call-to-arms
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Warlords of Draenor: Call to Arms removed
Way back in 2005, patch 1.7.0 brought with it Battleground Holidays, intended to offer additional rewards to players who participated in particular battlegrounds over a designated weekend -- later renamed the Call to Arms in Wrath of the Lich King. Since then, the familiar sight of representatives from various battlegrounds has been a staple of the Warcraft experience. As new expansions were introduced, new battlegrounds came with them, and were subsequently added to the Call to Arms rotation. While the thought of getting bonus honor might have been pretty good incentive when the feature was first introduced, as the years have gone on, the Call to Arms weekends have been doing exactly the opposite of what they'd been introduced to accomplish. Unfortunately, some battlegrounds are still perceived as favoring one faction over another -- which means that on Call to Arms weekends, queue times can skyrocket as one side piles on to queue for the additional bonuses, and the other simply avoids the battleground altogether. So what's the solution? Removing the Call to Arms weekends altogether.
Neverwinter beefs up skirmishes with Call to Arms
Starting this Friday, Neverwinter is taking its skirmish system and turning up the dial to 10; just 10, that's as high as that dial goes and don't let anyone tell you otherwise. Neverwinter's new Call to Arms events will be much more inclusive versions of its standard skirmishes, allowing players from level 5 to 60 to join in the fun. This will not only allow players to revisit skirmish areas they have since outleveled but give everyone great incentive to do so with a ton of rewards. Cryptic is handing out companions, dye packs, and transmutation items among other prizes for completing a Call to Arms event. Joining a Call to Arms is pretty simple, as players can queue up for one just as they can for skirmishes, dungeons, and PvP matches. Cryptic will be rotating through a stable of events, changing up the location and rewards as it does so.
Gears of War: Judgment 'Call to Arms' map pack available April 23
The next Gears of War: Judgment map pack, entitled "Call to Arms," will launch on April 23.The pack includes three new maps, a new multiplayer mode called "Master of Arms," and six armor and gun skins.The pack will cost $12.50 (1000 Microsoft Points) on its own, but is included in the $20 (1600 MSP) season pass. The pass will also cover one more similarly sized pack. %Gallery-186202%
Battleground Call to Arms not just for weekends anymore
Patch 5.0.4 introduced a new battleground schedule in which there is always a Call to Arms battleground instead of weekends only. The Call to Arms changes every Tuesday and Friday, so that players can earn bonus honor every day of the week. You may ask, "But, Robin, why aren't all the dates covered in that calendar over there? [points to the right sidebar]" Well, I'll tell you. The new Mists of Pandaria battlegrounds have already been scheduled on the in-game calendar, even though they won't be introduced until September 25. We are currently showing only the BGs that can be played right now, but we are also showing when the Temple of Kotmogu and the Silvershard Mines will be the Call to Arms BGs after launch. You can always verify the current schedule by viewing the in-game calendar. Just make sure the Battleground Call to Arms filter is selected from the filters dropdown menu at the top right of the calendar. 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!
Shifting Perspectives: The best and the worst of patch 4.3
Every week, WoW Insider brings you Shifting Perspectives for cat, bear, restoration and balance druids. This Tuesday, we chortle our way through 5-man trash. Oh, patch 4.3. I didn't know what to expect from you after so many bad, ugly, or just plain bizarre PUGs on the public test realm, but you turned out to be pretty cool. I don't have to wear ugly gear anymore, the Dragon Soul raid is live, Vengeance blows up like a grade school volcano science experiment, and Deathwing no longer roasts all my archaeology dig sites with the sadistic glee of an NPC who knows that I will never get the Crawling Claw if I am dead. On the downside, I have to deal with Echo of Tyrande trash ("Hey, where'd the healer go?"), and Thrall still does not seem to have realized that the rest of the world moved on to epic mounts several years ago. You win some, you lose some.
