Battle Bards Episode 37: At The Market Fair

A new episode of Battle Bards is up!

Fill your coin purses and come on out for a day at the market with the Battle Bards! This week, Syp, Syl and I look at marketplace-related music in MMOs or the tunes that bring to mind a market atmosphere — whether that means a bustling town, a busy harbor with ships being unloaded by dock hands, or merchants selling their wares. This episode just might make you want to go out and go shopping!

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Episode 37 show notes

• Intro (featuring “Nightfall Freedom Harbor” from Forsaken World and “Brownie Storehouse” from Vanguard)
• “Selbina” from Final Fantasy XI
• “The Town Market” from Elsword Online
• “Inside the Marketplace Tent” from Dungeons and Dragons Online
• “Town of Giran” from Lineage II
• “Draynor Market” from RuneScape
• “Free Market” from MapleStory
• “Town of Morvan” from Vindictus
• Which one did we like best?
• Mail from Logun
• Outro

WoW: We Are Legendary

The legendary cloak wasn’t something I expected ever to get, but at the beginning of September when I resubbed to World of Warcraft I saw that things for the quest chain were in full swing. With a game-wide buff Gaze of the Black Prince increasing rep gain and drop rate for the raid items you need, I figured there’s no harm in trying for it – and there’s no time like the present. I’m also grateful for Tententacles for also going for the legendary cloak chain, because without him doing it too, I honestly don’t think I would have been as motivated!

So, seven weeks or so later (I did get lucky these last couple of weeks with Titan Runestones), I finally got my cloak on my Monk. And just in time too, with the prepatch for the next expansion said to drop next Tuesday, and apparently the quest chain will go away. If you’re still thinking of going for the cloak, this may be your last chance to start, because starting Tuesday next week it might not be possible to get the first quest anymore.

But if you’re in the middle of the chain, it’s not too late. I’m in that boat too, as I’ve actually begun work on the legendary cloak on another character, my Druid. She’s been my main forever, and even though I’ve been playing my Monk a lot more recently, my emotional attachment to the Druid is just too strong to not try for the legendary cloak with her too. When the patch drops, they’re removing the valor grind requirement section of the quest, which was by far the most aggravating and longest part anyway, and there’s a good chance to finish before or around the time Warlords of Draenor is released. Sure, a few weeks into the expansion and the cloak will probably be obsolete, but for completionists, it’s still an impressive achievement and a nice memento to have.

 

Battle Bards Episode 36: Featuring Guest Composer Tracy Bush

A new episode of Battle Bards is up!

This week we welcome a special guest to our show, Composer Tracy W. Bush! His resume includes World of Warcraft, DCUO, Dungeon Runners, Tabula Rasa, Free Realms, and City of Heroes and his vast experience in the MMO industry makes him a wealth of information about the musical creative process. He’s also known for his Murloc voice (yep, he’s the man behind the iconic “mrglmrglmrglmrgl!!!!”) and you just might hear Tracy do a demonstration. Unfortunately, I was out of town during the week of recording so I wasn’t able to join in the fun, but Syp and Syl do a good job holding the fort!

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Episode 36 show notes

• Interview with Tracy W. Bush
• “Darnassus” from World of Warcraft
• “Radio Free Zerg” from StarCraft
• “Darnassus” from World of Warcraft
• “Tanaris” from World of Warcraft
• “Cimmora Main Theme” from City of Heroes
• Tracy’s Murloc demo
• “Townston Theme” from Dungeon Runners
• “Rattletooth’s Lair” from Dungeon Runners
• “Townston Theme” from Dungeon Runners
• “Blue Turns to Grey” from Tabula Rasa
• “AFS Outpost” from Tabula Rasa
• “Checkers” from Free Realms
• “Gotham City BGM” from DC Universe Online
• “Cooking” from Free Realms
• Mail from JadenK
• Outro (“Radio Free Zerg” from StarCraft)