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Warlords of Draenor Group Finder
Originally Posted by Blizzard (Blue Tracker / Official Forums)
Raid Finder currently struggles from a bit of a double identity. On one side of things, we want it to be a fun, low-stress environment for people who want to be able to experience new raids, but would rather not devote the necessary time from their week that joining a full-time raid team can often require. Something that you can just jump into, see the new bosses, and be done with in, say, an hour or so, without too much concern.

At the same time, however, Raid Finder has been trying to fill in as a form of endgame progression for a lot of players. There's a very real difference between the casual player who just wants to see the new stuff, and the raider who can't commit to a regular team but still wants some meaningful progression. Prior to Patch 5.4, Raid Finder was all that player really had, so we wanted to provide them as much gameplay as we could while still considering the needs of the "sightseer". Not exactly an easy task, and although we've been happy with what we've accomplished so far, we feel we can do better.

That's where Flexible Mode came in. We've been absolutely thrilled to see how well Flex has worked out, not just technically but also in how much the community has embraced it. We originally designed the feature focused on smaller or less hardcore guilds who maybe couldn't guarantee a full roster every time they wanted to raid, but we've been pleased to see that it's also been working extremely well for pick up groups (particularly through third-party services such as OpenRaid or oQueue).

In Warlords of Draenor, we're implementing a completely new Group Finder, which will allow players to find or create cross-realm groups for pretty much anything, including raids. We think that sort of environment -- finding an organized group, with a leader, and strategy, and possibly even using voice chat -- will be much more appealing and enjoyable for the player who craves an endgame raiding experience but can't find a team that fits their schedule. Plus, having an easy-to-use in-game Group Finder will, we believe, make finding such a group just as easy as queueing for Raid Finder (or easier, if you often find yourself in Raid Finder groups you'd rather not be a part of).

That, in turn, will allow us to take another look at Raid Finder and how exactly it should be tuned. I don't have any specifics to share (we simply aren't at that point in development yet), but our hope is that we'll be able to better provide for both the "busy raider" and "sightseer" styles of gameplay as a result.

In summary: if you're looking for meaningful endgame raid experience, we'd like you to do Flex, and we want to make it easier for you to do that. If you'd just like to see new stuff (or even just take a laid-back approach to raiding), we'd like you to use Raid Finder, and we want to make sure that's fun for you.

This is true, but you can get in at lower ilvls if you don't use that tool. The only raid leaders who have to worry about Blizzard's mins are the ones using the Blizzard's tool.
It's not set in stone, but our current plan is to allow group leaders to set their own restrictions (such as ilevel) when using the Group Finder tool. We'd rather allow players to be upfront about such things than create a situation where an undergeared player is joining groups just to be immediately kicked as soon as the leader inspects them.

Edit for clarity: That also means that we're not planning on having any pre-set restrictions, though again, plans could change.

Will there be stronger moderation as well? It gets really annoying when a player obviously knows they can't be kicked. Because then they just troll it up and can't be removed.
Just like non-Group Finder parties, the leader (or anyone they've promoted to assistant) will be able to kick players they feel necessary at any time.

Warlords of Draenor Item Level Squish
Originally Posted by Blizzard (Blue Tracker / Official Forums)
Our developers are mindful of the concerns about stat squish/crunch affecting the ability to solo older Raid content. Having said that, if you are currently able to solo an older Raid, the squish should not change your ability to do that.

That's great! But I could have sworn solo raiding was frowned upon by Blizzard. Not sure they'll be too worried about keeping it a possibility. Hopefully though.
There's nothing at all wrong with going back and doing legacy raids and other content. The achievement system, cosmetic rewards and titles, and most recently transmogrification all serve to reward that playstyle. There's also a lot to be said for just being able to revisit old locations, for the sake of nostalgia or getting to experience them for the first time, without needing to find a like-minded group. As Rygarius noted, we're committed to making sure that we don't disrupt players' ability to engage in that gameplay.

Without getting into the math, our goal is to make sure that if Kael'thas's Pyroblast does damage equal to 10% of your maximum health today, it will take off no more than 10% of your health post-squish. And if you kill Onyxia in 30 seconds today, you'll be able to kill Onyxia in 30 seconds post-squish.

