BC first impressions

[WayAbvPar]

I haven't seen it digitally anywhere yet, but I haven't looked too terribly hard, either. If you find it, let me know.

[Zetor]

I'm a European playing on a US server... since I didn't feel like waiting 2 weeks for snailmail, I had to download the US client from a certain well-known torrent site [yarr!], and it's worked fine. No keyloggers or anything. :P


-- Z.

[Reg]

Bah.  I unsubbed from WoW in late November to study for my exams (it worked...3 As and a B+ yay!) but now the WoW bug has resurged and I want BC.  Only problem is my diskdrive conked out and won't open.  Is it possible to buy this and download it online?

Have you tried sticking a needle in the little needle sized hole on the front of the drive? Mine gets stubborn like that but sticking in the needle pops the door open right away and then it's good for another few weeks.

[Jayce]

Bah.  I unsubbed from WoW in late November to study for my exams (it worked...3 As and a B+ yay!) but now the WoW bug has resurged and I want BC.  Only problem is my diskdrive conked out and won't open.  Is it possible to buy this and download it online?

On the offchance you didn't see in the other thread:

Also, in semi-related news they're finally offering a download of the expansion. Still the same price as retail though.

[Triforcer]

Bah.  I unsubbed from WoW in late November to study for my exams (it worked...3 As and a B+ yay!) but now the WoW bug has resurged and I want BC.  Only problem is my diskdrive conked out and won't open.  Is it possible to buy this and download it online?

On the offchance you didn't see in the other thread:

Also, in semi-related news they're finally offering a download of the expansion. Still the same price as retail though.

Thanks! Mucho appreciado.

[Merusk]

So I hit 70 last night.  The base flying mount feels slow as hell, but seeing as I have only 800g to my name now it'll have to do for a bit.  I reccommend everyone do instances as much as you can so you're hitting 70 about as soon as you're done with Blade's Edge Mountains for 2 reasons.

1)  Flying makes Shadowmoon MUCH simpler.  No damn pigs w/ stun to deal with, and no "crap I have to run around that mountain AGAIN" for quest completions.

2) The quests I still have there will pay me between 10 and 22 gold per completion.  Thinking about how many quests I've done while in SM, and all the quests I've yet to do in Netherstorm.. that's a lot of cash.

[Triforcer]

So I hit 70 last night.  The base flying mount feels slow as hell, but seeing as I have only 800g to my name now it'll have to do for a bit.  I reccommend everyone do instances as much as you can so you're hitting 70 about as soon as you're done with Blade's Edge Mountains for 2 reasons.

1)  Flying makes Shadowmoon MUCH simpler.  No damn pigs w/ stun to deal with, and no "crap I have to run around that mountain AGAIN" for quest completions.

Or, be a druid  :-D  Even though its not usable in combat, an instant form is still a slight pvp advantage over a 3 second windup.  We've all been in those situations where our draw distance suddenly rubberbands and three gankers on horseback are 10 feet from us.

[Triforcer]

Just wanted to add that I am greatly enjoying BC, and they really put in the little touches that matter.  The bombing missions in Hellfire Peninsula were great.  After that, I did a quest that ended up with me in a complex full of Alliance ghosts (Expedition Armory).  When I pacified the head ghost commander, a bunch of other ghosts appeared and bowed to me in thanks.  That was neat enough, but when all the solemn ghosts faded away one stayed a few more seconds and waved playfully at me. 

One waving NPC may not sound like much but it is the little things that matter.  People can bitch and moan about WoW/Microsoft/Starbucks etc. being bad, discouraging innovation, etc., but the bottom line is that WoW doesn't succeed because of Satanic bargains/finding indie programmers and breaking their legs or whatever.  They just have a damn nice product.

[Fabricated]

Did the Mana-Tombs twice in a row. Level 65 now. Mana-Tombs is really fun but god if the trash isn't annoying. I got my tank shield off Pandemonius (who was pitifully easy), and my guildies all got upgrades. That escort quest is a bitch.

[Morat20]

Just wanted to add that I am greatly enjoying BC, and they really put in the little touches that matter.  The bombing missions in Hellfire Peninsula were great.  After that, I did a quest that ended up with me in a complex full of Alliance ghosts (Expedition Armory).  When I pacified the head ghost commander, a bunch of other ghosts appeared and bowed to me in thanks.  That was neat enough, but when all the solemn ghosts faded away one stayed a few more seconds and waved playfully at me. 

One waving NPC may not sound like much but it is the little things that matter.  People can bitch and moan about WoW/Microsoft/Starbucks etc. being bad, discouraging innovation, etc., but the bottom line is that WoW doesn't succeed because of Satanic bargains/finding indie programmers and breaking their legs or whatever.  They just have a damn nice product.

