Build of the Month
Recent Blue Posts
Limited PvP -> PvE Free Character Transfers
The Cataclysm Classic Pre-Expansion Patch Arrives April 30
Recent Forum Posts
An Update on This Year’s BlizzCon and Blizzard’s 2024 Live Events
Did Blizzard just hotfix an ilvl requirement onto Awakened LFR?
What's the state of PvP like today?
GvG Card Reveals: Call Pet, Mech-Bear-Cat, ToshleyUpcoming Dungeon Changes and Hotfixes
We’ve been going through a lot of player feedback and concerns regarding changes to Dungeons and the Dungeon queuing system. In response to this feedback, we’re making a number of changes and wanted to give everyone a heads up on the changes that we’re working on to address these concerns.
Reverting Default Loot Method to Need/Greed:
Going into Warlords, we wanted to try to improve the dungeon loot experience by using Raid Finder’s personal loot system that had been successful in Mists. While the personal loot system was successful in eliminating drops that weren’t usable by anyone in the group, and reducing loot contention in some cases, we’ve also heard a significant amount of player feedback about how the system feels unrewarding and unsatisfying.
In response to these concerns, we are reverting the default loot method in Dungeon Finder back to Need Before Greed. As always, players who queue with a full premade group may change group loot settings, and may use Personal loot or any other method if they so prefer. We will be evaluating how to better present and structure dungeon personal loot, and hope to re-introduce the system in the future.
We’re adding an award of 50 Garrison Resources for completing the first Random Warlords of Draenor Heroic Dungeon of the day.
This change is self-explanatory. Yay for more resources!
Adding Call to Arms for In-Demand Dungeon Roles:
The Call to Arms system for roles that are in-demand was not functioning properly for the max-level Warlords dungeon queue and we have a hotfix in the works to address this. In addition, the Satchel of Savage Mysteries will be updated to always contain an Augment Rune, which is a tradeable item that provides a consumable buff that is ordinarily only available through Raid Finder.
Hotfix for being unable to queue from Ashran Cities:
We recently implemented a hotfix that prevents players from queuing for dungeons or Raid Finder while actively engaged in PvP; to prevent players from circumventing item level requirements by using scaling PvP gear. However, this logic was mistakenly counting Stormshield and Warspear as active PvP areas and preventing queuing from there. That is being corrected (the hotfix will require realm restarts).
Keep in mind that these hotfixes and changes are still being tested, and are not live yet. As always, your continued feedback is welcomed and please let us know how these changes play out.
Reverting Default Loot Method to Need/Greed:
Going into Warlords, we wanted to try to improve the dungeon loot experience by using Raid Finder’s personal loot system that had been successful in Mists. While the personal loot system was successful in eliminating drops that weren’t usable by anyone in the group, and reducing loot contention in some cases, we’ve also heard a significant amount of player feedback about how the system feels unrewarding and unsatisfying.
In response to these concerns, we are reverting the default loot method in Dungeon Finder back to Need Before Greed. As always, players who queue with a full premade group may change group loot settings, and may use Personal loot or any other method if they so prefer. We will be evaluating how to better present and structure dungeon personal loot, and hope to re-introduce the system in the future.
We’re adding an award of 50 Garrison Resources for completing the first Random Warlords of Draenor Heroic Dungeon of the day.
This change is self-explanatory. Yay for more resources!
Adding Call to Arms for In-Demand Dungeon Roles:
The Call to Arms system for roles that are in-demand was not functioning properly for the max-level Warlords dungeon queue and we have a hotfix in the works to address this. In addition, the Satchel of Savage Mysteries will be updated to always contain an Augment Rune, which is a tradeable item that provides a consumable buff that is ordinarily only available through Raid Finder.
Hotfix for being unable to queue from Ashran Cities:
We recently implemented a hotfix that prevents players from queuing for dungeons or Raid Finder while actively engaged in PvP; to prevent players from circumventing item level requirements by using scaling PvP gear. However, this logic was mistakenly counting Stormshield and Warspear as active PvP areas and preventing queuing from there. That is being corrected (the hotfix will require realm restarts).
Keep in mind that these hotfixes and changes are still being tested, and are not live yet. As always, your continued feedback is welcomed and please let us know how these changes play out.
Warlords Season 1 Conquest Gear Fixes
As many of you reported, at the launch of Warlords of Draenor, there were a few issues that allowed players access to Conquest gear prematurely. Conquest Points (and in some cases, actual pieces of Conquest gear) were being rewarded from various locations, including Ashran, despite there being no active PvP season.
