Maintenance, Patch 3.1 Mounts, Blue posts

[Boubouille]

Patch 3.1 Not this week
A lot of people will ask, Patch 3.1 will not be deployed on live servers this week. Today's maintenance is a series of rolling restarts and we definitely won't see the patch this week.

Patch 3.1 Mounts
We did a recap of the companion pets yesterday, it's now time to list the mounts added in patch 3.1! Please note that the model of the Sea Turtle was changed since the last time I posted about it, it no longer looks like the TCG Turtle mount. Make sure to check the dedicated videos for the most impressive mounts.

• Deadly Gladiator's Frostwyrm Video
• Mimiron's Flying Mount Video
• Proto-Drake Mounts Video
• Argent Hippogryph Video

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<table width="650" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="1" style="border: 1px solid #96BC27">
	<tr bgcolor="#96BC27"><td align="center">[b]Other Mounts[/b]</td></tr>
</table>
<table width="650" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="1" style="border: 1px solid #96BC27">
	<tr bgcolor="#c8f545"><td width="220">[b]Mount[/b]</td><td width="380">[b]Source[/b]</td><td width="50">[b]Speed[/b]</td></tr>
	<tr class="loot1"><td>[url="http://static.mmo-champion.com/mmoc/images/news/2009/april/deadlygladiatorsfrostwyrm.jpg"]Deadly Gladiator's Frostwyrm[/url]</td><td>Season 5 Gladiator's Mount - Top 0.5% Teams</td><td>310%</td></tr>
	<tr class="loot2"><td>[url="http://static.mmo-champion.com/mmoc/images/news/2009/april/ironboundprotodrake.jpg"]Ironbound Proto-Drake[/url]</td><td>Achievement - [url="http://ptr.wowhead.com/?achievement=2958"][b]Heroic: Glory of the Ulduar Raider[/b][/url]</td><td>310%</td></tr>
	<tr class="loot1"><td>[url="http://static.mmo-champion.com/mmoc/images/news/2009/april/rustedprotodrake.jpg"]Rusted Proto-Drake[/url]</td><td>Achievement - [url="http://ptr.wowhead.com/?achievement=2957"][b]Glory of the Ulduar Raider[/b][/url]</td><td>310%</td></tr>
	<tr class="loot2"><td>[url="http://static.mmo-champion.com/mmoc/images/news/2009/april/mimironshead.jpg"]Mimiron's Head[/url]</td><td>Ulduar - [url="http://www.mmo-champion.com/index.php?page=845"][b]Mimiron[/b][/url] (Unconfirmed)</td><td>310%</td></tr>
	<tr class="loot1"><td>[url="http://static.mmo-champion.com/mmoc/images/news/2009/april/saddledvenomhideravasaur.jpg"]Venomhide Ravasaur[/url]</td><td>Quest - [url="http://ptr.wowhead.com/?quest=13850"][b]Toxic Tolerance[/b][/url] but [url="http://blue.mmo-champion.com/1/15671259653-blue-skeletal-warhorse.html"][b]not implemented[/b][/url]</td><td>100%</td></tr>
	<tr class="loot2"><td>[url="http://static.mmo-champion.com/mmoc/images/news/2009/april/seaturtle.jpg"]Sea Turtle[/url]</td><td>Rare drop from Northrend Fishing</td><td>60%</td></tr>
</table>

