Garrosh Confirmed!! ...Frick!

You can forget about your George Bush or your Barack Obama messing things up, depending on which side of the aisle you're looking at things from. Neither one of them would compare to the potential damage Garrosh Hellscream can cause, and now it has been confirmed by blue posts. Garrosh will be the new leader of the Horde.

Garrosh is confirmed to be the new leader of the Horde. He has redesigned Orgrimmar and the Taurens and Orcs are the only races allowed in the center of the city because they're the only ones strong enough to defend it.

That's pretty whacked out news although not entirely unexpected. Except the part about Taurens and Orcs being the only ones allowed in the center of Org. What the hell is up with that? I'm especially surprised around the Tauren being there considering there are rumors floating that Garrosh is going to kill Cairne Bloodhoof after he takes over. Are the tauren actually going to follow Garrosh after losing their beloved chieftan? I find that unlikely, so I'm wondering if certain deals are being made with certain old tauren crones who live in parts of Thunder Bluff. Interesting.

Now I'm waiting for the news that Jaina Proudmoore gets ousted from Theramore by Varian Wrynn to reflect what happens with Thrall.

*sigh* Patch Day

Patch day makes Baby Thrall angrier than anything Blackmoore ever did, including the killing of what's-her-name.

Patch day makes Dak want to zap alliance faces with lightning and Waltz want to burn down entire forests.

Patch day punches Chuck Norris in the nads and forces him to ask for seconds.

Patch day could end a marriage.

Patch day could very well make Deathwing think twice about coming out of Deepholm.

Patch day could make Varian Wrynn and Garrosh Hellscream think of peace and tea parties.

Those Old World Blues, Part 2: Was It All For Nothing!?! :(

Last night, Voodoo Reborn took Onyxia by storm for what might be the very last time in her Old World version. She's getting a revamp to a level 80 version raid in Patch 3.2.2. It was all a hope that I could get the chapter of "Draconic For Dummies" that she possesses.

Well, we went in and ROFL Stomped her pretty easily. Not much the poor girl can do against eight level 80 miscreants like us...at least not yet. Dak went in to check the loots and get the chapter...and there was no chapter.

Then I read this from WoW Wiki:

* Note: These pieces are white items thus they are in the round-robin loot table and cannot be master-looted.

That means, for chapter 1, 6, 8 that require a raid, you have to ask the raid leader to change the loot rule to 'Free for all' or ask the owner of the corpse to check boss' corpse even if he doesn't have this quest. In the later case, if the owner logs off or HSs, this will make effort in vain. Before patch 2.3 you had to ask every single member of the raid to check the corpse in order to find out who'd be the owner, but now it's already possible to check this on the tooltip.

As well, page number 8 from Ragnaros has a time limit upon entering MC. The precise time is unknown, but it is relatively short, under two hours at least. If you are trying for the page, it is suggested to avoid as much trash as possible to maximize your available time for bosses.

Whatinthe... Fuckin' Hell, Blizzard! It's been what...four years since you guys put that quest out and you couldn't fix this shit? That's just sad! Now, unfortunately, I might not get my book chapter and I'll be sitting around wondering if the effort so far, the week of grinding sand and bugs, becoming a gnome with a red turban, was all for nothing. I sent a ticket to Blizzard reps and hopefully I can get reimbursed. Hopefully.

UPDATE: Blizzard reimbursed me for the item! Thank you for not making the trip a total waste of time Blizzard, I do appreciate that! :)

Those Old World Blues

Frickin' hell I hate Azshara. The zone I mean, not the NPC, though I'm sure the zone is appropriately named after a total bitch night elf. This place has got to be one of the most convoluted zones ever made for WoW. Not quite as bad as old Everquest's Butcher Block Mountains and other various mountain zones back then, but still a pain in the ass. Funny thing is that Azshara is set to become the new level 10 to 20 zone for Goblins, possibly for orcs and trolls too at least since Barrens will be getting deep fried.

Ah well, best to get done with the crappy stuff early on, yes?

I still had to go into Azshara to find Azuregos the blue dragon. Many people would recognize him as world raid boss of Vanilla WoW. I find him to be a very interesting and amusing character, excentric even for a dragon. The conversation to get the "Draconic Ledger" questline going was hilarious.

But...come on Blizz, you guys got to get a grip on some of your scripts. Thankfully this is a really old questline and you might have learned a few things since then, but... An orc or any other race other than dwarves saying "By Bronzebeard's...er, Beard" to Azuregos. Just what they hell is that all about?

