Season 4, WWI, Forte disbands, Blue posts

[Boubouille]

The reasons behind the Season 4 delays
Drysc explains a little why we didn't see the 4th season of arena yet.

The seasons match PvE progression.

The final door in Sunwell Plateau just opened up on May 20th. We want that gear to begin circulating a bit before the next season starts. That's how every season works, we wait until a reasonable number of people are able to grab gear from the highest raid before kicking off a season.

How much and when, we're not saying yet.

Blue posts

Are you staying Shaman in WotLK?
I think you'll stay. (Source - Koraa, class designer)

WotLK Beta Signup
No Beta phase is currently active. (Source)

Different badges for different raid tiers in WotLK
You can listen to the Blizzcast too, but yes, that's what the current plan is. (Source)

European guild Forte disbands

[url="http://www.fortegaming.com"][img]http://static.mmo-champion.com/mmoc/images/news/2008/june/fortelogo.jpg[/img]</img>[/url]

It looks like we'll see a lot of guild disbanding before the release of Wrath of the Lich King. After Death & Taxes and Risen earlier this year, Forte is the next guild to disband (and the first european top guild to do it). We owe them a few things like the first Warglaive of Azzinoth drop, the Anetheron World First Kill, and even the first preview of Archimonde Loot on PTRs.

A long letter was posted on their site to explain their decision :

Many of you have probably wondered where Forte has been in terms of progress in PvE after patch 2.4. Well, here is the story of Forte in short and what has happened, yeah it's over.

Forte was created on the realm Daggerspine ~3 years ago and since then it has been a long journey for some and little shorter for others. The realm Daggerspine had its downside when it became mass populated and with that it brought the lag/crashes, this was during the AQ period. The choice was obvious to move to another realm and this time it was, Kazzak. Not only Forte migrated to Kazzak, the well known and very respected guild by everyone in Forte, Last Resort also joined Forte on Kazzak. On Kazzak, Forte managed to gather dedicated and good players which led Forte to a success in the Naxxramas instance with top 5 worldwide positions. The success was a fact but after sometime the bigger part of the guild left Forte to create a friend guild. With TBC at the doorstep Forte was left with only a few core players in the guild, with massive recruitment and filtering out the best players, Forte was finally back on track for TBC.

In TBC Forte continued doing good but it was still a unpolished diamond but overall the results from SSC, TK and all the other dungeons was good with top3 worldwide results on bosses (Kael'thas 2nd worldwide). I think everyone in Forte remember pre-nerf Al'ar (World 2nd) and how proud all the members were, even for some it is the best kill ever with Forte. The release of Black Temple and Mount Hyjal looked really good at start for Forte but due to only 25 people being able to attune to Mount Hyjal and to be able to do Black Temple it became very hard to compete alongside with Nihilum for the first kills and it started to look bad. Forte came back in Mount Hyjal with a world first kill on the boss Anetheron. Continued into Black Temple and took fast kills and managed to pass other guilds on the way and end up as the second guild world wide to clear all the content available (Illidan World 3rd, Archimonde World 3rd) and obtain TBCs first legendary item off Illidan. It was a big success this time and there was no other Alliance guild that managed to climb as high as Forte did at the time and holding the position as number 2 in the world.

For months after the great achievements Forte continued to farm the instances and gathered a total of 9 legendary warglaives from Illidan in Black Temple. The long farm did eventually draw the air out of Forte and many decided it was time to let go of World of Warcraft but with people still in the guild willing to continue strive against bigger and better achievements in the future, the motivation was still there. A choice was made to give Forte better raiding standards, it was time for another move and the destination this time was the realm Boulderfist. Together with the horde guild Last Resort from Kazzak, Forte moved to Boulderfist and left behind a very big scale of people on Kazzak, fans, friends and very succesful guilds in PvE that made Kazzak a very respected realm. Boulderfist was an empty realm but that's all there is to say about it, it lacks much of what a rich realm has that is important. Recruiting was always a problem even as the best ranked Alliance guild, 9 of 10 were not Forte material but there was no choice to make, applications was always a problem.