Star Trek Online's Season 5 content almost ready for prime time
Another day, another Path to F2P dev blog from Star Trek Online. The 24th entry in the series takes the wraps off the game's newest content update, and the Season 5: Call to Arms patch is almost ready to see the light of day on the holodeck server. Season 5 boasts the new Borg invasion of Defera ground combat map, reworked Borg strategic task force maps, new non-combat Federation and Klingon Academy maps, a patrol mission revamp, and more. Gameplay tweaks abound as well, with improvements to duty officers, space skills, and the leveling curve among the changes. Read the full list at the official STO website.
The OverAchiever: Wrapping up Mountain O' Mounts
Every Thursday, The Overachiever shows you how to work toward those sweet achievement points. This week, we find ourselves gleefully counting the inhabitants of our private stables. Greetings, folks. After last week's tour through the 2011 Brewfest, we're going to wrap up our Mountain O' Mounts series today with a few ill-tempered complaints from WoW Insider's resident cheapskate, and then turn to ... well, that part's up to you. I have a lot of different OverAchievers I would like to do, but no particular preference as to which we'll do next. There are several popular series and guides from Wrath of the Lich King that I would like to update -- among others, I'm interested in revisiting evil achievements, entertaining achievements, tabards, and feats of strength -- but we still haven't done Molten Front achievements, and I've been getting a lot of requests to do a Littlest Pet Shop guide since that was added to the game. In the grand tradition of lazy writers everywhere, I'm going to let you pick! %Poll-69243%
Encrypted Text: Stabbing your way through the Zandalari heroics
Every week, WoW Insider brings you Encrypted Text for assassination, combat and subtlety rogues. Chase Christian will be your guide to the world of shadows every Wednesday. Feel free to email me with any questions, concerns, or column ideas. Have you heard about the new Call to Arms mechanic that rewards the lesser-played roles with bonus loot? I've come to peace with the fact that my rogue is never, ever going to earn a Satchel of Exotic Mysteries for himself. DPS classes simply aren't in demand. The good news is that the CtA mechanic has shortened my queue times by quite a bit; let me know if you're seeing the same results. While the quality of tanks and healers in the system has gone down slightly, we're usually able to knock out whatever heroic dungeon we're faced with. Lately, that heroic dungeon is either Zul'Gurub or Zul'Aman, the two new Zandalari heroics. As an aside, I refer to them as The Zuls, while I imagine a sitcom starring a bunch of 20-something trolls trying to find their identities in the big city. While they're dungeons that you may have seen before, the new Zandalari heroics have received some significant changes during their Cataclysm remodeling. In addition to the generous valor point reward, there are quite a few new rogue weapons and armor pieces available. You'll be running these dungeons for a while, so learning them is in your best interest.
Ol' Grumpy's first week with Patch 4.1
Hi, kids. It's me, Ol' Grumpy. You may remember me from my guide to Cataclysm instance protocols or perhaps from when I explained that you'd have to relearn some old bad habits from the previous expansion. This time, I'm here to explain how to adjust to the new realities of patch 4.1, our two new heroic instances Zul'Gurub and Zul'Aman, and our Call to Arms feature in the dungeon finder. I've noticed some weeping, some wailing, and some gnashing of teeth over these new introductions with the passing of our first week with patch 4.1, and I'm here to help. First off, calm down already. The Call to Arms feature didn't trap you in a deserted old house outside of town and murder everyone from the camp but you and that cute guy you've always liked from the other camp. It didn't steal your dog, kick your car, or write nasty things about your ma and pa on the back of the barn, either. And while both ZA and ZG provide more challenge than the previous tier of heroics, they didn't steal your cattle or set your grave on fire, either. In short, the level of consternation and yes, even whining about this has been entirely over the top. These instances are puggable with a little luck and some work, and CTA has shortened queue times, which was its only real goal. So what should you do? Well, being an irascible old curmudgeon, I will happily tell you what to do. Especially if it keeps you off of my lawn. My wife just planted roses! Stay off!
The Queue: I win either way
Welcome back to The Queue, the daily Q&A column in which the WoW Insider team answers your questions about the World of Warcraft. Alex Ziebart will be your host today. I'm thinking about pizza for dinner tonight. It's a longstanding tradition of ours to ask for topping advice in The Queue, so I'm doing just that tonight. Which of these should I heap on my meal tonight, folks? %Poll-63246% Irin asked: So, I'm losing my nerve as a tank. In guild groups and raids I'm fine. However, since circumstances in real life kept me from WoW during the early months of the xpac I'm sometimes lost dealing with bosses and CCed mobs, etc. My question: When your nerves are getting frayed, and when the friends list and guild roster are looking empty, how do you give yourself that boost of confidence needed to get back out there?
