Slim Down for Summer with That's Fit
Posts with tag shoulders

Brutal ratings requirement for Brutal Gladiator items?


MMO-Champion was able to take a sneak peek at some items released on the official WoW Armory and discovered some truly brutal news: if the items go live as they appeared on the armory, the new personal rating requirement to wear Season 4 shoulder pieces will now be 2200. This is a steep ratings increase from Season 3, where shoulder pieces required a personal rating of 2000. As of this writing, the two items that MMO-Champion was able to scope out cannot be searched for on the official WoW Armory -- either hidden from searches or removed from the database entirely. The Brutal Gladiator's Mooncloth Mantle and Brutal Gladiator's Ornamented Spaulders no longer appear in the item database although MMO-Champion was quick to take screenshots. [EDIT: Apparently, the items are viewable in the EU Armory, you can view the Mooncloth shoulders and healing plate shoulders. - Thanks, BaboonNL!]

There is no guarantee that these item changes will make it live or if the weapon requirements -- currently 1850 for Season 3 -- have also been raised. Although Tharfor has gone on record to state that it's likely that Season 3 items' ratings requirements will be lowered in Season 4, Blizzard didn't mention raising the rating requirements for Brutal Gladiator pieces. According to Realm History, this means that roughly 12% of players rated 2000 and above in 5v5 teams will qualify for the shoulder pieces; 11% of the 3v3 bracket; and about 9% of the 2v2 bracket. That means an even smaller percentage of the general population. As much as Patch 2.4 catered to casual content, if these details make it live, it seems as though Arena play has become even more hardcore than ever.

Patch 2.4 laced with Elixir of Giant Growth

The latest build of patch 2.4 on the PTR bucks the trend of the ever-shrinking orc and draenei shoulder pads by treating us to monstrously large weaponry. Truly, this is a sign that Blizzard loves us and wants us to be happy. There is not a thing in this world that comes to mind when I try to think of something that makes me squeal in delight as much as a gigantic sword swirling through the air, or my enemies slamming into my massive shield and bouncing off uselessly.

In all seriousness, this is probably a bug and some of it actually looks pretty ridiculous. When I first noticed it, I almost wondered if my paladin had actually shrunk because I had long ago adjusted to her Crest of the Sha'tar being amusingly small. It would be nice to have a shield that wasn't tiny like a bean, but an increase in size on everything in the game just doesn't seem intentional.

To give you a better idea of how much of an increase I mean, I've included a side by side comparison after the jump. I apologize for the difference in quality between the shots, I've forgotten how to change the format WoW screens are saved in. Hooray!

Continue reading Patch 2.4 laced with Elixir of Giant Growth

Hands off those shoulders, Arena loser

Wreck from Addicted to WoW sent us his interesting opinion on the Season 3 gear required ratings. Why, he asks, didn't Blizzard put rating requirements on all the gear? When season 3 starts, the season 3 shoulders and weapons will require a high Arena rating to own (2000 and 1850), and Wreck wants to know why only the shoulders and weapons got put behind a rating wall. Why not make all the gear that much harder to get?

As far as I know, the cited reason behind the ratings was to keep raiders from losing in the Arenas and still getting gear. The weapons in season 3 are terrific, even compared to the mid-endgame raiding gear, and so raiders were playing just their 10 games every week, saving up Arena points, and grabbing the hot weapons. Blizzard didn't want that happening, so they put the requirement on the weapons-- you have to be good to wield those now.

But the shoulders I don't quite understand. I've been told that the shoulders are the most obvious piece of "leet" armor, and that Blizzard, as Wreck says, really wants seeing those shoulders on someone to be a sign that they're really good in the Arenas. But shoulders? As a few players have said, give them a title or something if you want them to be recognized. There's good reason for putting the weapons behind a rating, but if you're going to put shoulders back there too, you might as well require the rating for all the pieces, or leave the armor out of it completely.

