Slashdot Mirror
BlizzCon Keynote — New WoW Expansion, Diablo 3 Details
BlizzCon kicked off this morning with a keynote address that brought some major announcements for some of their games. First, World of Warcraft's third expansion, Cataclysm, was officially revealed. It differs from the previous expansions in that they will not be creating an entirely new continent for players to explore. Instead, the two huge continents from the original game will be going through a literal cataclysm, causing some zones to be destroyed, new ones to become available, and existing ones to be entirely revamped. Big news came for Diablo III as well, with the announcement of the Monk class and a trailer showing how it plays. More details for both games as well as StarCraft II will undoubtedly become available over the next few days, but read on for more about what we already know. If you have any questions, don't forget to post them here.
Cataclysm will also be different due to the fact that the new level cap is 85 — a five-level increase, as opposed to the ten-level increases from previous expansions. That's not to say there is less content, but the idea is that each individual level will be more meaningful. There will be two new playable races for this expansion: Goblins for the Horde and Worgen for the Alliance. The disaster apparently strikes the Goblins hard, forcing from their lands and into conflict with an "unknown enemy," which the Horde helps them with. Meanwhile, the Greymane Wall has broken open, revealing the kingdom of Gilneas, the residents of which were turned into the werewolf-like Worgen, but were able to keep their human minds.
The revamped Azeroth will include updated dungeons — heroic versions of Shadowfang Keep and the Deadmines — as well as entirely new dungeons for leveling and endgame. It's not yet clear whether the old version of the damaged zones will still be around in some form, but look for an explanation in the next few days. Players will be able to use their flying mounts in the new Azeroth. The dragon Deathwing is making a return, and will serve as a major villain. In addition to the damaged zones, some will change in other ways — Desolace, which is currently a barren wasteland, will find new life from the water of the tidal waves, turning the land green. The more damaged zones will feature lots of lava and broken terrain. There will be new Battlegrounds, new Race/Class combinations (we saw a Troll Druid, Tauren Paladin, and Gnome Priest), a new profession called Archaeology, a guild leveling system, tons of new monsters and quests, as well as a new "character progression" system called "Path of the Titans."
From the Diablo III Monk trailer, you can see that the class seems to have an area-of-effect swing of his weapon, a way to reflect spells, and an attack that sprints between a bunch of enemies, hitting each of them. The monk also seems to be able to make enemies explode quite easily. And messily.
The revamped Azeroth will include updated dungeons — heroic versions of Shadowfang Keep and the Deadmines — as well as entirely new dungeons for leveling and endgame. It's not yet clear whether the old version of the damaged zones will still be around in some form, but look for an explanation in the next few days. Players will be able to use their flying mounts in the new Azeroth. The dragon Deathwing is making a return, and will serve as a major villain. In addition to the damaged zones, some will change in other ways — Desolace, which is currently a barren wasteland, will find new life from the water of the tidal waves, turning the land green. The more damaged zones will feature lots of lava and broken terrain. There will be new Battlegrounds, new Race/Class combinations (we saw a Troll Druid, Tauren Paladin, and Gnome Priest), a new profession called Archaeology, a guild leveling system, tons of new monsters and quests, as well as a new "character progression" system called "Path of the Titans."
From the Diablo III Monk trailer, you can see that the class seems to have an area-of-effect swing of his weapon, a way to reflect spells, and an attack that sprints between a bunch of enemies, hitting each of them. The monk also seems to be able to make enemies explode quite easily. And messily.
"Cataclysm will also be different due to the fact that the new level cap is 85 -- a five-level increase, as opposed to the ten-level increases from previous expansions. That's not to say there is less content, but the idea is that each individual level will be more meaningful. "
What does that even mean?
I love WoW and always will (even if I don't play it now for 6 months), but the 3D engine is getting old. It doesn't matter if you have a new PC, it will still lag when too much players are in the same zone. I'd go back, but I need some new mind blowing sound and 3D experience, after all this is why we like PC games, always delivering top technology.
