Posts with tag world-of-warcraft

Everything we know about the formation of the Aspects is wrong. Well, not wrong -- but so far from what is truth that the reality of the situation is a dizzying puzzle that has only begun to be addressed. Dawn of the Aspects is a puzzle within a puzzle within a puzzle, and part one of the tale has only just begun to unravel these pieces into what will hopefully be a coherent whole by the end of the story.

While we've had hints and suggestions as to how the Aspects and the varying dragonflights came to be, it's never been truly defined. And when we made our trip to Northrend in Wrath of the Lich King, the proto-drakes found roaming the peaks and valleys of the continent were an intriguing puzzle. How did dragonkind make that leap from proto-drake to dragon? Who was Galakrond, and how did his existence tie into the existing dragonflights? Was he the father of all dragonkind in a literal sense, or in a far more figurative fashion?

Perhaps most importantly, at the dawn of the Age of Mortals, does any of this information really matter at all? If you're at all interested in the history of Azeroth, the answer is a resounding yes.

Mac OS X 10.6 will no longer be supported in patch 5.2, so if you happen to be running under that operating system, you may want to consider upgrading. While World of Warcraft has long been known for running on ridiculously outdated computers, it has over time dropped support for older operating systems. Does this mean you can't play if you're running OS X 10.6? Nope -- but it means it will no longer be supported, so if your game suddenly stops functioning correctly with that operating system, there's not much to be done about it other than upgrading your OS.

There is no need to panic if you're currently running with said operating system, however -- your game isn't going to suddenly stop running tomorrow. Daxxari posted more information about the changes, as well as some helpful links to follow as a polite heads-up warning in advance, so players using this OS will have time to make any changes they need.

Daxxari

In the upcoming Patch 5.2: The Thunder King, players using Mac OS X 10.6 will be presented with a message stating that we will no longer support Mac OS X 10.6. During this time, you will be able to continue playing; however, Mac OS X 10.6 will no longer be supported. We recommend Mac users upgrade their systems to Mac OS X 10.7.5 (or newer) as soon as possible.

We are giving players advance notice of this change to ensure Mac users have enough time to update their operating systems in preparation for the release of Patch 5.2: The Thunder King. We will provide an additional update when we no longer provide technical support for Mac OS X 10.6. Mac OS X 10.7 and Mac OS X 10.8 will continue to be fully supported per the recently posted Mac OS Support policy here. For more Mac-related information and help, visit the support site.

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The winners for Blizzard's Build Big, Win Big contest from Mega Bloks have now been announced on the official website. While there could only be one Grand Prize winner, the contest result showed off ten third prize winners, and five second prize winners as well. The Grand Prize winner, Bradley Tingstad, gets to celebrate with one year of WoW and a gigantic pile of prizes, including copies of all five World of Warcraft Collector's Editions. That's one heck of a prize!

The contest, announced late last year, asked enterprising builders to combine their World of Warcraft Mega Bloks sets into new combinations. The winning entries did just that, some with astonishing results, and all with a display of imagination and creativity.

Blizzard's post on the official website has photos of the Grand Prize entry -- a remarkably adept replica of a goblin shredder -- as well as the second place winners. For photos of the third prize winners, as well as more images of the winning entries, you can head to the official Build, Big, Win Big! Facebook app.

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I live on a dying server. It's not quite dead, but it's slowly withering away. I'm not sure what happened, exactly, but I have an idea of when -- at the beginning of Wrath of the Lich King, Dalaran was packed. By the end of the expansion, there were far fewer people running around. Orgrimmar in Cataclysm was a quiet place to be, and in Mists, the Horde shrine is populated by a few handful of players. As I said, I don't know what happened, but for some reason the masses that were on my server when I rolled there in Burning Crusade have all but evaporated.

On the one hand, it makes Pandaria a pretty quiet, idyllic place to be. There's hardly any competition for rare spawns, and you don't really have to compete with anyone for quest mobs or ore nodes or herbs, either. There's hardly any drama on the server, by and large because there really aren't enough people around to generate it. Sure, there are a few jerks, but it seems like everyone on the realm is generally relaxed and well-behaved -- as long as you stay out of Trade Chat.

On the other hand, it makes trying to buy or sell anything on the auction house an absolute nightmare.

