Deck Spotlight: Tidesoftime's Modern Control Shaman, Fight Night S5E3 Decklists, S4 Rankings

New Wave of Alpha Invites, Designer Insights: Giving Tyrael Justice

Warlords of Draenor Developer Interviews
There were a few developer interviews at the recent press events, so today we are taking a look at an interview with Alex Afrasiabi from games.on.net.

  • There is no guarantee that all character models will be done by release, but they hope to have most ready.
  • The biggest thing stopping players from coming back is leveling.
  • As the game got older, more and more content was added, which makes it harder for people to catch up when they return.
  • Having to deal with all of the other things that are a part of coming back to the game along with leveling is too much for some people.
  • When you come back to the game and use a boost, your bars are cleared, talents unlearned,
  • The team also looked at significantly increasing experience rates rather than offering a boost, but it didn't feel great and the boost was the better option.

Warlords of Draenor - New Blingtron
It looks like Engineers will be getting a new Blingtron in Warlords of Draenor, but not a new mount.



Official Class Roles Forums Closing (EU)
Originally Posted by Blizzard (Blue Tracker / Official Forums)
Hello everyone,

So that player discussions remain concentrated in existing forums where they receive more attention from other players, we have made the decision to retire the following forums. These forums will be deactivated next week:

Damage Dealing
Healing
Tanking

In preparation for their final closure, these forums will remain accessible in Read Only mode, but will be removed permanently on 8 April 2014. If you wish to save any relevant information, please do so before then.

Blue Tweets
Originally Posted by Blizzard Entertainment
Classes
Will New Veng buff self heals? Dev team's goal for value of Bonus Armor vs other stats (situational or always good)?
Yes, it'll buff self heals. Bonus Armor is always good, except the extremely rare case where you're taking no physical damage. (Celestalon)
Or the damage bypasses armor.
I think having physical-flagged damage that bypasses armour is a silly design. Just use magic to do it.
Not at all. Bleeds, sonic spells, etc... All totally make sense as non-magic but not reduced by armor. (Celestalon)
OK I'll give you those! But what about things like Malkorok's Blood Rage. It is an obvious physical weapon attack.
Balance. We don't want to hit clothies harder than plate/shield wearers for that. (Celestalon)

haste, that you'd get the 84 damage in exactly 14 seconds, with the partial tick appearing 14.0s after cast (6 DPS).
Yes, duration never changes. You'll get the partial tick at 14sec after cast. DPS won't have breakpoints. (Celestalon)
Are you still planning to give everyone a Pandemic mechanic?
Yes, but 130% duration max, not 150%. (Celestalon)
So if you recast way before the first partial tick, will you end up with "queued" partials?
No, partial ticks are only when the dot falls off before its' next scheduled tick. (Celestalon)

Warlords of Draenor Stats
do you know how current dodge/parry stats on items will be changing in 6.0? Should I stockpile them "just in case"?
They'll be replaced with other useful stats. (Celestalon)

I knew that Cleave got dropped. I thought socket/multistrike/readiness were all rare 'bonus tertiaries' in WoD. Got a source?
No, Multistrike and Readiness are full, legitimate secondary stats, like Haste/Crit/Mastery. Socket is a bonus tertiary. (Celestalon)
still wondering how you're gonna make Multistrike appeal to tanks.
Been working on that recently. Nothing to announce yet, but it'll be spec-specific passives that interact with multistrike. (Celestalon)
so things like grand crusader, revenge, Crimson scourge?
Yeah, that style of ability (though different effects). (Celestalon)

Does everyone have a baseline level of Multistrike / Readiness, like Crit & Mastery, or is it possible to have 0, like Haste?
Zero baseline. (Celestalon)

PvE
How were Large Anima Golems supposed to be used in the Dark Animus encounter, especially on heroic?
To buy you more time on the enrage. But they ended up being too dangerous/disruptive to make it worth the benefit. (WatcherDev)

Could some indication that a spell is armor ignoring physical be added to the DJ? It is occasionally unclear.
It's certainly something we can do a better job of calling out when it comes to tank mechanics. (WatcherDev)

PvP
Will we see any balance changesonce the new PvP Gear shows its full effect ?
Perhaps. At this point we will only be able to do hotfixes which limits our options. (holinka)

Any chance we could see TB and WG put in as 40v40 BGs so they are full?
More focused on building Ashran. WG and TB had their time to shine. It would take a lot of work to restore them properly. (holinka)

Hard to get conquest losing in flag cap RBGs compared to losing in an AB-style RBG. Intended? Flag cap = so black and white.
It's the nature of CTF. You're comparing a map with a score of 3 to a map with a score of 1600. (holinka)

