WoW News

Maiev Has Opened the Gates of Ahn'Qiraj

Maiev -- December 14, 2007 -- The Gates of AQ have Finally Opened!! The World of Warcraft server Maiev has finally opened the Gates of Ahn'Qiraj exactly one year after the server's inception. The player bestowed with the actually opening of the gates is Orangebug (70 Human Rogue) of Armor of God.

Patch 1.9 unleashed a complex massive server wide quest to unlock the Gates of Ahn'Qiraj, which allows entrance to the Ruins of Ahn'Qiraj, a 20 man dungeon found in Silithus. The first server to open the gates was Medivh on January 23, 2006. The actual amount of time to open the gates can take months, as players of both factions must turn in thousands of items to NPCs for the war effort. And while the Horde and Alliance often fight and rush to open the gates first, it's truly a joint effort, as the Alliance and Horde each have to gather different items for the war effort. In other words, the gates cannot be opened without each faction turning in their parts and doing their share.

In order to unlock the gates there are long and complex quest lines that need to be completed; however, they can be easily summarized into two steps: get the scepter and turn in the supplies. In order to actually open the gates the Scepter of the Shifting Sands must hit the gong on the Scarab Wall and all of the supplies must be turned in by both factions. Once all of the supplies have been turned into the war effort NPCs five days must pass for the supplies to get to Silithus, then the scepter can ring the gong to open the Scarab Wall. This begins a 10 hour long event in which many bosses are killed.

Why open the gates? The reasons for wanting to open the Gates of AQ are many. Some players want badly to obtain the title "Champion of the Bronze Dragon Flight" which is given only to the first player to ring the gong to start the event. While some want to obtain the epic Qiraj mount, which is only obtainable if you have a scepter and ring it on the gong during the 10 hour event. While others simply want to explore the Ruins of Ahn'Qiraj or participate in a truly historic server event. But whatever the reason, opening the Gates of AQ is a memorable and unique event for all players involved. So congrats Maiev and all the players who participated!