Worldwide-Invitational
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WoW Moviewatch: The Frozen Chronicles
We tried to hold out for Azerothian Super Villains - Episode 6, but it wasn't released in time for us to blog it this morning. In the meantime, we have a mystery machinimator on our hands! Ram, the creator of The Frozen Chronicles, registered for Vimeo in May, has no Warcraftmovies account, and barely uploaded the video anywhere. What we do know is that he submitted it to Blizzard's Worldwide Invitational machinima contest.In all actuality, this short film is as much of a mystery as the creator is. Regardless of the plot, which was not mentioned in English or their native French, it is an amazing film. It looks like a sequel may be in the works as well!If you have any suggestions for WoW Moviewatch, you can mail them to us at machinima AT wowinsider DOT com.Previously on Moviewatch ...
Totem Talk: What you will and will not be
Totem Talk, the column for shamans, was hit right between the eyes with news from the Worldwide this weekend. Matthew Rossi, our intrepid columnist, tries to make sense of it all this week.Okay, I know we're behind on the Kara gear articles, but this weekend's news from the Worldwide Invitational was too much for me to ignore. Both for all the awesome news for shamans and for what it all doesn't mean. (And yes, I had to steal Mike's image from the roundup post... I even went out and bought that statue I like it so much.) Since we know the Beta Opt-In is live and the Wrath beta can't be far away, I thought we should spend some time discussing what we just found out.I admit that part of the reason for wanting to discuss this in detail is that I am stoked about it. Some of you readers are, in fact, very good for providing a bucket of cold water in the form of reality checking, and I expect you to do me that service now. But maybe we're all excited, which would be awesome, for shamans to once all be excited.I know Hex is the greatness, but what it isn't is real CC for five man instances. It's a panic button, like so many other shaman abilities can be, not a long-term solution. To use hex as CC in an instance in the manner of Polymorph, you'd have to renew it every ten seconds. You're taking yourself out of DPSing entirely if you intend to use it that way, basically. Make no mistake, it's a great ability and great utility for the class, but it's more akin to Cyclone than Sap or Poly. What, you may well be turning to me to ask, is it good for then if it's not going to be good for CCing in instances?
WoW Moviewatch: The Scarlet Thorn
For those of you that have complained about Baron Soosdon's music videos that have no plot and are merely a bunch of color filters, this may be a breath of fresh air. The Scarlet Thorn, one of Baron's entries in Blizzard's Worldwide Invitational machinima contest, centers around Lady Sylvanas. While there is no dialogue in this epic movie about beating the Scarlet Crusaders to a bloody pulp, you can expect plenty of action![Via #machinima on Quakenet IRC]If you have any suggestions for WoW Moviewatch, you can mail them to us at machinima AT wowinsider DOT com.Previously on Moviewatch ...
The best of WoW Insider: June 24-July 1, 2008
Where can the world's biggest World of Warcraft fans go to talk with Blizzard devs, hear news about upcoming games, and dress up like Murlocs? Paris' Worldwide Invitational 2008, of course -- that's where WoW Insider was last weekend, and we've got a ton of news about everything WoW from the event, including Death Knight exclusives, new talents for Wrath of the Lich King, and coverage of all the panels and ceremonies. If you've ever played World of Warcraft, now's the time to go check WoW Insider -- odds are there's something new that'll remind you why you liked the game in the first place. News Worldwide Invitational Paris: The roundupEverything we posted from and about Blizzard's Worldwide Invitational event in Paris this last weekend. If you weren't there, read this, and you'll feel like you were (and it's a lot cheaper than a plane ticket). Hands on with WWI '08 Death Knight demoWe actually play, for the first time, the first new class implemented in the game since launch. WWI '08 Costume Contest galleryLet's face it, the real reason you go to these nerdy events is to see the wacky cosplayers. Here they are. Blizzard unveils Diablo 3What were you doing last Saturday morning at 4:30am? Sleeping? We were compiling information on Blizzard's newest game. Blizzard's splash screen changes for June 27thOf course now, we know it was all for Diablo 3, but last week, we were still guessing our hearts out as to what the splash screen ice meant. Features Arena Season 4: Brutal GladiatorSeason 4 started last week, and we've got the most definitive guide on the Internet for what to spend your Honor on. Midsummer Fire Festival quest guidesAll the news coming out of Paris might have distracted you, but we didn't forget: the Midsummer Fire Festival is live on the realms. The Care and Feeding of Warriors: Titan's Grip!Yes, Warriors can do in Wrath what we never though possible: wield a two-hander in one hand. Blizzard Authenticator introduced at the Worldwide InvitationalBlizzard is selling a physical key, to make sure the only person who signs into your account is you. Two talent trees for the price of one?We dip into one of the most underrated pieces of news coming out of WWI: could Blizzard be making it easier for players to respec?
