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BlizzCon 2009: The official program
What is there to say about the BlizzCon 2009 program? It's glossy. Extraordinarily glossy. We were exceedingly impressed with the levels of gloss contained within. (No, really -- we're not being sarcastic here. It's very pretty.) It contains little that we didn't know before, but does have an impressive (and glossy) spread dedicated to Cataclysm.%Gallery-70706%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: WoW Game Systems panel live blog
The Game Systems panel live blog will be starting at 11:30 a.m . PDT / 2:30 p.m. EDT. Join us for a great live blog, complete with Ghostcrawler!Adam will be live blogging, Alex will be taking pictures. Pictures may be inserted into the post after the live blog though, we don't want you to miss anything Ghostcrawler says.%Gallery-70748%
BlizzCon 2009: Initial thoughts on the Hunter changes
We have only experienced the first day of BlizzCon and my mind has already been blown. We have heard so many amazing details about Cataclysm and they're promising more for today. The changes are not just to our old favorite instances or to the zones around Azeroth. Implementing terrain phasing is going to change everything we know about leveling and running around our favorite zones. Also, who doesn't love the idea of Gnomes finally get to be Priests and as Ghostcrawler put it, "Be self-sufficient." (Well, they still don't have Hunters but that's okay.)We got confirmation from Chilton that it in fact Goblins and Worgens will be added to the game in Cataclysm. We also learned that Goblins and Worgens will both get to play Hunters. But they're not the only new races added to the Hunter ranks. We also got confirmation that Humans and Undead will both be able to play Hunters. So all in all we got some really good additions to the Hunter community.What about those awesome changes to the Hunter class? Well, how about the removal of Armor Penetration for one? We aren't going to have to worry how Armor Penetration works or when should stack for it...
BlizzCon 2009: Class Discussion Panel - Warlock
Yesterday's Class Discussion Panel at BlizzCon 2009 didn't go over all the classes like previous years, but instead focused on major changes to two classes. One of those classes is the Warlock, which finally gets its long promised Soul Shard mechanic overhaul. The change, as Ghostcrawler had mentioned before, is extremely cool and wasn't something that could be implemented with a minor patch. The revamp is huge -- it overhauls the entire Soul Shard system in two significant ways: Soul Shards are no longer items in the inventory (at last!) but are part of the Warlock UI Soul Shards are not consumed by any Warlock spell other than the empowering ability, Soul Burn I'll let all you Warlocks have a moment to digest that. When I first saw the changes, I was completely blown away and completely stoked -- the Warlock class will play completely differently from Mages, and indeed from any other class. Soul Shards will become a new resource mechanic akin to Death Knight runes except that they aren't used for spells but for "power moves". It makes a visual impact to playing the class, with the UI showing the Soul Shard resource.
Raid Rx: Cataclysmic stat changes for healers
Every week, Raid Rx will help you quarterback your healers to victory! Your host is Matt Low, the grand poobah of World of Matticus and a founder of No Stock UI, a new WoW blog for all things UI, macro, and addon related. Welcome to the special Blizzcon edition! I was on the floor listening into the first set of changes being announced and I managed to catch all the healing changes. Here's what we got! Whew! What an exciting day at the convention for healers! This is just day one! Okay, let's break down all the major changes that will be affecting healers.
