There was massive information overload coming out of Blizzcon! I didn't have time to write about my reactions to all the things that I learned and all the changes that are coming, but maybe I have time to squeeze that in before breakfast!
1. New Expansion - Warlords of Draenor
I had a few friends who weren't excited about going back to our roots - but I can understand WHY they did so. People don't know the lore of the game, unless you played Warcraft or had read it up somewhere. I think it's a nice idea for us to go back and see the great orc legends in the flesh - Gul'dan, Grom Hellscream, the early origins of the clans and be able to interact with the storyline.
I can understand that for Alliance, it was a bit disappointing to hear all about orcs, and not much about draenei, and perhaps that made it a bit annoiying for Alliance players. However, there seems to be a TON of draenei stuff there which wasn't mentioned and so even though at Blizzcon they felt short-changed, I think that there will be plenty of focus on Alliance history and more stuff on Draenei.
Some of my feminist friends expressed their annoyance at the lack of female leaders in that time - and maybe there are some that we don't know about back then, but it is true that from my memory, all the great legendary orc names were male. People did say yes there are great female leaders then - but nobody can remember any names! I can understand that they want some MEMORABLE females who are at the forefront of history whose destiny are not shaped from the machinations of men. The trailer is full of females though. I wonder who they all are.
2. Item Squish
It's funny to have our stats back down low again. My heals when we were running some dungeons were so pathetic, but I realised that our HP was pathetic too! It's about time though - the stat bloats were getting way out of hand.
3. Goodbye Reforging and secondary stats
Now this was a surprise! No more secondary stats and no reforging! I guess Blizz wanted people to enjoy their epic drops and not take them and worry about how to make it better for them. It's kind of dumbed it down, but I think there are a lot of advantages to that. It makes everyone play at the same level, brought it back to your SKILL at playing your character, not your gear being super optimised that makes you churn out the bigger numbers. They are adding some rather random secondary stats though which might be rather interesting... or not!
For those who bought the reforge Yak though, there better be somethig good to get for the reforger that will now be gone. Mobile transmogger? Mobile bank? I don't know if item upgrades will be gone too, but mobile upgrader wouldn't be half bad either. It has to be something good though to make it worth all that money you spent on it.
4. Account wide tab upgrades
Now THIS is what I am really excited about! The tab with Account Wide Pets and Mounts was great already, but now they're adding an Heirloom tab, Toy tab and a Tabard tab! That's absolutely BRILLIANT! I will have bag space again! Gosh, the amount of space in my bank and void storage taken up by tabards and vanity toys is crazy, and these tabs are going to give me back so much. Thanks Blizz!
5. New models for races
A welcome change and a much needed facelift. There are no new classes or races to play this expansion and I think that's not a bad thing since they brought a new race and a new class out in Mists. I wonder if I'll get more hairstyles?
6. Player Housing
Garrisons of your own with your own minions who can go out and do your professions stuff for you? Seems a little like SWTOR, but it's interesting and seems very unWoW to me. However, even though people hate it or love it, you have to remember that I am pretty sure it's optional - like doing your farm in Halfhill. Some people love having their own space and upgrade it, and I think that most of us will like it after it's done. LOL I hear you can have parties of 40 come to your abode, but only when you're online and in the party. I think it's a nice social touch to the game.
7. No more realm firsts
That might be disappointing for some, but how doyou do that when servers are merging now? I don't think I'd miss it, but it was exciting to see those realm wide announcements, and now we never will again.
8. Flex raiding and lockouts
Flex is the new normal, Heroic is the old Normal, and Mythic is the old Heroic. LFR is "tourist" mode and that's ok! I also like the change they are applying to all toons with the no loot for bosses you've already done but you can still turn up to raid and help kill it for someone else. That's a great social aspect to the game and really great for those who would like to go help others out with their main toon. That part is a great move by Blizz. Also the looting changes for Flex is good - if they step it more gradually or make it random for inbetweens without those definite loot break points, it will hopefully encourage people to group together no matter what the numbers, not min-max the right amount of people for just the right amount of raid drops.
9. Reduced gems and enchants
How am I ever going to make money with enchanting now??? I can see why they simplified it - too much focus on bonusses and optimising gear and not enough loving the fact that you got an item.
10. Instant boost to level 90 for WoD
Well, not useful for me with no alts, but this is to encourage new players or players to come back and be able to enjoy WoD. Some people were complaining they make it too easy, but really, having to level to 90 is so daunting (and considering there is no new race or class so levelling from level 1 seems pointless anyway) and an obstacle for new or returning players, this might encourage people to play again. Just because you're 90 doesn't mean you're a GOOD player though, you still have to learn your toon!
11. World PvP changes
The usage of cross realm stuff to balance out world PvP zones is a great idea - no more 3v1 faction imbalances! I'm hoping it will work out well. World PvP is so dead right now.
12. Questing made easier
Oh, how could I forget that quest items don't use bag space anymore! And that there will be a kind of quest helper that tells you what to do next? I think this is a good change for me - no more having Kyxyn or Lush to have to tell me every step of the way where I need to go or what I need to do!
I can't remember what else I wanted to comment on. If I think of anything else, I will add more or write in the comments. So who's excited about the changes? Or maybe you're not? I want to hear what you guys think! (Or I could just go to your blogs and read all about it or ask you about it in game I suppose....)
