World of Warcraft: Dragonflight

/ Gra1980 / 1 Comment

World of Warcraft: Dragonflight

Disclaimer:

Please be warned that there will be spoilers within this post. Please stop reading now if you don’t want any further spoilers.

If you missed the world premiere of the new World of Warcraft expansion reveal, I’ve added it below!

World of Warcraft: Dragonflight Cinematic:

World of Warcraft: Dragonflight

Today (19th April 2022), we finally found out (after many leaks) that the new expansion is (Drum roll) World of Warcraft: Dragonflight.

So as Ion Hazzikostas hinted and joked, “no one saw it coming!” obviously, remarking on the accurate leaks released by Wowhead proving that their digging has again been very fruitful.

Although no release date has been confirmed, I’d imagine it could be early to middle 2023 release – maybe Wowhead may find some leaks for that in due course!

Many new features and improvements are coming to 10.0, including.

  • Dragon Isles – The new continent
  • Two new Dungeons
  • Dracthyr – New Hero race
  • Dracthyr Starting zone
  • Dragonriding
  • Talent System revamp (Talent tree)
  • Profession revamp
  • UI Improvements

Sadly, no mention of player housing, Raids, or when Alpha testing will be available.

Dragon Isles – The new Continent

Upon the release of the new expansion, players will travel from their major city, Stormwind or Orgrimmar, by boat to the new continent, the Dragon Isles. Within the Dragon Isles are five zones (according to wowpedia).

There are Four zones for all players and one starting zone for new Dracthyr players.

  • The Waking Shores
  • Ohn’ahran Plains
  • The Azure Span
  • Thaldraszus
  • Forbidden Reach (New Starting Zone?)

The capital city is called Valdrakon. As mentioned in the reveal, it will have its own Auction House, profession tables, etc.

New Dungeons:

According to Wowpedia, there will be two new dungeons. Neltharus and The Life Pools.

Dracthyr (Evoker):

There will be a new hero race called, Dracthyr, which belongs to the new Evoker class. This class is a hybrid, where you can opt for ranged DPS (Devastation) or a Healer (Preservation). The Evoker class is ONLY available to Dracthyr!

This hero class will start at level 58, like hero classes before it (i.e. Death Knights and Demon Hunters).

The Dracthyr are mail wearers, so expect more competition when acquiring gear within Dungeons and Raids.

Their abilities are based upon Dragons, so expect a lot of dragon-themed spells. Their  Humanoid Draconic form is fully customizable too!

For more details and news on Dracthyr Visage customizations, go to 54:44 in the reveal video.

Dracthyr Starting Zone:

There’s not much confirmation online at this early stage, but with the process of elimination, I think it’s fair to suggest the new starting zone for Dracthyr players will be Forbidden Reach!

This zone will give new players to the Dracthyr class the opportunity to hone their abilities and skills before being released into the rest of the continent/World.

Dracthyr starts at level 58, so expect this new zone to last two levels (up to 60).

Dragonriding:

Dragonriding is a new unique form of flying in Dragonflight; the developers were keen to express that this isn’t like normal flying that players already experience in World of Warcraft. 

Players will hone their skills and experience new features while Dragonriding, including a new movement system emphasizing the feel of momentum and gravity as you soar through the skies.

The more practice you put in, the better you become!

For more details regarding Dragonriding, skip to 58:05 in the reveal video.

Talent System Revamp:

Talent Tree in 10.0

No doubt good news to a lot of the old guard of World of Warcraft players, the announcement of the return of Talent Trees. I remember talent trees when I started playing World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King.

The new system will give us the freedom to pick our paths, especially when min-maxing our character. This news will also be good for Simulation websites and theorists who like to get the most out of their class/specs.

The best thing about the new Talent Tree system is the loadout, which you can see on the bottom left-hand side of the image above. Here you can save different loadouts for specific content. This is great for players that play a lot of different content within the game!

For more information regarding the new Talent Tree system, skip to 1:03:19 in the reveal video for more information.

Profession Revamp:

Crafting Orders is a new system coming to Professions. 

Players without a specific recipe, skill, or profession can create a Crafting Order to have someone craft something for you that you cannot do yourself.

According to the reveal, we’ll be able to offer all or part of the materials needed to craft the item we require, and the crafter will make up the difference.

The UI is similar to the standard Auction House UI, and crafters can pick and choose these and complete the crafting order. There is commission, so there’s value to the crafter. But, more importantly, this can also help you level your profession!

