Warlords of Draenor Dev Interview, Season 15 Begins, Season 14 Titles, Blue Tweets

Diablo III - Patch 2.0.1 Notes

Hearthside Chat - Art with Ben Thompson

Planned Alpha Wipe with Reward for Testing Real Money Purchase, Datamined Facts Behind the Heroes Free to Play Model

Warlords of Draenor Developer Interviews
There were a few developer interviews at the recent press events, so today we are taking a look at interviews with Ion Hazzikostas from Eurogamer and Brian Holinka from PlayersCut.

Eurogamer
  • The Level 90 boost is being sold to allow players that would have purchased multiple copies of WoW to get more Level 90 characters to do so in a more reasonable way.
  • The price point was decided upon to avoid devaluing the accomplishment of leveling a character to 90.
  • If Blizzard's goal was to sell as many boosts as possible, they would have set the price lower.
  • The price point wasn't selected to maximize profit, just to represent the amount of time that it takes to level to 90.

PlayersCut
  • The team has already started planning for the next two expansions.
  • Removing arena teams was an important part of increasing participation in arenas.
  • There is a lot of Garrison content that comes from having followers.
  • Patch 6.0 isn't the end of new content for Garrisons, as more content can be added as the expansion progresses.
  • The devs know that some kind of Garrison PvP sounds really cool, but there aren't any solid plans yet.
  • Ashran has a lot of players taking part in the battle, but they are spread out so that performance doesn't suffer. Ashran has a fortress for each faction, as well as capture points spread around the outside of the zone that are beneficial to hold. There will likely be a larger central battle with other battles going on around the outer part of the zone.
  • There aren't any plans for mobile content for WoW right now.
  • The technology for character model animation was finally at a point where models could updated for this expansion. Character models had also started to look outdated compared to some of the newer art assets in the game. The Pandaren were the test for new character models, and using lessons learned from them the team can update all of the other races.
  • There are so many older armor models that it isn't possible to go back and update them all. The team can use them as inspiration for new armor sets though.


PvP Season 15 Begins
Season 15 gear uses the same models as Season 14, but with different colors available to each faction.
Originally Posted by Blizzard (Blue Tracker / Official Forums)
With weapons at the ready and armor secured, it’s time to kick off PvP Season 15! The playing field is even once more, and this is your chance to prove that true grit and steely determination are what it takes to become a champion. So grab your most trusted companions and teach your enemies the true definition of fear!

Before you set foot in an Arena or on a Battleground, keep in mind we’ve made a few changes this season:

  • Conquest gear is now Item Level 550
  • The Dampening debuff will be applied in 2v2 matches 5 minutes after the start of an Arena match, and games will reach a draw at 20 minutes. Dampening decreases the effectiveness of healing spells by 1% every 10 seconds.
  • Base Resilience is now 77% (up from 72%).
  • Battle Fatigue is now 65% (up from 55%).

Good luck, champions—may the most bloodthirsty warriors win!

Season 14 Titles
Originally Posted by Blizzard (Blue Tracker)
These titles and achievements were indeed given out erroneously, and we're in the process of applying some fixes that will remove them from characters below level 90.

One additional clarification, since we've seen this question come up elsewhere: These titles went out completely separately from the ladder, and thus did not affect the number of titles given to max-level players in any way. No one is missing titles due to this error.

Blue Tweets
Originally Posted by Blizzard Entertainment
Classes
I'd like to point out Life Tap, which changes to a passive and maintains its bar position for destruction. I like that.
Seems like there has been much confusion about this tweet. It refers to how 3 active talents share 1 button without macros. (Celestalon)
What if it's a tier where one of the talents is passive? It will be an empty slot then?
Then we likely would not make the other two share a button like that. (Celestalon)
Couldn't talents be adjusted so that they can be made into one skill slot. Tiger's Lust is the only ability 1/2
No, we don't want to constrict our design space to 'only new buttons' or 'no new buttons' for a row. Mixtures are great sometimes (Celestalon)
So stuff like the warrior tier with Bladestorm etc
Yes; we could make Shockwave, Dragon Roar, and Bladestorm all share a button, so you don't have to swap after retalenting. (Celestalon)
Would it be Macro-able? Like "/cast Tier3Talent" or something?
Something like that. Mages already can do /cast Mage Bomb. (Celestalon)

