For those of you who group, raid, and otherwise hang out with your guild, here's some pretty cool news for you. Tigole has said over on the Beta Suggestion Forms that the dev team is very interested in the idea of guild achievements, and does plan to visit them in the future.

It's a small tidbit, but it's enough to get the old wheels turning. The most obvious achievements will probably revolve around dungeons and raids. Get X% of your guild through a certain dungeon, perhaps, or finish the dungeon in an all-guild group. We might also see accomplishments for getting a certain amount of guild members their tier sets or legendary weapons.

It was our 50th show this past week on the WoW Insider Show, so you'll have to forgive us for doing a little more backpatting than usual -- we promise that next week we'll be back to form for sure. But in the second half of the show, we did get down to talking WoW business, and the results are now posted online for your listening pleasure. When we weren't looking back at our favorite moments in the show's history so far (and giving away stuff to people who tuned in live), we also hit on:

• A live version of Ask a Beta Tester, where we answered listeners' questions about the Wrath beta in real time, including how professions work with Death Knights, what we're not so excited about in the beta, and whether there are any grind quests to be found.
• We devoted some time to discussing the Vicarious incident, and why it's wrong (or, in Adam's view, right) to give a Legendary ranged bow to a Rogue.
• And we answered emails about Hero classes and the possibility of another expansion announced at BlizzCon, as well as the fact that I dinged 70 last week, and the terrific Nethack, supposedly the first game with Achievements in it.

Lots of fun stuff in the show. If you have questions or concerns to share with us, please do so by sending an email along to theshow@wowinsider.com, and you might even hear it on next week's show. And as always stay tuned to WoW Radio on Saturday afternoons at 3:30pm Eastern to hear the show live, or hit us up on iTunes to download each show automatically. Until next time, have a great week.

Can you believe it's been almost a year since we started our podcast? Since it began, we've welcomed a few guests, joked around plenty, and done a lot (a lot) of what we do best: talking about all the top news from the last week in Warcraft. This week, we're hitting episode number 50, and since it's our quinquagenary, we're going all out: we'll have a review of some of our favorite moments from previous shows, we'll have a few giveaways just for listeners of the live show, and we may even break out the champagne.

Oh, and we'll still do all the things we normally do on the podcast -- Adam Holisky with join Turpster and I, and we'll do a live version of our popular Ask a Beta Tester feature (so bring your questions to the IRC channel at irc.mmoirc.com in #wowradio). And we've got to talk about the first player to wield three legendaries at the same time, right? We'll also see what people think of the new hairstyles, and we'll answer your emails (send them to theshow@wowinsider.com).

It's gonna be a blowout for sure. Tune in tomorrow afternoon on WoW Radio at 3:30pm Eastern for the fiftieth episode of the WoW Insider Show.

I was just chatting with my colleagues here at WoW Insider about Blizzard's apparent neglect of their old content (since the expansion zones actually start at 68, Netherstorm and Shadowmoon are basically useless once Wrath comes around), and now here's another sign that Blizzard wants out with the old and in with the new. We had rumored this a while ago, but now it's been confirmed by the CMs: Old school Naxxramas is going to disappear forever when the dungeon moves up north to become a raid in Wrath of the Lich King.

Which means if you want to see Naxx in its 40 man version, do it now -- I believe, as I said way back when we first heard about this, that this is the first time Blizzard has removed major content from the game completely (though it's certainly not the first time they've removed something, poor Captain Placeholder). This, of course, also leaves up in the air what's going to happen to all the items around Naxx -- what about Atiesh? Not to mention lore -- we hear that the fact that a group of players beat KT and took his phylactery and returned it to the Argent Dawn is mentioned in the expansion already -- but how did that happen if the dungeon won't be there any more?

Blizzard will probably clean it all up, and I'm sure that out of game, it'll make enough sense. But it's a shame to officially hear that 40 man Naxxaramas as we know it, the jewel of patch 1.11, will soon be gone forever.

