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Breakfast Topic: What does Northrend look like in your mind's eye?
A poster to the official forums complained (they're just so good at complaining!) that Northrend is "supposed to be completely covered in snow and ice," but so far there hasn't been enough of either in the screenshots for the Wrath of the Lich King expansion. Bornakk responded: "While we have no plans for Northrend to appear like an island of paradise, we do want the zones to bring a wide variety of scenery and environments for all players to enjoy. Making a continent one big block of ice didn't seem to fit with this ideology too well."Several posters came right back at him though, and while no one wanted to go through a whole continent that was just like Winterspring, the general feedback going Blizzard's way was to say: less chill, more freeze. One poster put it well: "I was hoping that maybe the Devs would actually try and I bet if they wanted they could make a plethora of breathtaking Ice and Snow environments that would be much more interesting than Winterspring." When I read that, my mind leaped with images of giant ice structures protruding from the earth, refracting sunlight as you looked at them. It was a beautiful image, not at all like Winterspring, and possibly variable enough for one or two zones.... but 10? 10 whole zones of different ice and snow environments? How in the world could one avoid the overwhelming dominance of the color white? Where would all the variety be without some areas that have... less freeze and more chill?Of course a lot of Blizzard's landscaping work for the expansion is probably already planned out, but as things stand I'd imagine it's not too late for a little bit of player input to influence just how icy Northrend actually is. What's your take? Can you describe some significantly different environments that don't look like Winterspring?
WotLK zone list
Games for Windows magazine has revealed a surprising amount of info on WoW over the past year or so. Now, a subscriber has written in and claims that this month's GFW (not on newsstands yet) contains, among other things, a full zone list for Northrend. Obviously this should be taken as unconfirmed, since we don't have any scans or anything to go on, but I'm inclined to believe it: Howling Fjord (68-72) Borean Tundra (68-72) The Dragonblight (71-75) Zul'Drak (73-76) Grizzly Hills (74-76) Azjol-Nerub (74-78) Sholazar Basin (75-78) The Storm Peaks (77-80) Icecrown Glacier (77-80) Lake Wintergrasp (Outdoor PvP) Also note that WotLK is still in a fairly early stage of development, and so this is all subject to change. And finally, here's a couple other tidbits, ostensibly from GFW:The Nexus is the instance hub in the west (Borean Tundra), and "a giant Horde citadel--the largest in Northrend" is also in Borean Tundra, but currently without a name. Also, the final raid wing of The Nexus will likely end with a fight with "half-mad Malygos himself".Sounds interesting enough, although they seem to be sticking uncomfortably close to the Burning Crusade model. But we'll see. Does anyone else have a copy of this issue of GFW and can confirm this information?[thanks, Neil]
Blizzard explains the early WotLK No-Flight-Rule
Many players were unhappy to hear that their hard earned flying mounts aren't usable in the early parts of the Wrath of the Lich King expansion. Every player has to beg, borrow and steal to scrape together the 5,000g for their epic flying mount. Or in this case: grind, loot and mine. Why should they have to put aside their hard earned and beloved mount?Recently, CM Bornakk explained the reasoning behind that unpopular decision. Essentially, they don't want players flying over the early content. The entire expansion is designed with a certain progression in mind from zone to zone. Flying would make that irrelevant.There will be a point in the expansion where flight will be enabled in Northrend. Blizzard is currently considering level 78, but hasn't made a concrete decision.What do you guys think? Should flight be enabled immediately or should you enjoy the early zones flightless?
Blue Notes: WotLK mounts and reduction of epic mount costs
Blizzard Blues have been active on the official forums. With rampant speculation about the upcoming Wrath of the Lich King expansion, they've mostly had to give the standard variation of the "no comment" reply. But on two expansion mount issues they were able to give a small bit on insight. Player Serpentis requested a windserpent mount in WotLK. New Blizzard poster Bornakk reported that new flying mounts are being considered, but nothing will be revealed until they are closer to releasing the new expansion. Player Knightxl wanted to know if the cost to train for epic flying mounts will get a reduction with the expansion the way epic land mount training costs were lowered. This rumor has been floating around for the last month or so. Drysc gave us a little more clarification than last time. He responded that the epic land mount training costs only got a reduction because the mount training skill was getting extended with the Burning Crusade expansion. No new mount skill increase is planned in WotLK, so no reduction in price is planned for the epic flight mount training cost. If Blizzard were to incorporate new flying mounts in Northrend, what would you like to see?
