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The Daily Grind: Does world PvP have to be spontaneous to be fun?
I love big battleground PvP. I admit it. I may have cut my teeth in the FFA ganker land of classic Ultima Online, but I didn't enjoy it nearly so much as I enjoy two (or three!) huge swarms of people crashing into each other Pelennor Fields style. That's why World of Warcraft's attempt to recreate world PvP in upcoming expansion zone Ashran intrigues me. Yet Massively commenters have criticized Blizzard, suggesting that it's impossible to bottle up the fun of old Southshore and pour it back out into Ashran because Southshore's magic was in its spontaneity. At least that was the fun if you weren't on a server where your faction just got rolled repeatedly. Or if you weren't a newbie trying to quest in Southshore while the level 60s farmed each other for points. It didn't feel all that spontaneous on my server, come to think of it, since both sides would line up outside the village automatically every day; the vast majority of spontaneous PvP I see on my PvP server is just ganking lowbies or soloers, not the epic GvG sort you tell stories about later. And I'm pretty sure I'd trade the cheap thrill of spontaneity for a fair fight with some real objectives, the bigger the better. How about you? Must world PvP be spontaneous to be fun? Every morning, the Massively bloggers probe the minds of their readers with deep, thought-provoking questions about that most serious of topics: massively online gaming. We crave your opinions, so grab your caffeinated beverage of choice and chime in on today's Daily Grind!
WoW's Warlords of Draenor expansion is making faces at you
When Blizzard launches World of Warcraft's Warlords of Draenor expansion later this year, players will be getting more than just the long-awaited character body model upgrades; they're also getting new facial geometry. Art Director Chris Robinson wrote today on the game's official blog, Our next big focus is doing justice to the facial options. With the original models and their simplistic geometry and low-resolution textures, a lot of facial expressions were simply painted on. Now that we've moved to higher-polygon models with lips, teeth, and fully articulated faces-not to mention higher-resolution textures-recreating those same facial options isn't as simple as painting them onto a flat surface. Previously, to get a sneer out of a model, you'd just paint a sneer on its face, and that was that. To do it correctly now-and make it look great-we have to fully pose a sneer, create a custom texture, and mesh that base pose with all of the existing emotes and animations. Robinson also said that Blizzard is "committed" to launching all of the new models together rather than roll them out independently post-launch, but a later tweet indicated that Blood Elf models will not make it in for launch.
The Queue: Voices, Curse of Naxxramas, and more
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. If you didn't see our pre-Queue dance party, you missed out. Dubs were stepped. Jalamenos asked: Has there been any word from Blizzard about putting npc voices in a separate volume slider than the effects volume? As it is right now I can't hear most of what the bosses are saying without being deafened by all the sounds of us killing it. Feels like this is something they should have added a while ago especially since more and more of the game is getting voice cast.
Know Your Lore, Tinfoil Hat Edition: The terrifying, living world of Draenor
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 don't really know much about Draenor. Certainly we know plenty about Outland, the shattered remains of a world once called Draenor, but that shattered world is a mere remnant of what Draenor actually was. In the Warcraft cosmos, the only planet we are incredibly familiar with is Azeroth -- and even then, Azeroth holds plenty of mysteries and riddles that have yet to be solved. But Draenor bears very little resemblance to Azeroth, touted instead as a savage land on which we'll have to fight to survive. That statement is far more literal than you'd think. And if you thought the Iron Horde was the biggest problem we were going to face on Draenor, you'd be very, very wrong. In a universe of benevolent Titans, bastions of order, what makes a planet fight not just with aggressive invading forces, but itself? Please note: The following Know Your Lore contains spoilers for Warlords of Draenor. Today's Know Your Lore is a Tinfoil Hat edition. The following contains speculation based on known material. These speculations are merely theories and shouldn't be taken as fact or official lore.
Warlords of Draenor encourages the return of free-form world PvP in Ashran
World of Warcraft players who pine for the "good old days" of open world PvP may get to sup from that cup again come Warlords of Draenor. The devs are whipping up a new island, Ashran, that pulls upon lessons from past PvP zone designs to create something that encourages as close to the real open world PvP experience as one can get (and still have it designed). Ashran is for level 100 players who want to pop in and engage in up to 100v100 battles. Unlike past PvP zones, players won't have to join a raid group to partake in the fun and can choose between world and objective-based PvP. "We want players to get caught up in the moment and become emotionally invested in the outcome of each new encounter, whether it's just getting the drop on a member of the opposite faction player or getting revenge for a stolen kill," Blizzard wrote. The team also previewed another one of Warlords of Draenor's zones with Gorgrond. Gorgrond is an area split between the themes of creation and destruction and the biomes of heavy flora and barren wasteland.
