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Blizzard interview: Samwise Didier talks Starcraft 2
These days Samwise Didier is better known as the lead singer for Level 80 Elite Tauren Chieftain, but he's been a Blizzard employee since 1991, and has been churning out artwork (like the above Starcraft logos) for years. He also has the dubious title of the creator of the Pandaren race.You can check out a huge chunk of his artwork in the gallery on the Sons of the Storm website. He has a massive head of metal hair, apparently never wears pants, and is overseeing the artwork on Starcraft 2. We sat down with him at BlizzCon not long before L80ETC opened for Ozzy Osbourne, and chatted him up about his job. Read on for the full interview.
Patch 3.2.2 PTR: Pandaren and Lil' K.T. pets revealed in latest build
Like Diablo's Cow Level, the Pandaren have almost mythic status within World of Warcraft since that memorable and almost plausible April Fool's Day prank. Blizzard has paid homage to that by tucking a pet Pandaren Monk into the latest build (10371) of patch 3.2.2 which has just gone live on the PTR.Boubouille over at MMO Champion has once again been rooting around the patch files and he came across the first model of the aforementioned pet. Isn't he cute? Heavy on the Chinese aethetics, we have no idea how you'll be able to get this little guy. While datamining, Boubouille also discovered another hitherto unmentioned pet, Lil' K.T.. Yes, you too can have your own pocket-sized Kel'Thuzad, a tiny trophy-sized lich to call your very own! Again, we're not sure how you get one. Here's hoping he drops off his full-sized self in Naxx but who knows? For now we just have a spell note in the files And as a note, please remember that Pandarens are not a playable race, nor is this an indication they will ever be added to WoW. 2n - 1 go left, 2n go right. I don't see enough DoTs! More DoTs now! Are you ready for the return of Onyxia? With the Brood Mother being revitalized as a 10 and 25 person raid, you'll need to be sure you know everything that's coming at you. WoW.com's Guide to Patch 3.2.2 will make sure your set for the next patch!
The Queue: Panda-monium edition
Welcome back to The Queue, WoW.com's daily Q&A column where the WoW Insider team answers your questions about the World of Warcraft. Michael Sacco will be your host today. Here's a Queue question straight from me to me: What do me and panda bears have in common? The answer is rings around our eyes, though I'm pretty sure that pandas have them genetically and not from staying up until seven in the morning watching Veronica Mars.But of course, what does that question have to do with The Queue? I could say "I guess you'll just have to read on! Excelsior!", or I could just tell you that it's because people asked about Pandarens today. Let's start off with some basic questions first, though.iamnotacarebear asked:The question i have is with this increase of running the heroics, is the red heroic drake going to be removed? I would hate to see this happen, but i wouldn't be surprised.Good question, IANACB!
The Queue: Minnie the Moocher
Welcome back to The Queue, WoW.com's daily Q&A column where the WoW Insider team answers your questions about the World of Warcraft. Alex Ziebart will be your host today.I'm not much of a Jazz person, so when I set out to counter the John Coltrane that Adam used in The Queue yesterday, I was a little worried. Fortunately, while digging through my music collection to find something useful, I remembered that I had a trump card up my sleeves. Old Betty Boop cartoons, some of the most disturbing things you will ever see in your life. All of the best ones come packed with some incredibly old school Jazz. Now, some candy for your eyes and ears: Cab Calloway's Minnie the Moocher in a Betty Boop cartoon.Docp asked..."What happened to the Hunter column, Scattered Shots?"I'm glad you asked! It just made its glorious comeback yesterday, with a brand new writer that some of you may recognize. Go give the latest Scattered Shots a read.
The Digital Continuum: Blizzard's mysterious MMO
We've got a good reason to believe that Blizzard's next MMO is in actuality a new IP, which means it's the perfect time to discuss the potential of this newly crafted world. Assuming that Games Workshop isn't the inspiring factor for yet another Blizzard game, I'll lay out five settings that I hope will catch a few of you off guard.Here's the thing about Blizzard, they rarely stick to vanilla settings. Diablo is the only real exception, but even it had the addition of the Japanese inspired Assassin class and Celtic inspired Druid class. StarCraft's races range over a several influences and Warcraft pulls stuff from all over the place, chief among them being some steampunk.Will it be the same for this new IP?