<table width="650" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="1" style="border: 1px solid #96BC27">
	<tr bgcolor="#96BC27"><td align="center">[b]Merchant Mounts[/b]</td></tr>
</table>
<table width="650" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="1" style="border: 1px solid #96BC27">
	<tr bgcolor="#c8f545"><td width="220">[b]Mount[/b]</td><td width="380">[b]Source[/b]</td><td width="50">[b]Speed[/b]</td></tr>
	<tr class="loot1"><td>[url="http://static.mmo-champion.com/mmoc/images/news/2009/april/blackskeletalhorse.jpg"]Black Skeletal Horse[/url]</td><td>10[img]http://static.wowhead.com/images/money_gold.gif[/img] from [url="http://ptr.wowhead.com/?npc=4731"][b]Zachariah Post[/b][/url]</td><td>60%</td></tr>
	<tr class="loot2"><td>[url="http://static.mmo-champion.com/mmoc/images/news/2009/april/blackwolf.jpg"]Black Wolf[/url]</td><td>10[img]http://static.wowhead.com/images/money_gold.gif[/img] from [url="http://ptr.wowhead.com/?npc=3362"][b]Ogunaro Wolfrunner[/b][/url]</td><td>60%</td></tr>
	<tr class="loot1"><td>[url="http://static.mmo-champion.com/mmoc/images/news/2009/april/whitekodo.jpg"]White Kodo[/url]</td><td>10[img]http://static.wowhead.com/images/money_gold.gif[/img] from [url="http://ptr.wowhead.com/?npc=3685"][b]Harb Clawhoof[/b][/url]</td><td>60%</td></tr>
</table>

<table width="650" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="1" style="border: 1px solid #96BC27">
	<tr bgcolor="#96BC27"><td align="center">[b]Argent Tournament Mounts[/b]</td></tr>
</table>
<table width="650" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="1" style="border: 1px solid #96BC27">
	<tr bgcolor="#c8f545"><td width="220">[b]Mount[/b]</td><td width="380">[b]Source[/b]</td><td width="50">[b]Speed[/b]</td></tr>
	<tr class="loot1"><td>[url="http://static.mmo-champion.com/mmoc/images/news/2009/april/argenthippogryph.jpg"]Argent Hippogryph[/url]</td><td>Argent Tournament - 250 x [url="http://ptr.wowhead.com/?item=44990"]Champion's Seals[/url]</td><td>280%</td></tr>
	<tr class="loot2"><td>[url="http://static.mmo-champion.com/mmoc/images/news/2009/april/greatazuremystelekk.jpg"]Great Azuremyst Elekk[/url]</td><td>Argent Tournament - 100 x [url="http://ptr.wowhead.com/?item=44990"]Champion's Seals[/url]</td><td>100%</td></tr>
	<tr class="loot1"><td>[url="http://static.mmo-champion.com/mmoc/images/news/2009/april/swiftdarnassianmistsaber.jpg"]Swift Darnassian Mistsaber[/url]</td><td>Argent Tournament - 100 x [url="http://ptr.wowhead.com/?item=44990"]Champion's Seals[/url]</td><td>100%</td></tr>
	<tr class="loot2"><td>[url="http://static.mmo-champion.com/mmoc/images/news/2009/april/swiftelwynnsteed.jpg"]Swift Elwynn Steed[/url]</td><td>Argent Tournament - 100 x [url="http://ptr.wowhead.com/?item=44990"]Champion's Seals[/url]</td><td>100%</td></tr>
	<tr class="loot1"><td>[url="http://static.mmo-champion.com/mmoc/images/news/2009/april/swiftironforgeram.jpg"]Swift Ironforge Ram[/url]</td><td>Argent Tournament - 100 x [url="http://ptr.wowhead.com/?item=44990"]Champion's Seals[/url]</td><td>100%</td></tr>
	<tr class="loot2"><td>[url="http://static.mmo-champion.com/mmoc/images/news/2009/april/turbostrider.jpg"]Turbostrider[/url]</td><td>Argent Tournament - 100 x [url="http://ptr.wowhead.com/?item=44990"]Champion's Seals[/url]</td><td>100%</td></tr>
	<tr class="loot1"><td>[url="http://static.mmo-champion.com/mmoc/images/news/2009/april/greatmulgorekodo.jpg"]Great Mulgore Kodo[/url]</td><td>Argent Tournament - 100 x [url="http://ptr.wowhead.com/?item=44990"]Champion's Seals[/url]</td><td>100%</td></tr>
	<tr class="loot2"><td>[url="http://static.mmo-champion.com/mmoc/images/news/2009/april/forsakenwarhorse.jpg"]Forsaken Warhorse[/url]</td><td>Argent Tournament - 100 x [url="http://ptr.wowhead.com/?item=44990"]Champion's Seals[/url]</td><td>100%</td></tr>
	<tr class="loot1"><td>[url="http://static.mmo-champion.com/mmoc/images/news/2009/april/swiftdarkspearraptor.jpg"]Swift Darkspear Raptor[/url]</td><td>Argent Tournament - 100 x [url="http://ptr.wowhead.com/?item=44990"]Champion's Seals[/url]</td><td>100%</td></tr>
	<tr class="loot2"><td>[url="http://static.mmo-champion.com/mmoc/images/news/2009/april/swiftorgrimmarwolf.jpg"]Swift Orgrimmar Wolf[/url]</td><td>Argent Tournament - 100 x [url="http://ptr.wowhead.com/?item=44990"]Champion's Seals[/url]</td><td>100%</td></tr>
	<tr class="loot1"><td>[url="http://static.mmo-champion.com/mmoc/images/news/2009/april/swiftsilvermoonhawkstrider.jpg"]Swift Silvermoon Hawkstrider[/url]</td><td>Argent Tournament - 100 x [url="http://ptr.wowhead.com/?item=44990"]Champion's Seals[/url]</td><td>100%</td></tr>
</table>

