# World of Warcraft General Discussion **URL:** \ **Category:** The Game Room\ **Created:** [March 4, 2009, 5:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/world-of-warcraft-general-discussion/488294 "2009-03-04T17:44:08Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 277
**Author:** ![martu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e0b2c6/32.png) [@martu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/martu)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2009, 4:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/world-of-warcraft-general-discussion/488294/5521 "2009-09-29T16:48:02Z")
> [@Bosstone](#): > > Wait, huh? Mithril goes grey at 275. Rich Thorium is minable at 275. One of these statements is inaccurate. “Mithril is _green_ for me unfortunately” is what I meant apologies. I’m thinking that skilling up this way on green nodes will take even longer, maybe I’m wrong? ---
**Author:** ![martu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e0b2c6/32.png) [@martu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/martu)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2009, 4:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/world-of-warcraft-general-discussion/488294/5522 "2009-09-29T16:49:50Z")
> [@jayjay](#): > > About four or five days (usually I’d run around and mine for about an hour or so a night). Remember that you should be able to smelt thorium to skill up, too. It should be midyellow for you at this point. I am trying to save money for a flying mount so I am selling all the ore. But of course if I had smelt some of it I could be mining rich thorium now couldn’t I? Now why didn’t I think of that huh?? ---
**Author:** ![martu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e0b2c6/32.png) [@martu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/martu)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2009, 4:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/world-of-warcraft-general-discussion/488294/5523 "2009-09-29T16:51:07Z")
> [@Telperien](#): > > I use Carbonite and I think there is an option to do what you describe, but I can’t check it till I get home. Thanks. ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2009, 4:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/world-of-warcraft-general-discussion/488294/5524 "2009-09-29T16:52:02Z")
> [@Ferret\_Herder](#): > > Ooo! I like the odds-on favorite suggestion you mention! _goes out to rally the voters in Azeroth_ > > [spoiler]Rexxar is awesome. 😃 I loved meeting him in the original game, and seeing him show up in a more important role when BC came out. > > Saurfang is great too, but I do wonder if he wouldn’t be better in an advisor role. Thrall as Guardian of Tirisfal - that’s probably one of the few alternate roles I’d actually feel OK about seeing him in.[/spoiler] I had one of those chill-down-the-back moments last night…I’d never done Outland beyond Zangar with a Horde character before. Last night, I picked up the quest in Zangar to go to Thunderlord Hold in Bladesedge to deliver a message. So I hopped on my personal wyvern and flew to Bladesedge (taking the grand tour so I could get my exploration done). At the end, I circle back in to the center and land in Thunderlord, then I catch my breath! I had no idea that Rexxar and Misha were even IN Outland at that point! It was definitely one of those moments that make the $15 a month worth it to me. ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2009, 4:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/world-of-warcraft-general-discussion/488294/5525 "2009-09-29T16:53:02Z")
> [@martu](#): > > I am trying to save money for a flying mount so I am selling all the ore. But of course if I had smelt some of it I could be mining rich thorium now couldn’t I? Now why didn’t I think of that huh?? And, truthfully? I got more at the AH from thorium bars than from the ore over this past weekend. ---
**Author:** ![Bosstone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/22d042/32.png) [@Bosstone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosstone)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2009, 4:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/world-of-warcraft-general-discussion/488294/5526 "2009-09-29T16:53:20Z")
> [@martu](#): > > “Mithril is _green_ for me unfortunately” is what I meant apologies. I’m thinking that skilling up this way on green nodes will take even longer, maybe I’m wrong? You don’t always get skillups on green nodes, no, but if you can find a lot more mithril than small thorium (and you usually can in level 45-55 zones), it might be faster anyway. Un’Goro’s pretty good for mithril and small thorium, I find. ---
