Wrath of the Lich King
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More Wrath screenshots
Two new screenshots have appeared in the Wrath of the Lich King gallery over at WoW Europe. The above looks like another shot from Westguard Keep. This is another shot from New Agamand, a Forsaken town in the Howling Fjord. While neither shot is offering anything we haven't seen before, they are definitely serving to tease us pretty badly. %Gallery-5525%
BlizzCon Hoax [Updated]
Evidently attendees of BlizzCon have begun receiving emails claiming that Wrath of the Lich King Beta will begin in only three weeks. According to Bornakk, these emails are a hoax, and the original statement provided regarding such a beta still holds. There is currently no WotLK beta, and should one be in the works, there would be an announcement on the official site. As always, please remember to be especially cautious when asked to provide any account information. Do a search to find out if anyone else has received the same requests, and under what circumstances. If you are concerned about keylogging programs, refer to our guide on protecting your system.Update: Despite the fact that the rumors, and emails, have been floating around for a little while, Bornakk's official response came yesterday.
Newcomers in the WoW community
Most games have a beginning and an end -- if people want more, the developers produce a sequel. But games like WoW are different, of course, because everyone is paying by the month in order to play together, and the developers are constantly adding some new content revising the old. As time goes by, though, a rift appears between people who have been playing a long time and people who are just getting started. Not only does the game development company have to make some hard decisions about whether it's more important to keep people playing every month or to get new people to start from the beginning, but the old players have to figure out how the new ones are going to fit into the social system they've developed.The Burning Crusade tried to appeal to both sorts of gamers, with added content for both ends of the player community, but Wrath of the Lich King is taking another direction, with most of its content only for people who are ready to leave Outland behind. But the patch 2.3 changes reveal a different strategy for attracting new WoW players: rather than adding new content to attract new players, Blizzard can just make the old content faster, more streamlined, and get new players into the new higher-level content more reliably. Will this keep new players coming? Does Blizzard even need new players, financially speaking, or are they content to just try and keep all the existing players subscribing for as long as possible? Either way, a more vital issue is at stake: As the WoW community has gotten older, we have noticed some old-time WoW players like to complain about "noobs" a lot, in a way that doesn't leave any room for new people to join in on the activities. For a newcomer, it feels like an exclusionist attitude. The "noobs" are running around in all the wrong gear, using all the wrong strategies, precisely because no one has interacted with them enough for them to learn how things are done here. Some aspects of WoW are not at all easy or intuitive, and it's counterproductive to blame the noobs instead of reaching out and lending a helping hand where appropriate.
Cinematic for Wrath still to come, in case you were worried
Just in case you were worried, even for just a second, that the paltry ingame Death Knight video we got at BlizzCon was supposed to be the official trailer for the next expansion, worry not-- Nethaera has confirmed, just to be sure, that the best is yet to come. You may think it's silly, but I have to admit, after that ingame vid at Blizzcon, the Lament of the Highborn video, and the recent Zul'Aman video, I was just a little bit worried, way in the back of my mind, that Blizzard might be done making CGI for WoW.I'm glad I was wrong-- I can't wait to see Arthas back in classic cinematic form. We probably won't see it until a lot later than sooner (there is still the Sunwell to release to the PTR and then the live realms), but it's good to know that we still get to see a badass CGI. Truck commercials are all fine and good, but we still haven't heard a "you are not prepared" for Wrath yet.
The more things change...
Most of us have heard by now that the next expansion will bring the ability to change your appearance somewhat, and some people out there may be thinking "What was I thinking when I created my character, Uglybub? Finally, with Wrath of the Lich King, I will at last be able to get rid of this electrfied hair and frowny face! Then I'll change his name to PrettySmoochCakeLove too!" As much as we might love to dream, it's not yet clear how much of your character's appearance you'll be able to change. Should Blizzard enable you to change everything about your character's appearance any time you might wish to?According to Blizzard's current thinking, you will be able to go to the local barbershop and have your hairstyle changed -- probably facial hair and earrings too. You will be able to go to the local dance studio -- yes that's right, a Dance Studio in the World of Warcraft -- and learn new dances. But the devs believe that plastic surgeons just haven't caught on in Azeroth or Outland yet. "Plastic surgeons?" You cry out, "Who said anything about plastic surgeons? I just want to be able to change my facial expression! What's the big deal?" And yes, of course you are right, but your facial expression is tied to eyecolor, nose shape, and everything else about your face. Those things shouldn't be changeable ... or should they?Is Blizzard right or wrong on this issue? Now that we've got name changes and we're getting hairstyle changes, it's got me wondering, where do you draw the line? Redoing your hair, or turning that frown upside down is one thing, but going from dark skin and brown eyes to pale skin and blue eyes (with lots of wrinkles) makes your character look like someone else altogether. Is infinite customizability something we really want? Does a certain degree of consistency offer any other advantages?
