Wrath of the Lich King expansion

[Dren]

I really hope they do something about travelling in the old world though.  I'd really like to see flying mounts there.  If they can't do this (which is what they've told us so far,) then give us something like 400% riding mounts instead.  I'm so spoiled by the flying mounts, I just can't stand anything else these days.  I hate spending any of my time travelling.  It was fine in the begninning but with a mature MMO, I'm over it.

[Venkman]

I would too. Would require a good chunk of the old world be rebuilt though. Not insurmountable with the money hats they're wearing, but a great deal of effort to make unless it includes total revamp of the content in those zones too.

Update from Blizzplanet, claiming this "confirms" the expansion. We'll know in 24 hours, and I think most of us believe it anyway. I don't buy the Hero Class thing though. If they did it at all, they wouldn't just do one. And doing it at all reverses their nixing of the idea. Now, I'd love a Hero Class thing, but only if it was a convergence of two classes at the level cap, or the CoX-model of unlocking a new mega-class. Nothing would make me happier than merging Mage with Warlock as an Archmage specializing in a either Elemental Damage or Disease/Poison.

And in general I'd hate the addition of a new class. New races, fine. New classes this game does not need. Better to have 9 well-playing classes than 30 that'll never ever be all at the same level of relevance.

I've been off of WoW since January but eager to come back when the next content rolls out. Maybe I'll even finish the last third of a level I need to hit 70.

[Simond]

Again, this is almost certainly not what Blizzard planned for Hero Classes, which were rumoured to be alpha classes which you'd quest for once you reached the level cap, to specialize your character. Once talents were added in beta, the original hero class concept became pretty much obsolete.

This is just "Hey! You want a new DK character without the 20-58 grind? Here you go! Just do quests x,y& z with your L80 main and you'll unlock it. Oh, by the way - we called it a Hero Class. Now stop asking about them, kthx"


If this is true. :D

[jpark]

A few things. Didn't Blizzard say sometime in the last year that they ultimately scrapped the idea of hero classes? That the talent system really ended up superseding it?

Oddly, I actually found myself nostalgic for the days before the wow beta began - when posters talked endlessly about the game on the blixz forums.  Anyway, even at that time, hero classes were still in the plan.  My understanding was they were shelved to make the release date possible in November - before the 2005 came up pushing their famours delays back even further.

After endless posts during that period I had a single post predicting a release date in 2005 - and that got me banned hehe.  November 2004 alfer announced was not too far off.  Anyway, during that period - talents were in - and hero classe were still expected.  That's my recollection.

[Simond]

Oh, they might very well have planned to have both talents and hero classes, but once people started coming up with various talent specs in actual gameplay, Blizzard probably thought to themselves "Well, there's not much point in adding hero classes to specialize now"...then had the "Where's my hero class?" albatross around their necks for years.

Now they've got an opportunity to get something (totally different) with the name "hero class" in game.

Edit: Another example - there were supposed to be 'life quests' (quest lines tied directly to your character's own life story) for each character up until the point where Blizzard realized that every single dwarf priest, for example, having an identical RP history would be a little stupid.

[Simond]

O HAI

Death Knight, here I come! 

[angry.bob]

MOAR! SCREENZ PLZ!

Wow, I hope to god the class is a whole new class and not something you need to unlock. The former would probably keep me interested enough to keep a sub to both WoW and WAR, while the latter would automatically make me cancel WoW the minute I read the announcement.

[Threash]

Wow apparently it was all true, hah.

[Ironwood]

As a general note, if, and I really mean if, they make hero classes "unlockable" through doing stuff in game, they better make very, very sure that whatever you need to do can be done solo by a player in AH greens each and every step of the way. That's assuming they ever actually make the hero classes.

Here's the fucking deal :  If we actually get Hero Classes within the next TWO expansions, I'll Fly over there and buy you all drinks.

Hero Classes is the fucking carrot in front of the donkey.  Except the Donkey is a screamingly stupid fanboi who remembers WCIII with all his penis and the carrot is fucking IMAGINARY.

Of course, this poster's been wrong before.

Any know any good sites for cheap flights ?  Not BA.


