The Great Thief

First of all, there was the implementation of inns and motels.

Most of the maps now had inns and motels which offered 2x EXP when resting there. This prompted merchants to set up stalls selling food and other things.

However, the most important thing was that the owners of these inns would ask if you wanted to set this place as a ‘home’. If said yes to, you would receive a teleporting rock that teleported you back to the inn whenever you wish to return.

The game company hired renowned composers and musicians to compose the lobby music. In each inn, there were different music which reminded players of different cities and towns.

You could hear the clashing of glasses and feet shuffling about in these lively establishments.

Travellers, whether merchants or soldiers, would visit these inns to have beer and food. Many would listen to the warriors telling epic tales of their adventures by the crackling fireplaces.

Entering into each inn was like opening a gate to a new realm. Human inns were full of flirts, while Dwarves were extremely passionate in guzzling down beer. There was the roughness and bluntness of the Orcs, in comparison to the elegance of the Elves. Although players were often involved with other businesses, they would always remember the memories made when they camped at night at an inn.

The implementation of inns did not seem like a big change, but it definitely was. This was because the game company had decided to take a different approach to Dawn.

Players were now encouraged to play the game like they would in life. Going to bars and idling around in towns was now acceptable and would not hinder progress too much, because the EXP would be doubled.

However, there would still be a difference in EXP gained between a player who had been grinding and training for the whole day compared to a player who had wasted their time in an inn. It was just that the difference was not as large as people thought.

Furthermore, the server reset had granted some professions with double EXP gain.

This culture of frequenting inns and bars also led to the development of travelling and tourism.

In this world where flight was not a common means of travel, you could ride horses with your companions through the Caverns of Time and head towards the Old Hillsbrad Foothills, where there was a small town called Southshore.

On the way to this town, you could even see the human version of Kel’Thuzad, still wondering how to become a powerful Mage.

Little Mograine and Whitemane were still running around playing games, while Nat Pagle was training his fishing skills. Walking into the inn, you would see many old heroes crowded around a mysterious orb, engaged in a heated discussion. Meanwhile, the owner of the inn would sell perfume and alcohol.

This place, the Hillsbrad Foothills, was the birthplace of tavern culture. Other cities and regions followed suit.

It was extremely interesting here, since there was a range of rewards that were available, such as EXP and Fame pouches. Furthermore, there were many NPCs with quests with interesting storylines were present. This was much better than grinding at the training grounds.

The PVP system was also changed. It was now a collective rank, with each player’s ranks combined into an average when fighting another team. This change attempted at giving each player the same chance of obtaining a skill point after winning.

There was also the release of S0 and S1 set equipment through the changes in PVP, which was mainly for the levels between 55 and 60. The first was Gold grade, while the other was Dark Gold grade.

These equips had PVP rank requirements, so not even tremendous amounts of money could purchase these.

However, ranks could also be bought through other players’ services, so paying to win was still possible.

There were also a new addition to the arena maps – the Arathi Highlands. This new map introduced a new way of fighting, and a new mount as a reward.

On the other hand, this update not only focused on PVP, but PVE players too.

There were many new quests, which eliminated the problem of players not being able to accept quests due to unfortunate circumstances. However, the rewards were obviously much less impressive.

The company designed it this way because they wanted players to be more involved in the lifestyle of the game, which they were successful in doing.

This new update introduced a multitude of new quests, and the numbers were still going to increase.

Blackwing Lair had now been released!

Nefarian’s Blackwing Lair could be entered from the Blackrock Spires. It was there that Nefarian plotted to use Ragnaros to command his army to destroy Azeroth. Blackwing Lair was an Instance Dungeon with a maximum of a 40-man squad. In this Instance Dungeon, there were many rewards and quests that would lure fearless adventurers into this mysterious temple.

Zul’Gurub was also released!

There were countless valuable treasures and a wealth of knowledge stashed away in this area.

The Blackrock Instance Dungeons had now fully released, and were waiting for players to challenge them.

Zul’Gurub was clearly an extremely alluring place. However, the players now weren’t qualified for it yet, since this dungeon required a minimum of level 60 and advanced knowledge of Instance Dungeons in general.

There was also the Mentoring system, through which mentors could summon their students and take them around to play the game. The company encouraged this because they wanted to create a society within the game. This allowed people to recruit new players into the game.

For example, men would want their girlfriends to enter and become their students, and vice versa. Similarly, there were fathers and their children, although it would be weird for the father to call his child a mentor.

The EXP penalty for dying was also reduced. In the current state of the game, dying was a huge burden on players, since it would set them back days of training. This was especially problematic in Wild Boss fights, where not even major guilds could handle these setbacks.

Now, if a player naturally revived, 5% EXP would be lost. If there was someone to revive them, they would only lose 2% EXP.

2% EXP was negligible since it could be recovered within a couple of hours. This meant that Wild Boss fights would be much more exciting.

After all, excitement would bring more players into the game.