Warlords of Draenor
Any plans on making Thorim soloable for everyone?
Changed in 6.0: Thorim won't trigger the deathball/reset when his arena is empty. (WatcherDev)
Valithria is soloable, not sure what is wrong.
By, say, a warrior? Probably just going to make her skippable. (WatcherDev)
Yeah, that was a joke (coming from a healer), but great to hear Ulduar/ICC are getting a look - how about Vezax?
What's the concern with Vezax? (WatcherDev)
Yeah, Vezax and the trash leading up to him won't be there. Need to soft reset.
Fixed that also (in 6.0). Thanks. Could happen if you killed one of the Keepers very quickly. (WatcherDev)

TCG Art Update
Blizzard has updated the art gallery to feature ten new pieces.


This article was originally published in forum thread: WoD Dev Interviews, WoD Blingtron, Class Roles Forums Closing, Blue Tweets, TCG Art started by chaud View original post
Comments 114 Comments
  1. mmoc20f98e63ea's Avatar
    Quote Originally Posted by Gohzerlock View Post
    Watch they'll delay human and blood elf, everyone will race change because of the new models that are out.... then BAM belf / human released best models in game new cycle of race changes.
    Well, Human Female is already 90% done, I think, since they already released some teasers http://www.wowhead.com/news=226814/w...le-human-model.

    So, my guess is Blood Elfs and their counterparts Night Elfs. I kinda feel sorry, since my main is BElf pally, but hey, I will never go race change to a COW!
  1. Azrile's Avatar
    Quote Originally Posted by OneSent View Post
    I find this highly unlikely. But, I don't have their internal data, so maybe it's true.


    That's why you keep adding more and more catch up mechanics. Not a way to bypass the entire experience.


    Then why exactly are they playing the game? They just want to skip it all and go straight to the end?


    That is truly the most pathetic excuse I've heard coming from a developer interview in a long time. They could have cut the amount of time to hit required to hit max level in half or even more if they wanted to! Anything else to make the experience "less painful" than just saying "swipe your credit card and we'll give you a raid-ready, level capped character instantly!"

    They were worried about the earlier zones feeling dead, so they implemented cross-realm zone. CRZ was completely in vain when they implemented level 90 boost. And I know not everyone will use the boost, but so far, apparently over a hundred thousand already have. That's a lot less people populating those low level zones!

    This should not have been added to the game until WoD was launched. And even then, having a level 90 character should be a requirement before you can boost another character to 90; just like how you needed a lvl 55 character to make a Death Knight.

    What's the matter Blizz? Sub numbers looking a little bit low going into the new expansion, had to artificially boost your profits for the next shareholder meeting? Also, don't forget the fact that despite all of this, they are charging us $10 more for the expansion.
    They are right about increase EXP rates even more. Already if you have heirlooms it feels stupid to level. You start in a zone, and by the time you are halfway through, you are doing grey quests. I know it is impossible to convince people.. but if they increased exp rates even more, then you would have to do like 5 quests in a zone, get all the intro quests done.. then go do a different zones first 5 quests. You throw in the monk buff and rested exp. you would literally be doing grey quests before you could finish the first quest hub in each zone.

    Also, it is just a pyschological thing. It doesn´t matter how fast the levels are, it still ´feels´ long telling an old player they have to level their 60 up to 90 to start the new content.

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    Quote Originally Posted by Vacashamanica View Post
    Everybody got mad about my true sincerity related comments, Good, that proves it´s true.
    mostly we are just laughing at why someone who hasn´t played in 4 years is raging so hard on a gaming forum about something very insignicant. You posted like 5 times in the first 10 responses, all with very angy comments and you don´t expect people to laugh at you? if your mommy won´t give you allowance to pay your subscription, the free2play games are that way >>>
  1. Gilian's Avatar
    Seriously, everyone is waiting for information on WoD and we have to wait for new content for a year and we get some shitty interview about level 90 boosts?

    And please stop pretending like there were no other options than selling level 90 characters or increasing xp rates. I've seen plenty of good ideas on the official forums. Either Blizzard isn't creative enough, rofl, or they just want to rip people off and it is sickening how so many will just eat their shit.
    On top of that giving away level 90s with the preorders right now was also just a stupid idea. I guess they wanted people to keep playing but now everyone is raging in LFR/BGs more than ever before.

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    Quote Originally Posted by Doomchicken View Post
    Considering they thought that making harder heroics would be a good idea for group finder groups and also that making a fuck ton of dailies would be good for end game content, it's not exactly too far fetched to believe they didn't think of it straight up.
    Yes, no one at Blizzard could possibly think of that right away... :S. No wonder people call eachother Blizzard apologists on here.