New WotLK Screenshots
Frost just posted two new screenshots from the upcoming expansion, Wrath of the Lich King. One of them is even somewhat wintery, which is a nice change. Check out our WotLK gallery for a further glimpse into the landscapes we'll all be traipsing through! %Gallery-5525%
Building a better MMOusetrap: Can you teach old content new tricks?
A common outcry I hear when playing MMO's, has to do with expansions and their almost unfailing ability to devour original content, and let it die a pitiful death. It's as if overnight, the quests people had been grinding on, the bosses they have endlessly battled, or the items they had no longer matter. Everything you worked for up to this point, is instantly obsolete.Most recently I have been talking with WoW players in relation to the release of The Burning Crusade expansion, and how those who were not in the forefront of raiding content before the expansion most likely will never get to see the old 40 man raid content. There have been all sorts of statistics thrown around since TBC came out that only 2% (or 10%, or 40%, etc) of the population of WoW actually got to make it into Naxxramas, with only a slightly larger number having made it into the 40-man wing of AQ.This sort of thing isn't just afflicting WoW either, back in the day when I was playing FFXI, and new expansions came out (Chains of Promathia, I'm looking at you), there was a great deal of content from the original game, or the Rise of the Zilart expansion I hadn't seen yet. Now on its third expansion (Treasures of Aht Urhgan) and on its way to the fourth in Wings of the Goddess there are a lot of players who are crying out that they have so much left to do.
Do world events matter?
Is Chris Metzen chasing the impossible dream?In a recent interview, Blizzard's Vice President of Creative Development apologized for the game play choices made by the developers in the first expansion to the highly popular World of Warcraft. He stated the game play in The Burning Crusade "had a lot of high-concept ideas, high-concept environments, but other than some really nice moments, there was nothing really personal about it." Its no secret that the Burning Crusade was a let down for a lot of WoW players, who hoped for the epic highs and lows of the pre-expansion world.Are developers trying to rewrite the formula when they release expansions, or should they stick to the tried and true? Can they continue to tell the stories of their worlds, holding players rapt in their narratives, and coming up with interesting and unique encounters, or should it always be more of the same?
Likely no 71+ champions of the Naaru
Yesterday a player on the official WoW forums asked if they'd still be able to attain the title "Champion of the Naaru" once patch 2.3 goes live. Eyonix answered that, yes, the title will be rewarded to any players that complete the necessary quest line, whether or not those quests are finished before or after the patch's release. He did warn that the title will probably not be given to characters that complete the quests after level 70. If you've been waiting for the next expansion to breeze through the requirements and easily pick up your title, you'll likely need to rethink your strategy.If you're unfamiliar with this epic quest line which was once required to enter the Tempest Keep raid instance, it all begins in Shadowmoon Valley. The very first quest is called "The Hand of Gul'dan" and can be picked up in your faction's main town of the zone (Shadowmoon Village for Horde and Wildhammer Stronghold for Alliance). About 25 steps into the chain (I told you it was epic) you'll unlock new quests from A'dal in the center of Shattrath. For many players this is where the challenge truly begins as you must venture into four of the more difficult heroic instances to complete these quests. The final step involves killing Magtheridon in a 25-player raid, after which you'll finally be deemed a "Champion of the Naaru". Good luck!
Blizzard ices up the WoW homepage logo
It's begun. The cold is coming. Be warned. The land itself will rise up against you. Long-forgotten terrors will smother your courage. In the end, all that awaits you... is death.So come then, you heroes! Come in all your power and glory! For in the final hour, all must serve... the one, true king.[ Thanks, Lenny! ]
Badges of Justice may not be in WotLK
I sure thought that Badges of Justice were here to stay (especially since Blizzard has been ramping up where they're used and what they buy), but maybe that's not the case. When a player asks if they'll still be around in Northrend, Neth says it's not a sure thing, and that's a lot less certain than I thought I was.I really don't think Blizzard will abandon the turn-in system entirely-- although Badges are a little different than they've ever done it before (and yes, they probably do need a little tweaking in how they're given out), the system works. It gives people a reason to run instances, and it lets you choose what you want to run, and then choose the loot that you want from that run. Token-based loot, in general, is so far a great alternative to the drop or the quest system.However, I can definitely see Blizzard moving on to some new tokens. Maybe as WotLK comes out, they'll just spread these Badges around more and more, making the Heroic loot more and more easy to get, and then when we reach Northrend, the next iteration of token loot will go back to being much more rare.