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[url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1mthSa792Vc&fmt=22"][b]Watch in High-Definition[/b][/url]

Blue posts

Confirmation window for talent respecs in 3.1
It hasn't been widely publicized, but in 3.1 there is a UI option to not spend all of your talent points until you hit a "Confirm" button. Because you aren't actually spending the points, it is also really fast to add ranks or remove them. We default the tool off since having to confirm every single point you spend while leveling is kind of a drag. It's quite useful at level 80 though. (Source)

Tanking Ulduar Encounters
Every fight in Ulduar has so far been tanked by all 4 tanking classes and we haven't seen any situations where one class is at such a disadvantage that they are in danger of losing their raid or guild spot. We'll continue to keep a close eye on it though and make sure that through some clever new mechanic or combination of gear that nobody manages to trivialize the encounter when tanking with a particular class. (Source)

Multiple difficulty levels in instances - Elite Mode?
That is kind of what we are trying to do with the hard modes in Ulduar. If they work out well, I could totally see selecting 3 or 4 difficulty levels when you zone in rather than just 10 vs. 25. (Source)

The evolution of WoW players
While we obviously disagree on WoW being dead, you make one point I wanted to echo which is that the average raider (or at least players interested in end-game content) are more sophisticated now. The game's community has matured as the game has matured. There are so many information sites out there with a great deal of depth. In the MC days, nobody had Deadly Boss Mobs or Omen (though we did have Decursive). You didn't link videos before your boss attempt. Half your group probably didn't know about the EJ website and there was no AJ. Players figured out what worked for them and focused less on optimization because there was no gigantic community out there advising them on how to optimize. I'm not saying that kind of community progression was a bad thing at all. But it definitely changes the experience. (Source)

Balancing all specs to make them viable
At a high level, you can design an RPG in two ways. You can have relatively few roles or you can have a lot of roles. However, even when you have a lot of roles, they tend to overlap a ton and have some very flimsy differences between some of the roles. So more realistically, you can have a few choices to fill your roles or a lot of choices to fill your roles.

You could make a game like WoW with a tank, healer, and maybe a melee and ranged dps class. Four roles. Four classes. It would work.

WoW however needs to last for a long time. It has already lasted a lot longer than many games, but because we have so many players, we need to keep designing a game to keep them interested. Adding new classes is one great way to do that. This time our class filled the tanking and dps role. Next time it might be a healer.

When you say "stop making every spec viable" usually what you are really saying is "let's have a game with less breadth and maybe more depth." That is definitely a way to design a game. But the breadth is also one of those things that provides options. To give just one example, if you get bored of your priest in WoW maybe you decide to roll up a warlock. Yeah you both use mana and wear cloth, but beyond that the classes start to diverge in what we hope are pretty interesting ways. If you have fewer specs or classes, then the reroll situation is a lot less compelling. (Source)

