Elizabeth Harper
Articles by Elizabeth Harper
Wowcraft's Warsong battle has nearly reached its end
Who will win? Who will lose? The Carbot Animations Wowcraft team has been in Warsong Gulch for longer than even the worst Alterac Valley match (though some Warsong runs certainly feel this long). But with the alliance and horde still locked in a dramatic struggle for the flag -- stymied by hunters feigning death and mages using polymorph -- there's no sign who will win or lose in the end. However, Carbot does say the next Wowcraft will wrap things up with Warsong (perhaps with our heroes leveling up to do Arathi Basin). If you haven't been following Wowcraft, you definitely should be as it's an on-the-nose parody of life in WoW. You can catch up with the Warsong storyline, if you've missed it, by watching episode 7, episode 8, episode 9, and episode 10 above. Stay tuned for the (presumably) dramatic conclusion!
WoW Moviewatch: Ulduar Abridged
Whether you've never been to Ulduar but want the Ulduar experience or you have fond memories of raiding the place during Wrath, Ulduar Abridged is your machinima fix. It's not just a rundown off bosses, but a rundown of the conversations you would have had on Vent if you were running Ulduar when it was new. Brought to us by the fine individuals of Slightly Impressive, it's the latest in a series of similar raid videos, including Icecrown Citadel and Siege of Orgrimmar. So what are you waiting for? Let's get this nostalgia train on the road! Interested in the wide world of machinima? We have new movies every weekday here on WoW Moviewatch! Have suggestions for machinima we ought to feature? Toss us an email at moviewatch@wowinsider.com.
Warlords of Draenor: Garrison basics
If you're venturing into Draenor for the first time, there's no avoiding the new garrison feature: it's at the heart of all of your adventuring into this new world. But before it can become a hub for questing, professions, and missions (more on that later), you'll have to build it. Fortunately, it's not very hard: as soon as you make your way through Tanaan Jungle, your first task will be establishing a garrison in Shadowmoon Valley (alliance) or Frostfire Ridge (horde). If you want to know more, we're about to cover the basics of Warlords of Draenor's garrison system. Though no story spoilers follow, if you want to head to Draenor without knowing what comes next, you'll probably want to skip this post. Now, onward, to Draenor!
Breakfast Topic: What would you change about Warcraft's past?
We know that Warlords of Draenor takes place in an alternate version of the game world we know. And, as the trailer showed, in this world, Grommash doesn't drink the demon blood that enslaved the orcs to the Burning Legion... though it apparently doesn't stop them from being conquerors. But now that the door to crazy alternate Warcraft universes has been open, let's make use of it! Looking back on the history of Warcraft, what would you go back and change if you could? In my case, I think I'd go back to that Nagrand quest chain where we helped convince Garrosh that he was leadership material. Why did we ever do that?! (Answer: to get the quest achievement. But it wasn't worth it!)
Breakfast Topic: Do you want the Alliance and Horde to work together again?
I've never really been into the Alliance vs. Horde thing. I've played -- and have friends that play -- on both sides of the fence and I have fond memories of time as both Alliance and Horde. So why do the Alliance and Horde never seem to get along? As the game's storyline has pushed the Horde into the role of defacto villains, with Garrosh leading the charge to bomb Theramore, attack Ashenvale, and destroy the Vale of Eternal Blossoms, the rivalry's made a lot sense ... but it's also made me a lot less interested in playing Horde characters. (And I say this as someone who once had a blood elf main. Sure, blood elves weren't always good guys, but even my naaru-enslaving blood elf paladin had to look at Garrosh and say, "Hey, man, that's a step too far.") But the expansions I've enjoyed the most have always been the ones where the Alliance and the Horde have faced a common enemy, pushing them together as at least impromptu allies. Even if we didn't always like each other, none of us liked Illidan or Arthas. The Garrosh-caused conflict in Mists always felt forced, like my character was being pushed in a direction I didn't approve of (having anything to do with Garrosh) without leaving me any options to decide what I wanted to do... it was go along with everything Garrosh wanted, or play Alliance. (Spoiler alert: these days, I play Alliance.) So I'm actually kind of excited about Warlords of Draenor, since it looks like the entire game once again has a common enemy... even if it is still (sort of) Garrosh. So what about you, readers? Do you want more war in your Warcraft? Or do you prefer it when we all work together? Do you think the factions will have to band together to defeat the Iron Horde?
Breakfast Topic: Do you miss vanilla?
