StarCraft 2: Heart of the Swarm Release Date Announced, Poll: Who's the Greatest "Great Evil"?, Fowl Lair (Wheel of Misfortune)

Blood Legion Video - Heroic Grand Empress Shek'zeer
Blood Legion has released their video of the Heroic Grand Empress Shek'zeer 25 man kill.



Patch 5.0.5 Hotfixes - Nov 12
Originally Posted by Blizzard (Blue Tracker / Official Forums)
Creatures

Items
  • Fixed an issue with the way that Might of Ursoc could interact with the Druid's Deep Earth Vestments 4 piece set bonus when in a group.

Dungeons, Raids & Scenarios
Heart of Fear
  • Wind Lord Mel'jarak
    • Fixed an issue that could sometimes prevent Mel'jarak from properly gaining Recklessness.
  • Grand Empress Shek'zeer
    • Players affected by Fixate will no longer incorrectly maintain threat after the effect ends.
    • The range of the Empress's various damage dealing abilities has been increased.
  • Imperial Vizier Zor'lok
    • In the Heroic mode version of this encounter, Zor'lok should never choose the platform of Attenuation when combat begins.
    • Zorlok will now always cast Force and Verve after summoning Noise Cancelling Zones.
    • Fixed an issue that could cause players affected by Convert to be damaged by Zor'lok's abilities.
    • Fixed an issue that could cause Convert to affect more than one healer in 10-player raid groups.
  • Amber-shaper Un'sok
    • Mutated Constructs now deal appropriate damage.
    • Fixed an issue that could cause Inferno Blast to interact with Amber Carapace in a way that dealt extreme damage to secondary targets.
  • Garalon
    • In the Raid Finder version of this encounter, Garalon's Fury ability will now stack 5 times with a 15 second duration, and Pungency now stacks 20 times.
    • In the Raid Finder version of this encounter, Garalon will not enter combat until a player enters one of the visible circles surrounding his body or legs, or performs a hostile action.
    • Pets now correctly gain Weak Points when attacking Garalon's legs.
    • Several abilities that deal additional damage to a secondary target no longer improperly include bonus damage provided by Weak Point when determining the damage dealt to secondary targets.

Mogu'shan Vaults
  • The Stone Guard
    • Using Alter Time will no longer prevent Mages from losing stacks of Energized Tiles in this encounter.
  • Elegon
    • Pets will now correctly attack Elegon from behind.

Bug Fixes
  • Highly Explosive Yaungol Oil no longer deals damage to hostile players.
  • Fixed a phasing issue that could occur during the quest "Battle Axe of the the Thunder King".
  • Fixed an issue with the way that Glyph of Jab could interact with various weapons.

Heart of Fear Raid Finder Loot Issue Hotfixed
Originally Posted by Blizzard (Blue Tracker / Official Forums)
We’ve applied a hotfix to resolve an issue where players in Raid Finder were being saved as having killed a boss after a wipe in Heart of Fear. The hotfix is active and doesn't require a rolling restart to take effect. Heart of Fear is now safe for your Raid Finder adventuring needs.

For the small number of players who were ineligible for a chance at loot as a result of this bug before it was fixed, we're currently discussing the best resolution and will provide an update as soon as we can. In the meantime, we thank you for your patience and apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused.

Does the solution only affect people who killed the bosses or also the people were just locked incorrectly? I wiped and didn't kill a boss and got saved apparently. Am I now unsaved and can go safely or do I need to wait for a solution?
This does not affect those that killed a boss and got loot. The hotfix was to correct an issue where players got saved when a boss resets; like after a wipe.

You didn't read, I haven't killed the Boss because we wiped repeatedly and I'm still saved to it. According to that, it should have fixed itself but didn't.
The hotfix prevents more people from being saved incorrectly when a boss resets. For players already saved, we're still exploring what we can do and will provide an update as soon as possible.

Arena Exploitation and Win Trading
Originally Posted by Blizzard (Blue Tracker / Official Forums)
Providing an environment where players can compete in the spirit of fair play is extremely important to us, particularly in rated Player versus Player combat. As part of that commitment we regularly monitor gameplay, and have discovered an issue where some Arena teams have exploited the queuing system to obtain high team ratings, “dodge” unfavorable team compositions, and engage in win trading.

These, and all, exploitative activities are absolutely prohibited. We will investigate the situation carefully, and players that have been found to have participated in exploitation will be subject to the appropriate actions against their World of Warcraft accounts. In the meantime, we are currently working to resolve any remaining issues with the queue system to prevent this behavior in the future.