Good luck WoW.
Love many, trust a few, do harm to none.
I read elsewhere that the changes to old zones are likely to be done with their 'phasing' method used in some zones of the current expansion. It kind of splits the zone into parallel versions, and what a player sees (and what other players they see)will be different depending on what quests they've done. What they've done with it so far did a great job of giving the illusion that players were making a difference in their world.
It makes sense that they would do this with the old-world areas rather than just replace them; low-level characters still need places to hunt and quest.
Blizzard: Do you have a special name for the female version of the monk class? Like nuns... or something?
-SanguS
From the Diablo III Monk trailer, you can see...
No I can't! The only link in the article is to the "Ask Blizzard people something or another"... and every other comment seems to be a bunch of WoW zombies.
"When life gives you lemons, don't make lemonade. Make life take the lemons back!" -- Cave Johnson
What is means is that Blizzard recognizes that people don't like to wait to do end game content. While I expect the time requirement between levels to be higher I fully expect that they merely compressed eight to ten levels into five. It also is probably a method to bring back WOW from the rampant gear inflation it is suffering. Both expansions seriously ramped gear up to major importance over the previous. It is nearly monty hall in effect.
The level of 85 also makes it possible to increment levels between expansions. They can slowly add a level or two requiring play to reach newer raids and gear. Right now the problem is that all top end gear is level 80. This means each new raid just expands on level 80 gear making the game solely revolving around gear. The problem is that "why hate gear X at level 80 when gear Y is there as well?" It invalidates similarly level gear and the content that provides it. Will they do this? Who knows, but they have headroom to act should they choose.
Plus redoing the old world allows the overcome one major problem people had with it, no flying.
* Winners compare their achievements to their goals, losers compare theirs to that of others.
Must be some new definition of the word "life" I'm not familiar with.
"Seven Deadly Sins? I thought it was a to-do list!"
... here!
XML is a known as a key material required to create SMD: Software of Mass Destruction
I am always impressed on how much Blizzard really "gets it" when it comes to making a game. Having the cataclysm occur on the original continents allows them to update those areas so that all areas can allow flying mounts. Due to the way the game was originally written, flying mounts are not allowed in the original content. This allows them to update and improve those zones while also making all the newbie quests better and more interesting. They learned a lot since it first came out, and you can really see that with their latest expansion. Quests are grouped together better and closer to the quest giver. They are more interesting (at least to me) than the original content. They use new game mechanics like vehicles. Now all that can be seen at level 1. Smart move.
Support a great indie game: http://www.abaddon360.com
No, I don't think that I have.
I've played an engineer in WoW since the first day I created my toon.
Engineering items fall into a few categories. (Note: I haven't played in a few months, so it is entirely possible that some of these -might- have been addressed... but I rather doubt it.)
Vanity: The Hog, and similar items. To be honest, I wouldn't trade my Hog for any other land mount out there, but it doesn't offer anything that other land mounts don't. Admittedly, I liked it better when I could fall from any distance on without anything happening... But hey.
Single user items: Aka, the teleporters. I used them all the time when I was in the appropriate areas / level range, but they don't make the profession, in and of itself, worthwhile.
Explosives: Largely bloody worthless.
Scopes: Useful, but so flooded on the market that you don't really have to worry about making one yourself; just hit up the AH.
Item "enchants": Never used. Seriously, there's no point to them, everyone would rather have a real enchant to their items rather than something with a short use, long cooldown, and questionable utility (especially in raid). Boots? Enchant. Cloak? Enchant. Belt? Put the belt buckle on there and socket a gem. Etc.
Helms: Most engineers would greatly prefer if they could make them for non-engineers. It would actually be a moneymaker.
The problems with engineering could be solved in a few ways:
1) Recycling: Let engineers turn gray/white items into metal scrap which functions similar to ore, but you can't get gems from it.
