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BlizzCon 2013: World of Warcraft Adventure Continues Q&A
The World of Warcraft: The Adventure Continues panel during Friday's action-packed BlizzCon featured Lead Narrative Designer Dave Kosak giving a short presentation on the story behind the new expansion, Warlords of Draenor. Along with the history lesson, which was summed up by Matthew Rossi, the panel also featured a brief Q&A session that wasn't advertised in the program, but proved to be a pretty good list of questions and answers about the new expansion and what we can expect to see. Along with some clarifications on whether or not this is a time travel expansion (it isn't), there are also a few new lore reveals regarding the next expansion, and some tasty tidbits of odds and ends that have yet to be addressed. Read on for the full list of questions -- some of the answers may surprise you.
Warlords of Draenor: 5 cool things you may have missed at BlizzCon 2013
There has been so much news over the past few days that it can be difficult to keep up. I'm still finding little bits of information here or there that I managed to miss amidst the onslaught. Here are a few interesting things that may have slipped under your radar. 1. The in-game group finder is being expanded No, I'm not talking about random matchmaking with the dungeon finder. I am talking about Blizzard's answer to the oQueue addon. According to Ghostcrawler in the gameplay and systems panel, they recognize this is a feature players really want, so they've decided to add it to to the base game. You'll be able to create and browse for groups of all types and sizes. Want to PUG a cross-realm RBG team? No problem. Want to set up a group to do an achievement run in Icecrown Citadel? You can do that. Maybe your guild raid group is short a healer and you're looking for another? This is all possible since normal mode raids (soon to be heroic mode) will work cross-realm out of the gate. Blizzard would prefer if you pugged and made new friends rather than use random matchmaking, so they've added a new mechanic called "stacking the deck" which will earn you bonus valor for every member of your group who isn't added via random matchmaking. Random matchmaking via dungeon finder and raid finder will still exist, of course.
BlizzCon 2013: Reaper of Souls Hands-on gameplay impressions
At BlizzCon 2013, I was lucky enough to sit down at one of Blizzard's demo machines and play through the first part of the new Diablo 3 Reaper of Souls expansion as the new class, the Crusader. This article will have some spoilers for the new content, so if you're trying to avoid that, beware. Crusading The demo character was a male Crusader, set at level 33. He came with a few powers preset, which I used for the demo. For the left mouse button, a single target Slash attack struck the enemy with holy power. For the right button, Fist of the Heavens sent a huge beam of Holy Energy from the heavens around the Crusader, followed up by electric bolts that split off and attacked any enemies still standing. This right click, of course, cost Wrath, which is the Crusader's resource and regenerates like a combination of a rogue's energy and a death knight's runic power from WoW.
Breakfast Topic: Do we need to re-customize our characters with the new models?
There have been some concerns from a few players about their character changing to the point where they will no longer recognize them. In short, they would like to have the option of a free re-customization with the new models so they can make sure their character's personality remains intact. In a BlizzCon interview, Tom Chilton mentioned that there are currently no plans to do this because it's their goal to make the models as true to the spirit of the originals as possible. Bashiok Again I think it's just way too early to make a determination, and Tom certainly didn't give a definite answer. Our artists are going to extreme lengths to ensure the new models and animations embody (kyuck knyuck?) what you know and love about your characters. Our hope (and Tom's point) is that you log in, go AWESOME, and enjoy playing your character that still looks and moves and acts like your character - just at a much higher fidelity. If it comes down to it and we just totally miss the mark I'm sure we'd at least seriously consider offering a chance to pick something else. But again, too early to say for sure. source
BlizzCon 2013 Impressions: CCed in the BlizzCon experience
The woman who approached our lunch table seemed friendly but slightly uncomfortable. "Excuse me, but do you work for Blizzard?" she asked with a tentative smile. Her brother, she went on to explain, had once known somebody who supposedly went on to the work there, but she didn't know the first thing about the game and had no idea if that was true or what he did there. We exchanged a quick glance -– incoming story about someone who once tested a Blizzard game, am I right? -– and continued to munch on our salads while nodding and making polite noises. "So what's your friend's name?" inquired the ever-personable Michael Gray. "Chris Metzen," she replied almost apologetically. "Is he ... somebody?" Our friendly local storyteller (who preferred to remain anonymous –- but my report here on the BlizzCon experience wouldn't be complete if I didn't share her story with you) went on to share a tale of growing up across the street from the Metzen family here in Southern California, where her brother played T-ball with the pint-sized future rock star of Blizzard. The thing she remembered most about "little Chris," as she called him, was the game in which he executed his task as catcher so enthusiastically that he found himself caught in the netting behind the plate -– CCed so completely, in fact, that the team's parents had to come cut him out with scissors. Everybody all together now: Awwww ... (/grin) All these years later, we find ourselves happily CCed in the net cast by Little Chris himself, the World of Warcraft of his imagination. And back at BlizzCon, our lunchtime encounter with a friendly SoCal native encapsulates the spirit of the BlizzCon weekend -- people brought together by Blizzard's games. You won't find any reveals about the expansion in this BlizzCon roundup, but if you're interested in some of the faces and places seen around the convention all weekend, read on!
