WoW expansion sneak peak -- any details?

[stray]

They're not about to risk poisoning their cash cow by trying to turn it into an experimental MMORTS.

Again, I didn't say MMORTS. Just rts elements. Some semblance of the Warcraft legacy. Not a full blown strategy game...Just one where some of the actions your character does are akin to the micro actions that take place in the previous games. Hell, just having something like this in the Battlegrounds, if not the rest of the game, would be a good start.

None of this gets in the way of it being an EQ clone. If that's what people want. It's the reason why I even mentioned Shadowbane -- because that too was an EQ clone basically (albeit stripped and with a different focus). And though the implementation was rudimentary, they still tried to incorporate similar things to what I'm talking about.

If it's bothers you that I even mention it, then I'll drop SB and mention Savage. Not exactly what I'm talking about, but that at least should give an idea of what I mean when I say "incorporated elements from the RTS genre"....Except that game in particular was a hybrid of shooter/rts. Not rpg/rts.

[Typhon]

Hell, just having something like this in the Battlegrounds, if not the rest of the game, would be a good start.

I originally thought this was what they had planned for the battlegrounds, and I was psyched.  I assumed that the player's would be the miltary units, and that they'd have serfs gathering resources, and a NPC commander giving directives to the PCs via waypoints, with extra honor being awarded for successfully completing a directive... rather then drop 40 people onto a map without a battle plan or a clue as to what was needed most and where.  Possibly give players of a certain honor rank access to some of the commander tools (asigning directive via waypoints, etc.).

I guess I'm a moron like that.

[stray]

Yeah, Savage pretty much played out like that. Even down to the handing out of rewards and rank. It's a great idea, and what would seem like a natural fit to a Warcraft RPG, so...Moron you are not. The Commander had direct control of resource management and serfs, like you say, but without direct control of PC combat units (he/she could issue objectives/waypoints, point out targets, etc..).

A lot more teamwork is required than the average combat game (which may be why it didn't catch on), but it's also that much more rich. Another cool thing about the Commander's point of view was that everything looked and played out like an RTS...Zoomed out view, resource/building management options, etc..

[edit] And speaking of teamwork, I'd have to say that WoW PvP doesn't even encourage winning a battle, let alone being organized. It's all about personal honor farming and loot acquisition..

It's just, I don't know...Repulsive (overly dramatic word?). It's fucking shite. That just encourages people to be even more disorganized and caught up in their little selfish game.

[Dren]

You know I found out that real life "battlegrounds" work this way too?! (People just going for personal glory, not team wins.)

I went paintballing this weekend.  The games were always the typical capture the flag type.  Guess what everyone did rather than capture the flag?  Here is the scenario that turned out to be the most rewarding, and fun.

1. Run forward until you start getting shot at.
2. Immediately get behind a bunker.
3. Try to pinpoint where the fire is coming from and pick off your enemy as they pop their heads and/or bodies out or run to other cover.
4.  Meanwhile make sure you aren't getting flanked (forgot this one and got one in the back once..man that stung.)

Perhaps towards the end of the 10 minute games if one side had "killed" enough of the enemy they would run for the flag, but usually the time would just run out.  There was no incentive to win, but it was a lot of fun to say, "I killed 5 guys that time before I was taken out."

I think it would have been more succesful if there had been an incentive.  I suggested giving all the people that were alive on the winning team $1-2 off there next bag of paintballs or something.  Those guys were hardcore enough to really think that was worth fighting for and would go crazy getting it.  Then the fights would have been quite interesting.

WoW should do the same.  Make the rewards of actually winning the battles mean WAY more than the thrill of the kill and the returns for body counts.

[Typhon]

Yeah, Savage pretty much played out like that.

I wanted to get that, but was hardcore into another game at the time and never got around to it.  I'm kicking myself now, it sounds fun.

[edit] And speaking of teamwork, I'd have to say that WoW PvP doesn't even encourage winning a battle, let alone being organized. It's all about personal honor farming and loot acquisition..

It's just, I don't know...Repulsive (overly dramatic word?). It's fucking shite. That just encourages people to be even more disorganized and caught up in their little selfish game.

Defintiely agree on WoW battle not encouraging winning.  That killed the game for me after my druid hit 60.  But really I should probably say, the easy leveling, decent attempt at immersion and large-ish world kept me longer then I otherwise would have stayed.

[Fabricated]

WoW should do the same.  Make the rewards of actually winning the battles mean WAY more than the thrill of the kill and the returns for body counts.

I dunno what you could give outside of gear or faction with a new group that you can only get faction with by winning...and all that means is more gear.

