What Parental Controls?
Blizzard Entertainment, in its infinite wisdom, has decided that I have a child. I know this because I discovered a few days ago that parental controls have been set on my account. I don't know what those controls are, of course, since they seem to think I'm the child. So far the only evidence of the controls (and how I even knew they were there) is that I tried to look at the in game shop. I received a warning that I was not allowed access to that feature.
I then played a circular game with Blizzard that started with me trying to figure out what had been done and how to undo it. The instructions eventually led me to submit a request to reset parental controls. So I sent the request. Which, not so promptly, but eventually, was returned as an error message. I submitted a trouble ticket two days ago.
Today I received a reply. Here is one of the funnier requirements. I am required to provide "A legible photocopy of the identification of the current registered Battle.net account user, displaying the full legal name, date of birth, and the ID's expiration date (if applicable). Acceptable forms of identification for the child are: Passport, Driver's License, State ID, Military ID (with the back photocopied), or Birth Certificate. School IDs are not accepted." Apparently I must validate that I have a child before I can turn off parental controls for the child I DON'T HAVE.
As I was working on this post, I checked in with Battlenet to see if there was an update on the the ticket. The first thing I saw, in large orange letters, was this: "Help! I can't use the in-game shop/Real-Money Auction House anymore!" Apparently, a "recent upgrade to the system" has disabled the in game shop. The explanation notice tried to assure me that it was actually a new feature that I should appreciate - the DEFAULT setting was to turn off access and invoke parental controls. This was all new to me and to everyone else, I assume. The Blizz guy who responded to my ticket must have been in the dark, too. He simply sent me an email telling me my issue was "resolved."
Ok, I got it now. They MEANT to shut down access because, hey, I might be a child. All I have to do now is go to the link where I first activated parental controls. Umm, excuse me, but I NEVER activated parental controls. You, Blizzard, activated them. No, I don't have that email you think I have. You'll send it to me. Go right ahead, but but that part of the circle I've already been around once and it ends in an error message.
Finally, I got this: "If you want to completely remove Parental Controls from your account and you are a legal adult in your country of residence, please contact us for assistance." You know where this is going. "Contact us" sent me right back to the support site. Where I started.
I am now going to try their new Call Back system, where I should get a real person to talk to. The feature was enabled a week ago. I'm sure its working fine. Stay tuned . . .
Well, that didn't take long. The Call Back feature is Offline.
You know, I'm pretty sure that if I had a kid, I'd know about it. Even better, he or she would know exactly how to get around this mess. Me, the parent, certainly doesn't have a clue. Obviously, Blizzard doesn't have a clue, either. They should hire my imaginary child.
There is some good news about all this - I can't access the in game shop, so I won't be tempted to buy anything. So there, Blizz. Oh, and I submitted another ticket.
Saturday, January 18, 2014
Thursday, December 19, 2013
Of Cabals and the Old Guard
Of Cabals and the Old Guard
As another year winds down I find myself reminiscing about old times. It was prompted by a blurb that the Karazhan raid might be upgraded in the coming Warlords of Draenor expansion. Other than the Molten Core (MC was Wild's "first time" and special), Karazhan is far and away my favorite raid. That got me to thinking about all of Wilds friends during that awesome time. The height of Wild's raiding was in 2007-2008. For example, who would believe that Wildshard was once a guild officer and in charge of all the healers in our raids? No, I'm not making that up. We were actively raiding Ulduar, a complex and challenging fourteen boss raid dungeon. Wild made the decisions about how many healers to carry and what role they would play for each encounter. Wild also provided training and gave advice to raid healers. Ok, you can stop staring at Wild in stunned disbelief now.
Ulduar was a fun and challenging raid dungeon, but as mentioned above, Kara was Wild's absolute favorite. Why? Well, the first reason was that the attunement quest line just to gain access to Kara was extremely time consuming and required a lot of coordination with other guildies (many five man dungeons had to be run as part of the attunement). It took Wild literally months to complete it and has it's own tale to tell that I will collect and include at some point. Then there were the encounters themselves, of which there were twelve. This was a level 70, ten man raid dungeon. Kara was the first and only ten man raid in the game's first expansion, the Burning Crusade. Until Kara, there were no raids of less than twenty raiders.
Running a raid with a small group of ten added a sense of intimacy that the larger raids simply could not match. The encounters were not only fresh and challenging, they were a hell of a lot of fun to do, even after many runs. Sure, a lot of things were new back when the game was young, but even now the encounters in Kara seem somehow more unique and original than most raids that have come after it. That's a personal opinion, of course, and it's heavily weighted by the people and personalities that Wild ran with during those Kara runs. There is just no comparison.
I am assembling a post specifically on Wild's love of Karazhan. If the coming expansion really does update Kara, that alone will be good enough to bring Wild back into the fold as a full fledged raider. That assumes, of course, that there are still friends around to join him. Just for fun, I devised the perfect Karazhan ten man/flex raid: Bloodknuckle (tank/raid leader), Talatiana (#2 and our cheer leader), Guttzes, Goover, Pearla/Odiesim (alt or not?), Ristan, Shibby, Fenn, Shimmi and Wild. Few of these players are active anymore, but they are still around. Like Wild. Wild can hope, can't he?
