Posts with tag stormwind-city

Hello, class, and welcome to Archaeology 101. Today, we'll show you how to get started in this profession, as well as where to go, what to do and how to do it. I know I'm not as dreamy as Indiana Jones, so I won't be expecting apples on my desk or eyelid tattoos. But I'll also not be interrupting class to run after Nazis, so I've got that going for me ... which is nice. I will be taking questions and comments from the chat room, however, which is after the break.

Update: The stream is now over. You can watch the video replay by clicking the image above.

For a while now I've been mulling over points raised by Daniel in his much-discussed article, "Why Varian Wrynn Is Right," and we've received a number of requests to address the issue from the Horde's point of view. Well...this article isn't going to do that. It started off that way, and then I realized that Varian's personal issues and the Horde's approach to the problem are really two entirely separate matters. At some point in the future, I'd like to examine the Horde's take on the newly-resurgent antagonism between the factions, because it's not something I can adequately address here without turning this into a 10,000-word tract.

Today, we're going to deal almost exclusively with Varian and his share of responsibility for the current mess. I'm a little ambivalent over Blizzard's decision to include most of the backstory and explanations for Varian's behavior in a comic series, because I think it's one of the factors that's resulted the character's being poorly received by most players. Choosing to include so much of his characterization out of the game in a product most players will never read necessarily impacts how Varian's motives are going to be evaluated. If all you've got to go on is what you see of the king from ingame events...he doesn't look so great. This isn't a defense of Varian so much as a commentary on the somewhat inconsistent approach to his character that's resulted. I haven't read each of the comics, but I'm familiar with the storyline, and this article doesn't assume that you need to have read the out-of-game books or comics in order to follow the argument.

Despite what you may have heard, the life of a Wrath of the Lich King beta tester isn't always filled with action and excitement. Sometimes it's filled with, gulp, bugs! I can tell you from personal experience that life in the beta involves plenty of "World Server Down" and "Restart in 15:00" messages and some things plain don't look or work the way they ought to. What can I say? It's a beta and it still has some rough edges to be polished out -- that's the whole point of having a beta test! Nowhere is the game's beta state more obvious than in this shot by Ferin of Hakkar, who logged into Stormwind City to find... well, this. I'm pretty sure that this is a graphical glitch and doesn't mean Stormwind City, like Dalaran, has been relocated in Wrath, though I've been wrong before...

This image came to us straight from the Wrath of the Lich King beta -- and we'd love to have your beta screenshots, too! If you have anything our readers might like, sharing it is as simple as e-mailing aroundazeroth@wow.com with a copy of your shot and a brief explanation of the scene. You could be featured here next!

Remember to include your player name, server and/or guild if you want it mentioned. We prefer full screen shots without the UI showing -- use alt-Z to remove it. And, please, no more sunsets! (Well, okay, maybe if they are some really cool Northrend sunsets, we can consider.)

With the release of Patch 2.4.3 today, construction has commenced at the docks in Stormwind. It's located between Cathedral Square and The Park, at the end of the canals. If you talk to the workers in the area, they'll tell you that they are preparing to bust out the wall to create a new entrance to the city. There's lots of life bustling around the construction site, and here's your first tour.

We all know the major NPCs of the World of Warcraft: Thrall, Jaina, Tyrande, Saurfang, and all the others that rule the cities, have won great battles, give out the most epic of quests, and all that good stuff. They have followings, sycophants, and all that. Life is good for them.

But what about the other guys? What about the NPCs that stay with us day after day or week after week, repairing our gear or giving us all the little simple quests that help us level up or get gold or just being a little bit of flavor while we're standing around looking pretty in our favorite capital city? I know I'm not the other one who has an NPC or two that he considers to be pretty awesome.

I love playing in the Arenas, but I'm getting kind of bored with the same three maps. I was very exited Ruins of Lordaeron map was introduced with Season two. It was something new and exciting. It's still my favorite, but now its just as dull as the other two. I wish they would introduce a new fighting ground for Season four.

I would love to see a map in Stormwind City. I picture it as something like the legendary tournament venues of the Medieval Knights. There would be banners all around it and an audience of noisy NPCs in the stands. In order to spice things up, it would be awesome to include environmental hazards like boiling oil or escapable, but painful pit traps. Also, if I were designing an Arena, players would be forced into combat more quickly, since the preparation areas would close one minute after the battle began.

It would never happen, but a girl can dream. If you could design a battleground for Arena combat, what would it look like? What new features would you add?