Warlords Of Draenor: Through The Dark Portal

So it begins, with the Iron horde flooding on to our homelands we're forced to travel through the once quiet portal and face a new menace! I will get some shots of my travels and document my experiences throughout Draenor. Despite the obvious lag which is something out of our control and the buggy quests its been a blast and a real change of pace. I wont be covering every single detail but I'm sure you will get the picture! So please sit back, relax and take your mind of the loading screen bosses and ridiculous ques in my first post of WoD! 

So we begin our adventure through the merciless Iron horde forces that occupy Tanaan Jungle. Similar to Hellfire in BC both factions start there, however it is instanced so in the famous words of Corporal Jones, DON'T PANIC! Here you will transverse through a dense jungle that serves as home of the bleeding hollow clan.  Together with Thrall, Khadgar & Maraad you will be on the run from forces at work, destroying caves, shooting a huge cannon... YES CANNONS! and much more! 

As you can see the story telling is incredible and the use of the new 3D texts on key characters is really outstanding. So even if you are not familiar with the names, the story telling will get you caught up to speed easily and really do a great job at immersing you in to the quests. You really do feel like you're on the run and these suckers are hunting you down! After all you did just take control of a huge inferno machine from the help of a dwarf and nuke the hell out of them! SAVAGE! 

After a few hours, give or take you will be rushing towards the end of the introduction quest were you will jump on a ship of sorts and be off to Shadowmoon Valley, Here you will meet up with the epic Draenei Velen (named after me of course) Here you will embark on adventure from the get go. First you will establish your garrison, to start with you will be collecting lumber and killing the ravens inhabiting the area. 

Shortly after you will then be on your way through out the valley. You will meet a ton of new folk, doing all kinds of quests (have not had to pick up cleft poop as of yet) which are all enveloped around your garrison. Quests can reward you with followers for missions from common to epic, much like battle pets and these can be sent off on there way to complete missions of sorts. I love how all the quests effect your garrisons and have the potential to make it better.

Your garrisons will continue to work, complete orders, rank up as you quest through Draenor. Its great to set up some missions and then be off on your own quests. The blueprints you use drop from quest mobs and so on which I think relate to your professions you have currently. As you can see from the photos above they also include that awesome 3D text as you rank up and build new parts to your garrison. The random quests you can complete like defending your town are also really interesting. I have only been in one so far but I hope they are different! 

As you can see, Shadowmoon is incredible and I really do prefer it to the Horde counterpart. It's lush environments are awesome. Going back to the garrisons a little, I do wish there was a way you could build it in any of the WoD zones like they said at last Blizzcon but to be honest, it is stunning here, WHY WOULD YOU NOT!? it also makes sense to have it here as this is your first real touch on Draenor soil, lets defend this beauty shall we? 

The locations even throughout SMV are stunning and so diverse. One minute your in a farm the next your in a glade full of plant like creatures and all sorts of pretty things! (some have a nasty sting so watch out) These places also have some great exploration opportunities and a ton of rares added in for good measure. 

Initial thoughts 
Although I doubt I will be able to get on due to all these server issues which to be honest is hard to forgive considering we have had a year or so on Garrosh, you would of thought these would of been stress tested enough to expect such a jump in players.. I am now finished here and level 92 and by the gods of RNG I got my first perk which was empowered chi! Yeah baby! I have loved it, despite the lag, its been great fun and I hope you guys enjoy it just as much! 

 GM of Forged Legacy.

A Trip Down Memory Lane..

Greetings adventurers and explorers alike! This post will cover two incredible Raids. Us PVE players have always gravitated around raiding content and what makes it worth all the hours of progression and the strive for gear and downing bosses for the good of our guilds. It was so hard for me to choose these top two, but in my mind they are the few that are most thought out and enjoyable throughout my entire seven years raiding experience. 

