Project Lore

The barrier has finally come down.  Blizzard has admitted defeat.  The company is now selling WoW gold.

/me reads the rest of the announcement.

Oh, that kind of gold.  Like the Activision-Blizzard merger, Blizzard has simply taken my breath away with its latest business venture.  In an effort to expand the World of Warcraft brand to as many people as possible, Blizzard will begin selling collectible coins.  Yes, thanks to DC Unlimied the extended universe has branched out to the QVC lover in all of us.

Starting June 23, players, and coin collectors, will be able to get their mitts on two Collectible coin sets.  If you guessed an Alliance version and a Horde version, you'd be correct.  Dare I ask which faction has the better collectible set?

Each set comprises of three coins of differing sizes plated in precious metals (that means the coins are just wrapped in the precious metal).  The set will feature various faction leaders set in a fancy box and topped off with a faction emblem.

Alliance coins:
Gold: Varian Wrynn
Silver: Magni Bronzebeard
Copper: Tyrande Whisperwind

Horde coins:
Gold: Thrall
Silver: Sylvanas Windrunner
Copper: Cairne Bloodhoof

Does it need to be said that this strikes me as incredibly odd?  Sure, we use gold, silver and copper coins in the game, but I...I don't know.  Collecting coins just isn't my thing.  They are right up there with stamps and commemorative Elvis plates.  I'll stick with my vast collection of slowly corroding retro games, thank you very much.

The only thing that doesn't surprise me is the continued neglect to gnomes and trolls.  The two factions should really just splinter off and make a new faction called "Emo."  I doubt anyone would even realize that they'd left.

Not my cup of tea, but I am sure the sets will sell out anyways.  Even if they are "on sale" for $59.99.

*Note* I realize this happened last week, but I just came across it.

Warning! This post is speculative and potentially spoiler-heavy. I won't lie. I've been cringing inside at the thought of Garrosh Hellscream replacing Thrall. How could he? What would this mean for the fate of the Horde? And why would Thrall allow it? Amatera's recent post on glimpses of the changing Horde on the PTR solidified that even more. I am not a fan of Garrosh, to put it lightly, and based on the comments on that post, plenty of others aren't, either. In fact, it's easy to name plenty of other Horde leaders who would make a better Warchief. Among the contenders, on one humorous forum thread: Cairne Bloodhoof (which would be difficult if he's dead), Saurfang, Sylvanas, Hogger (/chuckle), Westfall Chicken or a Sickly Gazelle. And with all this mounting contention against Hellscream, it was only time before the issue would be addressed via Blue Post. Kisirani took the call in a thread questioning Hellscream's ability to lead the Horde. Here's what was said:

"Garrosh is a character with a lot to prove. I realize there's a great deal of consternation out there concerning the tales of what's to come, but I want to reassure you that we understand that concern. We know where you're coming from. Why are we still going this route? With all respect, you haven't seen the entirety of who Garrosh is. You've seen a great deal of his faults, certainly, but people grow over time, and you may find, come Cataclysm, that he is not quite the disaster you portend. :) (Mind you, that doesn't mean he's Thrall, either.)"

Can you hear the collective sigh of relief? No? Well, I'm still not exactly crazy about the idea, either. But it does remind me that what we're hearing so far is only bits and pieces of what surely will be a much larger, more complicated story. If you think back to the Burning Crusade, we did see a slightly different side of Garrosh. Before he knew of his father, Grom Hellscream's heroic death, Garrosh is portrayed as ashamed, intimidated at the thought of becoming a great leader, and even a little depressed. Thrall's news that Grom had fought valiantly to his redemption is a huge part of what transforms Garrosh into the strong, confident, belligerent being that we now know. But at least we see that he is capable of growth and change as a character. My guess is that there's going to be some massive world event leading up to the Cataclysm, or it may even be the Cataclysm itself, that forces Garrosh to grow as a character once again. Let's hope that by the time Garrosh leads the Horde, if this indeed is to come, that he is a multi-dimensional character with more layers than the surface one we've seen up until now. And if that's not the case, then may Thrall (or one of those other potential leaders - I'd root for Sylvanas) overthrow him and retake the Horde!

