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  1. #1

    Developer Reddit Q&A, Paragon 10 Man, Blue Posts, Pandaren Monk Pet, SWTOR Patch 1.4

    Diablo III Blog on Class Changes Coming, PTR Download Button Active On Launcher, Blue Posts, Curse Weekly Roundup

    Developer Reddit Q&A
    Several WoW developers answered questions on Reddit tonight. A short summary can be found below, but it is well worth it to read the entire thing!

    Misc
    • Player model updates are a high priority and will come with new animations.
    • Once you complete the legendary gem quest line, you will be able to purchase more gems as needed.
    • Activision has no effect on the game's direction.
    • Observer modes are still on the todo list, but require development time and technical improvements before they can be done.
    • Proving Grounds are still on the todo list and will hopefully make it into one of the Mists of Pandaria patches.
    • "More developers" is often proposed as a solution to various problems and Blizzard is actively hiring. It is hard to find people that fit within the Blizzard culture and it would be a mistake to hire too many people too quickly.
    • Combat racials will be improved for classes that lack them.

    PvE
    • The plan is still for more content to be released faster than before to keep players engaged with relevant content and not bored. They are also committed to reducing the time between the last major content patch and the next expansion.
    • Blizzard is not satisfied with the current status of 25-player raids and are still actively seeking a solution.
    • Raid Finder and scenarios will hopefully one day make it down to lower level content.
    • Upon being asked about another raid like Ulduar: "In fact, our next raid zone after these may be right up your alley...."
    • Ulduar like hardmode toggles will be added as appropriate.

    PvP
    • Blizzard would like to make queuing for random bgs better by ensuring some semblance of healer balance between Alliance/Horde.
    • There are a variety of improvements planed for both rated and unrated BGs.

    World
    • There are some bugs with cross-realm zones, as well as some tweaks that need to be made.
    • There wasn't time to fix the damage from Deathwing in Stormwind for Mists of Pandaria.
    • Pandaria has the best in-game storytelling there has ever been in an expansion and there will be more Wrathgate level cinematics, some larger events, and a more interactive and involved story without as much phasing.



    Paragon Switching to 10 Man Raiding for Mists of Pandaria
    Today Paragon announced that they will be moving to 10 man raids for Mists of Pandaria. For the new full roster, see their site.

    After Dragon Soul progression many of our players decided to quit the game, some of them were already showing lack of interest during the DS progress raids. In total 34 players took part in DS progress, 14 of which are no longer playing WoW at all. Most of them were longtime core players. On top of that some of our current players can't put in the time anymore as they used to do.

    We were able to get some quality recruits to replace the ones whom had quit, but not enough. So far we had recruited 12 players. It has always been hard for us to recruit new players and we pretty much had the same core of 20+ from late Ulduar to Dragon Soul which played a big part in our success.

    During the beta it became obvious that the current roster will not cut it in MoP unless we get couple of more quality recruits. So far we haven't been able to get the roster we needed and have decided it's better to continue as a 10man guild from now on than to hope for something miraculous to happen in the upcoming weeks. This also leaves time for our players to find a new guild before MoP if they so desire..




    Raid Testing Schedule - September 13
    Originally Posted by Blizzard (Blue Tracker / Official Forums)
    Raid testing will resume this Thursday, September 13.

    Each encounter should be available at approximately the listed times below for all Beta Test Realms, regardless of suggested geographical region.

    Gara'jal (Mogu'shan Vaults) - 25 Player Heroic
    10:30 PDT (13:30 EDT, 19:30 CEST)

    Blade Lord Ta'yak (Heart of Fear) - 25 Player Heroic
    16:00 PDT (19:00 EDT, 01:00 CEST)

    As always, this testing schedule is very fluid and subject to the realities of a beta environment. We might have to change the time of a testing session or cancel it entirely, due to bugs, builds, server hardware issues, etc. Keep an eye on this forum for the latest information, and thank you in advance for testing and providing feedback.

    Blue Posts
    Originally Posted by Blizzard Entertainment
    Mists of Pandaria Experience to Level
    We have definitely been tuning XP in Pandaria, and trying to hit a pace where a character with no rest, no heirlooms, and no guild is leveling comfortably.

