Juxtaposition

Is it bad luck that the Scourge invaded in the middle of the Summer Fire Festival or good luck because we need the buffs?
A sight I caught in Stormwind:

Some Decorations In Darnassus:

And the Undercity:

Blizzard responded in the forums when someone mentioned the timing:

The Scourge Invasion was slated to begin when Naxxramas became available, which meant the launch of 1.11.

Unfortunately, that date happened to fall one day before the summer solstice, which is when the Midsummer festivals occur (in the real world, as well).

While it is a bit odd at first, clearly this is a display of the peoples of Azeroth going forward with their traditions and celebrations in spite of the dark times that threaten their lives, an act of defiance for the Scourge invaders.

...but I'll look into getting the sun patched so it hits its highest point later next year. ;)

Low Level & High Level Quests

I'm addicted to alts.

I must have 20 or 30 of them, both Alliance and Horde. Well, imagine my delight to find out that they can participate in the The Entry Level Scourge Quest.



Unfortunately it turns out that's about all I'll be able to participate in. Blizzard confirmed that the Scourge Invasion benefits certain, but not all levels:

While we're aware that there isn't a great deal of Scourge Invasion-specific content for those below level 50, we didn't leave the mid-levels out, either. There are new bosses in many dungeons for the duration of this event, and we included many level ranges. If you're looking to find the specific instances we chose... think Undead. ;)

I have one character who is (just barely) level 50 or higher (apparently when I'm bored I create an alt... and apparently I'm bored a lot). I also don't prefer the dungeons because I can't do them solo. Maybe I should be looking at the Fire Festival Quests:

The Scourge Invasion is weighted towards the high end, for example, while the Midsummer Fire Festival is more evenly distributed but is less complex.

I looked at one of the Fire Festival quests outside of the Undercity and I balked when he wanted me to visit fires in Alliance areas. Instead I think I will wind up doing some War Effort quests. War Effort you say? Yup. On the Steamwheedle Cartel Server it just started up. And turning stuff in is about my speed.

Update 6/29/06:

Small Scourge Invasion Walkthrough of the higher level quests.

Scourge Invasion FAQ from the Forums (via wowinsider.com)

WoWWiki's Scourge Invasion page

Lesser Mark of the Dawn

I found these guys (Argent Dawn Paladins/Initiates) hanging near the Argent Dawn teams in major cities on SOME of the servers I visited:

If you talk to them they'll give you a stack of 3 of these:

Pretty neat addition. Unfortunately for the one in Ironforge, his generosity apparently cost him his horse:
Update 6/25/06: a lot of horses.
Who now will apparently have to transfer to Orgrimmar:

I'm guessing their appearance is tied to the progression of the Scourge Invasion on that server.

Update 6/28/06: Thanks to wowwiki's Scourge Invasion Page I learned that depending on the number of Scourge Battles won there are different items available. So far they've seen:

Battles Won	Item	Bonus
50	Lesser Mark of the Dawn	10 Stamina for 1 Hour
100	Mark of the Dawn	20 Stamina for 1 Hour