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Bashiok on flying mount delay in World of Warcraft: Warlords of Draenor
There's already been a flurry of opinions expressed on the reveal that Blizzard does not plan to allow flying in Draenor until patch 6.1 -- a bit of a departure from previous expansions, where flying was allowed at max level (except for Cataclysm). Several threads in the WoW forums have already thoroughly explored player feelings on the topic, and Bashiok took it upon himself to jump into one to give a more detailed insight into Blizzard's logic in making this decisions. Specifically, this issue is one of control; the players' versus the game designers'. Bashiok points out that once a player can fly, they control every aspect of how they engage with the ground, which is where the majority of content, and in particular, combat, is located. While it's natural for players to want that kind of engagement to be done on their agency, Blizzard's designers also work hard to present content in a certain way, and once a player can fly, all their design and presentation becomes meaningless. It's not an easy balance to strike, and Blizzard is always weighing the different design choices against each other. The post is an interesting look into the thought processes that go into these kinds of decisions, and you can read it in full after the break.
Ask The Developers: PvP changes on the PTR
A wild post has appeared on the EU forums, detailing the ground rules for an upcoming "Ask the Developers" opportunity relating to the PvP changes on the patch 5.3 PTR. It's currently locked, but on April 9th the thread will go live for 48 hours, during which time players are encouraged to post all of their PvP-related questions and to vote on their favorites. Don't ignore the voting option, because Blizz will be prioritizing their responses by popularity, and the questions with the most votes are the most likely to be answered. There are also some ground rules for how the thread will work that are typical for "Ask the Dev" designated posts, and shouldn't be anything new for forum veterans. If you're planning on participating in the post, it's worth reading over them so your questions have the best chance of being taken seriously. So far it looks like this Q&A opportunity is only available to those with EU forum access, but we'll keep our eyes peeled for any similar posts appearing on the North American forum. You can find the full blue post behind the cut.
What makes a compelling character?
I don't know how many of you frequent the official Story Forum. It can be an intimidating place. Beware, all ye who may mention the words "Lordaeron," "Sylvanas," or "Southshore;" and these days add "Sunreaver" and "Dalaran" to the list of ten-foot-pole topics. I still visit the Story Forum regularly and if you're a lore buff its often a good source for varied discussion and debate. The amount of detail folks are able to recite at a moment's notice never fails to impress me, and has more than once sent me scurrying to my personal Warcraft library to fact-check or reread something with an eye for a new interpretation. Recently, Nethaera has paid a visit to the story forum, and she asks you all directly: What makes a compelling character? What makes a character strong or weak or interesting or boring? What makes a character your favorite? What are the things that draw you to a fictional personality, what are the things that repulse you? As for me personally, well, I'm pretty sure the WoW community is more than familiar with some of my favorites (shameless self promotion). The reasons why I find those characters compelling are varied, but mostly boil down to the situation of being between a rock and a hard place. I like stories where there aren't good answers, where every way you look, you lose. Maybe I'm a Debbie-downer, but if the path to victory is obvious, I am bored to tears. Don't give me that, I don't want to read it. Give me someone who has struggled and fought and who will never be sure if they did the right thing. Give me something, and someone, that will haunt me. What makes a character compelling to you? What fuels your imagination? If you've ever wanted the chance to talk with a blue about your favorite WoW personalities and share your personal idea of what you'd like to see out of WoW's canon characters, now is your opportunity!
