Strange formatting

I have just noticed, that the formatting in the posts is not very consistent. Apart from strange rules concerning what goes in bold and what in italics (which is completely my fault, since I keep forgetting what have I decided), the line spacing in different paragraphs tends to change according to some random rule. Sometimes the lines are quite tight, at other times they give good 1.5em of extra space.

I guess this has something to do with this blog running on Blogger Beta version. Hope you don't mind.

Silvermoon and surroundings

Being a Horde player, I could not have visited Exodar with my Draenei character and then just close the game. I had to go to Silvermoon and see what's the fuss is about.

I am glad to see that architectural skills of Blood Elves are much better developed than their Night cousins'. I am not really sure how big Silvermoon exactly is - just because I could not manage to see everything. Couple of the things I saw, though may be of interest to you.

Silvermoon is crudely divided into two parts by the Dark Scar. I know I am a horrible guide to The Burning Crusade but I simply completely missed where does the Dark Scar come from. I know it has something to do with the undead, but what exactly - that's beyond me. Anyhow, the scar basically continues throughout the whole zone and when the city is on its way... well, it just goes right through it.

Silvermoon Folwark gate

The first area of Silvermoon you will see is The Silvermoon Folwark. It has a couple of low level quests and allows you to get the taste of things to come. It is here, that among other quests you get the one where you can kill your first Dwarf (of many to come). It is a bit unfair that the spy character in this quest is not Draenei - Draeneis, after all get the chance to wipe out entire Blood Elf village in one of pre-level-10 questss

From Folwark you get redirected into the forest (which really looks more like a very well maintained Autumn park), where many many people will have many many erands for you, requiring you to travel many many times back and forth... and back and forth... and some more.

The Dark Scar and damage done to the Silvermoon

Running around the forest, Dark Scar is really impossible to miss. A dark, dead land, filled with Gouls and Ghosts cuts right through the entire place. Beyond the scar, the main gate to the city is located.

Silvermoon main gate

The city is monumental. The architecture is something between Roman imperial style and Art Nouveau. Decorative, sleek and very tall structures will make you contantly move camera as close to the ground as possible, to see the city in all its majesty.

Silvermoon, right past the entrance

One of many squares, a Royal one if I recall correctly

While in the city, I also paid a short visit to M'uru, a crystaline entity from which Blood Elves get their powers (paladin powers only or all magic, that I don't know). He is trapped in a chamber underneatchthe city, and constantly restrained and tapped to by several Magisters. He did not seem to mind me watch.

M'uru

I also run into the emmisaries of the other four Horde races, walking the streets and discussing the new alliance with a Blood Elf representative. Since I was in a rush, I did not read the entire dialog, but since they walk in circles, I'm sure you'll be able to.

Horde representatives

I enjoyed my brief stay in Silvermoon very much, but soon it was time to once again run into wilderness and run quests, gain experience and kill many many many creatures.

Wish you were here!

Lost in Exodar

Patience is a virtue foreign to me :)

I couldn't just sit there and level-grind like I was supposed to me, so I decided to make a little trip to Exodar. In there I have learned many things.

Exodar is Big. Really big. It may seem like a long way to the corner chemist, but compared to the Exodar, that's peanuts. (For those of you who never read Hitchiker's Guide to the Galaxy, stop reading this now, log onto Amazon.com and order NOW).

In face, Exodar is so huge, that without a mount I gave up on exploring it after around 10 minutes. The vastness is enhanced by the fact that the place is completely deserted on the beta server - I did not see a single player in the brief time I was there.

Here are some pictures from my trip (I sent imago back to the leveling zone).

Elekks (a.k.a. earless baby elephants)

With age, Great Elekks do not grow in size,
but instead develop a tough exo-skeleton. Obviously.

Exodar is underground and you get there via this
breath-taking tunnel.

Among many wonders, Draenai have holographic displays
of the most wanted bosses of The Burning Crusade.
(and I think there is a guided tour watching them)

Four-slot bags and fun in quests

Here's something new for the World of Warcraft players: 4-slot bags! Here's something even newer: Racial ability training quests.

I have mentioned in my first Blood Elf post, how great I found the idea of having a quest to train the new racial abilities: Mana Tap and Arcane Torrent. What I overlooked, was the reward for the quest.

