Exploiting or Just Playing the Game?

if you haven't heard already, the new dailies have been acting up on some servers. they've been resetting more than once per day, meaning players have been completing the same dailies more than once per day. this resulted in some players gaining an advantage over others, advancing through the new mount hyjal/molten front storyline much faster than intended. blizzard mentioned that this bug was fixed in a hotfix for june 29:

"It is no longer possible to complete some daily quests more than once a day by turning them in during a small window before the standard reset time."

despite this hotfix claim, wowhead's noted that many players are already nearly on stage 3 of the new quest chain.

this makes me wonder whether or not the dailies have been truly hotfixed or not, since phase 3 means those players had to have gained 300+ marks of the world tree. each set of dailies available per day only net about 25ish marks, which means those players would have had to do a set of dailies many many times in the small window that they were bugged to reach 300+ marks.

i honestly don't know what to make of the entire situation. as much as i would like to rush through the new storyline and unlock the vendors to access the hyjal bear cub and crimson lasher, do i want to run the risk of having blizzard roll my progress back (maybe completely resetting and/or taking away my marks and progress) and possibly suspending me? is taking part in extra dailies considered an exploit? who's at fault here? those making use of what's available to them or blizzard for not catching and fixing this bug prior to the patch release? if someone needs to be found guilty, is punishment also justified?

there's a whole lot of grey in this situation, with very few clear-cut answers.

for now, i won't be doing any extra dailies. at least not until blizzard makes some sort of official statement regarding their stance on this bug. it will mean i'll probably end up behind others in terms of progress to unlocking the new pet vendors, but i'm not the type to risk it all, especially when these two pets are a guarantee. it's not like these dailies will disappear any time soon.

i'd be lying if i said i wasn't tempted though.

Drugs Are Bad, Mkay

if you use ethereal mutagen on a companion that flies alongside you, the transformed pet will still fly, resulting in a flying mutagen. :D

i've heard of this happening before, but i never experienced it first hand. yes, that is a flying mutagen pet. originally it was a celestial dragon, but i was alt tabbed when someone used some of the ethereal mutagen on it. pretty awesome if you ask me! i've always wanted a little monster such as this haha.

it makes me a little sad, though. the pet consumable is only purchasable from an ethereal soul-trader (only your own, not someone else's), and unfortunately this pet is from an older TCG loot card and therefore quite pricey on ebay. i may never get my hands on one, so i guess i'll have to enjoy my temporary mutated companion while i can.

They Grow Up So Fast

if you haven't noticed by now, the hippogryph hatchling and cenarion hatchling have had their models slightly altered as of patch 4.2.

they seem to have matured a bit and have lost some of their baby fat. both hatchlings are still identical, though.


the most notable change is around the beak area. when comparing the images above to older screenshots found on wowhead.com, you'll notice how the older versions have wider and shorter beaks which gave them a more comical and softer look. the newer models have a longer and sharply pointed beak, plus another slight alteration with the thinning out and tiny extension of the antlers.

i'm a bit disappointed with this updated model to be honest. i could see blizzard changing one of the hatchlings to make it slightly unique when compared to the other, but both pets with new (yet identical) looks? plus i was rather fond of the hippogryph hatchling's baby fat. it was just so cuddly!

another thing that irks me somewhat is that developers went through the trouble of altering the model here and there but did not change the color to again, make them different from each other. they are still twins, down to the tip of their beaks.

don't get me wrong, it's just a small pet peeve and i still adore these two pets, but i would have liked to see perhaps the newer hatchling (cenarion hatchling) with the updated model + a different color scheme, while the original hatchling (hippogryph hatchling) remained unchanged and untouched.

who knows, though? perhaps that was the intention, but as with the withers and teldrassil sproutling bug that occurred a couple patches ago, maybe things got mixed up and both hatchlings were altered. i guess we'll just have to wait and see.

WarcraftPets - Slow But Going

WarcraftPets.com may be more sluggish than usual this week, and may even experience a few moments of down time. don't worry, the website is merely feeling the effects of the large influx of returning/new users due to the latest content patch. plus the midsummer fire festival is still well underway.

the WarcraftPets admins are diligently working on a solution and fix for the site, and it's estimated to be ready by the next large content patch.

in the meantime, please be patient when visiting the website. peak hours during the day are when the site is most likely to be slower than normal, so it's suggested that users update their collection status and comment during off peak hours (early morning and late evening).

once things have settled down within the next couple of weeks, site stability should return to normal.

thank you for your understanding and continued support of WarcraftPets.com! :)

ps: if you're having trouble viewing the newest pets page on WarcraftPets, i have an alternative (not as pretty) list of 4.2 pets here.