WoW Insider Show, Episode 44: Live from Paris (kind of)
Excellent podcast this week, if I do say so myself. Last Saturday, right smack dab in the middle of the Worldwide Invitational, I took to the virtual airwaves with Duncor of WoW Radio, and Matthew Rossi and John "BigBearButt" Patricelli of WoW Insider, and we chatted about all of the news coming out of the Worldwide Invitational. On this show, which is now live on WoW Radio, you can hear us talk about: What Turpster is up to -- we talked live with him directly from Paris about what he thought of the convention and what he'd seen out there. The announcement of Diablo 3, and what is isn't (an MMO or a console game) All the class changes that we saw on Saturday, including Warriors' Titan's Grip, Shamans' Hex, and Warlocks' Demonform, and what they meant for each class. And finally, what Blizzard meant exactly by that little talent trees comment they threw in on one of the panels. It's a rip-roaring show, and no matter what you love to do in the World of Warcraft, Matthew, John and Duncor definitely hit on a topic that will interest you. Definitely give it a listen, and don't forget to subscribe in iTunes if you want to get the podcast sent to you automatically every week.Unfortunately, we didn't get a chance to hit on any email because of all the amazing WWI news, but that's OK, because we'll just talk about twice as much of it next week. If you want to ask a question or have a comment for us, drop us a note at theshow@wow.com, and you might even hear it on next week's show. We do this every Saturday at 3:30pm over on WoW Radio, so tune in next week to hear more commentary and insight about all the news from the last week of WoW.
WoW Moviewatch: Video Games Live
If you missed the live stream of the 2008 Blizzard Worldwide Invitational closing ceremony, you'll probably be regretting it right about now. They brought back Video Games Live, a group that works with local orchestras and choirs to perform music from video games, to play a montage of Blizzard's greatest music from games such as Warcraft, Starcraft, Diablo, and WoW. It was so amazing that I immediately bought tickets for VGL's upcoming performance in Austin!If you have any suggestions for WoW Moviewatch, you can mail them to us at machinima AT wowinsider DOT com.Previously on Moviewatch ...
How I learned to stop worrying and love Cyclone
You'd have expected a little more in-depth Arena discussion from the Blizzard Worldwide Invitational. You'd have been wrong, but you'd have expected it. We've covered the new Arena maps, but something from the Question and Answer periods really stuck out for me. What's the future of the Arena going to be like...for crowd control? Should we expect more, less, or about the same? What's going to happen to that naughty little Cyclone?The answer from Tom Chilton was predictable -- without crowd control in its various forms, Arena matches become little more than DPS races. Crowd control (and its cousin line of sight) helps Arena fights take a little longer, and introduces viable strategies that are based all around controlling the other team. (As opposed to just blowing them to heck.) But the forums are alive - alive! - with complaints about Cyclone, Sap, Sheep, and hell, even Scatter Shot. No sir, folks don't like crowd control. Often, it seems like they'd rather get killed than sheeped.I think it comes down to a pretty basic thing -- we have fun in these games by controlling our characters. Anything that jeopardizes the control of our characters on either a short-term or a long-term basis is therefore anathema. No one wants to stand there, helpless, while some Rogue performs their billionth stun on you. It seems to me (in my rosy-glassed retrospect) that we heard less complaints about insta-kill POM+Pyro than we do about a 3 second stun. Your mileage may vary, but I think until Blizzard finds some way around that dichotomy -- CC is good for interesting fights, bad for fun -- we're going to continue to see tumultuous forum fights about the issue. I'm forced to agree with Chilton -- crowd control adds a layer of strategy and depth to the tactics of the Arena. Still, I hope they do something about it.