[stray]

I dunno what you could give outside of gear or faction with a new group that you can only get faction with by winning...and all that means is more gear.

As it stands now, you're probably right.

If there was some kind of meaningful Conquest or Keep taking though, it'd change everything.

[Merusk]

Explain "meaningful" please.   Meaningless bonuses like DAOC?  Anything truly "Meaningful" would just mean one of two things.  1) Even fewer players on the Horde side of things, as they're outnumbered so much on non PvP realms (which are the only realms that seem to approach a 1:1 balance)  they'd have little chance of winning due to pop imbalance.  2) Using instances to 'even things out' means the larger portion of your playerbase (5x the pop. on some servers) would complain very loudly when their gameplay was negativly impacted by the Horde.

[stray]

Actually...

"Meaningful" was a bit redundant.

Conquest. Period.

[Jeff Kelly]

The upcoming expansion might actually feature new races.

I just found this post from the US community manager Caydiem. Maybe she was just yanking the chains of the blizzard fanbois however.

[Merusk]

The upcoming expansion might actually feature new races.

I just found this post from the US community manager Caydiem. Maybe she was just yanking the chains of the blizzard fanbois however.

I knew nobody read my posts.

Whelp.. there will be new races. That, or the CGW editor is using his blog to help Bliz spread misinformation. Let the speculation commence.

[OcellotJenkins]

The upcoming expansion might actually feature new races.

I just found this post from the US community manager Caydiem. Maybe she was just yanking the chains of the blizzard fanbois however.

I knew nobody read my posts.

Whelp.. there will be new races. That, or the CGW editor is using his blog to help Bliz spread misinformation. Let the speculation commence.

I read your posts and I found that link very interesting.  His blog has since been deleted but here is the text in case anyone missed it:

The WoW Expansion!

Yay! I can almost start talking about it. Yeah, sorry, that was a bit of a tease, wasn't it? Well, the issue is due out in about two weeks. Blizzard would probably rip me a new one, and, even worse, disable my WoW account, if I started leaking information here. The only other person who knows anything is my daughter, who also plays WoW and can't keep a secret. So, if you can figure out which of the millions of players she is online and hit her up, I'm sure she's spill. happy

I got to see pretty much everything---except for whatever the new race for the Alliance will be. That one they're either keeping a secret or, more quite possibly, haven't figured out themselves yet. But everything else I know. And while, like I said, I can't spill details yet, I can tell you it is *huge*--tons of new content for all levels. It definitely got me motivated to get Eggbert, my gnome warlock, up to 60 ASAP. So I have many nights of serious "work" ahead of me. Yay!

So, as soon as Blizzard gives me the okay, I will replace my desktop picture with our December cover, which pictures an awesome painting from one of the Blizzard artist's of the new Horde race. I hate being a tease (well, okay, it's a little fun), but I just can't tell ya yet. But soon!

Posted at Sun, 09 Oct 2005 22:04:16 EDT

My question is, why would the expansion be featured on the December cover if it's going to be released in Q3 2006 or later?  Seems to hint at a much earlier than expected release to me.

[stray]

I can't think of anything that'd be an Alliance race except Cenarion....But that would just mean Druid only.

And definitely not Dragons.

Those would be the only things close to a sentient Alliance ally from the other games.

Maybe they'll make a new race from the same lands that the Blood Elves fled to (one that decides to ask for Alliance aid to help fight them off etc., etc..).

[Jeff Kelly]

I knew nobody read my posts.

Sorry  :-( I missed that

[OcellotJenkins]

Umm...guys?  I'm getting a sinking feeling inside that the WoW expansion is going to be an invasion of elves.  :(

Taken from:  http://www.wowguru.com/

[Ironwood]

Oh Gods.  Blood Elves.

Which means we probably get the naga or something equally shit.

 

[Dren]

Oh Gods.  Blood Elves.

Which means we probably get the naga or something equally shit.

 

No, I thought blood elves were for the horde.  Alliance doesn't need more elves.  Horde needs mangina to even the numbers in BG's.

Yes you do.  You just don't know it.  :-D

[Merusk]

Jiffy over at Corpnews posted that the name of the expansion is rumored to be "The Burning Crusade" as gleaned from some Italian Mag's cover.   Hrose also had a shot on his site. .  

Blood elves have been rumored and asked for and mentioned in all discussions about Horde races since Beta. It's widely agreed that Elves would also help the pop imbalance Horde has on PvE servers, so seeing them all over the leaked shots isn't much of a surprise, at least to me.

