Project Lore

The titles that we choose to have emblazoned over our toons (or lack thereof) can say a lot about what kind of players we are. And it also can say a lot about who we are in terms of what captures our attention in-game.

Personally, I choose a title based simply on what I think sounds cool. I'm partial to Champion of the Frozen Wastes, Merrymaker, the Hallowed and, now that I've got it, the Love Fool. None of these were particularly difficult or time consuming, I just like the way they sound.

But that would be different if I had any of the five badass titles that we've previously written about (the previous list included The previous list included Salty, Loremaster, of the Nightfall, the Immortal and any arena title), or any of the other extremely rare and difficult titles out there (I'm looking at you, Kingslayer). Add to that list a plethora of other titles such as the Exalted and the Insane along with some now-unobtainable titles. Now any of those, I would wear proudly.

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After another drunken night of slaughtering Coren Direbrew repeatedly for his phat lootz and Brewfest tokenz, I thought it was time for something a little different. Up in the higher reaches of Blackrock Mountain rests more fun to be had (and a bit of a confidence boost for us rogues) for anyone who hasn't yet acquired the title of Jenkins. Actually, scratch that. Whether you have the title or not, it's still a good time. After having your (hopefully) multiple shots at Direbrew, head out of Blackrock Depths, back up the mountain and up another chain into Blackrock Spire. Take a left to head into the upper part of the instance, clear the entire first area and boss, and make your way into the rookery. Here lies the tricky fun. For the achievement and Jenkins title, you have to round up 50 Rookery Whelps and kill them within a 15-second time span. Some toons probably could solo this, but since other of my guildies also wanted the title we went as a group of three (the same group that ran through Classic Ony before the patch - FTW.) First try, each of us ran through smashing rookery eggs before we brought them to a central location to AoE. Bad idea. They didn't automatically aggro on the egg-smasher, so we hadn't gathered enough for the kill. Also, no heals and the cumulative attacks of so many little whelps at once killed me. Second try, we were getting ready to run out and reset the instance, but it turns out there was no need. The eggs respawn pretty quickly, and after just a couple minutes we sent in the tank to round up whelps for our second shot. This time, he made sure to get aggro on the way through and then pulled them all back for massive AoE. It worked! And, let me let you in on a secret. Pre-married life, I was a RL Jenkins. Yup. For Real! So I thought this was only appropriate. Now, onto the real juice. As it turns out, Fan of Knives, even after its massive nerf in 3.2.2 does a ton of damage when being inflicted on 50+ targets at once. So, for this rogue who, in the past few weeks, has upped her dps from a lowly 1,500 to a somewhat more respectable 2,800, I did a double take when my guildy popped recount for fun. 15k DPS?! Confidence boost! Now I just have to reach that high under more usual circumstances :D For the full details on what to do, make sure to check out Juggynaut and Dorkins' complete run through of the achievement that they did a while back. Now's the perfect time to make a shot for the title! Has anyone else detoured up to the top of the mountain to also partake in the fun?

