Achievements are a great way for WoWWiki users to compete in a friendly contest of badge collection, as well as a way to chart individual contributions. Just like achievements in Warcraft, these are for bragging rights, a way to get your name noticed, and a way to collect a large array of badges to display on your personal page.
A leaderboard keeps track of points earned, as well as most recent badges. Badges and ways to earn them are themed according to Warcraft. They can be as simple as making a single edit, making a thousand edits, or making edits to specific types of pages. Achievements can cover editing, blogging, uploading pics, uploading videos, and more.
If folks are interested, a forum thread would be dedicated to ideas about images, names, and badge requirements.
A poll has been set up here for voting. People can leave comments there or here, if they'd like to leave one. It isn't required! More information about achievements can be found here.
Blizzard recently unveiled the highly-anticipated talent calculator for their upcoming expansion, Mists of Pandaria. Below you will find direct links to each of the classes. On the site you will find both talents and abilities for all classes (Monk coming soon). This includes the new Guardian/Feral split for Druids.
Earlier today the Blizzard class designers, along with Community ManagersZarhym and Bashiok, sat down with Warcraft players to reveal some interesting tidbits about upcoming class changes with Mists of Pandaria. In a nutshell, here are some of the highlights. The full transcript can be found here.
Changes are on the horizon for Runeforging, but nothing shared as of yet.
The new ability, Gorefiend's Grasp, will allow Death Knights to [Death Grip] multiple targets. As if there needed to be another cool factor: the area pulled to can be focused on an enemy, an ally, or yourself.
Infernal Embers: the resource for Destruction locks, will be built up by [Incinerating] an [immolated] target. Infernal Embers increase the power of the next single [Conflagrate]/[Soul Fire] by 10%, consuming all Embers. As the lock gains more Embers, they slowly ignite.
Unknown what other abilities will consume/generate Embers.
Soul shards: will passively regenerate out of combat at a rate of 1 per 45 seconds, but also generated by [Drain Soul].
[Soulburn] will have a 15 second cooldown; each ability can only be soulburned once a minute; new Soulburn abilities will be added, such as Soulburn: Curse - curses apply to all targets within x range of the target
Grimoire of Supremacy will allow the upgrading of a Felguard into a Wrathguard
[Shadow Bolt] is given to all locks at level one; at level 40, it changes for each spec: Affliction (Malefic Grasp), Demonology (Demonic Slash, in [Metamorphosis]), Destruction (Incinerate).
Fury spec will gain Wild Strike, an off-hand attack without [Slam]'s cast time. Bloodsurge proc would allow three Wild Strikes on a one-second cooldown, also having the [Mortal Strike] debuff.
We're currently investigating a form of 'Active Mitigation' for each tanking class. This means that tanks will continue to do similar damage (relative to DPS specs) as they do today, but that their skill usage in combat will directly impact their ability to survive and mitigate damage. We aren't firm on any of these mechanics yet, but we're considering options like no longer generating rage from damage taken, only from ability usage and white swings. For example, Shield Slam could generate rage instead of costing it, and Shield Block could cost a large amount of Rage, but have no cooldown. This would lead to offensive stats (such as haste) increasing rage generation, and therefore increasing mitigation.
The idea isn't necessarily new, but a recent article on O'Reilly Radar by Marie Bjerede is one of the better ones that seeks to first understand how games like Warcraft and Minecraft are engaging and attractive, and second how to bring those elements into the classroom.
As it pertains to Warcraft, Ms. Bjerede leaves almost no area uncovered. Goals = grades, the game = school, and leveling up is the vehicle to success. Early on in her critique she mentions using a type of "unlocking" of new content, similar to how Warcraft functions, and something that has some merit. Students right now are guided through content at a set pace and a set order, but in a effort to provide ownership and autonomy, she suggests that students be able to proceed at their own pace, unlocking whatever they think the next content is they're ready for. Of course, this doesn't mean jumping from basic math to calculus; each subject would be split into smaller, but related, modules.
