Under development page updated with new end-game content
by Elizabeth Harper 
Apr 9th 2007 at 10:13PM
Blizzard has updated the under development page to include a bundle of new information about what we should expect to see in patch 2.1. So what's in the future, besides the Black Temple?
- Ethereum Prison: new quests, items, and content for the solo and small-group level 70 player in good standing with the Consortium.
- Skettis: the Arakkoa capitol city, perched high in the mountains of Terokkar Forest. Content is listed as for the solo or small-group level 70 player. Blizzard certainly has my attention with the suggestion of a "new type of flying mount."
- Netherdrake: the Netherwing faction and quest line will be completed, offering players a chance to obtain their own 280% speed epic mount through solo and small group play.
- Ogri'la: a new 5-player dungeon in the Blade's Edge Mountains. Blizzard's explanation leaves me curious, though. "...a repeatable and ever popular bombing-run, this time using your own flying mount but with a dangerous twist." What?! Tell me more!
Filed under: Patches, Blizzard, News items
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
GamerJunkie Apr 9th 2007 10:29PM
Yawn.... goes back to play LOTR Online.
xplicist Apr 9th 2007 11:02PM
i wish i could be as cool as you.
James Apr 9th 2007 11:05PM
LOTR? Dude, at least go back and do something worthwhile. I could go take a hearty dump and have that be both more productive and exciting than playing LOTR Online. Geez. Say Vanguard, or CoH, or something. Lord of the Rings? I'm okay if you don't prefer WoW.
But saying LOTR instead of WoW is like saying you'd rather sit through a couple of hours of Andromeda instead of Star Trek II...or whatever.
If you're that desperate, please, for yourself and your family, at least upgrade to Hello Kitty Island Adventure.
Vrinn of Gorefiend Apr 9th 2007 11:40PM
Taken from the Skettis thing on Blizz's site:
"All new quests, 5-person bosses, rare and ///epic/// items, and a new type of flying mount await those willing to lend their sword or stave to the battle."
Epics? Sounds like the revival of CC badges and AD marks. Epics for casuals sans Raiding.
ser Apr 9th 2007 11:48PM
I absolutely LOVE Hello Kitty Island Adventure.
Crypt King Apr 10th 2007 12:50AM
Sweet EVEN MORE FACTIONS TO GRIND!
Baluki Apr 10th 2007 1:16AM
Wow, that's some pretty unexpected stuff there. Three new areas with new quests? Looks like fun. I haven't had much to do since I hit 70 (my server has a low number of tanks, and nobody ever wants an elemental shaman) so hopefully this'll give me some cool stuff to do between aborted instance runs.
wallan Apr 10th 2007 2:13AM
What a waste. Another patch and development time wasted on casuals. Time for Blizzard to get back to developing 40 (or more) man raids.
michel Apr 10th 2007 2:19AM
>8. What a waste. Another patch and development time wasted on casuals. Time for Blizzard to get back to developing 40 (or more) man raids.
NO.
IamDexx Apr 10th 2007 4:47AM
All i can say is W00T!, I love the solo content and it will be cool to know that you don't need to rely on 24 other people for your own progression.
2.1 should be great.
Also epic flying form FTW!
Rafael Apr 10th 2007 6:30AM
So we got a lot more content at 70, great. In the mean time, when is blizzard going to add some mid-game content for players who are leveling up alts and want to go to some place other than VC at 15 and STV at 30?
Tumples Apr 10th 2007 6:55AM
I love it when people complain about content being developed for casual gamers.
If us casual gamers did't play WoW, you wouldn't be able to either, it makes sense to cater to the largest audience wouldn't you say?
the six winger Apr 10th 2007 8:13AM
Tumples beat me to it. Casuals are the lifeblood of the game (read most of the money). Raiders got like a year or updates for only them. You guys can sit for a while or go raid while the people that supply the money running the farms get their money's worth.
Andrew Herron Apr 10th 2007 8:53AM
where does it say that Ogri'la is a 5-man dungeon? 5-man bosses, sure - but other than that it looks like the same description as Skettis to me... I've seen a few 5-man "bosses" (Durn the Hungerer in southern Nagrand springs to mind).
wallan Apr 10th 2007 8:56AM
No, it makes more sense to cater to your loyal fanbase - the turnover rate on casuals is so high, they will never see endgame content, so why make it for them? How many do you think finished Naxx before BC came out. Those are the most important group of players, and should have content developed exclusively for them. Everybody else can have our hand-me-downs as mudflation means everybody can do the old content. Look at EQ. That's how they did it, and that game is still going strong.
Sydney Bristow Apr 10th 2007 9:00AM
I'm glad that they are putting in new content for casual players. Some people work and have school, and do not have the time or available schedule to raid.
I would have quit WoW, or went to Everquest a long time ago if it was geared only towards raid players.
Thank you Blizzard for thinking of everyone, and for those selfish raiders who only think of themselves and only want raid content, you suck :)
Viet Apr 10th 2007 9:19AM
Often times, casuals keep coming back to the game after quitting. And there are a hell of alot more of us out there than hardcore raiders. I thank Blizz for not forgetting about their largest fanbase.
Usul Apr 10th 2007 9:33AM
@15:
My guild has 150 people and has had 150 people consistently over the past year of its existence...we're all casuals. Don't cite your personal opinion as statistic unless you can back it up.
The fact is that while Raiders spend more time per capita in the game, the soloists make more of a contribution to Blizzard's bottom line.
Our server, according to Warcraft Realms, has 25k people. Of those, I would say roughly...ROUGHLY....30-50 of those guilds on the list are considered endgame guilds. Of those, I would estimate that maybe half of them will ever get out to Gruul within the next 12 months.
If I had to guess, I would say that most of these guilds have at most about 50 people in them...that leaves you with a rough estimate of 2500 people on our server that are pursuing endgame content easily...which is about 10% of the server. Granted this doesn't account for alting, etc...but its a nice number to consider.
When you look at the percentages (understandably there are no real solid numbers to play with here) you see that Blizzard has a rather large task of catering to the other 90% of server populations, as well as giving the raiders something to do when they aren't raiding (other than standing around the IF mailbox peacocking).
I applaud Blizzard for seeking a balance in developing content for both types of players to pursue. I saw no mention of Black Temple, so I am almost positive that there is more to this than we are seeing here.
SavageGeek Apr 10th 2007 9:36AM
@15 - I suppose you have verifiable proof of your claim "the turnover rate on casuals is so high"...? By all means, please share your evidence. Otherwise.. anyone can just make stuff up.
hostile Apr 10th 2007 9:43AM
Funny that WoW sold 5 Million copies BEFORE BC when there was only 40-man raiding content...