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Blue Posts: EU free character moves
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: Cake and an important sentence about the stat changes
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 and Other WoW News: New race and class combos not guaranteed
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: Not blind nerfing Dragon Soul, PTR maintenance tomorrow
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 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: API questions, Rotface and Festergut
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. I heard the floating skull was a little scary for some people. So here are some sheep. They shouldn't be that bad. It's not like the all explode or anything crazy... Don't forget to check out 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
Profanity filters, homophobic slurs, and Blizzard's shaky relationship with the LGBT community
Warning: This post may contain language that is offensive to some. Yesterday on the official World of Warcraft forums, a poster brought up the fact that the word "transsexual" gets censored by Blizzard's mature language filter. Almost immediately after, another poster brought up the fact that the word "homosexual" is censored as well. The obvious follow-up question has stirred a hornet's nest of controversy: Why are these considered bad words? Predictably, that forum thread quickly spun out of control. It was ultimately locked by a moderator, but not before Blizzard Community Manager Bashiok chimed in: "Transsexual" censored by filter We've reviewed our filter list and there are a few words there that should not be blocked as profanity; we'll be removing them in a future patch. source So case closed, right? Well ... hold on. Before we simply close the books on the matter, there are some important questions to be answered. Namely this: Why was "transsexual" censored in the first place?
Known issues from the Darkmoon Faire
The newly revamped Darkmoon Faire returned yesterday for its monthly one-week engagement in Azeroth, but it wasn't a flawless return. Players working on the Darkmoon Defender, Darkmoon Dungeoneer, or Darkmoon Despoiler achievements may have noticed the tally of items turned in has been reset, with few exceptions. Players have also been reporting that these monthly quest turn-ins, which should be resetting, are not, leaving players with dungeon-acquired items that cannot be turned in for another set of tickets. If this has happened to you, don't panic -- Community Manager Kaivax has chimed in on the issue, and although no fix has been put into place yet, Blizzard is aware of the issue and working on a fix. Kaivax We are aware of issues affecting the Darkmoon Faire, which began again today, particularly regarding monthly quests and some related achievements. Our teams are investigating the issue and would like to assure you that we are working hard to solve the issue. We apologize for any inconvenience this may be causing. source
Today in WoW: Friday, Sept. 9, 2011
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 News and features from WoW Insider Links from around the web
Blizzard issues transmogrification system clarifications
The new transmogrification system announced this week will allow players to change the appearance of their gear without losing the stats associated with them. This new system will be launching with patch 4.3. For everything you need to know about transmogrification, check out our Queue FAQ on the system, as well as Blizzard's official preview. Many players had questions, however, about the minutiae of the system. Will players be able to convert weapons to legendary skins that they have completed or found? Will there be alternative ways to find cool set items without having to go back to the old content and farm for it? What about some of the gear that isn't available anymore or hard to get? Can we use silly items with the transmogrification system? Blizzard's Kaivax and Zarhym took to the forums to issue some clarifications on these questions and more. Players will need to have both items, the item to be worn and the item to be used as the model, for transmogrification to work. There will not be free presets of gear to choose from, so you will need the pieces you want to wear in the transmogrification process. Also, Blizzard is exploring new, alternative ways to distribute older gear like the death knight starter armor and the old dungeon tier sets. Blizzard also wants to respect the hard work of the artists, so we may not be able to use silly items, such as fish that are daggers and what-not. Hit the jump for lots of blue posts.
