Warlords of Draenor Developer Interviews, April 14 Hotfixes, Blue Tweets, Wowcraft

[Necrotica]

Concerning the poll question... I pretty much never read while leveling my main toon since I'm trying to hit cap ASAP, when I start doing my main-alt or alts, I read everything...

But I might slow down this time, since in the past I end up waiting a couple weeks afterwards waiting for people to catch up.

[SMBComix]

Oh, great. So they're actually considering doing scaling dungeons. /facepalm

Is nothing sacred anymore?

[Deleted]

Yes because reasons for actions are stupid...
NPC "I need 10 bear tongues."
PC "Ok. Good for you. Go get it."
NPC "No, I need you to go get it."
PC "Why?" What's stopping you from going and getting it?"

You see where the illusion breaks down guys. Beside if you don't want to read it, there is already a list at the bottom of the quest text. This really is just laziness. These side quest informed and expanded the world. The people giving them aren't really important, but it's good to know that there are more people in the world than those who are going to be connected to big events.

And

I cant imagine an RPG without quest texts. But... i think its because i am to old and most of the teenage games will like it.
I believe its not that hard to make some text to the side quests. The text of the quests = lore.

Exactly this. Side quests added flavor to the game, a lot of it, even if they were a bit mindless at times. Now they will literally, be mindless. Remove spice from a dish and what does it become? Bland.

[CaptainArlong]

Oh look! Furor is back as head developer, and even Heroic Dungeons have attunement now (an achievement being required).

Yep, he's gonna kill WoW. Tigole and Furor need to be kept FAR AWAY from WoW since they turn it into their own dream MMO where only the people they think are "hardcore" get to play.

[crunk]

And



Exactly this. Side quests added flavor to the game, a lot of it, even if they were a bit mindless at times. Now they will literally, be mindless. Remove spice from a dish and what does it become? Bland.

i disagree, i like lore and reading and fantasy and all that nerd shit. however, i don't read quests in this game because i cant be fucked to know the lore around collecting 15 cow pies. if those quests don't have an essay written about them but the cool ones about orcs smashing up the place do i'm more inclined to start reading quests again, giving me more immersion.

see, opinions

[SteveZombie]

And



Exactly this. Side quests added flavor to the game, a lot of it, even if they were a bit mindless at times. Now they will literally, be mindless. Remove spice from a dish and what does it become? Bland.

So I'm seeing where they said bonus objectives will show up with no additional context other than that of the quest they're a part of, but am I missing the part where they said the same about side quests or are people just pulling this out of thin air?

[Toppy]

Oh look! Furor is back as head developer, and even Heroic Dungeons have attunement now (an achievement being required).

Yep, he's gonna kill WoW. Tigole and Furor need to be kept FAR AWAY from WoW since they turn it into their own dream MMO where only the people they think are "hardcore" get to play.

Assuming the new proving grounds will be anything like the current, you'd need to be rather bad at your class to not be able to get silver. There is a difference between an attunement that requires getting a raid together, and one that requires you putting bare minimum effort into your character for 10 minutes.

- - - Updated - - -

So I'm seeing where they said bonus objectives will show up with no additional context other than that of the quest they're a part of, but am I missing the part where they said the same about side quests or are people just pulling this out of thin air?

There literally aren't going to be side quests. Blizz even pointed out Jade Forest as an example of what they're trying to avoid (how there are multiple side quests).

Imagine Jade Forest, where the only questline is entering as your faction, getting their forces setup with the Jinyu/Hozen, then having the fight at the Jade Serpent statue.

Or if the only questline in Krassarang was aiding the night elves/tauren, then fixing the red crane temple.