**Author:** ![Shot\_From\_Guns](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ccd318/32.png) [@Shot\_From\_Guns](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shot_From_Guns)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2009, 4:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/world-of-warcraft-general-discussion/488294/5527 "2009-09-29T16:53:25Z")
> [@Bosstone](#): > > The Night Elves’ arrogance is responsible for the Scourge invading Azeroth, the destruction of the Well of Eternity and the split of the land into Kalimdor and the EK, and the corruption and imbalance in nature brought on by their insistence on creating Teldrassil. Sure, it was mostly an elite few that did the dirty deeds, but arrogance seems to be endemic to the race and they have enough power that that arrogance is dangerous. [snip] And the Blood Elves aren’t Highbourne; the Blood Elves are High Elves, completely different race. The Highbourne [del]all look like Matt Damon[/del] were the ‘nobility’ of the Night Elves, who became either tormented ghosts or went with Azshara to become naga. The lore reason Night Elves are getting the Mage class in Cataclysm is because some Highbourne are coming out of hiding. They’re still Night Elves, though. I can’t get to WoWWiki from work, but I’m pretty sure you’re mistaken there. It’s my understanding that the Highbourne split off from the Night Elves and became the High Elves. The remainder of those High Elves/Highbourne are now the magic-addicted Blood Elves. Night Elves who choose the path of arcane magic retain their Night Elf appearance but lose their old racial abilities and gain those of the Highbourne. It’s the Highbourne who are responsible for things being as fucked up as they are, and a small faction headed by Fandral that are responsible for Teldrassal. Not that Tyrande isn’t a psychobitch, though (see: slaughtering her own people to free Illidan, yeah, that turned out great). I don’t see any evidence (lore or WoW quests) that most Night Elves share these attitudes. > [@jayjay](#): > > Gee…Varian Wrynn and Garrosh Hellscream…two great racists that racist great together…[/spoiler] In case any of you guys missed this when it was posted… [50 Better Choices for Warchief Than Garrosh](http://forums.worldofwarcraft.com/thread.html?sid=1&topicId=19595261428). (It actually keeps going past 50.) > [@Ferret\_Herder](#): > > The Forsaken are as varied in outlook as anything you can find - the Apothecaries are pretty much batshit, but you also get ones who are trying their best to make new lives for themselves. There are even Forsaken members of the Argent Crusade and Argent Dawn. Sylvanas isn’t doing anything to stop the RAS and she’s possibly encouraging them. All levels of Forsaken society appear to be involved in the effort to create the New Plague, which will wipe out the non-Forsaken undead and the living alike. Remember the starting-zone quest to try out the concoction on the mountaineer? When you’re involving lowbies in the “conspiracy,” it can’t be very secret (or contained to one small segment of Forsaken society). > [@](#): > > The BElves are mostly semi-recovering addicts so they’re kind of screwed up in the head, not to mention snobby. But they were betrayed by Kael’thas, and left him, and [A’dal revealed the prophecy that could lead to redemption](http://wow.allakhazam.com/db/mob.html?wmob=17076). They’re not pleasant people, but they’re walking a much better path these days. As mentioned above, the Belves are the last remnant of the faction that was responsible for pretty much everything that’s fucked up with Azeroth: they’re the caste that segregated itself from Night Elf society and recklessly used magic until they brought down the Burning Legion. It was because of those Highbourne that the world was sundered and the Well of Eternity destroyed. They’ve broken off from Kael’Thas, but they’re still not fine and dandy–look at their capital city. Harassment of innocent citizens, maurauding “guard” constructs looking to punish any minor infraction… ---
**Author:** ![Shot\_From\_Guns](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ccd318/32.png) [@Shot\_From\_Guns](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shot_From_Guns)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2009, 4:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/world-of-warcraft-general-discussion/488294/5528 "2009-09-29T16:56:28Z")
Hah! Even a Google preview of the High Elf page from WoWWiki gives me: > [@](#): > > The high elves, or quel’dorei (“children of noble birth” in Darnassian and “high elves” in Thalassian), are a race descended from the Highborne night elves So, I was right. Night Elves –\> Highborne –\> High Elves –\> Blood Elves. ---
**Author:** ![Bosstone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/22d042/32.png) [@Bosstone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosstone)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2009, 4:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/world-of-warcraft-general-discussion/488294/5529 "2009-09-29T16:58:17Z")
Well, bloody hell. ---
