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Official Zul'Aman trailer
With the release of Patch 2.3, Blizzard brought us a new instance, Zul'Aman. As with the release of the Black Temple, Blizzard put together a trailer introducing the instance that gives us some background on exactly why Zul'jin is so very cranky these days.Now I don't know about you, but I was personally a little confused as to why Zul'jin, a guy that's pretty much a god amongst trolls, would all of a sudden turn against the Horde. As it turns out, having to saw your own arm off will do that to a troll.
WoW Moviewatch: Zul'Aman First Look
There were a lot of Zul'Aman videos to choose from on YouTube for Patch 2.3. This one was the winner for today's Moviewatch for a few good reasons: it opens with a shot of the new Ritual of Refreshment spell graphic, it only shows part of the zone leaving some surprises for your adventuring and it features a Rush song.Though it shows a lot of trash mobs on the way to the Bear avatar, it superspeeds through them. I recommend you let it play and enjoy the music. Oh, and Rush haters can form a line to the left. What's that? There is no line to the left, only a drop off the edge of the Outlands? My bad.Previously on Moviewatch...
Kiss a frog, get an epic Enchant scroll
Patch 2.3's Zul'Aman contains quite a few surprises. First, there was the bear mount from the first boss in the new 10-man raid zone. Now, there's voodoo frogs that hand out epic profession scrolls.Early reports from the PTR claim that the frogs that hang out around the altar/forested area early in the instance are actually humanoids cursed by Forest Troll voodoo. Players can use Amani Hex Sticks looted from Zul'Aman trash mobs to transform the frogs back to people.Those un-cursed people leave behind money, Amani Charms or sometimes transform into vendors. For sale on these NPCs is various items, possibly including stat food, a new non-combat pet, Mojo and/or a Sealed Scroll Case that contains a random profession recipe scroll. The scroll can even be for an epic recipe.The new non-combat pet, Mojo, is a blue frog companion with a special talent. If you /kiss Mojo, he will turn you into a frog and whisper sweet nothings into your chat box. Which is why I've always been against PDA (public displays of affection.)Finally, on your way out of the zone, all the transformed humans will cheer you on your way out. And then, presumably get hexxed back into frogs for the next round of adventurers.
Shifting Perspectives: Drops for Druids in Zul'Aman
Every Tuesday, Shifting Perspectives explores issues affecting druids and those who group with them, brought to you by David Bowers and Dan O'Halloran. Patch 2.3 has hit the PTR and the new itemization has some very interesting items for druids of every spec. The new equipment is coming from three sources: the new 10-man raid zone, Zul'Aman, the Arena Season 3 vendor and the new Badges of Justice rewards. Today I'm going to focus on the Zul'Aman drops. Here's a list by boss:Nalorakk the Bear Avatar(Cat) Bladeangel's Money Belt (Leather Waist) 227 AC, +25agi, +27sta, Blue Socket, +4atk socket bonus, +21 crit, +58 atk, 77 armor negation. A solid upgrade to the Girdle of Treachery from Karazhan, but not quite as good if you can get a Belt of Deep Shadow crafted. Arguably, one of the top 3 or 4 belts in the game. Be ready to /roll against rogues for this belt for your Cat Druid.
The Naaru's new fashion statement
World of Raids and MMO Champion both have lists of new gear on sale, come patch 2.3, in exchange for Badges of Justice from the heroic instances, and now Karazhan and Zul'Aman raid instances as well. That's exciting, of course, but let's stop and look at these pics of the new gear for a moment, shall we?Now, naturally, this gear is designed to fit with the general trollish theme of the patch, which lots of people are understandably excited about. The armor looks pretty good as armor goes, and it definitely brings some new visual design elements to the game that haven't been represented in any previous armor sets. But, let's stop and consider for a moment just where this armor is coming from. It looks like trollish Zul'Aman armor, but do we find it in Zul'Aman? No, it's up for sale by the only known Naaru retailer, G'eras. Does its method of acquisition have anything to do with Zul'Aman whatsoever? Well... it might if your guild has finished raiding Karazhan and gathers the heroic badges in Zul'Aman soon, then yes; but if you still focus mostly on Karazhan or heroic instances, then you might very well acquire some of these armor pieces without ever visiting those Amani trolls even once.What we have here, ladies and gentlemen, is the appropriation of the Amani clothing design brand by the Shat'ari Naaru in Shattrath, copied illegally by G'eras, and put on sale with no proprietary settlement with trolls they are mimicking. Who knew that the Naaru could be capable of copyright infringement? If the trolls were down with that whole "I'll see you in court!" thing, their lawyers would be all over this right now.Seriously, why is a being of pure holy light selling trollish armor with skulls and tusks and voodoo dolls on it? -- or does nobody care?
