Many Many Burning Crusade Updates

[Warlock]

Not quite sure how I missed this, but quite a few new updates in the last few days (most do overlap but still nice).

<A HREF="http://www.1up.com/do/previewPage?cId=3152830">1up</a>, <A HREF="http://www.gamespot.com/pc/rpg/worldofwarcraftexp1/news.html?sid=6155696">GameSpot</a>, <A HREF="http://pc.ign.com/articles/725/725325p1.html">IGN</a>, and <A HREF="http://pc.gamespy.com/pc/world-of-warcraft-expansion/725327p1.html">GameSpy</a> all have new Burning Crusade previews. They cover BC end-game raiding, the new honor system, the whole shaman/paladin deal recently announced, level 70 spells (Shamen will get Bloodlust for example), and more. It's interesting to note that GameSpot's article mentions both new mounts - the "Elekk" for the Draenei (like an elephant) and for the Blood Elves, the Cockatrice.

These articles all have new screenshots, but they are the same across each article. So it's more or less picking and choosing which watermark is least annoying ;) (GameSpy does have the highest resolution versions though)

GameSpot also have an awesome <A HREF="http://www.gamespot.com/pc/rpg/worldofwarcraftexp1/media.html?page=1&sid=6155711&autoplay=6155711&part=rss&tag=gs_all_games&subj=6155711">interview video with Tom Chilton</a>. This is cool because it shows off a lot of new footage of the Blood Elf lands, Karazhan, Hellfire Peninsula, Caverns of Time, and more. There is also some cool information, though most of it is echoed from those previews.

Anyways, be sure to check them all out. Thanks to ScytheRexx and Vonhahn for pointing a few of these out :)

[Vicious]

Hellfire Citadel's raid wing, finally, will put a 25-man raid up against Magtheridon, a demonic pit lord whom Kargath has bonded into servitude.

Ha!

Guess we were all wrong.

[Creative]

Wait... So Kargath is the boss over Magtheridon, NOT the opposite?

o_o

[Kerrah]

How can a 5-man encounter enslave a 25-man one?

[Timolas]

One of the articles burnt my eyes.

Lady Vasj (not Vashj) the Naga queen?

Cockatrice better not look like plainstriders... and I hope elekks arent too big like Kodos... though since they are elephants they probably will be huge.

[Warlock]

One of the articles burnt my eyes.

Lady Vasj (not Vashj) the Naga queen?

Cockatrice better not look like plainstriders... and I hope elekks arent too big like Kodos... though since they are elephants they probably will be huge.

Yeah, and since when it is pronouned "Vosh"?

[Timolas]

I wonder why they chose elekks as Draenei mounts... don't like what I've seen of them.

Anyway, gryphons and wyverns seem nice as flying mounts.
The new PvP system; no idea if it will be good or bad to be honest. Buying stuff with honour is like Guild Wars; and although the old system of rankings was for hardcores it was still kinda fun... I hope they don't scrap ranks and stuff altogether.

Now that I think about it, PvP is starting to sound too much like Guild Wars.
The 3vs3 or whatever thing sounds almost exactly like the Guild Wars PvP matches, and the 'faction' (honour) you gain unlocks new things, just like honour will buy you stuff.
Not saying it is bad altogether, I'll wait to see how it turns out.
Anyway; it better be good. :sweatdrop

[Smeedle]

Here's a new interview with Jeff Kaplan:
http://www.joystiq.com/2006/08/11/exclusive-joystiq-interviews-wows-jeff-kaplan/

This statement by Kaplan made me laugh:
"Our goal was not to create a system that involved a massive amount of time investment, it's counter to all of WoW's designer philosophy. We've never been focused on trying to be a time sink."

Yeah, sure. Then why did you implement the friggin' Honor system in the first place if it's "counter to all of WoW's designer philosophy"? And what about all the reputation grind stuff? :raisedbro

[Creative]

The new Honor systems looks good on the papers, now I wait to see it in the game :)

And those Elekk's... No comment :(
Warp Stalkers would have been better.