Zarhym muses about 15-man raids
Recently, a player on the official forums asked about the potential for 15-man raids in World of Warcraft. Zarhym responded to the post, stating that he believes that 15-man raiding numbers are a "pretty optimal number of raiders" since class representation is easier to deal with. However, there is no plan in the near future for Blizzard to implement three different raid sizes in the near future, which most likely means 10- and 25-man raiding is here to stay. But what if we lived in a world of 15-man raiding? There are many benefits to 15-man raids that work around the scaling problems of 25-mans and the tuning issues of 10-mans. The big issues with 25-man raids include scaling and filling out the roster. Many guilds cannot field 25 people for their weekly raid and usually have to resort to pugging a few stragglers who aren't in tune with the group. Other guilds who cannot field 25 players choose to do two 10-man raids, but the issue of group composition takes center stage; where two 10-mans require a total of four tanks and five to six healers, the 25-man requires two tanks and six to eight healers. You can get a nasty split if you don't have just the right number of specific classes.
Blizzard: No triple spec on the horizon, but it's not ruled out
When Blizzard introduced the dual spec system in patch 3.1, speculation almost immediately turned to the concept of the "triple spec." The idea seemed like an all-too-real possibility, gated behind the caveat of "We want to see how the system works first." Two years later, we have plenty of information on how the dual spec system works. Its initial price tag of 1,000 gold kept it limited only to the most serious of players, but even that high cost couldn't keep the more casual set away. The pricetag has since been slashed all the way down to a mere 10 gold, making it something that everyone can, should, and will train. Dual spec has become so popular that Cataclysm's new stat system seems as if it was built around it. You can now be a successful shadow priest and healing priest in the same gear; a feral DPS druid can change into an able feral tank with very few gearing changes. Dual spec's been such a terrific and natural fit that it's hard to imagine the game without having it. To that extent, it's been a smashing success. And so, if dual spec has worked so well, why not consider triple spec? For paladins and druids especially -- both of whom can heal, DPS, and tank -- it'd be a godsend. Triple spec would lead even more people to create a PvP spec, an aspect of the game that Blizzard wants more of us to experience. Unfortunately, triple specs aren't on the horizon, or so said Community Manager (and blue poster) Bashiok on the official Blizzard forums today: So ... Why don't we have Tri-spec yet? Obviously having an array of possible specs to choose from would be convenient for any number of reasons, but it would also encourage situations where people are using it to shift their builds around for each individual encounter or task. Those are the kinds of options that quickly stop being options, and instead become a requirement. And as they become a requirement our necessity to design and balance around it changes it from a nice convenience option to a core piece of the game design puzzle. source
Blues explain nature of archaeology cooldowns
Several players and Community Manager Lylirra shared some discussion today on the official World of Warcraft forums about the cooldowns of novelty items crafted through the archaeology profession. In the thread, the original poster suggested that the cooldowns of certain novelty items were too long in comparison to others and that Blizzard should consider fixing the discrepancies. The poster used Pendant of the Scarab Storm and Bones of Transformation as an example, noting that both items have a vanity effect that lasts 20 seconds but a cooldown difference of 90 minutes. Lylirra responded, explaining that the cooldowns, though seemingly random, were chosen with specific issues in mind. She explains that with the Pendant of the Scarab Storm specifically, developers were concerned that the item's effect might strain certain players' computers. Archaeology Items' Cooldowns The current cooldown was chosen deliberately, but I can see why you might think otherwise (100 minutes is kind of strange for a cooldown time). Anyway, summoning a harem of scarabs can be pretty taxing on some systems, so there were some initial concerns about putting the pendant on a short cooldown. Based on the feedback we've received, though, we're looking into reducing it. We agree that the effect is pretty cool and would be nice to use it more frequently. source Personally, a little lore logic behind the items might be nice as well. How is it that my character can summon a god every 3 minutes, but it takes 10 minutes to round up some sassy dwarven ladies?