Blue Posts
Originally Posted by Blizzard Entertainment
Responding to Player Feedback
The OP has a point.. They did specifically say that they felt it was too much for players to feel that they had to grind reputations for head and shoulder enchants and then they turn around and put the enchants for other slots behind reputations.
Not really. They're different things. The enchantments were absolutely, without-question mandatory, because there was no other way to obtain those particular power increases no matter what else you did in the game.

The current dailies might feel that mandatory to some particularly progression focused players, but it is entirely possible to skip them, and the gear they provide, pretty much entirely and still arrive at the same level of character potency.

No doubt someone will mention profession recipes. Profession recipes have virtually always required some hoop jumping - ranging from RNG raid drops to rep grinds; the best recipes have always required a little something extra.

I have one question: Where's the proof?
I'm not interested in citing the entire massive list directly, but World of Warcraft has a long history of adjustments in response to player feedback. A couple simple recent examples would be raising the Arena and Rated Battleground base point caps or the upcoming changes to the way that Pandaria faction reputation is gained by alternate characters on an account.

When something you feel strongly about hasn't been changed, that doesn't mean that we've dismissed feedback. In fact, sometimes we really like a suggestion, but implementing it doesn't quite fit into the schedule yet, or there are technical or design reasons why it doesn't fit into the game yet. Sometimes, we want to wait til we can implement a more elegant solution. And, of course, sometimes we simply disagree that a particular change is the right course for the game. Nonetheless, in none of these cases is feedback dismissed - it was still taken into account during the decision making process.

You mean the one that just got a huge nerf? Yeah, they nerfed all the dmf cards.
No! Bad! Stop pointing to data-mined content as fact. The change that got picked up was actually an adjustment to Darkmoon Card trinkets for Challenge Mode stat scaling.

When I read this, here's what I am understanding. The enchant on the gear is MORE IMPORTANT than the actual gear itself? So, enchant > gear?
Unfortunately, it seems that you did misinterpret what I wrote. No, the enchantments are not more important than the gear, but they do complement all the gear you'll ever get over the course of that expansion (which is what made those reps essential). In Cataclysm, and previously, you had to have those item enhancements because they would apply over any gear you ever got. In Mists, you can skip rep gear, and move on to better gear, and never miss the reputations you didn't earn in the long run. Not that I'm advocating skipping dailies - there are definitely reasons to do them; just not to the point of fatigue that some choose to. We loosened the cap, and the intention there was to give players some flexibility regarding how they approached them.

While better gear is always helpful, the rep gear is only compelling enough to be called "necessary" relatively early in the progression cycle - and, in truth, it's only "necessary" for the guilds that are competing on that level. On the other hand, it seems that a certain type of player is always running extra miles of one sort or another to be at the cutting edge of content in every expansion, and with every new raid release. I mean, is any tangible, useful reward we provide--regardless of venue--going to seem to be anything less than absolutely mandatory to such a player, unless it is purely cosmetic?

Finally, as Zarhym mentioned elsewhere. We are paying attention and want to do better in the future. We're not in a position to completely re-work the way players interact with dailies on-the-fly, right-this-second. That expectation is unrealistic. We are always interested in learning better ways to approach these design challenges and make fun and compelling content, though.

That's fairly rude and unbecoming of someone who is in the position you are in, Dax. Treating people like an animal by saying, "No! Bad!" and then rubbing their nose in it for jumping the gun is definately not what you should have done. Rather, you should have POLITELY STATED the incorrectness of it and moved on. In this case, both parties here made an error in judgment. Shame to both of you.
It was a tongue in cheek post, though I've re-read it and I still don't find it particularly offensive. Agree to disagree?

This is an interesting example of dissonance in the style of communication that the community wants though. There's a segment of the community that would prefer nothing but perfectly polite, all-the-sharp-edges-grinded-off kind of customer service speak. Meanwhile, there were many players in this thread requesting 'bluntness'--some specifically to the point of rudeness. I think I usually tend somewhere in the middle, with a touch of humor thrown in now and then.

Daxxari, my question for you is, how am I supposed to feel you guys in Blizzard HQ enjoy our feedback if you delete all the posts that consists of feedback?.....
Simply because a thread contains feedback doesn't mean that it abides by our posting guidelines or code of conduct. Constructive feedback should probably be the buzzword, rather than feedback on its own.

We welcome it, we want to read it, and we want to share it with the development teams. You still need to play by the rules while you're here, if you want to be heard.

