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In case you haven’t heard, we are going to Blizzcon! When I say “we” I mean over 10 of us… Writers on rawrcast.com, contributors on the show, and guild members in Bound! All of which will be contributing coverage, content, opinion, and insight into what is shaping up to be the biggest Blizzcon ever! But, we need some help from you guys!

As encouraged by a number of listeners and readers, we decided to create an IndieGoGo page and offer up a few incentives in an effort to raise funds for the Rawr Crew’s trip to Blizzcon! We are now offering a number of “perks” in exchange for your support of our Blizzcon fund.

Everyone who had previously made a contribution through Chip-In will be included in our updated campaign.

Over 10 Writers/Contributors Proving COMPLETE Coverage Over 20 Hours of LIVE Video & Audio Coverage Feeds on ALL major social media channels No DirectTV? No Problem! We got you covered! A full schedule of our coverage is on our Ustream page

If ever there has been a time to “Support the Rawr”, now is that time. If you are unable to provide financial support, please spread the word about our Blizzcon coverage, and our sponsorship efforts. It has been an absolute pleasure producing this show for the past year and half, and we are looking forward to continuing the Rawr! Thank you advance for your support!

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We are tits-deep in plans for Blizzcon! One of the issues that popped up today is: What are we going to do for our Blizzcon t-shirts? Lucky for us, we are leaving that up to you guys!

What would you like to see on your Rawrcast Blizzcon t-shirts? We are planning to create as many t-shirts as possible to give out in October. If you haven’t donated to the Blizzcon fund, please click on the “Chip In” widget on the front page of the website and donate some dough! The more funds we secure, the more t-shirts we are able to produce, and the more beer we have to drink with you guys!

Memorable quotes… Icecrown references… whatever puts a smile on your face, and sums up the attitude and insight that is Rawrcast. Leave your suggestions here, or e-mail them to hugesack@rawrcast.com! The person whose quote is selected will have the first shirt delivered to them, hot off the press!

The winner will be selected 8/31/10, so respond today!

We need your help to get to this year’s Blizzcon! Plans are already in full swing, but we can’t get there without your support! If you have enjoyed the show for the past year and a half, please take a moment to express your gratitude by leaving a small tip to aid our efforts! We are looking forward to meeting LOADS of listeners, and wrangling up even more at 2010 Blizzcon – our very first!

In return, not only will we have an amazing time meeting all of you guys, but we will also have a boatload of Rawrcast T-shirts to give you to you all, and we have a few cooperative giveaways with other vendors and sponsors being planned!

If ever there has been a time to “Support the Rawr”, now is that time. It has been an absolute pleasure producing this show for the past year and half, and we are looking forward to continuing the Rawr! Thank you advance for your support!

In a stunning revelation, an inside source has again come to rawrcast.com and revealed what must be the biggest secret about the upcoming expansion, Cataclysm. Blizzard has already announced that the “old world,” the world as it stood when World of Warcraft launched back in 2005, was getting a complete overhaul. All the zones that players have grown accustomed to over the past 5 years are going to be changed, some radically. Desert zones are going to become lush forests, forests are going to be full of molten lava. Quests are being reworked and instances or dungeons as we all know them are going to be tuned to the new level cap, bringing new rewards. There are going to be two new races to pick from, the Worgen and the Goblin. The level cap is going to be raised from the current level 80 up to level 85. Cataclysm is shaping up to be a huge expansion to the long-running MMO.

What has shocked a lot of players is there was not an announcement of a new class to play with the expansion. In Wrath of the Lich King, the Death Knight was introduced. The Death Knight has become a viable tanking class. The Death Knight helped to address the lack of tanks in the game. Now, an inside source, an inside inside Blizzard source has leaked to rawrcast.com that Cata will bring a healing class, the Monk, to the World of Warcraft.

