Dec 17 Hotfixes, US Connected Realms, Blue Tweets, EU and RU Matching, Heroes Q&A

[chaud]

Travis Day on Magic Find, RoS Beta Known Issues, DamienJohn's Advanced Tooltips Suggestion

Hearthstone Beta Patch 4243 - Mage Nerfs, Bug Fixes; Interview with Muffinsssss

Patch 5.4.2 Hotfixes: December 17

Classes

• Priest (Forums / Skills / Talent Calculator)
  
  • Discipline
    
    • Resolved an issue that caused Power Word: Barrier's damage reduction effect to not apply properly to players under various conditions.
      

Raids, Dungeons, and Scenarios

• Siege of Orgrimmar
  
  • Paragons of the Klaxxi
    
    • Melee damage from the Paragons should now be more consistent and less likely to spike.
      
    • Ka'roz the Locust's Hurl Amber ability should no longer target players that have mutated into an Amber Scorpion.
      
    • Resolved an issue where Xaril the Poisoned Mind was not using Toxic Injection on the raid as soon as he joins the fight.
      
• Terrace of Endless Spring
  
  • Terrace of Endless Spring now only has an item level requirement of 470 to be eligible to queue on Raid Finder difficulty. The additional requirement for a character to have completed Heart of Fear first had been removed.
    

Connected Realms Update

As previously announced, we’ve been working toward connecting realms to increase the number of players on low-population realms, and since then have completed several connections. As a part of our ongoing communication, we wanted to provide you with an update that contains a list of completed realm connections, currently planned connections, and any additional future plans in one convenient location.

*Please note this list does not encompass all potential future connections. Please check back for further updates.

Future Connections

12-17: Crushridge and Anub'arak/Chromaggus/Garithos/Nathrezim/Smolderthorn have been temporarily delayed due to some additional work that's needed to complete the connections. We will provide an update on when this realm is rescheduled.

We will be connecting the realms listed below on Monday, December 23rd during a scheduled maintenance beginning at 6 a.m. PST through approximately 11:00 a.m. PST. Once maintenance is finished, these realm connections will be complete.

• Anetheron and Magtherdion/Ysondre
  
• Darrowmere and Windrunner
  
• Demonsoul and Coilfang, Dark Iron, and Dalvengyr
  
• Draka and Suramar
  
• Velen and Eonar

We will be connecting the realms listed below on Friday, January 3rd during a scheduled maintenance beginning at 6 a.m. PST through approximately 11:00 a.m. PST. Once maintenance is finished, these realm connections will be complete.

• Akama and Dragonmaw
  
• Executus and Kalecgos
  
• Galakrond and Blackhand
  
• Shandris and Bronzebeard
  
• The Forgotten Coast and Balnazzar, Gorgonash and Warsong
  
• Undermine and Anvilmar

*​Plans for these connections may change at any time, but we’ll provide additional updates on specific dates for future connections here as we can. Please note that as a part of the connection process realm times may change to match each other.

Blue Tweets

Character
Would love an explanation about what value you believe repair costs have, or lesser charms. Forced value much?
Repair costs make death and gold have some relevance rather than letting you ignore them. (Source)
Lesser charms let players progress their character on non raid nights. (Source)

Items
And just OHs? What about 2Her uses? Will they not miss with white attacks? I'd say make everyone hit 100% now to be fair.
Why? Their damage is balanced around how much hit they use today. The goal is to remove hit gearing, not to buff some melee. (Source)
(That wasn't intended to be trite. I'm interested in the discussion.) (Source)

- best wishes and thanks for you efforts. As to gearing will enchants/gems change with gear and change to off-spec?
Enchants and gems will not swap. Only Agi, Str and Int on armor and set bonuses will swap. (Source)

Isnt not being able to use gear before you get other pieces worse than having to reforge your gear to be able to use it?
Overall no, because reforging can affect every piece while your scenario might affect only a couple. (Source)
Now set bonuses can mess with that, which I tried to address in another recent tweet. (Source)
having to work to make a piece right is fun for some. If it isn't they don't have to.
That's like saying you don't have to equip bracers though. There is too large a penalty if you don' participate. (Source)

Are we going to see any changes with tier pieces? Too many classes on a token, set bonuses that feel needed so you can't break
We discuss that a lot but don't have any changes to announce. The latter particularly feels bad to me. (Source)
It gets into that whole space of having gear in your bag that you aren't wearing. (Source)
We've discussed smaller sets, larger sets, sets that can be made in different ways, and so on. Nothing final though. (Source)
And do remember, our goal is not to let players gear up as fast as possible. Many suggestions seems to have that goal. (Source)

since hit and expertise are going away, what's the point of removing reforging TOO?
It would still feel mandatory but for even less of a benefit than it provides today. (Source)

Strength is now just agility on plate, why not merge them?
There is benefit in knowing that if you're a DK, look for Strength as well as being able to have some items only for DK/war/pally. (Source)

or will every (for example) Paladin T17 helm have identical secondary stats?
Yes. The variation can come from Warforged, sockets and tetiary stats. (Source)
Will tier pieces inherit Warforged/socket/tertiaries from their token? Or added at turn-in?
Not sure yet. It's possible the tier pieces will have no random qualities. (Source)

Russian and European Players to Meet in Battle!

