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BlizzCon 2009: WoW.com interviews Felicia Day, continued
That's the last money question that I have. You work with all of these actors, the first season it was like you were kind of the face of the show, and you were talking to everybody, and the other actors have kind of come up. And this BlizzCon I think is one of the first ones where people are really diving in and saying this person is my favorite, I really want to talk to Robin, I really want to talk to Jeff. You wrote the stuff, you even talked on the panel as well about how the actors are kind of taking over your characters. How has that been, in terms of how your actors are becoming the characters you're writing about? As of the third season, I've written them hundreds of pages, at this point. So they've as actors really helped me define, it's kind of a metamorphosis. Every TV show, if you watch a pilot, a lot of characters change a lot, from the time they do that first pilot. For this one, the actors though, they bring so much to the table, Jeff and Sandeep do a lot of improv, and ad-lib a lot, they're adding a lot of ideas with their characters. At the same time, honestly, I've been pushing them forward as far as press and stuff and meeting fans and stuff, because I'm out there on the Internet a lot, I get sick of myself, honestly, I'm sure some of your readers are like, "I hate this girl." [Laughs] No! They do have trolling tendencies. Which is cool, they will, but that's cool, everybody doesn't have to love me. [laughs]
Officers' Quarters: Cataclysm will reshape guilds
Every Monday Scott Andrews contributes Officers' Quarters, a column about the ins and outs of guild leadership.If you're a regular reader of this column, you know that my biggest pet peeve with WoW is how little support guilds have received from Blizzard over the years. As I've said before, guilds are the backbone of any MMO. They facilitate all the group content that developers spend millions to produce -- the content that keeps people interested in the game and separates an MMO from your average single-player experience. Without officers who sacrifice time and energy to organize and lead their guilds, no MMO can succeed. I am, of course, biased, but I believe that officers deserve more support than they typically get from MMO developers, especially in WoW. Finally, Blizzard has unveiled plans to deliver not just an improved guild interface, but an entire leveling and achievement system for guilds, complete with talents. In Cataclysm, the face of Azeroth is not the only thing that will be reshaped. Guilds will be completely different entities compared to what they are now, with much greater depth and interactivity. To fully understand how monumental these changes are for officers everywhere, let's first look at the history of WoW's guild improvements.
BlizzCon 2009: The short version
For all those of you out there who don't have the time to slog through the 100+ articles we published on BlizzCon 2009, we've condensed the events of the past few days into the most important things you need to know: THE END OF WRATH: Developers gave some pretty revealing information on what we can expect to see in patch 3.2.2 (the revamped Onyxia raid) and in patch 3.3, where we'll finally stare down Arthas himself. THE NEXT EXPANSION: Blizzard's own loremaster Chris Metzen debuted the first trailer for the next expansion, titled World of Warcraft: Cataclysm, and that sound you hear is millions of players who can't believe Blizzard would ever pull a stunt this big. Cataclysm's basic storyline features the return of Deathwing and the re-sundering of the world in his wake, forever altering Azeroth's classic landscape and sending players to previously unseen parts of the world like the Lost Isles, Hyjal, Gilneas, Uldum, and Grim Batol. FEATURES OF CATACLYSM: The most important features of the next expansion include two new races (Goblins for the Horde and Worgen for the Alliance), new class possibilities for existing races, a new secondary skill, character stat simplification, cross-server instances, the ability to level and "talent" your guild, new means of character advancement through the Path of the Titans, Mastery, and the revamping of the talent system, and rated battlegrounds. LIVEBLOGS: We blogged and liveblogged the convention from start to finish: the Opening Ceremony, the WoW Preview panel, the WoW Art panel, The Guild's panel, the first and second WoW Class, Items, and Professions Panels, the general WoW Q&A, the Breaking Into the Industry panel, the Game Systems panel, and the Raids and Dungeons panel. FUN AND GAMES: Even in the middle of all the craziness, we still found time for our third annual Reader Meetup (we expected maybe 300 people and got 1200+) with the cast of The Guild present, Premonition's live raid, the Costume contest, and the Dance and Soundalike contests. If you'd like a more thorough look at how BlizzCon 2009 went, visit our round-ups on Day One and Day Two of the con for a more complete guide to our articles, galleries, and videos.
