October News/Discussion

[Bob the Beholder]

Oct 20 News

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In a topic for discussion, the question of whether or not a lvl 70 should be able to create a lvl55 of any class comes up. There are several good sides to this arguement, coming down to Blizzard claiming that part of what makes Death Knights a Hero class is their ability to start at 55. Is there much class learning done at 1-55 anymore? Is someone who's come up from lvl 1 that much of a better player than someone who created their toon at 55? Interesting questions indeed.

Recent experience for me--I've agreed to level my friend's paladin as a birthday present for him. Starting at level 53, having never played a paladin (and what experience I have from fighting them/playing with them absolutely demolished by the changes in 3.0), I log on and I sit here going, "what is going on? Of course, it doesn't help that this is a character whose action bars are set up by a guy who clicks everything, being played by a guy who can't live without 35-40 keybindings. Stuff is everywhere, scattered around all nonsensically. And the talent reset/ability changes from 3.0 meaning what is there is shot full of holes.

'Course, going from that state to a working knowledge of your basic levelling grind took faaaar less time than going from level 1-55. But still, the learning is still there, to a small degree.

That said, if I could skip 1-55, I'd do it in a heartbeat. I have four 70s, and am predominantly focused on end-game PvP, so just doing the Azeroth grind againd and again and again is not appealing to me.

[RTM]

I kinda just went through this myself with the Recruit-A-Friend thing. I gifted a warrior levels from 32 to 60 and then a paladin from 15 to 31. I had some experience playing a warrior from waaaaay back in the day but it may as well have been a new class to me. I had never played a paladin before so even with just my level 30 skills it was almost overwhelming.

The end result of all of this being that yes, it saved me time (aside from levelling weapon skills, ugh) but I am most definitely not a better player because of it. I like to think of myself as a somewhat competent player who does his research, so the learning curve for me will probably be lesser than someone who doesn't look up class changes and talent builds, but what about Joe the Casual who doesn't care about that stuff? My guess is that if they implement insta-55's you'll find a LOT more clueless players running around. I do not see it as something that will add to the quality of the game.

[Mirajj]

Oct 28 News

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Around Azeroth, a world event was started to herald the coming of the Lich King.Crates and bugs started to appear, and soon folks were turning into zombies. They were then able to attack other PC's and NPC's and infect them in an attempt to spread the plague. It started out taking 10 minutes for someone to turn into a zombie, which was ample time to get to an NPC healer or a PC healer and be cured. As the event wore on, the incubation time was cut in halves, eventually ending up at 30 seconds to zombification, and it was very hard to dispel. The interesting part to this? I've never seen a world event generate as much controversy and divide the populace as much as this one. Zombies were able to attack and 'grief' players just looking to quest, fly or AH a little. Zombied players would eventually die (as you had to keep killing to live) which would cause a durability hit. Folks with AH alts saw that their alts stood no chance against the zombie horde, while Sunwell geared players found that they were no match for a gang of zombies. Folks who got infected on purpose got upset at folks for cleansing/disinfecting them. Folks who turned into zombies got upset at folks who killed them (prematurely). All in all, this world event seems to have really just polarized the playerbase. While I did see a few folks who claimed to be having fun (I mostly avoided the mess by staying airborne unless I had to land for something) this event really just seemed to piss folks off at each. Interestingly enough, even those who had been proponents at the start were, by the time it was around 1 minute to 30seconds per infection, saying "enough". Luckily, the R.A.S. came to Azeroth's aid and cured the plague. I do have to think that this event will be discussed for some time to come, though.

Last night, the Lurkers and Avarice Alliance on Stormrage put down Illidan to finish off the T6 content just in time for a couple farm runs before Wrath of the Lich King launches. The Lurkers on Terenas are hot on their heels, having recently put down Kael'thas, and jumped up to 5/9 in Black Temple.

Paladins (more specifically, Ret Paladins) are taking quite a shot on the chin after being at the top of pretty much...well...everything for the last little bit. The nerfbat has swung at them, and it's a pretty solid connect. There are a lot of changes, so we'll have to wait until the dust settles to see what the actual changes are, despite folks saying that they have been nerfed "to the ground". Coming on the heels of the "hunter/physical dps" nerfs/changes as it is, Blizz must have been really unhappy with their damage. I wonder why they didn't do something about it earlier.

Sanya Thomas returns with her demographics breakdown of WoW, returning some interesting numbers on men and women, and the races, genders, and factions they play.

