BC
Latest
Bornakk: Next Blizzcast to include talk on the status of badge loot in WoTLK
One of the biggest and most successful features of Burning Crusade has been the inclusion of Badges of Justice. Especially in 2.4, these badges have allowed even relatively casual players to get their hands on gear that comes close to the same stuff raiders are able to pull out of end game instances. While the system seems to have been mostly a success, there's still some question as to how it will evolve in WoTLK. The current 2.4 badge loot seems to have been created in part to allow a smoother gear transition between BC and WoTLK for both casuals and ubers, with badges dropping out of 10-man instances and the most powerful badge gear yet. But the question is, will this continue in WoTLK? Will we see badges off of Naxxramas' 10-man version (perhaps earning it the name Badgeramas)? Will we see loot purchasable from a Dalaran vendor that will be comparable to what raiders are pulling out of Icecrown Glacier? Or will they dial it back, or maybe not even include the badge loot system at all?
The Digital Continuum: The Lich King made me do it
So I'll admit it. I've been pretty hard on World of Warcraft ever since The Burning Crusade launched. A large part of the reason I've been so down on the game is because a lot of Burning Crusade's end-game content came off as incredibly daunting to me. I never had any interest in most of the raids offered in the game simply because I didn't feel like going through all the hoops to access them. Sure there were the 5-mans, but most of the super-cool content was still locked away from me.Even with the original announcement of Wrath of the Lich King, I felt complete disinterest in the expansion as it seemed to be more of the same. More raids, more high quality content that was probably going to be locked away behind hoops, barrels and fire pit traps. Yet that all changed yesterday with the icy cool wake-up blast of new information that jolted my interest -- something I thought could never happen again with World of Warcraft.
What it will look like when you're invited to the WotLK beta
Right now there is no WotLK beta, there is no chance you'll get in the alpha if you're not already in it, and there is no email that's going to be coming to your inbox anytime soon about it. But when it comes, it's going to make you one happy gamer. This is a very important thing for people to understand, especially with the flood of fake emails lately.Blizzard will make an announcement on their forums and/or their homepage letting all of us know that WotLK beta invites are going out. The email that you'll get if you're lucky enough to get invited will be sent from an @blizzard.com address, will come through the blizzard.com servers (you can check the extended email headers in your email program to see this). The email will have tons of identifiable information in it that only points to blizzard.com or worldofwarcraft.com and nowhere else.For a reference, let's that a look at what the Burning Crusade beta email looked like that I got back in 2006
Forum Post of the Day: I'm a WoW Widow
And Belfaire doesn't care.Reader Kyver tipped us off to a gem of a post on the Customer Service Forums today, titled "I'm a WoW Widow" (moderately NSFW, PG-13 rating). The story goes like this: A girl, Missmegan, lost her boyfriend to the Burning Crusades [sic]. They used to play together horde side, but after buying the expansion he turned to the alliance and is dedicated to his guild mates. All is lost, as he's no longer interested in his girlfriend's "assets" and rambles like a two-year old.Of course this makes our forum posting protagonist upset, and she needs her boyfriend back. Now obviously this is a joke. At least I hope it is. And Katie (my girlfriend), if you're reading this I promise I'll never let it get this bad. I mean, I only play for 5 hours a day, not 13 as the boyfriend in the story does. And I make money with all this, so it's okay, right? Sweetie? Darling? Honey... D'oh....Tagging the first response to this thread is Belfaire The Mighty, with the simple response "Dear WoW Widow, It's actually Burning Crusade. Yours, Belfaire." This had myself and the other writers here laughing. We had to share it.So dear readers, I ask you, are you a WoW widow?
Burning Crusade content offline [Updated]
According to numerous reports and several personal experiences, much of the Burning Crusade content is offline on several servers, both in the U.S. and the E.U.. When attempting to access a character in any of these locations you will be presented with an error that says "World Server Down."This is no doubt from the mass of people who have flocked to the Isle of Quel'Danas in order to see the new content. While the realms and content are being bumpy tonight, checkout our extensive collection of patch 2.4 information.I'll update this post as the night goes on with the latest realm announcements. Stay tuned!Update: Realms are all online, although a tad bumpy.