She goes on to examine the role of group dynamics within the game world and how those can fit nicely with such an approach to education. Be it guilds or your basic dungeon run, players not only need to know the basics (say, what we learn in school), but also how to apply those basics using higher thinking and collaboration (like the real world).
All in all, it's an intriguing article, and one of the better analyses presented recently. Minecraft is thrown in there to address another side of education, that of promoting exploration and curiosity, while not knowing just how things will turn out. This is a nice marriage with what she shows Warcraft can provide, as the real world requires knowing the basics, how to use them efficiently and collaboratively, while also having to stretch beyond what you know sometimes into the unknown.
This little blurb only scratches the surface. Check out the article at their site.
It's no doubt that Blizzard loves to take your money. After all, that's why we keep playing World of Warcraft. Blizzard recently announced that users who sign up for the Annual Pass (NA) (EU) will be given a free copy of Diablo III when it releases early next year. The copies of Diablo III will be the complete version of the game and not some rip-off trial version.
If this wasn't enough swag to get you Wow-boys and Wow-girls excited, Blizzard has also announced more things that they are including with the Annual Pass. They are launching a new mount called Tyrael's Charger and guaranteed beta access to the upcoming Mists of Pandaria expansion.
In their own words:
Tyrael's Charger WoW Flying Mount - Ride for the Archangel of Justice on all current and future characters on a single World of Warcraft account. Tyrael's Charger will arrive via in-game mail with the upcoming launch of patch 4.3.
Access to the Next WoW Expansion Beta Test - Get a guaranteed spot in the beta test for the next World of Warcraft expansion (at a time to be announced in the future).
The only catch is that players had to have an account registered by October 18th this year. The Annual Pass is a twelve month commitment, though you can pay in whatever installments you want. More information can be found at their official FAQ page (NA FAQ) (EU FAQ).
Does the incentive of receiving these bonuses and a copy of Diablo III excite you enough to purchase an Annual Pass? How many of you already have the Annual Pass?
Day two of BlizzCon is here, and the day is chock full of Q&A. We've already sat through the first, the Class, Items, and Professions Panel, and you can find the link below. As the other panels happen, we'll update this post with more links!
That should wrap it up for all the major panels at BlizzCon! If you missed any of the previous postings, you can find them here, at our day one coverage.
BlizzCon 2011 officially started today at Anaheim in California! We'll be covering the events as they unfold, so stay tuned to this blog post for information as it comes in!
Below you will find all the newest information that we've got, updated regularly, with the most recent additions listed first:
From now until mid-November Blizzard will be auctioning off a piece of gaming history on Ebay. Due to recent upgrades, the company now has a large set of old server blades - for both North American and European servers - that housed the gaming world (of Warcraft) in its infancy. Proceeds will benefit St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, dedicated to fighting and developing treatments for childhood cancer.
The server blades are non-functional, but each comes with a commemorative plaque showing the server's name, signed by the Blizzard team. There are multiple available blades per realm, so be sure to check the realm release schedule (linked on each date below) if there's a particular one you are searching for. The auction dates are as follows:
Blades bids start at $100, and there is no limit on how many blades you may purchase. There are a number of questions answered in their FAQ, but here are some highlights:
Q: How much of my money goes to St. Jude Children's Research Hospital?
A: St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital will receive 100% of the winning bid on this auction less $50 for the actual costs for creation of packaging, handling, and insurance, any fee associated with the use of PayPal, and approximately 1% for the eBay listing fee.
Q: How long does the auction last?
A: There will be a total of four weeks of auctions. Each week will contain a new set of World of Warcraft server blades for the community to bid on.
Q: When will I receive my World of Warcraft server blade if I win one in the auction?
A: Barring unanticipated circumstances, the expected delivery time for items is 3-4 weeks after final payment is received and acknowledged.
