RSS Tier 8 Video, Arena Matchmaking, Blue Posts

Tier 8 Preview - Video! As I promised yesterday, here is a small video of the Tier 8 sets currently available in game. <ul style="margin-top: 0; margin-bottom: 0;"><li>Only the Death Knight, Hunter, Mage, Warlock, Rogue (Female), and Priest sets are currently in the game files. The other sets are just not here.</li><li>We call them Tier 8 armor because they're labeled as the "G" sets in the game files. Basically the warlock set is named RaidWarlock_G_, RaidWarlock_A_ is the Tier 1 set, B Tier 2, etc ... Obviously G should be the 7th tier but this one reused the old tier 3 "C" models.</li><li>Most of these models have been here since the beta, they might not be representative anymore of what the final sets will look like in Patch 3.1. Wait a few more weeks before complaining about it. </li><li>No, there isn't any music or sound.</li></ul> You can either watch the <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W6_V9LQXJs0&fmt=22" target="_blank">High-Definition streaming on Youtube</a> or <a href="http://rapidshare.com/files/190486314/mmochampion_tier_8_preview.avi" target="_blank">download the full version on Rapidshare</a>. <div align="center"><object width="560" height="453"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/W6_V9LQXJs0">Patch 3.0.8a Download Mirrors for the small bug fix patch are still available. Don't forget, downloading from third-party sites is NEVER safe and you should ALWAYS use the Blizzard Downloader if you have the choice. Moving the patch to your WoW folder and running the downloader to let it check the file is also a good idea. <ul style="margin-top: 0; margin-bottom: 0;"><li><img src="http://static.mmo-champion.com/mmoc/images/flags/us.gif" alt="" border="0" /> <a href="http://khorium.mmo-champion.com/boubouille/WoW-3.0.8.9464-to-3.0.8.9506-enUS-patch.exe" target="_blank">WoW-3.0.8.9464-to-3.0.8.9506-enUS-patch.exe</a> (<a href="http://rapidshare.com/files/190145698/WoW-3.0.8.9464-to-3.0.8.9506-enUS-patch.exe" target="_blank">Rapidshare</a>)</li><li><img src="http://static.mmo-champion.com/mmoc/images/flags/mx.gif" alt="" border="0" /> <a href="http://khorium.mmo-champion.com/boubouille/WoW-3.0.8.9464-to-3.0.8.9506-esMX-patch.exe" target="_blank">WoW-3.0.8.9464-to-3.0.8.9506-esMX-patch.exe</a> (<a href="http://rapidshare.com/files/190165229/WoW-3.0.8.9464-to-3.0.8.9506-esMX-patch.exe" target="_blank">Rapidshare</a>)</li><li><img src="http://static.mmo-champion.com/mmoc/images/flags/gb.gif" alt="" border="0" /> <a href="http://khorium.mmo-champion.com/boubouille/WoW-3.0.8.9464-to-3.0.8.9506-enGB-patch.exe" target="_blank">WoW-3.0.8.9464-to-3.0.8.9506-enGB-patch.exe</a> (<a href="http://rapidshare.com/files/190492221/WoW-3.0.8.9464-to-3.0.8.9506-enGB-patch.exe" target="_blank">Rapidshare</a>)</li><li><img src="http://static.mmo-champion.com/mmoc/images/flags/de.gif" alt="" border="0" /> <a href="http://khorium.mmo-champion.com/boubouille/WoW-3.0.8.9464-to-3.0.8.9506-deDE-patch.exe" target="_blank">WoW-3.0.8.9464-to-3.0.8.9506-deDE-patch.exe</a> (<a href="http://rapidshare.com/files/190492247/WoW-3.0.8.9464-to-3.0.8.9506-deDE-patch.exe" target="_blank">Rapidshare</a>)</li><li><img src="http://static.mmo-champion.com/mmoc/images/flags/fr.gif" alt="" border="0" /> <a href="http://khorium.mmo-champion.com/boubouille/WoW-3.0.8.9464-to-3.0.8.9506-frFR-patch.exe" target="_blank">WoW-3.0.8.9464-to-3.0.8.9506-frFR-patch.exe</a> (<a href="http://rapidshare.com/files/190492230/WoW-3.0.8.9464-to-3.0.8.9506-frFR-patch.exe" target="_blank">Rapidshare</a>)</li><li><img src="http://static.mmo-champion.com/mmoc/images/flags/es.gif" alt="" border="0" /> <a href="http://khorium.mmo-champion.com/boubouille/WoW-3.0.8.9464-to-3.0.8.9506-esES-patch.exe" target="_blank">WoW-3.0.8.9464-to-3.0.8.9506-esES-patch.exe</a> (<a href="http://rapidshare.com/files/190492217/WoW-3.0.8.9464-to-3.0.8.9506-esES-patch.exe" target="_blank">Rapidshare</a>)</li><li><img src="http://static.mmo-champion.com/mmoc/images/flags/ru.gif" alt="" border="0" /> <a href="http://khorium.mmo-champion.com/boubouille/WoW-3.0.8.9464-to-3.0.8.9506-ruRU-patch.exe" target="_blank">WoW-3.0.8.9464-to-3.0.8.9506-ruRU-patch.exe</a> (<a href="http://rapidshare.com/files/190492234/WoW-3.0.8.9464-to-3.0.8.9506-ruRU-patch.exe" target="_blank">Rapidshare</a>)</li></ul> New Arena Matchmaking System Overview <div class="blizzquotewrap"><div class="blizzquoteinner"><div class="blizzquoteheader">Quote from: Aratil (<a href="http://blue.mmo-champion.com/11/14697300427-new-arena-matchmaking-system-overview.html" target="_blank" style="color: white;">Source</a>)</div><div class="blizzquote">We recently introduced a new Arena matchmaking system with the intent of better matching up players against opponents of similar skill level, and to address potential abuses under the old system. We realize that many players have questions regarding the new system, and as such, we would like to provide more insight into the new matchmaking system. <ul style="margin-top: 0; margin-bottom: 0;"><li>First and foremost, the primary goal of the new Arena matchmaking system