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WAR's new Zone Domination system in development
Without a doubt one of the liveliest people we know of in the MMO industry, Paul Barnett, put out a YouTube video this week in celebration of his birthday, and brought Warhammer Online devs Jeff Hickman and Colin Shannon in for some updates on the game. Perhaps the most interesting thing revealed is WAR's new Zone Domination system which is currently in the works. It's intended to supplement Warhammer Online's realm-vs.-realm system by providing more compelling ways to capture zones. Hickman says, "If you can capture everything in a zone and hold it, claiming the Keeps and dominate that zone, then you have a very good chance of capturing the zone." Or, as Barnett summarizes, Zone Domination will give players more reasons for defending and holding objectives.Colin Shannon also provides an update on the reduction of crashes in WAR, and there's (perhaps) a ray of hope mentioned at the end for having multiple items in the mail system. Check out the video embed below the cut for more on the state of the game, and what new features WAR players should be getting in a forthcoming patch.
Breakfast Topic: Would you join an "Anything Goes" realm?
Some of the commenters in yesterday's Breakfast Topic talked about how we were all adults and shouldn't be bothered by adult content. But we aren't all adults. Kids play this game -- and often it's teenagers who are the ones with the adult oriented chatter.We've discussed the concept of age restricted servers before and many have expressed that they would join them in an effort to escape what is perceived as underage offensive behavior. But what I'm proposing here is not an adult only realm to avoid adult content, but one that is age restricted because of the adult content.
Roll a Death Knight (almost) anywhere in 3.0.8
Oh, you poor unfortunate souls! Forced by the cruel silver hand of fate to roll a Death Knight only on realms on which you already have a level 55 character. You've cried out in pain as the lashes of this restriction struck you, and through the anguish you've yelled "Yo Blizz! Lemme roll my DK anywhere, aight?"Word. Big Blue's got your back. Starting with the launch of 3.0.8, you'll be able to roll a new Death Knight on any realm as long as you have a level 55 character somewhere. The normal restrictions for character creation are still in place, though--can't make an opposite-faction DK on a PVP server, can't roll a DK on a server closed to transfers unless you've got a 55 there already, etc. All fair!Before you ask why this feature wasn't implemented from the get-go, remember that it wasn't even very long ago that the developers were deciding "how is dk formed?" (though they did say that the restriction would be lifted soon after Wrath launched).So fret not, ye oppressed. Soon, your chains (of ice) will be broken.
New PTR build incoming
Maaven posted a short time ago that the 3.0.8 Public Test Realm (PTR) servers are being taken offline for an update tonight. There is no ETA when the PTRs will be back up.There was a recent update to the PTR patch notes, and there has been a lot of activity on the PTR forums from the blues. It should be noted that Ghostcrawler once again today reiterated that dual spec will not be unveiled in 3.0.8.There's a few of us here that will be up tonight, so check back and see what the new build brings. I'm placing my gold on more clam updates.
Free transfers and a new US realm
There was a ton of free transfers announced last night, hopefully some of this will have the effect of freeing up the long queues we've become used to lately.In addition to the normal transfers, a large block of PvE servers have the option to get a free transfer to a new realm, Garrosh.Garrosh is a PvE EST based US realm. It's been placed in the Emberstorm battlegroup. Blizzard's announcement lists next Wednesday, January 14th, at 6:00 p.m. PST as the cutoff date for the transfers. However they will close the transfers early if they meet their internal quotas. Transfer early and transfer often. You can begin the transfers via your account management page at worldofwarcraft.com.The complete list of eligible transfer realms after the break
PTR character copy is up...for now
If you want to copy your characters over to the 3.0.8 PTR I would do it soon, as in the next few minutes. The copy is currently up and working via the account management page at worldofwarcraft.com (go there yourself and navigate to account management as to ensure there's no trickery involved in links, etc...)The PTR client is not available to be downloaded yet, but we'll let you know when we hear that it is. Expect that to be anytime, probably before the end of the business day on the west coast.There's a good bit of changes to check out over at the PTR 3.0.8 patch notes. Be sure you do so and stay tuned to WoW Insider for more analysis of specific class changes.
Realms up after extended maintenance
Realms are back up after a bit of extended maintenance this afternoon. There has been no communication from the blues or other Blizzard sources as to why the downtime was extended.But with that said, all the realms are working and things appear to be going smoothly. And by smooth I mean I still have the mail in my in-box from when the servers went down this morning.So that's a good thing, right?