-Matticus

It was inevitable, it had to happen. Someday, the legendary bow, Thori'dal, the Stars' Fury would be handed over to a Rogue. It so happens this fantastic weapon dropped to the Vicarious guild of Area 52. Analogkid was awarded the bow in the company of two Hunters. Needless to say the Hunters are upset, and the post brought about an outcry from many posters along with a considerable amount of drama. Many believe that this bow belongs in the hands of Hunters, regardless of the situation.

A Discussion of the newly dropped Thori'dal bought up a lively discussion on Legendary weapons in my guild chat the other day, which has in turn set my own mental wheels turning. Looking at the difference between the pre-Burning Crusade Legendaries and the Burning Crusade Legendaries, there's one big difference that stands out (beyond the level difference): The pre-BC Legendaries were quested, while the BC Legendaries have been drops.

The clear-cut off seems to suggest that at some point, Blizzard decided that creating long, involved quests in order to obtain Legendary weapons just wasn't the way to go, and they'd rather let the RNG take care of distributing Legendaries. But the question is, did they make the right choice? There's good arguments for both sides.

Now that right there is what you call a bow. The very first legendary ranged weapon ever, Thori'dal, the Stars' Fury, has dropped on the live realms, from Kil'jaeden as expected. Last Resort on EU Boulderfist is the lucky guild, and Stefang is the lucky Hunter (seen here with his bow and Kalecgos) -- feel free to check his Armory page, as long as you're careful not to drool on the keyboard.

Thori'dal, as you probably know by now, shoots its own ammunition, which means that not only did Stefang win a nice bow, but he now has an extra bag slot (something all Hunters probably want even more than a legendary weapon). There's no word on how the giveaway went down (we're guessing DKP, and if Stefang did anything less than cash in everything he had, he got this thing for a bargain), but grats to both him and Last Resort for a very, very nice piece of loot.

Now, about getting that other legendary item back together for Northrend...

Thanks to everyone who sent this in!

Boubouille of MMO Champion has a special treat for Hunters and loot hounds everywhere today, unveiling footage of the legendary bow Thori'dal, the Stars' Fury in action. The bow itself looks pretty awesome, with lots of detail and colors. In addition, it looks like when you shoot it, you get a pretty nice light show going on. I'd say that they've managed to make it rather legendary indeed, looks wise. It's worth noting that the stat data shown in this video is from PTR data mining, so it may not keep those exact stats when the 3rd gate opens and Kil'jaedan is finally downed, but I imagine a lot of Hunters (myself included) are drooling big time over this little glimpse, and can't wait to get their hands on it regardless.

The WoW community has wasted no time in tearing apart the patch 2.4 files in search of goodies, and goodies they have found! The patch notes themselves didn't blow me away, but this tidbit got me a little excited. The new legendary bow in the Sunwell Plateau is named Thori'dal, the Stars' Fury. It's quite impressive indeed!

According to the spells attached to it, Thori'dal requires absolutely no ammo. It apparently creates its own and it looks like the bow's DPS is jacked high enough that you'll suffer no loss from the lack of ammunition. To make the deal even sweeter, Thori'dal comes equipped with a passive haste buff that nulls the need for a quiver. Congratulations on your Legendary, hunters! Here, have a bag slot!

I'll admit, I don't play a hunter, but this bow seems like a pretty sweet deal all around. Agility, crit, haste, armor penetration, and free ammo. Just about the only thing it doesn't do is conjure s'mores. Keep in mind, though, this thing is still on the PTR. Any stats or spells you see attached to this bow may or may not be there the day it hits the live servers!

If you want to take a gander at the stats, check it out after the jump!

Like MMO-Champion says, this isn't the biggest surprise, but we now have confirmation (en français) that a legendary ranged weapon will drop in the new 25-man raid in patch 2.4's Sunwell Plateau. Specifically, it will be a direct drop, like the Warglaives of Azzinoth, and not the result of a quest chain, like good old Thunderfury. Still unknown is which boss it'll be from (though Boubouille reasonably supposes that it'll be the last boss, Kil'jaeden).

