Project Lore

The World of Warcraft forums have been buzzing with activity ever since Patch 3.1 hit the PTR. With a key detail of Dual specs just coming out, there are bound to be complaints of the 1000g cost being too high or too low, but one thread in particular prompted Zarhym to reveal a couple of other new details that have changed since some of the initial information about Dual Spec came out. First, Dual Spec will require level 40, which will please many of those who were upset that it was initially planned to only be available to max level characters. This still may not sit well with those of you who have lower characters, but it seems like a nice middle ground to allow leveling characters to switch between a group spec and a soloing spec easily. Second, there will be no reagent cost to change specs and will be castable whenever a player wants as long as they are out of combat and not in an arena or battleground. This means that not only are scribes not going to make money on the new feature, but players won't need a group to change their spec if they aren't in a major city. From Zarhym:

You literally just click a button, and after a 5 second cast, your specializations, glyphs, and action bars swap. You must be out of combat, and it still cannot be used in battlegrounds or arenas. There is currently no cooldown on the ability to swap specializations though.

This makes me even more excited for the feature. Changing specs will be like mounting up. Anyone worried that the lack of a cooldown may be a problem?

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Image via WoWInsider.com

There has been much hoopla over one of the capstone changes in patch 3.1: dual specs. In short, it allows a level 80 character who has "learned" dual spec to switch between specs easily. Essentially, this means finding a Lexicon of Power or using an item made by scribes to start a ritual that requires 3 players to be present for on the spot switching, aimed at raids. It instantly changes all your talent points between 2 configurations, switches between two sets of glyphs, remaps hotkeys, and reconfigures action bars. Well, there is a price to pay for everything. Our friends at WoWinsider received a tip from a player on the PTR that training for dual talent specialization currently costs 1000g. This is precisely the cost of training Cold Weather Flying, which enables players to fly in Northrend. This is not cheap, but currently players who switch specs 2+ times a week for raiding and other reasons, such as PvP, heroics, or just experimenting with other specs, have to pay 50g per switch and have to replace all their glyphs (an additional cost) as well as perhaps reconfigure their action bars and hotkeys. I think the 1000g will be much cheaper in the long run for serious players and will allow players to have a lot more flexibility in experimenting with new specs. Many people are excited about this, and there has been a lot of speculation about the implication of a dual spec feature. There are the issues of it mainly only appealing to players who both PvP and PvE, its availability being restricted to level 80 players, and the new complication of loot drops for players with multiple specs. However, as a rogue, I am excited to be able to switch between my Hunger for Blood raiding spec and Mutilate/Prep PvP spec, as well as explore Shadow Dance. This should be taken with a grain of salt as it is coming from information obtained on the public test realm. This cost is subject to change, but I think the 1000g cost is right where Blizzard wants it. What do you think? Too expensive, or just right? Useless, or the panecea to the healer and tank shortage?

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Big news on the content front, Content Patch 3.1 has hit the Public Test Realms and is now ready for testing.  This isn't entirely shocking, the PTR Character Copy went live on Friday so it was just a matter of time.  Unfortunately, if you didn't get the memo over the weekend then you are out of luck.  As of press time, you can no longer get in the Character Copy queue.  On the flip side, this is Blizzard, so they could open up additional slots at any moment. Once you manage to get on the queue, half the battle is won.  The wait time on the queue has dropped from a few weeks to a few days in the span of hours.  Fear not prospective testers of Ulduar, the controversial Dual Spec and all of those class changes, you should be tearing it up in v3.1 by the end of the week.  Players quicker on the draw than myself have already logged into the the PTR and given us some early information on the unnamed patch's changes. For starters, the poor toons out there better read up on our collection of gold generating posts.  As it stands now, the Dual Spec feature will cost level 80s 1000g to train, which should not be difficult to swing.  The big news of the PTR isn't these small kind of details in my opinion.  That would be reserved for the discovery of a previously unannounced feature, the Argent Tournament. The new world tournament will open up mounted combat to us and a whole lot more.  The super secret Argent Tournament - props to keeping the feature on lockdown this long - will unleash a new set of daily quests for the Argent Crusade, enabling players to score new items, titles, banners, tabards, pets, mounts, all new achievements and more.  Being a bit of a lore nut, I find the tournament a creative way to subtly hint to players that the Crusade is extending its reach into Icecrown , while becoming a powerful faction to the rest of the citizens of Azeroth.  This will make their move against Arthas more progressive - thus, realistic - than just having them pop-up next to the Citadel en masse. I have never been one to go nuts on the PTR.  For starters, I hate spoilers.  Past that, I tend to dislike having abilities or features, getting used to them, and then seeing them ripped away from my grasp when the patch goes live.  Perhaps SolidSamm will spend more time than normal, but I highly doubt it. Anyone lucky enough to get on the PTR already?  Like what you see?  Or, are you stuck waiting like most of us?  What are your thoughts on the new tournament?

