Game Review: World of Warcraft - The Darkspear Rebellion

By Bixyl Shuftan

(Note, the article has some spoilers about what happens in this World of Warcraft adventure)

The biggest Multiplayer Online Game, World of Warcraft, recently went though a few changes in the form of a "patch." Patch 5.3, also known as "Escalation." There are four new scenarios players can play out, two of which are aimed at one of the factions, one Horde, one Alliance. Two new battlegrounds for player vs player action. There's new PvP gear and some Pet Battle and Brawler's Guild Tweaks. But the biggest feature is the Darkspear Rebellion.

For those who don't remember much about the game in it's earlier days, the Horde used to be led by Orcish Warchief Thrall. Thrall valued peace with the Alliance and the freedom of the Horde's peoples. But when Azeroth was threatened with being torn apart in the Cataclysm, Thrall steped down to help stop it as a shaman. In his place, he appoints Garrosh Hellscream as the new Orc and Horde leader. But unlike Thrall, Hellscream sees little need to negotiate for what can be taken by force, and refuses to listen to the Orcs' allies. His brutal ways lead to increased conflict with the Alliance, and the alienation of the other peoples of the Horde who see him more and more as a tyrant.

With opposition against him increasing, Garrosh brands the the Trolls of the Horde, the Darkspear, as traitors, rounding up those still in the Orc capital Ogrimmar and moves against them elsewhere in the province of Durotar (the home province to the Orcs and trolls). The Troll leader Vol'jin responds by declaring open rebellion, dubbed the Darkspear Rebellion.

Both Horde and Alliance players can take part in quest chains, Horde players as part of the rebellion, and Alliance players aiding it. Level 90 players will get a letter in the mail from Lorewalker Cho, and upon entering the Vale of Eternal Blossoms in Pandaria will see him waving at them from Mogu'shan Palace. Talking to him, the player hears about actions concerning the Alliance and the Horde, and sends out the player in two scenarios via his "dream brew" on a nearby table: "Blood in the Snow," and "The Warchief and the Darkness." Normally playable by just one faction, in this case the opposite one can do so as well, Horde players in "Blood" disguised as humans, and Alliance ones in "Darkness" taking on the guise of Goblins.

Following the revelations, Cho will send the player off. For Horde players, they head to Duartor and to Sen'jin Village. Vol'jin is there, among with Chen Stormstout and Thrall. Thrall has finally had enough of Hellscream, and is aiding the effort against him.

Speaking to Vol'jin, the player hears about the rebellion, and will be asked to gather resources from the Northern Barrens to help supply it. These resources are in camps set up by Hellscream's Kor'kron, once elite soldiers of the Horde now Hellscream's personal army, loyal only to him and determined to carry out his will (see later in the article on more how to get the resources). After the player returns to the village, the place is attacked by the Kor'kron.

After the player helps defeat the assault, Thrall heads off to convince some Orc leaders to more actively support the rebellion. Vol'jin will launch a counterattack north to Razor Hill. There, the player has to free several captives (dissident Orcs are among the Trolls), in addition to defeating three elite NPC enemies, a gunman, a shaman, and a Lvl 92 axe-wielding melee fighter. Speaking to the NPC Zulu de Voice just outside the town will provide a healing buff that without defeating them single-handed is nearly impossible. Even with it, players may need to team up to defeat them.

After the battle, Horde players will see a scene between Vol'jin and the Tauren leader Baine Bloodhoof, discussing the future of the rebellion.

For Alliance players, they can take a shortcut to Duartor via a teleporter at the upper level on the Summer Terrace (the Alliance hub in the Vale of Eternal Blossoms), which takes them to the town of Ratchet in the Southern Barrens. Flying to above the defenses south of Ogrimmar, they'll see two Alliance agents, who will ask them to help scout for intelligence. Once they find out just how badly Hellscream and Vol'jin have fallen out, the player is send as an emissary to contact them. After talking to the Troll leader, the player is offered a chance to show his good intentions by getting some supplies from the Kor'kron camps in the Barrens and delivering them to the insurrection.

Following these quests, both Horde and Alliance players will be asked by Chen Stormstout to return to Pandaria to Mount Neverest in the Kun-Lai Summit to talk to an old seer about some answers to questions about Pandaria's situation. Meeting up with him, he accompanies the player up the mountain. Once they reach Seeker's Point, the seer will reveal his true identity, why Pandaria was hidden from the world, and how that is relevant to the current situation, "Only by working together can we overcome the darkness."