Also unknown is what type of weapon it will be: bow, gun, or crossbow. Vosh makes the guess that it will be a crossbow, because guns would benefit dwarves and bows would benefit night elves trolls [sorry!], due to their racial bonuses, which makes sense, although I wouldn't bet on it either. What do you guys think? What will this weapon be like, and hunters, how excited are you?

Blizzard has a torrid history with the Legendary items in World of Warcraft. The first such item to raise a stink was probably Ashbringer, the sword of Highlord Mograine of the Scarlet Crusade. Though stats have been found in the game (and a Corrupted version is available), the item itself isn't obtainable by players at all (though it still may be in the future). And reader Scott recently brought another one of these not-quite-Legendary items to my attention: the Skull of Gul'dan. This is probably one of the most powerful items in all of Azeroth-- it's been used to close and open the Dark Portal, it's responsible for tearing apart Felwood, and it turned Illidan from just an emo elf into a superpowerful demonic badass. And yet, it's no more than a rare trinket in the game.

Shouldn't an item with that much legend behind it be called Legendary? Illidan's twin blades are labeled legendary, but they're hardly the stuff of modern legend-- Illidan took them from a doom guard commander 10,000 years ago, and they've done nothing but sit in his whirling hands since then (heck, they couldn't even take down Arthas). I agree with Scott-- there's no reason those blades should be Legendary when the skull isn't. Sure, the skull might not be as powerful as it used to be, but it's still got a load of legend behind it.

And the Legendary debate isn't over yet, because there is one more big item looming on the horizon: when we head to Northrend, we'll all, Horde and Alliance alike, be looking to find the item that kicked off this Arthas trouble in the first place: Frostmourne. Will that be wieldable by players, or labeled Legendary? If Blizzard's previous experience with Legendary items is any indication, the answer may not be what you expect.

From time to time players who get (or dream of getting) one of those iconic legendary items, such as the Twin Warglaives that Illidan uses, suggest to Blizzard that they should make these items somehow upgradeable so that they can keep on using them no matter what else happens in the game. On one hand, I can understand their point of view -- getting these items can be a legendary amount of work, and naturally one would want to make the reward last as long as possible. Also, it's natural to cling to the glory of wielding the same incredible weapon throughout your character's life.

On the other hand, Blizzard's philosophy is that gear comes and gear goes: you only use whatever gear you have until you find something better, and this applies across the board without exception. Besides, allowing any item to truly scale with the player could create all sorts of logistical problems that Blizzard doesn't want to get into; they'd have to scale the difficulty of getting the items, the difficulty of improving them as you level, and a whole lot of other work they'd rather put into making new items for you to replace your legendary stuff with.

Some players seem to rally against this philosophy of constant change. Perhaps they feel as though the effort they put in is worth permanent rewards? Or perhaps they feel like their awesome items are a part of who they are, and their characters just don't feel the same if they have to give them up. For myself, I prefer to keep on upgrading my gear than ever to have one permanent item, since it helps to keep things fresh and interesting.

Considering that Kel'Thuzad is basically "the boss of shipping WoW" (according to Metzen at BlizzCon), then Atiesh, the Legendary caster item that once belonged to Medivh, is the greatest item in levels 1-60. But we're at level 70 now, and when we get to level 80, Atiesh, a Legendary item, might end up looking more like a stick than anything else. So Asheen asks, knowing that Naxx is set to be "repurposed" for our trip to Northrend: will Atiesh make a return?

It's a cool idea. Bornakk says, "Maybe." There are a few tangles in the plan: currently, Atiesh requires a trip to C'thun in AQ to get the base (I believe because Brann Bronzebeard put it there), which is a 40 man raid that most guilds don't want to bother with. And of course the stats would need some updating-- it's a nice staff, but not exactly a Legendary level 80 any more. And finally, the staff provides a portal to Karazhan, and at level 80, will that really be as amazing as it used to be?