[Cantus]

Here's a new interview with Jeff Kaplan:
http://www.joystiq.com/2006/08/11/exclusive-joystiq-interviews-wows-jeff-kaplan/

This statement by Kaplan made me laugh:
"Our goal was not to create a system that involved a massive amount of time investment, it's counter to all of WoW's designer philosophy. We've never been focused on trying to be a time sink."

Yeah, sure. Then why did you implement the friggin' Honor system in the first place if it's "counter to all of WoW's designer philosophy"? And what about all the reputation grind stuff? :raisedbro

They implemented the Honor System as a temporary patch up for the fact that world PvP was a pointless gank fest. Now that they've had time to actually work on a real solution (which is very similar to GW's PvP), they're finally putting it in.

I can tell you that during the GW beta, I did test out the arenas, and they were worthwhile if you wanted the PvP experience. So if that's Blizzard's base model, it's something they've done right.

As to timesinks, yeah, by the end-game, they were just repeating EQ. They're fixing that now, which is a major relief. There's hope yet that Blizzard hasn't fucked things up, that WoW was essentially the beta for this game, and tBC is the actual one.

[Kenzuki]

You haven't even SEEN what they look like in game for pete's sakes.

Also, this is what grabbed my attention, about Kharazan.


Finally, we got to see Kharazan. Much has been said about it already: It will be the entry-level raid instance in Burning Crusade, and it's tuned around 10-person groups of level 70s. It'll be on a raid lockout timer similar to what today's high-end instances are on and it has no wings -- it'll be just one huge instance. There will be around 10 bosses in its interior, the last of which is named Prince Malchazzar.

It appears that the master of Kharazan is not infact Teron Gorefiend at all (told ya so), but it is this Malchazzar fellow. I wonder just who he could be.... :vile:

[Warlock]

You haven't even SEEN what they look like in game for pete's sakes.

Also, this is what grabbed my attention, about Kharazan.




It appears that the master of Kharazan is not infact Teron Gorefiend at all (told ya so), but it is this Malchazzar fellow. I wonder just who he could be.... :vile:

Dread Lord obviously :P

[Creative]

The name sounds like a Dreadlords, but then, I wonder something else...

Is "Prince" just something he thought sounded cool or is he a royal?

[Kerrah]

"The Prince of Fleshbeasts"

BoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo.....

edit: I really haven't paid attention to this, but ten minutes ago i just realised what the Honor Rewamp means.

1000 HKs in a week is worth the same as 1000 HKs in a month. Finally i can get these items, even if i cant be online 24/7.

I love blizzard in moments like this.

[Warlock]

"The Prince of Fleshbeasts"

BoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo.....

edit: I really haven't paid attention to this, but ten minutes ago i just realised what the Honor Rewamp means.

1000 HKs in a week is worth the same as 1000 HKs in a month. Finally i can get these items, even if i cant be online 24/7.

I love blizzard in moments like this.

Yeah no kidding. Though I wonder how they will handle ranks - will it be based on how many points you have? (i.e. you lose ranks by spending them)

[Kenzuki]

It would be gay to find out a dread lord is the dark master in Kharazan.

[Vicious]

They are definatly getting their shit straight from all the info, from the honor revamp which was fucking obvious from the begining to the 10/25 man dungeons, they must have kicked the everquest designers in the balls.

And finally people will shut up about the Teron Gorefiend fanwank but i hope it´s not some random Dreadlord.


And Cockatrice?! What the fuck is that, a giant chicken?

Edit: Lady Vosh...some of the articles are terrible when it comes to writting, especially 1p.

[Kenzuki]

A Cockatrice is usually a beast depicted as half rooster and half serpent, or half rooster and half dragon. At any rate, the gaze of the beast is said to either kill you out right, petrify you into stone, or poison you. I'm guessing it's going to be a landbased cousin of the Dragonhawk personally.