Anyway, that led to some odd experiences. I'll just say that I hope I never have to see Dak dressed in the guise of a gnome with a red turban and a curly mustache again. Ever.

*Screenshot pending of that* 0_o

Sand And Bugs, Part 5

Done.

I am now neutral with Brood of Nozdormu.

Just shy of permantently going completely cat-shit crazy from the drudgery of that grind.

0_o

And with that neutrality I was finally able to speak with the bronze dragon, Anachronus. I got to see the intro to the whole Shifting Sands war that happened a thousand years in WoW lore past, how the Scepter of Shifting Sands got broken, and how AQ first got sealed. Positively loregasmic stuff I must say!

Now, ONWARD!

I have a certain point that needs to be achieved in order to be ready for our Onyxia run tonight.

Possible Name and Class Difference?

I've been toying with ideas for my goblin lately. First is what class he is going to be. Oringinally I was thinking of making him a fired specced mage with all of its AOE fire based nuclear glory, but then I think of a class that is potentially every bit as destructive as the fire mage, the destruction specced warlock.

The pros of this are that I enjoy the lock a little bit more than the mage. It's more suited to my play style I thin. I tried the mage with Janusath, my blood elf mage, and I found that it's not really my style of play. I probably could get used to it though if I really tried, but I honestly think a goblin warlock actually sounds a bit more fun than a goblin mage.

On the other hand, I already have a warlock, my undead Waltz. I probably could level another one though just to have a goblin with one of the coolest classes around. It's something to think about.

Secondly, I'm having thoughts about the name as well. Earlier, I had the name of Jonesrogen on reserve, and I still do in case I change my mind, but now I also have the name of Jetzeppelin on reserve too. I'm not sure which one to take.

....Actually, I could create one of each.

Jonesrogen the goblin mage or Jetzeppelin the goblin warlock. I like it! :)

Sand and Bugs, Part 4

An update. I am no longer hated with the Brood of Nozdormu. Yay! 3K through Hostile then another 3K through Unfriendly, and I'll finally be at neutral!

I Knew It Was Something Engineering!!!

I knew this item existed somewhere in WoW after seeing it used a few times in PvP videos. Something that looked like flaming rocket shoes that made you run really fast, used really effectively in PvP escapes. They looked really cool, though I was kind of clueless on what they were, until now anyway.

With my growing obsession with goblin mage engineers, I've been paying a bit more attention to engineering and the stuff that comes with it, and now I see that engineers have items like Nitro Boosts which can be attached to boots.

Awesome!! :D

So, imagine a goblin engineer mage with a PvP fire or arcane spec. He potentially has three different possible escapes from classes with melee, or three ways to close in quickly and deliver some nasty dragon breath, arcane explosions, or frost novas.

Blink, of course, always their for mages.
Nitro Boost
Goblin rocket boot racial.

In the hands of a skilled player, I anticipate many, many pissed off alliance gnashing their teetch at escaping gnomes! It's going to be awesome! :D

Sand and Bugs, Part 3: Where's the Sense of it All?!?

Here we have a map of the Old Azeroth zone of Silithus, which has been my home of Sand and Bugs for the past four days. That's all that's really there though: sand and bugs and a big gate into Ahn'Qiraj. In vanilla WoW before Burning Crusade, this zone along with Eastern Plaguelands and Winterspring were the highest level areas in the game. In my opinion this place was the most dangerous area in the game, with three huge silithid hives that were previously filled with lvl 60 elite bugs. In between each is a bunch of worms, spiders, scorpions, and other nasty crap, including various camps of Twilight Hammer cultists. It's not a pleasent place to spend a vacation.

Today, with everyone being level 80 and all the bugs in the three hives no longer elite, this zone is a pushover, and I can pretty much storm through it without much effort, just a lot of time and risiliance to boredom.

That's not what I came here to say though. Rather, if you spend time in Silithus you come to realize that it's a very peculiar place. In the map above, you can see the three main hives of Silithus (the patches of pink): Hive'Ashi in the north, Hive'Zora in the west, and Hive'Regal in the south-east corner. Each of these hives has a town or encampment nestled up against it, with the main town of the area, Cenarion Hold, up against Hive'Ashi, an alliance base against Hive'Zora, and a horde camp watching over Hive'Regal. Now after spending a lot of time in both Hive'Zora and Hive'Regal over the last couple days, I can see why the Cenarion Circle decided to put the Alliance and Horde bases where they currently are.