The New York Times best-selling novel The Shattering chronicles the heart-pounding events that took place leading up to World of Warcraft: Cataclysm.
If you're an aspiring loremaster looking for a chance to add this tome to your library, then we invite you take part in our latest contest. All you have to do is read excerpts from the novel and take a quiz about what transpired for a chance to win one of 20 copies signed by the author, Christie Golden. Ready to enter? Check out the rules, then visit the contest page for all the details.
Achievements are a great way for WoWWiki users to compete in a friendly contest of badge collection, as well as a way to chart individual contributions. Just like achievements in Warcraft, these are for bragging rights, a way to get your name noticed, and a way to collect a large array of badges to display on your personal page.
A leaderboard keeps track of points earned, as well as most recent badges. Badges and ways to earn them are themed according to Warcraft. They can be as simple as making a single edit, making a thousand edits, or making edits to specific types of pages. Achievements can cover editing, blogging, uploading pics, uploading videos, and more.
If folks are interested, a forum thread would be dedicated to ideas about images, names, and badge requirements.
A poll has been set up here for voting. People can leave comments there or here, if they'd like to leave one. It isn't required! More information about achievements can be found here.
A New Year, a new contest! WoWWiki is giving away a heap of BlizzCon swag, offered in three prize tiers, from a coveted Arthas helm to a Diablrgl (Diablo murloc) pet. Open to US and UK residents, head on over to the contest page to enter!
I will try to keep this blog post up to date and modify it based on commentary.
Commentary and ideas
Commentary on casuals...
As much press as hardcore players get around World of Warcraft, the difference in making money or not for Blizzard Entertainment is not the hardcore players. Hardcore players don't represent the majority of players, but use up a vast majority of the resources in the game. This is because it is obvious that Blizzard spends a majority of its time catering to hardcore players. They spend inordinate amounts of time creating, refining and tweaking top-level raids, creating and tinkering with itemization for top-level raids and heroic instances, and responding to complaints and support requests from raiders. Blizzard is falling into the squeaky wheel trap.
Because of this misplaced focus on hardcore players and their desire for top-level content, Blizzard is losing casuals. Casuals is what separates World of Warcraft from most MMOs. When the game first came out it was by far the most casual friendly MMO with the most depth and wise gameplay compromises. Blizzard has lost its way from this winning formula and so it is losing casuals[1] at a rate too fast to maintain growth or even keeping at a plateau.[2][3]
Why are casuals so important? Because they pay as much as hardcore players, but use far less of Blizzard's resources. If the trend continues, Blizzard will continue to spend more and more resources on less and less players. It could become a vicious cycle.[4] This time is still probably quite far off, since Blizzard can probably justify and maintain adequate content release cycles as long as their player base remains in the multiple millions, but they appear to be on the downside of the game's life-cycle[5] and are doing very little to really reverse the trend.
Commentary on twinks
Another group of players, some of whom could actually be considered "hardcore" in many respects, that Blizzard is also neglecting is the twink community. Blizzard has apparently long voiced its support for the twink community, but hasn't really delivered in their laser focus on end-game content.[6] Although they acknowledge the problem, Blizzard has actually stated that their priority is on max-level PvP and that they apparently don't want to divert resources away from that.[7] The twink community is less interested in immersion, lore, and quests than some of the casual community, but they definitely want focus on non-level cap, non-end game content. The twinks want attention to class balance and itemization at lower levels. So, as casuals will spend more time leveling at low levels, some of the benefits gained from aiding either twinks or casuals will benefit both.
General
Allow the use of rest as a sort of currency or pre-req for some content.
Remove as much grinding as possible. Basically, this means put something in dailies or other rep grind activities far more optional.
Dailies should give you something useful like profession ingredients, drink, food, potions, etc. and not just money and rep.
Dailies should help complete some larger task, like the opening of Ahn'Qiraj or the various phases of Isle of Quel'Danas.
