Second Era of Progression

This is our vision, but you will be the ones who will decide what the future will bring to our Algalon realm. We have tinkered in-depth with each aspect of this idea and we strongly believe it would be extraordinary. We are quite excited about it.

We have been giving the community some strokes of information over the last year and now you can see every detail on this presentation, where we try to honour what we started back in 2013.

Remember that, even though it requires some new systems, the whole concept is ideated with the sole purpose to enjoy a pure Blizzlike progression, to relieve the WoTLK content on a fully progressed realm in the order that it was conceived.




1. Why are we presenting this idea and what is behind it?

The Wrath of the Lich King expansion is something we truly love, we feel devotion for Northrend. Since the release of our Algalon realm, we strove to keep Northrend’s content always alive and relevant. Back in 2013, the only available WoTLK experience was based on leveling a character and jump directly into Icecrown Citadel. That wasn’t enough for us; we love every small step of WoTLK’s Progression and we wanted to create something where players could also savour the amazing journey that starts by trying to stop Naxxramas’ menace and continues all the way up until the defeat of The Lich King. This is why we designed something it was not seen before, the concept of a Progressive server where, not only the release of the raids would be gradually done, but also several systems would be in place to make it feel more genuine and challenging.

We wanted to feed with thrill the souls of those players who, like us, wanted to relieve a fair, challenging competition across every Tier. We also thought that bringing into life things that weren’t seen before would benefit the concept we were trying to express by creating this realm, things like the long-forgotten pre-nerf mechanics from certain bosses, buffing encounters, hosting Beta sessions before the opening of new content...etc. At that moment, we could sense some skepticism about it all - it was something new for everyone so, we understood it. However, with the passing of time, several of those ideas became the standard of what a WoTLK realm needs to be and that really fills us with pride.

We didn’t stop there. It was just a small step forward and the idea wasn’t finished. Therefore, after studying many possibilities, we presented what we thought would be the perfect concept idea for such realm, a realm where the progression would be eternal. A realm where you could enjoy the adventure of the WoTLK progression with your very same characters as many times as you like. Each time would be represented as an Era, and that is what we are presenting the community now.

If there is something we value is the time and effort invested by players on their characters. No matter what kind of ideas crossed our minds for the future; our players had to know their efforts wouldn’t be lost. That’s why we carefully choose our motto “Make your Home here”, we wanted to provide a long-lasting home for the WoTLK passionate players where the hard work would be kept, were their time invested into their characters’ completion would always be there. We felt like the idea of an eternal progression could perfectly fit with this characteristics - players could come back anytime and continue enjoying their characters while feeling they are still relevant and able to continue their development in a place where everyone can relieve the genuine essence of the WoTLK whenever they like. Even after taking a long break.

Over the years, we have received many suggestions and talked directly with old and current Citizens of Dalaran. This has served us to refine our ideas and see things from different points of view and, now that we consider is the perfect moment to do so, we would like to present to you what we strongly believe is a great opportunity for the future of Algalon, our realm.

We have been working on many possible systems to support this idea and testing many things - always being absolutely respectful towards our ideals and principles: having a long lasting Blizzlike Home where the WoTLK content would always be relevant and challenging.

This path leads us directly into refreshing the level 80 content, a possibility to live this fresh progression many times with your characters while keeping all your work; from gear to titles,achievements...etc. You could still be in your guild, with your friends, there wouldn’t be any need to start over. It does not matter if you are an old player or just started, you can enjoy this wonderful journey together with the rest of the community, everyone under the same conditions and taking pleasure into a fair and challenging content revival.

We understand there is a demand to start this content once again and, thanks to this idea we believe we can provide a middle ground where many players will be able to meet. Either those who have their characters with us and just want to relieve it, or those who want to start anew where their effort and time invested will not be drawn into oblivion.





2. What is the Second Era actually about?

Now that our Algalon realm is fully progressed, we propose the idea we have been slowly developing since 2013, which basically consists in providing a new fresh WoTLK PvE/PvP level 80 scene in Algalon while keeping your gear, achievements, titles, mounts, recipes, etc. Therefore, this would satisfy old, returners, current or new players.

From now on, we will refer to the time comprehended between Algalon’s release and the Second Era’s release as the “First Era of Progression.” Meaning that Algalon is still on the First Era.


This Second Era would bring a “fast-paced” progression with a properly scheduled content release where everyone would be able to start anew in the process and jump back into a challenging and fair Raid / PvP scenario as if it would be a fresh realm’s progression.