I knew my Minimage somehow obtained a 4-slot bag, but I missed when and how did it happen. Now, when playing with Draenei character, I encountered a similar quest, this time training the ability named Gift of Naaru - a simple Heal-over-Time spell. The reward for the quest was indeed a 4-slot bag, an item soon to be discarded but very valuable during the first levels (when being able to afford even a 6-slot is out of question).

imago receiving a 4-slot bag as a quest reward

Everyone who ever played WoW knows how repetitive and boring the early quests can be. Kill 10 small boars. Kill 10 small panthers. Kill 10 slightly bigger boars. Kill 10 slightly bigger panthers...

The Burning Crusade does its best in addressing this issue. Just as with Blood Elves, Draenei starting quests all seem to have a purpose. You don't stop and ask yourself "why the hell am I killing these poor creatures?" - just because it all makes perfect sense. Well, also, because killing creatures is not the only thing you do.

Transmitter piece, guarded by Mutated Owlkin

The "4-slot bag" quest required me to find crash survivors and heal at least one of them. Then I was sent to collect pieces of equipment (transmitter I believe) stolen by Owlkins. Many of the Owlkins got mutated due to the radiation, so while looking for the pieces I had another mission - to inoculate the ones who were still ok against poisoning.

Volatile Mutation - bunny in disguise

Another series of quests got me killing Volatile Mutations - hideous little creatures hanging around some of the crystals. While killing them, I collected some samples which combined with some gathered plant allowed the alchemist to create the antidote reversing the effects of mutation. Upon completing the quest, NPCs had a little dialog and then administered the antidote to a caged monster - turning it into a panicked little bunny who immediately skipped away into the forest.

It seems that most of the quests are designed not only to provide your bare-naked character with some entry level gear, but also to help understanding and starting up different skills. Upon visiting the fisherman, you get handed a net, with which you are to fish Redfin Snappers. Most of the time you end up catching an Angry Murloc but the quest is fun and quick to complete. The reward for the quest is a brand new fishing rod and some bait.

imago, fishing with the net

There are tons of non-typical quests around Draenei area. I am not going to mention all, but just to name few more favorites:

There is one where you need to help a First Aid Trainer to cure a Night Elf. While you complete the quest successfully, the aid trainer fails to cure the patient and an Alchemist steps in, giving you another quest and introducing the concept of potions to the new players.

In another one, you need to learn how to interpret tribal Furblog symbols from a book and then you can read their totems.

imago, disguised as a tree

One of my favorite ones was the series in which I needed to collect a hollow tree trunk and some leaves, which the quest giver turned into a tree costume. Wearing the costume I had to sneak up on a meeting and discover the traitor in the Alliance camp. And it was a Gnome! I knew the little #%@&^@% could not be trusted!

Overall, playing Draenei is tons of fun. The only problem is, whenever I see a larger group of Human or Elf NPCs I tend to turn around and run... it always takes a while to realize this particular character is on Alliance side.

The men who fell to Kalimdor

After a bit of a break (work and malfunctioning Internet connection) I finally got a chance to try out Draenei race. I had to jump to another beta test server for that, and luckily this time the name imago was not taken. I decided to play with a Paladin class - not my favorite choice, but it felt suitable for Draeneis.

I had a lot of reservations, when the new races were first announced. Blood Elves seemed like carbon copies of Night Elves and the whole idea of Draenei coming from space just felt ridiculous. 1 hour with Blood Elf and my doubts were gone about them (previous post). Draenei took even shorter to "get into".

Blizzard did a really good job interleaving the lore with quests, keeping the story entertaining and meaningful. The art direction of the starting zone... just stunning. Haunting music reminded me of the main theme to Battlestar Gallactica (the 2000's version, not the old one) - played on traditional tribal instruments it evokes the feelings of loss and sadness following Draenei crash-landing on unknown planet.

Giant Moths in Ammen Vale

The Ammen Vale Crash Site area gives the player an uncanny feeling of alienation. It's rather dark, inhabited by strange mutated creatures... Everywhere around pieces of the ship are scattered on the ground, and crash survivors lay down around the forest awaiting rescue.

imago and a Draenei mourner take a moment of silence

Most of the missions in the earliest levels are themed around reconnaissance and rescue. There is an overall feeling of calmness underlined by fear and sorrow. Overall, the environment is extremely immersing and captivating.

Bad flower, bad flower!... but so pretty...