With the 10th anniversary events announced, it's clear that Blizzard is trying to take us -- in a way -- back to the days of vanilla WoW, with PvP battles between Tarren Mill and Southshore and an updated 40-player Molten Core raid. But as a vanilla-era player myself, I have to ask: does anyone really miss those days? While 40-player raids sound epic in scale, the effort coordinating 40 players to be at the same place at the same time -- much less getting them to act as a cohesive unit -- was a fairly major undertaking. And though the new Molten Core takes away some of the headaches by making the event LFR, getting even 25 people to work together in LFR is a challenge. Will I be in the new anniversary version of Molten Core with everyone else? Sure. (After all, I want a Core Hound mount as much as anyone.) But have I missed running Molten Core all these years? Not really. What about you, fellow raiders? Are you feeling nostalgic for the good old days of vanilla?
Artcraft shows off male and female trolls
The latest edition of Artcraft is upon us, this time bringing us updated male and female troll models. Though this Artcarft is somewhat scarcer on the model details -- though it does talk about how the troll's tusks are a particular challenge -- it makes up for it by packing in two new new character models. Though Senior Art Director Chris Robinson comments that "showing both genders together gives you a more cohesive visual story," male and female trolls still have significantly different looks, with the males hunched forward while the females stand upright. Still, like with all the updated models, this refresh gives them a lot of extra detail and character. See below for more images or check the Artcraft post itself for full details.
Breakfast Topic: Your ideal Warcraft reality show
Azeroth Choppers may have come and gone, but that doesn't mean the reality show of your WoW-playing dreams isn't a possibility. It may not be likely, but that's no reason not to speculate on what the next generation of Azeroth Choppers might be. (After all, who thought we would have even one Warcraft-based reality show?) I'm thinking a Big Brother style show featuring WoW NPCs (preferably including faction leaders) could be a big hit, and though that's not entirely reality the same sort of take could be fun with WoW developers. Or maybe we could get something along the lines of The Bachelor that matched up players with guilds. But it's your turn to jump in on the brainstorming, readers. Tell us, just what kind of Warcraft-based reality show would you like to see next?
Breakfast Topic: What Warcraft swag do you want to see?
Between their own official gear store and the merchandise on J!NX and other retailers, there's plenty of WoW (and Blizzard in general) swag out there for the buying. But with time-limited exclusives -- like the immensely popular (and quickly sold out) Nether Faerie Dragon plush at San Diego Comic-Con -- you can't always get your hands on the swag you want... and maybe Blizzard just hasn't gotten around to making the swag you want yet. (For example, I'd love to see more of swag based on Carbot's properties, like the StarCrafts hoodies.) But just what Blizzard swag would get you shopping? Do you want more plushies, more hoodies, or something else entirely?
Breakfast Topic: Guess at the Warlords release date
It's official... sort of. We officially know when we'll know the Warlords of Draenor release date (August 14th), though we don't know the date itself. Blizzard originally told us we'd be playing Warlords by this fall, with the official pre-order page saying the game will be released "on or before 12/20/2014." On Amazon, the official strategy guide has a release date of September 23rd, though that could be a guess on Amazon's part as well (Amazon's predicted date for Warlords itself is December 20th). So armed with this information, it's time to step up and take your guess: Just when do you think Warlords of Draenor will be released? %Poll-89006%
Breakfast Topic: When will the Siege of Orgrimmar reach Orgrimmar?
Though the Siege of Orgrimmar patch was released way back in September 2013, the situation in the live version of Orgrimmar has changed very little since the so-called siege begun. If you play a horde character, portals throughout the game send you to Orgrimmar as the horde capitol... even though Orgrimmar under the rule of Garrosh is hardly a friendly place. Patrolled by the all-orc Kor'Kron Guard, the city streets aren't particularly welcoming to non-orcs -- or anyone who disagrees with Garrosh's leadership. While this made for a strong story element when patch 5.4 was launched, it's rather outstayed its welcome. At this point, even a wrecked, post-siege Orgrimmar would seem a more welcoming place than the fear-filled city that's been the center of the horde's game world for nearly a year. So tell us, readers -- when do you think Orgrimmar will get a post-Garrosh makeover? And what will we see taking its place come Warlords?
Warlords of Draenor cinematic and release date to be revealed on August 14
The wait for Warlords of Draenor is coming to a close. No, we don't have a release date yet, but Blizzard has promised that they'll be releasing the release date on August 14th alongside the reveal of the expansion's cinematic. The announcement will be done during a live stream event featuring Mike Morhaime, Chris Metzen, Ion Hazzikostas, and Brian Holinka broadcast from the Ace Theatre in Los Angeles at 9:30 AM PDT on August 14th. If you're in the LA area, you can see the event in person -- doors open at 8:30 AM and seating will be on a first-come, first-served basis -- and get a Warlords beta key out of the deal, too. Additionally, Blizzard will be unveiling a new animated lore mini-series called Lords of War, which we're guessing will be similar to the Burdens of Shaohao series released during Mists -- but we'll have to wait to August 14th to see just what it will look like.