Without question, Karazhan was my most memorable experience in terms of proper progression raiding. Even though I did touch on Vanilla raiding in MC and two bosses in Naxx, This for me was my real chance to strive for top end raiding. With over ten bosses to face, some of which were on an RNG type system where you had the chance to go against 1 of 4 bosses (I.E Opera Event) it was one of the most complex and incredibly thought out places to delve into. Its geometric structure was unlike anything I have seen before.. I mean c'mon, A haunted castle, also known as Medivh's Tower who was the last former protector of Tirisfal. With spirits reawakened and Medivh himself still cascading down the haunted halls, you generally felt the epic scale of the place. Ley lines from each magical sector all pointed under Karazhan, from the mages in dalaran to the high priests of Stormwind..  and to me, still holds the title of the most epic Raid to date.

My second top raid would have to be without doubt one of the most awesome raids the dev team worked on after the burning crusade. With a wobbly start to re opening Naxx, Blizzard blew every PVE player out the water with this one. Ulduar, With 13 bosses and 1 extra to go up against, this place was incredible. From Titans to huge gnomish like constructions, old gods and the odd dragon, It was one of those places where everyone had something they loved here. The size of the halls, different sections like the huge conservatory and halls made out of ice, It was beyond the scope of any of our imaginations and to this day is still farmed for the mounts and just to feel the nostalgia of the mighty Ulduar. With the helping hand of Brann Bronzebeard who believed this place to be an old Titan city, we few mortals who dared to enter had one hell of a story to tell the rest of the guild and hold Ulduar close to one of the great raiding memories of all time.

So, these are my top two raids, what was yours?  

Vaylen, Ragnaros EU.

Blizzcon 2013 live updates

IT HAS COME! In a couple of hours we will start the opening ceremony for the recent Blizzcon event and if you do not have a virtual ticket and can not find any streams, NO FEAR! I will be posting updates as the nights events unfold! Refresh this page for news and gossip from Anaheim! MONK POOWWAA has got your back! 

6:38 pm GMT - Warlords Of Draenor is a go! We just saw the banner on the stream. So there you have it guys, that's your next expansion.. think it was an accident that we saw it. You can see this on MMO champion.

7:06 pm GMT - open footage we saw expressed blizzards Con, looks great! Now we here on the speech from Mike the lead figure head of Blizzard. He mentions about the past 22 years has changed blizzard, the gamers indeed the main focus here. THANK YOU MIKE! He also mentions that this is the 7th Blizzcon. That's a ton!

7:13 pm GMT - A great video on the star craft competition, good luck to all the competitors.

7:14 pm GMT - Diablo is a focus point, explaining the new loot systems and boss mechanics, as well as new end game options.

7:15 pm GMT - After making MOP so successful, he left a huge pause so we also have to wait for that info! we will here about the movie also.

7:19 pm GMT - we saw the advert for heroes of the storm, blizzards answer too dota, Looks great! a very comical commercial.

7:38 pm GMT - We saw a new feature for Android and I phone late January. A new Legendary card will be released  based on blizzards rock band!

7:41 pm GMT - We had a speech on old school world of Warcraft. The fights in Tarren mill the world pvp and such. Great nostalgia there. He mentions AQ events, game design and such... think this will lead to the new expansion!

7:44 pm GMT - THE NEXT CHAPTER! What will happen now?!?! Chris Metzen is about to tell us! bless him for forgetting his lines! He speaks on the past of world of Warcraft, factions and such he also does the horde and alliance cheers! He also talks about the parts other players missed... so were do we go from now... He speaks on the dark portal....

7:50 pm GMT - He speaks on the old heroes new players may not know of, asking who plays which race etc, I mean comon chris we already know the expansion! I want the concrete facts! He also  mentions the alliance super power that dominates Azeroth. He also wants to know what players would do if old heroes came back...

7:55 pm GMT - NEW EXPANSION! PAST AND PRESENT COLLIDE.. from what it looks like, they put Garrosh on trial to be sent back to draenor, stop the orcs from drinking the blood of Manaroth and he seeks his revenge on Azeroth. level 100 will of course be the new level cap, and you can pay to boost a character to level 90 instantly.

8:24 pm GMT - New character models can be viewed at http://us.battle.net/wow/en/warlords-of-draenor/

Check out twitch.tv/wowmonk for our commentary.

8:25 pm GMT - A guild garrison by the looks of it will be implemented.

8:39 pm GMT - Iron horde is something new we can expect, a new faction by the looks of it.