Onyxia: Bugged at 70
I don't get it. I'm 70, have lots of nice purples, know the game well enough, and have even done Onyxia dozens upon dozens upon dozens of times back in the pre-BC days. But why then does she inevitably present a problem for me and my friends?It's probably because she is bugged. And not just bugged, REALLY bugged.Two groups have now gone in and tried to defeat her. Each time the first attempt was a failure as people relearned not to stand too close to each other (Forsythe run to the center!), run to the side when the rains fire down (<-- 2N, 2N - 1 -->), and all those other small tidbits that make the fight what it is. However when it reached the second attempt, she started acting strange. First, she wouldn't target anyone or let anyone tank her – she just walked around her lair and jerked around a bit. We could still damage her, but that was it. And really it was only the ranged and my crossbow that were able to do any damage (more dots!).
Inscriptions hidden in patch 2.4
var digg_url = 'http://digg.com/pc_games/First_WoW_Wrath_of_the_Lich_king_Inscription_spell_found'; Blizzard has included the first look at inscriptions via hidden entries in the patch 2.4 data files. Inscription will be a new profession that will be released with Wrath of the Lich King. We are treated to an early glimpse at the Demonic Runes inscription that will increase fire damage done by the Mage Fireball spell by 50 additional points. The data is courtesy of WoW Head. There are two important things to realize from this newly discovered information. First, it shows that Blizzard is hard at work on Wrath of the Lich King, and is already starting to include content in the patch files. We saw this same behavior in patch 2.0 with Jewelcrafting recipes. %Gallery-5525%
My log off spot
Many of us that have played the game every day over the years have developed some habits of sort. One of the habits that I've found myself doing night after night is logging off in the same spot. For me, this spot is at the staff vendor in the Aldor section of Shattrath. I find myself logging off here almost every night since I hearth back to Shat when I'm done raiding, and then go and repair immediately (less I get yelled at for not being fully repaired).I can imagine that there are some better spots than others to log off at. In particular the PvP servers I'm sure pose certain pragmatic limitations on where you can disembark from the game. In the PvE world, I could (if I wanted to) log off anywhere in the wild. Save for the wandering aggressive mob, I would be just fine. However, I don't think this would be too good in a PvP environment.
PS2 backwards compatibility not dead yet
Gamers disappointed with the PS3's backwards compatibility (or the lack thereof) might find interest in reading the latest issue of EGM. In the mag, an interview with SCEA senior marketing VP Peter Dille and director of PSN operations Eric Lempel hints that PS2 backwards compatibility isn't completely down and out. When asked about the lack of bc support possibly crossing out chances of ever having downloadable PS2 games via the PSN, Lempel answered back with "there are possibilities through technology and software emulation to make that happen." Lempel refused to talk about any specific plans, but hasn't flat-out denied that it isn't something being worked on. On another note, Peter Dille states that PS2 backwards compatibility is still important to Sony. He reconfirms what we already know, that the removal of PS2 backwards compatibility helped lower the overall price of the PS3. However, consider the fact that Sony has cut production costs for the PS3 by half, and then the reason not to have "expensive" emulated bc seems a little moot. If Sony does decide to support downloadable PS2 games playable through emulation, it's very very possible that the software emulation could also play that precious PS2 disc collection of yours.
WoW: The Burning Crusade wins MMO of the year from the AIAS
The Academy of Interactive Arts and Sciences has placed another feather in the positively avian cap of Blizzard's World of Warcraft. A final list of the nominees and winners from AIAS' 11th Annual Interactive Achievement Awards has been released, and of the five shortlisted games in the Massively Multiplayer Game of the Year category, it is the WoW expansion in particular, The Burning Crusade, that took the top honor (as Mike Schramm predicted when the nominations were first announced). Blizzard executives also gave speeches on the strategies behind their success -- unrelated to the award -- at the D.I.C.E. Summit, where the awards took place.There were four other MMOs that deserve a mention for being nominated, and these are a mix of new titles and expansions. In no particular order, they are: EVE Online: Trinity, Guild Wars: Eye of the North, The Lord of the Rings Online: Shadows of Angmar, and Richard Garriott's Tabula Rasa. The Overall Game of the Year went to Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare, and you can check out a discussion of this, and some of the other AIAS' gaming awards outside of the MMO focus, at Joystiq.
