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World map quest markers are good news for Loremasters in Mists of Pandaria
Completionists have lots of ways to obsess with the advent of achievements, especially those who simply must complete every quest -- the fastidious Loremasters of Azeroth. The really hardcore Loremasters have used mods to help them track what quests they have or haven't completed, but now Blizzard is giving them a new leg up when questing in Pandaria. It was a little easier to keep track of your progress in Cataclysm's largely linear zones, but Pandaria's zones offer you more freedom in what you're completing and when. To that end, the world map now shows you nearby quests on the world map. It isn't zone-wide, but it does work in a fairly large radius around you, so if you're flying or riding around and check your map periodically, you can see any unclaimed and available quests. It's worth noting that Pandaria's Loremaster achievements are based on quest lines completed, not an actual number of quests, but this should definitely help you track down each story to add that tick to your achievement. It's open warfare between Alliance and Horde in Mists of Pandaria, World of Warcraft's next expansion. Jump into five new levels with new talents and class mechanics, try the new monk class, and create a pandaren character to ally with either Horde or Alliance. Look for expansion basics in our Mists FAQ, or dig into our spring press event coverage for more details!
Breakfast Topic: What feature does WoW need most?
This Breakfast Topic has been brought to you by Seed, the Aol guest writer program that brings your words to WoW Insider's pages. Grandpappy Frostheim would probably say that we, the mass of WoW players, have more options, features, sparkly things, humdingers and thing-a-ma-jigs to help us play than ever before -- and he would be right. But I don't believe that should mean there aren't more features and upgrades to our interface and experience that would improve things even further. Just in the past year or so, Blizzard has added a ton to our interfaces, including an improved built-in quest helper, built-in power auras, and the remote auction house. These all are great "quality of life" improvements for the majority of players. The remote auction house is one of my favorite new features, as playing the AH is as fun as many other parts of the game for me. I had heard rumors before the remote auction house was released that you'd be able to use your crafting professions remotely as well. This would have enabled me to buy on the AH, craft gear or cut gems, and then sell my finished product, all remotely. I'm sure this would bring me a lot closer to being gold-capped. Oh well, I can dream, can't I? Most everyone has some idea they feel could be added to improve the gaming experience. Are you one of those still hungering for the dance studio, or is there some other feature you think WoW really needs?
Turbine bears proof of fan-power in LotRO
"Powered by our fans" is the well-known motto of Turbine, quoted ad infinitum by said fans, both as proof of a company that understands and a company that's fallen out of touch. While gamers debate this, the devs stand by the company's efforts to keep in touch with what their players want and to deliver it to them. In a recent post on the Lord of the Rings Online forums, "TheStormKing" challenged Turbine to provide clear examples of how player suggestions have made an impact on the game. The answer was a bit shocking and awesome -- Sapience came back with a massive list off the top of his head of changes made to LotRO because of demands and ideas by the playerbase. These included revamping mounts, housing, fishing, shared storage, new travel routes, being able to skip the tutorial, the quest tracker, UI customization, the Rift skirmish and a whole lot more. You can read the whole list here, and see whether it gives credence to Turbine's motto. And if you ever wondered whether devs played the same game the players do, Sapience sets the record straight on that as well: "Someone asked if I play. Yes I do (and have for a long time, even before I started working for Turbine). My entire family does. Between us we have almost every class to 65." [Thanks Lotro Weekly!]
WoW Rookie: Questing 101
New around here? WoW Rookie points WoW's newest players toward the basics of a good start. See all our collected tips, tricks and how-to's in the WoW Rookie Guide. The game begins at level 80. While there's a strong case to be made for this idea, there's no denying that quests are the meat and potatoes of World of Warcraft. WoW's massive web of quests propel its story line, overall game play and leveling experience. Over the years, Blizzard has adjusted leveling content to be faster and easier than ever before. Oddly enough, while it's fun to watch the levels fly by, the ease of leveling can make getting a handle on how to manage the never-ending flow of quests tricky to pin down. Fortunately, today's new players have more quest management tools than ever at their disposal. Quest addons and an in-game quest tracking feature take the guesswork out of finding and completing quest objectives. For some players, these aids are a godsend. Here at WoW Rookie, we recommend that first-timers level without too many extra bells and whistles. We suspect you'll enjoy solving the puzzles and tactics more on your own (you can always turn to a site like Wowhead for tips if you're really stuck), and you'll build your skills in navigation, game systems and conventions, WoW lore and so much more if you put the pieces together for yourself. That doesn't mean we don't have plenty of tips on how to make that process more enjoyable. Following the lead of our fantastic Class 101 series for fresh level 80 players, welcome to Questing 101.
