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Posts with tag turtle

Warsong Gulch changes may not have helped much

Aloud on the podcast last week, I wondered if the patch 2.4 changes to WSG had made a difference (I haven't been able to make it in there yet -- too busy writing about Hello Kitty Online, of course), and now maxomi is wondering the same thing: since the changes dropped, has WSG actually been fixed?

Unfortunately, from what we're told, the answer is no. The changes, designed to cut off turtling and players who ran around with the flag without capturing it, first made the enemy flag carriers trackable after 45 seconds, and then gave a damage debuff to the flag carrier after ten minutes (which doubled at fifteen). But all the reports from players say that makes no difference -- people still turtle away, even with the tracking and debuff, and eventually both drop the flag and the whole thing resets.

So what's the solution? If you crib some notes from other capture the flag games, a match timer sounds like the best option, and indeed, that's what most people are suggesting. Blizzard would have to determine how long to tune it, but the idea would be that after a given amount of time, if there was no winner, the match would end in a draw, with both sides losing in terms of a reward. It doesn't seem like Blizzard can force players to fight, so the best option overall might be to just call it in a time limit, and keep the matches from going on for long amounts of time.

Due for more Polymorph options

Here's a good idea from the forums: more sheep choices! Polymorph was one of the most beloved spells in the Warcraft RTS games, and so players were thrilled to see it come to World of Warcraft, and even more thrilled when two other variations on the spell were learned: instead of sheeping, players can either polymorph pig or turtle with two learned spells from quests or drops in the game.

But since the introduction of Zul'Gurub, we haven't seen any other options for mages in game. And there are plenty to choose from by now-- Polymorph: Ravager, Polymorph: Clefthoof, or Polymorph: Elekk would all work great. Polymorph: Willy would even be lots of fun. Oh, and yes, as players in the thread say, since we're headed to Northrend, Polymorph: Penguin would not be out of order in the next expansion.

Blizzard has done a pretty good job of taking mounts, both flying and ground-based, towards a little horizontal progress-- giving more options on one level instead of setting up a few options over multiple levels. But hopefully Polymorph will get a little love, too-- even though mages are the only ones who benefit directly, my guild has always had fun making sure our mages have all the Polymorph options possible.

Forum Post of the Day: New hunter role... MT!


I'm sure when every warrior visited the official Warrior forums today and saw this thread started by Nokoma, claiming that a Hunter's turtle pet successfully main tanked SSC, there were a lot of angry Warriors thinking about how they were quickly becoming obsolete. But then they checked the video link, and hopefully LOL'd as much as I did. While I'm sure pets can be viable tanks in certain situations, I don't think any associated video wouldn't be nearly this amusing.

[via Severkill's Blog]

Polly wanna morph?

Last night we ventured back into Zul'Gurub, mudskunks in hand, for another unsuccessful attempt at the fishing boss. Although Gahz'ranka didn't see fit to drop my book, again, I was grateful for the opportunity. I don't know why I am obsessed with getting the third polymorph spell, but I am. In fact, I think there should be more of these little gems. I have often found myself in a group with another mage, and having a pig and a sheep certainly makes knowing who's target is who's that much easier. So I have been thinking about the polymorphs I have seen used by NPCs in the game, and the ones I would like to use myself.

Yesterday, after the ganking discussion, I started a blood elf warlock on a pvp server. I didn't get far, but I managed to get some apprentice discipline in before I switched characters. There it was, another polymorph I hadn't even recognized, and although I don't really want to be able to turn people into boars, it's out there as a possibility. I've been turned into squirrels, frogs, rats, chickens, even flowers. All of these spells are in the game, albeit as NPC abilities, and I think should be available to the mages willing to slough through the difficult task of getting them. The way I see it, the more variety the more chance for personalization of the character, and it sure would be easy to distinguish one mage's poly from another in raids.

Another idea on customization goes along with the concept of beauty parlors. Instead of having a lot of different animals, mages could quest for the ability to colorize their sheep. I've done it in other games, and this would be another way to distinguish targets. Plus, it would just plain be fun.

What do you think? Which animals would you like to see added to the list of polymorphs? Personally, I'm voting for polymorph: panda.

Around Azeroth: Are we there yet?


If you've never done Tooga's Quest in the past, you may find yourself confused as to why there's a large tortoise in the middle of the Tanaris desert. It's an escort quest (my least favorite kind) that takes you from one end of the desert to the other -- all the while being trailed by Tooga, who's just as slow as you would expect him to be. However, the quest is worthwhile if only for Tooga's sparkling personality, which comes through quite clearly in this screenshot from reader Celwynn.

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! You can attach a picture file or send us a link to one -- and don't worry about formatting, we'll take care of that part.

See more of your pics from Around Azeroth.

Gallery: Around Azeroth

Around Azeroth: The elusive turtle mount


Reader Steve sends in this lovely shot of the rare turtle mount, which you too may be able to find if you buy enough packs of WoW TCG cards. It's slightly Photoshoped to give it that proper photorealistic effect. Not half bad, if I do say so myself.

Do you have a unique shot of Azeroth that you'd like to show off to the rest of the world? Tell us about it by e-mailing aroundazeroth@gmail.com! You can attach a picture file or send us a link to one -- and don't worry about formatting, we'll take care of that part.

WoW Moviewatch: The Real Speedy


I lament the low quality of this video, but am still amused by it. In it Azric of Eldre'thalas rides from Tirisfal Glades to Stranglethorn -- on a turtle mount, acquired by obtaining a rather rare TCG card. The mount was advertised early on as traveling at 100% speed -- though, on clarification, 100% speed seems to be normal run speed. So... even with most of the video sped up, it's a 7 minute run trip across the Eastern Kingdoms.

To Turtle or Not to Turtle...?


We're 45 minutes into an Alterac Valley run and 30 players are sitting in our base playing defense, fighting a pitched battle that doesn't help us win, but slows down the rate at which we're going to loose. We haven't managed to hold a single graveyard throughout the fight, and the Alliance has a line of defense that quickly picks off most players attempting to move north from the Horde spawn point. I manage to sneak up to the next graveyard with a hunter friend while everyone else is busy fighting back in Frostwolf hold - and we manage to tap the flag there. However, before we manage to make the capture, a group of five Alliance comes down hard, and we're sent back to where we started.

My friend whispers to me, "They have no idea what causes people to turtle, do they?" And, while I hadn't thought of it in this way before, I'm forced to agree - this sort of fight is probably no fun for either side. By playing such heavy defense, and not allowing a single capture, they push us back towards Frostwolf hold again and again - and when there's nothing else for players to do, many of them regroup back at one of the worst bottleneck points in the game, and the match ended up lasting an nearly an hour and a half.

So what's your experience with turtling? And is there, perhaps, something to be said for letting the opposing side take a little, just to prevent them from fighting with their backs against the wall? Or is there some better strategy to avoid or break the opposing team's turtling efforts?

A Turtle Mount?


Remember the Warcraft trading card game that's being developed? The suggestion has always been that some of the cards you collect may convey bonuses within the game itself, though the Upper Deck website is vague on what sort of rewards they might be. Well, a recent addition to Thottbot gives us a hint - the spell "Create Upperdeck Turtle Mount," which seems to be part of the recent build on the test realms. A search of Thottbot provides other possible TCG rewards - tabards, pets, and trinkets. Somehow, the thought of my Gnome warlock riding around on a giant turtle appeals to me...


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