New race to be the Draenei

[Zetor]

I don't think most of the non-raiders are pushing for low-level dungeons (though they'd be nice, or even just remodelling old dungeons, making some of them less tedious; HI ULDAMAN!). What we want are more Dire Mauls. Sadly, it doesn't look like we're getting anything before the expansion. And judging from the leaked info on the Naxxramas loot, the lewt gap is about to widen considerably. When a one-handed weapon has 1/8 more dps than the best 2-handed weapon obtainable outside raids, something is up. If you think the pvp-related whining/complaining about gear disparities is huge now, wait until the uberguilds have Naxx on farm status. :P

I personally don't think adding more levels will let people tackle raid bosses in normal groups. Even if you're all level 70s, you'll need 6 tanks on core hound packs, you'll want at least 2 warlocks and 4 offtanks for Garr, etcetera. Raid mobs scale very differently from normal instance mobs in my experience (my warlock can take 5-6 hits from a risen guard in scholomance, but trash mobs in MC can one-hit me if I get aggro for even a split-second... and firewalkers can just 1-shot me when they feel like it) and the resist / miss rates won't suddenly make everyone that much harder to kill. Yeah, MC might be doable by 15-20 lv70 people, but it'll be a stretch, and I seriously doubt it's going to be PUGgable.

So yeah, more non-raid stuff plzthx. The new tier0.5 is fine and all, but it's a huge money-sink with two EQ-style cockblocks (the 45min stratholme run and Valthalak, both requiring optimized groups). Plus the 0.5 set is pretty crap for some classes (blues from strat/scholo/DM/brs are better), and uber for others, which is just silly.


Back on topic: From what I've gathered, draenei are supposed to be the "badass" race of the alliance (like the horde have tauren), though I'm not sure how they'll live up to those expectations. And hey, it's not just elves with horns, it's elves with horns, tails and hooves, kthx! (the draenei female model looks a lot like a mix between the UD female model and the NE female model... will there be bouncing?)



-- Z.

[SurfD]

actually, a level 70 tank could probably take 2 corehounds from a hound pack pretty easy.  Possibly even three if you could aoe them down before the bite DoTs stacked too high.

[Koyasha]

EQ again is a great example of how more levels make things easier.  Even one expansion after Luclin, once people had lots of PoP AA's maxed out, instead of having four Warrior tanks and two mezzers handling Emperor Ssraeshza's adds, they had two Knights each tanking two adds, and one mezzer for all four of the mezzables.  Lord Inquisitor Seru was defeated by groups of 15 or so, and that was before Gates of Discord or Omens of War even came into the picture.  Today, one tank could handle all four adds.

They don't scale quite the same, as in you can't expect a level 70 to take on 2 or 3 level 60 raid-type mobs like you might with a normal elite mob, but all the characters' abilities will be amplified tremendously.  Two good warriors instead of five will handle a core hound pack, each taking two or three, much like Ssraeshza's adds went from requiring a tank each to being tanked two at a time by a knight.

But with all this comes a reduction in the value of the loot.  Emperor Ssraeshza's loot (and indeed all Luclin loot) had much to be desired when compared to loot from the Planes, especially the Elementals and the Plane of Time.  But the extra levels made it possible for smaller guilds to gear up on Luclin, and eventually begin tackling the Planes.

And another note on the slowness of content creation...didn't EQ2 release within 6 months of WoW?  (Too lazy to go find out exactly when).  And they're into their second full expansion pack, as well as a complete rework of the class system, crafting system, and several adventure packs?  Yeah, Blizzard just doesn't realize that the MMO market needs content at a very fast pace.  I wonder if WoW will eventually lose it's commanding lead in the market to games that crank out full content expansions 2+ times a year.

[Broughden]

They don't scale quite the same, as in you can't expect a level 70 to take on 2 or 3 level 60 raid-type mobs like you might with a normal elite mob, but all the characters' abilities will be amplified tremendously.  Two good warriors instead of five will handle a core hound pack, each taking two or three, much like Ssraeshza's adds went from requiring a tank each to being tanked two at a time by a knight.

Uhm my dwarf tank with full tier 1 Might set can handle two core hounds. With his full tier 2 set and buffs he can nearly handle 4. It doesnt take but a couple secs to AOE down a hound pack.

[Ironwood]

And another note on the slowness of content creation...didn't EQ2 release within 6 months of WoW?  (Too lazy to go find out exactly when).  And they're into their second full expansion pack, as well as a complete rework of the class system, crafting system, and several adventure packs?  Yeah, Blizzard just doesn't realize that the MMO market needs content at a very fast pace.  I wonder if WoW will eventually lose it's commanding lead in the market to games that crank out full content expansions 2+ times a year.

One might suggest that it's something to do with the fact that WoW didn't really have to.

If, like me, you're cynical as hell.