Happy birthday to Outland
One year ago today, we the huddled, shivering masses (well, shivering in many parts of the country, anyway) got our hands on Burning Crusade, the first ever WoW expansion. Blizzard started saying shortly thereafter that they would be attempting to make one expansion per year, but for whatever reason, that has not come to pass: Wrath of the Lich King is not looking particularly close.Enough, however, of what didn't happen. Let's turn our attention to some things that did happen that fateful day last January: Several of us here at WoW Insider posted our midnight mall pilgrimage pictures, including Barb in Ithaca, Mark in Chicago, Elizabeth W. in Raleigh, myself in Gainesville, and Paul in frigid Saskatoon Everyone discovered a brand-new version of Barrens chat Many realms were iffy Horde and Alliance had a bit of a cease-fire We started speculating all over again about what eventually became Wrath Do you remember your BC launch experience?[Thanks, Biddy]
WoW, Casually: The year of the casual
Each week, Robin Torres writes WoW, Casually for the player who has 2 hours or less to play at a time.For the purposes of this column, I am defining a casual WoW player as someone who has 2 hours or less to play at a time. If you spend 2 hours playing solitaire, then you are considered a hardcore solitaire player, but for the World of Warcraft, a couple hours really isn't very much time. There are a lot of people who have more time to play that consider themselves casuals and there are casual raiders and there are hardcore raiders and, well, these categories really don't work very well. But there are definitely also hardcore raider elitist types and many of them are bellyaching that Blizzard spent last year making the game easier for the casual players. I think that Blizzard made the game easier and more fun for everybody and while casuals got a whole lot of benefit from last year's development, raiders got some goodies specifically for them as well.But this column isn't for the raiders, it's for those of us who don't have enough time to raid on a regular basis and have to squeeze as much fun and value out of our playtime as possible. And regardless of who else it helped, Blizzard did a lot for us:Getting from 60 to 70:If you've played the original EQ, you may have expected (like I did) that getting to 70 when Burning Crusade came out would take as long as getting from 1 to 60. But that was not the case. Getting from 60 to 70 was easier for me than getting from 40 to 50 and from 50 to 60. It was fast, fun, full of quests and easily soloable.
Kaz Hirai: PS3 could be profitable next fiscal year
Sony bigwig Kaz Hirai is hoping that this next fiscal year, which begins in April, will mark a point where the PlayStation 3 loses its money sink status and becomes profitable. Said the president of SCE at the Consumer Electronics Show (via Reuters), "We want to get to the positive side of the equation as quickly as possible," later adding that the company is "going through the budgets right now. That (profitability) is not a definite commitment, but that is what I would like to try to shoot for."Hirai cites the dropping costs of components used to make the PS3, as well as the removal of chips related to backwards compatibility, as examples of how the console is becoming cheaper to produce (and therefore less of a detriment to the company's bottom line). Hirai noted that the declining cost is "in line with what the company had expected." Not explicitly stated but certainly important are the titles expected next fiscal year: LittleBigPlanet, Home, Final Fantasy XIII, and the still-exclusive Metal Gear Solid 4. Previously, Sony stated that it had sold 1.2 million PS3s since Black Friday -- NPD figures for December should reveal how that measures up to competitors. Microsoft recently stated its belief that the Xbox 360 is "on track to register the biggest year in video game history," while the Consumer Entertainment Association predicted industry growth to continue, albeit at a slower pace than last year.
Newcomers in the WoW community
Most games have a beginning and an end -- if people want more, the developers produce a sequel. But games like WoW are different, of course, because everyone is paying by the month in order to play together, and the developers are constantly adding some new content revising the old. As time goes by, though, a rift appears between people who have been playing a long time and people who are just getting started. Not only does the game development company have to make some hard decisions about whether it's more important to keep people playing every month or to get new people to start from the beginning, but the old players have to figure out how the new ones are going to fit into the social system they've developed.The Burning Crusade tried to appeal to both sorts of gamers, with added content for both ends of the player community, but Wrath of the Lich King is taking another direction, with most of its content only for people who are ready to leave Outland behind. But the patch 2.3 changes reveal a different strategy for attracting new WoW players: rather than adding new content to attract new players, Blizzard can just make the old content faster, more streamlined, and get new players into the new higher-level content more reliably. Will this keep new players coming? Does Blizzard even need new players, financially speaking, or are they content to just try and keep all the existing players subscribing for as long as possible? Either way, a more vital issue is at stake: As the WoW community has gotten older, we have noticed some old-time WoW players like to complain about "noobs" a lot, in a way that doesn't leave any room for new people to join in on the activities. For a newcomer, it feels like an exclusionist attitude. The "noobs" are running around in all the wrong gear, using all the wrong strategies, precisely because no one has interacted with them enough for them to learn how things are done here. Some aspects of WoW are not at all easy or intuitive, and it's counterproductive to blame the noobs instead of reaching out and lending a helping hand where appropriate.
