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WoW's 8th Anniversary, Pilgrim's Bounty, Ion Hazzikostas Interview, BWC Recaps 

by
chaud
Published on 2012-11-18 10:41 PM

Witch Doctor 1.0.5 Updated Guide, Fan Creation of the Week: Making of "The Demon Hunter", Blizzard News

WoW's 8th Anniversary
WoW's 8th Anniversary event is also now live, so be sure to check your mail for the Celebration Package and a familiar letter. You can get the WoW's 8th Anniversary achievement by logging in by December 1st.



Pilgrim's Bounty
Pilgrim's Bounty started this morning. Don't forget to eat at the tables to pick up The Spirit of Sharing!



Interview with Ion Hazzikostas
We had the opportunity to talk to Ion Hazzikostas (Lead Encounter Designer) at the Battle.net World Championship event.
Originally Posted by Blizzard Entertainment
Q: Patch 5.1 is almost live on the servers now and mostly has quest content when it comes to PvE. What’s the status of Patch 5.2 and is there anything exciting players should expect from it?
A: Patch 5.1 also has scenarios, the Brawler's guild, and pet battle enhancements, so there is a lot more to it other than the quest content. The quest content is pretty meaty, something like 100 new quests in Krasarang Wilds. There is more to Patch 5.1 than just the quests. As far as Patch 5.2 goes, we are definitely hard at work on that. That is where the next big raid instance is going to come, so that is something that my team is primarily occupied with now. We don't really have specific details to announce or discuss about it right now, but it is something we will be talking about in the very near future.

Q: Challenge modes were one of the biggest additions to the game with MoP, are you happy with how it turned out? Is there any improvements or rewards coming in future patches?
A: Yes, it is a really cool feature and I think that it is something that is still building momentum with players. Players find that they have exhausted some of their avenues to get gear or make their character stronger in a given week. They reach a point where they are getting their upgrades from raids, and you are limited on how often and how much you can raid. You can do your one lockout a week and that leaves you with free time, making challenge modes something that is interesting to explore. Early on, because they don't give actual power upgrades, it was hard to justify spending time on something that isn't going to make your character stronger when they feel like they have to keep running dungeons for upgrades or doing dailys.

Ultimately, the challenge mode dungeons are there to give groups of players who want an old school dungeon MMO feel with crowd control, coordination, teamwork, and tight execution some of the gameplay they are looking for. At this point, our primary mode of dungeons is through the LFD system and with random matchmaking you can only push difficulty so far before it starts to cause social issues. If you learn something, that is one thing, but it doesn't necessarily guarantee the four people you are grouped with will know that and you can often feel like you are failing, not through any fault of your own, but because of the random people you got assigned to. That is frustrating. Clearly we have backed away from some of the difficulty we saw in Cataclysm launch heroics but challenge mode dungeons take that to a whole new level.

Q: Are there any tweaks coming in future patches?
A: Quality of life stuff mainly. We are going to be making a change in the future that resets cooldowns when you reset a challenge mode or start a new one, long cooldowns like Bloodlust or Battle Res and things like that. We allow you to reset a challenge mode mid run through the interface. That way, you screw up the second pull and you can just reset the instance and try again. If you used Bloodlust on the first pull and feel like you are going for a competitive time, then you have to stand around for five minutes waiting for that cooldown to come back up. That's not so much fun. In the future it is a feature that we plan to continue to support and expand.

One thing that we thought about is what new challenge mode dungeons we can add. One potential place to explore would be going back and creating challenge modes for some of our older dungeons. Imagine a level 90 challenge mode version of Shattered Halls, Arcatraz, or some of those dungeons.

Q: The legendary quest continues in Patch 5.1 with upgraded sha-touched gems. Can we expect anything more from this patch or will we have to wait for Patch 5.2 to see things get more exciting?
A: I think Patch 5.2 is going to have more substance in terms of the legendary progression. Patch 5.1 will advance the storyline. A few players who have already completed their legendary gem have already discovered the cliffhanger where Wrathion tells you about the arriving fleets, conflict between the Alliance and Horde that is going to come to the shores, and some of the work that needs to be done. Patch 5.1 is going to let you see Wrathion's involvement between the Alliance and Horde conflict and you get a slight power bump from helping him out with that, but really the bulk of the quest line lies ahead of us.

Q: Patch 5.1 contains an extremely interesting questline involving the Black Temple and a lot of warlock lore, is there anything more you can tell us about this? Is this quest for all classes or just for warlocks?
A: The Black Temple thing in Patch 5.1 is a Warlock specific class quest and it is building up to something. It was datamined as a scenario, but it is not a scenario. It is just a small one off class quest for Warlocks. When it makes sense for the lore and assets we are trying to introduce, it is cool to have these little one off quests like we added for the Monk as they level up with skill challenges. It is just something nice we thought we would do for the Warlock class. It is not a big deal.

Q: Is it finally time for Blizzard to bring green fire spells to the game?
A: Maybe.

Q: You brought back world bosses in the game, do you feel the players reaction was positive?
A: Somewhat. There were definitely a lot of lessons learned from the experience of the world bosses. I think at this point I would say we are completely satisfied with the way that Sha of Anger has worked out. Sha of Anger was meant to be a replacement for Baradin Hold or Vault of Archavon. Instead of it happening behind closed doors in an instance you are seeing it happen in the outdoor world. Players who are questing through Kun-Lai Summit get to see a group of 30 or 40 players fighting a huge shadowy creature; that is a cool experience. It is a frequent respawn and not very hard, so pretty much everyone who wants to kill Sha of Anger does.

Galleon was intended to be more analogous to our Vanilla world bosses like Kazzak or the green dragons, where it is highly contested and spawns infrequently. That has kinda worked out, but not as well as we hoped, and we have some changes we are going to make next time we try that sort of thing.

There were two main problems with it. First off, it was too easy. Killing Galleon is more about getting the tap when he spawns and being there, rather than any kind of challenge. One of the key features of Kazzak or the green dragons was that most groups on a sever couldn't kill the boss. Even if you let them pull the boss they were still going to wipe because just because everyone panics and only the best guilds on the server could actually do it.

Also, he is in such a highly trafficked zone that whenever he spawns so many people flock to the area that is causes some technical issues. When you have 150 people in the same spot all using AoE spells, unless you have a super computer, your client performance isn't great. That ends up not being a great experience for players. I think more remote and more challenging are what we are likely to do with our Galleon style bosses in the future. Our Sha of Anger style world bosses will probably stay pretty much the same.

Q: Do you plan to add more of those in future patches?
A: Yeah.