Blue Tweets
Originally Posted by Blizzard Entertainment
Classes
not really that much of a problem with them though. Far more important things to crunch imo
We recognized that leveling wasn't feeling rewarding, and announced plans at BlizzCon for 'minor talents' that you get as you lvl (Source)
Getting passive talents that you have no control over doesn't really seem all that exciting.
Why not? (Actually asking). Seems like "Sweet, I leveled, now I can hold 5 Shadow Orbs." is more exciting than "Sweet, I leveled, now my numbers are a tiny bit bigger, I think?" Would you disagree? (Source)

And given that has said he thinks Disc/absorbs are properly balanced, little hope for that
I never said that Disc/absorbs are properly balanced. (Source)
You strongly hinted that you think the issue with absorbs is healing meter focus not much of a balance issue
No I didn't. I stated that focus on healing meters *clouds* the issue. Healing meters can't prove healer balance problems. (Source)
That doesn't mean that there isn't one. (Source)

Monk (Forums / Skills / Talent Calculator)
It makes so much sense for my WW monk to have a water-walking ability (the roll glyph doesn't count), why hasn't this happened?
They're good at WINDwalking, not WATERwalking. (Source)

Quick Y/N: Does Avert Harm work as a personal CD when no one else in range?
While it was not intended to be used that way, yes. Technically, "all allies" includes you. Decided to leave it that way for 5.x. (Source)

Art
Not sure if youd be the one to ask about this but could we be seeing somethin like cosmetic glyphs but not class specific stuff?
I LOVE cosmetic/customization glyphs, class-based or otherwise. Not 100% sure what the item & class peeps are planning, though. (Source)

Are there new character models for draenei in WOD trailer?( looks no much different but i can see more animation)
no, that was the current model with a little animation work from our in game cinematics team. (Source)

Any plan for new rogues animations in wod?
We recognize that Rogue visuals aren't very cool/flashy. Somewhat expected, due to their stealthiness, but we can do better. (Source)

Updated textures on Classic/BC pve/pvp tier sets,to keep up with the new characters models. Is it possible and when?
Lots of rework that costs time for new sets. We try to address this with 2.0 versions of iconic armor rather than rework. (Source)

Big % of popular xmog armor is BRIGHT primary colors. Armor colors in MoP were very "faded." Can we get SOME color in WoD?
reduction in color was in response to the clown outfit epidemic of BC. Possible now with smarter itemization thx (Source)

Character / Items
I believe stat changes are intended to make it so you can put new gear on and go without reforge. Chadd?
Yes, you can put new gear on and go, most times. Less DE'd loot = you have alternate gear for more flexibility. (Source)
why would I want to carry around more gear for versatility? I already have at least 3-4 sets in bags.
Most reason that you have to have multiple gearsets right now is going away due to gear consolidation. (Source)

Warlords of Draenor Stats
How important is making all secondaries useful for each spec in WoD? E.g., will Crit have damage reduction value for Blood DK?
Important. (Source)
How do you plan to accomplish this for stats that have no value for a spec, such as the DK example? Resource regen interaction?
Nothing to announce yet, but you can see how we've made Crit useful for other tanks as examples. (Source)

I thought I saw say there will be no missing for +3 level targets anymore.
We've been consistent about it; there's no more missing against +3 targets, or being dodged. (Source)
There will still be a chance (except for tanks) to be parried. So DPS will still want to be behind. Tanks won't be parried. (Source)
I've heard it will be only 3% boss parry down from the current 7.5% is that true?
I think so, but I couldn't recall the right # offhand. If I said that in a tweet somewhere previously, yes that's still accurate. (Source)

PvP
Are we really going to go another week without addressing how weak Spriests/Boomkins are and OP Warriors/Mages are?
Shadow & Balance not in the same ballpark with respect to balance/representation, etc. Shadow just worse than early expac. (Source)
Shadow went from highly represented, to second to last with the change of a patch. If War/Mage is toned down, could help w/ Balance
Second to last? By what measure? (Source)
Keep in mind, I don't consider "representation" as a good measure of balance, but even if I did I don't see the data. (Source)
I was just curious as to why there has been no consideration of changes for sp's regardless of idea output from the communtiy
Idea output from the community has never been a factor on whether or not we make a change (Source)
so, what's the point of beta and ptr? /confused
Feedback is always welcome. (Source)
But the implication that if the community proposes a lot of solutions, we must choose one of them is false. (Source)

what do you really think about warrior? Overpowered/a bit op or balanced? Serious question
They we're considered weak so we buffed them. Then they were considered too good so we rolled back a buff. (Source)
So for me I am going to see how things play out a bit more but I think they are strong but manageable. (Source)