[Warlock]

This is a Cockatrice:
http://www.visualart.ro/test/data/media/110/cockatrice.jpg

[ARM3481]

"Malchazzar" doesn't necessarily have to be a dreadlord. The Qiraji are just as liberal with the z's and x's in their naming conventions as the Nathrezim are, so the use of such names seems to be mostly intended to project a general sense of the "alien and bizarre".

Since the Fleshbeasts are supposed to be from some realm seperate from Azeroth, Outland and the Twisting Nether, there's no telling where most of Kharazan's current inhabitants might have originated. Could be that the whole place has been taken over by the rampant leftovers of Medivh's experiments. He might have left numerous "gateways" and such partway intact from other planes of reality, allowing a vast spectrum of otherworldly horrors to slowly spill out into the tower and take up residence since it was abandoned. Just because the Outland portion of the expansion is largely focused on the Burning Legion and the Twisting Nether doesn't mean that all the new PvE content is. A good example of such would be Zul'Aman. That probably won't have much directly connecting it to Outland (especially given its level range, but also since there's no real need to involve the Forest Trolls in the whole Burning Legion storyline. In fact, historically, the Trolls seem to have managed to remain mostly out of the Legion's path during its two successful landfalls on Azeroth, with only a few vague reference made to the likelihood of skirmishes along their empires' borders during the War of the Ancients.

[Creative]

If it's just a big fleshbeast, well.... D:


And I wonder of Warcraft Cockatrices is gonna turn out, and COCKatrices is impossible to write in WoW, so they gotta come up with a new name.
((Also to stop lame jokes like "Female BE's likes nothing more than a big COCKatrices between the legs)) :(

[Timolas]

About the Dreadlord thing; maybe they did another spelling mistake if it is really a dreadlord.
In Wc3 a random Dreadlord name was Maldazzar.
Could have been a typo on the article's part, I mean... Lady Vosh?

Not saying it really is a Dreadlord, but if it is it could be a typo name.

[Tularis]

I know there wasn't much chance of it being Teron Gorefiend, but it would be cool if he did show up at some point. He was such a cool and sinister character.

[Warlock]

About the Dreadlord thing; maybe they did another spelling mistake if it is really a dreadlord.
In Wc3 a random Dreadlord name was Maldazzar.
Could have been a typo on the article's part, I mean... Lady Vosh?

Not saying it really is a Dreadlord, but if it is it could be a typo name.

Possibly, though he wasn't famous or anything. But yeah, they were idiots with the naming typos in that, so maybe. I almost think they just talked to the guy and spelt the stuff phonetically, so that's what happened there. Granted it would have taken them two seconds to google "The Frozen Throne" and found out they spelled Vashj wrong, or hell, a big place like GameSpot - surely someone has played the game and would know.

[Kenzuki]

If it's just a big fleshbeast, well.... D:


And I wonder of Warcraft Cockatrices is gonna turn out, and COCKatrices is impossible to write in WoW, so they gotta come up with a new name.
((Also to stop lame jokes like "Female BE's likes nothing more than a big COCKatrices between the legs)) :(


What the hell are you trying to say? :confused:

[Kerrah]

Many many many Dreadlord names end with -ar...

[KardenTheHunter]

BOOM! Elekk http://www.scrollsoflore.com/gallery/displayimage.php?album=58&pos=37

Honestly, I think the Elekk's are awesome. I'm jealous of the Draenei now. I wish Tauren could get an Elekk mount! That way I'd get one for meh troll! Well maybe they'll put one in as a special mount! Here's hoping! :D

