Support NeoGAF

[The Lamonster]

I looted a blue proto-drake in the Oculus Heroic, it was in the bag you get at the end. Wasn't expecting it and I was pretty happy

Just happened to me too a couple nights ago!

EDIT: Oh and it's not a proto-drake, just a regular drake.

 

[HarryDemeanor]

Apparently the second wave of invites are going out now. Good luck to everyone! Hope we all get in.

 

[Weenerz]

Got mine, woot'r!

Streaming Worgen starting area, watch if you want. Might not be able to answer your questions right away though.

http://www.livestream.com/gameswithweenerz

 

[notworksafe]

EDIT: Never mind! Watching now!

 

[Weenerz]

Restarted it to fix video settings.

 

[Alcoori]

Just happened to me too a couple nights ago!

EDIT: Oh and it's not a proto-drake, just a regular drake.

Oh my bad, what's the difference? Proto are translucid or am I missing something?

 

[The Lamonster]

Oh my bad, what's the difference? Proto are translucid or am I missing something?

Proto came with WotLK, totally different design.

Drake:

Proto-Drake:

 

[Weenerz]

Servers aren't being too cooperative with me are they? :lol

 

[HarryDemeanor]

There's a certain bug from this patch that keeps crashing the servers.

 

[J-Rzez]

Still November. If forced to guess a date, I would say the 18th.

I didn't think this would be the case, but it's looking this way. My server is already becoming a ghost town, and there's months to go yet before Cata. They really, really dropped the ball on this one. They're bound to lose a bit of people who let their subs run out and think they'll come back to Cata, and they just move on.

I thought that "people complaining about goblin rogues" was an indication of it launching before Blizzcon, but considering the state of the Beta launching later than expected, and not nearly as far along as expected to boot, I guess they're maybe talking about beta-testers.

 

[theinfinityissue]

Oh. My. God.

http://www.wowtal.com/#k=.9mn.rogue

Am I missing something or are we getting ready for rogue tanks? Check the combat tree. Reinforced leather- 50% more armor from cloth/leather items. Sure, could be for pvp, but is armor really that useful for pvp? Well, then again, if they're getting rid of resilience that could make sense. Recuperate, a new finisher which causes the rogue to regenerate health and increases healing on him? I have been wanting to rogue evasion tank since forever. Kind of like those ninja tanks from ffxi. Anybody else think they might be angling towards this?

Actually looking at this some more, that might be a stretch. The combat tree is definitely focusing pvp, but there'd have to be huge changes to rogue health pools in order for them to tank. Still, it would be awesome.

 

[davepoobond]

i dont understand why we have talent points anymore if they make everything so cookie cutter and not very choosy. They should just have everything passive after you select which spec you want to be.


The reason they're making everything passive and talent points mean nothing is so that they can easily adjust balance issues and not have to work so much on balancing things for pve and pvp (pvp mostly).


hunters too prevalent in arenas/bgs? hotfix nerf their damage straight. thats pretty easy. not like anyone would really be able to tell they got nerfed since its all secretive and the passive bonuses dont actually appear anywhere where you can consistently monitor them. That is if they even bother to change the tooltips regarding any changes they actually do.


They should leave passive talents in, i always thought it would be easier/better to figure out from the time i started playing, but the talent trees in their current form have no choices and are pretty crummy. There's no reason to have talents points, its just something to click around and change slightly for pvp or whatever.

what talent points should be is all utility -- nothing that increases or deals damage at all. "move faster for 8 seconds after disengage" is good, and at this point all they should be. Otherwise everyone is only going to spec into stuff that gives you damage increases.

 

[FLEABttn]

There will always be a "best" spec, no matter what Blizz does.

Always.

 

[J-Rzez]

Oh. My. God.

http://www.wowtal.com/#k=.9mn.rogue

Am I missing something or are we getting ready for rogue tanks? Check the combat tree. Reinforced leather- 50% more armor from cloth/leather items. Sure, could be for pvp, but is armor really that useful for pvp? Well, then again, if they're getting rid of resilience that could make sense. Recuperate, a new finisher which causes the rogue to regenerate health and increases healing on him? I have been wanting to rogue evasion tank since forever. Kind of like those ninja tanks from ffxi. Anybody else think they might be angling towards this?

