Warlords of Draenor Level 90 Boost Survey, Blue Tweets, 10 Death Knight Heroic ToT

[chaud]

TCG Toys Giveaway - Day 1

Warlords of Draenor Survey
A survey was emailed to a small group of players that had a few interesting questions about Warlords of Draenor. (via Rivenwolf)

You can find a poll on a paid boost to 90 on the forum, as well as a poll on the acceptable price, and some discussion of the questions.

• The survey asked about pricing Warlords of Draenor at $39 or $49 with the boost of a character to level 90.
• It also asked about pricing Warlords of Draenor at $39 without boost of a character to level 90.
• Another question asked what a fair price for the level 90 boost would be.
  
  • Keep in mind that as it was described at Blizzcon, you might be able to purchase a copy of Warlords of Draenor and WoW, then get the free level 90 and transfer that character to your main WoW account, which would allow the purchase of level 90 characters in a roundabout way.
  • The Blizzcon Q&A mentioned that the team has talked about putting a level 90 purchase option in the store.
• Players were also asked if they had purchased the Annual Pass for Diablo 3 and if they would purchase an annual pass now.

Blue Tweets

Classes
I would love to see weapon skills removed altogether. This far into the game lore cannot support the selectivity
There are significant gameplay reasons for weapon skills, not just lore. For example, loot distribution, among others. (Source)
Fair enough, will there be at least more options for hybrids then? At the moment boomkin gets stuck with spirit mace.
How do you figure? Moonkins can also use Staves and Daggers, plus the occasional oddity. They have a fair array of options. (Source)
Being pessimistic about options in WoD, Maces seemed geared for healers in MoP, wouldn't mind seeing my moonkin with a sword :P
Swords and Druids don't really mix. (Source)
Aye can understand that, how about seeing more 2H maces that aren't down to even more random chances then usual in WoD?
Not sure what you mean; what does randomness have to do with weapon type? (Source)

Is there interest in letting a spellcast finish instantly if that spell procs while casting or is that another mechanic entirely
Can you give an example of what you're talking about? I don't understand... Do you mean like Lava Surge or Shooting Stars? (Source)
Like Lava Surge, yeah. You start casting Lava Burst (without Lava Surge buff ofc), Lava Surge then procs, Lava Burst fires.
Typically, in that sort of case, we do even better: you finish that cast, then can cast another instant one immediately after. (Source)
We can't always be that generous, due to burst concerns, but we balance around however we choose to do it. (Source)

Monk (Forums / Skills / Talent Calculator)
Why are WW Monks the ONLY tank hybrid without access to their tank stance/presence/seal? With 0 Passive defenses + leather armor
Sparring was supposed to help there, but I agree that it's a bit lackluster. Want them more like rogues in their tanking abilities. (Source)
(As opposed to an Arms Warrior's, for example) (Source)
Similar problem (but admittedly not as bad) with DPS DKs not getting their taunt ability.
They get Death Grip. We don't want to give DPS DKs two Taunts, and I'm sure that most would prefer the utility of DGrip. (Source)

Will we ever see fist weapons show up on monks while fighting? That or ability to x-mog into something that does show up.
Intentional hard-coded kit is to only use weapons occasionally. Not sure what it'd take to change, even if class peeps wanted to! (Source)
would like another attack to show weapons. Maybe a talent choice.
Fist weapons specifically, we want to show more. We're working on that, but no promises when we'll get to do it. (Source)
Would love a glyph to display weapons in all Monk attacks (Tiger Palm -> Tiger Strike etc).
I want a glyph that lets my hunter throw buzzsaws instead of nelf shuriken. Wait. Why didn't I do that?! (Source)

Priest (Forums / Skills / Talent Calculator)
Any chance on HPriest mastery being relooked at for WoD? Maybe turn all the overheals from it into something?
Echo of Light us something we balance assuming it's going to be more overheal than average. More of regen than healing in design. (Source)
It's not really a choice when it maths out to be 25% or less of the value of other secondaries in typical 25H.
That only sounds accurate when significantly overhealing, and only if your goal is topping the healing meters. (Source)
If you're not overhealing, and your goal is minimizing deaths, mastery can work well. (Source)
And when in the last 3 expacs has there not been significant overhealing most of the time even progression?
I'm referring to using more healers than you need. Doing so results in RShams looking weak, and Discs strong. (Source)

Art
Hide gloves and shoulders, will it be available in WoD or maybe a cosmetic item to make them invisible?
out of curiosity, why would you want to hide those specific items? (Source)

Is there anyway we can get a "hide weapon enchant" option ever put into the game? They kinda destroy my xmog half the time
It's been tossed around. We've floated the idea of enchant xmog too. But don't want to devalue the enchant either. (Source)

will there ever be a "show shoulder" button in the interface options like there is for cloak and helm?
we've been talking a lot about this lately, would love to implement a more robust show/hide system for customization (Source)