Have you ever thought of implementing a blizzcon global champion title for those who won?
I think it would be cool to celebrate them in game somehow for sure (Source)

Any plan for a new title after "the bloodthirsty" in pvp?
Probably not. Those achievements often encourage some degenerate behavior. (Source)

any thoughts on current BG queue times? 13 minutes waiting for a random is killing my desire to play this game.
Definitely looking at it. It isn't a technical problem unfortunately. (Source)
Perhaps the system could prioritize HvA matchups, and do HvH/AvA if a match can't be found in (X) minutes.
RBGs does do that. I would hesitate to say that's even a last resort as I'd prefer to explore other routes (Source)

Compromised accounts - Potential Trojan
This post has been updated with more information here.
Originally Posted by Blizzard (Blue Tracker)
We've been receiving reports regarding a dangerous Trojan that is being used to compromise player's accounts even if they are using an authenticator for protection. The Trojan acts in real time to do this by stealing both your account information and the authenticator password at the time you enter them.

If your account has been compromised recently, I'd recommend looking for the Trojan. It can be identified by creating an MSInfo file and then looking in the Startup Program section of that file for either "Disker" or "Disker64". It will usually appear like this:

Disker rundll32.exe c:\users\name\appdata\local\temp\w_win.dll,dw Name-PC\Name Startup
Disker64 rundll32.exe c:\users\name\appdata\local\temp\w_64.dll,dw Name-PC\Name Startup

We are currently looking for more information on the Trojan. We have not been able to locate any anti-virus programs that will remove it besides just reformatting your system. If you have been recently compromised and find it on your system please reply with the following pieces of information.

Armory Stats - Guild Boss Kills
Our friends over at WoWProgress have put together some nice stats on the number of guilds and players that are killing bosses.

This article was originally published in forum thread: Warlords of Draenor Group Finder and Item Level Squish, Blue Tweets, Armory Stats started by chaud View original post
Comments 39 Comments
  1. moveth's Avatar
    Im glad that soloing things won't be ruined.
  1. jinreeko's Avatar
    how many times do they need to say that item squish won't affect soloing old raids?
  1. mmoc63282c73c3's Avatar
    What's up with the kills on Paragon normal compared to Garrosh on the first armory graph ?
  1. Ponkie's Avatar
    Quote Originally Posted by Microchaton View Post
    What's up with the kills on Paragon normal compared to Garrosh on the first armory graph ?
    There was a bug where armory wasn't recognizing Paragons kills, most of our guildmates didn't get credit on armory for 2 weeks.
  1. darxide's Avatar
    Quote Originally Posted by jinreeko View Post
    how many times do they need to say that item squish won't affect soloing old raids?
    This is the internet, particularly the WoW related internet. The land of "ZOMG TEH SKY IZ FALLING !!!1" and "Y U HATE US BLIZZ?", et al.
  1. Spotnick's Avatar
    I really fail to see how a raid group finder would work without a kind of feedback system where you can rate the people and avoid some like the plague. If people are not accountable for their performance, this feature will be useless.

    Just do it and give it a decay.
  1. mmoc1615415e70's Avatar
    "There's nothing at all wrong with going back and doing legacy raids and other content. The achievement system, cosmetic rewards and titles, and most recently transmogrification all serve to reward that playstyle. There's also a lot to be said for just being able to revisit old locations, for the sake of nostalgia or getting to experience them for the first time, without needing to find a like-minded group. As Rygarius noted, we're committed to making sure that we don't disrupt players' ability to engage in that gameplay."

    So Blizzard, why can we still not enter a solo raid without needing another player or character to make the group? It's really annoying. Doesn't sound like you are committed to it at all.
  1. The Ogdru Jahad's Avatar
    Quote Originally Posted by Spotnick View Post
    I really fail to see how a raid group finder would work without a kind of feedback system where you can rate the people and avoid some like the plague. If people are not accountable for their performance, this feature will be useless.

    Just do it and give it a decay.
    As much hate as such a feature will get, I agree, a rating system needs to be in place. You start at 100% and if people downvote you for being an ass, you go down a little, if raid leaders using the tool hover over your name and see a 50%... they'll be less inclined to bring you along. That's incentive enough not to be a complete jerkweed!
  1. Zhaine's Avatar
    I get annoyed that dev's only seem to answer questions that people who know how to search the internet already know the answer too, give me some new info dammit!
  1. Spellbraker's Avatar
    Quote Originally Posted by segoplout View Post
    "There's nothing at all wrong with going back and doing legacy raids and other content. The achievement system, cosmetic rewards and titles, and most recently transmogrification all serve to reward that playstyle. There's also a lot to be said for just being able to revisit old locations, for the sake of nostalgia or getting to experience them for the first time, without needing to find a like-minded group. As Rygarius noted, we're committed to making sure that we don't disrupt players' ability to engage in that gameplay."

