This year's costume contest entrants ranged from the exceptional (hello Thrall!) to the ridiculous (goodbye Rick Astley), but in the end the winner was clear. A female Dranei on a motorized turtle mount stole the show. More than that, she won a replica Frostmourne. Check out her fantastic ride and the way it moves in the video above, and a gallery of the entrants below.
After three straight heartbreaking losses against American team Selective Queuers, Worldwide Invitational champions Council of Mages bowed out from the tournament today leaving only three teams to battle it out for the prestigious -- and kingly -- prize of $75,000. The Korean team of Hyoga, Snowstorm, and Student, considered by many to be the best RMP in the world, was the last Asian team in the tournament. They were also the last non-WLD (Warrior, Warlock, Druid) team to be eliminated, as the top three -- Europe's Nihilum Plasma, and the United States' Selective Queuers and Fnatic Orz all predominantly ran WLD throughout the competition.
Selective Queuers ran a soft counter comp to Council of Mages' RMP by swapping in Rogue for Warrior, but otherwise performed as expected as RMP do not handle WLDs (or RLDs in this case) very well. Although the matches that managed to get streamed were fine examples of professional Arena play, the dominance of WLD teams showed just how strong the comp is in the 3v3 format. Despite brilliant play from Council of Mages, they simply couldn't get over the hump of a well-played WLD team.
Props must be given to Glick of Fnatic Orz, back-to-back winners of the MLG series, who played a Retribution Paladin in a double melee comp during one match against Made in Taiwan... and won. Hunters will also be pleased to know that Made in Taiwan skillfully fielded a Hunter against Fnatic Orz, splitting those matches 2-2. The remaining matches of the tournament will be played tomorrow, with the winner of the upper bracket match between Fnatic Orz and Nihilum Plasma heading straight to the Grand Finals. The loser of that matchup will face Selective Queuers in the semi-finals. With any luck, the matches will be streamed without hiccups on Blizzard's BlizzContournament coverage and maybe we'll see if Fnatic Orz truly is the best team in the world.
[UPDATE: Nihilum Plasma beat Fnatic Orz in the upper bracket finals, sending Nihilum to await the winner of the match between Fnatic Orz and Selective Queuers in the semis. This guarantees a Finals match versus Europe and the United States. Should be exciting to watch.]
Greetings from sunny Anaheim, California! One of this years WoW-related BlizzCon panels focused on the process and inspiration for the creation of the art for various aspects of Warcraft. There were a total of 7 people on this panel, lead by Chris "The Intern" Robinson, the Art Director for WoW. Also on the panel were other representatives from the various art teams, enough that there was some confusion as to where they were all sitting at first.
Before we get into the whole thing, I should mention the most important part: The artists all but said that giving visible armor to Druid forms is in the works!
Here at BlizzCon, we just got to sit down with the head honcho of our favorite game, J. Allen Brack, lead producer of World of Warcraft. And the biggest surprise of the interview wasn't a nice tidbit about the future of WoW (and its battlegrounds) or how class changes are made, though we did talk about both of those things. No, the biggest piece of news we got out of him is that he loves WoW Insider -- he told us that Blizzard is paying close attention to what not just us bloggers but you commenters are saying on this site, and that the community plays almost as big a part in directing the game's development as the developers themselves do.
But the WoW Insider love didn't stop us from grilling him on what's next for the Wrath release and the game beyond. We talked about what changes Blizzard aims to make to battlegrounds, what kind of ideas Brack and his team have for after the second expansion, and even what he wants WoW to do that it hasn't yet. And yes, we got the story on dance studios, and why we won't be cutting a jig quite yet in Wrath.
Click the link below to check out our exclusive interview with J. Allen Brack.
Nick Yee's excellent MMORPG survey and data site, the Daedalus Project, has been updated with new survey results on the following topics:
Guild demographics: What influences players to choose certain guilds, how attached they become, the likelihood of their knowing guildies in real life, and how long they stay. What I find fascinating here is the graph displayed above -- 26% of surveyed players have been with their guild 2 years or more. Alex Ziebart mentioned the other day that his guild has been together so long across multiple games that guild chat's gone from talk of teenage dates to coaching expectant parents through morning sickness. I get the feeling that this is only going to become more common in long-haul games like Second Life and WoW.
Character creation: How players choose characters, the elements of character selection they consider most important, and whether classes and races tend to be researched extensively before they're picked, or chosen based on impulse. Character class seems to matter to the most people; starting area the least.
Although we'd heard about the World of Warcraft mouse as early as a month ago, there weren't much details about the reportedly $100 mouse and what made it so remarkably expensive. But tipster Marco wrote in today to point us in the direction of the new SteelSeries World of Warcraft mouse designed exclusively for the game. Although I recently bought a new Razer hoping to improve my PvP, this steeply priced gadget looks so remarkably, temptingly sweet that I just might pre-order one today.
