Not a big update, but an update none the less. I got into Kara for the Chess event and for Prince, and got something from my Wishlist: [Ruby Drape of the Mysticant].

Not much more going on then that, I haven't played much this week. One thing that I've been playing with is changing how I update my profile. Currently, I use an addon that pulls out all the data you see (plus more), and just parse that. It works great, but only when I can remember to upload the file to the site in order to be parsed. What I've been doing is seeing what kind of data I can pull off of the WoW Armory's XML files. It's not quite as detailed as the addon I use, but all it would take to update my profile is a click of a link, which can be done from anywhere, whereas I currently have to be on my computer that has WoW installed... Guess it all comes down to how bored I get.

Did another run through Kara last night, got another 23 , and it seemed to be Pally-loot night, because we didn't have one in the group... at least 4 healing plate items dropped. Anyways, the only thing I got was this: [Formula: Enchant Weapon - Sunfire]. Currently, I'm only 320 in Enchanting, so it looks like I have some work to do! Hopefully I'll have the required (and EXPENSIVE) mats by the time I hit 375;
12x [Void Crystal]
10x [Large Prismatic Shard]
8x [Greater Planar Essence]
6x [Primal Fire]
1x [Primal Might]

So in the past half of a month, a lot has happened. Firstly, I changed guilds from HRU to Bláck Sun. Once in Bláck Sun, I went on my first (and second) complete clear of Karazhan, which also gave me about 45 [Badge of Justice]. I also got to upgrade some gear both times; the first time, I upgraded my bracers... twice, and ended up with [Bands of Nefarious Deeds]. Later that night, I grabbed up the [Mantle of the Mind Flayer].

Fast forward a week, and it's my 2nd full time through Kara (minus the first boss). I get more badges, and then on Prince, the 2 items I want drop, one being [Nathrezim Mindblade]. Someone else wanted it, so we had to /rand; luckily, I somehow managed to will the die to land on 100. Hopefully this week, I can get a new cloak. After completing a few Karazhan-related quests, I got to Revered status, and upgraded my ring to [Violet Signet].

On the PvP side of things, after about 2 months, I had enough honor saved up to upgrade my neck to [Vindicator's Pendant of Conquest], and put in a [Vivid Chrysoprase] gem.

One random piece of loot I forgot to mention when I actually got it: [Boots of Blasphemy].

Patches


Karazhan


Site Changes

Yeah, this is a little old (12/01/2006), but so what.

Drake Wrote:

Since our previous Battle Plan, World of Warcraft has gained a considerable amount of new in-game content, as well as improved and expanded service features – all of which have been focused on enhancing the game experience for our passionate, ever-growing community.

One example of the new content we've added is Naxxramas, a multi-winged 40-player raid dungeon that pits players against the forces of the lick Kel'Thuzad. We've also revamped Light's Hope Chapel to make it a fully functional and exciting quest hub. In addition, many new items have been implemented, including new PvE and PvP armor sets, along with a powerful new Legendary caster item.

In terms of service enhancements, man players have taken advantage of the Paid Character Transfer service, which enables players to move characters between realms. Also, we've decreased battleground queue times by implementing the new cross-realm battleground feature. By allowing players across several realms to play in the same battleground, wait times have significantly improved for most battleground matches.

We've worked hard to deliver these new content and service features while simultaneously developing our first expansion pack, The Burning Crusade. In preparation for the expansion, we will be releasing one of our biggest content updates ever for World of Warcraft, called "Before the Storm."


Before the Storm
Already in testing on the public test realms (PTRs), "Before the Storm" will implement a number of significant content updates, including a revamped PvP Honor System, the new Arena System, the new Looking for Group interface, brand-new talents for all classes, and an abundance of other changes and additions. Be sure to check out the PTR patch notes for more information.

The new PvP Honor System will completely replace the current honor and ranking systems. This new Honor System will introduce honor points, a sort of PvP currency, which can be accumulated and spent on rewards. The honor points will be awarded through any PvP combat, similar to the current Honor System, but are not diminished over time. You will be able to participate in PvP at your own pace, accumulate honor points, and spend them on honor rewards whenever you like.

