Posts with tag cataclysm

The Queue: The grand melee

by Michael Sacco Dec 18th 2009 at 8:00PM

Welcome back to The Queue, WoW.com's daily Q&A column where the WoW.com team answers your questions about the World of Warcraft. Mike Sacco will be your host today.

For no discernable reason, the WoW.com Twitter account is asking who would win in a three-way grand melee between the Queue writers -- Alex Ziebart, Adam Holisky, and me, the inimitable Mike Sacco. Whoever wins has to face Matthew Rossi in single combat, which, of course, means that they lose. So whoever wins, Rossi wins.

Before we all fall to the cruel burly forearms of Rossi, though, we can probably answer some reader questions. Or at least I can, given that it's my day to do it.

Edge asked...

When a cross realm group wipes and has to get back to the instance from outside, which version of the "outside" are we in? What I mean is, outside the instance, are we all together on one of the servers, or does each person go back out to their own servers "outside" area, and then come back into the same instance? Or is this a whole new area just for these 5 particular people?

When you zone out of a cross-realm instance, the "outside" is your particular realm.

Filed under: The Queue, Cataclysm

WoW.com's top ten stories of 2009

by Mike Schramm Dec 18th 2009 at 1:00PM

What a year it's been for the World of Warcraft. We've had three big content patches, a BlizzCon, an expansion announcement, and perhaps out of all of the five years this game has been running, this was the year with the most surprises. A few things players thought would never happen (including faction changes) finally did, and we saw quite a few new tricks from Blizzard, both in terms of game features and in the way they run the game at large. 2009 was also a year of expectation: we thrilled to leaks and rumors about Cataclysm, and all year long, we looked forward to the villian that has been set up for us ever since 2008's Wrath release: the Lich King himself.

As we've done for the past couple of years, let's take a look back at the most popular stories of 2009 here on WoW.com. We'll start first with number 10, which also came as a surprise to many players, right after the break.

Filed under: Patches, Fan stuff, Blizzard, Instances, Leveling, BlizzCon, Wrath of the Lich King, Cataclysm

WoW.com's top ten stories of 2009, part 2

by Mike Schramm Dec 18th 2009 at 1:00PM

Filed under: Instances, Raiding, Bosses, BlizzCon, Wrath of the Lich King

The Queue: Isthmus-time is here

by Michael Sacco Dec 16th 2009 at 8:00PM

Welcome back to The Queue, WoW.com's daily Q&A column where the WoW.com team answers your questions about the World of Warcraft. Michael Sacco will be your host today.

It's officially Winter Veil, and you know what that means! Azerothians donning their yuletide apparel and decking the halls with the blood of their enemies. Is there anything more demoralizing than getting decapitated by someone dressed like a holiday centerfold? And just think, without achievements, this activity would be naught but a holiday novelty. Technology is a wondrous thing.

Daniel asked...

I have noticed that dark ranger hanging around in Dalaran, and decided to look them up, and noticed that they were neutral hero unit in Warcraft 3:The Frozen Throne. I was wondering, could, it be even remotely possible, that in the future we have that class introduced into the game that will be neutral?

Extremely unlikely. There are also some dark rangers wandering around the Undercity post-3.3, and it appears that they're there as a buildup to playable forsaken hunters in Cataclysm. Sylvanas herself is classified as a dark ranger. We'll probably see quests just like the ones introducing night elf mages and tauren priests and paladins for these NPCs.

Filed under: Wrath of the Lich King, The Queue, Cataclysm

Tom Chilton on Cataclysm additions and the upcoming world event

by Mike Schramm Dec 15th 2009 at 4:00PM

Our friends over at WorldofWar.de (who were listening live to the podcast this past weekend) recently got an interview done with Lead Designer Tom Chilton, and you can read it over on their site right now. There's not a lot of news in there (though Chilton does gush over the Dungeon Finder, just as players have for the past week or so), but aside from the usual player housing deny and the old "we don't know what the future holds" back and forth, but there is one fun thing he reminds us of in the second half of the interview: Blizzard is adding on to the old Blackwing Lair instance in Cataclysm. It sounds like kind of what they've done with VoA: Blackrock Caverns, which we heard about at BlizzCon, will be a new area (supposedly level 85 5-man, though Chilton says "lots of bosses") inside Blackrock Mountain that's connected to all of the Black Dragonflight bosses in Blackwing Lair.

