Update (7:15 PM EST): Bashiok shared some more about the post:
Originally Posted by Bashiok (Blue Tracker)
The goal with the blog going up today is largely to paint a broad picture of some interconnected systems changes. From the recent press tour there's been a lot of confusion and misconceptions because individual changes are being seen without a larger context of the expansion as a whole. We're just looking to provide a little more of that context. If you've been following interviews and information very closely this will likely be interesting, but probably not revelatory.

And because you want to release all this info before beta hits, and not have it leak out in crazy ways during a beta release... right?... Give people time to digest and look at the changes before it explodes. So beta Soon-er(tm)?
Mmmm, no, we have very in-depth patch notes ready to be posted the second the first public phase of beta begins. We're not there yet though, of course.
Update (1:15 PM EST): Rygarius shared a time (6 PM PST)
Update (8 AM EST): Celestalon shared more about this blog post. (System changes, widespread class changes, and CC changes, but not many specific class changes)

Legendaries Found Now Will (After All) Unlock Their Transmog Visuals, Malthael's In-Game Model; TL;DR: Patch 2.0.1 Notes

Coming Soon: New Hearthstone Card Backs

Confirmed: Hero Rotation is Weekly + Week 3 Rotation, Skin Preview: Shan'do Illidan

Warlords of Draenor - Upcoming Blog Posts
It looks like we will be seeing the first of the promised Warlords of Draenor updates either today or tomorrow! The second blog post will be about healing.





Warlords of Draenor Developer Tweets
While preparing those blog posts, the developers have been teasing with small bits of information over the past few days.
Originally Posted by Blizzard Entertainment
Interesting. But if they're tied to certain specs, why make them talents at all? Why not keep it streamlined?
Because spec-specific talents are still talents. You still choose them over other choices. The choice may just be different.
(We already do this all the time in MoP, we just don't name them differently currently) (Source)

Druid (Forums / Skills / WoD Talent Calculator)
How many do druids have, just thought of that.
I think 30? The count hasn't changed since BlizzCon, I believe. (But several talents have) (Source)

Mage (Forums / Skills / WoD Talent Calculator)
There are 29 Mage talents
29 implies at least one of the tiers has an irregular amount of options. Looking forward to the update!
Four of the talent slots have a different talent for each spec. 17 shared + 4 spec-specific * 3 specs = 29
Mage talents have received significant revision. Currently: 12 brand new, 3 existing/old spells now talents, 4 w/ major changes. (Source)

Please tell me combustion was removed. I beg you. I have _HATED_ it ever since it was reworked before Cata.
Combustion has not been removed. It's pretty core to Fire Mage gameplay. (Source)

Monk (Forums / Skills / WoD Talent Calculator)
Keep that thesaurus handy when naming new Monk abilities. If I see the word "chi" in another spell, I'll know you ignored it!
I can tell you that there is one less 'Chi' named spell in the talent tree now, than there was at BlizzCon. *sly grin* (Source)

Are monks losing Healing Sphere in wod?
The spell to manually summon them, yes. Other spec abilities still summon them. Yes, changes will be made to account for this. (Source)
We're removing it because of the bad gameplay it provided, despite its power. Healing Sphere was spam clicking on an intended target's feet, trying to account for their movement and latency, tight hit area. (Source)

Paladin (Forums / Skills / WoD Talent Calculator)
There are a total of 25 unique Paladin talents, currently. May change, still pre-alpha, etc. (Source)

Rogue (Forums / Skills / WoD Talent Calculator)
wtb venom zest tooltip
Increases your maximum energy by 15. Increases your energy regeneration rate by 5% for every enemy you have poisoned, up to 3. (Source)

Shaman (Forums / Skills / WoD Talent Calculator)
What about a couple of the Shaman abilities being removed in the ~20% ability pruning?
Feral Spirits no longer have the Spirit Bite ability. (Source)

Anything change about Rainstorm since the Blizzcon iteration? That one in particular seemed dull for the dps inclined among us.
Condensation Totem remains. Storm Armor replaced with Shocking Lava, which increases Shock damage after Lava Burst/Lash, stacking. (Source)

Warlock (Forums / Skills / WoD Talent Calculator)
So are you saying that talents with spec-specific abilities will have those spec-specifics given unique names?
Yes. If I'm Affliction, I see Soulburn: Haunt in the left talent slot. If I'm Demo, I see Demonbolt. If Destro, Charred Remains. (Source)

