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The Care and Feeding of Warriors: What comes next
The Care and Feeding of Warriors spent some time looking back at 2007 not so long ago, and finds itself looking forward to 2008 and beyond this week. Matthew Rossi wants you to imagine a big swirly tube and either the Stargate or Dr. Who music playing, whichever you prefer. I'm more of a Dr. Who man myself, but as the omnipresent third person narrative device I don't think my opinion is much consulted. It's a hard life being a narrative device. No one ever asks you out for coffee.As the somewhat emo italic text stated, this week we're going to look forward at where the Warrior class is going, a discussion I quite frankly think will be more interesting in the comments you leave than in my own ramblings. My goal here is mainly to serve as a firestarter, hoping to initiate a few sparks of brilliance from you. As a result, I'm going to just throw my musings and opinions at the wall here and see what sticks with you guys, what you accept and what you reject. After all, in the end it's the players who will ultimately determine what warriors will become, as they're the ones who'll chose what they do with their characters. My first thought is, looking over the past few years, the trend is that warrior successes in PvP tend to be followed by large nerfs. So PvP warriors are almost certainly going to be nerfed in a rather large way if they remain dominant in PvP. I expect mace spec to see the lion's share of this nerfing, perhaps changed into an entirely unrecognizable form removing stuns entirely, but mortal strike is also up for a few changes. It will probably be safe for the next few months, as they just gave a similar effect to hunters and to change MS now would mean having to change that, too, but it will most likely come in whatever patch lays the preparations for Wrath of the Lich King. If not these, then some change to a fundamental warrior DPS/PvP mechanic, similar to the way weapon speed and rage generation were normalized.Warriors with better gear still, despite nerfs like rage normalization, perform at a much higher rate than before they achieved it. My tauren warrior does much, much better in PvP now, even against opponents who substantially outgear him. In my biased experience, right around the time I start winning in PvP is when the nerfs start coming.
The "punctuated equilibrium" of WoW content
Relmstein has posted a quick analysis of what he calls the "punctuated equilibrium" of WoW content patches. In evolutionary biology, there's a theory that species change not gradually over time, but in quick bursts of dynamic change. And Relmstein applies this idea to WoW's own population changes-- the playerbase seems to grow in quick leaps when brand new content is introduced, but slows down and even falls off when standard bugs are being fixed, or not much content is being patched.What's really interesting, however, is that Relmstein then compares WoW's changes to the effects that content schedule has on other MMO releases. Lord of the Rings Online and Guild Wars (which are WoW's two worthy opponents) both released during downtime (after Burning Crusade and after the vanilla release, respectively). And on the other side of the spectrum, both Vanguard and Everquest 2 tried to go directly up against new WoW content, and, as Relmstein says, got steamrolled.So looking towards the future, it's not hard to see what might happen. Wrath of the Lich King will make a big splash for sure, both bringing lots of players back, and maybe even bringing new players (who played Warcraft III and want to see Arthas) into the fold. Games like Age of Conan and Warhammer Online may try to go up against it, but it wouldn't be a good idea-- they'd be better off waiting until about a month after the expansion, when many players have reached 80, seen what they can see in Northrend, and Blizzard is confined to bugfixes and small content updates. Of course, a WoW content break isn't all these games need-- they still need to be good games by themselves. But placing themselves in this downtime between new content will give them a much better chance to woo more players away from Azeroth.
