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[Magnus]

I usually hate reading about spoilers or watching vids in advance, but with WoW, I usually make an exception, because it'd be hard to actually concentrate on a vid like that if it played immediately after defeating Arthas. The guild would kind of be on a high, people would be hollering on vent, etc.

I'm profoundly disappointed in that cinematic. I was hoping for something at least as mediocre-to-decent as the Wrathgate (which was terrible for so many reasons), but this was just hilariously bad.

These kinds of vids should accompany the end of most raids or lengthy quest chains. We should get way over-the-top stuff if there are only going to be two of these in the entire expansion. They should be CG too, shit.

Spoiler

Arthas was robbed of a fulfilling ending if that's really all he gets. Awful.

 

[jim-jam bongs]

Not from what I've heard, yet at least.

Yeah it's probably in the pipeline but it just doesn't seem like they have a solution yet. I was talking to one of our tanks the other day and I asked why they don't just make Righteous Fury cause holy damage to be halved or quartered but double the threat. He pointed out that prot warriors in classic basically worked like that, and Blizzard didn't like having to balance around massive threat modifiers rather than raw damage for tanking.

I dunno though, I can't really see any other solution but then I'm not a game-designer.

 

[Angry Grimace]

Yeah it's probably in the pipeline but it just doesn't seem like they have a solution yet. I was talking to one of our tanks the other day and I asked why they don't just make Righteous Fury cause holy damage to be halved or quartered but double the threat. He pointed out that prot warriors in classic basically worked like that, and Blizzard didn't like having to balance around massive threat modifiers rather than raw damage for tanking.

I dunno though, I can't really see any other solution but then I'm not a game-designer.

Protection Paladin damage isn't too high, it's that Warrior damage is too low. The problem here is that Warrior abilities are all predicated on the idea of low dmg/high threat. But the problem here is that Thunder Clap doesn't do all that much damage in the first place. I just don't see them nerfing any Tank's damage, because nobody's really getting replaced a la Sunwell, where certain specs simply couldn't survive.

I'm not saying you're wrong, I just suspect you might have been confusing where they said that Paladin Damage is higher than Warrior damage as meaning Paladin damage is too high in general.

 

[funkmastergeneral]

Wow what a horribly shitty ending.

 

[Angry Grimace]

Wow what a horribly shitty ending.

Spoiler

The part that sucks is that there's essentially no real ending for Arthas other than he dies and goes "daddy? BLARRRGH"

 

[Tamanon]

I'm thinking there's more leading up to where the movie takes over. It won't be as soon as you land the killing blow.

Spoiler

Frostmourne wasn't there at all after all

 

[Angry Grimace]

I'm thinking there's more leading up to where the movie takes over. It won't be as soon as you land the killing blow.

Spoiler

Frostmourne wasn't there at all after all

Spoiler

Yes it is. It's right at the beginning, lying broken on the ground

 

[Door2Dawn]

Ok the lich king is dead. Release Cataclysm already.

 

[AzureNightmare]

I came here looking for proper impressons of the final cinematic, should have known better than to expect that out of GAF.

 

[jim-jam bongs]

Protection Paladin damage isn't too high, it's that Warrior damage is too low. The problem here is that Warrior abilities are all predicated on the idea of low dmg/high threat. But the problem here is that Thunder Clap doesn't do all that much damage in the first place. I just don't see them nerfing any Tank's damage, because nobody's really getting replaced a la Sunwell, where certain specs simply couldn't survive.

I'm not saying you're wrong, I just suspect you might have been confusing where they said that Paladin Damage is higher than Warrior damage as meaning Paladin damage is too high in general.

Yep you're right, I found the original article I was reading about the issue.

 

[Angry Grimace]

Yep you're right, I found the original article I was reading about the issue.

It's really just the idea that Paladin's have a much higher "quality of life" than the other classes. Heroic Strike fucking sucks as a rule, and devastate is boring as an ability. The fact is, they've fixed a ton of things for Paladins that Warriors are still chugging by with that aren't very good/fun.

For example, cleave takes too much rage to perform and only is useful in a situation where Paladins are already overpowered with no effort.

