You can buy a level 90 character directly from Blizzard

I guess Blizzard wants to cut off the middleman.
How much more can Blizzard milk Wow franchise ?



Blizzard has been flirting with in game purchase for a while now. The World of Warcraft store is mostly stocked with cosmetic items, or flashy pets, but nothing that does much to change the way the game is played. Today, though, Blizzard steps across that line with its new Character Boosts, sending one character on the fast track to level 90. Character Boosts can be purchased from the in-game interface for $60.

We got an unintended sneak peek at that price tag when a glitch allowed players to visit the in-game store last month, but the details weren't confirmed back then. Now, it seems like this is the real deal: one Character Boost comes free with all purchases of the Warlords of Draenor expansion, but subsequent boosts will cost $60. For those keeping track at home, that's ten dollars more than the price of the expansion, which you'll need to own to reach the level cap.

Once you purchase a Character Boost, you'll be able to use it on any character with a level lower than 90. The Boost brings that character to the level cap, outfits them with level-appropriate gear to start playing end-game content, and (if the character was level 60 or higher) maxes out their professions.

This is definitely a convenience purchase, intended for players with a lot of disposable income. Still, it raises some questions - if you're willing to pay the equivalent of four months of subscription time to skip most of the game's content, your definitions of "work" and "play" might be getting a little blurred.

Some old pictures from the Molten Core raid

The good old days of Wow vanilla ! The Molten Core was a level 60 raid dungeon located within Blackrock Mountain, home to Ragnaros the Firelord. It was a forty (40) player raid dungeons available upon release of World of Warcraft, with the other being Onyxia's Lair. That was before any of the expansion releases. A raid of forty players was an accomplishment just for the organization skill involved alone. It was a time when getting a purple item meant something ! Epic items are no longer epic in the current wow ! Considered the pinnacle of raiding achievement at the time, the Molten Core enticed adventurers to enter the instance in the search of realm glory. Before even seeing Ragnaros, you must defeat several of his lieutenants. And the trash mobs were not easy either, the raid group can get wiped by the trash mobs. My hunter finally got the Blastershot Launcher gun after many hours of raiding !

A test run of Diablo 3 free edition

I played so much Diablo 2, which came out more than a decade ago.
When I was ready to buy Diablo 3 when it came out last year, the reviews were not good at all.
Since Blizzard now offer Diablo 3 free edition, which allows a player to play until the end of Act 1,
so I installed the game.
This game requires Windows Vista with Service Pack 2.
The graphics are excellent.
The game play is a little slow though. It feels more like a MMORPG instead of an action RPG game.
Some of the older NPCs appear again.
Again, you have to save Deckard Cain in Act 1.
The Act 1 end boss is from Diablo 1, King Leoric.
The Yellow named monsters are elite with minions.
The blue monsters are champions.
The purple named monsters are uniques.
My first character is a barbarian, a melee guy.
Like World of Warcraft, you gain achievements as game progresses.
I only wish Blizzard can remake Diablo 2 with the new graphic engine.
This game requires good hardware, I may need to get a new PC to play the full version.

Silverp the Rogue runs through the Ragefire Chasm instance

Ragefire Chasm is an instance dungeon located in Horde's capital Orgrimmar.
This is one of the shortest instances in the game, and of the easiest difficulty. For many players, this is likely the first instance they will play.
Definitely it is helpful to develop a player's group play skill. It will take teamwork to kill all the bosses.
This instance has not been changed since the Cataclysm expansion.
Mobs include elementals, trolls, snakes and orcs.
Three Horde quests are availiable, all quest givers are near the entrance of the instance. There are four bosses to kill:
Bazzalan
Jergosh the Invoker
Oggleflint
Taragaman the Hungerer

Overall, this is a beginner's instance, no problem for Silverh the Rogue. This instance is mainly used to teach players how to cooperate in a team to defeat enemies.





Silverh completes her 100th quest. A good achievement!

Silverh the hunter runs through Blackfathom Deeps instance in Ashenvale

Blackfathom Deeps is the only remaining instance I have not visited that is accessible in WOW starter Edition (level 20 cap). I decide to take Silverh the hunter for a run of this instance.
It seems very few people are playing this instance, it took Silverh half hour to assemble a group going in.