I also have to give a special nod to Jomamma, the force behind Fate Sealed and the original first cabal member. She is still around but does not play anymore. I should also recognize two players who had a great, positive influence on Wild: Rhonna, Wild's first raid leader, and Frohgurt, who was instrumental in making Wild into a real healer. Both still play, and Frohgurt is still a member of Fate Sealed. Imagine that. In fact, Wild is friends with many players in FS, despite the fact that Wild was forced out of the guild. But that's another story for another day.
Finally, I want to acknowledge Cormyk, a truly wonderful person and friend who in real life was killed in an accident. We all miss him.
As another year winds down I find myself reminiscing about old times. It was prompted by a blurb that the Karazhan raid might be upgraded in the coming Warlords of Draenor expansion. Other than the Molten Core (MC was Wild's "first time" and special), Karazhan is far and away my favorite raid. That got me to thinking about all of Wilds friends during that awesome time. The height of Wild's raiding was in 2007-2008. For example, who would believe that Wildshard was once a guild officer and in charge of all the healers in our raids? No, I'm not making that up. We were actively raiding Ulduar, a complex and challenging fourteen boss raid dungeon. Wild made the decisions about how many healers to carry and what role they would play for each encounter. Wild also provided training and gave advice to raid healers. Ok, you can stop staring at Wild in stunned disbelief now.
Ulduar was a fun and challenging raid dungeon, but as mentioned above, Kara was Wild's absolute favorite. Why? Well, the first reason was that the attunement quest line just to gain access to Kara was extremely time consuming and required a lot of coordination with other guildies (many five man dungeons had to be run as part of the attunement). It took Wild literally months to complete it and has it's own tale to tell that I will collect and include at some point. Then there were the encounters themselves, of which there were twelve. This was a level 70, ten man raid dungeon. Kara was the first and only ten man raid in the game's first expansion, the Burning Crusade. Until Kara, there were no raids of less than twenty raiders.
Running a raid with a small group of ten added a sense of intimacy that the larger raids simply could not match. The encounters were not only fresh and challenging, they were a hell of a lot of fun to do, even after many runs. Sure, a lot of things were new back when the game was young, but even now the encounters in Kara seem somehow more unique and original than most raids that have come after it. That's a personal opinion, of course, and it's heavily weighted by the people and personalities that Wild ran with during those Kara runs. There is just no comparison.
I am assembling a post specifically on Wild's love of Karazhan. If the coming expansion really does update Kara, that alone will be good enough to bring Wild back into the fold as a full fledged raider. That assumes, of course, that there are still friends around to join him. Just for fun, I devised the perfect Karazhan ten man/flex raid: Bloodknuckle (tank/raid leader), Talatiana (#2 and our cheer leader), Guttzes, Goover, Pearla/Odiesim (alt or not?), Ristan, Shibby, Fenn, Shimmi and Wild. Few of these players are active anymore, but they are still around. Like Wild. Wild can hope, can't he?
I also have to give a special nod to Jomamma, the force behind Fate Sealed and the original first cabal member. She is still around but does not play anymore. I should also recognize two players who had a great, positive influence on Wild: Rhonna, Wild's first raid leader, and Frohgurt, who was instrumental in making Wild into a real healer. Both still play, and Frohgurt is still a member of Fate Sealed. Imagine that. In fact, Wild is friends with many players in FS, despite the fact that Wild was forced out of the guild. But that's another story for another day.
Finally, I want to acknowledge Cormyk, a truly wonderful person and friend who in real life was killed in an accident. We all miss him.
Monday, December 16, 2013
Message From Our Leader
Message From Our Leader
While the real and imagined Bell and Wild families spent the last three weeks on the road visiting with relatives, a long time in game friend reached out to guildies in what may be a last chance for a guild that has fallen into disrepair. Lady Tala has taken the reins of our guild, Meitha, after several officers departed or bowed out for various reasons. Wild hopes to get the full story at some point, as these were good people the guild has lost. Tala and Wild go way back.
Lady Tala recently sent out a series of in game messages that Wild received on Saturday. She was frank about the sad state of the guild, and asked that everyone check in with her. She is hoping to get an idea what guildies want out of the guild and suggestions on how to reinvigorate it. The level of response will also indicate if there are enough guildies still active enough to make a difference. There are few guildies seen in game anymore, despite a roster of 461, most of which are likely alts. There is no raiding or any other guild led activity. The comatose daily guild message is now a plea for help.
I'm not sure that Wild has much encouragement to give her. The cabal is gone. Ok, not totally gone, but down to the fingers of one cloven hand. There isn't enough of us to make a revival on our own. We need new blood to step forward. Here is what I sent back to Lady Tala.
"Hi Tala! Just returned from visiting relatives and saw your post. Raiding with friends has always been my favorite part of WoW. I'm rusty with disuse and time constrained (working on that novel) but am game for fun runs and other events to ease back into things. Sorry to see those that are leaving. Hope things are well with you and yours."
As for Wild, things may be coming full circle. Wild loves his guild (each and every one), and has always been fanatically reluctant to change guilds. Once Tala gets her feedback, if the circumstances really are as dire as they appear, I believe the best option is to establish a new guild aimed at being ready for the coming expansion, with members made up of those still wanting to participate in guild events. Meitha is a bloated guild of members pursuing mostly their own interests. For the first time in his life, Wild WANTS to make a guild change.