Q: Is there an encounter in the expansion that wasn’t as successful or impressive as you thought it would be?
A: Overall I am really happy with how the encounters have turned out. I think there were some bugs or tuning issues on a few fights, like the Heroic mode of Imperial Vizier Zor'lok that came out in Heart of Fear last week. It has some tuning issues that made it the hardest boss in the instance, despite it being the first boss, so it was a little bit of a brick wall for some guilds. We made some quick adjustments and got it to where we want it to be within a couple of days. Other than that we are hearing great feedback from our players and people on LFR, Normal, and Heroic are having a good time.

Q: More and more people seem to be losing interest in 25-man raiding, do you plan to make it a little more interesting in the future or are you happy with the current system?
A: We love 25 player raiding. We also love 10 player raiding. We have people on the team that do both, depending on who they are. We aren't really satisfied with the state of 25 player raiding right now. Our goal when we made the raid changes at the start of Cataclysm that unified the 10 and 25 player lockouts was to let players choose the raid size that they preferred and make it a fair choice.

At the time, we were responding to feedback from many players who preferred 10 player raiding and felt pressured to do 25s because they offered such better loot. The reality, something we failed to properly account for, is the logistical burdens of maintaining a 25 player roster. Those burdens are borne almost exclusively by the officers, raid leaders, and guild leaders of those groups. Those pressures are such that it tends to cause those groups to splinter into 10s. Before there was the carrot of 25s give you the best loot in the game, which was enough to get guilds to push through those stresses by recruiting more or making it work.

Now it is easy to say, well, we only have 21 people on at raid time, let's just do 10 mans instead of cancelling the raid. Then you go down the road to transitioning to a 10 player guild. It isn't a reflection of what our players want, but what is simplest for the guild leadership. We are looking at trying to better incentivize 25s, recognizing that for it to be a fair choice, there needs to be something to compensate for that additional logistical burden.

Q: The proving grounds features was mentioned a couple of times before the release of the game, is there anything new on this side?
A: It is something that we are excited about and something that we are still planning to introduce. We don't have a specific release date for it at this time, but it is something that we want to do.

Q: Was the Brawler’s Guild the first iteration of it?
A: The Brawler's Guild isn't really the same thing. It is basically single player boss fights, really cool PvE gameplay. It isn't designed to instruct or test or rank players. It is designed to just be a fun challenge. Proving Grounds has a twofold purpose of letting players learn things like tanking and healing in a more comfortable setting, without having to inconvenience other players or letting them down, but also allow the high end players to test their skills and have a leaderboard. The Brawler's Guild isn't that, but it is really cool!

On a fundamental level, our game is about playing DPS from level 1 to 90. That is how you level and how you kill things in the outdoor world. The first time you decide that you want to tank, you are probably going to tank at four other people's expense, and we would like to fix that.

Q: Scenarios are in a weird place right now, the concept seemed interesting but the lack of rewards caused most players to somewhat ignore them in the long run. Should we expect something new on this side?
A: The rewards for scenarios are being improved in Patch 5.1. In the future, hopefully in the not too distant future, we are looking in to allowing scenarios to reward players for skillful accomplishments within the scenario, such that you feel pressure to complete it fast enough or do bonus objectives to get an extra reward. That way it remains engaging but also rewarding for players of all different playstyles, depending on what gear you are coming in with and things like that.

Q: Is there something you wished more people noticed or did in Mists of Pandaria? An interesting element that a lot of players missed?
A: There are tons of secrets in Mists of Pandaria, whether it is the rare spawns or hidden treasure. Our players have done an awesome job of ferreting those things out, so that has been pretty cool. Thanks to sites like MMO-Champion it is very hard to have secrets in the game anymore as it turns out. Datamining is a thing.

Overall, feature wise I would say I look forward to more people checking out challenge modes. They are the most lucrative source of Valor. I think a lot of people have this idea that they aren't Paragon, Blood Legion, or one of the top players in the world, so this isn't for me. Even doing a Bronze Challenge mode is going to give you more Valor for your time invested than pretty much anything else you can do. As players shift from a mindset of doing tons of daily quests to get valor to actually being mostly done with their dailys and looking to get valor from other sources, I hope that more and more players check out the challenge mode system.

Q: Without spoiling too much, do you have any awesome raid mechanics coming in the future?
A: Yes.

Battle.net World Championship Recaps
Bashiok went to China for the World Championship and provided a nice recap of each day. ArenaJunkies also was there providing updates. You can find detailed scores and match results on ArenaJunkies.

  • $105,000 - North America: "Bring It" - Mage Warlock Shaman
  • $45,000 - Europe: "Yaspresents" - Mage Warrior Shaman
  • $27,000 - Korea: "LG-IM" - Mage Warlock Shaman




Battle.net World Championship Concludes - VODs Available
Originally Posted by Blizzard (Blue Tracker / Official Forums)
Friday, November 16

Stream: WOW Main

Stream: WOW 02

Saturday, November 17

Stream: WOW Main

Stream: WOW 02

Battle.net World Championship Event Pictures
Blizzard has a nice album of pictures from the Battle.net World Championship on Facebook, head there to see them all.
0 Comments

Loss of Control Alerts, Popular Glyphs, Blue Posts, Blue Tweets, Blizzard News 

by
chaud
Published on 2012-11-17 10:10 AM

Uber Bosses Speed Kill Video, Blue Posts, Bonus Blizzard Comic Contest Entry, Black Ops 2 Outsells Harry Potter and Star Wars

Patch 5.1 - Loss of Control Alerts
Patch 5.1 adds alerts when you lose control of your character to the default UI. They tell you what is affecting your character and the remaining duration.





Popular Glyphs
Guildox recently added a new feature that will show you which glyphs are popular with the top 5% of players, broken down by PvP and PvE. If you are looking for the popular glyphs for your class, this should help!



Blue Posts
Originally Posted by Blizzard Entertainment
Cross-Realm Zone Feedback
Obviously they listen to feedback. But that doesn't necessitate any applause. When they discount feedback (even after listening to it) that was well reasoned and highly supported, they should offer better explanation (if they want to keep their community feeling like communication is valuable). They should be judged based upon the context of the time, and right now the context does not look good.
Brace yourself, because I'm about to say some things that will probably ruffle a few feathers. Got your feathers ready? Okay, here we go:

We have a long tradition of explaining our design decisions. In addition the various posts we make on the forums, there are numerous Dev Watercooler blogs authored by Ghostcrawler and other developers that exist solely to discuss what we're thinking, and why we're thinking it. Those vary in frequency since, ultimately, developer time is best spent doing things like developing World of Warcraft.

