Upcoming Artcraft: Garrisons, PTR Notes Update, Blue Posts, Blue Tweets, Curse Hiring

[chaud]

Diablo 3 Sells More Than 15 Million Copies, Closed Beta Hotfixes - Updated 2/7, TESO Beta Key Giveaway, Curse Is Hiring!

Hearthstone Haikus, Jotto's Tournament Review, Legends of Hearthstone - BS3W1

Warlords of Draenor - Upcoming Artcraft Post: Garrisons
It looks like the next Artcraft won't be featuring another character model, but Garrison models!

The level of detail we're approaching with Warlords of Draenor means that these are going to be some-of-if-not-the-best looking sets, props and buildings ever seen in the World of Warcraft. Creating just one set of buildings for each faction (as well as their individual upgrades) is a huge amount of work, and they rely on most of the same artistic resources as the expansion's dungeons, raids, quest hubs, and cities. Creating any additional buildings would quite literally translate to less content for those other parts of the game. We are incorporating some elements of other races into the individual Garrison buildings, but the themes are largely of Durotar and Elwynn. We'll be offering a sneak peek at the Garrison buildings in the next Artcraft, which is currently slated to be posted next Tuesday--written by the art team and formatted by moi--so be sure to keep an eye on the front page next week.

Not at release but do you think eventually we might be able to buy racial specific themes later sometime? Or is this design set in stone? I loved the way Lotro did their housing, each race got their own theme for housing.
Certainly there will be updates and changes as the expansion progresses, but I don't believe there's any current intention to add full sets of additional buildings. If we were to work on those for an expansion patch it would quite literally come at the cost of a raid tier. That is where that work would come from. We have to make decisions on how to spend our time.

I think if the Garrison becomes a long-term persistent feature there's certainly a possibility for larger additions, but we're focusing on it being a feature for Warlords of Draenor as your fortress against the Iron Horde. I think we'll have to see how it goes.

Patch 5.4.7 PTR Patch Notes - February 6

Classes

• Druid (Forums / Skills / WoD Talent Calculator)
  
  • Talents
    
    • Heart of the Wild now provides the following benefits from PvP Power when activated.
      
      • Restoration Druids now receive 50% of their PvP Power applied towards damage while the ability is active (down from 100%).
      • Feral and Balance Druids now receive 100% of their PvP Power applied towards healing while the ability is active (down from 120%).

US Connected Realms - Update 2/7

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. As a part of our ongoing communication, we wanted to provide you with an update that contains a list of completed realm connections, currently planned connections, and any additional future plans in one convenient location.

*Please note this list does not encompass all potential future connections. Please check back for further updates.

Future Connections
We will be connecting the realms listed below on Thursday, February 13th during a scheduled maintenance beginning at 5 a.m. PST through approximately 1:00 p.m. PST. Once maintenance is finished, these realm connections will be complete.

• Azjol-Nerub and Khaz Modan
• Eldre’Thalas and Korialstrasz
• Farstriders and Silverhand
• Spinebreaker and Wildhammer
• Thunderlord and Azgalor/Azshara/Destromath

We will be connecting the realms listed below on Thursday, February 27th during a scheduled maintenance beginning at 5 a.m. PST through approximately 1:00 p.m. PST. Once maintenance is finished, these realm connections will be complete.

• Alexstrasza and Terokkar
• Cenarion Circle and Sisters of Elune
• Exodar and Medivh
• Frostwolf and Vashj
• Gorefiend and Spinebreaker/Wildhammer
• Gundrak and Jubei'Thos
• Mug'thol and Dragonmaw/Akama

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

• Alterac Mountains and Balnazzar/Gorgonash/The Forgotten Coast/ Warsong
• Drak'thul and Skywall
• Elune and Gilneas
• Eredar and Wildhammer/Spinebreaker
• Ghostlands and Kael'thas

The connection for Feathermoon and Scarlet Crusade has been delayed. We'll provide an update at a later point in time.

*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.

Blue Posts

Connected Realm Forums
This is actually something we hope to implement. Would appreciate any feedback you have about it. (Blue Tracker / Official Forums)

Character Customization
The game isn't built to support variation of height or weight. It's not likely to happen either as it would effect the way armor is scaled to characters.
That's a good point.

