Tier 8 Video, Arena Matchmaking, Blue Posts

[Boubouille]

Tier 8 Preview - Video!
As I promised yesterday, here is a small video of the Tier 8 sets currently available in game.

• Only the Death Knight, Hunter, Mage, Warlock, Rogue (Female), and Priest sets are currently in the game files. The other sets are just not here.
• We call them Tier 8 armor because they're labeled as the "G" sets in the game files. Basically the warlock set is named RaidWarlock_G_, RaidWarlock_A_ is the Tier 1 set, B Tier 2, etc ... Obviously G should be the 7th tier but this one reused the old tier 3 "C" models.
• Most of these models have been here since the beta, they might not be representative anymore of what the final sets will look like in Patch 3.1. Wait a few more weeks before complaining about it.
• No, there isn't any music or sound.

You can either watch the High-Definition streaming on Youtube or download the full version on Rapidshare.

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Patch 3.0.8a Download
Mirrors for the small bug fix patch are still available. Don't forget, downloading from third-party sites is NEVER safe and you should ALWAYS use the Blizzard Downloader if you have the choice. Moving the patch to your WoW folder and running the downloader to let it check the file is also a good idea.

• WoW-3.0.8.9464-to-3.0.8.9506-enUS-patch.exe (Rapidshare)
• WoW-3.0.8.9464-to-3.0.8.9506-esMX-patch.exe (Rapidshare)
• WoW-3.0.8.9464-to-3.0.8.9506-enGB-patch.exe (Rapidshare)
• WoW-3.0.8.9464-to-3.0.8.9506-deDE-patch.exe (Rapidshare)
• WoW-3.0.8.9464-to-3.0.8.9506-frFR-patch.exe (Rapidshare)
• WoW-3.0.8.9464-to-3.0.8.9506-esES-patch.exe (Rapidshare)
• WoW-3.0.8.9464-to-3.0.8.9506-ruRU-patch.exe (Rapidshare)

New Arena Matchmaking System Overview

We recently introduced a new Arena matchmaking system with the intent of better matching up players against opponents of similar skill level, and to address potential abuses under the old system. We realize that many players have questions regarding the new system, and as such, we would like to provide more insight into the new matchmaking system.

• First and foremost, the primary goal of the new Arena matchmaking system is to match players against opponents of similar skill, regardless of your or your opponents’ team rating. This means that once an estimated skill level is determined, you will more likely be matched against other players of a similar skill level. Please note that the estimated skill level is constantly being evaluated and will adjust based on each team’s continual performance. Ratings that are won or lost also take into account skill level, so that you will not suffer a high penalty if you lose against a team that is much better than their actual team rating.
• Another important aspect of this new Arena matchmaking system is a smaller range of maximum rating that can be won or lost. Because of the differences between how the new system assigns rating points at the end of a match, we are still tweaking rating gain versus loss per match to improve the experience.
• If you were previously ranked with a high skill level and decide to create a new team, it should now be much easier to reach your team’s correct rating. This ensures that players will not feel penalized for moving between teams, and high ranked teams will not feel penalized for trying out new players without much risk to the team rating itself.
• Finally, the core and fundamental reason for the new Arena matchmaking system is for players to participate in Arena games that are fun. We feel that with this new system, higher ranked players will most likely find the challenges that they seek, newer players will no longer feel that Arenas are closed to them, and players will not feel as penalized for trying new things in the Arenas.

We like the way that matchmaking works in the new system and feel that it is working as expected. However, we acknowledge that there are some aspects of the way rating is calculated under the new system that could use some tweaking. As with all things, your enjoyment of the game and its systems are very important us, and this system was implemented in an effort to further promote the enjoyment of the Arenas. As always, we welcome your feedback and would constantly be striving to make this system even better.

Blue posts

Mana regeneration
We think mana regen is too trivial at the moment in PvE and just right or too difficult in PvP (depending on the class). Now part of that is because the content is easy. Part of it is because we’ve given players a lot of reasons to avoid having to worry about the FSR. Part of it is just generous talents (like Illumination). Part of it was the change to let Int scale regen to some degree. The whole package is something we’re looking at. Mana regen is supposed to be part of the game – you aren’t supposed to graduate out of it with enough gear. (Source)

Question: would not it be simpler for Devs, Class Designers and Boss Designers not to have to deal with the FSR, and rework the mana regen system and simplify it between healing classes ? (I've never heard about a DPS class running oom anymore, as they did in Vanilla) Eventually change talents and values around it, and rework Spirit too to make it a more valuable stat for all classes ? (why would warriors not put some Spirit to really boost their health regen ?)
I think you can make a good argument that the pendulum has swung back towards Spirit and away from mp5. I think long term the whole system is in need of an update or re-design, but this is not a 3.1 level task. (Source)

Buff system overhaul in WotLK
We overhauled the buff system pretty dramatically and there are going to be some rough edges. We are currently in the process of evaluating when the same buff is not truly equal, because one class gets it passively for example, or one class doesn’t have to talent for it. Saying that a buff isn’t useful because every raid *always* has some other spec is not persuasive in our minds because we are explicitly designing around the assumption that you may not have one of every spec. (Minus a few gimmick encounters like Raz that we are carefully evaluating.) Divine Spirit is a good example of something that looked like it would be competitive with other versions of the same buff, but feels like it falls short in practice. Therefore we plan on changing it.

