Build of the Month
Recent Blue Posts
Dark Heart PTR Development Notes
Dark Heart PTR Development Notes
Recent Forum Posts
Should money be account-wide?
The Guild Perks list is now available in the "Guild Leveling" section of the left menu.
Azshara and Stonetalon Mountains Videos
Azshara and Stonetalon Mountains both got an incredible amount of changes in the expansion, below are 2 videos of the zones on beta servers.
Azshara
Stonetalon Mountains
Stonetalon Mountains
Blue posts
Originally Posted by Blizzard Entertainment
Updated Player Models
We definitely want to do it. Our artists would love to - believe me. The worgen and goblin took an enormous amount of art and animation time for Cataclysm. It's definitely on the list though. We recognize the problem with old models in shiny new armor. (Source)
Will the gnome/dwarf starting area be revamped?
Yes.
(Source)
Environment based spell effects
is there currently any way to implement ability based environment effects? Ie, creating an obstacle in a player's path.
It's technically possible, but really risky in terms of the potential for player abuse. Even in a PvE situation, it would be easy to get a mob stuck in a position where it couldn't path to targets without a ton of bullet-proofing on our part. (Source)
Spell school immune mobs
I can't think of the last time we made a spell school immune mob. Do you run into them often? It's the kind of mechanic we realized was never going to work because we design classes and specializations around schools. (Source)
Duplicate answers in the Twitter Dev Chat
We had the full class design team fielding questions and two community managers compiling their answers. In most cases, the developers were good about communicating with each other about which questions they'd be taking, or which classes each would focus on. It looks like roughly six questions got answered by more than one developer out of nearly 100 questions answered. In some cases, Lylirra and I accidentally double-posted the same Q&A while hurrying to compile the answers -- which did not at all affect the time it took for the developers to field questions. We're going through and removing any duplicates right now (identical questions with identical answers). (Source)
Druid (Forums / 3.3.5 Talent Calculator / Cataclysm Talent Calculator / Beta Skills/Talents)
Feral at LVL 10
You already have cat and get bear right around the same time. Picking Feral gives you Mangle and you can get some early talents encouraging you to level as a cat. (Source)
Mage (Forums / 3.3.5 Talent Calculator / Cataclysm Talent Calculator / Beta Skills/Talents)
Lack of Mage questions in the Twitter Dev Chat
We didn't screen them (as far as I know). We just didn't get many. (Source)
Is there any chance to see Invisibility on other classes?
Unlikely. We try not to share around unique abilities unless we feel it's absolutely necessary (like in the case of the mandatory buff scenario). (Source)
Paladin (Forums / 3.3.5 Talent Calculator / Cataclysm Talent Calculator / Beta Skills/Talents)
Paladin Rotations in Cataclysm
We felt like we needed to add several new spells to the paladin rotation, including making Holy Wrath a real part of the rotation. With all of those changes, we thought it was hard to justify having a mechanic to choose your Judgement when you were already choosing your Seal and Aura. It's just a different model. If anything at the moment I'm worried that we made paladins too complex and might have to reign it back in a little. We'll see when players can try it out in beta. (Source)
Priest (Forums / 3.3.5 Talent Calculator / Cataclysm Talent Calculator / Beta Skills/Talents)
Leap of Faith and CC
It won't remove movement impairing effects, at least not innately. That's the kind of thing we might add as a glyph or talent, but you have to be careful about this sort of thing because then the spell would likely be used as a snare-break and not for its main purpose. Likewise, once you mess with threat, that precludes using it on some targets, and again, we don't want priest to feel like they have to use it like a Hand of Salvation instead of to actually move allies. (Source)
Shaman (Forums / 3.3.5 Talent Calculator / Cataclysm Talent Calculator / Beta Skills/Talents)
Shaman Flying/Water Form
It's not in the plans. (Source)
Frost Spells
Shaman only seem to really have 2 frost spells, otherwise it's quite barren. Any plans to explore additional ones?