Aside from the unique form factor and slick brushed metal enclosure, the $99.99 price tag will give players the ability to make macros with up to 160 characters, a whopping total of fifteen (oh man!) programmable buttons, the ability to drag-and-drop macros, and -- get this -- 16 million illumination choices with 3 intensity and pulsation levels. I have absolutely no idea what that last part means, but it sounds pretty wicked. Probably unnecessary and overboard, but wicked nonetheless.
The mouse, the first ever designed purely for playing World of Warcraft, promises to be beneficial to all players regardless of style or level of play. [CLARIFICATION: It probably works for other applications or games, but it's the first mouse designed from the ground up specifically for playing WoW] Looking like the bastard love child of a Worn Turtle Shield and Tim Burton's cocooned 1989 Batmobile, the mouse will start shipping on November 13 -- around the same time as some sort of game expansion, I think. It's all pretty cool, and I'm just about sold despite the stupefying price tag... I've just got one question: will it work on a Mac?
Mike Morhaime held a press conference earlier this afternoon, which WoW Insider was able to attend. I arrived a little late since it started before I finished up the UI panel liveblog, but I managed to catch a majority of the Q&A. Unlike the various panels, most of these questions were aimed at the philosophy and business model at Blizzard. How they've operated in the past, and how they'll operate in the future.
BlizzCon itself came up a lot throughout the conference, the big question being will this BlizzCon be a letdown? There haven't been any major announcements. Announcements, sure, but nothing on the scale of Starcraft II or Diablo III. Mike Morhaime actually seemed most excited about this particular BlizzCon, because it isn't just showcasing one game. All three of their primary franchises have something new on the way, and fans of all of those games are in attendance. Beyond that, he believes the community is extremely important, and gatherings like BlizzCon are important as well. Blizzard themselves were blown away by just how many people were trying to attend the convention this time around. The number of hopefuls completely dwarfed both last year's BlizzCon and the more recent Worldwide Invitational. Will BlizzCon continue to be an annual event? Maybe. They'll focus on this weekend first, and then they'll start talking about next year once it's through.
What I found most interesting, though? Morhaime was asked what the most unusual, off the wall concepts they had for a game that simply did not work out. He mentioned a game titled Nomad that Blizzard was developing after Starcraft was first released. A game they had never mentioned or announced until now. It was a post-apocalyptic style setting, but each day they sat down to work on it, it was with a little trepidation. Eventually they asked themselves, "If we were going to work on just one project today, would it be Nomad or would it be something else?" They went with something else. That something else was World of Warcraft.
According to MMO Champion, Blizzard confirmed today that Wrath of the Lich King has gone Golden master and is already in the process of being manufactured. The company is merely putting the final touches to the expansion. This is expected preparation for the launch date, which is only a little over a month away. This also means that all subsequent changes that happen in the current Wrath Beta will be applied in future patches, possibly even as the game is launched on November 13.
I was curious as to what Beta build had enough features -- and stability -- to pass muster and make it to the Golden master. Is it the latest build of 9038 or would it be one of the earlier builds? But as Eliah astutely pointed out to me, there will be patches applied quickly as the game is launched, rendering whatever build is on the Wrath DVDs somewhat irrelevant, anyway. Even now, the Blizzard background downloader has over 1Gb worth of content ready to patch on Tuesday.
One thing is certain, however. There seems to be no stopping the Wrath of the Lich King now. When the Echoes of Doom start sounding in a few days, we're all just be counting down the days until the DVDs that are now being pressed, packaged, and sealed make their way into our greedy hands.
One of everyone's favorite people in the beta is Ghostcrawler. He's out there all the time interacting with fans, talking to developers, bringing back good information and discussion. Today Tom Chilton introduced him at the class panel. He got the largest applause of the day. Everyone was very excited to get to see him and hear what he had to say.
Ghostcrawler, a.k.a Greg Street, is the lead game systems designer for WoW. Basically that's designing the classes and other systems in the game.
He handled the crowed very well. He probably could do some stand up with his wit. When people booed about something they didn't like he'd make a joke and have them laughing the very next second. Perhaps the best moment is when he jokingly said to a question about retribution paladins: "Don't nerf me, bro!"
WoW Insider is doing a lot of coverage today here at BlizzCon in Anaheim, C.A. We've already live-blogged the opening ceremony, the U.I. panel and discussion, and up next will be the live blog of the class panel at 4:30 EDT / 1:30 PDT.
Right now we're live-blogging the class panel in the main hall. This panel will feature discussion of where the classes are headed, why things are done the way they are, and perhaps even announcements about multispecs and new features.
In a sign that machinima is becoming increasingly well-known and respected, Blizzard has decided to give out special Oswald award statues at BlizzCon this year for the best machinima videos. (Wondering what machinima is? Check here to find out.) Yes, I am aware that the Oswald award itself is a silly gnome in goggles, but you have to admit that it is made of metal in the form of a humanoid, and it does begin with O, just like that other famous awards ceremony you might have heard of.
It may be kind of a spoof, but it's still really neat and it should be a great time! Besides, it's something much more solid than a certificate, or whatever they gave out in previous years in addition to the prizes. It really is something they can put on a shelf in their home and admire proudly for years to come.