One might think they're in the idea that Horde are making better warriors so they strategically placed them next to the larger and more dangerous silithid nest! I would agree with this, but I don't think that's the only reason. I personally think that the Cenarion Circle also realized ahead of time that the Alliance really doesn't make a great deal of sense so they put them in charge of a silithid nest they would be well suited to.

You see, both Hive'Zora and Hive'Regal have a particlar type of "worker bug", called Tunnelers in Zora, Burrowers in Regal. These bugs look largely the same, a cross between an aphid and a ladybug, the only difference is their colors depending on what hive their in. In both cases though they're pretty much the same: worker caste insect much like you would find in ant colonies.

In Hive'Regal, there are a few of these workers topside hanging out in a few of the boney spires that make up a silithid nest, a sensible place for a worker doing work. Others can be found down in their tunnels, at dead ends. That makes the most sense, yes? They're burrowers! They should be burrowing! Duh! O_o

Well, you would think so, but I guess Hive'Zora has a pretty different way of doing things. Instead of down in the tunnels digging tunnels as tunnelers should, you'll find the tunnelers wandering aimlessly outside and down the halls not tunneling, being in places where patrolling tank and warrior bugs should be, or maybe he's just being lazy. I'm reminded of the Marijuana Spider and his hammock...

It can be clearly said that Hive'Zora does not make a great deal of sense, so the Alliance got stuck watching over them. Because putting the senseless in charge of those who make no sense only makes perfect sense, am I right?

Sand and Bugs, Part 2

Now at 24,000 out of 36,000 hated with 'The Brood'. Making progress, but slow. 6K rep a day means I'll be out of hated on Friday and into Neutral on Saturday, I hope.

That means we can take out Onyxia and get her chapter on Sunday evening.

After that....I might take a small few days away from WoW. This rep grind reaks of the type of stuff we saw in old school Everquest. >_<

Sand and Bugs

That's all that's been in my WoW life the past few days.

Sand.

And bugs.

Lots of bugs at that, and I don't see it letting up for at least a few more days. I've started up the quest chain for the Scepter of the Shifting Sands, the quest that allowed one person on the server to open the Gates of Ahn'Qiraj on the server they are playing on. This chain was said to be the longest quest chain in the game, and I believe it! Still, even after two expansions, and from what I've seen one of the more convoluted quest chains ever devised. Every leg of the chain had at least one quest that required a raid of level 60 players to complete it, including runs into Onyxia, Molten Core, and Blackwing Lair, and fighting other mobs on the outside world. It was nuts! Today with level 80's it's a lot easier but still, long and convoluted.

And I haven't even reached that part yet! First, I have to kill bugs. Lots of bugs! In order to start the Shifting Sands line I need to get to Neutral reputation status with Brood of Nozdormu, the cadre of bronze dragons in old world Azeroth. EVERYONE starts out at the very bottom rung in faction with them, 0 out of 36,000 reputation in the 'Hated' status. In order to get to where you can start building rep you have to first complete two quests.

First quest is to simply travel to the entrance of the Caverns of Time and see if a bronze dragon, Anachronos, is still around. If he is you go back and report so and then you are sent on the next quest: bring back the head of Broodlord Lashlayer, the third boss of the Blackwing Lair raid. So basically the point of this quest is to see if the player is actually ready to even do this chain. If he's not capable of doing BWL quality raids then there really is no point in him going on (at least this is what it was when the level cap was 60).

Finally, when you hand in the head, you can start in on the reputation grind for Nozdormu's brood. Oya!

The repeatable quest is The Path of the Righteous, and it involves the part with lots of bugs. Sand and bugs. Go to one of the three major hives in Silithus and collect two-hundred carapace fragments from the silithids who live there. When you turn in this quest, you get 500 reputation with 'The Brood'. Remember what I said earlier. Everyone starts out at Hated reputation with 'The Brood', and in order to continue on with Shifting Sands, you need to build your rep up to Neutral with 'The Brood'.

To emphasize:
From 0 to 36,000 reputation in Hated status
Then from 0 to 3000 reputation in Hostile status
Then from 0 to 3000 reputation in Unfriendly status
And once you crawl out of that, you're at Neutral status.

