Spugnort's

Archive for November, 2008

 

 

 Well there is only one real sentiment for the gift Blizzard has bestowed upon us all in celebration of the fourth anniversary of WoW…Awwww.  This little guy is cute as a button.  I know I will take him everywhere with me as my faithful and loyal companion. 

There have been a few things in my time playing WoW that have made me feel all warm and fuzzy inside like feeding Kyle the Frenzied in Bloodhoof Village for the first time, or how about bringing the Reef Bulls to the Reef Cows in Howling Fjord so they can fall in love. 

In a game where there is so much emphasis placed on cleansing the world of the vermon that have dared to invade and crushing the opposing faction in PvP, it is nice to see that we can all take a look into the eyes of this precious little polar bear and see the hope and innocence he brings to our lives.

Too wishy-washy?  Yeah I thought so.

Anyhow, thanks Blizz for the anniversary gift and don’t think I forgot to get you something…my account payment is on the way…I promise!

WotLK introduced tons of new content, a new player class and a completely new type of item.  Heirloom aka Bind to Account (BoA) items are those which aren’t tied to any one character but rather to an account which allows you to pass them from alt to alt on the account of the character who originally purchased the item.  You cannot hand them off to friends or mail them to a char on another account.

None of these items are drops at this point, but are rewards for the more seasoned players in the game and can be purchased using either Emblems of Heroism for items geared toward PvE play or Stone Keeper’s Shards for items geared toward PvP play.

Emblems of Heroism are the Wrath equivilent to the Badge of Justice from BC and can be acquired by beating heroic bosses in 10 man raids.  The items you can purchase using this currency are listed below and are sold by various vendors in Dalaran.

·         Champion Herod’s Shoulders

·         Tattered Dreadmist Mantle

·         Stained Shadowcraft Spaulders

·         Preened Ironfeather Shoulders

·         Polished Spaulders of Valor

·         Mystical Pauldrons of Elements

·         Venerable Dal’Rend’s Sacred Charge

·         Dignified Headmaster’s Charge

·         Devout Aurastone Hammer

·         Charmed Ancient Bone Bow

·         Bloodied Arcanite Reaper

·         Balanced Heartseeker

·         Inherited Insignia of the Horde / Alliance

·         Discerning Eye of the Beast

·         Swift Hand of Justice

 

Stone Keeper’s Shards are acquired from bosses in dungeons when your faction wins Lake Wintergrasp and you receive the faction wide “Essence of Wintergrasp” buff.  These work much like the Spirit Shards from BC.  Each boss will typically drop 2-3 shards in both normal and heroic.  The items you can purchase using this currency are listed below and are available from vendors in Lake Wintergrasp.

·         Battleworn Thrash Blade

·         Grand Staff of Jordan

·         Upgraded Dwarven Hand Cannon

·         The Blessed Hammer of Grace

·         Sharpened Scarlet Kris

·         Reforged Truesilver Champion

·         Strengthened Stockade Pauldrons

·         Prized Beastmaster’s Mantle

·         Pristine Lightforge Spaulders

·         Lasting Feralheart Spaulders

·         Exquisite Sunderseer Mantle

·         Exceptional Stormshroud Shoulders

·         Aged Pauldrons of The Five Thunders

·         Inherited Insignia of the Alliance / Horde

·         Wintergrasp Commendation

 

Ok, so that’s how Heirloom Items work and a little info on how and where you get them.  Keep in mind though that you may want to buy other cool items for your main before blowing your currency on these items for your alt(s).  If you are going to take the plunge let us recommend that you buy the shoulders first, after all who could pass up a passive 10% XP bonus for an alt!?

Hey everyone!

I had the priviledge of being in beta for months before the release of WotLK, so I was able to have my go at Northrend before most people.  This included tinkering around with the new player class, the Death Knight.  I started a couple of them and put several levels on them, and while I liked the class I knew it was just a novelty for me!  I am a hunter through and through.  So, when the expansion was officially released, there was no question for me which of my characters would be first to level 80.

However, I was in Shatt just the other day and I noticed I was completely surrounded by Death Knights!  They were everywhere!  So, I get that this is a novelty…new class and all, but it got me thinking.  I wonder how many of these players will abandon their old classes and stick with the DK?

So, I thought I’d put it out there to you guys.  Have you tried out the new class? If so, will you play it for a bit and then return to your previous favorite or are you fully converted and destined to be a hardcore DK forever? Or, is it just too soon to tell?

Let me know!

That’s right, folks you heard me.  TwentyFifth November, the UberGuild formed as a result of the merger of two of the worlds BEST raiding guilds (SK Gaming & Nihilum), has downed Malygos!  Malygos is currently the end and supposedly most difficult boss of the current WotLK content.  The next bosses, Icecrown and Arthas, will be made accessible in a future patch.