What kind of interaction is there between Grimoire of Sup/Service/Sac Tier and Demonic Servitude?
Supremacy/Service fully support Demonic Servitude. Sacrificing your Doomguard/Infernal is probably a mistake.
Demonic Servitude makes your Summon Doomguard spell summon a permanent pet, instead of a temporary one.
The discussion is if we still have them as CDs if we don't pick servitude. I'd rather see them gone.
Yes, you still have them as cooldowns if you don't pick Demonic Servitude.
Demonic Servitude is intentionally simple, mostly passive, gameplay-wise. (Source)

Patch 5.4.7 Hotfixes - February 26
Originally Posted by Blizzard (Blue Tracker / Official Forums)
Classes
  • Death Knight (Forums / Skills / WoD Talent Calculator)
    • Talents
      • Resolved an issue where overlapping Anti-Magic Zones were causing the effect to expire more quickly than intended.
  • Hunter (Forums / Skills / WoD Talent Calculator)
    • Hunter Pets
      • Resolved an issue where Hunter pets were able to incorrectly retain the Lightning Charge debuff from Servants of Siamat from the Lost City of the Tol'vir.
  • Mage (Forums / Skills / WoD Talent Calculator)
    • Frost
      • Resolved an issue where Icicles stored by Frost Mage's Mastery: Icicles was dealing more damage than intended when used against party or raid members that are under a Mind Control or Charm effect from NPCs in PvE.
  • Priest (Forums / Skills / WoD Talent Calculator)
    • General
      • Levitate can no longer be cast on players that are under the effects of a Nitro Boost.
      • Prayer of Mending's healing should now be reduced correctly when cast on a target with the Mortal Wounds effect.
    • Holy
      • Lightwell should no longer incorrectly consume an extra charge while healing players other than the casting Priest.
  • Shaman (Forums / Skills / WoD Talent Calculator)
    • General
      • Resolved an issue where the duplicated healing done by the Restoration version of Ascendance was incorrectly factoring in Battle Fatigue and healing reduction effects on allied targets a second time.
  • Warlock (Forums / Skills / WoD Talent Calculator)
    • Talents
      • Resolved an issue where players that are under a stealth effect can use up a Blood Horror charge without triggering the Horror effect.

Pet Battle
  • Resolved an issue that was causing Battle Pet abilities with a high miss chance to hit more often than intended.

Patch 5.4.7 MMR Bug
Originally Posted by Blizzard (Blue Tracker / Official Forums)
There was indeed a bug with MMR calculations when Patch 5.4.7 was first released to North American servers. We were able to isolate the bug and apply a hotfix for it before the patch was released in other regions, but unfortunately are still a small number of players on the North American ladder who were able to gain some unfairly high ratings before the hotfix could be applied to NA servers.

Fortunately, we've since been able to correct the issue, and affected players should start to see their ratings fall in line with where they should be as they continue playing matches. Furthermore, should a player choose to sit on an unfairly high rating in the hopes of earning end-of-season rewards they would not have otherwise qualified for, we’ll be able to adjust those ratings individually. Otherwise, it’s completely safe to continue playing as normal without fear of any upcoming actions negatively affecting your rating.

We don't think this situation calls for a rating wipe. We were able to fix the bug quickly enough that only a very small number of players were affected, and those that were will see their ratings stabilize before long. Those that choose to sit on their ratings, we'll be able to correct manually, so there's no risk of long-term damage to the ladder.

I totally understand why it's frustrating in the short term if you're one of the few players who were affected, and we apologize for that. We just don't think it's fair to the vast majority of unaffected players to do a wipe, when there's nothing wrong with their ratings at all.

Free Character Migrations Available (EU)
Originally Posted by Blizzard (Blue Tracker / Official Forums)
If you're on one of the source realms listed below, you can move your characters to one of the designated destination realms and avoid the queues—for free!

By initiating one of these transfers, you will be moving your character to a new realm and home. This is a one-time, one-way move. If you wish to move your character elsewhere, you will need to use the paid transfer service.

  • Draenor -> Kilrogg / Stormrage
  • Silvermoon -> Kilrogg / Stormrage
  • Kazzak -> Auchindoun
  • Outland -> Auchindoun
  • Ragnaros -> Auchindoun
  • Stormscale -> Auchindoun
  • Sylvanas -> Auchindoun
  • Twisting Nether -> Auchindoun

Please be aware that, due to the unpredictable nature of free transfers, we may close down any Free Character Migrations at any time and without warning if the target realm becomes full. If you plan to move with friends or your guild, we suggest that you coordinate the effort to reduce the chance of any stragglers being left behind.

