Project Lore

Protip is a weekly short video segment. Check back every Monday for a new guide or tip. Leave a comment to let me know what you want to see in future segments. Follow @Heartbourne for notifications of new videos!

This week, I go on a harrowing adventure through the Blizzard store to find a Pandaren Monk.

As you may have read, one of the new pets slated to be included with patch 3.2.2 is the Pandaren Monk. This miniature kung-fu fighter remains the only in-game implementation of the ursine race. Though they once held an ancient empire in the center of Kalimdor, the Pandaren race have since hidden themselves away in the uncharted regions of Azeroth. Will they one day return en masse? My guess is only when their home is threatened by some massive, outside force. But despite their isolationist tendencies, some Pandaren evidently find their way to the main continents, not entirely unlike Twoflower on vacation. The only thing I know for sure is that I wish Blizzard would stop teasing us about it! More data-mining goodness from over at MMO-Champion has revealed the Monk's intricate martial artistry, and it is only making the wait even harder:

I have to admit that I'm really loving the animations here, and I hope its a preview of things to come way down the road. Not including Pandaren at this point is like not including the Cow Level in Diablo II, it would just be cruel not to! Besides, next to stealthy-roguey-assassination types, my favorite kind of class to play is a hand-to-hand fighter, and that's something that World of Warcraft is sorely lacking at this point.

If you're wondering how you can get your mitts on this pint-sized pugilist, well, we still don't know just yet. There's no specific indication as to where the Monk might drop, and it doesn't appear to be one of the trading card game's new loot cards, either. We here at Project Lore will let you know when we hear something about it. Here's to hoping that it's not a region-specific gift!

Obviously, we're pretty excited about the Pandaren Monk, but what about the rest of you? Knowing how cool the animations are and how rare it will likely be, no doubt this will be one of the most sought-after pets in the game! Is it worth going out of your way to get one for yourself?

Click to read more ...

As per usual, Boubouille of MMO-Champion has been doing his fair share of digging in the game files, and the last PTR update has revealed some interesting new pets to add to your collection. They're so nauseatingly adorable, that even Elmyra would think twice about snatching up these little guys. Below is the list of cuddle-bums you pet freaks out there will no doubt be scouring the far corners of Azeroth for when 3.2.2 goes live (note: some of these were listed in last week's patch notes update):

• Cute pets... nature's defense against jerks and cynics! Onyxia Whelpling: Most of you already know about this one. It will be available to anyone who logs in during the 2-3 week period that Blizzard considers World of Warcraft's 5th anniversary in November.
• Zipao Tiger: The interwebs tells me that "Zi Pao" is both a kind of purple jade and a style of traditional Chinese carving. The look of the pet certainly seems to fit the color description, but I'm unsure how the tiger fits into the world or where it might come from. Could this have something to do with the impending relaunch of the game in China? A good-will present perhaps?
• Wind Rider Cub: A miniature version of the Horde's flying mount du jour.
• Gryphon Hatchling: A miniature version of the Alliance's flying mount du jour.
• Spectral Tiger Cub: Available only by obtaining a loot card from the upcoming "Scourgewar" trading card game expansion, the vanity version of the very rare Spectral Tiger Mount will no doubt be in similarly large demand!
• Pandaren Monk: This one has kind of come out of left field. Blizzard likes to joke about Pandaren in Warcraft as much as they do about the Cow Level in Diablo, and yet neither is a complete farce (there was a hidden, and very challenging Cow Level in Diablo II). The only in-game representation of the bear-like race so far has been a quest associated with famed brewmaster, Chen Stormstout. Well, at least until now. They may not be playable, and it doesn't mean you're going to start seeing NPCs popping up around Azeroth, but you can have finally have a mini-Pandaren of your very own.
• Lil' KT: Only Blizzard could be capable of making an Arch Lich into a cute, cuddly little pet. That's right. The "KT" stands for the one-and-only Master of Naxxramas, himself -- Kel'Thuzad. Like most of the others, it's currently unknown when or where this one drops.
• Core Hound Pup: Nothing cuter than a tiny, two-headed dog that spews lava all over your shoes, is there? I wonder if you can carry them around in your Gigantique bag.

So there you have it. It seems that with each new patch or expansion, the cadre of available vanity pets continues to grow by leaps and bounds. It makes you wonder why Blizzard hasn't implemented some sort of Pokemon-esque battling game with them yet. "Grunty the Murloc Marine, I CHOOSE YOU!" Anyway, which of these new pets are you readers looking forward to the most?

Click to read more ...