Latest Curse of Naxxramas cards revealed, and more coming! [Updated]
With Curse of Naxxramas, Hearthstone's first expansion, slated to be released tomorrow, we're seeing a lot of last-minute previews of the soon-to-be-live cards. We know Naxxramas will feature 30 brand new cards and though we haven't seen them all yet, it seems Blizzard plans to reveal each of them before the expansion goes live. So far, we've seen: Mad Scientist, a minion with a deathrattle effect that puts pulls a secret from your deck. Stoneskin Gargoyle, a minion that returns to full health at the start of every turn. Stalagg, a legendary 7/5 minion with a deathrattle effect that summons Thaddius if Feugen has died in the same game. Sludge Belcher, a 3/5 minion with taunt who summons a 1/2 minion with taunt on death. Maexxna, a legendary 2/8 beast that destroys any minion it damages. Zombie Chow, a 1-mana 2/3 minion that restores health to the enemy hero when it dies. Deathlord, a 2/8 minion with taunt and a deathrattle that lets your opponent put a minion from their deck onto the battlefield. Echoing Ooze, a minion that summons an exact copy of itself at the end of the turn. Feugen, a legendary 4/7 minion with a deathrattle effect that summons Thaddius if Stalagg has died in the same game. Spectral Knight, a 4/6 minion that can't be targeted by spells or hero powers. Added since earlier this afternoon: Haunted Creeper, a 1/2 beast that summons two 1/1 spiders on death. Kel'Thuzad, a legendary 6/8 who, at the end of the turn, summons all friendly minions that were killed during the turn. Nerub'ar Weblord, a 1/4 that causes all minions with battlecry to cost 2 more mana. Unstable Ghoul, a 1/3 minion with taunt that deals one damage to all minions on death. Wailing Soul, a 3/5 minion that silences your other minions when summoned. Thaddius, a legendary 11/11 minion who's summoned when both Feugen and Stalagg have died in the same game. We expect more cards to be revealed throughout the day, so stay tuned to Hearthstone's Facebook page for the latest! Update: With the latest additions, all 30 new cards from the set have been revealed.
World of Warcraft earns over $1 billion a year
According to statistics from SuperData Research, World of Warcraft still dominates the MMO market with 36% market share. The game raked in just over a billion dollars in revenue in 2013, putting it well ahead of its nearest competition -- $253 million for NCSoft's 1998 title Lineage. The ranking of top subscription titles suggests that MMOs need staying power -- WoW is nearly 10 years old and Lineage is 16 -- and a strong Asian presence -- the top 3 are all big titles in Asia -- to sustain them over the long haul. However, even though WoW continues to pull in strong subscription numbers, the industry has seen the subscription model declining sharply while microtransaction revenue has been on an upswing. With both a healthy subscriber base and its own microtransaction strategy, WoW seems prepared to succeed no matter which direction the industry goes. However, the overall subscription trend begs the question: will we ever see a free-to-play version of WoW? Blizzard has said no, and with subscription stats like this we can see why.
The BlizzCon Meeting Stone is no more
Last year's BlizzCon introduced a real-world version of the Meeting Stone to provide a central place on the show floor to arrange meetups and find your friends. But while basking in the presence of a giant, Meeting Stone was pretty fantastic, the dark, noisy convention floor wasn't a great place to have conversations. This year, Blizzard is nixing the Meeting Stone idea altogether and encouraging attendees to set up their own meetups when and where they like. On one hand, you're freed from the tyranny of organized meetups... but on the other hand, this year's BlizzCon won't have any central meeting space to find your friends. You'll still be able to find members of the community team at the Community Booth and you can arrange your own meetups (if you're into that kind of thing) on the BlizzCon Meet-up forum. But the worst part of this news is that the Meeting Stone itself isn't slated to be on the show floor. How are we ever going to summon everyone without it?
Leveling your battle pets into a formidable pet army
Last time, we covered a ton of details about how pet battles work -- but now it's time to put that knowledge into practice to get your pets leveled. It's tough starting at level 1 and building up a team of pets high enough level to collect the pets you might be interested in, much less pick up achievements like Taming the World (which grants you the Safari Hat that will help you level even more pets) or World Safari (which grants you the Zookeeper title). Getting your pets up to level 25 so you can take on anything the game can throw at you (pet battle-wise, at least) will take time -- but it's a somewhat less daunting task if you combine it with another in-game project. Are you working the loremaster achievement? Thinking of leveling another alt? Because you'll be traveling zone to zone, both of these are a great time to work in some battle pet leveling -- and since you get experience from winning pet battles, they can help with leveling, too. Wherever you are in your leveling journey, we can help you get closer to 25.