So, the bottom line is, I have to repeat a quest to get 200 fragments from these big silithid bugs (pictured above) who drop anywhere from 1 to 4 fragments each kill. Each repeat of this quest snags me 500 reputation points. Combine these facts with the numbers above and imagine what's in store for my poor orc shaman Dakore. Currently he's at 13,000 out of 36,000.

Like I said, Sand and Bugs. 0_O

To top it all off, one of the items that needs to be acquired in the later parts of the quest chain drops of Onyxia, one of Old Azeroth's major raid bosses. The next patch is bringing a major revamp to Onyxia in order to celebrate the fifth anniversary to WoW, which means she's being upgraded for level 80 players to raid. The item she drops for the Shifting Sands quest chain is supposedly going away, possibly not being able to be acquired anymore. If this is true, then it's also possible that people who haven't got that item before that item is lost will not be able to finish the chain.

That majorly sucks. Now I've got time working against me to get this reputation grind done and get the quest to kill Onyxia done as well.

Thankfully though, the patch did not happen today, so I can assume it's happening next Tuesday. That means I have a week to get the rep grind done and Onyxia killed and get that item. The rest can likely be done afterward, at least I hope so anyway.

Now you might be asking, "why?" Why put myself through that nutty bullshit? Just to say that I actually did it I suppose. Senseless? Maybe, but I am going to get it done. The good news is that as a level 80 elemental shaman, I can pretty much two-shot groups of four with Chain Lightning and a Thunderstorm to follow up, so at least it's sort of fast going. I can't imagine what it must have been like for that one poor sap in the one guild that were doing this chain to open the gates for the server way back in the day. Back then, everyone was still just level 60, and these bugs were all still level 60 elite mobs. Now it's a lot easier.

In the end, I think for killing as many bugs as it's going to take to get to Neutral status with 'The Brood', I think I should get a title: Dakore, The Living Raid Canister.

UPDATE: Now just a big under 18,000 out of 36,000 rep in Hated. Halfway through the biggest rung! Yay!

Azshara

Everyone who's spent much attention to Warcraft lore knows about Queen Azshara. She was said to be the most drop dead gorgeous night elf ever to have existed and also one of the most powerful magic users during the time before the War of Ancients. She ended up becoming corrupted and tried to open a portal to let Sargeras into Azeroth, who would burn it to a cinder. In the end she was defeated and sent to the ocean depths along with old Kalimdor, right into the clutches of the Old Gods.

Boom. There is born the naga race with the now transformed Azshara as their queen. At this point she is set to become a major villain not in this expansion, who is going to be featuring Deathwing as it's major villain, but possibly in the next one, Cataclysm II, or something (level 85 to 90).

At first I was kind of offended by the idea that one of the most badass villains in Warcraft lore was going to be outdone by a prissy nelf queen turned into a snake medusa thing.

Then I realized a couple things.

1. Azshara has been a villain in warcraft lore for just as long as Netharion/Deathwing has. Remember that his insanity and evil began at the time of the War of the Ancients, which was caused by Azshara in all actualities.

2. Azshara has been sitting at the bottom of the sea for the past ten thousand years as a servant of the Old Gods, and is now the primary matron of the entire naga race. Where Deathwing is all about rage and madness, Azshara is more calculating and manipulative, making very dangerous. The fact is that we don't have a clue really how powerful she's become over the years. We can take a look at Deathwing though and see what the increased influence of Old Gods on Azeroth has done to beaf up his powers. Imagine what they could potentially do with Azshara.

Battlegrounds in Old Azeroth

It's pretty clear from the Cataclysm trailer that the Horde took the win for the Battle of Warsong Gulch, judging by the amount of deforestation in Ashenvale now. Do I feel bad for the Silverwing Sentinels? Well...kind of. That is their home that's slowly being chopped down after all.

What about the other battlegrounds of Vanilla WoW though?

Who won Arathi Basin? More importantly, who won Alterac Valley?

That's the one I'm really interested in! I'm a huge fan of the Frostwolf Clan and I think that the Stormpikes can get bent in all the wrong directions. They are the encroachers in that regard. Sure, sure, some Alliance fanboys would accuse the FW as being squaters on lands that never belonged to them, but how the hell would SP be any different? Alterac was destroyed which means that land was up for grabs, and Frostwolves made their home there before the coming of those stupid dwarves.

What's more, FW weren't looking to stripmine the place for the sake of archeology.

