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PAX 2010: Hands on with Rift: Planes of Telara
The dungeon portal loomed ahead as a developer pushed a headset into my hands. "You heal," he said to me then moved on to the other four players standing next to me. "You tank. You three DPS. Don't worry too much; you're all a little over-leveled for this dungeon. Let us know when you're ready." I hardly heard him as I frantically tried to memorize the full array of skills in front of me, rearranging my hotbar to put my heals up front and center. "Ohh, you're a druid," another Trion Worlds developer said over my shoulder. "They're fun -- they get a faerie pet that heals your team as well." I followed his pointing finger and clicked on the skill to summon what appeared to be a cross-breed between Tinkerbell and a Troll doll. Fun times. The developer who pulled me into the live demonstration at PAX Prime took up his microphone and directed everyone around the booth to look up at the big screen and watch a team of total strangers jump into a mid-level dungeon. Welcome to Rift, I thought nervously. There's nothing like diving in head-first with your potential humiliation on public display.
Choose My Adventure: Live Cataclysm stream
Choose the adventures of the WoW.com staff as we level our characters in <It came from the Blog> on Zangarmarsh (US-PvE-H). I will be streaming my exploits on one of my beta characters live on WoW.com's Justin.tv channel tonight at 11 p.m. EDT. I will be taking requests from the chat channel for various activities as they come up. I'll also be narrating, as usual, so prepare to be babbled at. Tune in now and choose my adventure live!
Spiritual Guidance: First impressions of shadow priesting in Cataclysm
Since watching Inception, your not-so-humble Spiritual Guidance counselors have been experimenting with dream states in an effort to better facilitate your uptake of priesting information. Since Dawn has yet to awaken from her Blunt Brainwasher-induced sleep, shadow priest Fox Van Allen will be taking over the Wednesday edition. Rumor has it that my Light-respecting partner, Dawn Moore, spent a solid two weeks at Blizzard's headquarters pleading for a Cataclysm beta key. To get in their good graces, she plastered Renews on everyone who moved, cast a Greater Heal on a turkey sandwich and sang a Divine Hymn. She even tried buying them lunch at Jack in the Box. Nothing worked. A few hours after Dawn left, your boy Fox Van Allen walked in, cast Mind Control and walked away with a beta key in about 16 seconds. I also stole the leftovers from the Jack in the Box lunch. Curly fries. Jumbo Jack. Diet Coke. That's just how I roll. So, what's going on with shadow priests in the beta? What's going on with Cataclysm in general? To find out, I copied my shadow priest to the test server, created a new goblin priest and braced myself for shadow priesting 4.0. I came. I saw. I blew up bomb-throwing monkeys with Nitro-Potassium Bananas. Follow me after the break if you dare -- spoilers may be present, of course.
A look at the new WoW figures at SDCC 2010
Last weekend saw one of the greatest comic book conventions in North America, the San Diego Comic Con, come and go. One of our own WoW.com crew attended the great event and came back with photos of DC Unlimited's newest (and some older) World of Warcraft action figures. These displays featured many from the Premium Series 2 and 3, along with the regular series 6 and 7. I personally have a few of these around my apartment. They're of superb quality, and the regular series usually costs around or under $20. The larger premium series goes for quite a bit more (usually hovering around the $50 mark) but is undoubtedly worth it. You can actually preorder some of these (including those not show, like the Lich King) right from DC Unlimited's website. Check out the full gallery below! %Gallery-98354%
Azshara: Changes and what will be missed
