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.

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! :)

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.

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. ;)

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!

Deathwing's Homecoming (Chris Metzen at Blizzcon)

I'm sure some have seen this, but here's some information on Deathwing as told by Christ Metzen at Blizzcon.



That actually explains a great deal of things. After seeing the images of Deathwing on the Cataclysm website and reading how it was his return that pretty much turned the world on its head, I couldn't help but think "He seems a lot more powerful than he used to be." Now I know why. :)

It's kind of the reverse on what we saw with the Lich King thus far. At the end The Frozen Throne we see Arthas' ascension and him becoming the Lich King, and we get the impression that he's going to be the new "be all, end all" villain of Azeroth, the greatest threat to humanity. We're left kind of thinking that when it comes time for him to be seen on WoW, that's going to be the biggest and baddest raid boss that we ever fight. Lo and behold, here we are not far away from the end of Wrath of the Lich King, and the dude is on a fast track to becoming the most overrated villain ever.

What does he do throughout the expansion? At the end of the Death Knight intro quest he gets pwned a bit by Tirion Fordring, and all the subsequent appearances after that in Northrend involves him showing up, threatening the players, sending his followers to their deaths against the players, or getting pwned somemore. Not all that threatening. It could very well change with the opening of Icecrown Citadel. We'll have to wait and see.

However, Arthas is probably miffed about something else right now besides a tournament that is meant to be a symbol of defiance against him being setup in his own backyard. That thing is the unveiling of Deathwing and the future big ka-boom that he is going to make.

Those who know their Warcraft Lore will know that Deathwing started rather small when he was first introduced. He was little more than a normal dragon unit with beafed up stats and a cooler looking portrait. All we knew of him at that time was that he was an evil dragon who had metal plates grafted onto his hide.

Since then more lore was added about him and he became one of the five dragon aspects, lord of the Black Dragon flight, and one of the most notorious villains in Azeroth history. There was probably not a single civilization in the world who didn't know about Deathwing.

Now he's making an even bigger jump from his previous status than before. The shere potential for how badass this guy is now is kind of disturbing and exciting on what we'll be facing.

Jonesrogen

I posted this on my LJ and a couple other places, but I figure why not here too. :)

Anyway, my proposed goblin character for when the Cataclysm comes:

Jonesrogen
Goblin Arch-Pyromancer of Kezan,
World Renowned Archeologist, Demolitionist, and Burninator,
Illustrious Gambler, Womanizer and Taster of Fine Wines,
Loremaster of all things Ghostly, Goblinish, and things related to Dragons,
and General Destroyer of Random Crap while cruisin' on a Harley.

"I'll see you on the other side!" B-)



The guy in front is a mage but I don't think that's what Jonesrogen is going to look like. I'm hoping for a bit more hair on gobbies than this. We'll have to wait and see though.

Cataclysm: New Hero Class?

Correct me if I'm wrong here, but I seem to remember Blizzard saying at some point after they announced Wrath of the Lich King that there would be a new hero class released with every expansion from here on out.

Did they say that? I think that's what they were alluding to, but they certainly said that more would be following after Death Knights.

Where is Cataclysm's hero class? I was hoping for something dragonish! Dragonknight? Dragon Wizard? Dragonjester?

Don't tell me that the recent class balance fiasco with Death Knights scared Blizzard away from introducing new classes into the. I guess that would be understandable because the concept of "Hero Class" was kind of a fail when it came to Death Knights. They should have just called them a new class that started out at level 55.

Well, after doing some research, it seems that Blizz is deciding not to include any new classes with this expansion. Too bad. :(

Cataclysm: Mini-Expansion?

Howdy all.

I can't help but think that Cataclysm is going to amount to something more on the lines of a "Mini-Expansion" rather than a full blown expansion like Burning Crusade or Wrath.

Sure, we have a great deal of new content coming out such as two new races being released, and the level cap is raising. Just by five levels though instead of ten?

Also, there really isn't all that much being added as far as new zones are concerned. A lot of old world material is being redesigned, yes. But actual new zones? Hyjal, Twilight Highlands, South Seas, Gilneas, and a few others.

It doesn't seem to amount to what we were given in BC or Wrath, yet it's enough to amount to its own software.

I say this because I wonder, will Cataclysm take less time to release than Burning Crusade or Wrath of the Lich King?

So, Mankirk's Wife...

What's going to happen to the poor girl's body once the Barrens gets its face lifted I wonder.

Will Mankirk have finally gone out and retrieved it and given it a proper burial after all these years? Or will she fall down into a deep, fiery ravine and have her be burned not-so-alive.

Either way, I see it as a win-win situation for her. The poor woman has had to put up with five years now of her dumbass husband not going out to where her body was, taking it a graveyard, and giving her the proper burial one think she is entitled to, yes? Instead, it's four years of him begging noobs to go out and help him find it for him, and they go out, fondle her corpse to make sure it's her, then go back and let him know where it was.

Just how many times did that happen accross all the game servers combined over the last five years? Probably in the millions I would guess. Imagine a million noobs being sent out to poke your corpse and then go back to tell your husband, and then he never comes out to get you. He just gets another noob! That would piss me off! Right now I'd be willing to bet that Mankrik's wife is wishing that the Lich King had come to visit her to join the Scourge and make her into a Death Knight, so that she would have been able to come back and Scourge Strike him in the junk. Instead she's likely going to have to wait until the Barrens gets torn in half and her body falls into the lava, never to be seen again, much lest to be prodded by noobs. I'm sure she thinks that is a bonus!

And what's more, what's going to happen to Crossroads when the Barrens go up in flames? It is kind of right in the middle of Barrens, so unless the rift kind of does a zig and then a zag at exactly the right time, there will be no more crossroads.

Mankrik's Wife: "Did you hear that, you dirty bastard! I may be going down in flames, but I'm taking you with me! Thank you, Deathwing!" XD

I also kind of think that the other NPC's of Crossroads will be happy to go as well. Never again will they have to put up with Alliance assholes sacking the entire town and then wonder why no one came out to help, and they'll never again have to facepalm whenever they hear Barren's chat! Win! They had to put up with about five years of such silliness and apathy, I think death would be most welcome for the poor souls.

Well, that's just my opinion though. We'll just have to wait and see what fate has in store for Mankrik, his wife, and the people of Crossroads.

Alright, I Confess

I think it's about time I started getting back into WoW, but I'm still having computer issues. I might download some AVG anti-virus to compensate for the Norton I refuse to pay for (can't afford right now), but that doesn't change the fact that my home internet is still slow. I might give Comcast a buzz about that and see if they can get someone to check it out. We'll see.

Hopefully it really is them and not my computer.

Anyway, this has nothing to do with the announcement of the new cataclysm! Well...almost nothing. I admit, that expansion looks damn cool. It'll be interesting to see what happens when Death Wing shows up again.

And we still have Arthas to deal with! 0_0