Blizzcon 2011: WoW Open Q&A
Originally Posted by Blizzard Entertainment
As a 10 man raider there is a lot of difference between 10 and 25 man. When heroic magmaw came out 25 man raiders couldnt do it in 10 man heroic, when are we seeing the difficulty for 10 man being higher?
That's pretty fun because in Korea the 10-man guilds are usually the ones considered hardcore while the 25-man are considered easier. They are definitely hard to balance, 10 players might not always have the buffs they need like with 25 man.

Is there a chance that youll go to a 10 vs 20 man to make balancing easier?
I honestly think that wouldnt make stuff easier, we would still have a lot of problems.

Do you have any plans to implement some sort of spectator mode for raids or battlegrounds?
That's something we've wanted for a long time, spectator mode and replays, but it's just a question of getting around to doing it so ... some day, hopefully.

Do you have any plans on adding more options to the guild leaders UI? So as I can give more options to a banker or to my different officers since Im the only one that can turn guild repairs on and off
Yeah, thats definitely a good reason why we would want to do that. We need to make sure how much control we can give to people that are not the guild leader. It sounds like something that can be useful.

Wouldnt that be the GLs decision?
It is but if something goes wrong it comes back to us to fix it

With the upcoming expansion coming, are all the purple you get from Firelands going to get replaced with greens on first day?
Green is the new purple, so yeah. The problem is if we don't upgrade equipement too much we are cheating those players from the leveling experience, so usually by the 2nd or 3rd zone your gear should be replaced to make sure the content is still a challenge for you. Hopefully in the future we will have a way to "track" your progress in the past and make sure there's a way to record your accomplishements in each expansion to make sure that all your progress isn't "lost" at the beginning of each expansion.

How are you guys going to fit Draenei and the BEs getting monks?
We will probably throw it in like its always been there.... We'll make it work!

Hunters and Crowd Control: Currently with Wyvern Sting having a DOT it makes it a little difficult to quickly Wyvern Sting and then trap something after. Before Cataclysm we had the option of removing the dot with Scorpid Sting but it was removed, is there going to be a way to remove that DoT in the future?
It's probably something we're not going to do in 4.3, and 5.0 is such a big reset for all the talents that I can't really answer that now. It's definitely a problem but we also don't want everyone dotting up their characters before they crowd control, we don't want crowd control to always break on things like that and we'll see in 5.0.

Wind Shear change shouldn't hurt enhancement shamans, but most don't take Reverb. It also hurts Resto Shaman, any plans to fix this?
Raids usually have enough people, so it won't hurt the raid. PvP might force you to make the choice, but it is still an interrupt with a longer cooldown.

Do you hate enhancement shamans? DPS sucks, in PvP they suck, any plans to fix them? / Any plans for Illidan to come back?
Lets answer the Illidan question. Do you want to see Illidan come back? We will think about that.

This is a problem, just like frost mages dont do well in PvE but the difference is you can't tell an enhancement shaman "hey just go elemental". In PvP it will be much easier in 5.0 but for PvE we will try to adress some of the issues in 4.3

Do you want combat rogues to use cooldowns more often or hold off until 30% and use all the cooldowns at once?
You should follow the guidance from Restless Blades.

Is the guild name change service going to be in 4.3 or 5.0? Will it fall to the wayside like Dance Studios did?
One of these days we are going to unleash Dance Studios to the world and it will be awesome. But not today. We are releasing the new guild services within two weeks.

Your design in MoP are you bringing more healers into 25 man raids because there is a new healing class as a monk healer and 25 man guilds will usually have two people per class. Are you going to design your raids to bring more healers into raids?
I dont think we will change the number of healers needed for a raid.

Will challenge modes put us under the hit cap or affect core stats when the gear is tuned down?
There are some details to work out, people should be able to do roughly the same DPS and Healing as everyone else.

Are we going to see account bound mounts?
Hopefully some day, i dont think that will happen in 50 but somewhere down the line its likely.

Can we have an option to require auth on login every time
Soon.