US transfers now available
I like to think this is in response to Jose here: Nethaera has announced some free realm transfers for North American players, to complement the European ones. In addition, the list of eligible realms for migration to Fizzcrank, the new transfer realm, has been expanded. The transfers to Fizzcrank are currently active, and are scheduled to run until Monday, 11/24, 12:00 PM PST. Realms newly eligible are in italics. Source: Aggramar, Alleria, Alextrasza, Argent Dawn, Arygos, Blackhand, Doomhammer, Greymane, Hellscream, Hyjal, Medivh, Thrall, Silvermoon, Whisperwind, Zul'jin Destination: Fizzcrank These moves, on PvP servers, are just your run-of-the-mill free server transfers. They are currently active, and are scheduled to run until Thursday, 11/20, 4:00 PM PST. Source A: Arthas, Magtheridon, Mal'Ganis, Kel'Thuzad Destination A: Dentarg Source B: Burning Blade, Cho'gall, Illidan, Mannoroth, Skullcrusher Destination B: Haomarush So who's switching homes? Those are some extremely popular realms in the source sections there; denizens of Dentarg and Haomarush, are you up for the influx?
Realms are being brought back online [Updated at 11:50 pm EST]
The opening announcement just told us all that realms are coming back online now. All the realms will be completely back up by 10:45pm EST / 7:45pm PST. Realms have been down today for an overly-extended maintenance period.There will be an in-game mail sent to all players concerning the mail issues today. For those that are unaware, all mail that was in the mailbox prior to the downtime today was gone when the servers came up for a brief time today. We have covered everything we currently know about this. The mail will be reimbursed.Let's all say a silent prayer that this is not how the next couple of days look. I don't know about all of you, but I actually want to play Wrath of the Lich King when it's released.Update 11:50pm EST - All the realms are coming back up. We'll have more on fallout of this tonight and tomorrow.Update 11:30pm EST - We've sent word to our contact at Blizzard asking for more information about today's issues. We'll let you know the response we get.All previous updates are being kept after the break, check there to see a log of what's been going on.Are you ready for the challenges that await you in Northrend? WoW Insider has you covered with our 8-day guide to Preparing for Wrath. Also, check out our feature on AddOns new, old and outdated and Essential AddOns for Wrath written especially with the expansion in mind.
Realms offline until at least 6:00pm EST [Updated]
Breaking news from the service status forums:All realms will be offline until at least 6:00pm EST / 3:00pm PST. They are having to keep the realms down for this extended period due to errors in the mail system.Essentially, every piece of mail that was sent prior to the realms going down at 8:00am EST was lost when the servers came back up. Blizzard has said that they are actively looking for a solution to the problem. We're keeping our mailbox post updated with the latest information on that front.Hopefully this extended downtime is not foreshadowing things to come when Wrath of the Lich King starts to enter circulation tomorrow evening at midnight*. Update: Please see this post for more information concerning the downtime.Stay tuned to WoW Insider for more updates.Are you ready for the challenges that await you in Northrend? WoW Insider has you covered with our 8-day guide to Preparing for Wrath. Also, check out our feature on AddOns new, old and outdated and Essential AddOns for Wrath written especially with the expansion in mind.
WorldofWarcraft.com down
Zombies taking over Blizzard's offices now? Yesterday, as we uploaded our redesign, we joked that Zombies had attacked our site, but now it appears that the main World of Warcraft page is completely and totally down. We got a tip earlier today that part of the site had gone down, but now it appears the whole thing is out.Maybe a redesign inc there, too? Maybe it's down because of the realm issues we saw this morning? Or maybe it's just out for regular maintenance? Forums are still up and running just fine. We'll keep an eye on it.Update: False alarm. It's back up. Site doesn't look any different to me.
Wrath of the Lich King beta quietly ends
Crygil sprung an odd announcement on us all tonight shortly before 2 a.m. EST: The Wrath of the Lich King beta is over.I actually did a double take when I read this. Date check out? Yup, 11/4/2008. Time? Yup, 1:52:22 a.m. EST. Actual blue poster at forums.worldofwarcraft.com? Yup.Ouch. Beta over at 2:00 a.m. PST.No end event? No advanced notice? Just goodbye?This hurts.It's kind of like that girlfriend who you thought was really great, only to find one morning when you wake up that she's gone and all her stuff isn't there anymore. All you're left with is a note: "It's over."Well maybe it's not that bad, but still. I know I wasn't the only one expecting an end event like they've had during past betas, or during some PTRs. Those were fun, had lots of people and interaction with Blizzard. There was even one PTR event where a few other writers and I got whisked away by a GM.I gather we'll all have to wait to experience an end event in the future. Oh well. At least we have the memories of past fun to look back on.%Gallery-18020%
Rolling restarts to usher in new phase of the zombie invasion?
The announcement on the login screen tells us that there'll be rolling restarts for all realms between 5:00 a.m. PDT and 6:00 a.m. PDT. Each realm should be down for no less than 15 minutes.These restarts have become a common thing in the past few days. From previous information given to everyone from Bllizzard, we know that restarts correct server lag and other connectivity issues. And there have been quite a few of these issues since patch 3.0.2. A restart fixing these things is nothing new. But you have to ask yourself now, are these updates secretly pushing new things onto the server?It seems like for the past few days after every "rolling restart" a new phase or two of the scourge invasion has begun. So I'm going to make an educated guess based on what may very well be completely unrelated variables – tomorrow or Monday we'll see phase five of the invasion, complete with something new we haven't yet seen.Prove me wrong, Blizzard... prove me wrong.
