The Queue: Secret meetings
by Mathew McCurley 
Sep 2nd 2011 at 11:00AM
You might have heard that Fox Van Allen and I will be co-hosting the WoW Insider reader meetup at BlizzCon this year. More information will be available soon on the party, and Fox and I are hard at work on awesome stuff to entertain you. We even had secret meetings earlier during the week, when Fox crashed the WoW Insider Show and we got ice cream together.
This is what happens at secret planning meetings.
I Dont Always Guy asked:
Do you think that the "Mists of Pandaria" by what Chilton said is actually being over hyped or do you think hes just saying that so when whatever it is, is released we will still be surprised?
The answer that Tom Chilton gave over the trademarked name Mists of Pandaria was a non-answer to the fullest extent. His exact quote said that "if you look at traditionally how we've handled [Pandaren]," which just says that in the past, Pandaren were not thought of as a race to be included in WoW. Then he goes on to say, "most of the time when we do anything panda-related it's going to be a comic book or a figurine or something like that." This doesn't tell us anything. Chilton had an opportunity to say that it was over-hyped because it wasn't true, but he didn't. He just said that, in the past, Pandaren were used in one fashion, not that they ever wouldn't be used in a different way.
And we've all seen how Blizzard feels about its "traditional" uses of game mechanics and lore, especially with the upcoming implementation of transmogrification, which is a feature Blizzard said for six years would never, ever exist.
Sidvicious asked:
In the new Darkmoon faire coming in the next patch will we be getting a new rep to grind? I'm asking this because I'll like to continue working on the Insane title.
I am betting that it will be the old Darkmoon Faire reputation. We have no official word on that yet, however.
Stephanie asked:
Something I wonder every now and again:
If I faction change, what happens to my Ambassador status? Do the corresponding city factions inherit my 999/ as though I'd been working for them all along or do they know there is something not quite right about this one and make me prove myself to them?
Every reputation has a corresponding reputation for the other faction. The only faction you totally lose is either the Sunreavers or Silver Covenant, and your entire Argent Tournament from Icecrown resets. I don't really know the technical limitation on that whole thing, but it totally sucks, given how ridiculously tedious unlocking the tournament is and how long it takes.
Slax asked:
Have you heard of any rumored musical guests for blizzcon? My wife almost killed me when she found out Dave Grohl was drumming for Tenacious D. I am pretty sure she would leave me in a heart beat for him.....
I've been wondering this myself. We should be getting more BlizzCon announcements in the weeks coming, so I think we'll get confirmation on who is going to be performing at the convention around mid-September.
Emandiputs asked:
Am I the only one who misses the look and feel of the Wrath-era Orgrimmar? I mean, obviously it's better now that you can fly, but the new one just doesn't feel as comfortable. And I miss jumping in circles on the roof of the bank on my mount.
For me, the new Orgrimmar looks and feels like a thriving trade city and home of the Horde. The old Orgrimmar got close but not close enough. I don't think that Wrath-era Orgrimmar was "busy" enough, if that makes sense. The new Orgrimmar is all about hustle and bustle, with loads of people and types coming through the capital and doing their business. It feels like a real, thriving metropolis of Orcs rather than a city in a gorge.
Have questions about the World of Warcraft? The WoW Insider crew is here with The Queue, our daily Q&A column. Leave your questions in the comments, and we'll do our best to answer 'em!
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 9)
Boz Sep 2nd 2011 11:01AM
Just a general business philosophy question: Has Blizzard ever provided the rationale behind the perks of the "Recruit A Friend" system?
I've recruited two seperate friends and both times they had a terrible experience as leveling was disjointed (mobs became green and gray halfway through a zone) and they had a difficult time absorbing all the new abilities in such a short period of time.
The teleporting and mount perks I understand, but wouldn't the augmented experience gains and level granting make more sense for the "Scroll of Resurrection?"
Happy Gaming
Stonebeard Sep 2nd 2011 11:11AM
This is a great point. I recruited my wife into playing the game, and I really wanted her to understand the storyline of the race that she chose for us to level (spacegoats... she likes the waggle.) I leveled with her, and it was the most boring experience I have ever had in game. Before we finished the level 5 quests, we were level 7. By the time we got sent to Azuremyst Isle, we were level 11 or 12. We hit level 20 after about fifteen quests in Bloodmyst. We were going back to the trainer every 5-10 minutes for new skills and abilities. It was a complete roflstomp, and there was no challenge at all. She got bored after just a few sessions.