Knowing Blizzard and how badly they designed Alterac Valley, I would not doubt that victory went to the Stormpike in that regard and Frostwolves will now be homeless, which would suck yes, but not altogether impossible. Maybe, just maybe though, Blizzard will make up for that foul up with AV's bad design and let the Frost Wolves keep their home. That would be justice after all I think.

We do know that Drek'Thar, current leader of the Frostwolf Clan, accompanies Thrall to Outland when they visit the Mag'har in Nagrand. That's means by lore he was alive at that time, after the battle of Alterac Valley. That doesn't necessarily mean they won the battle though, although victory is obtained by killing the other dude's general, which is Drek'Thar on the Horde side. It leads me to wonder what the current lore status of Vanndar Stormpike is. Hopefully dead, the bastard.

A New Bucket List Task for Dakore

To do the Scepter of the Shifting Sands questline. This might take a while, but hopefully I'll have the time to get it done before Cataclysm.

It starts with doing quests in Silithus, so maybe I can work on my Cenarion Circle rep at the same time.

Shadow Council Presence A. C.

I'm sure that most WoW players who ever rolled an orc character and played through the quests in Durotar to their fulfillment remembers the quests given by Thrall to act as a double agent against guys like Neeru Fireblade, pictured right. Thrall knows that Neeru is a traitor, loyal to the hated Shadow Council and the Burning Blade Clan, but he stays his hand from giving him what he deserves because he seeks to learn more about his enemy before killing off his best source of information. A wise move.

But as far as I know, Neeru Fireblade is still there, sitting in his little glowing hut at the bottom of Orgrimmar's Cleft of Shadows district, and the time of the Cataclysm is drawing near. If rumors about Thrall leaving the Horde turn out to be true, I hope he doesn't overlook this guy. It's possible, considering Thrall has a shitload of important things on his plate already: King Douche and the Alliance, the war against the Lich King, and dealing with buttholes like Garrosh Hellscream.

And there lies the big risk. Suppose it is true that Garrosh takes over the Horde. What happens then with the Burning Blade Clan and their Shadow Council masters?

I can think of a couple possibilities. I believe that Garrosh does have some redeaming factors. He knows his father was the hero who freed the Horde from demonic taint so I can't really see him willingly joinging up with the servants of the Burning Legion right off the bat. If he learns that Neeru Fireblade is a Shadow Council puppet, then Garrosh's temper being what it is, that will be one less orc without a head. He'll likely then mock Thrall for being a coward or a fool for not disposing of him to begin with, yada, yada, yada. The other likely outcome is that Garrosh ends up not knowing about Neeru and the Shadow Council presence within the Horde, which, in turn, will mean he is going to be fresh meat for them.

Almost certainly Garrosh is going to take the war to the Alliance with earnest and butt heads with Varian directly if he takes control of the Horde. The guy wants nothing more than to fill his dad's shoes and become a hero of the Horde, and he's doing that the best way that most orcs know: war. Varian isn't going to be an easy nut to crack though, far from it in fact. You got to admit, the guy might be an asshole, but he is tough, and he is a good leader. I foresee a stalemate between these two. That said, Garrosh is likely going to get frustrated and want to seek new weapons for an easy win, perhaps even desperate enough to start courting demonic energies.

Who then do you think is going to rear up their ugly heads and say "Hey, we're still here!" when that time comes? Right. Neeru Fireblade and his masters. There begins the downword spiral of the Horde back to what it was during the days of Blackhand.

Of course, this is all just speculation. I haven't read any lore on what the fate is of Neeru Fireblade after that beginning questline, but he is involved in at least one quest later on down the road and I haven't seen anything on what happens to him during Burning Crusade or Wrath of the Lich King. I can only assume then that he's still there, plotting in the shadows and waiting for the right moment, which is likely coming very, very soon.

An Item Off My Bucket List

Thanks to Equinox and Marvah, I have one less thing to worry about between now and Cataclysm.

Tonight we went into Molten Core and Dakore got his "Woop Ragnaros' Ass" achievement.

Thanks guys! :D

Garrosh, Warchief?

It's on the tongues of the rumor spreaders and naysayers of the internet that when the Cataclysm happens, Thrall will be taking leave of the Horde for a...special project alongside Jaina Proudmoore. So the question arrises, who is going to be the next warchief?

Rumors and speculation abound hint that it's going to be the newest super badass, or just plain ass depending on how you look at things, Garrosh Hellscream.

This choice of new warchief, assuming they are true, is not exactly popular among the WoW fanbase. In fact, someone on WoW Insider managed to come up with a list of people who would make better warchiefs than Garrosh Hellscream, found here.

