Ranshiin, in a post on the Arcania forums, brought an interesting thread on the MMO Champion forums to our attention: the wolves in Northshire Valley — the little walled human starter area in Elwynn Forest — are becoming diseased!
As you can see from this shot of Aisna with her new diseased wolf, these guys do indeed use the diseased wolf skin — which was previously unavailable before level 47, in Felwood.
The Diseased Young Wolf replaces the existing Young Wolf. Like the Young Wolf, the Diseased Young Wolf is a non-aggressive, level 1 beast that seems to hang out mostly inside Northshire Valley (the human starter area) in Elwynn Forest. (I also found a few behind the cat lady’s house just outside the Northshire walls.)
A bit further back in Northshire Valley you can find a level 2 Diseased Timber Wolf, which replaces the Timber Wolf. Same skin, same non-aggression, one level higher.
Both of these new diseased wolves can be tamed. They are also involved in a quest: Eagan Peltskinner, who on the live realms right now asks you to kill Young Wolves and Timber Wolves for their meat, now bemoans the growing sickness in the neraby wolves and asks you to bring him diseased wolf pelts instead.
(But no worries about the previous wolf skin: you can still tame non-diseased Mangy Wolves just outside Northshire, or the Gray Forest Wolves a bit past Goldshire for that look.)
So the question for me is: what’s the goal here? Is this part of the set-up for a pre-Cataclysm event? Setup for Cataclysm itself? Blizzard moving the diseased wolves elsewhere because they’re going to be eliminated from Felwood? Or just a developer who really wanted a diseased wolf at level 10?
[Aside: While I was checking out the Diseased Young Wolf, I noticed that the PTR also features a slick new tutorial system with better text and pictures, plus flashing UI elements to help new players figure out what's going on. I probably just missed this before, but I quite liked it. In addition, the stupid Defias inside Northshire Valley itself are *finally* non-aggro. Man, I hated those thugs before!]
Addendum: I took a trip around Durotar, Mulgore, and Tirisfal but I didn’t seen anything else new in the way of beasts. Two things of interest:
- All the enemies in the protected 1-5 areas are now non-aggressive.
- I couldn’t find any abomination guards in Undercity. Instead all I found were Kor’kron guards.
I’d say preparation for Cataclysm, and possibly making sure the skin stays around. We’ll have to keep an eye out to see if any more particular area only skins get shuffled around. Though if I had to wager, I’d say something is going to happen in Felwood after Ashenvale goes bottom up.
LAVA AND FLAMES AND EXPLODING DEMONIC PLAGUE.
Er I mean.
Anyways this IS interesting- but mostly; is there a real reason to the wolves becoming diseased? Outside a prep for cat? Like is the demonic influence spreading? Are other creatures going to become tainted and changed too? Not just to provide lower level skins- and also we forget these wolves are ALSO tameable in the plague lands.
OR is this showing that EPL and WPL are also going to be drastically changed?
Wonder what other pet anomalies will show up.
It’d make sense for Felwood, EPL and WPL to be changed, though especially EPL and WPL. The Scourge menace is about to be dealt with, after all.
It might just be preparation for human hunters, giving them more options to tame different skins. Though if it were solely for that I would’ve expected an introduction of different kinds of beasts as well.
This raises the question then- has anyone checked out the Forsaken starting zone?
It’s beginning to look alot like Cataclysm…..everywhere you go~~~ *hums more*
Anyways on a serious note. I think it might have to do with Wrath & Cataclysm. Perhaps there will be some more outcropping of “undead” beasts as the Lich King spreads his evil powers one last time before Ensidia inevitably downs him 3 days after 3.3 launches.
XD
And perhaps, like I mentioned before on the Blog about Expansion pet families (go read it peeps if youre interested, I’m not retyping ALL of that XD) that this is Blizzard’s way of maintaining skins for areas in Cataclysm that might get an overhaul. If Barrens is getting “cured” of its desert thanks to the druids, the druids at work in Felwood might also be successful in “purifying” the area. Also, Western Plaguelands (i think there’s wolves there too isnt there?) is also becoming a much much lower level zone then it currently is, so perhaps that is also why these wolves are now invading Northshire.
