Support NeoGAF

[Corsick]

So I have carbonite and WoWPro installed at the same time and they seem to be playing nice with each other. WoWPro directs you to select the optimal quests and then carbonite directs me towards them. Does anyone know if these two will conflict at all in the future? I've only tested it for about 30 minutes on my starter account. It doesn't clutter the screen too much and nothing has bugged out, seems like a good union in theory.

 

[Man God]

What are the truly hard professions to level these days?

Blacksmithing was brutal up through BC, not that bad in Wrath and Cata.
Leatherworking was awful up through Cata.
Tailoring was pretty easy in Vanilla, hard as balls in BC, middle of the road in Wrath. Never did it in Cata.
Inscription...always easy.
Engineering pretty even up until Wrath. Never did it in Cata.
Enchanting Kinda brutal in Vanilla especially with that once needed rod pattern, pretty easy but expensive for the rest of the time.
Alchemy was always pretty easy but depending on your server certain levels could be painful because of farming.
JC...fuck JC 1-300. So awful. The rest of it is INSANELY EASY to make up for it.

 

[Chris R]

Just got beta access.

Any way to NOT download the full game? Can I just copy my current install to another folder and point the beta install to that?

 

[SargerusBR]

Just got beta access.

I HATE YOU SO MUCH RIGHT NOW

Spoiler

grats man

 

[Rhaknar]

What are the truly hard professions to level these days?

Blacksmithing was brutal up through BC, not that bad in Wrath and Cata.
Leatherworking was awful up through Cata.
Tailoring was pretty easy in Vanilla, hard as balls in BC, middle of the road in Wrath. Never did it in Cata.
Inscription...always easy.
Engineering pretty even up until Wrath. Never did it in Cata.
Enchanting Kinda brutal in Vanilla especially with that once needed rod pattern, pretty easy but expensive for the rest of the time.
Alchemy was always pretty easy but depending on your server certain levels could be painful because of farming.
JC...fuck JC 1-300. So awful. The rest of it is INSANELY EASY to make up for it.

~

tailoring is awful in my server these days because low lvl cloth is so expensive. I wanted to drop alchemy on my mage (why the fuck did I have alchy on him, hes not even a herbalist) and get tailoring but I changed my mind

my lock has tailoring at least, if I decide to play him instead of the mage. both have enchanting as the other because ALL my characters have enchanting lol

 

[vocab]

Man I really need to optimize keybinds. I'm finding it harder and harder to even use a keyboard properly anymore. I'm making weird hand positions, and just using general sloppy habbits that's its fucking my hands and wrist up.

 

[TheYanger]

Just got beta access.

Any way to NOT download the full game? Can I just copy my current install to another folder and point the beta install to that?

You should be able to. I hadn't this time due to a reformat but that's what I've done in most of the other alphas and betas.

 

[Man God]

~

tailoring is awful in my server these days because low lvl cloth is so expensive. I wanted to drop alchemy on my mage (why the fuck did I have alchy on him, hes not even a herbalist) and get tailoring but I changed my mind

my lock has tailoring at least, if I decide to play him instead of the mage. both have enchanting as the other because ALL my characters have enchanting lol

Low level tailoring isn't that bad as long as you've got aoe, you just go to the appropriate instance and OHKO things at higher levels. There's usually a clear path for patterns that only need cloth (and lots of it) and tailoring supplies.

It's definitely one of the worst if you want to buy your way through it though nothing beats 1-300 JC with its awful reliance on rare as fuck low level stones that don't do shit and you basically are forced to farm yourself.

 

[Rhaknar]

Low level tailoring isn't that bad as long as you've got aoe, you just go to the appropriate instance and OHKO things at higher levels. There's usually a clear path for patterns that only need cloth (and lots of it) and tailoring supplies.

It's definitely one of the worst if you want to buy your way through it though nothing beats 1-300 JC with its awful reliance on rare as fuck low level stones that don't do shit and you basically are forced to farm yourself.

man who has time tokill low lvl shit! AH or bust

 

[Ultratech]

Low level tailoring isn't that bad as long as you've got aoe, you just go to the appropriate instance and OHKO things at higher levels. There's usually a clear path for patterns that only need cloth (and lots of it) and tailoring supplies.

