Shadowlands - Eclipse Feedback, Mike Morhaime Interview, Earthfury Layering Disabled

Shadowlands Alpha - Eclipse Feedback
Originally Posted by Blizzard (Blue Tracker / Official Forums)
Eclipse: catching up (slightly belatedly) on updates this week.

Summarizing some of the biggest points coming out of early feedback:
–General negative feeling on the RNG startup of Eclipse. A few people did notice that there was pretty strong bad-luck protection on the proc, but ultimately that didn’t seem to help in this case.
–The idea of the 30s ICD wasn’t worth all the confusion. It was intended to simply alternate Eclipses in long combats, so it’s clearer to straightforwardly do that.

An important detail of the change (the number of casts to start an Eclipse is now fixed at 3) is that the count is visible in the default UI–highlighting this since it won’t be obvious to people who have only seen datamining. This lets you know, among other things, when you’ve been out of combat long enough to “reset” and be able to start with either Eclipse again, so you don’t have to guess about that. It also makes the mechanics clearer, for example that you can enter either Eclipse immedately after Celestial Alignment ends.

Another problem solved by no longer being random is that you’re not stuck in the middle of a “wrong” cast when Eclipse starts (Eclipse feels a bit longer when you play it in this version, for this reason). You can plan a buffed nuke or Starsurge crisply at the start of Eclipse, as well as allowing more advanced planning around DoT refreshes and movement.

Finally, it’s expected that there are better and worse Eclipse timings in a long encounter based on whether Wrath or Starfire is more valuable at given moments, and there’s some ability to manipulate it as you learn what’s coming. There hasn’t been a lot of opportunity for people to explore this yet, but Starsurge timing, DoT timing, Celestial Alignment, and choice of starting Eclipse are all ways to influence the cycle.

Interview - Mike Morhaime
VentureBeat had the opportunity to sit down with Mike Morhaime recently.


Gaming Companies
  • More venture capital and media companies are starting to pay attention to gaming.
  • Now is a great time for indie game studios.

Mike's Investments
  • Mike invested in Rally Cry, which is creating a more organized way to connect, play, and compete with each other.
  • Mike also invested in VENN, a video network targeting gaming, pop culture, and esports audiences.
  • Mike is passionate about gaming bringing people together. He saw the power of gaming very clearly at Blizzard, and looked forward to BlizzCon every year.

Working from Home and Coronavirus
  • The tools to support working from home are quite good.
  • Persistent video and audio to simulate an office environment is a way to deal with working from home.
  • Gaming is one of the forms of entertainment that hasn't been hugely affected.
  • The gaming community knew the magic and power of gaming. People outside of the gaming community that no longer have access to some of their regular pastimes are discovering gaming now.

WoW and Social Gaming
  • In the beginning, Mike thought WoW would reach a smaller audience and have to grow from there. Right away the curve was a lot steeper than he ever imagined.
  • His takeaway was that WoW was the most social of Blizzard's games at that point. You had groups of people experiencing the game together. Especially in the beginning, you needed to join a guild to experience some of the content.
  • The social experience, being able to share your entertainment with others, is important.
  • MMOs aren't as popular anymore due to accessibility and time investment. They could have a resurgence in the future.
  • Maybe there are other types of games that can capture the social experience even more.
  • As WoW evolved over the years, it became less social. In an effort to increase accessibility, the team removed some of the reasons why you needed to play with the same group over and over.
  • Making WoW less social takes away some of the reasons why some people play.
  • Blizzard can count on the community to let them know very directly and critically when they aren't doing things well.

Game Monetization
  • It's nice to have a toolkit with more monetization options.
  • When you are choosing a monetization model, you have to think about whether that model serves the content and experience you want to create. It puts different types of pressures on designers, what content they'll create, how you measure success of the product.
  • You want to make sure that what the game needs to be great is consistent with what types of pressures you are going to be under with a certain business model.
  • You have a lot more options if you are starting a company right now, in terms of how you can get that funded. You used to have to go to a big publisher and get an advance on royalties. Now there are lots of companies interested in funding projects.
  • The gaming industry is full of dreamers that want to focus on creating great content and not necessarily interested in focusing on the business and logistical side of things.


Ghostcrawler's Tweets - WoW's Social Feature
Ghostcrawler provided a response to the interview with Mike Morhaime. (Yes, this section is back)
Originally Posted by MMO-Champion
I have been asked a bunch about Mike Morhaime's chat with Seth Schiesel. While WoW did a lot of things right, some of its greatest contributions were social....

