World of Warcraft: Current Year

spronk

spronk

FPS noob
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29,057
could be fake but some dude says next xpac will be announced in 3 days at Blizzcon, Eye of Azshara for Q1 2016
The Future of WoW - Eye of Azshara : wow

i'm sad, WoD is gonna be the first wow xpac I skip. just too much other gaming stuff to play this holiday and nothing about WoD interests me. i am real interested to see how it sells though, and if others feel like me or if the wow hype train is still rolling hard
 
C

Creslin

Trakanon Raider
2,508
1,153
The formula they follow for expansions is just flat out puzzling. The gear resets, the long gap between final zone and new xpac, the total frontloading of 90% of content in the very start of the xpac.
 
kaid

kaid

Blackwing Lair Raider
4,647
1,187
Creslin_sl said:
The formula they follow for expansions is just flat out puzzling. The gear resets, the long gap between final zone and new xpac, the total frontloading of 90% of content in the very start of the xpac.
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It would probably be fine if they could hit 1 year or 1.5 year release cycles for expansions but going 14months with nothing new at all just seems like an excellent way to shed customers. But bliz has been doing this all along so who knows. Frankly I would love if they already announce another expansion this blizzcon somebody needs to light a fire under their asses.
 
Vitality

Vitality

ＨＵＳＴＬＥ
5,808
30
kaid_sl said:
It would probably be fine if they could hit 1 year or 1.5 year release cycles for expansions but going 14months with nothing new at all just seems like an excellent way to shed customers. But bliz has been doing this all along so who knows. Frankly I would love if they already announce another expansion this blizzcon somebody needs to light a fire under their asses.
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It just goes to show that Blizz can do whatever they want and still retain a critical mass of zombies willing to skip a steak dinner to dip their hand in an xpack full of butter.

I think the main thing blizz is riding on is that there isn't really a Steak Dinner MMO out there for most of us zombies to even consider choosing.

Fast Food restaurants employ a similar tactic. Provide a smooth enough convenience of service and it doesn't matter what content you put in some peoples bag.
 
Ukerric

Ukerric

Bearded Ape
<Silver Donator>
8,494
10,705
Creslin_sl said:
The formula they follow for expansions is just flat out puzzling. The gear resets, the long gap between final zone and new xpac, the total frontloading of 90% of content in the very start of the xpac.
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Production pipeline problems.

Their main problem is that they insist(ed?) on having a single unified team for everything WoW. The same team is simultaneously juggling patching current WoW, producing the next tier of raids/dungeons/storyline, producing the next expansion, and pre-producing the expansion after that (although the latter involves very few people overall - but they've always maintained they're prepping the expansion after while working on the next expansion).

SOE managed to produce more than one expansion a year on average because they decided - if I remember right - to use an alternating two-team system. One team would produce an expansion, then maintain it when it was released, while a completely independent team would tackle the next expansion, so you had two teams alternatively producing then maintaining EQ. What you lost in communication, you gained in efficiency because your team was fully focused on one thing, and one thing only. The maintenance team also had one or two zones max to finish after releasing the expansion; sometimes not even that.

Blizzard's way might sound good, but we've seen the effective result: your team can't handle the simultaneous release of new raid tiers and outdoor zones, and working full steam on the next expansion. They put the last tier on PTR, fix any glitches, then switch to expansion building, which requires those nine-to-twelve months of zone/dungeon/intro raid design and production before the product enters beta.

They've announced that they had to restructure their team and bring new resources up to snuff for WoD; I suspect they redesigned their production pipelines with the hope of a more parallel process.
 
Rime

Rime

<Donor>
2,638
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Prova_sl said:
Few newb questions about buying a heroic Garrosh carry:

Is there any pre-quest work that is required, or can a fresh 90 jump on board?

Is the heirloom a gauranteed loot?

Generally pay before or pay after?
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1) None. Just jump right in if you have the invitation.
2) If it is your first time killing Heroic* Garrosh, you are 100% going to get an heirloom item.
3) Depends on the runner and their reputation. If it is a well-known runner on your server, usually upfront. If not, probably at least half.
*If you are getting a heroic kill, you will also get the title and a Kor'kron wolf mount.

NOTES ON HEIRLOOMS: If you are a warrior and want the 2H axe, set your spec as ARMS. Fury warriors have a chance to get the 1h sword. Same with DKs. Set to Unholy or Blood if you want the 2h.

I have heard that some people have gotten the 'short end' of the stick and were given an off-hand item (Shield/Book) instead of a weapon from their first kill, but I have yet to see it in person.

Rogues are still borked. Yay for Combat having a chance to be given a Dagger instead of an Axe.

All Caster's get the 2h Staff (I have yet to see a priest as Shadow or a Shaman as Elemental get the 1h Mace - It is possible, I suppose, just not in my experience.)

Healers seem to 75/25 get either the 2h Staff or the 1h Mace.
 
kaid

kaid

Blackwing Lair Raider
4,647
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Needless_sl said:
6/10 sigils is the very first part of the quest.. he would still need 20 secrets and 12 runestones on top of those 8 sigils
Highly, highly, highly unlikely.. but who cares really, theres no need for it. You can't tmog it, it will be replaced early into the expansion so yeah.
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This was the reason I did not bother with it. I skipped pandaria until about a month ago I could have done the quest line but its a lot of work and a lot of effort for something you cannot transmog and won't be using in a month.
 