Make more dailies for different levels, but with much shorter rep grinds (remove the big grind to exalted for dailies below the level cap).
Adjust all-level dailies to be divided among racial capitals to make each a quest hub for different level ranges of players. This way, there would be less congestion.
Stormwind City/Orgrimmar for level 81+.
Dalaran for level 71 - 80.
Shattrath City for level 61 - 70.
Ironforge/Undercity for level 41 - 60.
Darnassus/Exodar/Thunder Bluff/Silvermoon City for level 1 - 40.
Add more low level instances in or near racial capitals not congregated by level cap players.
These low-level instances, if done right can also serve the cross purpose of working on twink class balance through itemization coming out of these new instances.
Make frequenting less central racial capitals easier by making getting in and out or getting between key buildings easier.
Put flight path destination inside Exodar/Undercity or portal inside from flight path.
Tune quests in zones more so leveling matches zones better.
Add back longer questlines lower and mid-level (<level 60), many of which were removed with Cataclysm.
Professions
Allow players to craft for other players who have soulbound ingredients, but only one type of ingredient at a time and possible only once per day/week/month.
Add finds that point directly to a new dig site zone rather than mostly random hunting.
Allow random items to be found at dig sites that seem at least semi-relevant to archaeology, like recipes, jewelry, etc.
Since Archaeology is a secondary profession, make different areas accessible based on a related primary profession.
...or just kill it entirely.
Fix First Aid so there are more useful products like:
More powerful bandages at high levels.
More powerful anti-venoms.
Allow "deconstructing" cloth items for cloth items.
Business changes
Introduce tiered subscription rates depending on what expansion you have up to. The current model is unfair and new subscribers who don't want to buy all the expansions know it.
Come out with "Battle Chest" omnibus software boxes with all but the last expansion included faster and for a lower price (say around US$40-60/€30-50).
Blizzard recently offered vanilla and for US$20,[8] so they're already going in that direction, but this offer may be promotional and expire at some point.
Pie-in-the-sky
Player representation committee to Blizzard. Maybe like EVE Online's CSM (Council of Stellar Management).
Allow groups of guilds to form "nations" (or "unions"?).
Guild housing.
Player housing. This isn't that important, unless it can be done in a way that doesn't strain server resources too much.
Player built environment elements (bridges, buildings, farms, tunnels, etc.).
Our first annual summer contest officially ended this past week. As promised, here's a list of the winners! If your name isn't here, don't worry, as this won't be our last contest. We have some exciting giveaways planned for the remainder of the year, so keep an eye out for them! Now for the lucky winners:
Grand Prize!
Joseph R - The Grand Prize winner, lucky to snag some cool Razer gear!
First Place!
Dan E - First Place winner, scoring a $50 gift certificate to J!nx!
Second Place
Joshua D & Erik P - Second Place winners, getting 60 days worth of free Warcraft game time!
Third Place
Anthony K, Jeremy B, & Robert O - Third Place winners, getting their own copy of the World of Warcraft soundtrack!
WoWWiki is a wiki dedicated to cataloguing Blizzard Entertainment's Warcraft universe (with a focus on World of Warcraft), covering the entire Warcraft series of games, RPG reference books, strategy guides, novels and other sources.
Zul'Aman is a 10-man raid dungeon located in the Ghostlands. Although it requires no attunement and is intended to be more accessible to players on tight schedules, it was designed to be more difficult than Karazhan and with better loot. In fact, the first bosses in ZA require Kara-level gear, while the later bosses need significantly better - even Tier 5 equipped groups don't consider this a walkthrough. Since the instance contains only six bosses, it indeed requires less time than a Karazhan full clear.
Once, forest trolls controlled a vast swath of Lordaeron. Their empire was called Zul'Aman, and the current area known as Zul'Aman was their power center. Many centuries ago, high elves and humans allied to defeat the empire and drove the trolls to near extinction...
