World of Warcraft News and Raiding Strategies

Patch 5.4.2 is now available for testing on the Public Test Realms (PTR)! Participating on the Public Test Realms lets you test patches before it has been released.

If you'd like to help test and provide feedback, you can start by copying your character and downloading the PTR client. Once you've had a chance to try things out, be sure to visit our PTR Discussion forum to discuss the patch, and the PTR Bug Report forum to report any issues or errors.

Classes

• Warrior (Forums / Skills / Talent Calculator)
  
  • General
    
    • Intervene no longer removes movement-impairing effects on use. The talent Safeguard will continue to remove movement-impairing effects.
      

Raids, Dungeons, and Scenarios

• Cross-Realm raid browser now has new categories for Mists of Pandaria World Bosses (Celestials and Ordos) and Flexible raid difficulty for Siege of Orgrimmar.
  
  • The cross-realm raid browser is accessed through the 'Social Pane' (bound to the O key by default) and look for the 'Raid' tab on the bottom right.
    
  • From there you can set the character as looking to join a raid or browse players that are forming up for a raid.
    
  • For more information on this change, please see the thread titled Cross-Realm Raid Browser on the PTR Discussion forum.
    
• Players are now able to place raid markers in the world even while dead.

Items

• Players are now able to mail account-bound items to other characters that reside on a different realm on the same account. To send cross-realm mail: enter the character's name, followed by a hyphen "-", followed by the realm name. Note that cross-realm mail can only send account-bound items, not other items or gold.
  
  • Additional information and testing discussion for this cross-realm mail can be found in this thread on the PTR Discussion forum.
    

UI

• The Customer Support button has moved. Customer support can now be reached in-game by selecting Help option through the Game Menu (Game Menu is bound to the Escape key by default).

Developer Communication
We try to communicate as much as we can. I can't speak for every CM (as we all have different duties around the office which can often take us away from the forums a bit), but conversing on the forums has been a personal priority of mine since I started here. I spend a large chunk of my day reading and replying when I feel I have something meaningful to add. I also collect a ton of feedback to bring directly to the developers for discussion.

I totally get the concerns about losing Ghostcrawler from Twitter. He's been one of the most candid and open developers in the gaming industry as a whole for a long time. Fortunately, he's not only developer responding regularly on Twitter! We actually have a list in one of the stickies on this forum with Twitter handles of several top developers. Generally speaking, any question you would previously have sent to Ghostcrawler, someone else on that list will be able to answer. The Community team's Twitter handles are listed in there as well.

Greg will no longer be working with us here at Blizzard, but we're not going to let that be a stopping point to our interaction with the community. We're here for you guys.

Are you serious? You actually think what you say and them saying "oh we'll look into it" matters at all? Here's a quote from Holinka an hour ago
While I acknowledge that tweet could have been phrased better, that was an out of context response to a conversation. I won't presume to speak for Brian, but according to my interpretation and within the context of that conversation, I think what he's trying to get across (within the limitations of Twitter) is that we make changes based on a perceived need, not merely because a volume of ideas for changes exist.

We say 'we'll look into it' all the time. I've said it many times myself, on a variety of topics, and it does alert us to situations where a change or adjustment is merited. If you don't believe that what the community has to say has an impact? Well, evidence of the opposite is all around you.

Making 90s out of those of my numerous alts who aren't there yet. 11th one last Saturday; 12th one "soon"
I plan to use my boost to play with opposite faction pals on a realm where my leveled characters are all one faction. Lookin' forward to it! (Blue Tracker / Official Forums)

Warlords of Draenor Items
The new item system (stats prop. for your spec) will affect all items (neck, ring...) or just the set (chest, helm..)?
Only the main armor pieces (head etc.) will swap primary stats. That is true of tier sets and off-piece items. (Source)
Jewelry etc. likely won't ever have primary stats. They may have attack power, but mostly secondary stats. (Source)

