April 29th - May 6th - Children's Week.

This week on world of warcraft it is "Children's Week". You can find lots of different events in Stormwind, Orgrimmar, Dalaran and Shattrath City.

Orphan Matron Nightingale Location

Alliance can start the "Children's Week" Events by talking to Orphan Matron Nightingale who can be found in Stormwind.

Orphan Matron Battlewail: Location

Horde can start the "Children's Week" events by talking to Orphan Matron Battlewail who is located in Orgrimmar.

Orphan Matron Mercy Shattrath City Location

Additionally all factions can start the "Children's Week" events by talking to Orphan Matron Mercy who is located in Shattrath City

Orphan Matron Aria Dalaran Location

Orphan Matron Aria who can be found in Dalaran.

About the "Children's Week" Event this year

The holiday event begun on the 29th April and ends on the 6th May. Basically you take an orphan under your wing (look after a child with no parents) and perform the tasks that you are asked by the Orphan Matrons. This is supposed to show the child that people (including you) do care and you will be awarded with a special companion pet when you complete the tasks that you have been presented with.

Companion Pets that can be obtained through "Children's Week"

There are a total of 10 companion pets that can be obtained through the activities of "Children's Week" which can be found in different areas of the game.

Eastern Kingdoms & Kalimdor Children's Week Companions

• Mr Wiggles: A pink piglet that is one of the reward options from your faction capital city quest. 
• Whiskers: A baby rat which is one of the reward options available from your faction capital city quest
• Speedy: A baby turtle which is one of the reward options from your faction capital city.
• Scooter: A baby snail which is one of the reward options from your faction capital city. 

Outland Children's Week Companions

• Egbert: a funny companion that can be obtained during Outland's children's week by completing a quest chain. 
• Peanut: A cute companion that can be obtained during Outland's children's week by completing a quest chain. 
• Sleepy Willy: A tired companion that can be obtained during Outland's children's week by completing a quest chain. 
• Legs: A little companion that can be obtained during Outland's children's week by completing a quest chain. 

Northrend Pets obtainable through Children's Week Events

• Curious Oracle Hatchling: A toothy companion which can be obtained during Northrend's children's week events by completing a quest chain
• Curious Wolvar Pup: A furry companion which can be obtained during Northrend's children's week events by completing a quest chain

This weeks Summer Challenge: Outland Mount Roundup

Blizzard have announced the arrival of the Summer Challenges. This weeks Summer Challenge is known as "Outland Mount Roundup".  And you have a better chance of obtaining a mount known as "Netherwing", the "Talbuck"and the Sha'tari's Skyguard mount, by grouping together and completing the quests in the area. I personally already own the "Netherwing" and "Talbuck" mounts and so have no interest in this expedition. From what I understand all you need to do to gain the best XP and Rep is to group with other players,  go to Outland and start completing quests for the three factions of the area.

The quests have always been there, if you can't find any, then chances are you already completed them when you were levelling up through Outland.

What achievements are obtainable in relation to completing Outland Quests.

Additional to obtaining the mounts there are several obtainable achievements in the Outland areas which include the following:

• Leading the Cavalry (given when you own 50 mounts)
• Mountain o' Mounts (given when you own 100 mounts)
• Flying High over Skettis (given when you become exalted with Sha'tari Skyguard)
• On Wings of Nether (given when you become exalted with Netherwing)
• Skyshattered (given when you defeat Captain Skyshatter in the Dragonmaw race, on Netherwing Ledge)
• Mag'har of Draenor (given when you become exalted with the Mag'har)
• Oh My, Kurenai  (given when you become exalted with the Kurenai)

Summer Challenges Announced

We have recently heard that Blizzard have announced some Summer challenges to give us players another way to pass the time while waiting for the new expansion to come out. Blizzard basically state that its to give us a reason to go out into the near forgotten areas which we once passed while levelling up our characters, such as Outland which has been pretty much forgotten about since Cataclysm was released. Their reason, for us to obtain rare mounts, rare achievements and rare items.