The most important part is the quality of the crafts; this is based on your Crafting Specialization. Joanna and Eric used Blacksmithing as an example, stating that someone that had more points in the Armoursmith Specialization would craft better armor, and so on.

This addition will give value to friends and guildmates, especially if you have players covering all specializations in all professions!

For further details regarding the Profession revamp, skip to 1:06:09 in the reveal video!

UI Revamp:

Given how far World of Warcraft and players’ computer equipment have evolved over the years, the developers felt it was the best time to improve the game’s HUD and UI.

A lot of the clutter from the screen has been removed, taking away any distractions that may occur. After all, screen space in gaming is a valuable commodity. Any changes the player makes to their UI can be saved and changed depending on Spec, etc.

I wonder how many of these UI/HUD changes were ideas from the likes of TUKUI/ELVUI?! 

For more details regarding HUD/UI improvements, skip to 1:00:23 in the reveal video.

World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King (Classic) Cinematic:

That’s right, folks! We also got confirmation of World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King (Classic). If you didn’t see the cinematic trailer for it, I’ve added it below. 

Let the hype begin return!

My Thoughts:

It’s too soon to get carried away. There are a lot of new additions to the game, but I’m despondent (as a lot of the viewers that watched the reveal live) that there wasn’t player housing coming.

In the run-up to Dragonflight, the community detailed the need for player housing, and I honestly believed they may have gone for it. However, if their decision was based on the issues revolving around Warlords of Draenor and the Garrisons, then I’m not surprised they were put off.

But with so many other multiplayer games having player housing, I’m surprised it didn’t come.

The new Hero race/class looks good, and I like the new Crafting Order system coming to Professions. I’ve always been skeptical about parting with gold and materials when needing someone to craft something; this new system will prevent the possibility of any fraudulent activities.

I’ll save my critique for when Alpha or BETA becomes available to play.

What do you think of the reveal and the new expansion World of Warcraft: Dragonflight? Leave your comments below.

Further Information:

If you’d like further news not covered here or within the reveal video, I recommend checking out Wowhead. They will have a lot of information from data mining World of Warcrafts data files.

They will also release important updates on Alpha access and any potential release dates for the new expansion and the new World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King (Classic).

Feedback:

Any feedback is greatly received; please use the comment section below. If you need to contact me, use the contact me method. If you found this post helpful and believe it could be of use to someone else, please consider liking and sharing.

 

Thanks for reading!

Mage Tower & Legion Timewalking

/ Gra1980 / 1 Comment

Legion Timewalking Event & Mage Tower Changes...

The Return of the Legion Timewalking Event:

Some of you may not be aware, but on the 12th of April for U.S players (the 13th of April for E.U players), we’ll see the long-awaited return of the World Event: Legion Timewalking. This event was an extremely profitable market last time due to the re-emergence/release of the Mage Tower.

When the event opened for the first time, I managed to earn 10 million gold over the first seven days. Sadly, if you’ve frequently been monitoring Wowhead (or alternative websites), you’ll be aware that the Mage Tower has a significant change at the end of this month.

Mage Tower Changes:

The Mage Tower will no longer need the World Event: Legion Timewalking; instead, it will be permanently open, starting from the next reset on the 29th of March for U.S players (the 30th of March for E.U players).

Previously, players had a couple of weeks to obtain their gear and complete the Mage Tower challenges before it closed. Due to the time restraint, players were paying outrageous prices for crafted equipment and consumables to quickly obtain the achievements.

With the new changes and the Mage Tower open permanently, players can now casually obtain their gear and consumables at their own pace, ultimately affecting gold-makers in the long run.

Confirmation of Mage Tower changes via Wowhead.

The Effect on Gold-Makers:

With no time limit, players can obtain the best gear for their class/character instead of rushing and purchasing crafted items. Consumables should still be profitable, and maybe BiS crafted gear, but most of the PvP gear may not be profitable any longer.

I’m merely guessing at this point, but if I had the choice of farming the best gear or paying thousands of gold for easily obtainable gear, I’d instead farm the best gear, knowing I have all the time in the world to complete the Mage Tower challenges.

However, players who have time restraints due to priorities outside of the game may still opt to purchase the gear.

Suspended/Banned Players:

It’s also worth reminding you that Blizzard recently suspended/banned players that were found guilty of having their accounts piloted through the Mage Tower.

