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Blizzard releases guild flask and cauldron hotfixes
We have more hotfixes today addressing issues that players have been discussing for the past several weeks. Blizzard has just implemented a series of hotfixes addressing issues related to flask and cauldron creation for guilds. Originally, the achievements to unlock guild cauldrons and other perks required an extreme amount of flask creation that, when the numbers were crunched, looked to be almost impossible for any but the largest guilds to complete in a reasonable amount of time. Here are the two major changes: Mix Master now requires your guild to craft 1,000 Cataclysm flasks (down from 10,000). Better Leveling Through Chemistry now requires your guild to craft 3,000 Cataclysm flasks (down from 25,000). Continue after the break for the full announcement and explanation.
Know Your Lore: The tol'vir
The World of Warcraft is an expansive universe. You're playing the game, you're fighting the bosses, you know the how, but do you know the why? Each week Matthew Rossi and Anne Stickney make sure you Know Your Lore by covering the history of the story behind World of Warcraft. We've talked about the tol'vir before Cataclysm launched. While what we learned about them then was tantalizing, what we've learned about them since has helped develop our understanding of them quite a bit. Proud, ritualistic, formal, feral, the tol'vir are a race bound by their ancient task and pinned between their duty and their desire to return to a state of existence they see as more perfect than the one they currently inhabit. The last remaining bastion of free tol'vir on the surface of Azeroth is the mysterious land of Uldum. Created eons ago by the Titans, Uldum is part of the planetary monitoring system that once girdled the ancient continent of Kalimdor alongside Ulduar and Uldaman. While Ulduar seems to have been intended to imprison the ancient Old God Yogg-Saron, and Uldaman perhaps served as a manufacturing center for earthen (although it may also have served other purposes), Uldum's purpose was linked to Ulduar in a very real and direct way. Ulduar was where Algalon would come to make his judgment about the fitness of the Azeroth experiment if the prime designate Loken was destroyed. And Uldum? If one thinks of Algalon as the means by which a world is judged, then think of Uldum as the executor of his will. Ulduar is where Azeroth would have been condemned, and Uldum is how the sentence would have been carried out. The tol'vir of Uldum, therefore, have the most important task of all the Titan's creations, as they maintain the world-destroying engines and keep their power out of the hands of those who might otherwise use them. Unfortunately for the tol'vir, those who would undo the Titan's work for their own ends have often subverted or corrupted these last guardians of Titanic secrets in order to gain access to what they guard.
The lack of wands in Cataclysm
Very recently, a reader by the name of Jasper submitted a question via our tip line: Why can't enchanters make wands beyond level 30? I don't have an answer to that question, beyond "because they make enough money as it is." However, it made me look into the wands available at level 85 and items for the ranged slot in general. There are no level 85, pre-heroic wands for classes that do not use spirit. There is only one ilevel 333 wand in the game, and it drops in Grim Batol. All other ranged slots have ilevel 333 (or ilevel 346) bind on equip items available. This puts casters at an obvious (though admittedly minor) disadvantage when trying to gear for heroics.
Blizzard working on ways to improve dungeon finder
The current dungeon finder is of course a vast improvement over the old LFG channel, but it can always be made better. In response to a forum thread about the dungeon finder's ever becoming performance-based, Zarhym weighed in with some interesting news. Zarhym - Dungeon queue should be performance-based We would love to implement better ways for Dungeon Finder to detect if players know what they're doing in dungeons beyond just the gear they've accumulated. We have some long-term design goals in mind for this we're not quite prepared to share this early on though. ;) source What was more interesting was the idea that Blizzard wants to improve the educational aspect of the service, however. With the current vote kick system, often players who are forced out of a group may have no idea why they failed, especially when they are new to the game.
The Queue: Isn't Christmas over?
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. Wow, guys. A whole lot of you thought we were baiting the older folks in our audience with that Bing Crosby video yesterday. Since when do you need to be old to enjoy Bing Crosby? There is no "you must be this old to ride" sign on that man's music. It is an undisputed fact that Bing Crosby's music is the best Christmas music ever made and the man himself is one of the best American singers of all time. Undisputed fact, people. Undisputed. Wellsee asked: Getting the jewelcrafting recipes one every three to five days is very tedious. Wrath had Titanium Powder to speed up the process, but there isn't an equivalent in Cataclysm. Was the powder an option from the beginning in Wrath?
