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Three funny quickies from WoW Lj
Three quickies from the WoW Livejournal that I found chuckleworthy today:How many GM swords do you see in the picture of the AV loading entrance to the right? I'm a slacker (I haven't done any serious PVP grinding yet), so I haven't gotten mine, but it looks like everyone else is picking up epics aplenty thanks to the new honor system. I'm sure there's a few dual wielding warriors and a few rogues in there, but still-- that's a lot of Grand Marshal blades (and are those the shoulders, too?).I'm still not convinced, however, that they should raise honor prices. Maybe Blizzard should just come up with some new kinds of swords to buy.From the forum sig of a dwarf pally: I'm a little pally short and stout,Here's my hammer, here's my mount.When I see a horde I scream and shout,Pop on ma bubble and hearthstone out. And last but not least, I bet they do. And I bet they play Alliance, too.
WoW Model Viewer updated to 2.0.1 alpha
WoW Model Viewer has been updated to work with 2.0.1, and they've got a new website to boot. If you've never used it, the model viewer is a program that lets you poke around inside the WoW resources on your computer, and check out the 3D models of players, armor, NPCs, and so on. The latest version is being called .5 "very alpha" and can be found here.A few words of warning: as the name implies, the software isn't quite done yet, which means it's likely to (at least) crash, and (at worst) break your computer (I doubt that's likely to happen, but anytime you run alpha software, it's a possibility). In addition, the model viewer is in no way created or condoned by Blizzard-- there's a chance (albeit small, I realize) that they could consider this using a 3rd party program to modify the game files. Again, it's not likely-- I doubt this program actually does any editing, just reading-- but the possibility is there.Anyway, the Model Viewer can make for some pretty cool looks at content you haven't yet seen in the game (or haven't yet been able to examine closely). And the Model Viewer is also responsible for some pretty amazing fanmade videos, too. The new version allows you to access the Blood Elf and Draenei models, so if you're interested in seeing what's just around the corner with the expansion (and willing to use unofficial alpha software to do it), have at it.
Honor gain reduced by 30%
Two days ago: Drysc says if anything, prices of PVP items will drop, not go up.Today, after maintenance: Honor gain has been nerfed by 30% across the board.It's no secret that players were thrilled with the new PVP system. Honor points were plentiful, and PVP gear seemed right around the corner for many players who'd never had the time to grind the system in the past. But Neth says that the effort currently required is "lower than intended," and that the honor gain was reduced (in essence, honor prices were raised by 30% 42%*-- the exact opposite of what we were told two days ago) to counteract that.Players are furious. Ceace, who kindly dropped us a note about this (thanks!), asks why other solutions weren't considered-- why didn't they put a curve on the honor gain, or even a limit on how many points could be earned per day? With rested XP, Blizzard has come up with an innovative way to give a bonus to players who don't play the PVE as often. But the devs seem intent on punishing those who don't play PVP as much. This isn't the end of the world for casual PVPers (honor points don't decay, so you'll still get that gear eventually), but it does seem to be a little out of line, considering how much people liked the new system, and what we were told about the honor prices.At any rate, fallout from this is just beginning. I'm sure you'll find more in the comments below.*Update: A few commenters say this means prices have actually risen by 42.8%. I'm terrible at math-- anyone want to comment below and walk us through the equation?