Blackfathom Deeps is an underwater dungeon in northwestern Ashenvale. It is accessed by a stair-lined shaft that requires one to swim through an underwater entrance. The deeps are comprised of a series of watery caverns leading deep to a temple devoted to the Old Gods. The Twilight's Hammer cult runs this shrine, and it has joined forces with local naga and satyrs to defend the unholy creature, Aku'mai (final boss).

Situated along the Zoram Strand of Ashenvale, Blackfathom Deeps was once a glorious temple dedicated to the night elves' moon-goddess, Elune. However, the great Sundering shattered the temple - sinking it beneath the waves of the Veiled Sea.

Mobs in this instance include murlocs, nagas, humans, turtles, elementals etc, with a level range of 18-25.
There are four alliance quests, with excellent rewards, all quest NPCs are at the beginning of the instance.

First boss, a big named turtle.


Logalis Manuscript, a quest item.


Gelihast, a murloc boss, there is an orb behind him that gives you a 10% more stats buff for one hour.


Lorgus Jett is a high ranking Twilight's Hammer human, he is wanted for a Horde quest.


Elemental quest NPC, again, he is there for a Horde quest.


Twilight Lord Kelris, he will use a Mind Control spell periodically, as well as a Sleep.


final boss - Aku'mai, an easy boss, just tank and spank.


A quest reward, this is the best bow you can get on a level 20 character.

Silveri the undead hunter running through the Wailing Caverns instance

I liked hunter class, in fact, the very first character I played in Wow was a tauren hunter.
So, after Silverh the night elf hunter reaches the level 20 cap, I created Silveri, an undead hunter.
Joining a random group, we ran through the Wailing Caverns instance, which is also the very first instance I ever played in Wow. It seems not much has changed for this instance, the same bosses exist as the very beginning of Wow, only the drops and quests are modified. All of the quests start from NPCs at the entrance of the instance.

The Wailing Caverns in Northern Barrens is one of the first instanced dungeons that lower-level players encounter. One primary reason to venture into the Wailing Caverns is for BoP drops from the numerous bosses in the instance. Some of the quest rewards are also highly desirable. A large portion of random drops are good BoE gear for levels 10-19.

My undead rogue hunter Silveri.


Kresh, a neutral turtle boss, he can still drop a nice shield. Optional boss.


Skum, another named boss, do not remember what he can drop. Optional boss.


Lord Serpentis, one of the four druid bosses in this instance. He is a quest boss.


Verdan the Everliving, he hits really hard, and has an AoE entangle.


Muyoh, a Disciple of Naralex. He is a quest NPC, he summons Naralex from the Emerald Dream.
You can only start this sequence after the four druid bosses are killed.


The summoning chamber.


Mutanus the Devourer, a huge murloc, he will try to interrupt the summoning.
He can drop a blue caster ring, which is probably the first blue ring you can get as a Horde.

Silverh the hunter runs through the new Shadowfang Keep instance

The Shadowfang Keep, like the Deadmines, has also been remade into a new instance in the Cataclysm expansion, with four new bosses.
In fact, the entire Silverpine Forest zone has been remade, with many new quests. And on the Horde side, a long series of chain quest involving the Dark Lady Sylvanas leads to the bosses in the Shadowfang Keep.
Silverh, my new night elf hunter, joined a random group to go through this instance.
This instance only has one starting quest, and after beating each boss, next quest is automatically given.
Most of the mobs including the four bosses are undead. This instance has been given a level range of 16-26.

Silverh has already reached the level 20 cap of Wow starter edition. My third level 20 character :)



First boss, Baron Silverlaine, easy boss, he has a special ability that drains each player's life to almost zero.



Second boss, Commander Springvale, he still has a chance to drop a nice blue shield.



Third boss, Lord Walden, unlike the first two melee bosses, this one is a caster.




Fighting some trash mobs



Final boss, Lord Godfrey, a tough caster boss does tons of shadow damage (this is afterall, Shadowfang Keep). I like his hat ! He has a long story if you play the Horde quests in this zone.