It's definitely one of the worst if you want to buy your way through it though nothing beats 1-300 JC with its awful reliance on rare as fuck low level stones that don't do shit and you basically are forced to farm yourself.

Ugh. Looking to do JC on my lock, but 1-300 doesn't sound terribly appealing.

On the other hand, I already got a fairly big stockpile of old gems and crap, so if I can make it to 300, I should be good from there.

But yeah, Tailoring really isn't all that bad since there's usually decent spots or dungeons you can farm and get a lot of cloth quickly.
Wrath/Cata leveling can get annoying due to the sheer amount of cloth you need to get.

 

[Schryver]

Oh you already boosted the character to 90?

If you didn't know, using the free boost (or a paid one), if your character has primary professions learned and is level 60 or above, they'll automatically be raised to the current max skill level of those professions. Can save a ton of gold/time for some of the harder to level ones.

Oh. Haven't done it yet but I was gonna roll something fresh to boost. Rogue probably. I have an 80 DK and 70 Pally but don't see the point in leveling something close to 90 already.

 

[Stephen_drewz]

Damn that maintenance starting a bit earlier then usual. Hits right as I get home at 6pm local time.

 

[Chris R]

Ok so Beta doesn't need to download a TON. Don't bother copying stuff over either.

It's nice that you get basically every mount possible to mess around with. No idea how much time I'll spend with the Beta though, since I'm still trying to get at least two more characters to 90 before WoD drops.

 

[BolognaOni]

So... sucked back in. Leveled a druid to 60, boosted, now up to about 530 ilvl. Alliance, since most of my other toons/gold were, but clearly Troll was the correct choice. Having a pretty good time healing on the druid, but can't say I like balance much at all. May just need to L2P a bit better, but in general it seems pretty boring. Probably switch the off-spec to feral or guardian once I get some more gear.

Really liking the idea of flex raiding in WoD. I haven't seriously raided since early BC, when I burned out pretty quickly due to time commitments of wife/job/other hobbies. I'm hoping I can find a 2 night a week guild to get some more casual raiding in. If any other PST players are in similar situations let me know.

 

[Rhaknar]

Fuck the drop rate of the green fire tome
Fuck my low Ilvl gear which makes killing those rares take a million years
Fuck my friend that got it on his first kill

 

[strafer]

Robin npc is in

http://wod.wowhead.com/npc=88216

 

[strafer]

Shit guys, listen to these new tavern music

http://youtu.be/F17uRwTg5wA?list=UUCFuFsG9qmkI8HKgEylX1CQ

Village is beautiful

 

[witness]

Robin npc is in

http://wod.wowhead.com/npc=88216

Wow. That's great!

 

[strafer]

hehe..when I arrived in Assran I was greated with such awesomeness.

Makes me feel special. Love NPC interaction.

 

[lazygecko]

Updated male draenei:

http://www.gfycat.com/PepperyDenseAmericanavocet

There's one big pet peeve I've had with draenei for a long time now and it's to do with the goatee + mustache beard option. When it was initially implemented it actually had no moustache. And it remained that way for several years I think, until suddenly it just appeared out of nowhere. Blizzard's reasoning for this was that this beard option had been bugged and the stache was meant to be there from the start. Well, bug or no bug, that was my favorite option and it ruined the look of my character. I imagine those who picked it from the start weren't too thrilled about the bait n switch either. The least they could do is implement an alternative option with just the goatee.

 

[TheContact]

Stupid maintenance. I don't even see a time frame on the login screen.

 

[Calm Killer]

Stupid maintenance. I don't even see a time frame on the login screen.

8 hours. 2pm eastern.

 

[strafer]

So does anyone know how to train Draenor mounts with the Garrison thingy?

 

[TheContact]

What's the difference between Outland and Draenor? I thought that Outland was just getting revamped but zones like Nagrand that were in Outland are now in Draenor. Is Outland being left untouched still? Because otherwise how would people level from 60-68?