    There was a significant decrease in the XP required to level from 87-90 applied a couple of weeks ago, and there was a similar adjustment for level 86 prior to that.

    Completed Kun-Lai Summit today, they lower the req. XP a few patches back so I was able to ding lvl88 by the Summit quests alone finally. It's still tight though, by doing every single quest in the zone I have dinged a few quests before Shado-Pan area (my last questhub) ends. I completed the zone with no rested XP at all and unguilded.
    This is pretty much what we're aiming for. We may still need to make a small tweak here or there.

    Do we know the current total XPs required for each level from 85-90? Is this posted somewhere?

    Currently
    • 86 13000000
    • 87 15080000
    • 88 18980000
    • 89 22880000
    • 90 27560000

    The fact is -- most people are in guilds, or do gathering along the way, or run dungeons, or use heirlooms, or build up some rest. Some people only quest in groups (and are therefore able to kill many more enemies per hour). Some only ever play solo.

    The values above may get changed a little bit in the next two weeks, but only if it can be demonstrated that they are still too high.
    (Blue Tracker / Official Forums)

    Brewfest Boss Level and Brewfest Dates
    Word is, Coren Direbrew has been working out with bigger kegs and he will indeed be a level 90 dungeon boss and his loot has been adjusted accordingly. Pace was something we considered, so we pushed the actual event by just over a week from when it normally happens (which you should be able to see on your in-game calendars now) to give players a bit more time to reach level 89, the minimum level required to queue for the encounter. Oh, we also added a couple more surprises but you’ll have to wait and see. (Blue Tracker / Official Forums)

    Challenge Modes Differences
    Challenge modes are more than just a timed run. On a basic level, every single creature in Challenge Mode dungeons is significantly stronger than the Heroic version (typically by a larger proportion than you see going from Normal to Heroic raiding, for what that's worth), and where appropriate, additional enemies or new mechanics are added to make sure that the threat of defeat is always present. For many players, simply successfully completing a challenge run is going to be, well, a challenge. That's why we award excellent Valor gains for doing so. Aiming for Silver, let alone Gold, will be something for experienced players to do once they've mastered the content.

    Players who tested the Scarlet Halls challenge mode when that one was open, to name one example, can probably attest that the Armory section of that dungeon is every bit as brutal as anything in Heroic Shattered Halls was in Burning Crusade. (Blue Tracker / Official Forums)

    Account Wide Professions
    Vanilla was a time of experimentation and 90%+ of the population playing with 1 main. Now it's a chore to level First Aid for alts hence it's difficult to see it seriously in design.
    Well, if you look at it like that, why not make levelling and loot account wide too? Shouldn't new characters actually be new? (Blue Tracker / Official Forums)

    Class Quests
    I personally loved Anathema’s quest line, it was one of the most fun quests I have ever completed, I suppose that's mostly because of the sense of accomplishment it yielded in the end and also because of its higher than usual difficulty level.
    That being said, we will have some really nice Monk quests, but for now, although we would love to do more class quests, we are focusing a bit more on faction specific quests. We have 11 classes, that means we would have to use a ton of resources to implement those quests and we just can’t spare them at this moment.

    Storyline and faction-specific quests on the other hand are getting some love; we’re focusing quite a lot on the Alliance VS Horde conflict for Mists of Pandaria, we will use plenty of other ways to help bring that conflict to another level, including for example the usage of scenarios.
    We’re really excited about bringing this old and original conflict back into Warcraft again.

    Be prepared for some epic legendary quests though as the expansion progresses! (Blue Tracker / Official Forums)

    Pandaren Monk Pet Lore?
    Yeah, of all the bizarre pets out there to collect, I have to say I think the little Pandaren is one of the least strange ones, lore-wise — I have a tiny Archangel of Justice following me around most of the time!

    I'm sure each of them can be explained in some way though. Magical error, inter-dimensional rifts, alchemy accident... (Blue Tracker / Official Forums)

    Pandaren Monk Pet 50% OFF -- This Week Only
    Originally Posted by Blizzard Entertainment
    Save big and prepare for Pandaria with a new sidekick. This week only, you can get the World of Warcraft Pandaren Monk companion pet for just $5 (EU - 5€ / 4.5£). That’s 50% off the regular price, making this a great time to round out your pet collection before the imminent arrival of the Pet Battle System.

