World of Warcraft

I wouldn’t believe it if I hadn’t seen it..but it appears that someone has already hit level 80. One one hand I definitely would like to congratulate this individual from the EU servers on a job well done. After all, doing anything like that has to take a lot of hard work and persistence.

On the other, it also meant grinding out mobs for literally more than a day’s worth of time. Never stopping, and having a friend there willing to do the same thing without any XP at all. It’s beyond my capacity to sit at a game and do the exact same thing repeatedly for 27+ hours straight…eesh..thinking about it makes my skin crawl.

But to each their own! Now that the strategy is out (I’m sure this is intended) everyone and their mother who doesn’t want to experience the quests, lore, etc. going from 70 to 80 will head out to the Grizzly Hills only to find other warlocks with the same idea. Whatever your stance on the issue may be, it’s an impressive feat, certainly not something I’d be willing to undertake!

As for myself, I’ve been leveling my mage at a snail’s pace, wandering from location to location, just shy of 71, at present. I do expect to get some significant leveling time in after this weekend, too! I’ve really enjoyed the content I’ve seen so far, and I loved being able to kill off Nesingwary’s followers once and for all….I hated those quests very much, back in the day, and the opportunity to fight back against his hunting tyranny is a fun little tangent.

I’ve never really been a huge proponent one way or the other when it comes to racial abilities. I think on the whole some classes get great things and others get meh. I never really thought perception was all that and a bag of chips, but then I never played a human rogue either. I hated will of the foresaken as much as the next guy, having played classes that rely primarily on fear to get that undead with a mace of sodomy out of my face.

That said for better or for worse there are some changes to the racials that you may be interested to hear about. First off Will of the Foresaken is going to be toned down a smidge. Rather than grant immunity, it’s just going to break fear and that’s it. I don’t really think this is a particularly unfair change, especially to all the gnomes out there who have escape artist, which kind of brings the two on par with each other. Given the combination of will of the foresaken and the pvp trinket, most undead players will still be close to fear immune anyway after diminishing returns sets in.

As for perception, that’s on the change block as well. Actually it’s on the cutting block, because it’s been scrapped and replaced with something completely different! It’s being replaced at the moment with “Fall of Humanity” which, as I’m told, pretty much allows the player to feign death once every 5 minutes. Some people think it’s overpowered and others think the cooldown is too long, but I know I’d be happy with anything that broke target in pvp. Just a thought.

(Disclaimer: Today’s post is not about Warcraft, so you can skip over this post if you like )

I’m not sure what it is about Wizard101 that is appealing to me. It’s an interesting MMO, designed primarily for family-oriented entertainment. Maybe it’s the well filtered chat system so I don’t have to listen to Chuck Norris jokes while sitting inside a city. Perhaps it’s the intricate card system that helps lend to a fun, laid back MMO game that lacks the “hardcore” raiding and other lengthy instances.

Whatever the reason I’ve heard a lot of good things from young folks like my brother’s son as well as older friends and family. Heck a lot of people in my family are not gamers at all and still found the game fun and interesting. It certainly lacks the depth of Warcraft as well as the complexity of lore and combat options, but it’s still worth plunking a few hours on. Here’s a brief description from the site:

“Wizard101’s collaborative play style supports an environment where players benefit from working together in adventure quests. A tiered chat system and pre-defined character name generator create a safe community for younger players while an Arena provides a spot for more traditional gamers to show off their player versus player spell-casting skills. As they adventure, players can upgrade their costume and magical accessories, adopt bizarre pets, solve puzzles and play mini-games. At launch, Wizard101 will be free to play, with advanced play content available by subscription.”

I’m a little late to the party, but if you’re one of those people that’s been traveling for the past few weeks like I have, you may want to check out the Wrath of the Lich King Cinematic Trailer!

I’ve always been a big fan of Blizzard’s game cinematics, but this is one of my favorites. The irony of Arthas’s fathers words to him (especially if you’re familiar with the back story through Warcraft 3) really makes the old trailers of cut-up combat scenes between the two factions seem rather shallow.

I’ve been excited for both the expansion and I’ve also been on the look out to play Warhammer Online as well, but this renewed my enthusiasm for the game. There’s a lot I have to look forward to in the expansion (10-man raids are my personal favorite), but most of all I look forward to continuing the story line in to North Rend. I just hope that it’s not too bogged down in faction grind and key quests to stay interesting. How do Blizzard CM’s feel about the intro to the expansion? Here’s an excerpt from a recent post on the forums from Neth:

“It was incomplete. You’re right. Where players come in is facing that army and moving the story forward. For me the most beautiful thing about the cinematic is the heartbreaking dichotomy between Arthas’ fathers hopes and dreams for Arthas and what Arthas inevitably becomes.

