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Blizzcon 2011 Started

Oct 21, 2011#1

Shannow

Anyone here on the livestream that can toss updates here and there to us?

Oct 21, 2011#2

Chibibar

not me. My wife was thinking about it, but she said she rather not pay (plus no need for virtual pet since neither one of us play anymore)

Oct 21, 2011#3

ScytheRexx

Watching from work on the virtual ticket. Not sure on free streams.

Oct 21, 2011#4

Shannow

Scy, let us know about the 5.0 announce ment when it his in a couple hours, if you wouldnt mind.

Oct 21, 2011#5

ScytheRexx

Shannow said:
Scy, let us know about the 5.0 announce ment when it his in a couple hours, if you wouldnt mind.

Couple hours? The new expansion announcement should happen in 5 minutes. :aaah:

Oct 21, 2011#6

Shannow

Well, yes, that. But the whole panel on it was not for like an hour I thought.
Added at: 14:39
Actually, looks like MMO is keeping it up to date. The free Diavblo 3 with a year WoW subscription is nice, since I planned on keeping ym WoW account active anyways

Oct 21, 2011#7

ScytheRexx

You also get a special mount and beta access to the next expansion. We getting close to the announcement.

Oct 21, 2011#8

Shannow

A pvp expansion.....? huh.
Added at: 14:44
ha, nice, revamped DOTA in Heart of the Swarm.

Oct 21, 2011#9

ScytheRexx

Mists of Pandaria Confirmed

New Race: Pandaren (only listed race, may be able to choose a faction)

New Class: Monk

New Talent System

Challenge Mode: Dungeons (No idea what this is)

Pet Fighting System (Pokemon!?)

The continent looks awesome.

Oct 21, 2011#10

Shannow

Oct 21, 2011#11

sixpackshaker

Any tentative launch dates?

I've not played WoW since I got sick. Now I feel I need to Run Amonk.

Oct 21, 2011#12

Frankie Williamson

http://us.media.blizzard.com/wow/promotion/wap/en-us.html

That's a helluva deal. I'll say it.

Oct 21, 2011#13

Shannow

Good lord.

Oct 21, 2011#14

Chibibar

Frankie Williamson said:
http://us.media.blizzard.com/wow/promotion/wap/en-us.html

That's a helluva deal. I'll say it.

but what if I wanna get the collector's edition?

Oct 21, 2011#15

Frankie Williamson

I dig that it sounds like it won't attempt to be as grandiose as Cataclysm. Low key stuff is always more interesting to me.

Oct 21, 2011#16

ScytheRexx

It sounds like it's going to be more small adventure based, something closer to vanilla where each zone had smaller issues and adventure, rather then focusing on a massive enemy looming over everything.

Oct 21, 2011#17

Jay

If I still cared about WoW, that sounds amazing.

Oct 21, 2011#18

Shannow

Whats awesome about the year thing is..its not the up front cost. you jsut pay monthly like normal, but it is a locked in contract that cant be cancelled. Like I said, I had no intention of cancelling my monthly, so....boom. i sut signed up now.

Oct 21, 2011#19

Chibibar

Shannow said:
Whats awesome about the year thing is..its not the up front cost. you jsut pay monthly like normal, but it is a locked in contract that cant be cancelled. Like I said, I had no intention of cancelling my monthly, so....boom. i sut signed up now.

It is tempting, but I think I may have to pass since I don't play WoW

it is 180 (after 1 year) I could pre-order the collector's edition or something.

Oct 21, 2011#20

Frankie Williamson

Ugh, in the UStream I'm watching, the fucking chat is debating which My Little Pony character is the best.

Oct 21, 2011#21

ScytheRexx

They also made it so if you get the Diablo 3 CE instead of the free copy, they instead just give you 4 months of WoW free.

Oct 21, 2011#22

Frankie Williamson

Also, one guy is convinced that Mists is fake and it's all a big troll.
Added at: 13:34
Return of the outdoor raid bosses.
Added at: 13:35
Valor points for questing.

Oct 21, 2011#23

GasBandit

If I was still a WoW player, I'd be on that annual pass deal like white on rice. As it is, oh well.

Oct 21, 2011#24

Frankie Williamson

They're trying to eliminate cookie cutter specs. Will never happen I think. There will always be the best spec.
Added at: 13:39
Oooh, grounded again until max level.

