Ask a Beta Tester: Starter zones and starter epics
Just a little earlier, Allison Robert posted questions we wish we had been asked on Ask a Beta Tester. Me? I'm still going to answer the questions we have been asked, starting with Jay's question...
In Warcraft III:The Frozen Throne, the Blood Elves and Naga teamed up to wage a massive battle against Arthas right on the slopes of Icecrown. It's already been mentioned that settlements and Ruins from further back, when Arthas's expedition land are still there. Is there any sign of the Belf and Naga ruins from their assault?
In Icecrown it's nothing but Scourge and the Scourge's servants as far as the eye can see. Anything that had been there previously is gone. There are Naga ruins further out, though. Off the coast of the Borean Tundra there are some Naga structures you'll be questing in. For those of you sick of killing Naga like I am, don't worry. There's a twist.
David asked...
Do you think there will be lag and problems because all of the influx of people in Northrend once the expansion hits, or will having two starting zones solve that problem?
As other readers mentioned, the server lag won't be helped or hurt by spreading players across two zones. They'll still be on the same world server. As far as lag on your end, such as video lag, this will help quite a bit. Zones aren't going to be as cluttered as Hellfire Peninsula was before, especially since there's also the Death Knight newbie zone that'll lure people away.
The Burning Crusade actually launched pretty smoothly, so I'm confident lag won't be too big of a deal. To help my optimism a little, I'm pretty sure the Northrend world server is actually active on live realms. You just can't go there yet.
Sallix asked...
Are there any class specific quests in Northrend?
None that I'm aware of, no.
Runstadrey asked...
Could the Blessed * of Undead Slaying be the gear that Blizz wants us to wear into Northrend?
We (Enh Shammy, Prot Pally & Holy Priest) farmed up complete sets of plate, cloth & mail in just over an hour with a bunch of leather and duplicates for DEing. The purple drop rate was incredible and the runes were more common than copper nodes or peacebloom sprouts. Be Imba reports a large increase wearing this gear over the blue faction rep set that I used to wear.
I'm just thinking these drops are too easy for simple scourge killing
It's good enough that if you're not in T5/T6 (even if you are in T5 in some cases) that you might wear it all of the time, sure. Blizzard did the 'free epics' thing right before The Burning Crusade as well. They toss out some easy to get gear so you don't have to go into Northrend in greens. That being said, you can go into Northrend in greens and be fine, so it doesn't matter too much. This gear is just a nice perk they toss us. And it looks cool, so it's a nice perk.
Trustee of Lothar asked...
Even though we won't be able to champion old factions, will we be able to champion new factions in old dungeons? Does championing require you to earn experience/honor? Can you champion during BGs/arenas?
You can only do it in level 80 PvE dungeons that reward reputation normally. You just change who those gains count towards. You can wear those tabards anywhere you want, but they'll only have an effect on level 80 dungeons.
And that's all from me today, see you all tomorrow! And don't worry, I'll be pulling questions from both of today's Ask a Beta Tester entries for tomorrow's edition.
The Wrath of the Lich King beta is in full swing, and the WoW Insider crew is here to sate your curiosity with Ask a Beta Tester! Leave your beta questions in the comments and we'll do our best to answer 'em!