The winds of change are blowing across World of Warcraft’s European Arenas and Battlegrounds. As the next step in what we started with Patch 5.4 and its changes to region-wide matchmaking, Russian and European players will soon be able to face off against each other.

Every player queuing for a Battleground or Arena will still join a team with players from realms with the same language designation – German with German, English with English, and so on. However, this change means that now a Russian-speaking team might be pitted against a team from anywhere in Europe.

Russian players will still be able to join a cross-realm group with their RealID friends from European realms, and queue with them for Battleground and Arena matches.

And finally, so you’ll know who cut you down just as you were capping that flag – players using non-Russian clients are now able to see character names in Cyrillic.

Heroes Development Team Q&A
The Heroes team did a Q&A session on Twitter yesterday. You can find a recap of the important points below:

Blizzcon

• The line at Blizzcon kept getting longer and longer as time went on, which surprised the team. They had no idea it would get so much attention.
• Cursed Hollow and another map without tributes were the first maps added, but most people didn't enjoy the map without tributes.
• Haunted Mines was a last minute addition right before Blizzcon, but the team really did a good job making it quickly.
• The Blizzcon build is just a small fraction of what the team has been experimenting with.
• The team showed the talent system at Blizzcon, which they hope will add a lot of depth to the game.
• There will be more variants of the existing maps, as well as some new map types.
• There will be at least a few more heroes like Abathur that are different and interesting to play.
• Since Blizzcon, the team has been adding new skins, new maps, new heroes, new talents, a social system, custom lobbies, replay viewer, a system for rejoining games, a more competitive experience, and more.
• Some people at Blizzcon said that just jumping in to the demo was overwhelming, so a new user experience is also being worked on as well.

Heroes and Other MOBAs

• Heroes is different from a standard MOBA.
  
  • Heroes will use map design to change how you play the game. You will evaluate the map, allied heroes, enemy heroes, and then that will change what talents you want to take. This will add a lot of variation and depth.
  • All of the heroes from multiple Blizzard games coming together is also something different.
  • The games will also have shorter (~20 minute) games, which feels better than longer and slower paced games.
• Some MOBAs are hostile to new users, but Heroes will take steps to address that.
  
  • Heroes will have shorter games, which will allow new players to lose faster and be less angry at the outcome.
  • There are team experience points, so your hero doesn't end up far behind everyone else.
  • There aren't any kill stealing, as killing enemies is good for everyone on the team.
  • Players can also take advantage of AI and training modes.
  • Toxic behavior in the community is a possibility, so that will be addressed if it is an issue.
  • The heroes are fun to play, even if you are losing!
• Heroes has an interesting way to handle leveling:
  
  • Heroes doesn't have any gold, just shared experience for the team.
  • Leveling gives you access to more talents.
  • Anyone on your team that is near a kill will earn experience for the team. This allows for a lot of map objectives and cross map movement, as you can go and help someone in another lane without worrying about losing experience as long as someone is still in your lane near the fights.
  • Just having someone in every lane will earn the maximum experience possible. Abathur can still contribute experience to his team, even if he is off by himself in a lane.

Gameplay

• The Dragon Knight on the Dragon Shire will be able to kick enemy heroes far away, move very quickly, and has some cool visuals, but it has a limited duration. There are other fun map mechanics like this.
• There are a few options for dealing with disconnected players. If you disconnect from a game, you will gain nothing from it, including currency. If you disconnect too often, you will earn less from future games. If you actually disconnect from a game, you can rejoin if you can reconnect. AI will take over for players that go AFK. Hopefully there won't be any incentive to disconnect with a short game.
• The Ultimate breakpoint at level 10 and Storm powers at level 20 is being discussed. People who like it say that it creates strategy, giving the team that is level 10 around 30 seconds to take advantage of this and attack or do something. The other team might back off to avoid the unbalanced fight. If the level gap is too big things may not be fun for the team that is behind, but you can outstrategize the other team even if you are behind. It hasn't been a big problem in fairly balanced games.
• Some talents are more generic and shared between multiple heroes, but some will have talents that are unique to them. Abathur is one example of a hero that needs unique talents. More talents will be added over time. If there are too many talents in the future, the team can scale the number back down. Some of the unique talents will have unique art as well. Sergeant Hammer will pilot the siege tank, which has different art for the Hover Siege talent.

Esports

• Heroes becoming a competitive esport will be up to the players. It will have all of the tools needed, and be a competitive game, but beyond that it is up to players. The time limit will also help to keep the game competitive.
• Heroes will have an Observer mode, similar to Starcraft, as it is built on the same technology.
• A map editor will be added, but it isn't clear when it will be ready. The team is passionate about giving the community tools to make maps or mods.
• Heroes is about a great gameplay experience right now, but as they continue working on the game they will take a look at the experience of watching the game. Physics on environmental objects and deaths is one fun addition they have made.

