Dev Interviews, Upcoming Beta Build and Tech Blog, Drake Collector, Blue Tweets, DLC

Patch 2.1 Philosophy, Dev Stream Tomorrow, Trial Rift Changes, Josh Mosqueira's UEE, Crazy Nemesis

Frostwyrm Lair Deck Guides, Desk Spotlight: Legendeath Rogue, Naxxramas T-Shirt Giveaway, Card Clarification Blues

Hero Rotation For August 19, Failed Shop Purchases Stealing Gold

Warlords of Draenor - Developer Interviews
MamyTwink had the opportunity to talk to Tom Chilton at Gamescom and we have summarized the more important parts of the interview below.


Warlords Content
  • There is a level 100 content area in every zone. It is similar to Timeless Isle, but also includes "chapter quests" that provide an ongoing story over several weeks.
  • Reputations in Warlords won't reward as many epic items as before, but you can still earn reputation with various factions for some rewards. It won't be anything like the Mists of Pandaria reputation grinds.
  • The Iron Horde will be the main enemy throughout the expansion, but they change somewhat throughout the expansion.
  • There will be an increased Legion presence by the end of the expansion.

Future Plans
  • Tanaan Jungle will be in a content patch. It contains the Grommash Hellscream raid, as well as some outdoor world content.
  • At some point the team would like to add new character customization options, but right now they are working on making the new models similar to the old ones as closely as possible.
  • Cosmetic class items are still on track, but won't be released with Warlords launch. They will most likely be released a few at a time throughout the expansion and beyond.

Timelines
  • The alternative timeline is mostly being used to allow players to experience a setting they wouldn't normally be able to see in WoW.
  • At some point in the future in another expansion they could explore the Ogre continent from Draenor.
  • We won't see an alternative timeline version of Azeroth.


Warlords of Draenor - Drake Collector Achievement
Jonathan LeCraft shared another upcoming achievement recently, along with the reward: the Emerald Drake. He also noted that soloing Deathwing for the Blazing Drake will be possible. Several of these mounts are fairly rare drops, with some as low as a 1% drop rate.

Also of note, the Sandstone Drake requirement has been replaced by the Purple Netherwing Drake.



Upcoming Beta Build
Originally Posted by Blizzard (Blue Tracker / Official Forums)
Greetings All!

The Beta realms will be coming down for maintenance tomorrow morning (Thursday, 8/21) in order to deploy a new build. I'll be updating this thread with information and time estimates as I receive them. We hope to finish realm maintenance on all realms before our "Play with the Blues" event at 3:00 pm PDT (except for the Level 100 PvE Beta Realm which will stay down a bit longer),

Starting this thread pretty early to give you folks a heads up

I'll be leaving this thread open for general discussion as long as people remain civil and follow forum rules.

Upcoming Tech Blog
Players with beta access may have noticed that the old MSAA option is now gone. In its place is FXAA and CMAA options. These offer reduced jaggniess at less of a performance cost than MSAA, but tend to result in somewhat blurrier images. From the tweets so far, it seems like this may have been a necessary change





Play With the Blues - Thursday Aug 21
Originally Posted by Blizzard (Blue Tracker / Official Forums)
It’s time to play with Blues on the Beta realms! Help us put the Premade Groups feature through its paces by creating and joining lots of Dungeon and 3v3 Arena groups. During the playtest, you’ll have a chance to encounter members of the Warcraft Development Team like Watcher, Celestalon, and Holinka, in addition to QA, CS, and CM team members as we join you for a Dungeon run or Arena match.

What: Create Premade Groups, run Dungeons, and 3v3 Arena groups with Blizzard employees!
When: Thursday, August 21, 2014 from 03:00 PM to 05:00 PM PDT.
Where: Level 100 PvE and Level 100 PvP Beta realms
How you’ll know they’re a Blue: Blizzard employees will be in a guild called Blizzard Alliance or Blizzard Horde respectively for the duration of the event.

How to create a Premade Group:
  • For Dungeons, access the Group Finder pane (bound to I key by default.)
  • Select Premade Groups --> Dungeons --> Find a Group or Start a GroupOr
  • For Arenas, access the Player vs. Player pane (bound to H key by default.)
  • Select Premade Groups --> Arenas --> Find a Group or Start a Group (3v3)

If you want to learn more about improvements to Group Finder in Warlords of Draenor; check out Premade Groups: Looking for Adventure.

For information on how to create a level-100 template character, submitting a bug report, or suggestion; check out Welcome to the Beta Test: PLEASE READ!