Shockwave isn't very good because you can only use it every 20 seconds, bosses are all immune to stuns, and AoE stuns cause you to just lose a ton of rage anyways because you're entirely reliant on getting hit to gain rage. It should have half the cooldown and apply the Demo Shout debuff instead of a stun (of course Paladins get the demo shout debuff via Vindication and do nothing to apply it other than attack)

"Shouting" as a mechanic is just dated, dated, dated. Horn of Winter is the same concept, except when I play my DK I don't worry about using it because I manually refresh it all the time because it doesn't actively cost me anything because it doesn't cost RP to cast. Refreshing Battle Shout/Comm Shout/Demo Shout is actually a penalty, and it's duration sucks unless you blow talent points into it.

They won't nerf any tanks at this point because they already have enough problems getting tanks as it is.

 

[ToyMachine228]

The ending is so, so terrible. I seriously can't believe that this is the same company that makes amazing games who put this shit idea together.

Spoiler

Arthas just dies, nothing happens. He isn't redeemed, he isn't defiant, he just dies. Bolvar's appearance is flat out awful. Nothing really happens with Frostmourne. The whole concept that we've been fighting all this time to get to the Lich King, we finally defeat him and someone else just takes over is also really lame. So, now that we killed the Lich King we're going to pack up and go home so there can be a new Lich King. Let's kill off one of the best characters from our franchise and replace him with a lame, mustached character that no one really cares about. Great plan! I'm really disgusted about this as you can tell.

 

[traveler]

I came here looking for proper impressons of the final cinematic, should have known better than to expect that out of GAF.

What exactly do you mean by "proper?" Non-critical?

This ending basically

Spoiler

does nothing for the story. Arthas is given an incredibly short sendoff, (with no regard for the continuity established both by the novel and within the game- i.e. Arthas is already technically gone) the player characters, other NPCs involved, and Nerzhul are given no mention or regard, and we're left with another Lich King, available for Blizzard to use once they decide they're out of other Big Bads. Not to mention the entire thing was exactly what we expected. (Although that's not really a sin in and of itself; it just contributes to my lack of love for it) Lastly, it also doesn't help that I was never sold on the "We need a new Lich King!" idea to begin with. It still seems more like a plant to give Blizzard a villain for the future than an actual properly developed story event to me.

No, "epic" sounding music and voice acting can't save this ending for me. Really disappointed in it.

I should note, though, that all of the above is based on seeing it out of context. I fully recognize that what happens both during and after the fight could improve my perception of the ending.

 

[Angry Grimace]

What exactly do you mean by "proper?" Non-critical?

This ending basically

Spoiler

does nothing for the story. Arthas is given an incredibly short sendoff, (with no regard for the continuity established both by the novel and within the game- i.e. Arthas is already technically gone) the player characters and other NPCs involved are given no mention or regard, and we're left with another Lich King, available for Blizzard to use once they decide they're out of other Big Bads. Not to mention the entire thing was exactly what we expected. (Although that's not really a sin in and of itself; it just contributes to my lack of love for it)

No, "epic" sounding music and voice acting can't save this ending for me. Really disappointed in it.

I should note, though, that all of the above is based on seeing it out of context. I fully recognize that what happens both during and after the fight could improve my perception of the ending.

Spoiler

Frankly, anyone could have called this ending. You get no points if your LK finale prediction was "Bolvar becomes the Lich King." I like how we don't get shit about whatever happened to Ner'zhul.

 

[traveler]

Spoiler

Frankly, anyone could have called this ending. You get no points if your LK finale prediction was "Bolvar becomes the Lich King." I like how we don't get shit about whatever happened to Ner'zhul.

Yeah, I should have mentioned that too. Another missed opportunity.

 

[funkmastergeneral]

Spoiler

Frankly, anyone could have called this ending. You get no points if your LK finale prediction was "Bolvar becomes the Lich King." I like how we don't get shit about whatever happened to Ner'zhul.

Spoiler

They should've taken Varian as the new Lich King, Bolvar was a way cooler leader of the alliance.

 

[Belfast]

I do think there will be more involved with the ending that just the cutscene. I mean even the Wrathgate wasn't *just* the Wrathgate. There was a lot leading up to it, and an aftermath to deal with, too. I imagine the fight, itself, will also be appropriately cinematic, but either way, we'll certainly have to take stock of the involved characters' feelings after

Spoiler

Arthas dies. Personally, I'm kind of happy with his short ending. Maybe a longer death speech would've been more.... traditional, but the way it is now, he isn't really redeemed. Which, I think is a rather bold step. He's just kind of like "wow, I'm glad that shit's over with" and keels over.

