The annual World of Warcraft Hallow’s End celebration is in full swing now … that’s Halloween to us real life people.
Kinda-sorta, almost-spoilzorz details are available on Blizzard’s event page.
Better-quality, gritty, real-time screenshot photography is available in the AFK Gamer Flickr photoset.
(There! I said it. I can photoshop better than they can.)
If you didn’t preorder one of the Collector’s Editions for the World of Warcraft expansion, The Burning Crusade, and you’re still looking to score, Blizzard’s Drysc advises that you camp the store spawn on release day in this forum thread, “I want the Xpack CE”. Blue text: “Some retailers have been taking Collector’s Edition pre-orders, but from what I have seen of the online retail sites they appear to have sold out rather quickly. Some retail stores are still allowing pre-orders if you walk in, but the number they have available is limited. We are not offering the CE for purchase in our online store at present. If we do sell it we probably won’t take pre-orders but I would recommend keeping an eye on the website. Your best bet at this point would be to find a store who is still accepting pre-orders or get up early on launch day and wait at a store that didn’t take pre-orders at all.” Alternatively, you can camp the online spawn at Amazon’s link. I’m still on the fence about this CE. I might make a half-hearted effort to get a pack o’ nerd-swag; I might not. If they were giving out something worthwhile for the $$ like a 24-slot bag, I’d kill my own mother to get ahold of one. Hell, she’s had a good run and she knows how important bag space is in this game. (Archive: I want the Xpack CE)
All you naysayers out there, prepare to say aye and turn over your credit card: Vanguard: Saga O’ Heroes, in unison with Sony Online Entertainment LLC (SOE), announced details of the preorder program and the Collector’s & Guild Edition. We, the players, are free to choose our own destiny! Seriously, that’s true — says so right in the press release. Summarized — Regular edition $49.99, includes one month of play and the C & G Edition $89.99, includes THREE months of play, some real life stuff that would only appeal to nerds (Ya, you read that right, nerd.) and some in-game stuff: “… One of three Hero Cards each granting a unique in-game item (one per account) […] , your choice of an in-game magical wand to create fireworks or an in-game set of horseshoes with +speed to use once you get your first horse (one per account) and a Guild Kit which includes an in-game guild trophy that buffs stats for the entire guild plus ten 10-day buddy keys.” As I’m such a long-time subscriber to the Sony Collective, they’ll just charge my credit card for the C & G edition and ship it with a thank you note for the in-house launch party they’ve also charged to the card. Some day I’m going to cancel that EverQuest subscription and then they’ll be paying for their own pizza and beer. (P.S. Those ten 10-day buddy keys? Bold choice. Not sure I’d make that same choice if I was backing a lukewarm title, but perhaps VSOH has been significantly reworked since we last got a peek at their sepia adventure.) (Archive: Vanguard + SOE press release)