Redemption

Welcome once again to The Conundrum Effect. Today, I am going to share with you a small bit of fiction that I wrote, concerning my Death Knight Khelandros. Since the split from the Lich King, Khelandros has struggled to find his place within the Alliance forces. He suffers from extreme inner turmoil based on past experiences and crimes committed against humanity, against his family. Over time, Khelandros found refuge and solace with a group of kaldorei Demon Hunters and their Shan’do, Tharion Greyseer. This is from one of the first nights with the Netherbane.

Honor. Loyalty. Duty. Respect. These values were present with Khelandros before he served Arthas. These values are what the Glowember family prided themselves on, almost following them blindly. He had never forgotten them, even in service to the Lich King. There were many times that each of these values had been tested and called into question. And each time, Khelandros proved that no matter what, he was worthy of each of these values. Even now, when he walks through the streets of Stormwind, he is called to prove
himself. Over and over again.

Tired of the constant beratings, the constant mistrust, Khelandros exiled himself to the peace and quiet of Ashenvale Forest. Even when the rain was pouring down and the lightning illuminating the sky, as it did now, Khelandros felt at peace. The rage and fury of the storm taking place in the night sky above were reminiscent of the turmoil within his soul. So caught up with the storm, he never heard her sneaking up behind him.

“You will never redeem yourself, brother.”

Khelandros kept his back to her, still looking to the sky, absorbing all the energy of the storm raging above the tree tops. Finally, he spoke to her, for the first time in years. His voice had changed; deeper, hollow, and tinged with the icy frost which birthed him.

“Redemption is forever out of my reach, my sister. But you… are not.”

Twirling with a quickness and agility that even rogues envy, hefting a huge two handed sword emblazoned with runes burning with a bright blue frost fire, Khelandros brought the edge of the sword down upon the stump where his twin sat. The edge of the sword bit deep, embedding itself into the wood.

For many long moments, as the rain poured down around him, matting his hair in tendrils to his face, Khelandros stared at the stump. Empty. Where his sister had been standing.

“We will meet again, my sister.”

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Don’t Buy Gold

 

Hey all. So we know that gold sellers have been a big problem in World of Warcraft, and honestly, they’ve been around in every game I’ve ever played, so they are nothing new to me. But there are people out there that don’t know about the negative aspects that buying gold from these people actually has on our in-game economy.

Here’s a little snippet posted by Eyonix over at the main World of Warcraft website:

Buying gold makes baby murlocs cry. If that isn’t enough to dissuade you all by itself, you might be interested in checking out the informational webpage that we put together to make sure players have the facts about the negative impact of purchasing gold and using power-leveling services. Our goal is to shed some light on how these companies operate, share some of the measures we’re constantly taking to combat them, raise awareness of the detrimental effects these services have on all players — not just the buyers — and help protect members of our community from being targeted by them. So give it a read — it’ll only take a few minutes. And don’t buy gold. Because you wouldn’t want little Murky’s tears on your conscience, would you?

You can also head on over to the page that Blizzard has created to make everyone a little more aware about the subject. You can find it here.

Now, here’s my thoughts on the subject. First and foremost, buying gold is against the EULA and the TOS that you, as a player, agree to abide by every day that you type in your account name and your password and hit connect. Blizzard sums it up pretty good with their statement that “players who buy gold are supporting spamming, botting, and keylogging“. Period. End of story. If you are out there buying gold and not earning it though normal means like the rest of us, then you are a part of the problem.

I’ve seen this posted on a lot of the various WoW related websites that I visit, so I thought that I would help spread the word through here as well. (I hope someone is out there reading this except for me. =p)

If you buy gold, it’s not a matter of IF you get caught, but WHEN. And trust me, you WILL get caught. Is that few thousand gold that you bought for 20 bucks really worth the amount of money and time that you have invested into your game account over the course of the last few years?

I would recommend giving the Anti-gold website a glance, at the very least so you can be educated on how these so called gold sellers actually get their money to sell to you… it’s not very honest work.