The cinematic sets the stage, it (hopefully) catches people up a bit on just how tragic the situation is, how deeply ingrained the power of the Lich King is, and how it has spread out like icy tendrils to corrupt everything it touches.

This is the stage, this is Arthas, and ultimately, this is the Lich King in all his power set out before you.

For me, I think it is the cinematic I have been most waiting for and most love.”

What do you think about it?

If you’ve been around long enough, you probably know that before the last expansion, Burning Crusade, was released, Blizzard put the new talents into the game for players to toy around with and test. My guess is they were doing some final testing and tweaking to see how these talents fared on a large scale basis and in raid situations. Many players have wondered (and weighed in on both sides) if we’ll be seeing the new talents again in the expansion. Blizzard did come out with somewhat of an answer..if you want to call it that..from a CM post on the forums:

“We haven’t stated this as of yet, so it wasn’t me. I have said that it is a possibility much like Burning Crusade, but I can’t confirm this for you at this time. When the time comes, we’ll be letting everyone know more details about our plans.”

Blech. I don’t know about you, but I want to know for sure! There’s a surprising amount of resistance to Blizzard releasing them early, though. Some players worry that talents designed for level 80 play will seem overpowered at 70 because there hasn’t been an increase in health and other stats. Retribution paladins in particular, an apparently very powerful class in the expansion, worry that their abilities will be needlessly nerfed because they are overpowered at 70 but will balance nicely at 80. Personally I say let us have them! I’d like to take some of my mage’s new arcane talents for a spin (arcane barrage!) and see if they hold up well in comparison.

The WoW Insider show recently announced that they’ll be giving away a beta key tomorrow to one listener. Here’s the summary from the post:

“Yes, not only is the WoW Insider Show going live again tomorrow afternoon as usual, and not only will I be making a return to the airwaves (after being stuck in LAX during last week’s show), but Turpster is going to make the ultimate sacrifice and give away a beta key from the Worldwide Invitational to one lucky listener. How can you win this treasured set of letters and numbers? By listening to the show, of course — tune in tomorrow afternoon at 3:30pm Eastern over on WoW Radio, and we’ll let you know how we’re giving away the key.

*Note: We’ll talk about this on the show I’m sure, but please note that we’re giving you a beta key, not access to the beta — it’s up to Blizzard to actually let you in. And we’re giving you a WWI key, which means it’s for EU players only — the key won’t let you enter the beta on US realms. Sorry US players, but all of our other contests are for you, so karma evens out.”

I don’t know about you, but as a US player myself I got all excited and then got down to the note…clever! I’ll likely be listening anyway though.

I present exhibit A.

Having a mage myself but rarely, if ever, speccing fire (I prefer arcane, if you can believe that), I hadn’t given much thought to the new fire talents other than “I guess that’s kinda sorta interesting.” The more I hear about living bomb, however, the more I feel its in need of tweaking. Let’s be honest here, that doesn’t really look like a living bomb, more like…living butane lighter. It just doesn’t do much damage, and the fact that it lights you up like a Christmas tree pretty much guarantees that even if it was useful, it’ll get dispelled in no time flat.

Improvement suggestions? I like the concept, so I’m not going to say they should scrap it and come out with a new talent, but it definitely needs to be improved. I think a knockback effect would have some use, but it needs more damage. Also, it should detonate upon being dispelled. This would keep a use and purpose in pvp other than an instant “DISPEL ME” buff. It would also make dispel classes think twice about dispelling it if its a devastating enough effect.

Obviously its still early on in the beta to make firm judgments on anything. However, if the past is any indication, unless there’s an outcry for change before the talent is locked in place (lightwell, anyone?) Blizzard tends to be slow in improving talents, especially ones that would be more difficult to balance. I do hope they find a way to make living bomb live up to its name!

While WoWhead has had a beta talent tree tool for Wrath of the Lich King up for some time now, Blizzard has finally added an official tool of their own! You can find the whole slew of available talents here. Of course these aren’t exactly official since its in beta and serious changes to talents are inevitable, but it certainly gives you an idea of what’s in store for your class when the expansion hits.

Initial impressions are varied for me. On one hand there are some great talents. For my mage, I’m definitely looking forward to arcane barrage, but deep freeze really looks night on worthless except for a select few pvp situations due to the requirement that the target be frozen. Paladins are getting a much needed AOE heal for raiding and 5-man situations, a great development for them, I believe, even if it is a heal over time. This will allow them to combat situations where the group takes consistent damage to multiple party members (such as the fight with Kael’thas in Magister’s Terrace). Typhoon for balance druids looks particularly devastating in pvp, especially small combat situations like the arena. My warlock should be getting a number of new tricks too, and haunt looks interesting to say the least. There’s a pretty large number of knockback spells in the works, and I wonder how that will affect pvp. I don’t really feel like getting tossed into oblivion every time I cross a bridge or narrow passageway, but we’ll see how it all balanced out.