Paladin (3.1 Skills List / 3.1 Talent + Glyph Calc.)
Retribution before WotLK
The problem with Ret was say a typical BC melee group had 2 rogues, a druid, a shaman and a warrior. (It could easily have 3 rogues too.) Yet the Ret needed all of those buffs to be decent. Stick the Ret with the casters, and the Ret buffs are wasted and the casters aren't helping her dps much. You could boot a rogue or maybe one of the others from the melee group, but your dps would likely still suffer. The old model was to bring the people to do the job (rogues in this case) and the people to buff them. Part of the move to having more raid buffs and fewer unique buffs was to solve this kind of jigsaw puzzle problem. The challenge should be fighting the bosses, not building the group in some kind of weird Tetris minigame. (Source)

Shaman (3.1 Skills List / 3.1 Talent + Glyph Calc.)
Totem Stomping Macros
We don't like totem stomping macros and we are taking steps to prevent them. Because of technical limitations, these changes probably won't be in place for 3.1. But we will get them in place soon. (Source)

[Chuoz]

Next week, plz end the sufering of boredom

[Girlyman]

WOW the Ravasaur actually looks cool and that Forsaken Horse... MUST have it

[LavaDuck]

Oh noes, no patch. What to do, what to do?!?

*scratches head*

zomg easter holidays!

[Deleted]

is it just me or does those mount links all go to this same page.
(on main page they just go to mmo-champion.com and when I click those links here in topic, they link to this topic)

[Boubouille]

is it just me or does those mount links all go to this same page.
(on main page they just go to mmo-champion.com and when I click those links here in topic, they link to this topic)

Woops. Fixed

[Zwai]

I guess there's no chance that any of these mounts won't be faction-exclusive? :'(

Oh raptor, how I crave thee...

[dsmet]

I guess there's no chance that any of these mounts won't be faction-exclusive? :'(

Oh raptor, how I crave thee...

same goes for the Turbostrider on horde side...i want one please

[Peacemoon]

Half your group probably didn't know about the EJ website and there was no AJ.

While Ghostcrawler is right that the playerbase is that educated, he is wrong if he thinks this applies to the majority. He really needs to step outside the hardcore PvE guilds.

Each realm is made up of thousands of players. Each realm only has one or two guilds that are really PvE hardcore. The maths is quite easy.
However people in the hardcore guild are more likely to post then thoses that are not.

I'm not saying he shouldn't use expert opinions to try balance the game, but Ghostcrawler is spending all his time catering to these people he risks forgetting about the more average gamer.

Example, there are a lot of roleplayers in this game and roleplaying is something that really brings life to the World of Warcraft. Yet there has never ever been a patch dedicated to improving the roleplaying experience of the game. Imagine what they could achieve if they really put some money into it? The roleplaying community itself has posted a lot of suggestions, its about time they started listening to that group of players.

[Jukaï]

While Ghostcrawler is right that the playerbase is that educated, he is wrong if he thinks this applies to the majority. He really needs to step outside the hardcore PvE guilds.

Each realm is made up of thousands of players. Each realm only has one or two guilds that are really PvE hardcore. The maths is quite easy.
However people in the hardcore guild are more likely to post then thoses that are not.

I'm not saying he shouldn't use expert opinions to try balance the game, but Ghostcrawler is spending all his time catering to these people he risks forgetting about the more average gamer.

Example, there are a lot of roleplayers in this game and roleplaying is something that really brings life to the World of Warcraft. Yet there has never ever been a patch dedicated to improving the roleplaying experience of the game. Imagine what they could achieve if they really put some money into it? The roleplaying community itself has posted a lot of suggestions, its about time they started listening to that group of players.

Now that's an outcry I could agree them spending time on, instead of this silly Totem Stomping thing.

[Marvdatboi]

multi-passenger Vehicles will become regular mounts that can carry people in 3.1 right? I hope they do aways with that silly Mechano-Hog animation. It's driving me up the wall. That white Death Pony I'm definitely copping.

[Darksoldierr]

"Totem Stomping Macros
We don't like totem stomping macros and we are taking steps to prevent them. Because of technical limitations, these changes probably won't be in place for 3.1. But we will get them in place soon. (Source)"

Lets wait 5 more arena season till those who didn't use it yet start using macros aswell, to be sure

[Marshmello]

I hope that raptor mount will be available for all players, not just horde.

