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All of the latest Mists of Pandaria newsCataclysm Beta: Guild vendor armor, pets, mounts and more
by Anne Stickney 
Aug 13th 2010 at 11:40PM
See that dark phoenix pictured above? Want one for your very own? Wondering where to get it? Wonder no more -- with the latest patch drop on the Cataclysm beta servers, this mount is listed as a guild reward that you may purchase from the guild reward vendor located in the capital city of your respective faction. On top of the gorgeous dark phoenix, plenty of other amazing items have been added to the vendor. Recipes, pets, a ground mount that is unique to your faction -- and for those wondering where we'd get our level 85 heirlooms from, they're on the vendor, as well.
Take a look at the gallery below for a peek at what the guild vendor has to offer. Please note the heirlooms reflect both level 1 stats as well as stats for my character's current level, 83. As for prices on the items, don't get your hopes up -- as with everything on the beta, these are subject to change at any time.
Take a look at the gallery below for a peek at what the guild vendor has to offer. Please note the heirlooms reflect both level 1 stats as well as stats for my character's current level, 83. As for prices on the items, don't get your hopes up -- as with everything on the beta, these are subject to change at any time.
Filed under: Cataclysm
Reader Comments (Page 2 of 4)
begedinnikola Aug 14th 2010 3:19AM
I was hoping they would make heirlooms necklaces, rings, trinkets and bracers this time - stuff that isn't noticable on you character. No such luck :(
Well, atleast a cloak is better than a robe...
Kirkules Aug 14th 2010 5:02AM
@begedinnikola
There's already an Heirloom Ring & 2 Trinkets, but that's beside your point :P But these new heirlooms are of the 'you can turn them off' variety.
Side note: I'd love for Relic Heirlooms. Hunters, Rogues & Warriors get extra heirlooms via ranged weapons. Relics would cover Shamans, DKs, Paladins & Druids. Now that leaves out clothies, but an Heirloom Wand would take care of that.
alpha5099 Aug 14th 2010 12:08AM
Daw, I also took a look at the new feasts, I'm kinda sad they've changed it to 90 Stamina and 90 "of another useful stat," which presumably translates to the primary stat of your class or spec. As an Enh shaman, I always liked that I could double dip and get a benefit from both the AP and SP provided by feasts. Oh well. Hopefully the buff is spec sensitive, instead of class sensitive, so Balance, Ele, and the Restos get Int, and Enh and the Ferals get Agility.
Iirdan Aug 14th 2010 12:21AM
It will probably go off of your highest stat, like Death's Choice/Verdict and the Greatness card.
Evil Midnight Lurker Aug 14th 2010 2:39AM
We have Smart Food now! :)
Hob Aug 14th 2010 12:10AM
My personal experience is that being in a guild is "no fun", "miserable", and "sucks" (please let me repeat - that's my experience, of course yours will vary); I get flamed on this from time to time, but I think Blizz is on my side with this one: you can grind out an awesome mount just for putting up with being in a guild.
No boss kill, no year of making every holiday achievement, no 50,000 honor points, no reputation with the Oracles or the Cenarion Expedition, no fishing in random holes (heh). Just putting up with being in a guild.
Priceless.
Psiwave Aug 14th 2010 12:22AM
Alternatively it's a goal for you and your friends to work together towards outside of the traditional raiding environment.
I suppose you could view it either way depending upon how bitter and lonely you are feeling.
Ametrine Aug 14th 2010 12:40AM
Y'know, they say if you consistently have problems with other people... it might be you, not them, that is the problem.
Noyou Aug 14th 2010 12:55AM
I challenge you sir to roll a toon on my server of Galakrond-A. If you don't have fun with us maybe your fun meter needs a bit of fixin' send a tell or email Thaylen for an invite. It is a casual guild but we try to do 10 mans (weekly) and group events. :)
Hob Aug 14th 2010 5:58AM
"bitter and lonely"
"consistently have problems with other people"
"If you don't have fun with us maybe your fun meter needs a bit of fixin"
Yeah guys, this is what I mean. I'm not bitter or lonely, but thanks for the assumption. If you spend your time quietly playing Pac-Man on a handheld no one thinks twice, but try to get some peace and quiet in World of Warcraft and suddenly you're "bitter and lonely."