[...] Even if it is shared more, 10% crit is a very powerful raid debuff -- probably too powerful. There is a melee debuff that is equally game-changing, which is something else we would like to fix.

[...] We don’t think Heroism / Bloodlust is 100% necessary. It’s a very nice buff to be sure but it is nothing like it was in BC. Because any shaman can bring it, it’s also going to be more common than say a buff that shows up as someone’s 31 point talent. (Source)

WWS Reports on official forums
We like numbers. It's awesome when players post them. However, understand that if it was as simple as players just posting WWS or other stats, then all you are really doing is linking to data that we can go gather ourselves.

The reason we like seeing players discuss numbers is the discussion. It's great when someone says "Yeah, I get numbers like that too," or "Hmmm. Those numbers look suspicious," or "Wow, were you exploiting a bug?" or "Yeah, I can get those numbers but only if I am really lucky with a complex rotation," or "I can do that with this spec but not some other spec, so picking these talents may mean a 20% dps increase." That is all information we can use that goes much deeper than just "Ret pallies do 4000 dps" (or whatever).

It's not realistic to expect the community to come to a consensus on anything, even what dps various specs can achieve. But you can see trends. You can see the issues that come up. You can see when things are controversial or confusing. (Source)

[US] Free Character Moves - 1/27
This thread will contain information on the free character moves we currently have available to assist in population dispersal. In the event that these realms meet our transfer goals before the scheduled end date, the transfers to these realms will be disabled. We highly recommend that if you are planning to transfer that you do so at your earliest convenience. No characters will be eligible for these free moves once the transfers have been closed.

All PvP, RP, and RPPvP transfers are scheduled to close on Tuesday, February 3, at 5:00 pm PST provided our transfer goals are not reached prior to this time.

You can begin your transfer by visiting the Character Move page located here: https://www.worldofwarcraft.com/account/character-move.html

Source A Realms (PvP): Azgalor, Bloodscalp (Horde transfers only), Cho'gall (Horde transfers only), Crushridge, Dark Iron, Darkspear, Deathwing, Drak'Tharon, Dunemaul, Firetree, Gorefiend, Nathrezim, Shadowmoon, Smolderthorn, Spinebreaker, Stormscale, Tortheldrin, WildHammer
Destination A Realms (PvP): Malorne, Scilla

Source B Realms (RP): Argent Dawn, Cenarion Circle, Earthen Ring, Feathermoon, Moon Guard, Scarlet Crusade, Shadow Council
Destination B Realm (RP): Wyrmrest Accord

Source C Realms (RPPvP): Maelstrom, Twisting Nether
Destination C Realms: Scilla (PvP), Wyrmrest Accord (RPPvE)

Death Knight (Skills List / Talent + Glyph Calc.)
Blood of the North
Blood of the North was the first of the Death Rune talents we implemented, largely to fill a hole in the deep Frost tree. At the time it needed to be 5 points or Frost had to backtrack a lot in order to go deeper.

But the other two trees ended up with cheaper versions of the talent and Frost has changed so much that I don't know that it needs to be 5 points any longer. This is something we might look at for 3.1. (Source)

Shadow of Death
We will be applying a hotfix that will make it so that it will no longer be possible to use this while in Arenas. (Source)

Druid (Skills List / Talent + Glyph Calc.)
Bear threat generation lower in 3.0.8?
We're not aware of any problems with bear threat, but we'll look into it. (Source)

Hunter (Skills List / Talent + Glyph Calc.)
Beast Mastery is over-nerfed and could be buffed before Ulduar
We talked about it a great deal today and agreed that we probably over-nerfed BM. Marks is in a good spot and Survival might be too high once we look at the changes we are making to all other classes.

Our plan is to buff BM before Ulduar, but I can't give you a timetable more detailed than that, and things could change for any number of reasons. We are unlikely to touch Steady Shot for the reasons I have mentioned before. We are more likely to look at Kindred Spirits and Serpents Swiftness again.

Again, huge caveats: Predicting changes we are discussing making but haven't made yet is fraught with peril. I only wanted to address this issue because it caused a lot of consternation in the community.

I don't mind admitting when we make a mistake in the hope that it builds our credibility in the community. This was one. It won't be the last. (Source)

Mage (Skills List / Talent + Glyph Calc.)
Arcane Nerf in 3.0.8
1. Arcane Barrage can no longer clip arcane missles for the arcane blast buff (figured this would be fixed soon).
2. Arcane Blast Glyph is apparently only 3% per stack instead of 5%.
3. Arcane Blast Glyph bonus damage is no longer applied to arcane missiles.