Cataclysm hotfixes for Jan. 3
It's been a little while, but we've finally got another round of hotfixes. The changes were pushed live and published to the official World of Warcraft blog. This time around, there were only a couple of class changes; the major chunk of hotfixes address various dungeons and raids, including the following: In Deadmines, the Foe Reaper 5000 will not cast Harvest on players more than 70 yards away. In Grim Batol, Trogg Dwellers that players cannot reach via legitimate means no longer award experience or loot when killed. In Throne of the Four Winds, players now receive credit for the achievements Heroic: Conclave of Wind or Throne of the Four Winds if they are dead when the encounter is defeated. Take a look after the break for the full list of changes.
A survey of gear levels in current 10- and 25-man Cataclysm raiding
If you've been curious whether or not you're geared enough to start raiding, the answer is "definitely maybe." Let me explain. The nice people at GuildOx have collected and passed on their information for the average gear level for groups completing 10- and 25-man raids, and they were good enough to share this information with us. There are several interesting things to keep in mind about these numbers. These numbers are from the last seven days and only for the first time a group beat the encounter. Subsequent kills aren't counted in this data set. The average ilevel is higher for almost every single Cataclysm raid fight on 10-man than on 25-man. That is, the fights were first overcome by groups in higher ilevel gear on 10-man than on 25-man. Ascendant Council seems to be the only real exception to this rule. The ilevels for the groups defeating this content are well achievable, starting at 337 for Omnotron Defense System and Conclave of Wind on 25-man. This is well within the level of gearing achievable through heroics. Even the 10-man encounters don't require much more, starting around ilevel 341. There's a lot more data for heroic 25-man encounters than heroic 10s. Some fights don't seem to have had many or any clears on 10 for this data push. Heroic Conclave of Wind had 40 kills on 25s and none on 10s, while Ascendant Council on normal seems to be easier on 10s than 25s for some reason. See the data in full behind the jump; you can make your own conclusions, but I find the higher ilevel for 10-man clears over 25-man to be very, very interesting indeed. I also find it very heartening that yes, you can gear up for this in heroics and rep rewards, so don't let your gear hold you back from attempting these raids.
Ol' Grumpy's guide to player reeducation
Howdy again, folks. It's me, Ol' Grumpy, your guide to Cataclysm instancing pitfalls and how to avoid them. Lately, I've been noticing some frustration, irritability, and yes, bad sportsmanship from folks while running pickup group heroics via the dungeon finder. Whether I be tanking or DPS, I'm seeing a lot of the same behaviors and even engaging in them myself from time to time. Since we posted a solid guide to good behavior in groups today, it seemed like I might as well don my grizzled ol' chapeau and tell y'all a secret. Sometimes the problem is you. (Sometimes, it's even me. I know you're shocked.) If you've been playing WoW for a while, one fact is indisputable. You learned how to play your class or role by playing. It is in groups that we learn our toolkits, how to perform our role properly, and each dungeon or raid we run not only teaches us how to run that dungeon or raid but gives us the context we need to tackle new content down the road. We learn by doing, and moreover, we learn by interacting with our groups, be they guild runs or pickup groups. PUGs can be hard schools, but they're invaluable in jogging you out of your comfort zone and getting you to think about what you do and why. If you think of your instance runs as where you go to farm a quick batch of justice or valor points, you're part of the problem.
The Queue: Wake up
Welcome back to The Queue, the daily Q&A column in which the WoW Insider team answers your questions about the World of Warcraft. Mike Sacco will be your host today. Am I talking about Alan Wake or falling asleep with The Queue open in my editing software? In your heart, you know the truth. Borayar asked: Just finished the Sun Oblisk quest in Uldum. Why is the meteor beam shooting toward Azeroth's core? Titan engine? Ragnaros' goblin BBQ? Twilight Hammer's community spa tub? Uldum conceals machinery that can be used to re-originate Azeroth -- that is, scrap the whole darn thing and start over. It's likely that this is these are the devices that would've responded to Algalon's request should we have failed to change his mind.