We’ve now corrected those issues, and no more Conquest points are being earned or Conquest gear being awarded. However, to preserve the integrity of the upcoming PvP season, we need to do something about the Conquest points and gear that some players were already able to acquire.
So, before Warlords Season 1 begins on December 2nd, we’ll be converting any remaining Conquest points into Honor, similar to the end-of-season conversions we’ve done in the past. Any excess Honor over the 4000-point cap will be converted into gold at 35 silver per Honor. Any existing Primal Gladiator’s (Conquest) gear will be converted into its corresponding Primal Combatant’s (Honor) counterpart.
We apologize for the confusion that these issues have caused, but are looking forward to a clean start to the PvP season on December 2nd.
We’ve now corrected those issues, and no more Conquest points are being earned or Conquest gear being awarded. However, to preserve the integrity of the upcoming PvP season, we need to do something about the Conquest points and gear that some players were already able to acquire.
So, before Warlords Season 1 begins on December 2nd, we’ll be converting any remaining Conquest points into Honor, similar to the end-of-season conversions we’ve done in the past. Any excess Honor over the 4000-point cap will be converted into gold at 35 silver per Honor. Any existing Primal Gladiator’s (Conquest) gear will be converted into its corresponding Primal Combatant’s (Honor) counterpart.
We apologize for the confusion that these issues have caused, but are looking forward to a clean start to the PvP season on December 2nd.
Level 1 Blueprint Book Hotfix
Just in case though, we've implemented a hotfix to add a Book of Garrison Blueprints to the Garrison Blueprint Vendor for characters with a Level 2 Garrison. Characters that for whatever reason did not automatically learn the Level 1 blueprints during the upgrade into a Level 2 Garrison will be able to purchase this book to learn all the building blueprints they're supposed to have access too.
However, there's a known issue where the book isn't being consumed when learned and the item cannot be sold or destroyed at this time. We're working on another hotfix to correct this issue but wanted to get this hotfix out so affected characters can progress.
However, there's a known issue where the book isn't being consumed when learned and the item cannot be sold or destroyed at this time. We're working on another hotfix to correct this issue but wanted to get this hotfix out so affected characters can progress.
Blue Posts
Originally Posted by Blizzard Entertainment
Battle in Ashran Daily Quest
We're investigating some issues with this daily quest and agree that it's not as clear as it should be.
For everyone's benefit: currently, you need to collect 100 Artifact Fragments and turn them in at your Garrison. As Jinx mentions, turning them in to the NPCs in Ashran itself will remove them from your character and not count for the Apexis daily.
We're also experiencing an issue for some players where the quest tracker will say "0/1 Artifact Fragments" and never update. If you experience this issue, you are still able to complete the quest by collecting 100 Artifact Fragments and turning them in at your Garrison. The quest tracker just won't tell you that you've completed the quest.
We're working on correcting these issues, but in the meantime, following those instructions should allow you to complete the quest. (Blue Tracker / Official Forums)
Mob Corpses Despawning Quickly
Intentional or a bug?
The change to have corpses despawn more quickly was intentional and was made to improve performance in heavily populated areas (where a large number of things are being killed). We're planning to increase the duration again after things calm down. (Blue Tracker / Official Forums)
Postmaster Hotfix
We had a discussion with the Postmaster a bit over a week ago regarding their mailing habits. Seeing that they haven't changed their ways, we're going to have another talk with them. In the meanwhile, I can visualize the Postmaster picking through a deserted dungeon like some sort of reverse Treasure Goblin and mailing things back to you. (Blue Tracker / Official Forums)
We're investigating some issues with this daily quest and agree that it's not as clear as it should be.
For everyone's benefit: currently, you need to collect 100 Artifact Fragments and turn them in at your Garrison. As Jinx mentions, turning them in to the NPCs in Ashran itself will remove them from your character and not count for the Apexis daily.
We're also experiencing an issue for some players where the quest tracker will say "0/1 Artifact Fragments" and never update. If you experience this issue, you are still able to complete the quest by collecting 100 Artifact Fragments and turning them in at your Garrison. The quest tracker just won't tell you that you've completed the quest.
We're working on correcting these issues, but in the meantime, following those instructions should allow you to complete the quest. (Blue Tracker / Official Forums)
Mob Corpses Despawning Quickly
Intentional or a bug?