Arcane Brilliance: Assorted patch 4.1 thoughts
Every week, WoW Insider brings you Arcane Brilliance for arcane, fire and frost mages. This week, we take a break from slaughtering trolls and digging up ancient relics long enough to discuss our early impressions of patch 4.1. My first impression: Cobraaaaaa! The days and weeks following a major content patch are always an adventure. Suddenly Azeroth becomes the Wild West, with unexplored frontiers awaiting over every mountain, untamed vistas as far as the eye can see, and far, far too many people wandering around who haven't bathed in months. Patch 4.1 has been no exception. Logging in on patch day is a bit like going to sleep in one world and waking up in another, one where up is down, left is right, Olivia has brown hair and wears tight shirts, and Walter Bishop has an intact brain and is sleeping with some Asian chick. You never know when you're going to discover some random new nugget of craziness that wasn't in the patch notes. You also never know when you'll be disconnected in the middle of a boss fight, but hey, patch days are patchy. It's only been a few days, but undoubtedly you've noticed some good, some bad, and some weird new things lurking about the fringes of this digital world we spend time in. Let's take a look at some of the more mage-specific tidbits, shall we?
Shifting Perspectives: Tanks, bribes, and player behavior, part 2
Every week, WoW Insider brings you Shifting Perspectives for cat, bear, restoration and balance druids. This Tuesday, we are still not sure if we can be bribed, but have reached the conclusion that others might be. This week we return for the conclusion of our series examining the likely impact of the new Call to Arms system debuting in patch 4.1. If you're looking for last week's article, you'll find that here: Shifting Perspectives: Tanks, bribes, and player behavior. To summarize the observations and argument of the first article as quickly as possible, Cataclysm returned players to the difficulty of The Burning Crusade instancing model without the benefits that tanks gained from building a reputation as competent players -- namely, the reasonable expectation that groups would cooperate with kill orders and any requests for crowd control. The dungeon finder, arguably a tool better suited to the ease and speed of Wrath of the Lich King heroics, has left tanks in an unfortunate position: They now attempt to lead groups through more difficult content with the unreliable vote kick as their sole defense against obstreperous players. That DPS queue times have soared under the present circumstances shouldn't arrive as a shock. I'm going to try to explain why Call to Arms may very well result in more tanks queueing for 5-mans through the dungeon finder and who we're likely to see if and/or when this happens.
The Soapbox: Eat your tanking or you won't get your ice cream
Disclaimer: The Soapbox column is entirely the opinion of this week's writer and does not necessarily reflect the views of Massively as a whole. If you're afraid of opinions other than your own, you might want to skip this column. Picture this -- you're a parent of a squalling child. (For some of you, this may be a very easy picture as you sit at the dinner table.) Your child is refusing to eat his or her dinner on the basis that the broccoli doesn't taste like doughnuts covered in Skittles. Being a mature adult and realizing that a lifetime of Skittle-based food toppings is not a viable dietary choice, you are trying to patiently reason with said child despite the fact that the child assumes Kevin at school is evil incarnate because he took the good swing despite your child's having called it. Eventually, you break down. You tell your child that a special treat awaits if he or she eats all of those vegetables. And so your child queues up for a random heroic in World of Warcraft, and -- wait, we skipped ahead of the metaphor, but that's essentially what the whole Call to Arms feature boils down to. And it brings up interesting questions of bribery, choice, and what makes a fun and functional mechanic.