Good, wholesome fun for the whole family! We look forward to grouping with you.

After the Playtest
We want to hear from you! Give us your feedback on the relevant Beta forums after the playtest event.

  • Feedback on Dungeons – Beta Dungeons & Raids forum with a separate thread available for each dungeon and difficulty mode (Normal/Heroic).
  • Feedback on PvP (3v3 Arenas) – Beta PvP forum
  • Feedback on Premade Groups – We'll create a thread to collect feedback on the Premade Group tool.

Blue Tweets
Originally Posted by Blizzard Entertainment
Racials
Why keep racials? Why not just give us a pool of racials to choose from so we can play the race we want over obligatory min/max?
Because at its heart, WoW is a fantasy roleplaying game. Min/Maxing becomes a lot less "obligatory" with trivial differences. (Celestalon)

Classes
Question: Since absorbs cause problems for healers (Disc priests), why not change absorbs to % incoming damage reduction?
That's an extremely different thing, would be cause way more problems. Regardless, absorbs don't cause problems like that in WoD (Celestalon)
It's just not the snipe-heavy world where absorbs were king, anymore. (Celestalon)

What is the design goal of glyphs in WoD? Seeing a lot of glyphs with small dps benefits.
Small *situational* DPS gains are fine. Sometimes that situation may be rather broad, such as "When there's cleave" though. (Celestalon)

Celestalon, do you understand what RNG stands for? It stands for RANDOM, when is RANDOM reliable? What drugs are you on?
When it's extremely common and there are tons of chances. That's when. (Celestalon)

Druid (Forums / Skills / WoD Talent Calculator)
Whoever came up with glyph of flap needs a raise. Moonkin form only?
Yes. (Celestalon)

Any hope for a female Claws of Shervallah model in the future or will the gals be stuck with a male body builders physique?
It's something we're considering for the future, but weren't able to get in for 6.0. (Celestalon)

Hunter (Forums / Skills / WoD Talent Calculator)
Any chance of ever seeing Mountable Hunter Pets / Tameable Mounts? Seeing lots of good looking models usable for both.
Super cool idea, requires a lot of tech to get it working right, maybe sometime! (Muffinus)

Shaman (Forums / Skills / WoD Talent Calculator)
Please, tell something about Stormstrike with 2-handed weapons, i'm worried about it very much.
We have no current plans to bring back 2H Enhancement. Sorry. (Celestalon)
But why did you change requirements for Stormstrike? We have been able to cast it with 2-hand at least 6 years, why it over?
To reduce confusion. It was a trap. (Celestalon)

Warrior (Forums / Skills / WoD Talent Calculator)
Really, what is the point of forced CD from Defensive Stance? Can we get just a bit of feedback?
The point is so that defensive abilities (Devastate/Revenge) don't become filler abilities during empty GCDs while DPSing. (Celestalon)
If just you make Dev/Rev do shit damage but really high threat nobody would bother swapping stances to use them for DPS. Win-Win
That's not true. "shit" damage is better than zero damage. (Celestalon)

well D stance is now uselss... so what is a DK's down side to Blood prez?
A big DPS loss and in the case of Unholy movement speed. The other presences do have benefits. (holinka)
since Dks existed sitting in blood prez doesn't really effect them as much as you think.
It's a DPS loss and a movement speed loss. (holinka)
and frost dks don't lose much either... Not trying to be rude but have you actually pvped in the 2k+ bracket?
Do you even 2k bro? (holinka)
lol a dev with some humor, the sad part is I'm being serious... Dk can sit in BP and still pit out offensive pressure
they can still put out pressure, but it's less pressure. Arguably this is even more the case for Frost. (holinka)

Character / Items
Will there be any time soon more vanity xmog ítems such as Jewel of the Firelord and friends? That'd be cool
Some, but we're a bit concerned about overloading bagspace before a better system is implemented (Muffinus)

Warlords of Draenor Stats
Do u mean they're back to just agi/str/int increases again?
Flasks are back to primary stats. All of the others are still secondary stats. (Celestalon)

If its that easy, then askmrrobot will change from "enchant/gem/forge this to that" to "eat/enchant/gem" Still same
Perhaps... Except the directions will amount to "Get Haste" instead of two dozen specific reforge/gem lines. (Celestalon)