Ok, so let’s get this straight, this means that within 3 days of WotLK launch a guild has leveled their characters to MAX (although a few members of the raid were not yet 80) and taken down all bosses and therefore defeated all available raid content!?  Now, I know Blizzard has been on a mission as of late to tone down the game and make end game content more accessible even to casual players, but this seems a bit absurd!

I don’t know, I guess we wait ad see how long it takes for another guild to accomplish this task after all these are the Ultra Elite players! 

I know that before the expansion was released Blizzard was getting nothing but love it seemed for toning down BC instances and raids and removing keying requirements.  This seemed to yank everyone right off the beta servers and into BC PvE content some had never had the honor of experiencing before.  I, like many, thought this was a great idea for many players and hey it got people back into the game!  However I know when I reach 80 I WANT my end game content to be difficult, challenging, and (call me selfish) somewhat exclusive!

What we want to know now is what YOU think of all of this!  Do you think Blizzard has “Dumbed down” WoW too much or are you happy to see that more people are able to enjoy game content they had never before experienced?

So, the World First player to reach 80 (Nymh, a Warlock) stated in an interview that he accomplished the task by grinding mobs in Drakil’Jin for 26 hours straight! He was accompanied by a guildmate healer and looted no mob to save time.  By doing this he gave up approximately 5k gold!  Don’t try and follow in his footsteps, though as Blizz hotfixed this area in the blink of an eye when they heard the news.  Oh well, only one player can be first anyways, so congrats to him!

Highlights

• The Heavy Metal event has begun… Fight and adventure for your chance to play the Knight of The Blazing Sun and The Blackguard before anyone else!
• Character collision in RvR has been improved. Players should no longer move sporadically when being blocked by another player.
• Players who go AFK while in Public Quest areas or during keep sieges will no longer receive contribution credit towards those encounters.

General Changes and Bug Fixes

• There were some instances in which the reticule for ground-target-area-effect abilities was allowing these spells to be cast in areas which were not originally intended. This has been adjusted.
• Several issues have been addressed that previously allowed players to get to locations they were not supposed to be able to reach.
• Players will no longer appear mounted when they are not.

Realm vs. Realm

• Fixed several issues that caused the User Interface to display improper Zone Control information. Objectives and Keep icons as well as the Zone Control bar will now properly display the status of contested zones in Tier 4.
• Tier 4 Zones: Based on player feedback, we have reduced the number of Scenario Victory Points required for Zone Control. Also, Battlefield Objectives and Keeps are now worth more Victory Points, and capturing a T4 zone can be accomplished more quickly than before.

Warhammer Online Web Site

• The Realm WAR offers many new features to help you stay in the game even when you can’t login! Check out the changes for yourself and visit realmwar.warhammeronline.com.
• Changed Realm War section of the web site to reflect new navigation options
• Added Realm War selection page with server status and direct links to RvR Racial Pairing pages of each server
• Racial Pairing pages display current status and level of each city, status of the Tier 4 campaign, and victory point sliders for each zone
• Added maps of each zone focusing on RvR lakes with the status of each objective and keep, as well as Guild keep ownership, and when the keep was last taken
• Provided a Campaign status pop-up so players can keep a discrete tab on the progress of the war on their server

Spugnort’s World Gaming Network Members,

We are posting this today to address the recent concerns that many of you have voiced to us. We would first like to say we appreciate your business and always value your feedback, whether positive or negative.

On that note, the first issue we would like to address is the matter of product pricing. Some of you, we know, are very upset about the pricing structure which some network authors have used to list their product(s) which are available for Wrath of the Lich King.  While we do host these products and offer them for resale, each guide author runs their own individual business and as such they are free to set prices as they see fit. While we do not always agree with them, we have no legal standing to force them to sell at a price other than what they have stated. This has always been our policy and is the policy of many other digital marketplaces on the web today.

The second issue we would like to handle is that of guarantees of free updates for products. When you purchase a product from any of our network authors there are free updates offered for THAT product for anywhere from 1 year to a lifetime. This means that any updates the author does to the product as it was when you bought it will be given to you free of charge. An example of items falling under the scope of free updates would be all those related to patches which change the way leveling, PvP, professions, etc. work in the game. However, product upgrades or entirely new products such as those related to an expansion of the game are not typically covered under this guarantee.

As consumers you have choice to buy or not to buy a given product.  If you are truly unhappy with a product or product author, our suggestion to you would be to seek out other products or solutions that suit your needs. Our network provides alternatives for nearly every product offered. Please do some initial research and choose the product you feel will suit you best. After all what we want in the end are satisfied customers who are truly getting the most out of their gaming experience.

~ Spugnort

We have been very busy over the course of the last couple months gettings guide content updated and written for the release of the Wrath of the Lich King expansion for World of Warcraft.  On or before launch day for the expansion we will have the following guides ready:

Spugnort’s 1-80 Horde Leveling Guide

• Completely updated with 3.0 quest paths and experience changes
• Covers all starting zones, including the Death Knight
• Available for Download in PDF form
• Full in-game leveling mod included FREE!