Oct 21, 2011#25

Chibibar

Frankie Williamson said:
They're trying to eliminate cookie cutter specs. Will never happen I think. There will always be the best spec.

Yea. After years of playing many different MMO, you can never really get away with "cookie cutter" specs. Even in open skill system like EVE and UO, there are best specs for specific job.

Oct 21, 2011#26

Frankie Williamson

Oh, the zones are all quite a bit larger than twilight highlands.
Added at: 13:42
Apparently magic mist since the Sundering protected the land from the Cataclysm.

wut?
Added at: 13:43
Pandaren makes faction choice at level 10.

Huh.
Added at: 13:50
The creature races look like a lot of reskinning of previous shit.

Also, Mogu are Chinese orcs.

Oct 21, 2011#27

Shannow

Pandaren Racials

Bouncy: reduces fall damage by half.
Inner peace: double rested XP.
Gourmand: +15 to cooking.
Epicurean: double stats to food buffs.

Added at: 15:52
those seem a bit...excessive.

Oct 21, 2011#28

Jay

Use for raiding except the food buffs or any bosses who throw you around.

Oct 21, 2011#29

Frankie Williamson

All I see is Kung Fu Panda everywhere. Especially in the animations.

Oct 21, 2011#30

Shannow

Well, considering the Panderan brewmaster/monks have been around since WC3 (even if they were a joke type character at first) I would say they have that movie beat by a little bit of time.

Oct 21, 2011#31

Frankie Williamson

WHOA.

Basically all we get for talents now are the pet talent trees.
Added at: 14:13

Shannow said:
Well, considering the Panderan brewmaster/monks have been around since WC3 (even if they were a joke type character at first) I would say they have that movie beat by a little bit of time.

Did you see the video? Dump in some Jack Black and that would have been a scene from the movie.
Added at: 14:14
Whoa, I'm wrong. I actually think this might work. The new talent system.
Added at: 14:19
Wow, man, people are FREAKING out over these changes.

Ha ha, WoW has the WORST fucking community of any game.

Oct 21, 2011#32

Disconnected

Frankie Williamson said:
WHOA.

snip

Ha ha, WoW has the WORST fucking community of any game.

it is a major factor in why i no longer play. but i don't play any mmo's at the moment anymore.

Oct 21, 2011#33

Frankie Williamson

The challenge mode thing is exactly my cup of tea. My core group of WoW buddies has never really been for raiding much. We are fucking champions when it comes to 5-man stuff. It's all I ever wanted out of WoW. The challenge mode is the most exciting thing I've heard about WoW.

Oct 21, 2011#34

Chibibar

Disconnected said:
it is a major factor in why i no longer play. but i don't play any mmo's at the moment anymore.

Heh. I quit cause the raiding has gotten to political and not fun.

I haven't play and video games for about 2 weeks now, but might dabble in f2p MMO like Global Agenda, CoX, StarTrek, and LoTRO

Oct 21, 2011#35

Frankie Williamson

And Pokemon....

Oct 21, 2011#36

Shannow

Here is an update from mmo..

What is Mists of Pandaria?

The goal is to combine new gameplay with most fun parts of the past.
The plan is to get people back into the world, instead of having players roam around Stormwind and Orgrimmar all the time once they reach max level.
Developers want you to do what you want to do to progress your character. They really want you to feel like you have a menu of content where you can pick whatever you want to do, and you shouldn't feel forced to do something to progress your character. For example, daily quests will reward you with valor points but it will still be faster if you raid of course.
Character builds are going to be entirely revamped. Talents were still too cookie cutter, so the developers want to give players more choices in their talents.

Pandaria

5 New leveling zones to explore
Single, unified continent
Influenced by Asian landscapes
AH, Bank, and Central Questing Hub
No flying until max level
There's 5 leveling zones but they are very large zones, and you won't have your flying mount.

Lore of Pandaria

A long, storied history.
Magically hidden since The Sundering
A new land to explore....
Pandaria was discovered during the cataclysm, a naval battle between horde and alliance was taking place close to it.

Pandaren starting zone

It's a turtle! It left Pandaria 10 000 years ago and never came back. Pandarens who wanted to discover the world left on that turtle.
Story focused with simple mechanics
Cross faction, choose Horde/Alliance at level 10.

