Late this afternoon, Blizzard created an official forum for their next expansion, The Wrath of the Lich King. Both the U.S. Wrath forum and the European Wrath forum are just now filling up with the usual questions, and some are already getting blue responses.
CM Vaneras has moved the all things announced about Northrend post to this forum and confirmed today that Ulduar is a dwarven instance that will be accessible by both Horde and Alliance
Blizzard Blues have been active on the official forums. With rampant speculation about the upcoming Wrath of the Lich King expansion, they've mostly had to give the standard variation of the "no comment" reply. But on two expansion mount issues they were able to give a small bit on insight.
Player Serpentis requested a windserpent mount in WotLK. New Blizzard poster Bornakk reported that new flying mounts are being considered, but nothing will be revealed until they are closer to releasing the new expansion.
Player Knightxl wanted to know if the cost to train for epic flying mounts will get a reduction with the expansion the way epic land mount training costs were lowered. This rumor has been floating around for the last month or so. Drysc gave us a little more clarification than last time. He responded that the epic land mount training costs only got a reduction because the mount training skill was getting extended with the Burning Crusade expansion. No new mount skill increase is planned in WotLK, so no reduction in price is planned for the epic flight mount training cost.
If Blizzard were to incorporate new flying mounts in Northrend, what would you like to see?
...it has not yet been decided if they will be available as soon as you get there or how far into your exploration you will be soaring through the icy skies. The reason for the potential delay in free-roaming is to allow the development team a chance to design and create exciting and interesting content which people will not simply fly over and ignore.
What sort of restrictions there will be on flying mounts in Northrend is yet to be decided, however. Will it be a level restriction or perhaps require some sort of quest? As soon as we find out, we'll let you know!
No, the broom mount isn't a joke, because MMO-Champion has some nice video of it flying around in Shadowmoon Valley. And for my part, I'd much prefer it to the standard wyvern -- but we still don't know just how to acquire them. Previously, on Moviewatch....
Liquidis of Dethecus sends in this shot taken from Netherwing Ledge in Shadowmoon Valley. Al I have to say is that you'd best be careful trying this trick at home -- those teeth look sharp, and the laws of gravity have to come into play at some point in time, don't they? (Well, in Outland, we're not sure if the rules of physics apply, are we?)
Do you have a unique shot of Azeroth or Outland that you'd like to show off to the rest of the world? Tell us about it by e-mailing aroundazeroth@gmail.com! Or perhaps you'd just like to see more of your pics from Around Azeroth.
I know, I know... today's breakfast topic comic seems a bit dark and gloomy -- but don't worry! Things are not what they seem! The girl's grandma is actually a professional hunter of evil grandmavores. The girl-grandma team tricks the beasts into their doom: first, little Red lures the beasts close to the cottage, and then Granny springs a woodsman-shaped target dummy on them and mutilates them from behind with her epic daggers disguised as knitting needles.
Annnywaaaay, the topic for today is these scary creatures known as nether rays! Now we can ride them! But... the question is, does anyone want to? I know the nether ray in this picture looks pretty spooky, and I'll admit that there are some screenshots in which they look okay at first. But over all, aren't they really rather ugly, pudgy and too much like a fish with serious dental problems?
I was over there questing in Skettis with a friend of mine today, just earning some money in a few spare minutes I had to play, when we stopped to gawk at the Sha'tari Skyguard dwarf just swooshing along on his nether ray mount, looking as pudgy and as awkward as can be. I realized, this thing doesn't look like it should be a mount at all. Your legs kind of sink through the creature's tendril hood or whatever it is, and some races apparently have their hands hanging out in thin air, holding on to reins that should be there on any normal mount, but not on this one.
Do you agree that this thing is an ugly waste of your reputation grinding time? or am I totally missing the aesthetic genius of this?
Reader Daveyp sends in an interesting Outland shot taken on the border of Terokkar Forest and Zangarmarsh. Sure, sure, it's a perfectly ordinary Zangarmarsh mushroom shot (and if history tells you anything, it's that I love Zangarmarsh mushroom shots) until you look across the sky, and see the only-in-Outland image of the flying mount in the moon. It's probably not that unique of a shot, but it is, amazingly, the first such image to arrive in my mailbox.