EDIT :  Wait a minute, that confirms hairstyling and expansion, but not Hero Classes.  I still have hope of staying solvent.

[MrHat]

If we call the Death Knight heroic, will you still come buy me beer?

[Ironwood]

Think you're FIGHTING the death knight...

I hope.

Otherwise I've made a fool of myself.  Again.

Heh.

[Fabricated]

Ugh. I hope the death knight thing is a just a new class and not a hero-class upgrade thing.

I think this expansion may do it for me and WoW. I'm barely into the endgame content I really wanna see and Blizz is winding up for an expansion already. I was hoping their glacial development would allow me to get through Kara/Zul'Aman and get some Gruul/Mag runs in before having all of the content invalidated.

Also, it's gonna be hilarious how much a boneyard Outland will be for the first 2-3 months of the Northrend expansion.

[OcellotJenkins]

It's comical how people complain about slow development but also complain when content comes quicker than expected.

[Fabricated]

It's comical how people complain about slow development but also complain when content comes quicker than expected.

I never really complained about how slow their content development was really. Due to my pretty casual play speed I was just getting through most of the casual content in vanilla WoW before BC dropped.

[Simond]

http://www.1up.com/do/newsStory?cId=3161725

WoW: Wrath of the Lich King Revealed
New Hero Class, new continent, new level cap, and more!
By GFW Staff, 08/03/2007
It's official: The next World of WarCraft expansion is coming; it's called Wrath of the Lich King, and will open up the continent of Northrend to players of level 68 and above. This second expansion will focus on the return of Arthas Menethil, a.k.a. the Lich King, ruler of the Scourge, and one of the most powerful beings in all of Azeroth. This semi-sequel to the saga of Arthas (from WarCraft III: The Frozen Throne) is intended for experienced players with a couple level 70 characters in their pockets.

The September issue of Games for Windows: The Official Magazine (on sale soon) has tons of details, but for now here's a quick rundown of what's in store....

    Level Cap: 80
    Skill Cap: 450
    Continent: Northrend
    Number of Zones: 10 (tentatively), for levels 68 and above
    Profession: Inscription
    Class: Death Knight (first-ever Hero Class)
    Features: Outdoor PVP zone with siege weapons and destructible buildings.
    Release Date: You're kidding, right?

The biggest news for existing players is the introduction of the Death Knight, the first new class since WOW's launch -- and, coincidentally, its first Hero Class, too. Other big new features include the introduction of siege weapons and destroyable buildings in both a new Battleground and a brand-new outdoor PVP zone. What Wrath of the Lich King won't have is any content for new characters: no new races, no new level-1-to-20 zones back in the old world, and little change to the old world.

Here's what we know so far:

The Story
Having cleaned up Outland (or at least having set things in decent enough order for now), the Alliance and Horde turn their heads northward to the continent of Northrend, where a terrible threat has gone unchecked for far too long: that of Lich King and his undead army, the Scourge. On the day Wrath of the Lich King launches, players will be able to set sail from various points in old Azeroth and join the fight against Arthas Menethil.

New Continent: Northrend
Having learned a valuable lesson about funneling 8.5 million players into once single starting zone with The Burning Crusade, Wrath of the Lich King lets players pick a zone on either side of the continent to start from: Borean Tundra in the west or Howling Fjord in the east. Each zone has level-equivalent quests (appropriate for approximately level 68 through 72) and one Hellfire Peninsula-style instance hub with multiple dungeon wings for level 70 characters, level 80 characters, and raiders. While Northrend immediately calls to mind ice and snow, Blizzard doesn't want to make those themes dominate Northrend completely-expect as much variety as ever, only not quite as weird and wild as Outland.

Northrend's indigenous inhabitants include a Viking-like race called the Vrykul: 15-foot-tall humanoids with a strong Norse influence. Most Vrykul you encounter will be your enemies, as they've been in Northrend so long that the Lich King holds a lot of sway over them. Another friendly race -- the walrus-like Tuskarr -- will serve as a cute little counterpoint to the lumbering undead-loving oafs.

