Posts with tag warglaives-of-azzinoth

What does legendary really mean?

by Anne Stickney Feb 28th 2013 at 7:00PM

Legendary. The color orange was once one of the most revered, whispered-about intangible things in vanilla WoW. People had heard rumors of legendary weapons, but nobody knew how to actually get them -- they were just as much a source of speculation as any lore in Warcraft today. When those legendary items finally first began to appear, it was a moment of sheer joy for those lucky enough to receive them.

And for those that were not that lucky, it was a source of constant envy. People got really, really ticked about legendaries, how it was determined that they were rewarded, and who they were rewarded to. In the end, when it boiled down to it, anyone who watched someone else get a legendary immediately questioned what made that other player worthy, when they themselves had put it so much more perceived effort. Legendaries had the power to tear guilds apart -- or, in some cases, the power to pull a united guild into an even stronger front.

The history of legendaries is pretty fascinating in and of itself, but more fascinating is the evolution of the color orange. It's changed over the years, and in Mists of Pandaria anyone can start a chain to get their very own legendary -- and that's got some bloggers talking.

Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, Mists of Pandaria

Would removing legendaries be a benefit for the World of Warcraft?

by Josh Myers Jan 27th 2012 at 4:00PM

It's very hard to imagine a Cataclysm without legendary items. Despite the fact that it wasn't introduced until six months into the game's existence, Dragonwrath, Tarecgosa's Rest has become a staple item in every progression raiding guild's repetoire. The Fangs of the Father, Golad and Tiriosh, have only recently started to actually appear in game, but every week from now on will see more and more being finished.

Coming hand in hand with these legendary items are the issues of imbalance that they cause. In PvE, terminology has started to crop up that puts legendary and non-legendary DPS into two separate categories of competitiveness. Concepts exist such as "enhancement shaman are currently one of the top non-legendary DPS specs..." -- a category that encompasses only 10 of the 22 DPS classes in the game. In PvP, concerns about burst damage have arisen, which was a big factor in the nerf to DTR that came in 4.3.

The issues with legendaries

Legendaries cause a balance problem, and that's a problem that's been exacerbated by two things in Cataclysm: a horrifically wide spread of specs that can use them, with 12 specs or five classes in total having access to legendary weapons right now, and incredible ease of access to legendaries (for the heroic raider).

Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, Raiding, The Burning Crusade, Wrath of the Lich King, Cataclysm

Breakfast Topic: Six impossible things

by Anne Stickney Jun 17th 2010 at 8:00AM

There's a nice quote from Through the Looking Glass in which Alice states to the White Queen that one can't believe impossible things. The White Queen shrugs this off as silly, "When I was your age, I always did it for a half-an-hour a day. Why, sometimes I've believed as many as six impossible things before breakfast!" I don't really know if there's any sense to be made of it, but the phrase "six impossible things" always stuck with me. Now how does this relate to World of Warcraft, exactly?

With Cataclysm coming up, the world that we play in is changing completely. Some things we remember from days past may not even exist anymore, and some things may change altogether. So I am keeping a list of (more or less) six impossible things to accomplish before Cataclysm. It keeps me occupied when I'm not raiding, and each time I finish something, I add something else to the list. The three achievements above were all on my list, I've replaced them with Attumen's mount from Karazhan, the tiger from Zul'Gurub, and I am contemplating whether or not trying to farm for warglaives would be a good idea.

Each time I manage one of the impossible things it feels like I've accomplished something, though the merits of having accomplished anything substantial in a video game can be argued back and forth. Still, it keeps me happy, and it keeps me busy. So do you have a list of impossible things? If you do, what are they? If you don't, what are you doing to keep yourself occupied?

Filed under: Breakfast Topics

Breakfast Topic: Culture permeates

by Dawn Moore Jan 12th 2010 at 8:00AM

One of my favorite things about World of Warcraft is how much culture seeps into the game. I don't mean the influences of Asian architecture in Moonglade, or the Native American aesthetic of the Tauren race. I mean the references to internet memes, pop culture, and literature. These little things always make me smile, and they're one of the many things I missed during the 17 days I played Aion last year. Eastern games might have been where I found my first love, but it's Blizzard's flair and style that turned me on to American game development. In fact, those little jokes are a lot like a warm blanket that keeps me toasty warm on those chilly nights...

But do you know what's better than an ordinary blanket?

Friends at Blizzard, please hear me out. Do you see the image above? I want one. I want one like I want a Slap Chop or a Bedazzler. I want to get on my Snuggie in the World of Warcraft. I want one for the whole guild. It would be perfect for those drafty raid instances! My ordinary tabard just doesn't keep me warm from head to toe... Okay, my absurdity level is getting out of hand.

Filed under: Breakfast Topics, Humor

The OverAchiever: What Feats of Strength can you get now?

by Allison Robert Nov 2nd 2009 at 5:00PM

One of the easier ways to distinguish an older character from a reroll or alt is the presence (or absence) of a Feat of Strength. Feats of Strength, remnants of "the past glories of Azeroth," are among the most difficult achievements to get, and that's when they're even possible at all. Most, like the presence of an old-school PvP title, one of the original 100% mounts, or the Vengeful Nether Drake, are impossible to get these days, and are a sign that the person who has them is an experienced player. But with a little luck and a lot of elbow grease, even a new player can accrue some of these supposedly "past" glories.