Well not just that Rikaku, mused over it some more, and there’s a drood there too, at lights hope chapel. The name eludes me, and I only remember it’s a druid when in one patch, blizz decided lol lets stealth change everyone to at war, with CC.
Ooooh that was fun being wtfpwned by like 15 argents.
Anyways there’s a quest, I think repeatable, not entirely sure, never really did it tbh. But you basically go and get savage fronds and bring them back and the tauren is like look here night elf /makes plant bloom and the nelf claps her hands and bounces making a comment- or the tauren does, about the land attempting to recover or whatever.
But as said, what about Forsaken starting area? They too have wolves, atleast right smack in the starting area.
Wait, wait wait wait- the black plagued bear. Unlike most other diseased bears, it ONLY exists in WPL, right outside the horde EPL/WPL quest hub- this is just bringing up so many questions and posabilities of what they [Blizz] are going to do.
I’ve been to the undead starting area on one of my test-alts on a different server other than my primary one… so far, no changes to the wolves there… at least none that I noticed on my ultra-low level warrior.
I hope this means Felwood is finnaly getting at least partially healed, and all the Cenarion plant salves i have turned in didn’t go to vain!
I suspect we’re also seeing the first wave of improvements to the launch race starting areas to bring them at least up to par with the draenei and blood elf starting experiences.
My poor little minibelf hunter is going to die so many times to get one of these. XD
So will my first undead hunter. :>
I think so aren’t alot of hunter alts 8D
/raises guilty hand
I’ve been fining some interesting stuff myself. You’re probably right about cata prep, although it is pretty soon considering the release time is next year. They haven’t any betas open yet either.
Off Topic, I found the Epic shirt on model viewer. I loled.
*can not wait till Auberdine is asploded!* I LOATHED that place. With all my heart. ANYWAY.
@ Ryai.
I believe her name is Rayne. :3
Actually it’s not so soon, the one thing me and a few others were raging about and calling Blizz out on is the fact we thought it’d be a SUDDEN change to Cat, but they’re putting it in gradual phases evidently.
And this seems to be the first one.
I am going to have to tame that on my low level hunter :P He’s only 11 I think
I’ve been wondering something myself about after cata…. are ghostsabers going to be around at all after the zone change?
I mean, the zone is going to go threw a major change, obviously, and with the allies moving north (from what I’ve heard) and areas getting flooded or tore open. I have this feeling that these awesome cats (I tamed one at 25, and still have it today :P ) might go extinct.
Seeing as Darkshore is home to TWO unique animal skins, not just the ghost saber people, I highly doubt that Blizz is going to do anything to make them ‘retired’ in such a way, now I also doubt that they will do anything, so, if you want Clutch Mother AND Ghost Saber, you better get one while you can- better safe than sorry I always say.
I could be wrong, but I noticed there aren’t a lot of tameable birds in starter zones for early on. I wonder if in Cata the Worgen will have some sort of raven and perhaps parrots for the goblins or we may see such things creeping into starter areas. Like hose owls in felwood if that zone changes they’ll have to go somewhere.
Bulletdance: that’s unlikely as those owls share the same skin as ones you can tame in SMV and the nelf starting zone; while yes it’ll be an inconvience, you don’t have to worry about that skin becoming ‘extinct’ so to speak. It’s not the same as the diseased wolves, because afaik they are only in three places period- and since Outlands will remained unchanged, well yeah.
Some of the other beasts in starter areas have also gotten more subtle makeovers. The Thistle Boars in Shadowglen were changed from orange into more sickly and pale in color – the same skin that the Mottled Boars in Durotar currently use.
Egad, Safrienaer — you’re right! The lovely orange boars have been replaced by grey pigs. What the … ?
Ahha! I think I found a clue. They also recolored the Rockjaw Troggs to be different from the Burly Rockjaw Troggs in Coldridge Valley. I think they may be trying to make low level quest targets easier to distinguish. That doesn’t explain the Northshire wolves, but would explain the Shadowglen boars.
I wasn’t looking at colors when I trolled the newbies areas yesterday, so I’m going to have to take another look.