There are many factors who did their part in the reason why Forte will now stop being a active high end raiding guild here in World of Warcraft. Recruitment, long delays between content, raid times pushed back more and more... You can't blame anyone in Forte because we as guild couldn't manage this, we tried even if it sometimes was very hard to notice. It has been painful in many ways and when 2.4 hit, much was expected of Forte and even more was expected of its members, it was number 1 or nothing. But it started at the first step in Sunwell, nothing was going anywhere near what we wanted, people being dumb, no recruits and the motivation and "go" spirit was just going away more and more. People have decided to quit or move on more and more and the final nail was this weekend. The power and energy in Forte came from the idea from the members to fight and compete amongst the best in PvE and now it looks like it ain't possible anymore, for many it has felt like a slowly sinking ship for sometime and now it's over. Forte did manage this kinda problem once before but it has been a rough period this time and people don't have the spirit to drag this sinking ship up again. For many its a relief, go on with lives outside the gaming world or just find another guild or game.

Everyone in Forte would like to say BIG thanks for all the support from fans, guilds and friends. Good luck to all the players that were in Forte who will most likely take on different paths. And thanks all of you who made Forte and those who helped Forte to become an awesome guild for a long time. If you read more there is a long list of players who were in/helped Forte over the years.

The guild Forte will be disbanded on Boulderfist but it remains on Kazzak with some old Forte people. Our movies are on Warcraftmovies.

// Forte

TBC Achievments

• High King Maulgar, EU 1st kill. Worldwide 3rd.
• Magtheridon, EU 4th kill. Worldwide 5th. (pre-nerf)
• Morogrim Tidewalker, EU 5th kill. Worldwide 7th.
• Al'ar, EU 2nd kill. Worldwide 2nd. (pre-nerf)
• High Astromancer Solarian, EU 2nd kill. Worldwide 3rd. (pre-nerf)
• Kael'thas Sunstrider, Worldwide 2nd.
• Rage Winterchill, Worlwide 2nd.
• Anetheron, World first. (Hall of Fame)
• Gurtogg Bloodboil, Worldwide 2nd.
• Essence of Souls, Worldwide 3rd.
• Archimonde, Worldwide 3rd.
• Illidan Stormrage, Worldwide 3rd.
  

Naxxramas Achievments

• Thaddius, EU first kill. Worldwide 2nd.
• Gothik The Harvester, EU first kill. Worldwide 3rd.
• Heigan the Unclean, EU first kill. Worldwide 3rd.
• Sapphiron, EU 2nd kill. Worldwide 5th.
• Kel'thuzad, EU 2nd kill. Worldwide 5th.
  
  

Worldwide Invitational Contests Begin Next Week

for the Machinima (movie and TV ad) and Fan Art contests. Registration is only open until 16th of June, so be sure to submit your entry in time!

For the dance and costume contests, registration will be open from June 16th until June 20th. If you would like to get advice or opinions on your costume, of if you simply want to show off your work in progress, don't hesitate to share your creation with the community in this thread.

US Website Maintenance and Upgrades
According to the official site, the maintenance might take longer than expected.
[blizzquote="Nebu;http://www.worldofwarcraft.com]We're currently undergoing an extensive maintenance on our web infrastructure in order to provide new features along with increased performance and security to our customers. As the maintenance continues, some website features will be intermittently unavailable such as account creation, password recovery, Paid Character Transfer, and/or adding payment. We will provide an update when everything is complete, thank you for your patience.[/blizzquote"]


Unlimited Escapism - Chilled Escapism
Baron Soosdon is back with another video from the "Unlimited Escapism" series. If you didn't like the old Unlimited Escapism videos you won't like this one either, but if you did I'm pretty sure you'll enjoy it.