What are your plans for the moonkin form, are you going to do the same thing you did for warlocks?
We are going to update the art on the moonkin form as we see fit. Its too early to tell what we will exactly be doing.

Race changing breaks quest progress for some quests, any plans to address this?
We might try whitelisting some quests, like the important legendary quest. We need to be careful to not bog down CS with this kind of thing though.

In the future are you going to make BoA items actually transferable account-wide?
Maybe some day! Probably not in the immediate future. The databases dont do the best job of talking to eachother right now.

The past few patches brought Arcane Mages and Feral Druids that are two button classes, any plans to make sure the Monk isn't easy like those classes/specs?
AoE rotations weren't a big focus at first, we want to make it a little more interesting. Arcane mages do have some mana management gameplay, we are adding back Arcane Missles to their rotation.

Do you ever plan on altering spells or maybe adding a new spell to Arcane mages and maybe nerfing arcane blast a little bit?
In 5.0 Living Bomb is a spell all mages will have.

Will enchanters be able to make epic wands in the future?
Yes

What are your changes going to be for gathering professions in the new expansion? Crafting gives you the best stuff but gathering isnt very useful
No sweeping change has been planned for the perks of these professions but we'll look at it. We dont want people to feel like they need 2 crafting professions.

Will you be able to craft different quivers?
Little visuals like that is something we want to add to all classes, it isn't really clear on how we can add that just yet.

I have a priest with a benediction staff but the quest for that was removed. I am very excited to transmog that. But I am worried that you might open up the models for other players, which would be unfair to the players that worked for it at level 60
One way we have solved that problem in the past is to offer the model with a different texture or something. We did something similar with the ZA bear mount

Ret has one clear choice for the Level 90 Tier in the new talent trees, any chance to balance it better?
We feel like they will be balanced once we tweak the numbers.

You are nerfing wind shear for resto PvP, do you intent to make a trade off or to not let them have it completely?
Ideally we would not want them to have it

In that case why dont you hardwire it into the spec masteries so enhancement and elemental dont have any effect?
That would have been another way to go, but this is a fairly big change and we dont want players to feel like everything is being changed. In 5.0 it might be a good oppurtunity to take away Wind Shear completely but we have not made a decision on that yet.

Will MoP bring us mounted combat?
No

Will MoP bring more craftable mounts?
Maybe a Jewelcrafting mount.

Any plans to fix Heroic Leap?
Heroic Leap has a lot of technical problems, people keep trying to exploit it. Works fine when it is flat, not so much when there is a height increase

Where are the LGBT characters in WoW Lore?
Everything is gravy as long as its just a great character. There is the possiblity of adding them, as long as the story is compelling, might see it in the future.

It seems that in a 10 man model there are huge negatives with class representation and wasted loot. Is there a possibility to change the 10-man model to a 15-man model? If not, maybe make some kind of smart loot system that checks if the loot is useful for your raid?
It might be a good idea to make the loot system slightly more intelligent, but moving up to a 15-man model would be very hard for us seeing existing 10-man guilds would have to recruit 5 more members.

Are you going to add more visuals for druid forms? Will effects such as Fandral's Flamescythe be transferable by transmogrification?
Maybe, we are connecting them with items so that it isn't something everyone has forever. We don't want you to have to go back and get different forms.

As a hunter who has played that class for 5 years I want to thank you for the pet challenges that came out in 4.3, that being said and how much we are so proud of all the pets we have obtained. Its a shame when you cant use these pets in a dungeon without being spec'd beast master, i was kind of hoping this might be a change in the future
We'd like to let hunters chose any pet with Tenacity/Ferocity/Cunning in 5.0. It doesn't solve the problem of MM losing Beast mastery pets but BM DPS is pretty good.

Gallywix is in charge but he's the bad guy, what happens to him? Also, blinding shield for paladins, what happened to that?
We haven't had a discussion about Gallywix in a while, he's interesting but I don't know if we have a core decision about him. Most of our discussions lately have been about pandaren characters and how to make them interesting.

This is not set in stone but Blinding Shield is currently the paladin level 87 ability.

