Posts with tag World-of-Warcraft

Patch 5.3 PTR: Battle on the High Seas overview

by Anne Stickney May 19th 2013 at 4:00PM

One of my favorite scenarios to this day is Unga Ingoo. It's not because it has any major lore significance, some major story reveal that was shocking or inspired. It's not because it had any kind of meaningful impact on what we're doing right now, or on the leveling experience itself. No, the reason I love Unga Ingoo is because ships, ropes, and beating up pirates are all ridiculously fun things. Even more so when the pirates are monkey pirates.

In patch 5.3, we're getting four new scenarios -- three of which are interesting from a lore perspective, and one of which, Battle on the High Seas, is just a rollicking good time. There aren't any lore reveals. There's nothing in the scenario to further the story of patch 5.3, or lead into patch 5.4. The only thing Battle on the High Seas offers is the opportunity to smack the heck out of the opposite fashion in true swashbuckling style ... and honestly, that's more than enough reason to do it as far as I'm concerned!

Please note that this is being written from the Horde perspective of the scenario. I'm assuming that the Alliance side is much the same, just with a role-reversal involved.

Please note: This post contains spoilers for patch 5.3 content.

Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, Mists of Pandaria

Patch 5.3 PTR: The Secrets of Ragefire overview

by Anne Stickney May 18th 2013 at 12:00PM

I remember Ragefire Chasm in vanilla, but only vaguely. It was usually completed once, at a very low level, and then never looked at again -- it never had any really compelling loot, and the story was only so-so. It has since received an update to both loot and story, and in a profound kind of way. In fact, if you haven't done the updated Ragefire Chasm, I suggest this would be an excellent time to do so. What happens down there is just the tip of the iceberg, it seems.

In patch 5.3, we're going to get a look at a section of Ragefire Chasm we haven't seen before, in one of four new scenarios introduced with the patch. It turns out not everything is as it seems in Orgrimmar ... and Garrosh's plans have never looked quite this grim. You'll be accompanying the Gob Squad on a mission to figure out just what kind of secrets Ragefire holds, and what the Horde can expect from their Warchief.

Please note: This post contains spoilers for patch 5.3 content.

Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, Mists of Pandaria

World of Warcraft loses 1.3M subscribers since February, down to 8.3M

by Fox Van Allen May 8th 2013 at 5:00PM

WoW loses 13 million subscribers since Feb down to 8 mil

Today's Activision-Blizzard financial reports states World of Warcraft took a subscriber hit this quarter, losing 1.3 million players since February.

The loss brings the total number of WoW players down to 8.3 million, its lowest level since the launch of the Burning Crusade expansion in 2007. Subscriber levels have fallen by about a third since WoW's post-Cataclysm peak of 12 million subscribers. The loss is hardly unusual -- you have to remember that WoW is a 9-year-old game, and we're at a pretty uninteresting time in the expansion cycle.

Have we mentioned yet that we're really excited to see if Blizzard is announcing a new MMO at BlizzCon?

Filed under: Blizzard, The Burning Crusade, BlizzCon, Cataclysm, Mists of Pandaria

Faction short story Bleeding Sun now available

by Anne Stickney May 3rd 2013 at 5:00PM

A new short story is available on the official Blizzard website for lore fans. Bleeding Sun, written by Matt Burns, sheds some light on the Golden Lotus and the Vale of Eternal Blossoms. Although there have been small bits of story about the Vale and its guardians, there wasn't a lot of clarification on the process itself. We knew that the Vale had guardians, that those guardians had been there before the August Celestials chose to open the gate, but how those guardians were chosen, or what that choice entailed was still a mystery.

Matt Burns, also the author of Charge of the Aspects from last year, tackles this subject with flair -- but it's a dark flair, one that was entirely unexpected. I'd mentioned before that Trial of the Red Blossoms, Blizzard's first foray into Pandaria's many factions, was a little dark. Bleeding Sun beats it, hands down -- and all by using a character who is entirely devoted to the Light of An'she's sun. Sunwalker Dezco makes a unexpected return in Bleeding Sun, along with his twin sons, now named Redhorn and Cloudhoof. Dezco has been trying to to come to terms with the death of his wife Leza and the result of their grand journey across Pandaria. He and his followers found the Vale ... but what now?