**Author:** ![Shot\_From\_Guns](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ccd318/32.png) [@Shot\_From\_Guns](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shot_From_Guns)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2009, 5:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/world-of-warcraft-general-discussion/488294/5530 "2009-09-29T17:02:49Z")
I don’t RP her at all, but somewhere in the back of my head in my general conception of who my main is, she really doesn’t like Blood Elves, and she’s gonna hate Night Elf Mages. This is why. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Bosstone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/22d042/32.png) [@Bosstone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosstone)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2009, 5:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/world-of-warcraft-general-discussion/488294/5531 "2009-09-29T17:07:18Z")
In addition to the naga and the tortured ghosts, there’s also the satyrs who are also descended from the Highbourne. So yeah. The Highbourne were total bastard-coated bastards with bastard filling who messed up the world. Bastards. ---
**Author:** ![Mister\_Rik](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mister_rik/32/491_2.png) [@Mister\_Rik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mister_Rik)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2009, 5:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/world-of-warcraft-general-discussion/488294/5532 "2009-09-29T17:12:52Z")
> [@Quasimodem](#): > > Also I noticed that in the comments section of that quest, people are zeroing in on the \* coordinates\* and it seems to work for them. I’ve tried doing the coordinates thing, but I always have a hard time figuring out which direction(s) I need to go to get to the specified coords. > [@Bosstone](#): > > And the Blood Elves aren’t Highbourne; the Blood Elves are High Elves, completely different race. The Highbourne [del]all look like Matt Damon[/del] were the ‘nobility’ of the Night Elves, who became either tormented ghosts or went with Azshara to become naga. The lore reason Night Elves are getting the Mage class in Cataclysm is because some Highbourne are coming out of hiding. They’re still Night Elves, though. Having nearly completed the Well Read achievement, I feel qualified to comment on this (actually, I think I already explained this many many pages ago, but I’ll include here quotes from the actual in-game lore). Basically, there were quite a few Highborne survivors of the Great Sundering. The leader of these survivors, Dath’Remar, mocked the druids who were now running things, “calling them cowards for refusing to wield the magic that he said was theirs by right.” Malfurion warned the Highborne that use of magic would be punishable by death. In response, “Dath’Remar and his followers unleashed a terrible magical storm upon Ashenvale.” The book _Exile of the High Elves_ goes on to say: > [@](#): > > The druids could not bring themselves to put so many of their kin to death, so they decided to exile the reckless Highborne from their lands. Dath’Remar and his followers, glad to be rid of their conservative cousins at last, boarded a number of specially crafted ships and set sail upon the seas. Though none of them knew what awaited them beyond the waters of the raging Maelstrom, they were eager to establish their own homeland, where they could practice their coveted magics with impunity. > > The Highborne, or Quel’dorei, as Azshara had named them in ages past, would eventually set shore upon the eastern land men would call Lordaeron. They planned to build their own magical kingdom, Quel’Thalas, and reject the night elves’ precepts of moon worship and nocturnal activity. Forever after, **they would embrace the sun and be known only as the high elves**. The story continues in _The Founding of Quel’Thalas_: > [@](#): > > The high elves, led by Dath’Remar, left Kalimdor behind them and challenged the storms of the Maelstrom. Their fleets wandered the wreckage of the world for many long years, and they discovered mysteries and lost kingdoms along their sojourn. Dath’Remar, who had taken the name Sunstrider (or “he who walks the day”), sought out places of considerable ley power upon which to build a new homeland for his people. > > \ > > His fleet finally landed on the beaches of the kingdom men would later call Lordaeron. > > \ > > As the high elves crossed the rugged, mountainous lands of Lordaeron, their journey became more perilous. Since they were effectively cut off from the life-giving energies of the Well of Eternity, many of them fell ill from the frigid climate or died from starvation. The most disconcerting change, however, was the fact that they were no longer immortal or immune to the elements. > > \ > > They also shrank somewhat in height, and their skin lost its characteristic violet hue. So the High Elves/Blood Elves are indeed descended from the Highborne. ---