Read more…

After I posted the original diatribe against patch 3.2, I was informed by some people who wished to sound very important that if I just “waited until Blizzcon” all of my flaming would be for naught and that I would be racing to repair my sullied reputation with Blizzard. “Your retractions better be as passionate as your flames,” they said, and followed up with a casual hint at their “insider information,” and that they “wished they could tell me what they knew,” but obviously, they couldn’t. Well, I am sitting here after the fabled convention at a loss. Surely after all that build-up about what was to come I was expecting some drop of information about this patch and why I was surely going to be left with some great retraction in my previous post. I watched Blizzcon with the anticipation of hearing something earth-shattering. I really hoped that what I was being fed via twitter wasn’t hot air but was instead sound, factual evidence that would make me want to write about how stupid I felt about “hatin” on this patch so hard. What happened was more of the same: it wasn’t mentioned at all, except for a mention of a zombie Onyxia. It is filler content, but what pisses me off the most is that I don’t have a choice in the matter. If I want to go into Icecrown the day it comes out, I will have to look like every other one-ball, half-ass out there with some pseudo-leet purples and a chip on my shoulder. And yes, I do care about aesthetics, that’s why I play a three-dimensional game as opposed to a God damned text adventure.

Saturday morning consisted of preparing Haf’s famous Beer Brauts and eagerly awaiting the arrival of Beau and Leala Turkey. Upon their arrival, we dove into the bratwursts and snuggled in for the start of the Dungeons and Raids panel at 3pm, CST. As mentioned in the previous post, the DirectTV limited our direct exposure to certain panels. So, as for Saturday, we masses of streamers weren’t privy to the initial information from the WoW Open Q&A and the Game Systems Panel, but we kept up with the breaking information via various news sources and the masses tweeting direct from the event floor.

Dungeons and Raids Panel
This was the meat of the convention for me: content! The panel started off simple enough, showing the thought and development process of how dungeon/raid instances are created. Watching the idea take shape was a nice insight into the time and technology that is taking place behind the scenes of this wonderful game that we sometimes take for granted. I sat in awe of the huge chunk-lets of information that were divulged as the panelist reviewed the process. During this discussion, it was formulated that advances are made to accommodate the expansiveness of some dungeons, like the teleportation devices in Ulduar. Haf and I both giggled, “Wasn’t that new in Karazahn?”

After the process was disseminated, the dungeons being prepared for release at ship were expanded upon after initially being discussed during Friday’s preview panel. There will be a staggering 6 leveling dungeons and 4 raid dungeons upon initial shipment of Cataclysm.

Uldum
Within the new zone of Uldum there will be two dungeons, Grim Batol and and the Halls of Origination. Some interesting nuggets of information were shared regarding some mysterious AWMD (Azerothian Weapon of Mass Destruction) that is hidden within these dungeons in the desert. Let me guess, when we go looking for this weapon, without the support of our fellow Horde/Alliance counterparts, we cause great tides to turn and overturn the leader without the full support of the underlings working within the confines of this area. I think that GW wrote this story a few year back. Sounds familiar. I will be interested to see if we end up finding Bran Bronzebeard held up in a hole somewhere, covered in fleas. Just a thought.

Upon initial viewing, the Halls of Origination look and feel very similar to AQ40 with a dash of Ulduar. But, that isn’t that much of a stretch considering the story behind the zone. I think… You know, me and lore don’t always get along. Good news is, there will be stuff to kill in there!

Sunken City of Vash’jir
Also available at release is the Abyssal Maw, one of two 5-player dungeons within the Sunken City of Vash’jir. And, let me just say, it is beautiful. They have created an underwater oasis that feels so organic and harmonic that even the glass walls bow as to create the effect that the bubble of the ocean pressure could give way at any moment.

Blackrock Caverns / Blackwing Decent
Since the old world content is going to be new all over again, it was no surprise that new dungeons are being added to zones we had all known and loved back in Vanilla. In this mix is Blackrock Caverns, a new 5-man instance, which appears to be a subterranean area under the well-known Blackrock Spire. Expect a very similar feel to the lava-filled, iron-clad days of BWL and UBRS.