The Queue: The Hangover
Welcome back to The Queue, the daily Q&A column in which the WoW Insider team answers your questions about the World of Warcraft. Mike Sacco will be your host today. I hope you have one, because that means you probably had a pretty good time last night. Though if you suddenly have a baby today and you didn't last night, you're on your own. What happens in wherever you partied last night stays in wherever you partied last night. Phienn asked: Do we know if there is another WoW book in progress? If so, what is it about? There is, and (thank goodness) Christie Golden is writing it. It's called Thrall: Twilight of the Aspects. So it's probably about Thrall. Aaaaand the Aspects. That's all we know.
The Queue: For the troubled tooth, for the troubled tooth
Welcome back to The Queue, the daily Q&A column in which the WoW Insider team answers your questions about the World of Warcraft. Mike Sacco will be your host today. Isn't that what they were saying in that Jet Set Radio song? That's what it sounded like. My tooth hurts! Glasscannon asked: Why does Blizzard seem so desperate to discourage us from 2v2 arena these days? Am I right in saying the highest arena gear can only be got from 3v3 and 5v5? You're right: Blizzard is discouraging you from 2v2 arena. The developers directly stated that they wish they hadn't introduced that bracket due to the incredible difficulty in balancing encounters between teams of two. You also have the 2v2 arena bracket to thank for some of the most ridiculous nerfs to PvE gameplay in WoW's history.
Alex Afrasiabi discusses new zones and upcoming content on G4
Getting a little tired of the same old grind, even though it's been barely a month? Cataclysm is far from over, and developments will continue to roll out in future patches and updates. Blizzard's Lead World Designer Alex Afrasiabi leads players through a guided tour of the new Cataclysm zones and sheds some light on upcoming content through a series of videos posted on G4tv.com. Among some of the tidbits discussed are the following fascinating bits of information: a new boss is on the horizon in Vash'jir -- animal Gods? roleplaying aspects of the redesigned Stormwind (we wrote about a few already) lore behind Uldum and how it ties into Ulduar a future content patch will see Hyjal fully healed, and new daily quests a future patch will introduce boat races for players in Thousand Needles Sound like fun? Check out all the zone videos and commentary over on G4. World of Warcraft: Cataclysm has destroyed Azeroth as we know it; nothing is the same! In WoW Insider's Guide to Cataclysm, you can find out everything you need to know about WoW's third expansion, from leveling up a new goblin or worgen to breaking news and strategies on endgame play.
Rated battlegrounds now award honor at conquest point cap
Rated battlegrounds have been criticized as being unnecessary after a player reaches his conquest point cap for the week, which is fairly easily obtainable. This resulted in many people shying away from rated games after the cap, and queues for rated battlegrounds being lengthy and annoying. Blizzard has just announced that rated battlegrounds will now award honor points when a player has reached the conquest point cap. Bashiok -- Rated BGs Now Award Honor at Conquest Cap We've recently made a change in an effort to promote continued play in Rated Battlegrounds. Now when a player is at their weekly Conquest cap they will receive the full amount of Honor from kills, objective completions, victories and losses while in a Rated Battleground match. Those not at their cap will continue to earn Conquest normally, and will only earn Honor once they reach their weekly cap. Whether you're capped and others on your team aren't, or you're all capped and just want to keep playing, we hope this change will allow more flexibility for those participating in Rated Battlegrounds. source World of Warcraft: Cataclysm has destroyed Azeroth as we know it; nothing is the same! In WoW Insider's Guide to Cataclysm, you can find out everything you need to know about WoW's third expansion, from leveling up a new goblin or worgen to breaking news and strategies on endgame play.
Cataclysm hotfixes for Dec. 27
Community Manager Zarhym's list of Cataclysm hotfixes has received yet another update Dec. 27. I have to admit, my heart skipped a beat when I first saw today's list. Is that a Tol Barad fix? Be still, my beating heart! Has Blizzard finally -- Wait. Never mind. The fix won't really fix anything. Still, maybe it's a sign Blizzard's noticed how broken the zone is. Here's the fix, along with a few other interesting changes: Winning as an attacker in Tol Barad now rewards players with 1,800 honor points, up from 180. Winning as a defender still rewards players with 180 honor points. Vashj'ir archaeology dig sites no longer unlock for players. They felt too punishing without additional benefits compared to low-level sites and were much more difficult to obtain artifacts in due to the way Vashj'ir navigation works. Gyreworms, Enormous Gyreworms, and Gorged Gyreworms no longer drop money or elite-level loot. For a complete list of the latest hotfixes, check after the break.