The new shaman talent points seem to be geared for resto and not to a damage point, I know you said you want hybridization is coming more into play but what about DPS?
There are DPS options there, some of the tiers are based around movement, totems, etc ...

In End Time, we kill Murozond, is this the last we see of the Infinite Dragonflight? / Any plans to add player housing?
No player housing anytime soon, too expensive in terms of time to make if you still want dungeons, raids, models, and other stuff.

Infinite Dragonflight is done, at least for now, but the concept is cool and useful for the world. The timeways will always exist and there will always be bad guys there, there's no current plans for it but we could bring it back if it's cleverly done.

Jewelcrafting endgame is boring, can we have trinkets, rings, or necklaces?
We want to add some items, not every tier though. We need to keep it balanced compared to the other professions.

I'm pretty sure I understand how you pick Alliance and Horde as a Pandaren, do you guys have any idea how pandaren's factions will be distinguished at higher levels?
We have seen in arenas that the only thing that really matter is the Red Text and stuff, the UI is primarly the biggest indicator to see what faction they belong to. We explored going down the path were Horde Panda's were more feral and wild but it come to that they don't look like Pandaren anymore.

Will we see raid leaderboards, including wipe and kill counts?
There is a lot we could do to track player accomplishments, we could see it being extended to raids in the future.

Theres lots of people wanting the reskinning for old races, I was over at the art panel and the pandaren just looked so amazing. They were talking about being 10-20 in the fact alone, is that also something they are looking into for reskinning the new races?
Its the one thing we really want to see brought up to the pandaren level. There are about 10 times more bones in the pandaren models compared to the current character models. We dont know when this exactly will happen, because we are still not unsure how to roll this out because some people might not like the new models as much as they do the old models.

What will the theme for raid art and gear going to be?
Brewing, bamboo, everything crafted, respecting the Asian feel we have in the starting zone and expanding on that
This article was originally published in forum thread: Blizzcon 2011: WoW Open Q&A started by Boubouille View original post
Comments 137 Comments
  1. Accidents's Avatar
    Is the guild name change service going to be in 4.3 or 5.0? Will it fall to the wayside like Dance Studios did?
    One of these days we are going to unleash Dance Studios to the world and it will be awesome. But not today. We are releasing the new guild services within two weeks.
    Kinda hoping it's 4.3, but most likely just a hotfix or a minor patch
  1. Mascotte's Avatar
    Quote Originally Posted by Tolgrim View Post
    Imo MUCH more interesting than all this whining about specs and everyone specifically feeling hated by the developers. Don't know why this bothers you more than all of those absolutely shitty questions that were coming up.

    Because this isnt game related at all.
    Even the most dumb question about some specific item someone can or cannot transmog to or if they are going to allow for more healers in a raid don't hold to a high standard either but at-least they are game related.
    How can Metzen answer such a question?
    How can they react?
    Put a lesbian easter egg in next patch and be done with it?

    I'd say that wow is rather open to whatever someone likes, believes or likes/dislikes in his/her real life.
    Thats fine. But why should blizzard cater to lesbians or anything specific in general?
    I think irl 10% of all people are gay?
    Or something close to that atleast?
    Thus WoW should include 10% gay couples ingame, including in lore and such?

    No. A game should be a game, blizzard isnt saying No your way is wrong at any point in the game, they are just not including everything, because then the flood gates would open and they would suddenly have to include all sorts of stuff.
    Its a game, nothing more.
  1. BatteredSausage's Avatar
    Quote Originally Posted by metalgemini View Post
    I'm all for the LGBT cause, but this is seriously not the forum for it. Its just not relevant!
    Well im not...its a computer game so imo its not the game for it or any for that matter. Not interested in peoples genders or which side they swing, jeez whats with you all wanting to advertise it so much i mean like i said , we know it exists , you are accepted in society by most including myself so whats the crack ?
    Im not even interested in seeing a male and female get it on in a game.
    Thing is the gay men i know you wouldnt even know there gay, unlike the 'False gays' that like to overreact there voices and tend to shout it about. NO one gives a fuck, get on with what you want to do in your own life you dont need to involve everyone around you when we already know what goes on in society.
    Incoming homophobic shit ive no doubt. Its expected its like the race card for gays.
  1. Greens's Avatar
    Originally Posted by Blizzard Entertainment
    Theres lots of people wanting the reskinning for old races, I was over at the art panel and the pandaren just looked so amazing. They were talking about being 10-20 in the fact alone, is that also something they are looking into for reskinning the new races?