I’ll be keeping an eye on the talents and any changes that come down the line, until then be sure to check them out and start putting up your talent builds once the expansion hits!

Well I’ve returned from the sunny beaches of Emerald Isle, North Carolina, and I’m happy to be back. I returned to see the latest development in Wrath of the Lich King, the achievements system, and figured I’d throw my hat in the ring. If you’re curious you can read the nitty gritty right here.

At first I wasn’t even sure if this should be added as an additional feature. After all, titles are currently in game that signify player achievements through raiding, the old pvp system, or even reputation with Shattered Sun Offensive. Obviously, they are taking achievements to the next level though, adding in hundreds of achievements you’ll be able to unlock through a wide variety of means:

“World of Warcraft’s achievements system will launch with more than 500 individual achievements covering every aspect of gameplay, including world exploration, PvE, PvP, professions, and character development; from the purely whimsical to the truly epic, there will be something for everyone. Some achievements come with in-game rewards such as tabards, vanity pets, and titles. All of these rewards are purely cosmetic and just for fun, but you’ll certainly stand out when you proudly display them.”

I think its an interesting way to add variation and uniqueness to player characters without actually making them more powerful. Many lament that Warcraft doesn’t provide an alternate advancement system, much like Everquest did in its day, but don’t take into account the consequences that would bring about. Unlike Everquest, player versus player combat is an integral part of the game, and allowing people to “level” skills past the cap would mean that players who play the most would have even more of an edge over the average player than they already do with better gear. Achievements may not be the most groundbreaking thing Blizzard’s ever done, but I’m happy to see it and I hope there are some vanity pets to go along with it.

As the expansion inches closer to release (with Beta just recently opening, its going to be a long haul!), many Community Managers are taking some time to address current issues. While some are more insightful than others, it helps give a feel for what the developers are thinking and whether they plant o make any changes in gameplay from now until Wrath of the Lich King is released:

On Flying Mounts and PvP by Nethaera:

“I never quite get the running away part right. I keep staying and fighting. I also don’t /spit.

I rarely care for statements that act as if they are fact. You personally may feel that they have ruined your PvP, but others may not feel the same, so what you are stating is opinion (which you’re completely welcome to have and express.) For me, it’s just another aspect that allows for additional strategies to be utilized whether it’s avoiding a fight or getting into a fight much quicker.”

On Blizzcon Tickets, by Nethaera:

“We’ll let you know as soon as they go on sale. Sorry, but I don’t have an ETA for you on this as of yet, however.”

On The Scourge Invasion World Event, by Nethaera:

” Currently we’re focused on developing future events so the Scourge Invasion is a bit on the backburner though it may very well be back again at some point in the future.”

Its a real pity that they aren’t doing more with the scourge invasion. I really enjoyed the event and seeing as many holidays/festivals have been fleshed out quite a bit since their initial release, I figured the scourge event would get a similar make over, but it doesn’t appear to be the case. perhaps after the expansion they’ll revisit the idea, since that would be particularly appropriate for Northrend.

In an effort to continue to improve their beta testing abilities, Blizzard’s new program to test their latest expansion, Wrath of the Lich King, involves having to opt in to the Beta rather than being randomly selected. Here’s a full summary below:

“Today we opened the Wrath of the Lich King Beta Opt-In program, which gives players a chance to win an invitation to the upcoming Wrath of the Lich King beta. For The Burning Crusade beta, we randomly invited players from the entire World of Warcraft community. With the Opt-In, our goal is to strengthen the beta-testing process by inviting only those players who have expressed active interest in participating.

Keep in mind that opting in doesn’t guarantee you’ll be selected for the beta. And players who’ve previously been promised beta access through a promotion or contest (such as by purchasing the Dell XPS M1730 World of Warcraft Edition notebook) don’t need to worry — you’ll still be entered into the beta automatically when the time comes.”

This means that in order to test out the Beta, you’ll need to head over (right now!) and sign up via the link provided. I expected a flashy page with a bunch of WOTLK doodads and imagery, but instead the process is very straightforward. Just follow the link, login, and voila, you’re in. Of course this doesn’t mean you’re in the Beta, just that you are eligible if Blizzard decides you are worthy. Make sure you get the following message to confirm your acceptance:

“You have successfully opted in for a chance to participate in the Wrath of the Lich King Beta. In the event that your account is selected, you will be sent an email with further instructions. Good luck!”

Good luck, indeed.
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We’ve always wondered what’s going in certain places of the world where Blizzard has created the potential for content but hasn’t fleshed everything out yet. Think about the Caverns of Time before the expansion was released. I mean it was a giant cave guarded by dragons and a previously oddly named door (doodle.something if I recall). Curiosity has often driven players to try and get to places they weren’t suppose to, there’s just something alluring about the mischief and fun of being in a “forbidden” zone. From Ironforge’s airport, to the unused dungeon near Karazahn, players want to explore.