Finally, Chilton sorta-kinda re-confirms that there will be a new content patch before the expansion -- he says it probably won't be a numbered patch like 3.4 or 3.5, but he says there may be some more class balances in there, new Battle.net features, and possibly even a new raid boss. But mostly it'll just be the patch that brings us all of the world events previous to the Cataclysm shakedown that we'll all go through. Sounds like fun.

World of Warcraft: Cataclysm will destroy Azeroth as we know it. Nothing will be the same. In WoW.com's Guide to Cataclysm you can find out everything you need to know about WoW's third expansion. From Goblins and Worgens to Mastery and Guild changes, it's all there for your cataclysmic enjoyment.

Filed under: Patches, Analysis / Opinion, Blizzard, Instances, Lore, Interviews, Cataclysm

WoW Insider Show Episode 120: Dungeon Findorama

by Mike Schramm Dec 15th 2009 at 1:00PM

The WoW Insider Show went on the air last weekend, and despite the fact that we started out down two voices, the discussion was fast and furious, as we all had plenty to say about patch 3.3 and specifically the Dungeon Finder system. Adam Holisky, Turpster, and I started off the show, and then Matthew Rossi muscled his way in (as only someone of his stature can do) to join us in discussion on finding dungeons, Authenticators and the Corehound Pups, and since Rossi made it, we had to talk some shaman and warriors as well.

Bad news, all: we didn't win the podcast award we were up for (congrats to the 4Player Podcast, who won the award and are now our sworn enemies -- we're igniting the rivalry!). But as we say on this show, we'll still be doing the bedtime story for you all anyway, just because you're so great. And yes, above is the check I'm mailing to Turpster for guessing the patch 3.3 release date correctly -- don't let it ever be said that we here at WoW.com aren't men of our word.

Get the podcast:
[iTunes] Subscribe to the WoW Insider Show directly in iTunes.
[RSS] Add the WoW Insider Show to your RSS aggregator.
[MP3] Download the MP3 directly.

Listen here on the page:

Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, How-tos, Podcasts, Podcasting, Fan stuff, Virtual selves, Humor, WoW Insider Show

Yes, we know some stores have Cataclysm release dates

by Michael Sacco Dec 11th 2009 at 10:00PM

There's been a lull of Cataclysm info recently, so we're getting repeats tenfold of the kind of emails we used to get before Wrath's official release date was announced -- emails saying that Amazon or Gamestop or other retailers have release dates listed for the new expansion already.

Here's the rub. Blizzard hasn't yet divulged a release date for Cataclysm, probably because they have no earthly idea when it's coming out yet. Until they do, any release dates from stores are, at best, speculation or, at worst, outright lies.

But why would retailers list a release date for Cataclysm if one doesn't exist yet? Simple: to take your money. Many game retailers (Gamestop especially) stock their stores based solely on preorder numbers, only getting a few extra for the teeming masses that never thought to go to Wal-Mart to get a guaranteed copy without putting money down first. In the meantime, you get to ... not have that money. Not a good deal.

Preordering is a process designed to get money from you without getting anything in return for an inordinate amount of time, so wait until Blizzard announces a date before you plunk any of your hard-earned money down. And, again -- we know when the sites say Cataclysm's coming out. You'll know just as soon as we do when it'll actually be available.

Filed under: Cataclysm

Ghostcrawler on big heals and health in Cataclysm

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

Ghostcrawler has spoken up in this thread a little bit about the balance of PvE and PvP play that we'll be seeing in the next expansion. Specifically, he says that they're slowing the pace of PvP play down a little bit: "Health pools will be much larger in Cataclysm and healing will be lower." We'll have more health overall, and healing spells will heal less. That will make a difference in PvE as well -- it'll take more hits for the boss to finish off the tank, so heal size is expected not to matter as much as healing coordination. It won't matter if your tank is up to full health as much as it matters whether or not you can help them survive the next hit.