People forget sometimes that when WoW became popular, things like instant messaging didn't really exist, let alone having social features in every game....

Early WoW players would see another player and be all "Is that another human? That's crazy." ...

People connected on WoW. It was the first experience for many gamers of making a friend online instead of IRL. There were these stories we received about kids who used WoW's mail system as email, of fathers who could only talk to their teenagers through the game....

It is going to be really hard for any MMO in the future to recreate the sheer novelty of social interactions that WoW produced. The world is different than it was then.



WoW Classic - Earthfury Update
Originally Posted by Blizzard (Blue Tracker / Official Forums)
A few moments ago, the Earthfury realm was successfully returned to a single layer.
This reflects a recent decrease in peak population on that realm, but may lead to occasional, small queues in the evening on Earthfury.
We continue to monitor realm populations closely, with an eye on opportunities to bring other layered realms back to the intended single-layer experience.

MMO-Champion Forums Moderator Recruitment
Good news everyone! We're recruiting moderators for the forums again! Please be sure to read the entire post before applying!

This article was originally published in forum thread: Shadowlands - Eclipse Feedback, Mike Morhaime Interview, Earthfury Layering Disabled started by chaud View original post
Published on 2020-05-01 07:01 AM
47 Comments
Comments 47 Comments
  1. erifwodahs's Avatar
    That's a one good point.. back in the day when we played wow texting has only started. Talking online was awesome, I and my friends would just go online into these webchats and text games via the phones. I don't really text anymore for the sake of texting because it's cool to have a long distance conversation.
  1. 1 + 1 = 3's Avatar
    So true what Ghostcrawler said about early wow players, i'm 45 now, and i remember being really excited by meeting humans players in game at the time. It was crazy for me to think that they were actual people next ot my avatar.
  1. Micronetic's Avatar
    Quote Originally Posted by erifwodahs View Post
    That's a one good point.. back in the day when we played wow texting has only started. Talking online was awesome, I and my friends would just go online into these webchats and text games via the phones. I don't really text anymore for the sake of texting because it's cool to have a long distance conversation.
    Textin in game has started? What? Counter-Strike had it, other MMOs before WoW had it...
  1. Nite92's Avatar
    Quote Originally Posted by clinophobia View Post
    Textin in game has started? What? Counter-Strike had it, other MMOs before WoW had it...
    If you'd try to understand him, you would. OR you can just compare WoW to Counter-Strike. lol...
    Have you even seen how those MMO looked?

    (First decent game where you actually connected with people, in case you couldn't figure it out yourself).
  1. erifwodahs's Avatar
    Quote Originally Posted by clinophobia View Post
    Textin in game has started? What? Counter-Strike had it, other MMOs before WoW had it...
    in my country - yes. It was really rare to have a computer at home, it was when wow released about that time when people started to get those in their home. I am not saying this is the case for everyone, but 2004-2006 was really early for a lot of people.
  1. aeuhe4yxzhds's Avatar
    Early for anyone not interested in video games, maybe. It is around 2009-2010 where majority started using the web thanks to cheap laptops and smartphones.
  1. Twdft's Avatar
    Quote Originally Posted by aeuhe4yxzhds View Post
    Early for anyone not interested in video games, maybe. It is around 2009-2010 where majority started using the web thanks to cheap laptops and smartphones.
    Which seems crazy to gamers like me who had a computer at home since 1990 and been "online" since 1997 playing Duke Nukem via telephone with a friend and having dial up internet since 1998 I think. In 98 we would actually go to an internet cafe to play Counterstrike online because it was cheaper than dial-up at home.

    IRC and ICQ was a thing since early on, and WoW was a dream come true walking around a 3d world while chatting with people.
  1. Santti's Avatar
    Persistent video and audio to simulate an office environment is a way to deal with working from home.

    Am I the only one who thinks that sounds kinda hilarious?
  1. DesoPL's Avatar
    Now is the time for indie games? Hello Mike are you slept last few years? Indie games are established long time. Allthough you can also notice some shitty indie developments, like few years ago on steam they were banned for making cash grabs by cards.
  1. KevyB's Avatar
    Quote Originally Posted by Santti View Post
    Persistent video and audio to simulate an office environment is a way to deal with working from home.