8:46 pm GMT - new zones have been reveled, alot of new work with the frost wolves these zones are called, Forst fire ridge, Spires of Araak, Tanaan Jungle, Talador and more! As I expected we get to see Thralls family.ALSO! Nagrand is back!

8:50 pm GMT - Each zone has a new orc clan leader, durotan, bladefist and more!

8:56pm GMT - new creatures like Genasours and much more! each zone will have a whole new lay out, a great change. and something I cant wait to see.

9 pm GMT - The new event before the expansion goes up, alot like the lich king. Your forced to jump in to the dark portal and stop the iron orc invasion. Our first zone for hordes is frost fire ridge. Which is a volcano/frozen tundra. There is a ton of snow and this will be the hordes active main city.

9:04 pm GMT - The alliance will be starting in the shadowmoon vally. Their main story will be to stop the other orc clans gaining more power. The Shadowmoon valley in the new expansion looks incredible. Its very different that's for sure but so good!

9:09pm GMT - Talador is the whole new zone central that will be a dungeon and also hold the first raid. You get to see what Shatath was before. Unlike its current state, it looks beautiful.

9:11 pm GMT - New character models! They insisted on keeping it original, but that it looks better. Their updating all the animations, facial features, movements etc. We see a video of the orcs, dwarves and gnomes! of course they showed us a gnome dance!

9:15 pm GMT - Tom Chilton speaks on new features. He speaks on Housing. this lets us BUILD A BASE for others to view it, trade resources. You collect followers, send people on missions and customize your base. Here you can place armories, different plots to move, you can pick what zone for it to be in. Also you have an offline mode much like the farm. You also don't get a loading screen. He also mentions what rewards you get from it. You get your epic gear, other professions to work that is of course limited. You can even build a mine in your base and such.

9:19 pm GMT - You can gain bonuses depending on the buildings you build. You can also move your garrison if you don't like were it is. You also gain NPC followers to do quests and you can name them. You can also build monuments to show the achievements.

9:19 pm GMT - You can gain upgrades and can level them up over time to aid your Npcs. It also can be upgraded 3 times. The video looks awesome for this!

9:26 pm GMT - Followers can level, they also can be equipped with gear that increase ilv and such. Your followers also have the same concept as pet battles. They have a rarity feature. You also get specialized missions that can be gained once you buy buildings.

9:30 pm GMT - New and more features! Gregg street speaks on gaining an instant level 90, to catch up with your friends. This is only for one character. It can be an old character or a brand new one.

9:32 pm GMT - Inventory changes! Account wide toys and tabard! Also a new UI for heirlooms! a great feature for my friends!  You also gain a toy box so all your awesome things you found within the game like your character transformation stuff! You can also assign a bag of yours to hold specific items. Also quest items will not be stored in bags! You can ALSO craft straight from your bank.

9:34 pm GMT - AN ADVENTURE GUIDE! This is for new patches and content its a path to gear upgrades, its customized for your character individually. Its also a whole new UI to suggest the things you have done recently.

9:37 pm GMT - New talents are early designs and will be likely to change.

9:38 pm GMT - New dungeons and raids. 7 new dungeons and 3 at max level, thats a ton! Also classic heroic BLACK ROCK SPIRE! YESSS!

9:39 pm GMT - Bloodmaul Slag mines, its non liner with 4 bosses and you can do them any way you wish. We also saw a movie and it really does give you a vanilla feel. *cue the lord of the rings music*

9:45 pm GMT - More dungeons we see will be, Blackrock foundry, Arakkoa spires, Iron barracks and more! Now two new raids! Highmaul, Blackrock foundry. Highmaul will be first. Also fierce new world bosses.

9:55 pm GMT - They are also expanding Flex raiding... WHOOHOO! Their also scaling LFR! So if a few people leave the boss damage and other things will scale down.

9:55 pm GMT - Heroic raids will now only be able for 20 players. Its called Mythic.

10 pm GMT - PVP! new ui improvements, a world pvp zone and trial of the gladiator. Ashran is the new world pvp zone that will have faction bases and other hotspots, alot like wintersgrasp.. is does not have a stop and start finish though!  They say its alot like the original AV. GREAT CHANGE! You can take part of the zone when ever you wish, Alot like timeless isle but for pvp.

