Patch 5.2 interview with Dave Kosak
Inside an old alt's vault
The latest patch 5.2 news
All of the latest Mists of Pandaria newsThe Queue: Attack of the Killer Tomatoes
by Alex Ziebart 
Apr 4th 2012 at 11:00AM
Yep. It's another Awesome '90s Cartoon day. Enjoy.
John asked:
I am looking forward to the release of Mists of Pandaria. Especially the new Pandaren race. As far as new races being a potential new addition, do you think they will introduce any new races in future expansions or do you think this is probably it? I don't realistically see naga or murlocs being playable races. Something I thought would be pretty neat would be a character that could go from humanoid form to dragon. Like humans transform to worgen. Perhaps even a dragon in a humanoid form maybe. Just thoughts.
I'm sure Blizzard will add more races to the game eventually. When? Who knows. Personally, I think it's futile to try and guess what those races may be based on what's in the game right now -- Blizzard can add pretty much whatever it wants, whenever it wants.
What I'd like to see is some race of plant people. I don't know why. I have a bizarre fascination with plant-y races in fiction, be it myconids from Dungeons & Dragons, sporeloks from The Burning Crusade, or Guild Wars 2's sylvari. Plant people, please!
recneps1337 asked:
do you know what the new profession level is called like now how its illustrious_____?
In Mists of Pandaria, trade skills will increase to level 600 to a new level called Zen Master.
Dural asked:
Does WoW Insider plan to do another round of "[Insert Spec Here] 101" articles after MoP's release to catch everyone up on class changes and updates?
Yeah, absolutely. Talents and skills will be changing enough in Mists of Pandaria that a new round of leveling/101 guides makes sense to us.
Allenok asked:
What are the best heirloom weapons to get for each Monk spec?
If you want to level as a healer, use the Dignified Headmaster's Charge.
Updated: Sorry, my mistake. Monks cannot use 2-handed maces.
nicko666 asked:
Is there any news on a monk column/columnist for WoW Insider?
We haven't fully decided what we're doing about a monk column/columnist. We may try a completely different method of monk coverage and not have a dedicated monk column at all.
It's open warfare between Alliance and Horde in Mists of Pandaria, World of Warcraft's next expansion. Jump into five new levels with new talents and class mechanics, try the new monk class, and create a pandaren character to ally with either Horde or Alliance. Look for expansion basics in our Mists FAQ, or dig into our spring press event coverage for more details!Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, The Queue, Mists of Pandaria
Reader Comments (Page 5 of 10)
Jimson Apr 4th 2012 12:46PM
I understand the argument for showing leg armor. I'd be pissed too if I was an artist and my designs were useless, because a race couldn't disply them properly. However, as someone else pointed out... what about Tauren? Have they ever displayed boots? I have a few lvl 85 Tauren but I can't remember at the moment if any of them have anything but hooves showing.
I also go back to my earlier point re: the visibility of leg armor and the like. If a robe covers your legs and the only option is to physically remove the robe in order to see the leg armor... that's not a huge logical step from just not having leg armor.
A Naga with legs, after all the lore/backstories/whatever else we have been given, would just feel like a weak attempt to pacify players. But would I still play one? Absolutely.
Drakkenfyre Apr 4th 2012 1:24PM
Hooved races still show boot artwork. They get an "ankle boot", so to speak. The boot displays armor around their ankles.
Female Worgen are the only race which I am not sure show boots. Equipping most boots, I don't see a difference. Maybe they get ankle wrappings, and I know on Wowhead their 3D viewer shows some footwear showing up completely covering the feet, but their 3D viewer is also buggy.
While I don't mind going shoeless on Worgens, it wouldn't surprise me if they left that out. The model was unfinished (got to love the out-of-sync sniffing animation where the audio finishes before it does.)
Killik Apr 4th 2012 1:31PM
The 'no legs issue' is not so much limited to whether pieces of armour would show. It would also involve revisiting every mount in the game. Naga on a kodo? Hard to visualise that working well.
rhodo Apr 4th 2012 5:04PM
^
They could ride side-saddle, or just have a bipedal form while on land (they are warped elves after all).
Also, or alternatively, they could ride mounts that don't require, er, leg separation. I fancy a chariot made of sea-shells and pulled by murloc slaves.
I would really like playable Naga :) (I absolutely loved the Desolace quest that turns you into one.)
thepallytsi Apr 4th 2012 11:18AM
Q4Q: I've been tasked with developing a loot system that works effectively with out raids. Most of the time we have a group of guildies, so EPGP or DKP would work fine. My question is: Is there a loot system that works well with PuGs without relying on RNG? Telling PuGs that it's "1 loot per boss", if they get the loot off the first boss, they leave, and it's tough re-pugging. Also, does anyone know if there is an addon that would create a loot system like Blizzard has developed, based on role and item equipped?
TimR Apr 4th 2012 11:42AM
For pugs it seems the gold system works best. Everyone bids on drops, high bid wins. At the end of the run the gold submitted from bidding gets evenly distributed between everyone that stayed through the run.
That being said, I saw a lot of these runs in Wrath, but have not seen many lately. They may have fallen out of favor.
