Long story short:
Got new keyboard.
Installed software for new keyboard.
Computer asploded.
Fighting to fix computer.
(And for those of you paying attention to your feedreaders, there was a post that decided to release itself. If you read it you probably noticed it didn’t make a whole lot of sense; it was started some 2 months ago and wasn’t meant to be published.)
It’s sort of a muddy, lavender with hints of bile.
Really not an attractive color, let me assure you.
I went out yesterday and got the SteelSeries WoW mouse.
Here’s the pitch:
Co-designed specifically for World of Warcraft® by Blizzard Entertainment and SteelSeries, the World of Warcraft MMO Gaming Mouse is fully scalable to meet the requirements of even the most discerning World of Warcraft gamer and delivers:
- Incredible customization with 15 programmable buttons, advanced macro creation, and 10 profiles each with unique illumination scheme
- Superior performance, comfort and control for in-game dominance
- An amazing experience for World of Warcraft gamers of all levels and play styles
Easy to use, drag and drop software allows you to:
- Program all 15 buttons with over 130 preset game commands
- Create custom macros (supports in-game macros)
- Develop up to 10 profiles, each with a unique illumination scheme
- Choose from 16 million colors, all with 4 levels of intensity and pulsation
And here’s reality: Continue reading
There’s so much QQ flying about I thought everyone rerolled mage.
“Cataclysm isn’t bringing new content, it’s just a rehash of old stuff that we’ve ALL seen before and don’t want to see again.”
First off, I would like to say that, NO, we haven’t ALL seen the content before.
Not all of us were in line buying WoW the day it was released in 2004, some of us are relatively new to the game.
Of those people that were there in 2004, how many have faithfully played through every patch up to current day?
WoW has a constantly fluctuating (and expanding) player base.
Just to illustrate, using data from an article at the International Business Times:
For the first year or so after launch, WoW didn’t even have 6 million subscribers. That means at least half of us were not there and doing that back in the day with you old timers. Continue reading
Where was I?
Oh yeah, busy bee week/weekend!
We put together another 10 man Ulduar after the reset last week with the intention of taking it by storm… and it started out really well.
We were trying for XT hard mode, could get the heart down without a problem, but we were a little light on heals so had to settle for this:
Moved into position to take on the Iron Council and I look around at the group.
So… how are we going to deal with Fusion Punch? We seem to be decidedly light on paladins and priests…
OK, off to Kologarn! Continue reading
Or at least, what passes for normal around here.
I’ve spent the last whole week waxing philosophical about the leaked changes and then reporting the results from BlizzCon 2009, but I certainly didn’t just sit around picking my nose during that whole time.
I have been one busy little bee. Busy as a whole hive of bees!
First off, I would like to say that this guy sucks:
That’s right, I’ve been out grinding for my Netherwing drakes. This is the second to the last guy available for racing. I can get so close… but then he dives at the pier thing and I lose him. There has to be a way to do it without a pally aura or other speed-boost. People keep saying they’ve done it… I’ll come back and try again when I feel like I don’t have enough pain and suffering in my life. Continue reading
I posted a second post on Friday and one on Saturday to capture the BlizzCon 2009 stuff as it ended each day, so I figure I’m a couple posts ahead. =)
I’ll post more tomorrow, got screenshots to share from what I’ve been doing for a whole week.
Edit: WordPress was being retarded this morning and decided not to post this…
Sad to say, not as much information from the second day.
The stream had some real issues, to the point where I was missing 2-3 minutes of content at a time.
The ever-so-helpful live tech support informed me that there was a problem with the low-quality stream and I needed to watch it on high definition. Ya know, if I thought my system could handle it on high, it would already fucking be there. Fix your shit.
Dungeons & Raids
Cory Stockton, level designer, and Scott Mercer, encounter designer, handled the raid and dungeon panel.
The little bits I was able to get in between screaming at the word “buffering” is as follows: Continue reading
ZOMG.
I have PAGES of notes.
And I just can’t wait until Monday to post this so you get 2 posts in one day!
I’ll try to keep this fairly linear and cohesive, but no promises.
Opening Ceremony
The opening ceremony started with Mike Morhaime, President/CEO/Co-founder of Blizzard. His best quote was in reference to the tickets for BlizzCon 2009,
sold faster than ret paladins can storm the forums after a nerf.
He was followed by Chris Metzen, Senior Vice President of Creative Development, who got some audience participation asking where the Alliance were at and an answering call for the Horde.
With battle cries like that, the Lich King will pee his little frozen panties.
The Diablo 3 class was announced – Monk.
Then came the big announcement about Cataclysm. Continue reading
Level cap? Check.
New class and race combinations? Check.
New races? Check.
New Azeroth? Check.