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Baron Soosdon also posted a small article related to the video on his blog, here is a small quote from it.
- FFS, ANOTHER "PEOPLE WALKING"-VIDEO!!11 CAN'T YOU DO ANYTHING ELSE GOD DAMNIT! FOR EXAMPLE SOMETHING WITH A PLOT??+++!!11
- No, not really, no. At least a murloc is killed.

[Pancha]

A real shame about Forte

[kuschimon]

sad sad sad....nothing more to say...you better would have stayed on kazzak :-/

ps: we are open for rerollers tho....anise come and tank for me!! <3

[Soulstorm]

S4.. Comon hurry :P

[Nevermindz]

RIP Forte.

[Blackburn]

The seasons match PvE progression.

The final door in Sunwell Plateau just opened up on May 20th. We want that gear to begin circulating a bit before the next season starts. That's how every season works, we wait until a reasonable number of people are able to grab gear from the highest raid before kicking off a season.

How much and when, we're not saying yet.

So in other words, give raiders more time to gear themselves out with weapons superior to even S4 ones, while PVPers can't even start working on their S4 weapons.... As if the increased rating requirements aren't enough of a delay on their own. It's not like everyone will be running around with S4 weapons the same week it comes out...

[Deleted]

"The seasons match PvE progression.

The final door in Sunwell Plateau just opened up on May 20th. We want that gear to begin circulating a bit before the next season starts. That's how every season works, we wait until a reasonable number of people are able to grab gear from the highest raid before kicking off a season.

How much and when, we're not saying yet."


ROFL - Good joke - Cmon how many ppl will see Sunwell on Live - the samount that did see Naxx...
Give the customers what they deserve - give S4

[Nørf]

R.I.P. Forte :'(

[Mazorp]

So in other words, give raiders more time to gear themselves out with weapons superior to even S4 ones, while PVPers can't even start working on their S4 weapons.... As if the increased rating requirements aren't enough of a delay on their own. It's not like everyone will be running around with S4 weapons the same week it comes out...

Except everyone worth a damn WILL be running around with S4 weapon on the first day. The point is that hardly anyone at all has the best weapons currently in game. When that starts to become an issue they release S4 and make the S4 weapons the best (generally) PvP weapons again. It's simple.

As for the Forte disband; why the hell did they move off Kazzak? That many moves for a top guild is just asking for issues. I don't understand that at all.

[Partyraiser]

"The seasons match PvE progression.

The final door in Sunwell Plateau just opened up on May 20th. We want that gear to begin circulating a bit before the next season starts. That's how every season works, we wait until a reasonable number of people are able to grab gear from the highest raid before kicking off a season.

How much and when, we're not saying yet."


ROFL - Good joke - Cmon how many ppl will see Sunwell on Live - the samount that did see Naxx...
Give the customers what they deserve - give S4

You will certainly get what you deserver, but in a month or two

And a lot more guilds will see SWP than NAxx. Naxxramas was vastly more difficult compared to Sunwell Plateau. It also required 40 people instead of 25, which is a defining factor.

And I also think that SWP isn't meant for everyone, it's meant for the end-game raiders. And Blizzard want to give those people some more time. But it's not for the people who are currently attempting the first bosses of Mount Hiyal.

[Annajones]

sad to hear Forte disbanded like this as i was one of the biggest fans of them, even moving my main character to Kazzak in the hope of joining them someday last year. However, the same question arises here why the hell they, together with Last Resort, migrated to Boulderfist long regarded as a barren realm. This choice badly handicapped their progression in SWP. :-\

[Lurr]

About 8 months of farming takes the "go" out of anyone.
We replaced ½ the guild while farming.

Wotlk should be out this winter, so lets see who's sticking around for for another 6 months of farming, and this time its completely pointless

[Daneel]

GG Blizzard, killing raiders for the last 1.5 year.

[Phreeze]

"The seasons match PvE progression.

The final door in Sunwell Plateau just opened up on May 20th. We want that gear to begin circulating a bit before the next season starts. That's how every season works, we wait until a reasonable number of people are able to grab gear from the highest raid before kicking off a season.

How much and when, we're not saying yet."


