Remember The Burning Crusade's launch? Surprise, that's exactly a year ago. One of the most epic launches in gaming history, World of Warcraft: The Burning Crusade is still one of the most epic video game releases in the history of forever. Check out the full article for more TBC reminiscing.

 

First off, we're letting the players know that World of Warcraft's Harvest Festival has recently kicked in. This event, lasting from September 24 to 27, will have players honoring their particular faction's fallen heroes: Uther Lightbringer, for the Alliance, and Grom Hellscream, for the Horde. Players interested in taking part in this event's corresponding quest journey either of these fallen heroes' tombs, where they will leave a tribute.

Completing this quest rewards players with four pieces of Harvest Bread - a consumable that heals your character's HP bar by 2% per second for 25 seconds. Pretty handy for your next dungeon dive. Come this year, however, it doesn't look like all of Azeroth's resident races will be able to partake of this festival. As platonic over at livejournal  explained, it seems that the Alliance's Draeneis are unable to complete the quest line, and hence couldn't enjoy its rewards.

The player ticketed GM Darondyn regarding the problem. The GM explained that since the Harvest festival quest was an "Old World" quest, it probably had issues working with WoW's new races. What this basically means is that aside from the Draenei being unable to pay tribute to Uther, the Horde's Blood Elves will be unable to do the same for Grom. This issue's already been forwarded to Blizzard, and should hopefully be addressed soon.

Of course, you can still partake of the other goodies the festival has to offer, such as the buffets being set up over at Orgrimmar (Horde) and Ironforge (Alliance). Aside from being able to toast a mug to your ancestor's spirit in the said areas, you can also pick the up the Harvest Boar, Harvest Fish, and Harvest Fruit, unique (20) items. These consumable have the same 2% heal effect the bread carries. Mages can also drink up the Harvest Nectar,which gives you a 2% mana regeneration per second for 30 seconds. On an off-topic note, this festival coincides with the upcoming patch 2.2.2. Eat, drink, and be merry - there is much to look forward to come you next maintenance!

Suspension of disbelief, no more? Hyperbeam over at the World of Warcraft threads opened up an interesting post regarding the Caverns of Time Instance, specifically about an idea for an Old Felwood area instance. Felwood, prior to being corrupted by the Burning Legion (under the late Archimonde), was a patch of pristine forest that also served to be the first meeting between Illidan and Arthas.

What makes Hyperbeam's suggestion for the area instance is its claimed lack of "lorelol" - the colorful bits of content that makes parts of a story a little harder to swallow, even for the most stalwart of fans.

For the dudes in WoW, it means Blizzard's constant explanation of events in the CoT being caused partly by the Infinite Dragonflight. Another example from WoW's storyline is the Draenei's "spaceship" that crash-landed on Azeroth.

The instance's progression would have players taking on legions of demons as Arthas and Illidan duked it out, followed by the players helping a now-weakened Illidan defeat Tichondrius. In story canon, Illidan eliminates the said dread lord personally. This appears to be the bare-bones basic idea behind Hyperbeam's lorelol-free instance idea. Guys who'd like to check out the idea in full can drop over to the WoW forums (via the source elink)

  
 

Remember those DC Unlimited action figures of the World of Warcraft: The Burning Crusade displayed at the DC booth during the San Diego Comic Con? Well, they're finally being showcased on the Blizzard website. Alongside with the first set of the series, the entire line of action figures made by DC Unlimited seem like a pretty collection you'll definitely want to display on your personal trophy shelf.

Here's the entire list of collectible characters from the website:

DC UNLIMITED: World of Warcraft: Series 1

• BLOOD ELF ROGUE: VALEERA SANGUINAR Collector Figure
• DWARF WARRIOR: THARGAS ANVILMAR Collector Figure
• ILLIDAN STORMRAGE Deluxe Collector Figure
• ORC SHAMAN: REHGAR EARTHFURY Collector Figure
• UNDEAD WARLOCK: MERYL FELSTORM Collector Figure

DC UNLIMITED: World of Warcraft Series 2

• DRAENEI PALADIN: VINDICATOR MARRAD Deluxe Collector Figure
• GNOME WARRIOR: SPROCKET GYROSPRING Collector Figure
• HUMAN WARRIOR: ARCHILON SHADOWHEART Collector Figure
• NIGHT ELF DRUID: BROLL BEARMANTLE Collector Figure
• TROLL PRIEST: ZABRA HEXX Collector Figure

Check out their website if you feel like taking one of these babies home. Personally, I already have my eye out on the "hawt" Blood Elf Rogue.

Here's more World of Warcraft patch 2.2 updates coming your way. As expected, the current patch on the Public Test Realm has brought about not only bug fixes and other changes, but aesthetic ones as well. Phosphorus from the World of Warcraft Forums noticed that Draenei shoulders look "a lot smaller and ridiculous."

Blizzard QA Hortus was quick to reply that the change was intended as "Male Draenei shoulders were larger than intended before." If you can tell from the images above, the change is actually slight. Players expressed mixed reactions to the change. Some were thankful, while others thought that the change was... well, ridiculous.

(This writer can't help but think the same thing, what's with the shoulder changes anyway?) We'll see what other changes will come with the WoW patch 2.2. In the meantime, check out the images above, courtesy of Bloodocean.