I just got a Draenae to 20 -- did the whole starting area. A few things that stuck out:

1) I took a quest off a wanted poster. When I completed it, I happened to notice the poster was still clickable (wasn't the case before, I don't believe). Clicking gets you something like "The wanted poster for X has been scratched out, with the message 'The vile criminal Y has been brought to justice by the valiant efforst of Y (me)'. It continues to extoll your virtues at some length".
2) When you beat the main boss at the end of the Dranae area, you get the usual "All Hail Player Y, Who Is Every So Freaking Awesome and Has Saved Us All" (pretty much every zone). What was new? When you walk out of the building after turning it in, every NPC you'd taken a quest from in the whole zone was lined up outside cheering you. From the chick I took a fishing quest from when I first hit Azuremist, to the injured priestess I healed, up to the Stillpine guys I'd worked for a bit. (Heck, I even clicked on the cook and bought a recipe for him right there).

There were several more -- but those two were "hey, cool!" moments. It's amazing how much polish -- little touches -- Blizzard's added with this expansion. Makes me wonder what the original game would be like if they had the chance to do it all over again.

They're really fucking over most other MMORPGs with this whole "quality" thing. :)

[lamaros]

Just wanted to add that I am greatly enjoying BC, and they really put in the little touches that matter.  The bombing missions in Hellfire Peninsula were great.  After that, I did a quest that ended up with me in a complex full of Alliance ghosts (Expedition Armory).  When I pacified the head ghost commander, a bunch of other ghosts appeared and bowed to me in thanks.  That was neat enough, but when all the solemn ghosts faded away one stayed a few more seconds and waved playfully at me. 

One waving NPC may not sound like much but it is the little things that matter.  People can bitch and moan about WoW/Microsoft/Starbucks etc. being bad, discouraging innovation, etc., but the bottom line is that WoW doesn't succeed because of Satanic bargains/finding indie programmers and breaking their legs or whatever.  They just have a damn nice product.

Are you implying Starbucks has good coffee?

[Signe]

I like Starbucks coffee, though not as much as my home brewed.  I even buy some of their coffee beans, although Wholefoods has better. 

[Shavnir]

So I hit 70 last night.  The base flying mount feels slow as hell, but seeing as I have only 800g to my name now it'll have to do for a bit.  I reccommend everyone do instances as much as you can so you're hitting 70 about as soon as you're done with Blade's Edge Mountains for 2 reasons.

1)  Flying makes Shadowmoon MUCH simpler.  No damn pigs w/ stun to deal with, and no "crap I have to run around that mountain AGAIN" for quest completions.

2) The quests I still have there will pay me between 10 and 22 gold per completion.  Thinking about how many quests I've done while in SM, and all the quests I've yet to do in Netherstorm.. that's a lot of cash.

I'm 69 and I've done 1 quest in Blade's Edge.  I intend to, later this week when I have some decent rested xp, grind most if not all of my last level on water elementals (damn you frozen netherweave set).  Think it'll be worth it when it comes time to fly through Blade's Edge, Shadowmoon and Netherstorm? :)

[lamaros]

So I hit 70 last night.  The base flying mount feels slow as hell, but seeing as I have only 800g to my name now it'll have to do for a bit.  I reccommend everyone do instances as much as you can so you're hitting 70 about as soon as you're done with Blade's Edge Mountains for 2 reasons.

1)  Flying makes Shadowmoon MUCH simpler.  No damn pigs w/ stun to deal with, and no "crap I have to run around that mountain AGAIN" for quest completions.

2) The quests I still have there will pay me between 10 and 22 gold per completion.  Thinking about how many quests I've done while in SM, and all the quests I've yet to do in Netherstorm.. that's a lot of cash.

I'm 69 and I've done 1 quest in Blade's Edge.  I intend to, later this week when I have some decent rested xp, grind most if not all of my last level on water elementals (damn you frozen netherweave set).  Think it'll be worth it when it comes time to fly through Blade's Edge, Shadowmoon and Netherstorm? :)

Mostly noticeable in Shadowmoon. Blade's and Nether have three FPs each and less back and forth with the questing.

[Zetor]

There are some zones later on where simply the act of doing a quest changes the way other mobs react to you. After doing a long-ish questline in blade's edge, the formerly aggro trees would turn yellow (still attackable, but not aggro), ditto with the ghost wizards in Netherstorm after you "put them to rest".

Edit: Obligatory QQ for the day -- I dueled a lv70 hunter yesterday, after I saw him completely obliterate a l70 feral druid. 2.6k multishot crits on the druid's bearform armor... I dunno how much he was hitting my clothie ass for, but I definitely I died waaay too fast.


