Posts Tagged ‘stormwind’

World of Warcraft: Mists of Pandaria, Patch 5.1

11 October 2012 | 2 Comments » | Randy Denosha

After having a lot of content added when MoP landed, Blizzard wants to stay true to it’s own word, of bringing content in a faster pace, and Daxxari and Zarhym are pleased to inform us that patch 5.1 is well under way. Blizzard is in fact planning to release the new patch soon on the public test realms, initially however it will not yet include all of the 5.1 patch update. But it didn’t end there, we also got a glimpse of what is to come in 5.1.

First off, we will see more Alliance and Horde come to the shores of Pandaria, which is going to increase the tension between the two groups; this will also open up more dailies and new faction reputations – one important note though, if you want to see this you will have to have completed Pandaria already.

We will also get to see the Brawler’s Guild where players will have the opportunity to earn bragging rights by testing their solo PvE skills against some of the toughest creatures found in World of Warcraft.

There also be an improvement in Pet Battles, which includes a way to increase the rarity of the pet that the player has captured.

In the final bullet point, Blizzard plans to introduce Item Upgrades where the player can spend Valor Points to the item level and quality of gear the player owns and last but certainly not the least, the quests in Pandaria will continue on the south shores.

 

The complete post can be found after the cut. Continue Reading

Patch 4.0.6: Of Dungeon Locations, Attunements and Gaming the System

5 February 2011 | 15 Comments » | pixiestixy

One seemingly small change coming soon in Patch 4.0.6 has been stirring up a lot of debate.

The removal of the requirement that a player must discover a dungeon’s entrance before they may queue for it from the dungeon finder has a lot of people flustered.

And I can see why. Back in May when WoW developers announced that this requirement would be coming in Cataclysm, most players seemed pleased. There were a lot of positives to consider.

The requirement would encourage exploration of new zones and therefore the questing and lore that encompass the areas around them; players would be more likely to know the way from the spirit healer back to the dungeon entrance, in the case of an untimely wipe; and the dungeon finder would potentially have fewer players joining randoms for dungeons that they had never before encountered.

But along with those positives also came scheming for how the new system could be used to a player’s benefit.

All around the WoW community, as the news spread, one other potential benefit of the system became obvious — players could use the system to opt out of the dungeons that weren’t as quick or easy as they would like; that didn’t have the rewards they were looking for; or that, for whatever reason, they didn’t want to encounter. By simply not discovering those locations, a player would never have to worry about entering a less than ideal dungeon again. They could eliminate the potential of an Oculus 2.0. — or, in this case, The Stonecore.

Sure, why not? Why not optimize fun levels while playing? I’ll tell you why. Continue Reading

Cataclysm Dungeon Location Gallery (Where is the Entrance to…)

22 December 2010 | 9 Comments » | Mordil

Update: As of Patch 4.0.6, players will no longer be required to find a dungeon’s location in order to queue for it. Why? Take a look at our analysis of the subject for more. Until then, scroll on for our handy dandy dungeon location guide.

In the latest expansion of World of Warcraft, Blizzard changed how queuing up for dungeons work. You have to discover the entrance to be able to queue up from anywhere using the Looking For Dungeon tool. This threw many people for a loop, not knowing where an instance entrance is. That’s where Lore Hound plays their helping hand. Below is a compiled list of the new Cataclysm 5-mans with screen-shots of the location, the level range, and a short description of the instance.

Hope this helps!

Blackrock Caverns (80-83)

  • Location: Blackrock Mountain, Searing Gorge/Burning Steppes. Head towards the Blackrock Spire entrance portal, and take a right. Follow the hallway and take the first left. Follow this path until there’s a fork going left down a walkway, and straight upwards. Take a right down the path (or jump, for those daredevils out there) and take another right. Voila. Alternatively, take the Mole Machine from Finkle.
  • Description: It is a series of tunnels created by Twilight’s Hammer clan in order to gather the remaining Ragnaros’ minions and transport them back and forth to Mount Hyjal, as well as to perform horrific experiments conducted by the nihilistic cult in order to use the essence of the dragon in order to transform the worthy into dragonspawn.
  • Continue Reading

World of Warcraft: Cataclysm Loading Screen

23 October 2010 | 4 Comments » | iTZKooPA

Dark, but best we could do. He's on SW, like from the trailer.