4.2 Celebration Giveaway

to celebrate patch day, mmo-champion is having a contest! here's what is up for grabs if you win:

- 1 cenarion hatchling
- 1 lil' ragnaros
- 1 moonkin hatchling
- 1 pandaren monk
- 1 lil' k.t.
- 1 lil' xt

plus 2 mounts, 2 misc TCG loot items, and 1 curse premium account.

all you have to do is "like" the mmo-champion facebook page and also "like" the contest page on their facebook. for more information check out the news post linked above.

good luck to all entering and happy patch day everyone!

4.2 Reminders

what can i say? i have to constantly remind myself of stuff or else i forget. :P

- possible 4.2 pets
- new hyjal questing hub and dailies
- new achievement rewards
- united nations should be fixed >_>
- nightsaber cub "soon"?
- keep an eye out for the guardian cub
- when will they announce the blizzcon 2011 goodie bag?!

if patch 4.2 is released next week, i look forward to all the new pets, the new raid content and the heaps of lag and dc'ing that's bound to occur. :P

so... until then! (unless something big is announced or things change)

note: last update to my 4.2 pets list. just so i have all my ducklings in a row heh. once the patch is released, be sure to check out WarcraftPets for all the new pets! (their layout's shinier than mine :D)

WarcraftPets Status

WarcraftPets.com is currently down. i don't have an ETA on when it will be back up or what has caused it to disappear. i'll be posting any updates on its status on here, but you can also check up on it by following WarcraftPets on twitter. let's all hope that everything is alright and this is just a temporary setback.

UPDATE 1042 am: looks like WarcraftPets is back online! /cheer! gotta have my daily dose of pets :P

Ooo Shiny!

i can 100% confirm that the searing scorchling does drop from zen'vorka's cache on the PTR. it took me 7 bags (so about one week's worth of dailies), and all the other times i received only greens. on the 7th day (today) i got a green plus the scorchling pet. whether or not this droprate will be the same for everyone, i don't know. we'll have to wait for more data to get a better idea of the droprate.

but for now, if nothing changes between now and patch 4.2 release, YES our fiery friend will drop from zen'vorka's cache. it will be purchasable for 30 marks of the world tree and you must complete all the phases up to and including the three vendor specific quests (filling the moonwell, additional armaments, and calling the ancients).


welcome back searing scorchling!
(click the image above to enlarge.)

Here Kitty, Kitty

just a reminder for myself: the nightsaber cub should be released with the TCG expansion set twilight of the dragons soon. last i checked the release was set for late june/early july.

i'm glad that the vanity pets from the TCG are the common loot cards now, although that will probably mean less "unique" companions and we'll likely see more reskinned models than anything else. but on the other hand, because they're more common, they'll be MUCH cheaper, meaning you could probably pick up more than one and then you won't have to make that tough choice on which toon to give the TCG pet to (since it can only be applied to one character).

speaking of characters, part of me is debating whether or not to go that extra mile and invest in a second cub for my hunter just so i can match a hunter kitty pet with the nightsaber companion. :P

Future Holiday Updates

"As I said we update holiday events when we can, it's not a guarantee. BUT, Hallow's End will have a few new surprises in-store." - Bashiok (source)

as speculated, there will indeed be a few changes with this year's halloween in-game event. hopefully involving the creepy crate and feline familiar! (please not holiday boss drops though D: heh)

my money is still on the creepy crate being a quest chain reward during hallow's end, but as for the feline familiar? i'd like to think it will be a purchasable item from the holiday vendors. (new halloween currency, anyone?)

Searing Scorchling 4.2 Confirmed

"It's available in the 4.2 daily hub. :D" - Bashiok (source)

although he doesn't mention WHERE exactly the searing scorchling comes from in 4.2, i think it's safe to take this as a confirmation that the pet will be found within zen'vorka's cache (30 marks of the world tree each) in the upcoming patch.

i've bought 4 of these bags on the PTR and have yet to see the pet, though, so i'm guessing it will be a low droprate. it will definitely be worth it as a place to dump your extra marks of the world tree, since by the end of the entire storyline you'll earn more than you can spend if you keep at the dailies each day. :D

The Pet This Year Is...

the frigid frostling! or at least that's what it sounds like from other players so far. i haven't had any luck on my alts, so i can't really say for sure.

i haven't heard of any news about the searing scorchling returning to the midsummer fire festival boss loot list, so there's still a possibility that we'll see our fiery friend as a drop from the new 4.2 daily hub goodie bag.

as far as the midsummer fire festival goes, it doesn't seem as if anything's changed from last year. one attempt for the pet per day, per character. the holiday loot bag is still soulbound. the capes that drop off of ahune as well as the frostscythe have had their ilvl increased to epic 353. and the fire festival vendors still sell the same items for the same blossom prices.

i'd be lying if i said i wasn't relieved to find that things weren't changed around again. good luck to everyone going after the frigid frostling this year!

