The Queue: Kitty committee
by Michael Sacco 
Aug 10th 2010 at 11:00AM
Matt Rossi visited Uldum in the Cataclysm beta and caught this impromptu cat council happening. You can't see it in this shot, but what they're discussing is Azeroth's Largest Ball of Yarn, just out of frame.
Pwnzoar asked:
Is there any way to rearrange your characters on the character screen? I'd like to have my 80s at the top without deleting my other toons, rather than scattered around in the list.
Unfortunately, there's currently no way to reorder your characters on the character select screen. People have been asking for this feature for years, but we're not sure if we'll ever get it. Recently, up and down arrows were added to the character select screen in the beta, but Blizzard said that it was just a quick thing that dev needed to test something and not related to a new feature.
Omniprime asked:
Someone told me that there will be free race changes available in Cataclysm. Is there any truth to this? I wouldn't think so, but if I can get a head start on my tauren paladin by making a blood elf I will do it.
No, there's no basis for that claim.
Snarkygoldfish asked:
Any word on what has/might happen to the rare spawns in the old world? I've been casually trying to make a list of them, and while I was working on Loremaster, check them off, one by one, as I clobbered the buggers. Was wondering if any of them are going away for good or will simply have their patrols/spawn times changed? Any new additions thus far?
Most rare spawns from vanilla still exist in Cataclysm, and there have been a ton of new ones added.
Caelin asked:
Will the new class/race combos (other than worgen and goblin, of course) be available to people who choose not to buy Cataclysm? I'd like to know if I'll be able to make my dwarf shaman as soon as 4.0 hits or if I'll have to wait until I get the disk.
So far, we're not sure. We know they won't be playable before Cataclysm is released, but I don't believe that Blizzard has come out and said that they'll only be playable by those who buy the expansion.
Guilegamesh asked:
Have the vanilla/BC/Wrath dungeons and raids changed at all, or does the "more CC, less AoE" thing apply only to Cataclysm raids and dungeons?
Some vanilla dungeons have changed in terms of mob placement and quests, but the fundamental design philosophy of those dungeons and their BC/Wrath brethen remains unchanged. You won't see Utgarde Keep suddenly require heavy CC to complete.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 10)
Jamie Aug 10th 2010 11:08AM
Hey WoW.com! when will [1. local] be returning as a weekly feature?
Tyr Aug 10th 2010 11:37AM
I second that question!
erknost Aug 10th 2010 11:56AM
There is any Lore about the effect of the Curse of Flesh in the Cat People and how or why they are still co-existing the rock and metal Cat People with the flesh ones?
erknost Aug 10th 2010 12:02PM
In this expansion (Cataclysm) the Earthen Ring has a bigger roll world wide then the Cenarion Circle? Because it feel login that Mount Hyjal will be more Cenarion centered and Deepholm will be more Earthen Ring focused. But in general, I will love to see the natural protection monopoly of the Cenarion Circle crash down.
tatsumasa Aug 10th 2010 12:49PM
unless you are replying to what someone said, or at the very least talking about the same thing as them, add a new comment do not hit the 'reply' button.
flint Aug 10th 2010 1:39PM
Obviously, Goblins and Worgen won't be available for new players, but the question is, will new race/class combos for existing races, like dwarf mages or tauren paladins, be available at launch without the expansion? And I don't see why they wouldn't be. You already have access to the races, and I can't imagine them putting a restriction on certain classes for a certain race (except DKs, but that restriction is for every race).
Dr Charles Benjamin Aug 11th 2010 5:46AM
Will hunter's weapons ever have different sound effects? I'd like to see the guns, especially, sound different from one another, just as spellcaster wands sound different from one another depending on the type of damage they do.
Will hunter's traps change? Within dungeons, they're only really useful if you run into the crowd, lay one, and jump back out of the frey. But I have a better idea. Why not have the pet deliver the trap? Select the trap, apply it to the pet, and then the pet runs in and lays the trap, then continues fighting, while you're free to fire from a distance.
Will demonology warlocks be able to metamorphose permanantly, akin to the shadow priest's shadow form, with the equivalent spell bonus / spell restriction? It would make sense.
In demon form, will locks be able to make use of those wings, at least for gliding?
Is anything going to happen with the warlock teleportation? I hardly ever use it, and it seems to be something that needs to be rethought.
Will locks ever be able to tame their own demon of choice, like a hunter? (wishful thinking). To make it fare, the number of pets a hunter has could be increased to equal that of locks.
jbodar Aug 11th 2010 7:55AM
Demonic Circle is very useful anytime a fight requires quick movement to a pre-determined location, esp. in PVP. There's two uses here: http://www.wow.com/2010/08/09/guest-post-32-tricks-for-icecrown-citadel/
I think Freezing Arrow was a good concession for trap-laying, and a needed one. That said, laying all traps via pet makes them not traps anymore; they may as well be shots at that point. It doesn't sound very interesting or fun to me.
Oh and last I heard in Beta-land, Hunters can now Call up to 5 pets and keep up to 20 in the stable, though stabling a pet wipes his talents.
Amadaeis Aug 10th 2010 11:09AM
Blizzard has stated that the new race/class combos will only be available to people who purchase Cataclysm.
snowleopard233 Aug 10th 2010 11:25AM
Ouch. That does not seem like a good idea on their part. It’s a nice feature but not one that new players will see the need to buy a new expansion for. If anything they should allow for more options for new players, so that they can join the game, make a character combination they really enjoy, and keep playing the game.