1. New Expansion - Warlords of Draenor
I had a few friends who weren't excited about going back to our roots - but I can understand WHY they did so. People don't know the lore of the game, unless you played Warcraft or had read it up somewhere. I think it's a nice idea for us to go back and see the great orc legends in the flesh - Gul'dan, Grom Hellscream, the early origins of the clans and be able to interact with the storyline.
I can understand that for Alliance, it was a bit disappointing to hear all about orcs, and not much about draenei, and perhaps that made it a bit annoiying for Alliance players. However, there seems to be a TON of draenei stuff there which wasn't mentioned and so even though at Blizzcon they felt short-changed, I think that there will be plenty of focus on Alliance history and more stuff on Draenei.
Some of my feminist friends expressed their annoyance at the lack of female leaders in that time - and maybe there are some that we don't know about back then, but it is true that from my memory, all the great legendary orc names were male. People did say yes there are great female leaders then - but nobody can remember any names! I can understand that they want some MEMORABLE females who are at the forefront of history whose destiny are not shaped from the machinations of men. The trailer is full of females though. I wonder who they all are.
2. Item Squish
It's funny to have our stats back down low again. My heals when we were running some dungeons were so pathetic, but I realised that our HP was pathetic too! It's about time though - the stat bloats were getting way out of hand.
3. Goodbye Reforging and secondary stats
Now this was a surprise! No more secondary stats and no reforging! I guess Blizz wanted people to enjoy their epic drops and not take them and worry about how to make it better for them. It's kind of dumbed it down, but I think there are a lot of advantages to that. It makes everyone play at the same level, brought it back to your SKILL at playing your character, not your gear being super optimised that makes you churn out the bigger numbers. They are adding some rather random secondary stats though which might be rather interesting... or not!
For those who bought the reforge Yak though, there better be somethig good to get for the reforger that will now be gone. Mobile transmogger? Mobile bank? I don't know if item upgrades will be gone too, but mobile upgrader wouldn't be half bad either. It has to be something good though to make it worth all that money you spent on it.
4. Account wide tab upgrades
Now THIS is what I am really excited about! The tab with Account Wide Pets and Mounts was great already, but now they're adding an Heirloom tab, Toy tab and a Tabard tab! That's absolutely BRILLIANT! I will have bag space again! Gosh, the amount of space in my bank and void storage taken up by tabards and vanity toys is crazy, and these tabs are going to give me back so much. Thanks Blizz!
5. New models for races
A welcome change and a much needed facelift. There are no new classes or races to play this expansion and I think that's not a bad thing since they brought a new race and a new class out in Mists. I wonder if I'll get more hairstyles?
6. Player Housing
Garrisons of your own with your own minions who can go out and do your professions stuff for you? Seems a little like SWTOR, but it's interesting and seems very unWoW to me. However, even though people hate it or love it, you have to remember that I am pretty sure it's optional - like doing your farm in Halfhill. Some people love having their own space and upgrade it, and I think that most of us will like it after it's done. LOL I hear you can have parties of 40 come to your abode, but only when you're online and in the party. I think it's a nice social touch to the game.
7. No more realm firsts
That might be disappointing for some, but how doyou do that when servers are merging now? I don't think I'd miss it, but it was exciting to see those realm wide announcements, and now we never will again.
8. Flex raiding and lockouts
Flex is the new normal, Heroic is the old Normal, and Mythic is the old Heroic. LFR is "tourist" mode and that's ok! I also like the change they are applying to all toons with the no loot for bosses you've already done but you can still turn up to raid and help kill it for someone else. That's a great social aspect to the game and really great for those who would like to go help others out with their main toon. That part is a great move by Blizz. Also the looting changes for Flex is good - if they step it more gradually or make it random for inbetweens without those definite loot break points, it will hopefully encourage people to group together no matter what the numbers, not min-max the right amount of people for just the right amount of raid drops.
9. Reduced gems and enchants
How am I ever going to make money with enchanting now??? I can see why they simplified it - too much focus on bonusses and optimising gear and not enough loving the fact that you got an item.
10. Instant boost to level 90 for WoD
Well, not useful for me with no alts, but this is to encourage new players or players to come back and be able to enjoy WoD. Some people were complaining they make it too easy, but really, having to level to 90 is so daunting (and considering there is no new race or class so levelling from level 1 seems pointless anyway) and an obstacle for new or returning players, this might encourage people to play again. Just because you're 90 doesn't mean you're a GOOD player though, you still have to learn your toon!
11. World PvP changes
The usage of cross realm stuff to balance out world PvP zones is a great idea - no more 3v1 faction imbalances! I'm hoping it will work out well. World PvP is so dead right now.
12. Questing made easier
Oh, how could I forget that quest items don't use bag space anymore! And that there will be a kind of quest helper that tells you what to do next? I think this is a good change for me - no more having Kyxyn or Lush to have to tell me every step of the way where I need to go or what I need to do!
I can't remember what else I wanted to comment on. If I think of anything else, I will add more or write in the comments. So who's excited about the changes? Or maybe you're not? I want to hear what you guys think! (Or I could just go to your blogs and read all about it or ask you about it in game I suppose....)