Hallow’s End Is Here

In a graveyard cold and dank, there lives a troubled soul…
He sees all life as dead, while he alone is whole…
He rides upon his firey steed, his laughter ringing clear…
Townsfolk hiding behind closed doors as Hallow’s End draws near

For fourteen days and fourteen nights, the headless spector roams the lands…
Will you be able to face the one who holds his head with his hands?
We shall know when all is done, of those to chose to stand…
Hunt him down, destroy his head, and return him to peace if you can.

Hallow’s End is upon us, finally! I really love this holiday, both in World of Warcraft and as a real life holiday. It’s a time when kids and adults alike can let themselves go and become something else entirely, enjoying the night and having loads of fun. With the return of the world event this year, we’ll see the return of Thomas Thompson as the Headless Horseman, who has been upgraded to level 80 and had his loot table increased to match.

The Identity of the Horseman

Sir Thomas Thompson is the man behind the rage of the flying menace that is the Headless Horseman. Legend has it that he used to be a former Paladin of the Silver Hand. He sent his family off to Kalimdor when the threat of the Scourge reached them, and he stayed behind in Lordaeron to help fight them. In one raid upon the Scourge, he ended up slaughtering his own family that he sent away for protection, but he never knew who they were until after he had committed the horrible deed. Through everything, he ended up going mad, believing that he alone had survived the plague unscathed.

Thomas began to slaughter everyone whom he came into contact with, believing them to be Scourge. He was eventually caught and executed for his crimes by the Scarlet Crusade. The demon lord Balnazzar, disguised at the general Dathrohan, had him resurrected as the Headless Horseman. After his defeat by the players, his ghostly form appears and asks for forgiveness, ending a viscious cycle that he is doomed to repeat for all eternity.

The World Event

With the introduction of the Achievement system last year, Hallow’s End was the first World Holiday to test the waters. Many people got stuck on an achievement called A Mask For All Occasions, which required one to collect all 20 of the Halloween Masks. Since then, this achievement is no longer required for the meta-achievement. There are still other achievements that are required, however, that one might need a bit of luck to obtain.

The rest of the achievements aren’t too difficult to get, but do require a bit of a time investment to obtain. Visiting all of the candy pots in the different Inn’s spread out there Kalimdor, Eastern Kingdoms, and Outlands is sure to take up a large portion of that time, though I am dissappointed that they did not include Northrend this year.

Honestly, WoW.com has a nice guide written up to the Hallow’s End achievement written up which describes the event better than I can. You can view it overe here.

Good luck to all of you who are going after the achievement for the first time this year. Congratulations to those of you who do get it in time, as you are one step closer to completing “What a long, strange trip it’s been” and your Violet Proto Drake mount!

I’ll see you guys and ghouls next time! Be safe out there and have a Happy Halloween!

Arthas: Fall of the Lich King

Welcome back to The Conundrum Effect! I’d like to take a moment and send out a thanks to Tharion Greyseer, site admin of LoreCrafted and fellow lore enthusiast (I like that term rather than junkie =p). I love his site and even though I’m not as versed in the lore of Azeroth as he may be, his articles inspire me to continue to write as much as I can. So, this one’s for you my friend! Thank you! And now, onto the article.

What I’d like to talk about is… Arthas. Yes, of course… isn’t everyone else? Well, yea… it’s a hot subject at the moment! The big question looking over us at the moment is simply ‘What happens?’. There is all kinds of speculation brewing about who is going to get that killing blow in. The truth be told, I don’t think anyone will. I don’t think he will be killed off.

Now, hang on a second and hear me out before you all lynch me. I didn’t say he couldn’t be killed. I’m saying that I don’t think he will be killed. Big difference. My buddy Tharion, who writes LoreCrafted, has a nice speculative article on the Lich King’s defeat over on his website. Hop on over and check it out.

