Filed under: News items

The Care and Feeding of Warriors: How to get hit in the face

by Matthew Rossi Nov 6th 2009 at 6:00PM

The Care and Feeding of Warriors is our weekly column about pie baking competitions. No, no, I'm just kidding you, it's about warriors, be their tanky or DPS. Matthew Rossi is feeling fine after a solid month of near continuous beatings from various creatures, constructs and undead beetles.

One of the interesting things about being a raiding tank again after about a year of DPS is how you come to enjoy being hit in the face. Or wherever they're hitting you, really... tonight I spent a lot of time using Spell Reflection to keep a giant robot head angry at me while the floor erupted in flames all around. That treacherous floor, always erupting in flames when you stand on it. Quite honestly, at this point it's really all I expect from the floor. If it's not on fire or seething void energies then icicles are falling down on it or there's paralytic poison or it just plain disintegrates and I plummet into a subterranean lair.

As I've relearned tanking (since not only do we have a lot more tricks than when I was last tanking in raids, but there's a whole different skillset when tanking for 9 or 24 other people compared to 4 other people) I've had a lot of discussions not only with tanks of other classes, but also with warrior tanks from other groups, since I'm the only raiding warrior tank in my current guild. So now seems like as good a time as any to discuss what's going on in tanking.

Activision-Blizzard makes lots of money, no update on Blizzard earnings

by Mike Schramm Nov 6th 2009 at 5:30PM

Activision-Blizzard has released their third-quarter numbers for the financial year of 2009, and as you might expect for the company in charge of Call of Duty, Guitar Hero, and World of Warcraft, business is brisk. They were expecting to bring in around $700 million, and ended up pulling in around $50 million more than that. It's good, we guess, to be the king.

Blizzard, in particular, laid claim to three of the top five selling PC games in North America on the good side, and on the bad side, Activision acknowledges in the press release that they're happy to have WoW back online in China, but a little worried about the troubles it's seen over there lately.

Strangely enough, there is no information in the earnings about how much money World of Warcraft has pulled in for the company, or any updates about subscriber numbers. Usually, that gets at least a mention, so maybe, with subscribers certainly down in China, Activision-Blizzard wants to keep that under their hat for now.

Blood Sport: Patch 3.3, part II

by C. Christian Moore Nov 6th 2009 at 3:00PM

Want to crush your enemies, see them driven before you, and hear the lamentation of their women? Blood Sport investigates the entirety of all-things arena for gladiators and challengers alike. C. Christian Moore, multiple rank 1 gladiator, examines the latest arena strategy, trends, compositions and more in WoW.com's arena column.

David Byrne and The Talking Heads are a personal favorite. Miles Fisher seems to love them as well. His cover of This Must Be The Place (Naive Melody) is homage to one of the most beautiful, striking melodies I've ever heard, and as such, it will be your listening music for the day. (NSFW Warning: The video is a parody/reenactment of American Psycho, so view carefully.)

Last time, we went over the Will of the Forsaken nerf, 100% pet resilience, death knights, and druids. The patch looks to be a very interesting bag of surprises for arena enthusiasts, we're getting major changes to the way some races work, as well as nearly every class is getting a pretty substantial change or two which will probably help them in PvP. We don't normally see patches where most classes are buffed, but this could be one of them.

Read on to find out what's up with hunters, mages, and paladins in Patch 3.3!

Icecrown Citadel testing for this weekend

by Michael Sacco Nov 6th 2009 at 2:00PM

Come, my tan-faced children. Follow well in order! Get your weapons ready! Because Icecrown Citadel raid testing is back on track for both the US and EU, according to Lead Encounter Designer Scott Mercer, AKA Daelo.

His post on the official forums has scheduled the following encounters for testing on the Patch 3.3 PTR, barring any unforeseen difficulties, including build changes, server status, or capricious developer whims.

US Servers

Friday, November 6 at 7PM EST / 4 PM PST – Valithria Dreamwalker

Saturday, November 7 at 4PM EST / 1PM PST – Icecrown Gunship Battle

EU Servers

Friday, November 6 at 19:30 CET – Lady Deathwhisper

Saturday, November 7 at 19:30 CET – Professor Putricide

And be sure to let us know if you catch a glimpse of that legendary sharp-edged axe, pioneers, o pioneers!

Patch 3.3 is the last major patch of Wrath of the Lich King. With the new Icecrown Citadel 5-man dungeons and 10/25-man raid arriving soon, patch 3.3 will deal the final blow to the Arthas. WoW.com's Guide to Patch 3.3 will keep you updated with all the latest patch news.

Patch 3.3 PTR: Quest tracking feature

by Gregg Reece Nov 6th 2009 at 1:00PM

The new quest tracker was released as part of Thursday's PTR build. This is different than the one that they included last time they made an attempt in this area. Previously, they used various types of icons to tell you what type of quest was in that area. This time, they've gone with a simpler approach. Instead of using different types of icons, you simply get a numbered circle that matches up with the same number in a quest window attached to your map. If the quest objective is scattered across a larger area a little glowing overlay is put up covering that area. It also puts a question mark on the map marking your turn in location.