The real question is what will the Aliance race be?  Will it be Pandarans as so many have postulated over the last year?  That doesn't make much sense to me, since the lone Pandaran was helping Rexxar in TFT.  They seem to fit-in more with the Horde than the Alliance, what with Humans largely being arrogant xenophobic asses.  Then again, I can't think of any other race that would work.  I've seen a few suggestions of Centaur and/ or Dryads, but that doesn't work because it's a whole new set of armor textures and vastly different animations.  Maybe the last remnants of the High Elves who split-off.  That's just what the Alliance needs, 2 elf races.  Heh.

-Edit: Come to think of it, look closer at that elf.  It's not a blood elf.  Sure there's red all over the place, but she doesn't have the red eyes.  Hers are glowing like the "normal" elves. I need to start up TfT when I get home and check if that symbol on the house is the Blood Elf sigil or not.

[Ironwood]

You're correct :

[OcellotJenkins]

If the new races turn out to be Blood Elves for Horde and High Elves for Alliance, I'm going to need to get a copy of that head exploding gif from someone.

[Ironwood]

It's more likely to be Pandaren.

For the inner Bruce.

[Merusk]

Might want to save those pics somewhere.  I imagine WoWGuru will be getting a C&D pretty soon.  

[Dren]

I can't wait to make a panda character and then walk around IF purring.

[OcellotJenkins]

I smell a fake, but can any of you photoshop geeks confirm?

http://img20.imageshack.us/my.php?image=2037127257gq.jpg

[Miasma]

That's a very pretty area for such an evil race to start in.  I forget the lore, where are the blood elves supposed to be?

With the type of people who would want to play blonde elves I can feel the IQ of the horde dropping already.  I can see it now:
[1. Ogrimar General] [Thalion]: LFM for UBRS - no elves please.

[schild]

If Pandaren is a race and I can play a brewmaster, I'd resub for at least one month.

[stray]

That's a very pretty area for such an evil race to start in.  I forget the lore, where are the blood elves supposed to be?

With the type of people who would want to play blonde elves I can feel the IQ of the horde dropping already.  I can see it now:
[1. Ogrimar General] [Thalion]: LFM for UBRS - no elves please.

They started off in the Lordaeron/Quel'Thalas area (and Kalimdor before that), but by the end of the WC games, Illidan had them migrate to the Outland.

They were never "Horde" really though. Kind of an offshoot of the Alliance, but with questionable methods (sorcery mainly), in war mainly against the Lich King and Arthas. Much like the Forsaken.

[Ironwood]

I smell a fake, but can any of you photoshop geeks confirm?

http://img20.imageshack.us/my.php?image=2037127257gq.jpg

That's a fake.  It's the exact same picture from WC3 - dead giveaway.

[Merusk]

That's a very pretty area for such an evil race to start in.  I forget the lore, where are the blood elves supposed to be?

With the type of people who would want to play blonde elves I can feel the IQ of the horde dropping already.  I can see it now:
[1. Ogrimar General] [Thalion]: LFM for UBRS - no elves please.

They're not evil so much as they are driven mad with power.  And, like Stray posted, they're in the Outland - through the Dark Portal - at the end of The Frozen Throne.  The WOW PnP game apparently details more, but I've never picked-up a copy to read-through.

WoW Fanboi shows off lore knowledge

[stray]

On a side note,

No race is "evil", save the Burning Legion races.


Miasma, do you play Alliance?  :-D

[Nevermore]

Well, it's hard to not consider the Forsaken evil when they're actively trying to eradicate all life on Azeroth.  (at least that's the impression I got from a lot of the Forsaken quests)

[stray]

The "Scourge" would be the evil ones. The Forsaken, for all intents and purposes, just want to be left the hell alone. Some of their methods are bad, but it's all meant to keep enemies (like the Scarlet Crusade) out of their mists. Their real animosity (and experimentation) is against the Scourge, just like the Alliance. The only reason why they're not friendly with Alliance either is because the Alliance isn't friendly to them. They're seen as monsters, no better than the Scourge.

As for them being on the Horde side, they only did that because they couldn't afford fighting everyone.

[OcellotJenkins]

[stray]

Right there behind the trees is where the Commander rune drops.

[Nevermore]

Well, it's been about six months since I cancelled my WoW account so I can't check, but I could have sworn that a lot of the lowbie Forsaken quests you get made it pretty clear that they had a vendetta against the living as well as the Scourge.  The alliance with the Horde is definitely one of convenience for the Forsaken (the quests point that out repeatedly).  I'm not sure why the Horde accepts them, though.  Doesn't seem like the Horde really needs them much.