He mentions specifically who he believes has the power to contain and control the Lich King entity:

“So how does it happen? How is the Lich King defeated and removed as a threat? What could possibly be strong enough to keep such a being in check? Why, his creators, of course! Yes, those dastardly fiends from the Burning Legion! Specifically, I foresee Mal’ganis being the one to claim that specific ‘victory.'” -Tharion Greyseer, LoreCrafted

Out of all of the groups and individuals who have a stake in this battle, and of all of the people who have a vested interest in the Lich King, I personally would have gone with Jaina or Sylvanas to strike the killing blow. I mean, the old saying does hold true: “Hell hath no fury greater than that of a woman scorned!”. And here we have TWO scorned women heading up the initial entrance into Icecrown. I don’t think they will kill Arthas, but I bet they are going to “lay the smack down all over his candy ass”.

Back to the Burning Legion. They created the original Lich King. They are the ones who tore Ner’zhul from his body and trapped his soul in the armor, encasing it in a block of ice and sending it crashing into Azeroth.

But this is a different beast than the one the Burning Legion created. This is a brand new entity created from the fusing of two souls. Can even the Burning Legion step in and stop him, with all of their power?

The only thing that we can do right now is sit and wait. All will be revealed soon enough when patch 3.3 is released. I am excited and I hope to be able to participate in the Raid. I have never done a raid in the 5 years I’ve played. If this is my first, then it’s as good a place to start as any.

See you in Northrend my friends!

Brewfest and Me

So it’s been a little while since my last post. Honestly, I just haven’t really found anything post-worthy over the past month. We’ve got a lot of info about Cataclysm now, since the huge announcement at BlizzCon, which I did not get to attend but was following religiously online. I think I am most excited for the Worgen Alliance race, and not at all that excited about Goblins.

But! This post isn’t about Cataclysm. It’s about Brewfest and all of the drunken tom-foolery that ensues!

To drink or not to drink!

That, my friends, is the… wait a minute! Is that even an option?! How can you even THINK about NOT drinking during a holiday, especially one dedicated to drinking! This is an outrage! I want a lawyer! I want my congressman! Erm.. so ok, I guess none of them are going to make a difference.

So this year you don’t have to get sloshed by buying drinks, though again, I can’t see why you wouldn’t want to. All you need is to ask for a pair of goggles that mimic being drunk. Put them on and voila! You’re drunk! Take them off… instantly sober! No headaches… no hang overs… no being sick… Hey, these Synthebrew Goggles might not be too bad. You can get them from Glodrak Huntsniper on the Horde side, or Goldark Snipehunter on the Alliance side.

Brewmaster

There is a very nice blog post over on Wowhead that gives a detailed explaination and guide to the holiday and what is needed to capture the meta-achievement: Brewfest Guide on Wowhead. Please be advised that unless you joined the Brew of the Month club last year, AND managed to down the drinks that were sent to you each month in the last year, you won’t be getting the achievement this year. You will need to spend 200 Brewfest Prize Tokens and purchase “Brew of the Month” Club Membership Form, then turn it in to your factions recipient. Once done, you’ll get the Brew of the Month achievement. The Brew of the Year achievement will still take a full year to get, but it not needed to gain the meta, thankfully.

I’m hearing a lot of complaints about the Brew of the Month Membership Form costing so many tickets. Right now, unless Blizzard decideds to change it, the form costs 200 Prize Tokens. Well you also need another 200 tokens for the Brewfest Dress or Regalia, 100 prize tokens for the Brewfest Slippers or Boots, and another 50 tokens for one of four colored Brewfest Hats. So in order to complete the meta, you will need a total of 550 Brewfest Prize Tokens.

Better get crackin! I know I am!

The Crusaders’ Coliseum and Epic Loot

Welcome once again to The Conundrum Effect! Thank you all for taking a small part out of your day to take a look at this blog and share in my thoughts and adventures through this strange and inviting land. Today, I’ll be talking about the Crusaders’ Coliseum and my adventures within.

Epic Loot Rules!

So first, I’d like to get this out of the way. I got my first piece of epic loot… EVER! I’ve been playing the game since launch, and honestly, before TBC even came out, I had never gotten a character up past the 40’s. I had all greens for gear and weapons, but the only blues I had were ones that I found as drops and I couldn’t use. Forget instance runs. Forget blues that I could use. And especially forget purple items. It just wasn’t happening for me.