There are three regular columns here on wow.com that consistently address how other people are consistently a problem for everyone else (Drama Mamas, Officer's Quarters, and the Classifieds. I'm mentioning the Classifieds because it demonstrates that "nice" behavior in WoW so rare it deserves public comment).
Noyou, thanks for the invitation, and I have no doubt you guys are nice and fun. But socializing is not what I'm looking for when I log on ~ just the opposite: it tires me out. My fun meter is fixed on quiet time alone, not chatting with pals.
Everyone is welcome to join on Zangarmarsh-US, or just show up for their guild events... and even they still have to warn, "Don't be a funsucker". So yeah, I don't think it's me.
And since Blizz feels the need to add a ton of perks to guild membership and participation, I feel like they've got my back on this one. They're doing the same thing with guilds as they did with the Oculus ~ bribing you to participate.
Psiwave Aug 14th 2010 9:21AM
Well no frankly, it was your comment that made you sound bitter and lonely. The idea that the players of the game only play together under sufference, backed up solely by the fact that blizzard offers reward for doing so. Quests, raids and pvp also have comparable rewards and you don't make that claim about those activities. If you don't enjoy group play more power to you, play how you want to. But remember that wow is primarily a multiplayer game and that the community will respond negatively if you post self congratulatory remarks like your first post.
Hob Aug 14th 2010 7:54PM
@ Psiwave
My experience with guilds, casual and hardcore, has not been fun. Whenever the wow.com crew hosts an event for "It Came From the Blog", they explicitly say, don't be a funsucker. People complain about guilds all the time: Drama Mamas, Officer's Quarters, etc. And now - on a post that talks about getting an awesome mount for earning reputation with your own guild - it seems as though Blizzard is realizing that players might actually have to play with each other under sufferance. Which I think is hilarious.
I didn't mention quests, raids, or PvP because this article isn't about how you can get a mount through those activities ~ the article is about getting a mount because you can participate in a guild until you've earned a high level of guild reputation. So who is Blizzard agreeing with here? Me, who says that guild membership as currently iterated is not worth my time; or players like Noyou* who are active in a guild and enjoy it? Who is Blizzard trying to tempt, and what behavior are they rewarding?
But maybe you're right. I can't think of a single scenario where Blizzard has seen a social problem in the game and tried to change player behavior by offering a mount. Oh wait. They did make it so you could get the Reins of the Blue Drake from completing Heroic Oculus via the random dungeon finder. And if I remember correctly, it was because players were dropping Heroic Oculus via the random dungeon finder because it was... how should I phrase this? "No fun"? "Miserable"? "Sucks"?
*Noyou, I'm not picking on you ~ it was very nice of you to offer guild membership to a stranger on the wow.com forums; especially one who's complaining about guilds. I actually can't think of a better example of a person who loves guild membership and has a fun time with it.
Tamarin Aug 14th 2010 9:59PM
Dear Hob.
I've tried to read your comment in a favourable light but it still comes across as sour grapes. Perhaps it's your implication that a toon just needs to put up with a guild to gain access to the mount whereas other mounts require grinding. This is incorrect. First the guild must band together to aquire the necessary guild rank then the toon must raise their personal reputation to exalted. Plenty of other grinds require other people to complete (Heroic mode mounts, I'm looking at you!)
The Dark Phoenix is a reward for the guild grind. If this grind doesn't appeal, you don't have to participate. Or, if you really want it without the bother of other people, create your own private guild and start grinding.