Wild's second message to Tala is this (though I am waiting the results before sending it): "I seriously think we should consider starting a new guild. Bring along those who truly want to be involved in guild activities. We are in a deep lull, buried in a stale expansion but still months away from the (to me) exciting next expansion. During this lull I'd love to revisit old content on fun runs, plan an updated Naked Race, do pet combat contests, get reacquainted with old friends, and meet some new ones. The LFR has nearly killed raiding for Wild. Old content raiding and flex raiding with guildies and guild friends is my hope to get that excitement back. I doubt that guild raiding will ever be as good as Kara back in the day (rose colored glasses time), but I do think it can be great fun again. We just have to make it happen. "
While the real and imagined Bell and Wild families spent the last three weeks on the road visiting with relatives, a long time in game friend reached out to guildies in what may be a last chance for a guild that has fallen into disrepair. Lady Tala has taken the reins of our guild, Meitha, after several officers departed or bowed out for various reasons. Wild hopes to get the full story at some point, as these were good people the guild has lost. Tala and Wild go way back.
Lady Tala recently sent out a series of in game messages that Wild received on Saturday. She was frank about the sad state of the guild, and asked that everyone check in with her. She is hoping to get an idea what guildies want out of the guild and suggestions on how to reinvigorate it. The level of response will also indicate if there are enough guildies still active enough to make a difference. There are few guildies seen in game anymore, despite a roster of 461, most of which are likely alts. There is no raiding or any other guild led activity. The comatose daily guild message is now a plea for help.
I'm not sure that Wild has much encouragement to give her. The cabal is gone. Ok, not totally gone, but down to the fingers of one cloven hand. There isn't enough of us to make a revival on our own. We need new blood to step forward. Here is what I sent back to Lady Tala.
"Hi Tala! Just returned from visiting relatives and saw your post. Raiding with friends has always been my favorite part of WoW. I'm rusty with disuse and time constrained (working on that novel) but am game for fun runs and other events to ease back into things. Sorry to see those that are leaving. Hope things are well with you and yours."
As for Wild, things may be coming full circle. Wild loves his guild (each and every one), and has always been fanatically reluctant to change guilds. Once Tala gets her feedback, if the circumstances really are as dire as they appear, I believe the best option is to establish a new guild aimed at being ready for the coming expansion, with members made up of those still wanting to participate in guild events. Meitha is a bloated guild of members pursuing mostly their own interests. For the first time in his life, Wild WANTS to make a guild change.
Wild's second message to Tala is this (though I am waiting the results before sending it): "I seriously think we should consider starting a new guild. Bring along those who truly want to be involved in guild activities. We are in a deep lull, buried in a stale expansion but still months away from the (to me) exciting next expansion. During this lull I'd love to revisit old content on fun runs, plan an updated Naked Race, do pet combat contests, get reacquainted with old friends, and meet some new ones. The LFR has nearly killed raiding for Wild. Old content raiding and flex raiding with guildies and guild friends is my hope to get that excitement back. I doubt that guild raiding will ever be as good as Kara back in the day (rose colored glasses time), but I do think it can be great fun again. We just have to make it happen. "
Monday, November 18, 2013
Downtime Thoughts
Downtime Thoughts
We will be off on a three week auto trek to visit relatives on the far east coast this week. The Wild family will be on their own as both accounts will be suspended until we return. I thought about keeping an account open, but that would only encourage me to attempt a WoW upgrade on Mom's computer to check Auction House prices instead of spending time with my real life family. If I'm going to be on the computer at all, it will be to work on the book, not World of Warcraft.
That said, I am already thinking about the next expansion, Warlords of Draenor (WoD), which I went into exhaustive detail on in the last post. The new expansion is still a ways away. How far away is it? Well, predicting release dates is a dark, arcane art in WOW-land, but that hasn't stopped practitioners from trying.
Did you know that the current expansion, Mists of Pandaria (MoP), was released in September 2012? It's over a year old now, and it's really starting to feel it's age. After reading the tea leaves, the earliest, most wildly optimistic date for the release of WoD is around April 2014. I give that date a zero chance. Maybe that will be when they release the Beta, but even that sounds a bit unrealistic. The most depressing release date is around October 2014. They will lose a lot of subscribers to other games (ie, the next Diablo expansion) if it takes that long.
There will almost certainly be WoD pre-expansion patches to try and keep us interested. One such possible patch involves the Dark Portal in the Blasted Lands that is used to enter Outland which, of course, is a piece of Draenor. The war with Draenor will come from that portal, so be prepared to pitch your battle tents in the Blasted Lands as the expansion nears.
Here's another tip about Blizz's plans for WoD. At Blizzcon they announced that there will not be an MoP patch 5.5 (MoP is currently running patch 5.4). Instead, all their effort is going into the WoD release. That could mean an earlier supposed release in June 2014. However, my prediction is that Beta will begin in June, not the release. My release prediction? WoD will go live on Tuesday, 5 August, 2014.
The Wild Family has their own prediction to make. The first family member to be "boosted" to level 90 in WoD will be . . . drum roll please . . . level 27 paladin Jocelyn. The paladin class is the only healing class that hasn't reached at least level 85. My tentative plan is to make Jocey my main in WoD. On the Alliance side, another paladin, Javajoo (level 63), may get the nod for the second boost. That would give the Wild Family two level 90 paladins, one Horde and one Alliance. Of course, I have an enormous amount of time to change my mind . . .