Warlords of Draenor: New arakkoa models
Last night's beta build included new models for Draenor's arakkoa. I, for one, was rather surprised by their new look. The arakkoa we know from Outland were broad, hunch-backed creatures incapable of flight. Draenor's arakkoa maintain their form from before an apparent fall from grace -- they're tall, thin, and maintain their wings. While their Outland counterpart looked like creepy little warlocks, the Draenor arakkoa resemble harpies that have slid a few notches further down the bestial spectrum. Interestingly, the new arakkoa models include both male and female versions. The female version can be seen in the video above, and many variants of the male model can be seen on MMO-Champion. Blizzard rarely models both genders for NPC races, unless that race is distinctly humanesque -- the vrykul, for example. While I miss the creepy little arakkoa from Outland, their Draenor forms are pretty cool, too.
Warlords of Draenor's Talador is at the heart of the Draenei civilization
World of Warcraft continues its exploration of the new zones of Warlords of Draenor, this time with the gorgeous land of Talador. Talador is the predecessor to what eventually becomes Outland's Terokkar Forest, and while players will see familiar sights like Shattrath, it won't be quite as they remember. The area is a warzone as the Iron Horde has besieged it, and players must do all they can to push back the wave of invaders. "Talador is home to the heart of Draenei civilization," Blizzard writes. "It is stunningly beautiful, and the zone has a palette of oranges, golds, and greens that make it incredibly vibrant. The zone really showcases the breadth of Draenei life: the sprawling trade hub of Shattrath, the massive mausoleum that is Auchindoun, the iconic city of Tuurem, the mythical Telmor (it does exist!), and so many others."
Know Your Lore: Stranger in your homeland
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. I kind of want to change gears this week. I assume if you read this column, you have a passing interest in Warcraft's lore and story. So instead of picking apart the Shadowmoon Valley or Frostfire Ridge experiences from a lore perspective (and believe me, I'll be doing that in the future) I thought we could take a look at what it feels like to play through both starting zones as a member of the race that dominates the experience. This column will be about the disconnect of playing through Tanaan and SMV as a draenei -- there will be a follow up about the experience of playing through Tanaan and Frostfire as an orc. Spoilers are likely unavoidable. So from this point on, be aware of them. For me this is one of Warlords' big strengths as a story, the way the characters are in a place that's familiar, but not too familiar. Even if you're playing a tauren or undead in Frostfire or a gnome or dwarf in SMV, it's possible to have that feeling of almost but not quite when you go there. I think it's stronger in Shadowmoon for a variety of reasons -- it's a classic BC zone (Frostfire seems to be half of the Blade's Edge Mountains) and there are quite a few moments where you feel a sense of twisted, broken recognition - the fact that the Alliance player garrison seems to be almost right on top of where the Horde starting base in the zone was, the first time you approach Karabor and see the structure dominating the region. But playing a draenei, it's another step into the weird. Because here are your people, and yet, they don't recognize you.
Know Your Lore: Yrel, Draenor's Light
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. At the moment, we've only got two full zones open in the Warlords of Draenor beta -- Frostfire Ridge, and Shadowmoon Valley. Also open is the introductory lead-in to Draenor through the Tanaan Jungle. It's there that we first meet her, fairly unassuming and not exactly remarkable in any way. Yrel was first mentioned at BlizzCon during the story and lore panel -- a draenei whose story was going to be a major part of the Warlords expansion, the comparison made that she is a Joan of Arc-like figure. We've only seen the first few steps of Yrel's journey so far in the beta, so the accuracy of that comparison remains to be seen. But Yrel, unassuming as she may seem, already appears to hold a bright spot in the canvas of Draenor's future. So just who is this draenei, and what makes her a lore figure to watch for? Please note: The following Know Your Lore contains spoilers for Warlords of Draenor. If you are avoiding spoiler content, turn away!