The Queue: Merry Christmas
Welcome back to The Queue, the daily Q&A column in which the WoW Insider team answers your questions about the World of Warcraft. Mike Sacco will be your host today. Or, you know, whatever. Leo asked: I'm curious about the epic-quality weapons and armor that can be gained via rare discoveries in archaeology. They say they are bound to account, but do they stay that way (like heirlooms), or do they become soulbound once they're equipped? Like any other account-bound item, they will never become soulbound. They don't scale with your level either, though.
The Queue: Dead Space Tueue
Welcome back to The Queue, the daily Q&A column in which the WoW Insider team answers your questions about the World of Warcraft. Mike Sacco will be your host today. This demo is downloading way too slowly. I gotta get my necromorph stompin' fix. Xodin asked: Is it possible to get the Fossilized Raptor after skill level 300 in Archeology? I was under the impression from the initial blue posts that we wouldn't see repeat projects until everything was learned at least once, yet at skill level 450 I'm seeing duplicate Fossil artifacts pop up without having yet gotten the Raptor. When I check WoWWiki, it looks like the Raptor might only be available during the 225 to 300 range, but that seems somewhat silly. The raptor becomes available in the 225-300 range, yes, but there's no cap on when you can actually make it. And to answer your tangential question, you can create duplicate projects of common items, but you'll never make two of the same rare item.
The Queue: I don't want to look back yet
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. Be honest. How many of you winced, cringed, or shrieked in terror upon seeing that screenshot of Oculus up above? Kal asked: How do you feel Cataclysm compared to the other expansion releases in terms of bugs and hotfixes? I didn't play much during The Burning Crusade and Wrath's releases, so I'm not sure how this one compares.
Cataclysm hotfixes for Dec. 21
Continuing the steady stream of Cataclysm tinkering we've seen this week, Blizzard has posted yet another set of hotfixes. And this is a pretty good set! Some notable changes: The duration of the Superheated Quicksilver Armor debuff on Karsh Steelbender is now 17 seconds, up from 12 seconds. The encounter was too hard to tank and went against our intended fight mechanics. The display for this buff may not properly update until a client-side patch is applied. Rare archaeology finds should now grant triple skill gains. Mekgineer Thermaplugg is no longer using outdated abilities and has a shiny new list of abilities to use. He is also no longer immune to taunts. Elemental Goos now drop 100% of the time off of Cataclysm elementals for the jewelcrafting daily quest. Chaos Orbs can now only been seen and rolled on by characters with a minimum skill level of 425 in tailoring, blacksmithing, leatherworking, or engineering. For the full list of hotfixes, follow us behind the break below.
Cataclysm hotfixes for Dec. 20
Community Manager Zarhym has documented and posted another list of hotfixes this evening. The list grows ever shorter compared to what they were immediately after launch, but the changes are still numerous. Here are some interesting examples: The search radius to find an archaeology node from the archaeology ability Survey has been increased. This will result in fewer searches needed while in the "green" range of surveying. Several cooking recipes were not counting toward the achievement Set the Oven to "Cataclysmic" and have been updated. Note that Darkbrew Lager, Highland Spirits, and Chocolate Cookie are not intended to count for this achievement. Several shirts have been corrected so they no longer cause a player's item level to increase. They are item level 1. For the full list of hotfixes, follow us behind the break below.
The Queue: Quorra
Welcome back to The Queue, the daily Q&A column in which the WoW Insider team answers your questions about the World of Warcraft. Mike Sacco will be your host today. Regardless of what you thought of Tron: Legacy (I liked it, personally), I don't think you can argue against Quorra being mesmerizing every time she was on the screen. Exogenesis asked: On the archaeology profession pane, where it shows the racial crests, there is one consisting of a hat and two tools. I have not unnearthed any artifact that goes under this crest, nor can I actually find any information as to what it is. Anyone able to let me know? If I remember correctly, that icon was used for every archaeology race before they all got their own little crests, so it's likely just a placeholder icon for whatever race or project type is added to the profession next. Ghostcrawler said that archaeology is intended to be easily expanded.