-- Z.

[Kail]

Makes me wonder what the original game would be like if they had the chance to do it all over again.

That's my main gripe with the expansion.  I tend to max out my alts a lot (like, I fill all the available alt slots, not that I get them all to max level, I mean), and while the new content is extremely solid, the old content is untouched.  Want to play a Dwarf?  No cookie for you.  Troll?  Same deal.  Blood elf?  Enjoy this ludicrously polished newbie zone for about three days, and then it's back to the Arathi Highlands for the next month.  The new content is only available at the extreme high and extreme low end of the game, and there's a really big "middle" that hasn't been improved much since the game launched.  Would have been nice to have some new 30-40 or 40-50 zone somewhere.

Aside from that, though, I'm loving it.  I haven't stepped through the portal yet (my only 60 is a tauren Shaman in level 30-something greens, so I doubt he'd survive), but the newbie zones are amazing. The Blood Elf zone seems to have just this ludicrously optimized quest layout, where I'll head out to some place to do some quest and on the way I'll find some new quests to do there, or I'll spot the objective to another quest just off the road, or something like that, so I'm often doing two or three quests at once, and they're all fairly quick and fun (minus the occasional overcrowded boss spawn).  Levelling seems way quicker than with other lowbie zones (just casually messing around for two days and I'm already level fourteen), cash seems way more abundant (I can actually afford vendor armor, weapons, and the like without having to stall my training), and bags drop very frequently.  I'm not as far in the Dranei zone, but it seems slightly less optimized, fewer bags, et cetera, but it's got more of a story than the Blood Elf area.  They almost seem like they're done by different teams, to me.  The art seems much better, now, too; the gripes I had with the old character models are mostly fixed with the new ones, and the visual design of the zones is amazing.

[Morat20]

I muled my Shaman 5 gold when I made him. He's currently sitting at about 6 gold, and he's level 20 and fully trained. (Including jewelcrafting) and has bought a lot of recipes.

For the record, Ghost Wolf is ludicrously nice. I'm about to move to Ashenvale (never really done that area -- always moved to either Menithil or Lakeshire), but figured I'd do the run to IF and SW since I was in Auberdine. With Ghost Wolf, the run was painless. I hit the flight points at Menethil, IF, Thelemmsar, SW, Lakeshire, Duskwood, and Sentinel Hill and about four full stacks of copper for my jewelcrafting.

Ghost Wolf form would make the Darkshore quests tolerable (that zone design is godawful). 40% speed boost at level 20 is just ridiculous.

[Dren]

I muled my Shaman 5 gold when I made him. He's currently sitting at about 6 gold, and he's level 20 and fully trained. (Including jewelcrafting) and has bought a lot of recipes.

For the record, Ghost Wolf is ludicrously nice. I'm about to move to Ashenvale (never really done that area -- always moved to either Menithil or Lakeshire), but figured I'd do the run to IF and SW since I was in Auberdine. With Ghost Wolf, the run was painless. I hit the flight points at Menethil, IF, Thelemmsar, SW, Lakeshire, Duskwood, and Sentinel Hill and about four full stacks of copper for my jewelcrafting.

Ghost Wolf form would make the Darkshore quests tolerable (that zone design is godawful). 40% speed boost at level 20 is just ridiculous.

One of the big reasons I liked alt'ing my druid.  Travelform at 20 for 40% increase.

[Rasix]

One of the big reasons I liked alt'ing my druid.  Travelform at 20 for 40% increase.

You get travel form at 30.  Cat form at 20.

[Morat20]

One of the big reasons I liked alt'ing my druid.  Travelform at 20 for 40% increase.

You get travel form at 30.  Cat form at 20.

I think Hunters get Cheetah at 30 as well (might be 20) -- but they have a stun if damaged. (Which is there to make it more difficult to kite using Cheetah -- I wish they'd have a talent or advanced version that lowered the stun chance). Is Druid travelform 40%? I know Cheetah is only 30%.

I always wondered why Shamans got a 40% speed boost at 20, not 30.

[Jayce]

One of the big reasons I liked alt'ing my druid.  Travelform at 20 for 40% increase.

You get travel form at 30.  Cat form at 20.

I think Hunters get Cheetah at 30 as well (might be 20) -- but they have a stun if damaged. (Which is there to make it more difficult to kite using Cheetah -- I wish they'd have a talent or advanced version that lowered the stun chance). Is Druid travelform 40%? I know Cheetah is only 30%.

I always wondered why Shamans got a 40% speed boost at 20, not 30.