And, by doing a dive-bomb on Naferian’s terrace atop Blackwing Lair, you will come across the new 10 and 25-man raid instance, Blackwing Decent. Artwork wasn’t shared for this little gem, but I can imagine it is where we see Naverian’s decent into madness.

The Firelands
This new raid dungeon got my blood pumping more than all of the others announced on Saturday. We will once again face the Lord of Fire upon his homeland, the fire plane within destruction of Mount Hyjal. Being able to face Ragnaros is even more nostalgic for me, personally, than Onyxia was. This time around we are pitted against Rag upon his firy spire-like throne. And, this time around he isn’t weakened from his decent into the Molten Core.

Needless to say, I was as giddy as a pre-BC raiding ZG graduate once again when I heard this news. I can’t wait to hear what epic prelude cut scene or pre-combat storyline that Blizzard has in store for this journey into endgame.

3.3 Icecrown Citadel and Dungeon Wings
Before all of the Cataclysm hubbub is released, we are still slated to face and defeat (not that I think he is actually going to die), none other than the Prince of Loredarian, Arthas and the sick-ass voices in his head. Much as the outside of the Citadel leads us to believe, Icecrown is an expansive thrown, which upon entry gives feeling to the icy hole atop the spire where Arthas’ heart should be.

The massive Icecrown Citadel raid dungeon will consist of 12 bosses, and is situated upon 3 floors, the last of which will be reached through an airship event as you spiral upwards towards the pivotal thrown room. I must say, the excitement was evident through the room as they described this unique Alliance vs. Horde event which has you racing the opposing faction, jumping ship in a pirate-isq fashion, shooting turrets, and generally causing much mayhem as you strive to reach your final destination. It looks to be an epic ride.

In addition to Icecrown Citadel, developers are throwing in three new 5-man instances under the bowels of the mines and refinery along the outskirts of the hold. And, as an added bonus, players who participate in these more “casual” encounters will interact with Arthas, much as we have throughout our experiences in Northrend. It was mentioned, and I agree wholeheartedly, that Wrath has been a success because we faced and interacted with Arthas more than players had come to know Illidan in Burning Crusade. By making the player interested in Arthas, the story feels more relevant and important to players of all levels of play.

3.2.2 Onyxia
Lastly, the Dungeons and Raids panel covered the previously released information regarding the reworking of Onyxia’s Lair, and covered a few specific itemization updates, including the Burnished Quel’Serrar. Previously the vanilla veterans had moaned when Blizzard posted that the original Quel’Serrar was being removed when the reworked Lair is released. But, alas… The epic, simple, and stately sword is being reworked as well in a less quest-y version.

I’m equally excited about the 5-year anniversary pet. It is NOT the same-old dark whelping that was originally thought. It is, indeed, a unique broodling, complete with deep breaths, hiccups and smoke rings. My warm-fuzzy girly side is brimming with anticipation, no matter who wants to pewp on my parade.

More to come later…

Friday morning I sat down at the helm of ©StompRot Studios and dialed in through the interwebs to follow the DirectTV stream of Blizzcon ’09. With twitter at the ready, I eeked with anticipation as the stream aimlessly looped through old cinamatics and commercials trying to sell me the stream that I had obviously already paid for.

Then, at 10am, PST, on cue, right when I was ready to fall out of my seat with eagerness, we are welcomed by some dude who is leading the charge, Kat Hunter, and some Asian chick – who, by some miracle is able to pronounce all of the tournament player’s names. Imagine that.

What’s that? Suddenly the stream breaks… the first of many… And, we then see Dude, Kat and the Asian chick getting their hair and make-up done and talking about how they look.

Then we are taken to the “Field Reporter”. The only reason that this chick earned the title of “Field Reporter” is because she obviously plays the field; Jo “I-had-to-blow-someone-for-this-gig” Garcia. BJ must have been the WORST correspondent I have ever seen. DTV would have been better off giving the mic to the kid in the gruntling costume.

