I said it before and I'll say it again. I'm not a huge fan of the new gimmicky mechanics of the new Dalaran and Orgrimmar Arenas. Blizzard highlighted these features in the PvP panel earlier today. There really isn't anything new, as most of these features were touted at the Worldwide Invitational, except that this time there are now textures for the maps.
I'll concur that the new dynamic elements add a bit of fun and another layer of strategy to Arena matches. That said, it also brings in an unnecessary factor of RNG. If Arenas are to be truly a barometer of professional and competitive play, it should have as little gimmick elements as possible. In Arena terms, it should be something uncomplicated like a boxing ring or martial arts mat. The new maps are more like American Gladiators or Takeshi's Castle. On the other hand, that kind of format has higher entertainment value.
The good news is that the best players will know the timing of the moving pillars, flames, and water spouts and use it to their advantage. The bad news is that those elements will save a lot of lesser skilled players' lives and sometimes break heals or worse, land accidental killing blows. Being at 1% health and dying to a flame spout while trying to get away from an opponent would suck big time, especially in pro competition.
I have to confess that I haven't spent as much time in Lake Wintergrasp as I thought I would. Even when we got premade Level 80s to fiddle around with in the Wrath Beta, I ended up spending very little time in the zone because it was simply too confusing. It didn't help that every build wiped your talent points, so I'd end up logging in to a crossfire without any abilities on my hotbars. In general, my Beta experience with what still promises to be my favorite zone of all time was rather unfulfilling.
The good news is that there's a lot of work being done on the zone and the siege vehicles and buildings do a nice job of blowing up. I also appreciate the return of my favorite guys from Alterac Valley, like my Pusoy Dos buddy Lieutenant Murp. In general, though, Lake Wintergrasp needs a lot of breadcrumb quests and hand-holding just for people to get the basics. Blizzard has big plans for the zone, and they detailed a lot of those in yesterday's PvP panel.
The zone is massive. In the Beta, there were areas that felt somewhat abandoned and felt empty. This is certain to happen in live realms, as there are off-hours of play. But Blizzard's aim is clear: they want this place to be all combat all the time, with hundreds of players bombing, killing, attacking and defending. In fact, they prepared their servers to handle such a load. If this happens -- and by the Light, I hope it will -- and hundreds of players do fill the zone for unadulterated combat, I'm going to have one hell of a good time.
Really, who comes up with these names? They're not so bad, though. They just sound funny when you bunch them all together -- like what we're about to do now. You see, more Gladiator gear has popped up on the Beta realms, with a slew of Deadly Gladiator items showing up on Wowhead and previewed on MMO Champion. We've seen Savage Gladiator items, which are blue quality gear for PvP, and I made a quick post about Hateful Gladiator items a week ago. Now comes the Deadly Gladiator pieces, which have been dropping off the Wintergrasp raid boss.
Right now it's too early to tell if this is really how PvP loot will be distributed, although a faction-locked raid boss really does provide a good incentive to participate in Lake Wintergrasp. It might simply be a way to quickly distribute Arena PvP gear in Beta for more testing. For one thing, it's highly likely that Archavon will be dropping tokens rather than the pieces themselves. Furthermore, this leaves the Arena system without any rewards left to give -- though Deadly Gladiator weapons have yet to show up. It's pretty safe to assume that the way these items are distributed will change greatly between now and November 13.
If you're one of those people that absolutely hates PvE in PvP and vice versa, you're not going to be much of a fan of an aspect of Lake Wintergrasp that was introduced recently. After your faction wins in Wintergrasp, a raid boss becomes available to you for four hours afterwards: Archavon the Stone Keeper. Like all Wrath of the Lich King raids, this instanced raid comes in both 10 and 25 man flavors. It seems like a rather quick and easy fight, and its rewards are a bit curious. Beating this boss yields high end PvP gear. You know, Hateful Gladiator. And the 25 Man version? 4 pieces of Naxxramasequivalent gear.
