Blizzard's holding another one of those Fan Site Chat thingies we all love so. Cough.
Anyhow, typically at these chats, Blizzard releases one really cool tidbit of info about the game's upcoming "stuff," and the rest is all dodging, hemming, and hawing. Even still, if you'd like, each fan site has the opportunity to ask 3 questions* ahead of time for Blizzard to ponder and prepare answers for. So, as usual, I'm asking you guys to do all the work and see if you have any questions you would like to ask the dev team about World of Warcraft! If we can come to a semi-consensus on some good questions to ask, I'll submit those as the Three and then plug the rest during the chat.
Fire away! Remember the basic rules:
1) If it's too specific, they won't answer it.
2) If it allows them to toot their own horn, they'll be more likely to answer it.
3) If the question is like "why the hell haven't you fixed this yet" they most definitely will NOT answer it. :)
-Bolty
*This is yet another sign of just how diluted the pool is of fan sites. Back in "the day" (when Diablo was all this site was about), while there were maybe 100 Diablo fansites, there were only 10 or so worth going to, and none on the scale of the commercial-level fansites that exist nowadays. Now, there are thousands of fan sites for major games, with at least 100 great ones chock-full of content and good reads - this mirrors the explosion of the Internet. The times, they are a'changin.
Update: The Fan Site chat is now complete, and you can view the transcript below. Basically, zero information was released, even though I did get Pete's server question in there.
-----------------------------------
Q: What are you going to do to prevent the PvP "griefing"?
A: It is our intent to stop griefing on the design side of the game vs. having GMs intervene whenever possible. PvP changes are already in the works which will stop many of the griefing problems that have been popping up. Will it stop all of the problems? Probably not, which is why we continue to test, look at constructive feedback and make necessary changes.
Q: Will the patches for the European Beta be released at the same time as the patches for the USA/Korean Beta?
A: Our plan is to launch all patches as close to simultaneously as possible given the time zone constraints.
Q: Are they considering Talents to be a necessity or a customization option? Does Blizzard expect a player who does not spend Talent points to be an acceptable character in a group at end game?
A: Talents allow a player to customize their character. While there is no right or wrong way to spend talent points, not spending them will certainly make your character weaker than spending talent points.
Q: Are you planning on making the leveling curve harsher?
A: We are constantly evaluating the experience curve. Our goal is to match the leveling curve to the content in the game. We want players to always have quests to do up to max level. From evaluating the current leveling in the beta, we do agree that it is a bit too fast but do not intend to make any major changes. We feel that players will enjoy making multiple characters if leveling doesn't take too long.
Q: What are the plans for continuous challenges for players who hit the level cap?
A: We have plans for three different progression paths:
1) Individual players can work towards a Hero Class.
2) The PvP System will be more advanced than it is today including the addition of rewards.
3) Guilds will have a extensive raid content available to them with many zones and "uber" bosses to defeat.
Q: Can you tell us more about the raid content in the game?
A: We have many zones planned specifically for guild raids including:
⢠Solitary Dragons like Onyxia
⢠Dungeons that include both small group and raid content such as Blackrock Spire
⢠Entire zones which will only be accomplished with large raiding parties like Mount Hyjal.
However, only a very tiny portion of this raid content will be tested during the Beta Test as we prefer for this content to be discovered after the game goes live.
Q: When will European World of Warcraft Beta Testers be notified that they were selected?
A: We have recently closed the sign-ups for the European World of Warcraft Beta Test, and our European team is currently reviewing the applications. Selected testers will receive an invitation letter from Blizzard, so please stay tuned to www.wow-europe.com/de /en or /fr (depending on which language you prefer) for announcements on when to check your inboxes. There will be multiple phases to the European Beta Test, but we will not be able to comment further on the status of any individual applications, so if you don't get selected for the first phase, please continue to check the web sites for future phase announcements.
Q: How many people will be "required" for a large scale raid?
A: We are still determining what the maximum number will be but we will likely have a variety of raids for players ranging anywhere from 15 - 30 players. We feel that if raids get much larger than 30 players that individuals lose their sense of participation.
Q: Will characters be able to switch from server to server?
A: Undetermined at this time, however we do realize that players are interested in this feature and will continue to discuss the possibility of allowing character transfers.