New Zone Type: Outdoor PVP
One of Northrend's 10 new zones (final count still tentative) is an outdoor PVP zone that introduces the concept of siege weapons (Meat Wagons, Steam Tanks, etc.) and destructible buildings. Blizzard describes the outdoor zone as basically a "non-instanced Battleground" where completing objectives earns world-wide bonuses for your side (Think Spirit Shard buff in Auchindoun instances). The PVP zone is entirely avoidable (if you're the carebear type), and seige weapons won't be useable outside their designated PVP area.

New Hero Class: Death Knight
World of WarCraft's first Hero Class is a plate-wearing tank/DPS hybrid that works a little something like this: When players hit level 80, they'll be able to embark on a quest (similar in difficulty to the Warlock's epic mount quest, back before the level cap was raised to 70) that unlocks the ability to create a Death Knight character. The Death Knight starts at a high level (somewhere around 60 or 70, though Blizzard isn't certain yet), so you won't have to grind your way back up all over again. It's intended as an alternative, advanced class for end-game use only.

Rather than using rage, energy, or mana, Death Knights have a special "rune sword" displayed beneath their health bar, onto which the player can etch six different runes (choose between Frost, Blood, and Unholy). Different abilities require different mixes of runes, and using abilities consumes the requisite runes until a cooldown timer causes them to be available again. Stuff like talents, spells, and other specifics are still being finalized. So are key questions like what races can be a Death Knight (start a Gnome petition now) and whether unlocking the Hero Class on one server means you can create a Death Knight on any server.

New Profession: Inscription
Wrath of the Lich King will introduce a new profession called Inscription that will let players customize individual spells and abilities in their spell book -- to change the cooldown timer on a Fireball, for example, or alter the crit rate of a healing spell.

There's lots more in the upcoming September issue of Games for Windows: The Official Magazine, on sale in the next couple weeks, including candid insight from the developers, details on some of the new dungeons not shown at BlizzCon, and word that The Burning Crusade ain't over yet...there's more BC content coming beyond Zul'Aman.

[AcidCat]

"It's intended as an alternative, advanced class for end-game use only."

A special class for the raiders? This sounds like a giant shitstorm. I hope I am misinterpreting this.

[Lakov_Sanite]

"It's intended as an alternative, advanced class for end-game use only."

A special class for the raiders? This sounds like a giant shitstorm. I hope I am misinterpreting this.

I don't like the way it's worded personally but they have said it wont be harder to unlock than a warlocks epic mount which means a 5-man group.  This is more than available to the casual player.  All they are really saying is once you unlock it you will have maybe only 1-20 levels to grind instead of a daunting 80.  When we think end-game we think of catass raiding, I believe their meaning here is is levels 70-80 and everything you do after.

Personally I like the idea of not having to start from level one.  Not only would it be silly to have deathknights killing zhevra out in the barrens, i just don't think I'd have the patience for it, nor would many.

[Threash]

"It's intended as an alternative, advanced class for end-game use only."

A special class for the raiders? This sounds like a giant shitstorm. I hope I am misinterpreting this.

Meh, i read it as an alternative to raiding personally. 

[AcidCat]

Meh, i read it as an alternative to raiding personally. 

That would be ideal.

[Ironwood]

Ok.  I'll go from 'That'll never happen because it's retarded' straight to 'that's retarded.'

Fuck Sake.

[Ironwood]

And inscription STILL sounds fake.

What the hell ?

Is it April ?  Did I die ?

[Simond]

"It's intended as an alternative, advanced class for end-game use only."

A special class for the raiders? This sounds like a giant shitstorm. I hope I am misinterpreting this.

Meh, i read it as an alternative to raiding personally. 

I read it as "You won't need to level up through STV again" :)

[tkinnun0]

The Death Knight better be able to solo raid content, or else I'm going to make a New Year's promise not to pay for content I'm not going to see. How's that going to work? I'll tell you. If, say, 25% of the expansion is raid content and it costs 40€, I'm not going to consider buying it before it drops to 30€. Fool me once, I'll cut my losses. Fool me twice... You can't fool me twice!

[ajax34i]

You have a runed sword and you use runes off the sword...  sounds like a memorized-spell system a la DnD, but not quite, since you don't prepare your abilities, but rather their "mats" if I can call the runes that.