Currently, the encounter is trivial according to just about everyone that has tested it. The 10-man version is a breeze, and the 25-man version can be done with 10 people. I think it's safe to say this encounter isn't complete yet, or at least it needs some major retuning. I'm not sure how I feel about what loot this encounter drops. If it's intended, it seems like a rather trivial way to award those things. Season 5 armor from a raid boss? I know around Patch 2.4 they put in the ability to trade armor tokens from dungeons for old season gear, but this boss is essentially awarding the cutting edge arena gear for a 10 minute jaunt into a dungeon. Granted, your faction needs to have control of Wintergrasp, but the point remains. It's really, really easy to get gear that should take a little effort to get. There's still the RNG to deal with, but I still think this boss should have a wholly different loot table.
How is the Storm Peaks coming along? Seems like it has a lot of history and culture behind it.
This zone has been closed off more than it's been open. There are a few hefty bugs that they're trying to iron out that forces them to seal it off now and then, since the bugs bring the entire world server down. That and there was an XP exploit that the beta testers found and needed to be dealt with mighty quickly, so it was sealed off for that as well.
As far as the history and culture, I loved what I saw. A lot of Titan lore, a lot of Dwarven history. The introduction to the zone is pretty awful, though. Your first quest hub in the culture-rich zone is a Goblin town (K3) full of whimsy that has little to do with the zone's overall story. I guess you need to keep the mood light sometimes, though. Still, despite the silly Goblins, it was one of my favorite zones while I could get in there. Blizzard has thrown around the term "epic scale" quite a bit, and I think Storm Peaks really displays that. The place is absolutely massive, in the good way. Watch the video above if you want an example of the quests you'll be seeing. Be warned, it's kind of a spoiler in that doing this quest for the first time really leaves you in awe. Watching it beforehand might take that away a little. dotorion asked...
Does Northrend have a 'level requirement' like Outlands?
A new spell popped up in the latest Beta build called Wintergrasp Rewards, which indicate that there might finally be another way to earn Arena points other than to participate in Arenas. Granting Arena points through Lake Wintergrasp also indicates an interesting direction for World of Warcraft PvP. [UPDATE: Blizzard has stated that Arena points from Wintergrasp is only for the Beta to allow accelerated purchase and testing of PvP gear -- thanks Cuer] Despite the ongoing and earnest efforts of Blizzard to balance classes for PvP, particularly Arenas, the format doesn't lend itself well to a complete balancing of classes. Because of the required team synergies and map limitations, there will always be class specs that will suffer in the Arena PvP format.
Battlegrounds PvP, on the other hand, is more open and spontaneous, even in pre-formed groups. No classes or specs are shunned, and every player enjoys relative viability and success. Giving Arena points through Wintergrasp achieves two things: first, it opens up Arena rewards to people who do not participate in or have limited success in Arenas; second, it greatly incentivizes participation in Lake Wintergrasp. The only question left is the matter of Personal Ratings, which is a requirement for most of the current gear, a trend likely to continue in Wrath of the Lich King.
Step off the zeppelin or boat to Northrend and you're in a new world. Even when there's not snow, Northrend simply feels cold. Piano playing in the background in Dragonblight even sounds like ice should feel. It's a brave new world of strange sights, unusual architecture, and unheard of beasts. Curious about what you should expect? Read on.
Nizari asked....
Have you seen much of the Nordic influence that Wrath is supposed to have? I know you've discussed the Vrykul and the Val'kyr before, but I'm wondering if you've seen any more esoteric or obscure references? I'd find it mighty entertaining if there was a baker who sold Kransekake, or a cooking recipe to make Lutefisk.
I think this question pretty much floored most of the team -- because none of us really experts in Norse mythology. Your friend and mine, Alex, had this to say about Norse influences in the expansion: There are the jormungar, of course, and the Avatar of Freya in the Sholazar Basin. The Avatar of Freya is a vaguely Druidic being that is battling the Scourge and Freya is one of the Titans. The Titans themselves are heavily inspired by Norse and Greek mythology.