How? I'm not saying removing reforging is good/bad, I just want to know how you can stack a specific stat MORE w/o.
Two cases to consider: Typical, and Ideal.Typical: 40% of secondaries in BestStat, 25% / 15% / 15% / 5% in other secondaries. (Celestalon)
In Mists, you'd reforge that to 44% / 35% / 9% / 9% / 3%.In Warlords, you'd enchant/food/gem to 50% / 21% / 13% / 13% / 4%. (Celestalon)
And Ideal is super simple. In that case, every item has your best stat, so reforging did nothing. Enchants are pure upgrade. (Celestalon)
what if i want a stat than is not my attunemented stat? lets say... mastery for a resto druid?
Then great, stack that. This doesn't limit that in any way. (Celestalon)

Versatility can you honestly say this it plays a part? You will never prio it with its bad ratio, reign that in pls instead.
I don't understand what you're asking, but yes, Versatility will be valuable. (Celestalon)
How will it be valuable? Would prioritize it or do you force us to. Wont beat your attuned stats nor will it be with #2 stat
It will be valuable where its hybridity is useful, especially the damage reduction. (Celestalon)
So a secondary stat built around situational hybridity? I'm sorry this stat needs rethinking, This will never stick in mythic.
Actually, I suspect that there are many cases where Mythic guilds will sacrifice 2% damage for 5% *passive* damage reduction. (Celestalon)

you said several hundred from gems. while that could be as low as 2 gems, it implies several, or "tons" of gems
I'm not giving out exact chances of sockets, but 2+ on your character will not be unusual. (Celestalon)

Can we just have 1 Flask which changes with your spec (similar to gear)? Choosing between int/agi as a MW is going to be hard.
If secondary stat flasks were "too strong" why not nerf them rather than removing them? Less choice = bad, surely?
It's all part of a combined package, not just individual parts. Enchants (Armor and Weapon), Food, and Gems, still remain. (Celestalon)
You can understand frustration right? Being able to switch flasks depending on encounter was fun/engaging. Int/stam/agi/str isnt
Sure, I can understand the immediate reaction; it'll be OK once people get a better view of the full picture (trying to help!) (Celestalon)
The nerfs to enchants to reduce secondary stat stacking? 30% crit buffed as a MW pre-t17 hc gear felt a little insane!
Yep. See my other recent tweets. (Celestalon)

do you think it will be possible to hit haste or crit caps in the final tier of WoD?
Haste has a relatively low *soft* cap. With procs, that'll be hittable. We don't see a way around that. Crit, not likely. (Celestalon)

You're adding gem sockets back to most gear and not just warforged?
Gems and Warforged are separate. Both can be on all Warlords gear. (Celestalon)
Aren't they also supposed to be limited by rng? Saying you can stack tons of gems is misleading.
They are RNG-tied. But I definitely did not say you could stack tons of gems. (Celestalon)
You can't really say gems for customizing if its pure rng if you can use them are not.
Just because something is random doesn't mean that they can't be expected to be used. (Celestalon)

"Several Hundred From Gems" YOUR EXACT WORDS. That means you EXPECT us to try and stack gems.
I'm guessing that you're significantly misunderstanding something. That's a mere 2 sockets, which is quite common. (Celestalon)
A "Mere" 2 sockets that are still RNG based. Try spending weeks on a 16% drop rate and getting NOTHING. Zero Control.
There's this misconception that anything RNG involved is bad or unreliable. That's wrong. This is not rare. Relax. (Celestalon)
DST would like to say hi. Warglaives during progression are hosting a "Reliable RNG drop party" for you 3
Yeah... You're misunderstanding. (Celestalon)
What am I understanding? That RNG is still RNG and it will never be reliable? That's kind of what RNG is, it's a dice roll.
You're looking at this from the point of view of "this guy's an idiot lol". Try looking at it from "What am I misunderstanding?" (Celestalon)
Here's an example: Do you wear any dropped gear? All dropped gear is random, but you don't say that "zomg it's RNG USELESS", right? (Celestalon)
Sure, some specific pieces may be quite rare, and RNG can make it unreliable to get specific pieces. But that doesn't happen to... (Celestalon)
...every slot. Sockets can appear on all gear. That's huge, and makes it reliable that you'll get some. (Celestalon)
Now do you see why RNG will never be reliable? If RNG would be reliable casinos would go out business.
No. Really, no. That's not how probability or statistics works. And casinos work because they average <100% payout. They take a cut. (Celestalon)

PvE
Curious on how unlocking Mythic will work in Highmaul with 3 optional. 7/7 Heroic killed or just an Imperator kill necessary?
No achievement requirement to enter Mythic. You could always bypass it by getting someone to start your raid, anyway. (WatcherDev)