Breakfast Topic: The prequel
I know our own Elizabeth Harper had already started re-playing Warcraft III before BlizzCon, and a few days after I came home I reinstalled it (although Bioshock is taking up more of my time lately than anything else-- stupid Big Daddies). But what about you guys-- now that we know Arthas is just around the corner (in relative terms, of course-- this is Blizzard, after all), have you gone back to check out the last RTS game Blizz released?If you've never played it, not only is it an awesome game, but you've probably already guessed from everything we've seen so far that it will be a perfect prequel to what we'll see in Northrend. Sure, if you've already heard all the lore, the whole thing's been spoiled for you, but if you really want to see what happened in Stratholme before we do the new CoT instance, or what all the echoes in the Lordaeron throne room are about, or even why there might be an Old God in Northrend, the game is worth checking out.Are you planning on playing it if you haven't before, or have you already gone through it again lately, in expectation of seeing Arthas again?
The claiming of Frostmourne
Blizzard has posted Chapter 2 of their little "Rise of the Lich King" series on the official Wrath of the Lich King website. It's called "The Claiming of Frostmourne," and it covers Arthas' descent into corruption, the razing of Stratholme (remember that place?), and the finding of the sword Frostmourne in Northrend.If you've played Warcraft III, of course, this is all old news, as all these events are actually shown in that game. But if you haven't played Warcraft III (and its expansion, the Frozen Throne), now might be a good time to do so. While the Burning Crusade reflected more old school lore, including the creation of the Orcs and the opening of the Dark Portal, Wrath of the Lich King's history is pretty recent. Yes, Illidan appeared in the expansion, and others in Outland did as well. But since the beginning of Warcraft III, the story has been all about Arthas, and how bad things are done in the name of believed-to-be-good intentions.With the next expansion, it'll be great to finally return to that story. Of course, my favorite part of Arthas' story is actually the scene that comes after "The Claiming of Frostmourne"-- what Arthas does after he obtains Frostmourne and is corrupted by the Lich King. Echoes of that are still heard (literally) in the world of Azeroth today.
Gnomes in GNorthrend
Bijez from Zul'Jin asks on the forums whether there will be Gnomes in GNorthrend or gnot (ok, I'll stop). Neth hints at a positive answer, but we know for sure: yes, there will be! Not only do we already know that flying machines are coming to Engineers in Northrend, but in an ingame video of the Borean Tundra, shown during the Wrath of the Lich King demo panel, we saw a Gnome city, with a gigantic tower of some kind, and airstrips (!).Unfortunately, that's all we got so far. WoW Wiki claims it's an Alliance town, which is a pretty good guess, but not necessarily guaranteed-- it could be a neutral town. Or it could even be an evil Gnome town; you never know. And we don't yet know what it's called, either.But yes, there will be Gnomes in GNorthrend. Fortunately, us Horde won't go completely hungry.
Utgarde Keep video
Blizzard strictly forbade any video or pictures of live gameplay during BlizzCon, so for fear of not being able to cover the whole thing for you guys, I stayed away from breaking that rule. But apparently Gameriot was not so rule-abiding, and they grabbed some shaky footage of the first dungeon we'll see in Northrend, Utgarde Keep.They played the same parts I did on my walkthrough, including the gigantic furnace walls, new Vrykul race, a few "proto-drakes," and the first boss, the Warlock who summons some big Vrykul skellys throughout the fight. There's not a lot new to hear about if you've been reading everything so far, but if you weren't able to make it to BlizzCon, it'll be your first chance to see everything from Northrend's first 5man on video.[ via Curse ]
Details on the zones of Northrend
Over on the EU forums, Blizzard poster Salthem gives us a few details on the new zones we'll be visiting in Northrend. Of course, all of this is subject to change per developer whim but this is what Northrend is shaping up to be, so far. Salthem lists six zones (with notes that there will be more, though the exact number hasn't been finalized yet) that will be comparable in size to Outland zones.Howling Fjord: Your first chance to go up against the ancient Vrykul in their instance Utgarde Keep. Borean Tundra: The home to the Tuskarr. Parts of Borean Tundra are being melted down for water by the Naga. Garrosh Hellscream has established a base of operations at Warsong Hold. Grizzly Hills: The home of Furbolgs and their city of Grizzlemaw. Also home to the ancient Dwarven City of Thor Modan. The land is largely covered in forests - an example of our desire to make sure that not all zones are just snow and ice. Dragonblight: The home of Wyrmrest Temple, the ancient meeting place where dragons go to die.Lake Wintergrasp: A new non-instanced PvP zone with Siege Weapons, destructible buildings and multiple objectives with lasting effects. Players on Normal realms will automatically be flagged for PvP when entering this zone. The Storm Peaks: Containing Ulduar, the ancient Titan city in the Far North. The capitol city of Northrend (the Shattrath of the north) will be Dalaran. Yes, you read me right, the same Dalaran that presently hides under a sparkly dome near Hillsbrad. The Kirin Tor have invoked powerful magic to relocate their city, and hopefully safeguard themselves from the dragon Malygos, who is concerned over magic running amok in Azeroth.
