Aurael's Beta Journal #3
Screenshots Galore
by Amber "Aurael" Weldon
This week, I tried to explore a little more. However, I found that harder than I thought it
would be in some areas. So instead of completely explored maps, I bring you a couple of sneak
peek maps (full maps to follow later, hopefully). Along with a couple of maps, I brought you screenshots
of the sights I found along the way.
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To start out, I headed north out of Zangarmarsh to Blade's Edge. This area is not quite
complete yet, but there's still hungry (somewhat higher level) monsters there that thought that a night
elf hunter would make a fine supper. The not-quite-completedness of the area became evident
after I was killed by a blue and white-checkered box. After having explored a bit, I came to a conclusion.
It would be easier for alliance to enter Blade's Edge mountains by heading north from the Orebar Harborage
in Zangarmarsh. The road heads straight into Sylvanaar, where you can find the flight path. For horde,
it would be best to head north into Blade's Edge mountains by the cavern that's north of the Dead Mire in Zangarmarsh.
The road from there heads straight into Thunderlord Stronghold.
I had taken the road from the Dead Mire and after evading attack (serpentine! serpentine!)
from several vicious animals, I came to a fork in the road. The signpost was not very reassuring.
My choices were The Circle of Blood, Thunderlord Village, Mok'Nathal Village or Sylvanaar. Naturally,
I took the one that sounded the safest--Sylvanaar. It was a stroke of luck. Sylvanaar is the alliance
village in this area. I basked in the safety of the Sentinels for a short time and rejoiced for there
was a flight path!
I decided to continue exploring the area and I learned that Thunderlord Village is the horde settlement,
the Circle of Blood is actually an arena, and bubbling circles of blood on the ground = death. These bubbling
circles were actually a cleverly-hidden monster called a Greater Crest Burster. Guess what they do...they burst and kill you.
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There's a very pretty area called the Singing Ridge in which there are some very nasty dragonkin waiting to
snap up hapless travelers. This is where the checkered box killed me. I can't wait to see the creature behind the box,
because they are some evil, evil things. Along with checkered boxes are lesser nether drakes. These dragons are quite
pretty, but they are bad creatures. They fly and snap and their protector (a level 68 elite that wanders the area) can kill a level 60
night elf hunter in 2 bites. I had to giggle though, when I found myself almost falling into an area called "Death's Door". So that's where I've been knocking all these times...
On the way to these dangerous dragons, is a little bit of Star Wars-meets-WoW. At the bottom of a hill, a robot warns intruders
away from Toshley Station. Toshley Station turns out to be a gnome-run area with a couple of
vendors and a ton of gnome engineers doing what they do best--tinkering on stuff.
R-3DO and Toshley Station
I think this area will be quite fun once they get everything set in there. They don't seem to lack much--a
character model for those killer boxes, a couple of names to get rid of placeholder ones (I don't think that "Raven's Wood Leafbeard" could
really be the name for the elemental-looking protector/giant creatures in Raven's Wood), and a graveyard somewhere closer to Raven's Wood
than Sylvanaar. Here's hoping for the graveyard anyway *crosses fingers*
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I also made a partial trip through Netherstorm. However, seeing as how it's the highest level area I've seen yet (level 67+) I didn't get very far.
I visited Area 52, which reminded me of a Gadgetzan in space. There's a flight path there. It also has a charming graveyard, which I was able to
visit many, many times. There's a small version of the statue from Booty Bay guarding the tombstones. I
have a few screenshots of this area which can be viewed
here.
I got a few screenshots of Shattarath City as well when I went there to repair my poor red armor and do some banking. Of course, after all that action, I headed to the World's End Tavern and cried into my ale for Blizzard is cruel indeed to include Haris Pilton in the game. Even now *sniffle*...I tear up. Why! Oh why must she be there?!
Other screenshots I have taken can be seen in our gallery from the following links:
I hope you enjoy the screenshots and my little journey through lands much more dangerous than I can possibly handle. If you have any suggestions on where you would like me to go next, send me an email ([email protected]) or post on our forums!
Aurael's Previous Beta Journals
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