On a side note I just read about this and I think it's a really nice addition (Premade Groups - LFA) http://us.battle.net/wow/en/blog/15200760

 

[mclem]

This is a blue comment from today:

Multiverse. The moment Garrosh went back an alternative timeline skewed off. Nothing in this alternate Draenor affects our timeline, except that Garrosh has opened a portal back to our universe to bring the Iron Horde through and murder us.

So, I'm afraid I don't buy the argument any longer that people are confused if they're looking at WoD as an alternate timeline story, or Draenor as an altered past.

I'm mostly curious if things will get *really* confusing and have a link to then-past-Azeroth somehow. Heck, if nothing else, it'd be a chance to reuse a bunch of Vanilla assets

(I'd like to go to past Draenor. Then to the past Azeroth. Then to the Caverns of Time.)

 

[Zelias]

What's the difference between Outland and Draenor? I thought that Outland was just getting revamped but zones like Nagrand that were in Outland are now in Draenor. Is Outland being left untouched still? Because otherwise how would people level from 60-68?

Outland is what Draenor became in the main timeline when the planet was essentially ripped apart. The Draenor we are visiting is the past of an alternate timeline before the planet blew up and became Outland. Both Outland and Draenor will exist in-game, and I think Outland is being left untouched?

Basically: same place, different timelines, different times.

 

[TheContact]

Outland is what Draenor became in the main timeline when the planet was essentially ripped apart. The Draenor we are visiting is the past of an alternate timeline before the planet blew up and became Outland. Both Outland and Draenor will exist in-game, and I think Outland is being left untouched?

Basically: same place, different timelines, different times.

Ah that makes sense. Cool, I'm glad they're not changing the original outland. As cool as Cataclysm was, it was a shame to see the original zones torn up and remixed like that.

 

[Magnus]

I use keybinds for like 1-6 or so, and bound about 4 more action bar buttons to certain letter keys that weren't used for much else. I'll admit, beyond that, I mostly click. I'm fast.

I just can't use all of 1-0 on the main bar without having to look down and see what key I'm pushing. And flipping between bars mid-fight is usually a clumsy affair.

What do you all do?

 

[Hixx]

I use keybinds for like 1-6 or so, and bound about 4 more action bar buttons to certain letter keys that weren't used for much else. I'll admit, beyond that, I mostly click. I'm fast.

I just can't use all of 1-0 on the main bar without having to look down and see what key I'm pushing. And flipping between bars mid-fight is usually a clumsy affair.

What do you all do?

1-5
Q,E,F,V

+ shift modifiers for all of the above

And on classes that need it, ctrl modifiers.

 

[CarbonatedFalcon]

I use keybinds for like 1-6 or so, and bound about 4 more action bar buttons to certain letter keys that weren't used for much else. I'll admit, beyond that, I mostly click. I'm fast.

I just can't use all of 1-0 on the main bar without having to look down and see what key I'm pushing. And flipping between bars mid-fight is usually a clumsy affair.

What do you all do?

Get a bar management addon like bartender or dominoes. ...you don't have to flip bars if you can see multiple ones at once.

The only things I click are my dps potions and some extremely long, important cooldowns (e.g. Bloodlust). And despite that I still have them bound to something, even if obscure.

 

[Anoregon]

As cool as Cataclysm was, it was a shame to see the original zones torn up and remixed like that.

I definitely disagree with that, a lot of those zones badly needed the overhaul.

 

[strafer]

Did Blizzard ever say if they ever let you change the look of your Garrison houses to make them look more like say Tauren instead of Orcish ?

 

[RoninChaos]

So it looks like tuesday's are back to being "Fix the server days". That's interesting.

I hope they don't have a cluster fuck of bullshit like last tuesday where no one could log in till like 11pm. I have a raid tonight.

 

[Anoregon]

Did Blizzard ever say if they ever let you change the look of your Garrison houses to make them look more like say Tauren instead of Orcish ?

It is unlikely.

 

[Source]

It is unlikely.

Yeah, something like that would cost an entire raid tier.

 

[Nere]

So Gaf have you decided yet which will be your first lvl 100 character??? Personally I am debating between warlock and deathknight although both look pretty bad in beta, will probably go with lock though.