Creatures of Pandaria

The Jinyu are fish-like creatures and will be in a wide number of zones.
The Hozu are a monkey-like race, they stand up on their legs and can walk around. They play tons of pranks on the local pandarens and are also in a lot of zones.
Verming are ... new kobolds, they kinda look like evil bunnies.
Mantid: Whole raids and dungeons around this race. Insect race that has been there since the beginning of ages. They have been seperated by a giant wall. They are starting to go crazy and are going through the wall
Mogu: Ancient race, original race on pandaria. The mogu want the island back from the pandaren, they are really mad. You will see them in dungeons.
Sha: Manifestation of the evil energies that flow through the earth. If there is any sort of battle these guys pop up.

The Jade Forest

This is where Alliance and Horde will be landing. The horde is washing up on the north side, the alliance on the south side. There will be one unified start zone and Alliance/Horde will end up meeting up in the middle.
Lush rainforests and stone spires
The Alliance will try to become friend with the Hozu, and the Horde with the Jinyu and will try to turn them against each other.
Temple of the Jade Serpent will be the dungeon of this zone. It will be your 85-86 Dungeon, it has been taken over by Sha

Valley of the Four Winds

Two zones for the price of one! This zone is huge, the whole north side of the zone is pandaren farmlands, the south is a coastal jungle.
You will get to choose between the north side and the south side when you arrive. You can go back and switch side if you want the other quests.
The dungeon of this zone is Stormstout Brewery.
This is where you will have your first interaction with the Mantids, they broke through the wall and are now attacking pandarens villages.
This is a level 86-87 zone

New Features

The pandarens are the new race.
The female model isn't done yet.
At level 10, you will get to choose between horde and alliance.
Pandaren Classes: Hunter, Mage, Monk, Priest, Rogue, Shaman, Warrior
Racial - Epicurean - Increase the stat benefits from food by 100%
Racial - Gourmand - Cooking skill increased by 15.
Racial - Inner Peace - Your rested experience bonus lasts twice as long.
Racial - Bouncy - You take 50% less falling damage.
Racial - Quaking Palm - You touch a secret pressure point on an enemy target, putting it to sleep for 3 sec.

Monk New Class

Brewmaster - Tank spec
Mistweaver - Healer, a healer who can stand up in melee and will let players experience a "new healing style"
Windwalker - Melee DPS
This is not a hero class, and it will start at level 1
The class is very martial-arts based
Lots of monk-only animations, the healer and tanks will have different stances they can stand in, etc ...
Monk Races - All of them except Goblin and Worgens

Monk Equipment

Leather Armor (Agility or Intellect)
They hit a lot with hands and feet
They will need weapons for some finishers: Staves, Fist Weapons
They will also be able to use 1H Axe and maces, swords
Healers will get off-hands, they don't want healers to use shields.

Monk Resources

Chi (energy) slowly regenerates and is only used for your Jab and Roll abilities.
Jab generates Light and Dark force, which are used for everything else. Some finishing move uses dark force, some use the light force.
No auto attack! Devs want you to have this street fighter feel where you punch a lot

Cataclysm Talents / Talent 2.0
Cataclysm Talents

Pro - The level 10 specs were really nice and gave you a role early in the game, definitely a keeper.
Pro - Removing junk from the talent trees was also a very good move.
Pro - Having some kind of choices for optional skills/subspecs worked out pretty well.
Con - You had a risk of "skipping" important talents
Con - There wasn't enough junk removed
Con - There wasn't enough choices, you might have a different final talent point than another combat rogue but it just wasn't enough. The cookie cutter build still persists.
Con - No enough customization, no true hybridization (Using a little bit of 2 different trees)
Con - Players got grumpy

Talent System 2.0

The talent system is gone! Ok, not really, but it's greatly changed.
You now have your class abilities, your spec abilities, and your talents.
You still choose your spec at level 10, and you get a spec ability at level 10. You will get additional spec abilities later. There are anything that you really need to function, they will just be given to you to make sure you have all the tools you need to have.

