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WoW community comes together to help a father
We've all had bad days in World of Warcraft. Your group wipes, the tank yells at the DPS, the DPS yells at the healer... and before you know it everyone is yelling at everyone, turning what should be fun into pure misery. We've all had game days like that. So why do we keep coming back to the game when it can be so frustrating? It's probably because the people we play with can be really amazing, too, as when Senna logged on to Reddit to ask for help: So im older (late 50's) and my son used to play lots of WOW while he was recovering after getting hit by a mortar in iraq. Recently he passed away and I decided that I wanted to connect with areas of my sons life I never understood. WOW is one of those areas. The response? The WoW community has banded together to offer sympathy and assistance with a thread over 700 comments long. It's the sort of thing that reminds you why you're still part of this game after more than a decade -- and want to reach out a helping hand to your fellow players.
World of Warcraft adds selfie support
Were you afraid that with the addition of Twitter support in the next World of Warcraft patch you would be deprived of the joy that is taking selfies in-game? Worry no longer. The addition of the S.E.L.F.I.E. camera in patch 6.1 ensures that you can indeed log in, find a nice view, and then duckface at the camera before shooting off a character picture for all of your devoted followers. It's the best thing in the expansion so far. Grabbing the item requires nothing more than a rare follower mission with no significant bells or whistles, with another upgrade mission available to pick up a set of various filters for the camera. Our sister site has a guide to making use of the new device, along with the requisite speculation that it will tie more directly into the Twitter integration. That feature isn't currently enabled, but it can't be coincidence that the new camera arrived at the same time, can it?
World of Warcraft unleashes its full patch 6.1 patch notes
The first major patch for World of Warcraft's latest expansion is here! If by "here" you mean "on the test realm," anyhow. So not here at all. The opposite of here; still preparing to be here. One might even go so far as to say it's there. But the full (preliminary) patch notes for the test realm are available right now for those who'd like to see what's around the corner aside from brand-new Blood Elf models. Garrison fans will have plenty of things to enjoy, with new visitors offering quests, new follower missions, and a new music box available. Players can also make use of a new Twitter integration feature and the new heirloom collection tab. Several classes are also seeing talent and balance adjustments, including across-the-board buffs to healer damage output for adventuring in the world. No word yet on when the patch will drop, but you can see what it contains from the patch notes.
PAX South 2015: Why aren't MMOs more social?
On Friday, Alex Albrecht from ZergID and formerly of the Totally Rad Show headed up a PAX South panel about the social side of MMOs, inviting Patrick Mulhern from Lorehound, Jenesee Grey from Camelot Unchained, and me to join to discuss community in MMOs and why it's seemed so absent in recent years. Meg Campbell from YouTube moderated the panel discussion, calling us the PAX MMO guild. I admit that I considered naming this piece, "How Star Wars Galaxies did everything right and World of Warcraft did everything wrong" because I am obviously biased. But I really was completely surprised at how much SWG came up during the panel. Many former Galaxies players will tell you that there was a lot about that game that was pure crap, but when you talk about the social implementations of SWG, there just aren't many games that compare.
Patch 6.1: Rogues have a new use for Dingy Iron Coins
Rogues who are stealthy fans of pickpocketing in Warlords of Draenor have more to cheer about in the upcoming patch 6.1. Griftah, the fence of dubious motives who has been taking Dingy Iron Coins and turning them around, in a roundabout way, for gold, has now expanded his inventory. Along with the usual fencing duties and quests to turn in coins for gold, Griftah also sells a variety of leather masks in a variety of colors, all for the low low price of a thousands or so Dingy Iron Coins -- more, if the masks are fancier. And if you're a toy collector to boot, Griftah's got a deal for you -- for 10,000 Dingy Iron Coins, you can be the proud owner of a Barrel of Bandanas. This toy summons a barrel of random bandanas for you and all your friends, so everyone can get in on the bandana-wearing fun. It's nice to see that Griftah hasn't forgotten his rogue pals -- and even nicer to see a steady supply of fashionable masks. Pickpocketing has never been this much fun. Check out the slideshow for screenshots of all available bandanas and their costs.