WoW Moviewatch: Rise of Illidan Stormrage
Yesterday we saw the story of Arthas as he rose (or sank, some would say), from the holy paladin prince of Lordaeron to the most powerful evil person in Azeroth, lord of vast armies of mindless undead -- all recorded from the original Warcraft 3 cut-scenes. Today we bring you an similar piece that Sylvictus put together for The Burning Crusade, about Illidan's journey from down-in-the-dumps reject brother to the most powerful evil person in Outland, lord of mish-mashed groups of villians and misfits who really aren't as loyal to him as they seem. It doesn't actually begin from the real beginning of Illidan story -- you'll have to go to the Warcraft prequel novels to get that, but as far as the official in-game lore is concerned, this is real deal. Also keep in mind that the end isn't really the end for Illidan here. Illidan, too, is capable of doing a corpse run, and has acquired plenty of prime real estate in Outland to come home to. For those who are interested, the trailer for Blizzard's "Black Temple" patch also touched on Illidan's story, this time from the draenei Akama's point of view. It doesn't include Illidan's conflict with Arthas, but it sets the stage for the progression of the story within WoW.So if you've been playing The Burning Crusade all this time and wondering what the deal was with the big blind guy with horns and wings, here's the story of Illidan Stormrage straight from Warcraft 3.Previously on WoW Moviewatch...
Amazon still has Burning Crusade CE in stock
In case you really wanted it, the Burning Crusade Collector's Edition apparently isn't all that collected-- it's still in stock at Amazon for $74.99, a few bucks off the original price. The original Collector's Edition is a little harder to find-- it's been out of stock for a while, and copies are going for around $200. eBay is the same story-- you can buy the BC:CE for as little as $50, while the original CE is going for much, much more.My guess is that it's the old laws of supply and demand-- by the time Burning Crusade dropped, everyone knew it would be a hit, so Blizzard made a bunch, while the original CE probably had a lot fewer copies made. But the noncombat pets might be a draw as well-- the original CE had Diablo, Zerg, and Panda pets, while the Burning Crusade only had a pretty unimpressive Netherwhelp pet.And the other interesting question is what will happen when the next expansion drops. Being that WotLK is much more integral to the Warcraft that everyone knows and loves (while BC was much more involved with the ancient history of Warcraft), will people who've skipped Burning Crusade so far be more inclined to pick it up when Wrath releases? Maybe the BC:CE will get rarer as we get closer to Northrend.[ via WoW Ladies ]
Phat Loot Phriday: Remote Mail Terminal
We've done some rare items here on Phat Loot Phriday, but we've never done anything this rare. This high level engineering item is so rare it's not even in the game. (I promise next week we'll do something everyone can get.)Name: Remote Mail TerminalType: Engineering ItemDamage/Speed: N/AAbilities: When used, creates a Remote Mail Terminal that can send and receive ingame mail from anywhere. Last for five minutes. Pretty cool device, because I'm pretty sure the only mailboxes not in towns are in Gnomeregan, right? And just like the Repair Bot, this could be put to good use during raids-- instead of having to make your alt come all the way into the instance to trade with a group member, you could just put this baby down, and both check and receive mail right there in Karazhan. How to Get It: There's just one problem: you can't.Sure, all it requires is an Engineering level of 335, an Adamantite Frame, two handfuls of Fel Iron Bolts, a Khorium Power Core, and Fused wiring. But while the plans for this were a world drop in the Burning Crusade beta, they never made it to the live servers. GMs have said that apparently mail was getting lost sometimes in the send. And while sometimes is good enough for Goblin Jumper Cables, it's not good enough for player mail, so the Remote Mail Terminal is MIA for engineers until Blizzard decides to put it back in.Getting Rid of It: The schematic sells for 1g 25s, or did, when people were selling it. But it was also selling for thousands on the AH during the beta. Blizzard has already promised Engineers are getting some love soon, so maybe the Mail Terminal will make a return with the next expansion, if not before.