Bornakk also says the lore needs to be set in place, but that's a copout-- Blizzard can do whatever they want (what if the Kirin Tor decided to repurpose Atiesh and combined it with a new base that didn't need to come from AQ40?). But the biggest issue with bringing back Atiesh is that there's so many other good items that could just replace it. Medivh's staff is hardly the most important item in the game any more, and as Bornakk points out, even though Medivh had great power, it didn't necessarily all come from his staff.

I can't wait to see Naxx's new purpose in WotLK, but there are too many old items floating around for Blizzard to worry about updating. I'd rather see new legendaries, and maybe even some artifacts, come out of the new Naxx and Northrend.

Veteran readers of the blog will remember when the world first of this baby dropped, but now that everyone's 70, maybe you too can get a raid rolling in Naxxaramas, and obtain for yourself the legendary (literally) weapon of Medivh.

Name: Atiesh, Greatstaff of the Guardian
Type: Legendary Staff
Damage/Speed: 130-243 / 2.90 (64.4 DPS)
Abilties:

• There are actually four different versions of the staff-- Warlock, Mage, Priest, and Druid. You can see all of them over at WoW Wiki-- they all increase spell damage and/or healing of the equipper (the Druid one increases AP in feral forms as well), but they also have a party bonus, too. The Druid gives 11mp5, the Mage increases spell crit strike of the entire party, the Warlock grants 33 spell damage to the party, and the Priest gives 62 healing to everyone in the party.
• Additionally, all of the versions will do something very special: create a portal to Karazhan. Nowdays, players go to Karazhan all the time, so it's not that big a deal, but back when this staff came out, no one had ever been there, and so cracking open a portal was pretty cool
• And the staff grants various amounts of Stamina, Intellect or Spirit, depending on the version you have.
• Unfortunately, the stats are no longer that great-- they're incredible for level 60, but at level 70, it's pretty easy to come by equivalent (or even better) stats, and therefore, not really worth the trouble to obtain the staff. But then again, there is an immense amount of value in the lore of this item, considering that it was owned by Medivh himself.
• Why, might you ask, does something so awesome look so plain? Don't judge a book by its cover, son-- that model, though plain, matches the models used in Warcraft 2 and 3. This is a legendary item, and real power is inside. Also, spectral birds sometimes appear flying around the staff. So that's kind of cool.
• Also, the Shade of Aran (who is of course Medivh's father) will be kind of surprised if you show up to fight him with this thing on

How to Get It: In many ways, this is the final goal of shipping WoW. To get the item, you have to first collect 40 Splinters of Atiesh, which drop from different bosses in Naxxaramas, which means you need to run the place a few times. Then, once you've got those together, you can combine them to make the Frame of Atiesh. Once you've got that, you head off to Anachronos, the great big dragon near the Caverns of Time in Tanaris.

He'll send you in search of the Staff Head of Atiesh, which Kel'Thuzad has gotten his grubby little hands on. He's trying to put the staff back together, and the Argent Dawn is fighting against him, so if you can nab the Head away from him, more power to you. And the Base of Atiesh is the other item you'll need, and it drops from C'thun, the end boss of AQ40. See what I mean about this being the final goal?

After you've done all that, Anachronos will reassemble the staff for you, but wait! It's corrupted! (Figures.) You then take it into Stratholme, and run an event in which you can vanquish the evil spirit from the staff. Along the way, you can pick up another legendary item, a 1h sword that's freakin' awesome, but disappears after only a few minutes. After you defeat the spirit, you're then allowed to claim the staff, giving you the world's phattest loot-- of 2006.

Getting Rid of It: The Greatstaff of the Guardian! The staff of Medivh himself, shattered when Archimonde destoryed Dalaran! Reassembled from shards dropped by ancient demons and cleansed by the most powerful of Azeroth's heroes! And a vendor will give you 18g 45s 58c for it. Go figure.