2) Let them make items for non-engineers: Engineering is the only profession where the majority of the actual items (not parts) can't be used by non-engineers.
3) Give engineers a bonus on mechanical mounts. Bonus speed / damage. It wouldn't even have to be much of a bonus. Say, skill/75 as a percentage.
4) Give engineers something that actually makes them useful on a raid... other than repair bots. Yes, I recognize that there are certain things that are useful with single bosses (the Shadow Reflector for Twin Emps was one), but I'm looking for something with the more constant utility that enchantment or alchemy (flasks) provides.
5) Lower the failure rate. Engineering doesn't work like that; it's actually genuinely reliable.
I like you, Stuart. You're not like everyone else, here, at Slashdot.
I don't play anymore, but seriously, a Troll Druid? Is nothing sacred anymore? I can only imagine what kind of piss-poor retcon that will involve.
See I quit WoW before WotLK because I knew it would mean that Burning Crusade Endgame would be pointless, much like Onyxia and MC and BWL and AQ and Naxx became pointless with the release of Burning Crusade. See I didn't have a problem with Vanilla Wow for that manner, you had to get attuned for Onyxia to get the gear good enough to go into Molten Core. You needed the Gear from Molten Core to progress to Black Wing Lair. So on and so forth (AQ could be argued though).
Anyways. So I was upset that all this really well generated Content was completely ditched with each new expansion, being that if you told someone about a 45 baron run and how pulling it off was the shiz, nowadays they'd either laugh at its easy sauce or just go "Whats a stratholme?"
And like mentioned in some other comments in other articles, their new leveling system makes it easier to level up, and actually bypass alot of the content along the way. If I can get my lvl 30 - lvl 40 sprint in 1 or 2 zones easily accessible to the alliance, why would I go to Desolace, why would I explore Mauradon or whatever?
So I quit Wow. It was TOO easy to progress to endgame, and everyone and their mother could epic themselves with little to no effort. Dropping the regular raid size from 40 to 25 made Raiding seem more casual, which it shouldn't have turned into. Make the raids 25 man accessible? Sure, but why drop 40 mans? Apparently they made a comeback in WotLK so I'll quit my bitching.
Anyways, so NOW they're re-introducing Azeroth, bringing it back. This is what I would want to see. Especially with Deathwing being prominent again, he's probably my favourite Warcraft Villain. For whatever Reason Arthas didn't seem all that badass to me because its really Ner'zhul controlling him.
So what do I do? Do I return to WoW, try to pick up all the complex and convoluted new additions, like new talent trees? Do I go back to WoW to see if they'll turn Gnomer into an actual city? (Prays). Do I Spend a good chunk just to get back into a subscription video game?
But what about the old stuff? If zones are changing, wouldn't that mean some of the old content is gone and lost forever? To live only in my memory? Will Black rock Depths be wiped out with a volcanic eruption?
I... I feel so torn...
Compare this Diablo 3 Monk Trailer that just came out in 2009:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wFGXKV_45HQ
With this Warcraft 3 trailer that was released back in 1999:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iOdTeT1xUQQ
Pretty wild. A 10 year difference, and the WC3 trailer still looks better to me.
Another $45 to play new content for a game you already bought and pay $15 a month to play.
Hey Blizz, how about not charging for this one, say, maybe as a thank you to the suckers like me that have played for years and already bought the two previous expansions?
If it ain't broken, don't fix it.
It seems to me that this is a case where "breaking" it (Azeroth) is actually going to improve it, by offering new places to go, things to do, etc.
Now that I think about it, I'm pretty sure everything I just said is completely wrong.
It's not like they couldn't simply use the same gameplay engine and provide multiple graphics engines. I would love to see engines designed specifically for low-end (netbook), mid-end (workstation), and high-end (Sli-rig), all optimized and tuned to give the very best of each (performance, balance, quality).