This serves the purpose to unite the population into the same goals and advance through the Tiers together, everyone under equal conditions.

In order to achieve that, there are several features that would need to be put into place, these features are for the most part totally transparent to players. We are aware this may sound a little bit confusing at this point, but do not worry; everything will be explained through this page.





3. Is there a date?

Important: SURVEY
This is the presentation of the Second Era, and how our Algalon realm may be affected by it. The Survey results along with your suggestions and opinions will determine if the Second Era will take place or not. Each opinion is important - you will find a link to the survey at the bottom of this page.

Remember that you can also send us your insights through the e-mail: [email protected].
We have thought of a fairly appropriate date for the start of the Second Era. However, the decision whether this Second Era will take place or not is totally yours. We kindly ask you to read the full presentation and to fill the Survey afterward. We won't do anything that our community does not want to.

If the community agrees, we would then announce a date for the beginning of the Second Era giving players enough time so you could in the meanwhile get prepared by finishing the leveling process, setting up alters, helping us to spread the word, using the upcoming "Scroll of Resurrection like" system in order to re-invite old players...etc. This time would also serve us to perform some advertisement campaigns we have designed through our Social Networks and several other tools.




4. Why now?

First of all, we wanted to wait for Algalon to be fully progressed and having at least a few active groups achieving The Light of Dawn. Due to the level of challenge from our Ulduar and Icecrown Citadel, it wasn’t an easy task. Of course, thanks to the attunement system there are always new players or guilds progressing through the gated content, therefore we have tried to keep the interference with such groups' progression as minimal as possible.

Aside from that, we noticed there is an important interest in us providing a new and fresh WoTLK progression challenge. Not only from current players but also old ones who had a good time and want to come back and feel the excitement again or even new ones eager to start this marvellous journey.

We also wanted to develop in advance the corresponding systems and perform some internal testing to check that they can offer the support to the Second Era’s idea as a whole, before presenting the idea to the community.

That’s why we are announcing it now, we think the time for the Second Era transition couldn’t be better.






Unraveling the details




5. How does the Second Era affect our realm Algalon?

The most notable change would be the starting point of the Second Era - as the base idea is to offer once again a fresh WoTLK progression, our realm will be set into what we have called “The Pre-Naxxramas Stage” (explained in point 7). This will allow our community to step into the level 80 Raiding / PvP scene once again but everyone under the same conditions and from the very same point.

We have been working a lot to enhance the quality of our raids over the years and we consider that they are in very good shape at this moment. Nonetheless, we have prepared many fixes and general improvements to Raids and Dungeons for this Second Era, in order to offer the smoothest of experiences.

After some consideration and, in order to add a small layer of challenge we have decided to implement some extra buffs to the WoTLK Heroic dungeons.

We would also like to take advantage of this clean slate that the Pre-Naxxramas Stage would bring, in order to introduce new Staff members as PvP moderators, with the intention to improve the PvP in the server and provide a much better experience with a fair environment since the start of the PvP Season 5.





6. Who will be affected by the Second Era?

The Second Era would exclusively affect those level 80 characters who have stepped into the WoTLK PvE/PvP progression.

Those players who are currently leveling or those who are planning to start with us in the near future won’t be affected at all. We would allow some time before the release of the Second Era so everyone can get ready, finish leveling, etc. This way even these players would be able to participate in the opening.





7. What is the “Pre-Naxxramas stage”?

The “Pre-Naxxramas stage” is just a term we are using to determine the period of time comprehended between the start of the Second Era until the opening of the Naxxramas raid.


In order to welcome the transition between the current Algalon’s Era (First Era) and the Second Era, several important factors will take place on the very first day of the Pre-Naxxramas stage:


  • The WoTLK raids will not be accessible.
  • The dungeons Trial of the Champion, Forge of Souls, Pit of Saron and Halls of Reflection will not be accessible.
  • The Argent Tournament grounds will disappear.
  • Higher Tiers vendors will not be present.
  • The current PvP Season will end.
  • Vault of Eras: Storage (fully explained in point 8).


Several things will be reset, such as:

  • Currency: WoTLK Emblems, Wintergrasp Commendations, Honor, Arena Points, Stonekeeper Shards...etc (EDIT: Thanks for the suggestions. We are currently considering storing the currency instead of resetting them)
  • WoTLK Legendary weapons quest chains (there will be a way to recover the current progress, explained in Point 8).
  • Ashen Verdict reputation.
  • Arena Teams and MMR.
  • Mailbox.