The Oswalds will be awarded for the best in three categories:
Action/Adventure
Comedy
Drama/Romance
If the sight of this statue is just the sort of thing that inspires you to get out there and machinimate something right away, I'm afraid it's too late to submit your entry this year, so you can't be one of the first winners of the award unless you've already got something in. Good luck to all the Oswald hopefuls this year
The Faire has much to offer the citizens of Azeroth, from fancy foods and frog pets to tickets that can be handed in for nifty prizes. It is this ticket system that offers you the opportunity to make some money.
You see, tickets are awarded in exchange for certain items. Many of these items are crafted, while others are looted, such as [Vibrant Plume]. Because players hand these items in to the Faire both for reputation and for tickets, they are highly marketable a few days before the Faire begins, as well as the first few days after it arrives.
The items do not include Outland craftables, so this income opportunity is primarily geared towards the population that is still leveling their characters. While skilling up your trade, you can hoard certain items to be auctioned off at higher prices around the time of the month that the Faire turns up.
Unfortunately, there are currently only opportunities for engineers, blacksmiths and leatherworkers, although the rest of the population can still make a nice profit from the various "trash" items dropped from certain mobs.
12:00 PM: The gang just showed up on stage. Hellos answered with... silence. 12:02 PM: Tom Thompson and Derek Sakamoto introducing themselves, lots of applause.
Since I'm not at Blizzcon this year either (it looks fun and all, but I hate flying and I'm not terribly big on crowds and who am I kidding I'd have wrestled Saurfang for a ticket) I figured I should probably write my column this week. After mulling over various subject matter (Life's not fair, How all Blizzcon attendees should be nerfed, and a strong contender in Waaaaaaahhhaaaaaaaaaa I wanted to go to Blizzcon waaaaaa) I then realized that with patch 3.0.2 literally breathing down our necks, it was probably time for a general overview of what you can expect for the month or so after it hits, but before Wrath itself launches.
I promise, we will get back to a gear overview... we've got four weeks at minumum to cover it. But if the patch (Echoes of Doom) goes live this week, I figure it will probably be mildly helpful to know what's going to change for warriors. One thing to point out right now is that the way strength converts to shield block value has been greatly beefed up. How greatly? Currently, the formula is X = [(Shield [[block value]]) + (Strength / 20)]. In patch 3.0.2, instead of it being divided by 20, it will be divided by 2. Here's an example of what your character window will reveal.
The crowds have been let in to the main convention center floor, and it is an absolute mad house of Blizzard fun here. BlizzCon 2008 has started in earnest, with a full day of panels and gaming ahead. Knowing Blizzard, it should be truly epic.
If you weren't able to join us here at the Anaheim Convention Center, have no fear. As the day progresses, we'll share many of the sights of BlizzCon 2008, straight from the front lines. So if you're hungry for more of what's going on here, be sure to check back, as we'll be updating the gallery throughout the day!
After three straight heartbreaking losses against American team Selective Queuers, Worldwide Invitational champions Council of Mages bowed out from the tournament today leaving only three teams to battle it out for the prestigious -- and kingly -- prize of $75,000. The Korean team of Hyoga, Snowstorm, and Student, considered by many to be the best RMP in the world, was the last Asian team in the tournament. They were also the last non-WLD (Warrior, Warlock, Druid) team to be eliminated, as the top three -- Europe's Nihilum Plasma, and the United States' Selective Queuers and Fnatic Orz all predominantly ran WLD throughout the competition.
Here at BlizzCon, we just got to sit down with the head honcho of our favorite game, J. Allen Brack, lead producer of World of Warcraft. And the biggest surprise of the interview wasn't a nice tidbit about the future of WoW (and its battlegrounds) or how class changes are made, though we did talk about both of those things. No, the biggest piece of news we got out of him is that he loves WoW Insider -- he told us that Blizzard is paying close attention to what not just us bloggers but you commenters are saying on this site, and that the community plays almost as big a part in directing the game's development as the developers themselves do.
Mike Morhaime held a press conference earlier this afternoon, which WoW Insider was able to attend. I arrived a little late since it started before I finished up the UI panel liveblog, but I managed to catch a majority of the Q&A. Unlike the various panels, most of these questions were aimed at the philosophy and business model at Blizzard. How they've operated in the past, and how they'll operate in the future.
According to MMO Champion, Blizzard confirmed today that Wrath of the Lich King has gone Golden master and is already in the process of being manufactured. The company is merely putting the final touches to the expansion. This is expected preparation for the launch date, which is only a little over a month away. This also means that all subsequent changes that happen in the current Wrath Beta will be applied in future patches, possibly even as the game is launched on November 13. 
In a sign that machinima is becoming increasingly well-known and respected, Blizzard has decided to give out special Oswald award statues at BlizzCon this year for the best machinima videos. (Wondering what machinima is? Check here to find out.) Yes, I am aware that the Oswald award itself is a silly gnome in goggles, but you have to admit that it is made of metal in the form of a humanoid, and it does begin with O, just like that other famous awards ceremony you might have heard of. 
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