This reminds me of a patch awhile ago that added turtles and whatnots to the Blood Elf starting area in order to provide access for new hunters to tenacity pets. Though that was more a variation with a purpose… So I guess it has no correlation to this event.
Also, aren’t the diseased wolves and bears a result of the scourge plague? It makes no sense, then, if the scourge is about to be used as a raid rag, for a bunch of sick wolves to pop up in some peaceful human settlement. The plot line doesn’t seem to benefit or explain this occurrence. So I may stick with my original “someone was bored and wanted humans to have fun things to play with” theory. This isn’t even necessarily about taming, since humans can’t be hunters (yet, anyways).
On a side note- I submitted a ticket a few days ago about the possible return of pet summon animations. I have Gezzarak the Huntress and am feeling sad without seeing her red lightning. The response I got was something along the lines of “This pet was never supposed to be tameable. It now exists as a companion pet, with all pet abilities removed.” And I was like “Excuse me? I do believe I’ll kill you if you strip my warpy of everything that makes her special…” But… Gezza still retains her abilities. Is Blizz being strange or are they forgetful? Also, will Arikara ever see a return of her poof of smoke? She’s always been tameable, she hasn’t been labelled as supposed to be untameable. Are pet summon animations a thing of the past?
Blizz isn’t, the GM that answered you is. Gezz originally was nothing more than a companion pet.
Then Blizzard fixed her.
then made her untameable.
And I doubt it, the removal of all pet summon animations seems to be uniform, from tsmeables to non tameables. Probably to make them ‘equal’.
Ryai & Aeira:
Ryai’s point is true. That GM is incorrect in saying Gezz will lose her abilities. I have Gezz too and she works fine.
However, I don’t think (and this is just my opinion) the summoning animation changes were intentional; I don’t think Blizzard meant for it to happen as “to make them equal”.
If you remember when the change occured, alot of pets that had issues acting properly as pets (Gezzerak wouldn’t attack properly or function correctly and Ghost Wolves couldn’t run would be examples) were ‘fixed’. I think it has to do with a change in the coding that involves “taming” a beast, so that way now they “default” to their family once you tame them. That way Blizzard doesn’t have to manually go and say “Ok these lvl 30 White Snow Wolves* do not have a walk animation.” everytime a random pet gets tamed.
So I think their intention was to mostly solve some of the “leftover” issues some mobs have once they’re tamed; unfortunately special summoning animations were considered “leftovers”.
Of course, that doesn’t mean ALL mobs are perfect when tamed now. I mean, look at those funky lvl 7-8 black ravens you can tame. They’re just crazy when tamed <_<;
And again, that's just my opinion.
Well I had a post, but it got moderated, so you’ll have to wait for the response
(thats to Ryai & Aeira’s posts) =)
Well that’s probably right Rikaku 8D
Tho concerning the ravens, I think all northrend birds share a messed up druid model; they all fly/glide like druids. But at ‘walk’ speed is only when they ‘fly’ normally, the rest of the time they use REST HOVER.
The other ravens you can tame in blades edge seem to strictly use a carrion bird skin; meaning they act right a bit more than their ‘cousins’.
The abomination guards are out as the Undercity starts to be occupied by a certain horde leader who doesn’t trust us if the previously speculated upon story details pan out.
I don’t know if Blizz is thinking in advance here, or just did something on a whim. I would like to think that they are working on “preserving” some skins for us, but likley, they will just run with it and replace skins after the fact during Cat.
I DO think that most of the zone revamps seem geared towards giving life to crappy questing (and navagationally poor) zones. I really liked Darkshore quests, but I despised the crazy distances and one flight point nature of the place. Felwood was even worse overall, vast distances and not-so-cool quests to boot.
And Azshara was probably my least favorite zone in the game… glad it’s being changed.
Moving diseased wolves from Felwood EPL/WPL to Elwynn Forest pre-Cataclysm -> Something has survived! ^^
It’s a shame that all the monsters in the 1-5 newbie zones are non-aggro now. I liked the way it slowly weaned you onto aggro mobs before, it was a natural progression.