 

[Owensboro]

I use keybinds for like 1-6 or so, and bound about 4 more action bar buttons to certain letter keys that weren't used for much else. I'll admit, beyond that, I mostly click. I'm fast.

I just can't use all of 1-0 on the main bar without having to look down and see what key I'm pushing. And flipping between bars mid-fight is usually a clumsy affair.

What do you all do?

I downloaded ElvUI, watched a few quick videos about how to set everything up, and then arranged all my bars how I like them. It ends up with 4 rows of buttons stacked on top of each other at the bottom. From the bottom to the top my keys-binds look like this:

Bar 4: Alt + [Bottom #]
Bar 3: Ctrl + [Bottom #]
Bar 2: Shift + [Bottom #]
Bar 1: [1] [2] [3] [4] [5]

I then have two other sections mapped out for mouse button use, and arranged spatially like a pyramid so my brain can quickly understand what button does what. It ends up looking like so:

______________[Shift + MM]______________
[Ctrl+MMouse] | [Middle Mouse] | [Alt+Middle Mouse]

My brain instantly accepts this for some reason because Shift is above CTRL and ALT, and Ctrl and Alt are on the left and right. I do the same for my side mouse buttons, arranged in the same pyramid. The harder keys to hit like Alt 5 and Ctrl 5 are really rare buttons (Shackle Undead for instance). In any instance where I have a stance bar, I just map them to F1, F2, F3, F4. I think the only place I can go from here for new spells is [Alt + F1, F2, F3]. I'm running out of keys damn it!

So Gaf have you decided yet which will be your first lvl 100 character??? Personally I am debating between warlock and deathknight although both look pretty bad in beta, will probably go with lock though.

Priest! Always priest! I love healing too much

 

[Magnus]

I just don't want to see four bars worth of crap on my screen stacked all at once. I'm playing on a 46" plasma and sitting 9 feet away, so my icons can't be super small. Chat's at 16pt so I can read it, etc. Haha.

I've also had brutal luck with bar addons, and I tend to like using the stock stuff so that it's never broken on a patch day.

I guess I'll give it a try again, though.

I should add that I use Clique for healing, with a combo of clicks + alt/shift/control for different spells. It was practically life-changing as a raiding healer back in BC/Wrath (whenever it came out).

 

[ampere]

Robin npc is in

http://wod.wowhead.com/npc=88216

Wow... currently a Genie (like Siamat from Cata) model. So cool and fitting.

So Gaf have you decided yet which will be your first lvl 100 character??? Personally I am debating between warlock and deathknight although both look pretty bad in beta, will probably go with lock though.

My Monk! I've been back and forth on if I'll main swap, but I really love the class so the plan is to keep playing that as my main.

Cannot decide on my main alt yet ;p.

 

[Tamanon]

So Gaf have you decided yet which will be your first lvl 100 character??? Personally I am debating between warlock and deathknight although both look pretty bad in beta, will probably go with lock though.

Paladin. I really like how they feel on Beta, especially Retadin. I hated Inquisition, but that was pretty much the only thing I didn't like about them.

Only decision I still need to make is if I take my Ally or Horde pally to 100 first.

 

[Magnus]

So Gaf have you decided yet which will be your first lvl 100 character??? Personally I am debating between warlock and deathknight although both look pretty bad in beta, will probably go with lock though.

I'm super sad that Priests seem to continuously get pooped on, but I'm sticking with my main class since BC. I never see exciting new changes, updates or fun new abilities for this class in patch notes or blue posts. Every wave of class-related posts on MMO seems to contain a mix of all the other classes but never priests. Alas.

I do like the versatility of having a main that can heal. Gets you groups. Kind of wish I could tank too, but I want a class that can range dps and doesn't change into lousy-looking animals to make it happen - that, and boomkin spec is kind of boring. So priest it is.

Melee has always felt floaty and terrible in this game to me. Hard to discern hitbox boundaries, etc. Range feels so much better.

 

[strafer]

So Gaf have you decided yet which will be your first lvl 100 character??? Personally I am debating between warlock and deathknight although both look pretty bad in beta, will probably go with lock though.

My Warlock.

 

[Magnus]

Is there a reliable source for seeing class distribution on a realm or even for the entire game population? I'd be curious to see what % of players and level 90s are priests, what the least played class is, etc.