BlizzCon 2010 Liveblog: Cinematics: Cataclysm

23 October 2010 | 1 Comment » | LHStaff

This is the transcript of iTZKooPA’s liveblog coverage of the Cinematics: Cataclysm panel at BlizzCon 2010.

10:30 Hello, LoreHounds. We’re gonna kick off Day 2 with the Cataclysm cinematics discussion.

10:30 Waiting for the panelists to show up. iTZKooPA here, with Mordil on my right.

10:32 Panels have started late a few times this year. Especially the Live Raid, which had technical difficulties for half an hour.

10:33 Panelists are here, getting miced up.

10:35 Day 2, the last day, is ready to begin.

10:35 There’s five panelists.

10:36 Mark Messenger is chatting up the crowd, lead cinematics dude.

10:36 Sorry, the guy next to him is Mark Messenger. Dunno who’s talking to him.

10:37 Then Seth Thompson, environment dude.

10:38 Mike Gallagher (I think) and Terrance Gregory.

10:38 World premiere of an in-game cinematic is coming!

10:39 Jeff C. is the unidentified name. He’s passed it over to Mark.

10:39 The panel is setup to show us how Blizzard goes through the creation of a cinematic. The Cataclysm cinematic started back in 2009.

10:40 Chris Metzen pumps up the team, gives them a general idea.

10:40 One of the first things they always contemplate is if a montage would fit for a trailer. It’s a good frame for what these cinematics try to showcase. Bringing the story up-to-date but pushing it forward at the same time.

10:41 The biggest question was which lands are going to break, which could be shown in the trailer.

10:42 They were doing concept art but needed it pinned down. We’re seeing the Stonetalon mountains exploding, lava pouring out of Ironforge.

10:42 They cut it down be chosing distinct places, things we’d know for sure. The other was balance, showing a fair amount of destruction to both sides. Then just coolness, Deathwing on SW, tidal wave outside BB.

10:43 The next was which races to feature. Obviously gnomes were ignored (again). As were trolls.

10:43 Because it’s Deathwing’s story, they decided to drop the inclusion of races, aside from the new ones.

10:44 They ended up working a lot on goblin and worgen storyboards. But, as we know, they didn’t make it into the trailer.

10:45 They were pruned because of Deathwing’s role.

10:45 The material that ended up being cut was absorbed into the in-game material for the new races.

10:45 The next major question was “What does Deathwing look like.”

Continue Reading

Cataclysm: The Intro

17 October 2010 | 18 Comments » | Amatera

Deathwing does to Stormwind what Rick James would do to your couch.

Speaks for itself, huh?

Continue Reading

Lorecast Episode 23: Minecraft and Portable MMOs

12 October 2010 | No Comments » | LHStaff

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

This week’s Lorecast is continuing the format we started last week. In it, iTZKooPA and Amatera discuss all the latest happenings in WoW and other MMOs. The topics for the week are:

Whatcha Been Playin?

Amatera: Dead Rising 2, Minecraft, Enslaved Demo, Castlevania: Lord of Shadow Demo, Medal of Honor Open Beta, The Ball
iTZKooPA: Metroid: Other M, League of Legends, NBA Jam, Castlevania: Lords of Shadow

World of Warcraft Major News

World of Warcraft “Lightning Lore”

Other MMO/Gaming News:

Discussion

  • Do we really care about playing MMOs on the go?

Click the player above to listen, download the podcast, subscribe via RSS, or subscribe on iTunes.

Also, get involved with our podcasts! E-mail us at podcast@lorehound.com or leave us a voicemail using the button below or simply call us on the Lore Line, at (304) 884-LORE. Remember you can follow us on Twitter for a chance to win a Celestial Steed mount, too!

Of Blood and Tears: My Entry For Blizzard’s Writing Contest

9 August 2010 | 3 Comments » | Mordil

Back in the later part of June, I reported about  Blizzard’s Global Writing Contest. I had even begun to write my story, which I eluded that I would. After much procrastination and conceptual thinking, I came up with a story ripe with references.

For those who read this and know me, either in-game, or outside the Internet (yes there is something outside of the computer!), you know I am currently writing a book. You also know that procrastination gets the best of me…I haven’t written a word for it in over two months. Well, arch-nemesis Procrastination didn’t get me this time. After much toil, sweat, anger, and hard work, I pulled through and managed to write out a 2,500-7,500 word short story.

Continue on for an excerpt for those interested. Continue Reading