Cool or Uncool: Instead of separate spells, procs like Pyro/MC change upgrade Fireball/Shadowbolt. #ButtonBloatProbz
We think we could do a lot more spell replacement. (holinka)

Personally, maintaining %dmg buffs is not interesting gameplay. There's a reason ISF got cut from Destro.
It depends on *how* you maintain it. If it just happens, it's just rampup. If your rotation molds around it, it can be cool/fun. (Celestalon)
could we rebalance lavalash to not require flame imbue? it doesnt feel like weapon imbues are optional at all
Weapon imbues are not intended to be optional. (Celestalon)
Not saying imbues should necces be passive, but if they are active they need to provide meaningful gameplay.
When you get to the point of complaining about the maintenance upkeep of a 1hr buff, that persists through death... (Celestalon)

What are your thoughts on passive immunities like dematerialize & subterfuge, Holinka? Are they staying for WoD?
Not committed to either staying. (holinka)

Art
Will the new char. models change Tauren male dual weilding's graphic to stop the left hand weapon from slanting to the left?
Yes; the latest in-progress version has the weapon turned around completely and clipping into your crotch. (I'd hope so.) (Dave_Maldo)

Character / Items
Why is there a need for catch up loot? Why are we encouraged to skip old tiers of content in every expac?
Many reasons. A big one is so that the playerbase is centralized; easier for guild recruiting, playing with friends, etc. (Celestalon)

Warlords of Draenor Stats
passive != fun! is math not fun? is altering your fantasy incarnation via the universal language useful?
We're not making stats more/less passive. Math is fun. I don't understand what your issue is. I suspect a misunderstanding. (Celestalon)
excuse my bad jokes. just that balancing stats, building different gear sets for different situations, etc, was a lot of fun. ->
And still will be. We're not getting rid of that, at all. (Celestalon)

Obv, I'm talking about Active Mitigation scaling. If Multistrike provides only dps/threat, it will be a garbage stat for tanks.
All secondary stats will be of defensive value for tanks. Some may be passive mitigation, some may be active mitigation. (Celestalon)

PvP
Can you please clarify the requirements for Hero of the Horde/Alliance?
let's say there's 1000 ppl above 1000, then top 5 get hero. If #5 doesn't have 50 games, then #6 gets hero. (holinka)

Have you guys considered random starting locations and horde v horde, af v af in random bgs? (maybe not all)
many players find the faction swap in RBGs quite jarring. Not something we want to expand on. (holinka)

I dont think you ever commented on what you think the prob is in AV/IOC. Thoughts?
IoC I blame mostly on a bug in 5.3 where Alliance could leave gates early and win most games. (holinka)
This damaged the hivemind view of Horde win chance in the bg and so sophisticated horde avoid it. (holinka)
AV has map problems, but Horde also avoid it, making the situation even worse. (holinka)
Some might think map design is only problem but even on mirrored maps, one faction fares better. (holinka)
Much obliged; very relieved to hear the AV map is suspect. I've said this for awhile. Thanks!
Woah, easy there. I said it has problems, but I'm not sure they are HUGE problems. (holinka)
Not to be rude but if you know AV has problems, why has nothing been done in 8+ years?
AV has gone through a lot of change in 8 years (holinka)

Final win to loss ratio 4 ally in ioc: 100 wins, 2 losses. How do devs look at those stats and call them fair-balanced?
We've been pretty clear on saying there's a problem but it's more complicated to fix than some players think. (holinka)

Heroes of the Storm - Illidan
Illidan is just one of the WoW characters that appear in Heroes of the Storm! (He also comes with a normal skin that we looked at recently)

This article was originally published in forum thread: Warlords of Draenor Dev Interview, Season 15 Begins, Season 14 Titles, Blue Tweets started by chaud View original post
Published on 2014-02-26 09:09 AM
101 Comments
Comments 101 Comments
  1. Syniax's Avatar
    Quote Originally Posted by moveth View Post
    I have said from the start. 60$ is a fair and correct price.
    I agree the price for the level 90 character is on point and fairs out with the whole gaming community where games pop out for 60 dollars. So if you want that new shaman for example for a whole new experience in the game... 60 dollars is a good price for it all instead of buying a game, your buying a whole new character to experience the game with. Now will it only be just the 60? or for example if I had a level 80, will they have a reduce price? lol
  1. Krekko's Avatar
    For those saying "It's worth like $10", keep in mind you are in fact also paying for the convenience (in addition to bypassing other services), so comparing the time played to cash is really not realistic and grasping at nothing.

