World of Warcraft Battleplan - Vol. 2

[Shockeye]

World of Warcraft Battleplan - Vol. 2 | 9/7/2005 10:08:00 AM PDT   
                           
Since the last World of Warcraft Battle Plan, much has happened in the Warcraft universe. We’ve launched Blackwing Lair, the highest level dungeon in the game, we launched World of Warcraft in China and Singapore with great success, and work continues on adding even more content for our players.

BlizzCon is quickly approaching, and we're preparing the lineup of programs, dev chats, and the concert to be held at our inaugural event. I’m very happy to announce that we'll have the first public showing of the expansion for World of Warcraft at BlizzCon. Attendees will be able to view the work that is going into the project and hear some of the eagerly awaited details. To those of you who won’t be able to make it to the show, please keep an eye out for the game magazines that will be hitting newsstands right around BlizzCon, because some of them will feature in-depth articles on the expansion with plenty of information about how World of Warcraft will be evolving.

For this Battle Plan, we want to take the opportunity to look ahead to what our players can expect in the coming months leading up to BlizzCon and the expansion announcement.

Raid Content
Since day one, our take on World of Warcraft has been that it should be accessible to a wide audience, whether it’s players who crave epic battles; fast and furious action; or casual, social interaction. We already have a wide variety of activities that players can enjoy, and we want to continue building upon content already in the game.

One feature we’re excited about is the addition of mid-sized raid dungeons. While the epic 40-player encounter is challenging and rewarding, we feel that a mid-sized raid can serve as a dynamic and fun departure from 40-player raids as well as the standard 5-player parties. The tactics necessary for a successful mid-sized raid group will feel different from those for a larger raid group, but good organization will still be required, and each member of the group will be an important contributor to its success. This new raid style will also serve as a stepping stone up to 40-player raids for many players.

Two examples of this new smaller-scale style of raid encounter are the upcoming Zul’Gurub [http://www.worldofwarcraft.com/info/underdev/zulgurub.html] and Ahn’Qiraj content additions. Many of you have already learned about Zul'Gurub from the recent preview we posted and from helping us test this new content on the Public Test Realms. Ahn’Qiraj, which is subdivided into two different encounters, actually takes the small-raid concept a little further. The exterior area is a challenging 20-man raid dungeon, and the interior location presents the next top-tier 40-player raid experience after Blackwing Lair.

Beyond the doors of Ahn’Qiraj, Silithus is being fleshed out as a major quest hub with episodic storylines that extend into its depths and past its borders. Players have frequently requested more small-party and solo content, and we’ve focused our efforts to meet those desires around Silithus. Everyone should definitely check out the new quest and storylines when the Silithus content is released in patch 1.8.

In addition to those new areas, we’ll also be adding some outright terrifying world raid encounters. Along with Azuregos and Lord Kazzak, the names of four green dragons—Ysondre, Lethon, Emeriss, and Taerar—will come to be feared throughout Azeroth.

World Events
We're also working on more dynamic interactions in the game. To this end, we're focused on launching new world events and expanding on some of the ones already available. Currently on the schedule is a Halloween-inspired event for Azeroth. We haven’t given the holiday a title yet, but players will definitely find a number of great things in store. On top of that, we’re adding more diversions to the Darkmoon Faire. Events run the gamut in frequency, from several times a day to once per year, with all levels in between. All in all, this adds up to a ton of dynamic content that players can experience.

PVP
On the PvP side, Arathi Basin [http://www.worldofwarcraft.com/info/underdev/arathi.html] is coming out with our next major content patch, 1.7, bringing the total number of Battlegrounds to three. As players on the Public Test Realms are currently experiencing, Arathi Basin brings the “capture and defend” style of gameplay to World of Warcraft in fierce 15-vs.-15 player combat. The fight to control resources is a central theme in Warcraft, and Arathi Basin pits the Horde against the Alliance in the battle for raw materials to supply their war efforts.

We’re also working to polish several aspects of the first two Battlegrounds. At the top of the list are some major changes to Alterac Valley. We hope players have been enjoying the experience our epic Battleground provides, with its wide variety of goals and tasks. That aspect is something we definitely want to keep in Alterac, but we also want to make it more accessible by lowering the launch requirement from 30 players per side to 20. We also plan to shorten the length of time required to complete a game of Alterac Valley. Some of the changes we’ll be implementing to accomplish this goal are balancing out the terrain, slightly decreasing the landmass, and improving the queue to ensure balanced teams for each game.