Idiosycrasies. We all have them. Anyone who's spent much time around my main toon in WoW knows that she must have purple things. The more purple things the better. Dragonstalker? All 8 pieces of it. Winterspring Frostsaber? Third on the server (would have been second, but I had to work that weekend). Purple Netherdrake? As soon as I was 70 and able to do the quests. Hair color? Purple. Pet? The purple and black Ravager, of course. So...what is some of your toon quirks?

You can almost always look at instances and see folks doing crazy things, to see if they can. From pulling the entire instance front to back (hello, pallytank) to trying out oddies such as 5 Warlock Heroics. But as everyone knows, Raiding is srs bizniz. Folks wouldn't dream of cutting up there. Folks certainly wouldn't solo Onyxia. Especially not several classes. And raiders would never think of having a Voidwalker almost tank Illidan Stormrage. That kind of thing just doesn't happen.

[Sir_Die_alot]

Idiosycrasies. We all have them. Anyone who's spent much time around my main toon in WoW knows that she must have purple things. The more purple things the better. Dragonstalker? All 8 pieces of it. Winterspring Frostsaber? Third on the server (would have been second, but I had to work that weekend). Purple Netherdrake? As soon as I was 70 and able to do the quests. Hair color? Purple. Pet? The purple and black Ravager, of course. So...what is some of your toon quirks?

Full Dungeon set upgrade, full t1, full t2, 4x t3 (can't finish that one:(), full t2.5, full scourge invasion set from the first time. :shuriken:

Working on: Paladin dungeon set (need shoulders) and this scourge invasion set (my chest won't drop!)

3205 achievement points.

And who doesn't love a pirate cow on an albino drake?

[Tuftears]

Idiosycrasies. We all have them. Anyone who's spent much time around my main toon in WoW knows that she must have purple things.

[swirly]

Idiosycrasies.

For me it varies by character as to what the Idiosycrasies are. When I am first creating a character I come up with some kind of story or lore behind them. Sometimes this is actual story and sometimes it is just a general feeling or mood that they have. I also tend to have a general color theme in mind for them. I'll give an example of my shaman.

Zocko: elemental shaman.

The name is one a friend goes by. The story goes that she was playing in the yard as a kid and got shocked by some kind of underground wire. Later her and her sister were watching the old batman tv show and somebody got shocked on it. The word "Zocko" was uses for that action happening. So thus her sister started calling her Zocko and the name stuck.

So when I was debating making a shaman, I remembered that and thought it would be a perfect name for my elemental shaman. I then also elaborated on it some more. My friend earned the name by being shocked, so maybe my shaman not only throws lightning bolts, but has had a bit too much current running through his head. So I kind of picture him being a bit off kilter. Sometimes I think he even considers himself a force of nature...a lightning god as it were...though surely he is just a troll in reality.

In addition to all of this I also went with a green theme. I gave him a green mohawk and tried for greenish skin. Of course I had to get him a green shirt to wear as well to go with the theme. I've also favored mounts that have green on them in some way. Obviously skin color would be the main thing there, but for some (wolves, talbuks) it may just be a green eye glow. Currently I'm obsessed with getting him the Headless Horseman's mount cause it seems perfect for him with the green fire it has. Especially since they are adding fire to the elemental shaman's arsenal and so it is a good way to kind of mesh the stories together some.

I also got him a firefly small pet figuring that it too had a kind of internal energy like he does. It occurs to me now that it matches even better with the fire additions.

So lots of little Idiosycrasies going on there. I have a ton of alts and pretty much every one has things like this going on with them. I think that is one reason that I have retired most of them for now. I need to look at all the changes in the expansion and figure out how it effects their personalities and such. It is a lot of work, more so than just figuring out specs and gearing. So thus many are retired till I feel like getting to know them again.

[Quark]

Interestingly enough, even those who had been proponents at the start were, by the time it was around 1 minute to 30seconds per infection, saying "enough". Luckily, the R.A.S. came to Azeroth's aid and cured the plague. I do have to think that this event will be discussed for some time to come, though.

Bullcrap they were. The progression made it pretty clear it was a 4-5 day event, with only the weekend being so bad as to inconvenience you. The event was fun precisely because it was designed to be short lived and devastating.

Also, this:

"My deepest apologies. It is my understanding that my invading forces, in their attempts to besiege your cities and snuff out all life on Azeroth, have inconvenienced the activities of common civilians. In the future, I will ensure that your commanding officers are informed well in advance of planned invasion times so that they may properly fortify themselves. I have also looked into the issue of my plague being too quick in its purpose and too difficult to cure. Please be reassured that I have taken the matter up personally with my top necromancers and that any further incarnations of said plague should be only a slight challenge for your natural immune systems to overcome. Please forward any additional complaints to either Kel'thuzad or Anub'arak.