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    Quote Originally Posted by Mormolyce View Post



    I'M SO MAD OVER A PROMISE THEY NEVER MADE!!! GRaaghhghHGHHGHH!!!
    They say: "New character models." So that means all they have to release is two new models. Although they don't promise more and it's all legal it's still pretty much misleading. People will obviously assume/think they will have new models on all their characters.

    I am also not entirely sure why you are fine with unfinished new models. The trailer also just says "Build and upgrade your own garisson." If they release it unfinished (with lack of buildings or something) I guess you can't be upset either.
  1. billielecter's Avatar
    Very droll. All I can read is that devs are endeavoring to advertise and beautify boost system. Good job, well done.
  1. Paradyne's Avatar
    Quote Originally Posted by Gilian View Post
    Seriously, everyone is waiting for information on WoD and we have to wait for new content for a year and we get some shitty interview about level 90 boosts?

    And please stop pretending like there were no other options than selling level 90 characters or increasing xp rates. I've seen plenty of good ideas on the official forums. Either Blizzard isn't creative enough, rofl, or they just want to rip people off and it is sickening how so many will just eat their shit.
    On top of that giving away level 90s with the preorders right now was also just a stupid idea. I guess they wanted people to keep playing but now everyone is raging in LFR/BGs more than ever before.
    It fits in exactly with all the evidence of where their intentions lie with Warlords of Draenor. Their focus is on trying to bring back players who have left in the past and they are taking the current player base for granted and assuming they'll go along with whatever they do. Even if a lot of us do leave because of the changes & delays they have convinced themselves old players will come back to the game if they make it harken back to the BC era. Everything they are doing...the item squish, 90 boosts, new character models, revisit to familiar BC era zones, Mythic difficulty, removal of flying, triage healing....it's all about bringing back nostalgic players.

    They have basically taken the approach that Ghostcrawler's era of Cataclysm/Mists and chasing casuals have driven away the hardcore player base & they need a hard core focused expansion led by Alex Afriasabi (hardcore personified if you know his EQ background) to bring them back.

    It's going to be an interesting gamble to see if they can bring those people back & at the same time risk losing a lot of the current player base. Grab some popcorn it's going to be interesting.
  1. Lochton's Avatar
    Quote Originally Posted by Vacashamanica View Post
    nop , I leave WoW 4 years ago. all should.
    What... is the general complaint about then?

    What they are doing is not illegal, they hold no place saying you get all the new models on release, they say "WoD brings new models" and so on. And Nope, not gonna step down for one person's request of stopping, nothing better out there at the moment.
  1. Shudder's Avatar
    Quote Originally Posted by Doomchicken View Post
    Originally the boost wasn't for money. It was changed to a 60 dollar for each 90 after free with WoD boost because a player at blizzcon pointed out that people would just buy multiple boxes to get more 90's.
    Which is bullshit and a cop out. They could have easily made it so you could only have one boosted character per account. That if you tried to make a new account with a boosted 90 it wouldn't allow the account to be merged. They chose the money option, end of story.

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    Quote Originally Posted by OneSent View Post
    This should not have been added to the game until WoD was launched. And even then, having a level 90 character should be a requirement before you can boost another character to 90; just like how you needed a lvl 55 character to make a Death Knight.
    That's another thing that is laughably pathetic about all of this. If I were to start a new account right now the game wouldn't let me make a DK until I level to 55. (Yes that restriction is still in the game) But if I whip out my credit card and throw down $60 I can get to 90 without any restrictions.

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    Quote Originally Posted by Azrile View Post
    it is free with the expansion for returning players.
    It's not free. You're paying $10 for it thanks to the asshats that answered "sure I don't mind paying for something you told us would be free" on that survey.
  1. Farora's Avatar
    Not all races from the start? That will be fun. Come on Blizzard, get your shit together.
  1. snuzzle's Avatar
    Quote Originally Posted by Zemiki View Post
    It says Fall of 2014. So probably not December. I'm guessing either October or November.
    December 20 is the last day of Fall in the US at least (December 21 being the first official day of Winter), so they could technically have a release around Christmas and still keep their promise of Fall 2014. Kind of sad, really.