In order to refresh a bit the current economy and to keep the progression feeling, we consider we need to delete the following items:

  • Frozen Orbs, Runed Orbs, Crusader Orbs and Primordial Saronites.
  • WoTLK raid related enchanting scrolls.
  • Ribbon Wrapped Presents.

EDIT: Thanks for the suggestions. We are currently considering storing these instead of resetting them.

EDIT: We have put the idea about reducing gold on hold for now, as it is generating controversy. Thank you everyone for your suggestions/opinions through the survey and e-mails.





8. Our Progressive Storage System: The Vault of Eras.

This is the heart of our idea. The Vault of Eras is the system we have designed in order to store the WoTLK’s High-End PvE/PvP progression from every player obtained during the First Era.

This system allows you to safeguard your hard work and efforts through Eras and to enjoy the thrilling of a fresh and fair progression while getting everything back gradually as the Second Era advances.

The Vault of Eras will have two phases:


Phase 1: STORAGE.

This event will only happen once during the Second Era and it will occur the very first day of the Pre-Naxxramas stage.

Anything related to the WoTLK level 80 high-end progression things from the First Era will be automatically stored into The Vault of Eras. Such as:

  • Gear with an item level higher or equal than 200 (PvE or PvP).
  • WoTLK’s Heroic Dungeon and Raid related achievements.
  • WoTLK’s Raid related titles.
  • WoTLK’s Raid related mounts (Invincible, Ironbound Proto-Drake...etc).
  • WoTLK’s Raid related recipes (Sandals of Consecration, Pillars of Might...etc).
  • Arena achievements.
  • Special items (Raid Quest items, keys...etc).


Remember that you will get everything back, it is explained on Phase 2: Access.

After your progression is stored in the Vault of Eras, you won’t be able to see anything from the aforementioned things in your character, inventory or personal bank (for now). But, fear not, you can just go to the Vault of Eras which will be located at the Purple Parlor (Violet Citadel, Dalaran) and check everything you got during the First era anytime you like. It will also be available through the website under your Account Panel.

Once stored, everything will be properly organised and categorised by Tiers / PvP Seasons so players can check it easily.

Note: As mentioned, only the WoTLK level 80 high-end progression related things will be stored. You will be able to see everything else in your character as always, from achievements to items, titles, mounts, recipes...etc.


Phase 2: ACCESS.

This phase will happen several times throughout the Second Era.

When a Vault of Eras: Access phase occurs, everything that is stored within the Vault related to previous Tiers shall be unlocked permanently and players will be able to retrieve it whenever they wish.

We will schedule a date for it shortly after each of these events happen on the realm:


  1. Ulduar: Realm First! Death's Demise - Players will be able to retrieve from The Vault of Eras their gear, achievements, titles, recipes, and mounts related to the Tier 7 and heroic dungeons.

  2. Trial of the Crusader: Realm First! Grand Crusader - Players will be able to retrieve from The Vault of Eras their gear, achievements, titles, recipes, and mounts related to the Tier 8 and below.

  3. Icecrown Citadel: A raid defeats Fall of the Lich king 25 players (normal mode) for the first time. Players will be able to retrieve from The Vault of Eras their gear, achievements, titles, recipes, and mounts related to the Tier 9 and below.

  4. Icecrown Citadel: Realm First! Fall of the Lich King - Players will be able to retrieve from The Vault of Eras their gear, achievements, titles, recipes, and mounts related to the Tier 10 (only normal difficulty) and below.

  5. Ruby Sanctum: Upon opening, Players will be able to retrieve from The Vault of Eras their gear, achievements, titles, recipes, and mounts related to the Tier 10 (heroic mode) and below.



You can also check this through the timeline in point 9.

Now, we also need to specify a few additional details.

Achievements: When you retrieve the stored achievements from the Vault of Eras, they will keep their original date. This means you can proudly show you participated during the First Era of Progression.

Of course, players who participated during the First Era and progress freshly through the Second Era will be able to earn every achievement again and, naturally, those will have the current date from that day. Therefore, The Vault of Eras will also have a feature that will allow you to retrieve the old one in this case. This way even if you participate through this Second Era and earn some achievements again (including Realm Firsts) you will be perfectly able to request your old one and proudly show you were present back then (this is optional).

Note: By being able to retrieve the First Era's achievements from previous tiers, we give value in a fair way without affecting the progression to those players who also wish to participate with their alter characters that they worked so much on during the past First Era.