Before the Storm will also introduce a new PvP option: the Arena System. The Arena System will allow for group-based gladiatorial-style combat in which teams compete on a ladder-based ranking system. Teams will consist of two, three, or five players, and will be created similarly to a guild, with each player signing a team charter. As they rise through the ranks, teams will receive arena points, which can be spent on high-end rewards. The Arena System will let players really test their PvP prowess and obtain rewards that will rival some of the best gear coming out of the high-level dungeons.

Speaking of PvP, we're also hard at work on our team-balancing feature for the battlegrounds. This feature won't be ready for this next content patch, but will be added in a patch sometime after the expansion launches. Team balancing will help ensure that the teams facing each other in each of the game's battlegrounds will be as evenly matched as possible.


The Burning Crusade
The content in "Before the Storm" serves as a prelude to The Burning Crusade. We're rapidly approaching the final stages of development on the expansion, thank in large part to the feedback we've received from the thousands of players participating in our ongoing closed-beta test.

We still have much work ahead as we continue focused testing and polishing up until the retail release in January. In the meantime, we are continuing to work on play balance, as well as testing our server load and other important issues. I did want to share details on some of the exciting dungeon related-content coming in The Burning Crusade.


Hellfire Citadel
As part of the first encounters in the new Outland portion of the expansion pack, players will get a chance to adventure in Hellfire Citadel. This new four-winged dungeon is strategically placed in the very heart of Hellfire Peninsula, between the Horde and Alliance home bases. Once a Horde stronghold during the First and Second Wars, the bastion of power was thought long abandoned until recently. Now Fel Orcs inhabit the citadel, cultivating and augmenting their dark arts.

The first threw wings are: Ramparts for levels 60-62, Blood Furnace for levels 61-63, and the Shattered Halls for level 70. In the last wing, players will be able to experience a small raid encounter similar to Onyxia, in which they’ll face the Pit Lord Magtheridon (of Warcraft III: The Frozen Throne infamy) within his lair.


Heroic Dungeon-Difficulty Feature
Another exciting aspect of the expansion is the new Heroic dungeon-difficulty feature, which will let you experience many of the expansion dungeons in two different modes. One mode will be the normal version, and the second mode, Heroic, will boost the difficulty of the dungeon. The additional risks that players take on at the higher difficulty setting will also come with the opportunity to gain greater rewards.

The challenges that await players inside of a dungeon set to Heroic difficulty will go beyond just increased hit points and attack power for the creatures inside. Enemies will also have extra abilities, making each encounter more tactically challenging. The rewards of course will scale up accordingly with the boost in difficulty. In order to unlock the Heroic level of a dungeon, players will need to be level 70 and achieve other objectives as well. More details on these prerequisites will be revealed at a later date.

While I’m on the topic of dungeons, I wanted to mention here that the Black Temple – the dungeon intended to offer the most challenging encounters in the game – is deep in development and will be opened for public testing after the expansion is released. It’s important to us to spend as much time as possible balancing and polishing the content in this dungeon before releasing it to players; it’s definitely not something we want to rush out the door just for the sake of meeting a deadline. We look forward to sharing more information and offering some glimpses of the Black Temple content in the weeks ahead… and then opening it up to Burning Crusade players on the test realms once they’ve had a chance to level to 70 and gear up in the other dungeons.


Moving Forward
We have many other things in store with The Burning Crusade, such as: new monsters to battle, new lands and dungeons to explore, new quests to undertake, a new profession to learn, and much more. We’ve unveiled a lot of these details over the past few months, but nothing quite compares to the feeling of actually playing through all the new content. We’re looking forward to gathering additional feedback in the final phases of testing, and then sharing the results with you with the release of The Burning Crusade expansion next month.


Shane Dabiri
Lead Producer
World of Warcraft

First off, The Burning Crusade has been set for release on 1/16/2007, which happens to be a normal maintenance day. Hopefully they leave the servers up for launch day. I think I might be taking a day or two of vacation around that time.