BlizzCon 2009: World of Warcraft art panel
One of the more underrated panels during every BlizzCon is the World of Warcraft art panel, which discusses the little things that players usually gloss over when playing the game. Environmental Art Lead Gary Platner and his team spoke about how the art in the game evolved through time, particularly with the advances in the game's technology. Since its launch in 2004, World of Warcraft has evolved in many visual, if not always noticeable, ways. For instance, players can now see up to twice as far into the distance compared to when the game first came out. Projected texture effects are overlaid on some terrain, creating a more "realistic" environment, and vertex shading for richer, better lighting.The new Cataclysm expansion will continue to improve on the look of the game, utilizing new technologies such as texture blending - which allows distinct objects to be blended together visually. The team also previewed new water, which was just marvelous to look at. They also discussed the creation of new dungeons, which start from brainstorming, picking up lore, and getting real world inspiration.%Gallery-70709%
BlizzCon 2009: The costume contest
If there's one thing we can't get enough of, it's World of Warcraft fans in elaborate, just-stepped-out-of-your-computer-screen costumes. (And even though this year's winner took her inspiration from Diablo 3, we can't hold it against her.) And BlizzCon certainly has its fair share of cosplay. But we're not going to waste your time with a bunch of words when there are so many pictures to show off -- enjoy our costume contest gallery, the next best thing to being there yourself. And, on the plus side, you didn't have to fight the crowds for a good seat!%Gallery-70720%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: Cataclysm, the story so far
Here's the Cataclysm story so far, based on the official site FAQ and the Cataclysm Preview Panel. While we've been off fighting Arthas and leaving a piece of ourselves in the cold northern wastes, Deathwing the Destroyer has been brooding in Deephome, the elemental plane of earth, for some time now. As he regained his strength and was patched back up by the denizens of the plane, he prepared for his assault on Azeroth. With cataclysmic force, he burst through the ceiling of the elemental plane and brought destruction to Azeroth. Nearly all areas of Kalimdor and the Eastern Kingdoms were affected by the eruption. The Barrens is cleft in twain, with an enormous volcanic fissure splitting it into two different zones. Orgrimmar has been destroyed, prompting Garrosh Hellscream not only to rebguild the city, but to voraciously expand the Horde's territories. The Desolace shoreline was cracked open, allowing water -- and life -- back into the zone. Auberdine has been flooded and destroyed, forcing the Night Elves to move north. Everything and everyone is affected.
BlizzCon 2009: The Future of Tanking
We tanks are apparently living in interesting times. Whether you're a Druid, Paladin, DK or Warrior tank, how you do your job is in for some serious changes. Itemization is about to take some serious twists and turns in Cataclysm, and stats we've come to depend upon simply won't exist anymore. What does this all mean for those of us who generally go about our game 'lives' keeping the ire of our enemies focused on us and away from the more fragile sorts?With Attack Power on gear gone, and classes more directly gaining AP from stats (which to be fair is pretty much how most tanks do things now) and even more importantly, with Defense gone and all tanks gaining their critical strike removal from talents as Druids do now, we could very well be looking at the end of tanking gear entirely. It's possible, perhaps even likely that in Cataclysm your DK, Warrior or Paladin tank will wear the same gear (perhaps switching in a shield in the case of warriors/paladins) to tank as he or she does to DPS. For an idea of what this might look at, we can consult the current itemization of Druids with the Survival of the Fittest talent.
Breakfast Topic: What do you think of World of Warcraft: Cataclysm?
They taunted, they teased, they insinuated and then, just as the ceremony was about to end, Chris Metzen finally dropped the bombshell and announced World of Warcraft: Cataclysm. Yeah we knew it was coming, we were -- to misquote Illidan -- prepared. Now, in the aftermath, we've had time to ruminate and digest all the information: Deathwing, the raised level cap, the guild leveling, heroic versions of Shadowfang Keep and Deadmines, a new secondary profession in the form of Archeology, two new races and seven new zones, a new (and broken) Azeroth and the ability to fly in the old world. Phew, that's a lot to digest. Even more information seems to be dripping out in panels and post-opening ceremony interviews.So readers, we want to know what you think of Cataclysm. Are you pleased? Which bit excited you the most? Is it the new races or the promise of facing another insane Dragon Aspect? Are you scared by the drastic and irreversible changes that will befall Azeroth? Were you hoping for the Emerald Dream or a fully Maelstrom-centric expansion and feel like the Lost Isles and Vashj'ir are half measures? Tell us in the usual manner by dropping your thoughts and meditations in the comment box below. 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!