Misc

• The game is being internally tested now, so beta is coming "Soon™" (when it is ready).
• Characters from Lost Vikings and other older games will be added. Almost everyone at Blizzcon was asking about Lost Vikings, so design work for characters from that game was started after Blizzcon.
• Heroes will have emotes, including dancing.
• Heroes will have a Mac client.
• The universes crossing over will be fun, so you could have a Demon Hunter in a Hunter skin from WoW, or Nova with a Amazon skin, or Stitches with an Infernal skin.

[Teebone]

WoW! First. So... enchants, gems and whatnot stay the same? God this new loot/item systems sounds worse by the day.

[Deleted]

piece of shit changes. WHERE ARE THE WARRIOR NERFS?

[Vyse]

Fucking Russians lag all over the place!

[Toiran]

"Some MOBAs are hostile to new users, but Heroes will take steps to address that."

Apart from gameplay, this is so important, if they pull it off, it will certainly attract a big audience.

I think they will pull it off as well, we can all call the WoW community toxic, but it's nowhere near as bad as moba's, where it's pretty much the norm to be an utter dick to everyone and anyone, I don't think Blizz would want/allow a game with their name on to have a reputation for that like LoL.

I don't know why people expected gems/enchants to change...that would be too much, the whole point of the system is, lil timmy the dps warrior, can now tank adequately in his dps gear for a certain boss or a large pack of adds etc, or XYZ can heal adequately for this fight, not you can just collect a couple pieces of gear and tank, heal and dps as you please, if you want to be a good healer, a good tank, good dps, you will need a full set for each role, if you want to be a good dps and also an adequate tank, you can use your dps armor pieces.

[Baracuda]

FINALLY we can read russian names! No more "nothing", ? or ???????????!

[Paulkariya]

I played on Dragonmaw in BC and Wrath. It was busy and lively back then, full of strong guilds, solid PVP culture, competitive AH. Since moving to Ner'Zhul to play with my fraternity brothers, I haven't visited once.

I am kind of surprised they are a candidate for connected realms. I guess it has kind of slowed down.

[Abbzow]

I find it a little strange how little attention Heroes has got atleast here in MMO-Champ. We waited years for this and had speculations about how it was about to be....Now I haven't seen a single thread about Heroes since Blizzcon :P

[Deleted]

WoW! First. So... enchants, gems and whatnot stay the same? God this new loot/item systems sounds worse by the day.

Do note that gem sockets will become a lot less frequent, and that we will have fewer items to disenchant. You might need to swap around a gem or two if you want to optimise your performance after respeccing, but it shouldn't be mandatory.

[Tenjen]

people dont seem to realise that melee white hits will miss in wod just as much as they do in WoD. The need for yellow hit will be eliminated and going into white hit was a phenomenal waste, with people irksome at the amount of hit from gear pushing them over the % even with reforge. (a lot of wasted ilvl)

- - - Updated - - -

WoW! First. So... enchants, gems and whatnot stay the same? God this new loot/item systems sounds worse by the day.

what? the changes to those things were announced during blizzcon.

[Sam the Wiser]

All I got from reading that Q&A was that Blizzard wants to hold your hand to the max. Well this pretty much spills over into all their games now.

[TrollShaman]

Server merging Windrunner? o: I hope Darrowmere's not severely faction-imbalanced and this'll be the greatest news yet.

[SelmarionX]

Hell yeah, well come back russian premade bg

[Kaleredar]

All I got from reading that Q&A was that Blizzard wants to hold your hand to the max. Well this pretty much spills over into all their games now.

Yes, because LoL totally doesn't have a training mode or any such thing...


oh, wait...




At any rate, Heroes is looking pretty cool. They've got a lot of opportunities to stick in cool heroes.

[Baneleaf]

I love the part about EU and Russian battleground mergers and they specify that they will be grouped with proper language realms, but US realms get to deal with the Brazilian realms in LFR and LFD. It is so much fun being in LFR with people who do not speak the same language.

[WyvernVin]

WoW! First. So... enchants, gems and whatnot stay the same? God this new loot/item systems sounds worse by the day.

It really does! Thought i was alone thinking the new system sounds a ton more confusing than the one we have today. Getting a suitable piece will be a bigger PITA since you will get crappy stuff most of the time.

Not liking it ...and i'm not of those against change.

[Deleted]

Heroes of the Storm is gonna be a great game. Looking forward to it.

[Alanar]

russians....-.- ooo hi instant interrupt hack<33333 whats your name? oo nvm I see ???????????

[Nerraw]

And there goes the last incentive to do random BGs in EU. Bloody hell.

[Shudder]

Not a slight on mmochamp, it's not your fault. Is anyone else bored with these updates? No information on WoD, no character model updates, no information on release or beta starting. It's like the game just went dark after Blizzcon. Do we even know if the expansion still exists?