So, we push forward. As we are set to begin the panels MMO-Champion reports the DTV schedule before it is published on the stream. Once again, MMO-Champion gets the jump on news. Alas, they are showing the StarCraft Panel on Friday instead of The Guild panel!

Let me get this straight – they have camera set up and recording ALL of the panels for replay later EXCEPT the The Guild. If DTV is so advance and taking full advantage of high-quality streaming video, why not make it interactive and let me CHOOSE which panel I want to view since ALL of the panels overlap?

Opening Ceremony
Twitter is a fluster with anticipation as Mike Morheime takes the stage and starts dropping Cataclysm innuendo and reliving the previous year’s achievements. And, @Rawrcast takes off out of the gates as Kenny D and I begin Live-Reporting and posting screen shots of the proceedings as they happen.

Preview Panel
Metzen and a few other developers take the stage and drop the bombshell. YES, the next expansion is World of Warcraft: Cataclysm. YES, the new races are Goblins and Worgen. And, YES, this expansion will change the face of Azeroth as we know it. Deathwing will awaken from his slumber and rip Azeroth a new one as he is unleashed from the bowls of the earth.

So, all of those weeks that everyone was calling Inquisitor a crack-pot for his informed speculation were completely unfounded. In a humorous fashion, Metzen jokes that this is new information that no one has ever heard before divulging that the rumors, leaks and informed speculation were all true.

Blizzard is doing something with Cataclysm that no other MMO has ever done. They are completely reworking the existing content for everyone, introducing phased terrain, all while advancing the story of the World of Warcraft.

More to come soon on the story of Deathwing, and all of the other developments surrounding Cataclysm in the coming months.

In a segment between panels, Morheime explained that there are two major releases planned for Blizzard between now and the next Blizzcon, in addition to elaborating on the fact that Blizzcon has outgrown the Anaheim Convention Center. It seems that Blizzard is already making plans to expand the capacity of the convention for next year!

Class Discussion
Ghostcrawler (Greg Street) scrambled up to the stage and dropped a huge bombshell on the flock of fans. No more Mp5, spell power, attack power, defense, armor penetration, haste, or block. Thank God they are realizing that min/maxers have overwhelmed the game, and they have finally decided to take some of the math out of my fun.

It seems that they are taking stats back to the simplified base stats of old and putting more weight into a players ability to actually play the game, as less into their ability to number crunch.

GC also shared the new legendary 2-handed axe slated to arrive in Icecrown, Shadomourne. And, the masses cheered…

Of course there were loads of other updates shared in the Class panel, most of which will simplify the game and are contributing to the overarching theme of Blizzcon – Blizzard wants for all of their games to get back to what made them fun to begin with, and start taking out much of the clutter.

Speaking of clutter, DirectTV did a GREAT job finding the dorkiest idiot in the crowd and cutting to him multiple times during this panel. Way to perpetuate the image that we are all idiots in our parent’s basement who only AFK to go to Taco Bell or buy more Mountain Dew. Eat me, DirectTV.

More to come on the Class Discussion and Itemization changes in the coming weeks.

Who thinks that Jay Mohr is funny anymore?
Friday night closed with one very obviously stoned Jay Mohr onstage hosting the costume, sound alike and dance contest. I find it funny that the only people who find Jay Mohr funny are people with the name Jay who happen to have the last name of Mohr. Granted, Blizzard spared no expense when bringing in Ozzy for the closing concert, but they should have saved the money they spent on Jay Mohr and paid some corny wedding DJ to to the same job that Mr. “High-as-a-kite” Mohr did Friday night.

Regardless, the costume contest entries were amazing, cute, inventive, and rather funny. I was glad to see that the right person won, and it was a costume that peaked my interest into the freaky kinky factor evident in Diablo.