Warcraft Art, Fan Art, and Community Comic updates
A fresh round of updates have been added to the World of Warcraft Fan Art section of the official site, as well as new pieces for the Warlords of Draenor Art gallery, and a new World of Warcraft comic. The fan art in particular features some really stunning pieces highlighting the various Warlords of Draenor, as well as a creepy and perfectly suited idea for a warlock armor set. The full images are all available for download, and I might just be changing the wallpaper on my computer this time around. The concept art takes a look at what appears to be some concept work of Gorgrond, and two shots of Shattrath City. It's the Shattrath pieces that are really interesting, because you get a view of the city with the dome in place, and removed -- and the removed version is far more similar to what we've got in Outland today. What's interesting though is that the dome in-game cannot be traveled through, which makes me wonder -- is A'dal's future home under there, or did the design elements change at some point? More importantly, are we going to get in there at some point in the future? Head to the official post to check out all of the new goodies. And if you have a Warcraft fan comic or fan art of your own, don't forget that you can always submit them to Blizzard to be considered for future updates!
WoW's new Blood Elves arrive in update 6.1
Our sister site WoW Insider reports this morning that World of Warcraft's Blood Elves, left off the roster of races that received model revamps with the Warlords of Draenor expansion last November, will finally meet their new faces. Actually, it's just the bodies: The male faces aren't entirely done yet and currently share the same facial geometry. "While we're excited to share with you our progress on these new models, I do want to stress that the models, textures, and animations are not entirely finished. Bug fixing and iteration can and will occur, and that's where you come in!" writes Blizzard QA on the US and EU forums, soliciting costructive feedback. MMO Champion has full-size, head-to-toe bikini shots of both the female and male models because of course it does. Also arriving in update 6.1 are class tweaks, new heirloom gear, garrison expansions, follower mission fixes, and the chance to buy (with gold) those followers you missed while questing. The first iteration of the update landed on the PTR in early January; the patch's launch date on production servers has not been announced.
World of Warcraft player hits 100th level 100
Do you like playing World of Warcraft? Would you like to play a thousand levels of World of Warcraft? Because the player known as Watola did just that. Watola has 100 characters at level 100, a project that started during the exceptionally long twilight of Mists of Pandaria. With 20 characters already at the level cap back then, another 80 apparently seemed like a doable project, which started a cycle of very efficient leveling and copious use of recruit-a-friend tricks. The method outlined on the the forums involves essentially rotating through full rest state on various characters and having a set plan of attack, along with using tank characters via recruit-a-friend to ensure that queues for dungeons are more straightforward. If you'd like to do the same, it's still perfectly functional now, although you'll have to do so knowing full well that you can never have a world-first level 1,000. (That seems a fair nod for the achievement.)
The Daily Grind: What's the worst-designed MMO city?
One of my personal pet peeves in any roleplaying game is to have to navigate around an overly large city. I guess I'm just not a city guy at heart. But that annoyance is doubly so for any video game metropolis that suffers from poor design. I can name several examples, although today World of Warcraft's Undercity springs to mind. While delightfully atmospheric, it was nevertheless a pain in the tuckus to traverse. There were too many elevators, vertical space, and long, long runs around the outer circle, all of which kept me away if I could help it. What do you think is the worst-designed MMO city and why? Every morning, the Massively bloggers probe the minds of their readers with deep, thought-provoking questions about that most serious of topics: massively online gaming. We crave your opinions, so grab your caffeinated beverage of choice and chime in on today's Daily Grind!
Did you get a World of Warcraft anniversary statue?
The World of Warcraft community is abuzz with the revelation that Blizzard is sending out a special thank-you to its most dedicated fans for its 10th anniversary: a physical 9" statue of an Orc. Only fans who have been with the game for the entire ride are eligible to get the statue, however,. According to Blizzard's qualifications, "A player must have created a World of Warcraft account within 60 days of the game launching in the NA or EU regions and maintained their subscription or game time for all 10 years." Our question today is, if you qualify for this, have you indeed received your spiffy statue? And do you have a picture to prove it?
