BurningCrusade
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Rumored jewelcrafting abilities
I'm not sure whether I can classify this one as a rumor, since it doesn't come with the requisite blurry screenshot. And while there's no verification to any of these gem abilities, they're certainly interesting if true -- providing a wide range of small buffs that will be interesting to see in different combinations on items. Blizzard's own jewelcrafting information suggests that items will have a a varying number of sockets and that some sockets will be specific to certain types of gems (you'll get a bonus ability for socketing them with the appropriate type of gem). Read on for the specific gem abilities.
Rumored hunter pet abilities
These new pet abilities on the Curse Gaming forums, if accurate, sound pretty darned awesome. As to their accuracy, several posters have noted that some of these abilities have been in the game (not available to players, but in the game) since beta, but never usable -- and that the final release of pet skills gave pets completely new abilities. To this, original poster Celebrimor notes that, in the Alpha release, these abilities now scale up to level 70, meaning they've at least been updated. (And why update them if not to make use of them in-game?) So are they real or just someone's idea of a bad joke? Read on and see what you think.
Bug fixes, professions, and mount speeds in BC
Because we know you care, here's three more bits of news the CMs have dropped about Burning Crusade. I've had this problem with my combat log disappearing, too, but fortunately the devs have confirmed it fixed in WoW 2.0 (aka the expansion pack you're drooling over). Note to self: until then, find a good crit record mod and install it. Any suggestions? In the expansion, you'll be able to switch profession specializations. How that will work (or what it will cost you) is still anyone's guess. Tseric says "possibly" to 300% speed epic flying mounts. Normal groundspeed on epics will be 100%, normal flying mounts 60% on the ground. None of that is confirmed, but that's what Tseric says. Yes, it seems like I'm doing a BC hints post like this every day, but no problem. I consider it just another collection quest in the giant rep grind that is winning your affection, dear readers. And anytime you can get that epic trinket ready for me, I'll be happy to take it.
Priests & racial abilities
Priests are an unusual class -- the only class in the game to have class spess that are restricted to specific races. This has long been the source of complaints, as some racial abilities are immensely useful (such as a Dwarf's Fear Ward, which prevents its target from being feared and can make a number of raid situations easier), while others aren't worth putting on even a tertiary hotbar (such as a Human's Feedback, which restores mana to the priest on melee hit -- melee priest ftw!). As a long time priest, my biggest question about the coming expansion is this: what sort of class racials will Draenei and Blood Elf priests have? Well, CM Eyonix has provided me with a partial answer -- saying that the new races will receive one existing and one brand new racial skill. (Hmm, does the Blood Elves' new racial start with "fear" and end with "ward"? If so I'm already well on my way to having a third priest on my account!)
Another set of possible hunter talents
We're getting close to the end of these Burning Crusade talent rumors -- as all sources are predicting official hunter talents out soon. However, they're not out yet, and that means just one thing: more hunter talent rumors! I am tempted to put some faith in this set of rumors, which come from poster Anders on the Curse Gaming forums, as we've gotten interesting information from him before that's later proven accurate. The talents are interesting and some rather odd (threat reduction? increased RAP by 25% of intellect), but with some of the talents I've seen previewed thus far for other classes, these would not surprise me. And if they're wrong? Well, we'll see in the next few days. Read on for the full text of the possible talents.
More BC hints: druids, priests, pets
The forums have been on fire the past few days, and for some reason the CMs have started answering all the questions they can about Burning Crusade talents and such. I'll go through all the important threads so you don't have to: The new drood Leader of the Pack ability also allows your party to heal themselves 2/4/6% when they critically hit. Noice! Drysc answers the questions about the drood's flight form: instant cast, but can only be cast out of combat, which means no instant escape. But the good news is you guys get it at 68-- everybody else has to wait till 70 to take to the air. Priests' Misery is a debuff, in case you were confused by the wording. Also, the Shadowfiend will generate around 2800 mana. Kalgan opens up his soul to locks-- Fel Guard is meant to replace VW with more damage, pets will scale according to gear, and while Improved Firestone is broken, it's not that high a priority at this point. If you buy the BC Collector's Edition, those noncombat pets will be given to each one of the characters on the account-- no fighting between your mains over which one gets it. Most of the BC dungeon loot will be token based (like ZG, AQ, etc) rather than set based (like MC and BWL). Not every piece will be treated this way (tier 4, we know, will mostly drop in Karazhan), but the devs see it as a better alternative to getting a bunch of druid drops on a run where you forgot to bring a druid. Finally, current "book" spells will be available from the class trainer at level 62. The books will still be around, but like a "vestigial tail" (nice one, Tseric), they'll see "decreasing usage." Blizzard inches us ever closer to the expansion's release, and their ultimate domination of the known Universe!