That said, there will be times when, after reviewing the feedback, we still stick to our guns and not offer a follow-up explanation regarding why. There are pitfalls to starting a discussion to provide our rationale after such an event:

  • Players that are okay with or neutral toward the situation don't particularly care.
  • The players that aren't okay with the situation almost certainly aren't going to change their minds because we made a post. They're almost always heavily invested in a particular position on the subject, and further discourse won't alter their opinion. In these cases, the expressed desire for follow-up on feedback doesn't result in useful clarification; it simply provides more ammunition for a debate. Typically a debate that already played out in prior feedback and resulted in a decision one way or another.
  • While sometimes it's necessary to make our stance clear, refraining from a 'this is just the way it is, and here's why' statement can offer us the latitude to change our minds in the future. In some cases, we're still evaluating a situation, but we need to see how it plays out for longer than a few weeks.

And, on that note, it's very much worth noting that we change our minds with a fair amount of frequency. Our decision to provide alternative means to acquire Brawler's Guild invitations was based on player feedback, but I didn't create a post to discuss why that decision was made, just as I probably wouldn't have created a post to explain why we didn't make the change--the rationale was already out there, and it's still largely in place. That change is a compromise.

CRZ is harshly criticized by some, and praised by some, but mostly it fits seamlessly into the gameplay of many (as it was intended to). The technology makes possible some truly cool things, like cross realm parties. It's a response to the many complaints that the old world felt empty and devoid of life. It's also a lot more than that. We're aware of the concerns that players have expressed about it, and we'll continue to improve it so the experience that players have with it only gets better.

Yes, the current design for dailies is very much based on player feedback, and it fixes some of the things that, ultimately, really weren't working well in Cataclysm. Now we're seeing a totally different kind of feedback, and we'll learn from that too. World of Warcraft is still very much an iterative entity.

Finally, some food for thought. Some changes that are pretty much universally embraced now were highly contentious in their time. For example, one of the largest debates World of Warcraft has ever seen revolved around something as essential and commonplace today as offering non-raiders access to epic items. Some of you will recall that this was an extremely active debate, and opinions were harshly divided (and harshly expressed) on the subject. We'll continue to listen to player feedback as we design into the future - but we also know that we can't please all the people all the time. If nothing else, history has absolutely taught us that.

Of course, we're still going to try.

I don't know why you guys cannot admit you made a mistake and just give us some alternate ways to gain rep. Many excellent suggestions have been made and yes, before you say it, making the dailies the only path to reputation progression was a mistake.
There are discussions about adding in some reputation gain from other methods. There's not much concrete to report yet, though.

If CRZ is here to stay, it would be nice if we could get some confimation that the fishing tournaments will be back and that two player mounts will eventually be fixed.
Those are both issues that we're working on, amongst others. (Blue Tracker / Official Forums)

Spectator Mode in Arenas
A spectator mode is something that we think would be a really cool feature and we would like to implement one. The main problem is that it's a huge feature and simply a matter of being able to getting around to creating it. So hopefully at some point in the future we may do this, but right now we do not have any plans to create a spectator mode.

but right now we do not have any plans to create a spectator mode.

Why not? To busy making new and exciting scenarios? I think more people would want an spectator client for PvE & PvP then new quests or scenarios.
We fully understand that there are those out there that would like to be able to spectate both PvP and PvE, however you have to remember that there are also many readily available streams, like the one you provide, which allow players to spectate others. We know that this first person perspective is not as thrilling as say, watching from a camera you can move freely on your own, but it is a way to spectate others playing the game.

You also have to remember that while there are players that want a spectator client, the number that would actually use it regularly or even continue to use after its initial release is quite low. We have to be sure that we continue to deliver on new content for players to consume as well as avoiding taking away from other new and awesome projects that are in the pipeline. I am not going to say that this is something that we will never do, it is just something that we do not have planned as of yet.

the number that would actually use it regularly or even continue to use after its initial release is quite low

That's just not true.

The whole pvp community would use it for as long as this game lasts.
I am not denying that some of the PvP community would use it regularly, I would even admit that if a spectator option was implemented I would pop in and watch some arena matches in the downtime of my gaming sessions. But while you, others in this thread and myself would be more than happy to enjoy such a feature that does not mean that the entire PvP or even World of Warcraft community would.

Do remember as well that the technology for spectating, the mechanics that allow you to access it and all the surrounding parts to creating this type of system would need to be designed as well as being made for use in mass. This would take a great deal of time to create and implement, it would also take away from other key projects. When it comes down to it, we need to prioritize in the development process; sadly right now there are other things that have a higher priority.

Don't forget though, this is something that is on our radar and we never said it was a system we will not implement. To quote Tom Chilton on the subject; "It's just a question of being able to get around to doing it, so someday...Hopefully."

Erm, you already have a Spectator Client? Or is the one that we've been seeing im MLG and BlizzCon just not really been there? Your wording hints that one doesn't exist.

I'm believing what you're trying to say is that you're just not ready to give it to us. You have tools, but those tools require access levels to be used. Teleports, target's vision etc. and to see current arena matches being played.

Question is, why not?
Actually, those are special accounts created only for use at these events specifically so that the casters can perform their roles optimally and provide the best viewing experience for everyone. It's not something that we can simply add into the game client and is not really an actual spectator mode, simply a workaround to allow for spectating that is little more than a mobile camera in the game.

Spectator mode would need to be fully built from the ground up in order to give regular player accounts spectating abilities. (Blue Tracker / Official Forums)

Blue Tweets
Originally Posted by Blizzard Entertainment
PvP
How fast you'd be able to react and defensively dispel you and your teammates is what made you a good priest.
Disagree. You could spam dispels on anything. That wasn't skill, just button mashing. Skill requires analysis not just reflexes. (Source)

Good luck! trying to take down a healer with the Gag Order nerf, or even trying to catch one with the Avatar nerf aswell......
There is quite a large continuum between being a free kill and being a god. There is space to be somewhere in the middle.
Your going in the wrong direction, hurting warrior mobility in a game full of endless cc's in pvp, we don't want Cata again!
We nerfed control and CC breaks, not mobility. A Double Time nerf would be mobility. It's all related, but that was our logic. (Source)

Can you bring pre-Wrathful WotLK PvP weapons back for Transmog.. pretty please?
If we did that would they be rewards for skilled PvP players or something everyone could grab? (Source)

Does a destro lock bursting 370k through 60% res in 1.2 sec fit your image of pvp?
The CB landed in 1.2 but likely took much longer to set up. Do you think there is just a max damage that a single ability should do? (Source)

Why when you said "pve'ers shouldn't be forced to pvp and VICE VERSA" you didn't rly mean it?
We meant glads shouldn't have to raid for the best gear. We want all players to participate out in the world doing stuff.
So, you are saying forcing PVP'ers to PVE is fine, as long as those PVP'ers aren't glads???
I'm saying an experience where you never leave town and queue for PvE or PvP isn't healthy for the long term of the game. (Source)

OK, so what on earth is the deal with the total absence of honor weapons? I thought I was just being stupid. What's really frustrating is they were in... the items exist but are unavailable.
We make a lot of items in bulk that aren't intended to ever go into the game. Heroic raid trash versions are another example.