**Author:** ![Ferret\_Herder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e47774/32.png) [@Ferret\_Herder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ferret_Herder)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2009, 5:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/world-of-warcraft-general-discussion/488294/5533 "2009-09-29T17:19:12Z")
> [@Shot\_From\_Guns](#): > > They’ve broken off from Kael’Thas, but they’re still not fine and dandy–look at their capital city. Harassment of innocent citizens, maurauding “guard” constructs looking to punish any minor infraction… [Monty Python]They’re getting better…[/MP] But seriously, we didn’t want them. 😛 Arrogant and “pretty” fragile little elves, bah. If the BElf silence racial goes away, my mage is getting turned into a troll faster than the toon can flip her hair. ---
**Author:** ![Shot\_From\_Guns](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ccd318/32.png) [@Shot\_From\_Guns](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shot_From_Guns)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2009, 5:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/world-of-warcraft-general-discussion/488294/5534 "2009-09-29T17:21:53Z")
> [@Bosstone](#): > > In addition to the naga and the tortured ghosts, there’s also the satyrs who are also descended from the Highbourne. The Naga and the Satyrs are what those Highborne were twisted into who used Fel magic, IIRC. > [@Mister\_Rik](#): > > I’ve tried doing the coordinates thing, but I always have a hard time figuring out which direction(s) I need to go to get to the specified coords. The upper-left corner of any zone map is 0,0. I use an addon called MapCoords (you can find it on Curse), with only my own portrait coordinates turned on (party etc. turned off). It also shows coordinates on the map if I pull that up: both of my current location and of the cursor location, so I can find a given coordinate pair with my cursor, and then see where that is relative to my current position. > [@](#): > > I’ll include here quotes from the actual in-game lore Thanks for posting all of that! I’m somewhat ashamed to admit that while I have Well Read, I haven’t actually stopped to read a book (vs. just clicking on it) for quite some time. I keep meaning to go and read everything one of these days, since the lore is so interesting. ---
**Author:** ![Mister\_Rik](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mister_rik/32/491_2.png) [@Mister\_Rik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mister_Rik)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2009, 5:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/world-of-warcraft-general-discussion/488294/5535 "2009-09-29T17:30:03Z")
> [@jayjay](#): > > I had one of those chill-down-the-back moments last night…I’d never done Outland beyond Zangar with a Horde character before. Last night, I picked up the quest in Zangar to go to Thunderlord Hold in Bladesedge to deliver a message. So I hopped on my personal wyvern and flew to Bladesedge (taking the grand tour so I could get my exploration done). At the end, I circle back in to the center and land in Thunderlord, then I catch my breath! I had no idea that Rexxar and Misha were even IN Outland at that point! > > It was definitely one of those moments that make the $15 a month worth it to me. Are you Blusmoke on Cairne? ---
**Author:** ![Words\_on\_the\_Interweb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/b19c9b/32.png) [@Words\_on\_the\_Interweb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Words_on_the_Interweb)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2009, 5:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/world-of-warcraft-general-discussion/488294/5536 "2009-09-29T17:33:00Z")
> [@Shot\_From\_Guns](#): > > Sylvanas isn’t doing anything to stop the RAS and she’s possibly encouraging them. All levels of Forsaken society appear to be involved in the effort to create the New Plague, which will wipe out the non-Forsaken undead and the living alike. Remember the starting-zone quest to try out the concoction on the mountaineer? When you’re involving lowbies in the “conspiracy,” it can’t be very secret (or contained to one small segment of Forsaken society). You’re level 80, so I’ll assume you’ve done the Wrath Gate questline from the Alliance side… Horde side includes a look at what was going on within the ranks of the Forsaken: The Grand Apothecary Putress who launched plague barrels onto the Horde and Alliance forces was not acting with Sylvanas’ knowledge or blessing. Sylvanas was pissed and afraid of being strung up by the rest of the Horde for the actions of the rogue members of the RAS; those rogue members are the ones you fight in the Undercity - there was a major civil war there, with Sylvanas and Co. on one side, the rogue RAS on the other, and the Battle for the Undercity really is fighting to take it back from the rogue faction. The Horde-side Wrath Gate includes Sylvanas kneeling at the feet of Thrall, begging forgiveness and apologising for the actions of the rogue RAS. Yes, the RAS has been working on a new plague, but I believe the goal of Sylvanas was to turn it on the Scourge, not all life… the “conspiracy” was made glaringly obvious to players so we could feel smart, but it wasn’t really that obvious to the rest of the Horde. ---