Battle pet basics to get you started building your pet collection
Though I started working on an article about how to collect battle pets much in the same vein as collecting titles and mounts... I quickly realized it was going to be a lot more complicated than that. Though you certainly can collect plenty of vanity pets by buying them, farming for drops, and getting achievements, the bulk of pet collecting in WoW needs to be done by capturing wild pets for yourself. So if you want to amass a fine collection of WoW pets, what you need to do is get into pet battling so you can find and capture your own pets. However, it's a daunting prospect if you're starting from level 1 and want to pick up pets from Northrend or Pandaria. We've already walked you through the very basics of starter battling and some tips on advancing through the levels, but today we'll walk you through the battle pet details you'll need to go from 1 to 25 and collect as many pets as you'd like along the way.
Editorial: On impractical playstyles and too much change
Adam recently wrote an editorial on why change is an essential part of the MMO experience -- after all, WoW is 10 years old at this point and not changing is more likely to cause problems than shaking things up. Change is what makes the game stay fresh and fun after all of these years and it's a large part of why those of us who are still playing WoW are still playing WoW. Unfortunately, the flip side of that coin is that change can be taken too far. Change can alienate players who no longer feel attached to the game -- and no need to stick around long enough to relearn how to play something they used to love. It's a fine line to walk between changing enough to keep things new and not changing so much that your audience is pushed away... and it's arguably a line Blizzard crossed when many of the game's mechanics turned upside down in Cataclysm. Is Blizzard doing the same with the upcoming Warlords of Draenor? With the beta in a constant state of flux, it's hard to tell -- but if we look back on the tumultuous era of Cataclysm, maybe we can learn something about just what these big changes mean for World of Warcraft.
Mike Morhaime apologizes for lack of diversity in Blizzard games
It's been a bad year or so for women in Blizzard games, for a lot of reasons. At BlizzCon, Warlords of Draenor was described as a "boy's trip" that Aggra wasn't invited to -- which fits with the Warlords marketing material that shows almost exclusively male characters (a few women appear in the trailer and one in the art, but they're unnamed). But Warlords isn't the only concern: the company's April Fool's joke came off as tone-deaf to many, Heroes of the Storm uses female characters as eye candy (which game director Dustin Browder argued didn't send a message), and, recently, Rob Pardo stated in a talk at MIT that diversity wasn't really a value for the company. Though Warlords has come a long way since BlizzCon and both Browder and Pardo apologized, the fact that any of these things were an issue in the first place is off-putting -- at best -- to female gamers. Even long-term Blizzard fans have started to wonder why they're continuing to play in a gaming world that didn't accept women amongst the cast of heroes. It's from this place of disappointment that Starcunning wrote to Mike Morhaime, explaining why she's walked away from Blizzard's games. The surprise, however, is that Mike Morhaime responded stressing Blizzard's commitment to listening to the playerbase and building games that are fun for everyone. Mike Morhaime We are very conscious of the issues you raise and are discussing them more than ever, at every level of the company, in an effort to make sure our games and stories are as epic and inclusive as possible. Blizzard's employees form a broad and diverse group that cares deeply about the experiences we are creating for our players. And we know that actions speak louder than words, so we are challenging ourselves to draw from more diverse voices within and outside of the company and create more diverse heroes and content. We are also actively looking at our story development and other processes to ensure that our values are fully represented. We've always believed that positive, lasting change comes from examination, discussion, and iteration, and this applies as much to story as to gameplay. There is no reason why inclusivity should come at the expense of an amazing game experience. source
Rob Pardo is leaving Blizzard
Rob Pardo, currently Blizzard's Chief Creative officer, announced on the forums that he's parting ways with Blizzard Entertainment. Pardo has been a fixture of the company for 17 years now, and though he isn't saying -- yet -- where he's headed next, he did offer a thank you to Blizzard's fans and community: Rob Pardo The Blizzard community is ultimately the reason why we come to work every day and pour our souls into every world and experience we create. Blizzard's players are the most passionate in the world and your commitment and dedication are truly awesome to behold. Creating entertainment for you has been an incredible opportunity, and I know that you will continue to grow and become even stronger as a community over the years to come. It has been so meaningful on a personal level to help create joy for all of you. source Thanks for the games, Rob -- we'll be keeping our eyes open for what you're working on next.