A real explanation on honor weapons not available and solutions to rating camp.
Honor weapons would have been the only weapons. There was no way to keep them away from PvE players. Maybe at ilevel 450. Maybe.
Sorry but I really don't see how you missed this with the PvP Power mechanic you introduced specifically for PvP gear.
The weapon would have to have nothing but PvP Power. Otherwise it's better than the quest weapons you could achieve.
Just slap pvp power and pvp resilience as the only stats, PVE players would stay away from them.
We don't typically itemize gear to such extremes, but I suppose we could. (Source)

Any chance of making the old WSG/AB pvp vendors be in a more convenient place for those who want to level via pvp?
Yeah, would like to do this. Did you see the green gear vendors in Pandaria? PvP versions (at all levels) are another idea. (Source)

Instant cc & dumb mechanics like gagorder just further lowers the skillcap. wotlk had the highest skillcap.
Eh, LK had its share of dumb mechanics too. Agree about Gag Order though. (Source)

I think you guys should bring back 2v2 and put more effort into balancing PvP imo.
I fear that 2v2 is inherently unbalanceable. Either a healer is mandatory or one isn't. If it is, then 3s aren't fair. (Source)
It's only inherently broken so long that you keep healers unable to go OOM. Fix healers and you fix 2v2.
Not that simple. If 1 healer + 1 DPS is balanced, then 1 healer + 2 DPS isn't going to be. (Source)
2on2 is unbalanceable That game never was or is balanced. pvp gets worse every addon because of more spells
If we could do it all over again, I'm not sure we'd have 3 different brackets. 2s are popular because logistics are easy. (Source)

Are you guys even looking into sorting out the pvp side of the game? It's nearly the point of just not playing anymore
We're working on a blog on PvP to explain some of our philosophy and plans.
Currently, wins on PvP the one who uses his burst first.
I disagree. I think it's just a few broken specs running it for everyone.

Why are so many things focused on PvP when PvP is just a minigame in WoW?
Because a lot of players care so much about it? (Source)

Any news about Skirmish Arenas? They're sorely missed, and you know that. Nakatoir said he'd give us a proper answer, waiting.
We get the request a lot, but when we had them they were not widely used. We'll consider adding them back, but low priority ATM.
But Mop philosophy is that we can play the game how we want, all we're missing is skirmishes. You get the request, why not add
It would mean not adding something that might be important to someone else. Balancing that is one of the hard parts of this gig.
You mean like wargames/pet battles? Not sure how many asked for pet battles, yet they got it. Bring it back someday.
We also add things players may not ask for. Given the popularity of pet battles, that one was a good call. Wargames, maybe not. But we know a lot of players miss skirmish, and we'd love to bring it back someday. (Source)

Call of Duty Black Ops 2 Makes Over $500 Million in 24 Hours
Activision Blizzard's non MMO games are doing okay as well, as Black Ops 2 sold over $500 million worth of copies in the first 24 hours. Gamestop alone sold over 1 million copies at the midnight launch.



Blizzard Games News
Lindsay is here with this week's Blizzard News!
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A Little Patience Video, Battle.net Championship, Blue Posts, GW2 Update, MMO Report 

by
chaud
Published on 2012-11-16 09:03 AM

Future Updates, What Would You Like to See in an Expansion?, Top 10 Wanted Features, Community Commentary: Gearing up Your Follower

A Little Patience Scenario Video
Today we are taking a look at another one of the new scenarios in Patch 5.1, A Little Patience. This is an Alliance only scenario that consists of you helping to build defenses before reclaiming the Temple of the Red Crane.



WoWProgress Video Listings
WoWProgress recently added a nice feature that lets you add boss kill videos to your guild's page. You can see one of the videos Vodka added below, with a very close wipe at the start!





Battle.net World Championship this Weekend!
Originally Posted by Blizzard (Blue Tracker / Official Forums)
The Battle.net World Championship kicks off at 6:00 p.m. PST this Friday, November 16, and you can catch all the action live, FREE, and in HD over at http://www.battle.net/bwc. Tune in to watch the epic finale of the StarCraft II World Championship Series and the World of Warcraft Arena Global Finals, as some of the world’s best pro gamers battle it out for glory, cash prizes, and the coveted title of world champion.

You’ll also be able to catch the action when guilds Stars and Supreme Quicksand take to the stage to compete head to head in Challenge Mode dungeons and in the Live Raid. See the schedule below for all of the World of Warcraft events.

Friday, November 16

Stream: WOW Main
  • 06:00 p.m. PST - Opening Ceremony
  • 07:00 p.m. PST - Dungeon Challenge with Stars and Supreme Quicksand
  • 08:15 p.m. PST - Team ROCCAT SYI vs. Team Old Boy
  • 09:30 p.m. PST - I’m just being honest vs. Bring It
  • 10:45 p.m. PST - Team Old Boy vs. Yaspresents
  • 12:00 a.m. PST - Delirium Termans vs. Team ROCCAT SYI
  • 01:15 a.m. PST - Evil Geniuses vs. DoubleG
  • 02:30 a.m. PST - AHQ eSports Club vs. Bring It
  • 03:45 a.m. PST - LG-IM vs. Double G

Stream: WOW 02
  • 06:00 p.m. PST - Opening Ceremony
  • 07:00 p.m. PST - Team ROCCAT SYI vs. LG-IM
  • 08:15 p.m. PST - I’m just being honest vs. Evil Geniuses
  • 09:30 p.m. PST - LG-IM vs. Evil Geniuses
  • 10:45 p.m. PST - DoubleG vs. Delirium Termans
  • 12:00 a.m. PST - AHQ eSports Club vs. I’m just being honest
  • 01:15 a.m. PST - Team Old Boy vs. I’m just being honest
  • 02:30 a.m. PST - Delirium Termans vs. Yaspresents
  • 03:45 a.m. PST - Yaspresents vs. Bring It