We will be off on a three week auto trek to visit relatives on the far east coast this week. The Wild family will be on their own as both accounts will be suspended until we return. I thought about keeping an account open, but that would only encourage me to attempt a WoW upgrade on Mom's computer to check Auction House prices instead of spending time with my real life family. If I'm going to be on the computer at all, it will be to work on the book, not World of Warcraft.
That said, I am already thinking about the next expansion, Warlords of Draenor (WoD), which I went into exhaustive detail on in the last post. The new expansion is still a ways away. How far away is it? Well, predicting release dates is a dark, arcane art in WOW-land, but that hasn't stopped practitioners from trying.
Did you know that the current expansion, Mists of Pandaria (MoP), was released in September 2012? It's over a year old now, and it's really starting to feel it's age. After reading the tea leaves, the earliest, most wildly optimistic date for the release of WoD is around April 2014. I give that date a zero chance. Maybe that will be when they release the Beta, but even that sounds a bit unrealistic. The most depressing release date is around October 2014. They will lose a lot of subscribers to other games (ie, the next Diablo expansion) if it takes that long.
There will almost certainly be WoD pre-expansion patches to try and keep us interested. One such possible patch involves the Dark Portal in the Blasted Lands that is used to enter Outland which, of course, is a piece of Draenor. The war with Draenor will come from that portal, so be prepared to pitch your battle tents in the Blasted Lands as the expansion nears.
Here's another tip about Blizz's plans for WoD. At Blizzcon they announced that there will not be an MoP patch 5.5 (MoP is currently running patch 5.4). Instead, all their effort is going into the WoD release. That could mean an earlier supposed release in June 2014. However, my prediction is that Beta will begin in June, not the release. My release prediction? WoD will go live on Tuesday, 5 August, 2014.
The Wild Family has their own prediction to make. The first family member to be "boosted" to level 90 in WoD will be . . . drum roll please . . . level 27 paladin Jocelyn. The paladin class is the only healing class that hasn't reached at least level 85. My tentative plan is to make Jocey my main in WoD. On the Alliance side, another paladin, Javajoo (level 63), may get the nod for the second boost. That would give the Wild Family two level 90 paladins, one Horde and one Alliance. Of course, I have an enormous amount of time to change my mind . . .
Wednesday, November 13, 2013
It's a New World
It's a New World
Blizzard recently announced the next expansion pack for World of Warcraft. It's called Warlords of Draenor. Draenor is an alien world that was blown to bits. A piece of that world called Outland came into the sphere of Azeroth and the horde and alliance descended on it during that expansion. With the new expansion, the Draenor are back. The horde and alliance travel back in time thirty years to the planet Draenor - not just the Outland bit, but the whole world as it was before it was destroyed.
Frankly, when I initially read about it, I wasn't very interested. I figured they did it because they couldn't find room on the Azeroth map for another continent or island. I figured that the world of Azeroth had grown so boringly familiar they had to give us a brand new world to play in, even if that world exists thirty years in the past. Players keen on lore would love the fact that some favorite heroes and villains were back, alive and well, in that past. I don't usually follow that, so it wasn't a big draw, either.
The big news that a great many players have wanted for years is the ability to build and maintain our own place of residence. Instead of hearthing to a central location - ie, an Inn - players will be able to create what is called a Garrison - our own, personal inn, so to speak. If the management of a Garrison is fun and interesting, I might like this. If it is a gold sink and a time sink then I guess I'll be living on the rundown side of town. I'm not sure, though, whether lower level toons will be able to go to a garrison or if they will still be stuck at the inn. I'm willing to wait and see. I'd say that playing the expansion pretty much requires a player to re-base from a traditional base like Orgrimmar to Draenor once they reach level 90. Org and Stormwind may become ghost towns.
Deeper into the weeds, things started to get a little more interesting. This information is coming from the Wowhead site, which seems to have the most complete and easiest to understand information.
Quick Facts:
The new level cap is 100 (prior cap was 90).
Buying the expansion grants one character a "boost" directly to level 90, even if the character is only level 1. I will have to decide whether to boost JB and/or Philly from 85 to 90, or boost a lower level character who has farther to go. I will likely make that decision based on profession needs and other things that would support my mains, Wild and Fist.
Gear Facts:
The "squish" is on. All gear stats will see a compression of the numbers. I compared Fist's ring (i476, +410 haste) with a sample ring in the expansion (i489, +16 haste). Gear stats are going to look very strange for awhile, but I think players will adjust pretty quickly.
Primary stats will automatically change based on spec. For example, when Fist is in Windweaver spec the primary stat on her gear will be agility. When she switches to mistweaver, her primary stat automatically changes to intelligence without having to change gear. That one change immediately halves the number of pieces of gear we have to earn and carry around. Rings and necklaces are the exception. Secondary stats don't change, but then a lot of the secondary stats have been done away with: Hit, Expertise, Dodge, and Parry are all gone, and unmourned I must say. Reforging has also gone bye bye.
The next change to itemization really has me shaking my head. After simplifying the primary stats and eliminating most of the secondary stats, Blizz then adds back new complications by creating a third level of itemization - Tertiary Stats. And there's a BUNCH of them! Like Sturdiness (no durability loss), Movement Speed (will stack), Lifesteal (% of damage converted to health), Avoidance (Absorb % of AE damage), and Cleave (Increased AE damage). I'd give the whole thing a big Sigh, but maybe the learning curve won't be too steep, and we'll all be trying to figure things out together.