All the World's a Stage: More possibilities for goblins and worgen in Cataclysm
All the World's a Stage, and all the orcs and humans merely players. They have their stories and their characters; and one player in his time plays many roles.So the Cataclysm expansion has officially been announced at BlizzCon 2009 and while there are many things we knew before (such as the addition of Goblins and Worgen), there are many things we just learned (such as the beginnings of their proper lore), and many things we still don't know as well -- some things even Blizzard still seems undecided about.But there are some indications of things to come which will surely affect roleplayers. The most obvious change involves the changes the whole world will be going through. Each of our existing characters' will have their own reaction to the cataclysm, of course, as well as the opportunity to go through the game from 1 to 60 with a new character, and maybe not be quite as bored as you were the last 6 times you did it. Your new tauren paladin's leveling experience will be very different from your tauren shaman's, and each one will have different things to talk about once they reach the level cap.Another obvious addition is that you can start another character with whichever new race you like most. Many players have been wanting to play goblins and worgen for a long time, and appreciate the new parity that the two races bring to the two factions -- the Horde now has a diminutive race that is likely the closest the Horde could ever come to "cute," and the Alliance finally gets a race that is actually monstrous. This opens the doors for people to try out the opposite faction even more than before. We've already talked about these two races in a previous article, but now that the expansion's new races are confirmed with additional lore and information, there's quite a bit more to say.
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BlizzCon 2009 Insider Trader: Cataclysmic professions
Insider Trader is your inside line on making, selling, buying and using player-made products.Over the course of several BlizzCon panels, we've been treated to a preview of how professions will be changing in Cataclysm, the next expansion pack. Pass through the break to learn all about: The new title and level cap. Revamped skill gains. Archaeology, the new profession! Reforging, a new dimension to crafting professions. Hints about the future of Engineering, Fishing, and Gathering. Information about things we wanted to see, but won't.
Totem Talk: Revamped stats in Cataclysm and Dwarven/Goblin Shamans
Totem Talk is Wow.com's weekly column about all things Shamanistic. This week, we go "aaah aaah BlizzCon! Goblin and Dwarven Shamans! All sorts of stats changing! Aaaah!" with Matthew Rossi. Be warned that Cataclysm spoilers may be thick on the ground in this post.The past few days have been a crazy basket of news for us Shaman players. The Alliance will have a second Shamanistic race with the inclusion of Dwarves (which makes sense, really, since Dwarves are effectively descended from beings of pure earth) and the Horde will get a fourth race of Shamans in the Goblins.Frankly, an expansion based around the upheaval as Deathwing himself smashes the elemental plans pell-mell into Azeroth is pure bliss for a Shaman. This is what we're for! The elements in disarray, Ragnaros bucking wild on Mount Hyjal, the planes leaking through into Azeroth... time to get out there and do what we do best.But that's not all. With stat simplification gear is changing, Mastery will change the way our talent trees function, and then there will be the Path of the Titans to help customize us even more than Glyphs did. Shamans are going to gear differently, have five more talent points (but the talents themselves will be changed and streamlined, we're told) and play differently in Cataclysm. Let's start talking about how.
World of Warcraft: Cataclysm targeted for a 2010 release date
digg_url = 'http://digg.com/pc_games/World_of_Warcraft_Cataclysm_targeted_for_a_2010_release'; One small bit of rumor has been floating around the BlizzCon floor the last couple days: that World of Warcraft: Cataclysm will be released in 2010. We hear these kind of rumors all the time, and don't give them very much credence. Whatever date is up on Game Stop (November 1st, 2010) or Amazon or wherever are just placeholder dates until they start to change or we hear from trusted sources that the dates are correct.But this time, things are a little bit different.WoW.com has been able to confirm that during a DirecTV interview, Mike Morhaime, CEO of Blizzard, revealed that Cataclysm is targeted for a 2010 release date.Now a targeted release date should be clearly understood for what it is. It is a date that Blizzard wants to ship their game, nothing more, nothing less. It means that they have a plan and schedule to get the game ready by then. But as everyone knows, long term schedules can and do change. Please limit the QQ if we don't see Cataclysm next year.Interesting news nonetheless!
BlizzCon 2009: How far along is the development of Cataclysm?
We knew Cataclysm was coming, but it's nice to be able to play it. Today. At BlizzCon. Yes, rather than firing up the PTRs to let visitors kick Onyxia's butt (again) or proffering a glimpse of Arthas' defeat, attendees get their first taste of the new expansion set. How awesome is that? To be able to play the game this weekend, though, suggests that it's at a good stage in development. After all, Wrath was announced at BlizzCon 2007 but we didn't actually get to play it (at least the internal Friends and Family Alpha version) until the WWI in July 2008, nearly a year later.Blizzard's Lead Level Designer on World of Warcraft, Cory Stockton, has stated that Cataclysm's development began before Wrath shipped (there's a surprise ...) but it's obviously futher along than many might have thought and then Mike Morhaime hesitantly confirmed the game was slated to be released in 2010 along with StarCraft II. So when exactly could we expect to see the third World of Warcraft expansion?