Blizzard has had to put up a variety of artificial barriers to prevent players from doing just that. They’ve employed fatigue, which exhausts even your dead character to death. Guardians, which were super-powered mobs that would kill anyone trying to enter a forbidden area. Also they’ve simply eliminated the means, such as when they took away wall jumping in a recent patch.

Not all of these places will remain unsed though, according to a recent statement by a Blizzard CM:

“There are several areas in Azeroth that have yet to be completed. This is not to say that we never intend on revisiting some of these places. It’s all a matter of timing and finding a way to fit in some of our older ideas with some of our upcoming content.

For instance, the Stormwind Harbor makes sense now to provide the Alliance quick access to Northrend beyond flying to Menethil Harbor. Just the same we’re opening the Orgrimmar Arena to put it to good use for some new challenges in Wrath of the Lich King.

You may well see other areas in Azeroth of which we’ve yet to make use come to life some day.”

I sure hope so. I want to know what the heck is going on in Uldum, and I want to take off from Ironforge’s airport! I want to explore the lower levels of Karazahn, and fight the denizens that may inhabit them. I can only hope that we’ll be getting some more details, if they decide to go that direction. At the very least it looks like we’re going to get access to Stormwind Harbor and Orgrimmar Arena, which should be a fun experience!

Well in typical Blizzard fashion, it looks like the ice-themed splash page was not in fact anything related to Warcraft or, as some expected, Wrath of the Lich King. I had assumed as much, as speculation about a release date would inevitably lead to a huge amount of disappointment to fans expected some serious news, especially given that Blizzard makes *ahem* their release dates very…flexible.

Instead we did in fact get a pretty important announcement. I’ve been a big fan of the Diablo series, and there appears to be pretty wide ranging support for the game, even in the typically venom-ridden forums. The game’s site has an impressive amount of fluff for a game still in relatively early development, and you can check out the slew of information here.

As per the usual, things never seem to go right in Diablo’s world. Once again the denizens of hell rise up to terrorize the world’s inhabitants, and those that rose up to defend them, such as the notable Barbarian class of the 2nd game, have had their home destroyed, and now apparently roam the world without hope or reason. If you’re a big fan of dark storylines, I’d definitely check it out!

If you’ve visited Warcraft’s home page in the last few days, you’ve probably noticed the new prominent splash page featuring a rather cryptic image of ice slowly cracking away. Speculation abounds as to what the page actually means or what it portents for the near future. Here are some ideas from the forums, some of which are pretty comical (I’m pretty sure that a splash page thread gets created every few minutes).

“Has anyone considered that the splash screen could just an announcement that WotLK beta is open?”

“If you’ll look very closely near the bottom of the picture you see a nose. Now obviously any picture of baal in lore or outside of the game that nose looks exactly or at least VERY similar to Baal’s nose indefinitely. ”

“You play as a law enforcement officer who has to get drugs off the streets. Notice how over time, the ice has been disappearing? Well, that is the aim of the game: to get rid of the ice.”

“The big announcement is a collaboration between Lucas Arts and Blizzard. Together the twin headed monster of sci-fi and fantasy will finally be melded in a new project.”

“All of you people screaming about it being Diablo 3, or new Starcraft 2 information, or Starcraft 3, or a Starcraft MMO, or Warcraft 4, are all wrong. It’s a message about global warming. They want you to stop global warming or else their servers will melt and WoW will shut down.”

What about you guys? Have any thoughts? Ideas?

It’s that time of year again! Season 4 in the arena has officially begun, as well as the midsummer fire festival. There are a lot of new additions to the festival this year, which really blows last summer’s tame by comparison rewards and quests. You’ll find a new summonable boss in the Slave Pens, Frost Lord Ahune. This unique boss is similar to the headless horseman and will only be available for a short time. I’ve heard he’s a bit of a pain to bring down, but he drops a pretty sick scythe as well as a noncombat scorchling pet, which has riled up all the pet collectors out there. You’ll also find some more benign fun quests, such as torch tossing. You can read the whole writeup at Blizzard’s site here.

The addition of Season 4 arena gear also means that season 2 is now available via honor gear. I much prefer the battlegrounds myself over arena, so this is indeed great news! They’ll also be doling out end of season rewards as per the quote below:

“The team and personal rating have simply been reset to the default 1500, allowing all teams to once again compete for top honors with a fresh start. Also, with the end of the third season, players on the top teams from each battlegroup will be receiving their end-of-season rewards approximately one week from today. These include Arena-specific titles that they can display proudly until the end of the new season, and, for the best of the best, an Armored Nether Drake.”

Best get in there and earn some new gear!