Chinese player goes 60-70 in 23 hours
This is just wild. The Burning Crusade expansion only just recently got released in China by The9, the company that runs World of Warcraft there, and a Horde Hunter named "SilverDragon" from the guild GreenBase has leveled from 60 to 70-- in just 23 hours (Warning: that link goes to a site that sells gold, so visit it at your own risk).Think about that for a sec. When it was released here, the fastest leveler we saw took 28 hours, and he had the backing of a whole guild. Unfortunately, we don't have any other info about SilverDragon (gear? technique?), or any other confirmation that it actually happened, save for the "timestamped" screenshots posted on the goldseller's blog above. But if it is true, that is a crazy little chunk of leveling. Think we'll see an even quicker record to level 80?Update: As commenter Andy notes, the top screen seems to show a Warlock. Except that Trolls can't be Warlocks, buddy. But he's right to be suspicious-- this may not be true.Update2: OK, I think we've solved it (and can I just say I love how you can watch a train of thought slowly progress through any internet comment thread?). The shots are actually from different players, because they're targeting the same Hunter. And the reason the Troll looks different in the first shot is because that's the default Troll look-- whoever is targeting him is out of range, and in the second picture, they are not (which is probably why they have the Trueshot aura). Considering that there are also shots of him at 70 in the /who window, I'm going to call this confirmed. Congrats to SilverDragon for hitting 70 so quickly-- now he should probably go back and actually play the game.
Player burnout and the next expansion
Hardcore Casual has a post up about his reaction to the news being released about the next expansion. As a player who left WoW, he's not impressed.Burning Crusade's effect on Blizzard's game was gigantic-- player who'd left came back in droves, and guilds and players who hadn't been playing together for a while all of a sudden found themselves online almost every night. And even out of the game, it had a huge impact-- Wowhead, the argument could be made, rode the wave of Burning Crusade, and it led them to their sale.So the question now is: will WotLK have the same effect? HC says no-- he says Hero classes as hyped were much cooler than the way Death Knights are being implemented, and that the next 10 levels doesn't appeal to him. They do appeal to his father, he says, and there's no question that lots of players are interested in the next expansion. Who wouldn't want to fight alongside and/or against Arthas? This expansion might get players to connect with this universe in a way they haven't since they played Warcraft III.Or it might be too late. Even Blizzard realizes the player base is headed for a rough patch-- they've started the Scroll of Resurrection program to bring straying players back with bribes. The game itself is far from over-- there is a significant core audience who still love this game (including myself), and can't wait to see WotLK. But the fact is that WoW may have peaked with BC. Even if there is a nice peak coming again with Wrath of the Lich King, all indications are that it won't be as high as the first expansion went.
Ask WoW Insider: What's the best of Ask WoW Insider?
Fridays are a time for early happy hour quiet contemplation and reflection upon the past, and in that spirit we're taking a look back at some of the best posts from over the lifespan of Ask WoW Insider. Now that we're all older and wiser -- who *did* end up being the top PvP classes at 70? Best duo for PvP or grinding"What team of classes make the best duo for PVP or for grinding?" Top PvP classes at level 70Just after Burning Crusade came out, we speculated on which classes would dominate in PvP. Were we right? Would you change the answer you gave then? Best ways to make money in Burning Crusade"What are some good ways of making money for levels 60-70 in Burning Crusade? Are there people making money from jewelcrafting yet, should I pick that up? What about good mobs to grind or drops that sell well to vendors or on the AH?" Best way to get instance invites"What are your tips and tricks for convincing a group you've got the goods despite not having seen the inside of the dungeon?" Why are you overpowered?"Dig deep, self-examine and admit it: what makes your class overpowered?" How's WoW performance on a Mac?"I play Wow on a PC, and am looking towards a new computer purchase. One thing that influences my purchase is how well WoW will run on my new computer. I'm leaning towards a Mac, but how well does WoW run on a Mac?" Best way to power level alts"What's your strategy for the quickest power leveling? How do you maximize your time with your alts?" How would you design your own battleground?"What if you could design your own battleground? What would you do different or better than what is currently in the game?" When is it fair to upgrade an epic?"All DKP ideas aside, when is it fair to upgrade an epic over an epic?" Best healing class"Which class would you roll for a purely healing role? Which would you roll for a powerfully healing hybrid who might want to take on other roles from time to time? Relatedly, which healing class is the worst?" Best DPS class"Which classes can dish out the most DPS and which ones make the least amount of DPS?" Favorite WoW podcasts"There are a ton of WoW-themed podcasts out there now -- which would you recommend? What are your favorites?" Great ding stories"Any fun or interesting stories to tell about hitting the level cap? Or more generally, any memorable or unusual dings at any level?" We see that look in your eye, and we know it means you want to send us questions. Ask WoW Insider needs 'em -- send them to us at ask AT wowinsider DOT com!
