drak. With a name like that, you know what to expect. All of them are giant; all are significantly higher level than the rest of their zone; and all are elite. A combination that makes them basically impossible to fight off when caught alone. Which, if you're not careful, can happen way too often. We've faced similar creatures in Azeroth, too, such as the Devilsaurs that bludgeon unsuspecting questers in Un'Goro Crater. And every time I meet a new behemoth, I make a vow. The tyrants must pay - I will have my revenge. It already has begun. The Devilsaurs that once frightened my pre-Outland rogue are now no more menacing than a Helboar. Upon my return to Un'Goro recently for the Noblegarden requirements, the dino learned my wrath. Now, a quest line in Zul'Drak has furthered my vengeance. After your assistance with freeing the captured Storm Giant Gymer, he allows you to ride his back for some fun from the perspective of a giant. The best part - slaying Thrym, the prowling, undead menace stitched together from the corpses of other storm giants.

Die, Thrym, die!! Revenge is not a pretty thing. But it sure is satisfying. Anyone else enjoy going back to terrorize the elite giants that once had you cowering in fear? What are some of your own tales of getting beat-down by behemoths, then returning a later day for pay back?

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At first, I thought my bunny-self was cute. I was just starting out my Noblegarden Achievement runs this week, and after locating and picking up a few Brightly Colored Eggs in Brill (and landing my 'I Found One!' achievement), I got my first transformation. I was collecting an egg, and all of the sudden - POOF! I was a purple rabbit. One of many, many purple rabbits frolicking through the small town in the search of winning the noblest of titles. So I made use of the tools at my disposal. I equipped the wondrous Egg Basket from the quest giver and started spamming the use to speed-hop past my competition. Find one egg hidden in the bushes, collect it, move to the next, and the next, and the next - around in a circle until I was back to my starting point. Monotonous, yes. But I somehow felt at east with this simple task. I was a bunny, and I wanted my eggs. That's all there was to it. That is, of course, until I got a little more bunny competition. Apparently, I was not the only one wise to the magicks of the Egg Basket. Other rabbits now also were speeding around, hopping right past me if I took too wide of a turn. I could no longer leisurely pick up the eggs - I had to rush to snatch it up at just the right time before some other bunny came along to steal it away from me. Some bunnies started waiting right next to where the eggs spawned so they could be the first ones to claim it the moment it appeared. But they, too, had to be careful. If they didn't pay close enough attention, THIS little rogue rabbit would swipe that egg without them knowing. Oh yes, stealth bunny form is real. Be afraid. Although, sadly, bunnies do not dance. I tried. And so the rabbit-eat-rabbit collection process continued. I finished collecting my 100 chocolates to consume for the Chocoholic achievement (proving, once and for all, that eating too much chocolate does NOT make you sick!), and in the process found a Spring Rabbit’s Foot, a useless but cute Spring Circlet and some nifty Black Tuxedo Pants. And I swapped items with my guild bunny buddies to complete Blushing Bride. But I'm still working on finding the White Tuxedo Shirt for Sunday’s Finest and the Elegant Dress needed for Dressed for the Occasion. Also still working to finish up Spring Fling, Shake Your Bunny-Maker and Desert Rose. Thankfully, we still got a couple of days to tie up loose ends. The most treacherous task (for a bunny) was the trip to Un'Goro Crater to complete Hard Boiled. You can NOT convince me that a cute, purple rabbit doesn't look like a tasty morsel to a ravenous Devilsaur. Don't forget to re-equip your weapons in case you run into some hungry beasts! Well, this bunny is about ready to be a Noble Gardener. How many of you have succeeded so far, and what have been your favorite parts of bunny-dom?

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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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The many of you looking forward to the Dual Spec feature coming in Patch v3.1 will be slightly annoyed to hear that the supporting Equipment Manager feature has been cut from the patch.  According to Bornakk - in an odd April Fools RPing thread - the feature has a few "issues" that still need to be banged out before it will meet Blizzard's quality standards.  I haven't played on the PTR enough to know exactly what the issues could be, but it seems that we will be using ItemRack (remember Outfitter has ceased development due to the UI Policy changes) for awhile longer.  Per Blizzard's mantra, it'll be ready soon, which this time means "some time after patch 3.1."  Speaking of patch 3.1, that leviathan of an update will likely be going live in late April. The slashing of material isn't that big of a deal, as the Equipment Manager is still coming, but more of a sign of how huge Ulduar's patch is going to be.  Perhaps more was bitten off than the company could chew.  At the same time, I would much rather Blizzard cut these "lesser" content additions rather than delaying the entire patch.  For the Equipment Manager, we have had several third-party addons to choose from since WoW launched back in 2004.  Granted, the more robust the default UI is, the better.  It is much easier if we can spend the least amount of time, memory and processing power on addons as possible. In the meantime, time to prepare for Ulduar, grind up 1000 spare gold, sharpen those daggers for the Argent Tournament and attempt to down the second Old God.  One more after Yogg-Saron and I can be labeled as an Old God Serial Killer by the FBI.  Sweet, a title to strive for!  What do you multi-speccers use for gear swapping at the moment?  Anyone come across Equipment Manager issues?

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Most people know by now that I love Achievements. I also love world events. Adding new and interesting things to do during world events and tying them to achievements sounds just great to me. Initially when I saw that Patch 3.1 would add achievements to Noblegarden, I thought that must mean 3.1 will come out before the event, which is currently scheduled for April 12-18. Makes sense right? Well, I was wrong. Kisirani has let us know via blue post that the developers' plan is to simply delay Noblegarden should 3.1 not be ready before then. That makes more sense. What has me excited, though, is that after the patch, Noblegarden will be a true world event, Blizzard style. Looking at the list of Noblegarden Achievments and seeing a hint that egg hunting will be "a wee bit different this year," the event seems like it is going to have much more interactivity than in previous years. Before, players would have to find eggs hidden in the starting areas in hopes of finding a dress. Not a great reward, but something that is good for collectors and roleplayers. According to the achivement list, this year's Noble Gardeners are going to hide eggs, place rabbit ears, plant flowers, find love, and of course eat chocolates as part of the event. As the meta-achievement for Noblegarden is going to be part of the meta-meta-achivement, What a Long, Strange Trip It's Been that rewards a 310% speed Violet Proto-Drake, I'll be ready to hunt down eggs all week long, whenever 3.1 comes out.

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