Upcoming Mount Changes
Quote from: Zarhym (Source)In the next major content patch, we intend to adjust mount requirements to further improve the leveling experience in World of Warcraft. In addition, cast times for summoning all mounts will be reduced to 1.5 seconds, down from 3 seconds. The following is a breakdown of the upcoming cost and level requirement changes we are making for each riding skill.

Apprentice Riding (Skill 75)

• 60% land mount speed
• Requires level 20
• Cost: 4 gold
• Mount cost: 1 gold
• Mail will be sent to players at level 20 guiding them to the riding trainer


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A very big announcement this evening from Zarhym. In the "next major content patch" (which means Patch 3.2) the mount system in WoW will be having some significant changes to it. The highlights are as follows:

• Regular land mounts trainable at level 20 (was 30)
  
• Epic land mounts trainable at level 40 (was 60)
  
• Regular flying mounts trainable at level 60 (was 70)
  
• Regular flying mounts speed increased to a 150% gain (was 60%)
  

The costs for all the training and mount purchases has been decreased outright, with the exception of the artisan riding skill (epic flying mounts). For all mount costs, faction discounts now apply.

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I thought this was a really cute idea: an in-game date, sharing some of the best locations and activities around Azeroth with someone you love (or just happen to be courting). There are lots of great ideas in that thread -- I agree that the Twin Colossals is one of the more scenic (and out of the way) vistas to visit, but there are plenty more to go to: The Grim Guzzler, a floating island in Nagrand, the Darkmoon Faire, inside the bio-domes in Netherstorm. Personally, I think the best date would be a picnic on the deck of the ship in Deadmines -- sure, you'd have to fight off ninjas every once in a while, but what is a date without a little ninja fighting, right?

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New around here? WoW Rookie points WoW's newest players to the resources they need to get acclimated. Send us a note to suggest a WoW Rookie topic.

Looky, Mom, we're all original: we didn't call this post "Home is where the hearth is" (but only because that title was already taken). And speaking of being trite, hearthstones may seem like a rather mundane matter -- not exactly high-value gaming strategy, eh? -- yet seasoned players manage to accumulate a little hearthing savvy that makes life in Azeroth (and the Outland and Northrend) a little more convenient.

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This was going to be a post about how EU gamers can still attain the Mountain Dew Battle-Bot pets even though the warning above says they're for US folks only, but never mind -- Blizzard's server alert says they are putting out a hotfix on the EU realms to remove any and all pets that made it through their guard. Some people could get the pets just by clicking through, and some people couldn't, but Blizzard says no -- the Mountain Dew promotion is apparently for US folks only, and anyone who has one on the EU realms won't for long. Players are understandably frustrated, though some of them are happy that if they can't have one, no one can. MVPs on the forums are saying that the pet is also available in Canada, even if the soda promotion isn't, but that may change as well.

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Many of you have likely heard the theory floating around that the Emerald Dream might be the next expansion pack, but you may not have heard about the other popular theory: The Maelstrom.

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Every Wednesday, Chase Christian of Encrypted Text invites you to enter the world of shadows, as we explore the secrets and mechanics of the Rogue class. This week, we talk about the last two bosses in Ulduar, and what role you'll be playing in the encounter.

Only two bosses stand between you and victory in Ulduar. General Vezax, leader of the Faceless Ones, guards the entrance to Ulduar's final chamber. Inside that room, we find Yogg-Saron, the Old God, who's powerful influence captured the Titan's minds and ensnared the denizens of Ulduar. With Yogg-Saron out of the picture, perhaps you will be able to clear the corruption from Northrend.

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After getting a glimpse into the operations and motivations of a scammer, a lot of questions have arisen about the Authenticator. Can it be circumvented? Briefly and with your help, yes. Is having an Authenticator worth the hassle? Absolutely. These are just quick answers, and this is a topic worthy of more in-depth questions and long answers.

What is the Authenticator?