Throne of Thunder raid release schedule announced
Today marks the launch of patch 5.2, and along with it comes a new raid to conquer. We have confirmation of the Throne of Thunder raid schedule, and staggered release of raid difficulties. As it stands right now, Normal Throne of Thunder launches today, with Heroic ToT and the first wing of LFR next week, with a new LFR wing released each week after until mid-April. Throne of Thunder Raid Schedule With the release of Patch 5.2: The Thunder King, the vast Throne of Thunder raid will become available. As in previous raid tiers, Raid Finder wings and availability difficulties will be staggered. To access the new Raid Finder wings you will need a minimum average item level (ilevel) of 480. This is our current schedule based on a planned patch release date of March 5. If the patch is delayed, or if we determine any change is needed, we'll update this article. March 5 – Normal Throne of Thunder March 12 – Heroic Throne of Thunder and LFR Wing 1 "Last Stand of the Zandalari" March 19 – LFR Wing 2 "Forgotten Depths" April 2 – LFR Wing 3 "Halls of Flesh-Shaping" April 16 – LFR Wing 4 "Pinnacle of Storms" source
Patch 5.2 PTR: Battle with the Blues tomorrow
Do you ever wish you could play WoW with the blues? If you're on the PTR, tomorrow's your opportunity to do so. Several Blizzard employees will be on the PTR tomorrow afternoon, queuing for random battlegrounds as part of stress testing for the 5.2 patch. If you've ever wanted to test your mettle against Blizzard employees, this is the perfect chance to do so. Simply log on the PTR between 4:30-6:30PM PST, and queue up for a random battleground. Sapperwix Greetings Champions! Tomorrow on the PTR Blizzard employees are going to be storming the Battlegrounds. We're going to be doing some stress testing in preparation of the upcoming 5.2 patch. For your chance to match steel and spell with some of Blizzard's finest sign on to the PTR realms tomorrow 3/1/13 from 4:30-6:30pm PST and queue up for Random Battlegrounds. We'll be queuing as teams, you'll be able to distinguish us by our guilds "Blizzard Horde" and "Blizzard Alliance". See you on the fields of honor! source Blue poster Bashiok tweeted a very special message for all that are considering participation: Hey, please jump on the PTR tomorrow and shame these guys. Tell them Bashiok sent you as you /hug their corpse. bit.ly/XdPLb7 - Bashiok (@Bashiok) February 28, 2013 You heard the man. Good luck to all who sign up!
How do blues choose what to respond to?
"Why do the blues only seem to comment on silly threads and never in a thread that has substance, provides meaningful insight, or merits actual discussion? This seems a complete waste of time and valuable resources." This was part of the opening post on a thread in the US forums, discussing the Community Management team's choice of posts to respond to. And it's a reasonable question, a cursory glance at a blue tracker will reveal that many blue responses are indeed on light-hearted threads rather than on the ones demanding feedback on heavy issues. That, or they're commenting on quickly locked posts that violate the forum guidelines, elucidating the reasons for the thread's closure. Why don't the blues respond more quickly to the weighty, substantial threads? Consider the amount of work required in the background to respond to a question about PvP balancing, for example, compared to the amount of work required to wish a forum a happy Winter Veil. While the latter simply requires a lively wit and a good knowledge of the forum code of conduct, the latter requires a good deal more input, from the developers and designers and more.
Weekly news recap featuring Niko
Niko returns this week with WoW Insider's news recap, where we look back at the hottest news of the past week. This week's topics include: New Mists of Pandaria Battlegrounds: Silvershard Mine Encrypted Text: Lifestyle of the Pandaria rogue A closer look at the hunter rare tames in Mists of Pandaria Become a Guardian of Hyjal with transmogrification Breakfast Topic: How will you level through Mists of Pandaria? If you enjoyed the show, make sure to subscribe to Niko on YouTube (or follow him on Twitter) and come back next week for the next episode!
Mists of Pandaria Beta: Many pet battle changes in next build
The pet battle quests in the current MoP build are largely incomplete and due for extensive updates in the next build, according to Cory "Mumper" Stockton. One significant change is making the tamer battles account-wide and therefore only completable on one character. This does not apply to the dailies, so individual characters can still complete those quests once per day. [Edited because I originally misinterpreted Mumper's statement, though it is not entirely clear.] The same character who completes the initial battle that opens up the dailies does not have to be the one to complete them. So any other character on your account can still do those quests once per day. (You know, because they're dailies. Captain Obvious needs to stop whispering in my ear.) While Stockton says that "significant updates" will be coming in the next build, he lists highlights of what they "have been working on." This distinction may indicate that some of the updates will not necessarily make it into the next beta patch. Mumper's full post is after the break.