Patch 6.1 PTR: Customize your garrison music
A new customization option is on the way for garrisons in patch 6.1 -- you'll now be able to change what tunes are playing while you collect your work orders, mine, gather herbs, or just hang out. How? It all begins with a quest to build a boombox big enough to hear no matter where you're at in your garrison. This quest sends you across Draenor to gather the required parts for the jukebox of your dreams, but unfortunately, it doesn't seem to be fully implemented as of yet -- while I could collect the first piece on the list, a relatively easy to find drop from shredders on the Talador coast, further items weren't fully interactive. However, from what we've seen so far via datamining on the PTR, your quest doesn't end when you create the boombox. You'll need tunes to fill the thing -- and there are a wide variety to choose from. Most city themes are included, as well as old favorites like Lament of the Highborne and the Karazhan Opera House music. Keep in mind that because all of the sounds are datamined material, there's no guarantee that these options will make it to live servers. Given the sheer amount of music Blizzard has produced in conjunction with its games over the years, this is honestly a really nice way to bring all those great themes from the past back into relevance, and allow a little more customization as well. Future builds should fix any quest bugs and further reveal what we have to do to obtain all the tunes our hearts desire -- until then, I'm going to try and wrestle with the decision of what I want to hear while I'm hanging out with my followers and friends.
Report: Blizzard sends statue to 10-year WoW veterans
We know you play World of Warcraft. It's okay, millions of people do. But have you been touring the world of Azeroth since the beginning? If so, you might be in for a treat from Blizzard, according to posts on the MMO Champion and Battle.net forums. MMO Champion has posted an announcement attributed to Blizzard regarding a "tenth anniversary physical gift" which would be sent to eligible players of the game. Who's eligible, you ask? According to the post, "to be eligible for this gift, a player must have created a World of Warcraft account within 60 days of the game's release in America or Europe." (That's November 23, 2004 and February 11, 2005 respectively). MMO Champion reports that the post originated as part of a support article from Blizzard, which has since been taken down. Meanwhile, WoW player Smitti over on the Battle.net forums has posted a picture of the supposed gift, which is a small-scale version of the orc statue seen on Blizzard's campus. We've also posted the image after the break so you can see it for yourself. The image you see above is the underside of the statue's base. Smitti claims to have not had a lapsed subscription since December of 2004, but it's unclear if an uninterrupted account is a requirement or simply makes you more likely to receive the gift. We've reached out to Blizzard for official confirmation and eligibility status.
WoW Archivist: 10 years, 10 amazing moments
WoW Archivist is a biweekly column by WoW Insider's Scott Andrews, who explores the secrets of World of Warcraft's past. What did the game look like years ago? Who is etched into WoW's history? What secrets does the game still hold? It first appeared on our sister site on January 1616, 2015, and is included here by permission. In 2004, I bought a brown box with some discs inside it. On the cover was a close-up of a woman with crazy purple eyebrows and an angry bearded guy -- possibly Matt Rossi -- holding a gun. I didn't know anything about the Warcraft universe at the time. I'd watched someone play Warcraft III once (or was it II?). I remember chuckling at the peons' comments as they got to work. That was the extent of my experience. I'd been playing Final Fantasy XI, and I loved the concept of an online world. I was hoping for a game that was more accessible than FFXI but with all the cool monsters, grouping, exploration, and loot. I never imagined the journey that I was about to take, the people I would meet, the opportunities that would become open to me as a result of that purchase. Many of us who played back then had no idea what was about to happen to the gaming world because of that brown box.
The usual suspects dominate December's Raptr rankings
Do you quote Raptr data when having unscientific discussions about MMO playerbase numbers? If so, rejoice, because here are some more numbers based on a sample size of dubious value! As you might expect, League of Legends, Dota 2, and World of Warcraft continue to dominate Raptr users' attention spans, while ArcheAge, Final Fantasy XIV, and Guild Wars 2 all dropped from their position in November's rankings. Click past the cut to see the full list. [Source: Raptr press release]
World of Warcraft 10 Year Anniversary gift arrives
The 10 year anniversary of World of Warcraft decided to wrap up in style with a special gift mailed to players that have been with the game since the very beginning. Players who created an account within 60 days of World of Warcraft's original launch and have maintained their subscription for all ten years have been mailed a very special physical gift -- a miniature recreation of the orc statue that graces the courtyard of Blizzard Entertainment's home in Irvine, CA. If you are eligible for the gift, you should receive an email indicating your gift is on the way at your registered Battle.net email address. This is probably one of the nicer statues I've gotten from Blizzard. It looks very much like cast bronze, but I believe it's the same resin material used for their deluxe line of action figures. And although I say it's a miniature recreation, it's not that small -- the statue measures roughly 9" from base to tip of the taller axe. The base includes a message on the bottom that reads "The orc statue is a constant presence in our life at Blizzard Entertainment. It's where we meet to talk, to eat, to celebrate. As we celebrate ten years of World of Warcraft, we present this token of appreciation to you, stalwart adventurer. Thank you for being a constant presence in our lives as we adventure together." Head to Battle.net for more information regarding eligibility for the gift, and be sure to check out our gallery for shots of both statue and box.