Ryan.akens Apr 4th 2012 11:42AM
I've never had a pug leave like that and I pug a DS run every monday. That being said though, you could implement a system where they win loot, but to insure they stay the ML will hold till the end. Pugs would probably QQ any that saying you are just gonna ninja it.
Pyromelter Apr 4th 2012 1:17PM
For PUGs, the best system is Suicide Kings. Everyone rolls at the start of the raid to set the order.
There isn't any way to replicate the spec based system, although the Need Before Greed setting is what is used in 5-man dungeon pugs (last I checked).
GDKP (gold auction) is still the most fair way to do pugs in my opinion, because even if you lose an item, you gain something valuable - gold.
ziggler Apr 4th 2012 4:04PM
The few times we pugged in our guild we kept our EPGP fo guild members and pugs got to roll on what they needed, if a guildie also needed it He would roll against the pug, if the guildie won we would deduct the usual amount of points.
To prevent a tribute run for the pugged ppl we would usually use a rule like "Only one tier or one weapon or one trinket per pug, the remaining slots you can roll anytime you need" (given that these are the most "valuable" drops).
Edymnion Apr 4th 2012 11:22AM
I would like to see a construct race, personally. But then, the Warforged were my favorite Eberron race.
Bryan Dare Apr 4th 2012 1:09PM
I like this idea a lot. It could easily fit in with Titan lore too, methinks.
Pyromelter Apr 4th 2012 1:19PM
I disagree, since construct races are the same as the mortal races, just without the curse of flesh. I wouldn't mind seeing the construct races be added to the existing races models, that would be a neat thing to have IMO.
Bryan Dare Apr 4th 2012 2:15PM
Well yes, but I wasn't thinking something like mechagnomes as a race. I was thinking a construct we haven't seen, perhaps not even from Azeroth. After all, we know the Titans have done other work in the universe beyond what we see on Azeroth. Who knows what's out there?
Edymnion Apr 4th 2012 2:56PM
Perhaps the war between the Alliance and the Horde becomes so dire that both sides are running out of recruits to send into battle. So instead, they turn to the gnomes/goblins to build troops for them. Throw in some lore saying that both sides gained access to titan creation forges (we did, way back in one of the wrath dungeons where Brann Bronzebeard just set it to churn out more Earthen and then promptly forgot about it), and bam, a single cross-faction pandaren style race of constructs.
fallemwarrior Apr 4th 2012 11:23AM
Im looking forward to this expansion so much, between the new zones which look absolutely epic and all the new glyphs and other things,
There s one thing that keeps getting in my way of complete excitement, and that is i am a toon collector and the vast amount of changes going out to all the specs seem daunting, i know the beta has just started but is there any indication of the classes that have changed the most so i can read up ahead of time?
Shinae Apr 4th 2012 11:41AM
http://wow.joystiq.com/category/warlock/
Killik Apr 4th 2012 11:45AM
Warlocks, for sure.
razion Apr 4th 2012 11:49AM
Warlocks. Warlocks are by far the ones getting the most attention this expansion coming out of the gate. Just looking at the talent trees we were initially given and going forward, Warlocks seem to have gotten the most updates in terms of new graphics regarding spells, minions, and etc. They've also been discussed very heavily on various topics including all the new upgraded demons, demon gender option possibilities that may be coming later down the road, as well as green fel fire in the form of a quest at 'some point after the launch, presumably a patch'. Also most if not all of the warlock roles are seeing heavy secondary resource mechanic changes (including Demonology, which even gets an off-tank glyph option in the form of Perma-Metamorphasis [which to me doesn't really make sense, why would you get rid of a dps cooldown for the rare chance to off tank in an emergency? It really seems like it was meant for a more direct dedicated tanking role, but I digress]). In any case, Warlocks are seeing heavy changes in both resource and ability design, and heavy cosmetic changes, with even more on the way.
The only ones that even seem to come remotely close seem to be Druids, who are now more than ever getting closer and closer to actually performing like their own class and less like a mock-up of another. As an example, shape-shifting is being made baseline forced with several abilities, that puts you into a form when you use the ability, which takes away the need to use a GCD before you can use your ability. Not to mention all of the particularly exciting cosmetic glyphs Druids are getting (Orca, Astral) and more (Owlbeast, for example, lets you heal in Moonkin form).
fallemwarrior Apr 4th 2012 11:58AM
:( seems like my main for the expansion is always the most changed
Boobah Apr 4th 2012 2:08PM
The current way that the Glyph of the Demon Hunter works is that it now adds an additional demon form (called "Threatening Presence") which shares a ten-second cooldown with Metamorphosis; I believe the cooldown is like Stealth, where it starts once you leave the form, so you can't flip straight from the DPS boosting form to the tanky form or vice versa.
Threatening Presence is the form that has Fury Ward, a taunt, a threat multiplier, and all that jazz. The only visual difference between Threatening Presence and Metamorphosis is that TP is reported to be a voidwalkery blue instead of purple. And TP's been nerfed and debugged, too; it takes more damage than it initially did (but still far less than any non-tank does) and it no longer has Metamorphosis's extra damage.