Posts with tag leaks

I'm going to be doing something different this time around in the beta -- I'm not going to be reading all the leaks and spoilers. Over the past decade I've had all of Warcraft spoiled for me, there's never been a surprise that I didn't know about well in advance. And really that means there's never been a surprise at all.

That's disappointing. I knew for months what happened at the end of Wrath, we heard long ago who the "big bad" of MoP was going to be. In my line of work finding out these things is par for the course. A lot of time we don't publish anything because they're just rumors; but obviously some of them become true.

This time though? I'm not going to pay attention to them. Already I'm making it a point not to read quest text or conversation strings. I'm not going to watch videos of cinematics, and I'm not going to participate in lore discussions when leaks or spoilers are involved. In fact, I'm going to do everything I possibly can from editing those posts. There's other editors around that can do that. /cough Alex and Anne

I know some of you are going to want to read them. Heck I can see it in the hits every time we post a spoiler (I'm looking at you new leader of the Horde post, which was one of AOL's most viewed posts the day it happened). We'll still do that stuff. But you know what? I'm just going to close my eyes and pretend they don't exist. As long as Alex and Anne don't kill me.

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It's that time again. We're at the end of an expansion life cycle, BlizzCon is just days away, and everyone is wondering "what's next?" We're browsing forums, looking at obscure sites in different languages, hunting for any hint of new information to sate our relentless appetites. For some people, the speculating is just as fun as finding out what the next expansion will actually turn out to be.

Rumors and fake leaks seem to pop up on a weekly basis. The latest trend among the rumormongers is to take pictures of their so-called leaks with a cellphone and run it through Instagram to give it more credibility. It sure looks a lot more real when you can't pore over the pixels to see just how good or bad their photoshop skills are.

Reddit user rpdj made an interesting post on /r/wow demonstrating how in a few simple steps he created the above image of a new playable race, the Terrorguard. Looks pretty convincing, doesn't it?

The past few days have seen leaks on an unprecedented scale. For better or worse, nearly the entire visual artwork of the expansion is out on the internet, and key and yet-unseen components of the lore, landscape and mechanics are now laying wide open for those who care to look. Many people have drawn lines in the community -- some believe these leaks are good, and others believe them bad.

In both camps, basic information is lacking as to exactly what leaks are, how and why they originate and what they mean for the common player. It's critical that we as a community take an introspective look at what these leaks mean to us, why they happen and the consequences we all face as a result.

Let's begin this examination with a basic question ...

What are leaks?

At the most basic level, leaks are previously unreleased information given to the press with the intention of distribution to the public. In the case of WoW, a leak can range from a release date for a patch to an entire client of a new expansion. Leaks like these comprise of data that are accessible publicly, one way or another, and are generally not considered trade secrets.

Another type of leak, which is much more serious, is something like the source code to Windows 2000. Something that like is very sensitive and has a lot of real-world implications. WoW doesn't have anything secretive like that which can impact the very security of our computer networks and commerce infrastructure, even though WoW leaks are important to Blizzard in their own regard.

Earlier this afternoon, we received a tip stating the following:

• The Cataclysm alpha will be starting Tuesday, January 12th.
• The alpha will not be distributed digitally, but burned to disc.

This information has recently appeared on the Twitter account wowleak, along with the image of what appears to be a Cataclysm DVD. We reached out to our sources on the topic, and while they were not able to confirm whether or not the DVD is the real deal, they were able to confirm the alpha phase's tentative starting date. Barring any unexpected hurdles appearing in the next few days, the Friends and Family Alpha Phase will begin on the 12th of January.

Update: Various parties have come forth to confirm the suspicions that the disc in the original image is faked. However, our sources stand by the alpha starting within the next week. It is very possible that whoever faked the disc stumbled upon a convenient coincidence. If we hear any more, we will keep you updated.

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World of Warcraft: Cataclysm will destroy Azeroth as we know it. Nothing will be the same. In WoW.com's Guide to Cataclysm you can find out everything you need to know about WoW's third expansion. From Goblins and Worgens to Mastery and Guild changes, it's all there for your cataclysmic enjoyment.