Regards, the Lich King Arthas."

[Mirajj]

"My deepest apologies. It is my understanding that my invading forces, in their attempts to besiege your cities and snuff out all life on Azeroth, have inconvenienced the activities of common civilians. In the future, I will ensure that your commanding officers are informed well in advance of planned invasion times so that they may properly fortify themselves. I have also looked into the issue of my plague being too quick in its purpose and too difficult to cure. Please be reassured that I have taken the matter up personally with my top necromancers and that any further incarnations of said plague should be only a slight challenge for your natural immune systems to overcome. Please forward any additional complaints to either Kel'thuzad or Anub'arak.

Regards, the Lich King Arthas."

*Snicker* Oh, that's good stuff. Personally, I remain indifferent to the event. I didn't get turned, nor did I kill any zombies. I did find it to be an amusing event.

I guess the discussion here is that if you are upsetting the main chunk of your player base, are you doing the right thing? Given the response to this world event...do you think Blizzard will attempt something like it again 'next time'? Or will they modify the event so as to be more "opt in"? Is there something to 'learn' here from the reactions of their playerbase...or was this exactly the kind of reaction Blizz wanted?

[Quark]

the main chunk of your player base

Is it really the main chunk? Or are people just assuming that because of the vocal people on the forums? Loud and obnoxious they may be, they hardly define the player base because they actually read the forums, and further they rant on them. They honestly tell us nothing about what most people think.

That is, unless you actually believe Ret was fine before the nerf and never has a chance to be viable again?

[Taelas]

Well, you can't decide just from the fact that people on the official forums rant about it that it's fine the way it is. They do get things right on occasion.

[Mirajj]

Is it really the main chunk? Or are people just assuming that because of the vocal people on the forums? Loud and obnoxious they may be, they hardly define the player base because they actually read the forums, and further they rant on them. They honestly tell us nothing about what most people think.

That is, unless you actually believe Ret was fine before the nerf and never has a chance to be viable again?

I guess that depends on how you look at it, then. Everywhere I went (and I was touring around Azeroth/Outlands over the last week) I heard negative commentary from folks in the public server channels. Every zone, folks are complaining about it. When it started, it wasn't too bad, and it was about 50/50 to folks complaining vs. folks enjoying. By the end, it was almost impossible to find someone who was enjoying the event.

And this was on both servers.

Now, I guess one could again say that the public channels again constitute a minority of players, but still. From what I saw, a pretty decent chunk of folks were unhappy with the 2 minutes and lower phases of the event. Was it everyone? No, of course. I know that I myself remained pretty indifferent to it, so that's at least one person who isn't in the 'didn't like it' camp.

I still have to think that such a vocal and generally negative reaction has given Blizz some pause, minority or not.

[Mordekhuul]

I guess that depends on how you look at it, then. Everywhere I went (and I was touring around Azeroth/Outlands over the last week) I heard negative commentary from folks in the public server channels. Every zone, folks are complaining about it. When it started, it wasn't too bad, and it was about 50/50 to folks complaining vs. folks enjoying. By the end, it was almost impossible to find someone who was enjoying the event.

And this was on both servers.

Now, I guess one could again say that the public channels again constitute a minority of players, but still. From what I saw, a pretty decent chunk of folks were unhappy with the 2 minutes and lower phases of the event. Was it everyone? No, of course. I know that I myself remained pretty indifferent to it, so that's at least one person who isn't in the 'didn't like it' camp.

I still have to think that such a vocal and generally negative reaction has given Blizz some pause, minority or not.

This is a bit tongue and cheek, but...do you spend much time on the public channels? I've had trade chat and general chat turned off for around 2 years because any non-holiday, non-special-event time consisted of bickering and complaining.

Anyway, more seriously, I hope Blizzard isn't deterred from future special events just because some vocal players complain (folks always put out more energy to complain than those that are pleased anyway - human nature) about something that only lasted one week and was tied to an expansion, which only comes around about every two years.

[LochnarITB]

Is it really the main chunk? Or are people just assuming that because of the vocal people on the forums? Loud and obnoxious they may be, they hardly define the player base because they actually read the forums, and further they rant on them. They honestly tell us nothing about what most people think.