Midsummer Fire Festival Tomorrow

i took the weekend off from the game, but believe me... in the back of my mind i was anxiously wondering about this year's midsummer fire festival.

rather than being excited about it, i'm more nervous than anything. yes, this is what each in-game seasonal event has reduced me to. ever since the changes to how holiday boss loot was distributed and the sudden removal of the searing scorchling, in-game events have been pretty stressful for me.

it seems silly, but without any sense of security/guarantee plus the fact that there's only a relatively small window to hunt for any of the boss dropped holiday pets, my desire to "catch them all" turns into a nerve-wracking, hair pulling, sleep depriving anxiety.

if this was how blizzard intended each holiday event to be experienced for some players and collectors, they've succeeded.

what i think blizzard is missing when it comes to these types of situations is a deeper understanding and connection to the majority that participate and take collecting seriously. some things that i think should be taken into consideration and discussed properly:

- how many factors does a vanity item need in order for it to be considered "rare"? RNG? limited time? limited number of attempts? bind on pick up? low drop rate? (note how that's all the factors that collectors are up against when it comes to holiday boss dropped pets)

- the mentality of a collector and how when combined with certain gameplay aspects implemented during in-game holiday events, can turn what's supposed to be a fun and easy-going time of year into a stressful one for many players and collectors.

well, here's to another year of nail biting and the loss of sleep for the next couple of weeks. good luck to all going after the pets this year. i hope, for everyone's sake, that blizzard doesn't decide to throw a curve ball and remove the frigid frostling and replace it with a different pet... again.

Critters and Creatures I'd Like to Call My Own

speaking of useless things to do and spare time...

there are so, SO many awesome creatures in azeroth that i lament over not being able to call my own, so i'm going to start a list of critters and other non-vanity pet creatures that i hope will one day become available as non-combat companions.

i'll get screenshots of all of them in time. for now, i'll start off with the following critters (in no particular order):

- wild clucker

- raven

- (horned) lizard

- desert spider

- reincarnated skytalon

- beetle

more to come... LOTS more! :D

For Funsies

since patch 4.2 seems to have been pushed back a week, i've had more time to find useless things to do in-game. i SHOULD be gearing up my paladin and hunter in heroics, but my latest addiction has been "let's match my hunter pets with vanity pets"!


so as you can see, i have my faithful wolf pet and worg pup. after the success with my previous pet+pet+mount endeavor, i headed over to blackrock spire JUST to get the worg companion so my wolf didn't feel as lonely or left out.

it's not quite a 100% match since my hunter pet is ghostly, but i just can't turn down a unique looking pet heh.

i think i'll continue this whenever i have the spare time. i probably won't be able to keep all the hunter pets i tame since i'm already low on stable slots (booo!!!), but i'll at least have screenshots to commemorate each moment. :)

hmm... i guess that means i'm going to have to start building my hunter's non-combat pet collection. not that i mind all that much... :P

One, Two, Three and Me!

normally i don't invest too much time on my baby hunter, but i just couldn't resist the temptation of gathering a matching set of vanity pet (winterspring cub), mount (winterspring frostsaber), and hunter pet (frostsaber pride watcher). it's a winterspring cat family!

i don't think i'll be attempting to do this again for any other pet/mount even though the grind wasn't too bad at all. now, the time it took to get the screenshots just right... THAT was the most irritating part lol. well, we'll see.

of course i had to edit the image since when you mount up your combat pet disappears, but i think it turned out quite well nonetheless. :)

Ball-o-Fluff

on the count of three ok? 1, 2, 3... "awwwwww"
it's like looking at a living teddy bear. i just want to run up and squeeze the crap out of it until it explodes with love. lol.

anyway, the hyjal bear cub does mean that my PTR-self has finally completed the 2nd pet vendor-specific quest (calling the ancients) in the new hyjal questing hub.