[jellmoo]

Garrisons

• After rescuing members of the Frostwolf Clan in the Warlords intro quest experience, Durotan will give you a plot of land. This is where you start building your garrison.
• After you complete their quests, some questgivers will be available for you to recruit as a follower for your garrison.
• You will be redirected to your garrison frequently throughout the leveling experience, as it is integrated into the zones and leveling experience. Every time you go back, you will see familiar faces from your questlines.
• Garrisons offer lots of hard choices that give you nice rewards, such as the buildings you choose for your limited plots. Buildings and followers aren't a permanent choice though, so if you change your mind you can change things out.
• As you go out and adventure in the world and irritate the enemies in Draenor, they will attack your garrison. You and your followers will need to fend off these attacks.

How mandatory will garrisons be? They do NOT interest me at all. I'm starting to worry they won't be optional content.
Do you consider the farm mandatory? Why or why not? (Muffinus)

How... How is this even remotely similar to the method they took with farming? You could completely skip the Farm quests. There was absolutely zero need to do them. Garrisons appear to be completely mandatory, insomuch as it's part of the intro quest. Then you get re-directed there as you level? Gah!

I have zero desire to play "house". Blizzard has been historically very good at making new features optional to the core game. Whether it be BGs, Arenas, Farms, Pet Battles, what have you. If they are of interest to you, you are free to enjoy. They've never shoved it onto the player like this though.

I've pre-purchased so I'll definitely be giving it a try, but this is just baffling.

[Deleted]

its not about not being able to "handle it", and your condsecending attitude speaks volumes about you btw, its about putting weird gates onto content. I've never needed a proving ground previously, I've never had a need to require others to take a test, and lets face it, proving ground are not a good example of group play anyway.

And if you really think garissons are optional, go read the information again, its sounding pretty damm compulsory to me no matter how much they say its optional, like they tired with daily quests in 5.1......yeah that was a load of BS then as well.

On a side note, after scoring the Gold Damage I still have no doubt whatsoever about PG experience having anything to do with any actual group content. The two are completely separate and no level of skill in doing PG implies anything about handling any actual group content, especially challenging group content.

There is one and one function only they might really serve: give some extra epeen to pathetic creatures who suck horribly at Life but can optimize their way of playing a video game in a manner not perceived as worthwhile by most others and not really useful outside a very local context. That's some elite indeed, lol.

[Toppy]

On a side note, after scoring the Gold Damage I still have no doubt whatsoever about PG experience having anything to do with any actual group content. The two are completely separate and no level of skill in doing PG implies anything about handling any actual group content, especially challenging group content.

There is one and one function only they might really serve: give some extra epeen to pathetic creatures who suck horribly at Life but can optimize their way of playing a video game in a manner not perceived as worthwhile by most others and not really useful outside a very local context. That's some elite indeed, lol.

It means you know your rotation.

It means you know how to get out of crap.

It means you know more than your average LFRer.

[SteveZombie]

There literally aren't going to be side quests.

When did they say that? I don't see that here.

[Pacster]

On a side note, after scoring the Gold Damage I still have no doubt whatsoever about PG experience having anything to do with any actual group content. The two are completely separate and no level of skill in doing PG implies anything about handling any actual group content, especially challenging group content.

There is one and one function only they might really serve: give some extra epeen to pathetic creatures who suck horribly at Life but can optimize their way of playing a video game in a manner not perceived as worthwhile by most others and not really useful outside a very local context. That's some elite indeed, lol.

What I hate most is that PG for DDs is mostly about dishing out single target burst damage and very limited movement and no teamplay. That has not much to do with the job a shadow usually does in any type of raid or dungeon. Not to mention that people change skills and dress just for the PG...which says all about how realistic it is.
That aside I think some gating is fine...however I think it should be somewhere between current bronze and silver. Heroics will be outgeared within a month anyway...and for serious challenge we have the CM.

[Deleted]

It means you know your rotation.

Yeah, so much of a rotation on my DW Frost DK I almost lost my way twice. Duh.
I pull ~220-240 on Ordos on my hunt (550, cape, flex crossbow) with castbars gone from the screen and 5fps at best (still, ElvUI is too useful for me everywhere else and 200 is more than enough with full group, so well, I'll just keep killing the cow without castbars). When I was trying Gold Damage on the same toon with smooth play of non-group content, I just couldn't kill that last big Sha, no matter what I poured in the burn phase.
So much about PG serving as a check on my execution of rotation.

