Update Patch 4.2 - Official Trailer
Blizzard released the new trailer for Patch 4.2 as I was finishing up this news post apparently.



Patch 4.2 - PTR Build 14299
A new build has been deployed on test realms last night. There wasn't really any important change in this build but it's starting to look like the patch won't be deployed on live realms on June 21st, I don't think Blizzard is crazy enough to push a patch live with a build that is less than a week old on PTRs.

That would make the patch more likely to be released on June 28th, I'm not sure if it will have any impact on the starting date of the Arena Season at this point.


Patch 4.2 - Opening Map / Mails Animation
The feature was shortly implemented on Patch 4.1 test realms and then removed, it's back in patch 4.2! Your character now has an animation whenever you check the world map or open your mail at the mailbox.





Leaders of the Horde and Alliance - Gelbin Mekkatorque
Originally Posted by Blizzard (Blue Tracker / Official Forums)
After long years of patiently enduring and biding their time under the hospitality of their dwarven allies, the gnomes have rallied for one final, valiant attempt to reclaim their rightful home. They now face a battle against the twisted genius of a betrayer, one who is maniacally obsessed with ruling over the gnomish race… or destroying it entirely. With their allies hard-pressed to survive in the aftermath of the Cataclysm, the gnomes must rely upon cunning, cleverness, and courage to take back what is theirs.

Leading this desperate charge is High Tinker Gelbin Mekkatorque, the brilliant and resourceful inventor who has guided the gnomes through their darkest hours. Now he stands on the razor's edge between personal vengeance and true leadership -- to face a test that none of his calculations could have ever prepared him for.

Gelbin took a step forward and scanned the room. Maybe if he could get to the other side of the study quick enough, there would be a stool that could become a makeshift weapon. If he could keep the trogg at bay, perhaps he would be able to escape through the opening it had just come through. It would be risky, but it was the best—

Two more troggs shambled into the light. The first one grunted guttural commands to the other two, and they moved to either side of their prey with a feral swiftness that belied their bulk.

The wall lowered behind them with a foreboding clang, and Gelbin felt a sad clarity: he was going to die here.

Blizzard Entertainment is proud to present the latest entry in the Leaders of Azeroth short story series:

"Cut Short"!


Blue Posts
Originally Posted by Blizzard Entertainment
Quest Design
I'm reading that as you want quests to be interesting but easy and fast to get people to endgame.
Yes and no. When designing quests, it's important for us to keep in mind all the different kinds of players that'll play through them and what their interests might be. For example, some World of Warcraft players just want to get to max level as quickly as they can. That's a totally valid style of play, so we try to make sure that quests don't arbitrarily complicate or impede the leveling process.

That's just one thing we consider, though. We know that there are a lot of players who absolutely love questing -- quest chains, daily quests, low level quests, all of it. (Loremasters, represent! \o/) And we absolutely want to appeal to that group of players, too. With respect to the OP's suggestions, our concern is that, if we implement quests that are too challenging or too similar to dungeon content, then we risk forcing players into roles and types of gameplay that they may not appreciate. Not everyone likes running dungeons or feeling pressured by having to learn encounter mechanics, so overloading quest content with those kind of scenarios may not be the best course of action.

Could we do more to vary up the kinds of quests you play through, though? Sure. We feel that we can still provide a streamlined, straightforward questing experience without always relying on the simple "collect this," "kill that," "okay, now kill that again, and then be a good sport and collect a variety of gross things from their corpses" objectives that everyone has come to love. Those kinds of quests certainly have their place and will likely remain a staple in World of Warcraft, but we're trying some new things with the 4.2 daily areas that we hope players will enjoy, and want to continue that trend with future content, as well. (Blue Tracker / Official Forums)

Ask the Devs
I'm not going to bother getting into the specifics of what was answered or why or any fansite articles bashing the process; it's been covered many times before.

But, at the core, I think we agree it's not working. While we could (and do) lament over the reasons why a scheduled Q&A based on question popularity doesn't sit well with people, the bottom line is it can't go on as it is.

We don't expect people will ever be completely happy with any Q&A. Regardless of how they're conducted we'll never get to every question, so there are always going to be complaints that we didn't answer the right ones. But Ask the Devs is different. While there are certainly arguments that answers didn't say the right things, or didn't give a firm answer on how a problem would be resolved, the process just doesn't work because of the format.

