July News/Discussion

[Mirajj]

July 1 News

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No, it's not World War I, but the World Wide Invitational. A huge party by Blizzard, and a news extravaganza, with Diablo III announced and a ton of WotLK information to dig through. The easiers way to do this is to head over to WoW Insider's WWI Roundup. There is a lot of very good writeups from folks who were able to attend the festivities, and what they saw there.

Nyhm is back, and this time, he's giving Eminem a run for his money.

[Concillian]

July 1 brings the Season 3 Arena Titles.

Apparently Arena Junkies vastly overestimated the rating necessary to get titles on most realms, and some people eare up in arms about it, complaining that too many people got titles... PvP-e-peening has gotten so abrasive that apparently the top 0.2% is now calling the top 0.5% scrubs and undeserving of the same title. Pretty humorous to me, but I guess titles are serious business to some.

This person's title didn't change:
http://img236.imageshack.us/img236/8836/wo...08140253wi4.jpg
One person suggested a guild name change to <Duelist Duelist>

[Mirajj]

July 8 News

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Manaprincess starts us off today, offering interesting handcrafted WoW related knicknacks.

Bornakk pipes up to help either quelch or fan the fires of flying mounts in Northrend. He says that there will be some process involved, but that it won't be an expensive one. I'm pretty interested in seeing what kind of questline Blizz can cook up to allow our flyable mounts freedom of the air again. This is of course just speculation, but there is also an instance around lvl 77 that is supposed to require a flying mount to get around in. Perhaps you have to quest in there to get the ability to fly again? A great many possiblities here.

Zach Yonzan opens up a can of worms with an article wondering about Season 4 in arena. He says that a 2000 rated team is nothing now, and is quite a large proponent of the new ranking system to "weed out the chafe". This leads to several interesting questions. One of the larger ones is "If folks can't get at least some wins, will they keep playing?" Arena PvP is getting to be like raiding was, pre-TBC. Anyone in Naxx gear (Season 3/4) will blow someone in MC gear (Season 1) out of the water. Sure, fun for the S3/4 level folks, not so much fun for the S1 (or less) level folks. If new blood stops coming in to the arena...what's going to happen to it? Will it truely sift down into a contest of skill, or will it just wither and die?

As ever, the Ask A Lore Nerd column provides some great insight into the story behind the game.

The Casuals, the "forgotten majority" when it comes to WoW...what do they have to look forward to in WotLK? Robin Torres answers that for you.

In a fun nod to the announcement of DIII, there will be a Tyrael mini/non combat "pet" added to WoW.

Finally...you have signed up for the WotLK Beta Test, right? It's now open, and you can head over and sign up for your chance to be a beta tester.

[Mirajj]

July 15 News

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Todays extended maintenance brings us Patch 2.4.3. This one has caused some controversy ever since hitting the PTR, with cheap, lower level mount, a Cheat Death nerf, and the ability to use Arena Points to buy epic gems, among other things. Personally, as I'm now running alts through the high 20's, low 30's recently, I'd forgotten just how annoying most of those zones are. There is some help with a couple new quest hubs and flight points, but for the most part, it's a LOT of back and forth running that just isn't fun.

Oh, and Happy 9th Birthday, Lurker Lounge!

[Quark]

Stealth changes incoming!

Most interesting additions to the patch notes
Rogues

* Sinister Calling now increases damage to Backstab and Hemorrhage by 1/2/3/4/5% (down from 2/4/6/8/10%.)


Sunwell Plateau

* M’uru, Entropius, Shadowsword Berserkers and Shadowsword Fury Mages have all had their health decreased.

Kil’jaeden Encounter

* Nether Protection will now correctly trigger from Kil’jaeden’s Shield Orb Shadow Bolts.
* Vanish now correctly wipes threat on Kil’jaeden.
* Sinister Reflections are now interruptible.
* Sinister Reflections on Hunters now use normal Wing Clip instead of Improved Wing Clip.
* Kil’jaeden will now wait slightly longer before casting Flame Darts after casting Darkness of a Thousand Souls.