World of Warcraft dispels free-to-play 'Veteran Edition' rumors
Pretty much anything in the world will start the World of Warcraft free-to-play rumors these days, but this set of rumors had a bit of basis in reality, at least. Datamining uncovered references to a "Veteran Edition" for players, which prompted speculation that it would be a preferred account status for players who were on the free side but still had played in the past. It turns out that's not quite accurate, but it's also not entirely wrong: Veteran Edition will allow players to play for free, essentially, with Starter Edition restrictions. Community Manager Bashiok addressed the rumors, explaining that while someone who never had played the game before could jump in with Starter Edition restrictions, veteran players could not. Veteran Edition, then, places almost all of the same restrictions on players, but it will allow you to roll up a new character and play through level 20 or at least log in to chat with friends. No word on exactly when this will be rolled out, but it should put the free-to-play rumors to bed until they start again in a month.
Blizz publishes WoW's Blackrock Foundry raiding schedule
"It won't be long before you'll be able to take the assault against the Iron Horde to the next level in new raid content," Blizzard says in its latest World of Warcraft website update. The firm has released an unlock schedule for Blackrock Foundry with normal and heroic difficulties due for public consumption on February 3rd. Mythic difficulty hits one week later while Raid Finder Wing 1: Slagworks (Gruul, Oregorger, and the Blast Furnace) debuts one week after that on February 17th.
Rumor: World of Warcraft may be prepping a free 'veteran' edition
World of Warcraft dataminers, while diving into the piles of information for the upcoming Patch 6.1, may have found game-changing evidence that the title is preparing a new free-to-play option. The data files include several references to a "Veteran Edition," in a similar fashion to the already-existing Trial Edition, which allows players to level to 20 for free. The Veteran Edition has several limitations listed, including a level cap, money cap, and chat channel restrictions. There's a lot of speculation going on right now as to whether or not the Veteran Edition will happen, and if it does what it will entail. MMO blogger Superior Realities theorizes that WoW will allow subscription-lapsed accounts to continue playing with the above restrictions. [Thanks to Tyler for the tip!]
One Shots: Black sheep, black sheep
What in-game pet means the most to you? To reader Derrick, it's a special black sheep in Mabinogi that's snuggled its way into his heart. "I'm an Aries in real life and always liked the symbolism of rams in culture, so my first pet after my mount was a black sheep named Tanngrisnir," Derrick submitted. "It's now no longer available in the store and is a bit of a rarity. Over the years playing, I managed to find a black sheep balloon, puppet, and a pair of ram horns to complete the look, along with a black sheep title (not shown). It's helped out not just by providing my wool for tailoring; in my early days, Tanngrisnir was always willing to take a hit or two to distract enemies." Yes sir, yes sir, three bags of loot full. Sorry, couldn't help myself. I'll be better after the break!
Patch 6.1 PTR: New Battle Pets and achievement
Battle Pet collectors have something to look forward to with Patch 6.1 -- new Battle Pets and a new achievement are being added, according to information Wowhead has datamined from the 6.1 PTR. New Battle Pets have been added to bosses in Sunwell Plateau, Black Temple, and Hyjal Summit, and another tier has been added to the raid-collecting achievement, Raiding With Leashes III: Drinkin' From the Sunwell. A dozen new pets have been added to the raids. Grotesque Statue Leviathan Egg Shard of Supremus Fragment of Anger Fragment of Suffering Fragment of Desire Sultry Grimoire Smelly Gravestone Hyjal Wisp Sunblade Rune of Activation Void Collar Servant's Bell Completing the raid collection achievement awards the Battle Pet K'ute, a mini-naaru. Thankfully, at this point in the game, all three of the Burning Crusade raids are easily soloable -- no unusual tricks that would require a second or third person, unless you want to bring a friend along. For Pet Battle enthusiasts, Patch 6.1 is already shaping up to be pretty sweet.