Account-wide achievements won't be available for "quite some time"
For those of us with multiple alts, there's one topic that seems to come up again and again at the top of our wish lists: account-wide achievements. The reasons are numerous. Achievements are often a barrier for entry into PUG groups. Some achievements are so absolutely tedious and time-consuming that most of us only have the patience to do them once. And, of course, some achievements award us with some pretty cool items that we'd like to be able to use on our alts, like the Reins of the Bloodbathed Frostbrood Vanquisher. Blizzard's developers are keenly aware of our desire for such functionality, and today on the Blizzard forums, Blizzard promised that it's something they're working on. Just don't expect it any time soon, and don't expect any additional account-wide functionality like account-wide reputations or professions. So says blue poster Wryxian: BoA's, 1 step further We do like the idea of account-wide achievements and it is something we have liked for a while. However we don't currently have the tech to be able to implement them as we'd like to, and probably won't have that for quite some time. Account-wide professions or reputations are not something that is currently on our to-do list. If we were to think about that kind of thing, we'd have to carefully consider such a change as it has potential to heavily favour those of us who enjoy playing multiple alts. People who prefer just playing one character might not really see that as fair. source Given how soon Blizzard typically means when it says "soon," we probably shouldn't be too optimistic when trying to interpret "quite some time" into real-world weeks and months. Perhaps in time for the next expansion? Perhaps something our grandchildren will be able to enjoy?
The trouble with tabards
Blizzard has recently been on a commenting spree on the topic of tabards. For a while now, Blizzard has been thinking up ways to solve the tabard dilemma -- the game features tons of awesome tabards with really cool designs, some of which even have an on-use effect, but no way to economically store these items. Players are forced to clear out large swaths of inventory space in order to keep all of their tabards, and Blizzard has even introduced tabard vendors that sell earned tabards so these cool clothing items won't be lost forever by players. Hit the jump for the posts as well as my own little thoughts.
Special version of the Cataclysm LP now available on iTunes
One of the best yet tragically unappreciated parts of Cataclysm is its new music. There's that awesome track where it's like, "dun dun DUN dunnnnn," and then that other one where it's like, "whooooooosh bah bah bahh bah bahhhh BAH," and the other one ... uh ... Yeah, so anyway, this doesn't work so well via text. But good news -- you can now enjoy it digitally in a way that doesn't involve my converting sound to text! The Cataclysm LP soundtrack -- 17 epic cuts full of "dun" and "bah" -- is now available at the iTunes store. And if that's not enough, you get all sorts of awesome bonus content. So says Blizzard: Cataclysm LP Now Available on iTunes Want to bring the music from the latest World of Warcraft expansion with you anywhere you go? The World of Warcraft: Cataclysm soundtrack is now available as an iTunes LP from the iTunes Store, featuring 17 eminently epic tracks as well as special bonus content including artwork, liner notes, and behind-the-scenes interviews. If you previously purchased a copy of the Cataclysm soundtrack album from iTunes prior to the release of this special LP version, don't worry -- you'll be able to receive the bonus content at no additional charge. For more information or to purchase the Cataclysm soundtrack LP, visit the iTunes Store. source And while you're there at iTunes, why not take a moment to subscribe to the WoW Insider podcast? Just saying ...
Ghostcrawler reveals upcoming class changes in Cataclysm
Lead Systems Designer Greg "Ghostcrawler" Street has posted the blog post I think most of us have been waiting for ever since Cataclysm went live. It features a summary of where the dev team sees the PvE and PvP games at this point, including some analysis of various classes and specs, and some planned changes for those specs that are underperforming and overperforming. In PvE, Ghostcrawler mentions that Blizzard is mostly happy with the tank classes and notes that while healers do have it a bit hard, this is intentional. Heroics are meant to be a challenge. As for DPS, he offered that some classes, such as arcane mages and marksman and beast mastery hunters, are too low in their damage, while others, such as shadow priests and fire and frost mages, are being watched closely before final judgment is made on their numbers. In PvP, Ghostcrawler says Blizzard is satisfied with the decreased emphasis on healing prevention and burst damage. Crowd control and dispel mechanics, especially offensive dispels, may see some PvP nerfs, and priests will specifically be getting some PvP buffs. Stats also got some mention. A lot of stats are being neglected by some classes, and the dev team wants to fix this. Mastery will be either buffed or completely revamped for many specs, such as unholy death knights and retribution paladins. Haste may be made to scale with more attacks, such as Lacerate, Slam, and Steady Shot, in order to make the stat more desirable to certain specs. Check after the break for the complete text of Ghostcrawler's post, including a list of specifically planned (but not finalized) class changes for future patches.