Saturday, November 17

Stream: WOW Main
  • 05:30 p.m. PST - Live Raid with Stars and Supreme Quicksand
  • 06:45 p.m. PST - Team Old Boy vs. DoubleG
  • 08:00 p.m. PST - WB Semi Final 1
  • 09:30 p.m. PST - WB Final
  • 11:00 p.m. PST - LB Round 2
  • 12:30 a.m. PST - Grand Finals
  • 02:30 a.m. PST - WoW Award Ceremony

Stream: WOW 02
  • 05:30 p.m. PST - Evil Geniuses vs. Yaspresents
  • 06:45 p.m. PST - Evil Geniuses vs. Bring It
  • 08:00 p.m. PST - WB Semi Final 2
  • 09:30 p.m. PST - LB Round 1
  • 02:30 a.m. PST - WoW Award Ceremony

Visit the event site for the complete schedule and don’t forget to join us for the opening ceremony at 6:00p.m. PST Friday night! Read more about the Battle.net World Championship Series in our Press Release.

Blue Posts
Originally Posted by Blizzard Entertainment
Heart of Fear Raid Finder Loot Issue Hotfixed
I have an update for characters that experienced this issue. Those characters have been given two Elder Charms of Good Fortune. Those charms will be added the next time those characters login. (Blue Tracker / Official Forums)

Cross-Realm Zones Feedback
It was a feature developed to save money on server costs, but spun to the playerbase as being a positive feature to make the world feel "alive" again
You're just not correct, and you have no basis for comparison to even begin to understand any financial motivations behind the implementation of CRZ.

That's my biggest problem with a lot of the negative feedback I see on hot issues like CRZ: Not that it's negative, but that people usually need to explain the unknown by formulating what I'd define as straight-up conspiracy theories. And they spread like wildfire. We are probably in part to blame for it, but sometimes all the insights and behind-the-scenes facts just can't be shared in a meaningful way with the public. There's just not a lot to be accomplished by engaging with people who say such changes are financially driven (i.e. cost efficiency > gameplay or customer concerns), or that they provide the path of least resistance for us in terms of our production pipeline.

We come off looking very defensive purely by nature of responding to a fallacious, hyperbolic, or incredibly presumptive argument. And, yet, that somehow tends to validate a conspiracy on the forums. This is an extreme example, but I'll use it since it was posted in this very thread:

Not gonna read your propaganda, you own wowinsider and they never criticize you when you do a crappy job. Your platitudinous tripe is just orwellian speak. There is no point to feedback, you don't respect anyone's opinion on this forum, and you never acknowledge your faults. There's also no point to public test realms, you ignore all feedback given to you in those as well, their only point is to flesh out bugs, not to criticize your game design. You guys are just terrible at your jobs, and too proud to admit it
Most people probably (hopefully!) understand that this is a major leap into the deep end of connecting dots simply because those dots exist in the same space and time. And the people who truly believe this type of stuff are going to feel validated if we A) defend ourselves purely on the basis of liking things like truth and facts (even you used the term "spin" to describe this); or B) remain silent because the endless tug of war that could result is a colossal waste of organic material.

Anyway, don't get me wrong. Your criticisms are well founded. I'll keep them in mind as I continue discussing the larger points of contention in the community with our developers and executives. (Blue Tracker / Official Forums)

Off-Spec Healing
they already said they are nerfing it.
Indeed we did. We completely agree that it is very frustrating for dedicated healers to find that off-spec healing is actually quite competitive with their own. Off-spec healers such as Shadow, Elemental, Paladin and Laser Turkey are meant to be able to output some healing - which is one of their benefits - but they shouldn't be able to replace a dedicated healer. The plan we have right now is to make PvP power only enhance either your damage or healing depending on the spec that you have chosen.

Check out the blog by Ghostcrawler on Mists of Pandaria PvP here: http://eu.battle.net/wow/en/blog/6415071

So, all Paladins are off spec healers no?

Guess it does not matter, Ret was made with one defensive mechanism, healing, after that gets nerfed (And lol, Ret healing is nerf worthy?) not a single person will play Ret, so I would like to congratulate u for destroying Ret.
I was referring to Retribution Paladins in my post specifically and as they have the ability to assist their entire team with healing on-demand through the use of their abilities, they are able to off-heal. I will edit my first post to specify Retribution Paladins for you.

It is also not entirely true that healing is the only defensive ability that you have, Paladins also have as I am sure your aware, Divine Shield, Divine Protection, Hand of Protection, Lay on hands and also while weaker if this change occurs, heals. There are other abilities in the Pally arsenal that can be used defensively as well, so stating that heals is the only way a Paladin has to protect themselves and others is not entirely true. Do remember that you would still have your heals, while weaker they could still help in keeping both you and your team alive.

Understand that this is also not a definite change, it is simply something that we are considering to deal with the high healing numbers that are seen from some off-spec healers. We greatly welcome your feedback and thoughts on this, so please continue to provide it.

I hope this is just a bad joke. Divine Protection, 20% less damage on a 60sec cooldon can hardly be called a defensive mechanism. Divine shield is a good ability, but 5 min cooldown? c'mon. You can't use Lay on Hands in the arena, nor can you use Hand of protection if you used Divine Shield.

So basically you say that we have a nice array of defensive spells in the arena: 8 sec immunity on 5 min CD (instantly removable by Priests, Druids, Warriors), and 20% less damage on an 1 min CD. WoW. You are a PvP hero.
I am not commenting on how great, useful or even terrible certain defensive abilities are, I am simply stating that there are additional defensive abilities available other than healing. Lay on Hands was more referring to the array of defensive abilities that are available, not that it is usable in arena specifically. I did also state that there are abilities that I have not yet mentioned, such as defensive CC as well as escape abilities that can help you get away, like Hand of Freedom and the first tier talent.

And we have 20-25k healings after the patch goes live.
Woah ...wait, what? This is in what patch notes now?
As I already said, this is a change we are considering and is not in any way definite or final. So continue to give your feedback on off-spec healers and possible changes, we are listening to it. (Blue Tracker / Official Forums)

Battle.net World Championship – Raid Challenge
Originally Posted by Blizzard (Blue Tracker / Official Forums)
Day Two of the Battle.net World Championship starts with a bang as two of China’s top raiding guilds, Stars and Supreme Quicksand face off in an exhibition live raid to clear Mogu’shan Vaults with the fastest time. Tune in to the live stream on November 18 at 02:30 CET to witness the competition.