Just for fun, if you could pick your top three character customization options, in order of preference, what would they be? For me:

1. Scars/tattoos/warpaint
2. More facial hair options for males
3. Racial 'variants' for those who have them

These would make a lot of people very happy...
Perhaps. One of the things that's tricky about customization options is that, as fun as they are, so much of a character's visuals are expressed via armor, weapons, and abilities. We spend comparatively little time seeing a character's face up close.

Don't get me wrong. I like them, and I always carefully make each character just so. I personally feel that a personalized character increases my personal connection to it. Still, it's a hard argument to ignore. (Blue Tracker / Official Forums)

Blue Tweets

Character / Items
Is it intended that Kor'kron Spire of Supremacy has 108 more secondaries than Trident of Corrupted Water (same 580 ilvl)
Yes. Skewing the stats more into one of them costs more of the budget. (Celestalon)
Single stat items from ToT (Bracers of the Midnight Comet) a counter example of this policy? Thought it wasnt a thing since mop
Those we give the full effect of the split to, so that they're not supremely suboptimal. (Celestalon)

I was wondering if you got my tweet about adding immerseus trinket to MW table loot?
It's not intended for them. A bug allows it to work for them, but we decided to leave it so we don't hurt existing owners. (Celestalon)
speaking of trinkets, any reason behind no agi amp trink? using a str one as a BrM is a weird choice & its bis in normal w/o WF
I'd be suspicious of whatever theorycraft found it to be optimal to use that. (Celestalon)
I guess that brings up the discussion. is the AMP effect worth ditching your proc.
Commonly forgotten: Amp increases crit damage, not crit chance. So won't increase Elusive Brew uptime. (Celestalon)

Warlords of Draenor Stats
Is the item squish only to solve combat system problems with big numbers or are you using it to retune the ilvl power curve too?
Both. (Celestalon)

In 6.0, Will we do MoP raids as we can do now with lich raids?I said that because it is going to be 10 levels of difference.
In WoD, MoP raids will be similar in difficulty to how Cata raids are now in MoP. (Celestalon)
I would think the squish would leave them a lil harder.
.The squish *will not* make old content harder. Really. (Celestalon)
will old raids become easier? Ex: cata content will be as hard as wrath is today. Or will difficulty stay the same as today?
Leveling up and higher level gear will make old raids easier. (Celestalon)

Hit rating is gone. Hit mechanics are staying for >3 levels. Miss chance debuffs gone from encounters / mobs too?
Sorry, I don't understand the question... Do you mean the occasional hit chance debuff like Putricide's Choking Gas? Unchanged. (Celestalon)
I meant 'will they ever be used in future encounters again'. I can't remember any since Wrath.
It's a tool in our toolbox that we use from time to time, but not often. Potentially in the future, yes. Not common though. (Celestalon)

With reforging gone, will stat weights be balanced a bit more, so some gear isn't so terrible for certain specs?
Yes. (Celestalon)

New secondary stats are meh, 1 guy who gets lucky will always have a raid spot even if the other guy is better cause more dps.
Misconception. There are no significant changes to how much luck impacts gear and then DPS in a raiding guild. (Celestalon)

PvE
Will 6.0 boss mechanics regarding tanks be more dynamic and creative than current ones? Like changing how we play, tank, I dunno
We want to have significantly less time that you're taking turns tanking, and doing nothing in between. (Celestalon)
But does that mean more "multi-bosses" like Fallen Protectors, add spawns like Blackfuse or something entirely new?
Not any one specific thing, just much less time doing nothing but DPSing. (Celestalon)
if you keep using quick taunt swaps, should review immunity timer. seeing "immune" during garrosh sucks.
Agreed. (Celestalon)

PvP
an we stop drinking in arena please, you can't drink half way though a raid boss so you shouldnt be able to drink in arena
Drinking in arena has been around a long time. Not sure what the reaction would be if removed (I'm guessing mixed) (holinka)
not a big fan of precedence arguments in game design. Either it adds fun and depth or it doesn’t.
In a 9 year old game, precedence does matter. People have a lot of attachment to "how things are" and change can be quite jarring. (holinka)
counter argument is lack of change creates boredom. Talents are a good ex of how systems need a fresh look regardless of history
Certainly. Don't disagree that change has to happen, but it doesn't mean we should ignore history. It's one more thing to balance. (holinka)

More details on CC revamps, talent revamps, honour changes, tertiary stats in PvP, and so on.
We are writing one about CC changes. Not sure when it will be released, but prefer it comes out before you see a list of changes. (holinka)

does the 1000 rating floor count for RBGs, too?
Yes (holinka)