Warlords of Draenor Stats
You number-squished down to Wrath-ish levels; why not go to Classic or lower, more room for expansion?
We are. 1-60 was linear, 60-90 exponential. We're extending that linear climb higher (still deciding where, likely to 85). (Source)

Haste only feels good to classes that truly benefit from it though. Can it be +Amp instead? Anything else really.
"Classes that truly benefit from Haste" means... Everyone except Warriors. (And we're going to fix that.) (Source)

Question: How is Haste going to interact with DoTs in Warlords if they're dynamic? Can't add bonus ticks on the fly, right?
Duration doesn't change with haste; no new ticks. Time until next tick recalculated on each tick. (Source)
Err, clarification: no new whole ticks needed to be added/removed. Partial ticks at the end are used to make it smooth. (Source)

... Also, semi-related Q: why does the caster haste buff give spell haste instead of casting speed (like the melee one does)?
Related to both of these questions, we're planning to try to improve the simplicity of the various haste and haste-like effects. (Source)

because haste is only valuable up to a point and then falls behind. feels limiting when u waste so much haste after GCD cap
Intended for stats to be close in value. Going to work on GCD capping issues in WoD. (Source)
How much do you think removing reforging and increasing # of secondary stats will help w/GCD cap issues? More need to be done?
It may help some; stats will be more spread out on average. Its impact is likely to vary significantly by spec. (Source)
Lowering it would have weird effects. The more buttons you press, the more internet latency hurts you.
Yeah, we try not to go below 1sec GCDs in all but the most extreme circumstances. Hurts high latency players. (Source)

PvP
Providing more rewards for "undesirable" battlegrounds could work. Interesting idea. (Source)

Does PvP power boost my healing spells when I'm healing at world bosses? Does it count as outdoors healing?
Where it works would follow the same rules as now (which is it would work in the outdoor world). (Source)

I'm guessing most teams had 3 members and now lots of ppl play with more than 2 partners...This makes it alot easier to climb the ladders on multiple chars...
# of players captures more people that played very few games in a way # of teams did not. (Source)
The number of people that play a handful of games is quite high. Totally different problem though (Source)
So basicly it's a 'fake' enormous increase in participation, sort of. That fix should be fine.
The participation number I quoted (+25%) is based on number of WoW accounts that have done arena. (Source)
The # of gladiators increase is due to how things changed with teams. (Source)
I know players use glad count as an indicator for participation, but 5.4 changed that metric. (Source)

but don't titles require players to have more than 50 games won in that bracket?
Yes receiving a title has that requirement. Being considered a "participant" doesn't. (Source)

Instead of everyone counting towards the % towards titles how about people above 1000 rating count to that % only? Thoughts? =)
It will be something along those lines. Will announce the rating after more analysis. 1000 is a good guess ;-) but no promise. (Source)

Any update to let us know if anything will change about arena title cut-offs?Or is % the same despite insanely low cut-offs?
You can expect the number of Gladiators to be in the same ballpark as before taking into account 3v3 participation is up +25% (Source)
When you mean before, you surely mean last season before, not TBC before when PvP was enjoyed by more players than now.
I remember people complaining in TBC. I remember people complaining in Wrath. I remember people complaining in Cata. (Source)
We will use a minimum rating for a player to count against the pool when calculating titles. More info towards end of season. (Source)
This is stupid. That could potentially decrease participation, why change something that has always been like that.
It was based on # of arena teams not # of players. This is the first season with no teams. There is no precedent. (Source)

10 Death Knight Heroic Throne of Thunder
This time around 10 Death Knights were able to clear Heroic Throne of Thunder. It will be interesting to see how well they fare against current content when raids are cross realm in Warlords of Draenor!

[Levintry]

The way I understood the trailer for WOD from Blizzcon is that the level 90 boost was included. I feel it should be $39.99 as before with 1 level 90 boost included per key.

[Daeaye]

I realise that getting to level 90 is a grind, but putting the option to purchase a level 90 boost in the store, rather than having it as an exclusive, one-off perk with the expansion, might really take away from the game and getting to know our class. I won't lie, I would certainly use my free boost to 90 if I had one because I've levelled far too many times already for it to still be interesting on Horde AND Alliance, but I just think it's a bit much. There are already so many boosts to levelling that make it possible to get to 85 ridiculously fast already. Plus, what will stop new players (because there are new players) from doing it and thereby missing out on a hell of a lot of content?

There is the old saying that if you don't like it, don't get it, so if it was for sale in the shop I certainly wouldn't buy it, but I'm concerned about the impact noobish level 90s will have on other players. There used to be a time when noobish behaviour was fading by the time a player reached max level (sadly, though, not in my own case), but with all the experience boosting stuff we have now, a lot of players are getting to max or high levels without learning much about the game or their class.

