First, why is it that whenever I decide to sneak back into these forums Jordster has started yet another "I'm back!" thread for WoW. Happened last year and again this year (well a month ago I saw it). I mean, it was crazy deja'vu for me to see a thread started by him again this year when last year at this time I saw the same thing. You can go through my post history to verify. It's just a weird coincidence IMHO.
Anyway, I used to be an avid player here - was part of the 5th star guild for a bit. Not a core player, but I was there. I stopped playing more than 2 years ago, but really I want to know about the latest updates in just the last year (if your memory can go back 2 years, then great).
I was talking to a friend of mine that said the game has completely changed (yet it is still the same - his words). All the old world quests have changed. All the talents have changed. Hunters don't use mana anymore (what do they use?). Even orgrimmar (sp?) has changed, (can anyone provide screenshots?).
So please, let me live vicariously through you by telling me all about the latest changes to the game and what its like to play compared to one (and even two!) years ago.
I will give a cookie to the person that gives me the most interesting factoids :)
edit: I realize the the new expansion (is it out yet?) changes the entire world, so yea, I know that it's impossible to describe every feature, but if the expak is out yet, lets do this: whats your favorite thing about it that has changed and is new? What keeps you playing these days?
So to recap
1) what are some of the biggest changes to the old world quests?
2) what are some of the biggest changes to talents?
3) how does each class fare against each other compared to a year or so ago?
4) can i get screenshots of ogrimmar or any major city thats undergone a make over?
5) if hunters dont use mana, then how does it work? Hunter was my favorite class before leaving
6) what is the OMGWTFBBQ PVP class these days (I realize this answer is dependant on many variables)
7) What keeps you playing and what do you like to do in the game these days?
Thank you for letting me live through you by sharing what we all are passionate about: world of warcraft
Edited, Jan 5th 2011 12:33pm by Webjunky
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So whats changed in the last year? May come backFollow
1) what are some of the biggest changes to the old world quests?Bold Text
Almost all of them have been changed in the majority of the zones from what I understand.
2) what are some of the biggest changes to talents?
Less talents to spend and you have to 'specialize' in a tree (and max it out (31 points) before you can spend in another tree)
3) how does each class fare against each other compared to a year or so ago?
Meh, flavor of the months still happen. Mages in PvE are not that strong, for example.
4) can i get screenshots of ogrimmar or any major city thats undergone a make over?
Take a look on youtube/mmo-champion
5) if hunters dont use mana, then how does it work? Hunter was my favorite class before leaving
They use 'focus' similar to their pets/energy for rogues I believe. You also don't have ammo anymore.
6) what is the OMGWTFBBQ PVP class these days (I realize this answer is dependant on many variables)
/shrug
7) What keeps you playing and what do you like to do in the game these days?
I unsubscribed a few days after hitting 85. I got tired of waiting 30minutes+ for a heroic queue when my guild didn't have any tanks on/or any tanks that wanted to do a heroic run.
Edited, Jan 5th 2011 12:50pm by Anobix
Almost all of them have been changed in the majority of the zones from what I understand.
2) what are some of the biggest changes to talents?
Less talents to spend and you have to 'specialize' in a tree (and max it out (31 points) before you can spend in another tree)
3) how does each class fare against each other compared to a year or so ago?
Meh, flavor of the months still happen. Mages in PvE are not that strong, for example.
4) can i get screenshots of ogrimmar or any major city thats undergone a make over?
Take a look on youtube/mmo-champion
5) if hunters dont use mana, then how does it work? Hunter was my favorite class before leaving
They use 'focus' similar to their pets/energy for rogues I believe. You also don't have ammo anymore.
6) what is the OMGWTFBBQ PVP class these days (I realize this answer is dependant on many variables)
/shrug
7) What keeps you playing and what do you like to do in the game these days?
I unsubscribed a few days after hitting 85. I got tired of waiting 30minutes+ for a heroic queue when my guild didn't have any tanks on/or any tanks that wanted to do a heroic run.
Edited, Jan 5th 2011 12:50pm by Anobix
Just try the 10-day Cata trial and see for yourself. The changes that have happened have filled pages of internets over the past year.
1) what are some of the biggest changes to the old world quests?
2) what are some of the biggest changes to talents?
3) how does each class fare against each other compared to a year or so ago?
