Patch 3.3 PTR: Target marking, the end of lowbie raids, and other UI tweaks
by Mike Schramm 
Oct 15th 2009 at 1:00PM
There is another issue, though, that may be worth Blizzard's reconsideration before bringing all of these changes live.
Patch 3.3 is the last major patch of Wrath of the Lich King. With the new Icecrown Citadel 5-man dungeons and 10/25-man raid arriving soon, patch 3.3 will deal the final blow to the Arthas. WoW.com's Guide to Patch 3.3 will keep you updated with all the latest patch news.Blizzard also snuck a seemingly inconspicuous note in the latest patch update: "Players below level 10 may not join raids." That may seem like it's directed at gold-sellers who use lowbie toons to cause a nuisance, but actually, our friend Darias on Perenolde (who helps run all of those Sleeper Cartel parties you occasionally hear about) has a problem: lowbie raids are how most player-run events are done. And leaving pre level-10 characters out of the picture puts a damper on any visitors who might show up to an event and want direction.
I'm not sure what Blizzard is trying to hit on with that change, but the evidence, as presented by players in this forum thread, seems overwhelmingly in favor of leaving lowbie raids in the game. There are probably other ways to go about chatting (you can create custom chat channels, with passwords if necessary), but especially for guiding players during player-run races, having a raid complete with healing bars and raiding markers is really the way to go. We'll have to see if Blizzard agrees and leaves the change off the live realms.
Filed under: Patches, News items
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 5)
Mep Oct 15th 2009 1:04PM
I sure hope they don't leave that change in, it will be the end of Running of the Bulls as we know it :(
Xtian Oct 15th 2009 1:08PM
Not to mention, why would they destroy Hogger raids?!? Years of traditions - 20ish level 1 characters blindly throwing themselves as the dastardly devil in a cruel act of gladiatorial madness - cannot just be eliminated without just compensation!
Deadly. Off. Topic. Oct 15th 2009 1:59PM
They'll just need to join a guild and take the directions from any *random named* guild used for the event.
Benjamin Oct 15th 2009 2:26PM
This was exactly the first thing i thought of, time to squeeze out those last few hogger runs before its too late!
JPN Oct 15th 2009 1:06PM
What it should be is - raid leaders can toggle whether each individual has the ability to mark targets or not.
Seems incredibly obvious.
Lilithsblood Oct 15th 2009 1:10PM
I agree JPN, a toggle would make so much more sense.
If you want everyone to be able to mark, ok. If not then no.
Kakistocracy Oct 15th 2009 1:32PM
It seems like anyone who needs to mark may as well be set as an assistant so he or she can see the results of ready checks. The toggle option would be nice, though we do already have a number of other setting to set.
Alavan Oct 15th 2009 1:48PM
It should be on by default though, like car window locks. If the kids get annoying with their constant window rolling/raid marking, you can lock them from doing that.
gboyd Oct 15th 2009 2:02PM
Thats a good idea. Or, using the column picture for inspiration, what if everyone is able to mark by default but the raid leader is able to lock the targets from having their marks changed. This way there is no set up when a run starts by default, but if people goof around, the Raid Leader has control to lock marks in place.
(cutaia) Oct 15th 2009 2:13PM
I like the idea of a non-assistant being able to mark (sometimes I want someone to have marking power, but don't want them to be able to kick people from the raid, for example).
But yeah, why not just make this another option for duties you can assign?
-Master Looter
-Main Tank
-Raid Assistant
-Mark Assistant
And while I'm on the subject, why don't they add a couple new mark options that are simply big red numbers? When you're marking for kill order, why do we have to say, "Skull first, then Star, then Circle with nipple, etc."
If we could just put numbers over their heads, that would be beautiful. "Kill 1, then 2, then 3."
chipersoft Oct 15th 2009 2:26PM
Guys, go read that patch note again. It didn't say any "raid" member, it said any "party" member. This is for 5man groups only, raids will still follow the same rules as before and only let the raid leader & assistants set marks.
Jollyroger Oct 15th 2009 2:34PM
Also notice there is a little padlock next to the marks.
Cloud be for locking marks or restricting...
Krick Oct 15th 2009 2:58PM
@Jollyroger
The picture is showing the "Luckycharms" addon. It's a movable toolbar with all the marking symbols on it. The lock is so that you can lock down the bar so it doesn't move on your screen.
...
Krick
http://www.tankadin.com
http://www.huntertank.com (under construction)
Lilithsblood Oct 15th 2009 1:08PM
No matter how crazy changes Blizzard makes, I'm almost always for them. The people of WoW cry out to Blizz to change something, I'm usually of the stance: "Hey, its Blizz, they probably have a very good reason to do it!".
But the lowbie raids? I dunno I can't quite place that one. Seems a lot more cons than pro's. I wish Blizzard would give some more insight on why. Even if its for Gold Spammers it seems silly to not let people who want to do custom events and such do them easily. I suppose we could have every event a death knight event lol but that would suck. Confusing.
Jack Spicer Oct 15th 2009 2:22PM
Maybe they're trying to eliminate the strain that 'everyone roll a level 1 and join the raid' events can cause.
Faar Oct 15th 2009 1:09PM
Anyone who lasted more than 10 minutes of the quest text writing itself painfully slowly across the screen definitely deserved a feat of strength, if not a 20-point achievement.
On my first character I first made when starting to play WoW, I had turned on instant quest text before I even reached Auberdine. It's not an immersive feature. It's highly irritating!
On some NPCs you can't even get the quest text to fully appear before the NPC starts patrolling out of range, thus closing the quest window on you...
Thon Oct 15th 2009 1:38PM
I've had it on throughout the game, and I'm lvl 80. Also note that I'm around 2900 on the [3000 Quests Completed] achievement. Of course I don't read quests that I've already done on my main when leveling an alt though. I don't find it irritating in the least, on the contrary; I have always thought that instant quest text gives a sort of urgency to just accept the quest and be done with it without reading, and if you level without story, the game is suddenly much more grindy in my opinion.
Tigron Oct 15th 2009 1:42PM
And I suppose spending 10 hours spamming trade chat for a healer to go to Ulduar with you is a walk in the park?
At least with quest text, you can see the light at the end of the tunnel.
Seriously, this game is so full of huge time sinks that a few seconds watching quest text materialize before you doesn't make a hint of difference. You call it painfully slow, but I can imagine it going much, much slower.
I think this is the reason you need addons to tell you how to do quests - because you blasted through the original description so fast you barely even realized you had picked one up!
Microtonal Oct 15th 2009 2:01PM
Really? You lasted all the way to Auberdine? I turned instant quest text on before I hit my third quest.
Text that appears at less than half the speed I read doesn't make me feel immersed in the game world. It makes me feel like all the NPCs are American tourists who think that the reason French people can't understand them when they speak English is because they need to talk slower, louder, and more patronizingly.
Garviel Oct 15th 2009 2:14PM
I also just turned it off recently, and I've been 80 for awhile, mainly to speed up the dailies.