    Hurry, this offer ends September 17, 2012 at 11:59 p.m. PDT.



    SWTOR Patch 1.4
    Patch 1.4 is live on the PTS and the patch notes are here! Darth Hater has some previews of the Dread Guard Armor, Moods System, Elite War Hero Weapons, Terror From Beyond, and New Daily Relics.

    Originally Posted by SWTOR
    Highlights
    • Terror from Beyond, a new Operation, is now available! Travel to the remote planet of Asation, where the Dread Masters have commandeered an ancient Gree Hypergate in order to unleash untold horrors upon the galaxy. Terror from Beyond features 5 powerful new boss encounters that can be challenged in 8- and 16- player Story or Hard Mode, offering some of the most challenging group content yet!
    • A new set of PvE gear is available! Dread Guard gear is now the most powerful PvE equipment in the galaxy. It can be acquired from deep within Terror from Beyond (Hard Mode).
    • Significant changes have been made to crowd control to address the amount of control a player can be subject to at once. See the Classes and Combat section for details.

    Full notes...



    Last edited by chaud; 2012-09-12 at 07:08 AM.

  2. #2
    I really hope we get to see more Reddit Q&As in the future. Provided a lot of insight.

  3. #3
    Is Paragons raid structure really "news"?

    Theyre a great guild and they do some great things, but it's really inconsequential to probably 90% of the people who read this site. Those who care enough to be interested in it probably frequent the Paragon site anyway.

  4. #4
    Mechagnome
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    Lol random guild news in the post....?!! Sorry but why do I care about a guild I am not part of?!

  5. #5
    Deleted
    Quote Originally Posted by DarkPhoenix View Post
    Is Paragons raid structure really "news"?
    I am more interested in seeing Boub's Garfield plush toy sit on a keyboard than reading about Paragon's switchover to 10man, they were yesterday's news the moment they got beat in DS race.

  6. #6
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    Quote Originally Posted by DarkPhoenix View Post
    Is Paragons raid structure really "news"?

    Theyre a great guild and they do some great things, but it's really inconsequential to probably 90% of the people who read this site. Those who care enough to be interested in it probably frequent the Paragon site anyway.
    I would say a top 5 world guild essentially falling apart is pretty significant news.

  7. #7
    Star Wars hasn't folded yet? "Our game got stale in less than a month...what should we do? Oh! We'll add a new 'raid' and one new set of gear in 8 months. That'll fix it." I blame negative karma from Lucas being a twat.

  8. #8
    Deleted
    Paragon switching is huge news and just another nail in the coffin of 25 man raiding.

  9. #9
    Seeing paragon fall apart makes me feel sad ... I'm wondering how 25man raiding ever gonna survive the coming years without extra incentives ! Rather then filling up their roster with new pp and risk losing the battle for a first rank .... they just going for 10man with the older experienced core members.

    Seems to me the easiest way to get a world first rank again.

    It's obvious that blizzard had killed of it's own playerbase ... how stupid

  10. #10
    the level xp right now is right where it needs to be and hopefully people will stop complaining long enough to reallise that

  11. #11
    Quote Originally Posted by DarkPhoenix View Post
    Is Paragons raid structure really "news"?

    Theyre a great guild and they do some great things, but it's really inconsequential to probably 90% of the people who read this site. Those who care enough to be interested in it probably frequent the Paragon site anyway.

    Its important because a highly regarded up untill now 25man has done what the majority of other guilds have have done in the past year, switching to 10man because they HAVE to not because they WANT to.

    Im part of the single remaining 25man progression guild on our server and we will survive into MOP, but many others haven't. They are dying and its sad

  12. #12
    News flash, people did 25 mans for gear.
    Source: Bitching by players on my server who did it for gear.

    Although it's sad seeing Para go to 10. Organizing 25 people was always a drain and hard effort.

  13. #13
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    Quote Originally Posted by Neurodrill View Post
    Star Wars hasn't folded yet? "Our game got stale in less than a month...what should we do? Oh! We'll add a new 'raid' and one new set of gear in 8 months. That'll fix it." I blame negative karma from Lucas being a twat.
    In 8 months they've added 3 new raids, that's a total of 14 bosses plus a new flashpoint and warzone and 3 new sets of PvE gear and 3 new PvP gear, versus WoW's 8 bosses in 10 months. So please get it right before you start shouting your BS.