Image from www.wow-europe.com

These challenges encourage players to group up and visit certain areas which Blizzard have announced the "Challenges" are based, and to do things that they do not normally do anymore. (Basically trying to get players to play the game again, instead of hanging out in the cities twiddling their thumbs waiting for Mists of Pandaria).

My opinion on why Blizzard have made the Summer Challenges

My opinion on this is that Blizzard have only done this to try and reduce the number of players that hang around the main cities, such as Stormwind. Prior to Cataclysm most level 80 (the then top level) used to hang out in Dalaran, since Cataclysm was released when you visit or pass through Dalaran in Northrend its basically a ghost town, and most level 85 players have made their homes back in Stormwind or other major cities in Azoroth.

Darkmoon Faire: Tauren Chieftains Concert

While out in the Darkmoon Faire I heard an announcement regarding a concert starting in 15 minutes, this gave me time enough to finish what I was doing and head down to the staging area.

Basically it was a Tauren Rock band known as the "Tauren Chieftains" and is highly entertaining and worth 5 minutes of your time to watch. Near the end my character and another player decided to stand next to the drummer dancing.

Darkmoon Faire Ended - Feast of Winter Veil Begins

Well the Darkmoon Faire has ended and I hope that you worked hard to earn your new mounts available by exchanging Darkmoon Faire Tokens. With the closure of the Darkmoon Faire Blizzard have sprung upon us the beginning of the Feast of Winter Veil.
From what I can see so far its not much different from the past years. I think that the “rescue dancer” quest and “recover the stolen presents” quest have been changed as I do not remember a giant Grinch being there last time.
The main hub of the “Feast of winter veil” is around Ironforge as that is where Blizzards version of Santa is hanging out.

Starting the festive quests

However you can start the festive quests at any major city such as Stormwind (where the festive NPC’s are hanging out near where the old entrance to the Auction house was (pre-cataclysm), at the caravan where the Elder character once stood in the Trade District.

Click on images to enlarge

Farming in the feast of winter veil

If you are a player who loves making gold the idea thing to do at this time is to Farm “Small Eggs” and collect “Ice Cold Milk” from mobs. I say this because one of the starting festive quests requires you to make “Gingerbread Cookies” and the ingredients include “Small Eggs” and a glass of “Ice cold milk” to give to Santa.

• Small Eggs currently sell for 3g 75s
• Ice Cold Milk currently sells for 84s                                              On my server
• Gingerbread Cookies sell for 5g 75s

Making Gingerbread Cookies for Santa

Remember that before you can make the gingerbread cookie you have to learn the cooking recipe first! I purchased the recipe several years ago originally however “Khole Jinglepocket” sells the recipe in Stormwind at the caravan shown in the above image.
Click on images to enlarge

The ingredients of “Gingerbread Cookies” are as follows and you need a cooking fire to create the cookies themselves. You will require 5 Gingerbread cookies and 1 glass of ice cold milk to give to Santa:

• 1x Small Egg
• 1x Holiday Spices (which can be bought from any festive vendor)

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.

Its World of Warcraft's 7th Anniversary!

Its World of Warcraft's 7th Anniversary and....... its somewhat disappointing for us long term players...

To celebrate their 7th year of running they have given us a experience and reputation buff.  Thats awesome for players who are starting up or are not level 85 yet. Surely they should be giving a reward that actually helps the people that are paying them. I know for a fact I have been playing World of Warcraft for the past 5 years and spent several hundreds if not thousands of pounds with them over that time. This "anniversary present" does not help me in the slightest.

The WoW's 7th Anniversary gift is delivered to every player who is online on the 20th November 2011. As the dialog of the buff informs, it will increase experience and reputation from kills by 7%. The buff lasts for 60minutes, and can be used multiple times. 

Is it only me that is feeling its not for us players who are actually continually paying their wages, but the newbies benefit more from this than the dedicated players?

Your comments please!

Hallows End: Still Headless Horseman Mount-less

Well Hallows End has officially ended and for the second year I am Headless Horseman Mount-less. I am seriously considering cancelling my sub with Blizzard again but hopefully the next couple of days I will get back into the swing of things again.