The Daily Blues
Each day, WoW Insider takes you through all the blue posts and other Blizzard news from around the internet. From the latest posts from Ghostcrawler (lead systems designer) to the lowdown on StarCraft 2 and Diablo 3, we'll keep you informed. Today there are a couple blue posts, but nothing earth-shattering. Remember that a lot of the blues are probably on vacation already, and this week tends to be kind of slow, historically. If there's not a lot of blue news tomorrow, we probably won't run The Daily Blues and instead save everything for Friday or Saturday.
Ghostcrawler talks tanks and threat
Hey everyone, having fun in those heroics yet? In my own personal (PUG) experiences, things go wrong far more often than they go right. While healer longevity is a major issue, effective crowd control and threat management is growing to be another. Some tanks are just ill-equipped to handle generating threat on supercharged mobs, and some DPSers are just unable to understand the basic rules of threat -- or ignore those rules entirely. Perhaps it's timely, then, that Lead Systems Designer Greg "Ghostcrawler" Street posted a blog entry about Blizzard's philosophy with regard to threat. The piece is something of a follow up to his previous blog entry on Vengeance and threat. A few of the key takeaways of his latest post include: Threat Needs to Matter "We don't think it's too much to ask for DPS and healers to wait a couple of GCDs for the tank to get the enemy under control ..." "... if someone is nuking or cleaving a random target on a group pull instead of assisting the tank, that's not the tank's fault." "... overall, we'd like to present threat better since we're asking you to take it seriously in the PvE game." source The post, "Threat Needs to Matter," is worth reading regardless of whether you're a tank or not. The full text is after the break.
New changes to tanking cooldowns coming for Cataclysm
Blue poster Nethaera informed us today about a number changes coming to tanking cooldowns in Cataclysm (specifically, patch 4.0.3a). It seems an imbalance occurs in the current build when tanks stack mastery, leading to astronomical values of block. For now, specifics are only available for paladin, druid and warrior tanks. The post hints that cooldown changes for druid and death knight tanks will be coming later, once developers can get a better handle on the complexities of the classes' abilities. When asked for comment and analysis, Fox Van Allen's orc Grunk posited, "Me Grunk! Grunk fear change! Grunk smash!" Sadly, Grunk lacks the mental clarity to process the full meaning of all these forthcoming changes because as a warrior, Grunk does not stack intellect (and takes repeated physical blows to the head). If he did, the changes would be meaningless to him, as he'd have followed his dream and become an architect rather than becoming Orgrimmar's No. 3-ranked skull cleaver. In lieu of expert testimony from Grunk, we have the full blue post just after the break.
New Blizzard community website, forums begin testing in November
The announcement came out this morning on the EU forums that Blizzard is getting ready to roll out its new community website and forums for World of Warcraft some time in early November. Anyone who has been to the community site for StarCraft 2 will already be aware of some of the new features including a more advanced forum system than what we have now. Features will include the ability to report a post for trolling or spam without changing pages, being able to see a quick summary of the thread by mousing over and letting players up- and down-rate responses. The current forums will be set as locked during the beginning of the transition and then will be completely removed toward the end. This means that if there are any old guides, posts or fun things from days of old that you want to see moved to the new forums, you should copy them to your own computer now. One thing that is curiously missing from the announcement is what alternative Blizzard has developed to its original Real ID forums concept since it was thrown out. StarCraft 2 has a centralized handle that is associated with your Battle.net login, and it is the same handle/avatar that's used for multiplayer games. Hopefully, they'll provide more details on issues like this as things start to lead up to the changeover. The full blue post is after the break.
