Blizzcon 2011: WoW Open Q&A
Originally Posted by Blizzard Entertainment
As a 10 man raider there is a lot of difference between 10 and 25 man. When heroic magmaw came out 25 man raiders couldnt do it in 10 man heroic, when are we seeing the difficulty for 10 man being higher?
That's pretty fun because in Korea the 10-man guilds are usually the ones considered hardcore while the 25-man are considered easier. They are definitely hard to balance, 10 players might not always have the buffs they need like with 25 man.

Is there a chance that youll go to a 10 vs 20 man to make balancing easier?
I honestly think that wouldnt make stuff easier, we would still have a lot of problems.

Do you have any plans to implement some sort of spectator mode for raids or battlegrounds?
That's something we've wanted for a long time, spectator mode and replays, but it's just a question of getting around to doing it so ... some day, hopefully.

Do you have any plans on adding more options to the guild leaders UI? So as I can give more options to a banker or to my different officers since Im the only one that can turn guild repairs on and off
Yeah, thats definitely a good reason why we would want to do that. We need to make sure how much control we can give to people that are not the guild leader. It sounds like something that can be useful.

Wouldnt that be the GLs decision?
It is but if something goes wrong it comes back to us to fix it

With the upcoming expansion coming, are all the purple you get from Firelands going to get replaced with greens on first day?
Green is the new purple, so yeah. The problem is if we don't upgrade equipement too much we are cheating those players from the leveling experience, so usually by the 2nd or 3rd zone your gear should be replaced to make sure the content is still a challenge for you. Hopefully in the future we will have a way to "track" your progress in the past and make sure there's a way to record your accomplishements in each expansion to make sure that all your progress isn't "lost" at the beginning of each expansion.

How are you guys going to fit Draenei and the BEs getting monks?
We will probably throw it in like its always been there.... We'll make it work!

Hunters and Crowd Control: Currently with Wyvern Sting having a DOT it makes it a little difficult to quickly Wyvern Sting and then trap something after. Before Cataclysm we had the option of removing the dot with Scorpid Sting but it was removed, is there going to be a way to remove that DoT in the future?
It's probably something we're not going to do in 4.3, and 5.0 is such a big reset for all the talents that I can't really answer that now. It's definitely a problem but we also don't want everyone dotting up their characters before they crowd control, we don't want crowd control to always break on things like that and we'll see in 5.0.

Wind Shear change shouldn't hurt enhancement shamans, but most don't take Reverb. It also hurts Resto Shaman, any plans to fix this?
Raids usually have enough people, so it won't hurt the raid. PvP might force you to make the choice, but it is still an interrupt with a longer cooldown.

Do you hate enhancement shamans? DPS sucks, in PvP they suck, any plans to fix them? / Any plans for Illidan to come back?
Lets answer the Illidan question. Do you want to see Illidan come back? We will think about that.

This is a problem, just like frost mages dont do well in PvE but the difference is you can't tell an enhancement shaman "hey just go elemental". In PvP it will be much easier in 5.0 but for PvE we will try to adress some of the issues in 4.3

Do you want combat rogues to use cooldowns more often or hold off until 30% and use all the cooldowns at once?
You should follow the guidance from Restless Blades.

Is the guild name change service going to be in 4.3 or 5.0? Will it fall to the wayside like Dance Studios did?
One of these days we are going to unleash Dance Studios to the world and it will be awesome. But not today. We are releasing the new guild services within two weeks.

Your design in MoP are you bringing more healers into 25 man raids because there is a new healing class as a monk healer and 25 man guilds will usually have two people per class. Are you going to design your raids to bring more healers into raids?
I dont think we will change the number of healers needed for a raid.

Will challenge modes put us under the hit cap or affect core stats when the gear is tuned down?
There are some details to work out, people should be able to do roughly the same DPS and Healing as everyone else.

Are we going to see account bound mounts?
Hopefully some day, i dont think that will happen in 50 but somewhere down the line its likely.

Can we have an option to require auth on login every time
Soon.

What are your plans for the moonkin form, are you going to do the same thing you did for warlocks?
We are going to update the art on the moonkin form as we see fit. Its too early to tell what we will exactly be doing.

