Project Lore

As Amatera detailed for us live during BlizzCon, and Heartbourne has expanded upon a bit, too, it looks like we'll be getting a ton of new dungeon and raiding content in the third expansion. Continuing along the same topic, I recorded a bit of the panel at the convention so you all can hear exactly what developers had to say about the new content. And best of all, right here is where you can see a ton of artwork on the new content and several quick sneak peek videos that Blizzard unveiled live Saturday. Cut into three YouTube-sized video portions. Take a look: The video pretty much speaks for itself if you want to watch all the way through the three parts. But here are some of my thoughts on what we saw at this panel:

• Abyssal Maw - Beautiful updated water graphics, lots of pretty underwater colors for this dungeon on the sea floor. I wish the teaser would have shown a bit more! Dueling Naga should be fun. And, it's "something we've never done before."
• Halls of Origination - Looking forward to another 5-player dungeon, and one built by the Titans at that. I'm digging the Egyptian-like concept art and glowing blue-green ceilings. And what about that "secret weapon...?" Sounds interesting.
• Blackrock Caverns - It "reinvents" the fan favorite of Blackrock Spire, which I'm sure a lot of players will really dig. The graphics look promising, with lots of glowing reds and flowing lava.
• IceCrown Citadel and Dungeons - Sounds huge and epic, and I was happy to hear in the Q and A session after the panel that Blizzard is planning to do something special when Arthas goes down... they didn't elaborate, but hinted that we'll see some cinematics. Also, the whole rocket ship scenario with Alliance and Horde battling it out sounds like a lot of fun, and something we haven't seen a lot of in the past. And, of course, I'm looking forward to seeing what Sindragosa brings and how Blizz wraps up all the loose story ends.
• The Firelands - Fighting Ragnaros at his "full strength" (So, what, he'll be the size of a skyscraper?)? Could be intense. Beautiful concept art and the keep has some neat architecture.
• Onyxia - That new Onyxia-inspired mount looks amazing, and the whelpling almost (but not quite) as cute as a baby murloc :). I like the updated loot tables that are based on the original drops. Nostalgic. Watch out for the "little bit" more Deep Breath randomization.

And last but not least, the cross-server LFG sounds like it will be incredibly handy for PUGing. Plus, I'm really looking forward to the prospect of playing with some of my friends on other realms! And we don't even have to wait for Cataclysm; it's hopefully set to come out in patch 3.3. So what does everyone think of all this new content? Sounds like we'll have a lot to keep us busy. This is the last of my video posts covering BlizzCon - I hope you've enjoyed them! There's still a ton of information to comb through, so look for more in the coming weeks.

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The first day of BlizzCon, as you have seen from numerous news coming out here at Project Lore, was an amazing time with a cataclysm of news (ba-dump-shh). Some of you may also be living it up at the convention, some are undoubtedly watching the organized chaos unfold from pay per view at home, and others of you surely have been refreshing your browsers as news comes out for you to soak up. So what about the other, fan-centered aspects of BlizzCon, beyond the news? Yes, I'm talking about contests. Costumes, sound-a-likes, dances, fan-art, songs and videos - all were showcased at the close of BlizzCon day 1. And although all the news has got my heart pumping in anticipation, I think the contests have been my favorite part so far. It's the first BlizzCon I've attended, or really even followed that closely. As iTZKooPA's photos showed, the halls are packed with a whopping 26,000 in attendance. And I don't want to play down the sheer amount of fun that being here has been so far, but the experience has been overwhelming at times. I found myself in a sea of other spectators, frequently lost and sore from carrying a ton of swag around because I didn't want to take the long hike back to the car. Not to mention the somewhat staggering nature of LA alone, for us non-locals. The contest was a time to sit back and marvel at the lengths some fans will go to show their dedication. Jay Mohr led the competitions with constant, expertly delivered comic relief (which is apparent by my constant laughter in the videos). As with previous years, we saw a hodge-podge of the good, the bad and the ugly. Costume-wise, I was smitten with interpretations of Queen Alexstrasza, several succubi and Lady Sylvanas Windrunner. And somewhat frightened, but very impressed by the overall winner who donned an unbelievably intricate Diablo Mistress of Pain costume. Amazing. Then dancing and sound-a-likes ensued, and many impressed. My faves: a blue, costume-wearing troll female shaking her thang for the audience, a band of "ninjas" doing the infamous Napoleon Dynamite dance and a seemingly husky man who surprised everyone with his tap-dancing prowess that translated perfectly to the dwarf female's moves, and won him first place in the process. The sound-alikes also were interesting for the most part, but the panel ran long. Each contestant had 30 seconds to mimic something heard in-game. Many chose speeches that bosses give when they attack or die. Some chose side effects or emotes. And we heard a whole group of Orc peons at "work, work." Between performances, Blizzard lit up their big screens with images of  the winning fan-art, and videos, and turned up the volume for excerpts from the winning original songs. I must say, I nearly fell out of my seat laughing at one video about a human man begging the moon not to get full because his wife is a Worgen and would rip his guts out. And again at an epic video about a player whose alt gets ganked over and over again. Finally, he gets his main and is ready to kick ass as he heads to confront the ganker. Then, a rogue unstealths and the pair team up to kill him again anyway. Loved it. Anyhow, who else here gets revved up by fan contests? How'd you feel about the costume winners? I'm curious how many of you would be brave enough to strip down and dance in front of tens of thousands of people watching (many with video cams) ? Personally, I've been known to enjoy costuming from time to time. But hell if I'd ever do a dance on stage! ...Now get pumped for Day 2!

