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Loremaster in Patch 4.0.3a

In today’s economy, jobs are very hard to come by. In Azeroth, things aren’t much better. Any day now (like Tuesday), the land will go straight to Hell once Deathwing kicks the front door down and demands the World go make him a sammich and don’t make him tell you again. He’s going to make Azeroth into his own giant toilet (except Northrend – he, like me, hates snow and would most likely say “I wouldn’t waste a drop of piss on that continent if it was on fire… like the rest of the World”.) This destruction will cause a drain on the economy as both Alliance and Horde start their turf war all over again in a battle for resources and prime vacation spots. Who knew that Thousand Needles would become top dollar lakefront real estate property?

However, not everyone is fretting over the upcoming near-global destruction. Questgivers gave a big hoo-rah because they were being given more quests (as well as removing some old ones). But what does this mean for folks who are trying to get the title of Loremaster and just can’t finish it before The Shattering? Well a little bird (and by that I mean a Blue Poster) had this to say on the subject:

As you’re all aware by now, the shattering of Azeroth will drastically and permanently alter the continents of Kalimdor and the Eastern Kingdoms. In the wake of Deathwing’s devastation, adventurers will be summoned to embark on new quests from levels 1 to 60 in these transformed territories — and with so much new content to be found on these original two continents, many original quests will no longer be available after the shattering occurs. These quests will automatically be removed from your quest log, while any quests you’ve accepted that still exist in Azeroth will remain in your log.

You may be wondering how the shattering will affect the Loremaster achievements. If you’ve already completed Loremaster of Eastern Kingdoms or Loremaster of Kalimdor, you will not lose your achievements. However, if you’ve made progress toward these achievements without yet completing them, be aware that any quests that are removed from the game will no longer count toward your progress, so you may see your achievement quest counter drop. If you’re close to earning either of these achievements, we strongly suggest you finish them with great haste, as Deathwing’s return is imminent.

In addition, the Loremaster achievements are being redesigned slightly to make them easier to track. Rather than having players complete a huge number of quests throughout a single continent, the criteria will change so that you will instead need to complete a set number of quests in each zone. Once you’ve earned the achievements for each listed zone on a continent, you will then be awarded the Loremaster achievement for that continent. For those who do have Loremaster of Kalimdor or Eastern Kingdoms completed already, you can still go back and get the new achievements for questing in individual zones on those continents.

We look forward to giving you an opportunity to take on brand new adventures in these classic zones. The times they are a-changin’.

Wow. Not only is Deathwing ripping up the planet, but he’s pissing off Lore nerds too. That’s just mean.

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Tags: Blue Post, Cataclysm, Loremaster, World Event

My Present Wasn’t Under A Tree

Dec 26

Posted by Donny Rokk

Now that the holiday season has begun it’s death spiral, all the presents have been unwrapped, and I curse the sweets and spirits that have punished my body over the past seventy-two hours, I can catch my breath (wheeze) and reflect on some of the in-game events I have been privy to.

Winter’s Veil

Haven’t done a thing. Not one present, not one snowball. Nada. Don’t care.

Dungeon Finder

Hello new best friend.

I’ll be honest, I have never been a big fan of groups. Guildie groups, the rare time it happened, were bearable because they’re a good crew (amazing for a guild our size) and forgiving to those who were more solo oriented. Don’t misunderstand, I know what to do in a group. I assist the tank, kill what needs killing, keep control of my pet when I’m using my Hunter. It’s just the people that annoy me sometimes.

Especially in PuGs.

Not so much with the Dungeon Finder. In fact, it plays to one of the more powerful drives in the WoW player base – Greed.

In the days pre-DF, you’d get a PuG and be picky about it. After all, it took time to put these things together and you essentially got one shot at clearing the instance for Emblems of Triumph. It could be slow, painful, and not very much fun.

Fast forward to the PuGs of the Dungeon Finder Era. Emphasis on FAST. First, it takes no effort on the player’s part to find a group. They simply queue up as the role they want to play, then carry on with their business until they get a tap on the shoulder saying “Excuse me, but your group is ready.”

Next, a teleport to the instance. No more summoning, no more waiting around for people to arrive. Everyone’s there at the same time, ready to go.

The pace of these things are quick. People like to rush through them so they can queue up for another one as fast as possible, getting the most emblems they can. It’s like they ducked into the bathroom to drop a deuce with their laptop resting on their thighs, and need to get their Triumph emblems before they flush.

This quick pace means people aren’t too picky. The Dungeon Finder ranks characters by gear, so people aren’t carrying lesser-geared toons through the instance, but they don’t sweat that dude with the less than amazing DPS. They just want to get through the instance and start a new one. I have yet to see anyone be kicked from a group for sub-par DPS.

Needless to say, I’ve been having fun with the Dungeon Finder when I’ve had the time to use it. I’ve been testing the water with my Hunter, just to get the hang of dealing with people. Some, like the druid who humped Rukgut’s wolf to kill some time, were more interesting than others.

Bloodybull, I will find you and you WILL be paying pup support.

Today, after stacking run after run through instances like a fleet of drunk sailors on a hooker during shore leave, I ended up with a few pieces of quality T9 Gear –

Those are the types of presents I can handle over the holidays. I’ve seen new content that I’m sure I’ll be sick of seeing. I’ve met horny druids and and silent drones who storm through encounters without saying a word. I’ve gathered gear that’ll be more than sufficient until the next expansion, and I’m gaining experience that can’t be shown on a bar.