Patch 2.2 may take "weeks" longer
MMO Champion's about right-- patch 2.2 is likely not coming for a matter of weeks. Since background downloading started a little while ago, we all figured this Tuesday or next was looking pretty good for a patch update, but Hortus on the forums alludes to new PTR patches "several times in the upcoming weeks," which is a good indication that we've got a while to go on the PTR.It doesn't necessarily mean that we're looking at a November patch-- it could be that the PTR updates are for 2.3, or that 2.2 will drop with hotfixes coming later, or that Hortus just doesn't have the information from the devs right. But take a deep breath-- even if it takes a few more weeks for a new patch, odds are we'd all rather have it "right" than "right now."And Boubouille says that if it takes this long for 2.2, he doesn't see how they'll release the expansion by next January, which is just plain laughable. Sorry Bou, we love you and all, but WotLK isn't dropping anytime before July 2008, and I wouldn't be surprised at all if we didn't see it until early 2009. It's not that we won't have content until then-- Zul'Aman is coming, and a new arena season will show up before then (maybe even two), as well as guild banks, a new CoT instance, and of course the Sunwell. But if you're still thinking we'll see Arthas as soon as January, time to stop holding your breath.
The eventual nerfing of Karazhan
When Lua from Doomhammer posts on the forums asking for a little Karazhan trash relief, Bornakk (who's new on the forums-- not sure whether he's a CM or a mod yet) says no-- Blizzard is happy with the pacing of Karazhan. So you're meant to be taking a long time clearing all those little mana guys before and after Curator.But this idea of making Karazhan faster brings up another point I've been mulling over for a while now. When we first heard about Kara, a "new 10man instance," back when we were all playing vanilla WoW, I got really excited about the fact that we were going to have a new UBRS-- an epic raid that 10 people could finish off in a few hours. Kind of a short but preview of the bigger raids to come. Fighting Rend while Nefarian was yelling at him was some of the best times I'd ever had in WoW, and I looked forward to leading the same kinds of groups through Karazhan.But Karazhan didn't turn out like that, did it? It's still more complicated, and for many guilds, it's still the main event. There's a timer on it, most groups take at least two days to clean it out, and while the encounters in UBRS weren't necessarily easy if your group wasn't up to it, the encounters in Karazhan are pretty merciless-- Moroes takes coordination that even the Drakk fight never needed.That's not necessarily a bad thing-- I like Karazhan a lot. But just as UBRS was diluted from its original form (as a harder 15 man instance with more trash than it has now), I wonder if Karazhan will eventually have the same fate. When more and more guilds have moved up the ladder, and we're all farming Zul'Aman and progressing on Mount Hyjal, will Blizzard eventually nerf Kara into the new UBRS, with streamlined trash and no timer?
Hands on with Zul'Aman
During my time at BlizzCon I was able to take a couple of moments to experience some of the upcoming content we are going to see in the future. Initially I was very excited to get my chance to see Wrath of the Lich King, but as I was wandering around Howling Fjord I noticed a helpful looking NPC in one of the villages, and when I spoke to him he offered to transport me to Zul'Aman. I am never one to pass up the opportunity to check out new content, and so I allowed him to port me to the front steps of the instance.I'm going to give you my experiences with the instance after the jump, since it's very much spoiler territory there, and if you are the kind of person that likes to be surprised I don't want to take that away from you. Those looking for more info on the instance, read on.
