Frost Mage Spell Animations, Legion PvP Update, Whispers of the Old Gods, Wildstar

Diablo II 1.14a Update, PTR Server Slam Test

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Legion - Frost Mage Spell Animations
New animations aren't complete, but here is an early preview of the new and modified Frost Mage spell animations.






3/11 PvP Alpha Dev Update
Originally Posted by Blizzard (Blue Tracker / Official Forums)
Hey everyone,

First off, I want to thank you for taking part in this Alpha. Your participation and feedback has proven invaluable over the past week and we already feel things are moving in the right direction.

We want to share some of our thoughts about PvP and the Alpha process as well as some of the changes we've been making in response to your feedback.

The Honor System
The new Honor System is Legion's major PvP feature and so it is important to test the full experience during Alpha. We wanted to gauge what it felt like to earn honor through Battlegrounds and Arenas then unlock PvP talents over time. For the most part, we think it feels pretty good, but have definitely heard the feedback that people would like their first 6 talents faster.

Battlegrounds and Skirmishes
When we initially launched Alpha, Skirmish queues were disabled so that we could focus people in Battlegrounds. We knew that concurrency would eventually drop off a bit and Skirmishes would become a better option for people to PvP. Skirmish queues tend to pop very quickly because there are less people required to start them and they are not affected by faction population balance. Looking forward, it's likely that we'll temporarily disable Skirmishes when we expand the number of people in Alpha to once again focus feedback on Battlegrounds. But for now, Skirmishes may be the best way for you to play the game.

Class Balance
This is a tricky time for PvP class balance in the Alpha. At this time, the Class Designers are primarily focused on implementation and haven't had the opportunity to do a balance pass on many abilities, talents and artifact traits. We've been playing the Alpha right along side you and realize there are a number of classes that feel overtuned. The good news is that this gives us a great opportunity to try many of the new PvP specific tuning knobs we have at our disposal. Going through this process has been super valuable, calling out situations where these systems were falling short. We really appreciate you being patient as we sort them out.

Damage
Damage in the Alpha certainly feels high. We like fast paced gameplay, but some specializations feel especially bursty. In some cases, this extreme damage is caused by a bug, like we recently encountered with Assassination Rogues and their artifact trait, Surge of Toxins. But it could just be that a spec hasn't been tuned down appropriately yet. In cases like this, we may reduce a spec's overall damage by decreasing the amount of Agility, Intellect or Strength in their PvP stat templates. But It may also be the case that just one or two spells are a problem. If you encounter a spell doing an extreme amount of damage, please let us know and we'll correct it for PvP.

We've also started adjusting some of the healing spells on non-healer specs. We know this is a big point of concern for the community. We'd like to see the rate of damage slow down a bit but self-healing needs to be reigned in as well in order for that to feel good. We'll be adjusting individual self-healing spells where necessary.

Tanks
Tanks are certainly overtuned on Alpha right now when it comes to survivability and damage in PvP. We've reduced their damage and their health pools but we've also started to reduce the effectiveness of their mitigation. We'll continue to monitor tank performance and adjust them accordingly. We think making tanks a fun option in PvP has potential, but it means killing a tank in a reasonable amount of time must be possible.

Healers
Healers do not feel strong enough on Alpha to be fun. In the next build, we'll be increasing the healing capability of many of the healing specs to ensure their throughput can keep up with damage.

Again, we want to thank you for your patience and commitment when it comes to testing the game. Your feedback has been tremendous and we really appreciate all you've done to help make Legion an amazing expansion.

Blue Posts
Originally Posted by Blizzard Entertainment
Tanks in PVP
We're aware of the tank issue and we have some hotfixes in test to reduce their self-healing and mitigation in PvP only. The class team is also looking at them from a dungeon and raiding standpoint as well. We appreciate you guys playing and bringing the issue to the forefront.

