Cataclysm Release, Dalaran Portals, Cataclysm Epic Stats

[Sadeiko]

Most exciting thing about this post....justice points rewards being blue.

2nd most exciting part is I can go level a new toon, check out the new zones, and not be too concerned with if I choose to grind out a level or 2 and skip some content on my worgen.

[Tobizzhere]

Re: Portals !

Ok we all get changes we like and don't like so much. It happens life goes on. But ... when i read that the portal hubs are going away ??!!?? OMG i am furious. I just cannot IMAGINE what will happen to mobility. Am i going to be level 85 waiting on a BOAT? to go to the next boat which of course i JUUUUST missed! holy crap ! I have to sit around and wait on a mage to port me to shatt to do something or other like rep stuff cooking stuff croc in the city, meet a guildy that needs a run? Somethings are just basic and mobility around continents seems like a basic way of life in WoW. I can see paying a fee to "learn" a portal or buy tokens for travel in a portal .. perhaps like an fp fee.. but making them disappear? stranding and isolating each continent to that degree seems anti logic. The major cities will truly become abandoned as no one will want to go because they will be completely stranded there or at the mercy of a hearth CD or a mage's what i am sure will QUICKLY become inflated fees. (hmm apparently i had some opinions lol)

[rangerfox]

Portal hubs removed... that's got to be one of the worst decisions they've made yet.

[Kiro]

It's a free country. But you don't have a clue about software development, nor any sort of business strategy, nor who is or is not an incompetent programmer, nor, well, anything else it seems like. Quit, unsubscribe, win bets, do whatever you want. But you are still wrong.

This here is the reason why WoW has been on the downward spiral it's been in for the past two years. People with their blind love in a faceless corp, patting them on the back telling them it's ok, we'll handle these nay-sayers for you Blizzard. That's right, just keep glossing over, burying all the faults and loss of quality, along with empty promises made. If you don't get on them, they won't improve the game, if you protect the hive, they'll just let things fall further into the abyss of mediocrity. You don't have any of that you're saying I don't have btw, so it just paints you as a fanboy, and nothing you can say will change that.

They said that after the launch of Wrath we should expect expansions every 12-16months, and that we can expect no loss of quantity of content. We didn't get that, instead the game has become what they said would never become again since they learned from TBC... STALE. They never delivered us all the bulletpoints from what to be expected from Wrath after 2 years. They recycled items/artwork/assets like MAD in Wrath. Outside of Ulduar, they really, really cheaped out on us. Instead, they gave us purchasable for real cash pets, mounts, and "premium" services, which they're adding yet another of those into the mix. That pet/premium service/pet stuff, that could have been focused into Cata, that could've been put into the other things we were promised. No, Blizzard is money hungry now, plain and simple. They put better WoW stuff in the CE of SC2 than in the Cata CE, just so they can get some of those WoW players to buy that even though they wouldn't have because they don't play RTS.

Blizzard is not the Blizzard of old. They're a new entity, one that's money hungry. Because of this we're getting short-changed on quality, content, and promises. They spread themselves far too thin working on SC2, D3, WoW, and their new MMO which they pulled people from their A-team to work on. Now things are slipping. Cata is looking less and less likely to get out before the end of the year. The artwork is the worst ever since the start of WoW. Oh, and the "done when it's done thing", yeah, that never-ever happened before neither. Each expansion has launched with all the bugs, crashes, and class imbalances, and Cata won't be any different if it launched in Nov, or May of next year.

But yeah, protect the hive and stuff. Oh, and please retort with the tired, spent, lame, "well just quit" line. That one always makes me laugh.

[Notos]

All these arguments have me laughing my ass off, and all over the change of an unofficial release date. The portal removal was imminent; there was no way Blizz was gonna let people just hang out in Dal or Shat when this xpac is focused on the old world.

[Deleted]

Do you guys know, why they added so much hit into pvp items? Isn't that a waste in some way?

[Deleted]

Do you guys know, why they added so much hit into pvp items? Isn't that a waste in some way?

Well, if you miss, you don't do damage. You think it's too much hit, but you forgot that you need more points to achieve the same percentage of hit...
50 Hit was enough for a PvP Caster in TBC. In WotLK, its like 110+... Do you see my point?