Day two of BlizzCon 2009: Round-up
Well, readers, BlizzCon 2009 is over and done, and our staff is slowly but surely beginning to make its way home in celebrated zombie-like fashion. In the meantime, we've outsourced article production to our household pets, so be gentle with your criticism of Toonces' efforts today (stupid cat can't even spell QQ correctly). Anyway, here's what happened on Day 2 of BlizzCon: SATURDAY'S PANELS: We liveblogged the panels on Breaking Into the Industry, the general World of Warcraft Q&A, WoW Game Systems, the Dungeons and Raids panel (which included information on both Icecrown Citadel and Cataclysm content) and the second WoW Class Discussion panel. NEW FEATURES ANNOUNCED: Blizzard announced a long-awaited feature in the form of cross-server instances, which should dramatically increase the pool of people available to run a 5-man at any given time. We won't have to wait for the expansion; they believe it should be ready to go live in patch 3.3. Another long-awaited feature will make its debut in the form of rated battlegrounds and arena points from wins. A beloved feature of the old honor system -- ranked (and faction-specific) PvP titles! -- will also return. WORLD OF WARCRAFT: WE'RE ALL &$#*%*^ED NOW: Cataclysm continued its storm through the con, and we've got in-depth looks at an array of the announced features. Read on for a look at the Cataclysm narrative, tanks and the removal of +defense, an explanation of the Mastery system and new talent functionality, what we know about the Path of the Titans, the introduction of guild leveling and talents, the known dungeons of Cataclysm, and what we can expect to see in patch 3.3's Icecrown Citadel raid and 5-mans. PATCH 3.2.2: On the subject of Wrath game patches, Matt Rossi takes a look at the most eagerly-anticipated part of patch 3.2.2, the return of Onyxia. LIVE RAID: The top-ranked U.S. guild, Premonition, did a live raid against a series of selected bosses, falling eventually to...Hogger? No one saw that coming. CLASS AND ROLE COMMENTARY: Zach Yonzon and Eddie Carrington respectively have you covered on Warlock and Hunter information from at the Class Q&A panels, Christian Belt's written his column on Cataclysm and Mages, and Matticus examines the information released on stat changes and their likely repercussions for healers. VIDEOS: We have additional video of the new Worgen and Goblin starting areas, the finalists and winner of the costume contest, and the Dance and Soundalike contest. %Gallery-70748%%Gallery-70706%%Gallery-70745%%Gallery-70746%%Gallery-70747%
BlizzCon 2009: Premonition live raid
You've probably heard of Premonition, one of the big raiding guilds that everyone follows in "the raiding scene." Among other things, Premonition is the group known for being the first guild in the U.S. to complete Alone in the Darkness. They were also special guest stars this year at BlizzCon 2009. Similar to other WoW related panels, the stage hall in which Premonition performed was way too small for the sheer number of people who showed up. We stood shoulder to shoulder and necks to backs in order to fit. Unlike other live raid displays, Premonition's live raid performance was crafted specifically for this convention. Premonition fought a series of four boss teams, with each boss team having at least three members. Some of the bosses featured during the raid included the a team of dragons, Brutallus, Infernus, and other stars from Outland. Premonition's only real wipe happened when they faced down Thaddius, Anub'Rekhan, and Patchwerk. That three-boss team managed to get Premonition down on their first attempt. After only a bit of recovery, the star raiding guild picked themselves up and easily defeated the trio. The final bout, however, was with a very special guest star from the old world past. Updated and beefed to represent his full power as a level 80 raid boss, this nightmare memory was met by the audience with howls of joy and nostalgia. Hogger had appeared. Despite their skill and coordination, Premonition stood no match against the Gnoll of Gnolls. While noone can dispute Premonition's skill, there are just some basic truths to the world. Hogger is the king boss. BlizzCon 2009 is here! WoW.com has continuing coverage, bringing you the latest in Cataclysm news, live blogs, galleries, and reports right from the convention floor. Check out WoW.com's Guide to BlizzCon for the latest!
BlizzCon 2009: Dance and soundalike contest videos
We brought you the video from the costume contest earlier tonight. Now, as requested, here are Turpster's videos of the dance contest (above), and the soundalike contest (after the cut). I have to say, I watched the soundalike contest live, and it was really weird. Some of those contestants are creepily accurate.