Although, I do think this change is two reasons: one, Cataclysm event (main reason), two preserving the diseased skins. The one places this skin is (I believe) are Felwood and the Plaguelands, both of which are getting changed in Cata right? The diseased bear and boar skins are safe in Northrend and RKF respectively, so this ensures the wolf skin survives the Cataclysm too.
Secondly, duh it’s a Cata event! I don’t think they’re plagued wolves though… maybe something to do with worgen? Oooh :P Maybe the undead are infecting wolves around Greymane, trying to get rid of the Worgen, and dumping the (failed) evidence wherever. ha. Who knows. :P
Oh and @bulletdance and @Ryai, the clutchmother would be just a perfect skin for some bright, tropical birds on the goblin island, don’t you think? ^-^
I don’t really know what to think about these wolves. Considering that blizz usually has a plan with what they do, I’m assuming it probably has to do with the model, and they’ll make a quest or two in relation to it to weave the story together. Although with the way Blizz works, the model department knows exaclty what’s going on, but the quest department ignored the e-mail.
I’d like to see more starting zones go this direction though. Having more variety and differentiated quests. Neutral starting mobs goes right along with making all the startings for classes newbified. After all: rogues starting with dual wield, casters never running out of mana, and all such changes. Seems that with the Upcoming expansion Blizz has 2 entirely seperate viewpoints they’re focusing on. On one side; Top lvl playeres having more of a say in how their character develops and plays. On the other end; New players/alts having a smoother and less tedious process of being introduced to the lore and reaching upper-end content.
That’s my views anyway.
Actually, I think this is just Bliz trying to liven up the starter experience by adding a greater variety of quests. Curing diseased wolves is more fun then the traditional ‘gather 10 meat’.
Hmm, I find it really interesting how the same old starting zones are finally getting some changes. (Hopefully zones other than the human area will get some changes too…just for a freshness factor)
I also think that making all mobs inside these zones non-aggressive is a good move for newbie players. Sure some people might start QQing that they’re ‘dumbing the game down’, but I think it fits in well with the whole 1-5 being the ‘practice’ levels. People can take their time to learn things and not worry about those pockets of aggressive monsters, and when they leave the security of the starting area it will feel more like braving a scary world up ahead. xD
Anyways, I have to admit I’m saddened by the loss of the Abomination guards in Undercity. :( It’s my favourite capital city for all its eeriness and zombies and such…the Abominations just really added to the atmosphere. *sigh*
Yea, well, I don’t think the horde will be the same after warmonger gets into power, Tori. I may not play the horde, but I have been a fan of Thrall and Kairne since Warcraft 3, and seeing one leave his post and the other potentially die thanks to Garrosh is not sitting well with me, at all.
I HATE dumbing the game down, but I also think that non-aggressive is the way to go with that particular area. It’s one thing when it’s a linear area where you as a low level can fight mobs one or two at a time, but it is way to easy to be gang-tackled there. Soooo, good change, me thinks.
Yes, I’m very upset over the new warchief. =/ I’ve likewise been a fan of Thrall for a long time and had a lot of respect for him as a leader. I’ll always play for the Horde since their backstory fascinates me the most out of the two factions and I have a strong fondness for the races. I won’t like Garrosh, but that hatred won’t be enough to change my faction or anything.
I know what you mean about dumbing the game down, and I also felt the same way at first, but looking at it objectively I can see the merit in it for introducing new players to the game, and since I’ve played so many characters I don’t mind the streamlining of lower levels now for alts since it takes so much less time. ^^;
Honestly, this is one of those things that they probably should have changed a while back. Like the damage off of Defias mages fireballs in Westfall…..*Shudders*
and not just alts- doing lowbie quests for rep hopefully is less of a faceflatfall on the keyboard for grinding.
Tho, I vote we all bribe Deathwing to eat Garrosh. Or maybe trick him, say it’ll give him more power or something. And then while Deathwing is choking down the idiotic warmonger, we stab him.
PROBLEM SOLVED.
