BlizzCon was announced on Monday, and ever since, there's been a question bouncing around the back of my mind: just what is it for? Blizzard doesn't just host an event because they love us or because they feel like it -- they host events to release news. WWI last year was where Starcraft II was announced, and Wrath of the Lich King got announced at the previous BlizzCon.
We do know that we're expecting Wrathin "the second half" of the year, and whatever we see at BlizzCon could depend on when that releases. If Wrath appears in August (before BlizzCon in October), we might be seeing the announcement of the next expansion (probably the Maelstrom or the Emerald Dream, or both) in Anaheim: Blizzard has said that they want to release them faster, and there'd be no time like BlizzCon to get an announcement out. If Wrath doesn't show up until November or December, though, Blizzard could use their convention to announce brand new features we haven't heard about yet -- maybe another Hero class?
Of course, we could be grinding the wrong quest mobs entirely -- remember that BlizzCon is about Blizzard, not just World of Warcraft, so anything they announce might have nothing at all to do with their MMO. Diablo 3, anyone? Or maybe they do just want to hang out with their fans and get some good press before the big release. We won't know for sure until they open the doors at the convention center in October.
The Care and Feeding of Warriors waxes philosophical this week. Matthew Rossi has been switching between a tank and a DPS warrior all week and it's gotten him all misty eyed.
I think it's fair to say now that the shockwaves from the oncoming expansion are being felt. Guilds are disbanding, new ones are being formed, you see people reporting that they've burned out on the existing content while others try and get groups together so they can see it before it is essentially 'gone'. Some guilds are rerolling on the opposite faction, or taking a more casual approach.
All this is to me at least very familiar: I was in Naxxramas the last time the pre-expansion wave hit (I don't really consider it a 'depression' as such because it had some positive effects for me as well as negative ones) and I simply got tired of doing what I had been doing since MC and rerolled Horde. It ended up saving the game for me, I made a lot of really good friends Horde side (Go Consummate Vees) and when I went back to my alliance characters I did so feeling refreshed and ready to tank. Learning how to adapt to the new realities of tanking (prot spec becoming a lot more necessary, for just one example) with 10 more points to spend and 41 point talents to consider helped make it a whole new game for me.
As things stand, I'm fortunate enough to be in two guilds (one horde, one alliance) that are raiding at different progression levels. One's moving into Hyjal and BT, phasing out the SSC/TK raids, and the other is just starting to consider regular 25 man runs. I play a warrior in both: my human is a dedicated main tank, while my tauren is a DPS/offtank. As a result, I'm getting to see a lot of fights I've only ever seen from the perspective of standing in something's crotch calling it names from the fresh new perspective of standing behind it stabbing it.
It turns out that Nalorakk has a massive butt. I mean, seriously, that thing is just huge. I'd never seen it before. Now I'm wondering if Supremus could possibly have so impressive a hinder. It'll probably be a while before I can check, though.
"That's actually something we talk about every expansion," he said. "I'm positive we'll talk about it next expansion."
To a degree the World of Warcraft engine is showing its age. That doesn't really bother me very much... I enjoy the semi-cartoon look of the MMO as it seems evocative of the RTS games, especially WCIII, and stands out against a sea of very flat and sterile attempts to make hyper-realistic graphics in games. For all that I would like a bit more flexibility in my character design, I don't mind that WoW has a low polygon count or whatever. But I am very curious as to what they'd do with an updated graphics engine. I believe it was Jeff Kaplan who said, perhaps in jest, "Our designers assure me we haven't even begun to see how big shoulder armor can get."
Be sure to dive into the comments area of each thread (not this one, silly!) and add your own thoughts – unlike your mama, we like us some hot, fresh backtalk.
Scattered Shots is for hunters. 'Nuff said on that topic. The Freezing TrapDavid was stuck in last week also wore off a little bit, thanks to Daniel, permitting him to write once more without his fingers snapping off from the cold.
In the wake of the recent confusion regarding Scare Beast, once again some hunters have gotten to complaining a lot about the state of their class. While on one hand, there are certainly problematic issues hunters are having, it's really not fair to say that the class is broken. It isn't -- being a hunter is more fun than its ever been, and it looks like this class will only get better in the future.
Nonetheless, looking at the problems we do have might give us a clearer sense of where we're going in the future. With more and more information coming out about Wrath of the Lich King, and especially since Blizzard started asking for feedback from hunters, it's worthwhile to have a look at what holes do exist for our class, and how future changes might seek to plug them up.
Blizzplanet has a new Wrath of the Lich King related video from G4TV. It has interviews with Jeffrey "Tigole" Kaplan and J. Allen "No nickname I'm aware of" Brack and very short previews of the new zones, the Death Knight hero class, quests and raids. It also has a very annoying soundtrack underneath the interview snippets which made me want to rip the speakers off of my computer when I watched it the first time, so be warned. A few notes of interest during the interview:
They definitely want to make sure that the Horde and Alliance experiences in WoTLK are different: "While some of the story threads will be the same, how you get there will vary for Horde and Alliance."