This idea comes up every now and then, but we haven't yet come up with something really unique that we haven't done before and that shaman need. (Source)
Elemental new spells
Earthquake is their big addition for Cataclysm. They'll get a lot of use out of Spiritwalker's Grace as well -- they were really who we had in mind with that spell. They are also getting some new mechanics, such as Lava Surge. (Source)
We definitely want to do it. Our artists would love to - believe me. The worgen and goblin took an enormous amount of art and animation time for Cataclysm. It's definitely on the list though. We recognize the problem with old models in shiny new armor. (Source)
Will the gnome/dwarf starting area be revamped?
Yes.
(Source)Environment based spell effects
is there currently any way to implement ability based environment effects? Ie, creating an obstacle in a player's path.
It's technically possible, but really risky in terms of the potential for player abuse. Even in a PvE situation, it would be easy to get a mob stuck in a position where it couldn't path to targets without a ton of bullet-proofing on our part. (Source)
Spell school immune mobs
I can't think of the last time we made a spell school immune mob. Do you run into them often? It's the kind of mechanic we realized was never going to work because we design classes and specializations around schools. (Source)
Duplicate answers in the Twitter Dev Chat
We had the full class design team fielding questions and two community managers compiling their answers. In most cases, the developers were good about communicating with each other about which questions they'd be taking, or which classes each would focus on. It looks like roughly six questions got answered by more than one developer out of nearly 100 questions answered. In some cases, Lylirra and I accidentally double-posted the same Q&A while hurrying to compile the answers -- which did not at all affect the time it took for the developers to field questions. We're going through and removing any duplicates right now (identical questions with identical answers). (Source)
Druid (Forums / 3.3.5 Talent Calculator / Cataclysm Talent Calculator / Beta Skills/Talents)Feral at LVL 10
You already have cat and get bear right around the same time. Picking Feral gives you Mangle and you can get some early talents encouraging you to level as a cat. (Source)
Mage (Forums / 3.3.5 Talent Calculator / Cataclysm Talent Calculator / Beta Skills/Talents)Lack of Mage questions in the Twitter Dev Chat
We didn't screen them (as far as I know). We just didn't get many. (Source)
Is there any chance to see Invisibility on other classes?
Unlikely. We try not to share around unique abilities unless we feel it's absolutely necessary (like in the case of the mandatory buff scenario). (Source)
Paladin (Forums / 3.3.5 Talent Calculator / Cataclysm Talent Calculator / Beta Skills/Talents)Paladin Rotations in Cataclysm
We felt like we needed to add several new spells to the paladin rotation, including making Holy Wrath a real part of the rotation. With all of those changes, we thought it was hard to justify having a mechanic to choose your Judgement when you were already choosing your Seal and Aura. It's just a different model. If anything at the moment I'm worried that we made paladins too complex and might have to reign it back in a little.
We'll see when players can try it out in beta. (Source) Priest (Forums / 3.3.5 Talent Calculator / Cataclysm Talent Calculator / Beta Skills/Talents)Leap of Faith and CC
It won't remove movement impairing effects, at least not innately. That's the kind of thing we might add as a glyph or talent, but you have to be careful about this sort of thing because then the spell would likely be used as a snare-break and not for its main purpose. Likewise, once you mess with threat, that precludes using it on some targets, and again, we don't want priest to feel like they have to use it like a Hand of Salvation instead of to actually move allies. (Source)
Shaman (Forums / 3.3.5 Talent Calculator / Cataclysm Talent Calculator / Beta Skills/Talents)Shaman Flying/Water Form
It's not in the plans. (Source)
Frost Spells
Shaman only seem to really have 2 frost spells, otherwise it's quite barren. Any plans to explore additional ones?
This idea comes up every now and then, but we haven't yet come up with something really unique that we haven't done before and that shaman need. (Source)
Elemental new spells
Earthquake is their big addition for Cataclysm. They'll get a lot of use out of Spiritwalker's Grace as well -- they were really who we had in mind with that spell. They are also getting some new mechanics, such as Lava Surge. (Source)
The MMO Report
It's monday and it's time for your weekly MMO Report
Comics
Dark Legacy Comic #247 and Teh Gladiators #150 + #151 are out!
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