LOL at #15 and 16 :D

I have to agree, Garrosh would make a lousy warchief. Right now when I look at Garrosh, I see the Horde version of Joffrey Baratheon from A Song of Ice and Fire, who, as everyone who is smart enough to have read that series knows, is a bloodthirsty little fucker. (Btw, if you're not smart enough to have read that series, GTFO your computer now and go get it, the first volume is A Game of Thrones by George R.R. Martin). Anyway, the point is, Garrosh, like Joffrey, is going to mess things up...a lot. The moment he gets into power is the moment the war between the Horde and Alliance goes to a new level of violence, and everything that Thrall has done to bring the Horde up out of the dark is going to be ruined in very short order.

For a lot of citizens of Horde, this is very much wanted actually. With the recent declaration of war against the Horde by Varian Wrynn and the alliance, and renewed aggression between the two factions, more than a few of the Horde have been viewing Thrall's wishes for peace as weak and frustrating, and they want action to be taken. I'm sure a lot of alliance also saw this in guys like Bolvar, Jaina, Tyrande, and King Magni before Varian came back, and their new king served as a breath of fresh air in the Horde vs Alliance theatre.

Garrosh Hellscream might be the same thing for the Horde. Tragic? Yes, and a lot of both Horde and Alliance lives will be lost in that war, especially with the Cataclysm killing the world and Deathwing breathing down everyone's necks. Not a good time to start a war, Garrosh! But then again, what stopped Varian from doing the same thing when the Lich King was still at large.

...Holy crap, here I am talking like Wrath of the Lich King is already over! Ah well, at this point I really am more looking forward to Cataclysm.

Anyway, I think that Garrosh taking over the Horde and butting heads with Varian in an all out gankfest is going to be a very interesting story. Garrosh is possibly going to bring the Horde back down to where it was when Blackhand's days, or at least Orgrim Doomhammer anyway. Garrosh is definately more like Orgrim. He's nobody's bitch, unlike Blackhand who was a tool for Gul'dan. This will create two scenarios. 1) It will give Thrall a chance to be a hero again when his duties to the Council of Tirisfal are completed and 2) it will give Varian a chance to make up for his past moments of being a total douche bag. Thrall and Varian working together to bring down Garrosh?

Might be interesting. :)

Good Points At WoW Insider

Ooops, I mean WoW.com :)

Particularly this thread about the fact that a great deal, if not all, of the old Azeroth quests that we currently have are going to be disappearing forever once the Cataclysm goes live. Also possibly lost will be chances to gain reputation with some of those guys left behind in the old world.

So, time to make a bucket list of things to do before Old Azeroth is destroyed and made into New Azeroth. I'm only doing this for Dakore though. I'm not going to lose any sleep anymore if none of my other characters don't get this because, well, I just don't have the time and energy to devote that much effort. ;)

Anyway, Dakore's Bucket list:
Loremaster Title
Exalted with Cenariun Circle
Exalted with Argent Dawn
Exalted with All Horde Reputations (attainable through Argent Tourney and doing quests for Loremaster, so two birds with one stone there)
Defeat of Onyxia
Defeat of Ragnaros
Defeat of Nefarion
Defeat of C'Thun

and, of course,

FOR THE HORDE, meaning I want to roflstomp all Alliance leaders. DEATH TO KING DOUCHE!! :D

Best Idea Ever

In Cataclysm, engineers should get a new recipe called "Portable Fire Hydrant". Placed on a specific location much like a totem, its effect would be to cause a five second stun to any canine mob in the area.

This does include Worgen players. ;)

Mind Job

When you see it, you'll shit a brick.



For those of you who don't get it, Waltz is my undead warlock alt who is on the same account as Dakore. You just got to love the things that can happen on Tuesday Maintenance, especially on days like 9/1/09 which might have been the heaviest cluster that Blizzard has ever done on a maintenance day. This first of all first kind of gives new meaning to that. ;)

So Where Is the Red Queen During All This?

Here on the left is a picture of the lovely Alexstrasza, The Aspect of Life and queen of the red dragonflight, in her elven form. Currently it seems she is staring off at...something. What it could be is anyone's guess.

Brooding over the loss of her brother, the aspect of magic, Malygos, to end the Nexus War? Perhaps.

Contemplating the upcoming battle against the Lich King? Could be.