WoW Insider brings the Blizzard Worldwide Invitational to your door
This past weekend Blizzard's Worldwide Invitational, also known as "BlizzCon Europe", had PC gaming fans throwing up the horns. Massively's sister site WoW Insider was onhand with pen, camera, and laptop from keynote to closing shop. World of Warcraft news was plentiful, of course, with a huge amount of information revealed about the upcoming Wrath of the Lich King expansion. If you read one writeup, you should probably tackle the Developer's Panel. Class changes, big picture ideas and more are all covered in that one talk. There's also some great information for raiders in the Dungeon discussion, and a lot of promising talk about PvP for those folks.Every class got a mini-Christmas, with plenty of love for Death Knight fans, Shaman raiders, and every single Hunter out there. We also recommend checking out the goodie bag, Turpster's hilarious interpretive dance, and (if you're into that sort of thing) there was some big non-MMO news dropped at the event's keynote. Check it out.
Worldwide Invitational Paris: The roundup
var digg_url = 'http://digg.com/pc_games/The_best_of_WoW_dev_panels_at_the_Paris_Invitational'; Happy Monday morning everyone! If you're a fan of World of Warcraft, chances are you heard about the big old shindig Blizzard threw in Paris this week. If you didn't a chance to get to Paris this year or catch any of the news over the weekend, you'll want to keep reading. We had a crack team on the convention floor, and more of us watching the live feeds all weekend, all working hard to deliver up to date reports and analysis. What that means for you is that this is the perfect place to catch up on all the WoW news from Paris. This handy list will direct you to exactly where you want to go to get the information you need. Liveblogs and other event reporting: Opening Ceremony liveblog: If you haven't heard yet, there was a pretty big announcement at this one. Developer's Class Panel: There's a little something for every class in here. Find out what's coming for your favorite character! Q&A Grab Bag Panel: See what WWI attendees had on their minds, and how the developers answered. Dungeons and raids panel: See what's next in the Caverns of Time, Ulduar, and more. Don't forget to check out parts two, three, and four for the whole scoop. PvP panel: Find out about Lake Winterspring, siege engines, Arenas, Battlegrounds, and pretty much everything except class balance. Includes pictures! Be sure to check parts two, three, and four as well. Arena Tournament, day 1: Amanda Dean breaks down the results. Notes from the costume contest: See how creative your fellow fans are -- includes pictures! The goodie bag: Even in real life, we like our epic loot. Let us show you the swag. Of course, if the flood of liveblog information makes your head spin, no worries, we have analysis on every angle and every little tidbit discussed during the Invitational. Check them out after the break.
WWI08: Lore and art in Diablo 3
At Blizzard's recent Worldwide Invitational, Diablo 3's World Designer Leonard Boyarsky and Art Director Brian Morrisroe got on stage in front of a crowd hungry for details on Blizzard's latest project to talk about combining art and lore to expand the world give the player a deeper and more engaging experience. Diablo is a unique fantasy universe in that instead of having Dwarves and Elves, it has Angels and Demons. The game's setting makes it a dark fantasy environment that the previous games had only scratched the surface of.%Gallery-26348%
WWI08: Lore and art in Diablo 3 (Part 2 - Q&A)
Q&A with Leo and Brian Q: In the end of Diablo 2 we went to hell, killed him, smashed his Soulstone and essence of him, Bael, Maphesto ... how do we justify him coming back? Leo: You don't know for sure that Diablo is coming back. [Ed: ... !] We don't want to divulge too much of the story, we just want to say that it will be entertaining when you come to it. Q: In previous game you had quests to achieve to get, say the Horadric Cube. Will there be similar quests? Will we be able to get the Horadric Cube again? Leo: The way the process works is we look into the story, look into the lore, and we want that to drive the gameplay and drive the quests. I can say there will be quests related to lore. In Diablo 2 they didn't just set out to say "let's make this great cube," it came out of the design process.%Gallery-26348%
WWI08: New WoW arenas, nonlinear dungeons and goodie bags
