Azel
22/12/2009, 06:29
WoW TCG - "New" UDE Points Rewards
The UDE Store was updated a couple of days ago and now offers a new Loot Code for 2000 UDE Points. UDE Points are points acquired when buying WoW TCG booster packs, each booster pack gives you 100 UDE Points that you can spend on http://www.ude.com/points (http://www.ude.com/points).
Quote from: UDE (Source (http://entertainment.upperdeck.com/points/store/pc-198-11-landros-pet-box-loot-code.aspx))
Landro's Pet Box Loot Code
Get the exclusive Landro's Pet Box Loot Code! This World of Warcraft in-game loot item will randomly give you one of the following Loot items:
Papa Hummel's Pet Biscuit (WoWWiki (http://www.wowwiki.com/Papa_Hummel%27s_Old-Fashioned_Pet_Biscuit))
Path of Cenarius (WoWWiki (http://www.wowwiki.com/Path_of_Cenarius))
Sandbox Tiger (WoWWiki (http://www.wowwiki.com/Sandbox_Tiger))
Ethereal Trader (WoWWiki (http://www.wowwiki.com/Ethereal_Soul-Trader))
Dragon Kite (WoWWiki (http://www.wowwiki.com/Dragon_Kite))
Bananas the Monkey pet (WoWWiki (http://www.wowwiki.com/Banana_Charm))
Most of the time, you'll crack a Papa Hummel's Pet Biscuit, Path of Cenarius, or Sandbox Tiger. Sweet, right? UDE Points for loot codes! But remember, there's a little gamble here. Once in a while, your MMO character will pop the box and find a Ethereal Trader, Dragon Kite, or Bananas the Monkey pet!
So, do you feel lucky? Have your MMO character equip all those lucky charms and give the box a shot. After all, you never know what's in the box!
All items are bind on pick-up. You will not recieve a duplicate pet (Etheral Trader, Dragon Kite, Bananas the Monkey) if you already own one.
Blue posts
I guess I was a little wrong and our lovely blue posters are still active for the moment, hurray!
Quote from Blizzard staff
Removing all the RP from CoT: Stratholme
This is something we'd like to do and we may do it in the future, but it's not something to expect just over the horizon. This kind of change would require a fairly large technical overhaul of our existing dungeons. When it comes down to it, we'd rather have the story in the game for those who want to see it and work on making it something that you can bypass at a later date.
[...] See the portion of my post where I speak of "major changes" to existing dungeons. With Trial of the Champion. we were already aware of the potential issue. We were able to plan for that instance, specifically, to have a dialog option to opt out of the Role-playing portion. Additionally, there are specific character movements that make the issue more complicated in the Culling of Stratholme events. (Source (http://blue.mmo-champion.com/1/22048446571-can-we-please-have-a-non-rp-culling-of-strat.html))
Bryntroll damage too high? - Bryntroll, the Bone Arbiter (http://db.mmo-champion.com/i/50415/bryntroll-the-bone-arbiter/) (Heroic (http://db.mmo-champion.com/i/50709/bryntroll-the-bone-arbiter/))
Because we removed the passive stats to add the procs to some weapons in Icecrown we were a little more generous with what they could do to keep them interesting/fun even if a lot of players felt they would be terrible without the passive stats. The Nibelung staff can proc a lot of Val’kyr so this isn't a Bryntroll/melee specific topic.
Just to avoid surprises, procs like this are the kind of thing you will likely see a lot more of in order for gear to not to feel so predictable and boring from tier to tier.
As far as the PvP concerns, the classes that can use this weapon were already quite popular so we are keeping an eye on things and see if any noticeable impact happens on them.
[...] You are kind of mixing two different things together. Yes, it can be harder to eyeball and item's value with procs like this, but this is only one item slot (sure, two for those titan gripping folk) and pretty unlikely to be something that will be put on a character from head to toe. The "eyeball" of an item's worth also isn't intended to cut down every item to being a system of +1 to your previous item or anything like that, we still want decisions to be made.