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Well, it's here -- we've been waiting for the Wrath beta and all the information that'll come with it for a long time, and soon we'll all be headed to a pre-release Northrend to see what there is to see. But how much is too much? Iris asks on WoW Ladies, and we're asking too, "How much do you want to know about the Wrath beta?"

A few people have already asked us for a non-Wrath RSS feed, and we're working on asking our tech guys if that's possible (it's very possible to get RSS feeds of any of our categories by adding "rss.xml" to the end of any of our Category listings, but it's not so easy to get a feed if everything but a certain category), and we're doing as much as we can to keep major spoiler information behind the breaks and out of sight if possible. But the information's out there, and just like the Burning Crusade beta, odds are that you'll have heard a little bit about what's happening in Northrend if you read any WoW sites at all.

The good news, of course, is that Blizzard always keeps a few aces up their sleeve -- even if you drowned yourself in the latest and greatest Wrath leaks and information, it's a guarantee that you'll find at least something in the live version of Northrend that you didn't hear about before. But until then, just how much do you want to know? Are you planning on playing the beta nonstop in the hopes that you do so much you don't have to buy the actual game, or are you keeping ears and eyes closed for the next few months in hopes that you'll enter a completely new and unfamiliar world whenever you install the next expansion?

Diabloii.net is reporting that "reliable inside industry sources" have confirmed that Diablo 3 is the big announcement that will come at WWI on Saturday.

Since Diabloii didn't say that the sources were at Blizzard, I'm skeptical and I still consider it a rumor, not a confirmation. I'm always skeptical of unnamed sources anyway, but in this case, with the secrecy surrounding the announcement and the legal actions coming against other Blizzard ventures, I'm especially dubious. If anyone at Blizzard leaked this information, they'd be found out and fired for sure. If it wasn't someone from Blizzard but rather someone else in the game industry, I wouldn't take what they say with a grain of salt. However, on the chance that this information is correct -- and Diabloii is asserting that it is -- we want to offer it to you so you can make up your own minds.

[Thanks, Conner.]

When you watch the video you'll notice that not everything is done yet. Obviously, this is because the game is still in alpha. And remember that these models could be completely thrown out and replaced with something different. My personal favorite is the rogue gear.

Give it a watch and get yourself some of these juicy alpha leaks!

DeathKnight.info has posted, and our independent sources confirm, a first look at the current state of the Death Knight talents. These come covered in caveats, most especially that they're from the Friends & Family Alpha and will almost certainly change in the coming months, and that this is only the two deepest tiers of talents. However, if you're as desperate for this sort of information as I am, you won't mind. Let's get right into it.

For some of you, this may be considered spoilers, so in case you don't want to see the talents, I've placed them after the jump. If you do want to see, click on!

Update: Blizzard has asked us to remove the information.

Yes, that pic above is the priest's robe, direct from Arena season 4 (you can click on it to see a bigger version), and here is the priest's helm from season 4. As the story goes over at World of Raids, a player on EU Arathor accidentally deleted some season 1 items, and a GM then accidentally gave him season 4 items in replacement instead. The items were taken right back (duh), but their IDs were activated on that realm, so anyone with a little item ID knowledge could pull up the stats.

For comparison, these have boosts almost all around from the season 3 items, which is pretty much to be expected. And while the Stamina is clearly much higher than anything we've seen at the higher levels, the actual damage doesn't compare much to even the Tier 6 stuff. PvP gear in season 4 is all about staying alive -- we've seen a few other items leak out already, and it's the same deal on those.

Which is probably as it should be. We should note, also, that this stuff may not actually be done -- although the fact that it's spawnable on the live realms might mean that Blizzard is ready for season 4. I still don't think we'll see it until after the arena tourney, but who knows?

By the rate we're going, we're going to have the whole expansion in front of you before they even announce the release date. Readers Mordicieus and Nelson have dropped more BC leaks in the comment box, and we're bringing them to you.

