New Character Model Previews, CASC Conversion, Blue Posts and Tweets, Blackhand Comic

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Heroes Alpha Patch 32455 - Promotional Items, Anub'arak & Azmodan, New Mounts, New Skins, Hero Changes

Warlords of Draenor - New Character Models
With Patch 6.0.2 and new character models only days away it is time to take a look at the new character models that go live with the patch. We are starting with Human, Dwarf, Orc, and Undead.

Human Male







Human Female







Dwarf Male





Dwarf Female







Orc Male







Orc Female







Undead Male







Undead Female







CASC Conversion in 6.0.2
Originally Posted by Blizzard (Blue Tracker / Official Forums)
As previously announced, the Warlords of Draenor 6.0.2 pre-patch marks our transition to the new “Content Addressable Storage Container” (CASC) file format system. This transition is an automatic process that will occur through the Battle.net desktop app as it installs Patch 6.0.2. While it shouldn’t require any action on your part, we have a few notes on the process that can help ensure a smooth install.

  • By default your Battle.net desktop app is set to download future patch data automatically. If you’ve turned yours off we recommend re-enabling it to download the 6.0.2 patch data. It’s a pretty big patch, and starting now will save you precious Iron Horde-killing time on Tuesday. Your background download settings are configurable per-game, and you can also adjust things like download speed, among other settings.

  • There will be one small final patch on 6.0.2 release-day that will include the last few files to install the patch. Right now we’re expecting it to be around 100MB.

  • If you’re one to leave your computer on and Battle.net desktop app running, on the morning of the patch release the install and conversion to CASC will happen automatically.

  • Hard drive fragmentation can slow down just about anything you do on your computer, but especially when a program needs to move around large data files, like this patch and conversion process will need to. If you haven’t defragged your hard drive in a while, we recommend looking into it as a possible install-time saving preparation step. Note that defrags aren't typically necessary or recommended if using an SSD.

  • If you’re coming back to the game and looking to reinstall from scratch, be aware that all game discs out in the world are printed using the old MPQ file format. That means that if you attempt to install from those discs after 6.0.2, the Battle.net desktop app will instead install by downloading the game. That’s of course not necessarily a bad thing, especially because downloading can actually sometimes be faster than a disc install. Discs being printed for Warlords of Draenor, and for future “Battle Chests”, will be printed in the CASC format and they’ll be able to be used to install from as before.

  • If you encounter any problems with the install or conversion please visit our Technical Support forum. For additional troubleshooting instructions or to speak with Blizzard support please use the Battle.net Support site.

While we've tried to ensure as speedy a conversion as possible by using most of your existing game data, this is a complex process, and depending on your hardware, hard drive fragmentation and free space, among other factors, this still may take a bit of time to complete. We hope some of these hints help cut that down even further.

Apparently it's not removing the old files, so you're going to use more space.
Not entirely accurate. As the conversion processes each MPQ, it deletes it. At the end of the conversion you should be at or around the same folder size if you've already downloaded all of the 6.0.2 data to this point, and should only need around 4GB free for the conversion itself.

Something people have noted in testing though is a lack of "garbage collection", which would cleanup redundant files after new versions are installed. This is an issue mainly in a beta environment as constant (sometimes daily) updates are released and redundant data builds up very quickly, but it isn't something that will immediately result in a larger install upon release of 6.0.2. Implementing garbage collection is something our engineers are working toward.

Blue Posts
Originally Posted by Blizzard Entertainment
Level 90 UBRS
There will be an item level restriction to queue for the limited time level 90 UBRS dungeon, but we're still evaluating exactly what we want that number to be. Note that the dungeon is tuned for players with at least a few pieces of Siege of Orgrimmar LFR gear. (Blue Tracker / Official Forums)

Patch 6.0.2 Changes
All game-wide systems and content changes being introduced with Warlords are implemented with 6.0.2. That's all class changes, new character models, any end-of-seasons for PvP or Challenge Modes or Brawler's Guild, item squish, the new Premade Groups finder, any tuning or balancing, and pretty much every change that affects the game in a holistic way, all happen next Tuesday. So yeah, it's kiiiiiind of a big deal.

Oh also there's the pre-expansion event that happens too, so there's also some new content between now and the actual expansion launch.

