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Cataclysm Press Event: War of the Ancients raid confirmed
World of Raids got to sit down and have a chat with Game Director Tom Chilton during the recent Cataclysm press event, and along with information regarding raids, classic dungeon revamps and new instances was the revelation that the Caverns of Time will not be ignored in the coming expansion. In fact, players will be seeing a very familiar event that had a whole trilogy of novels written about it: The War of the Ancients. The War of the Ancients covers the events of the Sundering that originally split Azeroth into the shattered continents we see today. As yet there's no information as to what kind of role players will have in the war, although Chilton did say that this will not be an event that is available upon release -- it will be part of the progression on the fight against Deathwing. Despite this, I know many players will be excited at the chance to finally see the events of the war firsthand. The biggest question in my mind though is which timeline we will be addressing; the original one, referenced in Warcraft III, or the timeline of the War of the Ancients Trilogy, and whether or not Broxigar, Rhonin and Krasus will make an appearance. Check out the full interview for more details on raids, instances, and questlines that are old favorites.
Cataclysm Press Event: New views of Cataclysm, Blizzard offices
In addition to all the changes announced in the Cataclysm press release event, World of Raids has a flyover video of several of the new zones, including Orgrimmar, Stormwind and Thousand Needles, among others. If photos are more your fancy, Wowhead posted a gallery from their tour of the Blizzard offices, including some gorgeous shots of statues and action figures from the Warcraft line, a ton of gallery artwork, giant plushies and Blizzard's own unique take on motivational posters that highlight Blizzard's philosophy on game design.
Cataclysm Press Event: Path of Titans scrapped, Inscription overhauled
At BlizzCon 2009, we learned of the Path of the Titans, a new alternate advancement system that would see PCs allying with various titan cults in order to gain various character bonuses apart from simply leveling up. At the recent Cataclysm press event, Blizzard announced that they'll be completely scrapping the system. To offset this, they've chosen instead to work on an overhaul of the glyph system, as they noted they didn't quite get it to where they wanted with Wrath. Here are the basics: There will be a new tier of glyphs, currently called "Medium" glyphs, that will provide "fun alterations" to abilities. Major and minor glyphs will act much as they currently do. You'll have 3 of each glyph type at level 85. You will no longer have to re-buy glyphs when you respec or rearrange them. Rather, you will will learn each glyph like a skill and be able to swap them at will from a list. This list will show all glyphs available to your class, but will only allow you to use the ones you've purchased.
Cataclysm Press Event: Older heirloom items to work for goblins and worgen
Here's some good news for everyone planning to roll a goblin or worgen, or even a human hunter or troll druid, when the expansion hits: Your heirlooms will still work, but only until level 80. At the recent Cataclysm press event, Blizzard confirmed that heirlooms from the Wrath era will still work for new characters in the Cataclysm era, and specifically even for goblins and worgen. Since you earned them, you should still get to use them. However, they also note that the heirlooms will only work up to level 80. At level 80, you'll have to start using new heirlooms that will be added in Cataclysm itself. So go ahead, buy that Bloodied Arcanite Reaper for your new holy cow or worgen warrior; it'll still work just fine, at least until you get level 80.
Cataclysm Press Event: Guild talents and currency scrapped
Guild leveling will remain in Cataclysm, but guild talents and currency have been scrapped. Happily, that doesn't mean that rewards and achievements have gone with them. Overall, it seems they simplified the new guild system without removing the promised benefits. Here is a breakdown of what the new guild system will entail: Guild leveling Guilds will gain experience when their members participate in the following: rated battleground wins dungeon or raid boss kills completing quests unlocking guild achievements Max level will be 25 and each time a guild levels, it will automatically get perks. Previously these perks would be chosen with talents. Guild rewards Rewards will be unlocked when guilds earn achievements. Once unlocked, guild members can purchase them with gold as long as they have the appropriate Guild Reputation. The original plan was that guild currency would be used to purchase rewards. The rewards will include: mounts with flags that display the guild tabard emblem heirlooms tabards
Cataclysm Press Event: New raids and lockout mechanics announced
As part of the large Cataclysm information released tonight, we've gotten quite a bit more information on how raids will be changing. One exciting idea is "downshifting," namely, the ability to split a 25-man raid up into separate 10-mans. There won't be any sort of "upshifting" allowed, however. Simply put, if your 25-man fails to proceed due to numbers, it can break up into separate 10-mans with the same bosses defeated as the 25 was at the time of division, and if you later get those other players back, another 10-man can be created with the same conditions. In addition, raid lockouts will be more forgiving; as long as you have killed the same bosses as the raid in question, you'll be able to join a raid in progress even if you've been in a different raid to the same instance during the lockout. Basically, you will not be able to kill the same boss twice during a lockout, but you won't be totally cut off from raiding with others simply because you were in a different raid lockout earlier that fell apart, as one example.