The Daily Quest: Call to Arms
WoW Insider's on a Daily Quest to bring you interesting, informative and entertaining WoW-related links from around the blogosphere. Though nowhere near as controversial as the Real ID fiasco of last year, people are still talking extensively about the new Call to Arms feature unveiled last week. Some are for the change, some are against the change, many think the change isn't going to do a bit of good in the end. Myself, I rarely queue for randoms, so it's not really likely to affect me directly either way -- but the blogosphere sure is hopping over this particular topic. Let's see what they've got to say, shall we? Big Bear Butt points out there's a real reason why tanks aren't queueing, and it isn't a lack of decent rewards. Primal Precision thinks people really ought to just suck it up and accept the new system. Blessing of Kings discusses the nature of the tank shortage. Troll Racials are Overpowered points out the flaws of introducting a rating system to the dungeon finder and points out the rating system of years past. Is there a story out there we ought to link or a blog we should be following? Just leave us a comment, and you may see it here tomorrow! Be sure to check out our WoW Resources Guide for more WoW-related sites.
Blizzard issues Call to Arms clarification
After some good, some bad, and mostly loud reaction to the announcement that a Call to Arms feature was being added to the dungeon finder, Blizzard has issued a clarification on some issues that players were having with the system. Most importantly, DPS players felt that rewards from the new bags would only be able to be gained by tanks and healers. Thankfully, these bags will be bind on account. Also, Blizzard clarified the nature of the mount and pet drop percentages, as well as the types of flasks players could expect from what's now dubbed the Satchels of Exotic Mysteries.
New battlegrounds added to the in-game calendar
The in-game calendar has been updated with battleground information in preparation for Cataclysm. The following events have been added: Rated battlegrounds The 10v10 rated battleground will be switching weeks with the 15v15 rated battleground on a Tuesday-to-Monday schedule. Call to Arms All Call to Arms weekends have been moved around to accommodate the two new battlegrounds. The Battle for Gilneas The first Call to Arms weekend for this 10v10 BG begins on Dec. 17. Twin Peaks The Call to Arms begins Dec. 24 for this capture the flag 10v10 BG. We've updated our calendar on the right sidebar to reflect the new schedule. World of Warcraft: Cataclysm will destroy Azeroth as we know it; nothing will be the same! In WoW Insider's Guide to Cataclysm, you can find out everything you need to know about WoW's third expansion (available Dec. 7, 2010), from brand new races to revamped quests and zones. Visit our Cataclysm news category for the most recent posts having to do with the Cataclysm expansion.
WoW Rookie: Alliance newbie zone revamps in Cataclysm
New around here? WoW Rookie has your back! Get all our collected tips, tricks and tactics for new players in the WoW Rookie Guide. Spoiler alert: Today's WoW Rookie is nothing but one big spoiler of the changes Cataclysm will bring to existing Alliance newbie zones. If you're aiming to hit the expansion spoiler-free with fresh, unsullied eyes, you'll want to re-join us two weeks from now (since next week's WoW Rookie will look at Cataclysm newbie zones Horde-side). But for those of you who are itching for a glimpse into what's in store for newly created Alliance characters in the expansion, we've got brief highlights and screenshot gallery samplers of the gnome, dwarf, night elf and human starting experiences. There's not much new to report for draenei in the Exodar, save that their flight point has been moved inside the city. And as for the new Alliance race, the worgen, we've given them their own detailed gallery and write-up, and you can head over to our YouTube channel to watch video of several worgen gameplay segments. Come back next week for a similar look ahead at the newbie zone revamps for Horde races. And now, screenshot galleries (one last spoiler alert for the road -- Cataclysm spoilers abound!) of each starting area plus written highlights, after the break.
Ultima Online's Call to Arms bringing back live events
Ready to take a trip down MMO memory lane? BioWare Mythic has your ticket to adventure in the form of Ultima Online's new Call to Arms event. Players signing up for new (non-trial) accounts will be rewarded with new-player tokens that grant 20,000 gold, skill gain boosts, and premium armor and weapons. Veteran players aren't left out in the cold either, as advanced character token templates have been updated, and there's also the prospect of increased skill advancement when partying with new players. Veterans and newbies alike can also pick up the latest Ultima Online expansion, Stygian Abyss, for a new lower price. PvP arena gameplay also makes its first appearance in the long-running MMORPG, as players can now engage in one-on-one duels in two new arenas. Finally, one of the staples of classic Ultima Online gameplay is making a comeback in the form of live events. Gamemasters will be leading in-game events and story arcs as well as re-introducing characters from the game's past, all centering around the town of Magincia.