Hoarders (it's all about bag space):
As an unrepentant pack rat, Happy and his ilk are drooling over the prospects of increased capacity and more ways to store things without costing a bag space.
Things that no longer take up bag space: (1) quest items! How many times have I lost a quest because I needed bag space and dumped the quest items clogging my bag. (2) Heirloom and vanity items now get their own page like pets and mounts have now. Not only do they not take up bag space, they are all account bound and can be used by any character, and I assume multiple characters can use the same heirlooms at the same time! (3) Not firm, yet, but they are looking to use the same page format for tabards and transmog gear.
A modest upgrade to actual bags is the ability to designate bags by category so that items will be automatically sorted into the correct bags. I see lots of issues with this, like how that will/won't work with specialized bags.
Can I Find a Raid, Please!
There are only two kinds of raids: Flex raids and Mythic raids. Flex raids replace 10/25 man normal and heroic raids. The Mythic raid (note, singular) is twenty person only (no flex) and will be for "cutting-edge progression" raids. Ten man and twenty-five man raiding is Kaput. My suspicion is that flex raids will quickly become the Looking For Raid (LFR) option of plowing through content with strangers in a hurry. I have to wonder how many guilds will go to the trouble to put guild flex raids together when the LFR is just so handy and less troublesome? And if a guild can't muster a truly progression minded raid, the guild won't likely even attempt a Mythic raid. Wild is again feeling pretty left out. Blizz claims not to like the LFR and is offering incentives such as valor point boosts for raiding with friends and additional ways to form groups for all kinds of content. I'll have to wait and see how that works out, though it does seem to take away from the guild model. Are guilds going to become extinct? In my opinion I believe that Blizz intends to phase out guilds all together. Why have a guild when you can have a friends list?
Questing and the New Zones
As expected, we will all be back to ground mounts in Draenor not only for the original expansion but into patch 6.1, regardless of how fast you get to level 100. Pack your flying mounts away. Questing will be less station to station and more random, follow your own path kind of thing. Leveling also has a few new goodies to work toward, with ability buffs as you level and occasional rare/epic drops when completing quests. There are ten, completely new zones to explore, some with familiar titles and some not.
Stuff I Don't Care About:
There's a new PvP Zone where those with that appetite can go kill each other over and over in a Timeless Isle like environment that's sort of like a never-ending Alterac Valley. If you don't know AV, turn in your Pvp gear and slink away in shame. Battlegrounds are spiffied up, too, though it doesn't look like there are any new ones.
Oh yea, there's some new Lore to explore. Having read with interest Sis's and Lao's efforts along these lines, Wild may be more interested in what happens with the likes of Garrosh and Thrall, and newcomers of Draenai lore like Y'rel. I don't know who Aggra is, but apparently neither she or any other women heroes are making the trip back in time. A pity.
No, there is no date as to when the expansion will be released. And that's a Wrap.
PS - Saw "Ender's Game" yesterday. I loved it!
Blizzard recently announced the next expansion pack for World of Warcraft. It's called Warlords of Draenor. Draenor is an alien world that was blown to bits. A piece of that world called Outland came into the sphere of Azeroth and the horde and alliance descended on it during that expansion. With the new expansion, the Draenor are back. The horde and alliance travel back in time thirty years to the planet Draenor - not just the Outland bit, but the whole world as it was before it was destroyed.
Frankly, when I initially read about it, I wasn't very interested. I figured they did it because they couldn't find room on the Azeroth map for another continent or island. I figured that the world of Azeroth had grown so boringly familiar they had to give us a brand new world to play in, even if that world exists thirty years in the past. Players keen on lore would love the fact that some favorite heroes and villains were back, alive and well, in that past. I don't usually follow that, so it wasn't a big draw, either.
The big news that a great many players have wanted for years is the ability to build and maintain our own place of residence. Instead of hearthing to a central location - ie, an Inn - players will be able to create what is called a Garrison - our own, personal inn, so to speak. If the management of a Garrison is fun and interesting, I might like this. If it is a gold sink and a time sink then I guess I'll be living on the rundown side of town. I'm not sure, though, whether lower level toons will be able to go to a garrison or if they will still be stuck at the inn. I'm willing to wait and see. I'd say that playing the expansion pretty much requires a player to re-base from a traditional base like Orgrimmar to Draenor once they reach level 90. Org and Stormwind may become ghost towns.
Deeper into the weeds, things started to get a little more interesting. This information is coming from the Wowhead site, which seems to have the most complete and easiest to understand information.
Quick Facts:
The new level cap is 100 (prior cap was 90).
Buying the expansion grants one character a "boost" directly to level 90, even if the character is only level 1. I will have to decide whether to boost JB and/or Philly from 85 to 90, or boost a lower level character who has farther to go. I will likely make that decision based on profession needs and other things that would support my mains, Wild and Fist.
Gear Facts:
The "squish" is on. All gear stats will see a compression of the numbers. I compared Fist's ring (i476, +410 haste) with a sample ring in the expansion (i489, +16 haste). Gear stats are going to look very strange for awhile, but I think players will adjust pretty quickly.