**Author:** ![Mister\_Rik](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mister_rik/32/491_2.png) [@Mister\_Rik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mister_Rik)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2009, 5:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/world-of-warcraft-general-discussion/488294/5537 "2009-09-29T17:39:55Z")
> [@Shot\_From\_Guns](#): > > The upper-left corner of any zone map is 0,0. I use an addon called MapCoords (you can find it on Curse), with only my own portrait coordinates turned on (party etc. turned off). It also shows coordinates on the map if I pull that up: both of my current location and of the cursor location, so I can find a given coordinate pair with my cursor, and then see where that is relative to my current position. Yeah, I have coordinates displayed in several different ways by different addons. The problem I have _going to_ specific coordinates is mainly a matter of actually traveling in the correct directions, given the fact that terrain doesn’t always (read: almost never) allow for straight line movement in the desired direction. So by the time I’ve taken a circuitous route to get myself to the correct X coordinate, I’m nowhere near the correct Y coordinate, so I’ll head off in the right direction to get to that Y coord, but again, being unable to take a straight line, I end up wandering way off the X coord … So more often than not, I just try to get myself in the general vicinity and then eyeball it from there. > [@](#): > > Thanks for posting all of that! I’m somewhat ashamed to admit that while I have Well Read, I haven’t actually stopped to read a book (vs. just clicking on it) for quite some time. I keep meaning to go and read everything one of these days, since the lore is so interesting. If you don’t want to spend time reading in-game, you can go to the WowHead page for the [Well Read achievement](http://www.wowhead.com/?achievement=1244), there’s a complete list of the books, and if you click on the titles you can read the full text of each book. (That’s where I copy/pasted from.) I’ve read them all in-game, though. ---
**Author:** ![Mister\_Rik](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mister_rik/32/491_2.png) [@Mister\_Rik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mister_Rik)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2009, 6:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/world-of-warcraft-general-discussion/488294/5538 "2009-09-29T18:04:22Z")
Hah! Ctrl+Alt+Del’s [The Nine Circles of MMO Hell](http://www.ctrlaltdel-online.com/comic.php?d=20090928)! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Damuri\_Ajashi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/898d66/32.png) [@Damuri\_Ajashi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Damuri_Ajashi)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2009, 6:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/world-of-warcraft-general-discussion/488294/5539 "2009-09-29T18:12:00Z")
> [@aruvqan](#): > > Why do tanks assume that nobody else in the party needs good gear? I don’t care if you have an insane amount of HP and armor, damage does occur to the others in the raid groups … > > And hard core raiders need to get their heads out of their asses … when farming MC because all the hard core ones have all the cookies they want, let the lesser players in for some gear … you already freaking have it, and guilds are to help all the members, not just the hard core ones. Maybe rotate in one raid group in the 25 of non hard core players, so they can have the rolls for the good gear, not your alts. Once everybody in the guild has their mains geared up, then start on the alts. > > [obviously talking about the original game … butit can still apply to WotLK] Not as true anymore because of enrage timers but there was a time when the fastest progression went to guilds that geared up the tank and the healing squad and gave whatever was left over to the DPS. So a tank might end up upgrading the same slot every week while a DPS might not get an upgrade in two months and by the time you were farming content, you were already moving on to new content. Now with enrage timers, people actually care about the DPS. ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2009, 6:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/world-of-warcraft-general-discussion/488294/5540 "2009-09-29T18:13:02Z")
> [@Shot\_From\_Guns](#): > > The Naga and the Satyrs are what those Highborne were twisted into who used Fel magic, IIRC. Harpies are transformed elves too (cursed, I believe), though I don’t remember whether Nelf or Highborne or Helf or Belf and I can’t look it up at work (all WoW-specific sites get blocked as “Games”, even WoWWiki). [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/world-of-warcraft-general-discussion/488294.md?page=276) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/world-of-warcraft-general-discussion/488294.md?page=278)