And if you DO get too much hit, you can also reforge it into master/crit/haste rating now.

[Gerti]

Jesus Christ, three more months of ICC? I don't think I can make it.

Then take a brake and come back fresh after three months. Think you can make that? Probably not so just continue with your ICC runs...

[Vehemence]

So glad they're going the TBC Model again.

So glad.

[TheMobGoblin]

Well said.

Not really because there's nothing in Wrath to play.

---------- Post added 2010-09-28 at 06:01 AM ----------

This here is the reason why WoW has been on the downward spiral it's been in for the past two years. People with their blind love in a faceless corp, patting them on the back telling them it's ok, we'll handle these nay-sayers for you Blizzard. That's right, just keep glossing over, burying all the faults and loss of quality, along with empty promises made. If you don't get on them, they won't improve the game, if you protect the hive, they'll just let things fall further into the abyss of mediocrity. You don't have any of that you're saying I don't have btw, so it just paints you as a fanboy, and nothing you can say will change that.

They said that after the launch of Wrath we should expect expansions every 12-16months, and that we can expect no loss of quantity of content. We didn't get that, instead the game has become what they said would never become again since they learned from TBC... STALE. They never delivered us all the bulletpoints from what to be expected from Wrath after 2 years. They recycled items/artwork/assets like MAD in Wrath. Outside of Ulduar, they really, really cheaped out on us. Instead, they gave us purchasable for real cash pets, mounts, and "premium" services, which they're adding yet another of those into the mix. That pet/premium service/pet stuff, that could have been focused into Cata, that could've been put into the other things we were promised. No, Blizzard is money hungry now, plain and simple. They put better WoW stuff in the CE of SC2 than in the Cata CE, just so they can get some of those WoW players to buy that even though they wouldn't have because they don't play RTS.

Blizzard is not the Blizzard of old. They're a new entity, one that's money hungry. Because of this we're getting short-changed on quality, content, and promises. They spread themselves far too thin working on SC2, D3, WoW, and their new MMO which they pulled people from their A-team to work on. Now things are slipping. Cata is looking less and less likely to get out before the end of the year. The artwork is the worst ever since the start of WoW. Oh, and the "done when it's done thing", yeah, that never-ever happened before neither. Each expansion has launched with all the bugs, crashes, and class imbalances, and Cata won't be any different if it launched in Nov, or May of next year.

But yeah, protect the hive and stuff. Oh, and please retort with the tired, spent, lame, "well just quit" line. That one always makes me laugh.

Well said, nice to see not everyone is fooled by Blizzard's empty promises.Also Catacylsm looks less appealing as time goes on I'm tired of the damn thing being dangled in our faces like a steak for a hungry dog just out of reach.

[becaroonie]

no portals? yayy I have something to be useful for as a mage now!

[nsctpsm]

Really I make them try to sound like the spawn of satan to offset the screaming blind fanboys, I probably don't really care as much as I come off but someone has to be an individual and fight when things are terrible otherwise change will never come.

Hehe, I guessed as much actually. I agree, we can't take everything that Blizzard, or any organization (or government for that matter), feeds us simply because we're afraid of what will happen if we do speak up. It's not as if Blizzard will throw a fit and say "well, maybe we'll just stop developing WoW!!1"... they'll do what they can while getting away with what we allow them to.

WoW has a monopoly, and monopolies fall when they make too many mistakes (i.e. late cataclysm release dates) and refuse to be user(/gamer) friendly. In a few years WoW could easily topple like Microsoft did and loose maybe half their sales to newer, flashier and user friendly systems (ironically I do still own windows but everyone knows they don't have the shares they used too and i do severely wish I owned a mac)

Not sure if all that is correct, but I do get the point, and I won't be too surprised if/when Blizzard lose a big chunk of their subscribers. I don't know if it's going to be at this juncture though, but I'm not a fortune teller.

(As long as Macs are impossible to tinker with without sending the entire thing back to the company, or just plain impossible to tinker with at all, I'll stick to my PC... I'm a total homebuild-computer geek.)

They put better WoW stuff in the CE of SC2 than in the Cata CE, just so they can get some of those WoW players to buy that even though they wouldn't have because they don't play RTS.