Outside of the Battlegrounds, we want to focus on PvP gameplay in general. One common concern has been that lower level players have a difficult time advancing in the PvP Honor System, so we'll be changing some things in regard to the Honor requirements in order to help these players make more progress. Another popular player request has been for us to increase outdoor PvP battles. Prior to the Battlegrounds, the outdoor landscape was fraught with PvP. However, once the Battlegrounds were introduced and NPC dishonorable kills were implemented, outdoor PvP greatly decreased. We want to bring back the hectic action of mass PvP, but with some improvements. One idea on the table is to place a capturable objective in the exterior environment. With something like this, we can encourage outdoor PvP again while centralizing the action to a designated location.

Talent Improvements
We’re currently in the process of improving underused talents for all classes. The goal of the talent reevaluation is to allow all classes to have three viable talent trees to choose from. That is, each class should be able to pick from any tree available and still end up with a character that has desired utility in a specific role. The task is a major undertaking and one we're carrying out with great enthusiasm.

Some classes have already been completed (Warriors, Warlocks, and Hunters in the upcoming content patch), others are currently being worked on (Druids and then Paladins), while still others are yet to come (Shamans, Mages, Priests, and Rogues). Our priority is to address first those classes that have limited choice in talent trees, and move from there. Each class should receive attention to areas where the designers feel talents are lacking, though the scope of the changes will be based on need, with some classes receiving more drastic changes than others.

Web Site
Outside the game, we understand the importance of the Web site as our central medium to communicate information to our players. Our plans revolve around developing more dynamic functionality for WorldofWarcraft.com so that players can find more information about what’s going on in the game automatically. First and foremost is the addition of a PvP Rankings page. With that, players will be able to see PvP Honor performance across all realms. Player profiles is another feature we are looking forward to for the site. Profiles will showcase armor and equipment for each player and allow them to compare notes with players on other realms.

Character-Transfer Service
Another feature of the Web site we'll be implementing is fee-based character transfers. This is a feature that's been very frequently requested and one which we want to provide for players as soon as we can. We'll offer character transfers from one realm to another, as well as allow players to move characters from one account to another. While we want to offer this service as a convenience, we also want to prevent its use for exploitive reasons, so there will be a time restriction to limit the frequency that a character can be moved.

Parting Words
We are very excited about the upcoming content we’re creating for World of Warcraft. The potential for what we can do with the game is endless, and our main challenge is to continue raising the bar for everyone. Speaking of raising the bar, we know that many players are curious about our plans for Hero classes. We want to assure everyone that developing the Hero-class system as a way for top-level players to advance their characters to new heights remains a high priority for us. While we can’t delve into specifics at this time, we do hope to share more info about Hero classes when we see you at BlizzCon.

I want to thank our dedicated players worldwide who have made this game into a global phenomenon, and I invite you to experience the things we have in store. Thanks again, and we’ll see you in Azeroth!


Shane Dabiri
Lead Producer
World of Warcraft Development Team

[MrHat]

I like it.

Everyone knew that they were working on an expansion from before the game was actually released.  Here's to hoping that some sort of instanced moogle house (FFXI) and guild island (GW) are  implemented, along with gold based purchases and weekly competitions for trophies.  Also hope that Hero classes isn't super catass supreme.

Having conquerable areas in the world is a fantastic idea and a step in the right direction.  I just hope they release 2-3 of them at a time and not 1 by 1, because ALOT of people like to PVP and we've already experienced the crashing that results from TM/SS zerg.  Maybe add a bonus +3% exp for your faction or something if you win.

The only complaint I have at this point is the glacial pace of patching.  I just don't understand why they can't release 2-3 items a week as opposed to 20 items every 16 weeks.

[SurfD]

Character-Transfer Service
Another feature of the Web site we'll be implementing is fee-based character transfers. This is a feature that's been very frequently requested and one which we want to provide for players as soon as we can. We'll offer character transfers from one realm to another, as well as allow players to move characters from one account to another. While we want to offer this service as a convenience, we also want to prevent its use for exploitive reasons, so there will be a time restriction to limit the frequency that a character can be moved.

Emphasis Mine.

Um, WTF?  I can understand a desire for the frst type: move your favourite character to a different realm to be with your firends/new guild, or to get to a more stable/less unbalanced server, but moving BETWEEN accounts?

That strikes me as  something that would be abused by just about everyone.

They better have a DAMN good screening process for that too, or you will just end up with even more unbalanced realms, or people moving high level characters to relatively new servers for compedative edge.

[kaid]

One change that is good that they are mentioning is changing lower level pvp rankings. As it stands other than for kicks and giggles there is ZERO point to pvp sub 40 and not much until 50. The reason is pvp rewards and honorpoints at low levels are so freaking tiny that my level 24 shaman literally won 40 matchs in warsong in a week and could not make the the horde version of corporal.

At level 60 its almost impossible NOT to be a sgt or higher if you pvp at all during a week. I can see some of their thinking but I believe is somebody is pvping their ass off they should be able to gain rank. Its not like the damn rewards are not already level capped so its not like a lowbie is going to be packing end game raid gear.


kaid

[stray]

There's "Events" and then there's "Halloween" type events. The latter I care nothing about. Ooh..Everyone get's a witch hat, or a Santa Claus hat, or the Easter Bunny makes his way through Azeroth.