I remind you, in case you may feel that interest in the Mage Tower may not be as high as last time, but I beg to differ. There were a lot of players affected by this that will no doubt be looking to obtain their Mage Tower achievements again – legally.

Timewalking Spreadsheet:

If you’d like a detailed spreadsheet outlining the best gear for each class for the Timewalking Event (including the Mage Tower), check out this spreadsheet. This spreadsheet also details a lot of crafted consumables and equipment that may interest you.

Timewalking Spreadsheet

Farming:

The best gems are via Dragon Soul. These gems were selling for between 5-10 thousand gold each. These gems are difficult to acquire as you purchase them from motes obtained from killing bosses, and due to the drop rate, these gems are limited; hence the high valuations.

If you’ve not been farming up to this point, you should make an effort to do so now in preparation.

For information regarding this, check out my blog post here.

Adapting is the Key:

As the Mage Tower changes are only a couple of days old, it’s too soon to assess the knock-on effect on gold-makers compared to the first time the Mage Tower opened. When significant changes occur, I always remind my readers to adapt quickly to stay ahead of their competition.

If crafts are not selling, consider reducing your valuation or removing it from your posting routines. Alternatively, if they’re selling well, try increasing your valuation and profiting from the changes as early as possible.

Some gold-makers may not have realized the new changes, and we can profit from this. Don’t forget, the last time the Mage Tower was open, it accompanied the World Event: Legion Timewalking, which may have positively affected sales too.

Adapting is the key!

Feedback:

Any feedback is greatly received; please use the comment section below. If you need to contact me, use the contact me method. If you found this post helpful and believe it could be of use to someone else, please consider liking and sharing.

 

Thanks for reading!

 

The Ukraine Crisis

/ Gra1980 / 1 Comment

I Stand With Ukraine!

The Ukraine Crisis:

It’s not often that I post something like this within my blog, but given the current conflict within Ukraine, it’s hard not to. Today, there are suggestions that the invasion could last months, if not for many years to come.

This conflict will undoubtedly come at an expense to many innocent civilians, and it’s heartbreaking to see so many people affected. The heroic men and women standing up for their country are nothing short of something I’ve seen from a Marvel movie – they’re all superheroes in their own right! 

The country’s president, Zelenskyy, also turned down the opportunity to escape the war, instead opting to stay and defend his country! That is the sort of leader you want, someone leading by example.

The sheer fact Russia has blocked Facebook and Twitter and has also created a new law, that prevents reporters from reporting news other than the Russian narrative tells you that they don’t want the Russian population knowing the true story!

Lastly, I despise the actions of Putin and anyone else that agrees with this invasion. Putin knows that the West cannot and will not get involved directly, knowing the outcome would result in World War 3 and no doubt a Nuclear War (which I believe he wants).

It’s a sad state of affairs that the actions and decisions of one man individual, can have a detrimental effect on everyone else. I also find it difficult to understand how you can dispute you’re guarding a Nuclear Power Plant, yet you’ve spent an evening bombarding it!

Bald and Bankrupt:

As you’ll know, I’m an avid viewer of the vlogger Bald and Bankrupt over on YouTube. The day before the news broke that Russia would be invading Ukraine, Bald was actually in Poland and ventured across the border to Ukraine.

About 7 minutes 26 seconds into the video, Bald arrives at Lviv (Eastern Ukraine). It’s hard to imagine that so many people were still going about their usual day-to-day activities, thinking nothing would happen; this is probably why so many civilians have been caught up within the conflict.

Approximately 15 minutes into the video, Bald makes his way to the small town on the Ukraine-Russian border.

The next video was filmed on the 25th of February; with the news that the invasion was well underway and Bald situated in Kyiv, he decided to leave and join the many refugees fleeing Ukraine. His destination, Hungary!

Ukraine Crisis – How to Donate:

If you haven’t done so yet, and want to follow me in donating to the Ukraine Humanitarian Crisis, please check out these helpful links below. I opted for Save the Children, but any one of them will have an impact on helping those in need within the Ukraine Crisis!

There are many other relief agencies you can donate to, but please be diligent when searching for one as people will take advantage of this crisis for ill-gotten gains.

The Darkmoon Faire 06.03.2022

/ Gra1980 / 1 Comment

The Darkmoon Faire

The Darkmoon Faire:

For those of you that may have missed it, the Darkmoon Faire is back in town today for one week! Now is the time to turn in those acquired Darkmoon Artifacts for Darkmoon Prize Tickets and purchase lucrative items to sell on the Auction House.

