Patch 8.2 - Dev Interview, Quartermaster's Bounty and Warlord's Trophy Updates

[chaud]

Buffed.de Interview with Ion Hazzikostas on Patch 8.2
Buffed.de also interviewed Ion today on the upcoming Rise of Azshara patch.

• Classic
  
  • There is nothing new to share on Classic and it's still releasing in the summer.
• Patch 8.2 Features
  
  • There are no new Allied Races in Patch 8.2. The team will add more where it makes sense, and entirely new races (non allied races) are still better added in expansions rather than content updates.
  • Mechagon is smaller than Nazjatar, but still has a lot of content. It is slightly larger than the Timeless Isle.
• Story in Rise of Azshara
  
  • Azshara has plans and has a role to play in the faction conflict. There are events that the players will not expect.
  • We have just come off of a major battle between the factions, and so the faction conflict will continue for the foreseeable future.
• Classes
  
  • The team wants to see more class representation in Mythic + and the MDI and will consider this when adding affixes in the future.
  • There are no plans to add a fourth spec option to existing classes in the near future. Another spec would add a lot more complications to someone learning the game.
  • In the future the team wants to make the existing specs more distinct from each other, with noticeable strengths and weaknesses.
• Miscellaneous
  
  • There could be more bot AI brawls in the future as seen with Comp Stomp.
  • It would be hard to imagine a WoW 2.0 not in Azeroth, however, the team can change the world drastically such as adding the sword in Silithus.
• Development
  
  • Ion admits that one of the flaws of BfA's start was the fact that all the new features did not blend together in a cohesive manner. For example, the Order Halls of Legion were directly tied into the story and your Artifact Weapon, whereas this is not the case in the latest expansion.
  • The team continues to read and value player feedback. They read almost everything, but also realize that not all players are on social media.
  • Players often feel like silence means that the team is not listening. This is not the case. They actively discuss a lot of the topics presented on the forums, but don't want to announce changes until they are certain it is the right direction and considers the wider audiences. A good example of this is the problems of Warforging/Titanforging. The team actively discusses it, but want to find a satisfying solution for all audiences.
  • They are reluctant to implement systems for leveling used in Guild Wars because leveling up and character progression/strength is a core experience for RPGs.
  • They definitely want to get to a place where every level up means something again.

Quartermaster's Bounty and Warlord's Trophy

Is there any word on the fix to the reward for this quest? The breakdown of the Season 2 Rewards advertised that the quest would reward a Warlord’s Trophy, not the Battleborn Sigil that it is now. It would be nice for the reward to be updated to reflect what was advertised, given there are many out there that burned Bonus Rolls just to accelerate the process of acquiring it, and that there is even less control over PvP gear than there is PvE gear.
We apologize for the confusion on this. The intent was for the reward to be a Battleborn Sigil when you turn in the 10 Quartermaster’s Coins, but we had it listed wrong in the Season 2 blog post. The blog has been updated and I wanted to confirm that the Battleborn Sigil reward is correct.

[unbound]

There are no plans to add a fourth spec option to existing classes in the near future. Another spec would add a lot more complications to someone learning the game.

Ah, ah, ah....bull****!!!

Sorry, I'm allergic to certain things.

[Eleccybubb]

There are no plans to add a fourth spec option to existing classes in the near future. Another spec would add a lot more complications to someone learning the game.

Because current specs are soooo complex right? Jesus christ lol.

They are reluctant to implement systems for leveling used in Guild Wars because leveling up and character progression/strength is a core experience for RPGs.

You mean a fun one that has events included while levelling? And if character strength was a core thing then you wouldn't have this bs scaling tech. Must be tough having to admit that there is competition with more fun levelling eh Ion?

[iyamwhatiyam]

Quartermaster's Bounty and Warlord's Trophy

Originally Posted by Blizzard (Blue Tracker / Official Forums)

"Is there any word on the fix to the reward for this quest? The breakdown of the Season 2 Rewards advertised that the quest would reward a Warlord’s Trophy, not the Battleborn Sigil that it is now. It would be nice for the reward to be updated to reflect what was advertised, given there are many out there that burned Bonus Rolls just to accelerate the process of acquiring it, and that there is even less control over PvP gear than there is PvE gear."

"We apologize for the confusion on this. The intent was for the reward to be a Battleborn Sigil when you turn in the 10 Quartermaster’s Coins, but we had it listed wrong in the Season 2 blog post. The blog has been updated and I wanted to confirm that the Battleborn Sigil reward is correct."

How could anyone, in their right mind, think that the reward for investment (regarding the Battleborn Sigil) is anything close to acceptable? What a joke.

[Rogalicus]

In the future the team wants to make the existing specs more distinct from each other, with noticeable strengths and weaknesses.

Why? They already barely feel like the same class.