This challenge is sure to test both guilds’ skill and coordination. The competing players will need to plumb the depths of the Mogu'shan Vaults, choosing a raid composition and strategy that strikes a precarious balance between speed and safety. Do they attempt the run with fewer healers than the norm, to edge out their competitors and eke out precious seconds on the clock, but risking a catastrophic wipe? Or do they go with a tried and true strategy, secure in the belief that steady (but not slow!) wins the race?

Each battle presents its own unique challenges, but there are a few that could make or break each guild’s attempt. The Spirit Kings encounter is perhaps the most taxing fight in the Vaults and is sure to be a pivotal moment. We can expect to see both groups play it safe here, because all it may take to secure victory might be succeeding on the first attempt while the other group falters. It’s notable that they will be facing a special version of The Spirit Kings where each foe attacks in the same order, to ensure that the competition remains on an even footing.

Meanwhile, both the Gara'jal the Spiritbinder and the Will of the Emperor encounters will require the groups to divide their damage between their main target and lesser minions. If they devote too little to the boss they risk falling behind on the clock, but if they devote too little to minions they risk becoming overwhelmed and suffering a wipe that could cost them time on the clock… and victory.

Meet the Raiders
Our colleagues in China recently had a chance to talk with guild leaders Bluewind of Stars, and Crayon Xiaobu of Supreme Quicksand, who will each lead their incredibly talented teams against one another in the Dungeon Challenge and live raid competitions. We’ve translated the interviews into English for your reading pleasure. You’ll find that, while these leaders hold each other in high esteem, both are prepared to fight for victory this weekend in Shanghai.

Interview with Bluewind of Stars

Q. To start, let’s talk about your progress through Mogu’Shan Vaults. Are you satisfied with the results? How are you approaching Heart of Fear and future Mists of Pandaria raid content?
A. Actually, we’re not satisfied with the progress we’ve had in Mogu’Shan Vaults, and made a postmortem for this “failure” after we cleared it. It’s a really tough time for us now. Our raid team is composed of veterans and new recruits, as some of the once-hardcore members have become casual. Our team is in the middle of a training period, while their skill level is comparable with that of the veterans, new recruits need more experience. We didn’t consider this as a big issue, while we found out in the end that it really was. This is perhaps why we didn’t achieve the goal we had set for ourselves. Nevertheless, we are working hard for the live raid preparation -- been practicing a lot of Mogu’Shan runs and gave everyone quite some pressure. The new bloods are improving, and our gear is now good enough to meet the new challenge: Heart of Fear. After all, I would say I’m very confident for the next two raid dungeons.

Q. Can you share with us the Stars procedure of learning new boss encounters?
A. We always play hard when we confront a new boss, about 8-10 hours a day, which might be a bit shorter than other top guilds, but what we do more is that we sum-up and ponder over.
Generally speaking, we’ll always take a quick trial of new bosses on PTR, having a brief impression of the boss. But it’s hard to do well on PTR, so we still need to make a plan that we try to cover everything that could happen in the encounter. This always takes us 2-3 days. Once the boss goes on the live realm, we’ll check our plan at the first moment in the live environment and make some adjustments. We always spend much time discussing, but we always enjoy the procedure.

Q. BWC is at hand! Are you prepared?
A. We have done some preparations for the speed runs -- took much time in learning or practicing the encounters. It’s hard to say whether we’re prepared, or whether we can defeat our opponent. As you know, Supreme Quicksand is a top guild that only spent 1 hour, 13 minutes, and 59 seconds finishing 25H Dragon Soul. They are very strong and powerful, but we will do our best to give everyone a wonderful competition.

Q. Are there any effects the BWC competitions will have on your raid progress? Are you looking forward to BWC?
A. There are, of course. The BWC event takes place when the Terrace of Endless Spring opens, so there will be some influences. But the BWC invitation is definitely a great honor. It has always been a dream for me, and for other guild members as well, to communicate with the game developers. So we’ll do anything we can to work with Blizzard for the event. I’m really looking forward to BWC. To compete against great opponents, to attend the convention, it will be an amazing experience for all of us.

Interview with Crayon Xiaobu of Supreme Quicksand

Q: Can you give us a brief introduction for your guild? When and how it was built?
A: Our guild was called SEED, and was reformed into Supreme Quicksand in December 2005. Some of the former guild mates followed me; together with some new blood we established Supreme Quicksand as it is today. Our goal is to play WoW together without a negative impact on our work and everyday life, so here we are.

Q: In a recent live raid event, you beat out five of the top Chinese guilds in Heroic 25-player Dragon Soul with a clear time of 1 hour, 13 minutes, and 59 seconds, and now you make your way to BWC to face Stars. Do you like to participating in competitions like this?
A: Of course we like it. It is really a good chance to show our guild to others, and also to learn from others.

Q: Did you watch Athene’s Dragon Soul Challenge that took place on May 12, where Stars came out the victor? What do you think about your BWC opponent?
A: Yes, I have watched that one. Stars has always been a great opponent, and a coach to China guilds as well. We have been watching them since Patch 1.9, and we learned much from their videos. Their strategies have provided helpful information for our learning of the encounters. After the Dragon Soul Challenge, we watched the Stars live raid video again and again, and we practiced about ten times. But even with better gear we didn’t make it to break Stars’ record. So for the Live Raid at BWC, we know we don’t have enough chance to win, but we’ll do our best to bring a wonderful competition to the audience.

Q: In addition to the live raid, the Dungeon Challenge is awaiting you. Are you ready for it?
A: When we tried the challenge mode right after hitting level 90, we wiped again and again. It is really challenging like the name suggests, but also fun. After some practice, we did our best to find all the possible ways to shorten the time. Now that more raid dungeons are unlocked, we usually focus on the raid part. But we did some homework both on raids and challenge mode. We practiced and made plans for them.

Guild Wars 2 - The Lost Shores
The Lost Shores update is coming to GW2 starting tonight. It brings a new dungeon, new Beta PvP map, Ascended items and Infusions, a weekend event, and more. GW2DB has been updated as well!



MMO-Report
The MMO Report is back with SWTOR, Elder Scrolls Online, and a final Uncle Casey's Mailbag.
31 Comments

Assault on Zan'vess Video, Battle.net World Championship, Raid Schedule, Blue Posts 

by
chaud
Published on 2012-11-15 08:54 AM

Purpose of Monster Power, MP10 Purist. Blue Posts, Barbarian Fanart

Patch 5.1 PTR Notes Update - November 8

Assault on Zan'vess Scenario
Today we take a look at Assault on Zan'vess, one of the new Scenarios in Patch 5.1.



