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Mists of Pandaria: 'What has changed?' makes class changes more palatable
One of the sharpest double-edged swords in Blizzard's arsenal is the constant iteration to class and play design that comes with each World of Warcraft expansion. On the one hand, players like innovation and new mechanics and spells to keep their favorite class fresh. On the other hand, players could reject the changes as too severe or too different from the class they originally set out to play, as was the case with Alex Ziebart and myself with paladins in Cataclysm. It's a risky move to change up the core mechanics of a class, and the introduction of the "What's New" window helps streamline this occasionally daunting issue. New and old players alike will benefit greatly from the "What has changed?" tab. Simply open up your spellbook and click on the last tab at the bottom. You'll be greeted with a new screen giving you the run down on some of the biggest changes to your class coming in Mists of Pandaria.
Mists of Pandaria Beta: New strings hint at help for sweeping class changes
One of the biggest complaints players have about the ever-changing system design of World of Warcraft is that each expansion brings with it sweeping changes or new mechanics that need to be relearned. In addition, if you were absent from World of Warcraft for an expansion or two, your class will not look the same in any way, shape, or form (with respect to rogues, of course). Blizzard has apparently been listening to these concerns, if these new beta strings are any indication. With the release of a new beta patch comes new data strings and the information contained within. Recently uncovered was a family of strings called "What has changed," with some examples for the warrior listed in the files. "What has changed" looks to re-educate old players or bring new players up to speed on the design, rotation, and role of each class. The warrior, for instance, has four strings at this time, letting the player know about the Rend/Deep Wounds change, how some old talents are now just learned specialization spells, and some examples of the new rage mechanics. WHAT_HAS_CHANGED - What has changed? WHC_WARRIOR_1 - Many old talents have become specialization spells. WHC_WARRIOR_2 - Warrior abilities no longer require specific stances. You can use any ability in any stance. WHC_WARRIOR_3 - Rage is generated by Mortal Strike (id 12294), Bloodthirst (id 23881) or Shield Slam (id 23922). Only use Heroic Strike (id 78) when you have more Rage than you can spend. WHC_WARRIOR_4 - Rend (icon ability_gouge) is now called Deep Wounds (id 115768). It is automatically applied so it won't appear in your spell book. I couldn't be happier for these new helpful tips. I don't even know where to begin with rotations or strategies with new classes (especially mages, for some reason). Hopefully with these new tips, old players and players tired of mechanics changes will be able to slip into Mists of Pandaria much more easily, if that's what these strings indicate at all. It's open warfare between Alliance and Horde in Mists of Pandaria, World of Warcraft's next expansion. Jump into five new levels with new talents and class mechanics, try the new monk class, and create a pandaren character to ally with either Horde or Alliance. Look for expansion basics in our Mists FAQ, or dig into our spring press event coverage for more details!
Addon Spotlight: A UI primer for returning WoW players
Each week, WoW Insider's Mathew McCurley brings you a fresh look at reader-submitted UIs as well as Addon Spotlight, which focuses on the backbone of the WoW gameplay experience: the user interface. Everything from bags to bars, buttons to DPS meters and beyond -- your addons folder will never be the same. World of Warcraft experienced numerous cataclysms over the last year and a half as Blizzard, the community, and everything in between had a weird hiccup moment. Mists of Pandaria seems to be shaping up to pull many lapsed players back into the World of Warcraft ranks, and the Scroll of Resurrection is a none-too-subtle way of facilitating that goal. Old players who thought WoW was down and out have been pulled back because of instant access to a lot of the features once reserved for the especially dedicated. Last week, I gave you some tips on what to install on your brand new player's game in order to facilitate a smoother first-game experience. This week, we're going to address old players from all past eras of WoW's lifespan and help them get back into the game without too many bumps along the way. It's a very different game, but the core components are exactly the same. Blizzard correctly pointed out that when WoW's got you and your character's boots on the ground, the game works the best. But first, before we begin with the article proper, I wanted to proclaim victory for the WoW community with regard to AoE looting. Blizzard has announced that AoE looting will be making the release of Mists of Pandaria, and I could not be happier. I've been championing AoE looting for some time now, and I want to send the happiest thoughts possible to the dev who got this feature on the launch list. You have no idea what types of quality of life changes that this will bring to everything from old raid farming to time spent waiting around in dungeons.
The Queue: Somebody buy me an iPad
Welcome back to The Queue, the daily Q&A column in which the WoW Insider team answers your questions about the World of Warcraft. Mathew McCurley (@gomatgo) will be your host today. It's, uh ... for work. I swear. I'll take one of the old ones -- that's totally fine. Not the old old one, though. Only one old ago. Jamie asked: How long do you think it'll be before we'll be able to buy a previous expansion level capped character from Blizzard? Technically, you can do it now with the Scroll of Resurrection, if you have a second account that you've deactivated for some reason. Might I remind all of you out there who RAF'd for Swift Zhevras or X-53 rockets and have an account lying around that it would be perfect for resurrecting, granting a level 80 character, and then transferring that character back to your main account? That's essentially purchasing a level 80 character, no? As for whether you will be purchasing already-leveled characters from Blizzard, the answer is most likely no. However, I could see Blizzard setting up something like Diablo III's character sales on the Auction House. Who knows? Maybe one day, you could buy new characters with your Blizzard wallet from other players. The bottom line is that I think Blizzard likes the idea of player-on-player transactions for game/power-related items, which I'm fine with.