1. This change was by design. While it might have been a fun test of skill, the fact is that Arcane is probably too powerful in PvE and PvP and we didn't want to make matters worse with this little trick.
2. This change was also by design. As many players have pointed out, it was just too good.
3. This is a bug likely caused by the previous two changes. Such is the risk of making changes quickly. We can hotfix this bug out though. (Source)

Paladin (Skills List / Talent + Glyph Calc.)
Paladin damage in Naxxramas
Another issue I have hinted at before is that a lot of Rets will claim "Naxx is full of undead. We should win the meters or otherwise we never will." While it is logical to reach that conclusion, we don't actually like the design of Ret doing great dps in some instances and not on others based on the type of creature. Assume that the damage you do in Naxx is what we want you to do all the time. (Source)

Warlock (Skills List / Talent + Glyph Calc.)
Ritual of Summoning
The Warlock Ritual of Summoning was corrected in two stages. The first stage you patched with 3.0.8a and the second stage was applied via a hotfix. It should now be functioning correctly. Please feel free to let us know if there are any further issues. (Source)

New World of Warcraft Wallpaper
A new wallpaper has been added to the official site

[Drush]

Must say that if it's like they have written about the match making system for Arena, it doesn't sound to shabby
http://www.mmo-champion.com/index.php?topic=33158.0

[centrius]

Is it just me or does hunter T8 look QQcrapQQ (wtf is up with the headpiece, are we gonna GAS ppl????)?

Agree on the post above, is sounds good, but the question is how it will work in reality.

Also i do agree that BM should get a small buff, everyone saw how big the nerf was even before the patch (not that i have played BM in a while).

[Rugus]

Rogue tier8 looks cool thanks to the smoky effect. Too bad the head piece is just *horrible*.

[Mandible]

That video is oppressive against trolls - since it doesn't show how they look in the tier set.

[Verth]

They didn't show draenei wither :P

Anyway.

All i've got to say is, nice and original. No copies of former sets and each class' tier seems to represent them.

[Gleisnir]

Gnome Warlock was win! Im gonna reroll!

[drsjohnny]

i liked the new sets so far one i mostly like right now is the warlock one looks really good as a warrior tank can't wait to see what are set's look like

[dotOrion]

Odd animation on the rogue shoulders ..

Looks like mantis claws lashing out or something

[Barook]

I really hope they're going to fix the Druid threat problem soon. It simply sucks that DDs are now able to pull trash now I had absolutely no problem with before, despite wearing gear that should generate more threat with 3.0.8.

[Exhorder]

Nice to finally hear them admitting they clearly overnerfed BM.

[Topcraft]

10k gold says the matchmaking system doesnt work, we will either wait an hour for a game, or it will make servers lag even harder.

Another 10k gold says that once players figure out how it works, the win traders will continue to exploit the system just as they have always done.

How are you ever going to pay all that money back

On topic:
I'm glad they actually made robes for the mage set. We looked more like Battle Mages than proper good looking mages. (even though i'm undead)

[Darksoldierr]

I was waiting for tauren female rogue so much, bleh :P

[Rugus]

Warlock set is really awesome.

[Avshar]

i dont like the new t8 sets, rogues head is terrible, looks like an alien
and the arena system.. pff, dont know if its intended, but ppl are not getting the same personal rating, even if they have been playing together from 1500, there are some differences between the numbers. Or maybe this too depends on *skill* ???

[Merilokki]

lol, so much for blizz's hotfixes, and bug patch
yeah they finally gave locks a summoning stone
but when i just did voa 25man and we tryed to summon people with the stone
it didnt work, couldnt summon a single person
for blizz's rediculous payload, they can't even get it right

[tufy]

Warlock set went from "wow, this set really looks cool on undead" to "man, orcish warlock is wider than he is tall" and then I almost fell off my chair laughing when I saw the gnome. ;D

[Jynx]

Arcane is still great even with the changes.

We killed Patchwerk in 1 minute 51 seconds tonight (WWS) and the two arcane mages were at the top with 6,700 DPS each.


I made a video and strategy guide on how to play Arcane, if people are curious what the ins and outs are:

http://www.stratfu.com/strats/ArcaneMage

[Angelico]

looks good, even though imo hunter headpieces should be eyepatches, maybe a shoulderrest for the gun/xbow... and i'm glad they finally made a headpiece for rogues that make them look like rogues, instead of assassins, always annoyed me that they blizzard couldn't split them apart...

[Newor]

LoL Blizz...

Ppl told you to not use Naxxrammas (or any "undead party" place) as the standard damage when balancing (nerfing) Ret paladins.

Now they're all "omg, we forgot the increased dmg output against undeads! Ulduar won't have undeads!"

Just like Karazhan full of undeads/demons against other raids in TBC.

And that's funny, because against undead/demons, Ret paladins have more dmg output thanks to talents AND extra attacks, so they should be at least on par or very close with pure dps classes (using the 5% diference between pure and hybrid) that doesn't care about the type of the mob.

But NO.