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All of the latest Mists of Pandaria newsSimple Wood no longer needed to make campfires
by Alex Ziebart 
Jan 23rd 2009 at 9:00AM
This is quite possibly the most game altering change Blizzard has implemented in WoW thus far: Building a Basic Campfire no longer needs Simple Wood, only Flint and Tinder or a Gnomish Army Knife. This is right up there with stackable clams! Personally, my mind is blown.Okay, let's be serious, this is actually a fairly decent (and convenient) change. Is it absolutely needed? No, not at all, but how many of us carried around Simple Wood and Flint and Tinder at all times? Who took those things to raids with them? Very few people, if anybody at all. And I can recall tons of times that people have rushed to a raid just after getting home from work and had forgotten to cook up their consumables. These fires would've been legitimately useful right then, but the small annoyance of carrying stacks of Wood around made it pretty unlikely that anybody had them. Nowadays, I think just about everyone carries a Gnomish Army Knife (and they should if they don't), so this is actually very convenient! You don't need to carry anything extra at all.
My question is... what are we burning to make that fire now? Sure, if you're out in the wilderness you can just assume your character gathered some firewood, but you're not always in a position to do that! What if you're in the middle of Ulduar? Pretty hard to burn all of that stone, isn't it? Daniel Whitcomb suggested that his Death Knight will just summon a ghoul and light it aflame to cook his meal, but that seems a little macabre, even for him.
[Thanks for all of the tips, everyone!]
Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, Humor, Death Knight
Reader Comments (Page 6 of 6)
Orîon Jan 23rd 2009 12:40PM
Simple wood is still used in lower level enchanting, for wands.
Rage Jan 23rd 2009 1:13PM
If only we could get them to add a mailbox to the Traveler's Tundra Mammoth!
This was a great change for me as I had bought my pocket knife under the assumtion that it didn't need tinder and yeah now it doesn't!
Chamual Jan 23rd 2009 12:29PM
I've carried flint and tinder (now an army knife) and a stack of wood since level 5, they have sat there taking the same 2 bagslots for nearly 2 years, and I never had a single problem with it. Every now and then (generally weeks apart) when I'm near a vendor I would top my stack of wood to 20 and I have never run out. It's really useful to be able to pop a fire whenever someone wants to cook, or just when you want to camp out with your toon and take in the view.
tbh, there has never ever been a problem with carrying around wood for you fire, and this just stinks of another simplification blizz are putting into the game.
Sure it's just another minor thing, but piece by tiny piece (sometimes not so tiny) blizz are removing all the depth, joy, and wonder out of the game :(
Nick8708 Jan 23rd 2009 12:51PM
Depth, joy, and wonder...I certainly don't see how this change can impact that. Yeah, maybe it doesn't make sense, but why are you putting so much thought into something so trivial? You can still sit back and enjoy the view by a cozy campfire anytime. It's not like this change affects your ability to do that.
I'm not coming down on you man, I just really think it's silly when people let stuff like this bother them. I understand it's meant to be a roleplaying game, but there are limitations, both technically and pragmatically, that make certain concessions necessary.
This change doesn't make the game anymore shallow; afterall, I'd find it more bothersome, roleplaying-wise, that you are allowed to start fires inside a town (even inside buildings? I've never tried cooking so I don't know) than wood no longer being a necessary component.
Rbabson Jan 23rd 2009 1:21PM
True story, one of the priests in my guild will make a small campfire for the spirit buff in heroics. He will not stop talking about how great this change is.
sosei Jan 23rd 2009 1:41PM
I was actually one of those few who carried Simple Wood into raids for pinch-cooking. :O Nice to see this not-so-noticeable change though.
erin Jan 23rd 2009 2:19PM
As someone pointed out above, the cooking daily "Convention at the Ledgermain" now only requires 4 northren stews instead of the impossibly large 12 that it used it before.
This is perfectly true, and a welcome change, if a little late. However, it begs to be pointed out that the quest text actually says 8 (LOL)
c'mon bliz, get it together .. this is the most laughable patch in a long time.
Nathanyel Jan 23rd 2009 3:02PM
3.1 Patchnotes: Basic Campfire now requires 5 Infinite Dust
JustSomeGuy Jan 23rd 2009 3:31PM
Since the "theme" seems to be eliminating things that slow people down... how about FINALLY doing that for the priest class?
1. Get rid of the "light feather" requirement for Levitate. No, the glyph is not good enough of a solution.
2. Make Inner Fire a passive ability. If you can take away the hit penalty for Titan's Grip, you can give priests passive abilities.
I've been seeing every class get the inconveniences removed, like Shaman getting combined totems, Hunters getting combined auras, etc... yet priests remain the same. Everyone else gets buffs and cool new abilities... yest priests remain the same.
It isn't so much that priest is bad as much as it is that it's bad compared to every other class in the game.
uncaringbear Jan 23rd 2009 5:01PM
When my mage was specced fire, I always thought it was odd that she couldn't ignite a basic camp fire without the need for those reagents.
This also means my now-arcane mage will be lighting up a camp fire throughout the raid to ensure she gets that added little boost of Spirit.
pongo_3931 Jan 23rd 2009 6:04PM
I've carried simple wood (where's the complex wood I ask!) since starting my toon, it's one more bag space for me.
I like to think I'll be burning my conjured mana gems from now on...
Guppy Jan 24th 2009 1:51AM
A 32 slot engineering bag. Eight hour cool down on my portable mailbox. One hit on a mining node. And now I don't have to carry wood?
Sweet. :)
Ajnaz Jan 24th 2009 1:46AM
Hi all,
All wood loving people please look at the wood business cards at http://www.businesscards.net.in
cowy Jan 30th 2009 8:56PM
I never used campfire, there always seemed to be a cooking source nearby enough to not need one.
Now that I can create a fire on the fly, I like putting them in odd locations. The funny thing is, I'm not the only one who puts them in odd locations. It seems to have turned into a game of "Wheres fire?" (think Wheres Waldo).
I have some amusing screenshots of fires that someone else has cleverly placed. Kinda fun...