World of Warcraft’s patch 4.3 brought about a popular new feature – transmogrification – that allows players to change the appearance of their equipped armor to other armor they may have. The feature has proven to be a popular way to customize characters, as previously a lot of people looked the same if they were sporting the most recent and powerful items. There are dozens of websites that you can explore to assemble the best looking set. It has incentivized players to explore and farm old content to obtain nostalgic and unique looks, and it has created an extremely profitable market for players dedicated to collecting and reselling popular items.

With transmogrification as popular as it is, introducing cool-looking armor might be as popular a reward as powerful gear.

Mists of Pandaria is testing this right out of the gate. The new challenge mode dungeons seem very difficult, but they offer a great reward if completed on the highest difficult: a unique armor set used for transmogrification. Most of the difficult raiding and PvP achievements have been rare and unique mounts and titles, but this new type of reward could be a new standard. The mounts have made the “glory” achievements very sought after, but they haven’t worked too well for getting people into rated battlegrounds. What’s the point in getting a new mount every couple of months if you are just going to replace it with a shinier one in the near future? Special armor rewards offer another factor to work towards, especially since the raid finder has made obtaining gear that looks similar to the normal and heroic raid’s models very easy.

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Grim Batol's Erudax is one of the toughest bosses on Heroic. Remember when 6 million health was reserved for raid encounters?

Bravo, Blizzard! You’ve finally done it! Heroics are now, verifiably, “serious business.” That isn’t sarcasm, folks — I’m genuinely happy about this development and it seems I’m not alone. Apparently, this thread makes Zarhym very happy, and I imagine much of the development and support team must be just as proud of their work.

During my first real trip into the realm of Cataclysm Heroics, I met a fellow who’s name I can’t quite recall, but clearly had some experience in the dungeons already. Whether that was because he and his guildmates had barnstormed their way to Level 85 (and an average 329 ilevel, needed to queue for Heroics) or the guy had spent some time in beta, I’m not sure. Either way, it quickly became apparent that there was a difference between him and the revolving door of players who kept leaving the group after a wipe or two, which he (and now I) affectionately called “Wrath Babies.”

That being casuals weaned on a diet of steamrolling dungeon bosses and turning off their brains in the process. I’d like to think I belong to a guild of moderately successful players, members of a broad World of Warcraft “middle class” who desire to push as much content as they can whilst not dedicating their entire lives to the endeavor. We’re not Paragon, but we’re not about to roll over and feign death after our second wipe to a difficult encounter, either.

I suppose what sticks in my craw the most about the thread I referenced above, though, is the idea that Blizzard needs to change their philosophy and “stop catering to elitists.” Thankfully, most of the people who replied to this whiner likewise berated him for his blasphemous thoughts. It seems like common sense that things towards the end of current content should be more difficult than what has come before it, but let’s look just a little deeper. You might recall that going from Burning Crusade to Wrath, what Blizzard sought was a way to take casuals from the beginning of the game’s storyline to its very end, and since most of the major plots — including the one that some people had been waiting to finish since the end of Warcraft 3 — ended in raid dungeons, the decision was made to dumb things down a bit. Normal mode boss encounters would be much easier than they were in the previous expansion and now Hard Modes would be introduced to appease the higher-level players. Continue Reading

Empire, a blogazine known primarily for its film coverage, just released its list of the “50 Greatest Video Game Characters.” Woe be unto gamers when a publication outside the industry (and, unfortunately, sometimes within it) attempts an article like this, but Empire has clearly done its homework. Their editors clearly have a pedigree in silicon as well as celluloid and have managed to largely avoid the most obvious or “popular” choices. Sure, some like Samus and Link are still there, but this being a UK publication means that both well-known and obscure PC game characters make the cut, as well.

In fact, they kind of dominate the list (hint: Mario is not number one), and that means our beloved Warcraft series gets a little bit of extra sugar. Oddly enough, it’s not Thrall or Jaina or Tirion or any of those other pansy do-gooders that place, but two of Azeroth’s most menacing villains.

Excusing the unfortunate misspelling of his first name (corrected later in the article), Arthas Menethil clocks in at number 25:

Of all the characters in Warcraft lore, Arthas Menthil is the most tragic. The heir to the throne of Lordaeron, Arthas set out to save his father’s kingdom from The Scourge of undead, only to be tricked into joining their ranks by taking up the cursed sword Frostmourne and ultimately becoming their lord and master, The Lich King. Talk about doing a one-eighty

In World of Warcraft, Arthas is currently the boss to beat for stalwart bands of level 80s, since Icecrown Citadel has unlocked its gates and it’s now open season on the Lich King for raiders everywhere. However, you don’t need to face him head-on to appreciate Arthas’ nuances. The character’s personality is most keenly felt in the dozens of lore-woven quests scattered throughout Northrend. Whether it’s watching him anoint Scala Sorrowgrave, riding alongside his mortal self during the Culling of Stratholme or doing his bidding in the Death Knight starting zone, Arthas enriches every aspect he touches, his backstory filling in as you level and making the Lich King’s final fall (and phat lewt drop) all the more poignant.

But, wait, Amatera. You said villains, which means more than one! Well, I think having an entire expansion dedicated to the Lich King has sort of clouded our thoughts as players. While Arthas is certainly foremost in our minds right now, he isn’t necessarily the most powerful character in the Warcraft universe, nor is he the most prominent one. Now, I’m not sure if I agree with putting this particular fellow a few spots above Ole Lichy, but he probably does deserve a place on the list. Hit the jump to figure out who it is! Continue Reading