Race changing breaks quest progress for some quests, any plans to address this?
We might try whitelisting some quests, like the important legendary quest. We need to be careful to not bog down CS with this kind of thing though.

In the future are you going to make BoA items actually transferable account-wide?
Maybe some day! Probably not in the immediate future. The databases dont do the best job of talking to eachother right now.

The past few patches brought Arcane Mages and Feral Druids that are two button classes, any plans to make sure the Monk isn't easy like those classes/specs?
AoE rotations weren't a big focus at first, we want to make it a little more interesting. Arcane mages do have some mana management gameplay, we are adding back Arcane Missles to their rotation.

Do you ever plan on altering spells or maybe adding a new spell to Arcane mages and maybe nerfing arcane blast a little bit?
In 5.0 Living Bomb is a spell all mages will have.

Will enchanters be able to make epic wands in the future?
Yes

What are your changes going to be for gathering professions in the new expansion? Crafting gives you the best stuff but gathering isnt very useful
No sweeping change has been planned for the perks of these professions but we'll look at it. We dont want people to feel like they need 2 crafting professions.

Will you be able to craft different quivers?
Little visuals like that is something we want to add to all classes, it isn't really clear on how we can add that just yet.

I have a priest with a benediction staff but the quest for that was removed. I am very excited to transmog that. But I am worried that you might open up the models for other players, which would be unfair to the players that worked for it at level 60
One way we have solved that problem in the past is to offer the model with a different texture or something. We did something similar with the ZA bear mount

Ret has one clear choice for the Level 90 Tier in the new talent trees, any chance to balance it better?
We feel like they will be balanced once we tweak the numbers.

You are nerfing wind shear for resto PvP, do you intent to make a trade off or to not let them have it completely?
Ideally we would not want them to have it

In that case why dont you hardwire it into the spec masteries so enhancement and elemental dont have any effect?
That would have been another way to go, but this is a fairly big change and we dont want players to feel like everything is being changed. In 5.0 it might be a good oppurtunity to take away Wind Shear completely but we have not made a decision on that yet.

Will MoP bring us mounted combat?
No

Will MoP bring more craftable mounts?
Maybe a Jewelcrafting mount.

Any plans to fix Heroic Leap?
Heroic Leap has a lot of technical problems, people keep trying to exploit it. Works fine when it is flat, not so much when there is a height increase

Where are the LGBT characters in WoW Lore?
Everything is gravy as long as its just a great character. There is the possiblity of adding them, as long as the story is compelling, might see it in the future.

It seems that in a 10 man model there are huge negatives with class representation and wasted loot. Is there a possibility to change the 10-man model to a 15-man model? If not, maybe make some kind of smart loot system that checks if the loot is useful for your raid?
It might be a good idea to make the loot system slightly more intelligent, but moving up to a 15-man model would be very hard for us seeing existing 10-man guilds would have to recruit 5 more members.

Are you going to add more visuals for druid forms? Will effects such as Fandral's Flamescythe be transferable by transmogrification?
Maybe, we are connecting them with items so that it isn't something everyone has forever. We don't want you to have to go back and get different forms.

As a hunter who has played that class for 5 years I want to thank you for the pet challenges that came out in 4.3, that being said and how much we are so proud of all the pets we have obtained. Its a shame when you cant use these pets in a dungeon without being spec'd beast master, i was kind of hoping this might be a change in the future
We'd like to let hunters chose any pet with Tenacity/Ferocity/Cunning in 5.0. It doesn't solve the problem of MM losing Beast mastery pets but BM DPS is pretty good.

Gallywix is in charge but he's the bad guy, what happens to him? Also, blinding shield for paladins, what happened to that?
We haven't had a discussion about Gallywix in a while, he's interesting but I don't know if we have a core decision about him. Most of our discussions lately have been about pandaren characters and how to make them interesting.

This is not set in stone but Blinding Shield is currently the paladin level 87 ability.

The new shaman talent points seem to be geared for resto and not to a damage point, I know you said you want hybridization is coming more into play but what about DPS?
There are DPS options there, some of the tiers are based around movement, totems, etc ...