Those polls only used a few thousand people...
It's true that the forum population represents a relatively small chunk of the overall player base. It's also true that the kind of player that's apt to post on the forums doesn't necessarily represent all of the vast and incredibly diverse World of Warcraft community, but that doesn't mean that the feedback here isn't useful. We do realize that forum goers are often our most invested, passionate players. We appreciate you guys, and what you have to say matters.

That said, election polls and the forums are different in several key ways. Among them--and I don't want to get into how statistics works in detail (especially since I'm not an expert)--but I do know that the forums are what is called a 'self selecting sample', and that trying to derive representative statistics from such a sampling is an excellent way to get skewed results. (Blue Tracker / Official Forums)

Cross-Realm Zones and Gathering Professions
Cross realm zones bring the number of players per zone up to the intended number, the number we had in mind when designing the zone. The competition over mining nodes you're experiencing now should be on a par with those who are on realms with a high population. Your profession levelling speed should be roughly the same speed as everyone else.

While I can understand that you enjoyed being able to level up gathering professions quickly before, it wasn't ever meant to be that easy. (Blue Tracker / Official Forums)

Heart of the Swarm Arrives March 12, 2013 - Presales Now Live
Originally Posted by Blizzard (Blue Tracker / Official Forums)
Prepare for the approaching Swarm.... On March 12, 2013, StarCraft® II: Heart of the Swarm™ launches around the world, igniting an intergalactic storm of intense strategic combat and opening a savage new chapter in the war between terran, protoss, and zerg. You can pre-purchase the expansion NOW directly through Battle.net® and be ready to play the moment it goes live.

In addition to the Standard Edition and retail-exclusive Collector’s Edition packed with bonus items, you’ll also have the option to upgrade a Standard Edition to the Digital Deluxe Edition, which comes equipped with all the in-game content from the physical Collector’s Edition, including a Torrasque skin for your zerg Ultralisks in Heart of the Swarm multiplayer, unique Swarm-infested portraits for your StarCraft II character profile, a Baneling pet for your World of Warcraft® characters, and a set of zerg-ified blade wings for your heroes in Diablo® III.

Whether you plan to tear a path of destruction through the all-new Kerrigan-focused single-player campaign or jump right into the multiplayer action with the devastating new units under your command, it’s never too early to begin preparing for your Heart of the Swarm experience. Simply log in to your Battle.net® account and pre-purchase Heart of the Swarm, and you’ll be flagged to automatically download the expansion content prior to launch.

Learn more about Heart of the Swarm

Learn more about the Digital Deluxe Edition

Learn more about the Collector’s Edition

For more details on the March 12 launch of StarCraft II: Heart of the Swarm, head to the Heart of the Swarm game page to learn more about the expansion and pre-purchase your digital copy.



The Daily Blink
The Daily Blink shows off the advantage of being a Druid when doing Survival Ring: Blades.

Alternative punchline for fans of 'Red Meat': I hate you, Milkman Dan.
This article was originally published in forum thread: Heroic Empress 25 Video, Nov 12 Hotfixes, Win Trading, Blue Posts, HotS Release Date started by chaud View original post
Comments 45 Comments
  1. MasterHamster's Avatar
    Quote Originally Posted by MacHaggis View Post
    The amount of whining on those topics....the CM's should just respond with "because fuck you" and close the topic. And I'd applaud them.
    That'd be beautiful.
  1. mmoc1e4c5b7903's Avatar
    Quote Originally Posted by MasterHamster View Post
    That'd be beautiful.
    HE might as well sign his demission in that moment . To avoid being fired on the spot.
  1. mmoced78b691e6's Avatar
    Quote Originally Posted by Blazefury5 View Post
    As a monk with Zen flight I found the Daily Blink comic to be hilarious.
    haha, true dat. I actually think they should have used monk instead of druid, would look even more trollish.
  1. Danifilth's Avatar
    Athene finally caught exploiting that areana
  1. kenshinag's Avatar
    Quote Originally Posted by Danifilth View Post
    Athene finally caught exploiting that areana
    Wheat? Hea weas eaxploiting? In eareanea?
  1. Sajakain's Avatar
    You don't need to be a druid to "bypass" the Ring of Blades.

    Note the image:



    If you stand on the outside edge of this pillar (or any "equilivant" pillar around the edge) you will still get credit for the quest and take no damage. Basically... any pillar that only one panda crosses will count. If two pandas "reach" the same pillar one will hit you. (Not sure why... just does). So....

    • Pick a pillar that only one panda crosses.
    • Stand on the outside if it.
    • ????
    • Profit.