Example - Prot Paladin

LVL 10 - Avenger's Shield
LVL 20 - Hammer of the Righteous (Prot and Ret)
LVL 30 - Judgement of the Just (Passive)

Talents

There is not talent points or ranks.
There is one talent pree per class.
You earn talents every 15 levels.
You get to choose 1 out of 3 every time you get a new point, you can only pick one of them and can't go back to get the other ones.
There will be no mandatory talent. There won't be any cookie cutter build or anything, it will depend on what kind of optional ability you want.
You can now change talents as easily as you change glyphs.
More info in the Talent Tree Panel at 2:15

PvE Scenarios

PvE Scenarios are a way to give new interesting content that doesn't make sense in a dungeon content.
Scenarios are more about reusing parts of the world in interesting new ways, and introducing new types of PvE gameplay that we've never seen before like PvE battlegrounds.
They are short instances for a few players, the amount of players can vary depending on the scenario, some of them can be for 3 players.
You don't need the typical tank/heal/dps setup, you will just be able to enter and play your role no matter what it is.
It will be a staged experience where you will try to accomplish some greater goal
For example, a scenario might require you to kill 25 kobolds in stage 1, then find and return 4 goldshire children, and then kill the boss.
Developers would like to do PvE battlegrounds, where you will have to slay 50 alliance/horde soldiers, destroy 6 towers and the barracks, and then defeat the enemy General.
They could replace group quests.
It uses the same queue system as the dungeon finder
Since there is no role requirements, queues should be instant.

Challenge Mode Dungeons

Complete a dungeon in x minutes
To earn Bronze, Silver, Gold medals.
Gear levels are normalized, all your gear will be brought to the same level to make the competition even.
You can't just get better gear to overpower it.
It will reward sweet looking gear with no stats, and valor points!
Challenge Mode will reward you with very unique looking gear to show off how awesome you are to your friends
A new challenge dungeons UI will be added, you will be able to check your medals, your ranking, show what rewards you can unlock, etc ....

Pet Battle System

Oct 21, 2011#37

Frankie Williamson

Seriously, this is fucking pokemon
Added at: 14:34
....is this real?

Am I watching this?

Oct 21, 2011#38

Shannow

Now I wish I still had my mini diablo.

Oct 21, 2011#39

Frankie Williamson

Create a new character and mail it to him.
Added at: 14:35
Nah, this is a joke. This has to be them just tongue and cheeking everyone.
Added at: 14:37
Ok guys, we have 9 new dungeons!

-chirping

AND NEW REHASHES OF OLD DUNGEONS

-audience freaks the fuck out

Hey, do you remember hating Scholomance pre-nerf, thinking it was boring as shit post-nerf and never ever going to it when it was reduced to level 40? WELL GO THE FUCK BACK IN THERE!

Oct 21, 2011#40

Shannow

hahahahahahaha

Oct 21, 2011#41

Frankie Williamson

Every time Ghostcrawler talks I get scared.

My warrior cringes.

Oct 21, 2011#42

Shannow

Thats why my vaniall warrior sits where he is, getting slowly leveled here and there, and I play my mage as my raiding main now. hahahahahah

Oct 21, 2011#43

Frankie Williamson

I.....really like the ranged weapon changes...
Added at: 14:53
Destruction Warlocks are in NBA Jam now. HE'S ON FIRE! BOOMSHAKALAKA
Added at: 14:55
Splitting feral cat and bear. Good, druids can fuck themselves.
Added at: 14:58
Man, watching all those people stand up. I think the average weight at Blizzcon is about 400 pounds.

Oct 21, 2011#44

Shannow

Is it the shoes!?
Added at: 17:00
I agree about the ranged changes and hunter changes...wow, I really really like that.

Oct 21, 2011#45

Piotyr

PokeWOW?

Oct 21, 2011#46

Chibibar

That sounds like a major revamp of the whole game mechanics. Are all for real or some of it are "spoof" to throw off the players. (like Pokemon style combats)

Oct 21, 2011#47

ScytheRexx

The Pokemon does seem awfully weird. The only think I can think of is they are attempting to branch out with a new end-game system for people to pass the time and level up things other then their character. It also lets them open up more "store" pets that people will go "OOOHHHHHH" over. I smell Kotick but I am going to hold judgement till I see a bit more about it.

The talent changes... I am not sure about. Reducing them to such bare bones scares me, but the new system reminds me a lot of Diablo 3 and I am finding myself loving it.

Oh, and ACCOUNT WIDE Achievements, FINALLY. I was tired of having my BE Paladin I never play with a bazillion and my Gnome Mage basically looking like a newb.

Oct 21, 2011#48

GasBandit

Frankie Williamson said:
Ha ha, WoW has the WORST fucking community of any game.