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The jury's still out on whether or not Garrosh Hellscream is truly a dangerous man. Sure, he's pushy, belligerent, hot-headed, and more than a little racist, but he seems to honestly believe that what he's doing is best for the Orcish people. And yet, we know somewhere in there, that he seeks to defy the more... unsavory aspects of his father's legacy, who was equally lustful for power, but failed to control himself by drinking Mannoroth's blood and esnlaving the Orcs. Likewise, we must consider that Garrosh has spent nearly his entire life in Nagrand. He's not as familiar with the struggles on Azeroth as his compatriots are; not as beholden to the same love of certain humans or ideals of peace as Thrall is. And let's not forget that he's got a virtual equal in the Humans' King Varian Wrynn. In Garrosh's eyes, he is a man who cannot be controlled and will take the opportunity to destroy the Horde when it presents itself. If Garrosh is to slated to become Warchief, he has to do what he thinks is right to protect his people, even if his methods seem wrong. We haven't reached the expansion just yet, or even the world events that will lead up to them, but signs of the changing times are already starting to show themselves on the PTR. While everyone else is distracted by the shiny, new 5-man dungeon (Pit of Saron), I decided to do a little bit of poking around, and discovered a rather interesting development in the good old Undercity. Bye-bye Abominations! As you might recall, after the events of the Wrathgate, Thrall sent his elite soldiers, the Kor'Kron Guard, to keep watch over the remaining apothecaries in the Forsaken capital. The difference on the test realm is that now, they're all over the place. Gone are the abominations that used to protect the city, replaced by Orcish knights patrolling the city. It's possible that this is just an expansion of Thrall's policy to keep the apothecaries in check, but it also fits in with things we've heard about the future. Namely, Garrosh becoming Warchief and changing the way things work. Only letting Orcs and Tauren into the center of Orgrimmar, because he believes that they're the only ones actually capable of defending it. Hey, what about the Trolls, Garrosh? Sure, the double-dealing of a certain faction of Undead and the inherently shifty Blood Elves need to be scrutinized, but what did the poor Trolls ever do to lose your trust? But, I digress. If the betrayal at Wrathgate made Garrosh lose faith in his already tenuous allies, the installation of Orcish guards in foreign cities may be a sign of the new Horde to come. And if this is truly the younger Hellscream's policy, then we may see him take the throne sooner than we thought. Another interesting tidbit that could possibly corroborate this idea: pre-BlizzCon claims cited that Cairne Bloodhoof, leader of the Tauren, would be framed for treason against the Horde and be killed by Garrosh. We don't yet know if that's actually how things will play out, but the tag for Cairne's son, Baine, has been changed in MMO-Champion's database. He is now listed as the High Chieftan, leader of the Tauren. Food for thought, people. Food. For. Thought.