I did however get the Headless horseman's sword known as “The Horseman’s Sinister Saber” which looks really good and glowwy! One thing I didn't realise until posting this, the sword will also allow you to “Summon Pumpkin Soldiers to burn your foes (10 Minute Cool down)” which is an added bonus. But compared to my other weapons – not very good.

April Fool: Mr. Crabby

As its 1st of April (April Fools Day) blizzard have once again released an april fools joke. This time its “Mr. Crabby”.

Simply click on any of the screenshots below to see a larger image.


Here is what blizzard “had to say” about Mr. Crabby

Introducing Crabby: The Dungeon Helper

The next content update for World of Warcraft introduces a brand-new feature designed to make your experience in Azeroth a whole lot user-friendlier. Meet Crabby: The Dungeon Helper! This adorable and knowledgeable crustacean companion will guide you through the game with useful hints, tips, and tricks for every situation. Read more about this upcoming feature on our new Crabby information page.   

Introducing Crabby: The Dungeon Helper

Nothing But the Best Few things are more fun than plumbing the depths of Azeroth's dungeons with your friends, defeating scores of terrifying monsters, and emerging with your bags stuffed to the brim with epic loot pried from your enemies' cold, dead hands. However, every adventurer knows that the more fantastic the treasure, the more powerful its guardians — and some of the challenges posed by World of Warcraft's Heroic dungeons can be quite daunting.Wouldn't it be nice to have a helpful friend at your side, ready to provide you with tips and hints when you're stuck? A friend who's there to provide encouragement, who will help you pick yourself up off the floor after the fifteenth wipe of the night? Someone who will stick with you — no matter what?Everyone can use a friend like that... a friend like Crabby!

Someone to Watch Over Me

You're a hero. An adventurer. A sword-swinger or spell-slinger for hire. Whatever your character's motivation may be, if trouble doesn't find you, it's because you found trouble first. But what do you do when Asaad throws down a grounding field? How do you respond when the Faceless Corruptors enter Erudax's room? Eventually, you'll be thrown a curve ball that you can't catch. When that happens, you'll be glad to have Crabby at your side!Crabby uses a complex and extensive set of context-sensitive situational heuristics to analyze your current status in real-time; that's tech talk for "Crabby always knows what's up." He watches your every move with his all-seeing eyes. Nothing escapes his unwavering gaze; not even the slightest nuance of your play style goes unnoticed. Before long, Crabby will know what you're going to do before you even do it. And he will use this knowledge to help.Crabby is able to tell you exactly what's going on and what you should do. His many useful tips will appear in the bottom right corner of your screen, where he hangs out, ever patiently, waiting for you to need his help. Of course, whether you follow his advice or not is entirely up to you; Crabby may possess an advanced level of artificial intelligence, but we're reasonably sure he doesn't have any feelings you could hurt. Reasonably sure. But just in case, the ability to remove Crabby has been disabled for now.

I've Got You Under My Skin

Few things are more fun than plumbing the depths of Azeroth's dungeons with a trusty, unwavering friend at your side. Together with Crabby, your new companion on all your journeys going forward, you can rest assured that no challenge will be beyond your reach.

Content provided by Blizzard at http://eu.battle.net/wow/en/game/dungeon-helper/

YES IT WAS AN APRIL FOOL

Hallows End–Ends

Well I hope everyone had better luck at getting the Hallows’ End festival on World of Warcraft than I did. I did the Headless Horseman's Dungeon every day during the Hallows End Festival and didn't get the mount. That was my whole purpose of keeping my account active for this month and since I didn't get it… i will not be renewing my world of warcraft account for the next few months. This also means that while my account is inactive I will not be posting as many blog entries simply because I will have nothing to report but never mind.

I hope you had a good Halloween!

Hallow’s End–Headless horseman dungeon

Update: With the release of Mists of Pandaria, you MUST be level 89 to start this dungeon.


Today is the start of Hallows End on World of Warcraft which allows you to play a dungeon called the “Headless Horseman”.


The first time each day you play the dungeon you are given a “” which can contain all sorts of interesting surprises including a “Head-less horseman's mount” and also I was fortunate enough to find a “Flying Broom” i have included a screenshot and video below.

Video made by www.simplywarcraft.com