I started playing WoW shortly after Burning Crusade launched and didn't expect to have a shot at most Feats, but a surprising number of them are still available. After getting The Fifth Element recently and being surprised to discover that: a). It's a Feat, and b). The original quest isn't even in the game anymore (man, I'm glad I'm such a quest packrat), I started nosing around the list of Feats to see what else a player could do even if they're new to the game. Moreover, there are two achievements you can get right now that will become Feats in 3.3, so let's get cracking.

Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, Features, The Overachiever

Phat Loot Phriday: Porcelain Bell

by Mike Schramm May 22nd 2009 at 7:00PM

This is a weird one -- we've been doing Ulduar epics lately, but here's something a little different for you to hunt down.

Name: Porcelain Bell (Wowhead, Thottbot, Armory)
Type: Poor Salvage Item
Damage/Speed: N/A
Attributes:

Embellished with a figure reaching toward a swan. This is a grey piece of vendor trash, probably the worst quality item we've ever featured here.
Wait a minute Mike, I can hear you saying, this is supposed to be Phat Loot Phriday. Why are you showing us a piece of vendor junk? Because, my friends, in the eyes of the vendors, this little bell is worth more than the Warglaives of Azzinoth combined (and you could even throw in Thori'dal, too). Yes, this little bell sells to vendors for... wait for it... 100g.

Gallery: Phat Loot Phriday

Phat Loot Phriday: Brazier of Dancing Flames

Phat Loot Phriday: Dartol's Rod of Transformation

Filed under: Fishing, Analysis / Opinion, Fan stuff, Odds and ends, Blizzard, Quests, Expansions

Ask a Lore Nerd: The Eye of the Tiger and the Warglaives of Azzinoth

by Alex Ziebart Nov 2nd 2008 at 5:00PM

Welcome to Ask a Lore Nerd, where each week Alex Ziebart answers your quests about the lore in the World of Warcraft. If you have any questions, no matter how big or small they might be, ask them in the comments section below and we'll try to answer it in a future edition.

Last week on Ask a Lore Nerd, Offsprnge (one of your fellow readers) asked me to write this week's edition with some Eye of the Tiger playing. I guess I came across a little tired last week, so I'm going to do just that. To fit the groove, I ask all of you guys one favor: Read the questions and answers in the voice of Rocky Balboa. If it will help you get in the mood, go ahead and read it out loud in that voice.

And since we're already talking about it, Offsprnge asked...

Right, I think I got a good one by the way, perhaps it is so obvious I should slap myself, but the whole battle for Mount Hyjal features the Burning Legion invading with it's commander Archimonde, however, why are there hordes of ghouls, liches, necromancers, frost wyrms and "all that kind of thing!" (find the reference).

Again, like another reader mentioned, at the time the Lich King was still feigning allegiance to the Burning Legion. It doesn't pay to make the Legion suspicious too early. At the same time, the Lich King played a role in weakening Archimonde's forces: He used Illidan to destroy Tichondrius and his forces, which were to play support for Archimonde. The Scourge that were at the Battle of Mount Hyjal were sacrifices, pawns to keep Archimonde overconfident.

Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, Lore, Wrath of the Lich King, Ask a Lore Nerd

Forte Gaming goes the way of the Alamo

by Natalie Mootz Jun 11th 2008 at 9:00AM

Forte Gaming, one of the top guilds in World of Warcraft and the world's first to kill Anetheron, disbanded over the weekend. Their web page cites recruitment woes, long delays between content releases, and continually postponed raid times as reasons for the fall. "For many it has felt like a slowly sinking ship for some time and now it's over," says the guild's last post.

Forte was consistently ranked in the top two or three guilds in worldwide rankings and stayed in a tight race with Nihilum for game firsts, snagging no less than nine legendary Warglaives from Illidan in the Black Temple. In their three-year reign, they changed realms three times. Although the raiding arm of the guild (EU Boulderfist-A) will no longer exist, they will still maintain a more casual form of the guild on their previous server (A-Kazzak-EU).

Filed under: Guilds, News items, Raiding

Legendary Weapons: Drops vs. questing

by Daniel Whitcomb Jun 6th 2008 at 7:00PM

A Discussion of the newly dropped Thori'dal bought up a lively discussion on Legendary weapons in my guild chat the other day, which has in turn set my own mental wheels turning. Looking at the difference between the pre-Burning Crusade Legendaries and the Burning Crusade Legendaries, there's one big difference that stands out (beyond the level difference): The pre-BC Legendaries were quested, while the BC Legendaries have been drops.

The clear-cut off seems to suggest that at some point, Blizzard decided that creating long, involved quests in order to obtain Legendary weapons just wasn't the way to go, and they'd rather let the RNG take care of distributing Legendaries. But the question is, did they make the right choice? There's good arguments for both sides.

Filed under: Items, Analysis / Opinion, Instances, Quests, Raiding, The Burning Crusade, Lore, Bosses, Wrath of the Lich King

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