Plus I think that Elekk's will look a whole lot better in game then the new Cockatrice. Seeing as how the Blood Elves are "pretty" I doubt Blizz will give them a very "fierce" example of a Cockatrice. When I heard that the BE mount was a Cockatrice I honestly thought "Chocobos..got it." Cause look at the Dragon Hawk in WCIII. I don't see any "Dragon" in there whatsoever. And if a Cockatrice is essentially the land form of a Dragon Hawk then I doubt there'll be much "Dragon" in it. And that's all I have to say about that. :kawaii:

[Ravenclaw2099]

BOOM! Elekk http://www.scrollsoflore.com/gallery/displayimage.php?album=58&pos=37

Honestly, I think the Elekk's are awesome. I'm jealous of the Draenei now. I wish Tauren could get an Elekk mount! That way I'd get one for meh troll! Well maybe they'll put one in as a special mount! Here's hoping! :D

Plus I think that Elekk's will look a whole lot better in game then the new Cockatrice. Seeing as how the Blood Elves are "pretty" I doubt Blizz will give them a very "fierce" example of a Cockatrice. When I heard that the BE mount was a Cockatrice I honestly thought "Chocobos..got it." Cause look at the Dragon Hawk in WCIII. I don't see any "Dragon" in there whatsoever. And if a Cockatrice is essentially the land form of a Dragon Hawk then I doubt there'll be much "Dragon" in it. And that's all I have to say about that. :kawaii:

Damn, I hope you're wrong about that. The Horde always had the more "savage" and intimidating animals for mounts (Save for th NE Panthers.. I would rather face a charge of Horses, Rams, and Mechanostriders instead of wolves, raptors, and angry Kodo beasts.)

Now their new "allies" will be riding giant chickens, while the Draenei get cool War-elephant type creatures...joy.

[Smeedle]

But yeah, they were idiots with the naming typos in that, so maybe. I almost think they just talked to the guy and spelt the stuff phonetically, so that's what happened there.
Speaking of stupid typos and just spelling stuff phonetically. Did you read this interview with Mike Morhaime (http://blogs.mercurynews.com/aei/2006/08/an_interview_wi.html)? According to the interview Mr Morhaime plays a "night owl hunter". :buck:
There are a few other stupid spelling mistakes in there too that show the interviewer has no clue about WoW at all.

[Timolas]

Speaking of stupid typos and just spelling stuff phonetically. Did you read this interview with Mike Morhaime (http://blogs.mercurynews.com/aei/2006/08/an_interview_wi.html)? According to the interview Mr Morhaime plays a "night owl hunter". :buck:
There are a few other stupid spelling mistakes in there too that show the interviewer has no clue about WoW at all.

night owl hunter huh.
Well I'll say. That's a new level of clueless.

[Kerrah]

Some guy in the website who knows something about the thing the interview is about should check those before they embaress themselves.

[Yuber8900]

Some guy in the website who knows something about the thing the interview is about should check those before they embaress themselves.

But then it wouldn't be funny.

[Kenzuki]

Guys, no where has it been said that the Cockatrice is a giant freaking chicken ok? For all we know it could be a four legged, land Dragonhawk!

[Kerrah]

Guys, no where has it been said that the Cockatrice is a giant freaking chicken ok? For all we know it could be a four legged, land Dragonhawk!
But then people couldn't say stupid Chocobo jokes! That would be massacre.

[Warlock]

Guys, no where has it been said that the Cockatrice is a giant freaking chicken ok? For all we know it could be a four legged, land Dragonhawk!

I imagine it will be. They could even give it the backstory about being a form of Dragonhawk that can't fly (i.e. like in Day of the Dragon - the dragons the Orcs were using to scout on land because their wings were damaged or whatever)

[Kenzuki]

Exactly, this whole damn make fun of every new piece of lore or information is started to piss me off. Cockatrices are cool mythological creatures and the Elekk's look cool in their art as well.

[Kenzuki]

About the Dreadlord thing; maybe they did another spelling mistake if it is really a dreadlord.
In Wc3 a random Dreadlord name was Maldazzar.
Could have been a typo on the article's part, I mean... Lady Vosh?