Battle.net World Championship Official Trailer
Originally Posted by Blizzard (Blue Tracker / Official Forums)
Over the past year, more than 600 players from around the world competed in one of the most epic eSports contests ever. The field has now been narrowed to 32 StarCraft II players and 10 World of Warcraft Arena teams, and each is set to face off for more than $500,000 in prizes and the title of world champion.

The Battle.net World Championship kicks off at 6:00 p.m. PST this Friday, November 16, and you can catch all the action live, FREE, and in HD by visiting http://battle.net/bwc. Read all about it in our latest press release.



New Battle.net World Championship Event Site Open
Originally Posted by Blizzard (Blue Tracker / Official Forums)
This Friday the Battle.net World Championship will take Shanghai, China by storm. To make sure that you have all the information you need, we've launched a brand new event site complete with player profiles, brackets, event schedule, and more. Keep up on all the World of Warcraft and StarCraft II event news and make sure you're ready to take in all the action live on the free stream starting at 6:00 PM PST Friday, November 16.

Terrace of Endless Spring Now Available & Raid Schedule
Originally Posted by Blizzard (Blue Tracker / Official Forums)
The latest Normal difficulty Mists of Pandaria Raid dungeon is now available: Terrace of Endless Spring. All Heart of Fear bosses are also now available in Raid Finder.

To access the new Raid Finder dungeons, you will need to meet a minimum item level (ilevel) requirement of 470.

Here is the current schedule for these Raid releases:

Wednesday, November 14 - Second half of Heart of Fear on Raid Finder and Normal Terrace of Endless Spring
Wednesday, November 21 - Heroic Terrace of Endless Spring and Terrace of Endless Spring on Raid Finder

Blue Posts
Originally Posted by Blizzard Entertainment
Let’s Talk About Brawler’s Guild
Will gear levels be throttled for the fights so that progression raiders and/or PvPers have no preexisting advantage, and the bragging rights are solely based on player skill?
Stat scaling isn't currently planned for the Guild, no. Skill will absolutely factor in, especially at high Ranks, but bragging rights in this context can certainly also include raw character power. The fights aren't tuned for stat scaling, and beyond that, gear is an important part of World of Warcraft. We don't want to go too crazy with eliminating its value by over-using stat scaling.

Naturally, and as with all things, we might revise that perspective in the future, but it's not on the table at the moment. (Blue Tracker / Official Forums)

Updated Character Models
Nope, unfortunately we can't share anything just yet. But we will as soon as we can! (Blue Tracker / Official Forums)

Mage (Forums / Skills / Talent Calculator)
Water Jet
I don't think we've seen the last of it. Delayed is more likely than scrapped, I'd say.
I think that's a fair assessment. We weren't happy with how this spell was working out on the PTR, and pulled it for now. We're looking into giving it some more polish, and possibly implementing it when the time is right.

Blue Tweets
Originally Posted by Blizzard Entertainment
Classes
Rep is more "mandatory" for raiding than the head enchant was in Wrath/Cata since it gives you more advantage.
There were no alternatives to head enchants. There are better pieces than every valor item. (Source)

Was it a mistake 2 add talents that were available 2 each spec in cata available for an entire class. Arms getting shckwve etc
We think that's what makes the talents fun. Choosing a spec for one ability was less so.

If heal reduction in pvp isn't enough, would you consider mana regen nerf? Burst damage rules when mana is infinite, right?

Not sure. A lot of healers in PvP complain about mana already. (Source)

Could u write a dev watercooler about class rotations; why it was important that arc mage/bm hunter got more buttons?
Players complained that one-button-wonders could top meters, but others would complain if they paid a simplicity tax. (Source)

"Movement should be terrible for a ranged spec. Full stop." Can you justify the hunter changes in light of that?
Definitely worried that moving will be too good for hunters, but it was better than Aspect twisting. (Source)

Druid (Forums / Skills / Talent Calculator)
What's this new Tooth & Claw for druid bears in 5.1ptr? Just curious what gap it fills, add more variation?
Maul is kind of a dead button since rage is better spent on defenses much of the time now. This is an attempt to solve that. (Source)

Hunter (Forums / Skills / Talent Calculator)
I know you aren't ignoring MM, but do you really think the minor changes in 5.1 will be enough for it to be viable?
We increased the duration of Steady Focus, which is both a quality of life and DPS increase. (Source)

Do spirit beasts do more dps than regular pets since panda?
That's not our intent. They shouldn't. We'll have to check if they don't if that's the contention. (Source)

<3 the Fox changes, but what about "ranged should lose DPS while moving"? Will u reintroduce a penalty like sniper training?
We might reintroduce Sniper Training if hunters never stop moving, but not for 5.1.

Nerfing froststorm breath? BM AOE is already horrible. Why nerf it more?
I think data mining is picking up changes we hotfixed in weeks ago. Don't assume datamined tooltip changes are real changes. (Source)

So I was curious to see the 5.1 patch notes contained nothing in regards to BM hunters having reduced damage output.?
Their damage output is fine. Their damage output in a short window is not, and that's where we targeted the changes. (Source)

Mage (Forums / Skills / Talent Calculator)
Did the mage change to Invocation not make it in this last PTR patch?
Not sure we're going to change it. Mages might stop Evocating ever. (Source)

Paladin (Forums / Skills / Talent Calculator)
Word of Glory has been bugged since MoP came out, being treated as a ranged attack. Doesn't work out of attack range or LoS
It's because of the glyph of Harsh Words. Not sure how to fix. (Source)

Seriously do something about that Execution Sentence, it's pure garbage..don't make us all use Holy Prism
Exec is the most popular last I looked. Might depend on your spec. (Source)

rPaladins Mastery: Hand of Light double dips from resilience, making it do half the damage. Any chance to make it ignore resi?
We'll look at it. It happens in a few other places too (Combustion maybe?).