 

[HarryDemeanor]

I'm sort of mixed on the ending.

Spoiler

I like it but it doesn't really give Arthas the sendoff that I think he deserves. Should have given him a couple more lines instead of just dying. I guess I was just thinking the cinematic could be more epic but I'm fine with this I guess.

 

[Flib]

Spoiler

Frankly, anyone could have called this ending. You get no points if your LK finale prediction was "Bolvar becomes the Lich King." I like how we don't get shit about whatever happened to Ner'zhul.

Spoiler

Ner'zhul is dead, the Lich King is only Arthas. In the book, there are scenes in his mind where the different aspects of the Lich King play out...at the end, Arthas destroys the other personalities

 

[LAUGHTREY]

Spoiler

Ner'zhul is dead, the Lich King is only Arthas. In the book, there are scenes in his mind where the different aspects of the Lich King play out...at the end, Arthas destroys the other personalities

You read it wrong, that entity was the Lich King, and neither Arthas nor Ner'zhul. It's been said many times.

I usually hate reading about spoilers or watching vids in advance, but with WoW, I usually make an exception, because it'd be hard to actually concentrate on a vid like that if it played immediately after defeating Arthas. The guild would kind of be on a high, people would be hollering on vent, etc.

I'm profoundly disappointed in that cinematic. I was hoping for something at least as mediocre-to-decent as the Wrathgate (which was terrible for so many reasons), but this was just hilariously bad.

These kinds of vids should accompany the end of most raids or lengthy quest chains. We should get way over-the-top stuff if there are only going to be two of these in the entire expansion. They should be CG too, shit.

Spoiler

Arthas was robbed of a fulfilling ending if that's really all he gets. Awful.

That's probably not all he gets. There's probably a great deal in-game,

Spoiler

How did the sword get shattered, how did Tirion get there?

Come on now, the cinematic contains nothing new. They would be dumb to put that in to something so easily datamined. The real meat is going to be in the raid. Hold your critique.

 

[Entropia]

Read this at your own discretion, you've been warned..

Spoiler

No one has done the encounter yet aside from Blizzard employees and any external testers. You have absolutely no idea what happens during the encounter. Something may happen that may bring more justice to Arthas' death

 

[jim-jam bongs]

Damn you guys :lol

When I saw that posted I had hoped nobody would watch it and I could just ignore it.

Read this at your own discretion, you've been warned..

Spoiler

No one has done the encounter yet aside from Blizzard employees and any external testers. You have absolutely no idea what happens during the encounter. Something may happen that may bring more justice to Arthas' death

I was going to say this too.

Spoiler

If Blizzard are really smart they'll try to make it an interactive story encounter. I'd much rather be participating in Arthas redemption (with blunt object if necessary) than have it all take place in the cinematic.

Also, I like that the cinematic was bleak as fuck. The only one who actually wins is the Lich King. That's a pretty bold way to end it imo. The cynic in me says "lol another Lich King expansion coming then?" but I dunno, my inner-child wants to believe.

 

[SuperAndroid17]

Ive waited for this ending since Wc3 The frozen throne...

What a disgrace really...its just down right bad.

 

[Xabora]

http://a.wirebrain.de/wow/
3.3.2 mirrors are up.
Link is safe.

Read this at your own discretion, you've been warned..

Spoiler

No one has done the encounter yet aside from Blizzard employees and any external testers. You have absolutely no idea what happens during the encounter. Something may happen that may bring more justice to Arthas' death

We die during the transition during Phase 2/3 into 3/4. (false death, no release button)
Then we are sucked into the Frostmourne and must do battle there. (scripted mass res)

 

[J-Rzez]

That was a piss-poor

Spoiler

cinematic to one of their most prolific characters. Not even done in CGI. No meat to the story. He doesn't get to say much. He just dies, and then they have their ground work set for the expansion following cataclysm i'd assume. What a fucking joke Blizzard. After the Lich King pops his head into so many situations as you level and do instances, that's it.

I'd rather them just show the loot table, that'd be more interesting. But man is this engine tired as fuck, it needs a massive overhaul.

 

[Xabora]

"We'll grant you a swift death arthas, more than can be said about the thousands you have slayed."

There is alot more going on that was is hinted in the cinematic.
The entire ending is in the wav files.

That video is just the climax.

Patch-3 is JUST the Lich King fight.