Obviously, this is very early theory for an expansion that's still in development. But what GC is saying is that Blizzard wants healers to strategize a little bit more about which heals they're using rather than depend on big healing to get the job done. Avoidance will matter, he says, because it'll help conserve healer mana. Fights will be more about strategy than overpowering with big heals.

Cataclysm's endgame is a long time away, but that's Blizzard's idea for it right now.

Filed under: Druid, Paladin, Priest, Shaman, Fan stuff, Odds and ends, Raiding, Battlegrounds, Cataclysm

The Queue: Picking favorites

by Alex Ziebart Dec 1st 2009 at 3:30PM

Welcome back to The Queue, WoW.com's daily Q&A column where the WoW.com team answers your questions about the World of Warcraft. Alex Ziebart will be your host today.

Like Adam, I am most pleased that this is a new week. Things are so boring around the WoWiverse lately. Pilgrims Bounty was fun (really fun, I thought) but it was only around for a little while. I need excitement! Adventure! There is a void that needs to be filled!

I guess answering your various questions will fulfill that need for now.

Jason asked...

"Since the Battle.net change has occurred, is it now possible for me to log on to WoW in Europe (like at an Internet café) with my American account? Or are they still separate like they were before?"

Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, The Queue

The Queue: Still wishing for weather

by Alex Ziebart Nov 24th 2009 at 3:00PM

Welcome back to The Queue, WoW.com's daily Q&A column where the WoW.com team answers your questions about the World of Warcraft. Alex Ziebart will be your host today.

Please, everyone. We're begging you. Stop asking us Cataclysm questions that we'll need a time machine to answer. We're not in any betas, and if some of us were magically in an alpha, we probably couldn't tell you. We don't know what will happen to your favorite NPC when the world explodes. We don't know how much Loremaster will change. We don't know if Ragnaros procreates with Maiev Shadowsong. We don't know if Deathwing has enslaved a herd of unicorns.

Mr Shinra asked...

"Where are all battlegrounds supposedly located on the world map? I figure if come cataclysm we have the entire (old) world available for flight then perhaps we might by able to see the (empty/placeholder) battleground locations by flying over? I know the BGs are seperate instances much like a dungeon is, but it would still be kind of cool to be flying from, say Mount Hyjal to Orgimmar and passing over Warsong Gulch."

Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, The Queue, Cataclysm

The Queue: Normal view

by Michael Sacco Nov 23rd 2009 at 4:00PM

Welcome back to The Queue, WoW.com's daily Q&A column where the WoW.com team answers your questions about the World of Warcraft. Mike Sacco be your host today.

Happy fifth anniversary, everyone! In honor of such a prestigious age for our young upstart MMO, this edition of the Queue ... has ... well, basically nothing to do with the anniversary at all. I mean, it's not as if you guys asked any anniversary-related questions. So, we're just setting today's Queue to "normal view" and takin' care of business.

Shall we?

Pemberton asked...

How come we can't fly from Darkshore to the Exodar?

Filed under: The Burning Crusade, Wrath of the Lich King, The Queue, Cataclysm

IgroMir 2009: Cataclysm panel recaps

by Michael Sacco Nov 21st 2009 at 4:00PM

I touched on Blizzard's presence at IgroMir 2009, sort of the Russian E3, a bit previously, specifically about J. Allen Brack's panel regarding guild progression and leveling in Cataclysm. Of course, I had to Google-translate the panel from Russian (nyet, I do not know Russian, comrades), and not everything Blizzard-related from the whole convention was in the recaps I read.

Thankfully, Blizzard themselves have released their own recaps of the Cataclysm panel. In his talk, Brack discussed rated battlegrounds, Tol Barad (briefly), and guild progression. It turns out that I was pretty thorough in the guild leveling post, but here's the stuff I didn't cover:

Rated Battlegrounds will be an alternative way to gain Arena points for those who prefer large-scale PVP.
Your personal rating gain for a win will vary depending on the specific Battleground.
There'll be featured Battlegrounds each week with bonus rating gain for wins.
You will not lose points or rating for a Battleground loss.
Arena points can be used to purchase pets, mounts, vanity items, and perhaps best of all, the old honor system PVP titles like Grand Marshal.
Tol Barad will provide bonus daily quests and instances for the faction that wins the battle for the zone, somewhat like, as Brack put it, a cross between the Isle of Quel'Danas and Lake Wintergrasp.