The Cataclysm beta is at times a little off putting. Flying over zones is an alien experience that is still somewhat strangely familiar. There aren't really words to describe the disconnect you feel -- it's got something to do with the newness of the old zones. Suddenly that place that had been a lake for the past five, six years is gone. Suddenly entire rock faces have vanished. And in the case of Azshara, suddenly large parts of the landscape have taken a dive into the ocean. For Alliance players, Azshara wasn't really much of a zone to begin with -- there are a few quests at Talrendis Point in Azshara, a few more neutral quests here and there, and of course the level 50 class quests and the quests for the Hydraxian Waterlords -- other than these however, Azshara was simply a mystery. At Talrendis Point both Alliance and Horde players can find an NPC named Loh'atu, a tauren who will give quests to either faction. He'll also tell you a little bit about the history of the area, but doesn't really go into great detail. And that's always been the major problem with Azshara -- there wasn't really anything of significance to be found there, generally speaking. Unlike Felwood, Feralas, Tanaris, Un'goro or any of the other Kalimdor zones in vanilla WoW, Azshara seemed to be a zone that consisted of large amounts of land that you had to run over and mobs you had to dodge to get to the one place that had the one item for the one quest you needed to complete. Everything else? It could be ignored. And so it was -- most players tended to skip the zone entirely after Burning Crusade's launch. There are, however, small bits and pieces of lore and quest lines that shouldn't be missed, quests that will be disappearing entirely when Cataclysm hits. Check out the gallery below for a look at Azshara as it stands today -- the list of quests, and the reasons why you should do these quests now, start after the break. %Gallery-97278%
Goblin up all the excitement
Sure, the worgen are badass and all that. When Cataclysm breaks, we'll probably see a wave of rerollers populate the Alliance with werewolves the way Burning Crusade glutted the Horde with pretty boys (and girls). The worgen have so much angst and goth sensibilities, and Gilneas evokes that whole aura of Victorian doom and gloom that the new race is guaranteed to attract a tidal wave of players to roll characters from scratch or, sometime in the future, pay for a race change. Heck, even I plan to roll a worgen and level it through the new starting zone. But what really excites me are the goblins. Sure, they're short, green, and by any measure pretty ugly, but man, they appear to be a total riot. We've never seen anything like this before. Personally, I think the whole deal with worgens is just too emo. But goblins? Insanity. Goblins are hedonistic, money-grubbing, self-destructive and completely, off-the-deep-end wacky. They have a pleasure palace in Azshara. A pleasure palace. With a swimming pool. If you thought starting areas on RP servers had some interesting RP going on, you might be shocked at the kind of RP that a freaking pleasure palace with a swimming pool invites. Goblins aren't nice guys. They're abrasive and offensive by design. I can't wait to play one.
Cataclysm Beta: Goblin /flirt and /silly sounds
NSFW Warning: Some work environments may not like these jokes. The Cataclysm floodgates have been opened, and the torrent of information coming is awesome! Here come the goblin sound files for goblin male and female /flirt and /silly jokes and flirts. A lot of it is what you would expect from goblins -- money, wheeling and dealing, bondage jokes and... wait, what? Some of this stuff is pretty racey, and I doubt it will stay in game like the infamous "kill two dwarves" troll emote. Nonetheless, here are your goblin sound emotes. More clips are after the break.
J!NX releases exclusive shirt designs for Europe
They already get self-cleaning public toilets, over a thousand distinct kinds of cheese and Kelly Brook. This time around, Europeans get more cool things by way of J!NX, those purveyors of geek couture, who have released three new World of Warcraft shirt designs exclusive to Europe. One design features a poster promoting an arena match between a gnome and a tauren in the style of a bullfight. It's nice and funny, but probably not something I'd mind not being available in my region. On the other hand, the two other designs feature the upcoming new races of Cataclysm -- the worgen and goblin, complete with claw scratches for the former just to add a little more badassness. If you're a fan of the promotional art for these two new races, this probably isn't good news if you live in one of the other six continents. For the Europeans, the shirts are available for ordering at €17.99 to €20.99, depending on your size. The shirts are available only in black in both men's and women's sizes. For everyone else -- or everyone else in the United States, anyway -- get back at the Europeans by walking into a nearby Hot Topic and pick up an exclusive Save the Murlocs shirt. Sorry Asians, Africans, Australians, South Americans and even that one lone dude living in Antarctica -- we'll have to make do with all the basic stuff.
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.