ROFL - Good joke - Cmon how many ppl will see Sunwell on Live - the samount that did see Naxx...
Give the customers what they deserve - give S4

just because the S3-players are not able to kill SW bosses....oh what a pity...not!

i think it's good to wait a bit, i don't wanna see S4 people in Sunwell...

P.S: i do have S3 chars, and a SW char

[Sulika]

The seasons match PvE progression.

The final door in Sunwell Plateau just opened up on May 20th. We want that gear to begin circulating a bit before the next season starts. That's how every season works, we wait until a reasonable number of people are able to grab gear from the highest raid before kicking off a season.

How much and when, we're not saying yet.

So in other words, give raiders more time to gear themselves out with weapons superior to even S4 ones, while PVPers can't even start working on their S4 weapons.... As if the increased rating requirements aren't enough of a delay on their own. It's not like everyone will be running around with S4 weapons the same week it comes out...

If a PvPer has better gear than their opponent then Skill > Gear.
If a PvPer has worse gear than their opponent then Gear > Skill.

It is the same old QQ we hear all the time.

[Hagen]

Never really understood why some people see PvE progress as a competition. I'll never meet any player from Kazzak so i couldn't care less if they were the first to kill Illidan or the 101st. Think I never heard the term "world firstkill" before i started reading mmo-champion...

[LavaDuck]

Don't blame them for disbanding. Almost a year between content is alot. And blizzard defend with saying "we dont release anything unpolished, we have to live up to the quality expected", IT DOESNT TAKE A FRIGGIN YEAR TO RELEASE A INSTANCE!

[Blubbemannen]

This makes me sad.. Forte was a great guild, but they should never transferred to Boulderfist. When they transferred, I don't think ANY alliance guild had cleared BT, and they didn't, until like December.
Anyways, Forte was great. They helped low raiding guilds clear Gruul and Mag etc, and their members was always polite...

</3

[Hexo]

Unlimited Escapism FTW

beautiful "PEOPLE WALKING"-VIDEO!!11 ;D

[Blackburn]

If a PvPer has better gear than their opponent then Skill > Gear.
If a PvPer has worse gear than their opponent then Gear > Skill.

It is the same old QQ we hear all the time.

Yeah that's why I hit 2k in S2 while still wearing lvl 60 gear after coming back to WoW from a 5 month break. And this isn't some raider vs pvp argument, my raiding main is a T6 rogue, and Warglaives have been the best weapons in the game for almost a year, including SWP and S4 gear. I have access to raiding gear and I still think it's not right. A Warglaives rogue in arena is on a completely different lvl than his opponents. Do we really need more discrepancies with SWP gear making a difference in arenas? At 2k+ lvl there is no "Skill vs Gear" argument because everyone is geared the same, decked out in full S3 in every slot, so it really is about skill and class matchups. But when you start bringing in clearly superior gear into the equation, gear that's available only to a small % of the player base, then you start introducing imbalances to the system again.

2050 rating requirement on weapons is enough of a barrier to ensure not too many people will be running around with them, especially given how much harder S4 will be after all the scrubs quit because of the new rating reqs on most gear. Will some people still get them unfairly through win-trading? Probably. But that's no reason for the rest of us to be put at a disadvantage once S4 finally hits. That's a separate issue that Blizzard has done a piss-poor job at addressing and don't even get me started on how retarded the personal ratings system and the ability to reset PR on demand are. My only concern is walking into arena once S4 hits and seeing a warrior with 148.7 dps 2her vs my 134dps S3 sword, rogues with 4/5 glad + 4/5 Slayer's + Warglaives, etc. The whole point of resilience on gear and arena gear being added was to move away from the pre-TBC days of raider dominance in PVP due to gear. But given enough of ilvl gap, you start seeing that dominance again, granted some classes it works for better than others. I know I had a pretty easy time with my mostly PVE geared rogue getting to 1850 for S3 swords in a couple of evenings of play, doing it in PVP gear was actually harder.