Blizzcon 2013: Diablo III Reaper of Souls class and systems panel
On the second day of BlizzCon 2013, the Diablo 3 team hosted a gameplay systems panel in which they covered some of the new systems coming to the Reaper of Souls expansion, including not only the Crusader class, but information on changes for the existing classes and some of the new itemization tweaks we can expect to see in Loot 2.0. Crusading for a new class The first section of the panel introduced the new class, the Crusader. Designing a new class is one of the most complex tasks in an RPG, but it starts with a simple concept. In this case, the team wanted a righteous paladin type, which would work as a good answer to Malthael, the angel of death and main villain of Reaper of Souls. The idea came together of having a dark paladin, full of righteous wrath, a "knight in battle-scarred armor" to stand for humanity in its darkest hour. This lead to concept art. They knew they wanted the Crusader to be bulky and blocky, but it took many weeks of reiterations before they settled on the look of today, with the shield, the flail, and the tabard.
BlizzCon 2013: Ranked play changes coming to Hearthstone
In all of the Warlords of Draenor madness at BlizzCon 2013, Hearthstone news fell just a little off of our radar. Now that we've had time to get most of the Warcraft news out there, however, it's about time we give Hearthstone a little love. The Hearthstone developers have announced that a new ranked play system is in the works. The new system has a total of 25 ranks, each represented by a Hearthstone minion, the lowest being Angry Chicken. As you win matches, you'll progress through the ranks -- and unlike in the current version of the game, it will be possible to lose rank if you lose too many matches. If you win many games in a row, you will rank up faster than you normally would. At the highest rank, known as Legend, you'll be able to see what your rank within that rank is in comparison to others at that level. While you might be at the highest rank the game provides, you can still compete to become the best of the best. There are additional rewards coming sometime after the release of the new ranked system. Earlier today we mentioned the card skins, cosmetic customization options for your deck. Further, the developers are also adding "gold" version of heroes -- after 500 wins in ranked play with a hero, you'll unlock an animated version of that hero, adding prestige to your deck of choice.
Flying mounts may not be allowed in Draenor until patch 6.1
In episode 347 of The Instance podcast, which was recorded at BlizzCon in front of a big crowd, Ghostcrawler was kind enough to answer some fan questions live on the podcast. The topic of transportation in Draenor came up and he revealed that Blizzard wants to delay flying as much as possible, and has even considered delaying it until patch 6.1. Their goal is to have Draenor feel like a very dangerous place. The comparison Ghostcrawler used was Fel Reavers in Outland, only instead of Fel Reavers there will be giant Gronn like the ones seen in the Warlords of Draenor trailer. Situations like that are much less dangerous when you can just hop on your drake and fly away. The topic comes up at 58:30 in the podcast for those interested, but the entire episode is worth a listen.