We've put together a smaller gallery showing these features for you all to enjoy.

Gallery: Patch 3.3 PTR: Quest tracking feature

Quest Tracking Feature: Let's run through this

Patch 3.3 PTR: Patch notes updated

by Adam Holisky Nov 5th 2009 at 9:30PM

New patch notes have been release for the patch 3.3 PTR. The changes present in this iteration of the notes will be active when the PTR comes up this evening after the latest patch is applied to your client. While there are a handful of changes to a few classes, there are two major areas which everyone will be talking about for a few days.

First, you no longer have to clear Naxxramas to get to Sapphiron's lair. Tha means that raids will now be able to go directly to Sapphiron, and (presumably) subsequently Kel'Thuzad.

Secondly, quest objective tracking is now present in this PTR build. This was originally present in the initial patch 3.2 builds, but was taken out by Blizzard after issues crept up with it. We'll have more on this new feature later this evening or tomorrow.

The entire list of patch notes changes after the break.

Roadmap to Cataclysm zone overhauls

by Michael Sacco Nov 5th 2009 at 9:15PM

Okay, how did we miss this?

We've been wondering about the level of change in each old-world zone for Cataclysm for months now, and the answer has actually been under our noses since BlizzCon. During the Art Panel, the above planning map was shown, along with some information to either side of it. We can't make out everything in it, but there's a lot of information if you know what you're looking at.

The zone colors, from what we can infer, indicate the level of overhaul each zone is receiving. Red is a heavy overhaul, yellow is moderate, green is light, and blue means a brand-new zone. The yellow stars indicate a dungeon, and the red stars indicate a raid. The white tabs each have a letter on them, indicating what in the zone was being changed at that particular point -- L for level, Q for quests, etc.

Astute readers will see some things jump out at them immediately, like Thousand Needles having two stars on it.

The full list of visible zone changes after the break, along with other pertinent info.

Disclaimer: While this image was captured during the BlizzCon 2009 Art Panel, the capture displays a photo taken by Blizzard staff, which is undated. We don't know if it was a day before BlizzCon 2009 or six months before. Things could have changed between when this picture was taken and when this article was published.

Official Tier 10 preview update: Priest & Paladin

by Michael Sacco Nov 5th 2009 at 2:45PM

UPDATE: The paladin set image was fixed on the official site and is now correct. Nice skull bolo tie, guys.

Blizzard has been a little slow with their drip of Tier 10 previews -- those who visit MMO-Champion, for example, have known what the Patch 3.3 priest and paladin sets look like for a week or more -- but it's still nice that they're trying. With that in mind, the official Tier 10 preview page was updated today, adding the priest and paladin sets. Well, the priest set, anyway -- it looks like the paladin one is actually next season's paladin PVP set -- so you paladins'll have to wait a little longer to see the official pictures of your Texas oilman/Spanish conquistador set. But at least you guys have something to look at, unlike shamans, who'll undoubtedly have to wait until the end of the PTR cycle to see what combination of exploding rocks and chains we've got for our shoulders this time.

And would it be too much to ask to get some of these sets on somebody that's not a human male, arguably the absolute worst model on which to preview armor? Looks like I've got a case of the Mondays.

Patch 3.3: Stone Keeper's Shards tied to your realm

by Michael Sacco Nov 4th 2009 at 8:00PM

Blizzard's new Dungeon System (with built-in cross-server LFG) coming in patch 3.3 seems to have all of its bases covered, even tiny niggling details that are not yet covered in the patch notes, as this post by Zarhym proves.

What happens with Stone Keeper's Shards when you're in a PUG that takes advantage of cross-server LFG? Well, that's easy, kiddo. The system will check to see if your home realm's Wintergrasp is captured by your faction. If it is, voila! Stone Keeper's Shards for you. If not, well, you can figure it out.

As for everyone else in the group, the same check is made, and if someone else doesn't have WG captured on their server and you do, they won't even see the Shards on the corpse, so no "Hey, what about MY shards?!" loot confusion should come up. If it does, well, you'll probably never see that person again anyway, so say what you must! Just bear in mind that parties in patch 3.3 do have that new Vote Kick option.

Blizzard launches real money in-game pet store

by Adam Holisky Nov 4th 2009 at 3:21PM

In a surprising and stunning move, Blizzard has just launched a real money online in-game pet store. You spend real money, you get an in-game pet. This fully brings Blizzard into the world of microtransactions -- even if the cost of $10 for one of these pets isn't exactly micro.

While these are just vanity items, one has to wonder how far Blizzard can take this microtransaction model with the largest MMORPG game being played today. They already offer (and offer quite successfully) realm transfer, name change, character re-customization, and race and faction change services. This appears to be the next logical step for them to take. Could the next offering being in-game vanity outfits? A valid question that only time will answer.