    Its the one thing we really want to see brought up to the pandaren level. There are about 10 times more bones in the pandaren models compared to the current character models. We dont know when this exactly will happen, because we are still not unsure how to roll this out because some people might not like the new models as much as they do the old models.
    I think they should implement new models regardless of how players react. "Oh no! 14 people like their ridiculous Popeye human models more than the awesome new ones we just made, guess we better scrap the new ones entirely"Blizzard needs to stop listening to the players when stuff like this is concerned. They don't know what they want. Blizzard makes the best stuff when they are left alone.
  1. rmViper's Avatar
    Its the one thing we really want to see brought up to the pandaren level. There are about 10 times more bones in the pandaren models compared to the current character models. We dont know when this exactly will happen, because we are still not unsure how to roll this out because some people might not like the new models as much as they do the old models.
    Really? They went with Chihuahua heads for female worgen and they're worried that people might hate upgraded models?
  1. isendims's Avatar
    There are a set of "gays" in the molten front Anren Shadowseeker and Tholo Whitehoof
  1. Klasis's Avatar
    What the hell? Q: "Whats the deal with Galywix" Blizzard: "fuck if we know" I mean get real... They shouldnt just leave stuff like this. I bet they wont mention koltira until 2 more xpacs and they will be like "remember that guy that Sylvanas basically imprisoned?
  1. isendims's Avatar
    Quote Originally Posted by Klasis View Post
    What the hell? Q: "Whats the deal with Galywix" Blizzard: "fuck if we know" I mean get real... They shouldnt just leave stuff like this. I bet they wont mention koltira until 2 more xpacs and they will be like "remember that guy that Sylvanas basically imprisoned?
    The goblin leader should definitely be the girl goblin that helped you though all the beginning quests
  1. mmocca9b83672b's Avatar
    Quote Originally Posted by Gobs View Post
    Patiently waits...
    sorry but I am gone come, SWTOR release. This last expansion has had no lore, no feel, and no back bone to the general story. With WoTLK, Arthas was the one to kill and everyone knew it. Cata, like WTF

    Sorry. Wow is on the way down from its maturity of its product life cycle.
  1. Yhvh's Avatar
    Wonderful. Same response as always regarding player models.
  1. Klasis's Avatar
    Quote Originally Posted by isendims View Post
    The goblin leader should definitely be the girl goblin that helped you though all the beginning quests
    Eh. The thing that might dissapoint me most is if they just leave certain people out of this xpacs, because we were left with many questions in cata.
  1. theun's Avatar
    "Infinite Dragonflight is done, at least for now, but the concept is cool and useful for the world. The timeways will always exist and there will always be bad guys there, there's no current plans for it but we could bring it back if it's cleverly done."

    *facepalms"

    Well Blizz. I'd like to thank you for introducing one of the most interesting villain factions in the entire series way back in Burning Crusade. Building them up to be an unseen but very significant threat to Azeroth, keeping people speculating about their motives and who their leader is.....and then casually toss them back into Cataclysm with little explanation, reveal their leader to be an alternate Norzdormu who has been corrupted, then having him, an A-S-P-E-C-T (aka someone on par with Malygos and Neltharion) as a boss in a 5 man dungeon. Top notch work there.
  1. Hunterpower's Avatar
    Wonder if the hunter minimum range and the talent trees are in 5.0 or the actual expansion? :O
  1. Greens's Avatar
    Quote Originally Posted by BatteredSausage View Post
    Well im not...its a computer game so imo its not the game for it or any for that matter. Not interested in peoples genders or which side they swing, jeez whats with you all wanting to advertise it so much i mean like i said , we know it exists , you are accepted in society by most including myself so whats the crack ?
    Im not even interested in seeing a male and female get it on in a game.
    Thing is the gay men i know you wouldnt even know there gay, unlike the 'False gays' that like to overreact there voices and tend to shout it about. NO one gives a fuck, get on with what you want to do in your own life you dont need to involve everyone around you when we already know what goes on in society.
    Incoming homophobic shit ive no doubt. Its expected its like the race card for gays.
    /brofist!