Actually looking at this some more, that might be a stretch. The combat tree is definitely focusing pvp, but there'd have to be huge changes to rogue health pools in order for them to tank. Still, it would be awesome.

They've stated that they want Rogues to be able to go Blow-for-Blow with plate classes, for whatever logic they have with that, instead of having to actually be sneaky, get the drop, and out-skill someone.

i dont understand why we have talent points anymore if they make everything so cookie cutter and not very choosy. They should just have everything passive after you select which spec you want to be.

You'll have to wait for the next expansion after Cata for this. But by then they may just decide that having 3 trees are too mathy, so you pick a class, and select the aura at the time you want to do, pvp/dps/heal/tank.

 

[Retro]

There's no reason to have talents points, its just something to click around and change slightly for pvp or whatever.

It's pretty much a carrot to distract you from the fact that you just spent 10 hours paying Blizzard so you can enjoy what amounts to holding a blue collar job in Middle Earth.

what talent points should be is all utility -- nothing that increases or deals damage at all. "move faster for 8 seconds after disengage" is good, and at this point all they should be. Otherwise everyone is only going to spec into stuff that gives you damage increases.

The problem with that is, it's hard to balance nebulous utility concepts but very easy to balance purely math-driven gameplay. Not only that, but utilities actually take skill to use, in contrast to simple stat-boosters that make everyone feel like they're getting better regardless of whether they actually are or not.

It takes skill to use all of the tools in your toolbox, but any fucking retard can swing a bigger hammer.

 

[firex]

They're definitely going to rework prot paladin talents, because right now there's 40 that feel like necessary investments for threat and survivability. Also they said before that heart of the crusader's debuff is going away, but that was in response to totem of wrath, so I don't know if they meant that just for ToW or if they're going to get rid of that from paladins too.

On the other hand, I actually feel good about enhancement in cataclysm even if they don't change the talents much from now. 8/33/0 seems like a good build even if it's cookie cutter. There's even room for a 4 point variance depending upon how useful fire nova is.

 

[Weenerz]

Goblin starting area, no boa shoulders or chest, just the weapons. Leveling a rogue currently, driving around in a fucking PIMPMOBILE.

http://www.livestream.com/gameswithweenerz

 

[HarryDemeanor]

Newest patch included revamped party frames. Looks like the raid frames will get the same treatment. Good thing is that they're moveable too.

 

[Weenerz]

Okay, I have fallen in love with the Goblin starting area. I am now on my way to robbing a bank :lol

 

[firex]

That new party/raid frames UI looks kind of like Grid, but I bet it won't be as good.

One thing mentioned on MMO-champion that wasn't mentioned here is you can track multiple things now. No idea if that works with both find herbs and find minerals, or hunter tracking, but they showed it working with all the other tracking types (low level quests, trainers, etc.)

 

[Calantus]

So, is there no resilience in cata?

 

[thunker 9000]

That new party/raid frames UI looks kind of like Grid, but I bet it won't be as good.

One thing mentioned on MMO-champion that wasn't mentioned here is you can track multiple things now. No idea if that works with both find herbs and find minerals, or hunter tracking, but they showed it working with all the other tracking types (low level quests, trainers, etc.)

Currently as a hunter, I can track any combination of things. Its awesome being able to track Humanoids and Mineral Nodes.

Viva la Cataclysm

 

[notworksafe]

So, is there no resilience in cata?

It's still around. It's PVP only now, though.

 

[firex]

Currently as a hunter, I can track any combination of things. Its awesome being able to track Humanoids and Mineral Nodes.

Viva la Cataclysm

This makes my mining/herbalism alts easier now, and I'll probably go insane from red dots everywhere on my map when I level my goblin hunter up.