The first offerings of microtransactionable in-game items include a Pandaren Monk pet and a Lil K'T pet. Half the proceeds from every Pandaren Monk pet (and only the Pandaren Monk) will go towards the Make-a-Wish foundation -- which is a nice gesture to a company Blizzard has previously supported.

The full details of the announcement, along with the images of the pets and an FAQ, after the break.

Updatedx3: Urgent maintenance complete

by Robin Torres Nov 4th 2009 at 2:50PM

Blizzard has announced that they are conducting urgent maintenance on several realms. ~~Though the~~ ~~official Warcraft twitter account~~ ~~announced it would only go on until noon PST~~ (the tweet was about account maintenance), the in-game and forum messages state that they do not know how long the maintenance will take. They expect to have more information by 12:30 p.m. PST / 3:30 p.m. EST.

The list of affected realms is after the break (which includes Zangarmarsh, the It came from the Blog server).

We will keep you informed as the status changes.

3:25 p.m. PST: All realms are (supposedly) online and playable.
Update 3 p.m. PST: More info at 3:30 PST.
Update: More info at 1:30 p.m. PST.

Icecrown raid difficulty to be set on a per-boss basis

by Adam Holisky Nov 4th 2009 at 1:25PM

Blizzard is once again changing the way in which we trigger heroic modes of encounters. First there was Sarth, where you left up mini-bosses. Then there was Ulduar, where you (sometimes) triggered a particular event by defeating or leaving up particular bosses or objects. Then in the Trial of the Crusader you had four different raids to do depending on your difficulty setting.

Now in Icecrown Citadel, Blizzard has appeared to reach a final solution of sorts -- potentially even going back and changing the way hard modes in Trial of the Crusader are triggered. Difficulty (hard mode on/hard mode off) of the upcoming Icecrown Citadel raid in patch 3.3 will be set on a per-boss basis.

The full statement after the break.

PUG with the blues today at 7:00 p.m. EST

by Adam Holisky Nov 4th 2009 at 12:30PM

Want to be cool, yo?

Want to bask in some blue goo?

Want to put yourself in a sticky situation having to heal Ghostcrawler (perhaps, if he shows up)?

Then come and pug with the blues today at 7:00 p.m. EST / 6:00 p.m. CST / 4:00 p.m. PST on the PTR. Blizzard folk will be logging onto the PTR to test out the new dungeon system matching tool that's coming up in patch 3.3. Blizzard has done this kind of event before on beta realms and tournament test realms, and they're always a good time.

WoW.com writers will be there taking some pictures of any antics that develop (we know the blues have a thing for turning people into toads and what not).

Nothing says loving like 10,000 people standing around /yelling "Don't nerf me, bro!"

That's hot.

Azeroth United and Raid for the Cure running charity giveaways

by Mike Schramm Nov 4th 2009 at 9:00AM

Halloween is over and we're headed towards Thanksgiving, which means it's the time of year that charities everywhere ask you to open up your hearts and wallets and support some good causes. Azeroth United, the recently-formed community for WoW players, just revealed the prizes in their "Hearts, Hands, and Voices" charity giveaway. They're officially supporting Child's Play (they got mentioned on the main website), and your donation there (of $10 or $20) will get you into two tiers of giveaways, featuring prizes of all kinds from all over the WoW community. Sounds like a great chance to both support a good cause and maybe even win some free stuff.

And from our old friend John "BigBearButt" Patricelli comes news of a "Raid for the Cure" -- on Saturday, November 14th, a group of players from both factions will walk in-game on the Kael'thas server from Darnassus to Ratchet (and on to Booty Bay) to raise awareness and funds for the Susan G. Komen for the Cure charity. Pink shirts will be handed out at the event, and making a donation of any kind over on the WoW page for the charity will enter you in a raffle to win a guest appearance on the Sidhe Devils Gone Wild podcast (a member of that guild has been dealing with breast cancer, and the in-game run is in support of her and her cause).

Patch 3.3 PTR: Meeting Stones for all

by Michael Sacco Nov 3rd 2009 at 7:30PM

Great news for players of all classes and levels (well, levels above 15)! In the latest official patch notes update for the Patch 3.3 PTR, Blizzard added the following line:

Meeting Stones: To use any Meeting Stone, it is only required that the character's minimum level be 15. There is no maximum character level requirement for any Meeting Stone.

Now that's a change that's been a long time coming. Ever tried to get your level 80 guildie to Deadmines to help you carve a bloody swath straight to Van Cleef? It's a pain! Ever tried to get your lowbie to a high-level zone without a portal? Also a pain! This completely removes the restrictions on using or activating summoning stones so long as you're above level 15.

Now you'll be able to bring whoever you want to any dungeon summoning stone with just two people. A fantastic quality-of-life change, very likely added to ensure that interest in rerolling remains steady until Cataclysm comes out, but who cares? I'll take it! Who wants to run me through ZF?

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