Just to muddy the waters some more:
Hunters' Cheetah is at 20.  Feral Druids can get a 20% increase from feral swiftness (used to be called feline swiftness) only usable outdoors.  Travel form is 40% IIRC - not as fast as a mount, but pretty fast, and usable in combat.  Also, only usable outside.

edit: 40%, not 30%.  Mount is 60%.

[Dren]

One of the big reasons I liked alt'ing my druid.  Travelform at 20 for 40% increase.

You get travel form at 30.  Cat form at 20.

Yeah, as I typed that I couldn't remember for sure.  Now I do remember.  I got that talent that boosted the cat's speed up to like 30% which was pretty nice between 20 and 30.  I was loving it.

[Triforcer]

The more I play around with Force of Nature (the treants) the more I like it.  It is simply awesome in 1v1 or small encounter pvp.  By far its best feature is appearing right on top of your enemy.  I've successfully attacked two person groups myself because I set the trees on the healer and then kill their low-hp partner.  I've seen the trees alone kill mages from half health because they didn't know wtf was going on.  People either have to 1) stop and deal with them, wasting valuable time, or 2) chase me and have a nasty, nondispellable DOT going.

I'm hard pressed at this point to think of a better class/spec for solo pvp (ie, you are questing or grinding and just happen to see a target).  Heals, stealth, pets, and near-mage like burst DPS.  I still haven't figured out how to deal well with the healing classes, but when I get my Poultryizer that will give me a quick CS (and 15 sec of no casting spells, although damage can break it).   

[MrHat]

What happens when yer low on mana? Personally I've always liked grouping w/ Druids, and fighting druids because of all the things they do.  As an enhancement shaman I LOVE grouping w/ leader of the pack or moonkin druids, +crit melee, or stormstrike + nature spells.

[Triforcer]

What happens when yer low on mana? Personally I've always liked grouping w/ Druids, and fighting druids because of all the things they do.  As an enhancement shaman I LOVE grouping w/ leader of the pack or moonkin druids, +crit melee, or stormstrike + nature spells.

If I am in 1v1 pvp and realize I am too low on mana, I utilize the druid's other talent: running.

[Jayce]

What happens when yer low on mana? Personally I've always liked grouping w/ Druids, and fighting druids because of all the things they do.  As an enhancement shaman I LOVE grouping w/ leader of the pack or moonkin druids, +crit melee, or stormstrike + nature spells.

If I am in 1v1 pvp and realize I am too low on mana, I utilize the druid's other talent: running.

When fighting a melee class, can you root them and innervate yourself?

[Furiously]

MOONFIRE is always the answer.

[MrHat]

My next alt will probably be a druid, Taurens be damned!  Feral up the ass, maybe try tree of life healing for stint.

[Rasix]

My next alt will probably be a druid, Taurens be damned!  Feral up the ass, maybe try tree of life healing for stint.

Go play Dark Age for a bit if you're really worried about the run speed perception.  You'll come back feeling like a Ferrari. 

I'd also like to humbly request that you name your druid, "Morecowbell".  There needs to be more of us.

[Dren]

My next alt will probably be a druid, Taurens be damned!  Feral up the ass, maybe try tree of life healing for stint.

Go play Dark Age for a bit if you're really worried about the run speed perception.  You'll come back feeling like a Ferrari. 

I'd also like to humbly request that you name your druid, "Morecowbell".  There needs to be more of us.

I was just thinking this thread was missing something...


DING

[MrHat]

Hasselhoof if it's not taken.

Paxxandu since all my other chars on this server are Paxx something.

Or, Colonel Angus.

[Zetor]

Hasselhoof was my server's only internet celebrity [well ok, not really :P].


-- Z.

[WayAbvPar]

So, I finally got a character to 58 so I could go through the Dark Portal. Holy CRAP. The Fel Reavers look awesome, and the quest rewards and loot drops are sick. And I have only been on Hellfire for a couple of hours. I can see now why all the people who were 60 forever and raided for loot feel like they wasted their time now 

[jpark]

So, I finally got a character to 58 so I could go through the Dark Portal. Holy CRAP. The Fel Reavers look awesome, and the quest rewards and loot drops are sick. And I have only been on Hellfire for a couple of hours. I can see now why all the people who were 60 forever and raided for loot feel like they wasted their time now 

As a catass - I demand respect!

Gratz mate - have fun.  My favorite zone overall was Zangarmarsh - maybe it's the biologist in me :)

Fetish confession:  everyone once in awhile - I love jumping into the Abyss.  I have this hope that my dead avatar might find the "bottom" - but it's fun watching my avatar vanish into a tiny spec as I hurdle into the void