[bhodi]

The important question must be answered: What is the draenei dance? We already know bloodelves do the Twist. I've heard rumor it'll be the robot.

[Ironwood]

How do you do the robot with that huge tail ?

[Soukyan]

Shrug, I never found a pickup group for Ragefire chasm, VC, or Wailing Caverns, and I imagine it'd be fun to do 'em.  The friends I've made don't make it a habit to run level 20 instances.  YMMV, I imagine, but I guess the devs feel the same way.

I personally like the article, although it is perhaps raider-centric.

Same here, most people will spend most of their time at lvl 60.  Theres already more than enough low level instance.  More Dire Mauls? oh yes definitely, more Dead mines? no, wtf for?.

Why not both? Honestly, is it that hard to create another Deadmines? It has a four bosses all in a linear pattern, and it's based off textures that are all over the game INCLUDING the boats. Yet, it's put together well and it serves a purpose. It's a cop out. They are just being stupid because OMG WE MUST DEDICATE ALL OUR BASE TO RAIDERZ! LOL!

Because instead of making one level 20 and one level 60 zones we could have two level 60 zones which will be used a whole lot more times by a whole lot more people.  I also didn't say raid zones, i said level 60 like dire maul.  Theres plenty of stuff to do at level 20, there isn't nearly enough to do at 60 outside of raids.

You mean two level 60 zones which will be used a whole lot more times by not that many people. Those two level 60 zones will be farmed many times by the same smaller percentage of "top tier" players and guilds. Really, they should be able to make two level 60 zones and throw a couple low level dungeons in as well. If they don't have the man-power to do so, they should hire more on to their team. After all, they have a playerbase of over 6 million now. Blizzard needs to scale their development team appropriately. And as far as there not being much to do at level 60 outside of raids, I would question why Blizzard decided to change the entire gameplay of WoW at level 60 to raids. (The answer is of course to maintain subscribers by slowing the consumption of content and "throwing up a brick wall" to keep players from finishing everything. Unfortunately, this means that the 60-70 game will now smack of EQ1 more than ever because it'll be all about raiding for advancement. But I'm not being fair to Blizzard as they have shown a propensity for adding quests to the game so I'm sure there will be plenty to do in non-raid zones as well.)

[Ironwood]

If 60-70 ends up being about raiding for advancement, I'm off.

And not looking back.

[Paelos]

Because instead of making one level 20 and one level 60 zones we could have two level 60 zones which will be used a whole lot more times by a whole lot more people.  I also didn't say raid zones, i said level 60 like dire maul.  Theres plenty of stuff to do at level 20, there isn't nearly enough to do at 60 outside of raids.

See in a nice happy world, this would be ok. But you and I both know that's not the way Blizzard works. Instead of getting one level 20 zone and one lvl 60 5-man, we get one lvl 60 40 man raid with a 20 man wing. If they took their minds off of raiding content for more than a fucking second, this wouldn't be that hard to do both. In fact, it's blatantly easy.

Oh, and the "it won't be used" argument doesn't hold up well. 15% of the playerbase is using the content that 85% of the development resources are going towards. You think 15% or less wouldn't use a new 20 dungeon? I think not.

[Fabricated]

What's funny is that despite this forum being mostly populated by "veteran" MMOG players in large guilds (who play WoW anyway), this is the only forum I visit where you don't get reamed for saying there should be fewer raids.

I hear this kind of stupid shit elsewhere.

not to mention i'm pretty sure non raiders are the minority.

Can we have a facepalm emote?

[bhodi]

What's funny is that despite this forum being mostly populated by "veteran" MMOG players in large guilds (who play WoW anyway), this is the only forum I visit where you don't get reamed for saying there should be fewer raids.

I hear this kind of stupid shit elsewhere.

not to mention i'm pretty sure non raiders are the minority.

Can we have a facepalm emote?

<------------- Close.

Edit to make this post less blatantly empty:  You're completely right, my levels 1-60 were an absoloute nightmare that I delved back into last weekend playing an alt; Another horribly failed party trying to do marudon with a PUG reminds me of both how terrible their grouping system is, how long it takes to get to some places, and how crappy some people really play the game. An hour to find the group and get to the instance, and another hour of wiping becuase the warrior didn't know how to tank. It was a nightmare and I feel for those who don't have the time to put into or enjoy the hardcore raiding experience. If I hadn't fallen into a good guild, I would have DEFINATELY quit the game. I can only guess how many others do exactly that but don't have a level 60 uber equipped main in a sucessful guild to go back to.

[Ironwood]

You know, when the Endgame consists of raiding, the minority of endgamers are going to be non-raiders.

Which is kinda like saying there's no meat to be had anywhere, so the majority of the populace are vegetarian.

:(

[bhodi]

To derail, more breaking news, they don't do the twist anymore. Video footage from E3 showed the male belf doing a dance people say comes from Napoleon Dynamite.  The Female Belf dance looks pretty cool, though.