BlizzCon 2013: New card skins coming to Hearthstone
At BlizzCon 2013 this past weekend, the Hearthstone developers announced a new way to customize your decks: card backs, also called "card sleeves" among the TCG/CCG community. At the top of this post is one example, a Mists of Pandaria-themed card back. The specifics of how these card skins will be unlocked is still up in the air, but the current idea is that you will earn the art by playing/winning X number of matches per month. Once you earn the card skin, you'll have it permanently. New card backs will be released on a regular basis. When creating or editing a deck, you'll be able to choose which skin you want to use for that deck. Both you and your opponent will see the skin you use during gameplay, giving the playing field a more diverse, customized appearance. [via /r/hearthstone]
BlizzCon 2013 in photographs
BlizzCon might be over, but pictures last forever, or at least until something happens to our data center. Don't get any ideas. Hey, where are you going with that tornado?! Enjoy our view of the con! Massively's on the ground in Anaheim during the weekend of November 8th, bringing you all the best news from BlizzCon 2013. Whether you're anticipating World of Warcraft's and Diablo III's next expansions or reveals from Hearthstone and Heroes of the Storm, we aim to have it covered!
Classic Warcraft games, or 'something like that,' could be coming to modern PCs
Warcraft: Orcs and Humans and Warcraft 2: Tides of Darkness may be coming to modern machines, thanks to a small team at Blizzard. Polygon reports that during the World of Warcraft question-and-answer panel at this year's BlizzCon, Production Director J. Allen Brack said that replaying the original trilogy was something he'd "love" to do. "We actually have a guy on our team - actually several guys on our team - who are actually working on a side project to do something like that in some form or fashion," Brack told a fan who asked if Blizzard had considered making the original trilogy compatible with modern computers. What form or fashion this will take isn't clear, however. It's also not clear if this "side project" will ever manifest as something available for the everyday gamer. Blizzard has a lot on their plate with a new card game, an upcoming Diablo 3 expansion and even a movie adaptation of the Warcraft franchise. So, they're kinda busy. Just a little bit.
New Warcraft movie details emerge from the fog of war (and BlizzCon)
A BlizzCon 2013 panel has revealed new details regarding Warcraft, the movie adaptation of Blizzard's epic tale of orc-on-human-on-elf-on-various-other-races violence. While we already knew that the movie is slated to wage war on our pitiful human theaters on December 18, 2015, we didn't know what time period the movie would take place in, or which characters fans could expect to see. Now we do. The movie will be an "origin story," according to director Duncan Jones, and will explore conflict from the perspectives of both humans and orcs. In other words, this is Warcraft, not World of Warcraft. Anduin Lothar, who led the Alliance in Warcraft 2: Tides of Darkness, will be the hero for the humans, while Durotan, father of Thrall, will be the hero for the orcs. Jones said at the panel that the story would be "about both sides," and described the tone as "red and blue" instead of good and evil. The film's visual effects director, Bill Westenhofer, said that the team plans to use a mix of live-action and CG effects to create a "gritty, muddy, down in the dirt, covered in grime" feel that he compared to Gladiator. "The swords that are being built are the biggest swords that a human can wield," Westenhofer said. And which humans will be wielding those swords?
Warlords of Draenor: Breed battle pets in your garrison
In the player garrisons coming in Warlords of Draenor, one of the medium-size construction options is the Pet Stable. While we were all initially uncertain as to its purpose, more has since been revealed. Below is an explanation from Cory Stockton's Twitter account. .@perksnpeeves @gloriaboboria current plan is you can merge two pets of the same family and pick the breed. Doing this gives chance at epic. - Cory Stockton (@mumper) November 10, 2013 Do note that he specified current plan. The expansion has just been announced. Many things will change before any beta phase. Even more will change before launch.
Why I don't hate Warlords of Draenor's level 90 boost
BlizzCon 2013 announced Warlords of Draenor and one of its highlighted features is the ability to instantly boost one of your characters to level 90 instantly. Though it is limited to one level 90 boost per Warlords of Draenor license, there is an interesting loophole, which I discussed in a previous post on this topic. To quote myself: If players want to boost an additional 90, there's nothing stopping them from purchasing a new World of Warcraft box, Warlords of Draenor license, and a character transfer to move additional, instant level 90s to their primary account. In an attempt to cut out the extraneous steps involved in that loophole, the Blizzard development team is considering simply allowing players to purchase extra boosts. Some like that idea. Some hate that idea. I'm one of those that does not hate it. I'd like to take a moment to explain why.