Q: Does Blizzard have any plans to add customization options for mounts?
A: While there are no mount customizations planned for the near future, the team has been discussing the possibility of adding options that will make mounts go faster (example: a saddle makes your mount go faster) or adding extra player storage, like saddlebags.
Q: What are the plans for Housing in the World of Warcraft?
A: Player housing will not be available until after World of Warcraft has been released. Our plan is to add player housing in a future live update or expansion. Our current idea (which could change) is to extend the cities to have player housing neighborhoods. For example, in the canal area of Stormwind players can see a blue instance portal behind a large portcullis; this is the entrance to the player housing neighborhood in Stormwind.
Q: Are you still going to be adding testers to the current Beta Test?
A: Yes, we will continue to add new phases of testers as server capacity permits. However, we don't have an ETA on when the next round of tersters will be added. We'll be sure to announce further details as we have them.
Q: Is it the plan for all characters to be able to solo equally well, or will certain classes, such as the Warlock and the Hunter, be more suited for this style of playing?
A: We intend for every class to be able to advance through solo-play. However, it is possible that some classes will solo more effectively than other classes.
Q: Are guilds able to submit their own tabard designs?
A: We do not currently have any plans to add the ability for Guilds/Players to submit their own Tabard designs. However, we did ask our fans to submit Tabard design suggestions. As a result, we now have over 200 Tabard choices available with the possibility of us continuing to add more choices later.
Q: What can you tell us about Hero Classes?
A: Hero Classes: After achieving the maximum level in the game, players will be able try to become a Hero Class. Becoming a Hero will be very difficult and arduous, since you can only become a Hero until after maximum level, we do not plan to implement Hero Classes until after all of the game content is completed.
Q: Will there be any world events that are scripted like a larger scale Stitches quest in the beta or in retail?
A: Yes! We plan on having many world events in the game. One of the more epic quests that we plan to include before the end of Beta is the opening of the raid zone, Ahn'Qiraj. During this event, a large number of players will need to ban together to challenge the defenders of the city. The event will take several hours and will involve the entire zone of Silithus.
Anyhow, typically at these chats, Blizzard releases one really cool tidbit of info about the game's upcoming "stuff," and the rest is all dodging, hemming, and hawing. Even still, if you'd like, each fan site has the opportunity to ask 3 questions* ahead of time for Blizzard to ponder and prepare answers for. So, as usual, I'm asking you guys to do all the work and see if you have any questions you would like to ask the dev team about World of Warcraft! If we can come to a semi-consensus on some good questions to ask, I'll submit those as the Three and then plug the rest during the chat.
Fire away! Remember the basic rules:
1) If it's too specific, they won't answer it.
2) If it allows them to toot their own horn, they'll be more likely to answer it.
3) If the question is like "why the hell haven't you fixed this yet" they most definitely will NOT answer it. :)
-Bolty
*This is yet another sign of just how diluted the pool is of fan sites. Back in "the day" (when Diablo was all this site was about), while there were maybe 100 Diablo fansites, there were only 10 or so worth going to, and none on the scale of the commercial-level fansites that exist nowadays. Now, there are thousands of fan sites for major games, with at least 100 great ones chock-full of content and good reads - this mirrors the explosion of the Internet. The times, they are a'changin.
Update: The Fan Site chat is now complete, and you can view the transcript below. Basically, zero information was released, even though I did get Pete's server question in there.
-----------------------------------
Q: What are you going to do to prevent the PvP "griefing"?
A: It is our intent to stop griefing on the design side of the game vs. having GMs intervene whenever possible. PvP changes are already in the works which will stop many of the griefing problems that have been popping up. Will it stop all of the problems? Probably not, which is why we continue to test, look at constructive feedback and make necessary changes.
Q: Will the patches for the European Beta be released at the same time as the patches for the USA/Korean Beta?
A: Our plan is to launch all patches as close to simultaneously as possible given the time zone constraints.
Q: Are they considering Talents to be a necessity or a customization option? Does Blizzard expect a player who does not spend Talent points to be an acceptable character in a group at end game?
A: Talents allow a player to customize their character. While there is no right or wrong way to spend talent points, not spending them will certainly make your character weaker than spending talent points.
Q: Are you planning on making the leveling curve harsher?