That leaves us with the who’s who of the expansion:
Deathwing
Deathwing the Destroyer / Neltharion the Earth-Warder will play a major role in Cataclysm. Having been driven mad by Old God whisperings and turning against his own kind only to be fail in his attempts, Deathwing has sunk into the shadows. While the Horde and the Alliance were busy fighting back the Burning Legion only to then be beset with the Scourge, he has been lurking and moving things into place. After Lady Sinestra’s failed attempts to create a Twilight Dragonflight, he again retreated to Grim Batol and succeeded where she failed. With his results seen in the Obsidian Sanctum, he has finally created the supreme Dragonflight he sought and plans to unleash it upon the world. But what of the Old Gods’ sway over him?Azshara
Queen Azshara will also play a major part in Cataclysm. Unknown to many mortal races, long forgotten by others, and believe to be dead by her own kind, she has not been dormant in depths of the Maelstrom. Having those around her transformed by the Old Gods into Naga after her failure in the War of the Ancients, she has become far more powerful and a greater threat than she once was. Not content with just Nazjatar and the depths of the sea, Azshara seeks to reclaim power and reign once again. With the true plan behind Lady Vashj’s support of Illidan remaining a mystery we do not know what hand Azshara has yet played. The big question remains, is she now serving her “saviors”, the Old Gods?The Cataclysm
I’m still not sure who is the true end boss of Cataclysm is, but the cataclysm appears to have been caused by attempts to incantation to summon extremely powerful beings using an ancient incantation by Deathwing and Azshara. They’re both very powerful, but the cataclysm itself suggests something more powerful is behind it, perhaps their shared past of Old God influence?The Guardian of Tirisfal
Malfurion Stormrage will be returning to Azeroth to aid in the creation of the new Guardian of Tirisfal – Thrall! Med’an’s role in these events is currently unknown.The New (New) Horde
Thrall will hand over the leadership of the Horde to Garrosh Hellscream, while he serves as a coordinator for both the Horde and Alliance forces in and effort to combat the new threat of the Naga and Black Dragonflight. Without Thrall to keep Garrosh in check, he declares open war on the Alliance. In the political upheaval Cairne Bloodhoof is implicated as a traitor to the Horde and murdered by Garrosh. Cairne’s son Baine takes over as the new Tauren chieftan. This could explain why Baine was removed from the game in Patch 3.2.2, you can find more information about this in Ahmo Thunderhorn – replacement for Baine Bloodhoof?
This week we’ve looked at the theoretical new level cap, class/race combinations, and the new races themselves.
In today’s installment, I’m going to ponder about the revamp to Azeroth itself.
New Content
Cataclysm will be the first expansion not to introduce a new continent, instead making use of previously unreleased zones and revamping existing ones.Classic Azeroth Revamp
A cataclysmic event caused by Deathwing and Azshara will change the face of Azeroth as we know it. Most of the new content for Cataclysm will take the form of a revamped Azeroth, taking advantage of newer additions to WoW such as phasing and daily quests. Most of the quests and mobs in the classic zones will also be redesigned to make leveling less painful. With the revamp, a greater narritive and sense progression will be offered to players. Some zones and dungeons will change drastically to fit this, e.g.,The Barrens will be split into two separate zones of two different level bands.
Azshara will become a low level (~10-20) zone.
Some of the zones like the Thousand Needles will be flooded.
Durotar is wrecked and apparently Orgrimmar could be destroyed. A new Orc city is rebuilt over the course of the expansion.
Gnomeregan will be part of the expansion as well and gnomes might be able to reclaim their capital. (The last part is still unconfirmed)
Wailing Caverns will be become a lush tropical area as a result of the druid’s magic.
The Blackrock Spire will erupt and a new version of Blackrock Mountains will be available, apparently Ragnaros will be back too.
In the aftermath of the cataclysm, and the new conflicts on the horizon relief efforts can be found in many zones and new open PvP areas similar to Lake Wintergrasp.Flying in Azeroth
Part of the redesign of the Eastern Kingdoms and Kalimdor is the introduction of flying to the two continents, allowing access to many new areas and quicker travelling across the large continents.Classic Dungeon Revamp
Redesigning Onyxia’s Lair in Patch 3.2.2 was just the first step. As most of the leveling will take place in revamped areas of Azeroth, so too will the dungeons, allowing players to use them to level from 80 to 85.Unreleased Zones & Dungeons
With the addition of flying mounts to Kalimdor and the Eastern Kingdoms and the redesign of many zones, most of the previously unreachable or incomplete zones will now be made available to players. This is where most of the new content from 80 to 85 will take place. Some of these are,Hyjal (present)
Gilneas – The Worgen starting Zone.
Uldum
It is unclear if the old Goblin locations such as Kezan and Undermine will be included in Cataclyms with the revelation of the goblins’ plight, but several new islands have also been risen from the seas by the events of Cataclysm, some on the backs of giant sea turtles and whales, with the addition of several underwater zones.