We've spent a lot of time discussing why it doesn't work, and while that's interesting to us, the bottom line is that once we've finished the role Q&A's with healers, we will be ending the Ask the Dev series.

Our goal with Ask the Devs was always to increase interaction with the developers, to provide a direct conduit to their thoughts and process. We're in the planning stages for a new Q&A process that will replace Ask the Devs, and while we're absolutely certain people will continue to be upset we didn't answer every question, we think it will overall be a far more successful approach. (Blue Tracker / Official Forums)

Death Knight (Forums / Talent Calculator / Skills/Talents)
Tanking and Survavibility
DKs have a lot of control over their survivability. While the other tank classes spend a lot of button clicks on generating threat, DKs can regularly hit Death Strike, which heals them. This puts a very powerful tool in the hands of the player. Played well, you can mitigate a lot of incoming damage and even choose when it is important to mitigate that damage. But you also have the possibility of playing poorly. It probably isn’t the kind of play style that is going to appeal to everyone.

You can look at the recent discussion about the paladin Holy Shield as a microcosm of this debate. Some players wanted more control over their survivability, and the new Holy Shield provides that. But it is more work to control an active button and there is a larger penalty for doing it badly. Death Strike is like Holy Shield on steroids in this regard. There are good and bad times to use Holy Shield. There are definitely good and bad times to use Death Strike. We see some DKs attempting to hit Death Strike as much as they possibly can, and then getting frustrated when they can’t squeeze more Death Strikes into the rotation. What they are perhaps missing is that the timing of when they Death Strike is very important. Used optimally, it’s a powerful reactive tool.

One thing we have discussed is giving players more control over whether they make this decision (trading higher risk for higher return) or not. In many driving games for example you have the choice of an automatic or manual transmission. Many players choose the automatic, suspecting that they are probably not going to be as fast as a player who is awesome at managing their clutch, but it means they never have to mess with the clutch and can still win plenty of races. On the other hand, imagine that the player who plays the manual perfectly is performing at 100% and the player who performs the manual poorly is performing at 25%. Choosing an automatic transmission for 75% performance may be perfectly acceptable. You give up a little theoretical performance in return for having less going on. Tanking can often have a lot going on. Maybe there is a talent choice that lets DKs have a more powerful Death Strike in return for weaker passive mitigation. Some players would take that talent, and some might only take it for some encounters.

Related, we understand that some DKs don’t like having to make the decision about whether to Death Strike or whether to apply tanking debuffs. That’s really the tension that’s supposed to be at the heart of any resource system -- I have a limited allotment of X, so at this moment do I want to use X on this one ability or on a separate ability? Again, a possible solution is to put the choice of which play style to use in the hands of the player. We could offer a talent or glyph (or something) that lowers the cooldown of Outbreak for instance, without turning Blood DKs into a spec that can play optimally by pushing nothing but Death Strike. It’s something we’ll consider.

(Assuming Blood is the manual transmission, and the other three classes are automatic)

Amazing DKs aren't 25% better than Amazing Paladins/Warriors/Druids, so what is the point of a system that is incredibly punishing and only slightly rewarding?


The 25%, 75% and 100% percentiles weren’t meant to be taken literally. If a DK feels like he or she has to work much harder than other tanks to achieve about the same amount of survivability, then that feels bad (and to be fair, we had this exact problem with paladin tanks being too easy to play well in the previous expansion). On the other hand, if a DK played well completely trumps all other tanks, then the very best guilds for whom the skill cap isn’t an issue, will just use DK tanks. We see a pretty good spread of DK tanks among both great raiding guilds and all raiding guilds for that matter, so we don’t think the numbers are so far off that groups are either flocking to or avoiding DK tanks. (Blue Tracker / Official Forums)

New Warcraft Fan Art
The Blizzard Fan Art Section has been updated with four new pieces of fan artwork set within the Warcraft universe.

This article was originally published in forum thread: Patch 4.2 - PTR Build 14299, Opening Map Animation, Blue Posts, Fan Art started by Boubouille View original post
Comments 243 Comments
  1. dascylus's Avatar
    Quote Originally Posted by Weightless View Post
    Who the hell says Shay-men?
    People who know proper english, obviously.. that IS, after all, the correct pronunciation.