The Queue: But there are cats in Azeroth
Welcome back to The Queue, WoW Insider's daily Q&A column where the WoW Insider team answers your questions about the World of Warcraft. Adam Holisky will be your host today. I feel sorry for Alex and his significant other. They can't have pets in their apartment so they got a Roomba. Now I can have pets in my place, and the girlfriend and I have a nice little kitty named Max. In fact, Max was talking to me last night as I wrote today's Queue and told me he'd like to eat Alex's Roomba.He only started talking after I fed him some Papa Hummel's Old-Fashioned Pet Biscuits.Actuality asked..."I was wondering how the Argent Tournament will work with phasing in Icecrown. Will the Tournament be open to all, or only those who have made it to the final Icecrown?"
The Queue: There are no Roombas in Azeroth
Welcome back to The Queue, WoW Insider's daily Q&A column where the WoW Insider team answers your questions about the World of Warcraft. Alex Ziebart will be your host today.Good afternoon, everyone. I have a very important question for all of you. Recently, I purchased a Roomba. I'm not allowed to have pets where I live, so a little robot that makes chirping noises and cleans the house for me will have to do. There's only one problem: We need to name it. My girlfriend and I each picked our preferred names. Help us decide, o readers! Name that Roomba! Oh right, and we have some of our usual Q&A after that, too.%Poll-28871%yossarian asked..."Can Death Knights use Runeforging on BoA Heirloom weapons? I'd love to level my DK with an Arcanite Reaper lookalike, but it may not be worth giving up Runeforging. If not, are there plans to "fix" this so that Runeforge enchants don't transfer along with the item?"
Blizzard rejects E3 a second time, Activision going stag
Look E3, Blizzard has a lot going on in it's life right now. A big project is being finished up, while some others are just getting started. And then there's that whole World of Warcraft thing keeping them rightly busy as well. So unfortunately -- yet again -- there won't be a E3/Blizzard love-in this year. It's not you, it's them -- really!Sure, sure. Activision Blizzard is going to be there. You remember them, right? They like to put out all those guitar-y games and hey, there's even a new Call of Duty coming eventually too. Who knows, maybe there'll be an FPSMMO announcement this year and you'll just be the bell of the MMO newsphere ball.Granted, this is assuming Blizzard doesn't announce a new World of Warcraft expansion or, great Brewmasters forbid, their next-gen MMORPG. Either way, we still love you E3 and that's all that really matters. Right? And as for Blizzard, well... There's always Blizzcon -- if you can manage to get a ticket.
The Queue: I'm sick of pandas
Welcome back to The Queue, WoW Insider's daily Q&A column where the WoW Insider team answers your questions about the World of Warcraft.I'm bored of hearing about Pandas and Pandaren, so I am declaring today 'pandas aren't real' day. If you think about pandas at any point throughout the day, you must throw yourself out of a window. No, I'm not going to defenestrate myself for writing this, because I made the holiday so I make the rules. However, I will not think about pandas starting.... now!Kevin Gass asked...Is there a way (be it a mod or not) to alert me whenever a cooldown is done. For example, as a Shaman whenever Maelstrom is ready, a bright and noticeable pop up says it's ready. I would love something to tell me whenever Ghost Wolf and Shamanistic Rage are ready. I would use them more often! Thanks in advance!
The Queue: Pandapocalypse
Welcome back to The Queue, WoW Insider's daily Q&A column where the WoW Insider team answers your questions about the World of Warcraft. On Friday I responded to a question regarding Pandaren, and it turns out I'm about half wrong. Partially right, but also partially wrong, which is certainly a problem. My answer was based off of something I talked about with a random Blizzard employee, but in hindsight that's a pretty poor move on my part, they wouldn't necessarily know the little inner workings of one or two departments within the company. What I said was refuted with quotes from J. Allen Brack and Chris Metzen, which I'm willing to put more weight in as far as game lore goes. The Chinese did, indeed, have a problem with the Pandaren being in-game.I was right in that there are no laws against virtual pandas getting shivved or whatever, but there definitely was an issue with the Pandaren race, culturally. It's much more likely it just ran into a lot of friction when it came down to dealing with censors and the cultural shift, and it became not worth it to risk losing players over. I'm sure the fact that the Pandarens' original design was much more Japanese (see above) than Chinese didn't help, but that was shifted in the right direction eventually and may not have had an actual impact at all. And with that said...