… tho wouldn’t killing -another- aspect kinda screw Azeorth over more now Oo
… considering almost his entire Dragonflight is already psycho i don’t think it would affect the world TOO much… xD
We’re just gonna go on an Aspect Killing Spree in my opinion.
I mean, what? It’s only a matter of time before Ysera snaps from the Nightmare and eats us all. Oh that pesky Nozdormu and his ALLEGEDLY Infinite Dragonflight? Yeah that’s gonna bite us in the butt too.
Didn’t they mention something about the Dragon’s Age coming to an end in Day of the Dragon? *vaguely remembers*
Meh. Red was always my favorite anyways ;)
I say we should tame Nozdormu, that way we have dragon pets AND can time travel. How awesome would that be?
Hell let me tame any drake….even if its a small drake…you’ll never hear me complain a- ok yeah you probably will but.
Then I could pretend to be a Dragoon =D
Hmm…I still think it’ll be awkward when I race-change to worgen with a ghost wolf. It’d be like “Ghost wolf: Mommy =D” “Me: ….”
I can’t really picture ‘Rikaku’ as a worgen…..
Actually Rikaku, I don’t think Nozdormu is the leader the the infinite flight, cause mean when horde brings small!belf [aka the belf orphan] to the flight, all the npcs throw a fit or the guards rather and yada yada…
And she -really- wants a dragon.
And she -really- hates Arthas.
And Azeorth is -finally being upgraded-…
Yeah I think Small!Belf went psycho.
updated* rather.
The Guards of Uc will be out anyways due to The leader of The Forsaken being in Icecrown in the 5m raid instance, so thats could be the plot there ( to blizzard, she cant be in 2 places at once now can she?, she aint a quest giver). and these new wolves by stormwind.. kinda do and dont make sence to me but the plagues getting stronger and going to be in the front steps of stormwind. i would think these wolves would be in the forsaken starter area and the plague there to finally manofest into Uc somehow.
Er Goraan she is a quest giver.
CP from Wowwiki; rts the following quests:
* Horde Crest [21] Meeting the Warchief
* Horde Crest Paladin [52] Ancient Evil
* Horde Crest [56] The Champion of the Banshee Queen
And finishes the following quests:
* Horde Crest [15] Journey to Undercity
* Horde Crest [21] Envoy to the Horde
* Horde Crest Paladin [52] Wisdom of the Banshee Queen
Ryai:
I think it is Nozdormu only for a few reasons:
First, I do believe that the blood elf is up to no good. That much we are certain of. But as for her storyline, I am not quite sure. Whenever we have “dragons being controlled” it is ultimately being controlled by a powerful being, usually an Old God or another Dragon. I’m sure the BE girl will grow up to be powerful, but powerful enough to harm an Aspect?
Also, the dragons flipping out thing also happens when you bring the Draenei orphan to the main dragon down there. But she has no mention of wanting to control dragons, she wants to befriend them. The only hint we get as to why they still wanted to kill her was because of what “she might do or fail to do in the future”.
Secondly, another point is that each of the dragonflights seem to have an ongoing occurance, as if something or someone is plaguing the flights. Deathwing’s & Malygos’ madness. Ysera’s nightmare. Nozdormu’s inappropriate timing of being ‘missing’.
Third, in Dragonblight, Chromie sends you out to use the Infinite Hourglass to find out just who is the Infinite Flgiht’s leader. Yet when you complete the quest, Nozdormu appears in the sky and doesn’t do *any* visual fighting against the infinite flight like his progeny. Of course, that’s *if* Chromie’s spell worked.
And then we have the infamous scene from the War of the Ancients book. Nozdormu apologizes to Korialistraz for what Nozdormu will do against Korialstraz in the future. Most tend to think of this now meaning that since Nozdormu becomes leader of the Infinite Dragonflight, who cause more trouble in Azeroth and will eventually bring Nozdormu to his death because even the Timeless dragon cannot escape death (since the Titan’s even showed his future death to him).
Palla:
That’s why I’m re-rolling a worgen first, to see if I like their animations. I reaaaaaaaaaally wanna play one, but I don’t wanna re-do the Deathcharger farming, Violet proto drake stuff or anything else for that matter All over again@_@