Zul'Aman screenshots and impressions
We've got some nice eye candy from Zul'Aman for you, including some images of the animal aspect bosses Nalorakk, Akil'Zon (above) and Halazzi. We had a chance to stealth into the instance earlier in the press room, and our initial visual impression of the dungeon can be described in two words: Indiana Jones. Or rather, a cross between Indiana Jones and Zul'Gurub on steroids. A 20-minute "sacrifice" timer started counting down as soon as we zoned in, and at the end of the timer Hex Lord Malacrass's voice yelled across the zone that we had failed in our mission, and that every sacrifice made him stronger. There were a couple of closed doors barring our way from exploring further into the instance, but we were able to get a first-hand look at Nalorakk, the bear avatar boss, and Jan'alai the dragonhawk avatar before being detected and mercilessly pwned by a 4-pack Amani'shi patrol. The interior is incredibly picturesque, with cascading waterfalls, carved stone altars and a lagoon area. Populating the area are a number of elite Amani'shi mobs including Flame Casters, Guardians, Handlers with crocolisk pets, and the good old Beserkers we know and love. Shortly after the zone-in point and down a flight of stairs are a line of Amani'shi troll guards that look like a formidable initial pull -- we're so looking forward to getting 9 of our closest friends together, flexing our bad mojo and making our way through Zul'Aman.%Gallery-5517%
Xfire and WoW Insider, live from the BlizzCon floor
Our BlizzCon coverage continues all this week-- we're sending our staff out to Anaheim (I'll be out there on Tuesday laying all the groundwork), culminating in the second BlizzCon event on Friday and Saturday. So whether you're going or not, stay tuned to WoW Insider all week for breaking news, liveblogging events, and pictures, video, and tons of coverage from Blizzard's big get-together.And don't forget that all of our coverage is being co-presented with Xfire. In addition to their BlizzCon info page, they've also set up a special "blizzcon2007" account, and both Xfire and WoW Insider staff members will be blogging there during the event. Also, if you have an Xfire account, be sure to add "blizzcon2007" to your Friends-- that way, you'll be able to get invites to Xfire chats later this week coming directly from the BlizzCon exhibit hall. And if you don't have an Xfire account, then get one for free!So this is it. It's time to hear about Zul'Aman and the next expansion. It's time to see Starcraft II playable and in action. And maybe it's time to hear about that third game Blizzard is working on? At BlizzCon, you never know. Stay tuned to both WoW Insider and Xfire to find out.
WarCry on Zul'Aman and "logical loot"
The Zul'Aman preview information just doesn't stop. WarCry has a fairly in-depth rundown of the place which contains the following information of note that I haven't seen elsewhere: Largely or entirely outdoors Each of the first four bosses should take 45 minutes to an hour to complete, making the raid very modular in terms of time -- spend an hour, down a boss, stop for the night if you want. This makes casual raiding much more of a possibility. The last two bosses, the Witch Doctor and Zul'Jin, have to be done at once, though. No associated faction; instead, faster boss kills will yield better rewards. "Blizzard fully expects this to become a competitive sport." In non-Zul'Aman-related news, there has been a loot table design decision over in Irvine:We were also told about a philosophical change at Blizzard, namely logical loot. Previously, the loot tables were somewhat random. They're not going back and fixing years of content, but now, players can expect creatures to drop things that one would expect. If that bad guy is holding a big, shiny axe, then odds are his loot is a big shiny axe.This is pretty interesting. There have been some steps in that direction from the very beginning, with animal-type mobs carrying body-part vendor trash instead of coins, for instance, but I'm glad to see more attempts to make the game world coherent.
More Zul'Aman previews
Here's two more previews from Zul'Aman floating around the Interwebs. Games Radar has a nice little preview up, including info on the bear mount (!), which (apparently-- it's not confirmed yet, although come on) drops from Narolakk, a bear boss that you actually have to chase across the city. GR says the instance will be "a spiritual successor to Zul'Gurub" (music to the ears of many players, including me), and that it'll be a little brighter and more wide open than the other late game instances, which should get yet another mark of approval from players.Frictionless Insight also has a preview, in which they say the four animal bosses will consist of Bear, Eagle, Lynx, and Dragon Hawk spirits. Strangely enough, we've already heard that there will also be a "god of evil" as well as a witch doctor and the end boss Zul'jin, which means there may be more than the six bosses that Blizzard first hinted at. Additionally, we've heard from quite a few sources now that the Zul'Aman trash will be very sociable (as in, there will be mobs that bring more if you're not careful), but Frictionless Insight says the dungeon itself will start with a boss, not trash, so even more good news for most raiders.All in all, Zul'Aman seems to be shaping up nicely. There's no telling when we'll see it on the PTRs, but I would be very surprised if Blizzard didn't let us play it (or at least see a preview of it) at Blizzcon. Storm the castle!Thanks, Aaron!