    That all said, I do hope they go back into the game and remake 1 or 2 of each classes more favorite tier sets.

    Like Paladins Judgement and Lightbringer Armor.

    Shaman's Tier 1 and Tier 2 sets.

    So on, for the 10th anniversary. Such epic sets.
  1. Claymore's Avatar
    Selling 90's is still a pretty shitty design choice, so I'll be taking my leave. Hopefully Blizzard will consider abandoning the concept before it goes live, because I can promise it, it won't have a positive effect on the game.

    Which is a shame, since everything else with WoD looks solid. Nothing super-exciting or mind-blowing, mind you, but solid.
  1. mikencarly's Avatar
    Quote Originally Posted by Claymore View Post
    Selling 90's is still a pretty shitty design choice, so I'll be taking my leave. Hopefully Blizzard will consider abandoning the concept before it goes live, because I can promise it, it won't have a positive effect on the game.

    Which is a shame, since everything else with WoD looks solid. Nothing super-exciting or mind-blowing, mind you, but solid.
    Speak for yourself my MIND WAS BLOWN AWAY!!!!
  1. Aelric70's Avatar
    Quote Originally Posted by Arkthus View Post
    2 days of /played, which means a week playing each evening... So, it's not even worth 10$....
    2 days with full heirlooms and no profs maybe... More like 3.5-4.5 without that. Even 2 days is 48 hours of full grinding--in what world is more hours than a week at a full time job worth $10? And who has 7 hours a night available for an entire week? Oh yeah, the people with nothing better to do who will probably just grind it out.

    You have no concept of time's value and are clearly not the target audience.
  1. Collected's Avatar
    I can't believe Blizzard are trying the "time it takes" argument.

    I buy a month of access for $14.99. Within this month of game time I can do what I like and if I decide to roll an alt, I'll ding 90 within that month of game time. It takes a couple of days /played to ding 90 running dungeons with heirloom gear.

    So to suggest that the 1-90 journey is now worth $60 of time makes absolutely no sense. For $60 you can get 4 months game time. In those 4 months I could roll 4 alts and ding 90 4 times.

    It's pretty blatant what's going on here. They want to milk this feature as much as possible and maximise their income as a result. But then this should be no surprise to us considering the price tag placed on single items in the game. So this fits the Blizzard profile perfectly. Milk their players for as much money as possible. I just wish they'd quit with the BS and actually admit it rather than trying to dress up a $60 in game purchase as being worth the amount of time invested to get a player to 90.
  1. Aelric70's Avatar
    Quote Originally Posted by Collected View Post
    I can't believe Blizzard are trying the "time it takes" argument.

    I buy a month of access for $14.99. Within this month of game time I can do what I like and if I decide to roll an alt, I'll ding 90 within that month of game time. It takes a couple of days /played to ding 90 running dungeons with heirloom gear.

    So to suggest that the 1-90 journey is now worth $60 of time makes absolutely no sense. For $60 you can get 4 months game time. In those 4 months I could roll 4 alts and ding 90 4 times.

    It's pretty blatant what's going on here. They want to milk this feature as much as possible and maximise their income as a result. But then this should be no surprise to us considering the price tag placed on single items in the game. So this fits the Blizzard profile perfectly. Milk their players for as much money as possible. I just wish they'd quit with the BS and actually admit it rather than trying to dress up a $60 in game purchase as being worth the amount of time invested to get a player to 90.
    Go do that. Others will find ways to get way more than $60 or even $240 (4x buy-90s) out of those ~250 hours you will be committing to that grind over 4 months of play
  1. mmocfc138a9a69's Avatar
    "The $60 price point wasn't selected to maximize profit, just to represent the amount of time that it takes to level to 90."

    A.K.A: "Milking mindless sheeps ... for dummies".

    xDDDD.
  1. zrankfappa's Avatar
    The achievement of leveling all classes to 90 is immediately devalued as soon as the buy-a-90 goes live. As someone who has a 90 in every class, it sort of bothers me that it will just be assumed that i bought them all, but at the same time I actively suppress this feeling because it makes me feel like a pansy.
  1. bornlivedie's Avatar
    "The $60 price point wasn't selected to maximize profit, just to represent the amount of time that it takes to level to 90."

    lolwut

    A player with a lot of time in his hands can probably do this in less than a week. If you play a few hours a day you can problably hit 90 in a month. A month is $14.99 (where I live it's $7.50).

