World of Warcraft

I also heard randoming into PvP while doing quests was great, too.

 

MASSIVE dump of screenshots!

http://www.mmo-champion.com/news-2/cataclysm-zones-screenshots-npc-models/

 

Dude. I just want my Pandaren Brewmaster. I'm hoping at Blizzcon they'll announce, "Oh yeah, and we're gonna be bringing in a hero class too..."

They should totally bring in Pandaren. There's such a huge outcry from the community to bring them in, and I can't understand stand why Blizzard is ignoring it so vehemently. The best idea I can really think of is bringing in Pandaren as a neutral race, starting in Pandaria (obviously). At the end of your starting zone missions, you'll get a quest chain to become contracted to either the Horde or the Alliance.

The Pandaren already have racial abilities listed on WoWWiki (I don't know where this information comes from, but I guess it's a good starting point):

I do think "All Fours" should be weakened, as that seems like much too big of a buff to start out. I'd say MAYBE give them a 20% or 30% increase, and only for like 6 or 7 seconds (kind of similar to the Worgen's racial ability). However, I do think the "Heavy Sword Specialization" plays right into my idea I have for the Brewmaster-esque hero class...

Now, as far as bringing in the Brewmasters, I say create a leather-/mail-wearing hero class called "Monk", based largely on Asian martial arts in both design and history, and combine Brewmasters with the Orc Blademasters from WarCraft III.

The three talent trees could likely be:

Blademastery- Obviously, a master of blades. A DPS-heavy spec tree that concentrates on overwhelming small groups of opponents by confusing them with Windwalk and Mirror Image. I guess to separate them from Ret Paladins and Rogues (who hit fast and hard), you could concentrate on their use of swords, and emphasize a "damage over time" role- in other words, you hack a few people really quickly with bleeding-type attacks, draining your opponents' hit points while you move from opponent to opponent. That kind of system could be cumbersome, but I'm sure Blizz could manage something (this would kind of be similar to the Druid's healing abilities compared to the Priest's, where Druids have great Heal Over Time spells, while Priests are better for healing on the spot, quickly and efficiently). This could allow the Blademaster's effect to be felt even after his/her death.

Brewmastery- A crowd-control spec that emphasizes the alcohol element of the Brewmasters' lore. Best I could think of is using the alcohol to slow and weaken groups of enemies (with spells like Drunken Haze), and toughening or "berserking" your allies and yourself (with spells like Drunken Brawler), and perhaps using some AOE spells (like Breath of Fire, and my personal favorite, Storm, Earth, and Fire). Storm, Earth, and Fire could be hard to do (especially while keeping it balanced).

Acupressure- A healing spec tree, as there has apparently been a cry for a healer hero recently, and (correct me if I'm wrong) I want to say I remember hearing word that Blizzard would want to go in that direction with the next hero class. This one could be hard to separate from other classes like the Priest, Druid, and Shaman, but the best I could think of (as this is a hero class, instead of a regular class), is the ability to not only heal, but perhaps buff up attributes for small amounts of time, like Strength, Intellect, Spirit, etc., and perhaps even giving big boosts to Hit Points or Mana for the durations of battles.

All three of which are based on martial arts principles (or even martial arts themselves), as Blademastery = Samurai reference, Brewmasters = Drunken Fist reference, and Acupressure = ... Well, acupressure, which is commonly practiced (alongside acupuncture) in a great deal of martial arts. Although, I've read from some places that the reason Pandaren are being ignored is because of the combination of Japanese principles with a Chinese animal is offensive to both nations. As to the extent of the truth to this statement, I don't know.

Just a thought, overall. Obviously, Blizzard can/would put in the time to make it more balanced than I can, but I'm dying to have my favorite WarCraft III hero make an entrance into the game.

 

The Pandaren would be a welcome addition to World of Warcraft, but I wouldn't count on it in this expansion. Cataclysm is going into open beta soon and I'm pretty sure it will be out before Blizzcon. Maybe in the 2012 expansion though.

 

Well, I'm not sure when we'll get Cataclysm, but I'm almost positive that we'll get another expansion much sooner than 2012. As far as I've heard, there's plans for at least two or three more before the next WarCraft game's release (rumored to be 2013, but there's no official word that I've seen).

 

Well, I just say 2012 because Blizzard seems to work on a two year cycle when it comes to Warcraft.

2002: Warcraft III
2004: World of Warcraft
2006: The Burning Crusade
2008: Wrath of the Lich King
2010: Cataclysm
2012: ???

 

Good point. I dunno, with the "end" of WarCraft coming within around three years (again, supposedly, I've not seen official word on this), I'd have a hard time believing we'll get just one more expansion in two years from Cataclysm, especially if they want to pump out another hero class any time soon.

Maybe they'll release a hero pack?

 

World of Warcraft will end when it stops being profitable. Which will be a looong time from now. The original Everquest is still going strong, and even Ultima Online still has many active users. Seeing as how WoW is more successful than both those games combined and then some, it wouldn't surprise me if WoW was still online twenty years from now.

 

Yeah, it'll still get server support and maintenance ten years from now... But will it keep releasing expansions? No, probably not. Releasing unneeded expansions that violate the lore (which seems to be an even bigger deal with this fanbase than normal), that'll probably dip profits even quicker than just an end to the story.

 

Blizzard talks about talent tree changes.

tl;dr - Fewer talents, but each one will be more special. And they want each class spec to feel unique from the first talent point you spend.

Which I think is a fantastic idea. When I first started my Shaman I went with Enhancement, but it took me until like...level 40 or something to get the gist of what Enhancement Shaman are all about and consequently it took me that long to realize that I didn't like the enhancement playstyle. So anything that makes the different specs feel different early on is alright by me.

 

It's a smart decision, and something i definatly approve.

 

Is it true that Blizz is considering a MMORPG to replace WoW?

 

It's been known for a while they were working on a (non) wow MMO.
Replace it? Doubtful.

 

Yeah, not only is it a non-Warcraft game, but it's an entirely new IP. And I don't think anything is going to replace World of Warcraft, it's going to be around for a long, long time.

Anyway, Cataclysm beta coverage Part 1 and Part 2.

 

Preview of the new Southern Barrens!

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Cataclysm Collector's Edition revealed!

Includes: The game, DVD, artbook, mousepad, exclusive pet, soundtrack, and 60 cards for the TCG. All for $80.

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The Troll and Gnome pre-Cataclysm events are now live.

 

I'm pretty sure it's going to wind up being a Diablo MMO. There were a lot of rumors going around a few years ago that Diablo III was actually going to be an MMO set in a battle between Heaven and Hell, where your actions and decisions would determine which side you would ultimately join.

That's just speculation, but who knows. The game isn't supposed to be released until 2014 or so anyway. ****, it'll prolly wind up being Galaxy of StarCraft of something.

 

Oh and btw, Alliance sucks.

 

Nah, Blizzard said specifically that their new MMO is a brand new IP.

Blizzard is making a Diablo III, but it's definitely not an MMO.

 

When wc3 was around I was on semi-pro teams and through this met a lot of the blizzard employees.

(Grom was my favourite wc hero)

It will be a new world for the MMORPG.

Diablo was never going to be a MMORPG as they felt it would be a re-hash of WoW. There two very seperate games.

It'll be interesting the new universe they come out with, my guess is it will be something more like hell gate london.

 

Cataclysm intro cinematic.

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Not as great as the previous ones in my opinion.

 

I think that was better than BC's AND WOTLK's, personally.

And I really can't wait for the day when games WoW's size can actually look like that.

 

Did you read the last sentence of my post, or did you choose to ignore that part?