PvP

* The time available to accept the option to “Enter Battle” for a battleground has been reduced to 1 minute and 20 seconds (previously 2 minutes) in order ot give each side more time to get a full complement of players before the battle begins.
* Rocket Boots Xtreme and Rocket Boots Xtreme Lite can no longer be used in the arena. These no longer have a failure chance.
* Zoning into an instance on a PvE realm will now drop your PvP flag.

M'uru wall has been weakened.

[Mirajj]

Zoning into an instance on a PvE realm will now drop your PvP flag.

I like this one. No more fussing around because someone needs to drop a flag before a raid.

[Artega]

Stealth changes incoming!
M'uru wall has been weakened.

Another "haha, screw you!" to Engineers. Lovely.

[Quark]

Another "haha, screw you!" to Engineers. Lovely.

Arena balance shouldn't be dictated by what profession you are.

Edit: play nice Quark.

[Tal]

Another "haha, screw you!" to Engineers. Lovely.

Seems fair given I couldn't use my lovely Netherweave nets to root and escape those pesky rogues, warriors and enh shammies that like to pick on Sharanna in arena.:)

[Pesmerga]

Seems fair given I couldn't use my lovely Netherweave nets to root and escape those pesky rogues, warriors and enh shammies that like to pick on Sharanna in arena.:)

Tal, if there is one thing I've learned from playing 3v3 with you, it's that everyone likes to pick on Sharanna in the arena.

[Tal]

Tal, if there is one thing I've learned from playing 3v3 with you, it's that everyone likes to pick on Sharanna in the arena.

I can't help it that she's so good looking that folks just want to run up an hug her...to death.:)

[Artega]

Seems fair given I couldn't use my lovely Netherweave nets to root and escape those pesky rogues, warriors and enh shammies that like to pick on Sharanna in arena.:)

And yet Blacksmiths have always been able to use their weapons and armor without restrictions.

I frankly think items should be allowed in arena; if you spend the damned money and time leveling a profession to a point, creating the items, and learning how to use them effectively, you should see some fscking results for all that time and effort.

[Quark]

And yet Blacksmiths have always been able to use their weapons and armor without restrictions.

I frankly think items should be allowed in arena; if you spend the damned money and time leveling a profession to a point, creating the items, and learning how to use them effectively, you should see some fscking results for all that time and effort.

Go to battlegrounds and stop whining, then. Arena isn't intended to make you feel better about using some stupid item; it's intended to be balanced.

There is a particular problem with on use effects and chance effects from professions in Arena. That includes the stupid stun mace. They can either confer an ability a class didn't have before (boots on a priest, vastly improving escapability) or enhance a class ability to stupid levels (warriors being the de-facto stun class). This, in turn, makes it a "required" profession, and gives the class more power than intended resulting in either a class getting nerfed or a profession getting nerfed. Guess what the better choice is?

[--Pete]

Hi,

Guess what the better choice is?

Blizzard replacing some of their artists with people who actually understand games (and a spreadsheet)?

Or was that a rhetorical question? :whistling:

--Pete

[Artega]

Go to battlegrounds and stop whining, then. Arena isn't intended to make you feel better about using some stupid item; it's intended to be balanced.

There is a particular problem with on use effects and chance effects from professions in Arena. That includes the stupid stun mace. They can either confer an ability a class didn't have before (boots on a priest, vastly improving escapability) or enhance a class ability to stupid levels (warriors being the de-facto stun class). This, in turn, makes it a "required" profession, and gives the class more power than intended resulting in either a class getting nerfed or a profession getting nerfed. Guess what the better choice is?

I highly doubt grenades would break arenas. The rocket boots were already fine; they're damn expensive to make, had a chance to backfire, and had a lengthy cooldown besides. More than that, they had no stats other than either AP or spellpower; no Stamina, no Resilience, nothing. Once you used them, you were stuck wearing crappy boots.