This isnt going to help as much as you think, just make things more annoying for players.
We feel acquiring BiS quickly only feels good for the short term. Long term it has little staying power. (Source)
Imagine killing Immerseus 16 times and sharding everything while you're still farming Garrosh. (Source)
Then imagine every Immerseus kill you still pay attention to loot because something cool or amazing could drop. (Source)

Not sure how this erases the issues spec-based primary stats were supposed to fix. Why not spirit/armor on primary?
Because then you can't choose how much you want. You just get what we give you. (Source)
That's the design for primaries to keep them growing with ilevel. Secondaries are about what stats you like. (Source)
If you heal, you may want Spirit on every non-armor spot or not. You may find those pieces or not. (Source)

RE: removing hit/exp - does that mean all attacks 100% hit? Or is there a baseline miss chance we can no longer negate?
Imagine you capped yellow attacks, which is typical today. Melee might miss from the front or with an OH attack. (Source)
I don't like removing them for two reasons. 1) historical. Craps on combat table. 2) I have 3 stats left. Yawn?
Hopefully not 3 stats... (Source)

with reforge gone how are we going to deal with haste break points? Just curious
Our dot/hot changes mean fewer haste break points. Usually more haste is still valuable after break, just less valuable than before (Source)

Creatures

• The Celestials (Chi-Ji, Niuzao, Xuen, and Yu'lon) have their health reduced to 25% of original health. If more than 10 players from the same faction are engaged with the Celestial, their health will scale up. The health increase will cap at 100% of their original health with 40 players.

CC in Warlords of Draenor
We are planning to take a strong look at CC in Warlords with the intent of dialing things back a little. We do think it's important that players are rewarded for using CC intelligently (by coordinating usage, being mindful of diminishing returns, etc), but we think we can approach things in a way that allows us to tone down CC overall while still providing that gameplay. (Blue Tracker / Official Forums)

Daze Effect
Oh man! Remember when it was based on Defense so tanks could essentially run anywhere and never get dazed but us cloth wearers would be in dazed-city? Crazy. Although they had to pay more repairs back then too. XD

Don't hear too much about it these days though, kind of a fun discussion to have again! In-general the world should be dangerous, and when you can ride through it unaffected, or have guaranteed escapes, it loses some of that danger. It's a lot of the same reasoning for non-flying in new content. Sure, you can still escape many situations, and there are still some get-out-of-jail-free cards, but that doesn't mean it's a good idea to remove all of the situations which cause you to be cautious, plan travel routes, and have to play your character in this Roleplaying Game. We think the daze mechanic still serves its useful purpose. (Blue Tracker / Official Forums)

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As previously announced, we’ve been working toward connecting realms to increase the number of players on low-population realms, and since then have completed several connections.

Future Connections
We do not have a date for the following realm connections, but will update this blog post when we do.

Next ​​Batch

• Andorhal and Ursin
  
• Crushridge and Anub'arak/Chromaggus/Garithos/Nathrezim/Smolderthorn
  
• Icecrown and Malygos
  
• Quel'dorei and Sen'jin

​Plans for these connections may change at any time, but we’ll provide additional updates on specific dates for future connections here as we can. Please note that as a part of the connection process realm times may change to match each other.

Professions
Also if sockets that uncommon do you have plans to rebalance profession perks or just ignore for another expansion?
I'd like to cut them TBH. Not sure we can pull that off. (Source)

I can't remember...were professions discussed with the instant 90s?
We likely need some solution, but aren't crazy about just "choose which prof you want at max." (Source)

Lore
Why are there no female Warlords of Draenor? You couldn't have come up with a single one?
Their identities already established in the lore. We could have replaced one, but that might have felt transparent. (Source)