And that's where it gets really grim.

Filed under: Lore, Mists of Pandaria

Review of Dawn of the Aspects, part three by Richard A. Knaak

by Anne Stickney Apr 23rd 2013 at 3:00PM

The action in Dawn of the Aspects heated up exponentially in part two of the series by Richard A. Knaak -- and part three only continues to both clarify and confuse in the most brain-bending, delightful way.

The third installment of Dawn of the Aspects, released Monday, continues to explore the purpose of the mysterious artifact Kalegos uncovered back in part one. It seems as though the visions Kalec has been experiencing are growing far more intense, enough to make the former Aspect question the reality of the future we're currently living in. More importantly, there are some important and thoroughly bizarre revelations that may actually shed some light on the Aspects as they turned out in present day.

Although the installments continue to be slightly confusing, we're beginning to get a grasp on just what this story is all about. And as mentioned in our last review, it's becoming far more clear that what happened in the past is apparently not only relevant, but incredibly important to the events of present day. Dawn of the Aspects is, so far, proving to be a delightful mystery of a book, not quite like anything we've seen come before.

Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, Blizzard, Lore

Books you should read to better understand WoW

by Matthew Rossi Apr 22nd 2013 at 5:00PM

No, this isn't a list of WoW novels. The thing is, World of Warcraft is built on the backs of a lot of fantasy literature, mythology, sword and sorcery epics, and so on. And while attempting to put together a reading list to truly explore all of these subjects would be meaningless, making some recommendations to help you get into the WoW spirit could be fun. If nothing else, you'll get to potentially read some new, interesting books.

Now, there's no way I can get every classic of every genre that's influenced World of Warcraft into a list that would fit on this site. There are hundreds of potential books out there. So I'm just going to hit some highlights and let y'all go wild in the comments filling in the blanks.

J.R.R Tolkien's Lord of the Rings - Tolkien is the 10,000 lb gorilla in modern fantasy. If you're not influenced by him, you're a reaction to him. The reason there are multiple kinds of elves and dwarves running around Azeroth fighting orcs is because of Tolkien's impact on fantasy. If you want to get the tropes, you should probably read this.

Robert E. Howard's Conan and other stories - Howard is the other huge gorilla influencing modern fantasy. I mention Conan as his most famous creation, but there's just as much good stuff to be read by Howard that has nothing to do with the Cimmerian. His Solomon Kane, Kull, Bran Mak Morn, and his forays into horror and historical fiction all blazed from an imagination so incandescent that it burned the man himself out in a short amount of time. Be warned - most of this stuff was written for the pulps, and it has all the virtues and all the flaws of pulp fiction written in the 20's and 30's. It's often racist, sexist, and ranges wildly in quality.

Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, Lore

Rolled back druid has World First level 90 reinstated

by Olivia Grace Apr 18th 2013 at 7:00PM

WoW Insider readers who have been around for a few months may remember the strange story of a druid. On the same day as the expasion released, a druid by the name of Fs hit level 90. He was subsequently rolled back to level 87, as the linked article was updated to reflect, and many cried foul, asserting that he had cheated, that he had somehow made use of an exploit to get through the levels at such speed.

Athene sat down with some of the guys who had helped Fs to 90, and chatted with them about how they'd done it. They asserted that it was simply related to a buff that was put onto them by some mobs in Townlong Steppes, shamans to be specific, which they'd used to farm mobs for XP. They said they'd done nothing else, but the fact that Blizzard rolled Fs back didn't really support them.

The latest development in the story happened late last night, when Blizzard Community Vaneras posted the following:

Vaneras

After some lengthy deliberation on this topic and evaluation of all facts, we've decided to overturn our decision on this matter. We will be re-instating Fs's achievements. Our apologies to Fs for any frustration this has caused.

source

So it seems from this that, actually, the claims were true, there was no exploit, no cheating, and the achievement was legitimate. Fs's achievements have also been reinstated on the armory. Almost 7 months down the line, congratulations!