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BlizzCon is slowly creeping up on us, and this year most people expect the company's big announcement to be World of Warcraft-based.  With StarCraft 2 locked in for this year, and Diablo III looking like 2010, early 2011 is rip (if not late) for the third expansion to Azeroth.  As it stands now, people are expecting The Maelstrom (not storm) or The Emerald Dream to be the focus of the next expansion (water mounts anyone?), but World of Warcraft needs more than epic lore to pull people in and retain the current amount of users.  Like any good internet subscriber, I need to get my ideas out there before the announcements are made so I have something to point to and go "told you so!" We, the citizens of Project Lore, touched upon the idea of guild progression earlier this week.  The short quip in the post almost lead to a complete derailment of the topic.  Nearly as many commentators spoke out for guild progression as guild cohesiveness , the actual discussion.  Obviously the topic is an important one to many of us here, so here's to hoping that Blizzard is listening.  Outside of player desire, there's also another reason Blizzard needs to step up, every other game is doing it.  There is the whole jumping off a bridge philosophy to worry about, but I say the leap needs to be made.  Desperately. Plan and simple, there is absolutely no reason to stay in a guild these days.  None.  Not one single reason keeps me from guild hopping daily.  Okay, perhaps SolidSamm 'The Guild Hopper' wouldn't be a great title, but I could still get things done.  I could leap from guild to guild and still raid, still participate in Arenas, still do my dailies, you name it.  I'm not suggesting that you shouldn't be able to do these things without a guild.  Not by any means.  What I am suggesting is that your guild, and one's standing in the guild, should rise the more you contribute to it, and the rest of Azeroth. How cool would it if your guild leveled up along side you through various means?  Guild age, member count, average member length, these are just some easy ways to measure a guild's progress.  Then we have more complex, and fun things to participate in.  Complete 100,000 quests as a guild and receive a new Feat of Strength, all guild runs of Ulduar and Naxxramas award another.  A new title, "Home of Mick" if your guild contains the #1 Arena team.  "Die Hard" for guild domination (no deaths) in all of the Battlegrounds.  The creativity could be taken as far as Blizzard would allow it.  However, without player/guild housing, the developers would be somewhat restricted to what types of rewards they could offer.  We'd be limited to things like extra guild bank slots (no longer would the GM have to pay up), news titles and achievements, super tabard construction, guild recognition, guild summoning (for those Warlock-less nights), discounts at vendors...Should I keep going? One cool thing I would like to see is auto-progression in the guild.  Instead of, or perhaps in conjunction with, the current guild ranking system we'd have a ranking system based upon atoon's contributions to their guild.  No longer would a player's popularity allow him to raise the ranks of a guild, instead a toon's standing in the guild would be promoted by way of merit.  As cool as it is I doubt this idea would fly due to the loss of control by the GM and officers. A complete, and detailed, overhaul to the Guild system in WoW would be a huge boon to the community, and a great selling point on the back of The Maelstrom's/Emerald Dream's box.  Who in their right mind wouldn't want to be a part of a guild that did their best to stay together, tried their utmost to deal with the internal issues, was full of selfless and giving members, was a group of friends and not random acquaintances.  In a word, comradery.  After all, aren't MMOGs supposed to be all about the social experience? Those are just the seeds to get the greater readership brainstorming.  What other progression mechanics would you have in mind?  How about other types of rewards?  Are you fine with the guild hopping ways of today, or do you desperately want a change like I, and many others, do?

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This former Tuskarr-inhabited island has been turned into a staging ground by the Vrykul. With so many new details about Patch 3.2 trickling out of Blizzard lately, it surely won't be too long before we see it pop up on the PTR! This time, they're letting us know a little bit more about what to expect from the expanded Argent Tournament. There's plenty to get excited about for those that have worn themselves out on the existing dailies, Paladin players, and even fans of the Black Knight. Two entirely new quest hubs have been added to the event. One lies within a Cult of the Damned camp that's just been set up to spy on the Crusade's activities (does this mean you'll be able to work for the bad guys in some capacity?), and the other takes place on a sizable island just off the coast that Sea Vrykul have claimed as their own. Remember those guys in Borean Tundra who made everything so misty? Well, they're back to pester you again and they're apparently attacking the Sunreavers' ships, which occupy the waters between the coast and the island. More quests will be available for those that have already achieved notoriety in the Tournament, itself. Those who are exalted with the Silver Covenant or Sunreavers will gain access to three new (randomized) dailies through which they will be able to earn more seals. New rewards have, of course, been added for you to spend your hard-earned seals on including tabards and two new mounts (one flying and one ground) representative of either faction, and a vanity pet called the Shimmering Wyrmling which will be available to players of both sides. For the true Argent Tournament Obsessives, the ones who have achieved the Crusader title already, even more quests and rewards will open up. Yet another new line of dailies will appear (at least two will reward seals), but the things you can purchase are even more exciting! There will be new heirloom goodies to send to your alts, an Argent Crusade Banner and Tabard (the latter of which has the ability to transport you directly to the Tournament from anywhere), and an upgraded squire who comes with his own summonable mount. It has a reported eight-hour cooldown, but the upgraded squire can serve as either a bank, vendor, or mailbox! Likewise, Paladins who are tired of their old Charger can trade it in for a fresh, new Argent Crusade-themed one. Blizzard also reports that the terrible Black Knight will make his triumphant return. What, you thought you killed him? Is this the true face of the Black Knight?! Pfft! That was only a flesh wound! For those that have run themselves ragged on the Argent Tournament, it seems like there is a whole lot of new stuff to look forward to. With so many dailies, there's no doubt it'll become the "go-to" place for anyone looking to earn some extra gold to foot the repair bills they get from the included instances! And for those that haven't bothered with it yet, there's no sign of them getting rid of any of the old quests (aside, perhaps, from the coliseum-building ones offered by the goblins out front) any time soon. Full notes can be be perused at your leisure here. Chime in below, readers. What do you think of all the new additions to the Argent Tournament? Does the amount of dailies make your head spin, like it does mine?