Rolling restarts for selected realms this afternoon
Fresh from the news bulletin upon login is an announcement of rolling restarts for a handful of realms this afternoon. At 12:00 noon PDT the realms of Dreadmaul, Caelestrasz, Nagrand, Aman'Thul, Barthilas, Thaurissan, Dath'Remar, Frostmourne, Khaz'horoth, and Jube'Thos will be going down for restarts.Many people have still continued to experience connectivity issues and major lag since patch 3.0.2 dropped nearly two weeks ago. Instances seem to be a particular problem with people not being able to zone in, getting disconnected upon loading, or generally having issues with mobs and other objects appearing correctly.I wouldn't be surprised to see more realms added to this list today, and perhaps some extended maintenance (if not an outright patch) this upcoming Tuesday.
Realm issues for the evening of October 21st
Blizzard is well aware of the realm issues that are plaguing the game tonight, October 21st. They have said in the opening in-game announcement that they're working on it, and now have posted as much on the forums. They will also be restarting all realms shortly.For those of you not experiencing the issue, just about every time you try to enter an instance you receive a "transfer aborted" message or some other such error. This is causing quite a bit of havoc on guild as they try to push hard during the last few weeks of Burning Crusade raiding.We'll update this post throughout the evening when Blizzard releases any more statements.
PTR closed with a thank you from the blues
Bornakk and Maaven posted a thank you note to everyone in the Public Test Realm (PTR) forums this afternoon. The PTRs are now closed since patch 3.0.2 is coming out tomorrow. It was an interesting note in that it made sure to mention all of the feedback that they've gotten. The feedback for this patch (and Wrath of the Lich King in general) has been different from previous times. There has been a ton of constructive, well thought out posts on the official forums about all the changes. Often times they've attracted the attention of Lead Class Designer, Greg Street (aka Ghostcrawler), and the discussion that results from such series of posting are quite enlightening and entertaining.So no more PTR, a nice little thank you from Blizzard, and a whole lotta patch to look forward to tomorrow.
Death Knight character creation FAQ preps players for Wrath
Planning on creating a Death Knight when Wrath of the Lich King comes out next month? Blizzard posted a Death Knight creation FAQ at the EU World of Warcraft forums in an effort to reduce the number of question and answer threads popping up. It's short but sweet.It's so short, in fact, that we can give you most of the info right here. You'll be able to create a Death Knight on any realm on which you already have an level 55 or higher character. Eventually, you'll be able to create one on a different server, but for now the only way to get a Death Knight to a totally new realm is to create it on your current realm and then do a paid transfer.Don't worry -- there's good news too! If your level 55 is Horde, you'll be able to start up an Alliance Death Knight and vice versa, so long as you're not playing on a PvP realm. You're only allowed one Death Knight per realm though.[Via WoW Insider]
Realm Status plugin for Firefox
The realms are back up now, but we've all been through that wait before -- you've got things to do in Azeroth, but Blizzard is doing their updating, so you're stuck browsing around WoW Insider in Firefox. And here's a handy little tool to help you get back in the game as soon as possible -- the Realm Status Tool Firefox plugin will let you see the status of all the realms from right in the browser's toolbar, or even monitor a realm for you, and drop a note when its status changes.Of course, if you just need to see what's up and down, the Realm Status page on Blizzard's site will do it for you, but the plugin will actually put up a popup when your selected realm is back up. So you can browse all you want, and know exactly the right time to log back into the game. It's been around for quite a while, though it's only at version .4, but I haven't had any problems with it yet. And it supports both US and EU realms, so no matter where you are, you can have it keep an eye on what your realm is up to.Thanks, Berg!
Why is Destruction more popular than Order?
There exists an interesting theory concerning gamer preference of good vs. evil. It is said that in World of Warcraft, as in many other games, the "good" seems to be the most popular choice. Most people want to be the pretty human character, save the princess and become the hero.Enter Warhammer Online, where the majority of players have flocked to the Destruction side. This isn't simply the 'darker' side, this is the burn-down-your-house evil side. This is the stuff-a-dwarf-in-a-barrel-and-toss-him-off-a-castle-wall evil side. So why do players relate more to this type of bad guy persona? Relmstein has some theories about this over at his blog, which include the fact that Mythic focused much of their hype on the Destruction side. Check out his post for the rest of his five reasons why Destruction is more popular than Order, and let us know what you think.
PTR 3.0.2 Patch mirrors
Everyone seems to be having problems downloading the Public Test Realm (PTR) client still. This can be a real problem for some, especially if you don't have access to a high speed internet connection all the time. You can read the PTR patch notes multiple times over and still not be finished with the download.WoWWiki has a great list of a few mirrors, and I've linked to the most trusted ones I use all the time after the break.Please keep in mind that it is always possible, although highly unlikely, that one of these files might contain a virus. You should be running something to scan for viruses on all incoming files, like the free AVG.See below after the break for the mirrors list.
