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Posts with tag secrets

Breakfast Topic: The secret lives of Blizzard employees

Tom "Kalgan" Chilton, in his interview we posted yesterday, said that one of Blizzard's class designers was the guild leader of one of the world's best known PvP guilds, but he wants to keep him anonymous. Wait, what?

Chilton meant that Blizzard has solid ties into the community, but should it worry us at all that those ties might be a little too close-knit? We already know that Jeff "Tigole" Kaplan has major ties to a guild in the game (he was actually hired by Blizzard from his Everquest raiding guild), and quest designer Alex "Furor" Afrasiabi also comes from a guild that is still active in World of Warcraft. In fact, we've already seen Blizzard get in trouble by their own admission for treating the devs' guilds differently -- is it right for them to keep their guild associations anonymous?

On the one hand, obviously it's much easier to keep the developers' ingame identities anonymous, otherwise they wouldn't be able to play the game at all without getting approached with questions and complaints every time they log on. But on the other hand, not only is there the potential for favoritism in terms of game design, but what if the PvP guild mentioned in the article was one that won an eSports or the Arena realm tournament? Is it right for Blizzard's developers to keep their guild associations anonymous?

The hidden secrets of Outland


Inspired by this forum thread about hidden and mysterious places in Outland, I took to the skies on my windrider to check out some less-traveled places in the expansion. From the empty Horde village above Shattrath, to Challe's Home for Little Tykes, all the way to Skettis, the hidden capital of the Arrakoa, I went on a tour of some of Outland's secrets.

Check out the gallery below to see all the places I found. And while I spent a night touring around, Blizzard spent months making this place. If you've found cool stuff that I didn't include in the Gallery, feel free to drop it in the comments below.

Gallery: Secrets of Outland

Above Aldor RiseEmpty Orc TownChalle's Home for Little TykesThe Little TykesFloating Isles

Breakfast Topic: Hidden gems

From an out-of-the-way inn my guild uses for meetings, to the time I finally managed to watch a race in the Shimmering Flats, Azeroth has many well-kept secrets. How many times have you stumbled across a location or piece of scenery and wondered what on earth it was there for? Aside from the game's easter eggs, which are fun to track down, some places seem to hold unfulfilled potential.

I've found that RP gives me a whole new outlook on these places; every one suddenly suggests several possible storylines, although I've acquired the habit of dismissing a lot of the empty-looking content by saying "oh, that's only for RPers". Do you think this is true? Are the deserted buildings and empty locations there for RP enjoyment alone, or to lighten the hearts of the players who love running around into every nook and cranny? Have you found a particular spot that surprised or delighted you?

Hidden Quests

Tobold has posted a few lesser known quests for both Alliance and Horde.

I tried the Thandol Span quests on my warrior, and sure enough I needed a swiftness potion to reach the column. For all the cookie-cutter "Kill 37 rabid kittens" or "collect 42 centaur kidney stones" quests there are in WoW, every once in a while you come across a quest that is especially innovative and fun.

What other quests have you come across that might have escaped the notice of most casual players?


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