The Queue: Pandamonium
Welcome back to The Queue, WoW Insider's daily Q&A column where the WoW Insider team answers your questions about the World of Warcraft.Welcome! You probably noticed I skipped yesterday. Why? Because I felt like it. Yeah, how do you like them apples? I sure showed you! You got owned, y'all.Uh, anyway. Alexran asked... Why exactly did Blizzard skip out on the Pandaren as a playable race? I remember hearing something about racism or that the Chinese government would invade Blizzard's HQ. Whats the deal?
BlizzCon 2008: The costumes
var digg_url = 'http://digg.com/pc_games/WoW_Insider_covers_the_costumes_of_BlizzCon'; The best part of coming to a convention like BlizzCon? Sure, the news is great, and it's fun to meet the devs and fellow WoW players, but let's be serious: everyone comes to see the costumes.If you didn't make it to Anaheim, here's the best part of the convention for you. We'll be updating this gallery all weekend long with all of the costumes we see on the floor, so make sure to check back throughout the next two days to see all of the people that showed up looking silly awesome. Ok, so yes, some of these are more awesome than others. But you have to give it up for anyone who has the courage to go out in public dressed like a Blizzard character.%Gallery-34205%
Ask a Lore Nerd: Portals, pandaren, and Jaina Proudmoore
Welcome to Ask a Lore Nerd, where each week Alex Ziebart answers your quests about the lore in the World of Warcraft. If you have any questions, no matter how big or small they might be, ask them in the comments section below and we'll try to answer it in a future edition.Let's get this party started with Lionheart's question...What is that barred off instance looking portal thing in Stormwind, by Old Town? Were the gates once open?There are actually two of these in Stormwind. Neither of them were ever open, they're relics of unfinished projects. One is a closed off little guarded island in the Canals. That one was going to be the Stormwind Vault, probably a dungeon like Arcatraz or the upcoming Violet Hold in Dalaran. Probably.There's also the barred off one at the end of the Canals, right down the way from that one. This is probably the one you're referring to, I'm going to guess? I don't think we've gotten a real answer on this was supposed to be, but it was probably going to be the portal to player housing. They actually did start work on player housing at one point, but never got far. There are relics of it in the game files. Half completed houses/structures, things like that. They all use the Stormwind motif for their appearance, and they would have to put it somewhere. Through this portal is a safe bet.thinice asked...Jaina Proudmoore and Arthas. Any chance they'll hook up against in the future? What are the details of their history together?
Blizzard unveils the BlizzCon store
The 2008 BlizzCon is coming rapidly, and with it, of course, comes exclusive BlizzCon swag. In addition to the goody bag, the BlizzCon store will also be open for business, and Blizzard's previewing the loot you can buy. Among the highlights: You may remember that the goody bags will come with either an inflatable Frostmourne or an Inflatable Paladin-in-a-Bubble. Luckily, if you don't get the one you want, you can buy it at the store. Alliance and Horde T-shirts A talking Pandaren bottle opener. The hardcover version of the WoW comic. Arthas' Helm. A WoTLK cinematic book. There will be lots of Diablo 3 and Starcraft II loot as well, including posters, stress balls, and t-shirts. Check out all the gear at Blizzard's official site, and start planning your budget to buy some stuff. I know I'm planning mine![Thanks for the heads up, Nicholas!]
Blizzard doesn't deliver on Pandaren Express
While I was attempting to sort out the truth for The Great Panda Debate, I came across Pandaren Express. It sounded too good to be true. Just type /panda in your UI and you'd be rewarded with an interactive menu of Oriental-inspired delights. It was too good to be true, it was a crafty April Fool's prank. I hadn't seen it before, so I thought I would share the link with our readers. The prank was criticized for supporting the belief that World or Warcraft players are lazy and obsessed. I can understand the complaint, but I admit to tabbing out while waiting for arena queues to order pizza online at least once or twice.