BlizzCon 2009: Cataclysm dungeons
Cory Stockton and Scott Mercer gave an in-depth look into the dungeons and raids available at the launch of WoW: Cataclysm during the Raids and Dungeons panel today at BlizzCon. We'll look at the dungeons first.OVERVIEW: At launch, World of Warcraft: Cataclysm will ship with eight 5-man dungeons and two heroic versions of old-world dungeons.Grim Batol: One level 85 5-man.Skywall: One level 80-82 5-man.Abyssal Maw: Two 5-mans; level 80-83 and level 82-84.Deepholm: One level 80-83 5-man.Uldum: Two 5-mans; level 83-84 and level 85.Blackrock Caverns: One level 85 5-man.Shadowfang Keep: One level 85 heroic 5-man.The Deadmines: One level 85 heroic 5-man.Descriptions and info after the jump for dungeons that were covered in depth in the panel. %Gallery-70745%
BlizzCon 2009: What to expect in Icecrown
Oh hey guys -- remember the other World of Warcraft expansion, the one we're currently playing? Turns out this one has some cool stuff too. The most interesting thing (at least to me) that we heard from the Dungeons and Raids panel is that we're going to get some sort of cinematic or lore moment on Arthas' death (if he does in fact die). I remember being somewhat disappointed when Illidan finally croaked for my guild; for such an important lore figure, he really went out with a whimper and not a bang. Anyway, here's what we know so far about the Icecrown Citadel raid confirmed to be coming in patch 3.3: There will be at least 4 floors' worth of content in Icecrown Citadel, which I would guess means it'll be reminiscent of how you worked your way up from the sewers of the Black Temple to the roof with Illidan. They plan to make more use of the warp/teleport mechanic currently used in Ulduar that makes it possible for players to see bigger dungeons without spending a lot of time just running from place to place. Sindragosa (the same dragon you saw Arthas raising in the Wrath of the Lich King cinematic trailer) and the Lich King are two confirmed bosses. Based on the "Shadow Vault" scene glimpsed in Yogg-Saron's brain room, I'd wager you'll be seeing Saurfang the Younger and Bolvar as well. Read on for more news on Icecrown Citadel!%Gallery-70747%
BlizzCon 2009: Rated battlegrounds and the return of PvP titles
One of the most widely-cheered announcements during the Game Systems panel was the introduction of rated battlegrounds and the reappearance of old PvP titles from the now-defunct ranking system. It's a question we've seen asked a lot -- plenty of people out there aren't fond of arena but love battlegrounds, and many of them chafed under the inability to get up-to-date PvP gear. It looks like Blizzard will be trying to reward better battleground play without punishing people who have the bad luck to land on an indifferent PuG. Here's what we know so far: Whichever battleground is currently on its holiday weekend will also be a rated battleground for that week. Battleground wins will award both rating and arena points. Battleground losses won't punish you with a ratings loss, but also won't award any points. I would assume that you can continue to accrue honor and a single BG token per loss. Points earned will be capped at a certain number (not yet known) per week to keep rated battlegrounds from feeling too "grindy." Your battleground ratings will, like the current arena system, encompass two ratings: a personal and a match-making rating. Old PvP rankings will make their reappearance as end-of-season titles (e.g., "Scout," "Commander," "Centurion"). No word yet on whether these are permanent or if, like the non-Gladiator arena titles, you have to earn them each season to continue displaying them. "Special epic ground mounts" will be made available to people playing the rated battlegrounds. Rated battleground wins will also contribute to the new guild talent system. BlizzCon 2009 is here! WoW.com has continuing coverage, bringing you the latest in Cataclysm news, live blogs, galleries, and reports right from the convention floor. Check out WoW.com's Guide to BlizzCon for the latest!
BlizzCon 2009: Costume contest video
Last night at BlizzCon featured the string of contests (costume, sound-alike, and dance), hosted by Jay Mohr. The costume contest was pretty spectacular at times, and I don't want to spoil it, but I was definitely rooting for the winner as soon as I saw him or her. Watch the contest above, and enjoy! It's times like this that make me realize what a wonderful community WoW has. BlizzCon 2009 is here! WoW.com has continuing coverage, bringing you the latest in Cataclysm news, live blogs, galleries, and reports right from the convention floor. Check out WoW.com's Guide to BlizzCon for the latest!