Not saying it really is a Dreadlord, but if it is it could be a typo name.

Actually I just looked it up and interestingly, Lord Maldazzar was not a Dread Lord, he was a Death Knight... :evil:

[Vicious]

All this foreshadowing for the scourge?

I hope it´s some third party.

[Kakwakas]

Exactly, this whole damn make fun of every new piece of lore or information is started to piss me off. Cockatrices are cool mythological creatures and the Elekk's look cool in their art as well.

Think of it as hazing. Everything new gets hazed, then accepted.

[Warlock]

Exactly, this whole damn make fun of every new piece of lore or information is started to piss me off. Cockatrices are cool mythological creatures and the Elekk's look cool in their art as well.

I think Elekks look a bit too goofy (too short and stumpy or something), but we shall see when they show their in-game art.

They still aught to offer Unicorns as like a special mount though (like a lvl 70 quest or something - by that point if you havn't spent 100g on a mount it's not a big deal to give one away free :D)

[Timolas]

Actually I just looked it up and interestingly, Lord Maldazzar was not a Dread Lord, he was a Death Knight... :evil:

Awch... well I didn't really play melee a lot. Name sounded familiar and somehow remembered it as a Dreadlord. Hoe well. :P

I'll lock myself in the bathroom with a packet of cigars, a bottle of whisky and forget my sorrows.

[Ravenclaw2099]

Exactly, this whole damn make fun of every new piece of lore or information is started to piss me off. Cockatrices are cool mythological creatures and the Elekk's look cool in their art as well.

I've only heard of the Cokatice a few times, forgot it was part of the part of the medeival lore. Now if that's what the Blood Elves get then its fine, Blizzard is known for taking convential fantasy creatures and giving them a twist (Wyvern, Chimaeras to name a few.) I only make them out to be chickens to be sracstic, They could end up looking pretty cool.

I still agree with the Elekks, they remind me of War Elephants which are some of my favorite medevial units (Partially due to the fact my ancestors rode them into battle :p). Go Stampy! Crush them all! :D

[Kenzuki]

Well the Draenei look pretty big so they needed something big to support them. Also would it not be cool to have a dwarven warrior riding one of those babies with armor into battle hehe?

[Warlock]

Well the Draenei look pretty big so they needed something big to support them. Also would it not be cool to have a dwarven warrior riding one of those babies with armor into battle hehe?

I doubt they can. Can Orcs ride Kodos?

[Kenzuki]

I doubt they can. Can Orcs ride Kodos?

Yup, sure can.

[Vicious]

I doubt they can. Can Orcs ride Kodos?

Since warcraft 3, man.

[Yuber8900]

I have access to a Hunter that can.

[Kerrah]

Orcs have been able to ride Kodos for... Wait, that was taurens riding wolves.

[Yuber8900]

Huh, I'm having Jalat flashbacks all of a sudden....

[Timolas]

Orcs have been able to ride Kodos for... Wait, that was taurens riding wolves.

Orcs are too big for the wolves they ride in WoW already... but Tauren on Wolves... X_x

[Kenzuki]

Seriously why the hell did Draenei get hunters? There's like no damn connection in there anywhere. Unless it's some other Broken tradition or something.

[Timolas]

Seriously why the hell did Draenei get hunters? There's like no damn connection in there anywhere. Unless it's some other Broken tradition or something.

No idea why they did, but since they did I'll be trying them out. :P Can't stand playing any other class for more than 10 levels.

[Yuber8900]

Seriously why the hell did Draenei get hunters? There's like no damn connection in there anywhere. Unless it's some other Broken tradition or something.

They can't be Druids, Warlocks, or Rogues what other class could they be?

[Kerrah]

They can't be Druids, Warlocks, or Rogues what other class could they be?
Why cant they actually be rogues?

Dranei (broken) were shown as an assasin race (which would have explained why Garona was so good in that) in tFT, did they just learn it out of nowhere when they deformed?

