Another week has passed in WoW and I’ve progressed slightly more with both my alts. This week we found a place for Bodeclaw to feel very much like they belonged, and honour the noble sacrifice of a farm animal to a piratey cause.

I’m Pretty Sure This Is Racism…

Sorting out the final bits of the quest for Princess Poobah was pretty easy truth be told. Run round the back of the island, find the biggest ape there (again) and kick Mukla’s ass with the help of my ever trusty boar. The quest completed and the quest marker removed from my list and map (which is quickly becoming one of my favourite things to do), I mounted my Swift Springstrider (which again, is becoming one of my favourite mounts) and swam across back to the mainland coast to run up the beach and hand in more quests.

All I had to do now was try to find that cave entrance. I prepared myself for a long search…

Oh. Well that was easy. Should have listened to Lone when he said “Follow the main path.”

Back in Booty Bay, I set about handing in various quests and learning my way around the levels a little bit better than I had the previous week. This involved a lot of running in and out of buildings and I had to go by paw, as atop my Springstrider I was too tall to fit in some doorways.

I encountered the cow in the second level of a building. At first I was very confused as to why it was here… then realised that downstairs was a leatherworkers. I very quickly left, eyes a little wider for that poor beast’s future. (Yes I know, I’ve murdered many an animal over the last few months – they were quests okay?)

Eventually I found my way up to the top of the tavern and those in charge of Booty Bay. Thanks to my investigations in other questlines, it seems I was to help uncover a plot from the Bloodsails to attack and take over Booty Bay. I accepted the mission to abduct some documents from their encampment. But first I had to take a really good photo for video game confusion’s sake…

I’m so going to find as many Assassin’s Creed spots as I can now. With both alts. Look forward to that in the future.

Anyway, I went along and stole the plans with a little elimination of pirates along the way. Well, they were attacking me and i had to defend myself. And my boar, who as we all know really adores me.

The questline then took me to the enemy crew’s recruiter in an attempt to get an agent on the inside (why is it always me?)

Unfortunately it wouldn’t be that easy. He demanded I bring him the head of the Sailsmaster in Booty Bay to prove my loyalty, as he’d heard rumours of a ‘pandaren hunter’ killing the Bloodsail’s crew members. I returned to Booty Bay and spoke with the Tauren Sailsmaster. And he proposed a plan to pass a cow’s head off as his own by jamming a large pirate’s hat on it.

… Wait, a cow’s head?

Brave farm animal, you gave your life willingly. I will not let you down and let the Bay be taken…

Wait, How Many Worgen Are Here?!

Bodeclaw found themselves on a journey down to a former druidic place to combat the corruption that had taken hold of it by releasing the souls of those taken over the the darkness. Oh, and to collect a sketchbook left behind.

Fortunately there were a lot of other guardians around, attempting to fight back the corruption but it’d taken a fairly firm grasp on the land around me. It was still natural looking, but so much darker and moodier… giant tentacles and flails writhed from the ground, slimes oozed around and fae dragons found buried in the ground…

(Don’t you love glitches?)

The quests I had to do here were fortunately over very quickly. I ducked in, defeated and claimed what I needed and raced back to hand in those quests. Neither one of the quest givers required me to go back in, and thus I continued on my way to Farwatcher’s Glen. It wasn’t that far away and sticking to the paths I got there pretty quickly. And discovered that for once I was not one of a few of my kind…

Farwatcher’s had so many Worgens, with only a few of other races around. I immediately went and set my hearthstone to teleport me back to the inn here and set about collecting up the questlines in the area. I then went upstairs to sleep and discovered that I really needed to relearn pillow.

After a sleep I ventured down to the area a number of my quests required me to visit, the Charred Vale. I had been told there were Black Whelps in the area, and set about hunting them for one of the questlines given to me by a houndsmaster. I also saw Black Drakes but avoided them for the most part. I also had a jetpack to leap up the Vale and upon getting to the right area decided to use it…

I should have known. Where there’s Whelps and Drakes, there be dragons too. And I know enough lore to know that the black dragonflight aren’t exactly friendly, even without having to complete the next part of the quest which is to smash the black dragonflight eggs scattered around me…

Oh boy.

Hello there! I am CyberGoblin and I have recently joined the team to cover Final Fantasy 14. In this first post I shall be covering the major changes in the impending second expansion: Stormblood.

First and foremost there are the new areas: Gyr Abania which is the region surrounding Ala Mhigo and for the first time the game will take us outside of Eorzea and into Orthard, the far eastern continent. There are six new zones, a new city, a new hamlet (basically Revenant’s Toll or Idyllshire) and a new housing district.

Each of the new zones will be fairly large – about the size of those in Heavensward but they all have two aetherytes so no repeats of the Dravanian Hinterlands which had none so you had to teleport into the extreme busy end game hub and walk out.

Another big addition is swimming and diving both on foot and with a mount. The former will also be retroactive to some of the old zones (the Costa Del Sol part of East La Noscea have been shown) but diving will not.

There will not be any underwater combat, indeed taking any damage underwater has been confirmed to be a one-hit kill. The development team has publicly mooted the idea of incorporating this into content such as dungeons where you have to evade defences however nothing has been confirmed or shown of this.

The next major new content are the dungeons and trials. At launch there will be nine new dungeons and at least two new trials. Locations seen have included a haunted ship graveyard, some sort of heavy artillery installation and a ruined temple of some sort as well as the underwater palace in the screenshot below.

The two primals in the confirmed trials are Laksmi the Lady of Bliss, a summon from Final Fantasy VI which focused on party healing and this time around is the goddess of the all female lamia beast tribe the Ananta. The other new god on the chopping block is original to Final Fantasy XIV like Ravana was in Heavensward. Susano, also known as Lord of the Revel is in fact one of many deities worshiped by the mercantile turtle beast tribe the Kojin.

To fight these new encounters players will have access to two new jobs – Samurai and the long requested Red mage – both of which are DPS. In addition there are several brand new abilities and mechanics added to the existing ones

Samurai is a lightly armoured melee DPS which will trade utility for extremely high single target damage and will focus around building up to unleash a single devastating attack.

Red Mage on the other hand is a ranged caster, using their rapier and crystal in tandem to combine the two major schools of magic: black and white magics. Red Mage gameplay will focus largely on building up black and white mana before diving into melee range to unleash a powerful burst combo and then diving back out to cast a finisher.

Additionally the cross class system has been reworked. Instead of the current system of having to level certain classes for specific abilities such as levelling Thaumaturge to level 26 to get Swiftcast you instead have a pool of abilities shared by role: Tank, Healer, melee physical DPS, ranged physical DPS and caster. As with before there are 5 slots and a number of existing abilities – some of which were not cross classes before – and some new ones can be picked depending on the instance.

In addition to the dungeons and trials we are also getting two new raid series. The eight man raid will be the Interdimensional Rift which will focus on Shinryu and Omega and will have a normal difficulty and a harder mode which like Alexander will be called Savage. The twenty four man raid series is called “Return to Ivalice” and is being guest written by Ivalice creator Yasumi Matsuno. Aside from the name very little has been confirmed however Game Director Naoki Yoshida has commented that playing Final Fantasy Tactics is probably the best way to prepare.

I didn’t get a good amount of time in the game this week, but I did make sure I did a little bit for both characters to advance their stories a little bit. This week I’m having to try and deal with another potential loss, this time for my other character and I also got something completely unexpected this week – a taste of what it must be like to have flying mounts.

Exploring The Cape Coast While Lost

Last week saw me leaving my Pandaren Hunter Teddired in Booty Bay after a realisation that the game wasn’t going to let me recover my Lashtail Hatchling until much later. Much as I disliked it, I couldn’t take back what was mine just yet. So I continued on with my quests and ended up in Booty Bay.

The only problem is, after collecting all the quests I could find… I didn’t quite know how to leave again…

Booty Bay is impressive. I love the idea of all of that dwelling and shop and gathering built up the side of a cliff… but my god it was so easy to get lost in there. In case you’re wondering how I managed to find my way in there I swam. It wasn’t fast, but I had to find my way there however I could for the quest.

Eventually after finding a few more quests I’d missed I finally found the cave where I should have entered and left. Then promptly lost sight of where it was again. Oh well.

After collecting a few things for some of the quests I was making my way back down the coastline to make the long swim back, when I spotted a quest marker in the sand…

Someone needed help it seemed, and by chance they were on the isle just to my immediate right! I saddled up onto my Reaver and swam my way out to this jungle island filled with apes of all kinds and found… a Tauren princess?!

Well it seemed that despite the message she wasn’t ready to leave quite yet, requiring a little clearing of the way first of the panthers nearby. I did this, using skills I utilised in past weeks to hunt down the panthers. Then, she said that a number of her items had been stolen by the apes and would I please retrieve them. I’m nothing if not helpful so…

Oh.

Oh, that’s King Mukla.

Before I began playing World of Warcraft I played an awful lot of Blizzard’s other game, Hearthstone. I’m familiar with King Mukla as a card…

And guess who’s gonna have to fight him to free this Princess?

Bring it on!

Is This What It Feels Like To Fly?

So I left Bodeclaw outside of a Horde operation that was polluting the land. Well, as a Druid we weren’t going to be tolerating any of that shit, oh no. And as usual everyone majorly concerned over it wanted me to be the one to do the actual dirty work of sabotage.

Murder is fine if it’s for a cause right?

The Sludgewerks also held a gnome spy in disguise as a goblin. I was told that he knew where the information on a giant-ass Horde bomb I’d first seen in the questlines weeks back when I accidentally went too far into Stonetalon was headed. I wrapped up some other quests and made my way up to the tower where I was told I could find the book with the details. Once found I brought it back to him to read…

Danger looming and no time to lose, I hurried back to the camp where I’d picked up my quests, handed them in and made my way over to Battlescar Valley and Thal’darah Grove via computer-controlled flight. Once there I continued the quest and was given use of another hippogryph, expecting that as with similar missions the hippogryph would fly itself and I’d just be hitting the commands provided.  Only when I used the whistle and launched… it didn’t move.

At least, not until I told it to go forward.

As flying mounts won’t be unlocked for many levels yet (and neither will my Flight Form) I practiced a little bit on the back of this loaned mount, quickly picking up descending, moving and launching off the ground again. I enjoyed myself thoroughly but I had young Druids to rescue and so I did as I needed to… only to be a passenger on it again as we watched the bomb total the Grove – unable to stop them.

I was rewarded with a nice hat though, with actual stats unlike the top hat I’d been wearing since practically day one in game. I put it on and was a little unsure. It didn’t look bad, but I was just so used to Bodeclaw’s little top hat… I dunno. We’ll see if I can let go of the appearance for the sake of stats.

On my way out to the next quest giver I found another two talking about an ancient evil tainting another nearby place and I decided to go do those quests instead while I was in the area. I ran down the path and…

Well shit. That’s not good.

Join me again as I update you on the adventures of my two Warcraft characters, and not only wrap things up for one but try to for the other.

Give Me Back My Raptor!!

Those of you who read my last player’s diary will know that I reached the point in the Stranglethorn troll quests that I lost the Lashtail Hatchling I’d somehow adopted during my first quest in the area. You’ll also know that I wasn’t very happy about it. I was going to get her back, no matter what… nothing would stop me…

… except something was.

I had no choice but to leave. To train, become strong enough and then come back for her. Hopefully she’ll remember me although I have a feeling that for drama I’ll probably end up having to fight my own raptor… maybe even kill her. That would be sad and I hope to god that won’t happen.

With that put on hold for now I ventured off for my next set of quests, crossing the cliffs over to the Cape of Stranglethorn.

My time was spent doing the usual sort of quests; finding things, killing things to find more things and so on. Then I was told of a ‘sad’ troll hiding behind one of the tents and speaking to her put me once again dealing with local trolls, more of the same group as the ones who had kidnapped my hatchling. After taking her quest and going towards the bat totem she told me to find, I activated the quest and suddenly I was a lot more familiar with the aerial creatures I’d been encountering along the way (and in some cases, shooting down).

This was all in aid of spying on an outcast and seeing one of the same trolls who was holed up in Zul’Gurub there talking to him made me want even harder to go in and complete this questline. After all, it was likely that I’d have to kill some important people that he cared about right? At the very least, it was also in aid of stopping other terrible things they were doing so no one would have an issue with it.

Bringing the news back to the hidden troll, I was tasked with killing the outcast and that suited me just fine. I felt someone needed to pay for the kidnapping, so why not this one who was wanted for some weird revival ritual? I made my way down to the area I’d spied upon him, only to find that he’d already left before I could kill him. And left a portal wide open.

A portal into Zul’Gurub…

I had to go inside anyway to complete the quest and Zul’Gurub was where I wanted to go. Teddired’aka is still in there after all… Of course, inside I found myself restricted to linear paths as part of the questline and that was a shame. However, I did get to beat on the outcast and destroy the body of a powerful but dead troll priest. I’d have gotten two done, if someone hadn’t interfered.

After that I was placed outside the place I wanted to be at. No raptor, only quest completion to show for it. With no more quests to finish in the area I moved on. Along the coast and found myself in the piratey settlement of Booty Bay.

I might be still raptorless, but I will get her back. One day…

Finishing Up Ashenvale

So last week I had discovered that far from having finished all but one quest in Ashenvale before I went into Stonetalon, I’d actually got a few quest markers left on the map. I’d journeyed as far as I could to reveal an untouched corner of the map and helped the Night Elves set up new settlements and take on the Warsong who were logging the nearby area.

The quests took me all over the place, from taking on and defeating smaller parts of the Burning Legion demons who had come through…

… down to the burrow of Dar’danil where mad druid spirits haunted the once sacred halls and one lone sane ghost roamed forever in Cat Form.

After all this, I had one last task to do at the Warsong Lumber Camp, which involved a little Grand Theft Auto of the Warcraft variety… my god, that Shredder was a pain in the neck to aim blades with – especially the enemies who swarmed me and tried to destroy the vehicle when I needed to take it back to the camp to compete my mission!

Once I was done there, I ran along to the other quest markers and found that actually the majority of them were end-of-quest markers. Bar one dungeon run, I was done. It was time for me to head back to Stonetalon and continue the quests over there. I ran down to Mistfallon Post and picked up for next set of quests, as well as another new flight spot.

I feel like I’m gonna have some fun here, now that I don’t have to worry about backtracking anymore.

Onwards to progress!

This week has seen something happen that I called a few weeks back. Also, I finally got to start that furbolg uprising after a lot of travelling through the Barrens and Stonetalon Mountains. Woo.

Wait, There’s More?!

Ashenvale, I finally have returned to you! Let me just wrap up this quest and…

Oh, there’s another three markers on the map… guess I didn’t complete everything after all. Good thing I came back.

So yes, seems I wasn’t quite as done with this area as I had thought. Not only was there a marker still in a place I’d visited to go to, but there were two small areas on the edge of the map I’d not visited, both with their own quest marker. I decided that since I was here, I might as well start on and finish them as well. So, on I ran in Run Wild and Travel Forms, on down the path and past Horde encampments until I finally reached the location of the chosen questline at a new settlement called Forest Song.

Pretty place. Shame about the neighbours. Satyr are quite the impressive looking race, but they’re not at all nice. I’ve had an encounter with a few before, including one who I helped to be redeemed… but oh well. I need to visit them to complete a quest anyway, and more battle means more experience. Not that Bodeclaw needs it, she’s a higher level than Teddired is… although I guess that’s as it should be given that she is my original player character.

I dropped down into the back of Satyrnaar from Forest Song, which let me get right into the thick of the areas I needed to search for the tainted wood for the quest and let me avoid a good few satyr and other nasties while I did it. Then I ran out and used Dash to run to the Ancient who would cleanse the tainted wood… oh, and to yet another quest-giver. This time I was stealing back wood felled by Horde woodcutters and hopefully giving it a respectful send off. As well as planting more saplings into the fel-tainted area nearby (bloody satyrs…) to hopefully reclaim it as they grew. Now I stand ready for my next quest… to take fight into the Horde’s area nearby.

I am ready. And majestic as hell.

Losing Teddired’aka The Raptor

I knew it. I called it back when I found the Lashtail Hatchling; something was going to happen and I wouldn’t get to keep them. Her, now I should say as this questline has determined that for us.

So, over the last week or so I’ve been following a questline to do with reviving a troll whose large skull my raptor recovered from a bonepile. This week we finally had all the items needed to do the revival and… well, this was not a very nice troll. Legendarily bad, and he threatened to murder the gnome who had helped me revive him unless I gave him one thing…

My Lashtail Hatchling.

I had no choice and so, my little baby raptor was taken from me. Of course, the gnome who had helped me reach this point directed me to another person nearby who could help me out. Because I wasn’t just going to let Bloodlord Mandoklr steal my raptor from me like this, oh no.

And so, I sought out this other person and began a questline in which I discovered that this hatchling had quite the lineage. Seems this was the daughter of Mandoklr’s old raptor companion, and now he was going to train her to obey him. That was not something I was going to let happen. Oh no.

And she has a name, she has my name. Teddired’aka is my raptor and together with me in her mind we began to escape from the troll encampment. Only… it didn’t quite work. Now she’s caged more securely and that training is going to try and wipe me from her mind…

But I’m not going to give up. That raptor chose me and she is mine, and right now she needs me. That troll cannot have her. I swear, as soon as I can I will go into that place and I will leave with Teddired’aka by my side once more.

This has also sort of put me off having a troll as my Horde alt too… guess that’ll have to wait a little longer still.