The main concept is: our crash landing damaged the area, and while we need to figure out what to do with ourselves next, we cannot allow the surrounding environment to become polluted. The theme of the missions makes Draenei very "likable" characters and easily breaks the superstitions many players may have had concerning their impact on the lore's integrity.

Draenei speak with Indian accents (India-indian, not American natives), their dance already made Daler Mehndi a worldwide celebrity, so while suffering surrounds them, there is a lot of goofiness among players.

Tanak Tanak!

Take that back, imago is indeed fully legal

I had no idea that name being in violation with the policies can simply mean name taken by another user.

It seems there is nothing illegal about naming the character after my company, so on Tempest Keep server I just created a brand new imago, a Dreanei Paladin. So far I loved the start zone, but hardly got to level 2 and had to disconnect for the day.

Full report comming once I play some more, take few good screenshots and have something worthy to talk about.

Google Maps engine, Outland content

Nothing to do with me playing beta - I just found it on the web. An interactive map of Outland run with the Google Maps engine. For all those of you who like to explore with a finger on a map.

http://mapwow.com/outland

Magic is in the air

Some race/class combinations just come naturally: Orc Warrior, Tauren Druid, Troll Shaman, Human Paladin... When it comes to Blood Elves, magic is in the air from the moment your character is created and it only made sense to me to create a Mage character.

Say hello to Minimage - lvl1 Blood Elf

I must admit, that when playing original WoW, while I enjoyed the start areas and early grinding, it was mostly because of the satisfaction that gaining a level provides, and not due to the place it is done it. While all the starting zones of the original races have their charm *cough, cough*, nothing prepared me for Sunstrider Isle - a place where Blood Elves are born.

Again, the screenshots can't possibly describe the place, nor can they prepare you for your first encounter. All my doubts and reservations to the idea of Blood Elf were gone as if they never existed.

Blizzard managed to beautifuly merge the soft tranquility of a world filled with magic with a dose of viciousness just high enough to make Blood Elves my new race of choice. You get to kill a dwarven spy within 1 hour of gameplay! Sweet.

Sunstrider Isle

The area itself is plain amazing. Glimmering lights and magical objects suspended in the air, magical creatures roaming around (or swimming through the space, as Mana Wyrms do), the colors, the music (mentioned earlier Harry Potter sound-alike)...

One of my favorite aspects of the Sunstrider Isle is the overal use of animation and transparencies. Not much is solid around here. There are ghostly mobs, crystals, auras, lights... even some doors have semi-transparent courtains in them.

The quests also appear a bit more interesting that your usual WoW variety. They of course can be classified as kill x of y or find z and bring it to q, but everything seems somewhat better connected than what I used to see. It was just pure fun to explore the newbie areas - and I can't recall ever hearing anyone having fun exploring Valley of Trials (Orc/Troll starting area) and getting mesmerized with the sights.

Mana Tap and Arcane Torrent in the Spellbook

A great addition was a quest that teaches the use of Blood Elves racial ability - the Mana Tap. While not necessary to learn the skill, it is a great addition to the training and I can't understand why don't other races have such quests for all the War Stomps, Underwater Breathing, etc.

Soon it was the time to leave the newbie zone and to head to the first quest hub - Falconwing Square at the Ruins of... of... of some city I don't remember - I guess it was Silvermoon. In there I shall kill many mobs, complete quests, craft some jewelery and report it all to you in the future posts.

Leaving newbieland

Enter Outland

What a day! First my Wacom tablet dies (and refuses any form or resurrection) just when I started the project requiring lots of tedious rotoscoping. Needed to do all the work with the mouse. Yuch!

Then, as soon as the work is over, I head to the Blogger to update this page - and guess what? The Internet dies. I would guess it could be sysadmin's way of keeping me away from non-work-related stuff, but since I am a sysadmin, I blame it on my crappy ADSL provider. After some wait, though, I am through and here I present you you my brief encounter with Outland.

Quba entering the Dark Portal

I use my copied lvl60 warrior, fly to Swamp of Sorrows, quickly make my way through The Burning Steppes to the Dark Portal. I am not a very frequent visitor to The Burning Steppes but I seem to remember many more mobs around the portal. This time, there was not a single one there. My guess is that Blizzard decided to make it easier to access the place everyone will be going to anyway.