Gamestop.com Burning Crusade CE: $69.99 [Update]
While this is not an official suggested price from Blizzard, and could possibly be proven to be incorrect, Gamestop.com is listing the Burning Crusade Collector's Edition at a healthy $69.99. Sure, you are getting a ton of stuff, but the first reaction from a couple of my friends was..."Wow. 70 bucks for an expansion CE? I don't know about that." However, my friends aren't the hardest of the hardcore, so their opinion might not be opinion of Blizzard's target audience. If I recall correctly, the original WoW CE was $79.99, so this is ten dollars cheaper, which makes sense, as Burning Crusade is ten dollars less expensive at launch than World of Warcraft was. I do think the CE is rather pricey. But again, you are getting a ton of stuff. And hopeless WoW addicts like me and my Australian best friend forever will surely pony up the seventy dollars. What do you guys think? Too high? Just right?[Update: The link at Gamestop is down. So maybe this is not a 100% sure thing as far as price .]
Quest rewards in the Burning Crusade
This lone screenshot has spawned a lot of excitement, by presenting us with a glance of what sort of itemization we can expect to see in the mid-60s. If you're already decked out in epic gear, these items might make you cry, but if you aren't, they might make you jump for joy. (My thought is that they never should have allowed Goblins to name these things.) The items in the screenshot, for those who can't bother to click on, include the following...QR 9977 2H AxeTwo-Hand Axe221 - 333 Damage Speed 3.40(81.5 damage per second)+31 Strength+30 Agility+45 StaminaQR 9977 Caster StaffTwo-Hand Staff92 - 162 Damage Speed 2.10(60.4 damage per second)+45 Stamina+31 IntellectEquip: Improves spell critical strike rating by 30.Equip: Increases damage and healing done by magical spells and effects by up to 85.QR 9977 DPS DaggerOne-Hand Dagger74 - 139 Damage Speed 1.70(62.6 damage per second)+13 Agility+19 StaminaEquip: +26 Attack PowerQR 9977 Feral StaffTwo-Hand Staff144 - 253 Damage Speed 3.30(60.2 damage per second)+31 Strength+30 Agility+45 StaminaEquip: +298 Attack Power in Cat, Bear, Dire Bear, and Moonkin forms only.QR 9977 Fist WeaponOne-Hand Fist Weapon109-204 Damage Speed 2.50(62.6 damage per second)+13 Agility+19 StaminaEquip: +26 Attack Power.QR 9977 Healer MaceThe screenshot, for some reason, does not include a mouseover of this mace. However, later in the thread, someone comments that the mace has "160ish +healing and some other stats I dont recall."
Burning Crusade Spells & Talents Updated
No, no -- still no hunter abilities. The main body of these changes seems to be extensive revisions to the priest abilities, making them a lot more interesting (and actually tempting me to spec higher than 31 points in any tree -- crazy!). However, there are also some tweaks for paladins, warlocks, and warriors. Check them out on the forums, or read on for the details.
Answers to BC questions from droods
Drysc has news for droods. The highlights: Natural Weapons will affect oomkin melee. The new Lifebloom's HoT will stack (as will all HoTs in the expansion), but the ending burst will not. Improved Faerie Fire may affect feral Faerie Fire (say that five times faest) Spirit's benefits may be boosted while in caster, oomkin and Tree forms, which means more mana. Droods, you may think I'm making fun of you with this post, but believe me, I kid because I love (Tranquility is definitely a favorite of mine). Finally, I'd like to take this time to point out this important point: Cat durids, tehm dosent heel. Thank you.
Hunter talents soon? Maybe this week?
Thanks to all you folks who sent this in...Eyonix has revealed in the WoW forums that the hunter talents and spells are on their way, and they could be revealed as soon as the end of this week or the beginning of the next. He also urges a little patience and appreciates everyone waiting for a bit longer.While this info is not 100% for sure, as I have seen some forum promises go unfulfilled, it is nice to get a tentative time line. Hunters...your wait is almost over!