I dunno... the League of Legends community is pretty damn toxic. The first, FIRST time I played a female character in it, I had some other twit on my team playing gangplank screaming in /all about how he wanted to fuck me. And that was just on the same team... there's been horrendous shit from the other team. Maybe the people aren't any worse than WoW, but at least WoW is smart enough not to let the opposing factions communicate.

Oct 21, 2011#49

Frankie Williamson

I don't see how this won't end up in cookie cutter talent specs.

Oct 21, 2011#50

Piotyr

Frankie Williamson said:
I don't see how this won't end up in cookie cutter talent specs.

The talent panel should be coming up soon, right? Maybe they'll explain it more then.

Oct 21, 2011#51

Frankie Williamson

I'm watching it right now. It's still looking like there's going to be must have talents for certain specs.

Oct 21, 2011#52

Chibibar

ScytheRexx said:
The Pokemon does seem awfully weird. The only think I can think of is they are attempting to branch out with a new end-game system for people to pass the time and level up things other then their character. It also lets them open up more "store" pets that people will go "OOOHHHHHH" over. I smell Kotick but I am going to hold judgement till I see a bit more about it.

The talent changes... I am not sure about. Reducing them to such bare bones scares me, but the new system reminds me a lot of Diablo 3 and I am finding myself loving it.

Oh, and ACCOUNT WIDE Achievements, FINALLY. I was tired of having my BE Paladin I never play with a bazillion and my Gnome Mage basically looking like a newb.

Oh that is cool.

Oct 21, 2011#53

Frankie Williamson

I'm actually really digging this new system, I can't wait to see it in practice.

Oct 21, 2011#54

sixpackshaker

I like that the Pandaren get to be hunters. I love the right to arm a bear.

Oct 21, 2011#55

@Li3n

Shannow said:
Brewmaster - Tank spec

Mistweaver - Healer, a healer who can stand up in melee and will let players experience a "new healing style"

Windwalker - Melee DPS

Brewmaster should be the healer spec... after all whiskey means water of life!

Mistweaver could be an evasion based tank...

Oct 21, 2011#56

Dei

Lolevasiontanks

Oct 21, 2011#57

@Li3n

Well i don't play WoW, so i have no clue... but it does fit the Monk archetype better then a straight up tank.

Anyhow, it's not all about WoW:

Great idea demon guy, totally spoil your plan to a Horadrim... no wonder you where oe of teh sub-prime evils... but i guess they have to make us cheer when Diablo offs him and takes his rightful place as final boss somehow...

Oct 21, 2011#58

Hailey Knight

As others have said, if I still played WoW, I'd be thrilled. As it is, don't give a damn.

Oct 21, 2011#59

ScytheRexx

@Li3n said:
Great idea demon guy, totally spoil your plan to a Horadrim... no wonder you where oe of the sub-prime evils... but i guess they have to make us cheer when Diablo offs him and takes his rightful place as final boss somehow...

TECHNICALLY she is not a Horadrim, but she does study under one.

I have to say, Diablo's kid turned out pretty hot. :eek:

Oct 21, 2011#60

Dei

@Li3n said:
Brewmaster should be the healer spec... after all whiskey means water of life!

Mistweaver could be an evasion based tank...

Also, they totally made Brewmaster the tank spec as a way to get more tanks. You know it's true.

Oct 22, 2011#61

Frankie Williamson

The Brewmaster in WC3 could be very tanklike. It's not like they're going against previous shit.

Oct 22, 2011#62

@Li3n

ScytheRexx said:
I have to say, Diablo's kid turned out pretty hot.

And she's also a princess...

Frankie Williamson said:
The Brewmaster in WC3 could be very tanklike. It's not like they're going against previous shit.

True, i was just going for the cooler RL reference...

...

And no one posted the HotS video yet:

Blizzard said:
Here's an outline of what's new in Heart of the Swarm multiplayer:
Terrans

Issues and weaknesses

Thor is too slow and clumsy
Race has difficulties in handling mass zealots in late game

New units and abilities

New "battle mode" for hellion - transforms like a viking

Battle mode hellion has more hit points, moves more slowly
Shorter, wider arc on flame attack, and stronger
Gives terran a beefy front-line fighter in the late game

Warhound

Smaller, more nimble version of Thor
Effective anti-mech ground weapon to help break siege tank lines
Anti-air attack with splash damage

Shredder

Robot that emits channeled, area of effect damage when immobilized
Damage automatically shuts off when an ally moves into range
Gives terran cheap zone control, but can't be used near main army
Is still very work-in-progress