Let’s see some quick examples:

  • Example 1: A player doesn’t have an achievement from the First Era. He/She earns it through this Second Era - that’s it, nothing happens.

  • Example 2: A player earns an achievement through the Second Era and he/she already had it back in the day during the First one. Two options: Keep the recently earned achievement or go to the Vault of Eras and request the old one with the old date.

  • Example 3: A player who had an achievement (e.g: Firefighter 10 players) from the First Era wishes to recover it as he/she doesn’t have it on this Second Era. This player can request to retrieve such achievement when we enable the Vault of Eras: Access, some time after the Realm First! Grand Crusader is achieved in Trial of the Crusader.



Legendary Weapons: Players will be able to retrieve their old Legendary Weapons from the First Era when the appropiate Vault of Eras: Access happens and there is at least one a player who has earned it by doing the corresponding quest chain during this Second Era. First Era's quest chain progression will also be available to be restored if desired, unless players wish to enjoy it once again. This way, the player who gets the first Legendary during this Second Era can have his/her moment of Glory.





9. Timeline and scheduled Raid/PvP release:

The Second Era’s progression will be a fast-paced progression, however, players will have enough time to enjoy each Tier and prepare themselves for the next one. We will reveal the date of the next Tier each time the Realm First is achieved.

We have prepared the following Timeline so everyone can clearly see how the schedule will be. Remember that, once you can access a new Tier / PvP Season from the Vault of Eras, you can also access the previous ones.



Note: The Scarab Lord related quests and rewards will be available once again upon Onyxia's Lair opening for those players who didn't complete it during the First Era.









10. Will the current Progressive System and features from Algalon be present?

Of course, the following features shall remain:

  • The Individual WotLK Raid Attunement system: every player will need to be properly attuned in order to enter raids/dungeons.
  • Emblem system: Each character will receive the corresponding emblems from dungeons based on their own personal progression.
  • Pre-Nerf encounters: As always, many encounters will be on their famous “pre-nerf” status, making them a bit more challenging.
  • Encounter buffs: Bosses from WoTLK raids will continue having increased health and damage output to balance the 3.3.5a talents (re-adjusted through upcoming Betas).
  • Vault of Archavon: It will work as it has been since 2013 - The Raid will adapt to the current progression of the group. Each boss is linked to its corresponding Tier.
  • Beta Sessions before every Tier release: We think this is a must event that helps us to keep polishing everything as much as possible thanks to the help from our community.
  • PvE tournaments before every Tier release: It’s a fun and challenging event with nice rewards that we also consider fundamental.
  • Loot from Seasonal Events: As some Seasonal events drop items that may interfere with the progression essence, the drop is restricted to the appropriately attuned players.


There will be some extra additions to the Second Era:

  • Alongside with the PvE Tournaments, we will also host PvP Tournaments each season.
  • WoTLK heroic dungeons will also have a small buff applied.
  • Every player will receive a welcoming message upon logging in with a link explaining the Second Era, this way everyone will be aware of the transition.
  • We have been working on an Account-Wide attunement system that would be available after the Realm First! Fall of the Lich King is achieved during Stage 4: Icecrown Citadel. We will give more details about this in the future to see if the community likes it.


...


Thanks to the Second Era:

  • Raiding and PvP scene will be set again into a competitive and healthy status.
  • Any kind of player will vastly benefit from it: new players can start whenever they like and enjoy the progression. Old players can return and directly jump into the PvE or PvP scene, and current players keep their efforts and relevance.
  • Algalon continues with bigger influx of old/new players circulating.
  • We create a long-lasting community, where the time spent in our server is reflected in your achievements and feats. It provides a way to keep your original achievement date and remember the old days.
  • Every player can be sure that the time invested in his/her characters is respected and it will always be there. It values collectors and completionists.
  • The alter characters are highly valued, your effort put on them will always be present.
  • We offer stability and commitment to our project, as the basic concept of this idea is something we presented back in 2013 and we would love to go ahead with it.


It took a bit of time to publish this presentation, but we wanted to give you a detailed explanation only when we had every system implemented. We have been thinking and trying different alternatives along the way and we have reached the conclusion this would be the most effective one, as well as respectful to every players’ effort - we believe it has a great balance.

It has been a lot of work and we know that fast is good, but thorough is even better.

We understand passion is not the only important thing; we have worked really hard trying to provide a good opportunity that not only solves a demand but also forges a long-term Home.

Thank you very much for reading this, we would be really grateful if you could also fill the Survey. Remember you can give us your opinion about a specific point that concerns you so we can consider your suggestions.