No. An event is Morloch ransacking every town on the entire game map. Mysterious prophets showing up in the middle of city plazas, preaching death and destruction. Armies of demons attacking every player on site.

Hell, even MxO had some pretty damn good events at the end of Beta...But Blizzard? I'm guessing they'll just take the FFXI route.

[Sogrinaugh]

What.  The.  Mother.  FUCK.

Why are they allowing character transfers between accounts?  What possible value is thier in this besides further enabling ebay/playerauctions type shit?

Server transfers... another can of worms.

I just hope another good game comes out shortly, blizzard seems intent on killing this one.

[MrHat]

One change that is good that they are mentioning is changing lower level pvp rankings. As it stands other than for kicks and giggles there is ZERO point to pvp sub 40 and not much until 50. The reason is pvp rewards and honorpoints at low levels are so freaking tiny that my level 24 shaman literally won 40 matchs in warsong in a week and could not make the the horde version of corporal.

At level 60 its almost impossible NOT to be a sgt or higher if you pvp at all during a week. I can see some of their thinking but I believe is somebody is pvping their ass off they should be able to gain rank. Its not like the damn rewards are not already level capped so its not like a lowbie is going to be packing end game raid gear.
kaid

The fact that I've had TONS of fun with my L36 hunter in WSG is primarily because I'm doing it to have a good time and not to get NeXtNeWBoW.  But ya, nice to at least be able to get the trinket before 50.

As for account transfers, I have no idea why that would ever be in there.  I would also assume that character transfers for a fee will still not be any server to any server.

[kaid]

I am not saying wsg aint fun at low levels hehe at least for the horde but its pretty much impossible to actually get any advancement at all in pvp ranks until you are in your late 40s which seems wacked.

Ya it should be harder for the young guys to get it but you should be able to at least get up to sgt before hitting the wall.


kaid

[Phred]

The reason to allow transfers between accounts is to let people that shared accounds originally move their characters to their own accounts. EQ had it pretty nailed down to stop transfers for ebay purposes so hopefully blizzard copies their policy.

Besides it's so easy to level in WoW who the hell would pay enough for it to be worth developing characters for resale.

[Fabricated]

I really want to get off of my server, but man, all the realms are going to get fucked up something major if all it takes to go to another realm is enlarging Bliizz's money hat.

If they're going to make it that easy to move to another realm they should probably make it so you can view the horde/alliance ratios and overall population of each without having to rely on some shitty website collecting bad data from UI plugins.

[Alkiera]

EQ has done character transfers between accounts for quite awhile, for just the reason Phred mentions... people who share accounts(like my spouse and I, in CoH), can later decide to get a 2nd account, and move chars off the first acct to the 2nd, so they can play together.  I believe SOE requires that both accts be attached to the same credit card for the move to go through, with other restrictions as well, perhaps.

Alkiera

[Numtini]

Server moves would be enough to bring me back to WOW. My guild dissolved and I have friends on another server, but I just can't bear the thought of rerolling a third time as horde to join them. Fast levelling or not, WOW is really linear.

[OcellotJenkins]

Could this guy be right?  He says the expansion won't be out till late 2006.  I'll wait to hear what the lead producer has to say about the timeframe before I get pissed, but geez that seems like a ridiculous amount of time considering the revenue stream of this bitch.  If it does take that long, I expect nothing less than twice the land mass and content of the current game.   

Edited because I can't spell

[Mesozoic]

The Plan seems to suggest that a PvE character could be moved to a PvP realm. 

[HaemishM]

Late 2006 for an expansion? Given that it takes Blizzard 2 months to do what EQ2 does in two weeks in terms of adding content, I could see it. They should change their name from Blizzard to Glacier.

[Merusk]

Late 2006 for an expansion? Given that it takes Blizzard 2 months to do what EQ2 does in two weeks in terms of adding content, I could see it. They should change their name from Blizzard to Glacier.

Late 2006 is a given. It's already September 2005 and they'll be announcing the Expansion at Blizzcon in another month (Oct 28).  And Late 2006 will be IF it's on time. In that interview the guy hedges that it might come later.   We've been given a decent amount of new content for free beyond the Silithus stuff that should have already been done, and I haven't even begun to explore the endgame yet so I can't complain about being bored.

 But, as predicted before launch Blizzard is still treating WoW like a singleplayer game and trudging-on with that same sort of development schedule and they're getting left in the dust by EQ2 for upgrades.  Of course, with 4mil players on their side and Taiwan on the horizon they probably could care less.  Then there's the argument that they didn't need the upgrades/ tweaks anywhere near as much as EQ2 did/ does.