    Am I the only one who thinks that sounds kinda hilarious?
    Yeah pretty pathetic how they're trying to normalize mental trauma stemming from a completely unnatural work cycle, these people are so well brainwashed and constructed to be drones they cannot understand a different reality where life isn't about spending 10 hours a day in a shitty office in a polluted downtown.

    These people need help.
  1. Santti's Avatar
    Quote Originally Posted by KevyB View Post
    Yeah pretty pathetic how they're trying to normalize mental trauma stemming from a completely unnatural work cycle, these people are so well brainwashed and constructed to be drones they cannot understand a different reality where life isn't about spending 10 hours a day in a shitty office in a polluted downtown.

    These people need help.
    I was thinking along the lines of a comedy sketch. Jesus...
  1. Granyala's Avatar
    Quote Originally Posted by Santti View Post
    Persistent video and audio to simulate an office environment is a way to deal with working from home.
    Am I the only one who thinks that sounds kinda hilarious?
    Hmm? Nothing to it really.
    Here merely refers to continuously streaming in order to be able to easily communicate as if you were there, as opposed to scheduling a meeting.

    Regarding the social thing: For me, WoW was indeed one of the first internet based games. I only got DSL in 02-2007 and the first thing I did was head out to buy WoW. It was indeed awesome, seeing so many people run around.
  1. Santti's Avatar
    Quote Originally Posted by Granyala View Post
    Hmm? Nothing to it really.
    Here merely refers to continuously streaming in order to be able to easily communicate as if you were there, as opposed to scheduling a meeting.

    Regarding the social thing: For me, WoW was indeed one of the first internet based games. I only got DSL in 02-2007 and the first thing I did was head out to buy WoW. It was indeed awesome, seeing so many people run around.
    I know what it means.

    I was thinking more in line of something more comedic. Like, having a recorder playing office ambiance to you while working from home. Like this. You know, "persistent audio to simulate an office environment" in your home?

    Wait. While reading the comments section on the Youtube, is that seriously what quote means? Do people really listen to something like this, to get into "work mood"?
  1. Twdft's Avatar
    Quote Originally Posted by Santti View Post
    recorder playing office ambiance to you while working from home. Like this. You know, "persistent audio to simulate an office environment" in your home?
    open-plan offices are an abomination and violation of basic human dignity
  1. Stormykitten's Avatar
    For quite a while now I've felt the largest competitor to WoW is not another MMO, it is discord and services like it. Just because so many stick around in wow for the social investment, which can now also easily be facilitated by discord. It could just as well have been IRC or something like that, but discord were the ones that had the WoW-like timing luck.
  1. Easo's Avatar
    Quote Originally Posted by erifwodahs View Post
    in my country - yes. It was really rare to have a computer at home, it was when wow released about that time when people started to get those in their home. I am not saying this is the case for everyone, but 2004-2006 was really early for a lot of people.
    Yeah, common for Eastern Europe, for example. It rapidly ramped up, but computers, not to mention internet, was something quite rare for some time.
  1. justandulas's Avatar
    The generation who grew up before online gaming and got to see its birth live year by year are truly the most blessed gamers ever.

    Growing up with 8 bit classics and being up with full worlds built by the internet

    I will forever say the 80s kids are the most blessed of all gamers. We not only have the modern games, but the hindsight of their creation and the first feelings of interactive online gaming.

    My first mmorpg was with MUDs in the early 90s
  1. Weeps's Avatar
    Quote Originally Posted by clinophobia View Post
    Textin in game has started? What? Counter-Strike had it, other MMOs before WoW had it...
    Quake 1 had it. So that's way before CS.
  1. A Blue Smurf's Avatar
    Under what rock did ghostcrawler live? I'm only 32 now but Id been involved with and met people via online games and communities for years before wow was even announced. It was not new, it was not novel.
  1. Vagus's Avatar
    Quote Originally Posted by A Blue Smurf View Post
    Under what rock did ghostcrawler live? I'm only 32 now but Id been involved with and met people via online games and communities for years before wow was even announced. It was not new, it was not novel.
    37 here, and I think it was novel in a mainstream context. Sure gamers who played the first multiplayer games could have chat options.



    Also, games such as CS or Quake had chat options, but those games were not conducive to allowing people to just sit idle in trade chat or something and just talk and socialize which is what WoW had at the time. You could "play the game" just by sitting in org/sw and just chat with people. It's hard to have a conversation when your being hammered by a nailgun or an ak.
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