Horde and Alliance players can continue to gather supplies in a weekly "Battlefied: Barrens" quest. The player needs to gather 150 units each of lumber, stone, oil, and meat. These can be gathered at four camps in the Northern Barrens. Players can gather them by clobbering Kor'kron guards or the workers helping them or swiping crates and slabs of meat there. One can also get meat from slain wolf mounts.

There are two quicker ways to get resources. One is by escorting caravans of goods. Multiple players are needed to ensure the caravans survive the attacks by Kor'kron raiders. Once it reaches it's destination, the player gets rewarded with surplus supplies. You can also get supplies by taking down elite Kor'kron commanders, but they're too tough to fight alone. It takes a team to defeat them. One can also get supplies by overturned Kor'kron caravans, announced in Barrens chat when these events happen. But only if you can get them before they're recovered.

Rewards include new titles, "Darkspear Revolutionary" for Horde Players, and "Hordebreaker" for Alliance, some high level gear from some of the quests, and the "Radical Mojo" rewards from the weekly Barrens quests can be combined with "Latent Kor'kron armor" you get either from battle or the Darkspear Quartermaster into items with "randomized stats that may have some unexpected results that you won't be able to get from other gear."

The Darkspear Rebellion won't last forever. Eventually another patch will close these events, "where the story will continue beyond the Barrens and take the next step toward what could be a historic shift in power."

So players of WoW, whether you're "For the Horde" or "For the Alliance," get into the action while you can in this turning point in Azeroth's history.

Sources: Blizzard,  Wowpedia

Bixyl Shuftan

Changes in the FCA

By Bixyl Shuftan

The FCA, or Furry Club Alliance, has been undergoing some changes throughout the months of it's existence. Clubs and people have joined up, and clubs and people have dropped out. One club gone inactive, another taken down, and some dormant ones have come back to having events.

Created in 2011, the FCA offered an alliance for clubs where residents of any type of avatar, human, furred, neko, pony, and otherwise could come and enjoy themselves. They could coordinate schedules to avoid competing for limited audiences at the same time, and DJs could advertise their services to several clubs at once. When it started out, the FCA was mostly clubs belonging to or affiliated with Nydia Tungsten. Having gotten her start in Second Life as DJ "Naughty" Nydia, she eventually came to be involved with several clubs: the Club Zero Gravity space club and the Happy Vixen beach club in Purrfection, the Little Dove steampunk airship club  in Southern Colorado, the Castaway Cove pirate beach club in Kalmere Paradise, the historic landmark Club Fur in Kitsuhana, and in December 2012 came the Mardi Gras carnival club in FP Proteus.

Club Fur was inactive except for special events and as a hangout for most of 2012, but being in charge of four going to six clubs was still a logistical challenge in addition to needing help from some supporters. Castaway Cove was scheduled to be closed down in May 2012, but was rescued by Skylark Lefavre whom financed it for the remainder of the year.

Other clubs included Club Cutlass, which is owned by Jenni Greenfield and has been around the longest of the clubs, save Club Fur. Also in were the Raised Tail beach club and resort, which closed in 2011 but still has fans talking about it to this day, the Forest Howlers club which was active for several months in 2012 before closing down. There was the Cocktail Lounge which was also in Purrfection in addition to Zero Gravity and Happy Vixen, but was under a different owner. Later in the year, the club went inactive but continued to rent the land where it sat. Late in 2012, Club Euphoria joined the alliance. The Green Meadows "Xanadu" club owned by Perri Prinz was also in the alliance, but was inactive for most of 2012.

Beginning in December and going on in January, change was in the air. Besides opening Club Mardi Gras to appeal to humans as well as furs, she also planed to reopen Club Fur to regular events. DJ YuliaV Resident whom came back from hiatus about this time agreed to perform in both, and gave the carnival club a successful start and gave Club Fur a diverse crowd. Some pictures posted by her online gave the suggestion that some nights this oldest of furry clubs had a mostly human audience. At the Happy Vixen, Jasmine Dawn Shuftan took charge as manager, and reinvigorated the place with new DJs, and taking the party from the club to the open beach on occasion. Attendance began to blossom.

With six clubs under her influence, Nydia came to the conclusion they needed their own organization. So White Vixen Enterprises was formed, consisting of her clubs, and her KVXN radio station.