It means you know how to get out of crap.

Yeah, so much crap to get out of in Damage trial. Died 10 times to bananas, then I suddenly realized what the ice chains on Stone Guard do! Oh you mean the amber? Yeah it sure taught me to... play another game. Oh no, wait! There are them bombs in Siege of Niuzao Temple that have some remote indirect resemblance to PG ambers so I guess this is a great school of dungeon running skills.
It's very useful!!!
Oh, you mean tank trial maybe? Too bad crap on the ground in actual group content punishes everyone, not just tanks. And god save you if you start thinking floor fire always kills adds too.

It means you know more than your average LFRer.

Nothing you can learn in PG will prevent an LFR wipe. If 12 of the 17 dps pull extremely low numbers, it might help if you and 4 others go 200+. What wipes LFR groups is ignoring or simply not knowing the fights, not understanding what the target marks are for and so on. Nobody will learn any of that in PG.

What dps PG taught me was how to tailor gear for PG in order to get through gold without too much pain (I might still have gotten it wrong if sha-touched gems really don't work there). Silver tank trial I did in my usual LFR gear taught me nothing at all and bore no semblance to any real content. Not overly interested in doing gold tank - a slightly improved target dummy exercise is not reason enough to change either my gear (again) or my talents.

Going to sources OUTSIDE the game in order to learn stuff useful exclusively INSIDE the game is something I do anyway, but if people have to go to some external 3rd party websites in order to learn stuff that happens in WoW, then something is deeply wrong with WoW, not with people.

I am levelling a healer now. Not even thinking about taking healer PG, not after following my GF's progress on that crap and her comments comparing how different healspecs perform in there.

[Toppy]

When did they say that? I don't see that here.

See:

The Jade Forest quests had a very clear story, but it also had a lot of side quests that could bog you down.
In Warlords of Draenor, your map will show you where to go to continue the main storyline, along with the locations of bonus objectives.

They begin by saying the Jade Forest gets bogged down with side quests. IE: Stuff like the Tian Monastary, or the side quest with the brewfather ghosts that didn't relate to the main quest.

They then say they are focusing on the main storyline coupled with bonus objectives. In other words, they are getting ride of "side quests that could bog you down" and replacing them with "bonus objectives".

Yeah, so much of a rotation on my DW Frost DK I almost lost my way twice. Duh.
I pull ~220-240 on Ordos on my hunt (550, cape, flex crossbow) with castbars gone from the screen and 5fps at best (still, ElvUI is too useful for me everywhere else and 200 is more than enough with full group, so well, I'll just keep killing the cow without castbars). When I was trying Gold Damage on the same toon with smooth play of non-group content, I just couldn't kill that last big Sha, no matter what I poured in the burn phase.
So much about PG serving as a check on my execution of rotation.


Yeah, so much crap to get out of in Damage trial. Died 10 times to bananas, then I suddenly realized what the ice chains on Stone Guard do! Oh you mean the amber? Yeah it sure taught me to... play another game. Oh no, wait! There are them bombs in Siege of Niuzao Temple that have some remote indirect resemblance to PG ambers so I guess this is a great school of dungeon running skills.
It's very useful!!!
Oh, you mean tank trial maybe? Too bad crap on the ground in actual group content punishes everyone, not just tanks. And god save you if you start thinking floor fire always kills adds too.


Nothing you can learn in PG will prevent an LFR wipe. If 12 of the 17 dps pull extremely low numbers, it might help if you and 4 others go 200+. What wipes LFR groups is ignoring or simply not knowing the fights, not understanding what the target marks are for and so on. Nobody will learn any of that in PG.