Night elves are latest shrinking shoulder casualties


First Orc males, then Draenei, and now Night Elves? It appears that Night Elf shoulders have shrunk (just a bit-- not nearly as dramatic a change as the Orc shoulders were) over on the PTRs. We talked about this on the WoW Insider show last week: what is up with Blizzard's code that changes like this are happening? What variables are they editing that makes the weird stuff like this happen?

At any rate, there is good news. Hortus says the issue is unintentional, and will be fixed in an upcoming PTR build. So your Night Elf will still be able to wear his broad shoulder pieces with pride.

First Orc shoulders, now Draenei shoulders


Hot on the heels of the Orc shoulder scandal (to be fixed in patch 2.2), World of Raids has some screenshots suggesting that Draenei shoulder graphics are smaller on the PTRs. While I always thought the level of concern with shoulder size to be sort of odd, the outcry over Orc shoulders made it clear that it's an issue players care about. So why-oh-why is Blizzard restarting the debate over appropriate shoulder size by shrinking the shoulders of another race? We'll see if this graphical change, more minor (at least to my eyes) than the Orc alteration, causes the same level of public anger.

[Thanks, Akyl]

Orc shoulders being fixed in patch 2.2

For the many Orc players unhappy about the state of their shoulder armor, I have good news and I have bad news. The good news is that Drysc has confirmed that the fix for the shoulder armor graphics has made it into the upcoming 2.2 patch! And the bad news? Well, no one knows quite when the 2.2 patch is going to get off the PTRs and on the live realms, so you're going to have to live with those oddly-sized shoulders for a while yet...

Let my Orc shoulders grow


Change comes a lot in this game. Some changes are small, and some are big. Some changes players hate at first, and then they learn to live with and even like them. But some changes are simply and totally unacceptable. And of course when I say that, I mean the change to the male Orc shoulder size.

We male Orcs are especially proud of our powerful, broad shoulders. I love my shoulder pieces-- I once ran UBRS countless times (and I do mean countless times-- just ask my guild, who I dragged through with me) just to get the Pauldrons of Elements. We have broad, towering, expansive shoulder armor, and we are respected, loved, and feared because of it. Your male Orc Warlocks, your Warriors, your Shamans, Rogues and Hunters all stand proud knowing that each of our shoulder pieces is as big as our head.

Or at least they were. Now, after the patch, they're small, a fraction of their former size. They're diminuitive, tiny, and a paltry shadow of what they should be. They're-- dare I say it-- puny and pathetic. We are male Orcs! Like Thrall, we are the real heroes of Warcraft. We're the ones who rage into battle at a moment's notice. If anyone deserves gigantic shoulders, it's us. We are true heroes, sung and unsung-- we are Orc males, and our shoulders must be large, majestic, and befitting of our muscular stature. Blizzard has acknowledged the bug, sure, and they say it'll be fixed in the next major patch.

But this-- this, my friends, is a true injustice. The next time you see your favorite male Orc, don't make jokes about whether size matters or not. Resist the urge to mention "shrinkage." We are our shoulders, their size, their width, their girth-- when they suffer, we suffer as well.

[ Thanks to all who sent this in-- I feel your pain, my brethren! ]