Three clubs departed from the alliance in recent weeks however.  Club Little Dove was in Southern Colorado due to a deal with the sim's owner. Eventually the deal fell apart, and Nydia took down the club in January. Perhaps it will find new life in a Steampunk community. Castaway Cove's future grew doubtful when Skylark informed everyone she could no longer finance the club from outside Second Life. In January, Nydia and several other White Vixen personnel met up to discuss its future. Skylark stated as much as she loved the club, she didn't want it up if it meant a high cost to everyone. And so the decision was made to no longer keep it running. The club was closed in early February. Club Euphoria did not really participate in FCA meetings, except for a dancer whom went on her own. In an FCA meeting in February, Club Euphoria was voted out in an unanimous decision. Club Mardi Gras was doing well, but eventually the estate owner made the decision to close down the land. So with nowhere to go, the club was closed for the time being. Nydia however resolved to have it reopened soon.

Although two of Nydia's clubs were closed down, the people working at them had others to go to. Perri Prinz was looking to reactivate Green Meadows, and in January it opened once again with the help of Kiticella whom had managed both Little Dove and Castawave Cove. Once again, the beloved disco club was having regular events. With Mardi Gras temporarily down, YuliaV was free to play more elsewhere. And she began playing regularly at the Happy Vixen, in addition to another night a week for Club Fur. It was at this time Club Fur changed hands. Alynna Vixen was the one who rescued the classic club when it's old home at Furnation Prime closed. When she had to take a break from Second Life, she turned the club over to Nydia. After Nydia got it running again, Alynna returned and Nydia transferred the club back to her. Under Alynna's hands, the club continued to do well.

White Vixen Enterprises was down to two active clubs: Club Zero Gravity and the Happy Vixen, plus it's radio station KVXN. But Nydia planned to change that. She looked for a new home for Club Mardi Gras, and soon found one. On Feb 18th, the club celebrated it's grand reopening with a crowd that was over 35 avatars at times, dancing to the tunes by YuliaV.  Nydia called it the most of any club under her, giving DJ Yulia the credit.

Nydia had other plans as well. In the upper section of Club Zero, she replaced the cuddle couch with "KVXN's new home," a virtual radio station, "any one wanting some air time can come DJ on air for me. When they do they can broadcast from here."

Numerous other individuals have been part of the FCA's clubs.  Hostess Miyuki Naidoo has tirelessly greeted residents dropping in to Club Zero Gravity for the past few years. Alexandra "Sexy Lexi" Tymets, Cynthia Farshore and Kryxia Silverfall were sometimes the only DJs who would take certain hours that tended to draw small crowds. Shockwave Yareach was a song parody singer in addition to being a DJ, and parodies of his such as "Boobie Man" drew chuckles from crowds. Plus many others have also been a part in keeping the clubs going as DJs and hostesses.

Over time, the FCA has seen a number of challenges and changes. It will continue to change as more clubs join, a place for clubs where all types of avatars are welcome.

Bixyl Shuftan

The “Cataclysm” Continues in Azeroth

This should be my last “Warcraft” article for a while. It’s not every day they make a major update. Though there have been a lot of changes here.

Besides the wolflike Worgen for the Alliance, Goblins are now available as player characters for the Horde side. Small and quick, they are higher in agility and intelligence, have a bonus in attack and casting speed, and those choosing alchemy as a profession start out at 15. From their gadgets, they’re able to do a Rocket Jump and Rocket Barage. And reflecting their background as moneymakers, are able to receive the best discount regardless of faction standing and able to call up access to their banks wherever they are.

The beginning quest chain for the Goblins explains how his/her cartel, the Bildgewater Cartel, got into the Horde. Instead of am unknown, the player starts out as an up and coming businessman/businesswoman on the cartel’s island city of Kazan. As you go about your business, including a ride on a hot rod, Deathwing, the main villain of the game expansion, shows up, and sets off the volcano. You gather your life savings (and then some), in order to get a seat on the Trade Prince’s yacht, but he double crosses you and makes you his slave. However, the ship gets caught in a storm and wrecked. So you get a chance to prove to your fellow Goblins you can be the hero who can get them out of their mess.