The problem is not the tank class itself its the pvp talent that stops anything under 10% of their max hp from doing any dmg at all its stupid. Lol when I saw that ability I LMAO. That pvp talent has no business in the game in its current state or in any incarnation for that matter.
It is being changed. (Blue Tracker / Official Forums)

Legion PvP Queue Times
Hi folks. We activated skirmish queues yesterday morning in response to the long battleground queues. We're in discussion about how to remedy the battleground situation. (Blue Tracker / Official Forums)

Druid (Forums / Skills / Talent Calculator / Artifact Calculator / PvP Talent Calculator)
[Restoration Druid] Cultivation Behavior
Thanks, both of these should be fixed in the next build--Cultivation will proc from the initial heal of Rejuvenation, and it will not have its own initial heal when applied or refreshed.

The conditional refreshing (it doesn't refresh if the target has an existing Cultivation longer than 6s) is intended, to allow it to benefit properly from Flourish. It should have no downside now. (Blue Tracker / Official Forums)

Restoration Druid Feedback -- Build 21249 -- 9-Mar
One quick mechanics clarification from the other thread--you should be seeing Lifebloom give its bloom if you refresh in the final few seconds (same mechanic as Living Bomb). You don't have to choose between maintaining 100% uptime and benefiting from the bloom. You will still lose the bloom if you swap targets, however. (Blue Tracker / Official Forums)

Priest (Forums / Skills / Talent Calculator / Artifact Calculator / PvP Talent Calculator)
Discipline Priest Feedback -- Build 21249 -- 9-Mar
PW:Solace cooldown should be getting reduced by haste, as of the same build that changed the base cooldown (as with many other effects).

There are likely still tuning changes needed, mainly due to the strength of Mindbender's added damage with the new Atonement. Note that the difference isn't quite as dramatic as it appears on a raw comparison, since Solace's effective mana value includes the cost of the Smites it replaces, and similarly, 1/3 of Mindbender's damage offsets the Shadowfiend that it replaces. We'll look at the tuning.

edit: you beat me to it. But yes, Solace should be quite reasonable as it is; that row shouldn't need anything more than the usual tuning that happens during beta. (Blue Tracker / Official Forums)

Shaman (Forums / Skills / Talent Calculator / Artifact Calculator / PvP Talent Calculator)
Restoration Shaman Feedback -- Build 21249 -- 9-Mar
Thanks for all the feedback. We discussed and decided there's little downside to putting on a damage cap, akin to Guardian Spirit, to help alleviate these concerns, so we'll go ahead and do that soon (not 100% sure yet on the precise mechanics or when it will show up on alpha). What I posted above still holds with regard to spotting problems with the spell generally, but we agree the one relating to meteor-type effects is easy enough to anticipate, and the fix doesn't impact the intended use of the spell in any way.

The other discussion that's been interwoven--how to evaluate the intended use of the talent in the absence of the specific encounter concerns--is an interesting one, and I've seen a variety of very different evaluations both here and elsewhere. (Blue Tracker / Official Forums)

Hearthstone - Whispers of the Old Gods
Blizzard announced the next Hearthstone expansion today, Whispers of the Old Gods! Check out the details on Hearthpwn.





Wildstar Layoffs and China Release
Polygon is reporting that 40 percent of the studio (70 people) were let go, with more layoffs coming in the future.
Originally Posted by MMO-Champion
Earlier this morning, Carbine Studios completed a reorganization of its operating structure. Moving forward, the studio will focus on operating and updating WildStar as a live game in the US and Europe. As part of this change, the studio has canceled its plans to bring WildStar to China.

Unfortunately, as a result of these changes, we’ve had to reduce staff. These cuts are directly tied to WildStar’s evolution from a product in development to a live title, to the cancellation of work to bring WildStar to China, and to the overall performance of WildStar since launch in 2014.

These kinds of decisions are exceptionally difficult. The talented and passionate professionals who are impacted by these cuts have been valuable team members and respected colleagues. We wish everyone well for the future and will be providing severance and employment search assistance.

As for WildStar, we remain committed to the game. Over the next few weeks and months we will deliver a significant update to the game, kick off a variety of community events, and continue our work on new content that we will talk more about in the near future.



EverQuest Next Cancelled
There was bad news from another MMO today as well:
Originally Posted by MMO-Champion
I’m writing today to let you know that, after much review and consideration, Daybreak is discontinuing development of EverQuest Next.