 

[Hixx]

To folk in the beta: whats the levelling curve like? I'm just wondering when we can expect to see some Stonecore footage as you need to be 83 to get in there and I imagine no-one has managed to hit that yet what with the reported server problems.

 

[Xiaoki]

To folk in the beta: whats the levelling curve like? I'm just wondering when we can expect to see some Stonecore footage as you need to be 83 to get in there and I imagine no-one has managed to hit that yet what with the reported server problems.

Theres already Stonecore footage.

Its only the 4 bosses but
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ojoZAqBG81Y
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_yhmY6vHrMA
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y46Bujn2WrA
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4cHURdWLfBQ

 

[Weenerz]

Still streaming the goblin starting area, I have rescued

Spoiler

Thrall

already. Close to getting my level 10 ability.

 

[Technosteve]

Does the game feel like OG WOW again =(?

 

[Meier]

Just lost out on a Zod.. rolled at the same time as another guy and thought mine was the high roll. I about cried when I looked again.

 

[Belfast]

Corborus is awesome.

 

[Alex]

Does the game feel like OG WOW again =(?

I sure as hell hope not.

 

[Bisnic]

Does the game feel like OG WOW again =(?

OG? Original?

Like Alex said, dear god NO! Rose-tinted glasses man.

 

[Shouta]

Does the game feel like OG WOW again =(?

Thank god, no.

 

[Calantus]

I had the most fun in original, though i know it sucked. I just had an absolute blast during original that i have never been able to recreate after BC (or shortly before its release) released.

Then again, i haven't had the time to raid seriously at all since BC release.

 

[Weenerz]

http://www.livestream.com/gameswithweenerz


leveling in hyjal atm

 

[Spire]

If WoW returned to BC era, I would be delighted.

 

[Bisnic]

I had the most fun in original, though i know it sucked. I just had an absolute blast during original that i have never been able to recreate after BC (or shortly before its release) released.

Then again, i haven't had the time to raid seriously at all since BC release.

Original WoW was fun because WoW was still new back then. But compared to the WoW of today, its shit. Cataclysm might revive this somewhat since they're remaking almost the whole thing.

The only thing that some people think sucks these days is how easy it is to get epics.

 

[Spire]

The only thing that some people think sucks these days is how easy it is to get epics.

:lol

 

[Bisnic]

:lol

Well the only reasonable thing i should say. I know people cry for a lot of stupid reasons.

Like people complaining about raids being too easy? Go do heroic modes without your faction leader's buff.

Some might say resilience killed PVP. But before that it was getting 2 shotted by hardcore raiders in T2. Was it really better?

 

[firex]

If WoW returned to BC era, I would be delighted.

Cataclysm looks like best of both worlds to me: BC difficulty dungeons instead of facerolls, decent progression of rewards so you don't have to raid to get good gear. There are a lot of other things I didn't like about BC, mainly how druid was the best hybrid and gear was so retardedly spread out to suit every possible class/spec. Spell power/defense plate, str mail/leather, healing power and spell power, etc.

 

[markot]

World pvp in vanilla was teh best, pre honour and BGs >_<

Of that there is no doubt!

 

[Spire]

Cataclysm looks like best of both worlds to me: BC difficulty dungeons instead of facerolls, decent progression of rewards so you don't have to raid to get good gear. There are a lot of other things I didn't like about BC, mainly how druid was the best hybrid and gear was so retardedly spread out to suit every possible class/spec. Spell power/defense plate, str mail/leather, healing power and spell power, etc.

I haven't been following Cata very closely but if 5-mans have returned to their former glory, I'd be thrilled. As for balance, one of my mains during BC was a prot warrior, so don't get me started on druids during that time. Basically BC was when I was happiest with the endgame. Challenging 5-mans and a great progression ladder (until they nerfed Kara into a joke) always kept me busy.

 

[Alex]

Eh, I'd say classical Battlegrounds were good but compared to a lot of what we have today, they were pretty iffy. Battlegrounds NEED to be returned to some glory though, as opposed to just comfort, so I am glad for Cataclysm's refinements.