Day one of BlizzCon 2009: Round-up
Well, folks, the first day of BlizzCon went by in a blur, and we're still bouncing about all the stuff that was announced yesterday. If you don't want to slog through a ton of entries to get the TL:DR version, we've prepped a recap for you that'll take you to the highlights: WORLD OF WARCRAFT: OH SNAP: A little expansion by the name of Cataclysm was officially announced, with a world of pain now on its way to classic Azeroth and two new races. The official FAQ can be read here (and also on the official site) and we blogged through a look at the new starting zones and quests. All haters, disbelievers, skeptics, muggers, druggers, post-modernists, and trolls, we are graciously willing to accept your apologies. Line forms to the left, people. No pushing! And mister, I hope you brought enough gum for everybody. NEW FEATURES: These include the new races, Goblins and Worgen (Horde and Alliance respectively), the reordering and rezoning of much of Azeroth, an array of new race/class possibilities, a brand-new secondary skill, and some shake-ups in class mechanics and character/guild advancement. BATTLE.NET: Battle.net will gain new features in the expansion, including an XBox-Livesque ability to see what your friends are playing and which servers they're on, in addition to sending messages to them. PICTURES: Here's a map of the reordered post-Cataclysm Azeroth, a gallery of the art display at BlizzCon (containing some Cataclysm art, employee-decorated noobz, and Starcraft and Diablo universe pieces), a dedicated gallery for Cataclysm concept art, and a gallery of the costumes at BlizzCon. VIDEOS: We have video for you of the Cataclysm trailer, what Azeroth zones will look like post-Cataclysm, and the animation for Human-to-Worgen transformation. THE GUILD: The entire cast showed up and brought the funny at their live panel and at our reader meet-up. Gallery here! %Gallery-70668%%Gallery-70682%%Gallery-70630%%Gallery-70696% 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: Worgen environments
This video, which comes straight from this afternoon's BlizzCon Art Panel, shows off some of the environments Blizzard has put together for the Worgen, the brand new playable Alliance race. I love the look -- it's almost like Forsaken architecture, but before things went bad (or maybe with a hidden edge rather than a rotted look). We're not quite sure yet what these areas will be called -- most of it looks like what they're calling Gilneas City in the playable demos here on the floor.But you'll probably agree that it does look excellent. We'll have another video coming up from the Art Panel soon, looking at the Goblins and what they've got sitting around their starting zones.
BlizzCon 2009: Stats vastly simplified
It looks like Azeroth is not going to be the only aspect of WoW that's destroyed in Cataclysm. The developers just announced in the Class, Items, and Profession panel that half of WoW's stats are getting tossed out the window. Here's the breakdown: Attack Power on gear is gone. Instead, some classes will get 2 AP from each point of Agi (Rogues, Hunters, Shamans, Druids), and other classes (presumably Warriors, Paladins, and Death Knights) will get 2 AP per point of Strength. Side effect: no more plate wearers stealing your gear Spell Power is gone. It comes from Int now. MP5 is gone. Spirit is the mana regen stat, and all classes that need it will get some form of Meditation. (Hunters, never fear - you don't use mana any more. More on this in a separate post.) Armor Penetration is gone. That one was just confusing. Defense is gone. Tanks are now defense-capped from talents, like Druid tanks. Haste now increases your rate of resource regeneration (mana, energy, rage, runes, focus). Block Value is gone, but blocks now mitigate a percentage of damage. Stamina is going to be more equal across different armor types - no more "plate HP envy." Whew, those are some massive changes. I'm very much in favor of this sort of streamlining; the number of stats in game was getting a bit silly. This back-to-basics approach is refreshing. It's going to take some balancing, sure, but I think it's the right way to go. 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: The Cataclysm trailer
The Cataclysm cinematic, as first shown this afternoon at the BlizzCon 2009 opening ceremonies, is pretty darn epic (as all of Blizz's cinematics have been, really). If you haven't gotten a chance to watch it yet, fear not - there are options. You can watch it embedded above in this post, or you can head on over to Blizzard's official site and watch it streaming or download a high-quality version. And you definitely should watch it if you haven't yet. There's a ton of good information right here on WoW.com, but a video is worth quite a lot of words. There's even a gnome in this one! (A priest, near the end.) Not to mention goblins, which I hear are the new gnomes. I am incredibly excited. 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: Worgen animation