Voice chat coming soon to the PTRs
We missed it on Friday afternoon, but apparently voice chat is coming in 2.2. Previously, we'd heard that Zul'Aman and guild banks weren't showing up until 2.3, but there wasn't official word on when voice chat was arriving. PTR players have reported seeing a voicechat interface, but of course it hasn't been hooked up to any code yet.But Hortus now says we'll be seeing voice chat ingame sooner than we thought-- it will be coming soon to a PTR near you, and pending testing, should go live with 2.2. Wow. Blizzard must have done a lot of work on that behind the scenes, assuming that it is what they promise: a fully featured builtin voice chat client. Think it's coincidence that there have been a few sound bugs on the test realms lately?Which means that at some point we'll have to ask this question: What will happen to Teamspeak and Ventrilo? There's a nice bit of industry there-- players pay for servers all over the place, and while each server is pretty cheap, altogether they add up to a nice chunk of change, I'm sure. My guess is that TS and Vent aren't going anywhere (because players are so used to them, and not just in WoW), but until we see what kind of interface Blizzard has created, we won't know if they're worth leaving or not. Seeing as it's the PTRs, we should get a chance to play with it soon. [ via WorldofWar.net ]
Zul'Aman sneak preview at E3
We're here at E3 and, although not blown away by any major announcements from Blizzard, did get a chance to check out a preview of the new 10-man Zul'Aman outdoor instance in Ghostlands. It's going to be a more casual dungeon than Karazhan, ideally doable in a few hours' time investment, with six bosses and no attunement required. There will be quests included as part of the story line, with at least one rescue mission per avatar boss that will have a time-dependent element similar to the Baron Run mechanic in Stratholme, with better rewards offered for quicker completion. The six bosses include bear, dragonhawk and lynx avatars, a "god of evil," a witch doctor, and the final troll boss Zul'jin. Like Hakkar in Zul'Gurub, Zul'jin has a spiritual connection with the other boss avatars and is able to draw upon their ghostly spirits in order to change his shape and assume some of their powers and abilities. All the bosses and the trash mobs (which will be primarily forest trolls) will be social and able to call for help from additional mobs -- surely good for a few wipes whilst learning the encounters. Blizzard offered a few other small bits of news: voice chat and guild banks will be coming in minor patches before the big Zul'Aman patch is released. Voice chat will include a feature that automagically lowers the game volume when players are talking, and onscreen interface indicators to help keep track of who is talking at any given time. Guild banks will be endowed with some sort of permission system enabling guild masters to give access to specific items to some guild members and not others. Unfortunately, Starcraft 2 was not yet playable, but we'll be looking forward to that and far more megaton news to be forthcoming at Blizzcon -- it's clear this press conference was merely a teaser.
Instances in Burning Crusade and beyond
Relmstein's got a great roundup of the new instances coming in the Burning Crusade, including the lowdown on two instances that won't show up in January, but will likely appear in two releases after the expansion.The Black Temple, it seems, won't be available when the expansion hits-- Blizz says they want to "polish" it before release. Relmstein says that's fine, because it will take players a few weeks to get to level 70 anyway. I'm not sure that's true-- you should never underestimate how fast players can eat up new content, but I do think that the other new instances will be more than enough to at least keep the majority of players interested for a while. The other instance we'll have to wait a bit on is Zul'Aman, a 10-man instance that's Troll-based like Zul'Gurub and Zul'Farrak. Of course I knew that there would be lots of new 10-man content in BC (the highest dungeons will have a limit of 25 players), but the thought still gets me excited-- UBRS is one of my favorite instances in the current game (and relatively easy to get a group together at any time), so more 10-man content will be very welcome to see.Finally, Relmstein takes a look at instances and areas that still haven't opened in the world. Hyjal and the Island in the middle of the map we already suspect will open in later expansions, but there's a few instances that might be closer-- specifically Uldum in the south of Tanaris (a Dwarf lore instance like Uldaman) and Gilneas near Silverpine Forest. There's no plans yet for either to open (Blizzard has acknowledged that they want to, but probably aren't currently working on either), but considering that instances are many players' favorite part of the game at large, it's extremely exciting to think what swirly portals we'll be walking through soon.