She could even be glancing at Krasus and looking forward to a hot night of red dragon love? You never know. *Bow Chica Bow Wow* ;)

Or, maybe she's thinking forward to the Cataclysm and the return of Deathwing. That's always possible. Nozdormu of the bronze flight is the aspect of time but that doesn't mean that Alexstrasza doesn't have some pretense on things before they happen as well. Kind of like Yoda, only different. Especially when Deathwing is involved. Along with that, maybe she's thinking "WTF Blizzard! How could you leave me out of this!?"

Yes, Alex does have a reason to be a little peeved. I can't think of a single NPC in the entire history of Warcraft who would be more affected by Deathwing's return more than Alexstrasza would be. The two have a loooooong history together, some good mostly all bad. They are the worst of enemies now, Alexstrasza and her red flight now standing in direct opposition to Deathwing and his black flight, life versus destruction. It's epic, people! Not only that, but I believe that Deathwing has always had, and still does, a certain degree of lust for Alexstrasza. He doesn't want to kill her really. His goal is to subjugate the other dragonflights under his will and force the red queen to be one of his consorts. Kind of ick, since they are siblings, but the dude is totally frickin' insane so what can you expect?

Yes, of all the NPC's in WoW, no one should be farther at the frontline to meet Deathwing than Alexstrasza.

Yet, for some reason, she isn't mentioned on Blizzard's "Faces of Cataclysm" page. Let's see, we have Thrall as the very first, followed by Garrosh and then King Douche. After that it's King Greymane. Now, all of these I can understand. They're the leaders of the people who are going to be affected by all this after all. Their roles are going to be super important once the world becomes Deathwing's chew toy.

After that though it's....wut?!?! Queen Azshara!? Where does she play a role in all of this? It was suppose to be her turn in the later expansion! We won't see her fishy face again until after Deathwing has been taken care of, so why list her name now? Stupid, Blizzard! Royally stupid.

And, lo and behold, no Alexstrasza, at least not yet. I find this interesting, that the most important character in the Deathwing homecoming other than Deathwing himself is somehow left out of the picture. It could be that they just haven't thought of what Alex's role is going to be in the story. It is a complicated situation going on here. If I had the choice I would have her leading the neutral faction that is poised against the Twilight Highlands, right against Deathwing's front door. In the fight against Deathwing she should also be involved. She was against Malygos, why not against her greatest rival? In only makes sense.

Blizzard kind of has a bad habit of providing disappointing content as far as lore goes. I still feel bad for the Lich King now and where he stands after being overhyped for ten years. They really messed up with him I think, but that's beside the point. This is about Alexstrasza and her continued feud with Deathwing. Hopefully Blizzard wisens up and gets her involved as well.

Belf Druids

This race/class option has been discussed now and then every since the release of Burning Crusade, now about three years back down the road is it? There is at least one in existence, as a boss NPC in the Botanica instance, High Botanist Freywinn. Most would agree the dude looks kind of cool in that Tier 1 Druid set. I would say so anyway, and I always agreed that if druids became a playable option for blood elves I would consider rolling one.

That was then, and today nothing's really changed. I still wouldn't mind rolling one. Though I do think it would just sit their and collect dust as I played my goblin mage. ;)

Well here we are with Cataclysm on the fringes, and Blizzard has opened up with brand new race and class combinations. Holy Cows, human and undead hunters, dwarf shamans, orc and nelf mages, and troll druids.

And some people blinked, when they went down that list of green checkmarks, looking in the row for blood elves and the column for druids. Lo and behold, there was no green checkmark there! People blinked, and they began to freak out.

"Wait! You let trolls be druids, but not blood elves! OMG!"

Honestly, as much of a fan I am of belf druids, I think trolls do make more sense. They're a bit more tuned with nature than the arcane addicted blood elves at this point, who care more about magic than the natural world. That's all there is to it. Sure, Kael'Thas employed a few of his followers as druids, which I did find a little odd. If not there, why not here?

Good question. Hopefully Blizzard might give this some thought, but if they do give in then they also have to give one of the alliance races access to druids. Who would that be? Dwarves? Humans? Gnomes even? Possibly draenei? No. Not one of them is really in tune with nature at all. If it's not machine, magic, or in someway connected with archeology or the light, it's not worth paying attention to.

Personally I think Blizzard made the right choice in this.

PS: Night elves are getting mages, the supposed favored class of blood elves. This is also an arguement for blood elf druids, the supposed favored class of night elves. Honest trade!