    tell it how it is. Video games are no place for that kind of stuff. People play online games to escape from social stigma often. Anyway, you're prob gonna get infracted for that because mods here are dicks. ^_^
  1. isendims's Avatar
    Quote Originally Posted by theun View Post
    "Infinite Dragonflight is done, at least for now, but the concept is cool and useful for the world. The timeways will always exist and there will always be bad guys there, there's no current plans for it but we could bring it back if it's cleverly done."

    *facepalms"

    Well Blizz. I'd like to thank you for introducing one of the most interesting villain factions in the entire series way back in Burning Crusade. Building them up to be an unseen but very significant threat to Azeroth, keeping people speculating about their motives and who their leader is.....and then casually toss them back into Cataclysm with little explanation, reveal their leader to be an alternate Norzdormu who has been corrupted, then having him, an A-S-P-E-C-T (aka someone on par with Malygos and Neltharion) as a boss in a 5 man dungeon. Top notch work there.
    To be honest, though yes it being a 5man is lame, you were sort of assisted by his pure form who to our knowledge has the same power(lol) level as his corrupt form
  1. Ibbi's Avatar
    Where are the LGBT characters in WoW Lore? Seriously? Do they not screen questions beforehand? We don't need real life stuff polluting WoW lore. I bet you that guy is from a RP realm, specially Moon Guard. Hahah
  1. lombrie's Avatar
    Quote Originally Posted by theun View Post
    "Infinite Dragonflight is done, at least for now, but the concept is cool and useful for the world. The timeways will always exist and there will always be bad guys there, there's no current plans for it but we could bring it back if it's cleverly done."

    *facepalms"

    Well Blizz. I'd like to thank you for introducing one of the most interesting villain factions in the entire series way back in Burning Crusade. Building them up to be an unseen but very significant threat to Azeroth, keeping people speculating about their motives and who their leader is.....and then casually toss them back into Cataclysm with little explanation, reveal their leader to be an alternate Norzdormu who has been corrupted, then having him, an A-S-P-E-C-T (aka someone on par with Malygos and Neltharion) as a boss in a 5 man dungeon. Top notch work there.
    If it makes you feel any better, Nozdormu will eventually turn into Murozond (even though the Hour of Twilight didn't succeed in its goal). Nozdormu acknowledges this fact himself in the instance. We will see the Infinite Dragonflight again in a future expansion.
  1. Kujja's Avatar
    Quote Originally Posted by Hunterpower View Post
    Wonder if the hunter minimum range and the talent trees are in 5.0 or the actual expansion? :O
    All those type of changes will be in 5.0 since they need to be added in a patch else some players would work completely different in combat if some have MoP and others don't.
  1. Dyre's Avatar
    Theres lots of people wanting the reskinning for old races, I was over at the art panel and the pandaren just looked so amazing. They were talking about being 10-20 in the fact alone, is that also something they are looking into for reskinning the new races?
    Its the one thing we really want to see brought up to the pandaren level. There are about 10 times more bones in the pandaren models compared to the current character models. We dont know when this exactly will happen, because we are still not unsure how to roll this out because some people might not like the new models as much as they do the old models.
    WTB newer engine for better graphics/models. Stop being cheap Blizz.

    Poor work around answer.
  1. Greens's Avatar
    Meh, anything involved with time can come back no matter how many times you kill them. Just look at the Daleks in Dr Who. I doubt this is the last we'll see of Murozond and the Infinite Dragonflight.

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