    Quote Originally Posted by Claymore View Post
    Selling 90's is still a pretty shitty design choice, so I'll be taking my leave. Hopefully Blizzard will consider abandoning the concept before it goes live, because I can promise it, it won't have a positive effect on the game.

    Which is a shame, since everything else with WoD looks solid. Nothing super-exciting or mind-blowing, mind you, but solid.
    When will people abandon this hopeless way of thinking? Paying for a level 90 character isn't pay to win and will not impact in the game negatively or positively.

    If you think that there will be a lot of players with a level 90 character that doesn't know how to play it, well, you don't need the boost to see that. It's happening right now. Plus Blizzard stated that if it's your first level 90, they'll give you a few skills in the start and work your way up from there.

    And don't forget, you still have 90 to 100 to master your character.

    P.D.: Leaving the game because of this? Overreact much?
  1. Williamgood's Avatar
    Content during level is not relevant compared to current expansion(now if they would look at guild wars 2... their scaling system makes everything relevant)
  1. Nerraw's Avatar
    Quote Originally Posted by Claymore View Post
    Selling 90's is still a pretty shitty design choice, so I'll be taking my leave. Hopefully Blizzard will consider abandoning the concept before it goes live, because I can promise it, it won't have a positive effect on the game.

    Which is a shame, since everything else with WoD looks solid. Nothing super-exciting or mind-blowing, mind you, but solid.
    How, in your mind, does paying for a level 90 help you in any way when it comes to the Warlords endgame?
  1. mmoc93b0a7f85d's Avatar
    Quote Originally Posted by Nerraw View Post
    How, in your mind, does paying for a level 90 help you in any way when it comes to the Warlords endgame?
    Where did he say that it did?
  1. Puntar's Avatar
    Quote Originally Posted by Williamgood View Post
    Content during level is not relevant compared to current expansion(now if they would look at guild wars 2... their scaling system makes everything relevant)
    Sure, yet sometimes this scaling just suck balls BIG TIME even in GW2

    And remember Oblivion scaling, where any rat/boar can kill your character even with in the best gear equipped (with no mods ofc).
  1. Siddown's Avatar
    Quote Originally Posted by NigelGurney View Post
    Where did he say that it did?
    Because he specifically called it out as the sole reason why he is leaving. If he felt it had zero impact, there'd be no reason to leave. If he's quitting as a statement against Blizzard, why not quit when RAF was introduced or people using leveling services?
  1. Thimagryn's Avatar
    If anyone from Blizzard is reading here for feedback on their expansion plans - Demon Hunter class plz -
  1. mmoc93b0a7f85d's Avatar
    Quote Originally Posted by Siddown View Post
    Because he specifically called it out as the sole reason why he is leaving. If he felt it had zero impact, there'd be no reason to leave. If he's quitting as a statement against Blizzard, why not quit when RAF was introduced or people using leveling services?
    Well, it clearly dosen't have zero impact.
  1. Redwyrm's Avatar
    Yes; the latest in-progress version has the weapon turned around completely and clipping into your crotch. (I'd hope so.) (Dave_Maldo)
    I like the cut of your jib, sir
  1. Nerraw's Avatar
    Quote Originally Posted by NigelGurney View Post
    Where did he say that it did?
    Quote Originally Posted by Siddown View Post
    Because he specifically called it out as the sole reason why he is leaving. If he felt it had zero impact, there'd be no reason to leave. If he's quitting as a statement against Blizzard, why not quit when RAF was introduced or people using leveling services?
    There you go. Mirror of my thoughts.

    - - - Updated - - -

    Quote Originally Posted by NigelGurney View Post
    Well, it clearly dosen't have zero impact.
    Please, explain me how buying a character to be levelled to 10 levels below the cap has an effect so bad that people will leave over it as the sole reason.
  1. Stormykitten's Avatar
    I feel like the purchased level boost is such a good example of the instant gratification mindset steadily growing these days. I am in the camp that doesn't think it is a huge advantage, I just don't want the precedent of that feature (and those that come after) to be around in my gaming environment. It's a shame it doesn't seem so high prio with everyone to look at big pictures, though.

    As for the game itself, I am confident they are crafting a decent experience; for example I think using the trinket effects from SoO as stats is a good idea. Though i think they were tests anyway.
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