I'm worried over nothing, of course, and if there was a choice between buying Warlords with or without the boost, I'd buy it with, I just think things are becoming far too easy in this game and it's becoming more about the end goal rather than actually playing a game.

[Lora]

Those death knights o.o

[Deleted]

Its a total BS that a fist based class cant see its fist weapon when fighting... ok... then make it transmogable to swords and other kind of weapons.

[Levintry]

Its a total BS that a fist based class cant see its fist weapon when fighting... ok... then make it transmogable to swords and other kind of weapons.

I agree 100%. My biggest complaint about Monk dps by far.

[Tokas]

someone ask about fixing achievement points! currently guild roster shows character achievs, instead of acc wide. points.

[Xabris]

Buying a 90 boost is like buying marijuana. It doesn't hurt you if someone buys it, unless you spend time around those people. I have a 90 of every class so I don't even plan on buying any, let alone the amount of people who do have 90s of each to begin with.

[Syio]

I realise that getting to level 90 is a grind, but putting the option to purchase a level 90 boost in the store, rather than having it as an exclusive, one-off perk with the expansion, might really take away from the game and getting to know our class. I won't lie, I would certainly use my free boost to 90 if I had one because I've levelled far too many times already for it to still be interesting on Horde AND Alliance, but I just think it's a bit much. There are already so many boosts to levelling that make it possible to get to 85 ridiculously fast already. Plus, what will stop new players (because there are new players) from doing it and thereby missing out on a hell of a lot of content?

There is the old saying that if you don't like it, don't get it, so if it was for sale in the shop I certainly wouldn't buy it, but I'm concerned about the impact noobish level 90s will have on other players. There used to be a time when noobish behaviour was fading by the time a player reached max level (sadly, though, not in my own case), but with all the experience boosting stuff we have now, a lot of players are getting to max or high levels without learning much about the game or their class.

I'm worried over nothing, of course, and if there was a choice between buying Warlords with or without the boost, I'd buy it with, I just think things are becoming far too easy in this game and it's becoming more about the end goal rather than actually playing a game.

You summed up exactly what I think is flawed in everyone having access to a purchasable character boost. If the option to a purchasable character boost is limited by say having a pre-existing level 80+, I do not mind as the player purchasing it already has the basic skills and experience in WoW in at least one of its incarnations. At least then, said person would've at least experienced the game a little to know how to move around, interact with NPCs/ players, access panels and stuff sufficiently to not be overwhelmed by the myriad of options at level 90 or--god forbid--become a hindrance to other players.

[Arbs]

The way I understood the trailer for WOD from Blizzcon is that the level 90 boost was included. I feel it should be $39.99 as before with 1 level 90 boost included per key.

I agree to, I feel every standard copy key should come with the Free 90 with no extra price added.

[druvirus]

I realise that getting to level 90 is a grind, but putting the option to purchase a level 90 boost in the store, rather than having it as an exclusive, one-off perk with the expansion, might really take away from the game and getting to know our class. I won't lie, I would certainly use my free boost to 90 if I had one because I've levelled far too many times already for it to still be interesting on Horde AND Alliance, but I just think it's a bit much. There are already so many boosts to levelling that make it possible to get to 85 ridiculously fast already. Plus, what will stop new players (because there are new players) from doing it and thereby missing out on a hell of a lot of content?

There is the old saying that if you don't like it, don't get it, so if it was for sale in the shop I certainly wouldn't buy it, but I'm concerned about the impact noobish level 90s will have on other players. There used to be a time when noobish behaviour was fading by the time a player reached max level (sadly, though, not in my own case), but with all the experience boosting stuff we have now, a lot of players are getting to max or high levels without learning much about the game or their class.

I'm worried over nothing, of course, and if there was a choice between buying Warlords with or without the boost, I'd buy it with, I just think things are becoming far too easy in this game and it's becoming more about the end goal rather than actually playing a game.

But see, that misses the entire point of why Blizzard is implementing the character boost. The reason Blizzard is using it is specifically FOR new players; they don't want to stop new players from doing it. Blizzard believes that a new player of the game may be either intimidated by entering a game that has 100 levels to trek through (primarily where the majority of players will be playing 90-100) or where they may be joining up with friends who are level 90. Therefore, they're giving a new player a one-time use "catch up with your friends so you can all play together" button.

I do totally agree that a player should level up, for their first time, properly .. especially to learn their class .. but I can also see Blizzard's rationale. That being said, Blizzard DID state that all players who choose the level 90 bump will have to go through an introductory area to learn their class a bit, just like Death Knights do upon creation. That'll help a bit.

[Melkandor]

If they force us to pay ten extra dollars for the expac for a boost to 90 that was said to be included already, I shall unsub and call it quits. Same with if they price the boosted 90s in the store for more than $20, their greed is just unacceptable at this point.

