NERIAD'S NEW CLOTHES

When the 1.11 beta player test realms opened recently, I was eager to discover all of the Bloodsail Buccaneer related changes that had been made in the patch.  The first thing I noticed was that the Bloodsail Admiral's Hat had become more powerful than ever before with its new unique icon!

But the big news came from fellow Pirates for Lifer Teriyaki, who reported that there was a brand new Bloodsail quest!  This was not one of the quests to restore one's goblin reputation that had been mentioned by Blizzard developers before.  This was a brand new quest given out by the admiral of the Bloodsail fleet!  Teriyaki didn't know whether being friendly with the Bloodsail Buccaneers was enough to get the quest, however, since he was honored with the Bloodsail Buccaneers.  I was ready to race to Booty Bay and start killing a boatload more Booty Bay bruisers, if it turned out that you had to be honored with the Bloodsail Buccaneers to get it.

The moment Teriyaki mentioned the new quest, I jumped back onto the player test realm and raced south through Stranglethorn Vale (with my trusty Blood Parrot in tow).

My Bloodsail homies greeted me as I ran up the gangplank leading to the Bloodsail flagship.

Woohoo!  A new quest!  So, being friendly with the Bloodsail Buccaneers is enough after all.  (ed. A reader says that he was able to get the uniform quest while being neutral with the Bloodsail Buccaneers).

The quest is simplicity itself.  You don't have to do anything.  The admiral just hands you a bag containing a Buccaneer's uniform.

Inside the bag is a shirt, a pair of pants, a sash, and some boots.

Accepting the bag causes one to lose 500 reputation with Booty Bay and gain only 10 reputation points with the Bloodsail Buccaneers.  One also loses 250 spillover reputation with each of the other goblin factions in the Steamwheedle Cartel.  That means another 1,000 Southsea pirates to kill.  It's totally worth it, though.

Here's the full Bloodsail Buccaneer outfit in all its glory, compete with the Bloodsail Admiral's hat and Blood Parrot.  It might seem strange that Blizzard added a quest that gives a great new reward without asking players to do anything new.  However, I've been told that Bloodsail pirates will be able to drop the individual pieces of the Bloodsail uniform -- the shirt, pants, boots, and sash -- that will allow players to dress like pirates if they want to.  Unfortunately, without the quest, that would mean that Bloodsail admirals would be forced to kill their Bloodsail bretheren in order to be able to obtain a Bloodsail uniform for themselves.  Imagine the uproar that would cause in the Bloodsail admiral community!  Give Blizzard some credit for thinking ahead.  I guess they figured that if a player goes through all the hassle to become a Bloodsail Buccaneer, the player shouldn't be forced to kill his new friends to look the part.

But once a player has his or her shiny Bloodsail Admiral's hat and Buccaneer uniform, how does he or she regain his or her standing with the Steamwheedle Cartel?  Aren't there some new quests that help you do that?  Yes... but those quests come at a terrible price -- a price no respectable Bloodsail admiral would ever pay!

UP NEXT:  A Terrible Price