PvP
is a 200 conquest Ashran bonus number the most you can earn a week in Ashran?
it's 200 extra conquest you can only get in Ashran. You can get more than 200 in Ashran though. (holinka)
Does that mean that ashran is considered 'mandatory' pvping? If you don't do ashran every week you fall behind someone who is?
Only if someone is being unreasonable. (holinka)
Heh, you don't understand the psychology of your player base much do you?
The broader playerbase or the very engaged ones on twitter and the forums? (holinka)

Can you expand more on the conquest rewards from Ashran? As a person who does not enjoy arena, loved hearing conq earned in ashran
The current plan is to reward conquest for conquering the enemy base or winning one of the dynamic events in the outer areas. (holinka)

Is there a limit in the inflation/MMR system or will we really end up 3300+ rating?
There is a limit but I don't think we'll get there. (holinka)
Slight tangent: Why doesn't WoW arena use a SC3 style bracket system? Would love Josh Menke's insights on this.
I've had a lot of conversations about the SC and WoW brackets with Josh and David Kim. Both systems have pros/cons. (holinka)
Being constantly reminded your Bronze/Silver isn't always fun but at least you have milestones. (holinka)
But we talk a lot about blue sky ideas for a better progression and rewards system. Such a big change would need to be home run. (holinka)

got a question for ya. In WoD, can you obtain strong boxes just for queuing specifically for a BG?
No, only for random battlegrounds. (holinka)
what will the reward be for winning a specific que then? Will honor still be given?
Same as before, honor in the battleground. Strong boxes replaced the 270/135 honor you would get. (holinka)

Dark Legacy Comics #453 - Worn Again
DLC #453 has been released.

This article was originally published in forum thread: Dev Interviews, Upcoming Beta Build and Tech Blog, Drake Collector, Blue Tweets, DLC started by chaud View original post
Published on 2014-08-21 03:55 AM
65 Comments
Comments 65 Comments
  1. Tisane's Avatar
    I certainly hope they will do something about the graphic options still. I've played on average/low settings for years until recently. Now I'm able to play on the highest settings and the game looks a lot better. I'm playing the Beta using the new (and only) options, and everything looks average/meh. Surely a person who has played all time using normal/low settings, won't notice a difference, but comparing it to the current ultra settings, it looks pretty bad imo. Still going to play it anyway, ain't pissed off, and they probably have a thousand reasons to only implement those settings, but WoD's graphics can be compared to a year-2005-game using the best graphics back at that day; so smooth, but blurry.
  1. Siddown's Avatar
    Quote Originally Posted by Wayne25uk View Post
    I find this community really baffling. One minute you are all asking for faster and rushed content,then when you get rushed content you complain about things being left out,you asked for faster things and the downside of that choice is things get put back,maybe in the future try being patient and greatful for a game you can still play. So many negative nancys on here,need to get a life and stop demanding for things like a spoilt little shit.
    I think that greatly oversimplifies the issue. Blizzard does have a tendency to over promise what is going to be in an expansion, which then some people take to the extremes.
  1. StNimrod's Avatar
    Quote Originally Posted by Siddown View Post
    I think that greatly oversimplifies the issue. Blizzard does have a tendency to over promise what is going to be in an expansion, which then some people take to the extremes.
    What? No way, I'm having way too much fun with my Dance Studio...

    I WILL NEVER FORGET.
  1. Toiran's Avatar
    Next xpac: Ogre continent + Faralohn with WoD's cut features, and character tattoos and such. < This will be how they finally manage a yearly expansion, because half of it was worked on for a previous expansion.

    People would eat it up as well...

    Maybe they will even have the line "Flight in Draenor!" since Tanaan will be done then hahaha.
  1. Inveracity's Avatar
    Lol I feel like the devs can't win when they're trying to explain themselves to players. They try to justify some of the stupidest things with horrible excuses, but whatever.
  1. Airwaves's Avatar
    I don't understand people worried about the AA change. Just manually set it with your GPU. People can't really be that computer illiterate right? Wait they probably can.
  1. Maulis425's Avatar
    Replace the Blazing Drake with the Sandstone Drake and we'll be back on track. Having a money sink as one of them isn't a bad idea at all.
  1. TheDeeGee's Avatar
    Quote Originally Posted by Airwaves View Post
    I don't understand people worried about the AA change. Just manually set it with your GPU. People can't really be that computer illiterate right? Wait they probably can.
    You can't force it thru the GPU anymore, that's the problem.
  1. Daywalk3r's Avatar
    Quote Originally Posted by Airwaves View Post
    I don't understand people worried about the AA change. Just manually set it with your GPU. People can't really be that computer illiterate right? Wait they probably can.
    The only computer illiterate here is you, because if the game engine does not support MSAA, you cannot force it without getting severe graphics errors.
    You think if it would be that easy, people would complain and blizz would respond with a "its complicated, we need a tech blog to explain why shit aint workin anymore?"