Yo Kiro, I'm happy for you and I'mma let you finish, but the World of Warcraft: Cataclysm Collector's Edition had better contents than StarCraft II Collector's Edition.*

* Point to get: From a WoW player's point of view.

See you can't say one contains something better when the only comparable thing is a pet. Someone not playing WoW won't care, since there's no indication that it replaced anything, and someone not playing StarCraft and buying the Collector's Edition of that game only for the sake of getting that pet... has no leg to stand on when it comes to complaining about it. That pet is for those that play both WoW and StarCraft... or for those with enough funds to get that pet for lulz (or collecting pets), and in that case it's their choice, not hing forced about it.

Blizzard is not the Blizzard of old. They're a new entity, one that's money hungry. Because of this we're getting short-changed on quality, content, and promises. They spread themselves far too thin working on SC2, D3, WoW, and their new MMO which they pulled people from their A-team to work on. Now things are slipping. Cata is looking less and less likely to get out before the end of the year. The artwork is the worst ever since the start of WoW. Oh, and the "done when it's done thing", yeah, that never-ever happened before neither. Each expansion has launched with all the bugs, crashes, and class imbalances, and Cata won't be any different if it launched in Nov, or May of next year.

Above is just filled with "this is my opinion"-facts (i.e. not facts). Nothing significant mentioned has anything solid as it's base of argument. :\

Blizzard is no different than any other profit-driven company/corporation, neither more money-grubby nor more apt to wanting to exploit their customers. In fact, because of their large consumer base, anything they do will offend some part of it, and they will only take action if a large part objects – as was the case of RealID drama. If you happen to be a part of the tiny group that objects to something insignificant, then I'm sorry to say not much will happen. And you know what, that's how it's supposed to be.

Not really because there's nothing in Wrath to play.

If you play only for the sake of playing, I'd agree with you. If that's the case though, why even play an MMO at all? Playing alone, no social interaction, no guild, no friends, well... WoW becomes, more or less, plain shit to play (after a while).

There's plenty of ways to make this unofficial news more tolerable. Don't play every day, take a solid break (aka. "a-waiting-on-expansion-break"), do events with friends and/or guild-mates, and the list goes on.

Point is, when WoW – or any other MMO – is seen as something to complete, it won't stay fun... as long. Naturally, without any expansions it'll die out completely. Ignoring the social aspect will make it die out, on a personal level, much faster however.

[valiorik]

I don't mind to pay few coins for portal. Besides, more mages will offer portals, so it will be easy to travel. Not like today you spend 5 minutes to find mage in Undercity. However I feel sorry for all the mages making money from portals.. It's sure will be borring. Maybe good way of making gold, but no fun at all.

I would say, Blizzard is failing already with release date. ICC took to long, game is so boring now. Hope we'll see Cata this year.

[Buffwhite]

Two things: first, let me copy/paste something I said that you may have missed in my admittedly long spiel:
I would be fine with that as the basis for a war, because the undead have apparently gone batshit crazy (or were crazy to being with ;-)) and are being evil, making it reasonable for the Alliance to intervene.

Secondly, I am ALL about the war in World of Warcraft. You name it, war against Deathwing, war against the naga, war against the Scourge, war against the Burning Legion... there are plenty of monsters and villains to go to war against, and I am THERE. There's no point in warring against guys who are just as noble and heroic as you, and there's much nastier things out there waiting to kill us. Those are the things I'm eager to fight. So no, no Peacecraft for me, make no mistake.


A foe ripping the world asunder? Like Deathwing? Seems like a good time to get priorities straight. ;-) And while the Horde isn't exactly allies with the Alliance, they ARE allies with Theramore (Jaina and Thrall are particularly close personal friends... and frankly, if they don't hook up as the game draws to a close, I'll be really sad ;_ Unfortunately, game mechanics reduces Theramore to another Alli town that aggros Horde, despite it making more sense as a neutral town.


No, I'm going to get together with my neighbour and find a way to make more bread. We can accomplish so much more by working together than working alone. That's what WC3, the Shattered Sun Offensive and the Argent Crusade/Knights of the Ebon Blade are all about.