i found out that i probably should have turned in this quest BEFORE filling the moonwell as calling the ancients seems to be related to a daily that awards marks during phase 3 that you don't have access to anymore unless you recruit the ancients first. yea, it's a bit strange and somewhat explains why i was earning less marks than what i would normally get from doing all the dailies.

well, only one more quest (additional armaments) to turn in before unlocking the vendor that sells the cache that might drop the searing scorchling. unfortunately, the PTR will probably come to an end before i can test my luck with the cache a few times. oh well. guess i'll just have to do it all again once 4.2 goes live. :P

The Creepy Crate Speculation

we already know that the creepy crate will be a reward from a low level quest of the same name (coming in patch 4.2), but there's no indication of who or what might offer this quest. it appears to be an end quest of some chain of sorts, but that's all that can be inferred from the quest description.

after checking out the newest quests added (as of 4.2) on wowhead's PTR site, i think i may have found the prerequisite quest chain for the creepy crate. it might start with missing heirlooms, another low level quest.

unfortunately after flying around stormwind city for a while, i haven't found the NPC that offers this quest, so my best guess is that this will either be a seasonal quest chain (and reward) or there are other objectives that must be fulfilled before you can access this portion of the story.

i'm really eager to find out more but i've reached a dead end in my search for answers. the entire chain is especially intriguing for me since it sounds like a plot line straight from a children's novel like nancy drew or some similar detective story. (yes, i was a big fan of nancy drew back in the day... way back in the day lol.)

hopefully we'll see this pet in 4.2 or some time in the near future. maybe a spooky new halloween storyline?

Hello My Old Friend

disclaimer - until there's more confirmation from other players, please take the following with a grain of salt and consider it as only a possibility for now:

SEARING SCORCHLING MIGHT MAKE A COME BACK IN PATCH 4.2! *insert confetti here*

*ahem* excuse my excitement, but this is HUGE news IF it's true and goes live with patch 4.2.

according to a comment on wowhead's PTR site, players who have completed all three vendor specific quests (filling the moonwell, additional armaments, and calling the ancients) will be able to purchase zen'vorka's cache for 30 marks of the world tree. there is a (probably very) low chance that the searing scorchling will be found within this cache.

the prospect of this companion finally making a reappearance is extremely good news for the many pet collectors that missed out on this companion during previous midsummer fire festivals when it was a rare drop from the holiday boss, ahune.

the downside (if you consider it a downside) of all of this is that it will require a daily grind to earn the marks to purchase the cache. thankfully, by the time you've unlocked all three vendors in the new questing hub, you can earn just about 30 marks per day. also, all the vendors sell items mainly for gold, making the cache a no-brainer-purchase and a way to spend extra marks. it feels like a win-win situation to me!

the possibility of the cache dropping the scorchling also makes me wonder what other neat goodies will we find within it? perhaps the other elemental pets that were previewed but never made an appearance at the beginning of the expansion? (rumbling rockling, swirling stormling, whirling waveling)

i can only hope!

Pets, Pets Everywhere

wowhead has a compact overview of vanity pets! there's a section that lists all the pet achievements and a dedicated area to sorting pets by source. in addition to that, there's a list of all the "fun" items that the toy vendor and breanni sell.

while it's not a step-by-step guide for any specific pet, it's a great resource for a quick review of companions. for specific guides, i would still recommend checking out WarcraftPets.com. you can even track your collection after a quick and easy registration to the website. vanity pets, non-combat pets, mini-pets, companions; it's all about the awesomeness of these little critters over there. :D

if it wasn't obvious before... i ♥ all things vanity pet!

A Bittersweet Balloon

yes, this is another post about the new horde and alliance balloon non-combat pets. what can i say? i must be a kid at heart. :P

this will contain spoilers about the quest that rewards the balloon, so if you'd like to discover the quest for yourself, don't read on.

Hate to Burst Your Bubble.. er, Balloon

keen observers over at WarcraftPets.com noticed that in mmo-champion's screenshot of the new horde and alliance balloon companions, there were also balloons with the darkmoon faire logo on them.

also, these pets are bind on pick up rather than the traditional bind on battle.net account for extra special companions.

while i still think it would be awesome if these two new pets were offered as an anniversary gift from blizzard this year, so far there's strong evidence that they will most likely come from a (darkmoon faire?) vendor. see comments! XD or check out the updated 4.2 possible pets list!

UPDATE: in case you missed it, thanks to kezzy in the comments below, there is a confirmed source for the two balloon pets. :D new (low level) faction specific quests, blown away, will award a faction balloon. and no, unfortunately, you can't do your opposing faction's quest. (i just tried haha) also, the balloons are in the same boat as the tuskarr kite and dragon kite; they will disappear when you mount up. sadness!