Primary stats will automatically change based on spec. For example, when Fist is in Windweaver spec the primary stat on her gear will be agility. When she switches to mistweaver, her primary stat automatically changes to intelligence without having to change gear. That one change immediately halves the number of pieces of gear we have to earn and carry around. Rings and necklaces are the exception. Secondary stats don't change, but then a lot of the secondary stats have been done away with: Hit, Expertise, Dodge, and Parry are all gone, and unmourned I must say. Reforging has also gone bye bye.
The next change to itemization really has me shaking my head. After simplifying the primary stats and eliminating most of the secondary stats, Blizz then adds back new complications by creating a third level of itemization - Tertiary Stats. And there's a BUNCH of them! Like Sturdiness (no durability loss), Movement Speed (will stack), Lifesteal (% of damage converted to health), Avoidance (Absorb % of AE damage), and Cleave (Increased AE damage). I'd give the whole thing a big Sigh, but maybe the learning curve won't be too steep, and we'll all be trying to figure things out together.
Hoarders (it's all about bag space):
As an unrepentant pack rat, Happy and his ilk are drooling over the prospects of increased capacity and more ways to store things without costing a bag space.
Things that no longer take up bag space: (1) quest items! How many times have I lost a quest because I needed bag space and dumped the quest items clogging my bag. (2) Heirloom and vanity items now get their own page like pets and mounts have now. Not only do they not take up bag space, they are all account bound and can be used by any character, and I assume multiple characters can use the same heirlooms at the same time! (3) Not firm, yet, but they are looking to use the same page format for tabards and transmog gear.
A modest upgrade to actual bags is the ability to designate bags by category so that items will be automatically sorted into the correct bags. I see lots of issues with this, like how that will/won't work with specialized bags.
Can I Find a Raid, Please!
There are only two kinds of raids: Flex raids and Mythic raids. Flex raids replace 10/25 man normal and heroic raids. The Mythic raid (note, singular) is twenty person only (no flex) and will be for "cutting-edge progression" raids. Ten man and twenty-five man raiding is Kaput. My suspicion is that flex raids will quickly become the Looking For Raid (LFR) option of plowing through content with strangers in a hurry. I have to wonder how many guilds will go to the trouble to put guild flex raids together when the LFR is just so handy and less troublesome? And if a guild can't muster a truly progression minded raid, the guild won't likely even attempt a Mythic raid. Wild is again feeling pretty left out. Blizz claims not to like the LFR and is offering incentives such as valor point boosts for raiding with friends and additional ways to form groups for all kinds of content. I'll have to wait and see how that works out, though it does seem to take away from the guild model. Are guilds going to become extinct? In my opinion I believe that Blizz intends to phase out guilds all together. Why have a guild when you can have a friends list?
Questing and the New Zones
As expected, we will all be back to ground mounts in Draenor not only for the original expansion but into patch 6.1, regardless of how fast you get to level 100. Pack your flying mounts away. Questing will be less station to station and more random, follow your own path kind of thing. Leveling also has a few new goodies to work toward, with ability buffs as you level and occasional rare/epic drops when completing quests. There are ten, completely new zones to explore, some with familiar titles and some not.
Stuff I Don't Care About:
There's a new PvP Zone where those with that appetite can go kill each other over and over in a Timeless Isle like environment that's sort of like a never-ending Alterac Valley. If you don't know AV, turn in your Pvp gear and slink away in shame. Battlegrounds are spiffied up, too, though it doesn't look like there are any new ones.
Oh yea, there's some new Lore to explore. Having read with interest Sis's and Lao's efforts along these lines, Wild may be more interested in what happens with the likes of Garrosh and Thrall, and newcomers of Draenai lore like Y'rel. I don't know who Aggra is, but apparently neither she or any other women heroes are making the trip back in time. A pity.
No, there is no date as to when the expansion will be released. And that's a Wrap.
PS - Saw "Ender's Game" yesterday. I loved it!
Monday, October 28, 2013
The Alliance Family Steps Up
The Alliance Family Steps Up
Wild was feeling his oats over the weekend. Propped up by his new gear, he decided to take on the Ordon troopers - level 91 elites with heavy fire power. These mobs earn Emperor Shaohao reputation, which Wild is not all that interested in, but might come in handy some day. Mostly, though, he just wanted to know if he could kill these Ordon troopers.
He could, and he did. Wild made sure it was one on one, though. Two or more might make it hard to avoid all the fireballs they tend to throw around.
Having proved his manhood on that account, Wild dipped a little deeper into the ranks of those hostile elites. The Burning Berserkers were quite a bit tougher, with Wild having about a 50% success rate against them.
While all of that killing is a lot of fun, Wild is still really primarily a healer. A healer in a guild that no longer raids, and Wild is really not willing to go seek out some new guild to take him in. And, after looking at the LFR raids he could attempt, his heart just isn't into learning the fights without a guild team to share in the successes and challenges. What would be the purpose?
That situation brought the family to take a more serious look at the Alliance side of the Wild family. The family's Teagreen guild is small, but doing well, and there could be opportunities for an up and coming family member . . . someone like Javajoo, for example. The level 61 paladin could be the family's next level 90, to join with Unbleached and Hcab.
