Website Design, Race Intro Cinematics, Blue Posts

New Website Design - Feedback Needed!
My lovely new tech team is working on a new design for the site and I figured it could be nice to ask for your opinion while things are still in development. There is a dedicated post on the Suggestions & Feedback forum where you can give your opinion and complain about the annoying things before it goes live.



Important
  • No, we're not reducing the amount of news posts on the front page to 2, it will remain the same old super-long front page.
  • I'm mostly looking for people who have good idea on how to improve things, if you really hate something try to elaborate and offer ways to do things better. (Please post in the Feedback Thread)
  • It's a 1680x1050 screenshot because this is the most used resolution on the website, it should work fine on lower res.



WoWTal.com Updated to Build 12857
Had a few hiccups with the latest build because of the server migration but the cataclysm talent calculator is now updated to the latest beta build.



New Race Introduction Cinematics
TotalBiscuit compiled all the new introduction cinematics added to the game in the latest beta build. All races character creation cinematics have been updated to reflect all the recent changes to the lore, including upcoming changes, and you might want to check them out.

Disclaimer: There are a couple of major spoilers there





Cataclysm Glyphs
Originally Posted by Ghostcrawler (Blue Tracker)
Prime glyphs aren't going to be exciting in a "change up your rotation" style. We want primes to be unambiguous dps (etc.) increases so we figured they might as well be easy to understand rather than something so convoluted that everyone would just go to a fansite to see which 3 to pick.

The majors are more interesting, because they are either not dps increases at all, or dps increases in ways that are tricky to math out. We think players will debate and geek out more about which majors to use, and with the new glyph design, swapping them out once in awhile isn't very painful.

Minors are basically convenience or fun.

We don't want glyphs to change rotations. We feel that was a mistake in LK. Talents should affect your rotations, and glyphs should just provide a little bit of customization and power. We fixed some class problems with glyphs in LK, which was an easy solution to do at the time, but now is the time to undo all of that and let the classes stand on their own without the glyphs.

I'm not sure I agree with this. I can understand wanting to keep it simple, but like someone else said, if you're going to have 3 glyphs that we're always going to have with no variation, and none of them have any effect on the rotation... couldn't we just stick with minor/major glyphs, and just remove the prime glyphs entirely?

First, it would be a weird world in which a warrior say could glyph Charge and Battle Shout but not Mortal Strike. It might make sense to savvy players who thought through it, but I'd wager you'd also see a lot of "Why don't they make glyphs that affect the buttons I care most about? Blizzard is dumb." (And to be clear, the point of that is not to defend ourselves against agitated forum posters, but that if something in the game is confusing like that in can get in the way of having fun.)

Second, gaining power when you level up is fun. Hitting a milestone where you get a noticeable damage bonus is fun. There is also some mildly interesting decisions about which prime glyph to use first. In other words, don't view everything through the lens of the maximum level player.

Third, not everything in the game needs to be a nail-biting decision. We don't for example really want Fury warriors to stress about whether to choose Raging Blow or not, nor we do we make it particularly challenging to choose your weapon enchant. Sometimes easy decisions make players feel more comfortable rather than every potential decision having a host of invisible pitfalls. This isn't an issue of catering to the dumb players -- it's more about there being a few safe places in the game. [I feel nearly certain after re-reading that paragraph that it's going to be hard to understand and I will end up having to clarify it for months to come.]

Finally, I'd argue that the popular glyphs on live today already were the no brainers because in most cases they led to a consistent dps increase (for dps specs of course). When everyone uses those glyphs, then you aren't making some interesting decision about how to use your abilities -- you're just doing what every other warrior out there is doing. The only way to deviate from that is to have two glyphs that affect your primary abilities in two totally different but equal ways. That's a very tall order, because more than likely we'll end up having to constantly adjust around that. "Encounter #4 in Grim Batol is unfair to warriors who use the Glyph of Furious Mortal Strikes instead of the Glyph of Meaty Mortal Strikes." What I mean is that we end up having to support multiple play styles within one tree. We're willing to do that to a limited extent (the TG vs. SMF Fury warrior for example, or the FFB mage), but it's hard enough to develop 1-2 viable rotations per spec. We don't want every important glyph bifurcating that rotation even more.

Blue Posts
Originally Posted by Blizzard Entertainment
Your ICC gear is going away in Uldum (LVL 84-85)
What gear? Uldum has zero quest rewards and the creatures are not itemized. When Uldum is itemized every single quest should offer you an upgrade, regardless of what gear you have from ICC+. (Source)

Paladin (Forums / 3.3.5 Talent Calculator / Cataclysm Talent Calculator / Beta Skills/Talents)
Paladin Glyphs
That Avenging Wrath glyph no longer exists. It's far too obvious a dps increase to be a major under the new paradigm.