SCEE: No plans to offer PS2 backwards compatibility later as DLC for 40GB PS3
The 40GB PlayStation 3 models, devoid of any PS2-related semiconductors, will likely not have any options for backwards compatibility in the future. Speaking to Joystiq, SCEE Director of Corporate Communications Nick Sharples said that there are no plans to offer emulation software as downloadable content at a later date."We have no plans to do so at the moment. The sheer numbers of PS2 titles available, together with the increased complexity of using a software only solution for each and every title means that to ensure accurate software emulation for the majority would be technically challenging, time consuming and costly," he said. "As we have mentioned on several occasions, our engineering resources are now focused on developing new and innovative features and services for the PS3 and, as a result the 40GB model does not have backwards compatibility with PS2 titles," he said.When asked about the fate of future emulation updates for 80GB and PAL-territory 60GB models that are running software-supported backwards compatibility, Sharples told us, "the current PS3 system software and future updates will continue to support backwards compatibility for the current 60GB and 80GB models." He later added, "The current solution offers around 90% backwards compatibility with PS2 titles and we are able to help publishers to make sure any new PS2 titles are backwards compatible with the 60GB and 80GB models."Sharples had no information on today's rumor concerning the 40GB model coming to North America. Included after the break is Sony's statement confirming the loss of PS2 semiconductors in the latest model.
40GB's loss of backwards compatibility explained
Now that Sony has finally come clean and announced its new 40GB PlayStation 3, it's got some "splaining to do." The biggest issue on most gamer's minds is why Sony decided to cut the backwards compatibility feature that linked the PS3 with the PlayStation consoles that came before it.SCEE managing director Ray Maguire said Sony will use the money it dedicated towards backwards compatibility to invest in new games or to perhaps lower prices so more gamers can afford to buy a PS3. "It was a big decision, and we know it is a very emotive subject as lots of people think that backwards compatibility is high on the agenda and yet few really use it," he said.We're not sure how Maguire came to this conclusion, but the PS3's backwards compatibility feature is always one that we've appreciated for a long time. With Sony's commitment to a 10-year life span of its hardware and games still being published for last generation's console, it seems like an odd choice to "cut the cord" at this point.
Ask WoW Insider: Which BC loot has been escaping you?
Welcome to Ask WoW Insider where we publish one of your questions every week. Last time we looked at whether or not healing can be as competitive as dpsing, and this week we return our attention to one of everybody's favorite topics: loot. Sephran writes: I started karazhan about 4 months ago. I was a resto druid and I was looking for that Shard of the Virtuous. The 1st time we rolled, another resto druid got it.. she promptly left the guild the following week... The 2nd time I passed it on to someone else who needed it A LOT more then I did. The 3rd time.. lost the roll again. Once I transfered guilds I thought it would be better.. but alas.. it dropped with more new people to kara.. I once again passed the hammer to another person for a super mega upgrade to them. The 5th time.. it dropped and I finnally won it!!! Tops my Happiest moments in WoW, thats for sure. Then on Opera my priest friend finally got her Masquerade gown that she had never seen drop since the 1st time I got it 4 months ago. So I'm wondering what TBC drop has escaped you? Any good stories to go along with why you haven't gotten it? We looked at this question shortly before BC came out, "in memoriam" for items we might truly never see now that focus would be shifting to all the new gear that would await in Outland. So now that the expansion is out, what gear has been eluding you? What is that one drop you just can't seem to get, or finally found its way to you after a long and strange journey? We need your questions! Send us your inquiries for next week to ask AT wowinsider DOT com.
