June 30, 2010
World of Warcraft: Cataclysm Beta Now Live
It’s official. Expect a glut of information now that the NDA is going, going… gone.
The World of Warcraft: Cataclysm beta test is live, and we’ve begun the process of issuing invitations to selected participants! Week by week, as the beta test progresses, we will continue adding new World of Warcraft: Cataclysm playtesters. To opt in for Blizzard Entertainment beta tests, you must create a beta profile using the Beta Profile Settings option located in the “Manage My Games” section of your Battle.net Account Management page.
Please note that players selected via the opt-in system do not receive beta keys. Rather, your account will be flagged automatically and an email will be sent to you. Simply log in to your account by visiting http://battle.net when you receive a beta welcome notice and check your “Manage My Games” section to verify that the beta client is available for download. Be careful when reading emails claiming to be beta invites. Scam emails often use clickable links to gather your account information, so the safest practice is to go to http://battle.net to check on your beta invitation status. If you would like tips on how to arm yourself against phishing attempts, head over to the Battle.net Account Security page.
You can find the Cataclysm Beta forums here. Keep in mind that these forums are open to the public, but only those invited into the test environment will be able to post. Check out the full announcement for the beta test here, and stay tuned for more exciting news about World of Warcraft: Cataclysm. See you in Azeroth!
June 30, 2010
Hold on, this is no time to be hysterical!
A little catching up to do.
Any Mortal Strike changes are postponed (probably) until Cataclysm (and who even knows if Aimed Shot will still have an MS effect, then).
Yeah I don’t think we could nerf MS on live without also nerfing healing, which obviously makes it more than just a quick fix.
Trap Launcher replaces…
Trap Launcher is replacing Freezing Arrow. The functionality is so similar that there is little reason to have both.
The levels at which you get certain spells are changing, in some cases dramatically. At the moment our design is that Trap Launcher is introduced at lower levels than 80-85.
We’re not super worried about class balance below 85 once Cataclysm ships. There will be a short period where things might feel really chaotic as everyone (including us) gets used to new mechanics, talent trees and stat allocation. Losing any current spells is just going to be the tip of that iceberg. Fortunately, we don’t think classes need to be balanced on a razor’s edge for that period. Any gear you score in that window probably won’t last very long once you start leveling again.
Excessive number of keybinds (long standing issue for hunters).
I think this is valid and we’re taking a pretty hard look at what abilities every class and talent spec has to deal with. I’m not sure WoW would benefit from a hard cap on the number of abilities you can put on your bar at one time, but we can combine or remove abilities with very situational use.
Are low level characters going to be handicapped while they level due to a shortage of gear from quest rewards? Quick answer: No.
We are also making sure we include quest rewards for new classes, such as hunter weapons in the human zones and healing mail accessible to low level tauren paladins.
Almost every quest reward in the 1-60 content will be changing. If there is a quest item you really love, you might want to grab it now. :)
I tried to think of any low level reward I wanted from a quest I hadn’t done yet and then realized that if I’ve lived without it for 5-ish years, I probably didn’t need it anyway (as I cling desperately to my Devilsaur Tooth).
June 11, 2010
Do the roar!
While this got buried in a topic regarding Riposte, Ghostcrawler said this about one of the current hunter talents (the original question being: Can you explain the design intent behind notoriously hated talents that seem to survive patch after patch unchanged?).
We generally keep talents because we think the core idea is strong even if the current numbers or the current combat environment don’t allow the talent to shine. Original ideas by their very nature are going to be harder to get right than clones of other abilities.
Counterattack is probably going away. We haven’t released new hunter trees yet.
May 25, 2010
Ring of Valor Pet Bug
Pets stuck on elevators. Does Blizzard know? Do they care? Yes and yes.
We are aware of this and unfortunately this behavior is a result of the limitation in the game engine. I have asked around regarding this, but I haven’t received a response yet =(. I’ll try to keep you all posted on this when I get more info.
Thanks for the report and sorry for the inconvenience.
May 18, 2010
BlizzCon
Tickets to this year’s BlizzCon gaming convention, being held on October 22 and 23 in Anaheim, California, will go on sale worldwide on Wednesday, June 2 at 7 p.m. Pacific time for $150 each, with a second block of tickets going on sale Saturday, June 5 at 10 a.m. Pacific time (June 3 at 4 a.m. and June 5 at 7 p.m. Paris time).
For those unable to attend, DIRECTV will once again be televising BlizzCon in high definition as a Pay Per View event, featuring coverage from the show floor, exclusive interviews, demos, and more. In addition, players around the world will be able to purchase the Pay Per View event as a multichannel Internet stream, allowing viewers online to switch between coverage of multiple panels and activities during the show.
Check out the press release for further details, and head over to the BlizzCon site or the online Blizzard Store on June 2 or June 5 to buy your tickets.
Sadly, this may well be the first year (in the last three) that I might not be able to attend.
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