Server-first Shaman ring drops to a Pally
Lots of people have already tagged Blizzard's move to start dropping Pally items to Horde and Shaman items to Alliance in raids (even though neither side can actually roll those classes for another month, much less have 60s that can use the BOP stuff) as a bad one, but here's more proof. A-Team, a guild over on Stonemaul-A dropped Kel'Thuzad, and got a server-first loot item: the Ring of the Earthshatterer, the ninth piece of Shaman Tier 3 armor. That's right, they got a historic, server-first, BOP drop-- and none of them could use it.The drop went to a pally (screenshot) in the hopes that a GM could come along and make it the Pally ring, but as you might expect by now, no dice. As a guy who plays a Shaman main, that especially tugs at the heartstrings.Unfortunately, don't expect a change on this one-- the CMs have said any non-faction drops should be considered free Nexus shards. But considering that a guild running Naxx could farm Nexus shards in their sleep, that these drops mean there's even less chance that the right stuff will drop for a guild that actually needs it, and that these useless items will continue to be useless until someone finally gets a BE pally or Draenei Shaman to 60 (at absolute best, you're talking days after the expansion releases, if the servers are even up by then), it's too bad that Blizzard has resolved not to fix this one. Grats to A-Team for the nice drop, but shame on Blizzard for not letting them use it.
Dear Blizz: Here's how to fix LFG
Last Friday, in answer to Nethaera's comment that players should use the LFG system even if they don't like it to come up with a solution for it, I commented that it wasn't the responsibility of players to fix the system, and that I'd be typing "/join lookingforgroup" to find groups until the LFG system was fixed. Now it's Monday, and over the weekend, Neth continued blaming players for not fixing the LFG system, even going so far as to say that people like me who circumvented it "are the ones making the system not work because it only works if people use it." Instead of creating a system players want to use, Blizzard put a system in place that wasn't as good as a mod (Call to Arms, which a lot of players appreciated before the addon meltdown broke it), and then expected the players to tell them how to fix it.Now, I'm not here to fight with Nethaera. From what I know about her, she's a pretty cool chick. All I really want is a working LFG system. So even while I think it's wrong for Blizzard to ask players to fix their system, if you want advice, Blizzard, I'll give it to you. Compiled from my own thoughts (and our readers' across a few different posts about the LFG system), here's how to fix LFG.
PVP stays strong in 2.0.1
If one thing hasn't suffered because of the patch, it's PVP. Even though the Arena system has been buggy nonexistent so far, the regular battlegrounds are getting plenty of playtime as people start to grind for the new Honor Points, learn their new specs, and generally get back into the swing of a World of Warcraft that's changed a lot. As Relmstein says, the patch has breathed new life into WoW PVP-- people who never played before are interested in playing, and people who've played to no end are coming back to try the new talents and learn new tactics.All this activity hopefully will bring with it a little bit of strategy. Relm says he's seen zerging in WSG and little node defense in AB-- I'll agree on that last one (get three flags and hold them, guys), and add that AV needs help as well. In fact, AV needs a lot of help. With all the work Blizzard has done on the off-the-field of battlegrounds, I'd now appreciate seeing a little on-the-field work. It's well known that AV, as it's set up, is unbalanced towards the Alliance side. As much as I'd like to see that fixed before the expansion hits, I doubt it'll happen, and Horde will continue to get trampled on that darned bridge.Still, strategy problems aside, I have to agree that while raiding has taken a beating under this patch (with new specs and mod changes causing players to learn their roles all over again), PVP is still a pleasure most of the time. In fact, if you'll excuse me, someone just yelled INC BS-- looks like I'm needed on defense.
No more LFG channel... at least officially
Just a follow up to David's LFG post yesterday. My suggestion for the disappointing LFG system in place after the patch was for Blizzard to leave the system in place and also reinstate the LFG channel-- players who want to use the LFG system can then do so, and players who want to LFG the old fashioned (and messier, and more annoying, and yet more effective) way can do so as well.Blizzard, however, disagrees. Neth says clearly that the devs are standing behind the new system, and that no matter how much players ask for it, the old LFG channel ain't coming back. In fact, she even asks that players who don't want to use the LFG system use it anyway and give feedback on how to make it better. I'm not sure that's going to happen-- it's Blizzard's responsibility to get creative about solutions, not the players'. But in the meantime, lots of players have gotten creative anyway, and if you "/join lookingforgroup" on almost any server, you'll find a close enough approximation of what the LFG channel used to be. Until Blizzard fixes their interface and actually gets something in place that finds me the group I want doing exactly what I want, you can meet me there.