    An easy way to get on said pillar is simply to dismount over it while the panda is away from it. Hope this helps.
  1. mmoca6967c3bea's Avatar
    Quote Originally Posted by holypalaswe View Post
    http://i.imgur.com/fbStY.png

    I wonder who made this. :3
    This might help you, then again wern't you the same Holypalaswe that got caught botting on Kungen's Livestream?
  1. mmoc664e732ce0's Avatar
    Wtf is up with the date? 03-12-13?

    Do they say the time is 48:12:59 there too? (Minutes:Hour:Seconds)
  1. Sharped's Avatar
    Anyone else fastforwarding to the end of those world first videos just to hear the joy and happiness in all those peeps killing the boss for the first time. It brings back memories from when i raided
  1. Nanaboostme's Avatar
    Daily blink for blizzard president
  1. stratozeus's Avatar
    I bet the interview process for Blizzard CMs is they lock you in a room full of crying babies for 8 hours and see if you can keep your cool. I'm not saying all users/posters are babies, but there are certainly some out there that can express their opinion/feedback in a less whiny way!
  1. mmocced9c7d33d's Avatar
    When is endless spring LFR gonna be up?

  1. Alayea's Avatar
    Quote Originally Posted by Nexsa View Post
    @The Daily Blink - Anyone can avoid them and do it with no effort. Just stand on a post. The one closest to the quest giver works fine. This also helps you get credit for one part of the ready for raiding 3 achieve.
    Beat me to it. (I still shake my head at all the skeletons I come across.)
  1. Phader's Avatar
    Sweet to see the vid of Heroic Empress Great kill and Grats too blood legion. Also that Daily Blink comic LOL
  1. KCguy's Avatar
    Every question in the blue posts is someone whining. It's hilarious. lol. As for cross realm and gathering, I've never had any problems. Ever. Yes, there are a fair amount of people in lower level zones, but it's not hard nor has it ever been hard to max a gathering profession. It's still very fast.
  1. greyghost's Avatar
    A++ to Daily Blink for Red Meat alt text.
  1. TheSweetness's Avatar
    Quote Originally Posted by naturetauren View Post
    Wtf is up with the date? 03-12-13?

    Do they say the time is 48:12:59 there too? (Minutes:Hour:Seconds)
    Nope. But we do say March 12th, 2013.
  1. ringpriest's Avatar
    Arena Exploitation and Win Trading
    Originally Posted by Blizzard (Blue Tracker / Official Forums)
    Providing an environment where players can compete in the spirit of fair play is extremely important to us, particularly in rated Player versus Player combat. As part of that commitment we regularly monitor gameplay, and have discovered an issue where some Arena teams have exploited the queuing system to obtain high team ratings, “dodge” unfavorable team compositions, and engage in win trading.

    These, and all, exploitative activities are absolutely prohibited. We will investigate the situation carefully, and players that have been found to have participated in exploitation will be subject to the appropriate actions against their World of Warcraft accounts. In the meantime, we are currently working to resolve any remaining issues with the queue system to prevent this behavior in the future.

    None of the above applies to bots in any way, I'm sure.
  1. Somebody's Avatar
    Quote Originally Posted by naturetauren View Post
    Wtf is up with the date? 03-12-13?

    Do they say the time is 48:12:59 there too? (Minutes:Hour:Seconds)
    Blizzard is based in America, so they will use American standard syntax when posting release dates. If they were to put the date in an EU format it would probably confuse many Americans too. The American format is really there to make saying the long way easier to do I guess (March 12th, 2012). The thing is I'm not used to EU format so whenever I see a date like 5-6-12 I automatically think May 6th, 2012 but people in EU would see the 5th of June, 2012. Its a cultural thing I guess.

    And no, we say 12:48:59 (as far as I know, there is no long way of telling time like "Oh its 48 minutes in to the hour of 12 with 1 second remaining in the minute", with the exception of giving rounded time increments like "Its a quarter of 1" (12:45))
  1. mmocd5b54d9bc4's Avatar
    Quote Originally Posted by Sajakain View Post
    You don't need to be a druid to "bypass" the Ring of Blades.

    Note the image:



    If you stand on the outside edge of this pillar (or any "equilivant" pillar around the edge) you will still get credit for the quest and take no damage. Basically... any pillar that only one panda crosses will count. If two pandas "reach" the same pillar one will hit you. (Not sure why... just does). So....

    • Pick a pillar that only one panda crosses.
    • Stand on the outside if it.
    • ????
    • Profit.

    An easy way to get on said pillar is simply to dismount over it while the panda is away from it. Hope this helps.
    You can do it as a monk with zen flight

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