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The9 is out, NetEase is in for Chinese World of Warcraft operator
Yesterday, we reported the rumor that it looked like Chinese World of Warcraft operator The9 might be losing the licensing rights to a competitor, and today we can confirm that rumor to be 100% true. Rival company NetEase has purchased the rights to operate World of Warcraft in China, starting once The9's current contract is up with Blizzard on June 8th.NetEase is already the operator of Battle.net in China, supporting Warcraft III and the to-be-released Starcraft II. They have been operating with Blizzard since last August, when they acquired all of the rights to the other Blizzard games. This acquisition only brings NetEase and Blizzard closer together in their business arrangement.What is still up in the air, however, is the fate of Wrath of the Lich King. DoNews, a Chinese news site, has reported that Wrath has been licensed by NetEase, although no formal announcement has yet been made.[Via JLM Pacific Epoch]
Kaplan on being the "Cruise Director of Azeroth" at GDC '09
Jeffrey "Tigole" Kaplan, former WoW Lead Designer who just recently headed off to work on Blizzard's new MMO, held a panel at the Game Developer's Conference earlier this week in San Fransisco called "Cruise Directior of Azeroth," in which he talked about some of the design decisions behind World of Warcraft, where Blizzard got their inspiration for a lot of the gameplay now made famous by the game, and even some of the mistakes they made in putting the world's most popular MMO together.WoW Insider had correspondents there on the site, and they sent back audio of Kaplan's speech. We've paraphrased the salient points, and you can find them all after the break. There's some really interesting stuff in there, including the fact that in the past two years, 80 billion quests have been completed in North America's Azeroth alone, and just who is behind the frustration that is The Green Hills of Stranglethorn (hint: it's Kaplan himself).Hit the link below to see what Kaplan told the crowd at GDC.%Gallery-48658%
Korean pro Warcraft player says 'zug-zug' to a half-million dollar contract
Korean professional gamer Jae Ho "Moon" Jang has signed a three-year, $486,500 contract to play with WeMade FOX in the Korean gaming leagues. His manager is working on introducing more quality players as there "aren't many first-class players in Korea." Um, if you're, like, really good at Warcraft/StarCraft ... now's the time to start learning Korean.Best part: Jang isn't even the highest paid professional Korean player, just the highest paid Warcraft player. Top billing goes to his WeMade FOX teammate, Yoon Yeoi "NaDa" Lee, who signed a contract for $521,250 to play StarCraft back in 2007. Wow.[Via VG247]
BlizzCon 08 tournament brackets revealed
The other day, Blizzard posted the brackets for the upcoming Starcraft, Warcraft III, and World of Warcraft Arena tournaments at BlizzCon.I don't follow every little motion in the WoW Arena community, but there is one team that jumped out at me immediately: Orz. They've won a few tournaments already, and in a way they're the 'face' of the Arena, if that makes any sense. As Zach Yonzon mentioned awhile back in one of his columns, every sport, no matter how big or small, has its stars. Even eSports. Here in the states, Orz is one of those star teams. Rhaegyn, Glick and Hafu are definitely the players to watch in this tournament. It looks like they've picked up a new sponsor since I last saw them in action, so I'd like to extend a belated congratulations to them on that. Of course, this tournament also includes the Korean team Council of Mages, which won the tournament at WWI08. Pretty much every team on the bracket has done some great work in the Arena already, and the tourney should be really exciting no matter who walks away with the win and the grand prize of $25,000 per player.
Blizzard retains PC gaming dominance
As if in response to predictions of the beginning of the end, Blizzard's market dominance in US PC game sales was reaffirmed in late August through the NPD Group's research. In fact, World of Warcraft garnered three of the top spots on the PC game sales chart, with The Diablo Battle Chest and The Warcraft III Battle Chest thrown in for good measure, Gamesindustry.biz reports. While it could be argued that World of Warcraft's steady retail box sales silences all erroneous claims of the rise of a WoW-killer (oops... uttered the dreaded phrase), this doesn't seem to take into account all those Warhammer Online pre-orders placed in August. In that case, September might paint a different picture. But let's face it -- WoW's not going away anytime in the foreseeable future. And despite the knocks World of Warcraft takes from some MMO gamers, would you really want a world without Warcraft? One of Azeroth's millions of citizens? Check out our ongoing coverage of the World of Warcraft, and be sure to touch base with our sister site WoW Insider for all your Lich King needs!