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Blizzard, as you probably already know, was not at E3 this year (officially, anyway -- they did have at least a few folks wandering the exhibit halls). But that doesn't mean there wasn't anything for you WoW fans: both Elizabeth Harper and I were there from WoW.com working with our sister sites Joystiq and Massively, and as WoW fans, we saw plenty of awesome games and demos that you should know about.

So even if you haven't been paying attention to E3 information on other sites, here's a quick wrapup of ten different things you should know from last week's big convention if you're a WoW player. There were no big expansion announcements or hints at future Blizzard releases -- they're saving all of that for BlizzCon this year. But there were a few games to watch, a few booths to marvel at, and a few trends to notice that you'll want to be aware of even if you're spending most or all of your gaming time in Azeroth. Hit the break for the first four.

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This is no surprise, but the new bear and cat models (which you can see in the gallery below) are going to be the only bear and cat models as of patch 3.2. You won't be able to keep the old models even if you want to – Zarhym confirmed it in a post from last night.

Thus a long era will end, as we proceed into the round-pawed future. While we try to forget our hideous forever-open mouths, remember the lessons of Alamo. Durids is very strong, and durids is must always halp eech other. And ultimately, every1 is like a fun time durid!!

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Welcome back to The Queue, WoW.com's daily Q&A column where the WoW.com team answers your questions about the World of Warcraft. Adam Holisky will be your host today.

There's a great question about the mechanics of spell casting when a proc / buff is or is not active. It's a very fine point that most people don't consider, and it's a mechanic that has been reiterated by Ghostcrawler and company recently. Take a few minutes to read it, you'll be glad you did.

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Valley of the Damned, Episode 01: Forbidden is the first part of an ongoing series by Cerinne, whose previous credits were mostly focused on raiding videos. Valley of the Damned is a character-driven story which takes place before the Scourge Invasion and the Third War. Lady Fierine Calloun is a noblewoman who comes to Dalaran to be trained in the ways of magic, and begins uncovering more about the "dark arts" than she was expecting.

For a first episode from a relatively new machinimist, I was fairly pleased with Valley of the Damned. The voice acting needs a little polish, but I thought the actors did a pretty good job portraying their characters. The scripting did a good job of setting the pace and tone for the series' world, but hopefully the next episode will be a little faster paced.

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The first answer post from the class Q&A series is up! 6:30 PM on a Tuesday night is not exactly when I expected this to drop, but I'm not complaining, and neither are most shamans, I expect. 4,400 words from the devs answering the community's questions is always nice. I've summarized the major points below; my summary may seem long, but it is only 20% of the original post.

They do think Shamans are a bit underpowered in PvP, especially smaller Arenas, and view that as a problem. They mention particularly wanting to improve Shaman performance on 2v2s.

Shamans are still designed to be the offensive "counterpart and complement" to Paladins' defense, which has been a design thread in the game since the beginning.

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This is just a nice little character portrait of Blood Elf Death Knight Valanar in Icecrown. Death knights blend in well with the ice and blue of Northrend, but I can't help thinking about how silly they look in, say, Stranglethorn Vale. Pale, deathlike skin, brightly glowing eyes, and thick armor with spikes are not ideal for wandering around a jungle hunting down tigers.

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I'd been holding off on merging my World of Warcraft account with Battle.Net account for a while now. I really didn't see the point, even though I'm certain to buy Diablo 3 and StarCraft 2 when they come out... soon®. I also haven't been hearing too many good things about the service, although to be fair, log-in problems happen to all World of Warcraft accounts whether they've been merged or not. I didn't really think about it much until yesterday, when Battle-Bots became available over at the Mountain Dew Game Fuel site.

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You've got to hear this guy included in our drama section this week -- he accidentally ninja'd a piece of loot, and he was so sorry that he not only apologized on the forums, he actually made some YouTube videos to apologize in virtual person. And they are terrific -- the music is amazing, and he just keeps talking and talking and talking. We could listen to him all day, actually. Definitely check it out.

That story and many more in this week's Guildwatch, back up to full strength after a short version last week. If you have drama, downed or recruiting tips to share with us from around the realms, send them right along to guildwatch@wow.com. Click the link below to read on.

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