In End Time, we kill Murozond, is this the last we see of the Infinite Dragonflight? / Any plans to add player housing?
No player housing anytime soon, too expensive in terms of time to make if you still want dungeons, raids, models, and other stuff.

Infinite Dragonflight is done, at least for now, but the concept is cool and useful for the world. The timeways will always exist and there will always be bad guys there, there's no current plans for it but we could bring it back if it's cleverly done.

Jewelcrafting endgame is boring, can we have trinkets, rings, or necklaces?
We want to add some items, not every tier though. We need to keep it balanced compared to the other professions.

I'm pretty sure I understand how you pick Alliance and Horde as a Pandaren, do you guys have any idea how pandaren's factions will be distinguished at higher levels?
We have seen in arenas that the only thing that really matter is the Red Text and stuff, the UI is primarly the biggest indicator to see what faction they belong to. We explored going down the path were Horde Panda's were more feral and wild but it come to that they don't look like Pandaren anymore.

Will we see raid leaderboards, including wipe and kill counts?
There is a lot we could do to track player accomplishments, we could see it being extended to raids in the future.

Theres lots of people wanting the reskinning for old races, I was over at the art panel and the pandaren just looked so amazing. They were talking about being 10-20 in the fact alone, is that also something they are looking into for reskinning the new races?
Its the one thing we really want to see brought up to the pandaren level. There are about 10 times more bones in the pandaren models compared to the current character models. We dont know when this exactly will happen, because we are still not unsure how to roll this out because some people might not like the new models as much as they do the old models.

What will the theme for raid art and gear going to be?
Brewing, bamboo, everything crafted, respecting the Asian feel we have in the starting zone and expanding on that
This article was originally published in forum thread: Blizzcon 2011: WoW Open Q&A started by Boubouille View original post
Comments 137 Comments
  1. Klasis's Avatar
    Quote Originally Posted by Alenarien View Post
    How are you guys going to fit Draenei and the BEs getting monks?
    We will probably throw it in like its always been there.... We'll make it work!

    And there you have it guys; credulity is positively advised when it comes to their lore now.
    I actually hope there is a place for Bloodelves in this expansion. That is just an example of course other races need love also.
  1. Mascotte's Avatar
    Just when you think the questions hit rock bottom, someone comes along and asks about gay/transsexual chars in wow lore.
  1. Piggyslasher's Avatar
    Feral druid is a 2 button class? The hell is this guy on?
  1. Every Pwny's Avatar
    So many bad questions
  1. mmoc2a8ace7582's Avatar
    Quote Originally Posted by Mascotte View Post
    Just when you think the questions hit rock bottom, someone comes along and asks about gay/transsexual chars in wow lore.
    she should visit Goldshire at night on an RP server.
  1. mmocf558c230a5's Avatar
    "The past few patches brought Arcane Mages and Feral Druids that are two button classes, any plans to make sure the Monk isn't easy like those classes/specs?"
    That little punk! D=<


    Edit:
    Quote Originally Posted by Alenarien View Post
    How are you guys going to fit Draenei and the BEs getting monks?
    We will probably throw it in like its always been there.... We'll make it work!

    And there you have it guys; credulity is positively advised when it comes to their lore now.
    Yeah, that part caught my eye too. Pretty naff attitude they have there.
  1. mmoc3c5d51e875's Avatar
    The past few patches brought Arcane Mages and Feral Druids that are two button classes, any plans to make sure the Monk isn't easy like those classes/specs?
    Feral Druids
    two button
    They see me trawling
  1. Karrotlord's Avatar
    Feral is EASY?!?!
  1. Constellation's Avatar
    Oh my god, probably the most boring Q&A ever..
  1. Fidd's Avatar
    Ask about the Mage talent trees plz
  1. mmocd01386186f's Avatar
    Where are the LGBT characters in WoW Lore?
    I nominate this as stupidest question asked today.
  1. damasca's Avatar
    I have a priest with a benediction staff but the quest for that was removed. I am very excited to transmog that. But I am worried that you might open up the models for other players, which would be unfair to the players that worked for it at level 60One way we have solved that problem in the past is to offer the model with a different texture or something. We did something similar with the ZA bear mount
    Why do people feel the need to be unique snowflakes? I've got unique items on some of my characters that can't be obtained anymore... D2 sets, old ZG mounts, argent dawn tabard, leather level 70 gear from pre-cata world event (including re-colored agility leather Judgement kilt... pretty sweet, honestly), etc. I really wouldn't care if everyone else was able to get these items. It's silly to think that just because you've been playing longer that you should be the only one to have something that's now unobtainable. I really hope that they do re-add these items to the game. I've spent 7 years gathering these items, yeah, but it doesn't make me and only me entitled to them. Just like this Priest isn't entitled to his staff.