EDIT:
Hey.

Look at this.

Defeat the Lich King get a Plaque!

Lavaman loves the S&M

 

[Belfast]

Ive waited for this ending since Wc3 The frozen throne...

What a disgrace really...its just down right bad.

I think people forget that this is, ultimately a small piece of a larger storyline. If Wrath of the Lich King was, say, a static campaign like one of the RTS scenarios, I'd expect a greater, more involved ending. But there's a lot more context to it. We've had an entire expansion to explore and confront the Lich King. And we're going to get to see the way characters react to it afterwards. WoW tells its stories in a lot of different ways, and to sit there and bitch about a three minute cutscene just seems asinine.

 

[Belfast]

Is it just me or does it sound like we'll be fighting "trash" inside Frostmourne (i.e. we go to the Frozen Throne, get our souls reaped, have to fight our way out, and then finally there's the boss battle).

 

[sykoex]

I just find it odd that they put an actual cut scene at the end of an epic raid battle. Wouldn't everyone be too busy cheering over vent to even notice what's going on?

 

[markot]

That was a piss-poor

Spoiler

cinematic to one of their most prolific characters. Not even done in CGI. No meat to the story. He doesn't get to say much. He just dies, and then they have their ground work set for the expansion following cataclysm i'd assume. What a fucking joke Blizzard. After the Lich King pops his head into so many situations as you level and do instances, that's it.

I'd rather them just show the loot table, that'd be more interesting. But man is this engine tired as fuck, it needs a massive overhaul.

Its just the human models really >.< but they were always bleh. The kings hand/fingers look so freaky...

I think the engine is good, just the old models need updating. It would be pretty lame if they dont do it for Cata...

 

[Scrow]

Spoiler

Not even done in CGI.

actually, that's incorrect. those images were generated with computers. It's CGI.

 

[KernelPanic]

As a long time WoW and Warcraft player ..

Spoiler

I think that was a piss poor ending ... no closure for Arthas in anyway, who was one of the better character they introduced.
To me it just confirms that Blizzard best people aren't even working on WoW anymore, that was just awful. They don't even care about the story anymore, it's just about content and new phat lewtz for the subscribers.
As for the "there must always be a Lich King" angle, I think that's just a way for them to justify the continuing existence of the Scourge and Lich King which people will farm for loot and achievements in the years to come".
Only the first people will get credit for killing Arthas, people that kill Bolvar will be called n00bs in the trade channel or something.

I thought Wrathgate was pretty good except for introducing a supposedly major villain Putress out of left field. The fate of Bolvar, Saurfang the Younger and the battle of Undercity that follows were very well done, I wish they'd more things like that.

 

[sykoex]

As a long time WoW and Warcraft player ..

Spoiler

To me it just confirms that Blizzard best people aren't even working on WoW anymore, that was just awful. They don't even care about the story anymore, it's just about content and new phat lewtz for the subscribers.

Okay you're joking right? That's the most effort that Blizzard (or probably any MMO dev) has ever put into conveying story in a raid encounter and your response is to say they don't care anymore?

If only we could go back to the good old days of Blizz conveying story in the game, they did it so much better in BC/Vanilla! :lol

 

[Scrow]

Okay you're joking right? That's the most effort that Blizzard (or probably any MMO dev) has ever put into conveying story in a raid encounter and your response is to say they don't care anymore?

If only we could go back to the good old days of Blizz conveying story in the game, they did it so much better in BC/Vanilla! :lol

you're talking about the story's method of delivery.

he's talking about the content/substance of the story.

 

[sykoex]

you're talking about the story's method of delivery.

he's talking about the content/substance of the story.

Either way, how much content or substance was there to Illidan's or any of vanilla bosses deaths?

 

[markot]

Pretty sure Metzen is behind all the big stuff lore wise still. (Not that its a good thing really.... >.>)

 

[Liu Kang Baking A Pie]

I don't remember a single piece of memorable, meaningful lore from vanilla. I skipped BC, but Arthas hanging out all around Northrend and cutting pro wrestling promos on your character all the time was awesome.

I expected something that was corny and epic like the Wrathgate cinematic too, but anyone saying Blizzard is losing it or didn't care about how they handled Arthas has their rose-colored nostalgia glasses on again.

 

[funkmastergeneral]

"We'll grant you a swift death arthas, more than can be said about the thousands you have slayed."