That is, unless you actually believe Ret was fine before the nerf and never has a chance to be viable again?

I don't follow the forums or listen to general/trade chats. I did notice one very telling thing though. The sky around shatt was filled with folks hovering on their mounts. Granted, some do that anyway, but I've never seen the density I saw the last couple days of the stupidity. It would not have been nearly as annoying if you could attack the player zombies in shatt. Even if they had allowed that, I (probably in the minority, as usual) hate Blizzards attempts to force PvP. I play on a PvE server because I loathe PvP. Even on PvE servers, Blizzard tries to entice people to PvP by dangling "welfare epics" for battlegrounds and arenas. If they are so hot on PvP, they should have designed the game for it from the ground up. Instead, they see PvP as a way to retain players without having to invest in creating content. Once again, it all comes down to a business chasing the holy grail - the almighty buck.

[Sheep]

The nature of the event was such that it relied on player participation. If such a huge majority of the player base hated the event, wouldn't they stop participating? This didn't happen, because the plague obviously continued to spread.

On a slightly related tangent, could zombies communicate in general or trade chat? Because if they couldn't, that would be why those channels were filled only with complaints and no enjoyment.

[ima_nerd]

The nature of the event was such that it relied on player participation. If such a huge majority of the player base hated the event, wouldn't they stop participating? This didn't happen, because the plague obviously continued to spread.

The number of people a single person could infect in say, an hour, is astronomical. Perpetuation of the event required a very small number of people.

That said, I had a blast with it. I spent a couple hours running around infecting people and had my fun. I'm not one to sit around in Shattrath while not doing anything which may explain me not getting irritated.

[LochnarITB]

The nature of the event was such that it relied on player participation. If such a huge majority of the player base hated the event, wouldn't they stop participating? This didn't happen, because the plague obviously continued to spread.

Wrong. Groups of spawned zombies ran around. These could rather easily be killed but folks could get infected before they were and, if there was no toon there to cleanse them, they were stuck. It also took only a few players to infect large numbers of players and npcs. The "event" was designed to escalate so that fewer and fewer participants could bring grief to more and more nonparticipants that were just trying to do mundane things necessary to quest and develop their toons which, at least for this (minority??) player, is what we paid for.

[LochnarITB]

I'm not one to sit around in Shattrath while not doing anything which may explain me not getting irritated.

You didn't have to sit around to get irritated. In fact, that would have been the least reason. What difference would it make to sit - toon, zombie or dead? It screwed you up when you were trying to get things out of the bank or use the AH or talk to npcs or... It was a messed up event foisted on their player base and I have some anatomical ideas of placements of any future plans for such "fun".

[--Pete]

Hi,

You didn't have to sit around to get irritated. In fact, that would have been the least reason. What difference would it make to sit - toon, zombie or dead? It screwed you up when you were trying to get things out of the bank or use the AH or talk to npcs or... It was a messed up event foisted on their player base and I have some anatomical ideas of placements of any future plans for such "fun".

Yep. I was trying to get my UI working right, everything having been broken by the patch and requiring some lua tweaking my part. When this crap hit, I went to the Blizzard site to kill my account. Apparently you can't, you can only stop renewing it. I might just still do that (and cancel my pre-order for LK).

Fun? More like hemorrhoids.

--Pete

[Sir_Die_alot]

I'm really surprised to see how negative some people are on the ghoul event. I loved it, a great piece of lore and you got to participate. Maybe I've just been on a pvp server long enough that leaving one area for another due to ganking is just second nature and part of the game for me now. I had little trouble avoiding it when I wanted to. It was a good excuse to do things I wanted to do that didn't involve a major city. With the invasion out there, the HH event, and baron's mount up to 1% drop rate my day was filled. The only thing I hated was how far the run back to my body was from the Shatt graveyard. I did get infected a couple times I wasn't trying to, I still had fun with it after I turned. I infected a couple people, died, and went about my business. The last day and a half was the only time it was out of control, I did get worried they would carry that for the remaining weeks to the expansion and that WOULD have been dumb. But they didn't. IMO thumbs up to Blizz for the event.B)

[Mirajj]

Maybe I've just been on a pvp server long enough that leaving one area for another due to ganking is just second nature and part of the game for me now. I had little trouble avoiding it when I wanted to.

This is a large part of it, I think. However, this plague, at least on SR, was pretty much everywhere. I was spending some time touring Azeroth it seemed that every single area was visited by plague bringers/zombies. For most PvE folks, if they did decide to go somewhere else or try another toon...they often found more of the same.