• Lots of weapons: 1h and 2h axes, 1h and 2h maces, 1h swords, daggers, something new called glaves (glaives? they look like the double swords those night elves have), staves, and ranged.
• More tier 4 stuff: Paladin, Priest, and Rogue.
• Lots and lots of monsters: Arakkoa, Arcane Golem, Doomguard, Hydra, Lobstrokk (anyone out there a Dark Tower fan?), Nightbane, and Warpstalker
• NPCs (spoilers be here): This guy, this girl, this thing, this thing, and this... who is that?
• Areas: Karazhan (1, 2, 3), Nagrand (1, 2), Netherstorm, the other side of the Dark Portal, Tempest Keep, Terokkar Forest, and Zangar Marsh.
• And finally, there's this-- which we're told is a big picture of all the Arena PVP armor sets available. There's some really good stuff in there, but exactly what is "resilience"? Now, it could be because this set was translated from French (I saw the original French shot), or it could be because this stuff is all extremely fake.

So check 'em out at your own risk-- it's very likely this stuff is either fake or unfinished. But otherwise enjoy. Every new set of pics I see just makes me more and more excited for the expansion.

[ Thanks Mord and Nelson! ]

Bit-tech has posted a very nice preview of the Burning Crusade expansion-- apparently they lured Blizzard across the pond to show them the game (probably with cookies-- we all know Blizzard employees are weak for cookies). They don't have much in the way of new info; if you've been paying attention, you already know about the new honor system, "winged" dungeons, and the racial abilities and lore. But the one thing they do have is lots and lots of (relatively spoiler free) eye candy! Gape at the spectacular instances! Oooh at the beautiful new zones! And gasp at the new models!

Also, our good reader Mordicieus sent along a lot of leaked BC pics he found over on the Noggaholics forums. Click to see them, but watch out for spoilers...

• Nogg says this is some wizard guy... Maybe you know him...
  
• The Blood Elf mount
• A few Draenei totem models
• A few interesting mob models-- I like this guy
• And Tier 4 sets: Warlock, Shammy, Hunter, and Druid

Remember, all the leaked stuff is still unconfirmed and likely unfinished. Thanks Mord!

Even more leaks are finding their way out of the supposedly ubersecret Burning Crusade Friends and Family Alpha. First we saw videos of the newbie areas, then we heard the voices of BE and Draenei, and now, using a model hacker, various sources have put together a few more spoilers about the expansion. If, like me, you want to wait until you buy the game to actually see what's in it, don't click on the links below. But if you're willing to dive into unreleased and unconfirmed information because you just can't wait to find out what might be in the expansion, have at it!

• borgseawolf over on Livejournal has put up four huge image strips of a bunch of different enemies from the game. Some of them are still untextured, but there's a lot of interesting stuff in there, including a few new forms of mobs we already know and love.
• And YouTuber roguekitten246 has unearthed video animations of the emotes and fighting movements of the Draenei male, the Draenei female, and the Blood Elf male and BE female. Again, don't click on the links if you don't want to see spoilers, but I have to say that I think the Horde are going to be pretty happy to have the BEs on their side. They look good.
• Also, Eluna (who sent us the voices) also sends along a few other pics from the alpha: some freaky skelly, a felorc, a female and male naga, a race whose name we won't mention, and the normal and epic Draenei mounts.

Again, hacking the code like this is definitely against the Blizzard TOS and may even be illegal, so we can't confirm or guarantee any of these pictures or movies are exactly what you'll see in Burning Crusade. Even if they are real, there's a huge chance things will change before the game is released, so take these with a grain of salt. That said-- wow these look awesome!

We've got yet more leaked data about the Burning Crusade! And perhaps I'm just being naive, but I'm tempted to believe there's at least some truth in all of these rumors. The Caverns of Time site has information on the druid, mage, paladin, rogue, shaman, warlock, and warrior talent trees as well as a large collection of interesting screenshots (including the Draenei mount). (Though, of course, the class about which I am most curious - the priest - is still conspicuously absent!) At any rate, check it out for yourself and tell us what you think.

[Thanks, Nelson]

Whether this is legitimate or no, we may not know until there's an official announcement. However, this image has made its way out onto the net, displaying all three rogue trees and the tooltips for new talents. The talents don't look terribly unreasonable, and they contain some interesting things (and by "interesting" I mean "things I've never seen players discuss or ask for") that we've seen in other rumors - specifically the talent that increases the effect of healing on the player. But you'll have to decide for yourself if you think these are for real. A list of talents shown in the screenshot continues below.