    Next time you decide to troll the Firelord, use a dictionary first.
  1. mmoccc2c4457a1's Avatar
    Ragnaros... was awesome in this trailer!
    I don't even care that he has legs anymore, I want to fight him!!
  1. Ihatefrost's Avatar
    Quote Originally Posted by oomu View Post
    My god... You are a sad person. New animations are always a great thing and in fact it was ready and in 4.2 ptr for weeks. They just choose to put it in the release notes only now.

    So no, it's not why the patch takes time.

    -
    I would gladly pay for more animations, customizations and everything improving the characters we are playing ! it's fun to use.
    Yeah i think he was trying to joke around, he wasn't serious about the patch being delayed due to animations chill their princess.
  1. Elektrik's Avatar
    That trailer wasn't as exciting as others to me. Still pretty cool though.

    I may have misunderstood, or missed something lore-wise along the way, but what was she calling Thrall? It didn't sound like "Thrall". Go'an or something?
  1. Wolfie of Medivh's Avatar
    Quote Originally Posted by akris15 View Post
    Actually there is if you are a DPS shaman seeking a new guild. Personally I have had the worst issues trying to get into a guild that has strong potential. Before you say you just suck show me a place in the top 100 guilds that run more than 2 enhancement shaman at a time. Usually you only have one on staff. I know a few dps who had to switch mains because of their lack of dps potential. Enhance doesn't start to show its issues until players start getting heroic geared. Not only that they have one of the worst aoe in the game and very little utility compared to other melee classes (Frost dks have battle rez, kite mechanics/Ferals battle rez, off tanking mechanics/Rets hand spells, emergency heal) and don't say heroism 6 other specs can bring the raid ability.

    Finally to maximize dps as an enhance shaman you will need a spell weapon and will be hardcasting lava burst.
    See, you're part of the problem. 1) you take a theoretical best and try to apply it to the game. Spell Power weapons and hardcasting are theoretically better. In the process of play, AGL weapons and using your abilities does.

    2) Why in the world would you bring two ENH shaman? Now I play 10 man - my guild's been 10 man since we were formed, but even in 25 man, you wouldn't want to bring more then one. Personally, I wouldn't want to bring more then one of anything. I'd only do that if I could. If your guild stacks one kind of player because of FOTM then you have a bad guild.

    3) While 6 other specs can cast Hero, 6 other specs also interrupt their whole rotation to do cast it. We don't. We can cast in a second and be completely in the flow.

    4) You didn't mention our best role: Interrupter. - Not just because we have a 5 second CD, ranged interrupt, but because we can do it without breaking our DPS stride. Since, if you're not an idiot who slavishly follows DPS charts, you're using AGL weapons and not doing any hard casting, you can interrupt at any moment and not be in something. Warriors, Rogues, Pallies, they have to be in Melee. Other shamans and MM Hunters have to stop their hard casts. We are truly the best at that, and given the number of fights (Maloriak and Halfus being the prime examples, but Cho'gall and Omnitron are there too) in this tier where interrupting was prime, if you couldn't find a spot, then you probably were not very good at this really vital task.

    5) Again, if you're a good player, a good raider, your DPS shouldn't be the primary concern of a raid group. Your primary concern should be do those bosses taste dirt. If they do, then who cares who's first and who's 12th on the charts? The answer is people with tiny, tiny epeens who need serious help.

    You're right our scaling issues don't start till Heroic, and you're right that our weakest point is our AoE. However, I'd suggest that our AOE problems are much less important then we worry about. Our two AoE fights this tier were Halfus and Maloriak. Huh, ya know, those are the two fights where we can focus on interrupts. You'd think they thought this stuff out, eh?

    Our problems are not as big as our contributions. We are flexible with buffs, we provide solid damage, we are the best interrupters and we bring fast, efficient heroism. Combine all that with the fact we're not sharing gear with anyone but the hunter, and I think we come out ahead of the game. We need work, but it's not the shatstorm you and the whiners on the Official Shaman boards make it out to be.
  1. Lór's Avatar
    Quote Originally Posted by Weightless View Post
    Why do they get voice actors that don't know how to pronounce the words? Who the hell says Shay-men? It's SHAman.
    Perhaps, because there is never only one way to pronounce a word and shaman [ʃeɪmən] is as right as [ˈʃɑːmən] is?
  1. mmoc34218adf00's Avatar
    Lol, I don't like the map thing at all
  1. Wolfie of Medivh's Avatar
    Quote Originally Posted by Elektrik View Post
    That trailer wasn't as exciting as others to me. Still pretty cool though.

