Patch 4.3: Hour of Twilight - Darkmoon Faire 2011

Hour of Twilight: Review of the new Darkmoon Faire. 

Well the long awaited 4.3 patch known as Hour of Twilight has gone live on the public realms of World of Warcraft. Personally I have not yet fully investigated or looking into most features of the new patch. However I have noticed that with the new patch the "Darkmoon Faire" has been greatly improved and enhanced in several different ways.

Darkmoon Faire: has been moved to its own little island, where it is... I'm not entirely sure however you can quickly get there from any major town by clicking on a dark moon fair NPC and ask for them to take you there for a small 20 silver fee. I personally do this from Stormwind as that is where my character's home base is (hearthstone) which takes me to the portal to the darkmoon fair located in Eywynn forest.

Brief outlook on the new Darkmoon Faire

The Darkmoon Faire itself is very quirky with lots of daily quests by playing the mini-games such as tossing a hoop onto a turtles back, shooting targets, whacking gnolls with mallets, and even firing yourself out of a cannon to land in a hoop located in the waters edge of the "Darkmoon Faire". At least this time Blizzard are focusing more on the fun factor than the raiding and dungeons, which I'm sure most people play however I am not one of them.

Before you can play the daily mini-games you need some "Darkmoon Fair" tokens which can be bought near the entrance to the fair itself from a vendor in a tent. Apparently there is a cap on how many tokens you can buy but its usually enough to get you what you want from the faire itself. Darkmoon Faire Game Tokens can be purchase from Sazz Coincatcher and Zina Sharpworth.

Darkmoon Faire Tokens: Companions and mounts

Benefits of the "Darkmoon Faire" are your can exchange your tokens for prizes as before however this time there are two mounts up for grabs, a dancing bear and a bird type mount, which the name currently eludes me.

Additional to this there are several companion types also available from the vendor and balloons can be purchased from the balloon seller which is a gnome pushing a cart around.

Sea Pony: A companion obtained by fishing

A bonus for the fishermen and fisherwomen if you fish off the coast of "Darkmoon faire" you have 1 in 1000 chance of obtaining a delightful little "Sea pony" companion which is basically a small sea horse that follows you in a bubble of water.

Darkmoon Faire one time quests

There are quite a few interesting quests also available in the "Darkmoon Faire" area including fishing ones, cooking ones, engineering ones and even archaeology ones all of which give your increase skill points in the profession and of course "Darkmoon Faire" tickets which can be redeemed and one of the many vendors in the area.

PVP Area: 

Yes there does appear to be a PVP area within the Darkmoon fair itself, personally I hate PVP and I am just glad that they didn't focus on that like they normally do with events and patches. The PVP area is located on the right side in a massive tent, you cannot miss it.

Darkmoon Armour and Weapons: Replica Armor

I did notice that there is "Darkmoon Faire" equipment and apparel that can be purchased, I only briefly looked at them sold by the vendor there so I cannot elaborate on what is actually sold. I didn't see anything of interest personally as my own equipment (although not PVP or Epic) was much better than those being sold at the vendor. Im sure they may look sparkly which would encourage players to use the newly added Transmogrification feature of the game but thats all I can really say about that. Equipment and apparel are not personally one of my strong points. They can be purchased from "Baruma" and "Barum" the replica armour prize vendors.

Souvenirs, Toys, Balloons, Fireworks and more!

There are several other vendors of the Darkmoon fair which allow you to purchase fireworks, balloons, souvenir & toys and even a very cool ride on tiger. I think this was originally the "Sandbox Tiger" which was acquired in the Rage of the Firelands Trading cards. The NPC who sells the Tiger that you can ride on is Gelvas Grimgate.

Ride on Tiger: Darkmoon "Tiger"

You can purchase a ride on tiger from "Gelvas Grimgate" during the Darkmoon Faire. When you purchase the item you are given 10 of them and personally I think its awesome!

Zoo and Pony Rides.

As an additional note there is a large Zoo type exhibition ( or petting zoo) near the dock side of the Darkmoon Faire area. There are small ponies, goats and other animals  (which are not in fenced off areas) that you can ride around for free. Its really funny seeing your character dwarf a pony which pelts round the area looks like a million miles a hour due to its small legs but its actually only 100% mount speed. I did notice that the exhibition animals all have their own individual names which is a nice personal touch I think.

Overall opinion of the new darkmoon faire.

Overall I personally think that the new re-vamped "Darkmoon Faire" should be a overall success as it brings back the fun and enjoyment to the game and doesn't focus you just on the fighting and killing of creatures and mythical beings. Im glad Blizzard have realised that not all players of world of warcraft are excited when new PVP, dungeons and arenas are brought out as some of us never do them, its reassuring that they are trying to keep everyone entertained - lets hope they keep on doing this and maybe it will start bringing back people to the world of warcraft.