is to match players against opponents of similar skill, regardless of your or your opponents’ team rating. This means that once an estimated skill level is determined, you will more likely be matched against other players of a similar skill level. Please note that the estimated skill level is constantly being evaluated and will adjust based on each team’s continual performance. Ratings that are won or lost also take into account skill level, so that you will not suffer a high penalty if you lose against a team that is much better than their actual team rating. </li><li>Another important aspect of this new Arena matchmaking system is a smaller range of maximum rating that can be won or lost. Because of the differences between how the new system assigns rating points at the end of a match, we are still tweaking rating gain versus loss per match to improve the experience. </li><li>If you were previously ranked with a high skill level and decide to create a new team, it should now be much easier to reach your team’s correct rating. This ensures that players will not feel penalized for moving between teams, and high ranked teams will not feel penalized for trying out new players without much risk to the team rating itself. </li><li>Finally, the core and fundamental reason for the new Arena matchmaking system is for players to participate in Arena games that are fun. We feel that with this new system, higher ranked players will most likely find the challenges that they seek, newer players will no longer feel that Arenas are closed to them, and players will not feel as penalized for trying new things in the Arenas. </li></ul> We like the way that matchmaking works in the new system and feel that it is working as expected. However, we acknowledge that there are some aspects of the way rating is calculated under the new system that could use some tweaking. As with all things, your enjoyment of the game and its systems are very important us, and this system was implemented in an effort to further promote the enjoyment of the Arenas. As always, we welcome your feedback and would constantly be striving to make this system even better. </div></div></div> Blue posts <div class="blizzquotewrap"><div class="blizzquoteinner"><div class="blizzquoteheader">Quote from Blizzard staff</div><div class="blizzquote">Mana regeneration We think mana regen is too trivial at the moment in PvE and just right or too difficult in PvP (depending on the class). Now part of that is because the content is easy. Part of it is because we’ve given players a lot of reasons to avoid having to worry about the FSR. Part of it is just generous talents (like Illumination). Part of it was the change to let Int scale regen to some degree. The whole package is something we’re looking at. Mana regen is supposed to be part of the game – you aren’t supposed to graduate out of it with enough gear. (<a href="http://blue.mmo-champion.com/27/14637264068-why-are-priests-considered-a-hybrid-class.html" target="_blank">Source</a>) Question: would not it be simpler for Devs, Class Designers and Boss Designers not to have to deal with the FSR, and rework the mana regen system and simplify it between healing classes ? (I've never heard about a DPS class running oom anymore, as they did in Vanilla) Eventually change talents and values around it, and rework Spirit too to make it a more valuable stat for all classes ? (why would warriors not put some Spirit to really boost their health regen ?) I think you can make a good argument that the pendulum has swung back towards Spirit and away from mp5. I think long term the whole system is in need of an update or re-design, but this is not a 3.1 level task. (<a href="http://blue.mmo-champion.com/27/14637264068-why-are-priests-considered-a-hybrid-class.html" target="_blank">Source</a>) Buff system overhaul in WotLK We overhauled the buff system pretty dramatically and there are going to be some rough edges. We are currently in the process of evaluating when the same buff is not truly equal, because one class gets it passively for example, or one class doesn’t have to talent for it. Saying that a buff isn’t useful because every raid *always* has some other spec is not persuasive in our minds because we are explicitly designing around the assumption that you may not have one of every spec. (Minus a few gimmick encounters like Raz that we are carefully evaluating.) Divine Spirit is a good example of something that looked like it would be competitive with other versions of the same buff, but feels like it falls short in practice. Therefore we plan on changing it. [...] Even if it is shared more, 10% crit is a very powerful raid debuff -- probably too powerful. There is a melee debuff that is equally game-changing, which is something else we would like to fix. [...] We don’t think Heroism / Bloodlust is 100% necessary. It’s a very nice buff to be sure but it is nothing like it was in BC. Because any shaman can bring it, it’s also going to be more common than say a buff that shows up as someone’s 31 point talent....</div></div></div>

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