The goal is to make them a little more fun and interesting and while players will figure out which one(s) are best, hopefully the interest in the proc alone will be a bit of a factor in the item. I know personally if I can spawn some random val'kyr, I'll take a small dps loss, heh. (Source (http://blue.mmo-champion.com/28/22048466047-byrntroll-proc-does-more-damage-than-ss.html))
Cross-realms Raids
Doing this is a bit more complicated than the 5 player dungeons. For 5 player dungeons it's not a big deal to allow the random heroics to skip lock outs and is not very hard to setup a group. We obviously can't skip lockouts for raids and it just much more common for raids to not complete all of the content, so you could come back a few days later and find someone else cleared your instance. It's definitely something that sounds good in theory but there are a lot of issues that we would have to figure out first. (Source (http://blue.mmo-champion.com/1/22048446032-cross-realm-raids.html))
Faction changes and quests reset
This is pretty much the case. It's a side effect of the translation tables used to transition a character from one faction to the other. We didn't necessarily intentionally make sure that people would lose the Crusader title. It is just a complication of the system's technology that results in resetting the tournament quests, as with all other faction-specific quests. All in all, there are advantages and disadvantages to this. For instance, a faction change allows additional opportunities to go back and quest in certain zones a second time if one would like a quick source of income beyond grinding daily quests, or if one simply seeks the opportunity to experience zone questing from the other faction's point of view.
On the bright side, at least you don't have to grind reputation anymore if you want your Crusader title and Argent Crusade vendor privileges back. You just need to go through the quest lines to champion each faction again. (Source (http://blue.mmo-champion.com/1/22048445500-why-when-i-faction-change-does.html))
Is raiding too easy?
We see posts like this from time to time but they tend to not include any compelling argument. Nostalgia is powerful. In a game that has been out this long there can be a lot of great memories of the past that you would relish to relive again. We understand this, but, the game continues to move forward and changes are made to benefit the entire playerbase.
As opposed to the old systems of years ago, the current raiding content is more accessible to more people. Yes, this is a good thing. The way emblems reward items also allow more players to be on the same or similar levels of gear and help minimize/avoid the "I'm in max gear and smash all faces" scenarios that force players to start from the very beginning raid content no matter how progressed the content patches are.
For players who are only satisfied by beating the highest level content and the most challenging encounters, the hard modes are available. Encounters like Yogg-0 and Anub'arak 25 are no joke. Then, the Lich King awaits (behind his walls). (Source (http://blue.mmo-champion.com/1/22049926379-am-i-alone-to-hate-how-easy-this-is.html))
Damagemeter / Highest DPS
I don't think it's that players are necessarily trying to pad the meters (though I'm sure that does happen). I think the risk is misinterpreting "highest damage ever" as some kind of metric of how *you* do in your raid. The goal here is not to break the world record and win a gold medal. The goal is to defeat the boss, and it's probably a boss you are going to be fighting week after week. Consistency is generally more important than occasionally achieving huge numbers.
Consider two players below:
Player A has a damage range of 8000 to 12,000 dps. His average is 10,000 dps and 90% of the time he is near 10,000 dps. When the stars align, he can reach 12,000 dps. He sometimes drops to 8000 dps too.
Player B has a damage range of 10,000 to 11,500 dps. His average is 10,750 dps, but he still hits 11,500 quite often.
Now who would you rather have with you? Probably B. Yet when you look at a "Highest damage ever" list, you'll see A pegged at 12K and B pegged at 11.5K and worry that "A wins." (Source (http://blue.mmo-champion.com/28/22048446347-the-problem-with-wowmeterhighest-dps-lists.html))
http://static.mmo-champion.com/mmoc/images/icons/ideathknights.gif Death Knight (Forums (http://www.mmo-champion.com/class-death-knight/) / Talent Calculator (http://talent.mmo-champion.com/?deathknight))
2H Frost Raiding Build
It's not very likely you'll see a viable two-hand Frost raiding build any time soon. Each death knight tree already offers a good deal of versatility given that there are potential DPS, tanking and PvP avenues in each. They're designed so that players can choose their path based on play style and flavor, not because of role (in the way that a Holy priest who wants to DPS as Holy is out of luck). Trying to also have dual-wield versions from Blood and Unholy builds made the matrix of what we wanted to accomplish a little too large. If there does end up being a viable two-hand Frost build that works, we're not going to go out of our way to break it. That said, we aren't going to go out of our way to promote it either. The Frost tree is currently meant to be a dual-wield tree much in the same way the Fury tree is a dual-wield tree for war...