    But if YOU somehow manage to find that magic button which restores MSAA in WoD Beta, plz enlighten us illiterates :P
  1. Frankyo's Avatar
    Quote Originally Posted by Eren Jaeger View Post
    I have all but the Blazing and Onyxia ones, and those are RNG. I got the heroic drake from DS but never the NM one lol
    Blazing Drake drops in both normal and heroic.
  1. vaanvern's Avatar
    Im an avid WoW fan, and i am looking to WoD earnestly but... Im sorry, after seeing all the content reduction "for later patches" im starting to think that WoD looks more like an "incomplete product" or at least, a rushed one that is lacking features rather than a solid one like WOTLK/Cata/mists was. I dont think it would be a big whoop to actually delay the release just to get the extra features done instead of rushing into an incomplete experience

    What concerns me more is the over-simplification of rotations, however i wont yet submit an opinion until i try them myself
  1. YdoupayBlizzard's Avatar
    lmao at that achievement. GG Blizz, awarding yet MORE fucking flying mounts that you cant fucking use in Draenor. Well played and I bet these dumbasses wont even realize.
  1. Strakha's Avatar
    Quote Originally Posted by vaanvern View Post
    Im an avid WoW fan, and i am looking to WoD earnestly but... Im sorry, after seeing all the content reduction "for later patches" im starting to think that WoD looks more like an "incomplete product" or at least, a rushed one that is lacking features rather than a solid one like WOTLK/Cata/mists was. I dont think it would be a big whoop to actually delay the release just to get the extra features done instead of rushing into an incomplete experience

    What concerns me more is the over-simplification of rotations, however i wont yet submit an opinion until i try them myself
    exactly just buy it in the 2nd or 3rd tier. what are they really adding to this expac that would be even acceptable as a single player game? Some zones.. some raids... and....... garrisons.

    Not really interested in garrisons, but i am interested in the previous 2. but then again those will all be there in the 2nd and 3rd tiers.

    Maybe I'll get it in January or so, meh, not quite the expac that I expected.. "We will make expansions faster." No, no you didn't. Less content + slower expac = people filling their schedule with different games = less people likely to pay for the next expac = less likely for blizzard to continue to create faster content = people not buying the expac.

    I'll probably still buy it, but just in hopes that it equates to a legion themed expac which will be likely the last one I ever play.
  1. Leih's Avatar
    Quote Originally Posted by YdoupayBlizzard View Post
    lmao at that achievement. GG Blizz, awarding yet MORE fucking flying mounts that you cant fucking use in Draenor. Well played and I bet these dumbasses wont even realize.
    You can use all mounts on land in WoD.
  1. Unholyground's Avatar
    Quote Originally Posted by Kae View Post
    You can use all mounts on land in WoD.
    I still think all mounts capable of flying when they jump should glide exactly like the engineering glider. all they would have to do is let the engineering glider have a huge speed boost.
  1. Farabee's Avatar
    Zero news about the Robin Williams NPCs? Guess Boub was not a fan.
  1. Collected's Avatar
    Sorry for my lack of lore, but does an increased legion presence by the end of the expansion = the dark below is the next expansion?
  1. Leih's Avatar
    Quote Originally Posted by Collected View Post
    Sorry for my lack of lore, but does an increased legion presence by the end of the expansion = the dark below is the next expansion?
    Dark Below was actually related to Destiny. There will be no WoW expansion named The Dark Below ^^
  1. Shilien's Avatar
    Quote Originally Posted by Wayne25uk View Post
    I find this community really baffling. One minute you are all asking for faster and rushed content,then when you get rushed content you complain about things being left out,you asked for faster things and the downside of that choice is things get put back,maybe in the future try being patient and greatful for a game you can still play. So many negative nancys on here,need to get a life and stop demanding for things like a spoilt little shit.
    I wouldn't really call this expansion release a shining example of "faster content". That it's taken this long and STILL needs cuts says a lot.
  1. Expectations's Avatar
    Whelp. Even before changing the Sandstone Drake to the Purple Netherwing Drake I still had this achievment complete before it was released. Not sure why people are complaining about the drop rates of Blazing, and Onixian Drakes. Not every collection achievment should be gotten quickly.
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