Still, I used to go into them on my good friends Rogue and one shot all the casters with C'thun daggers. Certainly didn't want to play my Alliance lock or Priest :lol Classical PvP was really just about propping up the burst damage powerhouses. Consequently, those are the ones who whine most about resilience.

Oh, that and waiting nine years to get into one. I think my average wait time back then ranged from 10-20 minutes.

Honor system was laugh out loud terrible, want any equipment? Want a title? YOU LIVE ON THIS GAME NOW. Seriously, the upper rankers literally played 24/7.

What was nice was guild vs guild rivalry though. However, that's back in Cata with the challenges you can apparently do.

Basically all of vanilla was a gigantic, unpolished time sink. It was trying too hard to follow Everquest and it took some time to undo that. It did some right things, that paved the way for today, but man I'd never go back. I'm very happy for the modern day polish and the ability to do basically everything to top class if you're good enough/have the support on a 6-8 a week schedule.

 

[DarkAngelYuna]

To folk in the beta: whats the levelling curve like? I'm just wondering when we can expect to see some Stonecore footage as you need to be 83 to get in there and I imagine no-one has managed to hit that yet what with the reported server problems.

80+ seems to be about only 3 hours a level.

 

[firex]

I haven't been following Cata very closely but if 5-mans have returned to their former glory, I'd be thrilled. As for balance, one of my mains during BC was a prot warrior, so don't get me started on druids during that time. Basically BC was when I was happiest with the endgame. Challenging 5-mans and a great progression ladder (until they nerfed Kara into a joke) always kept me busy.

Well, people in ICC gear die to retard checks in the beginning Cataclysm instances, so I can just imagine them on heroic. And there are plenty of trash pulls where you can't aoe everything, so crowd control is sometimes actually useful, along with interrupts.

If they keep the raids on a relatively easy level but have interesting encounters, and the hero/valor point system works like they intended, then it shouldn't be too hard to stay a tier behind if you're like me and don't usually have the time to dedicate to raiding (or more like in my case, my free time doesn't line up with raid time for guilds anywhere).

 

[Evlar]

Isn't the beta level cap at 82? Or did they remove that in the last patch?

 

[Hixx]

80+ seems to be about only 3 hours a level.

Really? I know they tend to speed it up for the betas but even so that's much quicker than I expected. When you consider what they were saying about levelling up 80-85 to be a true achievement each level at the last Blizzcon too.

Isn't the beta level cap at 82? Or did they remove that in the last patch?

83 as of the latest beta build when they opened up Deepholme.

 

[firex]

http://blue.mmo-champion.com/t/25969020290/a-couple-questions-paladin-trees/

good to know, because I literally see 37 points necessary for a complete (dungeon and raid) tanking paladin to take out of the current beta build. They should really just make spiritual attunement one of the passives you get at level 10 when you pick up prot, instead of having to spend 2 talent points on it. Although that seems like such a gimme I assume they already did it with their internal build. If they are moving away from 969 for prot paladins, then they can also swap eye for an eye with improved judgement.

 

[Kukumalu]

Quit WoW a month ago so I could focus on clearing my massive backlog.
Today I get an e-mail with a beta invite for Cataclysm.

FML

 

[Angry Grimace]

http://blue.mmo-champion.com/t/25969020290/a-couple-questions-paladin-trees/

good to know, because I literally see 37 points necessary for a complete (dungeon and raid) tanking paladin to take out of the current beta build. They should really just make spiritual attunement one of the passives you get at level 10 when you pick up prot, instead of having to spend 2 talent points on it. Although that seems like such a gimme I assume they already did it with their internal build. If they are moving away from 969 for prot paladins, then they can also swap eye for an eye with improved judgement.

Hilarious. I actually came in here to note "Spiritual Attunement should be the Lvl 10 passive instead of Touched by the Light." :lol

If you needed any more clue that blizzard is trolling everyone; notice that a million talents got axed, but Priests still have the option to take Lightwell.