Walking into a void
Is it just me, or did the process for obtaining my voidwalker get way too hard in the Burning Crusade? I now play a Blood Elf Warlock along with my alliance toons, and just last night I had to go into Ghostlands, to Goldenmist Village to summon a VW, defeat him and high-tail it out of there to get my big fluffy blue peep. No, I have done it before on other toons on other servers, but even with a friend I found this task to be all too difficult. ON the Alliance side, getting your VW in Stormwind can be done while eating IRL, giving the dog a bath, or watching reruns of <insert favorite show>. An ambitious imp can nearly solo it.Generally, most starting area content in Burning Crusade has been easier. Early quests in both Eversong Woods and Azuremyst Isle give you bags to help you hold more right off the bat, and in both areas you can go from 0-12 in a matter of a few hours. Most quests are geographically close together, and the content is very well laid out to help you move on to the better stuff quickly. This Warlock rite of passage is the hardest thing I have seen in the lower-level starting areas for a Blood Elf, and it is incredibly hard, especially if you are soloing it. The aggro, and respawn rate of all the ghosties in the area are cranked up much higher than they should be in my opinion, and I think many players would agree. You literally cannot stop running or 3-5 ghosts will be owning your imp in nothing flat, not to mention you. Try it yourself, roll a Blood Elf Warlock and get it to level ten, and try to get your VW, and you'll see what I mean.Have you found the content in Burning Crusade to be too hard, starting areas or otherwise? Are there areas and problem spots that continually give you hassle that you Blizzard should maybe address, you know, after they put out the new expansion pack that is? Sure it is easy to complain, and says things aren't right, but in this case, I feel that some sort of tweaking is needed. I can't imagine someone who is just starting to play being able to complete this quest, and I have been playing for a while.
Attunement scrolls now granting free flasks
So first there were quests to get into Serpentshrine Cavern and Tempest Keep. Then Blizzard created "attunement scrolls," which dropped from the bosses of each and allowed guilds to attune other players or alts who'd missed out on the action so far. And then Blizz removed the attunements entirely. So what happened to the quests and the scrolls?All we know about the quests so far is that Blizzard has promised to add extra steps onto them to reward the people who actually did them (we don't know what the rewards will be quite yet). But Boubouille at MMO Champion has a good line on what's up with the scrolls-- they still drop, but now instead of granting attunements, they grant flasks, usable in all the higher level raid instances.The good news, as we heard at BlizzCon, is that Blizzard says they've learned their lesson from this fiasco, and attunements in upcoming patches and expansions will be a little less intensive (which is fine by me-- I'd rather difficulty keep people away from a dungeon rather than a super-long attunement questline). But if you've got any of these scrolls still around, feel free to use them for flasks. As a commenter says, it's a buy and use 25 flasks, get 5 free sale!
Liquidor's rep calculator works for US realms, too
Ask and you shall be given-- the other day we posted about Liquidor's rep calculator, and lamented that it was EU only, and now only a few days later, he's updated it to not only include US realms, but he's completely revamped the design.Sure enough, I punched in my character from the US realms, and I got the nice readout of where I'm at for all my reputations, and one click access to what exactly I need to do to move up a level (apparently I need to keep running Shadow Labs, grrr). Seems like it pulls everything directly from the Armory (where else would he get it from?), so all the info is as up to date as it is on Blizzard's official site.There's also a checkbox now for "TBC Reputation only" that when unclicked gives a warning that says "Soon!," so apparently Liquidor is working on including Old World Azeroth rep as well. Just like we said the other day, this is a terrific tool for working on those all important rep grinds. Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm LFG Shadow Labs. Anyone? Please?