For the World of Warcraft fans who might've missed some coverage today, here are some of the highlights, care of WoW Insider: Check out these awesome goodie bags A look at Lake Wintergrasp, a non-instanced Battleground, as well as new arena maps from the PvP panel From the Dungeons and Raids panel, we learned about the return of nonlinear dungeons in Wrath of the Lich King. A video recap of the first day of WWI, with some good footage of the costume and dance contest (start at 1:45 for that) Did we mention awesome goodie bags? Gallery: Worldwide Invitational goodie bag Gallery: Worldwide Invitational 2008
WWI08: Diablo 3 design fundamentals
var digg_url = 'http://digg.com/pc_games/Diablo_3_design_fundamentals'; At the Blizzard Worldwide Invitational in Paris, Blizzard designers took to the stage to talk about the design goals and fundamentals behind their upcoming title, Diablo III. Jay Wilson, lead designer on the title, presented a rundown of the design philosophy behind the game, covering its origins, the game's approchability, and the design team's "better gameplay, less carpal tunnel" approach.%Gallery-26348%
Nonlinear dungeons return in Wrath
To me, one of the most exciting parts of this morning's Dungeons and Raids panel at the WWI is the fact that they're going to add more nonlinear elements to five man dungeons. Thank Uther! As far as time it takes to complete dungeons, The Burning Crusade was a massive improvement, but I couldn't help but feel something major was lost when they all amounted to pull-drink-pull with solid hallways guiding you straight forward. I really started to miss places like Blackrock Depths.The Caverns of Time was a gloriously refreshing change from that, and I'm glad they took something out of that poll they did awhile back. The previews of The Occulus and Caverns of Time: Stratholme were fantastic, and that nonlinearity is one of the best parts, easily. Even though you will probably have killed all of the same bosses in the end that you would have if the dungeon were linear, just in a different order, having choices available and environments that aren't simply enclosed hallways that go in one direction really brings a place to life. It's hard to believe that the Botanica is just one really long constant hallway, for example.Here's hoping that these elements extend beyond Old Stratholme and The Occulus, and Wrath will bring dungeons back to life.
WWI '08 Notes from the PvP panel
var digg_url = 'http://digg.com/pc_games/The_future_of_PvP_in_WoW_Notes_from_the_WWI_08_dev_panel'; Here at WoW Insider, we pride ourselves on bringing you the latest, greatest news about the World of Warcraft we all know and love. (You haven't all gone off to play Diablo, have you?) What this means is that we crawled out of bed at what our watch says was three in the morning, even though by local Paris time it was already mid-morning under a sunny sky. We've fought our ways through crowds at the Worldwide Invitational to bring you a front-row seat to today's PvP panel, starting shortly. For the latest updates on the game's PvP system -- right from the developers! -- keep reading for live updates from the panel.
Joystiq chats with Jay Wilson on Diablo 3
click to embiggen var digg_url = 'http://digg.com/pc_games/Diablo_3_s_Jay_Wilson_talks_Deckard_Cain_cows_co_op'; The buzz here at the Paris Expo Porte de Versailles is all about Diablo 3. When will we have a playable demo? When can we expect a release? Blizzard, of course, isn't willing to commit to a date other than their standard "when it's done" answer: What classes are going to be available? Blizzard's answer: we're not ready to talk about that. Will there be a cow level? Blizzard's answer... well, more on that later. Joystiq had a chance to catch up with Diablo 3's lead designer Jay Wilson (whom you may know from his work on a little game called Dawn of War) and pick his brain about how he got on the Diablo 3 project, what's in store for Battle.net, and the secret cow level.%Gallery-26348%
Blizzard's WWI 2008 costume and dance contest
The Murloc costume above only placed second in Blizzard's Worldwide Invitational 2008 costume contest. Interested to see what came in first? Check out WoW Insider's gallery of the costume (and dance!) contest, complete with their own colorful commentary. Gallery: WWI08 Costume and Dance Contest When you get through with that, be sure to check out their major gallery of the WWI event, including some hawt ogre-on-ogre action. Gallery: Worldwide Invitational 2008
WWI '08 Day 1 roundup