    So Blizzard, why can we still not enter a solo raid without needing another player or character to make the group? It's really annoying. Doesn't sound like you are committed to it at all.
    You can enter raids solo...Every tier except for Mists raids.
  1. redaxe's Avatar
    Chaud, what are these "nice" wowprogress stats telling us?
  1. MasterHamster's Avatar
    Quote Originally Posted by segoplout View Post
    So Blizzard, why can we still not enter a solo raid without needing another player or character to make the group? It's really annoying. Doesn't sound like you are committed to it at all.
    Patch 5.1.....
  1. mmoc1615415e70's Avatar
    Quote Originally Posted by MasterHamster View Post
    Patch 5.1.....
    Ok - sorry about that, had no idea! Very happy to hear it. Well done Blizzard! (runs off with tail between legs)
  1. Frozenbeef's Avatar
    Quote Originally Posted by Spotnick View Post
    I really fail to see how a raid group finder would work without a kind of feedback system where you can rate the people and avoid some like the plague. If people are not accountable for their performance, this feature will be useless.

    Just do it and give it a decay.
    You obviously haven't thought that through very well, you wouldn't be the only one that has the power to down vote people. Imagine every single time someone quits in lfr they down vote the entire raid just to spite them. Then there would be people down voting for silly reasons such as they just don't like them or they aren't specced the way you want them to be etc.
  1. SL1200's Avatar
    So the lfr is going to get nerfed? Long overdue.
  1. Dvaldin's Avatar
    Quote Originally Posted by Frozenbeef View Post
    You obviously haven't thought that through very well, you wouldn't be the only one that has the power to down vote people. Imagine every single time someone quits in lfr they down vote the entire raid just to spite them. Then there would be people down voting for silly reasons such as they just don't like them or they aren't specced the way you want them to be etc.
    That's just what I was going to say. If people really want to be 'jerkwads' they'd just downvote everyone but themselves. The potential of such a system have a real negative impact rather than being used as intended is too great. Giving raid leaders the ability to kick someone should work just fine. Sure, it won't be perfect, but anytime you delve into randomness, it's obviously never going to be perfect. Hence, random.
  1. Sandrita's Avatar
    It's just me or the people asking questions on Twitter are a bunch of whiny kids?
  1. grexly75's Avatar
    Quote Originally Posted by Spotnick View Post
    I really fail to see how a raid group finder would work without a kind of feedback system where you can rate the people and avoid some like the plague. If people are not accountable for their performance, this feature will be useless.

    Just do it and give it a decay.
    Wont work because the system will be open to abuse, though one way around that problem of abuse it to make it like the kick system in that every one in the raid group has to vote the person down a reputation level and not just one or four or whatever the kick system needs now.. But then again the problem of abusing the system still remains..

    Quote Originally Posted by The Ogdru Jahad View Post
    As much hate as such a feature will get, I agree, a rating system needs to be in place. You start at 100% and if people downvote you for being an ass, you go down a little, if raid leaders using the tool hover over your name and see a 50%... they'll be less inclined to bring you along. That's incentive enough not to be a complete jerkweed!
    As my bit above says there would be a high probability of people abusing the system..
  1. bloodwulf's Avatar
    Quote Originally Posted by segoplout View Post
    "There's nothing at all wrong with going back and doing legacy raids and other content. The achievement system, cosmetic rewards and titles, and most recently transmogrification all serve to reward that playstyle. There's also a lot to be said for just being able to revisit old locations, for the sake of nostalgia or getting to experience them for the first time, without needing to find a like-minded group. As Rygarius noted, we're committed to making sure that we don't disrupt players' ability to engage in that gameplay."

    So Blizzard, why can we still not enter a solo raid without needing another player or character to make the group? It's really annoying. Doesn't sound like you are committed to it at all.
    You can.... Have you tried recently? I solo TK on 3 different toons and never have to have a group. It works for BT, Hyjal and older raids from vanilla for sure.
  1. mmoc3c935abe17's Avatar
    For people wondering here is the list for AVs that detect the trojan. https://www.virustotal.com/en/file/8...c0344/analysis

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