WoW Archivist: Beta surprises from World of Warcraft's history
WoW Archivist is a biweekly column by WoW Insider's Scott Andrews, who explores the secrets of World of Warcraft's past. What did the game look like years ago? Who is etched into WoW's history? What secrets does the game still hold? It first appeared on our sister site on July 2nd and is included here by permission. Last week, we launched into the newest beta in WoW's history -- its sixth! -- for Warlords of Draenor. It's an exciting time for the game. Every beta has its surprises, good and bad. New things that were never announced. Prior announcements that changed unexpectedly. We've already had a number of surprises in the Warlords beta: the faction hub shift to Ashran, cross-faction auctions, and the removal of guild leveling. Beta is just ramping up. We are sure to encounter more than one surprise over the next few months as we test the Draenor experience and gear up for the expansion's launch. Let's take a look back at the previous five betas and examine some of the twists that greeted testers -- and often shocked the WoW community. Caveat: I'm excluding storyline surprises.
Know Your Lore: The time-travel fallacy of Warlords
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. Ever since the announcement of Warlords of Draenor, most players -- including myself, to a degree -- have been under the assumption that this is an expansion involving time-travel of some sort. Sure, supposedly we as players aren't traveling in time, but Garrosh Hellscream did so, to an alternate version of Draenor whose history he presumably changed. Now instead of invading Azeroth as we're accustomed to, this altered version of Draenor and its Iron Horde are attempting to invade the here and now. Only there's one key thing we've been missing -- this isn't time travel. Not in the slightest. After playing on beta for a mere few hours, what Blizzard is doing is something entirely different. While we've been focusing on time travel and how this would affect our future, Blizzard has been quietly putting together a story with some far-reaching, drastic implications that may very well take everything we know about World of Warcraft, stand it on end, and knock it over with one well-placed blow. Spoiler Alert: The following column contains a couple of fairly large spoilers for Warlords of Draenor. If you are avoiding expansion information and discussion, do not continue.
Blizzard dispatches Warlords of Draenor closed beta invites
Blizzard has begun sending out the first wave of closed beta invitations for World of Warcraft's upcoming Warlords of Draenor expansion. Overnight, WoW Community Manager Bashiok tweeted, First #Warlords beta invite wave on its way! Check your account for flagging. Targeting first wave toward WoW veterans. (Realms up tomorrow) Players can check their Battle.net accounts to see whether their accounts have been flagged prior to the arrival of the emails. Bashiok further reminded followers that additional waves of invites are coming; this first round targeted "accounts that have been playing recently, with a long history of active subscription." The closed beta itself begins today at 5 p.m. EDT.
World of Warcraft previews the Tanaan Jungle
The first two zone previews for World of Warcraft's next expansion focused on the areas that will lie at the heart of each faction, but Warlords of Draenor doesn't start in either of those areas. No, players will begin by setting foot (or hoof) into the Tanaan Jungle, a lush land filled with warriors of the Iron Horde as well as no shortage of vicious beasts. Yes, it's dangerous even without the orcs, that's kind of a running theme here. Players using characters boosted to level 90 will be learning their classes for the first time in the jungle, meeting orc luminaries such as Grom Hellscream and Khadgar Bladefist. (They're with the Iron Horde; they won't be happy to see you.) Players are also teased that they might need to make a deal with the warlock Gul'dan to get out in one piece, which is an activity that has never worked out well for anyone. Check out the full preview and all the lore it implies on the official site.
World of Warcraft previews Warlords of Draenor's Shadowmoon Valley
Blizzard's official World of Warcraft blog updated this week with a preview of Shadowmoon Valley. No, not Outland's Shadowmoon Valley from The Burning Crusade; this is the version of Shadowmoon Valley you'll be time-traveling to in Warlords of Draenor, or rather, you will if you're playing Alliance, since it's that faction's entry point for the expansion lands. Senior Designer Helen Cheng explains the zone's setting as "one of the most beautiful places on Draenor." She writes, "The valley is tranquil and serene. Rolling green hills give way to lush, violet forests. Draenei temples stand proudly beneath a star-studded sky. Here, the draenei have built wonders of their civilization-the town of Elodor with its majestic Altar of Sha'tar serves as the proud home of the great Exarchs, while the shining Temple of Karabor acts as the font of all holy learning. Under Prophet Velen and Exarch Akama's watch, all is well." Read more about the zone's backstory on the official site.