Warcraft 3 patched to 1.22a
Earlier this week, Blizzard released a patch for Warcraft 3, known to some of you as "the game before World of Warcraft" and the rest as "the client for playing Defense of the Ancients." Patch 1.22a provides balance changes for the units, fixes some technical issues and includes four new maps. You can update the game by either logging onto Battle.net or by downloading the patches manually (available from BigDownload).PC (1.22a requires patch 1.21b for installation) 1.21b for W3 1.21b for W3: The Frozen Throne 1.22a for W3 1.22a for W3:TFT Mac (1.21b not required) 1.22a for W3 1.22a for W3:TFT Last month, Blizzard also patched Diablo 2. We've placed full patch notes after the break.[Via BigDownload]
Why is Kael a bad guy again?
A few days ago, Allison posed an interesting question: Why is Kael a bad guy? The answer is pretty clear to me, there's a definite path you can follow to Kael's corruption and downfall. It isn't very well laid out for you in the World of Warcraft, there's some connect-the-dots you need to do, but I think the answer is there. Be warned, there are some spoilers for patch 2.4 ahead, so be careful if you're trying to dodge them.As Allison detailed, a lot of things had happened in Kael'thas's life just prior to Warcraft III, and during it. The captain of the football team steals his girl, kills his pops, and massacres the people of Quel'Thalas. Dalaran gets destroyed, and the remnants of his people are slowly falling into sickness for unknown reasons. Despite this, Kael'thas forges ahead and steps up to lead his people and protect them, no matter what it takes. This may mean allying himself with the remnants of Lordaeron, the people who indirectly caused the fall of Quel'thalas. This may mean allying with the Lady Vashj and the naga, described by Allison as "vicious," despite being what they are. For the good of Quel'Thalas and the Sindorei, anything goes.
Why is Kael a bad guy?
Lore-wise, I can't say I understand the direction they've taken with a number of characters from classic Warcraft games in BC, but I suppose that's the reason that the term "lorelol" was coined in the first place. Mike Schramm's pointed out that the canon can probably take the abuse, but there's one character in particular whose upcoming story arc kind of appalls me.If you're trying to stay unspoiled for patch 2.4 -- why are you reading WoW Insider anyway? -- I'll slap the rest behind a cut.
The Daily Grind: Is in-game music necessary?
I hate to say this, and I sincerely hope that any sound engineers who might be reading this will forgive me, but when I get into a new game, the first thing I do is turn off the background music. This is not to say I don't think the music is good; in fact, many times it's great. I bought the Warcraft III soundtrack, f'r cryin' out loud. But when I drop in-world, ready to kick some ass and take some names with at least one apostrophe in them, I'd rather just immerse myself fully, and that means only hearing the environmental and ambient soundtrack.Or I'll listen to my own music, preferring the juxtaposition of modern instrumentation with medieval visuals. Or I'll even just listen to the Penny Arcade podcast, if I get lonely for the sound of human dialogue. Am I alone in this? Am I missing out on a wonderful experience by omitting a piece of the whole that was engineered to enhance the gameplay experience? How do you feel about background music?
Today's most nerdcore video: Blizzard employee raps for community
What's the best approach for telling the community your patch isn't coming out this year? If you're Blizzard, you can try responding to a YouTube rant about an absent WarCraft III patch. And you can do it by trying to rap. We applaud the effort, but the "rhyming" verses make us cringe. Video embedded after the break.[Thanks, Medievaldragon]
Breakfast Topic: Would you play a Necromancer in WoW?