What dps PG taught me was how to tailor gear for PG in order to get through gold without too much pain (I might still have gotten it wrong if sha-touched gems really don't work there). Silver tank trial I did in my usual LFR gear taught me nothing at all and bore no semblance to any real content. Not overly interested in doing gold tank - a slightly improved target dummy exercise is not reason enough to change either my gear (again) or my talents.

Going to sources OUTSIDE the game in order to learn stuff useful exclusively INSIDE the game is something I do anyway, but if people have to go to some external 3rd party websites in order to learn stuff that happens in WoW, then something is deeply wrong with WoW, not with people.

I am levelling a healer now. Not even thinking about taking healer PG, not after following my GF's progress on that crap and her comments comparing how different healspecs perform in there.

Here's the thing. You know what you are doing. The entire point in requiring people to get PV silver is to prove they know what they are doing. Of course you find it redundant: you already know what you need to do.

That, and about your GF: Healing specs dont start to suffer in PV till gold rank. Getting silver is fairly simple. Base competency is all silver requires. This isn't about completing the somewhat poorly done gold PV. Its Silver, which is absolutely nothing but base competency. If you can't clear silver PV, then you have no business being in LFR, since you won't do anything but drag everyone down with your blatant incompetence.

[Fayenoor]

I think PG should scale up based on your gear instead of scaling down gear to a certain level. There are certain specs which become viable only at certain gear levels and they become useless in PG because of poor scaling.

[Regalbeast]

I'm excited about the Garrisons. I like the questing changes...never read the text anyway. I also like the requirements for LFR....I think they are headed in a good direction.

[Toppy]

I think PG should scale up based on your gear instead of scaling down gear to a certain level. There are certain specs which become viable only at certain gear levels and they become useless in PG because of poor scaling.

Useless in gold. But this is about clearing silver. Heck, blizz is trying to make PV a better benchmark at that.

[Deleted]

Oh look! Furor is back as head developer, and even Heroic Dungeons have attunement now (an achievement being required).

Yep, he's gonna kill WoW. Tigole and Furor need to be kept FAR AWAY from WoW since they turn it into their own dream MMO where only the people they think are "hardcore" get to play.

Nothing wrong with having to know a tiny bit of how to play your class properly before joining groups so you don't waste peoples time, this will probably take like 10 mins for any player with half a brain, not like you need to spend hours grinding rep or getting a group together for 2/3 specific heroic dungeons..

The only people that would be worried are the terrible players that make LFR and some heroics a nightmare and even then it will probably be easy enough for them to do it or put a tiny bit of effort in for a few mins before going back to being terrible/lazy.

[Oggiva]

i disagree, i like lore and reading and fantasy and all that nerd shit. however, i don't read quests in this game because i cant be fucked to know the lore around collecting 15 cow pies. if those quests don't have an essay written about them but the cool ones about orcs smashing up the place do i'm more inclined to start reading quests again, giving me more immersion.

see, opinions

If you really cared about immersion you would be reading the quests already.

I can't believe they are scrapping quest texts. You can't make an RPG without RP.

[Drakehaiki]

How... How is this even remotely similar to the method they took with farming? You could completely skip the Farm quests. There was absolutely zero need to do them. Garrisons appear to be completely mandatory, insomuch as it's part of the intro quest. Then you get re-directed there as you level? Gah!

I have zero desire to play "house". Blizzard has been historically very good at making new features optional to the core game. Whether it be BGs, Arenas, Farms, Pet Battles, what have you. If they are of interest to you, you are free to enjoy. They've never shoved it onto the player like this though.

I've pre-purchased so I'll definitely be giving it a try, but this is just baffling.

Do you think there will be a drastic difference between the story quests that benefit the garrison and any other quests that you did to lvl to 90? the fact that you are so against garrisons that you don't even want them to be included as part of the main story at no loss to yourself is downright idiotic . What would you lose if a few quests in draenor benefit a garrison? Once you are done you can move on? Plenty of people like this feature stop crying about something that's probably gonna be one or two quests probably just like the other quests. Plus you are judging a feature you haven't even used