[Updated] BlizzCon Day 2: Professions and Items session liveblog
We are back at our happy little camp of the power source spot in the press area to liveblog the WoW Professions and Items panel with Tom Chilton, Travis Day and Jon LeCraft.Updated: This post has been cleaned up and extensively added to after it was partially eaten by a technical error.Liveblog after the jump.
Zul'Aman screenshots and impressions
We've got some nice eye candy from Zul'Aman for you, including some images of the animal aspect bosses Nalorakk, Akil'Zon (above) and Halazzi. We had a chance to stealth into the instance earlier in the press room, and our initial visual impression of the dungeon can be described in two words: Indiana Jones. Or rather, a cross between Indiana Jones and Zul'Gurub on steroids. A 20-minute "sacrifice" timer started counting down as soon as we zoned in, and at the end of the timer Hex Lord Malacrass's voice yelled across the zone that we had failed in our mission, and that every sacrifice made him stronger. There were a couple of closed doors barring our way from exploring further into the instance, but we were able to get a first-hand look at Nalorakk, the bear avatar boss, and Jan'alai the dragonhawk avatar before being detected and mercilessly pwned by a 4-pack Amani'shi patrol. The interior is incredibly picturesque, with cascading waterfalls, carved stone altars and a lagoon area. Populating the area are a number of elite Amani'shi mobs including Flame Casters, Guardians, Handlers with crocolisk pets, and the good old Beserkers we know and love. Shortly after the zone-in point and down a flight of stairs are a line of Amani'shi troll guards that look like a formidable initial pull -- we're so looking forward to getting 9 of our closest friends together, flexing our bad mojo and making our way through Zul'Aman.%Gallery-5517%
WoW board game makers will be at Blizzcon
Fantasy Flight Games, makers of the WoW board game, have announced what they're going to be up to at BlizzCon, just a few days away. The game's creators will be around, and they'll be showing off the game, as well as the Burning Crusade expansion, which apparently adds new heroes and new monsters into the mix. FFG will also be showing off Starcraft: The Board Game, which is set to be released sometime later this year.And, perhaps most exciting, they'll also be giving out a special BlizzCon mini-expansion, with custom sets of armor for each of the nine classes, and even a Murloc suit! No idea what a Murloc suit will do for you in a board game, but it doesn't do much for you in the MMO either, and we all want one of those, right?If you're a fan of the Board Game or just want to be one (I wouldn't mind checking it out for sure), be sure to check out the FFG booth in the Exhibit Hall at Blizzcon.
Breakfast Topic: Outland or Azeroth?
There are those who claim that since the release of The Burning Crusade, the game has been ruined. Outland quest rewards are too powerful, rendering most Azerothian goods obsolete and making much previous raiding experience pointless. And addition of Paladins to the Horde and Shamans to the Alliance ruined any unique sense of play that came from one side or the other. Such players claim that The Burning Crusade ruined the entire game. On the other hand, there are plenty of players who say that doing any pre-BC content now (i.e. leveling a new alt) is simply painful, because of fewer quests per zone, more travelling per quest, and generally slow and inefficient leveling. These people say some time needs to be spent on pre-BC content to bring it up to par with the different style of BC zones. And this morning I'm asking what you think. Has The Burning Crusade spoiled or perfected World of Warcraft? Is Outland superior to Azeroth or vice versa?
