Lume the Mad reviews WotLK and its changes
by Mike Schramm 
Sep 24th 2008 at 5:00PM
MMO Blogger Lume the Mad has a nice in-depth review of all the changes coming to World of Warcraft in the form of the game's second expansion, Wrath of the Lich King. If you're a regular reader of WoW Insider, there's nothing really new here -- odds are you already know about all the changes (and have a strong opinion of some of them). But as a nice wide general overview of what's going on with the game, Lume's little writeup is very thorough.It is pretty amazing to think that before Burning Crusade released, there were no such things as Blood Elves or Draenei, the only Arena in the game was Gurubashi, and only the Horde ever had Shamans in their raids. But nowadays all of those things are commonplace, and odds are that the game will change just as much with Wrath -- siege vehicles will be a huge part of the game, Death Knights will be everywhere, achievements will be just as big a goal as any other part of the game, and phasing will be the norm (you'll never be sure that the player next to you is seeing exactly what you're seeing in the game world).
Lume doesn't go so far as to call it a new game (though Blizzard may want to), but there's no question that even though the most basic game mechanics stay in place (you still use abilities on action bars to kill creatures and gain experience), the quests, graphics, and storylines will look very different. BC changed our game once, and Wrath is set to change it yet again.
[via Massively]
Filed under: Items, Analysis / Opinion, Blizzard, PvP, Expansions, The Burning Crusade, Leveling, Classes, Wrath of the Lich King
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Amaxe Sep 24th 2008 5:27PM
Looks like he ticked some people off with his comment:
"To generalize my point: for classes and/or specs that do not retain some or enough of their unique buffs, if their general performance does not compare to other classes, or if they don’t bring the tools you need to succeed given specific combinations of classes and specs, they will be tossed aside in favor of what’s best for min-maxing.
I say this as a raid leader who plans to do this. While I will not just toss aside people I know to be talented players, you can bet I will discuss with them the possibility of rerolling or respeccing when the expansion comes out if we perceive their current spec to be weak in terms of raid synergy or potential performance. And you can guarantee that when I recruit new people I will have my preferences for which class specs to recruit. I have further opinions on this, but I will abstain from relating them in this entry. I merely seek to provide some perspective on the huge impact the homogenization of buffs will have on the game."
Manatank Sep 24th 2008 5:31PM
"While I will not just toss aside people I know to be talented players"
Blizzard has achieved their design goal. Good bye shadow priests that couldn't cut it at healing, and got to come give real DPSers mana. Either you step up (as apparently the spec is able to do now), or step out.
Manatank Sep 24th 2008 5:28PM
"only the Horde ever had Shamans in their raids."
I'm sure you picked to mention shamans over paladins because of the prevalence of shamans in BC raids. And yet, for some reason the shaman community seems obsessed with the idea that they were broken in BC. Why then were they undoubtedly in such demand?
Natrone Sep 24th 2008 5:49PM
"...the only Arena in the game was Gurubashi..."
Don't forget Dire Maul.
Magnus Sep 24th 2008 6:14PM
I pretty much agree with him on the topic of PvP still being dominated by the need to have a high Arena rating. A lot of people were QQing about "welfare epics" ( still one of the most offensive things a Blizzard employee ever uttered, IMO ), but if the solution to it was to implement rating requirements which most players will never reach, then it only shows that the devs still disdain the common player as worthless, and cater to the top 5% ( who apparently still have the time to quetch incessantly on the forums ).
I don´t know if I remember correctly, but I remember hearing that there was to be a separation into two tiers of arena play. Is this still in the works, and how would it be implemented? I hope the "lesser" arena lets you select slightly inferior gear with no rating requirements, because the ratings on some of the S4 gear were just ridiculous.
And, yeah, I´m a strict 2v2 player who doesn´t play in a healer/anything else team, so my rating never got much beyond 1500. ^^ Nerf Paladin bubble in 2v2. :P
Lemons Sep 24th 2008 6:44PM
when you're a 2 dps comp vs. a pally you just have to "force the bubble" as we like to call it. A pally is going to bubble, simple as that, better for him to do it sooner than later. Then when the bubble is gone you basically restart the fight.
Hopefully you and you're partner can cc his partner enough so he doesn't own you while the pally is in there. You won't kill the partner, at least not normally, the pally will usually heal him from the safety of the bubble.
Another interesting thing is when a pally is locked out of a school of spells he is basically locked out of everything because all their spells come from one school (I know, I have a pally). This means if you manage to kick a fol, you have a small chance to kill an almost dead pally b4 his spells become available again.
A silence (such as garrote) will do that same thing. This means if a pally is getting overconfident (as many well geared pally become) and intends on bubbling at the last second (as they are prone to do, sometimes with only 1% health) you can silence him and finish him off before he can even bubble (he'll be locked out).
And that's not even the only way to do it! There are other more risky methods of forcing the bubble, but I'm tired of typing now.
vlad Sep 24th 2008 5:56PM
fantastic!! no one has covered this expansion in depth yet.
Gazmik Fizzwidget Sep 24th 2008 6:13PM
"and phasing will be the norm (you'll never be sure that the player next to you is seeing exactly what you're seeing in the game world)."
Actually, you will -- if you can see the player next to you, they're in the same phase as you and seeing the same things you are. (At least, that's how it works in the DK starting area... I've not yet done any phased stuff in the Northrend content.)
airwalke Sep 24th 2008 7:20PM
For me, phasing is the most impressive change for this expansion. It's an idea that's so simple, yet changes the way quests are handled so much, and the immersion it provides is extraordinary. I haven't even seen it yet, but from what I've been told, it sounds great. I always hated seeing a Quest mob that I'd already defeated or rescued in the same place as before after I return to an area... it makes the whole thing feel like a carnival ride. This makes it more like an actual RPG.
The biggest thing I'm looking forward to is Ulduar, though. That place had better not disappoint.
Modisius Sep 24th 2008 7:34PM
WoW is changing for the worse. Soon there will be no distinctions between any classes. Everyone will be able to misdirect, everyone will be able to CC. Why not give warriors healing spells while your at it Blizz?
Sad.
stevens.ce Sep 24th 2008 8:16PM
2:
"Blizzard has achieved their design goal. Good bye shadow priests that couldn't cut it at healing, and got to come give real DPSers mana. Either you step up (as apparently the spec is able to do now), or step out."
I didn't want to heal as a shadow priest - it had little to do with capability and a lot to do with choice. And I'm not sure about the crappy shadow priests you brought with you, but I've never had a problem providing my share of dps in raid - Blizz didn't give us the tools to outdps a properly geared hunter, mage, or lock, but that has little to do with the choices of shadow priests, and much more to do with design
Hooper Sep 24th 2008 9:18PM
"...the only Arena in the game was Gurubashi..."
Don't forget Dire Maul.
F**K Dire Maul.
I'll see you all in Gurubashi.
-Hooper
Fuon Sep 25th 2008 1:21AM
"Lume the Mad", eh? There is only one Lum, and *that* is poor homage to the one and only.
mams Sep 26th 2008 6:57AM
"the only Arena in the game was Gurubashi"
On the top of my head: Dire maul as previously mentionned, Gadgetzan and Orgrimmar all had arenas.