Is Two Weeks Too Soon?

although the latest build of the PTR indicates it's nearing time for a release, and mmo-champion is predicting june 21 as patch day, there are still many nasty bugs that NEED to be worked out.

for the past 3 days on the PTR, the shadow warden set of dailies have been impossible to complete due to a devastating bug that pretty much prevents players from accessing the rest of the dailies and gaining marks of the world tree from that sub-faction.

with two new pets relying so heavily on these marks and unlocking phases and so on, being unable to complete or even access dailies is extremely frustrating. while you CAN choose to aid the druids of the talon instead (and i'm guessing earn the same number of marks per day), it would be absolutely heartbreaking for someone to unknowingly choose the "wrong" sub-faction to help first and get stuck with the set of dailies that is not completable due to the many bugs that still plague the new questing area.

needless to say, i'm not very confident about this patch right now. i truly hope it's all sorted out before the release.

i don't want to leave this post on such a sour note though, so... here's a nifty screenshot!


they make a cute pair, don't they?
ok, so they're not really flowers... more like lashers. and no, i'm not breeding them. the smaller one on the left is the crimson lasher, while the larger one on the right is actually from a thornling seed (note: not a true vanity pet). i kept a couple of these seeds in my bags from way back when dire maul was THE 5 man instance to farm because i knew they would come in handy one day! :P

One Balloon, Two! Red Balloon, Blue!

according to mmo-champion, blizzard devs snuck in TWO more possible pets for 4.2! this time we're getting... balloons?

- horde balloon
- alliance balloon

no idea where they will come from or how to obtain them. but part of me thinks that blizzard is planning a party of sorts. perhaps a... birthday party? wink, wink. :P

we'll have to wait for future announcements or hints on this one!

imo, i'd love to receive a fun balloon companion for blizzard's anniversary this year. my only worry: like the dragon kite and tuskarr kite, we won't be able to summon the balloons while mounted. that would definitely "deflate" my interest... har har. :P

So Close Yet Still So Far!

oh vendors, why do you tease me so? :(

in related news, just hopped onto the PTR a bit early to check other stuff out and noticed a new daily in the molten front area. perhaps another one to add to the list? maybe another mark to add to the total count that can be earned each day? or it could just be a new daily added to an existing rotation of dailies (ie: no change to the number of dailies available each day).

i'll have to wait and see once the dailies reset.

Miscount?

hm, so in a blue post made by lylirra in reference to the patch 4.2 dailies:

"(Just FYI, once everything is unlocked, you'll be able to pick up 17-18 quests in total from the new daily hubs.)"

- lylirra

i'm not sure what i'm missing, but i definitely didn't count 18 while testing on the PTR. more like 15 dailies per day, with a total of 29 marks that can be earned per day (click to view). then again, i only counted the dailies that awarded marks, not side or follow up quests that awarded only gold or chained to other quests.

but hearing that there might be more that i'm missing, i'll have to go back and recount now or else it will bug me nonstop. lol. it's not like i wasn't going to keep doing the dailies on the PTR anyway, though. i'm close to finally being able to preview the crimson lasher and hyjal bear cub for myself! /excited.

oh, the things i do for pets. :P

Waiting For Things to Heat Up

note: long winded post is long winded. i write a similar one up each year and will continue to do so because i think it's important that players don't forget. over time we may grow accustomed and complacent to how things are done/run in game, but it's important to understand different perspectives, how we got there and both the highs and lows we've had to go through while on the current path we walk.

there are about 2 weeks left until the anticipated/dreaded midsummer fire festival comes to azeroth. the entire event will last for just about 2 weeks itself, a little less if you're unable to squeeze in that first/last dungeon run for the holiday loot bag.

this festival really hits a nerve for many pet collectors. why? mainly due to the shocking and unexpected changes it has undergone in the previous years. first was the removal of the beloved and highly sought after searing scorchling (still has yet to make a reappearance in-game), which was replaced by the frigid frostling. then came the new holiday loot system in which players could only attempt to obtain holiday boss vanity items (companion pets included) exactly once per day, per toon. and no, unlike the call to arms satchel of exotic mysteries, the holiday bag is NOT bind on account (at least it hasn't been thus far).

although it wasn't the only in-game event that was affected by the changed holiday system, pets were also displaced/replaced pretty much out of the blue. this left pet collectors shaken up, and bit untrusting of the future and longevity of any holiday dropped companion.