    I may have misunderstood, or missed something lore-wise along the way, but what was she calling Thrall? It didn't sound like "Thrall". Go'an or something?
    Go'el. It was the name Durotan and Draka would have given him if they had been alive long enough to give him a proper naming ceremony. Thrall is the name Blackmoore gave him. We find the name out during the way-too-cool THrall questline in Nagrand. I'm not sure if the line is still there or not, sadly.

    Aggra, Thrall's shaman partner, only knew him by that name, and thinks it's disrespectful he call himself after a term of subservience (THrall means Slave in Warcraft speak). She insists on calling him by his proper name.
  1. Roshar's Avatar
    Quote Originally Posted by dascylus View Post
    People who know proper english, obviously.. that IS, after all, the correct pronunciation.

    Next time you decide to troll the Firelord, use a dictionary first.
    You may find this surprising, but not everyone is an American. Not everyone says "shay-man". Calling American English as "proper english" is hilarious though, thanks for the laugh.
  1. Wolfie of Medivh's Avatar
    Quote Originally Posted by Lór View Post
    Perhaps, because there is never only one way to pronounce a word and shaman [ʃeɪmən] is as right as [ˈʃɑːmən] is?
    But there is only one way. The word is a direct borrow - there's never been another way to say it

    Personally, I'm just calling it a way to get under Thrall's skin. Like how US republicans call the other major political party the "Democrat Party" rather then "Democratic Party" - it's not technically wrong, but it's just demaning. Rags has the emphasis on the "Man" part in a mocking tone - like how republicans put the emphasis on the "rat" sound.
  1. Elektrik's Avatar
    Quote Originally Posted by wolfieone View Post
    Go'el. It was the name Durotan and Draka would have given him if they had been alive long enough to give him a proper naming ceremony. Thrall is the name Blackmoore gave him. We find the name out during the way-too-cool THrall questline in Nagrand. I'm not sure if the line is still there or not, sadly.

    Aggra, Thrall's shaman partner, only knew him by that name, and thinks it's disrespectful he call himself after a term of subservience (THrall means Slave in Warcraft speak). She insists on calling him by his proper name.
    Awesome. Thanks for the clarification! Does ring a bell from that quest chain after you mention it.

    Since people are bringing up other cool patch trailers, how about the ZA trailer? The last line in that one was awesome. "We gonna bury you here....".
  1. Hubbl3's Avatar
    Really nice trailer and I like the map animation
  1. Fleuria's Avatar
    well they never ever release an official trailer 1 and a half weeks before the patch its pretty safe to say it will be tues/weds
  1. akris15's Avatar
    Quote Originally Posted by wolfieone View Post
    See, you're part of the problem. 1) you take a theoretical best and try to apply it to the game. Spell Power weapons and hardcasting are theoretically better. In the process of play, AGL weapons and using your abilities does.

    2) Why in the world would you bring two ENH shaman? Now I play 10 man - my guild's been 10 man since we were formed, but even in 25 man, you wouldn't want to bring more then one. Personally, I wouldn't want to bring more then one of anything. I'd only do that if I could. If your guild stacks one kind of player because of FOTM then you have a bad guild.

    3) While 6 other specs can cast Hero, 6 other specs also interrupt their whole rotation to do cast it. We don't. We can cast in a second and be completely in the flow.

    4) You didn't mention our best role: Interrupter. - Not just because we have a 5 second CD, ranged interrupt, but because we can do it without breaking our DPS stride. Since, if you're not an idiot who slavishly follows DPS charts, you're using AGL weapons and not doing any hard casting, you can interrupt at any moment and not be in something. Warriors, Rogues, Pallies, they have to be in Melee. Other shamans and MM Hunters have to stop their hard casts. We are truly the best at that, and given the number of fights (Maloriak and Halfus being the prime examples, but Cho'gall and Omnitron are there too) in this tier where interrupting was prime, if you couldn't find a spot, then you probably were not very good at this really vital task.