For the past 20 years EverQuest has been a labor of love. What started as a deep passion of ours, as game creators, grew into a much larger passion shared by you, millions of players and Daybreakers alike. Watching EverQuest’s ability to entertain and bring people together has inspired and humbled us. It’s shaped our culture and has emboldened us to take aggressive risks with our game ideas and products. When we decided to create the next chapter in the EverQuest journey, we didn’t aim low. We set out to make something revolutionary.

For those familiar with the internals of game development, you know that cancellations are a reality we must face from time to time. Inherent to the creative process are dreaming big, pushing hard and being brutally honest with where you land. In the case of EverQuest Next, we accomplished incredible feats that astonished industry insiders. Unfortunately, as we put together the pieces, we found that it wasn’t fun. We know you have high standards when it comes to Norrath and we do too. In final review, we had to face the fact that EverQuest Next would not meet the expectations we – and all of you – have for the worlds of Norrath.

The future of the EverQuest franchise as a whole is important to us here at Daybreak. EverQuest in all its forms is near and dear to our hearts. EverQuest and EverQuest II are going strong. Rest assured that our passion to grow the world of EverQuest remains undiminished.
This article was originally published in forum thread: Frost Mage Spell Animations, Legion PvP Update, Whispers of the Old Gods, Wildstar started by chaud View original post
Published on 2016-03-12 08:42 PM
69 Comments
Comments 68 Comments
  1. antikythera's Avatar
    Quote Originally Posted by Saafe View Post
    the current MMOS on steam are quite awful
    EVE Online is on Steam. Its the best PVP MMO going. Nonconsnesual PVP with lootable corpses and skill loss. Its even F2P if you have half a brain cell and yet still not P2W.
  1. Gadzooks's Avatar
    Quote Originally Posted by Magistrate View Post
    If you read the post you'll see the very obvious and specific ways they're working on the issues brought up. And yes, it is alpha and that still holds true. Calm down.
    Not upset, and there was nothing of substance relayed in any of it. But you keep up the condescending act, it's amusing.
  1. Gratlim's Avatar
    Sad for Everquest Next. It looked promising when they annonced it, but mmo is a dying genre sadly.
    As for all the "Haha another WoW killer bite the dust", open your eyes, WoW is killing itself just fine.
  1. Bigvizz's Avatar
    Quote Originally Posted by Captain Jack Flash View Post
    Wildstar having layoffs, EverquestNext getting cancelled and people on these forums still saying WoW is dead with over 5 million Subs.

    ahahaha.
    I think it more has to do with the state of the mmo gender as whole. WoW is feeling the effects of the lack of interest in the mmo market, while others are failing to startup at all. Sadly mmo's are failing due to lack of interest from new players / market and the overall stagnation of the gender as a whole.
    Which is why Blizzard is branching out to different games, I don't expect WoW to last another 10 years.
  1. Polarthief's Avatar
    Frost Mage animations look unfinished. Glacial Spike is amazing. RoF is boring, Frostbolt is unchanged, Ebonbolt is a slower, curved, Frostbolt, etc etc.

    Cannot wait to see the real changes, if we actually get some.
  1. Pacster's Avatar
    Quote Originally Posted by Captain Jack Flash View Post
    Wildstar having layoffs, EverquestNext getting cancelled and people on these forums still saying WoW is dead with over 5 million Subs.

    ahahaha.
    Well, Wow lost half of its players within a year...one hardcore guild after the other is quitting at the moment...and it's still a long time till Legion. Titan got cancelled. Those are things you can't ignore either...


    SoE/Daybreak having problems? Planetside 2 didn't have any serious update in a long time either and the next big one gets postponed time after time. Not looking good at the moment...
  1. lokithor's Avatar
    Had a buddy talk me into coming back to EQ after 14 years lol. I was surprised at the amount of people still playing it. The TLP servers are going pretty damn strong.
  1. Magistrate's Avatar
    Quote Originally Posted by Polarthief View Post
    Frost Mage animations look unfinished. Glacial Spike is amazing. RoF is boring, Frostbolt is unchanged, Ebonbolt is a slower, curved, Frostbolt, etc etc.