For more of your questions -- and our answers! -- read on! But if you're the sort who wants to avoid spoilers, turn back now. We're aiming to avoid major story spoilers, but this feature is all about beta content and we can't talk about the beta without giving a few things away.
Let's start out with the PvP zone that's on everyone's mind: Lake Wintergrasp. Added in the last beta patch, Wintergrasp doesn't seem all there, but Alex has boldly ventured into the zone in an attempt to tell the rest of us about the zone.
Boowat asked....
How does Lake Wintergrasp PvP actually work in regards to siege weapons etc. do i just go round running people over or driving into the side of buildings?
Alex: Very little of Lake Wintergrasp is actually implemented. Right now it is more or less a sandbox with tonka trucks in it, except you can climb in the trucks and they can shoot missiles and throw rocks. Each of the vehicles has a set of abilities that come up like if you mind controlled something. Your action bar changes to their action bar. They have anywhere from 1 to 4 abilities. Some of them can cause Siege Damage to structures, some can't. The tanks are heavy siege damage, the planes have some light siege damage, and the shredders are mostly for wtfpwning players.
For more of your questions -- and our answers! -- read on! But if you're the sort who wants to avoid spoilers, turn back now. We're aiming to avoid major story spoilers, but this feature is all about beta content and we can't talk about the beta without giving a few things away.
Some of my fondest memories in WoW are things that never really should have ever happened. I don't mean random happenstance taking the wheel of life from me, nothing like that. I mean glitches, bugs and things that the Blizzard devs really never intended to happen. Sure, some bugs are not so fun, like losing equipment you worked hard for or getting blocked in a raid because a boss isn't working right, but there have been a lot of really awesome ones, too.
Take, for example, the screenshot above. It probably doesn't count because it happened on the Wrath beta and of course there are bugs there, but it was the beginning of a night that made me laugh for hours. If you can't tell what's going on... I'm piloting an airplane, my buddy tried to hop in with me but his chair is floating a few feet over my head for some reason, and someone decided to park their siege tank twenty feet up a wall, inside of the wall. That pretty much sums up the current state of Lake Wintergrasp, in case you were wondering.
If that doesn't count, there's the time a few years back when some friends and I ran Zul'Farrak, and a basilisk we aggro'd threw us twenty feet backwards for some reason, into another basilisk that threw us right back. We cried tears of laughter through about twenty minutes of the two basilisks playing catch with our flailing bodies before we were coherent enough to try and figure out what the heck was going on.
Do you guys have any memories like this? Do you ever wish you could go out and do them again for the nostalgia of it all, or are you pretty content keeping it a one time thing?
Welcome to Hybrid Theory, where we discuss all things hybrid in the World of Warcraft. Hybrid Theory is brought to you each week by columnist/blogger Alex Ziebart.
Before I start, while you read this remember that the Wrath beta does not currently allow you to hit the level cap. Everyone is level 77, and there's a lot that is unfinished. This is more anecdotal about the state of things, and not really analyzing how things will look in the end. You still with me? Good.
I decided to try out incredibly, insanely buggy Lake Wintergrasp when the beta realms went up yesterday, and later on I gave the new Battleground a whirl, too. Through all of this, there was one constant: Holy crap Ret Paladins are OP. No, really. I know, it blew my mind, too. Retribution Paladins. Overpowered. Hell has frozen over.
I know. I'm not in Beta, and yet I'm as giddy as a greedy little boy who just got hold of a cookie jar with every bit of Wrath of the Lich King information. We've seen the breathtaking Howling Fjord, bits of the Borean Tundra, and even glimpses into the lush forests of Sholazar Basin. I don't think I could be excited enough for Lake Wintergrasp, even though there's just so little information about it. Elizabeth Harper, who's playing around in the Beta, has said that Dragonblight is her favorite zone.
From what we've seen so far, it really looks like Wrath of the Lich King is going to be one hell of a game. Each of the zones -- as has been the trend throughout World of Warcraft -- has its own personality. Blizzard has said that it won't all be ice and snow, and the diversity that's been revealed up to this point seems to attest to that. What zone are you most excited to see and most eager to explore when you get to Northrend?