We had bloggers onsite for Day 1 at the Worldwide Invitational 2008 in Paris. Elizabeth Harper, Turpster, and Jennie Lees were all in France to provide in-depth coverage with liveblogging, pictures, and videos, and our entire staff was back here in the US to break out the analysis and coverage of the live streams. Here's a roundup of all the posts from Day 1.Liveblogging Opening ceremony Developer's panel Q&A with Developer's Panel Analysis by Class Death Knight Druid Hunter Mage Paladin Priest Rogue Shaman Warlock Warrior Analysis by Topic Diablo 3 Announcement Gear resets High expectations Linux Raid buffs Talent trees Media WoW Insider podcast Gallery: Diablo 3 Gallery: Splash screen speculation Gallery: A first look at the WWI digs Movie: Turpster talks to people waiting in line for WWI Movie: Turpster amok in Paris UPDATE: A round up of our entire weekend of coverage can be found here!%Gallery-26320%
WWI '08 Panel: Mage
Well. At first, it didn't seem to me like Tom Chilton had as much news for Mages at the first WWI dev panel as he did for other classes, but one of the Q&A dialogues did reveal a nice vision for our future.The most common news being reported, of course, is the new "bolt" spell -- the Frostfire bolt. This is a direct damage nuke that's a mix of "fire" and "ice" damage types, and will help circumvent the resistances of certain bosses who have an affinity for an element. Eh. I mean, that's great and all, but it doesn't really speak to any retooling or massive re-vamp at the ways Mages need help.However, during the Q&A, one of the audience members was a lot more pointed. Now that everyone seems to have their own spammable crowd control, he askes, what's being done to bring Mages back to a more unique role?The answer was awesome. Simply put, if everyone's doing crowd control, then Mages are going to be buffed in their hallmark: raw, unadulterated damage. Especially since Seed of Corruption shines against our AE damage ability, Chilton says we should expect to see our overall damage output increased.Does this mean Mages will become the epitome of WoW DPS? Mm, I'm not holding my breath - but at least in terms of putting us back in a vital, noticeable role, the future looks hopeful. Stay tuned as we continue to cover the WWI event, and try and bring the best (and worst) news available.
WWI '08 Panel: Paladin (UPDATED)
There weren't very many exciting things for Paladins at the Worldwide Invitational Panel earlier today, and this reflects the development we've seen leak out from the Wrath of the Lich King Alpha. The sneak peek of the Alpha showed that while most classes have proposed talents and abilities mapped out, there's still very little work done for Paladins. This doesn't mean Blizzard isn't thinking about the class, though. In fact, from the few things they've mentioned, it looks like they're moving in the right direction. Confirming something the Paladin community has known for quite some time now -- Retribution itemization blows is very poor. They're moving itemization for Retribution Paladins to share items with Death Knights and Warriors. This means future Retribution items will have no Intellect on them... could this herald some Strength as mana mechanic? UPDATE: Also on the Retribution Paladin front, Blizzard mentioned during the Q&A that Retadins will have their group utility increased by making them more efficient DPS-wise. No details on exactly how, but this little bit of information should send a thrill down the spine of every 2-hander swinging Paladin out there. Hand of Purity is a new "reactive healing" spell for Paladins, something that the oft-maligned 'two-button healers' sorely need. It will work as a clutch Prayer of Mending-type spell. Will it be instant cast? As the two staple heals of a Paladin unenviably have casting times, maybe this new spell will actually be something to thank the Light for. Having another healing spell to cast during encounters should be a real blessing. Speaking of blessings, overlapping Blessings have always been a problem with Paladin support, with active Blessings like Blessing of Freedom and Protection overwriting passive Blessings already on the target like Blessing of Kings. Blizzard plans to allow these spells to be non-exclusive and rename them. Not much, but it definitely addresses existing issues. These changes aren't as exciting as a Warlock's Demon Form (or Illidanform, as Blizzard staffers jokingly call it), or a Warrior's Titan's Grip, the changes show that Blizzard knows what's wrong with the class and is serious about fixing it. So while there hasn't been any major news like a new tanking tree for Hunters or greater Arena viability for Priests, we're hoping to see more exciting stuff for Paladins! WoW Insider is on the ground in Paris at the Blizzard Invitational bringing you the big announcements and latest Wrath news as it happens. Check out our latest coverage!