I know that they are trying to make it so that a new player can get their toon up to the level of the friend that recruited them, but I really don't think that hurrying along the beginning experience of the game is the best way to endear new players to the World.
Neirin Sep 2nd 2011 11:33AM
I would assume at least part of the RAF bonus is to avoid punishing you for playing together. 300% increased experience sounds like a lot, but since you only get it while splitting your xp with another person, it's only 50% faster than leveling solo (300% of 1/2 xp is 150%). For comparison: a full set of heirlooms gives you +40% xp and you can get another 10% from guild perks, so anyone in a high enough level guild can quest level as though they had RAF.
The dungeon finder is already balanced around you splitting xp with 5 people, so you'll rocket ahead if you use RAF in dungeons, but if you're concerned with completing all the quests in a zone, you shouldn't be using the dungeon finder at all. Even someone with no RAF or Heirlooms will out level a zone 1/2 way through (or sooner depending on queue times) if they use the dungeon finder.
I'm currently leveling a few alts without heirlooms/perks and I notice that by the time I reach the end of a zone all the quests are green even if I don't use the dungeon finder or gathering skills. Perhaps the issue is more in the quest xp pacing than the RAF bonus.
Neirin Sep 2nd 2011 11:36AM
eh, wish I had an edit button. Just realized quest xp isn't split, just monster killing xp. but the principle is the same - blizz doesn't want you to get less xp simply for playing with the person you recruited.
eel5pe Sep 2nd 2011 11:46AM
The reason they introduced RAF was because of complaints about the barriers in leveling up a new toon when a friend wants to start playing WoW with you. This used to be a serious issue when you introduced a friend to the game, since you were presumably at max level and experiencing all this cool content, and they were trudging their way through Badlands or whatever.
Keep in mind RAF was instituted in a time before heirlooms or the +exp guild perk! Also keep in mind that since RAF was introduced they implemented a second cut in BC levelling time, and have cut WotLK leveling twice.
eel5pe Sep 2nd 2011 11:48AM
Whoop forgot to add that of course RAF was added before they revamped the entire bloody world! Questing was a lot less cohesive back then.
Eliandor Sep 2nd 2011 12:09PM
One thing to keep in mind if you are using RaF with a friend... just because you dinged you don't have to run back to the trainer. Go out, complete your quests, return, and only hit the trainer when you pass onto the next bracket of quests.
If you are playing with a true newbie, you want to work more on game mechanics, play style, moving around in the world, mob killing tactics, and just generally learning the classes you are both playing.
I think the reason you get the triple xp is that the new player can get much farther into the game than they normally would so they can see more of it faster, and presumably be at a level to play with your other higher level mains/alts. Being a vet, you'll have a couple near max level toons probably, and you'd like your friend to get at least 1, but your friend probably won't be playing as much as you are.
Cambro Sep 2nd 2011 12:37PM
I'm in the minority that believes leveling is TOO fast. The other day, I rolled an alt, no heirlooms, did the FIRST quest in the starting zone, and hit level 2. From one quest. That makes it so unbelievably trivial.
DonNochay Sep 2nd 2011 12:43PM
Stonebeard, I'm afraid the problem is that your wife doesn't like WoW, not that the recruit-a-friend system is broken. ;/
GuyverIV Sep 2nd 2011 1:21PM
After a little though on your experience (Getting bored with outleveled content) I think I've figured out something.
Bliz did recruit-a-friend almost ALL WRONG.
Instead of a Starter Edition with Uber Rapid Leveling (Because, let's face it, leveling is almost too fast as is now, especially for new folks), what SHOULD happen is if you recruit-a-friend and they play through the Starter Edition and reach level cap, they should get an option to purchase ALL THE SOFTWARE for the cost of the latest expansion.
Yup. Play through the starter, show that you're interested, you should be able to get ALL the content that's current for the current expansion's price. Call it the "Recruited Bundle" if you want.
The other perks are ok, though "Grant a Level" may need to be replaced.
That way they get the full WoW Experience, they don't get bored with barely doing a handful of quests before it's either not worth their time or they leave the stories undone, they don't get blitzed to the "end game" before they really get a taste for the world, and yet there's a substantial benefit to them in that it's much less of a financial investment to be up-to-date.
Whatcha think, folks?