EDIT: to clarify, I would hope that the quest for the Raptor mount, as well as the Wintersaber Trainers rep grind, would be made available to all players.

[bbr]

I can only say 1 thing to this: "Venomhide Ravasaur Quest - Toxic Tolerance but not implemented 100%"

Would be about time!


And no, it should in fact be a horde only mount.
Since horde doesn't get wintersabers.

[sandbenders]

Each realm is made up of thousands of players. Each realm only has one or two guilds that are really PvE hardcore. The maths is quite easy.
However people in the hardcore guild are more likely to post then thoses that are not.

I would disagree. I'm in maybe the 15th or 20th best guild, horde side, on our server. We have 25+ regular raiders, and easily 30+ people that read EJ on a regular basis. Alliance side on our server is even more PVE-advanced. I would argue our server alone has 40+ guilds with many regular EJ readers, and 60+ that are doing Naxx regularly.

Example, there are a lot of roleplayers in this game and roleplaying is something that really brings life to the World of Warcraft.

I have never seen anyone role-play in WoW. I'm not saying it doesn't happen, but... I would say that there are many more people stepping into raids than role-playing on a regular basis. Blizzard is made up of humans, and thus, they aren't perfect. However, if RP'ers made up that large a proportion of their player base we would have RP changes coming out our ears. They will address the audience that is spending the most money, that's how you stay in business and continue to grow the game- and at last announcement, WoW is still growing. It boggles the mind.

-Sandbenders

[wanax]

Swift Elwynn Steed Argent Tournament - 100 x Champion's Seals 100%

Well look at that. All of those Paladins QQ'd for no reason when the first list of pictured came out.

[Ranem]

I have never seen anyone role-play in WoW. I'm not saying it doesn't happen, but... I would say that there are many more people stepping into raids than role-playing on a regular basis.

-Sandbenders

Have you actually been on RP/RP-PvP realm? There's loads of RP going on o_o

[Deleted]

I still don't understand why we would want recolours of mounts we don't use since about 3 years.
Are they like, mounted combat enabled or something? Not been on the ptr, so no clue...
And what does that mounted combat system even do, if it actually exists because I haven't red anything about it.

[Eversor]

I have never seen anyone role-play in WoW. I'm not saying it doesn't happen, but... I would say that there are many more people stepping into raids than role-playing on a regular basis. Blizzard is made up of humans, and thus, they aren't perfect. However, if RP'ers made up that large a proportion of their player base we would have RP changes coming out our ears. They will address the audience that is spending the most money, that's how you stay in business and continue to grow the game- and at last announcement, WoW is still growing. It boggles the mind.

Here's the thing. The number one thing RPers need Blizz to do is - hold your breath - ENFORCING THE DAMN RP REALM RULES. No damnit, just throwing one GM out there that doesn't give a crap about RP on the realm won't work! How about a damn popup window on the realm select window that reminds you just where are you going? It has been suggested million times. How about ensuring that OOCers prance happily off on the regular realms? I rolled one for a reason, yet from the first glance at Dalaran it differs little from a regular realm (names, of course). Yes, I could sit all damn day and report them. And then be called an elitist.

Another thing RPers need are tools to work with. RP is all about your imagination, but you need something to work with. For example, empty buildings. Simple, yet that is what we need. We don't need all kinds of stupid RL festival lookalike trinkets, that are implemented just for shits and giggles.

So... what kind of blinking RP changes are you talking about? This isn't like PvP or PvE, where you can just patch the issues. You cannot patch creativity. You can only help to stimulate it, but with something simpler. Like enforcing the damn rules.

[Nubs]

I still don't understand why we would want recolours of mounts we don't use since about 3 years.
Are they like, mounted combat enabled or something? Not been on the ptr, so no clue...
And what does that mounted combat system even do, if it actually exists because I haven't red anything about it.

Getting 100 mounts is incredibly hard to get, especially if you don't hardcore PVE/PVP. My alt doesn't raid w/ my guild so I'm never gonna get the proto-drakes on him, so this is the next best thing.