"Gameplay trumps lore." "We want to let you play with friends." So when can my gnome play with my RealID friend's blood elf?
Having two factions also produces good gameplay. It was a conscious decision not dictated by lore. (Source)

so we got suspended from Heroes to Soldiers again. Feels wrong! Do you think about Lore when you make such Decisions?
We are crafting the story so hopefully you feel like heroes. That is why you are asked to return to the dark portal. (Source)
That is why you command the garrison. If being heroic meant you could not be threatened, the game would be boring. (Source)

UI / Addons
This is NOT a full group finder system. These are some moderate updates to the current system that people may find useful.
Takes our crappy old raid browser and enables some cross realm functionality. Still doing a new Group Finder for 6.0. (Source)
To be fair, it needs to be a LFM and not LFG thus the need for oqueue. Hopefully blizzard realizes this
Random matchmaking and pug forming are two different and valuable features with different audiences. (Source)

Warlords of Draenor and Spirit
Saying spirit isn't a base-line stat for healers is incorrect...Unless you're going to implement a system that replaces it
You guys can call it anything you want. We say Int is the primary stat for healers. (Source)
So, will there be a plate piece that has Primary/Mastery/Spirit say? Primary int/str spirit stays for dps even?
No Spirit on plate (or leather or mail or cloth). Spirit is only on accessories + weapons. (Source)
Sorry if that wasn't clear. Seems like we should have spent more time on this at Blizzcon. (Source)

Disappointing. Spirits such an interesting stat, feels like on such few pieces we'll lack customization.
But each piece can have more Spirit. So unless you really fine tune Spirit (rare in my experience) you can still customize. (Source)
You might want Spirit on 4 slots and I might want it on 2. You can gem it too if you have any gem slots. (Source)

So we'll still see Spirit Cloth/Leather/Mail/Plate? It sounds like the change won't do much for healer gearing.
A Healadin would have Int on chest, helm etc. and Spirit on some rings, trinkets, cloak, neck, sword and shield. (Source)

If you want to stack Spirit, get it on all those pieces. But you shouldn't need that much. Spirit will not appear on gloves, hats, etc. (Source)
I thought I needed way more than I had, but once I gemmed and enchanted for it, my mana pool was fine.
Some healers feel the need to stack Spirit in every slot. That's not the intent, or necessary, but to each their own. (Source)
You have no clue about healing GC. Spirit is the most important stat for healers, more than Int.
I've healed every fight in the game (without Spirit in every slot) but keep making those arguments! (Source)
if spirit doesn’t come on hats, gloves etc. and you say we don’t need it on trinket, ring etc. where do we get it then?
You'll get some on rings etc. You don't need it on every slot. You don't even need that today. (Source)
Q: would you have enough regen to do "ok" without wearing *any* spirit accessories? (i.e. full dps gear)
Possibly. It's not fun when you have starter gear (i.e. low Spirit) and constantly run OOM just healing a dungeon. (Source)

Nerfing flying. Nerfing manareg in healing. Anything else?
No, we aren't nerfing mana regen for healing. We're adjusting how many slots you need with Spirit to achieve reasonable regen. (Source)

When this was announced, it was said that spirit plate only gets the paladins excited. Still the case in WoD? Was hoping not.
There is no Spirit plate. There are Spirit rings, but all healers can use those. Spirit axes might still be rare. (Source)

That'd be good if spirit was useful on classes like Mages.
We want healers to have claim on those pieces so they aren't competing for every slot, (Source)

With Spirit being a secondary stat, what is the actual use of dynamic primary stats? Still need seperate DPS/Heal sets, no?
To min/max you'll want different rings etc. But if you need to e.g. heal a fight or are rerolling to heals, you'll be better off. (Source)
Today you would need all different pieces. In 6.0 your armor pieces are still usable, unless you value very different secondaries. (Source)