Check out my comprehensive Darkmoon Faire Guide.

What to Buy:

I prefer to spend my Darkmoon Prize Tickets on Replica Transmog. The pieces cost either 50 or 75 Darkmoon Prize Tickets each. These pieces (dependent on your realm) can net me between 40-75k gold each.

Like most Transmog, this is a slow market; you must be patient.

Remember, don’t waste your Darkmoon Prize Tickets on the bracers!

Alternatively, check out the Companion Pets from (Lhara). The Companion Pets will cost you 90 Darkmoon Prize Tickets each but are only worth approximately 10-15k each on the Auction House.

Darkmoon Firewater:

With Zereth Mortis accessible now, it’s beneficial to obtain Darkmoon Firewater this week! By using the firewater, you can gather resources quicker. The price of  Darkmoon Firewater on the Auction House has already doubled in value!

Professions:

If you’re still trying to acquire the last few points of your professions (ideally if you’re 5 points short), this is an excellent opportunity to help max your profession. 

You’ll receive 5 points towards your profession by completing a straightforward quest. 

Please remember to obtain any materials needed for your quests before making your way to Darkmoon Isle, as there are no vendors on the island that will sell them.

Fishing:

If you enjoy fishing in World of Warcraft, it can be lucrative to fish along the coastline of Darkmoon Isle, especially the Shipwreck Debris which you can fish a Sealed Darkmoon Crate. Fishing here will net you (intended pun) Darkmoon Daggermaw and Darkmoon Firewater.

The Darkmoon Daggermaw is a currency for Companion Pets, Recipes, and a Mount from Gallisa Sundew. But, you can also post these on the Auction House. Again, the value of the fish will depend on your realm. 

You could fetch between 15-50g each.

The Whee! Buff:

If you have no interest in the Darkmoon Faire, remember to obtain the Whee! buff, which will grant you a 10% increase to experience and reputation gains; this should be ideal for gaining Enlightened rep from the new Patch 9.2 – Eternity’s End.

Remember, the buff only lasts for one hour, so you will need to revisit the faire when the buff expires.

Darkmoon Faire Guide:

For a detailed guide regarding the Darkmoon Faire, be sure to check out my guide here. 

Update:

I’ve still not played any of the content from patch 9.2, and not likely to be for a while. However, I’m still making gains on the gold-making front via my fortnightly posting routine.

Today (06.03.22), I’m currently sitting at 122 million gold.

My current gold-making markets consist of Old World crafts, Materials, Battle Pets, and Transmog. Due to time restraints, I cannot and will not venture within the new markets of Patch 9.2.

Feedback:

Any feedback is greatly received; please use the comment section below. If you need to contact me, use the contact me method. If you found this post helpful and believe it could be of use to someone else, please consider liking and sharing.

 

Thanks for reading!

Gold-Making in Patch 9.2

/ Gra1980 / 1 Comment

Gold-Making in Patch 9.1

Patch 9.2:

For our friends across the pond, it would appear that patch 9.2 has successfully been completed ahead of schedule; the long wait for new content is finally over!

Players within the E.U region will have a slightly longer wait until tomorrow (23.02.22), but I’m sure the wait will be worth it, especially if you plan to play!

For those of you participating, Zereth Mortis awaits you and a lot of new content to keep you occupied. As with every patch, there are a lot of new gold-making opportunities, so don’t miss out – unless you’re me!

What To Do?

If you’re somewhat unsure what all the fuss is about, maybe you’re unsure what to do, or you need a helping hand getting accustomed to life in Zereth Mortis, please do consider checking out Wowhead’s guide.

Patch 9.2: Zereth Mortis Zones Guides. 

Gold-Making in Patch 9.2?

Sadly, time will prevent me from participating in much (if not any) of the new patch. I can’t commit any extra time that I didn’t have to begin with, meaning my opportunities to delve into the new markets is non-existent.

Dealing with new commodities and markets requires time and effort, especially in busy realms where undercutting is prevalent. Realistically, I know I can’t compete, so I manage my time efficiently, concentrating on Old World markets instead. 

Today (22.02.22), my Old World markets have seen me hit a new high of 118,268,854 gold – so who needs new gold-making content anyway?! 😂

Graph outlining Gold balance.

Recommendations:

As a helping hand, I have some excellent recommendations for you if you require some 9.2 gold-making guides. These guys made an absolute killing throughout Shadowlands, and I’m sure patch 9.2 will be no different.