The Necromancer unit in Warcraft 3 is a key player in the game. Granted the ability to raise the dead by the Lich King himself, Necromancers called up armies of skeletal warriors and mages to overrun their enemies. The class is already in the game in the form of an NPC Boss in the Battle of Mount Hyjal.Sounds neat, huh? One player is requesting that class be implemented in WoW. Predictably, Blizz CM Nethaera shot him down.I'm not sure this class would add anything to the game that the Warlock or Death Knight don't already bring to the table. Players seem to be calling for every type of class ever introduced into Warcraft lore to be playable. But we all know how tricky class balance is, wouldn't adding more classes just make things harder for the devs?Either way, I put it to you, faithful readers. Would you play a Necromancer class if one was implemented in the game? If so, what's the appeal that the current classes don't already offer?%Poll-7295%EDIT: Corrected name of Death Knight class.
WoW Moviewatch: Rise of Illidan Stormrage
Yesterday we saw the story of Arthas as he rose (or sank, some would say), from the holy paladin prince of Lordaeron to the most powerful evil person in Azeroth, lord of vast armies of mindless undead -- all recorded from the original Warcraft 3 cut-scenes. Today we bring you an similar piece that Sylvictus put together for The Burning Crusade, about Illidan's journey from down-in-the-dumps reject brother to the most powerful evil person in Outland, lord of mish-mashed groups of villians and misfits who really aren't as loyal to him as they seem. It doesn't actually begin from the real beginning of Illidan story -- you'll have to go to the Warcraft prequel novels to get that, but as far as the official in-game lore is concerned, this is real deal. Also keep in mind that the end isn't really the end for Illidan here. Illidan, too, is capable of doing a corpse run, and has acquired plenty of prime real estate in Outland to come home to. For those who are interested, the trailer for Blizzard's "Black Temple" patch also touched on Illidan's story, this time from the draenei Akama's point of view. It doesn't include Illidan's conflict with Arthas, but it sets the stage for the progression of the story within WoW.So if you've been playing The Burning Crusade all this time and wondering what the deal was with the big blind guy with horns and wings, here's the story of Illidan Stormrage straight from Warcraft 3.Previously on WoW Moviewatch...
Blizzpagewatch: Day 5
In what is sure to be today's least surprising news, Blizzard.com has been updated again, this time to feature Warcraft III. One more day to go (WoW), and then all this furious pondering can rest for a bit. War3 maintains the dubious distinction of being my least favorite of the major Blizz games. I don't think that's a popular stance, but in my opinion, it took the formula that made War2 so fun and pleasant, and destroyed it through massive overcomplication. I can never manage to get more than halfway into the second campaign before I quit playing, and I've tried several times. This is sad, since I'd really like to finish the game so I'd have more of a lore background, although Know Your Lore is filling in a lot of gaps for me. What do you folks think of Blizzard's most recent RTS?
Blizzard unbundles WoW documentary DVD
Ever wonder what goes on in the minds of the developers and designers who helped architect your World of Warcraft addiction? Blizzard Entertainment's online store is now offering a behind-the-scenes DVD for their bestselling MMO, which was previously an exclusive to the game's Collector's Edition set. The $10 DVD features developer commentaries and digitally mastered cinematics from WoW and Warcraft III: The Frozen Throne.Other available goodies for that special WoW gamer in your life include an Atlas gift pack with eight bookmarks depicting the races of Azeroth.
Continents clash in transatlantic tournament
A $100,000 gaming tournament is taking place from today until Sunday in New York, hosted by the Global Gaming League. The "AmeriCup vs EuroCup TransAtlantic Showdown" pits the winners from the European EuroCup tournament against the AmeriCup champions across three games: Counter-Strike 1.6, Quake 4 and Warcraft 3.There is live streaming media from the GGL website, and it's entertaining to watch, especially if you're interested in competitive gaming. If you're not, the seriousness of the event and its commentators may surprise you, but there's big money at stake for the champions--no laughing matter.