Mists of Pandaria not required for pet battles
Many readers have been asking in The Queue if an account that is upgraded to Mists of Pandaria will be required for participating in pet battles. Cory Stockton, aka Mumper, answered that question recently: No! Mumper The feature will go live with the box release date of MoP. It will be available to all players, MoP is not required. source It does look like the pet battles system will not be included in pre-expansion patch 5.0, however. We don't know the release date of Mists yet, unfortunately, so it looks like you have plenty of time to stockpile companions before being able to battle them. [via Warcraft Pets] It's open warfare between Alliance and Horde in Mists of Pandaria, World of Warcraft's next expansion. Jump into five new levels with new talents and class mechanics, try the new monk class, and create a pandaren character to ally with either Horde or Alliance. Look for expansion basics in our Mists FAQ, or dig into our spring press event coverage for more details!
Mists of Pandaria: Gold sink mounts will be account-wide
One of the most anticipated features of Mists of Pandaria is the fact that many things are going account-wide, including mounts. But this change will not affect all mounts, as Mike Sacco clarified recently in The Queue. "Gold sink" mounts, so called because of the large amount of gold needed to acquire them, were included on the list of mounts not going account-wide. Blizzard changed their stance on this today, as Game Designer Mumper explains below. Mumper We have been discussing this issue the last couple of days and we made the call to make the following mounts account-wide: Traveler's Tundra Mammoth Grand Expedition Yak Mechano-Hog Mekgineer's Chopper Sandstone Drake Grand Ice Mammoth Ice Mammoth Jeweled Onyx Panther (all color variants) Cloud Serpents (all color variants) At this point, the only mounts that are not account-wide are either class specific or rewarded from PVP. We feel like both these types of mounts should still be character specific. Thanks for your feedback on this issue! source This is in response to a post in the Mists of Pandaria beta feedback forum. Blizzard is listening to your suggestions -- keep it up! [Thanks to everyone who sent this in!] It's open warfare between Alliance and Horde in Mists of Pandaria, World of Warcraft's next expansion. Jump into five new levels with new talents and class mechanics, try the new monk class, and create a pandaren character to ally with either Horde or Alliance. Look for expansion basics in our Mists FAQ, or dig into our spring press event coverage for more details!
Blue Posts: More Ghostcrawler, Rob Pardo plays Titan
Join us every weekday evening as Today in WoW runs down all the WoW news that you could possibly want. From comments from Blizzard's blues to the latest datamining info -- we've got you covered. Yet another Ghostcrawler post, and some Titan teaser ... Blue posts WoW news from other sites News and features from WoW Insider Links from around the web
Blue Posts: Ghostcrawler returns saying no to warlock tanking spec
Join us every weekday evening as Today in WoW runs down all the WoW news that you could possibly want. From comments from Blizzard's blues to the latest datamining info -- we've got you covered. Ghostcrawler has returned to the forums, for at least one post in the beta section, to quell the warlock tanking talk that's been going on ... Blue posts WoW news from other sites News and features from WoW Insider Links from around the web
Blue Posts: (More) LFR loot rules clarification, item squish, DotA-style BG, spoilers
Join us every weekday evening as Today in WoW runs down all the WoW news that you could possibly want. From comments from Blizzard's blues to the latest datamining info -- we've got you covered. Don't forget to check out The Daily Quest and our Weekly Podcast Roundup to find out what else is going on in the WoW community. And if you have a news tip, feel free to drop us a line and let us know. Blue posts WoW news from other sites News and features from WoW Insider Links from around the web
Blue Posts and Other WoW News: Arenas, Arthas statue
Join us every weekday evening as Today in WoW runs down all the WoW news that you could possibly want. From comments from Blizzard's blues to the latest datamining info -- we've got you covered. Don't forget to check out The Daily Quest and our Weekly Podcast Roundup to find out what else is going on in the WoW community. And if you have a news tip, feel free to drop us a line and let us know. Blue posts WoW news from other sites News and features from WoW Insider Links from around the web
Blue Posts: War Banner, PvP tanks, MoP press tour