I just chalked it up to either dumb luck or lack of time to do any serious raids. I was ok with this, because I was able to sit with my friends and enjoy the game. Well all that changed when I got invited to participate in the Heroic version of the new 5-man Crusader’s Coliseum. After we beat the first boss, we opened the chest that appeared and look what was inside:

Edge of Ruin

I was the only one in the group who could use the weapon. As soon as the chest opened, everyone in the group kept congratulating me. I wasn’t really paying too much attention, as I was enjoying the instance itself. When I found out what I was being given, I couldn’t believe my eyes. A truly wonderful experience for a first time epic item.

The Crusaders’ Coliseum

The Call of Crusade has been sounded! Soon, the champions of both the Alliance and the Horde will begin their assault on Icecrown Citadel in an attempt to force Arthas off of his throne and topple his crown as King. But only those who are true champions, tested in combat, will be able to overcome the might of the Lich King and his legions of undead. The Crusaders’ Coliseum will be that test.

The instance itself is a 5-man dungeon with only one room. That’s right.. there’s no traversing long hallways of endless trash mobs. It’s one room, much like a ring, and inside it’s an all out brawl. Your group will face three challenges, the first of which is really huge. The second event has you fighting a priest and her summons of a waking nightmare that takes the form of a random NPC boss. I’ve personally seen both Eck and Onyxia. I’ve also heard that she can spawn Hogger, Van Cleef, and a host of others as well. The final fight is with the Dark Knight and I hear that he’s giving people all kinds of problems.

All in all, I really like the Trial of Champions. I’ve only been able to run it once, and I could not even complete it because I had to go, but I am really looking forward to going back in and fully experiencing the Trial.

Roleplaying Sites

Welcome once again to The Conundrum Effect! Thank you all for taking a small part out of your day to take a look at this blog and share in my thoughts and adventures through this strange and inviting land. Today I will be taking a moment to talk about two new websites that I would recommend to anyone interested in role playing and the lore of Azeroth.

Hearthstone Tavern

This is a relatively new site that hosts a podcast show sharing the same name of the website. I’ve listened to various other World of Warcraft podcasts before, but this one is largely different. This podcast is staffed by a handful of players from the Earthen Ring (US) server, a couple of which are guild mates of mine. They are relatively new to the podcast scene, having only released 3 episodes so far, but they are doing an awesome job.

The podcast itself talks about various aspects of the lore surrounding the game. In one segment, they discussed the new novel by Christie Golden: Arthas – Rise of the Lich King. In other segments, they discuss various aspects of character background creation and other do’s & dont’s that may help or hinder RP.

Overall it is a wonderful podcast and I would recommend all of you interested in RP check it out. Their main website can be found here —-> Hearthstone Tavern and the podcast itself can be downloaded on iTunes.

Roleplay Made Simple

This is more of an informative blog hosted by Earthen Ring’s very own Shaw/Sullivan. Also a member of the above mentioned podcast, Hearthstone Tavern, Shaw has been an active member of the RP community on Earthen Ring for a very long time. His site provides a lot of great information valuable to all players. I recommend checking it out! His site can be found here —-> Roleplay Made Simple

In other news

I’ve finally started working on a wiki page for my Death Knight, Khelandros Glowember. You can see the page over here —-> Khelandros Glowember

As far as in game news goes, I haven’t had the chance to do any raiding of Naxx in pursuit of my Tier 7 armor set. I just don’t have the time. When I log in, since it is an EST zone server, all of my guild is usually well into dreamland. So that is taking longer than I planned. I did get a chance to raise my reputation to Honored with the Sons of Hodir, and the quests have been very good. I’m looking forward to getting into the Halls of Lightning and find out what happened to Thorim after his brother hit him with that cheapshot at the Terrace of the Makers!

So that’s about it for now. Check out the two sites (Hearthstone Tavern and RP Made Simple). They are added to my blogroll on the right. Also take a look at my wiki page. It’s still incomplete, but I am adding content to it every day. Thank you very much for spending your time here.

Until the next time…