    Quote Originally Posted by Baiyn View Post
    That little punk! D=<
    lol Right? Feral a 2 button class.... What, he thinks all ferals do is mangle and bite?
  1. mmocf4afed8c35's Avatar
    Quote Originally Posted by Mascotte View Post
    Just when you think the questions hit rock bottom, someone comes along and asks about gay/transsexual chars in wow lore.
    Imo MUCH more interesting than all this whining about specs and everyone specifically feeling hated by the developers. Don't know why this bothers you more than all of those absolutely shitty questions that were coming up.
  1. BatteredSausage's Avatar
    Quote Originally Posted by Mascotte View Post
    Just when you think the questions hit rock bottom, someone comes along and asks about gay/transsexual chars in wow lore.
    Ye idd , seriously anyone that wants this in a computer game should simply FUCK OFF!!!
    A game where children play including my own i dont want that shit rammed in there face, they can learn about that in reality if and when they want.
    Whats with them wanting to show themselves off?, we know you exist we know your out there , why do you insist that it has to be broadcasted ?
    I lived next door to 2 gay men for 4 years, i knew they was gay so did everyone else but its like some peoples attitudes act like they have to remind people every day;
    'Good morning , hey im gay!' 'Hello how are you ....IM GAY!'
    ITS NOT NEEDED!!!
  1. Salech's Avatar
    Atleast we're getting new rotations in the upcoming expansion, so instead of 2-6 dps buttons, we get 2-6 new/old buttons to push. Nice.
  1. mmocad8be81406's Avatar
    Talk about elusive inconsistent bullshit answers. Typical blizzard lazy attitude."Maybe", "Probably", "That's something we've been looking at", "We'd like to do that". Everything it translates to is "no", so why not outright fucking say it.Are they just incapable of giving straight answers?
  1. metalgemini's Avatar
    Quote Originally Posted by BatteredSausage View Post
    Ye idd , seriously anyone that wants this in a computer game should simply FUCK OFF!!!
    A game where children play including my own i dont want that shit rammed in there face, they can learn about that in reality if and when they want.
    Whats with them wanting to show themselves off?, we know you exist we know your out there , why do you insist that it has to be broadcasted ?
    I'm all for the LGBT cause, but this is seriously not the forum for it. Its just not relevant!
  1. Kathranis's Avatar
    Quote Originally Posted by Alenarien View Post
    How are you guys going to fit Draenei and the BEs getting monks?
    We will probably throw it in like its always been there.... We'll make it work!

    And there you have it guys; credulity is positively advised when it comes to their lore now.
    There ARE already blood elf and draenei monks in the game.

    Eramas Brightblaze in Magisters' Terrace, and Auchenai Monks in Auchindoun.
  1. mmocd81085c6a9's Avatar
    player housing? are you serious about this? [...]
  1. MoanaLisa's Avatar
    Quote Originally Posted by BatteredSausage View Post
    Ye idd , seriously anyone that wants this in a computer game should simply FUCK OFF!!!
    A game where children play including my own i dont want that shit rammed in there face, they can learn about that in reality if and when they want.
    Whats with them wanting to show themselves off?, we know you exist we know your out there , why do you insist that it has to be broadcasted ?
    Discussions of sexual orientation are inappropriate for the game. That said, your reply doesn't exactly do you proud either.

    ---------- Post added 2011-10-22 at 03:28 PM ----------

    Quote Originally Posted by Huragano View Post
    player housing? are you serious about this? [...]
    Well, there's a reason it keeps coming up on the forums. All we need now is a question about vanilla and BC servers. It may be dumb but there's obviously some interest in it.

Site Navigation