Edit:  re: tkinnun0:  I bought TBC and ended up cancelling after the first month, after which I re-activated recently and I'm levelling up a tauren druid, he's still mid level.  Talk about wasted cash.  I guess, since there's nothing that a sub-68 can access in this new expansion, I won't bother buying it until I get to 68.  Actually, 70 and a few heroics, just so I can say I've seen some stuff.

[Kail]

Level Cap: 80

THAT I didn't expect to see so soon.  So then, Kharazan, Black Temple, et al, will be functionally equivalent to what Naxxramas and Stratholme are now, and players will be able to solo farm T2 armor? Yikes.  I mean, great for me, since maybe I'll be able to see some of this stuff, but my Paladin's still only level 50... sigh...

That siege mechanic is what piqued my interest the most, honestly.  The new customization options could be cool too, if they let you use them on existing characters (with no new content, I'm not crazy about the idea of having to level ANOTHER alt at my current "lobotomized sea turtle" pace).

Since I don't think anyone has yet linked it, here's the official site.  Mostly just "we're still exploring our options!" stuff in the FAQ, but there is a trailer to download and some screenshots.

[Montague]

Unholy Embrace

Instant Cast. 5 min cooldown.

Target is embraced by a silhouette of darkness for 6 seconds, corrupting any healing spells and effects cast upon or currently affecting the target to cause damage for 50% of their healing potential instead of restoring health. Any damage shields cast upon or currently affecting the target will also be instantly consumed, dealing 50% of their absorption potential in
damage. Once afflicted with Unholy Embrace, the target cannot be afflicted with Unholy Embrace again for 1 minute.


From the general forums, Death Knight ability.

I see the paladin population plummeting precipitously. Say that five times fast.

[Eldron]

The trailer from Blizzcon

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2qEwhaBodqY

[angry.bob]

I read it as "You won't need to level up through STV again" :)

I'd rather level up form 1 again than deal with the shit you'll have to do to unlock it. I don't give a shit "that it won't be any harder than the warlock epic mount when the cap was 60". I demand something that's not any harder than picking "Death Knight" on a character creation screen, finding a name that hasn't been taken on a release server, and clicking "create Character". Or make it like DAoC so when you have one guy to level 80, you can start a new Deathnight off at 70 or whatever. Anything harder than that and the fucking thing better solo raids like I'm playing Diablo.

Jesus, WAR can't go open beta fast enough. This piece of stupid shit announcement effectively ends WoW for me forever when it's made official.

[Montague]

I read it as "You won't need to level up through STV again" :)

I'd rather level up form 1 again than deal with the shit you'll have to do to unlock it. I don't give a shit "that it won't be any harder than the warlock epic mount when the cap was 60". I demand something that's not any harder than picking "Death Knight" on a character creation screen, finding a name that hasn't been taken on a release server, and clicking "create Character". Or make it like DAoC so when you have one guy to level 80, you can start a new Deathnight off at 70 or whatever. Anything harder than that and the fucking thing better solo raids like I'm playing Diablo.

Jesus, WAR can't go open beta fast enough. This piece of stupid shit announcement effectively ends WoW for me forever when it's made official.

QFT. Blatant attempt to compete with WAR's Chaos Chosen if you ask me.

[Threash]

If i had to level from 1 to 80 i would never play a deathknight, for most players doing a mildly difficult quest is a much more palatable option than waiting six months to catch up to their friends.

[ShynDarkly]

http://www.worldofwarcraft.com/wrath/

[bhodi]

I am so glad they finally got the guild halls and shared bank stuff in. Phew. As important as guilds are in this game, and seeing as how everyone is part of one, it's a relief to know they really focused on the nagging bits that should have been part of the game since release.

Wait, what?

[Simond]

Guild bank is either in 2.2 or 2.3, iirc.

[Threash]

I am so glad they finally got the guild halls and shared bank stuff in. Phew. As important as guilds are in this game, and seeing as how everyone is part of one, it's a relief to know they really focused on the nagging bits that should have been part of the game since release.

Wait, what?

Banks and voice chat are coming next patch...

[Chenghiz]

FJORDS