Project Lore

Ah, yes. All of your favorite Blues are back from their trip to BlizzCon, ready to tackle the never-ending Q&A session that is the official World of Warcraft forums. And those of you that didn't attend the convention certainly aren't scared to toss a few inquiries their way! Ghostcrawler was bemused that his sarcasm didn't come off very well over the internet when he unwittingly convinced people that Icecrown Citadel would be home to a whopping 31 different bosses (we now know it to be 12). Well, it seems that it doesn't work any better in real life, either. Ghostcrawler when he doesn't have to deal with the official forums. Referring to the top drop from the very same dungeon (the Legendary 2-handed axe, Shadowmourne) as a "Hunter weapon" didn't fly with the WoW community, apparently. Constantly fretting over nerfs and the unfair advantages of rival classes tends to keep the obsessive players on their toes. While I think most people got the joke, it seems as though GC still had to come right out and say it:

Anyone capable of using a two-handed axe can use Shadowmourne. The stat allocation may not benefit hunters or shamans as much as warriors, DKs or paladins.

So there you go. No need to whine (unless you like to run around in tights with a large wooden stick strapped to your back and make your pet do all the work). It might not even work for Hunters. But even if it does, it's certainly not an exclusive prize. Also, Nethaera is doing her best to keep eager players safe:

As always, when there is a beta, we will announce it. Please be wary of any and all claims of a beta or alpha for the new expansion being held.

Boubouille over at MMO-Champion says he's already received his first beta-invite spam, so let that be a warning to all of ya. If you see anything in your inbox claiming to give you exclusive access to the alpha, beta, or Cataclysm in any form, you might as well just go ahead and drag it to your trash can (or better yet, report the spam). With those caveats out of the way, we can see what Blizzard's saying about all of the interesting new systems they introduced over the past weekend. Here are the paraphrased highlights:

• On the simplification of stats: They were actually worried about oversimplification of items, citing that while some people enjoy doing the complex math associated with min-maxing their gear, most people took this information and just plugged it in on best-in-slot sites (like MaxDPS). In other words, they could probably get away with just giving equipment a name and some art if the trend continued. Folding extraneous stats back into the basic ones allows most players to eyeball which drops they want on the spot. (Amatera's conjecture: This doesn't preclude them from adding new stats again in the future, but this time they'll have a better understanding of how to do so without confusing players.)
• On the guild leveling system: Advancement is based on the Top 20 producers of the guild each day. If your guild is smaller than that, then everyone's contributions will count. Even if you think you've done a lot for the guild on a certain day and still don't appear in the Top 20, it shouldn't affect guild progression much anyway, and since you're doing the sorts of things you'd normally be doing to earn those points, it won't feel like wasted time, either.
• On the lack of new Draenei classes: They didn't think that any of the classes Draenei currently didn't have access to would fit them if they did. Ghostcrawler acknowledges that they have implemented some interesting new choices that some people would find hard to justify in the pre-Cataclysm lore, but maintained that the Draenei already have a well-rounded class structure.
• On changes to old zones: Bornakk says that while the terrain will not change for every zone (aside from those needed to be made to accommodate flying, of course), quest lines within them will be modified to allow for a more natural flow of leveling. Essentially, all those "bread crumb" quests that lead you halfway around the world will now send you, logically, to the hub in an  adjacent leveling area.
• On the new system of Reforging: Blizzard is reinforcing the idea of restrictions. This system is designed to make undesirable drops somewhat more desirable by giving players the ability to restructure its existing stats (the operative term here is "consolation prize"). This should not make said undesirable gear better than those designed to advance your class. Likewise, the best gear you can obtain benefits from Reforging the least, so that it cannot be extensively manipulated by min-maxers to break equipment progression.

So what do you guys think of this clarifications? Do they make you more excited? Have they eased some of your fears or have they made some of these new feature less interesting?

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The Next Expansion is an ever growing series of articles that focuses on WoW’s upcoming third expansion.  The column covers news, speculation and even gameplay mechanics that PL’s writers would like to see implemented.

Late last Friday MMO-Champion ran a story on the next expansion that detailed enough information to keep many brains busy over the weekend.  Boubouille insists that none of the information posted is speculation, but pure fact.  I was as giddy as a school girl (or my girlfriend) around Robert Pattinson (swoon) as I read the news, until I took the time to think things through.  It just sounds too good to be true. You can consider the races, Worgen and Goblins, confirmed as well as the third expansion's title, Cataclysm.  Those tidbits have been repeated by "sources" for weeks now.  I'm skeptical about a few other things, as are many others out there.  My main concern is that the larger playerbase is getting too excited before the details are official.  Simply put, I fear hype backlash. Boubouille is one of the great Internet sleuths, so it is hard to doubt his skills.  Nevertheless here's what I have trouble digesting:

• Level 85 Cap:  There's really no justification to not do 10 additional levels like we are used to.  If the developers want leveling to take longer then Blizzard can simply make the XP pools far larger.  We've also no reason to believe that WoW has to end at level 100.  No matter what this isn't a big concern; just the first point that caught my eye.
• Class Combinations: This is certainly plausible.  Orc Mage, Tauren Priest, Blood Elf Warrior, all highly likely, lore-fitting modifications to our current race/class structure.  It's the Troll Druid that I can't see being a reality.  On the one hand, It'd be a perfect way to get more Horde playing the most underplayed race in the game.  However, two druids for the Horde and only one for the Alliance (Night Elf) just doesn't seem like a move Blizzard would make.
• Flying In Azeroth:  There's a reason that Blizzard never allowed flying in Azeroth, the game's basic design.  If you look really closely at the old landscapes you can see that Blizzard employed a lot of tricks to get objects, foliage specifically, to look 3D without it actually being 3D (allows the client to have a crappier computer).  These Doom-esque tactics would need to be completely redone across all of Azeroth to enable flying.  Even using the superb tools created by Blizzard, it would be a daunting, and boring, task.
• Unfinished Original Content:  Areas like Mount Hyjal only compound the flying issue.  The zone was never made accessible because Blizzard never finished the content.  It was there however.  If we are allowed to fly in Azeroth then Blizzard has to spend more time completing, or at least overhauling, the formerly neglected areas of Azeroth.

Don't get me wrong, I would love to see all of this come true.  The fact of the matter is it would be a massive undertaking.  The scope of the expansion, as detailed by Boub, would effectively be like starting the game from scratch, as far as content is concerned.  Blizzard is good, but I don't know if the company can pull all of this off in approximately two years development time. If Cataclysm comes to pass as described it will set a new precedent for MMO expansion. It's hard not to get excited, especially with awesome mechanics like flooding, town sacking (kinda), revamped old world content and the return of Deathwing.  Love me some horizontal content. Just remember that BlizzCon, and official confirmation, is only days away.  Take a deep breath, do a reality check, and wait...for ~120 hours.

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