Join us every weekday evening as Today in WoW runs down all the WoW news that you could possibly want. From comments from Blizzard's blues to the latest datamining info -- we've got you covered. Don't forget to check out The Daily Quest and our Weekly Podcast Roundup to find out what else is going on in the WoW community. And if you have a news tip, feel free to drop us a line and let us know. Blue posts WoW news from other sites News and features from WoW Insider Links from around the web
Blizzard committed to keeping a sense of community
Despite some players' objections that the Dungeon and Raid Finder tools have made dungeon- and raid-running too impersonal, Blizzard has responded that it has a commitment to keeping a sense of community. Nethaera took to the official boards to discuss the tough job of balancing the sense of community against meeting the needs of the community while making sure players feel connected to people around them. Nethaera echoes a very important point, one that just doesn't get enough play in the MMO genre and its contenders -- people play whatever MMO their friends are playing. People go where the people are. The ingenious part is that while players are deriding the Dungeon and Raid Finder tools for destroying community and tearing people apart, the new Real ID instancing is making grouping and playing with new people I had never imagined I would play with a possibility. New communities are being formed. Just because the community doesn't look or feel like it did seven years ago does not mean that a sense of community is gone. It's just in different places. Hit the jump for Nethaera's full post. Sound off in the comments about how you think Blizzard should go about fostering its community.
Blue Posts: A 'plethora of information' is coming
Join us every weekday evening as Today in WoW runs down all the WoW news that you could possibly want. From comments from Blizzard's blues to the latest datamining info -- we've got you covered. Don't forget to check out The Daily Quest and our Weekly Podcast Roundup to find out what else is going on in the WoW community. And if you have a news tip, feel free to drop us a line and let us know. Blue posts WoW news from other sites News and features from WoW Insider Links from around the web
Daxxarri clarifies PvP and PvE gear changes in Mists of Pandaria
Daxxarri took to the forums to clarify for players that the world will not end when the relative items levels of PvE and PvP gear change in the next expansion. Players have been confused as to what Blizzard meant when it indicated that PvP gear in Mists of Pandaria will be a lower item level than its PvE counterpart but more effective in PvP because of the addition of a free stat to the item's budget that boosts its effectiveness against other players. Blizzard is making this change for many reasons, one of which is to stop player abuse of PvP gear's item level to inflate their scores to enter dungeons via the Dungeon and Raid Finders earlier than they should. Resilience is being changed to a PvP-centric stat that does not cost anything in an item's budget and enhances the item's effectiveness in PvP. The item's effectiveness in PvE, however, would be that of similarly leveled PvE gear. This turns the best PvP gear into relatively decent PvE gear with a lower item level. The highest tier of PvP gear will still be the best gear for fighting other players because of the new stat that the highest tier of PvE gear is lacking, regardless of item level. If you PvP, wear PvP gear. If you PvE, wear PvE gear. Now, however, going between the two won't be as severe as it is right now. Hit the jump for Daxxarri's posts and explanations in full regarding PvP and PvE gear.
Blue Posts: 'One of our design philosophies is: simple to learn, difficult to master,' and 15 more Blizzard posts
Join us every weekday evening as Today in WoW runs down all the WoW news that you could possibly want. From comments from Blizzard's blues to the latest datamining info -- we've got you covered. Don't forget if you have a news tip to drop us a line and let us know. Today's WoW news roundup includes: Blue posts WoW news from other sites News and features from WoW Insider Links from around the web
Blue Posts: Where'd your name come from?
Join us every weekday evening as Today in WoW runs down all the WoW news that you could possibly want. From comments from Blizzard's blues to the latest datamining info -- we've got you covered. Don't forget if you have a news tip to drop us a line and let us know. Today's WoW news roundup includes: Blue posts WoW news from other sites News and features from WoW Insider Links from around the web