[Kenzuki]

Why cant they actually be rogues?

Dranei (broken) were shown as an assasin race (which would have explained why Garona was so good in that) in tFT, did they just learn it out of nowhere when they deformed?

Garona is not half draenei.

[Kerrah]

Garona is not half draenei.
Yeah, but it would have explained everything. Now "Broken" are too new of a race to have a half-member as old as Garona.

[Kenzuki]

She can't even be half of an uncorrupted Draenei now. She looked nothing like the Dranei.

[Yuber8900]

Her being human still makes the most sense according to the oldest Lore source. And thus that makes it the most accurate.

[Kerrah]

Her being human still makes the most sense according to the oldest Lore source. And thus that makes it the most accurate.
And at which point would her mother be inpregnated if she is already ~25 when she kills Llane?

It may be that some mage who studied teleportation magic accidentally ended in Draenor and fell in love with an Orc of the opposing Gender.

[Yuber8900]

And at which point would her mother be inpregnated if she is already ~25 when she kills Llane?

It may be that some mage who studied teleportation magic accidentally ended in Draenor and fell in love with an Orc of the opposing Gender.


And you imply my idea is silly.

[Kerrah]

And you imply my idea is silly.
Its the only case i can see a human being one of Garona's parents.

[Kenzuki]

I don't think she was 25 at the time. The old timeline was worked so that she could have been a teenager when it happened. Medivh theorized that Draenor once had humans or near humans, at least within living memory. And the Eredar were sure as hell NOT humanlike.

[Yuber8900]

Garona's mother is an Old God, it's the only thing that makes sense.

[Kerrah]

Garona's mother is an Old God, it's the only thing that makes sense.
That and my mage theory.

[Kenzuki]

Garona is an Old God!

[Kakwakas]

Back on cockatrices here, it's been mentioned in a few places (WoWWiki and the general forums, urk) that in Lands of Conflict, there's mention that dragonhawks are sometimes used as ground support until they're old enough to fly. If someone can confirm that, then maybe Warcraft cockatrices are just young dragonhawks. Something I'd like very much if they turn out looking cool. <3

[Tularis]

Is it actually that impossible an idea that a humanoid race has visited Dreanor before, in partial secret so that no real records of it are found? There must have been a few damn powerful Highborne back then, or maybe a troll here and there. Heck, who knows what humans were around before documented history, considering their aptitude for magic. Surely the thoughgt of discovering new worlds would have been something on the agenda of ambitious invididuals.

[Warlock]

Back on cockatrices here, it's been mentioned in a few places (WoWWiki and the general forums, urk) that in Lands of Conflict, there's mention that dragonhawks are sometimes used as ground support until they're old enough to fly. If someone can confirm that, then maybe Warcraft cockatrices are just young dragonhawks. Something I'd like very much if they turn out looking cool. <3

You know, even if that is true, I sort of doubt Blizzard based it on that. More than likely that was flavor added by the author. And while the RPG books are canon, Blizzard never hesitates to ignore them and write completely different crap when they feel like it :P

So while that may be true and that may be the case, I have a feeling it will more be out of coincidence than Blizzard actually reading that :P Of course, there is always the off-chance that the RPG guys got that information from Blizzard. But I sort of doubt it.

Edit: Also, come to think of it, just because they are on land doesn't necessarily mean they would change the name. I find it more likely for the Cockatrice to be a cousin of the Dragonhawks.

[Kenzuki]

I just reread the Dragonhawk section of LoC, nothing about that in there I'm afraid. And yeah the Cockatrice is likely a relative.

1. A Dragonhawk is a being seen as half dragon and half hawk (dur :p )

2. A Cockatrice is generally seen as a half cock and half serpent or dragon.

Given the Blizzard version of the Chimera (which is nothing like it's namesake) the Cockatrice could end up being something really cool.