Quest tracker sends you on a RL quest line
It was bound to happen. Jokes and lists about "you know you've been playing too much [your MMO] when..." abound. Suggestions for balancing your real life with gaming are almost as numerous. They're truth in jest, sometimes hitting a little too close to home because -- let's be honest -- who has not procrastinated on something like taking out the trash until they just kill one last boss or wrap up one last quest? On the other hand, there's a potential for an upside to the real life/gaming crossover. For example, one particularly awesome teen got in great shape by applying gaming principles to his life. Treating his goals and challenges like a game -- "your score has to be high at the end of the day" -- took him pretty far and it was only a matter of time before someone else picked up on the idea. Meet the real-life quest tracker. This clever little tool lets you add quests, sort them into categories, keep up with their completion status, and even add your own quest summaries. It's a free download, and all ready for you to use. Quest rewards are entirely up to you, of course. Bonus points if you pick up every pop culture reference in the example.
Lost Pages of Taborea: Runes of Magic addons
I have no idea why some MMOs don't support addons. I love the ability to alter my gaming experience and change the way my user interface looks. They are great, free programs to change how you interact online whether to reduce annoyance, change how game features work or just to liven up your screen. Why wouldn't you want an MMO to have that ability? I've been hooked on addons since the Runes of Magic community first started making them. I spend countless hours using them to tweak my user interface, on top of having ones that are actually functional. If you didn't know that RoM supports addons or don't know which ones to try, then allow me to breakdown some of the more popular ones for you.
Patch 3.3: Blizzard previews new quest tracking UI
Looks like the newly-renamed Dungeon Finder isn't the only new UI feature we have to look forward to in Patch 3.3 -- Blizzard just released an official preview of its new Quest Tracking feature, and it looks great. It seems to have a number of the features that ZorbaTHut's great QuestHelper addon does, which follows Blizzard's pattern of poaching the best third-party UIs for use in the stock UI. Our UI whiz Gregg Reece covered the feature briefly last week, based on what was active on the PTR. For those who haven't fiddled with it, new additions to the UI include: Enhanced World Map: The large world map is now separated into four active panes. Quests are automatically tracked on the map and listed to its side. The quest log entry for the selected quest is located below the map. Areas of Interest: Shows what area on the map your quest's points of interest can be found, represented with a blue polygon. If mobs populate a large area, the map will indicate it. If you need to find one specific doodad, that'll be on there too. If there are multiple spawn areas for a mob or doodad, the map will automatically locate the one closest to you. Pop-out Map: Players can utilize a smaller zone map outside of the normal full-screen map to track progress and get their bearings. Better Tracking: Tracked quests outside the map will now indicate your progress with a number for items found or mobs killed and will indicate whether you've already completed it. And more! The main thing I notice is missing (so far) is the arrow that indicates where you should head next on the World Map, like QuestHelper or Carbonite, but who knows if that'll even make it in. Blizzard says that the new UI will work with nearly every quest in the game, regardless of type. You can check out the official preview here. %Gallery-77572% Patch 3.3 is the last major patch of Wrath of the Lich King. With the new Icecrown Citadel 5-man dungeons and 10/25-man raid arriving soon, patch 3.3 will deal the final blow to Arthas. WoW.com's Guide to Patch 3.3 will keep you updated with all the latest patch news.
Patch 3.3 PTR: New UI function lists completed quests
Over on the WoW LJ community, poster Honem has pointed out something that made me sort of squeal with glee when I first read it: The latest PTR build includes a couple very interesting new functions, as reported by official forum MVP Iriel: NEW - QueryQuestsCompleted() requests that the server send the client a list of completed quest ids. Once the list is received the QUEST_QUERY_COMPLETE event is fired. (There is a limit on how frequently this can be called) NEW - tbl = GetQuestsCompleted([tbl]) populates a table (creating one if necessary) with the ids of completed quests.