BlizzCon: hands-on with Wrath of the Lich King
Okay, before you start raking me over the coals again like some of you did with my writeup of StarCraft 2, I'll preempt this writeup similarly. However, I've played World of WarCraft a lot longer than I ever did StarCraft, much to the chagrin of my ex-girlfriend. Is there a correlation there? The world may never know.Anyhow, the preemption part of this post is that I haven't played WoW enough for some of your strict demands. My Human Female Warlock Character is resting on her laurels somewhere around Level 43, and I bought The Burning Crusade, but never installed it. It still sits on the shelf, mocking me, taunting me, and haunting my dreams.%Gallery-5693%
Will there be flying mounts in Northrend?
Though the demo version we played at BlizzCon didn't allow the use of flying mounts, CM Vaneras on the EU forums tells us that we are going to be able to use our flying mounts in Northrend -- however, we may not be able to use them right away. Says Vaneras:...it has not yet been decided if they will be available as soon as you get there or how far into your exploration you will be soaring through the icy skies. The reason for the potential delay in free-roaming is to allow the development team a chance to design and create exciting and interesting content which people will not simply fly over and ignore. What sort of restrictions there will be on flying mounts in Northrend is yet to be decided, however. Will it be a level restriction or perhaps require some sort of quest? As soon as we find out, we'll let you know!
The races of Northrend
As we look toward the release of Wrath of the Lich King, there is so much we don't know, largely because the developers themselves aren't yet sure of things themselves. We do have a few tidbits of information, however, that can give us an idea of what it will be like to venture into Northrend. At Saturday's lore panel BlizzCon attendees got some information about the races we will be encountering in the frozen north. I took some notes as I listened intently, and this is what I came away with:
A distinct lack of murlocs
Micromachine drops a question that I can't believe we forgot to ask at BlizzCon: Will there be murlocs in the next expansion? There definitely was a distinct lack of murlocs in Outland-- but for the few packs in Serpentshrine Cavern and the Dancing Murloc quest, we didn't hear that throaty gurgle almost at all. And as much as I hate it, I... kind of miss it.It's not like they wouldn't fit, either-- Northrend has a coast that we'll be visiting, and while it's a little colder up there, Murlocs are pretty adaptable creatures. Plus, the Tuskarr are a race of fishermen-- errr, fisherwalruses-- and they'd probably love to have the Murlocs around, for dinner if for northing else. I'm not sure exactly what an Arctic Murloc would look like, but I'd definitely like to find out.Then again, as someone mentions in the thread, we'll probably get our fill of Murlocs whenever Blizzard gets around to making the Maelstrom expansion and tells us what all the Murlocs are doing on land in the first place. But until then, while it's OK to leave Murlocs out of Outlands (because how are they going to get there in the first place), it's unacceptable to completely leave Murlocs off the northern continent of Azeroth. Bring on the gurgle!