Male Dranei do some weird dance taken from some weird music video, called "tunak tunak tun" - video here:  http://youtube.com/watch?v=vwDIFRlFIIE

[Simond]

The important question must be answered: What is the draenei dance? We already know bloodelves do the Twist. I've heard rumor it'll be the robot.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DtITjNvaBlc

Tunak tunak, tunak tunak, tunak tunak, na na na.

[Morfiend]

The important question must be answered: What is the draenei dance? We already know bloodelves do the Twist. I've heard rumor it'll be the robot.

The Blood Elf dance has been changed. They now do the Napolian Dynomite dance. Its fucking awesome.

[Chenghiz]

Some times I wish I played Alliance. This is one of them. That dance is awesome.

[Ironwood]

Totally Gay.  How can he be a hulking demon brute dancing gay.

zomg.  And whatnot.

[Trippy]

Shakycam footage of Blood Elf dances

[Kenrick]

Shakycam footage of Blood Elf dances

Is that 2nd dude doing the Napolean Dynamite dance?!

The first chick looks like Elaine Benes trying to dance...

[Trippy]

Is that 2nd dude doing the Napolean Dynamite dance?!

Yup, like Morphiend said above.

[Oban]

 

http://lorelol.ytmnsfw.com/

[Simond]

The first chick looks like Elaine Benes trying to dance...

It's Alizee. Again.

[Soukyan]

Shakycam footage of Blood Elf dances

Is that 2nd dude doing the Napolean Dynamite dance?!

The first chick looks like Elaine Benes trying to dance...

Love the avatar, Kenrick. Very hypnotic.

[jpark]

And another note on the slowness of content creation...didn't EQ2 release within 6 months of WoW?  (Too lazy to go find out exactly when).  And they're into their second full expansion pack, as well as a complete rework of the class system, crafting system, and several adventure packs?  Yeah, Blizzard just doesn't realize that the MMO market needs content at a very fast pace.  I wonder if WoW will eventually lose it's commanding lead in the market to games that crank out full content expansions 2+ times a year.

One might suggest that it's something to do with the fact that WoW didn't really have to.

Concurr with Ironwood.  Blizzard is quite open about it - look at their game production rate - they are slow to produce games - and don't release many of them.  If they follow that same pattern with their expansions - and enjoy the same success... it's quality not quantity.

Kenrick your icon is Autistic friendly :)

[Teleku]

Heres another video of the blood elf dance, but with somebody interviewing the blizzard guy while its going on.  The response is funny.

http://www.members.iinet.net.au/~link22/BEMDance.wmv

[Zetor]

Naxxramas has some crazy gear it looks like... compare this dagger to the best available dagger for non-raiders.

I can see the 4k ambushes from here! :P


-- Z.

[Ironwood]

That's fucking insane.

[Threash]

Ambush with an arcanite reaper ftw :/

[bhodi]

Don't worry, to placate the PvPers all daggers are only on the end bosses of the particular dungeon.

[Merusk]

Oh good.. so there will only be three or four rogues with them after a month... times however many guilds run the instance successfully.  Whoops.

Edit:

Oh, and you know what pisses me off most about all these weapon upgrades is how they only affect melee players.  Ranged players won't ever see a 50+DPS bow, much less a 76+DPS one (and note, that's a one-handed weapon).  Are there multiple +90 healing or +70 damage pieces in the new set for casters? No? Well great.

Itemization is fucked, and will continue to be for a long, long time.  Honestly, when I was leveling and running Strath/ UBRS/ etc I didn't care.  Now that I've tried to PVP against some of these fuckers and been running MC it's starting to get to me.

[Threash]

Oh good.. so there will only be three or four rogues with them after a month... times however many guilds run the instance successfully.  Whoops.

Edit:

Oh, and you know what pisses me off most about all these weapon upgrades is how they only affect melee players.  Ranged players won't ever see a 50+DPS bow, much less a 76+DPS one (and note, that's a one-handed weapon).  Are there multiple +90 healing or +70 damage pieces in the new set for casters? No? Well great.

Itemization is fucked, and will continue to be for a long, long time.  Honestly, when I was leveling and running Strath/ UBRS/ etc I didn't care.  Now that I've tried to PVP against some of these fuckers and been running MC it's starting to get to me.

Well there WAS several 150+ and 200+ healing items also...

Edit: El Linko  I don't really play casters but those seemed pretty comparable.

[Chenghiz]

I've been pretty frustrated with the ranged weapon itemization, as I play a hunter. It's iunteresting to note that the best 2-handed axe in the game right now, Dark Edge of Insanity, is item level 84, whereas the best ranged weapon the Imperial Quiraji Musket, is item level 79. Hmm.

[Calantus]

The response in that video was classic.

[Threash]

I dont think the guy asking about it "got it" though, its not supposed to be an effeminate dance its the freaking napoleon dynamite dance.