It appears that Blizzard is far from done with short stories on the official website -- and that seems to be a pretty good thing. The Trial of the Red Blossoms, written by Cameron Dayton, is the latest offering to hit the official website. And for those wondering, there isn't a Li Li in sight in this tale. Instead, we get a tale highlighting just what it takes to become one of the Shado-pan, woven through the eyes of a young, scrawny pandaren thief simply named Ten.

If you thought that Pandaria and its residents were all about good cheer, food and drink, it's time to think again. The Shado-pan are among the least sociable of the pandaren, and are quite vividly illustrated as a group of warriors that you really, really don't want to mess with. It's a dark, grim tale about some of Pandaria's darkest, grimmest citizens -- and it absolutely shines. Ten is nothing like the sometimes too-precocious to handle Li Li, and his past and future hang in the balance of the Shado-pan. Whether or not he can rise to the occasion is entirely up to him.

The Trial of the Red Blossoms appears to be the first of what may be the next collection of short stories. Cataclysm saw the Leader Short Story series, and Trial is filed under Faction Stories on the Expanded Universe page, suggesting there are more tales of other factions to come. If they are even half as good as Trial, I suspect we're in for a treat this expansion. And frankly, I can't wait to see if we're finally going to get some dirt on the August Celestials.

You can read The Trial of the Red Blossoms on the official website, in the Destination: Pandaria section of the Expanded Universe guide. And as an added bonus this time around, the story is available for download in multiple formats -- choose from PDF format, ePUB format for the smartphone, tablet or Nook, or mobi format for the Amazon Kindle.

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I'm a raider at heart. Sure, I took a break back in Burning Crusade, but when I returned to raiding it was with a vengeance, albeit in a slightly less hardcore fashion. Mists of Pandaria started out with several different raids that are continuing to keep my guild occupied and will likely keep us occupied right up to patch 5.2's release -- and that's an excellent thing. Dragon Soul, no matter how interesting a few of those fights were, was simply not enough to keep my guild occupied right up until the end of Cataclysm.

In fact, Mists of Pandaria started out with a whole flurry of activity to keep everyone well and truly busy for the first couple of months. Daily quests were something that I threw myself into without flinching -- partially out of interest for the stories and quests, but also, yes, because I wanted to make sure I upgraded my gear as quickly as possible. Doing this flurry of dailies meant that I was capping valor incredibly early in the week, and spending it as fast as I obtained it.

But there's kind of a problem with that now, and it's being addressed to some small degree in patch 5.2. See, part of that whole raiding process is making sure you're in the gear you need. Now, it also includes upgrading your gear as quickly as you can, putting even more emphasis on capping valor just as quickly as possible. Is all that pressure a good thing?

If you're curious about the upcoming novel Dawn of the Aspects, Blizzard has just released an excerpt on its official site. The book, which will release part 1 on February 19, follows Kalegos on a journey to the past -- specifically, to the days before the Aspects were Aspects, and Galakrond still flew the skies of Northrend. It's a tale about the creation of the Aspects, and the history of dragonkind.

More importantly, while Kalecgos is observing events of the past, he's doing so from the standpoint of the future -- the days after Deathwing's defeat. While the ending of Dragon Soul was definitely interesting, it raised far more questions than it answered. What happens to the dragonflights, not that they've lost their powers? What purpose do they serve in the world, and how can they continue to make a difference in this so-called Age of Mortals?

Richard Knaak is an excellent choice for the novel, especially given his history with writing nearly every prior tale involving the Aspects and their history. The excerpt shown on Blizzard's official site is interesting, and even the small piece that we're shown holds valuable information regarding Galakrond, his history, and how it compares to the history we've been told so far. Suffice it to say, not everything is exactly as it has seemed, and the miniseries may clear up a giant chunk of Azeroth's history that to date has been left unexplained.

Head to the official site to read the excerpt, and don't forget to get your copy of the ebook when it releases on February 19.

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Spoiler Alert: Adriacraft has been back with more of their datamined audio files, and wow, these ones have some spoilers in them. If you don't want to have spoilers about Wrathion's questline, or anything else for that matter, definitely don't watch the video, or hit the break to read any more of this post.

Final Warning: Spoilers after the break. Really big spoilers. Do not hit the link below if you don't want to know.