The best of WoW Insider: March 5-11, 2008
Time once again to bring you the hottest stories from Azeroth, where Joystiq sister site WoW Insider is covering all the news out of the biggest MMO ever, World of Warcraft. From Arthas to Zul'Gurub, we've got it covered. News Inscription hidden in patch 2.4Blizzard is laying the groundwork for Inscription, one of the biggest features of Wrath of the Lich King. Risen is mad as hell, and they aren't going to take it anymoreOne of the game's biggest guilds decides to call it quits until the expansion, claiming the game has gotten too casual. Kalgan offers a possible WotLK sneak peek for WarlocksA dev gives a little insight as to where one of the most popular classes in the game might be headed. Best Arena Hunter in the world now banned?Did a well-known PvPer get banned for posting arguments against Blizzard on the forums? The great Panda debateFact and fiction about why Blizzard hasn't added the Pandaren race to the game yet. Features Know Your Lore: Grim BatolFind out the lore behind the scary dwarven castle on the hill. Insider Trader: Rounding up 2.4 profession changes, part 2More updates for crafters in the upcoming patch. Totem Talk: Use the totems wiselyHow to make the most of the defining feature of the Shaman class. Reader UI of the Week: AdoruOne of our readers runs down what they put in their addon folder. Talents you hateLet's do a little ranting about useless talents, shall we?
The great Panda debate
On Wednesday, March 5 we asked readers what races they would like to have added into the game. Pandarens seemed to be the most desired playable race along, with Worgen, Goblins, Murlocs, Furbolgs, and Naga. It was fun to dream of new races and places, but the rebuttals for why different races wouldn't work were equally as interesting. In the comments Censorman said, "I've heard China won't allow Pandas to be killed in games." Fanryn responded that "no one has ever found any reference of an actual Chinese law that forbids 'depictions of violence against pandas.'" I decided to investigate and see what I could come with for a reliable resolution to this debate.
Hidden Panda on SSC floor
Astela on Maelstrom sent us this shot of the floor in Morogrim Tidewalker's room in Serpentshrine Cavern. It took me a second to see it, but right there in the designs on the floor, you can see a Panda, calling card of one Samwise Didier, one of Blizzard's lead developers (and lead singer of L70ETC).He's also the creators of the fan favorite Azerothian race we haven't seen in Azeroth yet, the Pandaren (I'm a little disappointed that they didn't show up during Brewfest, actually). Obviously, this is just a hidden Easter Egg done by one of the artists, right? Clearly, this isn't proof that the Pandaren helped build the Coilfang Reservoir or anything like that. Right?Thanks, Astela!
PTR Notes: Brewfest is coming
MMO Champion has a tip on a brand new festival that is probably coming to Azeroth (and Outland) in October. It's called Brewfest, and already in the 2.2 PTR patch files, they've found the ability to attack kegs, signal Dark Iron dwarves, race rams, and even eat sausages. Of course we're not sure that it's coming in October, but considering the similarity to the very famous Oktoberfest, the guess is probably not that far off. And of course whenever you mention brewing in World of Warcraft, you've got to mention the Pandaren-- could Chen and the gang, hope against hope, finally be making an appearance in Azeroth?Boubouille also points out that the flying broom mount spells are in the game as well-- because they mention only giving one ride per mount, it's very likely that these too will be used on a temporary holiday, most likely Hallow's End. So sounds like lots of fun events coming this October-- I'm sure we'll learn more at Blizzcon.
WoW Future-Vision: Express train to the level cap
The year is 2012. WoW fans are excitedly awaiting the game's 5th expansion, Revenge of the Gnomes, which brings two new races to the game (Sporeggar and Goblins, at last!), as well as a new class (the Tinker), and a slew of other features. As everyone knows, this is the expansion where the gnomes finally take back Gnomeregan from the troggs, pushing them back all the way into the "Undergloom," a vast and ancient network of caverns beneath Azeroth. Of course, the gnomes also accidentally stumble upon the long-buried prison of the Old Gods and unleash unbridled havoc on the World of Warcraft, but that's where the fun is, right?I could go on and on about the new features included in Revenge of the Gnomes, but I'm sure you've heard about most of them already (like the subterranean hovercraft group-mounts and blue-pill, red-pill potions for alchemy). Suffice it to say that the feature everyone is most excited about is that the level cap is once again being raised another 10 levels, to a grand total of 110. Like everyone else, you're probably wondering how in the world (of Warcraft) are you going to level your new Goblin Tinker character all the way through those tedious levels of 1 to 100? Everyone wants to try out the new content, but no one wants to slave away through Stranglethorn Vale for the 48th time. To complicate things further, Blizzard still doesn't want to add any more 1-60 quests in the lower-level zones (not to mention any of the Outland, Northrend, Emerald Dream, or Great Sea Expansion zones)! Fortunately, though, Blizzard's got what you need! Are you prepared for the "/level" command?