    And yes, I will be pretty disappointed if it takes them that long, the longest final tier yet, and we still don't have all the models done at release. I'd rather them release it sooner with fewer models than later with all, but yeesh. I wouldn't consider anything past September (one full year of SOO) "sooner" in any stretch of the word.
  1. xindralol's Avatar
    okay if leveling is really the biggest problem for people that want to come back to the game there should be a huge (and I mean HUGE) increase in subs now ... right?
    like seriously, who are they kidding?
  1. Zstr's Avatar
    Quote Originally Posted by Shudder View Post
    It's not free. You're paying $10 for it thanks to the asshats that answered "sure I don't mind paying for something you told us would be free" on that survey.
    it's inflation, it's not for 90 boost especially, check around almost all games have raised prices
  1. Arkthus's Avatar
    Guys, don't expect the expansion too soon... the beta hasn't even started yet, and last time it was mentioned, they said "less soon".... If it comes out on september, the beta will be very short, because I don't expect it to come before may or june...
  1. mmocfd1b0ab5a3's Avatar
    Damage dealing forums will be shut down? Where do we keep discussing with blues now?
  1. Shudder's Avatar
    Quote Originally Posted by Zstr View Post
    it's inflation, it's not for 90 boost especially, check around almost all games have raised prices
    It's not inflation, don't be ignorant. Other games are NOT raising in prices, you know why? Cost is going down. They save a shit ton of money selling most of their copies digitally since they now no longer have to manufacture boxes, pay to ship them and have them taking up space on retail shelves. The extra $10 is because of the "free" boost. They sent out a survey asking if people would be cool with having to pay $10 extra for the expansion for the 90 boost. Inflation my ass.
  1. OneSent's Avatar
    Quote Originally Posted by Shudder View Post
    The extra $10 is because of the "free" boost. They sent out a survey asking if people would be cool with having to pay $10 extra for the expansion for the 90 boost. Inflation my ass.
    Wow, I had completely forgotten about that survey. Good catch!
  1. arcaneshot's Avatar
    Quote Originally Posted by Shudder View Post
    Which is bullshit and a cop out. They could have easily made it so you could only have one boosted character per account. That if you tried to make a new account with a boosted 90 it wouldn't allow the account to be merged. They chose the money option, end of story.
    Considering you chose to ignore the fact that even if they didn't sell the boost as a separate service you'd still have to pay to get the complimentary boost that comes with buying WoD in the first place, I'm not sure why you thought this was an altruistic move in the first place.

    You're angry just because you're looking for an excuse to get angry-- that's the end of the story.
  1. Chaosweaver's Avatar
    Quote Originally Posted by Aviney View Post
    Blizzard sure as hell is not full of "lazy fucks". There's a shit-ton of work that needs to be done on the models and they'll be done when they're done. No one from Blizzard has ever said they'd be ready when WoD launches. They've said they hope for that, the same as they said here.
    Lazy fucks is the best way to describe them, this expansion has only 2 new things added to the game and that's garrisons and new character models. Everything else is removing existing features. How exactly do you justify them not even being near beta 4 days away from April while making an expansion with more or less NOTHING new?

    They are sitting on their hands doing nothing, no beta, no "huge info dump" that they said they will give us, they are not even half way done with the character models.

    - - - Updated - - -

    Quote Originally Posted by Zaydin View Post
    Eh, I'm still of the personal opinion that Blizzard is saying 'Fall 2014' to give themselves wiggle room, because if we do see a September release date or later, that's an entire year with no new content, something Blizzard has stated that they've been wanting to seriously avoid repeating after Wrath, and to a lesser extent, Cataclysm.
    So in other words it would be nothing new if it happens? They did it in last two expansions, why would you think they suddenly will start making expansions faster? They "want to avoid it happening" again but it already happened. They are just not as good as people think they are, they are probably half way done with WOD atm.
  1. Orlong's Avatar
    Quote Originally Posted by Aviney View Post
    Blizzard sure as hell is not full of "lazy fucks". There's a shit-ton of work that needs to be done on the models and they'll be done when they're done. No one from Blizzard has ever said they'd be ready when WoD launches. They've said they hope for that, the same as they said here.
    Seems funny most game studios can put out a whole game with hundreds of models in less time than its taken to get these models done.

    - - - Updated - - -

    Quote Originally Posted by Zemiki View Post
    It says Fall of 2014. So probably not December. I'm guessing either October or November.
    Still too late in my opinion
  1. Shudder's Avatar
    Quote Originally Posted by arcaneshot View Post
    Considering you chose to ignore the fact that even if they didn't sell the boost as a separate service you'd still have to pay to get the complimentary boost that comes with buying WoD in the first place, I'm not sure why you thought this was an altruistic move in the first place.

    You're angry just because you're looking for an excuse to get angry-- that's the end of the story.
    What makes you think I'm cool with the boost at all? In any form?
  1. Arvandor's Avatar
    this interview show that these profit assholes only defend their prized boost system.. nothing in this statements is true!

    and are you realy believe they bring wod without all the revamp races? the december info was not an accident..

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