World of Warcraft: Cataclysm Friends and Family Alpha client leaks
Despite what we presume are Blizzard's best efforts (they lasted pretty long this time!), the Friends and Family Alpha client of the upcoming World of Warcraft: Cataclysm expansion has leaked out into the world, and the forum denizens over at MMO Champion are busy digging through it for all kinds of spoilers. They've uncovered maps and screenshots for both revamped Old Azeroth zones and the new high-level dungeons, as well as pictures of the new Goblin and Worgen starting areas. Additionally, they've got information on new achievements and abilities, and the completely revamped class talent calculator now active in the alpha. Keep in mind that, as closed alpha information, none of this is official, and most of the stats are likely to change before the expansion actually releases later this year. All of this information would have come out soon anyway, as Blizzard is planning an open beta on this expansion soon (things are a little busy right now with some other testing), and is slowly releasing information officially as well. But if you want to gorge yourself on spoilers before dinner starts, head on over and feast, my children, feast! [via WoW.com]
Screenshot of the day revived for Cataclysm
Zarhym just hit the forums to announce that they'll be reviving the official community site's Screenshot of the Day feature. Every day they'll be releasing a new Cataclysm screenshot, and you can see today's at the top of this post or on the official site. Today's screenshot appears to be a sea goblin in what might be Vashj'ir or the Abyssal Maw. WoW.com will definitely have our eyes glued to these daily screenshots, as they're sure to include a lot of awesome visuals. Maybe even a female worgen! We can hope, right?
The Queue: Goblins and worgen
Welcome back to The Queue, WoW.com's daily Q&A column where the WoW.com team answers your questions about the World of Warcraft. Alex Ziebart will be your host today. Whoa, Cataclysm questions that we might be able to answer? No way! I'm in shock. Truly. Look at the shock on my face. Do you see it? Yeah, pretty sweet, I know. Babaloo asked: "Will places like Gilneas be available to other races in Cataclysm, also, will they function as towns and stuff or for one time, one race staging zones? I'm really worried because it seems like they could've done a lot for those."
Breakfast Topic: Preparing for the storm
This Breakfast Topic is brought to you by WoW.com's guest blogger program! Want to participate in a future call for guest posts? Read up on how to contribute, and keep an eye on the site for program announcements! When faced with warnings of imminent change, what do you do? Do you stockpile and organize, or do you let it just happen? Cataclysm is fast approaching and preparing for it in-game can be as much a part of the process as pre-ordering a copy of the game in real life. There's several new things coming in the expansion that certainly may go smoothly if you take the time to plan for it -- two new races (worgen and goblin), new level cap, and a lot more classes opening up for the existing races. In the past, people also stockpiled things like cloth for bandages or mats for new tradeskills that were being introduced. Some players have given up doing anything in general and stopped playing WoW until Cataclysm hits. I myself tend to be more of the planning type, especially now on the horizon of my third expansion -- I am stockpiling a lot of gold in the event of some ridiculous new transportation cost. I also recently completed Loremaster on my main character as many of my favorite quests or zones in the old world might be changed or gone entirely by the time the expansion rolls around. I also might sink a little bit of money into buying a Traveler's Tundra Mammoth. Having a portable repair-bot and vendor will ease the burdens of leveling considerably. Some new character names might have also been reserved on my server in preparation for a cute little gnome priest or worgen rogue in the future. So what have you been doing to brace yourself for another (possibly your first) expansion? Is it grinding out badges for BOA gear for a new toon? Perhaps you are sitting around Dalaran doing nothing!
BlizzCon Roundup: Last year's fun and games
BlizzCon 2010! Anaheim! October! Players are buzzing about the new announcement, and already making travel plans -- but what can a person expect to see at BlizzCon? What kind of stuff is there to talk about? Last year's BlizzCon was all about Cataclysm -- a trailer, playable demos of the new races, lore information, and of course the usual cavalcade of costumes and dance routines. Here's a quick roundup of what you missed at last year's BlizzCon, to give you an idea of what to expect this time around: Pre-show guides and activities: Preparing for BlizzCon -- a quick pre-con checklist Guide to BlizzCon 2009 The goody bag! The WoW.com meetup, including the cast of The Guild The BlizzCon 2009 show floor The official program
Submarines coming in Cataclysm
While we didn't get the full fledged Maelstrom expansion that some people were predicting, Cataclysm still promises to have some water-related content, such as the Abyssal Maw, the elemental plane of water. And where there's water, you need a boat. The recent Twitter developer chat revealed that we will, in fact, be using new transports to get to certain places in Cataclysm, and that these transport would be submarines, built by the gnomes and goblins for their respective factions.