I am going to bring Java over to the active account and begin leveling him. Wild has offered to provide enchants for the plate wearing paladin's heirloom gear before sending those heirlooms to him. There is a complication, though. Level 10 worgen Rakta is still in Gineas and in the way. She has a set of heirlooms, and no mail box to send them back. The intent was to remake her on the other account at a later time, because I don't want to spend another $25 transferring her. Right now, though, I don't know how to get that gear from Rakta (at least not without spending another $25), and I can't move Java until Rakta is gone. Sigh. Is there a way for Rakta to get back to the starting zone, where there's a mailbox? Or for another character to go to Gilneas and retrieve them? The only other alliance I have available is Chaitee, but she is only level 21 and in Darnassus.
Once the above gets straightened out somehow, Java's leveling progress is still going to take time. Not only is the Writer's Conference going to consume the rest of this week (to get ready) and the coming weekend (for the conference itself), we are also planning a trip to visit with relatives on the east coast over Thanksgiving. We will be gone three weeks. Once we're back, though, I hope to be able to put some extra time into getting Java to level 90. Maybe, with Java, I'll finally figure out how to get around as an Alliance, though I bet Java mistakenly walks into horde camps now and then. The poor guy has a lot to learn.
A New Wrinkle - I never learn. I extricated Rakta from Gilneas by just finishing the quest line and then sent her to Darnassus where she turned over all her heirlooms and gold to Chaitee. Then, for the second time in her young life, Rakta was sent home. Java was anxious to get started, so I started the character transfer process. The process failed because for some reason he still has mail in his box. Most likely this is some Blizzard thing, since Java hasn't been sent mail in months. But that means I will have to activate the other account once again. Sigh. Life sucks.
Wrinkles Part 2 - In order to get this done, I bought a thirty day game card for $15 and activated the second account. Even though I will be on the east coast for three weeks in November, I can always suspend the account until I come back. With the account activated, Java was able to check his mail. It wasn't from Blizzard. It was from Sinstaar, a character that no longer exists. The good news is that the mail included some pretty nice enchants and other goodies! Once that was cleared up, Java began his journey to the other account. It will take about an hour or so for the change to show up. I wonder what other issues will arise when Java again comes in game?
Wild was feeling his oats over the weekend. Propped up by his new gear, he decided to take on the Ordon troopers - level 91 elites with heavy fire power. These mobs earn Emperor Shaohao reputation, which Wild is not all that interested in, but might come in handy some day. Mostly, though, he just wanted to know if he could kill these Ordon troopers.
He could, and he did. Wild made sure it was one on one, though. Two or more might make it hard to avoid all the fireballs they tend to throw around.
Having proved his manhood on that account, Wild dipped a little deeper into the ranks of those hostile elites. The Burning Berserkers were quite a bit tougher, with Wild having about a 50% success rate against them.
While all of that killing is a lot of fun, Wild is still really primarily a healer. A healer in a guild that no longer raids, and Wild is really not willing to go seek out some new guild to take him in. And, after looking at the LFR raids he could attempt, his heart just isn't into learning the fights without a guild team to share in the successes and challenges. What would be the purpose?
That situation brought the family to take a more serious look at the Alliance side of the Wild family. The family's Teagreen guild is small, but doing well, and there could be opportunities for an up and coming family member . . . someone like Javajoo, for example. The level 61 paladin could be the family's next level 90, to join with Unbleached and Hcab.
I am going to bring Java over to the active account and begin leveling him. Wild has offered to provide enchants for the plate wearing paladin's heirloom gear before sending those heirlooms to him. There is a complication, though. Level 10 worgen Rakta is still in Gineas and in the way. She has a set of heirlooms, and no mail box to send them back. The intent was to remake her on the other account at a later time, because I don't want to spend another $25 transferring her. Right now, though, I don't know how to get that gear from Rakta (at least not without spending another $25), and I can't move Java until Rakta is gone. Sigh. Is there a way for Rakta to get back to the starting zone, where there's a mailbox? Or for another character to go to Gilneas and retrieve them? The only other alliance I have available is Chaitee, but she is only level 21 and in Darnassus.
Once the above gets straightened out somehow, Java's leveling progress is still going to take time. Not only is the Writer's Conference going to consume the rest of this week (to get ready) and the coming weekend (for the conference itself), we are also planning a trip to visit with relatives on the east coast over Thanksgiving. We will be gone three weeks. Once we're back, though, I hope to be able to put some extra time into getting Java to level 90. Maybe, with Java, I'll finally figure out how to get around as an Alliance, though I bet Java mistakenly walks into horde camps now and then. The poor guy has a lot to learn.
A New Wrinkle - I never learn. I extricated Rakta from Gilneas by just finishing the quest line and then sent her to Darnassus where she turned over all her heirlooms and gold to Chaitee. Then, for the second time in her young life, Rakta was sent home. Java was anxious to get started, so I started the character transfer process. The process failed because for some reason he still has mail in his box. Most likely this is some Blizzard thing, since Java hasn't been sent mail in months. But that means I will have to activate the other account once again. Sigh. Life sucks.
Wrinkles Part 2 - In order to get this done, I bought a thirty day game card for $15 and activated the second account. Even though I will be on the east coast for three weeks in November, I can always suspend the account until I come back. With the account activated, Java was able to check his mail. It wasn't from Blizzard. It was from Sinstaar, a character that no longer exists. The good news is that the mail included some pretty nice enchants and other goodies! Once that was cleared up, Java began his journey to the other account. It will take about an hour or so for the change to show up. I wonder what other issues will arise when Java again comes in game?