which is understandable. the searing scorchling's sudden disappearance from the holiday made it very clear that blizzard could and would pull the plug on any pet without any warning. add to that that pet collectors only have a limited time each year to try for these seasonal companions... well you can see why it's more of a stressful than fun and enjoyable time of year for some players, yea?

i'm still quite unsatisfied and not in favor of the holiday loot system. for any player who's chosen path is to collect pets, there's absolutely nothing they can do during each event each year to increase their chances even slightly. no control whatsoever. it's very frustrating and demoralizing. with the way it currently is, i'm actually glad that no new holiday dropped pets have been added since the release of cataclysm.

one thing that blizzard could do to attempt to ease the strain would be to make the holiday loot bags bind on account in the same way the satchel of exotic mysteries is also BoA. it may give collectors with eligible alts some hope that if they do manage to snag a pet on a character that's not their collecting main, they can send it to the correct toon which would help maintain their collection and keep it intact. more than a few collectors would definitely appreciate a change such as this.

it would only be a small compromise, but a compromise nonetheless. i'm not saying it would erase what has already happened, make everyone forget the past, and everything will be sunshine and rainbows, but it would at least be a sign that blizzard is taking the needs of even the smaller gameplay communities into consideration and implementing means for them to play in their chosen style within the game.

Murloc Identity Confusion

many will remember when deathy thought he was grunty for a while. although he had the model and the looks of deathwing, he was shooting and sounding like a murloc marine.

well, mmo-champion found some of the idle animations for murkablo and guess what? murkablo seems to think he's deathy! sorta. click to view each video:

- deathy animations
- murkablo animations

if you pay close attention, murkablo DOES have a couple extra animations, so it's not quite a carbon copy of deathy, but it's pretty damn close imo.

the only recommendation i can give to these murlocs with this new identity crisis issue is intense therapy and rehabilitation sessions! lol.

hopefully blizzard will update this new pet with unique animations, but it is understandable that since he is a murloc of fire and flame that he would also have a fiery themed animation. and what's better than breathing fire and blowing smoke rings? perhaps blizzard needs some ideas and inspiration. :P

More On Hyjal Dailies

i finally turned in the last part of phase 2/2.5 on the PTR. unfortunately, since the dailies were somewhat buggy while i was working my way through them, i can't confidently track the number of marks from here on out.

fortunately, i'm finally on phase 3 which is the two vendor specific quests. i'm 99% sure that at least one new daily that's unlocked. the other new dailies that are now available to me... well i'm not sure if they're "new" or the resulting daily chain of completing the other reputation branch.

remember: blizzard wanted us to be able to choose our path for this new quest line. i chose to complete the daily chain for druids of the talon first and then the shadow wardens as part of phase 2.5 it's possible that if i had done it the other way around, i might have started these "new" dailies as part of phase 2 first.

i'll have to do more testing, but for now i can't say how many dailies and how many marks can be earned per day. actual numbers will have to wait until dailies reset.

a "worst case scenario" situation: 250 marks are needed to fully unlock both vendors. you start out with zero (this is hypothetical and i'm not sure that it's the case; you may actually start out with quite a few left over marks from phase 2 and 2.5), but the transition quests will award 5 marks, so you actually need 245. if you can earn only the same number of marks as phase 2 and 2.5 (27 marks per day), it will take about 9 - 10 days to finish up. it's not bad at all.

personally, i doubt blizzard would make phase 3 award LESS marks than the previous ones, so i'm using 27 as a baseline. we'll see, though. i'll have more after i can go through all of them tomorrow.

Hyjal Vendor Dailies Update

i've updated my post with an estimation of how long it will take to reach the part of the new hyjal questline where you can start collecting marks for the vendor specific quests (filling the moonwell and calling the ancients).

i'm about 4 days away from finishing phase 2.5, so we'll see what comes after that. i expect either another transition (that may or may not reward more marks) and then the two vendor specific quests. new dailies might be unlocked after that, but if not then a final total of 27 marks can be earned each day for filling the moonwell and calling the ancients quests. if the latter is true, you can expect to unlock the vendors in about 9 - 10 days (or just a little over one week).

that would bring this entire ordeal journey to about one month and a week (give or take a few days) before being able to purchase the crimson lasher and hyjal bear cub.

if more dailies ARE unlocked for phase 3, then just estimate the entire process to be slightly less than a month.

sounds like a long time, eh? it'll probably go by faster than expected. the worst part will be the waiting between each daily reset imo. :P