Shared Experiences through Twitter
The best part of the day was getting twitter updates and pictures from LOADS of fans at Blizzcon. Both Thursday and Friday night I wrangled two giveaways via Twitter which prompted to pretty funny responses to various questions. Congratulations to the winners @Osys and @SirDoctor, both of whom picked up a Spectral Sandbox Tiger Loot Card!

Also, we were all sharing our Blizzard experience with Brutaliz at Blizzcon. I couldn’t be happier when I received word that he was able to meet-up with Travis (@CultofRazer) from Razer, and that he was able to test drive some of Razer’s latest products. We are looking forward to having Travis back on soon to chat about his Blizzcon experience as a vendor, and the hot new products that are sure to help us play like a pro.

That’s all for Friday… I will follow up with Saturday’s recap soon!

Make sure to check @Rawrcast for a full recap of all of the screen shots, RTs and up to the minute opinion of the changes announced at this weekend’s Blizzcon.

Malfurion’s back, and he’s pissed! Two weeks ago, wow.com featured the cover to Richard A. Knaak’s Stormrage, the next Warcraft novel. Now, I’m a huge Warcraft lore nerd so this sparked my interest immediately. With Blizzcon only a day away, and an imminent interview with Knaak by WC Radio’s Pride, I figured this would be a good time to discuss some possibilities with the book.

At Blizzcon ’08 Christie Golden was quoted saying that Stormrage was not going to be Illidan centric, but Malfurion centric. Seeing as Malfurion is my favorite Warcraft character, I couldn’t be more excited. I am disappointed that it is going to be written by Knaak as opposed to Golden, because honestly, Golden’s writing is much more captivating than Knaak’s. I guess though, Knaak was the one to originally flesh out Malfurion so who else would be better to continue the Stormrage story.

As anyone who has followed the Warcraft story knows, Malfurion is currently sleeping. He’s sleeping, but his “spirit” is in the Emerald Dream battling the Nightmare. I’m sure it’s pretty safe to say that in Stormrage he wakes up finally. It will be the first time since the battle at Mt. Hyjal against Archimonde.

Aside from the obvious, what else can we expect from Stormrage? There’s no telling for sure until Blizzcon! We can come up with some theories and possibilities ourselves in the mean time though.

The main source we have right now on the novel is the cover art itself.

Let’s review this:

He’s obviously pissed off

This isn’t the Malfurion I know from prior books. Malfurion is usually very calm, and peaceful. You know, druidic. My only assumption about this is that he’s seen/experienced things in the Emerald Dream/Nightmare that has changed him. He won’t be a bad person, I think. He’ll just come out with thicker skin and ready to battle what waits.

His eyes

In the War of the Ancients trilogy he is characterized as having the normal silver eyes of his people. Illidan was always the one expressed as having amber eyes, which were the symbol of greatness to the night elves. What could’ve caused the change in Malfurion’s eye color? My guess is it was a change that happened over time as his power grew, a gift from Elune or Ysera, or it could just be a mishap by the artist. Hell, all the WoW night elves have amber eyes!

There are a few possible reasons why Malfurion is returning in the first place, but I think it will be the most obvious one: Cataclysm. It makes sense, right? Since Malfurion did stand against both in the War of the Ancients, of course he would come back to fight them again. I’m sure he will also have an impact on the world as it tries to heal, and as it changes after the catastrophe. Also, maybe the Nightmare will become more prevalent in Azeroth since an old god’s influence is strong within Azshara and Deathwing.

Like I said, there’s no telling what’s going to be included in the novel until the Lore panel, and interviews with Richard A. Knaak begin. But what do you all think? Let me know what you feel will be included in Stormrage. Have any theories on the future of the druids after the cataclysm? In particular, if Malfurion comes back, what do you think will happen to Staghelm?

-Astrella

Some other awesome sources for lore:

• Scrolls of Lore
• WC Radio: But Wait There’s Lore
• Elitist Jerks: Lore and Storyline Discussion