Carr0t Sep 2nd 2011 1:21PM
I believe it was to do with the perceived reasons for recruiting friends. Certainly every one of my friends who made use of it were at max level on their mains, and the new player wanted to reach max level as soon as possible to be able to play alongside them in the top level dungeons and raids. Those people who actually wanted to experience the levelling process together 'properly' didn't bother with RaF.
Noyou Sep 2nd 2011 1:26PM
Easy fix. Since wow is F2P for the first 20 levels, you can both roll toons and level as you wish. When/if they decide to sub they can re-roll or make an alt that can take advantage of the free levels.
My #1 pet peeve with people saying they level too fast- no one tells you that you have to leave a zone. So the mobs are grey or green? If you are truly out for the game experience and being with your friend, it shouldn't matter.
DarkWalker Sep 2nd 2011 1:41PM
@Noyou
WoW is already easy while leveling. Staying after you outlevel the content is akin to playing God Mode. It might be amusing for a while, but becomes boring fast.
WoW should really have either a way to control how fast you level without having to keep going back and forth to the city (and spend a lot of gold) to keep turning XP on and off, just like CoH does; or some way to reduce the character power to something appropriate to the zone, like GW2 is planning to implement.
vocenoctum Sep 2nd 2011 4:50PM
Cambro> I don't think you're in a minority group.
When I leveled my full-boa paladin, I burned through content as fast as it could spawn, thought "man, might as well just give me levels".
So when I popped up another druid on another server, no BoA's, I thought it'd be nice to bop around a bit. But the druid is outpacing content there too! No bonuses other than resting (which is a huge one yes, but not forever), but the xp from mining/ herbing also accelerates things.
But, on the flip side, if I'm leveling too fast, nothing says I can't stay and finish grey quests that won't give me much of any xp. Just have "old quests" turned on and following the storylines rather than trying to find level appropriate stuff.
dmberreth Sep 3rd 2011 12:48AM
Instead of granting 300% exp, I believe the game (not just RaF) would benefit far more from the "shroud" type system. Note that I use the word shroud as I was introduced to the concept back in EQ, when the player equiped a shroud that would adjust their level.
Basically: You bring your friend into the game. Right now, if you want to level with them you have to roll an alt. But what if you don't want another character to play? Too bad. Oh, and also, if your friend levels, they get free levels to give to you - so you need another alt to dump them on.
How to improve: In EQ, the shroud system allowed a player to be "shrouded" as various Monster types from the game world. The shrouds changed every 5 levels (meaning there was a level 5 version, level 10, 15, etc) and filled the various roles: Tank, Heals, DPS. As you leveled with your friend, your shroud leveled up as well, gaining new abilities, and you were rewarded with gold, loot, and exp for the character wearing the shroud. This is also a system going to be used in Guild Wars 2, and has been implemented in Final Fantasy XI for some time.
By giving us the ability to adjust our level to that of our friend, we can level with them on whatever character we choose. Granted, the problem of quests is still in the way.. but at the least we can fight with them and help them complete their current quests, even if our main has all ready done them. We can see from Heirloom items that gear scaling isn't too difficult... I don't know the full logistics but I would imagine applying the same sort of algorithm to our characters when we down-level would allow us to wear our current gear and maintain acceptable stats.
I believe this would actually encourage MORE RaF accounts and participation. The idea of a mount reward for your account is well and good, but having done RaF a couple of times myself, I have several alts I had to make to get the 300% bonus with my friends... and they are all sitting unused now, because I still want to focus on my main, all ready capped characters. I am sure there is a reward system they could up with to get meaningful things to capped characters. Even if it includes rare drops, gold, etc, like the Call to Arms system right now.
Den Sep 3rd 2011 3:43PM
Allow me to play Devil's Advocate here for a moment. What if the problem isn't recruit a friend, but levels themselves? I can play Street Fighter with whoever I want. Counter Strike's old as hell, has no levels, but a thriving community of both casuals and hardcores. Games can be fun and have a long lifespan without levels, so do we really need them?
Badmedecine Sep 2nd 2011 11:06AM
What reason is there to be in orgrimmar if you CANT walk on the bank roof and jump up and off and stuff =( ?!?!?!?! ...
Romolus Sep 2nd 2011 11:45AM
idk, I fly up to the top of the roof where the bank used to be and jump off all the time.... (parachute cloak ftw).
AudreyR Sep 2nd 2011 11:57AM
I do miss the bank roof as the go-to location for plying you wares and general shenanigans.
MattKrotzer Sep 2nd 2011 2:05PM
To kill Horde.