Ronaan

Ronaan

Molten Core Raider
1,092
436
Rime_sl said:
I have heard that some people have gotten the 'short end' of the stick and were given an off-hand item (Shield/Book) instead of a weapon from their first kill, but I have yet to see it in person.
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Everyone* says it's impossible to receive an offhand item / shield on your 100% drop. I was actually hoping to get a shield on one of my tanks, but I'll have to farm Garrosh now it seems if I want one.

*(Everyone = Reddit)
 
Rime

Rime

<Donor>
2,638
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Ronaan_sl said:
Everyone* says it's impossible to receive an offhand item / shield on your 100% drop. I was actually hoping to get a shield on one of my tanks, but I'll have to farm Garrosh now it seems if I want one.

*(Everyone = Reddit)
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It very well might be.

Just stating that I have heard some people raise a fuss about it. Could they have been confused and have killed Garrosh prior to 6.0? Certainly.

Selling Garrosh runs is lovely for the bank account!
 
Sterling

Sterling

El Presidente
13,139
8,110
Rime_sl said:
1) None. Just jump right in if you have the invitation.
2) If it is your first time killing Heroic* Garrosh, you are 100% going to get an heirloom item.
3) Depends on the runner and their reputation. If it is a well-known runner on your server, usually upfront. If not, probably at least half.
*If you are getting a heroic kill, you will also get the title and a Kor'kron wolf mount.

NOTES ON HEIRLOOMS: If you are a warrior and want the 2H axe, set your spec as ARMS. Fury warriors have a chance to get the 1h sword. Same with DKs. Set to Unholy or Blood if you want the 2h.

I have heard that some people have gotten the 'short end' of the stick and were given an off-hand item (Shield/Book) instead of a weapon from their first kill, but I have yet to see it in person.

Rogues are still borked. Yay for Combat having a chance to be given a Dagger instead of an Axe.

All Caster's get the 2h Staff (I have yet to see a priest as Shadow or a Shaman as Elemental get the 1h Mace - It is possible, I suppose, just not in my experience.)

Healers seem to 75/25 get either the 2h Staff or the 1h Mace.
Click to expand...
My shadowpriest got the 1h mace on my first mythic kill for that character.
 
Needless

Needless

Toe Sucker
<Silver Donator>
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I'll be very surprised if they can churn out another expansion in 12-15 months from releasing WoD.
Hell i might even be impressed.
 
Deruvian

Deruvian

Lord Nagafen Raider
720
142
Awesome, thanks. During the carry, is there a chance at other loots during the raid, or does the raid leader turn that functionality off? It's been a long time since I've raided and the loot mechanics seem very different.
 
kaid

kaid

Blackwing Lair Raider
4,647
1,187
Needless_sl said:
I'll be very surprised if they can churn out another expansion in 12-15 months from releasing WoD.
Hell i might even be impressed.
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At this point so would I. Frankly if they did a better job of just pacing the content so they don't wind up blowing their load in the first 8 months when they know they can't get an expansion out for a long time after it. I think a lot of people would have been less pissed with pandaria if there had been 4 month or so gaps between major patches and then wound up with like 6 months of downtime at the end and not over a year.
 
Qhue

Qhue

Tranny Chaser
7,658
4,634
The Eye of Azshara stuff has a ring of truth about it. It never sounded much like the name for a Hearthstone expansion seeing as they are leaning heavily on nostalgia pointing back to classic WoW for that game and Azshara has never been a major aspect of the parent title. I would expect a Hearthstone expansion to be more Outland / Burning Legion focused for this reason.

That having been said, it all reads like more side-quest filler leading up to the Burning Legion return. How long can they reasonably tease this out? Does anyone really care about Naga?
 
kaid

kaid

Blackwing Lair Raider
4,647
1,187
I could easily see something like the eye of Azshara being another expansion god knows they talk about her enough in various parts of the game and it would be another and really if they want another expansion on azeroth raising the land that fell gives them another continent to work with.
 
Arch

Arch

Lord Nagafen Raider
1,036
25
Prova_sl said:
Awesome, thanks. During the carry, is there a chance at other loots during the raid, or does the raid leader turn that functionality off? It's been a long time since I've raided and the loot mechanics seem very different.
Click to expand...
If you are buying a carry its highly likely you are just killing Garrosh, but you do have a shot at loot from him (I got the heroic chest piece on my Hunter in addition to my heirloom bow).
 
Abefroman

Abefroman

Naxxramas 1.0 Raider
12,597
11,941
Prova_sl said:
Awesome, thanks. During the carry, is there a chance at other loots during the raid, or does the raid leader turn that functionality off? It's been a long time since I've raided and the loot mechanics seem very different.
Click to expand...
Do you know any 570+ geared healers or DPS? If you do, just list with them and you will get invited eventually. 5k or so isn't much but if you know someone , you can get carried for free.
 
A

axeman_sl

shitlord
592
0
Needless_sl said:
I'll be very surprised if they can churn out another expansion in 12-15 months from releasing WoD.
Hell i might even be impressed.
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They could, it's just a question of whether or not it'll be good enough to keep the game stable. WoW has an unbelievably petulant and hysterical playerbase, so while the game has the numbers, its customers also have the propensity to explode with outrage if something doesn't meet their standards. As the game gets older and older, it's also easier to justify leaving it since just about every aspect of WoW feels dated. It's already a game that you're kind of embarrassed to play, unlike back in TBC/WotLK when it was the game that everyone played, just as LoL has been in the last four years or whatever.
 
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