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Cataclysm Countdown is a series of informed speculative articles concerning things we might see in the next expansion that I will be posting every day this week, leading right up to Blizzcon. In the interest of thought purity, I will do my best to steer clear of recent “leaked” material, relying upon it only where it logically connects with the existing lore. Nothing hereafter is official or has been confirmed/denied by Blizzard at the time of its writing. The Lich King falls. The Argent Crusade's task of defeating the Scourge is over, and with it the tenuous cooperation between the Alliance and the Horde. A new threat arises from the depths of the ocean and brings death and destruction to both sides. Jaina Proudmoore and Thrall take it upon themselves to protect the world at large, ascending from their positions as faction representatives. In the interest of self-preservation, the remaining forces of the Horde and Alliance cease any remaining ties. Instead, tempers flare as Garrosh, the new Warchief of the Horde, and King Varian Wrynn bare fangs at each other and decide to drag their people, once again, unto the brink of all-out, bloody-nosed WAR. The stage is set for a conflict greater than Azeroth has ever seen before. But how will we experience it? Ahh... the way things used to be! World of Warcraft, despite its name and pedigree, was not built from the ground up for PvP play. Ever since the game's release, Blizzard has added more and varied ways of engaging the enemy, but it's always been compartmentalized and shoved just to the side of primary content. Even Lake Wintergrasp, arguably the crowning jewel of PvP combat at the moment (it both maintains the scale of a Battleground and affords access to certain rewards typical of World PvP). Though it's far from perfect, Wintergrasp will likely be the template for this part of the game moving forward. Let's stop for a moment, though, and let our imaginations run wild, yeah? WoW, at its pinnacle, should emulate the large-scale, world-wide conflict that the series is known for. Ideally, that means  bunkers, forts, and whole armies fighting with each other in all zones across Azeroth. Players would be able to not only construct siege vehicles, but hire mercenaries, create defensive buildings, and upgrade units. OK, have a good image in your head now? Well, hold onto it, because that's only a dream. With the changes we are expecting to see to the rest of the game, PvP on that level would be near impossible to implement. Let's not forget all the balancing that would be involved in the creation of so many new game systems. We've got to face the reality that World of Warcraft just can't support such an overhaul in its core gameplay. Will we see something approaching that near the end of the series? Quite likely, through patches and incremental additions along the way, but not right now. Still, that doesn't mean we won't see PvP combat expand in Cataclysm. The key really is just to find a happy medium. I see this as taking at least one of two forms:

1. Zone-wide PvP -- With many zones being re-purposed in the expansion, it stands to reason that a few of them could play host to open fighting. Those with high amounts of resources, or those that straddle the border between core Horde and Alliance territories will be the ones most impacted. The first that comes to mind is the Hillsbrad/Arathi area of Eastern Kingdoms. With the Scourge threat defeated and the Plaguelands theoretically in the process of returning to normal, little stands between the Alliance reclaiming Lordaeron than the Forsaken. With his new found allies, the Worgen of Gilneas, on Undercity's doorstep, Varian is in a good position to retake the former Human kingdom. The Forsaken, with some help from the Blood Elves, would fight back to protect the only place they can call home. Several areas like this can be spread throughout the world map, with control of them affording certain buffs or rewards.
2. Objective-based play -- True World PvP would be hard to manage. Imagine a full PvP server, but one where control of the world actually matters. Instead, what not have a series of smaller objectives that each side needs to take and hold. Holding a number of these sites at any given time would afford lesser rewards, perhaps some sort of points or honor to every player in the general area. These points could then be used to purchase faction rewards in the main cities. Final Fantasy XI did something like this with crystals needed for crafting professions, and so has WoW to an extent (with Stone Keeper Shards and the like), though it was necessary to engage in PvE content to obtain those items.

But then again, who knows? We may just see a few new Battlegrounds and Arenas to fight in. I'm sure PvP will move forward in certain respects, but at the end of the day, the balance between fun and fairness is what needs to be maintained. Considering either of these ideas, servers with already lop-sided populations would potentially see one faction completely shut out of rewards. Objective-based gameplay may be more suited to accessibility, considering that when more capture sites are placed in the world, it becomes harder for either side to dominate completely. Covering every objective would quickly spread forces thin, but it would allow the opposite faction to rally up and take a few of their own. The only difference in this case would be that one side would gain points, and thus rewards, at a faster pace. However, this approach runs the risk of placing less importance on any given objective. It would be less lore-centric, and some out-of-the-way objectives would fall into disuse. Zone-based PvP would certainly centralize the conflict, and the consolidation of forces would allow Blizzard to do more interesting things within each area. While balance is a greater issue here, Wintergrasp-style buffs could preserve the spirit of competition. So what are you guys looking forward to in terms of Player versus Player action in the next expansion. Are my ideas too far-fetched? What about ideas of your own? Do you think PvP might get the shaft as Blizzard focuses on expanding the lore and PvE content? We've only got a couple more days until we find out for sure!