Back in the days of vanilla, life was very much about exploration. Even though the world of Azeroth was admittedly massive, there were still areas players couldn't get to -- tantalizing areas that were made inaccessible either by steep mountain faces, or simply being someplace under the world map where no one could get to. One of these areas was the Emerald Dream, shown above. Despite not being in the game as playable content, the zones still existed.

This led to all kinds of speculation about an upcoming Emerald Dream expansion. Players assumed that these files meant that we were eventually headed for the lush green lands of Ysera and her amazing druid friends. Yet despite the presence of the maps, it never happened. Ysera is now devoid of her powers as of the end of Cataclysm, whatever that implies towards her relationship with the Emerald Dream. By Cataclysm, it became apparent that whatever mysteries those old maps held, the Emerald Dream was just an idea lost in time.

Or was it? Maybe we're playing through the Emerald Dream right now.

Li Li's Travel Journal has just updated with the final installment of Li Li's journeys throughout the wilds of Pandaria. Li Li has finally made it to the Dread Wastes, in search of her Uncle Chen. But there's nothing pleasant to be found in the home of the mantid. Will Li Li find Chen, or become just another casualty in the Dread Wastes?

The final chapter wraps up Li Li's journey, but it also explains what the young Stormstout is up to now. Obviously there are reunions to be had, not just with Chen, but with the rest of the Stormstout clan holed up at the Sunset Brewgarden. And there's mention of a particularly touching quest chain in the Dread Wastes, as well.

All in all, this was a delightful little series that served as a pretty good overview of what to expect in Pandaria. It didn't have the emotional weight of some of the leader short stories from last expansion, but honestly, it was a refreshing change. I do hope we'll see more short fiction from Blizzard as the expansion continues, however.

As with the chapters before, if you like the chapter's illustration of Li Li warily spying on the mantid, Blizzard has made it available as a wallpaper, free for download. Don't miss the latest charming installment of the tale -- you can catch chapter 8, as well as all previous installments of the story, in the Expanded Universe section of the official website.

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Mists of Pandaria is here! The level cap has been raised to 90, many players have returned to Azeroth, and pet battles are taking the world by storm. Keep an eye out for all of the latest news, and check out our comprehensive guide to Mists of Pandaria for everything you'll ever need to know.

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Do you love creating Warcraft art? UDON Entertainment is teaming up with Blizzard to create what may be their biggest Tribute collection yet, featuring art paying homage to World of Warcraft. Both Blizzard and UDON have called on artists from around the world to submit their original World of Warcraft-inspired artwork for consideration. However, the deadline for submissions is fast approaching. If you'd like your work to be considered for this incredible collection, you'll need to submit it by January 15.

This is a worldwide collection, so anyone in any country may submit their art. However, you'll need to be 18+ to submit. Selected artists for the Tribute collection will have their work included and credited in the book, which was announced at NYCC last year, and should make its first appearance at San Diego Comic-Con 2013 as a special, limited-edition hardcover.

If you're an artist and you'd like to see your Warcraft-inspired work make its way into print, this is an opportunity you don't want to miss. For more information, including rules, guidelines, and submission information, head to the official World of Warcraft Tribute website.

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The Art of Blizzard Entertainment, a massive 376 page collection of artwork from Warcraft, StarCraft and Diablo, will be available for purchase later this month. But if you're in the Los Angeles area and you're wanting a sneak peek at what the book has to offer, you may want to clear your calendar at some point in the coming weeks. Gallery Nucleus, located in Alhambra California, will be hosting a special collection of over 50 pieces of artwork from your favorite Blizzard games, including an extensive collection of concept art.

The exhibition will be at Gallery Nucleus from January 12 through February 3, 2012. However, there will be an opening reception from 7-11pm on January 12. Guests attending will have plenty of games and activities to keep them occupied, as well as an opportunity to get exclusive posters and other commemorative items. There is a $5 entrance fee at the door for the reception, however those that show up in costume will get in for free.

In addition to the artwork and events, several of the Blizzard Entertainment artists featured in the book will be in attendance giving painting demos, signing books, and simply hanging out with attendees. For more information on what sounds like an incredibly fun time, you can check out Gallery Nucleus' official website.

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