The first thing you will see once through the portal

The first thing to see is a completely different scenery. The familiar sky is gone, replaced by view of planets and some nebulae. Once you take a few steps forward, you are faced with what has been missing in WoW for a long time: the conflict.

The conflict on the Stairs of Destiny

The screenshot can nearly enough represent the scene that reveals itself on the Stairs of Destiny - a clash of two armies, both NPC controlled, with a non-stop rain of meteorites spawning wave after wave of infernals. Finally it does feel like world of WARcraft.

I did not dare run into the combat, and I don't think I was supposed to. On the right and left side, small Horde and Alliance camps are present with your first Outland quest (delivery) and first flight master.

The scene of the combat reminded me of the opening sequence in Half-Life 2, where you arrive at City17 and walk through the train station filled with tension between civilians and the combine forces. It truly serves as a perfect introduction to the new chapter in World of Warcraft and prepares you for the things to come.

Just as I was about to hop on a wyvern and fly to the first city (and major quest hub for Horde players) I saw a merchant selling something related to jewelcrafting. And just like that my first "adventure" in Outland was over. I logged off and created a Blood Elf mage :)

Disclaimer: Please, keep in mind that yours truly has a full-time company to run and quite limited time (especially on weekdays) to both play BC Beta and report in this blog. Some entries may be very short, just like this one, simply due to the time restrains.

FOR THE HORDE!

From MIDI to Potter

One of the first things you will notice in The Burning Crusade is the soundtrack. While the "old" areas retain their themes, there is a a lot of new themes for the new content. Also the main logon screen has a new "remix". The new theme is very similar to the classic one, but much deeper and layered.

Overally the new themes sound much much better than the original ones (this could be due to the fact that I have been listening to the WoW music for two years now). There is a lot of brass and string sections, from classic violins to deep cellos. Also some vocal choirs have been woven in, giving the music a completely new level of depth and substance.

It really feels like an upgrade from a MIDI to THX.

Music helps in establishing the atmosphere of the zones. In fact it does not merely help, but is an essential element in immersing the player in the right mood. From violent, scarry and at moments sad themes in the beginning Outland zones, to magical music of Blood Elves starting zones (quite familiar to the Harry Potter movies theme), it was the first time I kept the music playing in front of sound effects - it just gave me a better understanding of where my characters are than pages of lore.

I don't know how long will it take for the effect to wear off, but at the moment I really regret not being able to get my hands on Burning Crusade's Collector Edition - if only for the sake of soundtrack CD that comes with it.

It's gonna be a good one, I can tell...

You know how sometimes you see a very good movie trailer, you get all hyped up, get the tickets on the opening day, only to realize that the trailer actually has shown you all that was worth seeing in the movie and the rest is utter crap?

Then, sometimes, you just go see a film on an impulse, and right after the opening scene you say to yourself it's gonna be a good one, I can tell... ?

The Burning Crusade (fortunately) is the latter. It seems that Blizzard really focussed on creating an immersive experience and storytelling on the level yet unseen in World of Warcraft. Yesterday I played a bit with Quba in Outland and then created a Blood Elf character named Minimage and leveled him to lvl 7.

Since the duty calls (work, work...) I cannot post the full first-day (or rather first 3 hours) experience at the moment, but sometime later today I will give you my comments on:

• Storytelling
  
• Music
  
• First look at Outland
  
• Blood Elves newbie zone

...and yes, at that point the screenshots will start flowing.

imago is illegal!

First thing to note - I copied my character, imago (of The Wolf Pack from EU Hakkar server) to the beta server, only to learn that the name "imago" is violating the naming policy. Weird, didn't have that problem in standard WoW. imago's new name is Quba.

I will be trying the two new races sometime soon, too. In this blog you will see three different characters:

• Quba (formerly imago)
  lvl 60 Orc Warrior
  PVP Bloodmyst EU beta server
  
  
• Minimage
  starts as lvl 1 Blood Elf Mage
  PVP Bloodmyst EU beta server
  
  
• imago
  starts as lvl 1 Draenei Paladin
  PVE Tempest Keep EU beta server

Let's get it started

I managed to get my hands on a beta key for Blizzard's upcoming Burning Crusade expansion to the World of Warcraft. Big thanks go to Rushster and the entire www.worldofwar.net team for making it possible.

Within few days of winning the key, I received the confirmation e-mail from Blizzard today... and I am in.

This blog will document my experiences with The Burning Crusade.