Spugnort’s Instance and Raid Strategy Guide

• Covers all 5, 10, and 25 man encounters in the Outland
• Covers 5 mans in Northrend
• Strategies are being developed for 10/25 man content in Northrend
• All boss fights, abilities, and drops are covered

We are currently working on the following guides and anticipate Wrath of the Lich King updates shortly after launch:

Spugnort’s 1-80 Alliance Leveling Guide

• This guide is being expanded to cover the new quest lines and experience changes in WoW 3.0
• An in-game mod is being added to make leveling even easier
• All existing quest lines are being revamped to include experience changes

Spugnort PvP Guide

• While we would have loved to have this one ready for launch, there simply wasn’t enough information about how PvP will work in WotLK. As soon as we have a chance to dig in and start developing new PvP strategies, we will update this guide ASAP.

Spugnort’s Gold Making Guide

• Again, we would have loved to have this guide ready for launch, but without an active in-game economy for us to detail, there was simply no way to provide reliable information during the beta. As players begin moving into Northrend, the new professions are learned, and the auction house stocked, we will review the economic situation and publish an update for this guide ASAP.

Spugnort’s Reputation Guide

• During our beta testing, we did not actively persue reputation gains. This guide will be updated with Northrend factions once we have had time to develop our characters on the live servers.

While questing in the Outland for (I’m ashamed to admit ) the first time I came accross quite a few things that puzzled me, irritated me or frustrated me, however I was always able to figure things out. But I have to say I was at quite a loss when it came to one particular quest in the Area 52 part of Netherstorm…Dr. Boom!  All I wanted to do was kill that annoying little butthead so I could complete the quest, get my XP and move on with my life…huh easier said than done!  I tried a few times to be sneaky and quick but to no avail.  He killed me, not I him.  It was with great reluctance that I asked my hubby for help…I mean I know he’s been around the block a few times so he’s wiser (well, at least when it comes to WoW).  I just like to be able to claim that “I figured it out all by myself!” (oh geesh, I sound like I’m 3)  Anyhow, he was able to set me up with a strategy that truly made the quest as easy as pie for my beastmastry hunter, so I figured I would share it with you in hopes of saving some poor frustrated soul the agony of attempting this task in a conventional way…it won’t work and the repair bill really sucks!

So, here’s what to do:
1. Tell your pet to “Stay”
2. Wait for an opening in the march of his little suicidal bomber minions
3. Step in and throw down a frost trap – this will cause the little minions to explode on contact of the ice so they never get close to you!  Boy…this quest just got a whole lot easier already!
4. While the frost trap is active take a few steps toward Dr. Boom and chuck the “Boom’s Doom” bombs at him (these are the only things that even hurt him…you can shoot him all day and he will just stand there!!)  Just be sure to throw one, walk out of his range and then go back to throw another once the cooldown is up.  If you stay there he will throw things back at you, and they do not tickle!

All you need to do is repeat these steps until the meniacle little goblin dies and voila! 12k XP, nearly 4g and a decent piece of armor.  Whew!  was I glad when that was done.  I decided after that I had to go into town and see Boots (the bartender) and get me a mug of Cherry Grog to wash away the stress.  Ahhh yes….much better now!

Below are the 3.0.3 Patch Notes.  Keep in mind it is possible they could change, but this is what we are anticipating!

General

• Removed “A Mask for All Occasions” as criteria for the “Hallowed Be thy Name” meta achievement.
• Replenishment: Players below level 50 can now benefit from this effect.
• Resilience: The damage reduction component of resilience has been increased from 2 times the critical strike chance reduction to 2.2 times the critical strike chance reduction. In addition, the maximum damage reduction to a critical strike from resilience has been increased from 30% to 33%.

Racial

• Blood Fury: No longer triggers global cooldown.
• Shadowmeld: The cooldown will now start on use instead of on break.

Druids

• Druid talents points have been refunded. Players will need to visit a class trainer to relearn spells and abilities.
• The Swift Flight Form is now available on the trainer at level 71, requiring 300 riding skill, and Flight Form learned.
• Bash: The interrupt from this ability will now work on targets that are immune to the stun.
• Berserk: Now clears the cooldown on Mangle Bear.
• Earth and Moon and Moonfury (Balance) reduced from 5 ranks each to 3 ranks each.
• Eclipse: Buff duration extended to 15 sec and bonuses doubled. The cooldown has been increased to 40 seconds.
• Growl: Cooldown changed to 8 sec.
• Insect Swarm: Tooltip corrected to indicate it does not affect hit chance with spells.
• Moonkin: Only single target spell critical strikes can trigger the mana gain from this talent.
• Nature’s Swiftness: This ability will no longer give chances to trigger Omen of Clarity.
• Omen of Clarity: Will no longer be triggered by the Honorless Target buff gained when entering the world.
• Survival Instincts will no longer be on the Global Cooldown.
• Swiftmend: now benefits correctly from Genesis talent.
• Tiger’s Fury: Ranks 5 and 6 have had their damage bonus decreased.

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