What isn't available in 6.0.2, and requires Warlords of Draenor, is walking through the portal and experiencing the actual content of the expansion. Garrisons, dungeons, raids, quests, mounts, etc. etc. (Blue Tracker / Official Forums)

Blue Tweets
Originally Posted by Blizzard Entertainment
Classes
Hunter (Forums / Skills / WoD Talent Calculator)
No hyperbole, just want to know why its excusable to be low on numbers as a pure dps class. MM is our only dps-strong option.
On what fight? (Celestalon)
On any. Patchwerk specific, it seriously feels like BM/Survival underperforms. Vague but AoE as survival is also not there.
We virtually never make Patchwerk fights; that would be an extremely niche case in practice. Not a fair comparison. (Celestalon)

Monk (Forums / Skills / WoD Talent Calculator)
Which abilities do you define as 'Barrier' and 'Block' for monks?
Block would be like Stagger and Purifying Brew (%-based). Barrier would be like Guard and Expel Harm (AP-based). (Celestalon)

Shaman (Forums / Skills / WoD Talent Calculator)
EQ buffed (through ECL Perk)? Thought we were going to put more dmg into CL and less into EQ per your post forever ago.
Ele AoE DPS w/o EQ is average. With EQ is amazing. The change is to make sure it's amazing. (Celestalon)

PvP
Are we going to be seeing skirmishes in the pre-patch? If so, can we play them in-between seasons?
yes and yes (holinka)

Any news on whether xp-on and off brackets will be merged come WoD?
they will not for the same reasons they have never been merged (holinka)

Make PvPers have their rating achieves reset but keep titles. So there is something to look forward to in WoD, I want to again
understand the desire here. We could definitely provide something cool seasonly here. (holinka)

In large scale PvP like Ashran or even AV, ranged seem much better than melee in crossfire scenarios, thoughts/opinons?
Different classes/specs have strengths/weaknesses in different scenarios. We're ok with this. (holinka)

Tank specs used to work well in PvP without being OP, in wrath for example they were perfectly viable.
For every person that says "X was perfectly viable/balanced in expansion Y" there's a person that disagrees (holinka)
Balance is certainly subjective and usually a matter of perspective. (holinka)

Reputation / Questing
Telaar post-Warsong quests should be phased to remove the orcs, no? we beat them out of the town
Phasing divides players and prevents you from helping a friend through content you've already completed. We use it sparingly. (_DonAdams)
There are TONS of places where one could argue for a "problem solved" phase, but we generally don't do them. (_DonAdams)

Could you confirm me that one can only have 1 of Shado pan's daily hubs active in the quest log at a given time?
Yes, only one area is available per day for the Shado Pan dailies. If you have old dailies, try abandoning them. (_DonAdams)

New World of Warcraft Comic: Blackhand
Originally Posted by Blizzard (Blue Tracker / Official Forums)
A master tactician, Blackhand has never been one to shy away from battle. No matter what enemies the Blackrock orcs face, he has always identified a weakness to take advantage of, and used it to lead his clan to victory. His strength, tenacity, and cunning are legendary among Draenor’s orc warlords.

But even the best strategists can only do so much when outnumbered and overwhelmed. When ogres attack the Blackrock clan's domain, Blackhand exploits every advantage he can think of and finds he’s still unable to turn the tide of battle. With his warriors pitted against impossible odds, Blackhand has to look for aid in truly unexpected places. Will the price of the Blackrock clan’s survival end up being too high?


We invite you to read and download the free comic, “Blackhand,” written by Robert Brooks and illustrated by Alex Horley.