 

[strafer]

Is there a reliable source for seeing class distribution on a realm or even for the entire game population? I'd be curious to see what % of players and level 90s are priests, what the least played class is, etc.

http://wow.realmpop.com/eu.html

 

[GasProblem]

So Gaf have you decided yet which will be your first lvl 100 character??? Personally I am debating between warlock and deathknight although both look pretty bad in beta, will probably go with lock though.

Probably my Balance Druid. My Ret Paladin will be second I think.

 

[witness]

So Gaf have you decided yet which will be your first lvl 100 character??? Personally I am debating between warlock and deathknight although both look pretty bad in beta, will probably go with lock though.

I've been really struggling with this but I've finally decided I'm gonna rock my ret paladin. I'm going to try to get my legendary cloak in time, no idea if that's possible. For me it's just such a fun melee class that I prefer over my enhance shammy and DK. I might end up faction changing him to a human paladin before WoD, I've always loved the look of them.

 

[Anoregon]

I've been really struggling with this but I've finally decided I'm gonna rock my retadin paladin. I'm going to try to get my legendary cloak in time, no idea if that's possible. For me it's just such a fun melee class that I prefer over my enhance shammy and DK. I might end up faction changing him to a human paladin before WoD, I've always loved the look of them.

With how awesome Tauren are in WoD? For shame!

 

[Entropia]

So Gaf have you decided yet which will be your first lvl 100 character??? Personally I am debating between warlock and deathknight although both look pretty bad in beta, will probably go with lock though.

My Shaman.

Then.
Now.
Forever.

 

[witness]

With how awesome Tauren are in WoD? For shame!

I know, I really like the way they look. I'm going to wait until 6.0 hits first before deciding.

 

[RoninChaos]

So I saw this over on the mmo champion forums and wanted to share. I think this guy has the right idea about LFR, what's wrong with it, and how to fix it.

I have no problem with LFR existing.

I have no problem with LFR giving drops that use the same names/models/whatever as real raid items. (whether recolored or not)

I have no problem with casuals queueing for LFR to be able to see the bosses and raid content despite lack of skill or time to see them in their true form.

The only problem I have ever had with LFR is that it's the highest step on the entire gearing ladder leading into flexes, then normal raiding. There is literally no other options or alternatives to gearing prior to normal raids.

I'll give you a good example, I just boosted a level 90 DK because I wanted one on the opposite faction. I started with 483 gear. After I gave myself a flex 2hand strength heirloom weapon, and went to timeless isle and opened all the chests and equipped all the timeless gear that had appropriate stats (ie, not single stat pieces which are utter trash and not with stats that are useless to me) my item level jumped from the starting 483 item level to 498.

Now at this point, what are you supposed to do?

The lowest item level I have EVER seen for a flex group is 525+, never seen anything lower than that and if i'm not mistaken you need a minimum of 510 just to put yourself in queue for wing 1 flex.

So with timeless isle stuff exhausted outside of EXTENSIVE farming and RNG for each individual burden you acquire and then no promise that any item you use the burden on will even be useable, there's like a 50/50 chance it'll be garbage with a single stat that has less stat points than something 40 item levels lower.

Dungeons of course give 463s, completely useless, the boosted gear you start with is 483, which is equally useless, there is literally no other reasonable option to advance at all other than LFR. It was DESIGNED to be that MANDATORY step that you MUST take.

There are only a few ways you can bypass this mandatory step.

1. Do normal. This requires either paying for a carry or knowing people who will bring you in despite your item level. I ended up doing this myself and tanked the first 8 bosses in SOO 10-man normal at less than 500 item level tonight actually although I only got 2 items and my item level didn't increase that much. Planning on finishing the run tomorrow evening but this is a rare circumstance because most people couldn't do something as useful as tank at this item level and as DPS their damage would most likely be garbage. No one is going to bring you into a normal unless both you and they fully understand and acknowledge you're being carried.