We will apparently not just ally with, but also have to fight some of the Tuskarr. This makes me sad. I don't want to kill the Wilford Brimley's of Azeroth. I mean, I'll do it if there's a shiny copper piece involved, don't get me wrong, but it still will make me sad as I rip that purse off of their blubbery corpses. I just dread the "Gather x Tuskarr tusks" quests I fear are coming. I saw tusks right on him! What do you mean he doesn't have any?
They're planning out all their patches in advance this time. I didn't actually know they didn't already do this, so it was news to me.
The Australian branch of CNET (CNET, by the way, just sold to CBS for $1.8 billion) is little late to release their notes from the Wrath of the Lich King preview party, but I forgive them, because they contain a few new nuggets of information that I don't remember seeing elsewhere.
As I speculated last time, it seems a Death Knight will have to "go to a specific locale" in order to pick a new configuration of their six runes. I would still guess that it would be an inn, or stable master, or some other building/NPC found in every town.
They saw an escort quest wherein the escorted NPC mounts the same horse as the player; the player was then able to use some attacks on enemies. Sounds like a sort of ground-based bombing run -- not quite mounted combat, but a step in that direction, anyway.
The Oracle/Wolvar faction choice is meant to be less permanent than the current Aldor/Scryer divide; CNET reports "it appears that you'll be able to juggle favour between the two groups." This sounds good to me, since I'm currently regretting my choice on one of my characters (missing access to some recipes). On the other hand, it will contribute to further homogenization, and what's the point of splitting faction allegiance if it's easy enough to go back?
"Second half of 2008" could theoretically mean July, right? Yeah, who am I kidding -- it'll probably be November or December.
Vivendi earning statements announced today hint that Wrath of the Lich King is expected to be released the second half of 2008. This would also fit into dates that we've seen on sites like Amazon and Gamestop.
This is also significant in that it's the first time an official confirmation of a release time frame has come out. And being that this is the data sent to Vivendi investors, it comes with a good bit of clout.
Additionally, the statement tells us that World of Warcraft now has 10.7 million subscribers, up from 10 million at the end of 2007.
The exact paragraph in the statement is after the break. And of course, stay tuned to WoW Insider for all the latest Wrath of the Lich King news.
Each week or so, Robin Torres writes WoW, Casually for the player who has 2 hours or less to play at a time.
You may have noticed that there has been quite a bit of news about Wrath of the Lich King lately. In that news, there are some very wonderful things in store for those of us with limited playtime. There is also a lot of resentment because of that from some of the players. In this column, I'll be discussing what we casuals have to look forward to in the next expansion and I'll be defending what is essentially our right to participate in the WoWlore and endgame.
What I won't be discussing, like I used to, are the casual friendly events in the schedule. If you look in the right hand column of this page, you'll see a great calendar of Upcoming Events. So check there for the latest Call to Arms weekends, Holiday events and It came from the Blog activities.
Join us after the jump for the news and perhaps a little ranting.
Some more information on Wrath has bubbled to the surface. This is like Christmas every day for me! I'm very excited. New bits in today's installment of Facts of the Lich King:
Some Wrath mounts will be able to take passengers (!), and ground passenger mounts will work in the old world as well! This sounds awesome -- although it might be boring to be the one who's not driving, it could also let you take a break. And being able to cart around lower-level characters in the old world will really speed up those instance runs.
Trainers and AH will stay in the old world. Not surprising, but incredibly irritating. At best, it's a minor inconvenience and burns your Hearthstone timer. At worst, you're stuck in Stormwind for an hour when you could be doing much more interesting things, all because you wanted to respec or buy some mats. Not to mention the leveling-up process -- going back to the old world every level to train was obnoxious in BC, and it'll almost certainly be obnoxious in Wrath.
A little earlier today, Blizzard has made a new addition to the official Wrath of the Lich King site. They've added The Nexus to the dungeons listing! The Nexus seems to be made up of three wings. The Nexus and The Oculus will be 5 man dungeons, and there will also be a 10 and 25 man raid zone that seems to be currently unnamed. It, most likely, houses Malygos himself.
The description of the zone gives a little more insight into the situation between Malygos and the Kirin Tor, and tells us of something called the Arcanomicon. It is a map of Azeroth's ley lines, which the Blue Dragonflight is using to redirect magic away from those he believes are abusing it. The Nexus will be found in the Borean Tundra, one of the first zones in Wrath of the Lich King. I expect one of the five mans will accompany one of Utgarde Keep's wings as the 'first' dungeons of Wrath.