Second, it saddens me to say that I have quit my guild, Dark Portal Syndicate. I've been with DPS for roughly a year and a month, and I've enjoyed most of my time there. Yaral and I have transferred to the Runetotem server, so look us up if you're in the area. I quit mainly because our GM quit playing WoW, along with some other key people in the guild. The first night without them, we spent a couple hours wiping to the first boss in BWL. We were a guild who have cleared BWL with ease, killed 5 bosses in Nax, and got C'Thun to 56% phase 1 on our first attempt ever, were wiping to Razorgore. From the sounds of it, there hasn't been any improvement the past couple of days. So now, on Runetotem, Yaral and I joined a guild with some old friends that we first leveled up to 60 with. Everything is kinda casual right now, as they're going to be an expansion guild (running the 25-man stuff). It's been nice not having to worry about raiding, since I've been doing it for a long time. The first night on the new server, Yaral and I ran through Stratholme (live-side) twice, and I walked away with almost 40g and a [Righteous Orb]. That's more than I'd normally make in a week with raiding. Well, enough about that for now. Come see me on Runetotem.

Last, the pre-patch (1.13 or 2.0, however you want to look at it), has been set for release this upcoming Tuesday (12/5/2006). What this means for me, is that I'll be in AddOn updating hell. It'll also mean I get a free respec! Hopefully a day or two after the patch, I'll have my Profile updated with the new talents and honor page (not that the honor will mater, since I can't stand PvP).

Yeah, it's been a little while since my last update. Mainly, there hasn't been much to update with. While I was on vacation, double [Netherwind Robes] finally dropped, and one the following week. The guild also killed Anub'Rekhan (Nax) and Princess Huhuran (AQ40) while I was gone. Tonight, they have a full night of learning the Twin Emperors fight.

Last night, I was actually able to go on a ZG run, followed by a world dragon kill. Here's the notable loots:
[Cloak of Consumption]
[Jade Inlaid Vestments]

Last night was a good night for us. We cleared BWL for the first time on our new server, I got over a 10K crit from my Ignite tick, and I got loots.

First off, it was really something to do Blackwing with no lag. We weren't used to it. We've always used the lag, accepted its presence, and rolled with it. Had a wipe on Razorgore, since the mobs weren't standing around like normal, rogues pulled aggro on Vael, and hunters weren't getting the Tranq shot off fast enough with Ebonroc. Even with some wiping, we still did a full clear in 4.5 hours. It was actually our best run through the rest of the instance, kill-wise. People were actually assisting for a change!

For the 3^rd time in a row, I actually lived through the Nef encounter. I'm beginning to think that my problem was the [Limited Invulnerability Potion]s, since I always died when I used them.

New Loots!
[Mind Quickening Gem]
[Head of Nefarian] (turned into)
[Master Dragonslayer's Orb]

Now I go on vacation for a week and a half. Unfortunately I won't 'make it to the BWL clear again tonight (our server transfer wiped our saved raids clean). Hopefully, when Nef dies tonight, the #21 or #22 breastplate off him is Netherwind, because Nef is a bastard.

Last night was our first full BWL clear, all in a single night. We did run a little longer than normal, but chalk that up to Stormrage being retardedly laggy, and us having some retarded trash pulls. Nonetheless, we have one dead Nefarian in one night.

Tonight, we get to venture out into Naxxramas for the first time. Also, I'll get to test out my new Fire Spec. Ray asked one of us to go fire for the Scorch talent, and I jumped all over it. Hopefully I like it as much as I used to (I haven't tried any of the new Fire changes with the mage review). Maybe we'll get real lucky, and a [Ring of the Eternal Flame] will drop off some Naxx trash, and give me some more incentive to stay fire...

Yes, I've said it many times already, but this time it's the truth. After learning about how one of the talents I had in my 1.11 build, I changed my mind yet again, and I'm now officially set at a 11/0/40 build. The 1.11 patch notes are also up to date, which I linked to in my previous post.

Last night was a pretty fun night. We killed Ony, then went out on our own to farm mats and reputation to get attuned for Nax. So I did an Undead Stratholme run, got my Polymorph: Pig spell, helped clear a Scourge Invasion area with 3 other mages, and wrapped up the night with a pretty fun time in Scholomance. Even though we died a few times, having 1 warrior, 1 rogue, 1 priest, and 2 Ice mages, we cleared the whole thing pretty quickly.

Since a new version of the Atlas AddOn came out, I decided to update my Instances page to look like the addon. Props to Dan Gilbert for making such a kick-ass addon.