The beginning Goblin quest chain is longer than that of the Worgen's, the 100 Quests achievement reached along the way. But it’s packed full of chuckles as you face down funny-looking pygmies, “Oomie goomie goomie!”, who want to sacrifice your friends to their turtle god. Fortunately, you have your Goblin gadgets to get you through, from rocket boots to weed-wackers, but with little to no safety features, there’s always that chance something can go wrong. Along the way, you meet up with a group of Orcs, and everyone decides it’s best to cooperate in order to get off the island. You also run into the most well-known Orc, Warchief Thrall. Players who take up Goblin characters hear from him that he’s placing another Orc in charge of the Horde. This explains why Thrall’s nowhere to be seen in Orgrimmar these days.

But “Cataclysm” is much more than two new races available for play. Flight is now available in the “classic” continents of Kalimdor and the Eastern Kingdoms, at least for those Level 60 and over. I’ve heard some wonder if this takes away from some of the experience, but most seem happy with it, the popular gathering places at Ogrimmar and Stormwind filled with flapping mounts as players happily show them off.

You’re going to need your flying license. New areas are now open in these two continents that would otherwise be inaccessible. New quests, monsters, and enemies await. These are more dangerous than previous areas, and your level cap has been raised to 85 to keep up. And with these new levels, new weapons and armor are available. Profession levels have also been raised from 450 to 525, the new rank of proficiency called “Illustrious Grand Master.” And with them, new materials to make high level armor, weapons, potions, etc.

And there’s a new Secondary Profession available, Archeology. Players go around Azeroth digging up artifacts at dig sites recently unearthed by the Cataclysm. After getting the skill from a trainer (the one in Stormwind named Harrison Jones, an obvious take on Indiana Jones), players go to dig sites, and survey them for archeology fragments. A survey site with a red light means you’re far away from your find. A yellow light a fair distance, and a green light means you’re close. One can gather fragments from a site three times, and then it closes while somewhere else on the continent another opens. Four dig sites are open at any one time, and contain artifacts from one of the races, such as Elven or Troll, or fossils.

Once enough fragments are gathered, then can be combined to make artifacts. Your first ones will be common and not worth much, such as common vases and trilobite fossils, . But as you continue to come across artifacts, more valuable ones will appear. Finding fragments will level your Archeology skill for a while, but eventually you level just by combining them into artifacts. But finding the fragments will still get you experience points, which can help out characters that haven’t quite reached Level 80 yet.

While a way to enjoy WoW between questing, some players have their doubts on how valuable this profession is. One guide I came across suggested truly epic items were few and far between. But as a Worgen I saw one Alliance character on a fossilized skeleton mount. A prize from archeology? Maybe.

Another new feature is guild advancement. Guilds can advance with 25 levels of progression, done through the accomplishments of it’s individual players through quests, battleground victories, etc. Each new level brings perks, such as bonus experience from quests and clobbering monsters, faster mount speeds, etc. There are two new Player vs Player battlegrounds, Twin Peaks and Gilneas.

And of course there are the jokes. The Worgen and Goblins have their own special jokes, such as “Since the change, I prefer my meat rare,” and, “When in doubt, blow it up.” Perhaps it’s the perception of this player, but the game designers seem to be getting a little brave on occasion with the humor. One of the female Goblin jokes is a vieled bondage crack, and in one of the lady Worgen jokes, a supposed listener confuses what she actually means by a “bone.” The slightly riskee humor continues to the new quests, in one the player delivering a shipment of crab meat to a lady sailor and being told a subtle STD joke. And it's not just the jokes where the off-color remarks appear. In one of the new low-level quests, the new Orc Warchief insults the Undead queen by calling her a rhymes-with-witch. Blizzard must think their audience is getting older.

Some are probably asking “why just raise the new top level to 85 instead of 90?” Despite being around for several years, World of Warcraft is still successfully at keeping a large audience, and will probably remain so for some time as long as Blizzard continues to be good at giving the players a great game. Someone thought they would keep their lead for at least 20 years. Most likely it won't be that long (in my opinion), but although some people still talk about a potential “WoW killer,” more game developers admit Warcraft will not be going away anytime soon. Instead of being knocked off it’s number one spot by a new hot game, most likely it’s position will be chipped away over time as players’ tastes change and new technical developments allow for stunning new games.

And of course some players would prefer to be in a smaller game where they can meet up with the administrators and content developers, and maybe even contribute to developing in the tools of the game, such as the roleplays and combat RPs in Second Life.

World of Warcraft may be the McDonalds of online games, to paraphrase Eurogamer writer Robert Purchase, but most would prefer to dine elsewhere on occasion as well, and some never get a taste for it to begin with.

Sources: WoWwiki, Eurogamer,net, Massively

Bixyl Shuftan