Who I want to see in Warlords of Draenor: Medivh
That's right. We're getting serious now. Why do I want to see Medivh in Warlords? More importantly, how could I get to see Medivh in Warlords? Well, there's several ways this could happen. First off, we'd have to ask ourselves which Medivh would we even get to see - if there's an alternate Draenor with an Iron Horde that wants to invade our Azeroth, then by definition there's an alternate Azeroth that's going without its usual serving of orc invasion. And on that Azeroth there should be a Medivh - the guy who in our timeline built the Dark Portal and shared with Gul'dan the secret to creating one. And that Medivh should still contain within him the essence of Sargeras, the great big baddie above all others, the guy who signs Kil'jaeden's checks. So I'd like to see what that Medivh is up to. Is he wondering where that army of orcs he was expecting had gotten off to? It's possible that he simply has no idea what Kil'jaeden was up to - Medivh originally discovered Gul'dan while searching the universe for a means to destroy humanity, as he believed (thanks to the presence of Sargeras in his mind) that doing so would help him learn mystical knowledge more effectively. In our timeline, he found Gul'dan after the Horde had destroyed the draenei and conquered their world, and were now finding themselves in a world poisoned by the fel energies they'd unleashed to earn their victory.
World of Warcraft releases new class primer videos
So you've bought your World of Warcraft expansion and you boosted a character to the level cap. That's good. You also have no idea how to play that class at level 90, which is bad. A new series of videos from Blizzard is designed to address that problem, however, offering a quick two-minute guide to how to play each of the classes at level 90 as a selected DPS spec and walking you through the basic play patterns. Yes, all of these guides are for DPS; you'll find no detailed tanking walkthroughs here. And each guide just picks a particular spec, so if you were hoping for insight into playing an Enhancement Shaman, you're out of luck. But if you've boosted a character and totally can't figure out what you're supposed to be doing now, it's a good crash course on playing well enough to fake it in LFR.
World of Warcraft finally integrates Night Elf ears
Lest you forget, with World of Warcraft: Warlords of Draenor, the older character models in the game will receive a huge visual update. Today Blizzard posted a preview of what the Night Elf female will look like come this fall, and it appears that she's due for more than her first change of underwear since 2004. "Overall, we've made her new model a little more defined, made some of her proportions a bit more realistic, and added a bit more muscle tone," the studio wrote. "We wanted to visually communicate that she is a fully capable warrior huntress, and small details like muscle definition help highlight that." One interesting fact about this makeover is that the Night Elf ears will finally be "fully integrated" into the model itself instead of being separate pieces that were tacked on to the head.
World of Warcraft continues its raid retrospective
The launch of Warlords of Draenor is going to shake up the raiding experience in World of Warcraft, and if raiding is what you like to do in the game, that's pretty important. But rather than just explain how raiding will be in the new expansion, Blizzard has opted to look past through the previous expansions and examine how revisions have affected the game over the years. Yesterday's blog covered launch through Wrath of the Lich King, while this entry focuses on Cataclysm and Mists of Pandaria. Cataclysm removed the difficulty gap between 10-person and 25-person raids, but the side effect was a pressure to produce smaller raid groups rather than grow to bigger groups. It also introduced the raid finder as a mechanic, encouraging more people to experience the content. Mists of Pandaria, on the other hand, suffered from bottlenecks that prevented non-raiding groups from making any progress, although flex raiding was deemed a better way to get groups in and playing. Take a look at the full article for more details on the ups and downs, with part 3 set to address the future of raiding in Warlords of Draenor.
The Queue: BlizzCon hype train
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. BlizzCon, eh? Revnah asked: Soooo, how does the Blizzcon date figure in the release schedule for WoD? Speculations, please!
Know Your Lore: Look back in Draenei
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. The draenei have a lot of unresolved issues. For starters, they're stranded on a strange planet called Azeroth, after having just barely escaped Outland. They lived on Outland (back when it was called Draenor) for a few hundred years, time enough to start thinking of the place as home. Then it was taken from them, and their people nearly totally exterminated. Their escape to Azeroth was an accident, crashing here because their ship was sabotaged by blood elf servants of Kael'thas Sunstrider. So let's look over things. In the past few decades the draenei have seen formerly amicable neighbors turn bloodthirsty, demon-addicted monsters. They endured the near-total extinction of their people, hiding in swamps and bedraggled refugee settlements, seeing many of the survivors mutate and lose their connection with the Holy Light. They saw roads made out of the bones of their people. They only escaped by stealing back a dimensional ship from people they'd never really seen or heard of who still helped try and kill them. And as soon as they arrived on this new planet they found out that the Burning Legion (the very same force that is trying to exterminate them) has already been here. This is a condensed list, of course.