I’ve added helpful links below to their social media/streaming platforms so be sure to check them out!

 

Hikons:

With almost 700 million gold at his disposal, Hikons went from strength to strength during Shadowlands. Much of his gold was made via Darkmoon Card/Trinkets and playing on multiple realms crafting and selling legendaries.

Be sure to check out Hikons on Twitch as he goes through his routines.

Twitch ImageTwitter Image

WTBGold:

If you’re already following @ryanaeckles on Twitter, you’ll know he’s invested a lot of time on the PTR getting acquainted with life on Zereth Mortis. You can find most of his guides on his YouTube channel.

Twitch ImageYouTube ImageTwitter Image

TheLazyGoldmaker:

Again, there’s not much to add if you’re already aware of TheLazyGoldmaker. He made an absolute mint, crafting and selling legendaries, and collected some excellent milling data ahead of the release of Shadowlands for those looking to deal in Darkmoon Cards.

Twitch ImageTwitter Image

Manthieus:

Someone I noticed at the beginning of Shadowlands but has proven to be an excellent gold-maker. Again, another one that did exceptionally well within the legendary market.

He has some in-depth guides on YouTube; give them a watch!

Twitch ImageYouTube ImageTwitter Image

Samadan:

He shares his gold-making journey and offers some helpful guides regarding the TSMaddon. Samadan also covers the gold-making catchup on Wowhead; this is important, as this will highlight many of the new gold-making opportunities that will become prevalent in the coming weeks.

Twitch ImageYouTube ImageTwitter Image

Updates:

I’ll update any new information here, be sure to check back!

Feedback:

Any feedback is greatly received; please use the comment section below. If you need to contact me, use the contact me method. If you found this post helpful and believe it could be of use to someone else, please consider liking and sharing.

 

Thanks for reading!

Darkmoon Faire Pet Battles

/ Gra1980 / 1 Comment

Darkmoon Faire Pet Battles!

Darkmoon Pet Battles:

We have two Pet Battles available to us during the event, Jeremy Feasel and Christoph VonFeasel. While these can be straightforward to complete given the correct team and strategies, it’s essential to understand that recently, Blizzard was kind enough to set some limitations that you may have missed – after all, they don’t like fun!

New Limitations:

Jeremy Feasel and Christoph VonFeasel are dailies, meaning this can only be completed once per day. Previously, we could log on alts to complete them over again, making farming for the Battle Pet rewards efficient.

However, Blizzard has changed the dailies to Account-wide dailies, meaning once you’ve completed the Pet Battles on one character, you won’t be able to re-do them again on any other character on your account until the following day!

wow-petguide.com:

wow-petguide is a fantastic resource for those that enjoy Pet Battles. They have some of the best strategies for all Pet Battles. I highlight Dark#1211 and psofia for sharing their strategies that made the two videos below possible!

Please check out the website, and please give some feedback to those mentioned above!

Jeremy Feasel:

Jeremy Feasel is located at coordinates [47.62] on the Darkmoon Isle. With this setup outlined below, we can make quick work of him. Please be aware that this strategy was kindly shared by Dark#1211 via wow-petguide.com.

Team Setup:

Breed: [ ] Skills: ( ) 

Strategy:

YouTube Video – Jeremy Feasel:

Here’s my quick YouTube video outlining the ease of this strategy. If you enjoyed the video, please do consider liking and subscribing, as it will entice me to create more in the future. Any constructive criticism is welcome!

Cristoph VonFeasel:

Christoph can also be found at coordinates [47.62] on Darkmoon Isle. The wow-petguide.com user, psofia, kindly shared this strategy.

Team Setup:

Breed: [ ] Skills: ( ) 

Strategy:

YouTube Video – Christoph VonFeasel:

Here’s my quick YouTube video outlining the ease of this strategy. If you enjoyed the video, please do consider liking and subscribing, as it will entice me to create more in the future. Any constructive criticism is welcome!

Feedback:

Any feedback is greatly received; please use the comment section below. If you need to contact me, use the contact me method. If you found this post helpful and believe it could be of use to someone else, please consider liking and sharing.

 

Thanks for reading!