Fonte (http://www.mmo-champion.com/news-2/landro's-pet-box-blue-posts-artworks/)
The UDE Store was updated a couple of days ago and now offers a new Loot Code for 2000 UDE Points. UDE Points are points acquired when buying WoW TCG booster packs, each booster pack gives you 100 UDE Points that you can spend on http://www.ude.com/points (http://www.ude.com/points).
Quote from: UDE (Source (http://entertainment.upperdeck.com/points/store/pc-198-11-landros-pet-box-loot-code.aspx))
Landro's Pet Box Loot Code
Get the exclusive Landro's Pet Box Loot Code! This World of Warcraft in-game loot item will randomly give you one of the following Loot items:
Papa Hummel's Pet Biscuit (WoWWiki (http://www.wowwiki.com/Papa_Hummel%27s_Old-Fashioned_Pet_Biscuit))
Path of Cenarius (WoWWiki (http://www.wowwiki.com/Path_of_Cenarius))
Sandbox Tiger (WoWWiki (http://www.wowwiki.com/Sandbox_Tiger))
Ethereal Trader (WoWWiki (http://www.wowwiki.com/Ethereal_Soul-Trader))
Dragon Kite (WoWWiki (http://www.wowwiki.com/Dragon_Kite))
Bananas the Monkey pet (WoWWiki (http://www.wowwiki.com/Banana_Charm))
Most of the time, you'll crack a Papa Hummel's Pet Biscuit, Path of Cenarius, or Sandbox Tiger. Sweet, right? UDE Points for loot codes! But remember, there's a little gamble here. Once in a while, your MMO character will pop the box and find a Ethereal Trader, Dragon Kite, or Bananas the Monkey pet!
So, do you feel lucky? Have your MMO character equip all those lucky charms and give the box a shot. After all, you never know what's in the box!
All items are bind on pick-up. You will not recieve a duplicate pet (Etheral Trader, Dragon Kite, Bananas the Monkey) if you already own one.
Blue posts
I guess I was a little wrong and our lovely blue posters are still active for the moment, hurray!
Quote from Blizzard staff
Removing all the RP from CoT: Stratholme
This is something we'd like to do and we may do it in the future, but it's not something to expect just over the horizon. This kind of change would require a fairly large technical overhaul of our existing dungeons. When it comes down to it, we'd rather have the story in the game for those who want to see it and work on making it something that you can bypass at a later date.
[...] See the portion of my post where I speak of "major changes" to existing dungeons. With Trial of the Champion. we were already aware of the potential issue. We were able to plan for that instance, specifically, to have a dialog option to opt out of the Role-playing portion. Additionally, there are specific character movements that make the issue more complicated in the Culling of Stratholme events. (Source (http://blue.mmo-champion.com/1/22048446571-can-we-please-have-a-non-rp-culling-of-strat.html))
Bryntroll damage too high? - Bryntroll, the Bone Arbiter (http://db.mmo-champion.com/i/50415/bryntroll-the-bone-arbiter/) (Heroic (http://db.mmo-champion.com/i/50709/bryntroll-the-bone-arbiter/))
Because we removed the passive stats to add the procs to some weapons in Icecrown we were a little more generous with what they could do to keep them interesting/fun even if a lot of players felt they would be terrible without the passive stats. The Nibelung staff can proc a lot of Val’kyr so this isn't a Bryntroll/melee specific topic.
Just to avoid surprises, procs like this are the kind of thing you will likely see a lot more of in order for gear to not to feel so predictable and boring from tier to tier.
As far as the PvP concerns, the classes that can use this weapon were already quite popular so we are keeping an eye on things and see if any noticeable impact happens on them.
[...] You are kind of mixing two different things together. Yes, it can be harder to eyeball and item's value with procs like this, but this is only one item slot (sure, two for those titan gripping folk) and pretty unlikely to be something that will be put on a character from head to toe. The "eyeball" of an item's worth also isn't intended to cut down every item to being a system of +1 to your previous item or anything like that, we still want decisions to be made.
