Cataclysm

[Lakov_Sanite]

Originally Posted by Daeleht  (Source)
This is an intentional change, however the values may not be final. Tradeskill nodes are intended to give you experience when you loot them.

[Sheepherder]

The first time in history those tiers of warrior armor were ever described as "cool".

Maybe 'cool' is a double meaning slang like 'bad'?

[Draugen] says: Hey dude, where did you get the cool football helmet and pads made out of axes?

[Soulflame]

I wonder if xp from nodes extends to fishing.

A shame I took mining off the paladin.  Not that I expect it's a lot of xp.

[Threash]

Speaking of exp, they said heirlooms were stuck at level 80 but is the exp bonus still in effect? and is the expansion balanced around getting 20% extra exp?

[Fordel]

No, it is balanced with no Heirlooms in mind.

[Lt.Dan]

Isn't it over 6 million xp to hit level 81? 

The 20% heirloom bonus on that is almost a whole WOTLK level :P

[Sheepherder]

Speaking of exp, they said heirlooms were stuck at level 80 but is the exp bonus still in effect? and is the expansion balanced around getting 20% extra exp?

It's a trap.

[Rendakor]

Level 80 heirlooms do not provide their XP bonus over level 80. You'll need to get new level 85 ones to do so.

[SurfD]

Level 80 heirlooms do not provide their XP bonus over level 80. You'll need to get new level 85 ones to do so.

I believe it was stated that the gear stats still scale to level 85 however.  it is just the XP bonus that stops working.

A more interesting question is if the level 85 heirlooms will stack with the level 80 ones in the sub 80 range.  45% (assuming you get the ring) boosted exp for leveling that lowbie toon?  Yikes.

[DraconianOne]

Patch 4.0.1 on the background downloader now apparently. Thought it only just hit the test servers.

[Merusk]

It did, but it was also 16GB of data from what I've seen.*  Apparently it includes the zone files for the world revamp (since everyone's getting that) and it takes a long ass time to download. Some of my old guildies said that it took them 2 days of dedicated downloading just to get the test patch fully loaded. 

Since the majority of it is artwork that won't change, they can start the stream now with the stuff that won't change then do mini-patches for anything that does.

*Before you  the size, the new patcher is apparently really nifty in that you can start playing without fully downloading.  It will just stream the zone files you need to you when you load that zone.  Load it up, let it download the first few hundred MB then hit "play" much like GW.

[SurfD]

I think you misplaced a decimal there.

Patcher says the download is 1.58 gig, which is much more reasonable (even if somewhat large comparatively).

[Morfiend]

I think you misplaced a decimal there.

Patcher says the download is 1.58 gig, which is much more reasonable (even if somewhat large comparatively).

I believe he is talking about the patch for the Test Server.

[Ingmar]

Yeah, test server install is enormous.

[Lakov_Sanite]

I keep getting a runtime error when the background downloader tries to load, any ideas on how to fix that?

[WindupAtheist]

Try running the background downloader in 98/ME compatability mode.

[Morat20]

So, when's this bad boy coming out?

[SurfD]

If scuttlebutt on MMO champ is to be believed, sometime late or early november.

[Ingmar]

The popular rumor date is Nov 2.

[WindupAtheist]

I'm really not liking what I hear from the forums about ret paladins. Whenever I read anything about my class/spec they may as well be talking about another game. (This is like what, at least the third total redesign?) Then there's the video of one getting soloed by a hunter pet, and numerous reports of shit DPS. But don't worry I'm sure everything will be fixed by the time it comes out.

[Lt.Dan]

I'm really not liking what I hear from the forums about ret paladins. Whenever I read anything about my class/spec they may as well be talking about another game. (This is like what, at least the third total redesign?) Then there's the video of one getting soloed by a hunter pet, and numerous reports of shit DPS. But don't worry I'm sure everything will be fixed by the time it comes out.

There seems to be some way to go with tweaking so at this stage I'd put little stock in forums. 