  14. #14
    When you start seeing guilds like Paragon dwindling, you know there is a problem

  15. #15
    Deleted
    Okay Paragon are going from 25 --> 10 man... So what? They said themselves their players are getting bored and they haven't managed to recruit new people (Probably due to their high standards). How does this mean 25 man dying is dead or WoW is in trouble?

  16. #16
    Deleted
    Quote Originally Posted by subsidalos View Post
    When you start seeing guilds like Paragon dwindling, you know there is a problem
    If Paragon goes international, they would be flooded with applications, but i see the problem recruiting awesome Finish player to compete on the level they do. So i don't see those major 25man guilds dying, if they really want to "survive".

  17. #17
    Quote Originally Posted by rogas View Post
    I'm wondering how 25man raiding ever gonna survive the coming years without extra incentives
    Heretical statement: Maybe 25man raiding doesn't have to survive.

    It appears that raid size is less about playing with people you enjoy (i.e. the stock blue-post response to creating a new, standard raid size) and more about maximizing rewards. Legendary weapons (a mainstay of PvE progression) were exclusive to 25 man raids until the Firelands; prior to Cataclysm, higher raid sizes were rewarded with higher item levels. Now that 25 man raiding no longer has the incentives it previously had, people are migrating to 10 man raiding.

    The problem stems from balancing the reward-efficiency of multiple raid sizes. If 25 man raiding has too much incentive, it becomes required (in terms of progression raiding). If 25 man raiding has too little incentive, it is abandoned. Creating a standardized raid size would solve the incentive problem and allow encounters to be designed without consideration of how it will work with substantially more or less people.

    And don't worry about abandoning a raid size. They did it in the Burning Crusade, and people kept playing.
    For the midcores:
    Quote Originally Posted by Uricidea View Post
    Needing the trappings of success to last forever is selfish and childish.
    Quote Originally Posted by DeadmanWalking View Post
    If you want Blizzard to make the game hard for you then you have to make your position the majority position. Oh wait, you don't want the majority in your sandbox because you want to be a special snowflake.... guess you are screwed.

  18. #18
    Deleted
    Quote Originally Posted by Byrogan View Post
    In 8 months they've added 3 new raids, that's a total of 14 bosses plus a new flashpoint and warzone and 3 new sets of PvE gear and 3 new PvP gear, versus WoW's 8 bosses in 10 months. So please get it right before you start shouting your BS.
    While I too disagree with the ToR bashing, your argument seems kinda invalid seeing as it counts the upcoming (with unknown release date afaict) patch to ToR and doesn't count MoP which is coming in 16 days...

    Quote Originally Posted by |Dexter| View Post
    Lol random guild news in the post....?!! Sorry but why do I care about a guild I am not part of?!
    Personally, I find it more interesting than all of the news in the rest of the post. Guess some players are interested in the top raiding scene of the game and some aren't (and don't say that guild that was first to clear 2 out of 3 of current expansion's raid tiers isn't a part of the top raiding scene).

  19. #19
    Deleted
    "Player model updates are a high priority and will come with new animations." This is the most exciting info for me ;D Hope they prepare Dwarf model for MoP.

  20. #20
    Quote Originally Posted by Byrogan View Post
    In 8 months they've added 3 new raids, that's a total of 14 bosses plus a new flashpoint and warzone and 3 new sets of PvE gear and 3 new PvP gear, versus WoW's 8 bosses in 10 months. So please get it right before you start shouting your BS.
    actually they have added ONE set of pve gear, which was mainly cosmetic. set bonus's havnt changed. same with pvp gear. sure the stats increased, but do you consider the 3 levels of t13 to be one set. thought so. as for 14 new bosses, none of them have really interesting mechanics. tank and spank with the occasional tank swap and a puzzle boss. really thoughtful huh. so before you start shouting your BS take at look at what youre defending. SWTOR is a stale game because bioware failed to do anything interesting with it, when the game universe had so much potential. take a look at the new "teir" set. same models as the last one AND the same bonuses. good one.

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