There is alot more going on that was is hinted in the cinematic.
The entire ending is in the wav files.

That video is just the climax.

Patch-3 is JUST the Lich King fight.


EDIT:
Hey.

Look at this.

Defeat the Lich King get a Plaque!

Lavaman loves the S&M

no loot tables yet?

 

[yacobod]

I don't remember a single piece of memorable, meaningful lore from vanilla. I skipped BC, but Arthas hanging out all around Northrend and cutting pro wrestling promos on your character all the time was awesome.

I expected something that was corny and epic like the Wrathgate cinematic too, but anyone saying Blizzard is losing it or didn't care about how they handled Arthas has their rose-colored nostalgia glasses on again.

to be honest man, Ragnoras spawning and one shotting MajorDomo like a bitch was a lot more entertaining than the Arthas cinematic :lol

 

[LAUGHTREY]

I still reserve judgement until later tonight when some of the big guilds start killing him and such.

Sounds like a lot of shit happening between the encounter and the cinematic. It's sad, but I wonder if they tried to reduce the amount of spoilers in the cinematic just because it's so easy to datamine. Probably not though. If anything they want the players to be able to see their characters and stuff like this happening at the same time.

I hope he drops like, 25 shadowfrost shards. I wanna get my shit done aleady.

 

[Mengy]

to be honest man, Ragnoras spawning and one shotting MajorDomo like a bitch was a lot more entertaining than the Arthas cinematic :lol

LOL, I was thinking the exact same thing!

 

[Fularu]

to be honest man, Ragnoras spawning and one shotting MajorDomo like a bitch was a lot more entertaining than the Arthas cinematic :lol

Nef was prety epic too.

LOL BITCHES, I'M LANDING

 

[PhoenixDark]

That animation looks like placeholders.

 

[letsbereasonable]

Paid auction house app/armory features incoming. Sounds cool, but I really don't think the blizz needs more money and depending on what features make the cut it could play havoc with some markets. Maybe build in auctioneer and we'll talk

 

[Angry Grimace]

Paid auction house app/armory features incoming. Sounds cool, but I really don't think the blizz needs more money and depending on what features make the cut it could play havoc with some markets. Maybe build in auctioneer and we'll talk

My guess is that Blizzard doesn't agree

 

[KernelPanic]

My guess is that Bobby Kotick doesn't agree

That's prolly closer to the truth.

You'll be able to buy levels, loot and achievements with your CC before long ....

 

[HarryDemeanor]

That's prolly closer to the truth.

You'll be able to buy levels, loot and achievements with your CC before long ....

I don't think it'll go THAT far.

 

[Angry Grimace]

That's prolly closer to the truth.

You'll be able to buy levels, loot and achievements with your CC before long ....

You were probably deluded at the moment you believed that Blizzard was somehow fundamentally different than any other profit-making venture in the entire history of the universe. :lol

 

[Yaweee]

There's no Arena Rating requirement on the 264 honor capes this season, so I just strolled right in and upgraded 38 item levels

Wow-heroes is borked at the moment. PVP gear has not been updated yet, so it just shows blanks in the slots.

 

[Tamanon]

Since the launch of the World of Warcraft Armory, we've been regularly releasing updates and new features designed to help players stay connected to the game even when they're not logged in. Today, we wanted to give you a heads-up about a new service now in development that will let players access the Auction House directly through the Armory website or Armory App for iPhone or iPod touch.

While there are still plenty of details to be worked out, we're designing the service to offer auction functionality similar to what's available in-game. Players have been requesting -- and we've been hoping to implement -- a feature like this for a long time, and we're excited that the Armory and the game have evolved to a point that makes it possible.

This is a fairly complex service to develop, due in large part to its unprecedented integration with the game, so we don't have an exact release date yet. It's important to note here that certain elements of the service will be premium-based, which we'll go into more detail on once the service functionality is finalized. As with all of the services we offer, we plan to integrate the Auction House and Armory in a way that won't disrupt the gameplay experience, and we won't release it until it meets the quality standards that we've set for our other features and services. You may be seeing bits and pieces of the Auction House service pop up in the test builds we use for the public test realms as we go through the process of internal testing. We'll have more info to share with you here and at http://www.WorldofWarcraft.com as we get closer to release.

http://blue.mmo-champion.com/1/22748781945-update-auction-house--armory-integration.html

Woooo wooo!