I've been tooling around in the PTR with 4.0 (not the Cataclysm Beta) and there's some egregious bugs like armor not reducing incoming tank damage and dps being a bit flat across the board.  A lot of classes have had major overhauls (eg Warlocks, boomkims) and others will play totally differently (my Resto Druid will no longer spam rejuv).  There's just too much scope to draw bad conclusions right now.

[Fordel]

I'm really not liking what I hear from the forums about ret paladins. Whenever I read anything about my class/spec they may as well be talking about another game. (This is like what, at least the third total redesign?) Then there's the video of one getting soloed by a hunter pet, and numerous reports of shit DPS. But don't worry I'm sure everything will be fixed by the time it comes out.

Hunters are completely 'overturned' in Beta currently, so that doesn't surprise me that much. Most can pretty much walk up to you while mashing their instants from 40 yards out and drop you before they get in range to loot your corpses 12 silver.

[Hawkbit]

Gilneas BG map is up - looks pretty much like Nordenwatch from WAR. 

[pxib]

 

[WindupAtheist]

If they get the numbers all worked out I might be a happy camper. That shit where I can judge from range and get a speed boost from it sounds .

[Azazel]

How much is a WoW sub these days? I'm playing off a game card that was sitting around for 2 years, so I'm wondering if it'll be cheaper to sub via Blizzard direct while the aussie dollar is good, or buy another card or two. The official site wante me to add billing info before it'll show me the sub rates, and I don't trust googling random sites for wow info, because I'm scared of the haxors, and I'm not willing to basketcase my computer for a single game.

[Rendakor]

$15/month in US dollars.

[Azazel]

Any difference for 3-month subs?

[Chimpy]

Any difference for 3-month subs?

From the FAQ on the WoW site:

Is there a monthly fee to play the game?
Yes. After the end of the free month included with the game, you need a subscription in order to continue playing the game. There are three subscription options: a month-to-month package at $14.99 per month, a three-month plan at $13.99 per month, and a six-month plan at $12.99 per month. The subscription fees for the three-month plan and the six-month plan must be paid in full.

[Simond]

I'm really not liking what I hear from the forums about ret paladins. Whenever I read anything about my class/spec they may as well be talking about another game. (This is like what, at least the third total redesign?) Then there's the video of one getting soloed by a hunter pet, and numerous reports of shit DPS. But don't worry I'm sure everything will be fixed by the time it comes out.

Could be worse, you could have a DK for a main. I suspect there's going to be quite a few DKs played up to about, oh, L83 or so and then abandoned for their old retadin/hunter/warlock main.

[VainEldritch]

Could be worse, you could have a DK for a main. I suspect there's going to be quite a few DKs played up to about, oh, L83 or so and then abandoned for their old retadin/hunter/warlock main.

PTR damage number clusterfuckery aside, I'm not too disappointed by the DK and Retadin changes. Then again, as I'd rather not be disappointed at all,  I've finally started to work on that mage.

[Wolf]

Well, to be perfectly fair they haven't started putting in the correct numbers yet, right? They're still playing with moving skills/abilities around. They'll do a final pass with numbers right before release.

[Typhon]

That is the GC mantra throughout all of this.  My recollection is that "getting the numbers right" is something that frequently has taken them months and years, not something that they were ever able to snap their fingers and nail right out of the box.

Anyone else worried that significantly altered classes won't be "balanced" for another six months post-launch?

[Lantyssa]

Not worried since I'm pretty much done with the game, however it is my prediction.

[Rasix]

Anyone else worried that significantly altered classes won't be "balanced" for another six months post-launch?

Yah, it'll be a weird state for a lot of classes.  This beta doesn't sound like something that will be ready for release by November. 

However, I'm personally not too concerned, considering the first few months of an expansion I'm doing nothing but leveling a main and an eventual new main and then going back to a shelved character and making that my new main.  I just can't settle on one class for long, and when multiple classes of mine have major changes, it gets more difficult.