Our own Mike Schramm brings you video of the process Worgen players will undergo when they transform, fresh from the BlizzCon floor. Enjoy your piping hot man to beast-man transformation! I know I'm going to be keeping my Worgen in his bestial form as much as possible, myself, but it's still cool to watch.Update by Mike Schramm: Since we took this video at the Art Panel, I've played the Worgen on the floor, and this animation is now fully implemented in the demos here. Going into combat as a Worgen does a quicker animation that sends you into Wolf form (yes, you must be in Wolf form during combat, and it's purely cosmetic). But hitting the transformation ability while a human will give you this animation -- it looks great. 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: Q&A with Cory Stockton
The DirecTV stream has been of questionable stability today, but it has brought us an excellent interview with Cory Stockton, WoW's lead world designer. Here's what we learned: Development on Cataclysm was started before Wrath of the Lich King was done. Deathwing is the main boss of Cataclysm, as Arthas was for Wrath. You will not be able to go back to the old world content at all post-Cataclysm. Faction transfer will let you choose any race that can play your class. Archaeology is a secondary skill, like cooking, so anyone can get it. It ties in very closely with Path of the Titans, the new advancement system. It's all about traveling through Azeroth finding ancient artifacts, with a mini-game to decipher what the artifact is, and then you get rewards for it. Rewards will include profession recipes, items, and money, and the big reward will be new glyph slots for Path of the Titans (hopefully more on this later). The Worgen will have their own district in Stormwind. Odds and ends, sure, but some darn interesting ones. 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: The new Battle.net and WoW
The BlizzCon Battle.Net + Starcraft II panel revealed some interesting tidbits about how the new Battle.Net will communicate and interact with not only Starcraft II, but other current and future Blizzard games -- including WoW. By adding someone to your BNet friends list, you can see when they're online in games that you play. This means that. for example, if your friend Alex Ziebart is playing SC2 and you're in WoW, you'll be able to see that he's online -- and even send him a message if you desire, a la Steam's community overlay.But wait, there's more! If you and Alex are real-life friends, and approve each other as as much on BNet, you'll also be able to tell more detailed information at a glance on your WoW friends list, like what server Alex is currently playing on, or whether he's actually playing Diablo 3. A proposed feature is to let you log out of whatever game you're in and jump into whatever game Alex is playing and join him! The friends list will work very similarly in all of the BNet-ready games.It sounds like a great improvement, and very XBox Live -- which I gather is the point. 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: Goblin backstory and zone info
The DirecTV stream cut out for me after the opening ceremony, so it's possible there are a few things I'm missing; drop a comment if it looks like I've omitted anything. Anyway, here's what we know about the Goblins (the new Horde race) so far:BACKSTORYThe playable race is a group of Goblins based on the Isle of Kezan, a new zone between the Eastern Kingdoms and Kalimdor. While Goblins and the neutral Goblin trade organizations as a whole originate here, the official site and trailer both hint that the playable group has had (or is that, will have?) a recent and deeply unpleasant encounter with the Alliance that makes the Horde a logical choice when the time comes to pick sides. From the trailer, it would appear that much of the Goblins' starting zone is taken up by the eponymous cataclysm, the need to get away from the destruction, and their induction into the Horde, but we don't have too many details on it yet.The playable Goblins won't be formally associated with any of the neutral Goblin trading organizations we already know and love (figuratively speaking, of course; the Steamwheedle Cartel's been bilking us for years). There's also no mention so far of the other Goblins going anywhere, so I'm assuming that the game's preexisting Goblins will remain in the game in whatever capacity they can post-cataclysm, and the Horde Goblins are a faction unto themselves named the Bilgewater Cartel.
BlizzCon 2009: Class, Items, and Professions Panel Live Blog
We'll be live blogging the Class, Items, and Professions panel at 5:00 p.m. PDT / 8:00 p.m. EDT. This is the panel with Greg "Ghostcrawler" Street, so you'll want to pay attention.Take a look after the break for the live blog.
BlizzCon 2009: Archaeology and Path of the Titans
The upcoming expansion, Cataclysm, will be incorporating greater levels of character customization than ever before. From guild talent trees, a different talent tree system, new races and race/class combinations, to a new profession that will be all about customization. Enter the Path of the Titans, and the new secondary profession, Archaeology.Pass through the break for all the details, but be warned, spoilers lay ahead!