[bbr]

Anyone else remember they promised Player housing?

Like was announced during beta...
"Your house entry point could be a rock, or this flower"


I kind of wonder what happened to that idea.

[QwertySham]

Players were also asked if they had purchased the Annual Pass for Diablo 3 and if they would purchase an annual pass now for Diablo 3.

Check that sentence again Chaud <3

We are. 1-60 was linear, 60-90 exponential. We're extending that linear climb higher (still deciding where, likely to 85)

I think 85 is a good choice to end the linear curve and move to exponential for the rest. Think 80 would be a bit too low and 90 being way too high.

[Deleted]

they are about to kill low lvl bgs/dungs/quests.. fuck that 90lvl boost.. rip wow adventures ;(

[hnlntm]

I was really stoked about the level 90 boost. I've just changed realm with a new char not a realm transfer. The level 90 boost would of been nice to give an alt a bit of a head start. However if they want me pay extra for it I won't bother. If wow was f2p I wouldn't have a problem, but the game is funded by a sub, store, payed for services, merchandise etc Blizz are happy to attract new players and players who haven't played in a while i.e. Recruit a friend and scroll of resurrection. But when it comes to the active loyal players, not so much.

My comment may smell of entitlement, but wouldn't it be nice for Blizz to say here's a free level 90 and not go woooah we could make a quick buck here.

[Cronnix]

I don't want paid boosts to be a stand alone thing simply because of the psychological effect of it. Yes, you can buy WoW, boost and xfer the character, but it is not the same as seeing the boost as a shop item. Having such a thing in shop will open a slippery slope for other items, since people are getting used to seeing more and more stuff in it. No thanks.

[Psyhikes]

I realise that getting to level 90 is a grind, but putting the option to purchase a level 90 boost in the store, rather than having it as an exclusive, one-off perk with the expansion, might really take away from the game and getting to know our class. I won't lie, I would certainly use my free boost to 90 if I had one because I've levelled far too many times already for it to still be interesting on Horde AND Alliance, but I just think it's a bit much. There are already so many boosts to levelling that make it possible to get to 85 ridiculously fast already. Plus, what will stop new players (because there are new players) from doing it and thereby missing out on a hell of a lot of content?

There is the old saying that if you don't like it, don't get it, so if it was for sale in the shop I certainly wouldn't buy it, but I'm concerned about the impact noobish level 90s will have on other players. There used to be a time when noobish behaviour was fading by the time a player reached max level (sadly, though, not in my own case), but with all the experience boosting stuff we have now, a lot of players are getting to max or high levels without learning much about the game or their class.

I'm worried over nothing, of course, and if there was a choice between buying Warlords with or without the boost, I'd buy it with, I just think things are becoming far too easy in this game and it's becoming more about the end goal rather than actually playing a game.

To be honest with you I could see both sides of the argument, I've got 9 90's (both Horde and Alliance) and have for every expansion leveled up at least 5 different characters to max on both factions so would consider myself a fairly experienced player with leveling. Other then say the rush to realm first <class> , leveling for the most becomes just a means to the end of getting another 90, therefore if it can be negated and taken away for say £10 then I would gladly do it.

Yes spending the time leveling up and getting to grips with the class is important but anyone can do that at max level and learn just as fast, realistically if someone wants to get good at WoW they could just be given a brand new 90 which they never played, spend 1-2 hours reading up on class mechanics/watch youtube guides and then practice rotation to get a basic feel for the class. Wither further max level practice they would then easily become experienced and learn advanced techniques and become a better player as a whole. Think what people get hung up on is this old mentatlity of if you didn't earn the level 90 then you shouldn't have it/won't be good at it. Realistically this is quite a simple game with mechanics that any competant person can master quite quickly, if Blizzard really want to improve the general player base and make "better" players then realistically they need to make training resources to appeal to all learning styles of andragogy.

Until then, WoWhead/Noxxic/MMO etc will continue to be resources that can easily take a novice to a beginner to an expert! Not to mention I bet you all learned something faster by talking to another player then trial and error learning yourself. (for some things anyway!)

[Deleted]

If they force us to pay ten extra dollars for the expac for a boost to 90 that was said to be included already, I shall unsub and call it quits. Same with if they price the boosted 90s in the store for more than $20, their greed is just unacceptable at this point.

What if at the usual price of 39.99$ you have the 90 boost and for 10$ less you don't ?
A cheaper version of WoW for those not interested in the boost. Seems interesting to be able to discard "features" you are not interested in, to get a more appropriate price for a content patch.

[Synstir]

The way I understood the trailer for WOD from Blizzcon is that the level 90 boost was included. I feel it should be $39.99 as before with 1 level 90 boost included per key.

THAT was the case... it was a free boost... I am very surprised they are changing their minds now.
It sounds like they want to sell it now, as part of the xpac.

Very sad to read this.