Questions answered at BlizzCon
There were so many questions I as I stood in line on Thursday to pick up my BlizzCon badge, and now looking back, I am surprised at how many of them were answered. There were just as many questions that popped up because of BlizzCon, I'm not exactly sure if I'm better off. I know, for instance, that my three favorite lost concepts will finally get treatment, namely the creation myth surround the dwarves in Uldaman, Dalaran the bubble city, and the mysterious Grim Batol. I also know that one of my favorite characters from the War of the Ancients trilogy will finally get into the game, the red haired mage Rhonin. But what happens to his twin children, and his wife, the sister of Sylvanas? What will happen to the area where Dalaran is currently? Will they update the quest in Uldaman to reflect the additional info about the creation myth? You see what I mean? The more questions are answered, the more arise. It's a vicious, tantalizing cycle, and one I am definitely enjoying being caught up in.
BlizzCon 2007 World of Warcraft info dump
WoW Insider covered BlizzCon 2007 for the World of Warcraft junkies like Nutella covers our toast: rich, thick and with a constant need for more. They've now put up their info dump of everything new they've learned about WoW at the convention. All hard facts, no speculation. They even put it in alphabetical order for quick reference enjoyment so WoW players can go back to getting that eighth alt to lvl 70.If there is anything WoW Insider missed on their list, just let them know in their comments thread. Unlike The Burning Crusade, Northrend and the Wrath of the Lich King represents a continuation of the plot line from Warcraft III, something that many fans of the RTS series, who also play WoW, have been begging for. With any luck we'll get a release date soon, as things stand right now the time line could be very similar to The Burning Crusade and Blizzard may actually keep its every year expansion word -- give or take a few months.
Breakfast Topic: Old heroes with new stories
At the Lore panel at BlizzCon Chris Metzen mentioned that some old faces will appear in new ways in future content. We can expect Sylvanas to make an appearance, Bronzebeard will lead us to unlock the mysteries of the world's creation, Hellscream will lead the Horde into Northrend. Keeping this in mind, what heroes would you like to spend more time with? Is there anyone you would especially love to see again?
New expansion, new map
In Wrath of the Lich King, we'll get a new continent, new talents, a new class, a new profession, and probably lots of things we don't even know about yet. However, it looks like some of the old is also changing. Inspired by a post over at Casual WoW, the above image shows the WotLK map with outlines from the current live map superimposed in blue. So what's changed? Kalimdor changed in shape significantly. No longer looking quite so much like a penguin, it now has a more crescent-shaped profile. Two new islands off the southwest coast of the Eastern Kingdoms. New bit of land north of Westfall, west of Stormwind on the west coast of EK. Islands Northwest of Tirisfal removed, and two small ones added north of Scarlet Monestary [thanks, Captain Tonga] Why do you think these changes were made? Theorize away. It looks like mostly unreachable areas that were removed, but I can't imagine what they're going to do with that new chunk of land near Stormwind. Of course, this is just artwork, and may not correspond that closely to actual in-game geography, but I bet something is going on there.
First impressions: Wrath of the Lich King and Utgarde Keep
I just got done playing through a quest in Northrend and up to the first boss of Utgarde Keep, and here's my general impressions of what I saw. Elizabeth was a little disappointed with what she saw this morning, but I grabbed a press pass and snuck into the press room here at BlizzCon (where playing time was relatively unlimited), and I feel I got a pretty good impression of the Howling Fjord zone, and the first 5-man we'll see in WotLK.So what did I think? Click the link below to find out.
BlizzCon 2007 Opening Ceremony Liveblog!
var digg_url = 'http://digg.com/pc_games/BlizzCon_opening_keynote_live_coverage'; We're set up in the front here at the Opening Ceremony of BlizzCon, enjoying some precious free outlet space in the convention center. Soon we will be officially hearing more about what seems like old news already, the new The Wrath of the Lich King expansion.Join us for up-to-the-minute liveblogging of the Opening Ceremony after the break.
First look inside the BlizzCon Exhibition Hall
The hall opened up not an hour ago, and BlizzCon is on! Here's your first look at what's inside the Exhibition Hall, including booths from all the exhibitors and vendors, lots of game playing (Starcraft II and the Arena tourneys are underway), and what we've most been waiting for: Wrath of the Lich King art. Pretty! Sorry, Arthas fanboys and girls, but the post above says we're going to meet the LK himself.Browse through the hall (as I just did), and enjoy. The opening ceremony kicks off in a little over half an hour, and we should be liveblogging live from there as well. It's BlizzCon, baby!%Gallery-5496%
