not-an-announcement
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Let's keep things in perspective
There's lots of reasons to not like what the designers do in WoW. There's a lot of reasons to think that their decisions don't match with your playstyle, and there's been plenty of times where the direction of the game curves such that you wonder if you're still going to want to play it. There are even times where it's a good idea to step away for a bit and hit up another title. And yes, it's okay if you decide not to play, too. But, and this is a big but, it's not okay to flip a table over anything -- especially a small nerf. Ghostcrawler tweeted yesterday: Dear world, if you react hyperbolically to even modest (3-5%) nerfs, then it makes it hard for us to tell when you are really concerned. - Greg Street (@Ghostcrawler) September 26, 2013 No matter what you think of his and his team's decisions about the direction of the game, it's critical to approach them with a level head and perspective. A 4% nerf is not going to cause you to stop having fun, and a small buff is nice, but it's realistically going to have little to no impact on your gameplay. It's not going to stop you from standing in fire; and for the vast majority of us skills like that are much more important to DPS than any buff or nerf could ever be.
Ghostcrawler on crafting professions and leveling
Sometimes I actually love Twitter for how it can bring the players and the developers together in a more immediate way. Case in point, this tweet from Ghostcrawler. When asked about crafting professions falling behind as the expansion progressed, the answer was clear and unambiguous that Blizzard agrees it's a problem. @JakeSteel423 Yes, but no immediate announcements. We agree it's a problem. - Greg Street (@Ghostcrawler) August 23, 2013 While it's light on specifics I'm glad to see they get the problem. At this point I'm only keeping blacksmithing for the extra sockets, and I know a lot of JC's who were mighty disappointed when they found out there would be no epic gems this time around. Maybe a return to BC style scaling items is in order? Maybe not. Making my original Lionheart Blade was a pain.
Cloud Serpent riding account-wide? Yes please.
Ghostcrawler took to Twitter last week and dropped a nice little hint at his thoughts process: Cloud Serpent Riding might be going account-wide. Okay Greg, what battle pet do I have to sacrifice for this to become a reality? Do you want one of my rare drakes? You can have it. Consider it forsaken to the crab god for this bountiful gift. Just make it a reality, and not one of those forgotten ponies.* The idea that cloud serpent riding could become an account-wide thing really pleases me in so many ways. First, it opens up a handful of mounts that I really like to use on my alts, and secondly, it means that on some of my "second main" alts there's one less reputation that I will feel guilty about not leveling. I suspect that this will encourage more people to work on the reputation as well, given it's going to apply across the board. One thing that this dose beg the question though, is how easily could other reps / achievements be linked in account-wide. I'm looking at you Netherdrakes. Of course this is all just a tweet, and absolutely should not be taken as a for sure thing. Ghostcrawler and others at Blizzard get very open and philosophical about their ideas, and tweets like this do not constitute an announcement in any way, shape, or form. *Editor's Note: That paragraph might be the most confusing and awkward thing in the world to read for someone new to the game. Suffice it to say, he has not harmed any equestrians.
Tom Chilton: "At some point it's possible that World of Warcraft could end up being free-to-play..."
According to NowGamer, WoW's Game Director Tom Chilton said the following to them at Gamescom 2013 regarding WoW going Free-to-Play: Tom Chilton I definitely think that free-to-play MMOs will be around for a very long time. At some point it's possible that World of Warcraft could end up being free-to-play, but I do think there's always room for there to be subscription games. source This is about as close to WoW going Free-to-Play as we have yet seen, however the intention is clearly there that Chilton believes WoW won't be doing so soon. Read the whole topic over on NowGamer for more information... and keep in mind this doesn't mean the next expansion will bring Free-to-Play WoW, or that there are any plans for it to happen. Game Directors like to talk about possible futures, and that's all Chilton is doing (like any good Game Director should).