BlizzCon 2013: NVIDIA shows off ShadowPlay and G-Sync
While at BlizzCon, we took the time to check out the latest offerings from video card giant NVIDIA. And while a high-end graphics card can certainly improve the look and the framerate of WoW and other games, we were intrigued by a couple of new features NVIDIA was showing off: G-Sync and ShadowPlay. G-Sync is a new way for your monitor and your video card to talk to one another -- and though they aren't on store shelves just yet, you can expect monitors from brands like Asus and Phillips to have G-Sync built-in by early 2014. What's so important that it would be worth buying a new monitor for? G-Sync addresses framrerate differences between your monitor -- which refreshes at a fixed rate -- and your video card -- which doesn't. When your video card tries to send data to your monitor more quickly -- or more slowly -- than your monitor wants, you'll see graphical stuttering or tearing. Monitors with G-Sync work with your graphics card to keep things in, well, sync for a perfect graphical experience -- whether you're running at ideal 60FPS or dropping down to 20FPS in a crowded auction house.
BlizzCon 2013: Warlords of Draenor panels dish out details on raiding, garrisons, and more
BlizzCon 2013 continued on Saturday, hosting more panels and Q&A sessions that offered players additional details about World of Warcraft's newly announced Warlords of Draenor expansion. Designers working on the expansion held a Q&A session for fansites that dished out morsels of news from garrisons to looting to buying high-level characters. The Systems Panel, on the other hand, laid out more details about raiding, dungeons, gear, and the leveling experience.
BlizzCon 2013: Updates on the level 90-100 questing experience
Craig Amai, Lead Quest Designer, sat down with other developers on the WoW gameplay and systems panel to discuss the future of questing in Warlords of Draenor. We learned more about the level 90-100 experience as well as Blizzard's plans for max level PvE content outside of dungeons and raids. Level 90-100 questing There will be key story related quests in each zone involving major lore characters. The optional quests are entirely separate, so people who only want to progress through the zone's story have fewer quests to do and can instead get more of their XP in dungeons or elsewhere. There will be dynamic world events and treasures similar to the Timeless Isle while you are leveling. One example of a dynamic event: You encounter an Iron Horde caravan entrenched in the snow. It's being dug out by the escorts, and if you kill them you will be able to loot the chest on the caravan. All quests have a chance to grant rare or epic items as rewards.
BlizzCon 2013: Method vs. Midwinter live raid recap
Ion Hazzikostas, Lead Encounter Designer, and community manager Josh "Lore" Allen hosted this year's live raid where Midwinter (US Alliance) and Method (EU Horde) competed in the Siege of Orgrimmar on 25-player heroic mode. All of the raid trash was removed, and the bosses they had to fight were Sha of Pride, Kor'kron Dark Shaman, Malkorok, Siegecrafter Blackfuse, and Garrosh Hellscream. The race started out with Midwinter killing Sha of Pride a few seconds before Method, but things took a turn for the worse on the Kor'kron Dark Shaman where Midwinter experienced 4 wipes (one of them at only 3%). Eventually, Midwinter breezed through Malkorok and Siegecrafter Blackfuse with little difficulty, but their wipes gave Method the opportunity to kill the next two bosses and get several attempts in on Garrosh before killing him on attempt 3 to win the race. Congratulations to Method for the win!
Warlords of Draenor: Everything we know about Garrisons
During the World of Warcraft Raids, Gameplay, Questing, and More panel, Garrisons were explained in detail. All garrisons will come with four starting buildings: Town Hall: where you interact with your followers and conduct business in your garrison Mine Farm Fishing shack Garrisons start off with some plots into which other buildings can be placed. There are small, medium and large plots. Once all of the plots are filled, the next tier of plots will open up to be built upon up to three tiers.
BlizzCon 2013: Making the Burdens of Shaohao artists panel
Yesterday evening toward the end of the day at BlizzCon, this quiet panel took an in-depth look at the creation of "The Burdens of Shaohao," a six-part animation that tells the tale of Emperor Shaohao and how the mists were formed around Pandaria. The panel featured Lead Story Developer Micky Neilson, Art Director Doug Gregory, artist Laurel Austin, and cinematics editor Lucas Merino, but didn't begin until 6 o'clock, so attendance was fairly sparse. This is a shame, because the story behind the animation's creation is fascinating. If you couldn't attend the panel, you can check out this in-depth interview our own Anne Stickney conducted back in August with Micky Neilson and Doug Gregory about the animation. The panel was fairly similar, but the addition of Laurel Austin and Lucas Merino added some extra depth and perspective that's always interesting to hear.