The Seal of Truth one is on the bubble. It's still in for now, but it's pretty much a no-brainer given the stat savings it offers. (Source)

Selfless Healer
We're fine with Selfless Healer. It's not going anywhere. We are slightly sympathetic to the concern that the opportunity cost is too high given that you're giving up a Templar's Verdict and that's the kind of thing we might mess with. However, if the idea of having a talent focused solely on healing (and not self preservation) offends you, then skip the talent. It's intended to be optional. There are paladins out there who like the concept of being able to help out healing in a 5-player dungeon or like being able to save lives once in awhile, and the talent is aimed at them. (Source)

Warrior (Forums / 3.3.5 Talent Calculator / Cataclysm Talent Calculator / Beta Skills/Talents)
Warrior Glyphs
Some of those glyphs don't look correct. Colossus Smash is a major. Hamstring doesn't do that anymore. Shield Wall provides 60% damage reduction but on a longer cooldown. That's just off the top of my head. (Source)
This article was originally published in forum thread: Website Design, Race Intro Cinematics, Blue Posts started by Boubouille View original post
Published on 2010-09-03 06:49 AM
132 Comments
Comments 132 Comments
  1. Beyz's Avatar
    I know that you're probably looking for constructive feedback rather than just fanboy appreciation, but really I sooo love that design.

    Implent it asap, it's really really awesome.
  1. Preliatus's Avatar
    Out of all honesty. The new layout looks like some leprecun vomitted all over your screen. It looks just as bad as the new layout on some porn forum I visit regularly.
  1. thayn33's Avatar
    Quote Originally Posted by mmathes339 View Post
    Just kind of floored by the "dwarf king is basicly dead" reveal, and the "garrosh killed cairne" one. As far as the lay out goes I think it looks cleaner.
    Please do not post spoilers. I assume you are refering to the videos. I didn't want to watch them since it had spoiler alerts above it.
  1. Plaguerage's Avatar
    So I guess that puts to rest any argument whether or not Cairne and Garrosh had a duel then.

    I must wonder, is that Latin in the previews for the new layout?
  1. Sanxion's Avatar
    Quote Originally Posted by Valdamir View Post
    1680x1050 is the most used resolution? What size monitor is that the native resolution for?
    I think 17" and up supports it pretty well. I currenly use a 21" monitor and works perfect. I also believe everything up 21" has 1920x1080 resolutions.

    Oh btw - LOVE the new layout! I find it even more simple than the current one so I doubt people will have much trouble navigating through, even though it's new. Very clean and subtle. Good job.

    Edit:

    Quote Originally Posted by Plaguerage View Post
    I must wonder, is that Latin in the previews for the new layout?
    I'd assume it's Lorem Ipsum. I might be wrong though.
  1. billymayz's Avatar
    Quote Originally Posted by Ghostcrawler View Post
    Minors are for convenience or fun.

    you heard it here, GC admitted to being pedo crab
  1. bloodykiller86's Avatar
    love the new layout but like alot of ppl said add that lil warrior guy to the new mmo-champion logo and it would be perfect! =D
  1. Loky's Avatar
    The new design looks great. The background is a bit strange but we can get used to it
  1. Lemons's Avatar
    So...the Gilnean story begins in the past during the scourge invasion? Also, the Dreanei one is boring as hell "we'll stick around here on Azeroth to help out, oh, and I guess our leader had a vision..." what kind of lore is that?

    ---------- Post added 2010-09-04 at 08:40 PM ----------

    Quote Originally Posted by thayn33 View Post
    Please do not post spoilers. I assume you are refering to the videos. I didn't want to watch them since it had spoiler alerts above it.
    Why don't you just refrain from reading to comment section if you're so adamant about not reading spoilers? it's purpose is to allow people to make comments on what was in the post, so if there's spoilers in the post then there's going to be spoilers in the comments.
  1. catalystical's Avatar
    "Second, gaining power when you level up is fun. Hitting a milestone where you get a noticeable damage bonus is fun. There is also some mildly interesting decisions about which prime glyph to use first. In other words, don't view everything through the lens of the maximum level player."

    Let's face it. Every player knows the game truly starts at max level. As much as they want to freshen up the leveling process, the end game is well... the end game.

    There will be a small bunch of people (me) who just enjoys the grindfest and level characters up to 80(5) and dumping them to one side to work on another, but for the rest of the gaming population it's mainly 1 character they log in at nights to raid with, maybe with alts for the weekends.

    One might thought when they opened up raiding to the mass population in Wrath, they know raiding is the end game where not only the phat loots are, but also where major plot points will be concluded.

    "In other words, don't view everything through the lens of the maximum level player" has got to be one of the most out of touch comments GC has given out.
  1. Arukie's Avatar
    The design is good. But there is a few flaws that catch my eye:

    The searchfield is badly located. It looks messy and shouldn't be there. I would have placed it to the right just below the "Cataclysm" and "Patch 3.3" buttons.
    Also images in posts should not be centered, they should be aligned to the left. It's a typographical thing.
  1. Ottius's Avatar
    The Nav Menu gradient should be colorized somehow, otherwise it blends with the header and seems like something minor. Also, I would make the gradient a bit more flat.
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