Do you think changing crits to 150% is good? I feel 200% makes them worth it, having big hits are what makes crit fun..
It means we have to tune damage and resilience around those numbers which makes sustained damage feel like nothing (holinka)

RBGs need to be removed, you can't split the PvP community anymore,Qs are longer than the time we spent inside a BG.
RBGs have little to no impact on random BG queue times. (holinka)

Do you think ret needs some passive defense, like 10-15% dmg reduction or cata sacred shield ? It feel very squishy for a melee atm
They have a major glyph that provides just that (holinka)

big fan of the original Alterac Valley, days long matches and all! Will Ashran have the same variety of objectives? 1/2
That's the plan. We want to pepper a lot of stuff throughout the zone. (holinka)

Professions
Sorry if this is the wrong place to ask, but for WoD, can we Archaeologists expect new digsites on Draenor too?
Yes. (Celestalon)

The Elder Scrolls Online Beta Key Giveaway
Curse has 500,000 beta keys for TESO Beta! Curse Premium users had the first chance to grab one, from February 4th through 5th. The giveaway is now open to everyone else from February 6th to 10th.

You can find more details about TESO on the official site and the wiki. Preorder details and beta support are also on the official site.

You can grab your key here! Keep in mind that the beta is still under an NDA.

Curse is Hiring!
Due to continuing growth, Curse is looking to fill many positions in the near future! If you're looking for a chance to get into the industry, this may be the opportunity you've been seeking. Open positions are on site in Huntsville (AL), San Francisco (CA), and London (UK). Only a few positions are listed below, please see the full list on Curse.

• Front-End Developer
• Senior .NET Web Developer
• .NET Web Developer
• .NET WCF Developer
• .NET Server Developer
• Senior System Administrator
• Reverse Engineer
• Account Coordinator (SF)
• Account Manager (UK)

For more information on working at Curse, please head to the Jobs page.

[moveth]

HoTW changes are neat. I dont PVP though, so I won't get much from them. Isnt NV the go to talent? Although... that would explain the change to make that appealing. lol

[miguelcrespo85]

I really dont give a damn about garrsions.. i seen it and looks like crap. Rift dimesons is waaay better

[Thelxi]

How can anyone take these community managers seriously when they compared a 20ish building art production to a raid tier production, billion dollar corporation. How do they sleep at night.

[kelyne]

Another round where my dead ass realm isn't connected... Getting real tired of see realms connected to three of four others when mine realm pop is only 1800.

[furydeath]

Oh snap arathor isn't getting Skywall then who the heck and when do we get our turn.

[Teye]

@Moveth, please explain how nerfs are appealing. kthnx.

[Phaty]

I really dont give a damn about garrsions.. i seen it and looks like crap. Rift dimesons is waaay better

i give a damn about garrisons, and so do alot of other people. and you cant really compare a snippet and pictures to something thats already developed and been out over a year. and that's all rift does well, which is pretty sad. but dont worry, blizzard will borrow their idea and do it much better like all the other ideas they borrow.

[Tyraena]

How can anyone take these community managers seriously when they compared a 20ish building art production to a raid tier production, billion dollar corporation. How do they sleep at night.

How can we take *you* seriously when it is clear you know nothing of development/productions pipelines or workflows in regards to software development?

[cptaylor38]

i give a damn about garrisons, and so do alot of other people. and you cant really compare a snippet and pictures to something thats already developed and been out over a year. and that's all rift does well, which is pretty sad. but dont worry, blizzard will borrow their idea and do it much better like all the other ideas they borrow.

You mean like Transmogrification? Where instead of getting a set style tab of things we collected, we can store them and then pay to have that style with restrictions, without changing the color, or pay to store them and then pay to use the style?

Yeah, that's way better than DC Universe where we can customize the entire color scheme and have item sets that stick to a style tab without taking up bag space.

Or you know, Guild Wars 2 where we can customize the color schemes, and although we have to use annoying shards to transmogrify our gear we could potentially complete a zone and get just enough for what we need.


*edit* Yes, I'm well aware that paying gold is easier than completing a zone and that storing gear in Guild Wars 2 is just as bad if not worse than WoW, before anyone comments on that. But the fact that we can customize the color scheme says quite a lot. And DC Universe still did it better.