2. Do flex. Again, not possible under normal circumstances. Lowest item level requirement for flex I have EVER seen is 525+ which is a huge increase from what someone like me has after boosting a character (or even just hitting 90 without boosting, they're in even worse shape). There is no way you'd get into a random pug flex group at item level 500 and you can't even queue for the first wing in the raid browser until 510 I believe and the other wings are even higher.

3. Farm timeless isle. This method can net you most pieces at 535 item level I believe it is, but requires hours of farming for each burden outside of uncanny luck and RNG. And then each burden only has a chance to give you a useful item anyway with most being crap. You might could get a higher item level piece, but it is possible it will suck harder than the lower level shit you already had.

Those are literally the ONLY alternatives to doing LFR. That is it. There is nothing else. Either get carried, farm unthinkable hours on timeless isle and even then you'd need like FULL timeless gear to just get high enough for flex access, or run LFR. Those are the only ways to advance your item level.

Personally, I plan on continuing to tank normal and flex until i'm high enough to start heroic content, but without my guild there to help as well as running with people who KNOW I can perform my tank role at a superb level even at 500 ilevel, there would be no way in hell i'd ever get anything done. I'd have to just queue for LFR over and over and over and over.

That is my issue with it. It is a mandatory step to gearing because the only 3 alternative routes are nearly impossible and completely unreasonable for your average joe to partake in.

LFR should be completely removed from the gearing ladder or it should be the alternate method and have some faster means of gearing via some other source like running 5-mans. I hear in WOD there's gonna be a daily quest that rewards gear for doing challenge modes equal in item level to raid finder. That is a step in the right direction, but if the pieces are random and you have no control over them at all combined with only being able to do it once per day, it's rather lackluster and will end up making LFR the only gearing path once again.

LFR should be optional. TRULY optional. When you must do it to advance up the ladder on your own (outside of being carried) it is not optional.

Should see how many people I see every hour of every day selling flex carries for 7k gold per person, they carry an entire 25-man raid through each flex wing at those rates because it makes them mountains of money and people are willing to pay it because LFR is garbage but it is mandatory garbage without cheating the system like getting a paid carry.

Thank goodness my mains have never had to do LFR because by the time that shit even releases they're already in gear far superior, but all my alts i've ever tried to do anything with have to endure it to some extent or another.

LFR loot needs to be low enough item level at all times that no one who is actually doing normal content would want to go for it. That is the ideal goal. It has NOTHING to do with elitism, wanting to be better than other people or anything else, it's the fact that LFR is a miserable place to be because the queues take forever, the people in there have either no clue what is going on or simply dont care about what is going on so they wipe and fail a lot, and is just in general a very very poor experience but they design the game in such a way that you must go in there outside of being carried long enough that you're above the level where you need LFR anymore.

In my ideal world, LFR loot for a tier would be exactly equal to the normal mode item level of the previous raid tier. For example Siege LFR should be TOT normal ilevel which is 522. By doing that, it completely removes the need to do LFR for anyone who does real raids and makes it an alternative to doing the actual raids but you aren't forced into doing it.

As it stands right now, SOO lfr is 6 item levels higher than TOT normal. So even if you had a FULL SET of REAL raid gear from normal TOT, everything in the new LFR is still superior. That is just bad design and it makes even real raiders feel they must do it for the extra item level. By keeping it equal to the last tier normal, it would also promote more groups doing the last tier of content.

Imagine how many TOT normal mode raid pugs would form weekly all over the world because people want to use it to gear quickly to get their starting gear to get into flex quicker, especially in MOP with the legendary quest needing all those items as well. Between people gearing alts and people working on their legendary, TOT normal pugs would be running overtime all the time and be a faster, easier, and more organized means of gearing. If organized raiding isn't your cup of tea, that is FINE, that is what LFR is for, or what it SHOULD BE FOR, as an alternative to real raiding. An OPTION you can choose instead, as opposed to forcing everyone through that LFR tunnel until they can claw their way out on the other side.

Lowering LFR item level would solve SO many problems. But I don't think blizzard will ever do it because then LFR would be populated entirely by baddies and casuals and they'd never kill anything and it would be even worse for them than it is now with the small percentage of quality people that do LFR and carry the rest of them. That is why it'll never be that way, and it's a damn shame.

I especially like the idea of the bolded. Thoughts?