You can check out our previous IgroMir post here, or read Blizzard's official recap on their IgroMir site.

Filed under: News items, Expansions, Interviews, Cataclysm

Ghostcrawler: "Players are going to freak when they see Cataclysm gear"

by Michael Sacco Nov 20th 2009 at 9:00AM

Ghostcrawler responded recently to a post asking about stat growth on items, and the results were pretty interesting. The player asked if Blizzard had any plans to cut back the stat growth on items before we reach +2000 spellpower, for example. GC had this to say:

"They're just numbers. We don't think it starts getting scary until the human mind literally has trouble processing the digits. If your new staff has 152,420 spell power, well, yeah that's a mouthful. But if your new staff has 4000 spell power, the only thing that can really be freaking you out is that 4000 is just a really big number compared to the 100 spell power you might be used to. Automobiles used to cost hundreds of dollars instead of tens of thousands of dollars too.... :)"

Well, sure, but what about in Cataclysm? With all those stat changes you guys talked about at BlizzCon, there has to be some surprises on the way when we see our first glimpse of Cataclysm gear.

Return of the Grimtotem

by Mike Schramm Nov 19th 2009 at 3:00PM

Cocles over at Loregy.com (who I actually got to meet the other day -- good guy, and check out his license plate) has an interesting idea about something he spotted in the information about the Cataclysm zones the other day. Thousand Needles is getting a revamp, including possibly a new instance, and Cocles says that could mean something awesome: the return of the Grimtotem clan (just a warning: there is a more serious spoiler later in that post).

I'm in. I love the "dark Tauren," and would love to see more from them. Plus, while we've seen plenty of troll instances, Cocles says we haven't seen a Tauren instance in the game (and all we can think of is good old Mr. Smite). And we haven't really heard from the Grimtotems since that whole issue with the spirit beast taming. It'd be nice to fight some cows for once.

There's lots of lore to mine there, too: Magatha is the reigning matriarch of the clan, and not only is she buddies with the Forsaken (obviously there's been something happening with them during Wrath), but she's rivals with Cairne Bloodhoof as well. It would definitely be interesting. Of course, this is all speculation -- we aren't sure that there will even be an instance in Thousand Needles, much less that it'll be Grimtotem based (the whole place is getting flooded, so anything could happen -- maybe the Naga will get a "fin-hold" there). But the idea of taking on the Grimtotem again seems like fun.

Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, Fan stuff, Odds and ends, Instances, Quests, Lore, NPCs, Cataclysm

Justifying the tiered badge system

by Mike Schramm Nov 19th 2009 at 1:00PM

Wrath is almost all wrapped up, and while we didn't know much about it before the expansion, we've all certainly experienced the token system that Blizzard implemented as they went along, where early instances drop one kind of badge/token, and then the newer instances offer up new tokens, which can then be exchanged back for the older ones and their rewards. Now that we see the big picture at the end of the expansion, it's pretty ingenious, actually, and it even allows Blizzard to beef up other parts of the game, as they did with the rewards in the new Dungeon system.

Not that he needs to, but Bornakk steps up on the forums to justify exactly this kind of tiered system. Players complain that Ulduar is "useless" now that you can obtain its badges from lots of different places, but Bornakk says this system is definitely preferable to what Blizzard did in vanilla and BC, which was requiring new raiders to run through all of the old content before seeing the new and shiny stuff. They don't want the old content to sit useless (and it's not -- lots of guilds are still running Ulduar and even Naxx for the hard modes and achievements), but after the high-end raiders have their fun, it's important to get everyone else up to speed as well.

Filed under: Patches, Items, Analysis / Opinion, Instances, Raiding, Bosses, Wrath of the Lich King

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