Weather effects

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Weather effects are ambient graphics that appear in-game that simulate real weather (but currently have no mechanical effect). In Patch 1.10 rainfall, snowstorms and sandstorms were added to various zones in World of Warcraft.

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Current Weather Effects

• Clouds - varies over time.
• Fog - apart from obscuring one's view, has no mechanical effects.
• Lightning - appears in some zones (like the Blasted Lands), but currently has no mechanical effect as a weather phenomenon.
• Snow - can be seen on the ground and on trees in some zones, and now also as precipitation since Patch 1.10. In such zones, you can see a character's breath, much like you would in real life in a cold environment.
• Rainfall - added in Patch 1.10.
• Sandstorms - added in Patch 1.10.

Possible Future Inclusion

• Arcane energy bolts - will appear in the Draenei starting zones.
• Raining blood - possible that gamers who kill Hakkar, the blood god, will cause a rain of blood (MTV interview)
• Volcanic ash - a storm of ashes surrounding in-game volcanoes. (MTV interview)
• Monsoon rainfall - the developers may add an intense monsoon everywhere for about a week (MTV interview)
• Christmas Snow - on Christmas it might snow everywhere all at once. (MTV interview)
• Wind - does not currently appear noticeably in-game.

Weathered Zones

Weather currently occurs the following areas:

Rain

• Arathi Basin
• Darkshore
• Desolace
• Deadwind Pass
• Dustwallow Marsh
• Duskwood
• Eastern Plaguelands (including Stratholme)
• Elwynn Forest
• Feralas
• Hillsbrad Foothills
• Hinterlands
• Mulgore
• Redridge Mountains
• Stranglethorn Vale (Including Zul'Gurub)
• Teldrassil
• Tirisfal Glades
• Un'Goro Crater
• Wetlands

Snow

• Alterac Mountains
• Dun Morogh
• Winterspring

Sandstorms

• Silithus (Including Ahn'Qiraj)
• Tanaris

More weather is being added to the world as time progresses!

Note: A Sandstorm starts automatically when you engage Ossirian the Unscarred in the Ruins of Ahn'Qiraj and does not stop once the encounter is over.

Expansion Related Effects

There will probably be additional weather and particle effects in the Burning Crusade expansion, suggested by the zone art suggests this.

Tom Chilton: "I don't think the zones that you'll find will have a lot of equivalents in the current world." For example, while weather is a new feature to the main world, its possible that it could be specially altered for Outlands experiences. "Certainly the nether storm kind of stuff lends itself to that very well. All these giant arcane storms, which would be some very cool weather," Tom hypothesises." Source

Coding Details

MTV interview: "Instead, each sub-zone among the 11 where weather is currently available is now linked to a set of variables that allow for the possibility of precipitation. The variables have been set to make the potential weather appropriate, meaning heavy showers are more likely in one region and drizzles in another. As Kaplan described it, the zone is practically asking itself whether there will be weather. "It's sort of randomly picking: 'I'm ready to rain but do I want to rain?' " he said. Duration will be chosen based on an automated system as well, with enough variables to make things unpredictable. "We didn't want it to be such a mathematical formula that somebody could literally sit with a stopwatch, log in, go to a zone and go, 'OK in two, one, go — it's going to rain.' "

"Realistic" Weather Effects

The effects in-game do not affect gameplay, but in some games can have an effect that influences gameplay beyond aesthetics:

• For example, in PC game called "Myth" rain could extinguish fire arrows or thrown bombs in flight randomly depending on whether there was rain or snow.
• Fog, sandstorms or wind could reduce the accuracy of ranged weapons.
• Lightning could cause nature damage if struck or to nearby player characters or mobs. Perhaps even doing more damage to mail or plate wearers.
• Rain could make bombs become duds or put out cooking fires.
• Snow could lessen the effects of fire damage.
• MTV interview - Kaplan has seen gamer requests for rain that isn't just cosmetic but has the effect of rusting armor and muddling travel. Those are even the types of features promised in the upcoming MMO "Dark and Light," whose Web site says winds will slow winged characters and accumulating snow will stymie dwarves. Kaplan is not into that kind of thing. "There's already an oppressive feel when the lightning comes in and the rain starts to hit," he said. "I think that's enough that we don't need to straight-up slow gameplay down." That isn't to say Blizzard isn't considering weather that has effects. "If we ever do add things that would tie directly into the weather, we'd rather do something more as a bonus," Kaplan said. "Like perhaps more herbs grow after it rains."