    5) Again, if you're a good player, a good raider, your DPS shouldn't be the primary concern of a raid group. Your primary concern should be do those bosses taste dirt. If they do, then who cares who's first and who's 12th on the charts? The answer is people with tiny, tiny epeens who need serious help.

    You're right our scaling issues don't start till Heroic, and you're right that our weakest point is our AoE. However, I'd suggest that our AOE problems are much less important then we worry about. Our two AoE fights this tier were Halfus and Maloriak. Huh, ya know, those are the two fights where we can focus on interrupts. You'd think they thought this stuff out, eh?

    Our problems are not as big as our contributions. We are flexible with buffs, we provide solid damage, we are the best interrupters and we bring fast, efficient heroism. Combine all that with the fact we're not sharing gear with anyone but the hunter, and I think we come out ahead of the game. We need work, but it's not the shatstorm you and the whiners on the Official Shaman boards make it out to be.
    Again I do agree with some of your responses but then I disagree:

    1). While I am not as strict as Min/Max as other people there is a level of where you need to be at. For example if its your possible best set-up why would you not be using such tools at your disposal. Sure agility weapons are out there but its like a Frost Dk using a 2 hander or a Fury Warrior that doesnt use the best possible set up for DPS (1/2 Hander build). You can do that but your doing a dis-service to your potential.

    2). DPS shine more in 10 man than they do 25s. Also my point was that you do see raid stacking in 25 man guilds. Why? Due to the fact that make the kill quicker or bring strong utility.

    3). Point is you still share that ability. Once the ability is used your lockout from using it. Therefore if the mage uses it you lose your more efficient heroism.

    4). I orginially did have the role of the interuptor in my post, but I guess I accidently edited it out. Yeah we bring a good interupt, but so do most other classes, especially tanks/melee have some sort of kick mechanic. Sure it makes a fight like Halfus easier, but its possible to have two rogues to do the same thing. In 25 man Nef you can have tanks and healers interupt too. Does having a dps shaman make the communitication easier, sure, does it trivialize the event, nope. Now we can look like a fight such as Heroic Twin Dragons, having two sub rogues trivializes the encounter.

    On a side note how many bosses require an interupt mechanic in Firelands? While I love the concept of interups I have a feeling the community wants such mechanics to be reduced in the future and its starting to show.

    5). Unless you are progression and hitting the enrage, yes dps does matter. This isnt a best of the best arguement where you stack feral druids or afflicition locks, there is still an issue about enrage mechanics. If your the weakest dps consistently guess what (I am talking about people of equal skill who know how to use their rotation/cds/priorities efficiently without fail).

    While Sinestra was a gimmick fight its still the "prestige" fight of the previous tier.

    This isn't a FOTM issue. I have played as a dps shaman for years. My guild just recently disbanded and let me ask you this. Why is every guild I am applying to asking me to resubmit my application as a different class? I show a strong interview but they don't want my class. Why? Because they don't bring good utility to a 25 compared to their lack of dps potential or totems they bring (every class in some way can bring the same buffs an Enhance shaman brings). If I am getting this message from Top 150 guilds then there must be a trend is there not?
  1. rapzak's Avatar
    Quote Originally Posted by mofo View Post
    You may find this surprising, but not everyone is an American. Not everyone says "shay-man". Calling American English as "proper english" is hilarious though, thanks for the laugh.

    actually its the "AMerican EnglisH" that says "SHA-Man" so... you look like an even bigger fool now.
  1. Sundreamer's Avatar
    awww, AngryBoom is soooooo cute <3 :3
  1. McNeil's Avatar
    The trailer was supposed to be about Ragnaros and Firelands... yet most of the trailer is about Metzen's Mary Sue Thrall. It both started and ended with it, also I wish the burning of Orgrimmar and Nordrassil was real instead of a cheap flashforward
  1. savvasp's Avatar
    Quote Originally Posted by Nocturnes View Post
    Applaud to Blizz that they are stopping the Q&A series. Got sick with all the -15year olds crying cause they didn't like something. Kinda like taking of their toy.

    Thx again
    Im 15 . Does that make me a lil wimpy crybaby that got his toy stolen ?
  1. Rigrot's Avatar
    I love blizzards trailers, even though its not their cool CGI they are still awesome.
  1. KungenTCG's Avatar
    All I got from that trailer was:

    Patch 4.2 Rage of Chris Metzen

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