Filed under: News items

Patch 5.3 PTR: Blood in the Snow overview

by Anne Stickney Apr 13th 2013 at 8:00PM

If you've been wondering what's been going on in Ironforge during Cataclysm and Mists, patch 5.3 ought to fill you in. The first of two scenarios required to unlock the quest chain for 5.3, Blood in the Snow tells the story of Moira Bronzebeard and her attempt to prove to both the Bronzebeard, Wildhammer, and the Alliance itself that the Dark Iron are worthy allies. One tends to forget that Moira's roots lay originally with the Bronzebeard clan -- and she's not out for blood, she's out to prove that both she and the clan she now runs aren't the one-dimensional villains everyone would like to make them out to be.

Does she succeed in this goal? Well ... that remains to be seen. But given Cho's story of the three clans, the tale that pointed out that both Wildhammer and Bronzebeard were being perhaps unnecessarily paranoid, it looks like the dwarves might finally be moving in a direction of actual unity. Meanwhile, the scenario itself is actually pretty fun, and presents a bit of a challenge without being impossible.

Please note: This post contains spoilers for patch 5.3 content.

Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, Mists of Pandaria

Patch 5.3 PTR: Patch note update for April 11

by Anne Stickney Apr 11th 2013 at 8:00PM

The patch notes for the patch 5.3 PTR have received a small update today on the official blog. Included are some adjustments to Pet Battles and PvP, as well as some really interesting changes for healing abilities and summoned pets/totems. Faster casting for summoned pets? Yes please.

Gargoyles, Forces of Nature, Mirror Images, Water Elementals, Searing Totems, Doomguards, Terrorguards and Wild Imps all will now chain cast their spells with no delay between casts.
Creatures that are level 90 and above should now have a chance to drop Lesser Charms of Good Fortune, in case you weren't getting enough of the things elsewhere.
Owners of the Teldrassil Sproutling, Ruby Sproutling or Withers will note that the Shell Shield ability for these pets has been replaced with a new ability: Ironbark. It's very successful.

You can see the full list of patch notes at the official site, but if you'd just like a list of the new changes, follow after the break for a consolidated list.

Filed under: News items, Mists of Pandaria

Patch 5.3 PTR: Heroic and new scenarios available for testing soon

by Anne Stickney Apr 8th 2013 at 8:00PM

Players that have been participating in the patch 5.3 PTR testing may have noticed that there's not exactly a lot of new content to test out just yet. That's about to change with the next patch update -- according to CM Vaneras over on the EU forums, all new and heroic scenarios should be available for testing with the next PTR update. This includes all new 5.3 lore scenarios -- and if you're wondering whether you'll be able to test both, you can put your mind at ease. Both factions will be able to participate in all new scenarios, and the disguise mechanic introduced when Dagger in the Dark and A Little Patience were released with patch 5.2 will be implemented.

As for heroic scenarios, players will be able to participate in that content as well -- there's a new section in the scenario queuing system that will allow players to queue for heroic rather than regular scenario content. EU players can leave feedback on the official forum thread, and presumably US players will have their own thread for doing so as well. If you've been itching to find out more about upcoming 5.3 content, this is your chance to take a peek and give your feedback on the content.

If you're interesting in participating, you can download the PTR client via your account management page on Battle.net, as well as copy an existing character over to the PTR. Blizzard seems to be looking specifically for people's reactions to the relative challenge of the scenarios, as well as feedback regarding the new bonus objective system. Keep your eyes peeled, we'll have more information on all of the new scenarios once they are available and open for play.

Filed under: News items, Mists of Pandaria

Review of Dawn of the Aspects, part two by Richard A. Knaak

by Anne Stickney Mar 19th 2013 at 8:00PM

Things have just gotten incredibly weird.

The second installment of Dawn of the Aspects has just been released to an assortment of retailers, ready to be downloaded to the e-reader of your choice. The novel, written by Richard Knaak, continues to explore the events at the dawn of time, before the Age of Dragons began. As Kalecgos continues his descent into the mad visions bestowed upon him by an ancient artifact, he begins to discover more and more unsettling facts about the formation of dragonkind. But will Kalecgos be able to divine what these visions are trying to teach, or will he be swallowed into the past for good?

In our review of part one, we touched on the somewhat convoluted nature of the story, with the hopes that part two would begin to make things slightly more clear. Yet that question of the purpose of dragons on Azeroth, their origin, and what they should do now that the Age of Mortals has begun is still left unanswered. And despite the novel's focus on events long past, it's beginning to become more clear that Kalecgos' visions, mad as they are, definitely have more than a little relevance to present-day.

Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, Blizzard, Lore

Chris Metzen talks about The Art of Blizzard Entertainment

by Sarah Pine Mar 19th 2013 at 5:00PM

Over the last few years the question of art and video games has gone in and out of hot-button topic territory. Whatever someone's opinion of the status of games as art, though, it's impossible to ignore the vast amount of art that goes into them, and the cultural consciousness surrounding art and gaming is growing all the time. Earlier this year Blizzard published The Art of Blizzard Entertainment, a volume spanning over 20 years of concept art and development, complete with commentary by Nick Carpenter, Sam Didier, and Chris Metzen. Along with the book was an exhibit of the same name at the Gallery Nucleus in Alhambra, California, which ran from January 12th to February 3rd, 2013.

This is an old video by GamerHub.tv from the opening night of the exhibit back in January, but it's the first it has come to our attention at WoW Insider, and it's worth watching if you haven't already. Metzen talks about the origins and inspiration for Blizzard's art, Blizzard's feelings toward fan art, and some of his thoughts on the perception of art and games in general. Check out parts one and two on GamerHub's youtube channel.

Filed under: News items

StarCraft: Kerrigan -- Hope and Vengeance free on Comixology

by Anne Stickney Mar 8th 2013 at 9:00AM

This week, we had patch 5.2 to contend with, but next week it's all about the launch of StarCraft II: Heart of the Swarm for plenty of players. Blizzard has been slowly releasing promotional material for the new game, including a new cinematic and a pretty fascinating viral advertising campaign called Project Blackstone, which is still being updated as the time ticks down to Heart of the Swarm's launch. And now we have another piece -- a comic about Kerrigan and a glimpse at what she's been through that takes place at some point after she was rescued at the end of Wings of Liberty.

Kerrigan -- Hope and Vengeance #0 is a relatively short comic, but the art and writing is top-notch. And here's the kicker -- it's absolutely free. You don't have to pay for the comic, you simply plunk it in your cart, checkout and read. The comic is a fairly brisk 8 pages, but with a story by Cameron Dayton and some really stunning art by Zoddd, not to mention the absence of a price tag, this is a nice treat for StarCraft fans.

To my knowledge, this is the first time Blizzard's ever offered a free digital comic of this scope. And it does make one wonder.

Filed under: Blizzard, News items, StarCraft 2

Patch 5.2: Zandalari Warbringers and where to find them

by Anne Stickney Mar 5th 2013 at 3:00PM

The new patch has plenty to offer with a new raid, a new zone, and tons of new quests and content. But don't forget the rest of Pandaria in your travels, because the Isle of Thunder isn't the only thing to discover in patch 5.2. The Isle of Giants located north of Kun-Lai Summit offers several different things to obtain through the mass slaughter of dinosaurs -- and scattered across Pandaria are a selection of new rares to plunder.

These rares, discovered early in the PTR cycle, aren't your typical rare mob. Unlike the other rare spawns scattered around Pandaria, these are gold elite mobs that require far more skill. There are three different mobs that spawn -- stealthed scouts, flying elites shown in the picture above, and Zandalari Warbringers. It's the Warbringers that offer the most difficult challenge, requiring a tank and healer at bare minimum to bring down.

So where do you find these wonderful mobs, and why do you want to kill them?

Filed under: News items, Mists of Pandaria

What does progression mean to you?

by Anne Stickney Mar 2nd 2013 at 6:00PM

I've been pondering the question of what progression really means a lot over the past couple of weeks. Big Bear Butt mentioned it in a blog post last week, and talked about how the word is defined depending on who you are and what you're doing in game. Whenever I hear the word progression in reference to WoW, I immediately turn to raiding -- but is that the only place that it really applies?

And even if you're a raider, it's not as cut-and-dry a meaning as you'd think. My current guild is a progression raid guild. But we aren't bleeding-edge and we don't push ourselves like it's a second job. My first raid guild was also a progression guild, but it was definitely far more hardcore, with six nights a week spent raiding our hearts out and trying to get those coveted server firsts. Is there really a difference between the two? It certainly felt like it -- but both guilds were focused on progression, so maybe there wasn't quite as much a difference as I'd like to think.

Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, Mists of Pandaria

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