Source image courtesy of MMO-Champion. It is often that we find hints of new or as-yet-unreleased content by carefully and dutifully digging through the files of new patches. Few are better at this than Boubouille of MMO-Champion, a site nearly unparalleled at breaking this brand of news for our favorite game. But I'm not so sure about one of their latest. Boubouille has managed to scrounge up several graphics of Hallow's End masks that depict both Goblins and Worgen. Traditionally, these masks have only been made from playable races, and the next expansion is predicted to focus primarily on the Maelstrom, which would theoretically feature zones such as the Goblin home city of Undermine and the isolated kingdom of Gilneas (which may or may not have fallen victim to a Worgen invasion -- after all, it is suspiciously close to Shadowfang Keep!). Little has been confirmed by Blizzard themselves, but the evidence certainly tips in favor of these races being prominent players in forthcoming events, if not completely playable. So what's holding me back? Not excitement, that's for sure. Worgen would be a great addition, and it'd be nice for the Horde to have their very own little people. But the fact of the matter is that both Goblins and Worgen (read: werewolves) are creatures traditionally associated with Halloween, which may explain the inclusion of their masks for the holiday. Despite my skepticism, there is one key point that intrigues me: there is a female Worgen mask. Of course, this is only fair and in keeping with the tradition of offering a mask of both genders for players to wear, but I'm not aware of any female Worgen currently existing in the game (at least none that take on an appearance apart from the generic model). Looking at the image provided by MMO-Champion, you can see softer, almond-shaped eyes and a smaller nose, perhaps implying that they might account for playable options in the future. Ultimately, everything at this point is simply an educated guess, but Blizz's own loremaster, Chris Metzen, has stated that they are "doing some awesome stuff for Gilneas." Worgen are apparently naturally evil, battle-worn creatures, but it wouldn't be beyond reason to see them do a turn for the Alliance. After all, the story of Warcraft is all about people or races being redeemed or damned through their actions. Darkspear Trolls shied away from the cannibalism prevalent amongst their people, the Forsaken have made strides to separate themselves from the Scourge, and who can forget the once benevolent High Elves transforming into magic-addicted wretches after the corruption of the Sunwell? Who's to say there isn't some small contingent of Worgen trying to earn their place in the world by rising above their race's natural anger and ferocity? The discovery of these masks certainly gives us food for thought, if no concrete answers. Teasing us this far ahead of the expansion is awfully cruel of Blizzard, but if they are in the files now, might that imply that we'll see a release before the next time Hallow's End rolls around? I'm eager to know how everyone else feels about this development. Is Blizzard just playfully baiting their fans (as they have for so long with the Pandaren), or is this serious evidence of things to come? If playable, do you think that Goblins and Worgen are locks for the Horde and Alliance respectively? Which would you like to play as, and would you be willing to switch factions just to do so? And why does that female Goblin mask look exactly like Fiona from Shrek?

Click to read more ...

It's almost here. The day where all hell breaks loose on the Internet and two-headed orcs attempt to make a mockery of the great Horde faction. So, in celebration of the hilarity that Blizzard will undoubtedly unleash starting midnight tonight, we at Project Lore wanted to take a look back at some of Blizzard's best attempts to make a fool of us all. Shortly after my first venture into WoW in early 2006, Blizzard revealed its best venture EVER! BurgerCraft.

IRVINE, Calif. -- April 1, 2006 -- Blizzard Entertainment, Inc. today unveiled BurgerCraft™, introducing the company’s latest business venture and revealing many details about the plans for its company-owned restaurant chain. The grand opening of the first BurgerCraft restaurant is set to take place on June 1, 2006 in downtown Los Angeles, California.

EPIC! Now it seems that the original WoW forum posts from 2005 that inspired this glorious idea have since been removed. But thankfully, WoWwiki and its infinite wiki wisdom have kept records of what started as a meme from poster Gilgamesh from Alleria. How many of you remember this?

WoB: Welcome to World of Burgercraft. Would you like a PVE value meal, a PVP value meal, or an RP value meal? Car 1: What is the difference between the PVE and PVP meals? WoB: The PVP burger has onions. The PVE burger does not. Except sometimes. You can add onions if you want. And we sneak some onions in toward the end of the PVE burger but you don't have to eat them. You can skip that part of the burger. Car 1: What about the RP burger? WoB: Vegetarian.

I appreciate that this joke stemmed from the players themselves. Blizzard knows how to appease its fan base! The previous year, Blizzard made a crack on its own battlegrounds system, which was then in development, by announcing that the battlegrounds would be pulled straight from Warcraft III, which Blizzard said would "allow us to better focus our efforts on creating game features that players really want, such as ordering various types of food in-game!" Apparently, food is a driving force for all WoW players. But Blizzard also is well aware of the fact that we are constantly scrounging for details on what's yet-to-come in game. They've taunted us with a great many new playable races - the mighty Pandaren, the air-headed Wisps and two-headed Ogres; items - the infamous tinfoil hat and related Troll Tears; a hero class - the Guitar Hero-styled Bard; and even a new console game - my personal favorite, World of Warcraft: The Molten Core. Each year, Blizzard seems to come up with a more elaborate prank involving fake screenshots, back stories and even bogus commercials. I would question whether it was all worth it except for one thing: it really energizes the fan community and gets us all talking. So, while I cringe at the thought of being duped into another April Fools' joke, I'm also really looking forward to seeing what Blizzard throws at us this year. Personally, I'm all for them shouting out to the fans once again and recruiting a certain legendary team to rule over Azeroth with an iron fist for the day. Your new overlords: Bowbins, Lylelovett, Winterstrike, Dorkins and Juggynaut. Perhaps you've heard of them? So, what are all your predictions for the coming mayhem? Are you looking forward to the madness, or do you plan to lie low until it's all over?

Click to read more ...