What's the deal with holy pallys having no damaging aoe? And don't say talents cover it
Holy has great CC, decent mobility, lots of instants and good ranged damage. It's okay for them to have some limitations. (Source)

Priest (Forums / Skills / Talent Calculator)
Any pvp buff for poor disc priest in pvp?
Thinking of bringing Focused Will back.
Dear God no, no disc priest in his or her right mind wants more Rapture. Mana return on archangel, sure.
Not crazy about buffing Archangel. That makes Smite more mandatory. (Source)

What is your reason for buffing Mindbender instead of PW:Solace? Mindbender has now become mandatory. I hope solace gets buff.
We haven't buffed Mindbender lately AFAIK. Solace was considered mandatory in beta. (Source)

Would you consider removing the group-target limitation from Prayer of Healing? It's starting to feel dated.
Talking about it, but that does make PoH into Chain Heal / Holy Radiance. I do feel smart when I use PoH well. (Source)

Are you planning any Disc buff other than Mass Dispel? Disc is weak atm.
We didn't change Mass Dispel (except for Symbiosis version). (Source)

Rogue (Forums / Skills / Talent Calculator)
Rogues don't find your game and many are going to quit if they don't see good changes in 5.1. Stop telling us what we find fun

What if I tell you what I find fun and you tell me what you find fun & everyone stops trying to be the voice of the community. (Source)

Was Cold Blood removed because of Shadow Blades? Would really love it back. Good on-demand burst & loved the visual.
Cold Blood helped make rogues not care about crit as a stat. (Source)

Warrior (Forums / Skills / Talent Calculator)
Can you guys make gag order prot only and usable against players. Think the change hurts prot flag carriers. (Source)
GC explain gag orders removal from pvp so i can understand why
Warriors have high mobility and damage. If you escape them you should be somewhat safe (and warriors always have Storm Bolt). (Source)

Is recklessness granting immunity to fear intended? Currently It does, but the tooltip doesn't say so.
It's a leftover bug. Fixed in 5.1 I believe. (Source)

PvP warriors will lose silence on heroic throw. Its going to make us very weak against ranged classes with snares.
I understand, but if you can easily counter anything thrown at you, the other guy has no options. (Source)

H throw silence is skillless? How about counter spell etc True they should get rid of all blanket silence
We don't think HT silence is "skillless." It was just too much with all the other tools and we didn't want to hurt e.g. mobility. (Source)

Warrior Cd stacking was bad, but losing the rage from avatar will really hurt, any plans to buff some sustained dmg?
We increased the duration to offset the rage loss. (Source)

Shield block allows skilled warriors to play both offensive & defensive when needed. DBTS is just pop & keep bursting, boring.
I like the idea of Shield Block but don't you think many warriors will just complain more about needing shields for defense?
DBTS also replaced both retalitation & shield block. Warrior went from the most rewarding class to a one-dimensional class imo
DBTS was an answer to all those warriors who hated to have to use a shield for Shield Wall.
If you made wep. swap intuitive part of Warrior kit (ie, base UI support / Druid GCD leniency), would go over better
Yeah agree. Would love to do this. (Source)

Regarding Cold blood response... Does warrior not care about crit because of recklessness?
Warriors have extra mechanics to make crit more valuable. Note that we did lower it from 100% to 50% a couple of expansions ago. (Source)

Baneling Pet
The Baneling is included in the Heart of the Swarm Digital Deluxe edition and Collector's Edition.

31 Comments

Patch 5.1 PTR Notes Update - November 8 

by
chaud
Published on 2012-11-14 09:17 PM

Heroic Empress 25 Video, Nov 12 Hotfixes, Win Trading, Blue Posts, HotS Release Date

Patch 5.1 PTR Notes Update - November 8
Only changed and new notes are below, see the full notes on the Blue Tracker.
Originally Posted by Blizzard (Blue Tracker / Official Forums)
General
The Pandaren Campaign begins!
  • Players can visit their faction strongholds in the Vale of Eternal Blossoms to begin the quest to summon their war fleets to the continent of Pandaria. (Alliance players that couldn't previously complete the starting quests can now speak with Taradormi at Lion's Landing to travel the timeways and experience those quests... BACK IN TIME).
  • Players can follow the story of the Pandaren Campaign through a series of special quests tied to their reputation with the landing forces. Heroes assisting with the war effort will join key characters and faction leaders as the growing conflagration spreads across Pandaria... as well as other locations around Azeroth.

Brawler's Guild
  • Entry into the brawler’s guild is by invitation only. Invitations can be found on the black market auction house, by invitation from somebody within the guild, and occasionally as drops from certain Horde and Alliance NPCs.

Classes
Mage (Forums / Skills / Talent Calculator)
  • New Pet Ability: Water Jet. Water Jet channels a jet of frigid water at the target, dealing Frost damage over 4 seconds. Frostbolt cast by the pet's owner that hit the target while it is being blasted with icy water will grant a charge of Fingers of Frost. This ability has a 24 second cooldown (shared with Freeze) and a 1 second cast time.

Monk (Forums / Skills / Talent Calculator)

Priest (Forums / Skills / Talent Calculator)
  • Spells affected by Inner Focus cast while Spirit Shell is active now fully apply critical effect heals to the shield provided.

Warlock (Forums / Skills / Talent Calculator)

Items
  • Spirit of Harmony can now be purchased for 600 Conquest Points at the Conquest Quartermaster.
  • The Dancing Steel, Jade Spirit, Colossus, and River’s Song enchantments now use the Real PPM system utilized by Windsong and Elemental Force.

Sunsong Ranch
  • A new Seed has been added: Portal Shards
    • A mage who fell on hard times back in Dalaran has found a new home on Pandaria. Barnaby Fletcher will occasionally visit Halfhill Market to peddle a new type of seed – and take advantage of the Tillers’ hospitality.
    • Portal Shards grow into consumable items which can be used to open a portal from Sunsong Ranch to a major faction city.
  • Seeds now stack to 50.
  • Runty crops now have a spell visual to help call attention to themselves.
  • Growing crops now display the duration until the crop is ready to harvest.
  • Characters who have earned the “Friends on the Farm” achievement will no longer find gifts while harvesting Cooking Ingredient crops – instead, they have a chance to find special seeds such as Magebulb, Enigma Seed, Songbell, and more.

Raids, Dungeons and Scenarios
  • Non-boss enemies in Mogu'shan Vaults, Heart of Fear, and Terrace of Endless Spring now respawn much more slowly.
  • Raid groups are no longer necessary to enter pre-Mists of Pandara raid dungeons. Enemies in these raids that previously required more than one player to defeat are now more easily dealt with by players battling alone.
  • Scenarios
    • New level 90 Scenarios have been added, including additional faction specific Scenarios:
      • Assault on Zan'Vess
      • Alliance
        • Lion's Landing
        • A Little Patience
      • Horde
        • Domination Point
        • Dagger in the Dark

PvP
  • The growing conflict between the Horde and the Alliance has spilled across the face of Azeroth: level 90 players can now queue for Wintergrasp and Tol Barad via the PvP tab to battle one another in these epic conflicts.
  • Arena matches now have a 25 minute time limit (was 45 minutes).
  • Rated Battlegrounds now share the same spell restrictions as Arenas.

Bug Fixes
61 Comments

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