The Queue: Two bosses enter this one, too
Welcome back to The Queue, WoW.com's daily Q&A column where the WoW.com team answers your questions about the World of Warcraft. Alex Ziebart will be your host today. It's happened again, ladies and gentlemen. I've run out of things to say in the intro portion here. That means it's time for another edition of, "write Alex's intro for him in the comments below along with your regularly scheduled questions for the next edition of The Queue." I should probably figure out a shorter name for that game. Brouck asked... "When Cataclysm hits what will happen to Neutral Goblin cities such as Booty Bay, will they become Horde controlled or remain neutral? Do you think another neutral faction will take over."
WoW.com's top ten stories of 2009, part 3
If you were reading the site earlier this year, you'll remember that our first word about what was in the new expansion came long before BlizzCon did -- multiple leaks, some believable, some not, shaped our idea of what we'd be getting in the game's third add-on. Way back on July 1st, reader Ryan noticed for us that Blizzard had applied for a Cataclysm trademark, and from there, things spiraled out into rumors and speculation. Obviously, Cataclysm will already be one of the biggest stories of 2010, but it took up a lot of 2009 as well.
Ammo controversy in 3.3 already
Patch 3.3 is only barely out on the live realms, and already, there's a controversy with the new epic ammo recipes. Lassirra says that hunters are concerned that the requirements to make the ammo are just too high. Blizzard had promised to make getting epic ammo easier, and this still has the requirement of having a high level engineer, with the extra charge of requiring a Goblin engie for the bullets, and a Gnomish engie for the arrows. And even after you find a 450 Engineer in the right spec, you still have to get a couple of Crystallized Shadow or Earth together. That doesn't sound "easier" to me, either. Let's not forget, however, that this is cutting edge (no pun intended) ammo -- this isn't the kind of vendor junk you just fire while leveling. It's a 30 point DPS gain from the previous high level ammo, and that kind of increase probably does justify a little tougher requirement to make. Of course, it'll probably work out so that other classes get that increase normally through their itemization, but that's just the way it works for hunters. If you want the new ammo, you'll have to find an friendly engie of the right spec with the right skill Honored with the new Ashen Verdict faction, and then keep them supplied with as much Crystallized Earth and Shadow as you can find.
The Queue: Picking favorites
Welcome back to The Queue, WoW.com's daily Q&A column where the WoW.com team answers your questions about the World of Warcraft. Alex Ziebart will be your host today. Like Adam, I am most pleased that this is a new week. Things are so boring around the WoWiverse lately. Pilgrims Bounty was fun (really fun, I thought) but it was only around for a little while. I need excitement! Adventure! There is a void that needs to be filled! I guess answering your various questions will fulfill that need for now. Jason asked... "Since the Battle.net change has occurred, is it now possible for me to log on to WoW in Europe (like at an Internet café) with my American account? Or are they still separate like they were before?"
Breakfast Topic: Why aren't you playing ____?
All of the recent discussion surrounding what people are planning for their Worgen and Goblin characters got me to thinking about the ingame races that just don't get that kind of love. It's no secret that certain race/class combinations are underplayed (witness, for example, the ingame hell of finding a Dwarf or Orc rogue for Turkey Lurkey), but some races are just massively underplayed, period. If Warcraft Realms is at least ballpark accurate, then Humans are roughly 5 times as popular as Gnomes, Dwarves, and Trolls at 80. Draenei are twice as popular at 80 as Gnomes and Dwarves, and Blood Elves have a chokehold on the Hordeside population. Zardoz's Armory Data Mining (fast becoming one of my favorite WoW sites) did a breakdown on class, race, and gender populations as of November 4th, and the results are pretty illuminating. In case you're wondering, Dwarves, Orcs, and Tauren are the least likely to be female, and Draenei, Blood Elves, and Night Elves the most likely (although Draenei are the only race in the game to have a female majority). The most played combination in the game is the Blood Elf paladin, and the least-played are the Dwarf rogue (I for one am shocked) and the Troll warrior.