The goal is to make them a little more fun and interesting and while players will figure out which one(s) are best, hopefully the interest in the proc alone will be a bit of a factor in the item. I know personally if I can spawn some random val'kyr, I'll take a small dps loss, heh. (Source (http://blue.mmo-champion.com/28/22048466047-byrntroll-proc-does-more-damage-than-ss.html))
Cross-realms Raids
Doing this is a bit more complicated than the 5 player dungeons. For 5 player dungeons it's not a big deal to allow the random heroics to skip lock outs and is not very hard to setup a group. We obviously can't skip lockouts for raids and it just much more common for raids to not complete all of the content, so you could come back a few days later and find someone else cleared your instance. It's definitely something that sounds good in theory but there are a lot of issues that we would have to figure out first. (Source (http://blue.mmo-champion.com/1/22048446032-cross-realm-raids.html))
Faction changes and quests reset
This is pretty much the case. It's a side effect of the translation tables used to transition a character from one faction to the other. We didn't necessarily intentionally make sure that people would lose the Crusader title. It is just a complication of the system's technology that results in resetting the tournament quests, as with all other faction-specific quests. All in all, there are advantages and disadvantages to this. For instance, a faction change allows additional opportunities to go back and quest in certain zones a second time if one would like a quick source of income beyond grinding daily quests, or if one simply seeks the opportunity to experience zone questing from the other faction's point of view.
On the bright side, at least you don't have to grind reputation anymore if you want your Crusader title and Argent Crusade vendor privileges back. You just need to go through the quest lines to champion each faction again. (Source (http://blue.mmo-champion.com/1/22048445500-why-when-i-faction-change-does.html))
Is raiding too easy?
We see posts like this from time to time but they tend to not include any compelling argument. Nostalgia is powerful. In a game that has been out this long there can be a lot of great memories of the past that you would relish to relive again. We understand this, but, the game continues to move forward and changes are made to benefit the entire playerbase.
As opposed to the old systems of years ago, the current raiding content is more accessible to more people. Yes, this is a good thing. The way emblems reward items also allow more players to be on the same or similar levels of gear and help minimize/avoid the "I'm in max gear and smash all faces" scenarios that force players to start from the very beginning raid content no matter how progressed the content patches are.
For players who are only satisfied by beating the highest level content and the most challenging encounters, the hard modes are available. Encounters like Yogg-0 and Anub'arak 25 are no joke. Then, the Lich King awaits (behind his walls). (Source (http://blue.mmo-champion.com/1/22049926379-am-i-alone-to-hate-how-easy-this-is.html))
Damagemeter / Highest DPS
I don't think it's that players are necessarily trying to pad the meters (though I'm sure that does happen). I think the risk is misinterpreting "highest damage ever" as some kind of metric of how *you* do in your raid. The goal here is not to break the world record and win a gold medal. The goal is to defeat the boss, and it's probably a boss you are going to be fighting week after week. Consistency is generally more important than occasionally achieving huge numbers.
Consider two players below:
Player A has a damage range of 8000 to 12,000 dps. His average is 10,000 dps and 90% of the time he is near 10,000 dps. When the stars align, he can reach 12,000 dps. He sometimes drops to 8000 dps too.
Player B has a damage range of 10,000 to 11,500 dps. His average is 10,750 dps, but he still hits 11,500 quite often.
Now who would you rather have with you? Probably B. Yet when you look at a "Highest damage ever" list, you'll see A pegged at 12K and B pegged at 11.5K and worry that "A wins." (Source (http://blue.mmo-champion.com/28/22048446347-the-problem-with-wowmeterhighest-dps-lists.html))
http://static.mmo-champion.com/mmoc/images/icons/ideathknights.gif Death Knight (Forums (http://www.mmo-champion.com/class-death-knight/) / Talent Calculator (http://talent.mmo-champion.com/?deathknight))
2H Frost Raiding Build
It's not very likely you'll see a viable two-hand Frost raiding build any time soon. Each death knight tree already offers a good deal of versatility given that there are potential DPS, tanking and PvP avenues in each. They're designed so that players can choose their path based on play style and flavor, not because of role (in the way that a Holy priest who wants to DPS as Holy is out of luck). Trying to also have dual-wield versions from Blood and Unholy builds made the matrix of what we wanted to accomplish a little too large. If there does end up being a viable two-hand Frost build that works, we're not going to go out of our way to break it. That said, we aren't going to go out of our way to promote it either. The Frost tree is currently meant to be a dual-wield tree much in the same way the Fury tree is a dual-wield tree for war...
Fonte (http://www.mmo-champion.com/news-2/landro's-pet-box-blue-posts-artworks/)