You know that awesome Amani War Bear? The one that has been sold for 20,000 gold? Well, you'd better work on getting it as soon as possible if you want one, because when Wrath of the Lich King comes out, it will no longer be attainable. Currently you get it as a reward for a time-based challenge in the ten-man raid Zul'Aman: free all four prisoners in time, get bear.
Tigole just posted in the official forums that upon Wrath's release, the bear will be replaced with "a very good, epic item," basically to preserve the prestige of having gotten the bear at its intended difficult level. He says they plan on doing a similar thing with the "Hand of A'dal" and "Champion of the Naaru" titles as well. I can understand this move -- it would probably be trivial to get the bear with a raid full of level 80s. And there is still a fair amount of time before Wrath comes out.
However, it makes me sad to see something become impossible to get. I think it would be a better solution if they made it so the bear could only be attained by a raid containing no members above level 70, personally. As Zach pointed out to me, the change that they're proposing now means that no Death Knight will ever be on a bear mount, and that's just sad. Unless, that is, they introduce a polar bear mount in Northrend -- did somebody say panserbjørne?
New talents solidly won the poll last time around (and unfortunately, it one of the thing we haven't heard much about yet -- besides the Warlock hints, Blizzard hasn't said much about what classes will be able to do in the next ten levels), but surely the 10/25 man news (that we've been talking about all weekend) will get some more folks excited about the raids. And personally, I'm much more excited about siege engines than I was before Friday -- I previously thought it would only be a few quests in Lake Wintergrasp, but from what we heard, siege engines and multi-person mounts are going to become a big part of life all over Azeroth.
So how's your outlook on Wrath of the Lich King looking now? Are you still waiting to hear about those new talents, or did all that news on Friday pique your interest in something else? What are you most excited about for the next expansion?
As was pointed out yesterday, quite a few old faces are returning in Wrath of the Lich King. The Scarlet Crusade, The Venture Company, Arugal, etc. Most of them make sense in the context of the events in Northrend, but on the other hand, a couple of them might be inspired by pure fan service. That's totally okay, don't get me wrong. I loves me some fan service. If simple worgen love is what brought back Arugal, I most certainly will not complain.
Let's pretend for a moment that we could bring back any lore character for Wrath of the Lich King. Blizzard just walks up to you and says, "Hey, who do you want to see in Wrath?" They can be dead or alive, a major character or a minor NPC, whatever you want. If you could do that, who would it be?
My choice would be Justinius the Harbinger. Bring him to Northrend to kick in the Wrath Gate guarding Icecrown with his tauren friend Melgromm Highmountain. If you don't know who Justinius is, he's the super-awesome Draenei Paladin fighting the Burning Legion at the Stairs of Destiny, just beyond the Dark Portal. He looks quite awesome in his Judgement Armor, plus he's an all around cool guy. Just go watch him in action for a few minutes. He doesn't take crap from any demon.
Over the past week, particularly in the last few days, the crisp Internet air has been abuzz with news from the upcoming expansion, Wrath of the Lich King. Fear you're out of the loop? Here's a quick round-up of all the information being released, along with analysis and opinion.
Don't forget to keep checking back, as this page will be updated as information becomes available:
Dungeons and raids
An analysis on Arthas as a ten-manned event, including its impact on the 25-man raiding structure, as well an exploration of its consistency with the lore.
Did you know that all expansion raids will have a 10-man setting, as well as a 25-man?
The Nexus has been announced on the official site as one of the new dungeons.
Zones, factions, and relevant lore
Alex has written an excellent overview of the Grizzly Hills, a soon-to-be zone for low to mid-seventies. With old factions reappearing, along with other surprises, it's definitely something to look forward to!
If news of the Dragonblight has intrigued you, you'll be pleased to know that more information has been made available.
While we're brushing up on our lore and learning about new areas and factions, Alex thought it fitting to illuminate the lore behind Azjol-Nerub, as the Nerubians will have their own role in the expansion.
Continue through the break for new information on Death Knights, as well as video and interviews, analysis, release date information, and our full-range of Wrath galleries.
BlizzCon was announced on Monday, and ever since, there's been a question bouncing around the back of my mind: just what is it for? Blizzard doesn't just host an event because they love us or because they feel like it -- they host events to release news. WWI last year was where Starcraft II was announced, and Wrath of the Lich King got announced at the previous BlizzCon.
[1.Local] serves up a smattering of reader comments from the past week, from the sublime to the ridiculous.
The Australian branch of CNET (CNET, by the way, 
Just a week and a half or so ago, we wanted to know what you were 
As was pointed out yesterday, quite a few old faces are returning in 
Over the past week, particularly in the last few days, the crisp Internet air has been abuzz with news from the upcoming expansion, 
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