BlizzCon 2009: Class panel #2, the good parts version
The second and final class, item, and profession panel has concluded. Disappointingly, the presentation part of the panel was mainly a re-run of yesterday's, but the Q&A, of course, was all-new. There were even a few new tidbits in the presentation. Here are some parts of the presentation that are not repeats from yesterday: They didn't give any new classes to Draenei because there are too many of the space goats already. There's a chance that Hunter Aspects will go away entirely. New tidbit on Archaeology: putting pieces of artifacts together sends you to "face some sort of challenge" out in the world. They like the way fishing works in Animal Crossing, and might look to that for inspiration on how to rework the process. And here are the good parts from the Q&A:
BlizzCon 2009: The Return of Onyxia
It's not just Cataclysm that we're hearing about at BlizzCon: in addition to Icecrown Citadel, we're also seeing news about the upcoming revamp to Onyxia's Lair. As we previously reported, Onyxia will be retooled as a 10/25 man raid with an updated loot table consisting of classic Tier 1 and 2 skins with stats in line with Wrath of the Lich King levels. A fitting return since her dad's totally going to come beat us all up in Cataclysm.We have a gallery below, but be warned: Onyxia's not going to be the same fight as she was at level 60. New spells and abilities are promised to help keep the fight fresh and interesting for new players. All in all, a fitting return for the Brood Mother just before her flight takes center stage in the next expansion. However, with a sweet mount available (and a cute pet for just logging on during the event) as well as all that gear, I'm sure we're all eagerly awaiting our turn to handle many whelps.%Gallery-70746% BlizzCon 2009 is here! WoW.com has continuing coverage, bringing you the latest in Cataclysm news, live blogs, galleries, and reports right from the convention floor. Check out WoW.com's Guide to BlizzCon for the latest!
BlizzCon 2009: Guild Leveling and Talents
This BlizzCon we're hearing a lot about the ways guilds will be changing in Cataclysm. Not only will you be able to contribute to your guild by doing the things you already do like daily questing and PvP, your guild will be able to use its new abilities to directly benefit the members in various way. Even more intriguing is the talk of being able to transfer an entire guild to a new server at once.However, even as things change for guilds, one thing remains the same: you will not be getting a guild hall. You're going to have to keep hanging around on the streets with us Hoi Polloi, I'm afraid. Still, what we are getting is extremely thought provoking on its own.
BlizzCon 2009: Worgen and Goblin starting areas with the Props team
The Props team at BlizzCon showed a video on what they do, and also displayed a lot of the characterization and mood setting of the new Goblin and Worgen starting areas. The Lost Isles for the Goblins are just beautiful and quirky and funny, abounding in tropical drinks, a breakfast machine, and a "rocket-catapult-turtle-powered-machine" (and did they actually build a railroad out of bamboo?), although I have to say that the Dickensian/Victorian feel of Gilneas is just...words fail me. It's lovely. This is perhaps the loveliest, most haunting, spooky and creepy zone Blizzard's ever done, and...it's going to be an almighty lagfest when Cataclysm hits. Oh well. Truthfully, I had no idea just how much of what we think of as the "landscape" is in fact the Props team at work.As an FYI for readers who have observed this on previous video, yes, there are gold-sellers' ads popping up on Viddler, and no, we're not happy about it, and we certainly didn't put them there. BlizzCon 2009 is here! WoW.com has continuing coverage, bringing you the latest in Cataclysm news, live blogs, galleries, and reports right from the convention floor. Check out WoW.com's Guide to BlizzCon for the latest!
BlizzCon 2009: Mastery system and talent trees
Following their comments during yesterday's Class/Items/Professions panel, the Game Systems team explained the mysterious "mastery" system in the Systems panel today. Looking at talent trees for all classes, the Systems team felt that players were spending too many points on things like flat damage or healing boosts; talents like Cruelty or Fire and Brimstone are uninteresting but necessary for players due to the bonuses they provide. On top of that, talent trees are bloated with all kinds of talents that are trying to do three things at once, which makes for confusion among players who might not be at the top of the min-maxing game.What the Systems team wanted to do was make it possible for players to only use their points on "fun" talents -- ones like Body and Soul, Lightning Overload, or Juggernaut -- and make the passive bonuses that used to be in talents your reward for investing points into a tree. Examples were given for Rogues. A Combat Rogue might see his Mastery bonuses include passive increases to melee damage, hit chance, and armor penetration as he moves down the tree, whereas a Subtlety Rogue might see increases to melee damage, melee haste, and energy regen.But how does the new Mastery stat tie into this? Ghostcrawler says that the Mastery stat on gear will increase the bonuses you receive from the tree into which you've invested the most talent points. It'll also have other passive bonuses depending on your class and spec -- for example, Mastery will lower the cooldowns on Ret paladin abilities.This seems like a fantastic change for everyone, and it makes me incredibly excited to think about the fun and interesting talents that'll replace my myriad of spell damage boosting talents. Can't wait for the beta! %Gallery-70744% BlizzCon 2009 is here! WoW.com has continuing coverage, bringing you the latest in Cataclysm news, live blogs, galleries, and reports right from the convention floor. Check out WoW.com's Guide to BlizzCon for the latest!