They are reluctant to implement systems for leveling used in Guild Wars because leveling up and character progression/strength is a core experience for RPGs.

It's sad that you have neither good leveling nor good character progression.

[Cena]

Nothing new here. Similar interview as Ion did with PC gamers.

[Noxina]

What a whole load of nothing.

[Unholyground]

Artifact weapons were proof that you could forgo raising the level cap for another kind of progression system, not to mention removing leveling would allow people to focus on what you as the player would rather do for content instead of what levels you the quickest.

Level cap is just an excuse to keep the game time gated to a minor extent.

[Jibjub]

I wish WoW adopted the same leveling, gear, and PvP (equal stats, auto-max level when instanced) philosophies as GW2.

I have been playing this game a long time. I am no longer excited by gear. Let's forget about the gear treadmill and start making playing the game super fun. Legion showed you could still do decent progression without making gear useless every 4 months.

[Gasparde]

They are reluctant to implement systems for leveling used in Guild Wars because leveling up and character progression/strength is a core experience for RPGs.

Because RPG elements are worth SO much to them. Totally reasonable approach. Let's make the whole game soloable and remove every sort of long-lasting character progression every other month, good idea - but touching leveling is where you HAVE TO respect RPG features at all costs.

[Darkeon]

"Change the world drastically" in the same sentence and directly compared to the new Sword-Silithus.

Lolithus.

[Ghazan Julio]

Fire Ion.

10shit

[crusadernero]

I wish WoW adopted the same leveling, gear, and PvP (equal stats, auto-max level when instanced) philosophies as GW2.

I have been playing this game a long time. I am no longer excited by gear. Let's forget about the gear treadmill and start making playing the game super fun. Legion showed you could still do decent progression without making gear useless every 4 months.

Then go play GW2, the game is waiting for you.

[justandulas]

Then go play GW2, the game is waiting for you.

telling one of the last few people playing BFA to go play another game is epic fail on your part. BFA can't afford to lose anyone at this point

[Jibjub]

Then go play GW2, the game is waiting for you.

I should have been more clear. I like basically everything else about WoW. The classes, the questing, the world, the feel, even the UI and supporting systems. I just don't know who still gets excited about gear drops these days. Wouldn't world first races be cooler if everyone started on an equal footing? I don't know... I just can't get excited about gear any more. It just feels like a chore after 14 years?

I understand this might be a less popular opinion. But I feel like there 9873948543 different ways to make this feel like a meaningful RPG without just adding levels and adding item levels. There's comes a point where I don't really need to feel like I am still "gaining power" ... it's just silly! Let me customize my character more (better talent trees and horizontal progression; as well as cosmetics) and worry about keeping up with the Joneses less. Just my opinion.

[Eleccybubb]

Then go play GW2, the game is waiting for you.

Don't worry mate. Majority of people are moving to other games and WoW is probably sat at 1 mil subs now.

[CSINada]

Don't worry mate. Majority of people are moving to other games and WoW is probably sat at 1 mil subs now.

1 mil subs seems optimistic



Interview was just another big pile of nothing that did not adress a single immportant issue in the game, as always.

[Aeriel]

Azshara has plans and has a role to play in the faction conflict. There are events that the players will not expect.

Azshara is Sylvanas confirmed! That fits into Blizz's category of unexpected.

[GMZohar1]

There are no plans to add a fourth spec option to existing classes in the near future. Another spec would add a lot more complications to someone learning the game.

Because fuck the people who have already learned the game right?

[crusadernero]

Don't worry mate. Majority of people are moving to other games and WoW is probably sat at 1 mil subs now.

Well yeah? I would be surprised if a majority of gamers in the world were subbed to wow right now.

- - - Updated - - -

I should have been more clear. I like basically everything else about WoW. The classes, the questing, the world, the feel, even the UI and supporting systems. I just don't know who still gets excited about gear drops these days. Wouldn't world first races be cooler if everyone started on an equal footing? I don't know... I just can't get excited about gear any more. It just feels like a chore after 14 years?

I understand this might be a less popular opinion. But I feel like there 9873948543 different ways to make this feel like a meaningful RPG without just adding levels and adding item levels. There's comes a point where I don't really need to feel like I am still "gaining power" ... it's just silly! Let me customize my character more (better talent trees and horizontal progression; as well as cosmetics) and worry about keeping up with the Joneses less. Just my opinion.

I see your point. It might feel that we never get anything "new" since the recipe for each xpac is pretty much the same. Its new zones, quests etc, but more or less the same thing. For Blizzard to do the changes you talk about, it would require alot from them. Also, theres alot of people that dont like the way gw2 plays, dont forget that(I liked it btw).

I have just realised wow is not supposed to be played alot like in the "old days", probably for the best for me personally lol. So I just unsub from time to time and come back weeks or months later.