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The info just keeps on rolling in today. A week out from the rockstar event that is Blizzcon and we might have our first major leaks. Heartbourne has already clued us in on potential new class combinations, but our friends over at MMO-Champion seem to have found a whole lot more. Boubouille absolutely insists that none of this is speculation, and while I remain skeptical about his sources, his track record is proven. This is as close to gospel as we're going to get until we hear something officially official. So keep on reading to find out what we know (or think we know) so far. Be warned, though, spoilers are abound if you want to keep your sense of surprise. SPOILER WARNING Herein is a rough list of major content changes that we can expect to see in the next expansion:

• New Class Combinations - No new classes will be added to the game. Instead, existing races will be given access to classes that they never had before. It is currently unknown what classes will be available to the new races, however.
• New Level Cap - Surprisingly, it's only 85. This may fit in with a new philosophy of improving characters through gear instead of pure XP. Likewise, if the end-goal for WoW is 100, it leaves a little more space for successive expansions to grow.
• Azshara, Queen of the Naga The Cataclysm - This titular event, set in motion by Deathwing and Queen Azshara, will bring many changes to the existing content in the game, as well as open up several new ones.  Their motivations for unleashing such destruction upon the world may be in part due to those pesky insanity-inducing Old Gods.
• New Horde Race: Goblins - The Goblins have found their island home virtually destroyed by the events of the Cataclysm. Washing up on the shores of The Barrens, a quest line involving Thrall's capture (and subsequent rescue by the Goblin race) will explain how they ended up as the new consorts of the Horde. With their homeland gone, it's unclear whether or not we will get to visit Kezan, the island where the Goblin capital of Undermine exists.
• New Alliance Race: Worgen - The Greymane Wall, which separates Gilneas from Silverpine Forest, has been shattered by the Cataclysm. Bewildered from their self-imposed exile, the Worgen venture forth and find friends in the Alliance. It is unclear what the Goblin starting area may entail, but the Worgen will be receiving the Death Knight treatment. Gilneas will be a heavily-phased zone that will shuttle your character through the nation's history before unleashing them on the rest of Azeroth. Did I mention that Worgen do get to transform? That's right, you'll be able to shift from Human to Worgen at the click of a button, though we don't know if it will afford you any special abilities to do so.
• Azeroth Remade - Goblins and Worgen aren't the only ones who have felt the impact of this catastrophic event. Existing zones will be remade or phased in order to accommodate the current state of the world. The examples given include remaking Azshara into a 10-20 level area and splitting the Barrens into two distinct zones for players of different levels.
• New Areas - There will be no new continents introduced in the expansion, but instead, unreleased content in Kalimdor and the Eastern Kingdoms will finally be filled in. In addition to the aforementioned opening of Gilneas, you can also expect to see modern-day Hyjal and Uldum. These are only examples and do not represent the entire breadth of fresh content that will no doubt be introduced.
• Mainland Flight - Restructuring the two core continents has allowed Blizzard to add flight to those zones that never had it. Now you can ride all the way from the Plaguelands to Booty Bay on you very own flying mount. Presumably, you will still need to take a boat or zeppelin to go from one continent to the other.
• Dungeons Remade - Onyxia was only the beginning. This does not preclude the addition of new 5-man dungeons or raid content, but many of the old instances will be retrofitted for players progressing from Level 80-85. Reportedly, we'll also be seeing Ragnaros again. It is not known how extensive the changes will end up being (new bosses/new graphics or merely upgraded stats on mobs and items).

That's a lot to digest and I'm honestly eager to see how everything fits together. There are some controversial ideas in there, as well as changes that players have been clamoring for year after year. In fact, a lot of it sounds like the kind of stuff that Blizzard employees have wanted to implement themselves, but have repeatedly insisted they haven't been working on. Phasing, as I previously proposed, will play a large role in the recreation of mainland Azeroth (self high-five!). By treading this path, however, I'm afraid there is also the chance of alienating a certain portion of the  player base who see this as merely reusing old content. That may or may not be the case, and we may have to wait another week to find out. I think it really depends on how fresh the revamped content ends up feeling. Will the graphics of many areas be significantly improved or changed? Will the new quest lines make it worth adventuring through old zones? Is this the vanilla WoW that we always wanted? Or will the new Azeroth be a whole lot like the old Azeroth? A yet-to-be-confirmed post on the Something Awful forums indicated huge, sweeping changes for the landscape, though. Thousand Needles flooded, many zones in absolute ruins, Orgrimmar sundered in two (with the introduction of a new Orc main city). The forums are private, but the summary has be re-posted on MMO-Champion. I'm sure you all have a lot to say about these revelations, so feel free to strike up a conversation in our comments section. I know I'll be watching it closely!