Cataclysm Press Event: New lore details revealed
He's not quite dead-dead, only mostly dead, and new information from a Cataclysm press release event confirms it -- Cho'gall is back. The folks over at World of Raids have released a ton of new Cataclysm information including a good chunk of lore info. Here are some of the highlights: Cho'gall is not only alive, he's the last boss in Grim Batol: Bastion of Twilight, the new entry-level raid for the expansion. Upon defeating Cho'gall on heroic mode, the floor beneath you will collapse and you will fall into a cavern of flowing lava that hides a "horrifying secret," according to Lead World Designer Alex Afrasiabi. Uldum was locked away by a Titan mechanic that created a projection of a large, impassible mountain -- the Cataclysm destroyed the machine and opened access to Uldum. Thereazane the Stonemother will be present and involved in a reputation grind similar to the Sons of Hodir. Reports state that one of the bosses in Skywall: Vortex Pinnacle is an elemental lord. Given that Skywall is the Elemental Plane of Air, this can only mean Al'Akir the Windlord. Garrosh is the "acting" Warchief of the Horde. Implying "temporary." Everyone breathe a sigh of relief. The Valley of Wisdom in Orgrimmar is now the Tauren district. Garrosh's stronghold is not in the Valley of Wisdom; it's at the center of Orgrimmar. The Park district in Stormwind has been destroyed, largely because Deathwing wasn't exactly happy about his daughter's head hanging from the rafters. The Forsaken have set up a foothold in Silverpine Forest and have rebuilt many areas, to provide a base of operations for assaulting Gilneas. The current reason for the attacks is because Gilneas is strategically valuable to the Horde. Less of a lore note, more of an immersion note: New music will be added for all of the cities, and a large portion of the game world. Archaeology Plenty to look forward to, but the most interesting change is to the Archaeology profession. Since Path of the Titans is being scrapped, Archaeology is no longer involved with it. Instead, players will use Archaeology to "dig into the lore of the game" as a new vehicle for storytelling purposes. There are two types of "artifacts" players can uncover. The first will be a lore or story artifact, while the second type can reward items -- cosmetic or fun, with the occasional rare useable weapon. Archaeology will not provide any "must-have" items, so those that don't feel like grinding out another secondary profession can skip it entirely. However, it sounds like Blizzard is taking another step towards making the story and lore of the Warcraft world a more interactive experience.
Cataclysm Press Event: New expansion details
The NDA for a recent Blizzard press event ended this evening, and a deluge of brand new Cataclysm information has hit the net. Some highlights include: Patch of the Titans has been scrapped and will not be implemented. Inscription will be receiving an overhaul; glyphs will now come in three tiers rather than two. Guild leveling will happen, but it will not be coming with guild talents or currency. The Bastion of Twilight will be Cataclysm's entry-level raid with Cho'gall as the end boss. Check behind the cut below for more details.
Cataclysm Press Event: Ghostcrawler exclusive Wowhead interview
In the wake of the big news about Cataclysm changes tonight, the folks at Wowhead have an exclusive interview up with Ghostcrawler, also known as Greg Street, lead systems designer. The interview is very long and detailed, but one part that really stood out for me was his response to a question about his forum presence. Ghostcrawler - Wowhead interview It's a little bit of a drag right now, because it's so quiet -- you know? A lot of people are waiting for new information, so there's not a lot of really interesting discussions going on, and those interesting discussions are the ones that make it all worthwhile for me. Like, I can sit there and answer questions forever for players who just want me be the "PR Bot" spitting out, "What's your plan for warriors? Well, let me tell you our plan for warriors," but ... I really like the back and forth, where players challenge some of our assumptions, or think of things in ways we hadn't considered before, and stuff like that. Because then, selfishly, I can take that back to work and we can talk about it and make changes based on it. Like, "Hey, these are problems the players think the game has, is there something we can do about it?" So that actually, I think, ends up making the game better. So that's why I stick with it. source For more, including the new design philosophy for professions and his view on PvP/PvE balance, go to the interview at Wowhead.