No new WoW Battlegrounds until WotLK
PvP in World of Warcraft isn't perfect, but it is a lot of fun. Unfortunately, there are only four Battlegrounds (and the Arena) to choose from at present, so it can get a bit, well ... old after a while. That's why we've been itching for a new one. We've been promised one in the upcoming Wrath of the Lich King expansion, but that's so far away! Will there be another Battleground somewhere in the middle to keep us interested until the WotLK launch?Blizzard rep Nethaera said "no" in a post on the official forums yesterday. Our friends at WoW Insider have previously cited Blizzard's concern over stretching the Battlegroups too thin (thereby increasing queue times) as a reason for the hold-up. This time, though, Nethaera just said the devs at Blizzard are too busy working on patch 2.3 (which includes improvements to the Alterac Valley Battleground) and the expansion, which "includes a new battleground and of course the outdoor pvp zone, Lake Wintergrasp." So how are they going to solve the queue time problem when WotLK ships? Hmm.Well, get comfy, fellow PvP fanatics; it's going to be a long wait before we get something totally new to play with.[Via WoW Insider]
No new battleground until WotLK
Nethaera has confirmed that there will be no new battlegrounds revealed prior to the release of Wrath of the Lich King, much to the chagrin of PvP'ers everywhere. Although players have previously expressed interest in having more choice, Blizzard has voiced concern about the effects that a fifth choice might have on queues. Hopefully they have some tricks up their sleeves for combating this when the highly anticipated new battleground arrives via the expansion. Although this is a bit disappointing, it is hardly unexpected, and there are so many upcoming positive changes that it's hard to be a sad panda for long. Currently, the devs are focused on improving Alterac Valley for patch 2.3 and creating new content for WotLK, which will include an outdoor PvP zone, Lake Wintergrasp. Following in the wake of Halaa's undeniable success, this zone will boast siege warfare, and many other innovations in world PvP. As for what the new battleground will be like? I'd still love to see an Aldor vs. Scryers battleground; and as much as we all love to see new content drop, we can at least try to satiate ourselves knowing that what we will be getting will continue to advance PvP as we know it. Now; a little less sad panda face please!
Eyonix delivers: Focused Will, Natural Perfection, and Discipline
It goes on! In a post titled "Focused Will: The Saga Continues" (has Eyonix been reading WoW Insider? What up, drake!), we get another update on the new Discipline talent slated for patch 2.3:Feedback was read, gathered and the designers are fully aware of all that you've provided. As a result, we're making an adjustment to the talent so instead of seeing this morning's version of focused will in the next PTR push, you'll see:"After taking a critical hit you gain the Focused Will effect, reducing all damage taken by 1/3/5% and increasing healing effects on you by 4/7/10% for 6 seconds. Stacks up to 3 times."This is up from 1/2/3% reduced damage and 4/8/12% increased heals earlier today, although it stacked up to five times then. The associated change to the Druid talent Natural Perfection has been similarly buffed:We've read through a great deal of feedback and are making another adjustment to the natural perfection talent which you'll see in the next PTR data push."Now also grants the Natural Perfection effect after being critically hit, reducing all damage taken by 1/3/5% for 6 seconds. Stacks up to 3 times."It used to be 1/2/3% and five stacks as well. In related news, Eyonix has gotten a look at the Discipline tree in store for Wrath of the Lich King, and while his post is short on details, it does make me all warm and tingly.
Know Your Lore: Bad Dragons
Once upon a time, cavemen roamed the earth, great volcanic eruptions disrupted the cavemen's gaming time, and I wrote an article called "Know Your Lore: Good Dragons." Now it's time to cover the "bad dragons" - the Blue, Black, Chromatic and Infinite Dragonflights. And yes, I know you're all going to complain about the blue dragonflight being "bad", but unless you really want to run every dungeon at level 80 without a mage, you're gonna have to fight them. Blue Dragonflight