    Cannot wait to see the real changes, if we actually get some.
    TBH I think as of WoD frost is one of the best looking specs in the game. I was hoping they'd update Blizzard to be less like glowing blue things and more thematically consistent with the higher quality effects of Comet Storm. But overall it was the least in need of visual updates. They're welcome, though.

    I'm still amazed by how much better fire looks. I log into the alpha some days just to spam flamestrike.
  1. Arvandor's Avatar
    it looks that the devs NEED the help from the alpha players in legion to finish the class balance.

    maybe to much talents?, to many levels?, to complicated talents?

    time to rethink?

    time to wow 2?
  1. kamuimac's Avatar
    Quote Originally Posted by Arvandor View Post
    it looks that the devs NEED the help from the alpha players in legion to finish the class balance.

    maybe to much talents?, to many levels?, to complicated talents?

    time to rethink?

    time to wow 2?
    this is the main problem with creating fake hype by releasing alpha materials to public - this shit should be developed behind closed doors untill its polished enough for beta else we have comments like this. i bet you diamonds against nuts that if it was up to dev team we wouldnt get even a close look at those untill all classes would be semi finished and polished then everybody would be like "omg suchamazing new grpahics for all clases etc etc"

    - - - Updated - - -

    Quote Originally Posted by Darkguyver2020 View Post
    2014: "Wildstar will be the MMO that kills WoW!"

    2016: *Polygon lays off almost half of its workers because of the game's failure*

    Some WoW killer that steaming pile turned out to be. #epicfail
    wow doesnt need wow killers its failing on its own just fine by making the same mistake as wildstar did aka catering only to hardcore no life playerbase in WoD while alienating those who brought them to 12 mln in wrath aka casual playerbase
  1. mmoc79af98f473's Avatar
    Quote Originally Posted by TheRevenantHero View Post
    "Give mages a bunch of cool animations!" "What about other classes?" "FUCK 'EM."
    Other classes had animations and spells updated through the years (not rogues though), so this is the first real major update for frost/fire animations pretty much SINCE THE BEGINNING OF THE GAME. You are either a new player or just a mage hater.
  1. mmocff59137b32's Avatar
    Truth is no one can live up to Blizzard. I'm not just talking about WoW but Blizzard in general. I must concede, the idea of introducing F2P games and the battle.net app was a master move. Even if someone quits WoW there is a strong chance of getting hooked up into another Blizzard game. Once an update comes out for any Blizzard game people are willing to pay for it. Absolutely genius.

    - - - Updated - - -

    Quote Originally Posted by Gratlim View Post
    Sad for Everquest Next. It looked promising when they annonced it, but mmo is a dying genre sadly.
    As for all the "Haha another WoW killer bite the dust", open your eyes, WoW is killing itself just fine.
    I wouldn't call it a dying genre, I would however call other game makers fools if they are trying to beat and copy wow. Which is exactly what ALOT of game makers are doing.
  1. Vaximillian's Avatar
    Quote Originally Posted by Polarthief View Post
    Frost Mage animations look unfinished. Glacial Spike is amazing. RoF is boring, Frostbolt is unchanged, Ebonbolt is a slower, curved, Frostbolt, etc etc.
    Pretty much that. Glacial Spike is an upscaled ordinary Icicle (I hoped it would've been thinner, like an actual spike), Ebonbolt is identical to ordinary Frostbolt, Temporal Shield is the same effect as Remove Curse and so on. Nothing new.
  1. elvor0's Avatar
    Quote Originally Posted by kamuimac View Post
    this is the main problem with creating fake hype by releasing alpha materials to public - this shit should be developed behind closed doors untill its polished enough for beta else we have comments like this. i bet you diamonds against nuts that if it was up to dev team we wouldnt get even a close look at those untill all classes would be semi finished and polished then everybody would be like "omg suchamazing new grpahics for all clases etc etc"

    wow doesnt need wow killers its failing on its own just fine by making the same mistake as wildstar did aka catering only to hardcore no life playerbase in WoD while alienating those who brought them to 12 mln in wrath aka casual playerbase
    But by beta things are far too set or there isn't enough time to change anything substantial. Player feedback is very, very fucking important. Obviously not from that guy you quoted because he hates everything. But I am not happy with the state of Retribution, most retadins aren't, I promise you now that if they waited til beta to release, even the minor changes they've made so far would not be happening. It happened to Locks in WoD. Loads of complaints at the end of the beta, and nothing changed. Are you actually arguing that the playerbase should ignore anything mechanics wise and just be happy with the new graphics?