 

World of Warcraft has been more than just leisure for some, after Blizzard Entertainment's massively multiplayer (and successful) online RPG launched just a few years ago. Some gameplay styles of classic RPG-goers never grow old, and if you're one of those who loves to create an elaborate avatar collection, the news of a new hero class probably tripped an alarm inside your head.

But don't worry, you're not alone. Plenty of other folk have been wondering if the new hero class will need one of your precious (and possibly occupied) character slots. Waxxy community manager Nethaera graced the forum thread of curious Solvair of Hyjal and had this to say about the issue:

The new hero class will take a character slot. We have no plans to add more character slots. So, much like with the addition of Draenei and Blood Elves, my suggestion would be strategic deletion if you want to add the new Death Knight to your repertoire.

Blizzard did not wish that players' most prized characters be "given up" just to play a new hero class, but it appears this approach might change that view altogether. What if all your characters were equally prized; which one will you choose? Ponderous decision, indeed.

Want to have The World of Warcraft Diorama #1 unveiled at Comic-Con 2007? Well, you're in luck because collectible figures manufacturer SideShow Collectibles has just started taking pre-orders for the said item. In case you missed our coverage on this, note that it's a sculpture of a Blood Elf female going up against a Draenei Paladin.

The diorama will cost US$ 299 and is expected to ship during Q2 2008. This 20-pound work of art is made out of high quality polystone and each one has been hand-casted as well as hand-painted to match Blizzard's standards for World of Warcraft. Diorama #1 was sculpted in approximately 1:9 scale.

Those who are planning to pre-order the item from SideShow Collectibles will also get the exclusive accessory Netherwelp for free. According to the company, this is a celebration of the non-combat pet released in-game with the Collector's Edition of The Burning Crusade.

Our Read link below should take to the SideShow's product page where you can purchase the item now. Note that the company maintains a quantity limit per person, household, credit card, and billing address so technically, you can just order one.

You've seen the first batch of DC Unlimited action figures for the World of Warcraft: The Burning Crusade, right? Well, if you were impressed with the (hawt) Blood Elf and the others, you might want to take a look at what's to come next year.

At the San Diego Comic Con 2007, IGN was able to take a number of pics of the action figures from the DC booth. Amidst the mini-statues of DC heroes and villains were figures of Azerothian and Outlandian denizens. We see a Mechanostrider-riding Gnome warrior (Sprocket Gyrospring), a Troll priest (Zabra Hexx), a night elf who has a striking resemblance to Malfurion Stormrage (Broll Bearmantle), a Human warrior wearing Dreadnaught Battlegear (Archilon Shadowheart), and a Draenei paladin (Vindicator Maraad).

Anyway, one of the pictures showed a date - February 28 - quite possibly the release date for the said figures. We'll keep you posted, in the meantime, feel free to gawk at the images.

More drool-inducing images after the jump!

Take a quick break from farming... er - playing World of Warcraft, kids, because we've got an interesting bit of lore for you. In a short story written by Mickey Neilson, we'll find out what happened to one of Outland's heroes, Vindicator Nobundo.

Like Akama and the rest of the Broken, Nobundo was changed by the corruption of the demons. He chose to live a life of a hermit since the Draenei are wary of his "kind". He spent his days alone in meditation and prayer, which opened a whole new path for him - shamanism. Nobundo wished to spread his enlightenment with the rest of the Draenei but no one would listen to him.

Well, no one except for Prophet Velen the Divine. We'll stop with the spoilers right there and leave you to read the story yourselves. It's forty-one pages worth of story, but we assure you that it's a good read. We'll bring you more updates on the rich lore of Blizzard's World of Warcraft, in the meantime, get to reading by clicking the Read link below.

You know what they say: it ain't over 'til the fat Draenei sing. Or dance. Or, well, whatever it is they're good at doing these days. And despite World of Warcraft musical composer Jason Hayes not currently working for Blizzard, he still recounts his experiences with the developers in a positive light.

Hayes had a recent interview with GameSpot AU, talking about the obstacles and nuances of the creative process behind music for award-winning MMO franchise. What caught our attention in the interview, however, was talk of his other projects and possible future prospects. Looks like his future is promising - and from the point of view of us gamers, Hayes' dropping of hints in the interview makes us hopeful. Especially with the mention of StarCraft 2...

GameSpot AU: You weren't credited in the Burning Crusade soundtrack or trailers. Did you have any involvement with the projects?
Jason Hayes: I've since gotten involved with NCsoft. It's a different developer, and we're doing a brand-new title for them; a really huge game that isn't announced yet, but it should be very soon, and it's really exciting.

GS AU: Will you be working on the StarCraft 2 soundtrack?

JH: You never know. NCsoft precludes a certain amount of cross-involvement, but you know, Blizzard and their game worlds are so much in my bloodstream now, and I have such an affinity for that, that I certainly am not admitting to myself I won't be involved with things in the future. I hope to get involved with other Blizzard enterprises, because I still have so many friends there, and they just make incredible games.

Interpret that as you will. We're just giving the guy some props for being such a sport with the people he works with. And if his ties to the gaming developers are strong enough, we can expect a lot of good things in the near and far future.

You can check out the rest of the interview behind the Read link below.