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Being a defiled DK is the only thing that makes this OK

It’s been about five months since I rolled my blood elf rogue, and I’m at level 68. I just made it to Northrend, and I’m starting to get anxious to level up so I can raid with my level 80 buddies. But there’s so much other fun stuff to do in-game that I keep getting distracted. So it’s slower going, but I don’t necessarily consider that a bad thing. As long as I’m having fun. Like last week, when my toon and my husband’s alt, a blood elf DK, were running around slaughtering all the Talbuk in Nagrand. Meanwhile, another Horde group in the area was working on gaining control of Halaa. We were counting down as the number of Alliance guards went from 15 to 0. So when the chat window announced that Horde was gaining control, we both cheered them on in the local defense chat. And although we were in the middle of questing, I suggested that we head to Halaa to help with the final capture of the area. So we dropped everything, and went to chat it up with the other players. Yeah, it delayed our leveling. But it also was a good time. Or another time was when I dinged level 55 and promptly rolled a troll DK as an alt. I went ahead and played through the first few levels, got all the awesome blue gear, and headed back to Orgrimmar for redemption. But, wouldn’t you know it, I got to the Valley of Wisdom and an Ally group had just raided the city. Thrall was dead, with no hope for respawn for about two hours. And I was still in disgraced status, so of course the few guards who already had respawned were throwing rotten fruit at my pretty blue face and yelling for others to get a rope. No problem, I could have switched characters back to my main and come back at a better time. Instead, I joined a group of fellow DKs who were passing the time by /dancing from Thrall’s empty throne. Silly? Yes. But fun? Abso-freakin’-lutely. And I can think of numerous times I’ve been in UC as a raid comes through. Each time I’ve been too low level to defend at all, but I head to the Royal Quarter anyways. Just to observe. And try to distract the Allies by  squawking up a headache as my hawkstrider stands right on top of Lady Sylvanas. I like to watch those Allies squirm. Am I the only one who gets caught up in all this random fun stuff? Not that I need anything else to keep me from leveling, but what are some of your favorite distractions?

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Oh, Wrath of the Lich King, how we await your arrival. Come Wednesday night, I will be camping my local EBGames for my copy of Wrath, only to receive my Collector's Edition in the mail the following day or so. Yes, I am that excited for Northrend. It appears I am not the only one, for the Lich King kicked off another world event last night. As of press time, the event isn't nearly as large as the infamous “Zombiefication of the Azerothian Nation,” but it is still new and exciting. WoWInsider had ongoing coverage of the event while it unfolded, and confirmed that it repeated every 20 minutes or so. Players will have to travel to Stormwind or Orgrimmar, to see the story unfold. Once again, the two factions are not created equal, as the Horde get to see Warchief Thrall and Garrosh Hellscream – Son of Grom – duke it out in the Ring of Honor. The attack on these main cities is strike two against Arthas and his better half. The event doesn't particularly lead one to believe that the factions will turn and head straight for Northrend, so there may be more to the proceedings. Reports indicate that the attack was still repeating before maintenance, so if you missed it, you may be able to catch a repeat later today. I for one, hope that Arthas tries something more dastardly, causing the combined forces of the Horde and Alliance to head to Northrend, each seeking their own revenge. What do you lore nuts think the outcome from the attacks could be? I predict that Garrosh will leave Thrall's side and head to Northrend. Possibly without Thrall's consent or perhaps to banish him from Orgrimmar for kicking his ass (Spoiler: We already know he is a Warchief in Northrend, but not under what circumstances). Bolvar Fordragon is probably bored with playing politics, and with King Varian Wrynn's return, he will return to the battlefield. I am incredibly excited for WotLK's lore!

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