WoW subscriber levels over nine millionnnnn
Pretty amazing news yesterday that WoW has hit over nine million subscribers (that's current, active subscribers-- we're taking it for granted that Blizzard isn't fudging the numbers) worldwide. They put an official announcement up on their front page, and as Patrick on the WoW LJ noticed, Blizzard may be getting rich, but they've still got a good sense of humor. Mouse over the picture on the post and you'll see what's posted above.So what's next? As Elizabeth said yesterday, there's no question that the Burning Crusade expansion kept players playing, and even brought lots of new players back to the game. There's also no question that this holiday season might be a tough one for keeping players hooked on a four-year-old game, as there are tons of new releases for all the platforms (Warhammer might be WoW's biggest challenger, but don't forget that Halo 3, the new Grand Theft Auto, and a ton of other games are going to vy for the same freetime that WoW takes up). But don't worry-- Drysc has a solution, and it's that they're going to start appealing to some of Earth's other populations. Cat subscribers for the win?
Ask WoW Insider: What pre-BC content did you miss?
Welcome again to your weekly dose of Ask WoW Insider, wherein we publish the questions on your mind for readers to answer. Last week we talked about how to find a good guild, and this week we're waxing nostalgic about some of the pre-BC content that new players might now miss as they're levelling up. Megilion from Crimson Blade on Gorgonnash writes: I just realized recently that, as my main is only level 62 and I didn't hit 60 until after BC came out, there's still a lot of this game that I haven't seen yet. There are several zones I've never been in, as well as many pre-BC raids that I'll likely never experience. I'm curious what experiences, locations, and even quests WoW Insider readers have missed on their road to level 70 that they're eager to get to someday if at all? For those of you who made it to 60 before the expansion, what are some of the highlights of then endgame content that new players might be missing? What are some of the best quests, locations and experiences one might miss when rushing off to Outland in the late 50s? Got questions? Ask WoW Insider can help! Send us what you're wondering to ask AT wowinsider DOT com.
Burning Crusade $25 at Amazon
PacoDG sent us a quick tip (thanks!) to point out that if for some unfathomable reason you haven't purchased it yet, the Burning Crusade expansion is now available for $25 with free shipping on Amazon.com. This is the absolute cheapest we've seen it, so if you're planning to at least pick this one up before the next expansion is announced (and we're all hoping and praying that's at Blizzcon), now's your chance.Does anyone out there have a level 60 and has not bought this expansion yet? I can understand if all your characters are below level 40, but what's the reason for your staying at 60 for so long? Do you just love hanging around the Burning Steppes?
Why are people leaving WoW?
var digg_url = 'http://digg.com/pc_games/Why_are_people_leaving_WOW'; When I read on Warcraftrealms that players have been steadily leaving WoW since the release of the expansion, I admit surprise. There is so much content in TBC I can't imagine anyone getting bored. I can already hear the heckling from the back of the room as I say this, but think: the top raiding guild just downed Illidan. Exactly how long will it be until an average raiding guild, let alone a casual one, will be able to accomplish the same feat? Love it or hate it, the expansion increased not only the lands we were able to visit, but the quest lines we could follow, the races we could play, the factions we could prove ourselves to. I am overwhelmed by the amount of things I have the opportunity to do in the game now, to the point where I have trouble picking most times and end up bouncing between doing my daily quests on my mage and leveling my Draenei priest. Why then are people leaving the game? Is it that they see it as something conquered once you reach 70? Is it that despite how much content Blizzard puts out it just never is enough? What do you think Blizzard can do to stem this downward spiral? [via Warcraftrealms]
The masterminds of WoW on gaming
Have you ever wondered what the names and faces behind WoW do in their off time? In the recent interview 1up had with Shane Dabiri, Rob Pardo, Jeff Kaplan, and Tom Chilton, we get to find out a bit about that -- at least in regards to some of the games that they're playing right now. Two of them were really no surprise to me: Guitar Hero II and God of War. Those two have been all over the gaming media and are a lot of fun to play, so it makes total sense. The two titles that caught me off guard were several mentions of Viva Pinata and Rob saying that he plays the PopCap game, Peggle. They also covered some great background information from their gaming roots, to some ways they think WoW has changed the genre. Check it out!