Learn more about Blackhand’s past and future at Characters of Warcraft: Blackhand.
This article was originally published in forum thread: New Character Model Previews, CASC Conversion, Blue Posts and Tweets, Blackhand Comic started by chaud View original post
Published on 2014-10-11 11:23 AM
104 Comments
Comments 103 Comments
  1. Nevcairiel's Avatar
    Its really kinda confusing that the comparison images for faces/hairstyles keep switching between old on top and old on the bottom <.<
  1. mmocb26a4c5759's Avatar
    Dat ass for the human female tho.
  1. terminaltrip421's Avatar
    male: orcs suffer serious same-face. human hairstyles are a side-grade at best. dwarfs are an improvement all around. didn't care to check out the chicks 'cause I don't play 'em. glad that we'll be able to keep old models if we want as I'm sure I'll be doing that with some. like my sole human.
  1. OmniSkribe's Avatar
    Human Male Facial hair is ugly. It looked decent but dated, now it's dumb/ugly but sooooo "new and awaited". >_>
  1. mmocb26a4c5759's Avatar
    Have to admit; all the human males look like Sylvester Stallone
  1. Darknessvamp's Avatar
    So why couldn't Blackhand have an awesome LoW episode? I mean the comic makes him out to be the only bonafide badass Warlord on Draenor that will be worth facing soooo...
  1. grexly75's Avatar
    Quote Originally Posted by Nevcairiel View Post
    Its really kinda confusing that the comparison images for faces/hairstyles keep switching between old on top and old on the bottom <.<
    Yeah can be but it goes Old Top, New Bottom..
  1. mmocc9e7bf41c4's Avatar
    If I switch today my pandaren to dwarf, I will have to choose his face and everything right now, but will everyone be able to redo their character faces once the patch goes live?
    'Cause I wanna be able to choose another face for my dwarf next week, obviously
  1. Arkthensis's Avatar
    Yes, at the barber shop.
  1. mmocc9e7bf41c4's Avatar
    So we will be able to change the faces at the barber shop once the patch goes live then?
    I thought It was a rumor
  1. lothos1103's Avatar
    The "Blackhand" comic was awesome! Loved it!
  1. Astalnar's Avatar
    All the long-style hair options are in need of improving. They look horrible in comparison to the old. Same thing goes for human beards. Humans used to have neat beards, now some of them look like magpie's nest. Forsaken all of a sudden have high forehead, and receeding hairline. Same for the orcs. This needs fixing, the new hairstyles are horrendous as of right now. And that worries me, because blood elves are having some of the most elaborate hairstyles, and they are already delayed. It is one thing to see what goes wrong on other models, but it still doesn't help the fact knowing the same fate awaits for your character.
  1. mmoc06d791f2b7's Avatar
    Dwarves and Orcs look pretty great, but my undead is ruined. They used to have a genuine creepy vibe, but all the new (identical) faces and features just look goofy. I want my empty eye sockets back...
  1. jangkun's Avatar
    There's missing hairstyle (at least for human male). The one I'm using for all my characters.. since I don't really know how to explain which one, i'll just link one of my chars : http://us.battle.net/wow/en/character/zuljin/Mathyass/ I also always found all other haircuts ugly so..
  1. Astalnar's Avatar
    Quote Originally Posted by jangkun View Post
    There's missing hairstyle (at least for human male). The one I'm using for all my characters.. since I don't really know how to explain which one, i'll just link one of my chars : http://us.battle.net/wow/en/character/zuljin/Mathyass/ I also always found all other haircuts ugly so..
    It's called fox tail. And this one worries me too. I have it on my blood elf.
  1. Lillyth's Avatar
    The new models are shit and the community knows it. And top of that, we're NOT GETTING NIGHTS BACK.
    http://eu.battle.net/wow/en/forum/topic/12286769747

    http://eu.battle.net/wow/en/forum/topic/12287070055
  1. mmoc1ab6a42728's Avatar
    I only looked through the undead stuff so far, but most of it seems fine, my only problems are the changes to the skull face, as it looks nothing like the original, and the face modifiers of the bands across the face in an x-shape and the brown mouth/nose area (seriously, she just looks like she's been eating chocolate pudding)
  1. EcsKAZ's Avatar
    Can't believe they haven't adressed the undead male animation changes.
    I'll be sticking to old models on my undead characters. I get sea sick watching the new undead models shoulders idle animation and the casting animation (which used to be the coolest animation in game (imh)) also has way too much going on...

    I could live with the casting animation...but the new idle animation is horrible. + the head is now more forward and looks slightly up (old model looked straight).
  1. Delete Me's Avatar
    Quote Originally Posted by Astalnar View Post
    It's called fox tail. And this one worries me too. I have it on my blood elf.
    They have foxtail in beta. Not all are shown here. And to those judging it without playing beta, don't. I had the same opinions especially about human males but was extremely pleased when I saw them in action.
  1. Austilias's Avatar
    Pleasant surprise that the model updates are coming with the pre-patch in a few days time. Something to look forward to, for once.
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