Posts with tag 2007

We're five days into the new year-- feel different yet? Here's your weekly look at our features from the past week. Many of them took a look at WoW in 2007, so here's one last chance to see the year that was before we move on to the year that will be.

Sunday Morning Funnies: What's cooking?
The best of the week in WoW comics.

All the World's a Stage: The past, present, and future of roleplaying
David takes a look back and forward at RPing.

Officers' Quarters: When your mate is a member
Dealing with relationships in a guild setting.

Encrypted Text: A stealthy year in review
The year in Rogues and roguery.

WoW Insider Show Episode 18: New Year's resolutions
Our weekly podcast covers all the news that fits in an hour of audio.

Two Bosses Enter: Kel'Thuzad vs. Archimonde
Shadow and ice-- tell us who would win.

The Light and How to Swing It: Your Epic mount quest-- for the Horde!
Getting the pally pony, Hordeside.

Shifting Perspectives: New Druid leveling 6-10
The most fun levels you've ever played as a Druid-- at least until you hit 20.

Raid Rx: Healing assignments
Assignments for trash? If Marcie says so, it must be true.

Guildwatch: Too much holiday cheer
A little less cheer, a little more drama, thanks.

Tales from the Lion's Pride Inn: The Sentinel
Byron might not be as concerned as he should be.

Blood Pact: Looking back at locks
The year of the nerf?

World of WarCrafts: Healthstone
How to make your own Healthstone soap! Clean and magical.

Totem Talk: Personally
Ever stand over a main tank and scream "WHY!?!!?" into the sky? This column is for you.

Blood Sport: Arena nostalgia
It's wild to me that when this year started, Arenas didn't even exist, and now they're a huge part of the game.

Gamers on the Street: This year, I resolve...
We speak directly with some of you to find out what's in store for 2008.

WoW, Casually: Darkmoon Faire profiteering, and Arathi Basin revisited
How to take advantage of that traveling faire, and how to run AB.

The Care and Feeding of Warriors: This is the year that was
Warriors in 2007: both roistering and boistering.

Insider Trader: A year in the making (err, crafting)
Lisa looks back at the year in making stuff.

Phat Loot Phriday: Dory's Embrace
Was it really named after Kaplan's girlfriend? We may never know.

Our friends over at Upper Deck's WoW TCG site have been running a little review of their biggest stories from 2007 over the last week (including this terrific piece about the Lady Kath card), so if you haven't been keeping up over there all year, or just want to look back at what happened in the trading card game, go check them out.

They've also posted two pieces looking forward as well. The first is a look at what the Organized Play schedule looks like for 2008-- they're going to have a new award to honor the Player of the Year, starting with the just-finished World Championships, and they're also going to have a Group Championships tournament as well. They're also looking for names for both events, so if you'd like to win a Wraith Scythe card, check the bottom of that page.

And there's a preview of what's coming in 2008 as well-- an art book is due out soon, and the Magtheridon's Lair raid deck is coming out soon also. We'll keep an eye on what else they've got planned over there-- while the online game is headed to the Sunwell, they've only just scratched the surface of possibilities on Burning Crusade content.

Relmstein has a short piece up about Blizzard and their little online game in the coming year, and in the process, he arrives at the exact same subscriber number that I did in my predictions: Ten million subscribers worldwide.

The latest figures we have say they're current at eight million, but of course every bit of thinking we do on this issue is clouded by the expansion next week. Personally, I think the expansion will live up to the hype-- when hasn't Blizzard ever done that? Relmstein agrees with me, and says it'll bring a lot of players back. I'm thinking that means even players who don't expect to come back. Once the items start getting out there, and the new instances carve out their place in the culture, I think the Burning Crusade will bring this game back for a lot of people. Heck one indicator is the new PVP system-- if all the new content can revive the PVE game at least as much, it's a good thing Blizz is unwrapping all those new servers.

But of course the drawback to an expansion is this: you don't earn a new audience with addon content. I'd hazard a guess that the expansion will sell five to six million copies after all is said and done, but almost every one of those copies will go to someone who's already got an identity in Azeroth: I'd doubt anyone is sitting on the sidelines, just waiting for a Blood Elf or Draenei to come along and pick up the game. Of course, that doesn't mean Blizzard won't make money-- they'll rake it in, and hopefully spend it on even more servers and content. But I'm thinking that while Burning Crusade will bring a renaissance to Azeroth, total subscribers will top out at 10 million. And then, we can talk about another issue: will WoW's base peak in 2007?

2006 was a year of much change for our favorite MMO, from patch 1.9 through 2.0.1 (not to mention the BC beta). Here's a quick rundown:

• 1.9 saw the first world event in the form of the opening of AQ. It also contributed further to server unification by linking auction houses. Paladin talents were updated.
• 1.10 gave us weather effects, new Priest talents, and Tier 0.5.
• 1.11 introduced Naxx, keyrings, nifty Mage talents, and a global LFG channel, which was quickly patched to default to off.
• 1.12 had cross-realm BGs, the EPL and Silithus PvP objectives, and new Rogue talents
• 2.0.1, as I'm sure you all know, was the day the add-ons died, honor got completely overhauled, and we all got shiny new abilities and talents to tide us over till the expansion.

What would you all like to see come to with WoW in 2007? Is the Burning Crusade giving you all your wishes, or do you have more burning desires for the game?