As a newly reminted citizen of Azeroth, and someone who appreciates Asian culture, I am enthralled by the neatness of the Lunar Festival. AFK Gamer has a quick rundown on the details, and an extensive Flickr gallery of the scenery. The official site, of course, has the real deal with Bill McNeal.

What I want to talk about is my perspective on the event, with three different hats on.

Putting on my hat of Raph Koster +3, I look around at the Festival with an eye towards design. The Lunar Festival is far and away my favorite holiday, so far, and the decisions made to be inclusive are probably the strongest element of that appreciation. Casual players get instant gratification. All you need to do in order to do in order to get the gist of the Festival is talk to an NPC in one of the major cities. You light off some inexpensive fireworks (items that any character about 10th level will have no problem affording), which are very pretty, and then collect coins. All you need in order to get a nice festival gift is talk to 5 NPCs, and then use your handy invitation to port to Moonglade.

With a coin each available from the three big cities, all a player needs to do is hit two of the starter cities (Kharanos, Goldshire, or Dolanaar) in order to get the payoff. Most players can net the required 5 coins in less than half an hour of play, giving them tons of fireworks and (probably) a nice seasonal outfit. Turning in the quest to interact with the Moonglade NPC also nets you about 4000 xp, which is a very nice reward for most character levels. This is the quintessential casual experience, with low time investment for a statisfying reward. It also has the added benefit of encouraging a lower-level character to explore beyond the quest track, a suggestion I always think is a wise one.

The other big aspect of the Festival is the ‘Omen’ beast Raid. A huge dog (a corehound cousin, basically) spawns in the Moonglade. A Raid of about 40 people is required to take it down, and with mostly 60s participating takes about 15 to 20 minutes to complete. It’s no Onyxia or Molten Core to be sure, but it’s very satisfying. Guilds who can pull together those kinds of numbers without a problem get to feel the usual satisfaction of 0wning a mighty beast.

What’s interesting, though, is that the brevity of the fight allows for viable Pickup Raids to form. 40 random people show up in the zone, and take on the dog. The pickup experience I participated in was extremely disorganized and probably would have made most seasoned raiders disconnect in frustration, but I had a pretty good time. Not only does this satisfy the average high-end gamer, but folks like me who haven’t had as much exposure to raid content get a little taste of what it’s like.

The part that really made my eyebrows go up was the realization that the high-end gamers assist the lowbies by killing Omen. The quest involving Omen actually doesn’t require you to kill him – just bathe in the beam of light that results from his corpse. The beam lasts for a little while after he’s dead, during which the call goes out for lower level characters to come running. Everyone, regardless of level, can enjoy the results of the Raid.

Lunar Festival is *exactly* what the whiners on the forums have been asking for: content for every level. Of course, to read the comments, you’d never know that because most of the complainers don’t bother to read and understand the Omen quest. There are also some folks who despair that there isn’t anything *useful* given up by the Festival quests. Why does a Holiday gift have to have use?

Putting on Grodin’s helm, I can consider the high-end gamer. Most of them have been dinking around for the last six months or so trying to decide what to do. Endless raiding, PvP, and making alts are the big options. Someone with a more RP perspective must look forward to these Holidays with a lot of enthusiasm. All of these players are probably more excited (as I am) about the coin-collecting aspect of the event than Omen the epic dog. While collecting them doesn’t net you a blue item, it’s something besides the usual grind. It’s quite a scavenger hunt, with Elders on both continents offering their coins up freely to whoever asks for them. Thus, even Alliance players can get the Orgrimaar coin.

Above and beyond a nice diversion, as a fan of the Warcraft lore I think this is awesome. I saw a small group of Horde being supported by Alliance players in the midst of Darnassus the other day, as they rested up from fighting the guards (who do not understand that there is a Holiday on).

Finally, with the hat of my low-level druid firmly placed on my head, I and my wife took in the sights of the Festival. While my cynical gamer mind ran through the fireworks fairly quickly, my wife found the whole thing fascinating. We spent a good while playing with the fireworks, and then took a lazy stroll around the newbie areas collecting the requisite five coins. We had a great moment on the deck there in Moonglade, dancing around in our Lunar Festival outfits and being goofy married people.

The lasting impact of Lunar Festival will be just as enjoyable as the other festivals. Besides the snazzy suits, I’ll be making Elune stones all year. The Festival not only impressed me with its attention to detail, but with its ability to capture a moment for me on so many levels. I had my first MMOG date with my wife as a result of Elune’s grace, and for that I not only thank the Light, but the devs as well.