Early closures aside, this set of Free Character Migrations will end on Tuesday, March 5.

Begin a Free Character Migration now! We recommend reviewing the FAQ, as it details what is or isn't allowed for transferred characters.

New Hearthstone Card Backs
It looks like Hearthstone will be getting new card backs for players that hit legendary, play ranked matches, take part in promotions, and other things. You can find more details on Hearthpwn!



Shan'do Illidan Skin
Regular Illidan, Fel Illidan, and now Shan'do Illidan skins have turned up for Heroes of the Storm. You can never have too many Illidans!

This article was originally published in forum thread: Warlords of Draenor - Upcoming Blog Posts, WoD Dev Tweets, Feb 26 Hotfixes, MMR Bug started by chaud View original post
Comments 52 Comments
  1. moveth's Avatar
    Let's go Blog Posts. I need me some Beta.
  1. hrugner's Avatar
    Now there's a beard a man can sink his teeth into. Well, hide his teeth behind... maybe bar his teeth behind. You get the picture.
  1. TrollShaman's Avatar
    healing changes? oh boy i can't wait all the more
  1. Xivilai's Avatar
    Happy there's finally news coming out...
    But it's been what? 3/4 months since Blizzcon? AND NOW they're giving us news xD

    Hate to be pessimistic, but Blizz, you best have soooo much done that I am completely wowed and amazed by everything you show...
    And that you were fooling us all, and WoD is much sooner than we could all hope to dare to dream.

    Otherwise, I shall be disappointed highly... not in your end product, as it's always amazingly done...
    But by your lack of information, and lack of keeping word with faster content.
  1. Zephre's Avatar
    Needs moar Illidans!
  1. mmoc59b5827c7e's Avatar
    Nothing changed since 2004 - shaman being ignored.

    Its so unbelievable that Blizzard creativity reaches its limit after creating 3 actually good and gameplay changing talents and every other new talent is shit.. being passive, no change in gameplay. Just compare the Warlock or Druid talent trees with the Shaman one... its like day and night. Especially druids are able to react to every situation by altering one of their talents... hilarious if you imagine that shamans dont even have a base-line sprint ability, let alone disengage or blink.
  1. Blur4stuff's Avatar
    illidan is an interesting character, but i've never understood the obsession
  1. ColbaneX's Avatar
    Quote Originally Posted by Blur4stuff View Post
    illidan is an interesting character, but i've never understood the obsession
    Same reason people obsess over Deadpool/Deathstroke/Loki. People like Villains that had good intentions, and aren't really evil but misguided.
  1. mmoc59b5827c7e's Avatar
    Quote Originally Posted by Zephre View Post
    Needs moar Illidans!
    You'll see several skins per hero, because thats the microtransaction in Heroes. Like a SC2 Uther and so on...
  1. The Glitch's Avatar
    Ooooh looking forward to the WoD stuff.
  1. mmocc088cbd302's Avatar
    who's dick i must suck for beta ?
  1. Immitis's Avatar
    Duridz is 4 fite! @_@
  1. Frozenbeef's Avatar
    Noo not my healing spheres..how the hell am i supposed to survive without any instant cast heals >.<
  1. aeuhe4yxzhds's Avatar
    Still not connecting Genjuros. What the fuck
  1. vitor210's Avatar
    Bye Bye healing spheres :'(
  1. Notos's Avatar
    Interesting, wonder what they will do to account for the loss of healing spheres. A spell that requires unit targeting?

    Also, loving the Diablo patch so far; the new loot system makes it feel like a different game... can't wait for RoS!

    edit: Hours until the blog post? sweet, hopefully it'll be up when I get home from work
  1. Cafua's Avatar
    And this will be the deciding factor on if I play a Mage or not! Really excited about the talent changes!!
  1. Beefkow's Avatar
    Wait, nothing on warriors?..... DKs??
  1. Straamibuu's Avatar
    Argh I love my healing spheres D: nooooess
  1. Vargur's Avatar
    Quote Originally Posted by moveth View Post
    Let's go Blog Posts. I need me some Beta.
    Still pre-alpha.

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