    And no, WoD was bad for the game because it was a bad expansion with barely any content in it that was abandoned half way through, not because of some sodding "casual vs hardcore" debate. I am by no means casual and WoD has been the expansion I log on the least, I certainly don't feel very catered to. Just raiding at all does not make you a hardcore no lifer, grow up and stop adding to the movements of sections of the playerbase constantly fucking blaming each other and trying to take away each others fun, no one group is carrying the game.

    Maybe give Blizzard some feedback on specific content types you would like to see rather than moaning about teh hardcores?
  1. mmoc12ebfdbb38's Avatar
    Quote Originally Posted by vaximillian View Post
    pretty much that. Glacial spike is an upscaled ordinary icicle (i hoped it would've been thinner, like an actual spike), ebonbolt is identical to ordinary frostbolt, temporal shield is the same effect as remove curse and so on. Nothing new.
    hahahhahahahahahahhaaaa
  1. Zenotetsuken's Avatar
    Quote Originally Posted by Darkguyver2020 View Post
    2014: "Wildstar will be the MMO that kills WoW!"

    2016: *Polygon lays off almost half of its workers because of the game's failure*

    Some WoW killer that steaming pile turned out to be. #epicfail
    lol, Wildstar actually is an awesome game. Polygon is a video game/technology website that reported the story, not the company that made Wildstar.
    Perhaps you should actually try something before you complain about it, it makes you look really childish otherwise.
  1. mmocc24a3db56c's Avatar
    These cuts are directly tied to WildStar's evolution from a product in development to a live title
    So the guys developing the game from ground zero were let go, and the management stays, milking all the remaining dollars they can.
    Instead of taking those oh so "talented and passionate professionals" and try for a different game (like at Blizzard, where one team starts working on Heartstone - a huge success - and another on Overwatch - also likely a huge success). Must be a horrible job, work like a dog, and then be let go instead of being given other perspectives in the company. But I guess that's how things go these days.

    In any case, without developers backing it, that game's hollowed out now - just a matter of time before it falls apart.

    - - - Updated - - -

    Quote Originally Posted by Zenotetsuken View Post
    lol, Wildstar actually is an awesome game. Polygon is a video game/technology website that reported the story, not the company that made Wildstar.


    The post in the news was written by no one else but the community director of Wildstar. https://forums.wildstar-online.com/f...-from-carbine/

    Saying it's not so also makes you look childish (or you're going through the first stage of griefing - denial).
  1. Strakha's Avatar
    i wonder if blizzards lack of competition also contributes to their seeming lack of effort in WoD.

    i remember usually when a "wow killer" would come out they'd do something to offset the release of the competitor's mmo, now there does not seem to be anything in sight that will motivate them.

    the pvp already sounds to be in dire straits, they say the damage is a bit much, but their solution is to make healers more powerful, which to me indicates their tuning process is already failing. it would be easier imo to tone down the damage instead and make the game more strategic, but they seem intent on the burst vs burst ideas. id imagine by the end of the legion cycle it will be even more ridiculous burst (heal and dps) than it is now.

    hoping legion has more content than WoD, but who am i kidding ill probably play it regardless.
  1. Singarti's Avatar
    I sincerely hope Wildstar survives whatever hardships Carbine is going through right now. It would be very sad if such a promising and great game crumbles.

    What makes Wildstar so good, you ask? Endgame PvE. It is amazing, challenging and rewarding. WoW raids look, smell and feel like a decomposing corpse in comparison to Wildstar raiding, even if there are only two raids in the game at the moment with the third one "coming soon".
  1. ZootSuitRioteer's Avatar
    EQN was supposed to give WoW a run for their money!

    It was the key to making sure Blizzard doesn't stagnate in a huge sea of mediocrity. EQN was going to bring the genre up and be a game changer...

    Damnit EQN, you had one job!
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