Pet Battles: Sir Galveston

/ Gra1980 / 1 Comment

Pet Battles: Sir Galveston

Pet Battles: Sir Galveston

Today, Wednesday 26th January sees the return of the Pet Battle: Sir Galveston within the E.U region. If you’re unaware, when this Pet Battle coincides with the Pet Battle week bonus (Sign of the Critter), you can level a level battle pet to level 25 in two battles.

Yes, due to this only taking 9 rounds to complete, this is more efficient than leveling pets via your Garrisons Menagerie and the pet battle: Squirt!

For my readers that live within the U.S region, Sir Galveston will be available for you from tomorrow (Thursday 27th January).

Where is Sir Galveston located?

You can locate Sir Galveston within the pet battle arena of Dalaran (Legion). Coordinates [28.24]. He will be available for one day, so be prompt if you want to level many battle pets!

Team:

We’ll need a level 25 Court Scribe [P/S] and a level 25 Surger [S/S]. I specifically opted for these breeds as they appear to return a 100% success rate!

Your leveling pet can be whatever pet you wish. As the pet doesn’t enter the fight, they won’t take any damage, which means it can be as low as level 1. This is an ideal opportunity to level those expensive battle pets.

Skills:

For this to be efficient, we’re going to need a specific set of skills, cue Liam Neesen meme! The skills that aren’t important have been highlighted with an asterisk. Add any skill here, as it won’t be used!

Court Scribe:
  • Stot One: (1) Arcane Blast
  • Slot Two: (*) Any
  • Slot Three: (2) Curse of Doom
Surger:
  • Slot One: (*) Any
  • Slot Two: (1) Stone Rush
  • Slot Three: (1) Body Slam

Strategy:

Thank you to nogulpfrog from wow-petguide, who has shared their strategy. Check out the website for other pet battle guides and strategies!

  • Move One: Arcane Blast
  • Move Two: Arcane Blast
  • Move Three: Pass!
  • Move Four: Arcane Blast
  • Move Five: Arcane Blast (Coach dies)
  • Move Six: Curse of Doom (Court Scribe dies)
  • Select Surger
  • Move Seven: Body Slam
  • Move Eight: Stone Rush
  • Move Nine: Body Slam (Greatest Foe dies)
  • Move Ten: Stone Rush (Sir Murkeston dies)

YouTube Video:

For those that would prefer a visual look at this battle played out, please check out my short video below. I chose the battle pet Naxxy to level, remember, you can opt for any pet you wish!

Sign of the Critter:

Every seven weeks, there’s a bonus event [Sign of the Critter] which gives 100% increased experience via Pet Battles. This event is fantastic when one of the power leveling Pet Battles is also active, as it means we can level Battle Pets to level 25 in two battles!

85% Leveling Buff!

If the battle pet bonus event [Sign of the Critter] isn’t active, and Sir Galveston (or any other power leveling Pet Battles are available), check out the Battle Pet Masters scattered around Azeroth and put those Pet Charms to good use.

Although nowhere near beneficial as the increased 100% experience gained from the bonus event, we can still obtain an 85% increase to battle pet experience by purchasing Pet Treats and equipping either the Safari Hat or the Darkmoon Top Hat.

Breakdown:

After completing your two fights (as outlined in the video above), you’ll find yourself a couple of levels short of level 25. By using Flawless Battle-Training Stones, you can reach level 25! Visit a Battle Pet Master for these Stones!

I recommend not purchasing the [Mystery Bag]. Although the bag is cheaper than buying the Flawless Battle-Training Stone, and you have a chance to obtain two Stones, be warned the Battle-Training Stones from within the [Mystery Bag] are Family Specific!

If you don’t have enough Pet Charms to purchase any Flawless Battle-Training Stones, do one more battle (three in total) to reach level 25!

If you cannot buy any of the above, and the bonus event isn’t live, it will take you four battles to get level 25!

Can I Stack the 85% Buffs with the 100% Bonus Event?

Yes, you can! Be warned; this method is only beneficial if you have Flawless Battle-Training Stones!

While [Sign of the Critter] is active, and using the details above regarding the 85% buff, participate in one Pet Battle with Sir Galveston (or any other power leveling Pet Battles are available) and use Flawless Battle-Training Stones to reach level 25.

I can’t stress this enough if you do not have Flawless Battle-Training Stones, stacking the 85% buffs and the 100% Bonus Event is worthless!

Feedback:

Any feedback is greatly received; please use the comment section below. If you need to contact me, use the contact me method. If you found this post helpful and believe it could be of use to someone else, please consider liking and sharing.

Thanks for reading!