PS3 80GB US backwards compatibility checker online
Sony recently updated their US backwards compatibility search website now that the States gets to join in Europe's pain. As we learned during E3, the new 80 GB PS3 does have backwards compatibility issues. All future PS3 models will also have similar BC issues as they'll use the less expensive software emulation program instead of the PS2 native hardware which is currently in the 60GB model. If you're even considering a future purchase of a PS3 and are at all concerned about your consoles' backwards compatibility, it may be well worth it to get the 60GB model while it still exists -- it truly is your best option in case Sony gets lackadaisical about updating their software backwards compatibility like Microsoft was.A quick search in the database shows cracks in the foundation already: God of War -- 60GB: "No major problems for this title." 80GB: "During various FMV sequences throughout the title, the audio plays overlapped by static audio distortion." Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater -- 60GB: "No major problems for this title." 80GB: "During various FMV sequences throughout the title, the audio plays overlapped by static audio distortion." & "Throughout gameplay, the title performs at a significantly slower than normal performance speed." Final Fantasy X -- 60GB: "No major problems for this title." 80GB: "At various points throughout the Opening FMA sequence, the graphics jitter." Destroy All Humans -- 60GB: "No major problems for this title." 80GB: "At specific points during gameplay, character weapons do not function as intended." Go look up some of your favorite games, these were just the first four we checked. There is no master list either, every game must be specifically selected by title. If backwards compatibility is something you care about, it's worth taking the 60GB model under consideration.
Ask WoW Insider: What's the best of Ask WoW Insider?
Fridays are a time for early happy hour quiet contemplation and reflection upon the past, and in that spirit we're taking a look back at some of the best posts from over the lifespan of Ask WoW Insider. Now that we're all older and wiser -- who *did* end up being the top PvP classes at 70? Best duo for PvP or grinding"What team of classes make the best duo for PVP or for grinding?" Top PvP classes at level 70Just after Burning Crusade came out, we speculated on which classes would dominate in PvP. Were we right? Would you change the answer you gave then? Best ways to make money in Burning Crusade"What are some good ways of making money for levels 60-70 in Burning Crusade? Are there people making money from jewelcrafting yet, should I pick that up? What about good mobs to grind or drops that sell well to vendors or on the AH?" Best way to get instance invites"What are your tips and tricks for convincing a group you've got the goods despite not having seen the inside of the dungeon?" Why are you overpowered?"Dig deep, self-examine and admit it: what makes your class overpowered?" How's WoW performance on a Mac?"I play Wow on a PC, and am looking towards a new computer purchase. One thing that influences my purchase is how well WoW will run on my new computer. I'm leaning towards a Mac, but how well does WoW run on a Mac?" Best way to power level alts"What's your strategy for the quickest power leveling? How do you maximize your time with your alts?" How would you design your own battleground?"What if you could design your own battleground? What would you do different or better than what is currently in the game?" When is it fair to upgrade an epic?"All DKP ideas aside, when is it fair to upgrade an epic over an epic?" Best healing class"Which class would you roll for a purely healing role? Which would you roll for a powerfully healing hybrid who might want to take on other roles from time to time? Relatedly, which healing class is the worst?" Best DPS class"Which classes can dish out the most DPS and which ones make the least amount of DPS?" Favorite WoW podcasts"There are a ton of WoW-themed podcasts out there now -- which would you recommend? What are your favorites?" Great ding stories"Any fun or interesting stories to tell about hitting the level cap? Or more generally, any memorable or unusual dings at any level?" We see that look in your eye, and we know it means you want to send us questions. Ask WoW Insider needs 'em -- send them to us at ask AT wowinsider DOT com!
WoW Battle Chest on its way
In a move that surprises everyone who wasn't familiar with Blizzard before WoW, a WoW Battle Chest has been announced. It will include WoW, Burning Crusade, and the "official" BradyGames strategy guides for both. The best part is the price: $39.99 MSRP, which is about what BC by itself is going for most places. The games will ship on DVD. Needless to say, this will be a great product for getting new players into the game, or for getting yourself another account. It will start shipping on October 2. Blizzard has made a Battle Chest for each of its previous franchises, so this one was probably inevitable, but is no less welcome for that.