Thor

Moved to late game, more hit points and damage
Can only have one, like mothership from Wings of Liberty

Zerg

Issues and weaknesses

Mid-game difficulties with siege and controlling areas
Missed opportunities with certain units like ultralisk and corruptor

New units and abilities

Ultralisk

Existing version is bulky and has difficulties engaging in battle
New burrow charge ability lets it dive underground and get into the fight easily

Viper

New caster unit with detection -- replaces overseer
Has abilities like blinding cloud to help break entrenched positions
Abduct ability allows it to pull units to itself -- pull siege tanks or colossus out of death balls

Swarm host

Zerg artillery for map control and siege
Burrows into the ground, and continuously generates small creatures to attack
Feels very zerg-y

Protoss

Issues and weaknesses

Needs more raiding options
Needs area of effect, anti-air attacks

New units and abilities

Tempest

New protoss capital ship, replaces carrier
Anti-air splash damage for mutalisks and other aircraft
Has direct air-to-ground attack as well that isn't splash

Replicant

Special unit that can clone itself into any non-massive unit
Allows protoss to also take siege tanks or infestors from enemies
Is very expensive
Still very much a work-in-progress, not-final unit

Oracle

Caster unit used for raiding and harassment
Can disable enemy structures, or prevent miningwith its abilities
Doesn't actually kill or damage anything
Mothership is cut in favor of this unit

There were some other adjustments and additions in multiplayer Heart of the Swarm. Some of the more interesting changes include the reaper gaining the ability to quickly regenerate health when out of combat, though its building attack has been removed. Battlecruisers will also get a new cooldown-based ability for a speed boost.

On the zerg side, banelings will be able to move while underground, through a late-game upgrade, while hydralisks will get a speed upgrade for off-creep movement. Corruptors will also have a new channeled ability called siphon. Siphoned buildings take damage over time, while the zerg player gains minerals as the building is being damaged.

Finally for the protoss, two new abilities have been added to the nexus. One is a mass recall, allowing protoss players to quickly return armies home, while the other is a defensive ability that temporarily gives any structure additional shield and building armor, as well as a weapon similar to a photon cannon.

Before taking questions, the StarCraft II developers reminded everyone that everything is still very much work in progress and subject to change.

Oct 22, 2011#63

Shannow

awwwww....I will miss my mass thors.

Oct 23, 2011#64

ScytheRexx

Okay, the Foo Fighters concert at the end of the show was really good, much better then the others. The crowd seemed more into it and Dave looked like he was having much more fun then Ozzy or Tenacious D were having. After they finished the set and left the stage people chanted "One more song" so Dave came back out and they played Times Like These and Everlong. At one point, Dave ran into the crowd to do a solo and ran into a woman, who quickly asked him to sign her tits, which he complied. :unibrow:

I enjoyed it a lot, even just on the stream.

Oct 23, 2011#65

Shegokigo

Blizzcon was a total win. The best part? All the QQ on the boards all over the net about "lolpandajokeclasswowisdead". I've been posting everywhere just to troll them.

Oct 23, 2011#66

Frankie Williamson

I like the whining about the pokemon stuff. They do know that they're not forced to take part don't they?

Oct 23, 2011#67

Shegokigo

Not to mention the sheer number of subs it's going to actually GET for the game?

I may never play it, but I'm glad they are working on getting a more diverse player base. Best part of all will be the people who claimed they were going to quit WoW, that will post and complain on the forums everytime there's a patch with Pet Battle Fixes. (Omg, you guys are wasting time on such a useless feature, I'm so glad I quit/gonna quit!

Oct 23, 2011#68

Mathias

They finally give me my Kung-Fu Pandas two years after I don't give a shit anymore.

Battlefield 3 and Skyrims where I'll be at.

Oct 23, 2011#69

Shegokigo

Well thank you for posting that useful and productive post Mathias!

Oct 23, 2011#70

ScytheRexx

The people complaining about the Pandaren are a minority. It's the same when Cataclysm was announced and everyone was like "Worgen!? LOL TWITARDS WTF". They are always the most vocal once the expansion is announced because nothing will please them. Most players really don't care, and many other players like them.