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WoWFlix is a new weekly column featuring videos from around the web related to World of Warcraft. If you find something you'd like to be featured, leave a comment or send a tweet to @Heartbourne. The cast and creators behind The Guild, including the widely popular Felicia Day of Dr. Horrible fame, have released a new, poppy song and accompanying music video entitled "Do You Want to Date My Avatar?". While The Guild isn't specifically WoW-related, the innuendos will be familiar to any WoW fanatic. Felicia Day did an amazing job with the lyrics, and the costumes are fantastic. Its one of the few times that I look at cosplayers and am actually impressed. Even the people who are supposed to be intentionally silly and awkward come off so well. The whole cast of The Guild crew show up in the video: Bladezz gives the camera some love, Clara sings some backup vocals, and Vork and Zaboo spit some fresh rhymes. The song is addicting and will stay in my geeky playlist. If you haven't checked out The Guild, be sure to go to their website and check out their Youtube channel. You can grab the song from Amazon, the video from iTunes, or both of them on Xbox Live/Zune Marketplace. Lyrics: Hang with me in my MMO So many places we can go You’ll never see my actual face Our love, our love will be in a virtual space I’m craving to emote with you So many animations I can do Be anything you want me to be Come on, come on, share a potion with me CHORUS: Do you wanna date my Avatar She’s a star And she’s hotter than reality by far Wanna date my Avatar? You can type commands I’ve got slots for what I hold in my hands Don’t care what’s in your character bank How ‘bout, How ‘bout a little tank and spank Grab your mouse and stroke the keys In cyberspace there’s no disease Pick a time, send a tell to me Just pay, just pay a small subscription fee CHORUS Single white human, Looking for group My stats so high Don’t be out of the loop Got an uber-leet staff That you can equip Close your mouths ladies This is pure nerd-nip I’m a pixel-based fantasy A man who is stoic I hack and slash Who the heck’s more heroic? Check me out: Cloth armor Fits me like a glove Just twitta a time And I’m ready for love Hang with me in my MMO So many places we can go I’m better than a real world quest You’ll touch, my plus 5 to dexterity vest What role do you wanna play I’m just a click away night or day And if you think I’m not the one Log off, Log off and we’ll be done

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If you've spent any significant time in a crowded area lately - the Auction House, the Wintergrasp portal just before it opens, even a raid's summoning stone - you've probably experienced one of the more annoying cosmetic toys in the game - the Toy Train Set. In case you don't know, it makes everyone in the general area start making train noises for a minute and a half. Currently the only ways to save one's ears is to turn off game sound or to leave the area. But in 3.1, you'll be able to get a little guy to destroy those annoyances with a Wind Up Train Wrecker. How do you like it?

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Dual Spec is one of the most highly anticipated features of patch 3.1, and that's what we'll be hilighting in this video. There are currently a couple of bugs involving hunter pets as they relate to Dual Spec, but keep in mind that this is the PTR, so things will likely change before they go live.

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The Guild is a very popular web series, if you still haven't seen it, I would suggest taking a gander over at The Guild's website at watchtheguild.com. The series follows a fictional guild called The Knights of Good playing a unidentified MMORPG. Most people take World of Warcraft as the MMO in question but they still haven't specified what game it really is. The show mostly zooms in on the character of Codex who is played by actor Felicia Day who also happens to be the main writer on the show, and yes she does play World of Warcraft in her free time. The series follows Codex and how her guildies have plagued her love life and her normal day to day living. The Guild is just finished it's second season, but don't be afraid this would be a great time to get your feet wet and get caught up with the series. During the  agonizing wait between season two and season three you can also find the newly created guild podcast "Knights of the Guild". The podcast is run by two members of the crew. Jenny, the lead production assistant, and Kenny, behind the scenes editor, tag team the podcast. The first episode had some interesting interviews, information about the show, and it really is just another way to get some behind the scenes action out to the fans. The podcast will come out monthly, so during the wait for the next season we can still get our fix of The Guild. You can find The Guild on Xbox live, Zune marketplace, and you can also stream it through MSN video. Don't forget to follow The Guild on youtube, twitter, facebook, myspace, and flickr. As you can tell there are a lot of ways to support our favorite web series. What would you guys think of making The Guild into a 30 minute TV show? Could this show work on prime time TV? With shows like The Big Bang Theory riding high on geek fandom and shows like The Office using a mockumentary style it wouldn't be a hard stretch to see a web series like this hit the small screen.

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There's a new Ulduar preview video, and unlike last time, it's straight from Blizzard. I've embedded it here in HD, but you can also download it in various formats and watch it on Blizzard's site, if you want. Now, this trailer may include some spoilers for those of you who are averse to finding out anything about  Ulduar, but I couldn't help but watch it through a few times. From what the preview shows, the new raid being added in Patch 3.1 looks to be much more diverse than what I had originally thought it might look like. The few mobs that are shown look spectacular, as do many of the rooms that look to be where boss fights will take place. There's a small hint about the controversial vehicular combat included, but still not a ton of details about what will be encountered. What are your thoughts? Are you avoiding all hints of what's inside or can you not get enough info?

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There is a lot of machinima out there that makes me giggle, some of it makes me think about how they have captured the footage and woven it together, and a few make me think about the mad skills that the people responsible must have. The following video blew my mind. Moreso than any WoW animation I've seen, including the Wrathgate cutscene. A reader named Len sent the link to us and I hope that its creator, percula, continues to make these things because I loved this one. Watch this.
The Craft of War: BLIND from percula on Vimeo.

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