They've got plenty of funding, developers and experience to get this done.
Tailors should be able to repair their own cloth gear.
Blacksmiths should be able to repair their own mail/plate gear.
Leatherworkers should be able to repair their own leather gear.
We shouldn't have to plunk down 15g per death in Ulduar to some stranger to fix a crafted item WE CREATED.
Sigh.
The wise Sir Moodemir was the first to join Thrall's Tauren Paladins, but other illustrious names were soon to follow:
Sir Mooselot the Brave; Sir Moolahad the Pure; and Sir Moobin the Not-quite-so-brave-as-Sir-Mooselot who had nearly fought the Dragon Onyxia, who had nearly stood up to the vicious Chicken of Felwood, and who had personally wet himself at the Battle of Hillsbrad; and the aptly named Sir Not-mooing-in-this-expansion. Together they formed a band whose names and deeds were to be retold throughout the forums, the Moos of the Round Stolen Table From Silvermoon.
~~ Behold the flying cow with a rail gun! ~~
In World of Warcraft: Cataclysm, players will be able to play as two new races -- goblins and worgen -- as they explore newly revealed parts of Azeroth and re-experience familiar zones across Kalimdor and the Eastern Kingdoms, areas rewrought by the cataclysm and filled with new opportunities for adventure.
Well, so - what do we know about those two races? Goblins are already all over, and thus have places they can be already. Booty Bay, K3, blah etc. What's important about these places is that they are neither alliance nor horde; in fact, alliance and horde players can use auction houses in goblin areas to buy from each other.
Worgen are killed equally by both horde and alliance. There are a few town-esque areas already established for them.
So...is blizzard going to keep the theme those two already have, and have 2 new player races that aren't associated with a faction? Seems like it be hard to do the group thing at that point...
Really? The FAQ over on the Cataclysm page is quite clear about this:
GLaDOS for President 2016! "Well here we are again. It's always such a pleasure." -- GLaDOS, 2011
I'd break down the WoW players into a few catagories based on what they enjoy:
1. Exploration
2. Challenge (raiders)
3. Grinding (collectors/professions/achievements)
4. Rewards (loot/gold)
I find the challenge aspect of games fun, as well as the exploration. Aside from Ulduar the exploration aspect after you hit 80 is done, so you're left with 2,3,4.
Ulduar itself is a hollow shell of what it used to be. My guild wasn't hardcore raiding, but we managed to get the first bosses down before any nerfs happened. Now XT is a joke compared to what he used to be - hard mode is slightly easier than normal mode used to be. Colosseum is a joke difficulty wise, so #2 is out the window.
#3 will always be around, and loot used to be based off raiding, but now they've made it based off grinding instead. So if your reasoning follows mine the question comes down to - do you enjoy grinding for items that will be obsolete in the next patch or expansion at the latest? Is doing that really more fun than all the other possible games out there?
Now as far as the 2/3rds number:
EoE(Maly)/OS/VoA are good for maybe 30 minutes of playtime each max per week if you actually know what you're doing. (Not sure why you mentioned Nexus since it's a 5 man) Even counting those though you're looking at 19 Naxx bosses + 5 Col bosses Vs. 14 Ulduar + 4 Other. So 57% rehashed endgame content.
I'm not even sure if it's fair to give them credit for Naxx in the 8 months count since it was released with wrath, as was a lot of the other content. If I don't count it that means they've only released a major raid every 4 months - which is really slow, especially for one of the raids being a 5 boss room basically. I don't think an average of a new boss per week is too much to ask - of course that's assuming they would actually make the boss hard enough so you could spend a night or two of attempts on him.
TLDR:
WoW has turned into a "hurry up and wait" of getting your gear in a couple weeks and then paying blizzard to not play for a couple months until they give you a new tier.
I agree but to add some balance (i think) it should cost you materials.
Ah good point. You're both right. A tailor should be able to repair her own gear, but has to pay for the thread.