Fact is most of the players that have left WoW so far did it not because of the new races, but due to changes that made the game unattractive to the more casual players. I went over this before, like Guild Leveling destroying many smaller guilds, Heroics being to difficult out of the gate and stopping casual progression, etc... Blizzard knows this is what caused the drop in subscribers. Here is where I think MoP will end up working because they did take it into account.

1) The Annual Pass. They basically are telling people that if they commit to a year, they get a free beta pass, a free mount that looks amazing, and a free copy of one of their most anticipated games. That is a juicy deal, and many people will sign for it, maybe even bringing in some of the Diablo heads that wouldn't mind passing time in WoW until D3 hits the shelves.

2) A return to adventure. One of the things I found missing in Cataclysm was a lot of the zones didn't feel like you were actually discovering much. I admit that I was wrong when I said I was happy they were allowing us to fly in the Cataclysm zones right away, because it took away some of the grandoir. They are going back to the system where you are grounded till max level, and I am happy for it. They can remove the requirement later if they want.

3) Easier progression. Let's get real here, people DON'T like hitting a brick wall, and in Cataclysm, much more so starting out, it was easy to find yourself logging on with nothing you wanted to do because dailies didn't give enough bonuses, Herorics were overly difficult, and new professions like Archeology were just downright boring. Blizzard is fixing that by making more progressive paths, for instance, you can now get VALOR POINTS from certain daily quests. The Raid Finder, Scenarios, etc... all add to that.

4) More things to do. Archeology is an interesting new secondary skill, but it's also boring as hell. The Pet Battle System looks like it's going to be a very interesting thing to do to pass the time. It's going to bring, or help keep, a lot of players that love the collection side of the game while also making a interesting usage for those collectables. My only hope is they keep it well balanced. I don't want to ever see the "store" pets gain bonuses over the pets gained in the game, for instance.

My only fear is the new Talent System. When someone levels they like to know they are constantly getting something new. The fact they are removing the old talent system and instead making this new system where you get a point every 15 levels, means players will find themselves getting less and less per level. Gear can possibly make up for this with new players, but those decked out with heirlooms will feel that carrot a bit farther away. They also need to work hard to make each skill balanced, because I already noticed a few classes with skills that are obviously better choices then others, and that shouldn't happen. I will reserve judgement till we actually get to play with it.

Either way, I am happy Blizzard realized what failed about Cataclysm. My only hope is they do some changes to the Guild Leveling by the time MoP hits, so that people can go back to smaller, more tight guilds, and still feel progression.

Oct 23, 2011#71

Mathias

Shegokigo said:
Well thank you for posting that useful and productive post Mathias!

You get so darn defensive over video games.

Oct 23, 2011#72

Frankie Williamson

They're still getting new spells and such every 2 levels and will be pleased that as soon as the ding happens they will have it. Leveling won't be devoid of things. You also get your spec skills every 10 levels.

Oct 23, 2011#73

Shegokigo

Mathias said:
You get so darn defensive over video games.

It's my opinion on your opinion.

Oct 26, 2011#74

Hailey Knight

I wish I still gave a shit; or better yet, I wish it'd happened years ago. I just can't care now. I stopped played WoW in 2010. It feels like a waste of time now. There's only so much they can fix and improve with the same engine from 2004.

Here's hoping the best for SWTOR and Guild Wars 2.

Oct 28, 2011#75

Mathias

Yeah are they ever going to address the human and orc models with a graphics update?

Oct 28, 2011#76

ScytheRexx

Mathias said:
Yeah are they ever going to address the human and orc models with a graphics update?

They want to update all the race models. They said they are working on it but that it will likely not happen for MoP.

It is rumored this is the reason we got three new night elf models in Illidan, Azshara, and Tyrande in 4.3, as they are building them off the new base model possibly in the works for that race.

http://media.mmo-champion.com/images/news/2011/october/illidanupdated.jpg

Oct 28, 2011#77

Shegokigo

I think what's lending alot of weight to the "new models coming soon" argument is that they're adding new animations to all the old races to be able to use the new Monk animations moves.

Oct 28, 2011#78

ScytheRexx

Shegokigo said:
I think what's lending alot of weight to the "new models coming soon" argument is that they're adding new animations to all the old races to be able to use the new Monk animations moves.

They did admit that the new models will likely not come out when MoP is released, but I don't think they said it would be for the next expansion. We will likely see them updated to Worgen/Goblin/Pandaren levels of detail sometime during MoPs lifespan. That is the hope anyways.

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