Tom Chilton and J. Allen Brack talk Wrath at Leipzig
by Daniel Whitcomb 
Aug 21st 2008 at 9:00AM
Here's a nice tidbit from the Games convention at Leipzig, Germany in the form a bundle of Wrath news. Tom Chilton and J. Allen Brack gave a pair of interviews to Getbuffed.de and Gamona.de. In the Getbuffed interview embedded above, they discuss the future of the lore and raids, most notably Icecrown Glacier, the home of Arthas.
Icecrown Glacier will be implemented some time after the release of Wrath, and it will come with a special world event (which Kisirani has hinted about in the past, I think). One nice bit of news for those us of us who are tired of neutral factions: The Horde and the Alliance will have separate quest hubs in Icecrown. These quests hubs will actually be floating Gunships for each side, since Icecrown itself will be too overrun with scourge. So, for those of you who are afraid that Northrend is getting a bit too steampunk, it looks like you'll have to bear with it some more.
They also talk a bit about the Titan dungeons that they are working on for the near future, specifically the Halls of Lightning. Chilton says it's coming along very nicely, and they have good things to say about the architecture and atmosphere of the place as well.
The Gamona.de interview focuses mostly on the Wrath Beta and the Beta process. Much of it is things covered in the various Worldwide Invitational panels, but there was also some new stuff. Most notable for Beta testers is that the level cap should be raised to 80 soon (It is currently 77), and that premade level 80s will be available for testing (possibly on a new, seperate realm) near the end of the beta testing process.
They're both well worth watching, so check them out. Of course, with all this cool information coming out of Leipzig, we can only hope they're saving some good stuff for BlizzCon, too.
[Via Deathknight.info]
Filed under: Horde, Interviews, Factions, Raiding, Humor, Expansions, Instances, News items, Blizzard, Alliance, Wrath of the Lich King
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
JD Schwarzenbach Aug 21st 2008 9:24AM
Gunships? WTH?
also why does arthas have to get implanted via patch?
Ahoni Aug 21st 2008 9:30AM
Implemented via patch?
Like BWL?
Like ZG?
Like AQ?
Like Naxx?
Like BT?
Like ZA?
Like Sunwell?
Yeah, patching in the raid dungeon is just so weird.
gameleon Aug 21st 2008 9:40AM
The arthas raid encounter is implemented by patch because they want the encounter to be the last new encounter you have in WLK before the next expansion after wlk hits.
Xino Aug 21st 2008 9:42AM
So he doesn't get killed in the first month of the games release
Iwanttobeasleep Aug 21st 2008 11:58AM
Because it'd be a huge waste of time to finish it now, when players likely won't be ready for at least several months. Putting in end-end game content right away would just push back the release date.
Giz Aug 21st 2008 9:29AM
Well, like they said, with all the Scourge in the area, it's near impossible to actually get a base, or outpost going there. So, a zepplin, or something along those lines seems like the only way to me. They're called gunships because they have guns on them. You don't set-up a base without a means of protection. Also, they never said they were going to add Arthas in a later patch. They said they were going to add the RAID to FIGHT Arthas in a later patch.
Gabby Aug 21st 2008 9:56AM
A bit too steampunk? MORE steampunk please. Seriously, steampunk is fine as long as it remains fantasy, it's the Stargate / Sci Fi twist form BC that was getting out of hand, Warcraft has been gunships and steam engines and stuff since at least WCII.
More steampunk plz!
As for the patch cycle, what the hell is weird about this? Thankfully Arthas is the LAST patch, you know, so unlike Illidan our central plot villain isn't going to die a year before the next expansion is even in the works, he'll be our endgame, the closing of the plot. As he SHOULD be.
Eternalpayn Aug 21st 2008 10:37AM
I hate it when people QQ about the steampunk in the game. It's been an established part of the IP for a long time. Warcraft isn't pure fantasy, people.
Solemn Aug 21st 2008 10:46AM
Adding in the Lich King and the icecrown raid later in WOTLK's life gives the developers ample time to tune and add things to it that will come from the feedback received in the months before it. I wouldn't be surprised if the icecrown raid is only 25% or less done.
Celton Aug 21st 2008 10:50AM
25% done? I would be surprised if they've even started designing it yet. If it's in the last patch, it's gonna be the last thing they work on, probably not until after Wrath is out.
bob Aug 21st 2008 10:50AM
As a player who started after BC came out and who never saw the opening of AQ I'm really excited about the Wrath Gate event. I hope they have even more big, server wide world events. This should add a really epic feel to expansion.
Algorithm Aug 21st 2008 10:58AM
I love Warcraft Steampunk :) Yay gunships.
xcelsior Aug 21st 2008 11:21AM
Looks like Blizz has set that hard deadline for release and will be pushing out anything that can't be done (which I believe they did for BC as well, as Black Temple was patched in also).
bob Aug 21st 2008 11:55AM
uh... No. Blizzard is famous for not issuing arbitrary release dates and not selling a game until it is finished. Major content patches (BT, ZA, MGT) have been a part of WoW since it was first released. Just because some of the endgame raids are patched in doesn't mean the game isn't done. An MMO doesn't really 'end' until they stop releasing content.
Deatherage Aug 21st 2008 1:36PM
um... guys that was not Tom Chilton
Daniel Whitcomb Aug 21st 2008 12:56PM
If he wasn't, Deatherage, he was lying when he gave his name to the interviewer in the Gamona.de video.
Doug Aug 21st 2008 12:03PM
In the second intv (not the one shown, the one linked) they ask about the release date. The answer is "when its ready. Specifically the 5th of when its ready." Reading too much into this? Or could it be they're intending on a 5th of Nov or 5th of Dec release?
Ahoni Aug 21st 2008 12:50PM
Reading WAY too much into it. It was a joke.
Shinken Aug 21st 2008 1:18PM
They will patch him later so he isn't data mined
bigbaba Aug 21st 2008 3:12PM
this WOW fanboys asked the wrong questions.
they should ask:
-are you happy with 3 classes representing 75% of the top arena players?
-are you happy with 50% of the top teams beeing leechers and win traders in your system?
-are you happy after destroying the most balanced PVP aspects of the game (open PVP, BG, 5vs5) and buffing the most unbalanced ones (2vs2 3vs3)?
this are the right questions.