Microsoft Purchasing Activision Blizzard

/ Gra1980 / 1 Comment

 

Microsoft Purchasing Activision Blizzard.

Today, Microsoft (Microsoft Gaming) has announced that they intend to acquire Activision Blizzard. The amount, an astounding $68.7 Billion, which is equivalent to $95.00 per share!

The acquisition will include World of Warcraft, Diablo, Overwatch, Call of Duty, and much more.

Once the deal is complete, it will push Microsft to the third-largest gaming company; behind Tencent and SONY.

Why Blizzard Activision?

Given Activision Blizzard’s current issues, you’d imagine that the company wouldn’t be of interest to any potential buyers. However, it appears that Microsoft sees value in the company, most likely Call of Duty and the potential in Hearthstone, Diablo, and World of Warcraft (Classic).

Reports suggest that the gaming industry is the largest and fastest-growing form of entertainment, worth almost $200 Billion. With a potential increase from 3 billion gamers to 4.5 billion by 2030, it was probably an opportunity Microsoft couldn’t turn down!

Microsoft Statement – via Microsoft News Centre

Blizzard Activision Quarterly Results:

According to the Activision Blizzard Third Quarter 2021 Financial Report, they reported strong results for the third quarter. I’d guess they expect continued success in the fourth quarter with the release of Call of Duty. There was also success for King and World of Warcraft Classic.

Activision Blizzard Shares:

I wonder if news circulated on Friday 14th January, as Blizzard’s shares rocketed from $69.39 to $86.55 a share. The share price hasn’t been this high since the end of August.

Is Bobby Kotick Leaving?

Sadly, if you were hoping this acquisition would result in Kotick leaving, I’m afraid it’s not, well, not just yet! 

“Bobby Kotick will continue to serve as CEO of Activision Blizzard. Once the deal closes, Activision Blizzard business will report to Phil Spencer, CEO of Microsoft Gaming.” – Microsoft PR.

Activision Blizzard Gaming Catalog on Game Pass?

Phil Spencer, CEO of Microsoft Gaming, has also clarified that they hope to have as many Activision Blizzard games as possible on the XBOX Game Pass once the company’s purchase is complete. 

My concern would be the players with months, possibly years of game time on their World of Warcraft accounts, who already have an XBOX Game Pass.

I have an XBOX Game Pass, but due to the changes in purchasing game time for WoWToken, I don’t have anything longer than two months, but I know of players with many years on their accounts.

Conclusion:

As mentioned above, this news came out of the blue to me, and no doubt, to many others. With the constant issues revolving around Activision Blizzard and the small success surrounding the last quarterly financial reports, a vast potential in gaming meant Microsoft Gaming probably saw an opportunity they couldn’t resist.

Hopefully, Microsoft Gaming can make the necessary changes within Activision Blizzard and incorporate its values into the company. Hopefully, bring an end to the inequality, improving working conditions, which will positively result in improved development across all departments; If you look after the staff, the staff will look after you!

Maybe, just maybe, we’ll see a return of some of the talented developers that recently left boycotting the dire situation at Activision Blizzard.

It’ll be fascinating watching the development of World of Warcraft under the guidance of Microsoft Gaming.

Feedback:

Any feedback is greatly received; please use the comment section below. If you need to contact me, use the contact me method. If you found this post helpful and believe it could be of use to someone else, please consider liking and sharing.

Thanks for reading!

The Importance of Particle Density!

/ Gra1980 / 3 Comments

The Importance of Particle Density

Graphic Settings:

In World of Warcraft (or in most games), we have a magnitude of different graphics settings that improve the game’s visual effects. However, most settings will come at a cost to your PC’s performance, depending on the quality of your graphics card.

If your graphics card cannot support the workload you’re asking from it; you will experience FPS issues. Thankfully, with World of Warcraft, we have recommendations. Make sure you follow these closely, which will, in turn, assist you in optimizing your PC’s performance during gameplay.

What is Particle Density?

According to the graphic settings menu, Particle Density controls the number of particles used in effects caused by spells, fires, etc. So you may see a drop in performance if your setting is set too high, especially with a lot of players casting spells, for example, in Battlegrounds, Dungeons, and Raid environments.

How Does Particle Density Benefit Me?

I suffer from colorblindness, so I need a lot of assistance when playing the game, especially in environments where there are many green and red colors. It used to be a pain in the backside when gathering herbs, as herbs were difficult to see, especially Mageroyal or Liferoot.