Or hey, aoe looting like in DC Universe where we can hold down a key and collect everything without having to run to the mob, left click, and then loot it as long as it is within range.


I'm not saying that these games are better, though I do think that GW2 is doing a way better job at keeping content patches going and have better graphics, and many other more positive features, because obviously I'm in a thread talking about WoW for a reason... but don't pretend that Blizzard improves the ideas of other mmo-'s.

The fact that it takes them years to copy other mmo-'s ideas is kind of sad. Like scaling content in Guild Wars 2, which.. you know.. doesn't even apply as it's only been in challenge modes in WoW so far? But compared to GW2 with a whole zone that you can down level to and do previous content while still leveling up?

Player housing? I have a crappy house in Aion that I got at level 15, and Aion has some major flaws despite the original potential, but how long has that been out? WoW is just now coming out with a form of player housing?


I feel like you're a little delusional. Or you just haven't really researched other mmo's.

Also, I have to agree that it seems a little daft that they're sacrificing raid and dungeons for Garrisons when they've doubled their staff? I guess the other half of the staff is working solely on store content?


And lastly, I also like how he argued that we spend little time looking at our character's faces when talking about customization and that armor takes a big chunk of our customization away, yet they've built most of the hype of this expansion around new character models with dozens of new FACIAL ANIMATIONS THAT ARE TYPICALLY HID BY GEAR AND HELMETS.

Really?...

[Zephre]

I really dont give a damn about garrsions.. i seen it and looks like crap. Rift dimesons is waaay better

You don't give a damn yet still felt the need to post anyway, me thinks hipster bullshit is amiss.

[foxHeart]

Garrison models...so excite, very enthuse...the anticipation will surely kill me...
/rasp

[Grimalkin of Old]

Garrison models...so excite, very enthuse...the anticipation will surely kill me...
/rasp

That's exactly how I feel about pvp crap.

[Thelxi]

How can we take *you* seriously when it is clear you know nothing of development/productions pipelines or workflows in regards to software development?

Why would I care if what *you* think of me? just stay in your corner with the other sheep, don't let me bother you.

[Durandro]

Why would I care if what *you* think of me? just stay in your corner with the other sheep, don't let me bother you.

Calling people sheep isn't nice or clever.

Also, considering this is a fansite I think the corner is where the haters belong. The rest of us are hyped.

[Deleted]

You mean like Transmogrification?
{snip}

Really?...

Its hard for them because wow is so OLD in general terms, its not that easy to take a brand new modern feature existing in another game with a totally different engine and convert it to WOW. Come on, nothing is ever as simple as just copy it and bobs your uncle.

[cptaylor38]

Its hard for them because wow is so OLD in general terms, its not that easy to take a brand new modern feature existing in another game with a totally different engine and convert it to WOW. Come on, nothing is ever as simple as just copy it and bobs your uncle.

But what if Bob is my uncle?

And you have a point, but that doesn't really change my point in response to the person I was referring. He stated that Blizzard copies so many ideas and makes them better, so I threw a scenario out there that shows that it isn't really the case.

I mean I love transmog and am glad it's in the game, but I don't think they do it or many of the other recently added features better than any other game. With the exception of lfg and lfr, and battlegrounds. Their queue systems are far superior in terms of convenience than the other games I've seen.

[Skorpionss]

Calling people sheep isn't nice or clever.

Also, considering this is a fansite I think the corner is where the haters belong. The rest of us are hyped.

You are hyped for blizz making excuses? What the fuck man... if that isn't the bullshitest excuse ever I don't know what is... They already have every fucking type of building in the gamefiles... how hard do you really think it would be for them to replace human type buildings with elven buildings? or orcish with undead buildings... 5 minutes? nah I think probably less... sure it would take a bit of time if they had to remodel and retexture them, but frankly I don't give a crap for that, I just want the flavor of the race I am playing and not a generic race so I'm satisfied with vanilla models and textures for those other styles...

[Ilfayt]

Another round where my dead ass realm isn't connected... Getting real tired of see realms connected to three of four others when mine realm pop is only 1800.

Don''t worry, there aren't many more left to be connected, so it's only closer now. My realm finally got on the list with this update(Ghostlands and has about the same pop as yours). .

[Brewhan]

wow they are gonna show garrison stuff?! much wow cant handle the hype of it

/sarcasm

show me real models like char models not poo poo garrisons that cant hold a candle to wildstar housing