Grovinofdarkhour Aug 10th 2010 11:54AM
Agreed. There may be many who reactivate their account, but hold off on buying the expansion, to see just how different the game is first and decide whether they really want to come back. Blizzard's interest would be in making sure those people stay interested long enough to decide they do want to buy Cataclysm and stick around awhile. Someone who reactivates and finally gets to roll a dwarf shaman, troll druid, undead hunter, gnome priest, tauren pally, etc. and finds they enjoy it will more likely than not buy Cataclysm. People can't enjoy a toon, or develop a commitment to a toon, that they don't get to roll.
nonentity Aug 10th 2010 11:55AM
I'm totally fine with them doing it this way and actually prefer it.
People who don't get Cataclysm already get the entire world revamp which is huge.
They have to get that because otherwise it would be impossible for players with and player without Cataclysm to play together from 1-60, questing in old zones, doing old dungeons.
They can't do it any other way.
Everything else they don't HAVE to give the Non-Cataclysm-player for free, why should they?
The world revamp is a huge thing in the expansion and they get it for free. The new class/race combinations are another matter. If they got that as well, what would be exclusive for Catacylsm buyer?
5 new levels, 2 new races, the new content which in itself is smaller than BC or Wotlk, if you don't count the world revamp.
The new class/race combinations are very similar to the Death Knight, which on some level was also a new race/class combination, which was also expansion-exclusive.
Grovinofdarkhour Aug 10th 2010 12:04PM
The xpac is what generates the buzz, but the important factor to Blizzard is not the one-time $40 or $50 revenue from a purchase, it's the ongoing revenue stream of a new or reactivated account. If they had to choose between an existing player adding the xpac and a dormant player reactivating but never buying the xpac, they'll take the latter, every single time.
andoring Aug 10th 2010 12:29PM
I came to playing WOW when Burning Crusade was already out and I remember going through choosing my first character. There was this Blue faced alien looking guy (later to be known as the Drainai) who I couldn't click on because I didn't have the BC expansion. That's about all the thought I, as a newb, gave the matter before a I clicked on another race and moved on.... excited just to try the game out. So, I'm not sure how many will be offended by this. I wasn't back in the day at least.
Nonette Aug 10th 2010 12:42PM
Are you sure about this? The only official statement on the subject I've seen could be read as "they won't be available until the moment the expansion officially launches" or "they'll be available when the patch the Cataclysm occurs in and changes the world goes live". There wasn't anything overtly stated regarding requiring the expansion. It's possible to read that into it as a possibility, but interpretation of the text like that is worse than useless, it's misleading.
Of course, you might have some other statement you're working with. Care to share a link to it?
freyal Aug 10th 2010 12:54PM
If you only have classic, you can't go to any of the BE or Space Goat places, or go to outland, etc. So if you'd wanted to play a paladin and you were horde, without the BC expac, you were SOL. Same should be true for the new classes per race in Cata. It's an expansion for a reason. It's new content you can only unlock by buying new content.
snowleopard233 Aug 10th 2010 1:03PM
@Nonentity, I see your point but at the same time I’d argue that the value of making the new class combos available to new players outweighs the enjoyment most cataclysm buyers will have at knowing the new combos are exclusive to their purchase.
It’s all about the expectations behind the new combos as well as how much work Blizzard had to put in the new feature. Much of the WoW community sees this as a cosmetic change. You’re taking a pre-existing class and a pre-existing race and putting them together. New Races and New Classes are perceived as taking a lot of work to create, but the combination of those that are already present doesn’t seem like a task that requires as much labor. Therefore, a lot of people are expecting this to be free and expansion buyers won’t really feel they’re getting a great value based the exclusivity of the feature. Making it exclusive really doesn’t provide as much incentive as it simply does annoy a playerbase that thought it was a low cost feature to begin with.
We also have the expectations of returning players as well as new players. Now returning players are a bit of a mercurial group, as they often leave and come back for a number of reasons. However, we do know that in order to retain new players you need to provide them with content that is engaging and player characters they enjoy playing with. Now, the content’s already being taken care of but the character creation still needs a lot of maximization. There are countless potential players who join the game and just never find a character combo that feels right. Providing more character options increases the chances that the new player will find that combo that suits them best. With that chemistry, you have a player that will not only continue through the base game and buy current and future expansions as well.
What you don’t want is a situation where the new player feels immediately limited. Over the years, consumers have come to learn that certain races are not playable without expansions, but class/race combos have never been used as a major selling point. New players that come in and find class options for base game races are not available without buying three expansions will most likely feel short changed on some level. They’re willing to shell out the extra clams to make a goblin, draenei, or blood elf, to buy TBC, WOTLK, andCAT just so they can make their pig-tailed gnome a priest seems a bit extreme.
Of course, I’ll be the first to admit I’m generalizing a lot here. But from what I’ve seen in the WoW community’s perception of class and race additions over the years as well as of Cataclsym, the new race class combos aren’t being perceived so much as a selling point but an expected update. Making people pay for it isn’t going to make anyone feel especially happy. Making it part of the “free” old world update will do a lot to bring back and retain those players who are returning and those who have left the game.
blightmare Aug 10th 2010 1:16PM
im not denying you but can you find a link to any blue post on this i need to now for sure because a friend of mine might want to play say a dwarf shamy and he only buys vinilla and not cata also if it is true we need cata to do the new race combos why not just buy vinilla wow and cata and just skip BC and Warth
Sal Aug 10th 2010 1:48PM
@snowleopard233: You're saying that new class/race combos are trivial enough that people would not want to pay for it; they are okay with paying for new zones/races/class but not new combos. If it is that trivial, I'm pretty sure players won't feel "short changed" by the limitation. But I understand where most of you is coming from. I hate paying for stuff too.
Artificial Aug 10th 2010 7:31PM
[citation needed]