A: We are constantly evaluating the experience curve. Our goal is to match the leveling curve to the content in the game. We want players to always have quests to do up to max level. From evaluating the current leveling in the beta, we do agree that it is a bit too fast but do not intend to make any major changes. We feel that players will enjoy making multiple characters if leveling doesn't take too long.
Q: What are the plans for continuous challenges for players who hit the level cap?
A: We have plans for three different progression paths:
1) Individual players can work towards a Hero Class.
2) The PvP System will be more advanced than it is today including the addition of rewards.
3) Guilds will have a extensive raid content available to them with many zones and "uber" bosses to defeat.
Q: Can you tell us more about the raid content in the game?
A: We have many zones planned specifically for guild raids including:
⢠Solitary Dragons like Onyxia
⢠Dungeons that include both small group and raid content such as Blackrock Spire
⢠Entire zones which will only be accomplished with large raiding parties like Mount Hyjal.
However, only a very tiny portion of this raid content will be tested during the Beta Test as we prefer for this content to be discovered after the game goes live.
Q: When will European World of Warcraft Beta Testers be notified that they were selected?
A: We have recently closed the sign-ups for the European World of Warcraft Beta Test, and our European team is currently reviewing the applications. Selected testers will receive an invitation letter from Blizzard, so please stay tuned to www.wow-europe.com/de /en or /fr (depending on which language you prefer) for announcements on when to check your inboxes. There will be multiple phases to the European Beta Test, but we will not be able to comment further on the status of any individual applications, so if you don't get selected for the first phase, please continue to check the web sites for future phase announcements.
Q: How many people will be "required" for a large scale raid?
A: We are still determining what the maximum number will be but we will likely have a variety of raids for players ranging anywhere from 15 - 30 players. We feel that if raids get much larger than 30 players that individuals lose their sense of participation.
Q: Will characters be able to switch from server to server?
A: Undetermined at this time, however we do realize that players are interested in this feature and will continue to discuss the possibility of allowing character transfers.
Q: Does Blizzard have any plans to add customization options for mounts?
A: While there are no mount customizations planned for the near future, the team has been discussing the possibility of adding options that will make mounts go faster (example: a saddle makes your mount go faster) or adding extra player storage, like saddlebags.
Q: What are the plans for Housing in the World of Warcraft?
A: Player housing will not be available until after World of Warcraft has been released. Our plan is to add player housing in a future live update or expansion. Our current idea (which could change) is to extend the cities to have player housing neighborhoods. For example, in the canal area of Stormwind players can see a blue instance portal behind a large portcullis; this is the entrance to the player housing neighborhood in Stormwind.
Q: Are you still going to be adding testers to the current Beta Test?
A: Yes, we will continue to add new phases of testers as server capacity permits. However, we don't have an ETA on when the next round of tersters will be added. We'll be sure to announce further details as we have them.
Q: Is it the plan for all characters to be able to solo equally well, or will certain classes, such as the Warlock and the Hunter, be more suited for this style of playing?
A: We intend for every class to be able to advance through solo-play. However, it is possible that some classes will solo more effectively than other classes.
Q: Are guilds able to submit their own tabard designs?
A: We do not currently have any plans to add the ability for Guilds/Players to submit their own Tabard designs. However, we did ask our fans to submit Tabard design suggestions. As a result, we now have over 200 Tabard choices available with the possibility of us continuing to add more choices later.
Q: What can you tell us about Hero Classes?
A: Hero Classes: After achieving the maximum level in the game, players will be able try to become a Hero Class. Becoming a Hero will be very difficult and arduous, since you can only become a Hero until after maximum level, we do not plan to implement Hero Classes until after all of the game content is completed.
Q: Will there be any world events that are scripted like a larger scale Stitches quest in the beta or in retail?
A: Yes! We plan on having many world events in the game. One of the more epic quests that we plan to include before the end of Beta is the opening of the raid zone, Ahn'Qiraj. During this event, a large number of players will need to ban together to challenge the defenders of the city. The event will take several hours and will involve the entire zone of Silithus.
Quote:Considering the mods here are generally liberals who seem to have a soft spot for fascism and white supremacy (despite them saying otherwise), me being perma-banned at some point is probably not out of the question.