10:01 pm GMT - Here you can also add and build siege engines and such to fight by your side. It also has a progress bar of your team capturing a zone, much like tbc and such. You also gain Battleground scores so it shows how your doing, so if your a dps it combines kills and such and objective play and gives you a score. In pvp you also gain rewards from doing so. These can be BOE gear, extra honor, gold and also enables you to make money from pvp. You also get a weekly quest to complete and it will gain you a upgrade for an item.

10:05 pm GMT -  Trial of the Gladiator, it has its own ladder, Limited availability to stop exploits and anyone here can join for this, you get the same gear etc so its all based on skill. GREAT! This is only arena.

And that's the features wrap up! The adventure continues soon. Thanks for the readers and stick around on my blog, Grab a brew and read some posts, we get more information in about an hour!

10:35 pm GMT - Here they speak on the heart and soul of world of Warcraft and why we're going Draenor. Why are they taking Garrosh back in time to stop whats going on? Here we find out! Stay tuned!

10:37 pm GMT - The leaders and co designers speak on the new world, they claim it to be savage, primal and called the world of giants. It looks incredible. This feels like how out land should of been, Savage, SAVAGE!

10:41 pm GMT - They speak heavenly on the lore for the warcraft world. I love this section so its hard to speak much on it without missing much! They speak alot on making sure the game is SAVAGE, PRIMAL and EPIC. Chris speaks on the time travel and some point were they implement Garrosh just before the rise of the horde book, which I recommend.

Check out twitch.tv/wowmonk for our commentary. 

10:47 pm GMT - Announced a new hero npc we can follow and quest for, whos dreanei. Here we also see how the old heroes, new players may not know of evolved. They also speak on the alliance, they go one the offensive, causing wars and such! They speak on old heroes alot... and re introduce ones that were over looked in the past.

10:51 pm GMT - THRALL! they speak on thrall, should he get the armor back? His influence in to the new expansion and the whole horde story, it seems the horde will be focuses on finding history. You also hear about the draenei history, NO SPACE SHIPS! their technology was not added then.

11:07 pm GMT - Was the Q & A and god bless the red shirt guy appeared! They peak on old lore, is paladins expected to be mentioned alot next expansion, Garrosh's problems. They also speak on the demons, Gul dans past and alot of story behind him.

11:13 pm GMT - The leaders speak on more lore, making sure there wont be doubles of heroes from the past and present and also made sure that the threat that's coming from the dark portal that's now turning red. Also they touch on this expansion, they get to know how thrall and garrosh knew their parents, what they can learn from them etc. They also speak on Thrall again and how he meets his family and how badarse they were. This could bring back the real Thrall.

11:21 pm GMT - They also mention the female Orcs that come in to the lore,  will they have much of a future? Probably not.

11:27 pm GMT - WE GET TO SEE DREK THAR! We get to see alot of shaman things within the lore. They want to explore shamanism in a different way that would of correlated to their past. Maybe a shaman quest line? We can only hope! Also we hear on garrosh hating against the old horde and we get to see the confusion with him.

11: 33 pm GMT - Q & A is now over!

12:00 am GMT - New character animations revealed for Undead males and female gnomes, Looks incredible, alot of new technology being used here. I may change my Panda shaman to Orc!

12:04 am GMT - We see more finally on dwarf females and orc males! Looks great! the crowed when crazy with the gnome changes as well as the cows of the horde! It all looks great, I like the fact they keep it original, but looking fresh!

12:08 am GMT - They show more on the dwarf animations, the new model looks great. The new engines used that were used on the pandas will be used alot through the new expansions and the new facial changes.

12:13 am GMT - Now they speak on the game environments and what they want to implement. How they go from the mood and lightning of the zones, they also want to get across that there new changes to the character animations will be also added to the environments so trees will move etc.

12:17 am GMT - They show how their texturing comes in to play, they also show how they change different zones and layering for features in the environments.  They just announced new technology with the new zone maps, Cant wait to see that.

That's it for the updates form me guys. I will follow up tomorrows ceremony also, thanks for reading and take care. If you want to know more about me don't hesitate to read through my blog or follow me on twitter: @Vayleneu