A chance to get in to the BC beta!
At present, I'm only seeing this contest up on the European website, but it wouldn't surprise me to find a similar affair on the US website soon. (If not, expect more moaning on the forums than usual over the next few days.) Winning is simple -- just take a screenshot of your guild near a well-known NPC. So get out your fanciest clothes and get searching for that perfect spot. The best 40 entries will receive 25 beta keys for the guild. Now get going -- you only have until October 5th to send in your entry!
Character screens from the Burning Crusade
You won't find huge amounts of new data here, but poster ethan_th on the Curse Gaming forums has posted a number of screenshots of the character screen in the Burning Crusade expansion. This screenshot selects the defenses menu, which shows off the much talked about new resilience statistic -- the mouseover for which reads: "Decrease the chance of enemy a criticial hit on you by 0.0)%" Read on for some additional screenshots.
Have some friends who aren't yet hooked?
Not very likely, I know. But if you do have a friend that hasn't yet been convinced to start playing World of Warcraft, it's a cheap time to get started, as Blizzard seems to have quietly dropped the cost of retail boxes to $19.99. Local prices may vary, but I've noticed several local retailers showing this markdown, including Best Buy, EBgames, Fry's Electronics, and Amazon.com (coming in with the low, low price of $18.98). So, unable to finish a post without adding in some Burning Crusade speculation, I have to wonder if is this price drop another sign of impending expansion release? (Get a few new players in before the expansion hits, or lower the cost of entry for new players once the expansion is released, perhaps?)
Burning Crusade hints from the forums
Boy these CMs are really sneaky. You'd think they all play rogues the way they sneak new Burning Crusade information in the strangest places on the official forums. Most of the questions that show up get answered with "nothing like that is planned at this time." But every once in a while, a player will ask a question about the expansion, and those CMs whip out something we've never heard before. Here's what's new lately. On BC raid timers, we've already heard that all the current dungeon times will remain the same. But now Tseric says that Karazhan, even though only a ten man instance, will likely be on a weeklong timer. Just because of the size, Tseric says "players may want more time saved to allow progression." A player simply asks what the expansion is, and Tseric throws out these gems: LFG system preview coming next week, Alchemy to specialize into transmutation or potions, and the potion specialization will allow for multipotion formulas. Weather will also be in BC, but it'll be.. different. The "netherstorms," we hear, are quite breathtaking. More hunter stable slots are not likely, but there will be a change in the stable mechanism. "We might be changing the way taming works, so that beast training can be used without actually having to tame and stable a pet. This could then allow Hunters to store an actual pet in that previously empty slot, effectively increasing the stable size," says Tseric. Your guess is as good as ours as to how exactly that would work. No sign, of course, of the Hunter talents yet. Sorry, I looked everywhere. The devs must just give Tseric a list of stuff to reveal throughout the day, because I don't see how any of these threads might cause him to release exclusive information. Ok, well maybe the weather one, and I can't wait for that LFG system preview next week either. You never know, Blizzard may finish the expansion before the end of the year yet.
Blizzard 1, BC rumor sites 0
The pluralization is a bit pre-emptive here, as only one site I know of has had its contents pulled offline due to Blizzard's requests. That site, the Caverns of Time, was a great compilation of rumors and occasionally legitimate information about the upcoming expansion (the screenshot above, pulled from the site, was obviously not an accurate representation of the druid changes). They've received notice from Blizzard giving them 48 hours to remove contents of the site or else face "formal action," and they seem to have complied. You can check the site, still, for a copy of what I assume is Blizzard's complaint. Ah well -- I'm sure three sites will spring up tomorrow to replace it, thus providing us a steady stream of interesting Burning Crusade gossip!