I would grant you this if the war was being pushed solely as a war of convenience and resources. If the general feeling was, "Look, you guys might be cool and all, but there just is not enough to go around," I'd be upset (for the above reason) but it would at least make sense. But they seem to be getting all RAWR KILL THE EVIL ALLI/HORDE PIGS, which makes no sense. For two expansions, Horde and Alliance have worked in close proximity. They KNOW that the other side are not a bunch of mustache twirling villains (well, Undead aside... they're pretty darned villainous). It makes no sense to still dislike each other when they surely recognize by now that the other side are not monsters.

Again, excepting Undead. I acknowledge that peace between the undead and the Alliance is probably slightly less likely than Deathwing appearing at the SW auction house and announcing, "OH I SAY DEAR BOY, may I have some Sulfuron Ingots?" Actually, that would be one of the only other ways I could see the war making sense, with less focus on Varian's "RAWR I HATE ORCS DESPITE THIS ONE BEING PERFECTLY NICE" and more on, "These undead are EVIL, and no matter how much I respect Thrall's loyalty in standing behind them... yeah, no, not happening, die in a fire."


Again, where the hell is all this World of Peacecraft coming from? THERE'S A BIG FARKING DRAGON DESTROYING THE WORLD. An Alliance and Horde army rising up against him? Now THAT is a war that will kick ass! It would be like the Wrathgate times eleven. Screw peace; a war like that would be amazing! LOKTAR OGAR!

You're saying the only reason Horde would have to fight Alliance would be because of the Undead? The Undead aren't necessarily as "evil" as you make them out to be. They may commit "atrocities" that would seem evil to you and I (like Cannibalism for one), but let's not forget they are dead. They cannot procreate. They do not feel the same emotions as we do. We cannot even begin to fathom what life (or unlife) is like for them. How dare we judge them for doing what they do? Sylvanas said herself "what life is there in this torment?" They have already lived and died and now they are forced to live again as rotting, infested, soulless beings. Until you've had everlasting worms in your face and gut and limbs that just fall off your body, don't talk to me about Undead being evil. They can't just go on raising pigs, harvesting wheat and living normal, happy lives in times of peace like living races can. They have to find a new purpose that suits their new circumstance. Idk what that is, but I'm not so quick to condemn them either. That's already been done.

And admittedly your war is wanting to be waged against all PvE targets. While I enjoy a good campaign, I think the bread and butter of warcraft has always been the ability to face other "human" opponents. Look at WC3: the Frozen Throne. Still going strong online, not because of the campaign, but because of the ability to fight other human opponents. Every battle is different, not just some scripted encounter that you can repeat tediously. I personally play this game for the PvP. Always have. I can't stand the ally races. I don't like their attitudes. I don't like their history. I don't like having to work alongside them. I don't like their races and I don't like their faces. Just because I've sat in a bar beside these guys in towns that I would get kicked out of for fighting them doesn't mean I didn't wanna pick up that barstool and bash their freakin skulls in the whole time I was there.

You are living in modern times, and have modern values. The storyline in game is a bit more primitive. We are experiencing the most peaceful times in the history of the world in this day and age. Long ago, there was much more conflict on a daily basis. Before the laws stretched across the entirety of the land, it was survival of the fittest. They don't have the U.N. or the internet. When they need wood, they gotta go chop it down. If that's in someone else's forest because they inhabit the land, well then sorry. We need it, and we're gonna take it.

The orcish leader doesn't like humans or the human leader. The human leader doesn't like orcs or the orcish leader. There has never been any "real" peace between the Horde and Alliance. Only a stay of arms for the moment. By your logic there doesn't even need to be two factions. Just one giant one that all works together for the common good of the planet. I'm not playing "Save the Planet." I'm playing World of Warcraft. It's always been about Alliance vs. Horde. We've lost sight of that in the past, but now it's coming back full speed, and I embrace that.

P.S.

And my foe ripping the world asunder comment was indeed a reference to Deathwing. Horde's main city was ravaged. As a result, all strongholds were fortified. That requires resources. A lot of them. We don't have time to negotiate. Some bases were lost and some were gained. In the interest of the people, actions had to be taken. Some of them hostile. You have an idealist's view of the way the world works. You're going to get together and find more bread? Oh please. There has ALWAYS been a need for more resources. Hence the battle for WSG, AB, AV etc. Horde and ally go to war on a daily basis, just not on a full scale basis. Well now, the world's been ripped apart. A lot was lost. All bets are off now. We need even more resources and the struggle just got that much harder so now it's "gtfo my way or we keel you x10." It's not necessarily trying to exterminate the opposing faction. It's just ensuring your own survival by any means necessary. Horde is Horde and Alliance is Alliance. We kill each other all the time anyway. Now it's just on a grander scale.