Zarhym has broken out some interesting news for big team battleground players -- while Blizzard is generally happy with the way AV is working now, they are looking forward to focusing on tuning Lake Wintergrasp, the new PvP zone in Wrath of the Lich King.
Zar says that tuning of the zone will be forthcoming (so beta players should expect to see it soon), and that they're working right now on a way to balance differences in team populations -- since the zone isn't instanced, team numbers may be very different, and they're planning to possibly relax requirements to get certain vehicles and goals for the team with fewer players on it. They're also tuning the expected time limit it would take to conquer the whole zone -- right now, they expect the whole event to take about 45 minutes, and then have a certain length of time in between (when people would have "incentives for visiting the zone" -- like the special vendors in Halaa) before it starts again.
Like many players, we can't wait to see what they do with Wintergrasp -- Blizzard is promoting it as the culmination of everything they've learned about World PvP and battlegrounds, so it should definitely be one of the most fun parts of the expansion for battleground fans.
Zarhym, provoked by a pretty lame whine about two new Arenas and only one new BG in the next expansion, is expounding a little bit more on what Blizzard wants to do with World PvP and Lake Wintergrasp in Northrend. Ever since the zone was first announced, Blizzard has said they want to have it be the pinnacle of their world PvP experience, fixing all kinds of problems, from getting players involved to level imbalance to actual PvP rewards.
And Zarhym says it's still on track to do al that -- he specifically mentions that they've designed the battleground zone to supposedly be impervious to problems with realm imbalance, "trivial at the endgame," or "forgettable because of a lack of incentive." So if you hold a lot of faith in what Blizzard's working on, that would mean Wintergrasp is meant for 70s, has functionality that doesn't necessarily require a lot of players on both sides (siege vehicles come to mind), and will have an extensive rewards system (we've heard before that it may be token-based and equivalent to the level of current Arena gear).
If Blizzard is doing everything they promise to with Wintergrasp, it should be a sight to see for sure. A world PvP event that adds the permanency of the Auchindouin rewards with the mechanics of Halaa and the epic feeling of the old Southshore/Tarren Mill world PvP battles? We can't wait.
Answering a question about water mounts, Jennie said that they don't seem to be in the works. Still, you can get your H2O kicks with the non-player-controllable boats in Lake Wintergrasp. Another questioner asked whether the flying combat mounts will take damage. Some of these combat mounts will have shielding to protect the player from damage, but the mount will take damage instead.
Killing Arthas
Consensus in the chat was that there is a lot of excitement around the idea of being able to kill Arthas, the Lich King, even if it takes up the same progression as Kil'Jaeden currently does in TBC. The hope is that Frostmourne will drop, but the consequences of getting the sword are not yet known. Will it corrupt the player and take away stats? Will players become the new Lich King if they pick it up? We'll have to wait and see.
That's just one of the questions awaiting an answer for us in the post-Wrath world. Another came from a chat question about whether there would be any future for the Warcraft franchise after Arthas is dead. From what our bloggers have heard, there's no standing still for the franchise. Turpster says, "I think a favourite King of mine might be making a return to a Stormy City!"
We've been receiving a constant stream of news from the ongoing Worldwide Invitational in Paris, France, and we've gotten hints of changes coming to the game that promises overall improvements to PvP. In the developers' panel discussion, we learned of a Shadow Priest talent called Dispersion, which Blizzard hopes will allow the underrepresented Shadow Priests to become more viable in Arenas. The dungeons and raids discussion yielded plans to further continue the purchase of PvP gear through PvE, such as from reputation.
The panel at the WWI earlier was cleverly titled "PvP Game Systems", where Tom Chilton and Corey Stockton discussed Lake Wintergrasp, new Arena maps, and the new Battleground. It was a rather uninspired panel compared to the previous ones, revealing very little that anxious players didn't already know. Because of the suspiciously lengthy yet predictable presentation, very little time was left for questions (of class balance, I bet), although a few good ones were asked -- and surprisingly answered -- during the session.
Zarhym, 
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