RESOURCES

Blizzard Events
BlizzCon (192)
Worldwide Invitational (110)
Class Columns
(Druid) Shifting Perspectives (48)
(Hunter) Big Red Kitty (37)
(Hunter) Scattered Shots (23)
(Mage) Arcane Brilliance (44)
(Paladin) The Light and How to Swing It (52)
(Priest) Spiritual Guidance (27)
(Rogue) Encrypted Text (33)
(Shaman) Totem Talk (53)
(Warlock) Blood Pact (31)
(Warrior) The Care and Feeding of Warriors (57)
Gameplay
(Arena PvP) Blood Sport (28)
(BG PvP) The Art of War(craft) (26)
(Casual) WoW, Casually (21)
(Guild Leadership) Officers' Quarters (64)
(Professions) Insider Trader (64)
(Raid Healing) Raid Rx (20)
(Raiding) Raiding 101 (2)
(Raiding) Ready Check (29)
(Roleplaying) All the World's a Stage (45)
Hybrid Theory (21)
New Players' Guide (4)
Tank Talk (7)
AddOns and UI
AddOn Spotlight (91)
Macro Anatomy (14)
Reader UI of the Week (28)
Reader WoWspace of the week (31)
The Creamy GUI Center (14)
Lore and Stories
Around Azeroth (535)
Ask A Lore Nerd (10)
Barrens Chat (11)
Know your Lore (60)
Tales from the Lion's Pride Inn (14)
WoW Moviewatch (528)
Features
15 Minutes of Fame (27)
About the Bloggers (28)
Ask WoW Insider (63)
Azeroth Security Advisor (4)
Breakfast topics (737)
Build Shop (35)
Forum Post of the Day (32)
Gamers on the Street (25)
Guildwatch (83)
He Said She Said (5)
Illusionary Tactics (3)
It came from the Blog (29)
Phat Loot Phriday (93)
The Colosseum (0)
Two Bosses Enter (61)
Well Fed Buff (28)
World of WarCrafts (28)
WoW Crossword (2)
WoW Insider Show (71)
WoW Rookie (42)
[1.Local] (14)
Classes
Death Knight (116)
Druid (328)
Hunter (299)
Mage (187)
Paladin (320)
Priest (262)
Rogue (187)
Shaman (293)
Warlock (202)
Warrior (230)
News
Account Security (30)
AddOns (261)
Analysis / Opinion (3269)
Blizzard (1702)
Bugs (223)
Burning Crusade (381)
Contests (236)
Economy (199)
Events (475)
Expansions (655)
Fan stuff (941)
Features (682)
Forums (301)
Guilds (509)
Hardware (47)
Humor (820)
Interviews (169)
Lore (322)
Mounts (146)
News items (1649)
NPCs (217)
Odds and ends (1746)
Patches (1174)
Podcasting (81)
Ranking (56)
Realm News (305)
Realm Status (251)
RP (178)
Rumors (71)
Virtual selves (696)
WoW Insider Business (312)
WoW Social Conventions (159)
WoW TCG (58)
Wrath of the Lich King (468)
Strategy
Achievements (4)
Alts (123)
Arena (271)
Battlegrounds (164)
Bosses (367)
Buffs (134)
Cheats (75)
Classes (338)
Enchants (37)
Factions (170)
Guides (414)
How-tos (427)
Instances (697)
Items (897)
Leveling (310)
Making money (197)
PvP (796)
Quests (385)
Raiding (791)
Talents (160)
Tips (598)
Tricks (236)
Walkthroughs (93)
Media
Comics (86)
Fan art (51)
Galleries (207)
Machinima (613)
Podcasts (54)
Polls (70)
Screenshots (686)
Races
Alliance (123)
Draenei (67)
Dwarves (22)
Gnomes (48)
Human (22)
Night Elves (52)
Horde (124)
Blood Elves (73)
Orcs (31)
Tauren (51)
Trolls (28)
Undead (27)
Professions
Alchemy (82)
Blacksmithing (64)
Cooking (78)
Enchanting (80)
Engineering (113)
First Aid (19)
Fishing (63)
Herbalism (52)
Inscription (17)
Jewelcrafting (88)
Leatherworking (67)
Mining (51)
Skinning (32)
Tailoring (73)
Retired
Pimp My Profile (1)
(Engineering) Hoof and Horn Research and Development (17)
Azeroth Interrupted (24)
Back In The Day (3)
World Wide WoW (8)
/silly (14)

RSS NEWSFEEDS

Powered by Blogsmith

    Featured Galleries

    New Grim Guzzler content in patch 2.4.3
    Stormwind Docks
    Scarlet Crusade Tabard T-shirt
    Reader UI of the Week 6/29/08
    Worldwide Invitational goodie bag
    WWI08 Costume and Dance Contest
    Worldwide Invitational 2008
    World of WarCrafts: Midsummer magnet
    June 2008 splash screen speculation

     

    Most Commented On (30 days)

    Recent Comments

    Other Weblogs Inc. Network blogs you might be interested in: