Whitemane | Big Summer Update on Whitemane

Big Summer Update on Whitemane

2024-08-18 @ 03:00 AM (ST)

Hey everyone!

We have gone a little silent but we promise, it was worth it and we'll show you why with this announcement.

We've got a lot of exciting news to share about the upcoming content and features hitting Whitemane this summer.

As this message is quite long, we will include an index at the start and bottom so you can quickly skip back to the topic you want to read.

General:

Organizational Changes
Whitemane Wiki
Arsenal Updates
Store Updates

WotLK:

Ulduar - Mimiron's Playground
Ulduar - New Features
Time Walking - Black Temple
New Dungeon Difficulty: Ascended
New Titles & Achievements
Path Of War - New Features
PVP Season Rewards
Death Knight Quest Chain Skip
Client Updates

Cataclysm:

Retrieving Characters deleted due to inactivity Deathwing Logo

General Section

Organizational Changes

Some of you have already noticed, we have 2 new additions to our development team! We warmly welcome @Riztazz and @Piootrek who have already been busy bee's setting the changelog on fire. This will allow us to not only fix issues faster but also expand our pool of offered expansions... Our plan is to have at least two full-time developers per expansion, with the flexibility to reallocate resources between realms if critical situations arise.

After both @Radeghost and @MrSanten stepped up to the Administration a few months ago and gave Whitemane just the push it needed at that time, they will both be stepping down to focus on their initially intended tasks rather than the general administration of the entire project.

@MrSanten will be focusing on his enviable web development and general technical skills again and push forward a lot of projects we have not had the space to pay appropriate attention to such as the playerid update while @Radeghost will remain in the area he's best at: Game Design and will continue to bring you new refreshing ideas and custom content in cooperation with our Dev Team.

We thank both of you for being exactly what Whitemane needed at the time and for passing the baton to @Gaga and @Isa now.

@Gaga will be instated as a technical admin closely working with the Ingame and Web Dev Teams and our Lead Developer @Ultranix to ensure the proper prioritization of tasks while also managing all marketing aspects including content creators.

@Isa will be instated as a general admin, continuing to manage the GM Team, Discord Moderation, and all customer support aspects of Whitemane while also working closely with @Gaga and the Game Design Team to ensure the alignment of player needs with the strategic and long-term vision of Whitemane.

Whitemane Wiki

Our team and especially @Aeradel have been working incredibly hard on collecting all kinds of information about Whitemane and its custom and base content and building them into a collection similar to Wikipedia. While this feature is not fully polished yet, you can look forward to it within the next 4 weeks.

Arsenal Updates

Important change: The Arsenal will no longer feature current tier items during progression. While this has already been the way we were doing things on Cataclysm, we have heard your feedback about the WotLK approach and will adapt it accordingly.

We will add the missing Tier 7 items within the next week as currently there are only a few items missing while others are already purchasable and we simply want to cleanly close this out, but starting with Ulduar items will not be available while Ulduar content is live. In the future, all gear will only be added after a Tier has finished.

As for Cataclysm, as frequently requested, we have re-added the Tier 11 Gear at a cheaper price.

Store Updates

We are currently in the last steps of implementing new Transmogs, Mounts, Pets and Toys into both the Cataclysm and Wrath of the Lich King store, we'll let you know once they're ready!

Wrath of the Lich King Section

Ulduar - Mimiron's Playground

Mark your calendars for 30th August when Ulduar opens as Mimiron's Playground.

Ulduar will not drop its regular loot or award any achievements during this mode, but you will be able to visit our dearly beloved Chromie to reset your Instance Lockout at will, allowing you to catch and report any bugs to help us ensure a flawless premiere. Mimiron's Playground will run until the 10th of September, with the release of Ulduar following on Friday the 13th of September at 20:00 server time (Paris).

After you have already immensely helped us with your reports regarding Ulduar on the PTR, we also decided we do not want to let you run it another 30 times without any rewards. Each boss kill will award 1 Scarlet Sigil, a new currency you can exchange for 6 different types of loot boxes ingame.

Loot Box Tiers:

"Gigantique" Goodie Bag - Costs 13 Sigils - Contains one of the following items: Tabard of the Arcane, Tabard of Frost, Tabard of Flame, Tabard of Nature, Tabard of the Defender, Tabard of Brilliance, Tabard of Fury, Tabard of the Void, Epic Purple Shirt
The Fool's Joybox - Costs 20 Sigils - Contains one of the following items: Foam Sword Rack, Ogre Pinata, Goblin Gumbo Kettle, Paper Flying Machine Kit, D.I.S.C.O, Picnic Basket, Fishing Chair, Imp in a Ball, Carved Ogre Idol, Ethereal Portal, The Flag of Ownership, Murloc Costume
Sally's Starter Ball - Costs 13 Sigils - Contains 10 Papa Hummel's Old-Fashioned Pet Biscuit and one of the following items: Gryphon Hatchling, Wind Rider Cub, Rocket Chicken, Lil' Phylactery, Soul-Trader Beacon, Core Hound Pup, Fortune Coin, Turtle Egg (Loggerhead), Tuskarr Kite, Dragon Kite
Sally's Great Ball - Costs 40 Sigils - Contains 10 Papa Hummel's Old-Fashioned Pet Biscuit and one of the following items: Diablo Stone, Frosty's Collar, Murkimus' Little Spear, Mini Thor, Heavy Murloc Egg, Tyrael's Hilt, Warbot Ignition Key, Panda Collar, Netherwhelp's Collar, Zergling Leash, Spectral Tiger Cub, Gold Medallion, Hippogryph Hatchling, Pink Murloc Egg, Baby Shark, Lurky's Egg, Blue Murloc Egg, Baby Blizzard Bear, Banana Charm, Unhatched Mr. Chilly, Pandaren Monk
Sally's Master Ball - Costs 50 Sigils - Contains one of the following items: Brewfest Ram, Riding Turtle, Swift Razzashi Raptor, Big Battle Bear, Swift Zhevra, X-51 Nether-Rocket X-TREME, Wooly White Rhino, X-53 Touring Rocket, Amani War Bear, Swift Zulian Tiger, Big Blizzard Bear, Celestial Steed, Reins of the Raven Lord, Magic Rooster Egg, Reins of the Spectral Tiger, Ashes of Al'ar, Reins of the Swift Spectral Tiger
Sally’s Sacred Collection - Costs 70 Sigils - Contains one of the following items: Murloc Costume, Baby Blizzard Bear, Big Blizzard Bear, Tyrael's Hilt, Celestial Steed, Magic Rooster Egg, Ashes of Al'ar, Reins of the Spectral Tiger, Reins of the Swift Spectral Tiger

Ulduar - Mimiron's Playground

For the first time, Ulduar will be available in both Normal and Heroic difficulties:

Normal Difficulty: As you remember it from back in the day.
Heroic Difficulty: A pre-nerf version where 10 and 25 Player Heroic modes force all bosses into Hard Mode where applicable.

New Currency:

Echo of the Titans can be earned from Hard Mode bosses on both difficulties and will be exchangeable for 25 Hard Mode items. You can use this currency at a special NPC near Ulduar's entrance. And yes, Algalon has a chance to drop the new mount, Celestial Harbinger.

Heroic Ulduar Requirements:

Defeat all bosses on Heroic difficulty to face Algalon.
The raid leader must have killed Yogg-Saron on Normal to enter Heroic Ulduar.

More details and information about Ulduar will be included in the Whitemane Wiki.

Time Walking - Black Temple

We have heard your feedback and agree, Ulduar takes priority over Black Temple. We’ll be opening the Black Temple, a while after Ulduar as it’s intended to be a more casual, catch-up raid. This timing ensures that everyone has ample opportunity to progress through Ulduar without feeling rushed. Similar to Ulduar, Black Temple will first be available as a Mimiron's Playground raid before full loot functionality is enabled.

And for those of you hunting legendary items, Warglaives of Azzinoth will be available here. Plus, Illidan will have a chance to drop a brand-new mount: Illidari Felstalker. Stay tuned for more details on the Black Temple release!

Additionally, Timewalking raids will have bosses drop the Emblem of Eternity, a new currency that can be exchanged for various rewards, including the new mount: Infinite Timereaver. This feature will be implemented around the time of the Black Temple release, and Emblems of Eternity will also drop from previous Timewalking raids. Stay tuned!

New Dungeon Difficulty: Ascended

We’re excited to introduce a brand-new, optional dungeon difficulty: Ascended. This difficulty can be activated by the group leader in any Level 80 5-Man Heroic dungeon, offering a much greater challenge for those looking for it.

Here’s what you can expect:

Bosses will drop an additional item from 10-Man raids (Tier 7).
End bosses will drop one piece of 25-Man items and a new emblem: Emblem of Ascension.
These emblems can be exchanged in Dalaran for 25-Man Tier 7 raid items by talking to Victarion the Ascended, who will be stationed near the Dalaran fountain.

We hope this new difficulty setting will provide a fresh and exciting way to experience Heroic dungeons.

This feature is currently in testing and will be released during the 3.1. content patch, more details on the release date will follow.

New Achievements & Titles

We’ve introduced tons of new achievements and secrets to discover. For example, we’re adding a new secret mount, Ratstallion, which will be the first secret mount available on Frostmourne. How do you get it? That’s for you to find out!

Legendary Weapon Titles:

Thori'dal the Stars' Fury: <name>, the Stars' Fury
Warglaive of Azzinoth: <name>, Wrath of Azzinoth
Val'anyr: <name>, Guardian of Life
Thunderfury: <name>, the Windseeker
Sulfuras: <name>, Hand of Ragnaros
Shadowmourne: <name>, the Soul Eater

Achievement Titles:

Keeper of the Cosmos: Awarded to the realm first group to defeat Algalon on 25 Heroic.
Starbreaker: Awarded for defeating Algalon on 25 Heroic.
Astromancer: Awarded for defeating Algalon on 10 Heroic.
Betrayer's Downfall: Awarded for being the first on the realm to defeat Illidan.
The Bounty Hunter: A new title with four new achievements for killing rare creatures in Eastern Kingdoms and Kalimdor, including a special mount. …and more, but we’ll keep that a secret for now.

These titles and achievements are our way of recognizing and celebrating your accomplishments in the game.

Path Of War - New Features

Path Of War Character Conversion

As promised, we have implemented the conversion of regular characters to Path Of War Characters, disabling them from any PvE Content and enabling them to access Path Of War Content instead. This decision is not reversible, so choose wisely. You can select this option at our newly added NPC Thalor the Tenacious, located in Stormwind and Orgrimmar.

Path Of War - PvE Gear

Tier 7 and general PvE Gear has been added to the Path Of War area vendors for purchase.

Limited Transmog

Limited Transmog has been added to the existing transmog NPC and follows the guidelines of Cataclysm, meaning you can only transmog same armor type items/slots and cannot transmog legendaries or enchants. Limitless Transmog with Whitemane+ remains untouched and still features no armor type limitations and offers enchant transmogs.

All 3 of these features (POW Conversion, PVE Gear for POW, Limited Transmog) will be live with the upcoming server restart at 1:00 server time (Paris).

PvP End-Season Rewards

The current PvP season will end on 29th August at 20:00 Realm Time, with the new season beginning the next day on 30th August. We know our PvP players are eagerly awaiting the rewards, and we're excited to share that the rewards will be distributed within 7 days after the season ends.

Deadly Gladiator Season Rewards

2v2:

Rank 1-3: Deadly Gladiator title + Deadly Gladiator's Frost Wyrm mount + 500 Frozen Coins
Rank 4 to Rank 12: Gladiator title + 100 Frozen Coins
Top 0.5% of the players: Duelist title
Top 3% of the players: Rival title
Top 10% of the players: Challenger title

3v3:

Rank 1-3: Deadly Gladiator title + Deadly Gladiator's Frost Wyrm mount + 500 Frozen Coins
Rank 4 to Rank 12: Gladiator title + 100 Frozen Coins
Top 3% of the players: Duelist title
Top 10% of the players: Rival title

3v3 Solo Queue:

Rank 1: Deadly Gladiator title + Deadly Gladiator's Frost Wyrm mount + 500 Frozen Coins
Top 1% of the players (above 1500 rating): Gladiator title
Top 10% of the players (above 1500 rating): Vanquisher title

Important! Only the Deadly Gladiator title is permanent. Other titles will be removed when Furious Gladiator Season wraps up.

Death Knight Quest Chain Skip

Let’s cut to the chase, we love the Death Knight storyline but after doing it for the 3rd time, it does get quite stale. So as already implemented on our Cataclysm Realms, we have now brought Echo of Sally to the Death Knight starting area. Talking to her before accepting any quests will allow you to skip the Death Knight class quest chain and get teleported to your capital city with level 55. You will still obtain your spells, mount and talents as you level normally, you just won’t have to go through Death Knight training for the 100th time.

Client Updates

We’ve made several enhancements to the client to improve your overall experience:

Added new maps (e.g., caves) and points of interest shown on the map.
Refreshed the login screen and introduced new loading screens.
Added support for Wartorn items.
Fixed the issue with 'retrieving item information' and more.

We are currently using our beloved GM Team as our test objects and will be running the last few crash tests with them before releasing it to the playerbase with the release of Ulduar.