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So some of you have finally earned your very first title. A large block of text above your head, that says, "Yes, I've completed enough of this game to be adorned with a wall of text." Titles have always kind of been a way to separate yourself from the masses and declare yourself better than someone else. It used to just be your PvP titles, "Of The Shattered Sun", or the occasional "Hand of A'dal" (the ever glowing pre-nerf beacon that said, "I don't enjoy sunlight"). Then all of the sudden, WotLK dropped and we got a metric crap ton of titles poured upon us. Ambassador, Chef, Salty, the Love Fool, the Seeker, and Elder are all titles that have been crammed into the new world we totally have come to love. The real question is, What are the best titles? Is Champion of the Frozen Wastes the best? Does the Seeker or Guardian of Cenarius mean that you are the baddest on your block? Maybe, However I will be giving you a 5 title primer. A primer that says, "If you have one of these titles, they garner respect, admiration... or will at least keep you from getting ganked." Lets be honest, That's all that matters right? If I have X title, it makes me E-Peen way bigger than yours. Nonetheless, on to the titles (in no particular order)!

• Arena Titles (Challenger/Duelist/Rival/Gladiator): This title is one that garners instant respect. Not one of the old world "Private" titles that could be gotten much easier. The simplest PVP title meant you had to be in the top 35% of the arenas in your team bracket to achieve it. It meant you slaved for hours in PvP, and you could pretty much gank at will. It means when you turn to tap a node, people really wouldn't want to attack you. You also only keep the title for the next season of arenas. These titles are fresh, new, changing always and mean that you recently have been polishing your armor with the blood of arena noobs. If someone even attempted to target you, you would give them a rain of pain so bad they'd need a "Rambo Shower" to cleanse themselves.

• Salty: This title is maddening, but so rare to actually see in game. This title has many components, of which I'll just list a few. You have to fish up the really rare fishes from Ironforge/Orgrimmar known as Old Ironjaw and Old Crafty. You have to go to your weekly fishing tournament, Stranglethorn Fishing Extravaganza and win it which is one of the hardest things to do in game to date. Completing the entire Accomplished Angler achievement will garner it for you, but as a person who's currently trying to complete Salty -- I've found little harder than fishing up all the coins, fish, and manuals needed for it. This is still one of the rarest achievements in the game. Only 52 salty titles are given a year per server, so put that in perspective.

• The Immortal: First off this achievement is like the Highlander, except not. THERE CAN ONLY BE 25! The premise is during one lockout period, you have to fight, and kill every boss in Naxxramas without anyone dying during the boss fights. Frogger doesn't count as a boss, neither do any trash pulls. So you can make people stand out of rooms, you can even sub people in and out (though only the 25 that pull Kel'Thuzad will actually obtain the title). It's quite the achievement to get people with the same latency, the same skill, and laser like focus. Our guild has personally tried to do The Undying, and we've had a few unfortunate losses of focus that prove 10 people barely communicate. So to scale up to 25 and pull it off sets you aside as one of the baddest PvE asses that are out there. If only that title came with the highlander theme song, I'd give a kidney for it.

• Loremaster: Though this basically says you don't love sunlight, it's one hell of an achievement and title.It's 2,720 on the horde side or 2,878 quests on the alliance side. This is not only a good idea because the sheer amount of gold that you'll make but you actually learn a lot of the back story of Qarcraft. It'll feed your offsets and let you practice and hone your skills with your other spec's of your class. It's also a great way to pass time between raids. It'll really say you're a completionist. Someone who has loremaster really has a dedication to the game that you can respect and admire. I've only seen 3 people with it on my server, one of them being Juggynaut. Loremaster also awards a tabard with the infamous exclamation point. So you don't have to wear a tabard that isn't that great, and you can celebrate how much you've dedicated to the game.

• Of the Nightfall: This is the Twilight Zone achievement. This is the 10 man 3 drake up Sartharion achievement. Now dont get me wrong, the title sounds extremely weak. Ghostbeezy of the Nightfall? That is worse than being in the front row of a madonna concert and your picture being put in the newspaper. It's embarrasing like the time you were chapperoned by your parents on a date, and your father has to sing "Hooked on a Feeling" while you get driven to a bowling alley. However, the title MEANS a great deal more. It's a healing/tanking/dps check the whole way around. You really have to be on your A-game, and not a bunch of people on servers world wide have this achievement. So when you see that title pass by, you understand that person is one of 10 elite players of the guild that they represent. That title is one to be proud of.

I know, I know there are some of you saying, "What about Magic Seeker, or Conquerer of Naxxramas?" I don't count either of those as titles that even should be acknowledged. I personally enjoy having an adult life and from time to time even basking in sunlight. If you were one of these people to have those titles, while I respect your dedication... I can't include you in this list. You may or may not have a social life, in a may not sort of way. Plus so few people have the title, and even less actually wear it. It's a scarlet letter of anti-social behavior. What is your vote? Which titles do you think make you a warcraft ninja? Which titles do you strive to achieve?

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