Saturday, October 26, 2013
Shiny's Part Two
Shiny's Part Two
The WoW gods must have something truly disastrous in mind for Wild. That's the only rational explanation for all of Wild's good fortune over the past couple of days.
The expected new bounty started with Wild earning the 50,000 coins needed to get his i535 trinket, which will replace an i409 trinket. Or will it? On the same morning that Wild earned his 50k coins, he got a drop called a Timeless Curio. This item, when used, creates an i496 trinket. So, let me summarize the trinket scenario:
Old i409 --> New i535
Old i476 --> New i496
Pretty simple math, right? Well, there is a problem. There are only two types of trinkets available from the Isle that casters use, one called Chi-ji used for healing specs, and another called Bite for DPS spec (that would be balance/moonkin for Wild). Wild's plan was to buy the Chi-ji and use the Curio for the other. I can't use two of the same trinkets, as they are "unique-equipped" so only one can be equipped at a time. There is another, worse issue. Players are reporting a bug that even in balance spec, the Curio will still drop the healing trinket, not the DPS one. Complaints to Blizz about that have fallen on deaf ears. I'm not about to blow 50k coins and a curio to discover I can only equip one of them.
This is crazy.
Wild also has another Burden of Eternity, so I thought, ok, I'll take the i496 DPS trinket Curio and upgrade it to i535. Sorry, trinkets can't be upgraded with Burdens of Eternity.
Wild had already bought the 50k coin chi-ji trinket, but I got so confused I sold it back until I could get things figured out. That was a little scary all by itself. What if I sold it back and didn't get back my 50k in coins? The buy back worked, though, thankfully.
Here is my plan. I checked around on Wowhead, and it appears that the DPS trinket bug has been fixed. So, I will use the curio to get the DPS i496 trinket, which will replace the i496. I will go back and buy, again, the i535 healing trinket to replace the i409. Then, since I still have the Burden of Eternity, I intend to upgrade another piece of gear, probably the helm. That will still leave Wild with one piece of gear left under I496 - his necklace, at i476.
Update: The plan worked. Wild has both the i535 and i496 trinkets now. His gear score jumped from i496 to i505.
Oops, Wild can't count to two. He has two pieces of gear now under i496, not just one: his i476 necklace, and his i476 off-hand. Now, the question remains how and when to use Wild's Burden of Eternity. There is no off-hand gear on the Timeless Isle, so take that off the list. If a necklace were to drop on the Isle, upgrading it from i496 to i535 would add +298 int to his gear. However, Wild already has an unused i496 helm piece. If Wild upgraded his helm to i535, he would gain +536 int, close to double that of the necklace. Seems to be a no brainer.
The upgrade of Wild's Helm raised his gear score to i508. Wild is pretty impressed with himself.
The WoW gods must have something truly disastrous in mind for Wild. That's the only rational explanation for all of Wild's good fortune over the past couple of days.
The expected new bounty started with Wild earning the 50,000 coins needed to get his i535 trinket, which will replace an i409 trinket. Or will it? On the same morning that Wild earned his 50k coins, he got a drop called a Timeless Curio. This item, when used, creates an i496 trinket. So, let me summarize the trinket scenario:
Old i409 --> New i535
Old i476 --> New i496
Pretty simple math, right? Well, there is a problem. There are only two types of trinkets available from the Isle that casters use, one called Chi-ji used for healing specs, and another called Bite for DPS spec (that would be balance/moonkin for Wild). Wild's plan was to buy the Chi-ji and use the Curio for the other. I can't use two of the same trinkets, as they are "unique-equipped" so only one can be equipped at a time. There is another, worse issue. Players are reporting a bug that even in balance spec, the Curio will still drop the healing trinket, not the DPS one. Complaints to Blizz about that have fallen on deaf ears. I'm not about to blow 50k coins and a curio to discover I can only equip one of them.
This is crazy.
Wild also has another Burden of Eternity, so I thought, ok, I'll take the i496 DPS trinket Curio and upgrade it to i535. Sorry, trinkets can't be upgraded with Burdens of Eternity.
Wild had already bought the 50k coin chi-ji trinket, but I got so confused I sold it back until I could get things figured out. That was a little scary all by itself. What if I sold it back and didn't get back my 50k in coins? The buy back worked, though, thankfully.
Here is my plan. I checked around on Wowhead, and it appears that the DPS trinket bug has been fixed. So, I will use the curio to get the DPS i496 trinket, which will replace the i496. I will go back and buy, again, the i535 healing trinket to replace the i409. Then, since I still have the Burden of Eternity, I intend to upgrade another piece of gear, probably the helm. That will still leave Wild with one piece of gear left under I496 - his necklace, at i476.
Update: The plan worked. Wild has both the i535 and i496 trinkets now. His gear score jumped from i496 to i505.
Oops, Wild can't count to two. He has two pieces of gear now under i496, not just one: his i476 necklace, and his i476 off-hand. Now, the question remains how and when to use Wild's Burden of Eternity. There is no off-hand gear on the Timeless Isle, so take that off the list. If a necklace were to drop on the Isle, upgrading it from i496 to i535 would add +298 int to his gear. However, Wild already has an unused i496 helm piece. If Wild upgraded his helm to i535, he would gain +536 int, close to double that of the necklace. Seems to be a no brainer.
The upgrade of Wild's Helm raised his gear score to i508. Wild is pretty impressed with himself.
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