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Blizzard's Burning Crusade closed beta invite plan
This post by Nethaera in the WoW.com forums more or less sums up everything we already knew about the upcoming closed beta, as well as giving a little of the philosophy behind who they are picking for the beta test and why.In a nutshell, they want to spread out the invites amongst the hardcore raiders, the casual, the contest winners and friends of Blizzard. Interestingly, they do reveal that there will be more than one phase of the beta test, and there is a chance to get an invite as the process moves along. So maybe you don't have an invite in your inbox now, but you may get one later. Oh, and one more thing...don't bother sending them a sob story on why you should get a chance to test drive the expanison. They already know who they are inviting, and if you have to ask if you are on the list, you aren't on the list. I interpreted this post as basically saying "Here's what we're doing, here is why, don't call us, we'll call you". Sounds suspiciously like what my girlfriend said in high school when she dumped me for my best friend. Couldn't argue my way out of dumped, and I can't argue my way into a beta invite. So sad!
Another hint at the Burning Crusade release date
Alert reader Elüna points out an interesting fact about the possible release date of the coming expansion -- the release date of the official Bradygames strategy guide. This isn't an avenue I'd thought to check before, but apparently the strategy guide is scheduled for a November 15th release. And while game release dates tend to be guessed at by retailers (hard to sell a pre-order without a release date!), I doubt that book release date information, from the official publisher, is done in quite the same fashion. So what do the rest of you think -- are we looking towards a mid-November expansion release? My magic 8-ball says "maybe!"
New LFG system coming in the expansion
This is probably old news if you've been paying extremely close attention to Burning Crusade news (closer attention than me-- which is really, really close): there's going to be an all new LFG system in place when the expansion hits. Now, this is the first I've heard of it, but Tseric has confirmed it (with exactly zero information at all) on the forums.Which is music to my ears because the current system, err, how shall I put this? It sucks kodo balls. There's so much spam in the LFG channel, you'd think it's the canned meats aisle at the supermarket, and all that garbage is doubled with a second group of people shouting for the first group to "stop spamming LFG." It's impossible to find a group, because if you accept anyone who will join any group, you get a bunch of classes that won't play well together. And as far as I know, priests at 60 don't even watch the LFG channel-- either you have to know someone or have a guildie heal for you (don't worry, I'm working my priest up there as we speak).So a new LFG system would be, at the very least, extremely welcome. Tseric will only say that it is "robust" and that it is "not just a revamped chat channel." Apparently Blizzard will go through it in-depth at a later date. At the very least, I'm expecting it to be somewhat like Dark Age's system, where you can flag yourself as LFG and browse others with the same interests (Experience, Questing, Dungeons). At best, it might be some kind of smart meeting stone system, that pairs players of like levels, preferences, gear, and even guilds as quickly as possible. Like almost everything else with the expansion, it seems we'll just have to wait and see.
Burning Crusade Forums tidbits
A few tidbits about changes in the expansion have popped up in the forums... Tseric says that certain Crowd Control abilities (of course no specifics yet) will be downgraded, if not disabled in Arena PVP. Spells like Polymorph or Sleep may have a 15-20 second duration when used in PVE, but only a 5-10 second duration in Arena PVP. This is meant to "prevent extended removal [of players] from combat." On a question about how PVP ranks will show in BC, Drysc says there will be a title menu in the UI, and that players will be able to choose up to their highest rank to display. He also says there will be more titles for Arena PVP, as well as other titles through "various other means." World PVP? PVE titles? Last names? Your guess is as good as ours. We've covered mount changes in 1.12.1 pretty extensively but in case you still have questions, Hortus has all the answers you need. A player asks if flying mounts will make players immune to attacks, but Neth says they haven't decided for sure yet. This was the first concern that came to mind when I saw the Druids' new flying form-- will Druids have an instant escape plan? Considering all the classes seem to be getting pets in the expansion, Eskar has an idea for what to give rogues. And can't remember where I heard this rumor (I'm thinking it was one of our esteemed commenters?), but rumor (only rumor!) has it Blizzard has dropped the expansion price the game's price from $39.99 to $19.99** (updated-- see below). If that's true, it pretty much ensures that World of Warcraft will move from seven million players to something literally engulfing the known universe, thus creating some sort of new, superuniverse in which multidimensional beings shout jokes about Chuck Norris and Steve Irwin at each other while other beings yell at them to "stop spamming LFG." Exciting stuff! Can't wait for the expansion.. whenever it is released,Update: Our commenters, God bless 'em, have confirmed the price drop, kind of. Blizzard will be dropping the original game to the price of $19.99-- the expansion will be $39.99. But that still means the game will be cheaper than ever to play, which means we're probably due for all that multidimensional universe stuff. Plan 2007 accordingly.