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I'll admit that Dual Spec is going to be a game changing mechanic.  There is no denying that.  The ability to trivially change from one layout to another, glyphs, button layout and talents all together, is an exciting idea for most classes.  While appealing to the PvP/PvE crowd - that is, the players that switch back and forth around their raid schedule - Blizzard also believes that the changes will create more tanks and healers per realm.  How many people will go DPS with a Tank/Healer off-spec, rather than a PvP survivability or solo PvE off-spec remains to be seen.   Then there is the issue of one's ability to play their vastly different spec... I'm not saying that the idea isn't a valiant effort on Blizzard's part to fix the various issues it's tackling.  If anyone can pull off such a drastic change, it's Blizzard and their slew of talented designers (oh, right).  My pessimism creeps in because Blizzard and the general WoW populace seems to think that the mechanic will fix all of these issues.  Poof, everything is perfect.  Hasn't Patch v3.0.8 taught us anything? All things considered, I think these problems will be eased, not solved.  The PvP/PvE crowd will be the only sect entirely satisfied.  Although they may start wanting a Tri Spec setup, ya know, for solo PvE.  The quantity of tanks and healers will be split with the PvP crowd, while quality comes with practice.  The first few months could be rough as new or rusty tanks and healers get back into their groove.  I still expect to see plenty of LF2m Tank/Healer either way. Then there is my concern for SolidSamm.  What about the non-hybrid classes?  Warlocks, Hunters, Mages and Rogues are all designed to do one thing, DPS.  Without the ability to offer drastically different specs (don't forget, pet tanking is going bye-bye) we could be left fighting for far fewer spots in raids than before.  If you had the option to take a geared face-melter who could also heal if someone leaves, or an arrow-flinging Hunter, why would you confine yourself to just the Hunter?  Dare I say that the feature will create more homogenization? Scary thought indeed. Initially, I was ecstatic about the Dual Spec feature.  After mulling it over with a certain Horde buddy, I wouldn't mind it not coming with Patch v3.1, or at all in its present condition.  Are you as paranoid about the change as I am, or are you entirely for it?  There are also the issue of Dual Speccing loot drops.  I won't even get into that.  This is one of those things were I hope I am wrong, but I can't see all my points being incorrect.

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In this interview with Nethaera, Ghostcrawler has revealed a lot of the specifics about the upcoming dual spec system. Up to this point we've been given hints about how the system will work and what will be included, but this time GC has unveiled much more specific information. Some of the key points from the interview:

• Only level 80 characters will be able to purchase a second spec. This may be changed based on feedback.
• The Lexicons of Power located in major towns are required to switch specs. Additionally, scribes can create an item that allows a group of players to summon a temporary lexicon of power. The only other restriction (so far) is that specs cannot be swapped in combat or in arenas.
• Paying for a respec will only clear talents from a character's active spec.
• A Gear Manager is going to be added into World of Warcraft. This will not automatically change the character's equipment after a spec change, but will be configurable to quickly change weapons, trinkets, or entire outfits. Sounds like an integrated Outfitter or Itemrack.
• Hunters will no longer have to pay a trainer to respec their pets. Blizzard didn't want an extraneous step for hunters to have to go through to change their pets' talents. Hunters will also be given a new spell (on a long cooldown) that will allow remote access to the stables.
• As we've heard before, glyphs and action bars will both be tied to the talent spec, changing along with the talent switch.
• Talent points will be configurable before the get saved. This allows players who are respeccing to allocate talents with the ability to double check and avoid having to respec again just to move a couple of points.
• It is indeed Dual Spec, not Tri or Quad spec, for now. In the future, they may allow for more than two specs to be used in the system.

All of this is pretty exciting news. With a lot more of the details hammered out, it seems like this may be coming even sooner than I had thought. We'll still have to see how the whole dual spec system has shaped up when it comes up on the PTR, but I am very enthused about the idea of having more than one talent build available.

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Yesterday I mentioned that most of my Thanksgiving was spent trying to convince people to join me in Azeroth, rather than playing myself. It isn't that I didn't want to play, I did my best to find the time, but living far away from my family forces me to obligate the little time I have with them to them. I blame society and quality parenting (don't ever tell my parents I said that).

While I was busy chastising my brother for his disinterest in Wrath and cursing my cousin's friends for ruining a raiding buddy, Ghostcrawler was busy on the official forums discussing the intricacies of World of Warcraft. Seeing as we have extended maintenance this fine Tuesday, I thought we could dive into his numerous posts and do some light theory discussing today.

The first meaty post I noticed from Mr. Crabbie was a discussion on the upcoming dual spec feature. Healers and tanks have been looking forward to this feature more than anyone, as it will allow them to tank or heal when needed, and revert to a better talent build for solo leveling. Sadly, if the feature doesn't make it into the game soon then most of us will be level 80, and it will lose he majority of its impact. Blizzard realizes this, and even though they won't put an ETA on it, they are trying to get the feature in for patch 3.1.

After reading that over, I noticed another post of interest to PvEers. I have been following the discussion of Wrath's difficulty ever since Ensidia (then TwentyFifthNovember) crushed the end game content. GC mentions that Blizzard is happy with the way PvE is going. Specifically, the developers want players to run the lower level dungeons at the appropriate levels, and make sure they do not “hit the introductory raid content like a brick wall.”

One of the most interesting posts to players of all flavors will be the discussion on itemization. Greg Street gives some background into how Blizzard wants you to feel when you have to decide between items. Back in the day, and after The Burning Crusade's launch, it was pretty obvious that one piece was vastly superior to another. Blizzard is now creating gear that doesn't lend itself to clearcut answers.

Shall I take a bit of haste or a large amount of attack power? These are the kind of questions Blizzard wants you to ask when looking at your gear options. I guess that explains why I have five trinkets that are almost equal. I went with the one with the lowest cooldown and best static stat.

Last but not least, Ghostcrawler spread tanking posts all over the holiday period. The pre-Thanksgiving post is the most interesting (and possess the least QQing by the OP) as it discusses core mechanics behind tanking. The OP asks what the point of the defense mechanism is, to which Street replies to, some 20 posts later. The interesting part is that the tanking mechanics that have been a staple in World of Warcraft since the days of Onyxia, may have just been added to the crustacean's whiteboard. The pincher possessor is not happy with the fact that the mechanic pulls “double duty.” In the future we may see the stat split up into multiple pieces, as the current incarnation “might eventually be a problem.” Topics such as easy tanking and tanking scalability – needing two or three tanks for 10- and 25-man raids – were also brought up.

The decapods dedication to World of Warcraft, the world he has helped to create, is astounding. Being in California one would assume that he celebrated Thanksgiving, yet he managed to post a horde of responses on that day alone. Seems that he took off Wednesday and Friday for travel days thought. The sheer volume of informative posts from Saturday makes me feel inadequate.

Here's to hoping that dual spec is implemented before I turn my focus back on my priest.

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