Spirit is healer only, won't change like Int / Str. Hit gone Spirit does zip for anyone else. Still healer only gear. Why?
Bonus armor has very limited value to DPS in PvE since boss AE damage is rarely physical. (Source)
There will be DPS trinkets with limited value to healers. Again we are talking about 7-8 slots max vs 15-16 today. (Source)

or en Ele shaman wouldnt be able to heal in ele gear if it doesnt have spirit on it
The most mana hungry healer would want Spirit on rings, neck, cloak, trinkets and weapon, assuming they had won all those pieces (Source)
it's more likely you could heal with say just weapon, trinkets and a ring, which is only 4 slots. (Source)
And even then, you *could* DPS with those pieces. They might still be better than lower ilevel spots with no Spirit. (Source)

Misc
May i ask what you actually play a game for? To work at a construction line or to have fun?
To have fun obviously. But overcoming some level of challenge is often more fun. (Source)

As much as I love laser light shows, is there any chance well be able to turn off other people's spell effects in the future?
We have been trending towards making your fx look awesome while chilling out those from others. (Source)

Ghostcrawler's Departure
I was Lead Systems Designer most of the time I was on WoW. I split lead duties with Cory as Lead Content Designer. (Source)
Both of us reported to the Game Director, Tom Chilton, Kalgan. Nearly every decision any of us made was by consensus. (Source)

GC, you'll still be playing though, right? Also, it turns out all those players saying you played mage were wrong haha.
Yes, I'm not quitting the game. Just no longer designing it. (Source)

True. But how many universities and colleges had decent game development/software engineering programs 10-15 years ago?
First, I've been in this business for 16 years. Second, look at game devs you admire. How many have a degree in game design? Likely 0. (Source)
None. That is actually my point. What degree are we old farts supposed to have? (Source)
Gee, thanks for that. Nothing like insulting people you don't even know.
It wasn't intended as an insult. Degrees in game development are a pretty new thing. I am not. (Source)
I have one of those degrees. 4 shipped titles, 2 of which are Skylanders games. It sounds like the stuff I hear all the time.
That's awesome. I actually love Skylanders. (Source)

You'll find out my future plans soon enough. For now, let's let this be about World of Warcraft. Warlords is going to be SAVAGE and EPIC. (Source)
Any chance you will at least tell us if it is gaming related or not?
I'm not leaving the industry. (Source)

I would not expect many changes to the game as a result of my departure. We always design from a place of consensus and collaboration. (Source)

I'm just curious did you know about your departure from blizzard pre blizzcon?
Yes. (Source)

Are you going to stick around on Twitter in some form? Hate to see you disappear.
I'll stick around though I'm not sure my insights will be as valuable in the future. (Source)

do you think a game design degree is a bad idea?
No. (Source)

I wish you all the best... it's a shame Blizzard is losing someone as passionate as you. It won't quite be the same now
I appreciate it, but Blizzard has a ton of passionate folks. I wouldn't feel comfortable leaving if WoW wasn't in good hands. (Source)

Greg will you stay with Blizz til WoD releases?
I'm afraid not, but it's in very good hands. (Source)

What is the 'feature' you were hoping for. Sans NDA. Thanks for making the best you could.
I can't tell you, because I hope they'll still do it! (Source)

Lots of things have been claimed as the imminent death of WoW, but this talk of you leaving is the first I actually believe.
No way. I'm very confident in the direction of Warlords. I'll be playing it with you guys. (Source)

A HOLY PRIEST?!?!
True story. Everyone seems to think I was trolling. My mage is like level 86. (Source)

good luck on your future travels. But who are the forum QQers going to QQ at now? :P
They'll find another name and still miss the point that Blizzard designs as a collective. (Source)

I am leaving on good terms with all of my friends at Blizzard and I'm still going to be playing WoW. (Source)
The internet loves to play detective, but in this case it was a great opportunity and time to move on. I wasn't fired or asked to step down. (Source)
And leaving certainly has nothing to do with the community. WoW has a great community. We never took you all for granted. (Source)
The next time someone kicks your butt in DPS, you can wonder... was that GC? (Source)