I expect we'll see a Kunark-sized addition with this expansion, though.  So long as it doesn't break the game as fundimentally as Kunark did EQ, that'll be a good thing.

[kaid]

I just don't see wow keeping my interest long enough to wait for the expansion. I already have one character to 60 by late 2006 I would probably have 5 or 6 level 60s I just don't think the existing content can possibly keep interest in it for that long.

Given that their "normal" patchs take about 2 months to roll around you are looking at probably 3 to 4 more raid zones and a smattering of other zones opening before then. Meh ah well if they want to make it like a single player game I will play it that way and just set it aside completly after I have finished the last few things I want to do until the expansion appears.

kaid

[Paelos]

I'm still hoping they come out with a high end, solo instance. That would be neat.

[OcellotJenkins]

I expect we'll see a Kunark-sized addition with this expansion, though.  So long as it doesn't break the game as fundimentally as Kunark did EQ, that'll be a good thing.

Care to explain Kunark to those of us that never played Everquest?

[Merusk]

Kunark was the first expansion EQ ever did. It added an entirely new continent the game which already consisted of 2.25 continents and about 69 zones (55 adventuring zones,(including planes which were free add-ons) the rest were cities).  Kunark added another 28 zones ranged from 1-55, a new race and an increased level cap of 55 and some new abilities for each class. 

 Kunark also horribly broke the game because the gear from Kunark was so far above and beyond what was already in-game (Mudflation X10) that combined with the extra 5 levels and the special abilities all the old 'hardc0re' content was nearly completly trivialized. (There was a time when a group of 5 players killed both the formerly badass dragons without a death.. something that was supposed to take 20+ people.  The dragons were buffed and then a level cap was put on the encounter.)  This began a LONG rebalancing process and set the expectations for each successive Expansion to be as horribly trivializing.

 Trivializing former content is something they began to cut back on, but never really did completly get away from.  Former content is still trivialized, but only for those players who can successfuly complete 'teh hardk0re' stuff when a new expansion is launched.  The rest get to slog through and try to keep-pace an expansion or 2 behind of the Ubers.  Hopefuly Bizzard will avoid this particular trip-up, but from what i heard about the D2 expansion classes and remember of the Blood Elves from WC3:TFT I think that's a pipedream.

[El Gallo]

Early 2007 is so very far away.  Fuck Vivendi, they are fucking up a good thing here.  Though, and perhaps I am being irrationally optimistic, but Blizzard seems to be doing a bit better on the content generation front.  If they can add a new raid dungeon and a new group dungeon every few months or so, I think they game can make it until the expansion.  That's a big "if" though.

On expansion mudflation, I don't have a problem with trivialization as long as they add enough new stuff.  I'll fucking vomit if I do UBRS one more time, so please feel fee to trivialize it to the point I will never have to do it with an alt or to gear/key up a new applicant ever again.  It's the most straightforward way to keep the path to the endgame open to new players.  It also opens the formerly hardcore areas up to the more casual.  I think that the gap between a new player and an established player, and the gap between your average player and your hardcore player, should remain about the same throughout your game's life.  I think EQ managed to balance this decently until PoP.

The problem with Kunark wasn't the trivialization, but the fact that the character abilities in EQ weren't designed to expand, so you get game-breaking shit like Turgur's and absurdly efficient complete heals on tanks with new gear.  They also hadn't yet figured out that casters need itemization too, so Kunark and Velious were the "MeleeQuest" era. WoW's abilities look like they were designed to scale from the beginning (which is one reason they are rather dull).  Talents excepted, of course, but I wouldn't expect them to allow you to continue along the old trees even if they add new levels.

[kaid]

Eqlive was never designed with the thought that they would add on anything as massive as expansions. Thus the first expansions caused a lot of ach. Initially in pre kunark days they had a pretty good balance between the classes there were issues but they were not that stunning.

Things like CH were perfectly fine in eqlive prior to any expansions because nobody had the hp to make it super powerful. It was basically there for some efficient heals of tanks but it was not much more impressive than normal healing.

Kaid

[Fabricated]

I'm still hoping they come out with a high end, solo instance. That would be neat.

And endlessly exploited. We can't have nice things. :(

[Calantus]

Also, how do you balance it? Unless you make one for every class it's gonna suck for some nomatter what you put in there. Or it will be easy as crap and thus not worth it.

[Paelos]

I'm still hoping they come out with a high end, solo instance. That would be neat.

And endlessly exploited. We can't have nice things. :(

We endlessly exploit Scarlet Monestary. I fail to see how it could be different or worse.

[Ironwood]

We do ?!

[Dren]

We do ?!

Well if you mean farm it solo.  I do.  Great way to boost your account quickly.  I'm developing a rogue to do it and with pickpocketing, the cash will double.