Grenades last a maximum of three seconds, have a short cast timer, and have a teeny tiny 3 yard radius; it's very possible to miss people with them. Frost Grenades are dispellable, and Arcane Bombs are incredibly expensive to make and require that you stand still in order to use them.

I don't see how Engineering would become a "required" arena profession at all. Like I said, I think if someone is willing to throw bombs and grenades that cost a fair amount of money, then they should be allowed to. It's their gold and time. Why is an Engineer's gold and time worth less than a Blacksmith's?

[Jester]

Why is an Engineer's gold and time worth less than a Blacksmith's?

It isn't. An engineer can use, say, the engineering helms in Arenas. There's no ban on them. But can smiths use their consumables in arenas? Sharpening stones, and the like? No.

-Jester

[NuurAbSaal]

It isn't. An engineer can use, say, the engineering helms in Arenas. There's no ban on them. But can smiths use their consumables in arenas? Sharpening stones, and the like? No.

-Jester

Well, one word: Thunder.

Overall I agree with the "not as big a deal" crew though, despite being an engineer myself. Not caring about PvP makes my opinion kind of ... of no importance, I guess:)

[Quark]

had a chance to backfire

Oh, so you want to add more RNG into Arenas, which isn't supposed to be based on RNG at all. That's awesome.

Grenades last a maximum of three seconds, have a short cast timer, and have a teeny tiny 3 yard radius; it's very possible to miss people with them. Frost Grenades are dispellable, and Arcane Bombs are incredibly expensive to make and require that you stand still in order to use them.

"Dispellable" is not a valid reason for something to be arena worthy. You don't give classes abilities they shouldn't have (everyone getting frost nova) because, oh, they might have a dispeller (who isn't healing the damage or doing other things while they're dispelling). Neither is "expensive". You don't pay for victories, you fight for them.

I don't see how Engineering would become a "required" arena profession at all. Like I said, I think if someone is willing to throw bombs and grenades that cost a fair amount of money, then they should be allowed to. It's their gold and time. Why is an Engineer's gold and time worth less than a Blacksmith's?

Blacksmithing was the mistake, because as I've mentioned, it includes one of an "on use" or a "chance on hit". Is the DPS from blacksmithing weapons the reason they're good? No, they're stuck at S2 level DPS. It's the proc, which shouldn't be there in the first place. Hopefully Blizzard's acknowledged this by the fact that they're nerfing mace specialization in WotLK and with any luck are smart enough to not create that weapon again.

For Arena, every profession should be able to confer some stat bonuses that you couldn't get otherwise, and they'll all balance out pretty much. No profession should confer on use or chance on hit abilities.

Again, stop whining and go play battlegrounds. That's what you want. An unbalanced free for all where skill matters less but you can pay some extra gold to get cheap kills.

[Tal]

I don't see how Engineering would become a "required" arena profession at all. Like I said, I think if someone is willing to throw bombs and grenades that cost a fair amount of money, then they should be allowed to. It's their gold and time. Why is an Engineer's gold and time worth less than a Blacksmith's?

And I can wear the lovely mooncloth robes that my profession allows me to create. Its the consumeable part of the confessions that they've removed.

Don't get me wrong. As a paladin I *have* to stand still and have LoS on my targets in order to heal them. I have one instant cast heal that is on a 14 second timer. I pillar hump as a part of my role in the arenas. I would dearly love to have a way to, at least for a little while, get away from the melee so I can do my job and heal. In BGs the nets allow me to use that as a means of getting distance from a rogue or a warrior. But having to face engineering stuns/disorients or someone potting at the last second in Arena is not my idea of skill.

[RTM]

I've always thought that arenas should have predefined sets of equipment. If you want a purely skill-based affair, then give everyone the same gear and let talent spec and player skill be the rule of the day. Sure you remove a huge motivation to play arenas by taking away the gear rewards, but there are ways around that- titles, mounts, heck, maybe even free playtime.