Mythic responds to negative Land of the Dead community poll
Special thanks to Mythic Community Coordinator, Jess Folsom, for pulling together these responses for us.Q. What do you make of community poll results?We work very closely with our fan sites, especially Warhammer Alliance, and view the polls as a valuable source of player feedback. We take all poll results seriously, and carefully evaluate the subject of the poll, the wording of the questions, who is allowed to vote, and other factors, especially if there is an overwhelming majority vote. It's important to note that polls alone will never force a change, but we do take them into consideration, along with all other feedback we receive. Q. What were you able to glean from the recent Land of the Dead poll on Warhammer Alliance in regards to its impact on open RvR? Did the poll results fuel any in-game changes?The poll helped to confirm what we were seeing on our end -- the initial release of Rise of the Tomb Kings on June 24th did have an impact on open RvR activity at the time the poll was taken, particularly in Tier 4. We saw a large surge of players flocking to the new areas, and enjoying all of the exciting and innovative new content and RvR battles that the Land of the Dead offered. We see this kind of initial surge of interest any time we release new content such as weekend Scenario events or Live Events. "Tier 4 open RvR is back in full force" Now that the Land of the Dead has been out for a little over a month, and more players are equipped with the powerful talismans and vessel weapons available, players are often making the choice to continue to stay in Tier 4 RvR and fight in the campaign, even when their Realm controls access to the new area. As a result, Tier 4 open RvR is back in full force, with warband-on-warband skirmishes, epic Keep battles, and lots of Scenario action going on. Players enjoy the added purpose to zone captures that ownership of the Land of the Dead provides, and appreciate that they have a choice to stay in the Tier 4 open RvR Lakes, or venture into the Land of the Dead, and feel that the choices complement each other. One change we made recently (7/23) to Expedition Resources was based on player feedback, and has had great results. The number of Expedition Resources necessary to win control of the Land of the Dead has been reduced to 500, and the number of resources awarded from zone control is now 250. This will make the Expedition Resources earned from defeating enemy players in open RvR have a greater impact on securing the Land of the Dead. The number of Expedition Resources that drop from players and NPCs in Tier 4 RvR lakes and invaded capital cities will remain the same, which greatly increases their relative worth toward gaining control of the Land of the Dead.What this change did, was encourage open RvR even more and allow for faster control of the Land of the Dead, and made player kills more valuable toward gaining that control. This is the kind of adjustment we can (and do) make as a result of player feedback from our official forums, in-game feedback forms, and fan sites.Since the initial release of the Land of the Dead, and the Warhammer Alliance poll, we are now seeing very active Tier 4 RvR lakes, where the Land of the Dead is a reward for open RvR victories. If players still feel that the Land of the Dead is impacting open RvR, we absolutely encourage you to let us know and offer your suggestions on our official WAR forums. Our number one goal for the Land of the Dead is that is a fun, challenging, and rewarding place to control, and add a tangible incentive to participate in Tier 4 open RvR, not to take away from it.We are continuing to evaluate Tier 4 open RvR activity versus the Land of the Dead, and encourage our players to continue to offer feedback. < < Poll results
The Daily Grind: Are you enjoying The Land of the Dead?
The Call to Arms live expansion for Warhammer Online was over six months in the making. It gave WAR players the Choppa and Slayer classes, RvR tokens, keep upgrades, and culminated last week in the arrival of The Land of the Dead mega-zone. Massively wants to know if you're enjoying it.We've been keeping tabs on various WAR bloggers who have shared their thoughts. Keen feels that the zone flips a bit too easily but is happy with the new content overall. LotD isn't the mecca of RvR that Bootae had hoped for, but he's still quite pleased with the quality of it (over the quantity). As for Thulf, well he was actually drawn back to WAR after a couple months' absence to give it a shot. It's too early for him to tell whether or not he'll keep his subscription open for it.This writer is still waiting for the dust to settle. I don't know if there are any major issues with the zone or its effect on RvR, but I'm hesitant to jump in head first and have my experience spoiled by anything. The ancient undead can wait a little longer for this explorer.