Hob Aug 14th 2010 10:16PM
@Tamarin
My point is, this is a reward for being active in an active guild. There's no sour grapes about it ~ it's a bribe from Blizzard to participate socially, in the same way that the Reins of the Blue Drake are a bribe to finish Heroic Oculus when it comes up on a random dungeon finder.
You'll notice I never complained about it ~ I just think it's funny that Blizzard is pushing the social aspect, which (as I think Ghostcrawler mentioned a while back), was one of the goals for the future of the game.
Guys, seriously, enjoy your dark phoenix mounts. I never said you shouldn't have them, nor did I ever say, "Oh crap, now I have to join a guild, what am I gonna do, poor me." I said it's funny that Blizzard recognizes that if the guild system is going to work, they need to add perks that non-guilded players won't have access to. And no one has actually disputed this point.
Hollow Leviathan Aug 15th 2010 3:17AM
I think I'm gonna bookmark this thread as a counter-example for when jerks try to claim they're being downrated because 'their opinion is unpopular'. This is people disagreeing without downrating - it happens when everyone is being mature!
Tamarin Aug 17th 2010 1:12AM
I think I got it now Hob.
You dislike the guild experience so much you see the Dark Phoenix as a bribe to make people suffer the guild system. Like, guilds are such nasty places to be, players need incentive.
I like the guild experience, I like people. I've chosen my guild because it contains people I like. I don't need a mount as an incentive to stay. I'm looking forward to participating in the great guild grind for these rewards.
feniks9174 Aug 17th 2010 11:55AM
I haven't been paying too much attention to the new guild perks systems, but couldn't you just start your own guild like we all do with bank alts and then grind things out as you normally do? Or are there other restrictions in place . .
Hob Aug 17th 2010 2:47PM
@Tamarin,
Yes, that's correct. I've tried various guilds and burned out - probably I'm just not social enough to be interested in it in my "relax-time". Some of the guilds I've been in have certainly had nasty people, and I was offended by racist/sexist/generally-inappropriate guild chat (that was "miserable"). Other guilds have just had constant chatterers and whisperers, which is not my interest (that "sucks"). And other guilds have been dead silent with like, one other person on ever, which always leads me to say, "Why am I in this guild, again?" (That part was "no fun.")
These are some of my experiences, which as I said in the original post, may very well be different from everyone else's. I've tried guild membership plenty of times; I just don't like it.
So, Blizzard has announced that they want to increase the social aspect of WoW. That's a stated goal. Active guild membership and participation is one way of increasing the social aspect of the game; and now they're adding incentives for it.
Let's say I go to a coffee house every day and order the same thing. I'm a regular customer. But the coffee house starts adding perks - free whipped cream, punch cards with a free coffee after so many purchases, whatever. I love it, it's wonderful, I couldn't be happier ~ but they're not trying to entice ME, because I'm already a customer. They're trying to entice people who aren't buying coffee.
The guild perks are wonderful for people who love guilds, but Blizzard is not looking for that player. They are looking for players who - for whatever reason - aren't interested in guild membership.
@feniks9174
I haven't heard anything about NOT being able to earn guild XP points; however, I did read earlier that one of the achievements is for the guild to have completed like, 50,000 quests (or something like that). I suspect ti will be very difficult if not impossible for a one-man guild to realistically get more than one or two levels. We'll see how it plays out in live. :)
dj Aug 14th 2010 12:30AM
With the new heirlooms this should bring the total experience you can earn with heirlooms up to 40% extra experience (40 counting the heirloom ring from the fishing tourny in northrend). Then i believe that it stacks (not entirely sure) with the rested bonus, and i think it stacks with the zone bonus's (like if you control the towers in zangarmarsh). If thats all true that means we're going to be leveling pretty damn fast in cataclysm.
Hoaxs Aug 14th 2010 1:37AM
In theory you can have 40%;
10% Chest, 10% Shoulder, 5% Ring, 10% Head, 5% Cloak.
But then add the Guild Talents and that adds and extra 20%.
60% Bonus.