[j46ebucemag]

Not really because there's nothing in Wrath to play.

If that's the case for you then take a break from the game, temporarily cancel your subscription, and do something else with your life for three months.

[Kiro]

Above is just filled with "this is my opinion"-facts (i.e. not facts). Nothing significant mentioned has anything solid as it's base of argument. :\

Blizzard is no different than any other profit-driven company/corporation, neither more money-grubby nor more apt to wanting to exploit their customers. In fact, because of their large consumer base, anything they do will offend some part of it, and they will only take action if a large part objects – as was the case of RealID drama. If you happen to be a part of the tiny group that objects to something insignificant, then I'm sorry to say not much will happen. And you know what, that's how it's supposed to be.

FACTS:
- Part of their "a-team" has been pulled to work on their new MMO
- We still didn't get what we were promised, what was used as bulletpoints from the "Wrath" trailer
- We did get things we didn't expect, like pay for mounts, pets, and premium services, probably because those make money, promised things that are free do not.
- Cata will launch with bugs, glitches, critical error crashes, server lag/crashes, etc. "It's done when it's done" does not mean it'll launch without that stuff, it's just another catch phrase used to deter honest questions and complaints. That phrase has been latched onto by the hive, using it to defend with.
- Artwork is subjective, but regardless, it is offensive how lame it looks, but rest assured, if Wrath was any indicator said assets will be recycled to the moon and back.

Protect the hive and all that!

[valiorik]

If that's the case for you then take a break from the game, temporarily cancel your subscription, and do something else with your life for three months.

I'm on a break since late July then we completed hm ICC. Have to say nearly all guild is out till Cata. And that's a Blizz fail from my point of view. Neither before BC or WotLK we had nothing to do.

For someone like myself, who spends 3 night a week in game, pause is too long Tried Darckfall, but it's boring game for me.

[nsctpsm]

FACTS:
- Part of their "a-team" has been pulled to work on their new MMO
- We still didn't get what we were promised, what was used as bulletpoints from the "Wrath" trailer
- We did get things we didn't expect, like pay for mounts, pets, and premium services, probably because those make money, promised things that are free do not.
- Cata will launch with bugs, glitches, critical error crashes, server lag/crashes, etc. "It's done when it's done" does not mean it'll launch without that stuff, it's just another catch phrase used to deter honest questions and complaints. That phrase has been latched onto by the hive, using it to defend with.
- Artwork is subjective, but regardless, it is offensive how lame it looks, but rest assured, if Wrath was any indicator said assets will be recycled to the moon and back.

Protect the hive and all that!

Nothing significant was based on facts, thought I made this clear. Part of their "a-team" being on the new project doesn't really matter as much as you seem to think. You're complaining about dances... don't get your knickers in a twist, just sayin'. The premium services and purchasable items are voluntary – just because it was a success and Blizzard made money on it doesn't mean it's the work of this greedy big mean corporation that cares nothing about their customers. Like I said, if something disturbs a great deal of their subscribers they will look into it and probably change it, if it makes sense.
Yes, it will have bugs... but it will be bugs that won't break the game experience in such a big way as the bugs they're ironing out right now. So, more like fact that was exaggerated than actual fact.
You're putting down artwork in the facts list, and then at the same time admit it's not a fact and indeed a subjective opinion of yours? Don't cheat to make the list seem longer, mate. ;P

Blizzard is not the future Umbrella Corporation. You may go on and spout all that "hive" business all you want, calling everyone that doesn't agree with you on every single point a "fanboy/fangirl" if that makes you feel better about yourself. Just don't expect others to be as narrow minded as to be under the illusion that it's actually true because you say so.

[Asatru]

Portal removal makes no sense and the logic behind it makes even less sense.

[erallin]

release date on Newegg dot com is Dec 31st