Do you have a unique shot of Azeroth or Outland that you'd like to show off to the rest of the world? Tell us about it by e-mailing aroundazeroth@gmail.com! Or perhaps you'd just like to see more of your pics from Around Azeroth.
There's a reason you don't idle in the open on PvP servers. It's because people will kill you. And if you happen to be in a amusing spot, say, floating in the air over Area 52 when you meet your untimely end? People, like reader Goroth of Onyxia, will immortalize your corpse in screenshots.
Do you have a unique shot of Azeroth or Outland that you'd like to show off to the rest of the world? Tell us about it by e-mailing aroundazeroth@gmail.com! Or perhaps you'd just like to see more of your pics from Around Azeroth.
In this single screenshot we see a sad tale unfolding as Pruflas of Blood Reign on Blackwater Raiders takes a wrong turn on his flying mount. In all honesty, this Kraator fellow -- a rare spawn in Shadowmoon Valley -- looks extremely unfriendly. It's a sad wrong turn indeed to send you flying directly into his face...
Do you have a unique shot of Azeroth or Outland that you'd like to show off to the rest of the world? Tell us about it by e-mailing aroundazeroth@gmail.com! Or perhaps you'd just like to see more of your pics from Around Azeroth.
Reader George sends in this buggy screenshot that, perhaps, is a reasonable way to solve the problems with warlock and hunter pets when getting on flying mounts. Oh, sure -- Blizzard's made a change that will cause pets to be dismissed when you mount up, but, really, having them ride along with you, perhaps in a little basket or side-car of some sort, is much more entertaining.
Do you have a unique shot of Azeroth or Outland that you'd like to show off to the rest of the world? Tell us about it by e-mailing aroundazeroth@gmail.com! Or perhaps you'd just like to see more of your pics from Around Azeroth.
I finally got my epic flying mount for my main the other day, and boy is that thing fast! 5200 gold well spent, if you ask me (5000 for the training, 200 for the mount itself). There aren't too many flying mounts available in game. Alliance get the choice between four different colors of gryphon: blue, red, purple, and green (I went with blue). The Horde counterpart is windriders, which come in yellow, red, purple, and green. Additionally, both factions in theory have access to the Nether Drake. Members of the top Arena team on each realm at the end of each season will get an armored Swift Nether Drake, which gives a 310% speed increase (other epic flying mounts are a 280% increase). For those of us who aren't going to be making it to the top of the Arena ladder anytime soon, Blizzard have said that there will be a way to get a 280% (non-armored) Nether Drake via questing, which will be "difficult" but not require a raid. Drysc also said there will be a 310% speed boost counterpart to the Arena reward, though he was unable to give details on how it might be attained. I'm guessing massive gold sinks.
Have you got your epic mount yet? What color did you go for? And do you think it was worth the gold?
The Burning Crusade site has been updated with further information on the flying mounts that may be found in the Outlands. Lore-wise these creatures are the offspring of the black dragon Deathwing, who traveled through the Dark Portal to Draenor, believing it to be a safe haven for some of his eggs. When Ner'zhul opened multiple portals on Draenor with the intent of invading foreign lands, the magical energies released tore the planet apart - and altered the eggs, causing the resulting creatures to have the ability to shift between the physical and astral planes. In use, a Nether Drake will have the speed of an epic mount and be able to run on the ground as well as fly through the air. How they may be obtained or what they might cost, however, remains a mystery!
IGN has a great new video of the new flying mounts we'll be seeing in the Burning Crusade expansion. The video gives us a good show of flight and range of motion, and presents it in an amusing format. Of course, we're still missing details on how to get the mount or what it will cost us, but the video does have me excited about the possibilities opened by a flying mount.
Tentonhammer has an exclusive piece from E3, featuring interviews with WoW developer Tyven, where he discusses much of the news we've already heard from E3; the main subjects being Draenei, flying mounts, and the rest of the announced content. Nothing shockingly new, but for all you E3 news completists, there's some good info there.
Also included are a few tidbits of information from Blizzard's Mac team member Rob Barris, discussing Bootcamp on the Imac & other platform news. The full article can be found here.
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