The change to have corpses despawn more quickly was intentional and was made to improve performance in heavily populated areas (where a large number of things are being killed). We're planning to increase the duration again after things calm down. (Blue Tracker / Official Forums)
Postmaster Hotfix
We had a discussion with the Postmaster a bit over a week ago regarding their mailing habits. Seeing that they haven't changed their ways, we're going to have another talk with them. In the meanwhile, I can visualize the Postmaster picking through a deserted dungeon like some sort of reverse Treasure Goblin and mailing things back to you. (Blue Tracker / Official Forums)
New Developer Twitter Feed - @WarcraftDevs
We’re helping consolidate up to the minute game information and interaction with a new Twitter account: @WarcraftDevs. This new account will be your one-follow need for any developer insight, design inquiries, and dev feedback. Many of our devs will continue using Twitter for personal tweets, but any new game info or design insight they have to share will come from @WarcraftDevs. As always you’ll also want to follow @Warcraft for game announcements, news, and community creations.
Follow today and get up to the minute game development and design info!
Follow today and get up to the minute game development and design info!
Raid Lockout Systems Recap
Apparently there is still some confusion as to how raid lockouts work, so Blizzard posted a handy summary.
Lockouts at a Glance
Raid lockouts limit the number of times a character can kill a boss in a week for a chance at obtaining loot from that boss. Throughout the years, different raid lockout systems have been used, and multiple systems exist in the game depending on the system used at the time a raid was introduced.
To check your current raid lockouts press your ‘O’ key in-game, select the Raid tab, and click on Raid Info in the upper right. This will display your current lockouts, and time left until they reset.
There are three types of raid lockouts used in the game.
Loot-based Lockout
Used for: All Raid Finder raids, Siege of Orgrimmar Normal/Heroic, Warlords raids Normal/Heroic.
Flexible Boss-based Lockout
Used for: Normal difficulty raids from Wrath of the Lich King through Throne of Thunder.
Strict Instance-based Lockout
Used for: All classic raids (Molten Core through Sunwell), Heroic difficulty of Wrath of the Lich King raids through Throne of Thunder, and all Mythic difficulty raids.
Raid lockouts limit the number of times a character can kill a boss in a week for a chance at obtaining loot from that boss. Throughout the years, different raid lockout systems have been used, and multiple systems exist in the game depending on the system used at the time a raid was introduced.
To check your current raid lockouts press your ‘O’ key in-game, select the Raid tab, and click on Raid Info in the upper right. This will display your current lockouts, and time left until they reset.
There are three types of raid lockouts used in the game.
Loot-based Lockout
Used for: All Raid Finder raids, Siege of Orgrimmar Normal/Heroic, Warlords raids Normal/Heroic.
- You can kill a boss as many times per week as you like, but only loot it once per difficulty.
- Anyone can join anyone’s instance.
- Bosses are never locked to you, and you can always go back and kill them later even if you’ve skipped them by joining a group that had progressed further.
- Raid sizes can be anywhere from 10 to 30 players, and difficulty automatically scales to match.
Flexible Boss-based Lockout
Used for: Normal difficulty raids from Wrath of the Lich King through Throne of Thunder.
- You can only kill a boss once per week, and you may not enter an instance where a boss is alive that you have already defeated that week.
- You can move from group to group during a week as long as you’re joining instances that don’t have bosses alive you’ve already killed.
- If you enter an instance that is more progressed than your own and get saved to it, you will be locked to all prior bosses.
- You can move between 10 and 25 raid size, given these constraints.
Strict Instance-based Lockout
Used for: All classic raids (Molten Core through Sunwell), Heroic difficulty of Wrath of the Lich King raids through Throne of Thunder, and all Mythic difficulty raids.
- Progress is tied to a fixed instance ID. Once tied to an instance ID, you may not enter any other versions of that raid of that difficulty until your raid lock resets.
- If other players complete that instance while you are absent, the instance will be empty for you as well, because progress is tied to the instance, and not your character.
- You may not switch between 10-player and 25-player raid size once locked to one size or the other (does not apply to Mythic which is 20-player only).
Poll - Dungeon Loot System
Please keep in mind that the players taking part in the poll are not exactly representative of the entire WoW population.
Warlords of Draenor Marketing
Blizzard stepped up their marketing this time around, with Gorehowl in Times Square and China, Gazlowe's Reality ads actually appearing in newspapers, and a new blog on Tumblr. You can even call 1-844-GAZLOWE to inquire about Draenor real estate!
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