Thankfully, we have Particle Density, which emphasizes items we can interact with.

Here’s my YouTube video outlining the importance of Particle Density. In this small clip, I show you the difficulties of seeing a herb, Mageroyal, and how Particle Density improves its visibility.

Please like and subscribe for future content. If you have any comments, feel free to leave them in the comment section below, or the comment section on the video. Thanks for watching!

Visual Examples:

I’ve added screenshots to show the difference with each setting active. As mentioned above, the herb example is the best, as the Mageroyal is difficult to see. I’ve added examples of corpses and a Copper Ore node too!

Mageroyal:

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

Corpse:

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

Copper Ore:

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

Conclusion:

Particle Density is an important setting to have active and is often overlooked, especially when your graphic settings are set to 1. If you have your settings on 1, your Particle Density setting is likely disabled.

If you suffer from colorblindness, this option will significantly improve your ability to see items you can interact with! To reiterate, I have in-game colorblind filters active.

The setting improved the visibility of hard-to-see herbs and corpses available to loot. The Copper Ore node wasn’t as promising, but imagine these three scenarios while flying or moving very fast; having these options available assists us in gathering, looting efficiently.

Feedback:

Any feedback is greatly received; please use the comment section below. If you need to contact me, use the contact me method. If you found this post helpful and believe it could be of use to someone else, please consider liking and sharing.

Thanks for reading!

No Darkmoon Faire?!

/ Gra1980 / 1 Comment

Where's the Darkmoon Faire?!

Where’s the Darkmoon Faire?!

As some of you may have already noticed, the Darkmoon Faire has failed to reach its destination of Azeroth. I’ll be honest, approximately 5-7 days ago, I checked the in-game calendar, and there wasn’t a date set for the Darkmoon Faire.

Typically, the Darkmoon Faire arrives every first Sunday of the month for one week; well, other than January 2022!

Update:

An update from Blizzard today, they’ve found the issue regarding the Darkmoon Faire bug and will have the event added to the calendar tomorrow (Tuesday). As I previously hinted below, Blizzard has decided to delay the opening of the Darkmoon Faire until January 9th, 2022.

What Could’ve Happened?

As I’m sure you’ll agree, the developers need their Christmas break too, and what’s possibly happened is an oversight, and the event wasn’t added to the calendar; thus, the Darkmoon Faire hasn’t been automatically triggered to start.

It’s also worth noting that there have been many changes over the last month concerning the event: Legion Timewalking (Mage Tower), the start of Winter Veil, and Burning Crusade Timewalking. It’s fair to say with the workload the developers have been under, the event could’ve been overlooked.

What Will Happen Now?

What will likely happen is once developers get back into the office (quite possibly today), they will activate the event, either starting it from today and extending an extra week or simply waiting until the following Sunday to activate it.

The worst-case scenario would be if they didn’t start it at all and just waited till next month.

Darkmoon Faire Update in the next Patch:

If you’re unaware of the latest update coming to the Darkmoon Faire in the next patch, well, we’re getting a new dancing game. Although developers didn’t hint at it, I hope this month’s issue isn’t regarding the new updates to the Darkmoon Faire.

I do recall a few years back when developers closed the Darkmoon Faire down, while they implemented changes.

I highly doubt this is the reason, but it’s worth noting.

Check for Updates!

If you’re patiently waiting on a hotfix for the Darkmoon Faire, I recommend keeping your eyes peeled on the World of Warcraft’s Twitter support channels (U.S players) (E.U players) or Wowhead and MMO Champion.

If there’s a hotfix planned to fix this issue, they’ll have a blue post that will inform you immediately!

Update!

An update from Blizzard today, they’ve found the issue regarding the Darkmoon Faire bug and will have the event added to the calendar tomorrow (Tuesday). As I previously mentioned above, Blizzard has decided to delay the opening of the Darkmoon Faire until January 9th, 2022.

Sadly, if you were seeking a further boost to your Timewalking reputation gains, you will miss out. Players within the E.U. region have one final day of Timewalking, and with the U.S. region finishing in a couple of hours, I’d imagine, the delay till the 9th, means Blizzard didn’t want E.U. players getting an unfair advantage; which is fair!

Darkmoon Faire Blue Post

Feedback:

Any feedback is greatly received; please use the comment section below. If you need to contact me, use the contact me method. If you found this post helpful and believe it could be of use to someone else, please consider liking and sharing.