4) can i get screenshots of ogrimmar or any major city thats undergone a make over?
5) if hunters dont use mana, then how does it work? Hunter was my favorite class before leaving
6) what is the OMGWTFBBQ PVP class these days (I realize this answer is dependant on many variables)
7) What keeps you playing and what do you like to do in the game these days?
1-All zones are practically self contained; no more running around the globe for chain quests.
The next few questions were answered well enough by Anobix.
7-Running through the reamped zones on alts. I still haven't gotten past 82 on any toon.
Webjunky wrote:
1) what are some of the biggest changes to the old world quests?
2) what are some of the biggest changes to talents?
3) how does each class fare against each other compared to a year or so ago?
4) can i get screenshots of ogrimmar or any major city thats undergone a make over?
5) if hunters dont use mana, then how does it work? Hunter was my favorite class before leaving
6) what is the OMGWTFBBQ PVP class these days (I realize this answer is dependant on many variables)
7) What keeps you playing and what do you like to do in the game these days?
1-All zones are practically self contained; no more running around the globe for chain quests.
The next few questions were answered well enough by Anobix.
7-Running through the reamped zones on alts. I still haven't gotten past 82 on any toon.
I sure am back! In my opinion, WoW is better than ever (although certainly not perfect, but nothing is).
Rather than answer your questions, let me give you a list of what hooked me back in:
I could go on ... Honestly it's worth your $40 to grab Cataclysm and give it a shot. It really is the best WoW has ever been.
Adding to what is above...
1) what are some of the biggest changes to the old world quests?
They flow now. One leads you to the next, etc. Lots of breadcrumbs to follow. Questing is a lot like playing a single-player RPG at times.
7) What keeps you playing and what do you like to do in the game these days?
Archeology.
Other stuff:
You can level through gathering professions and PvP now as well.
LFG is gone, now the dungeon finder will randomly match you up with the worst social rejects and 10 year olds from other servers and place you in a dungeon with them (okay it's not really quite that bad, but it has it's moments).
All raids have 10 & 25 man versions, plus easy and hard modes.
Guilds level and have perks and rep. to grind.
Rated Battlegrounds (pre-made vs pre-made).
Edited, Jan 5th 2011 10:06am by someproteinguy
1) what are some of the biggest changes to the old world quests?
They flow now. One leads you to the next, etc. Lots of breadcrumbs to follow. Questing is a lot like playing a single-player RPG at times.
7) What keeps you playing and what do you like to do in the game these days?
Archeology.
Other stuff:
You can level through gathering professions and PvP now as well.
LFG is gone, now the dungeon finder will randomly match you up with the worst social rejects and 10 year olds from other servers and place you in a dungeon with them (okay it's not really quite that bad, but it has it's moments).
All raids have 10 & 25 man versions, plus easy and hard modes.
Guilds level and have perks and rep. to grind.
Rated Battlegrounds (pre-made vs pre-made).
Edited, Jan 5th 2011 10:06am by someproteinguy
That monster in the mirror, he just might be you. -Grover
1) what are some of the biggest changes to the old world quests?
- A lot more use of Northrend-style quest hubs. Very few quest lines that span multiple zones or even send you back and forth across the same zone.
- A mechanism to allow some quests to be completed without returning to the questgiver. A button pops up when you've killed the 8th murloc and you can complete the quest and get a quest to kill the Murloc Chairman. Sometimes, as in Redridge, they give a backstory introducing the capability (you recover a gnomish communication device).
- Quests targeting a named mob give you a picture of them in the quest interface.
- Many of these named mobs have special abilities, kind of like a mini-dungeon-boss.
- The backstory of a lot of zones has changed to fit the new world order.
- There are few/no quests explicitly for groups. You can solo everything at-level if you try.
- The bastards killed Old Blanchy. (Not a spoiler, it's right at the Westfall border).
2) what are some of the biggest changes to talents?
- Trees are only 31-points deep.
- You must choose a primary spec at level 10, and your first 31 points must go into that spec, and you must always have at least 31 in it from then on.
- The spec-defining ability becomes available at level 10, so your spec starts to have the proper "feel" much earlier than before (e.g. if you want to be a cat druid, you don't have to be a caster/bear hybrid for nearly as long).
- Tanks and healers have been homogenized to a large degree, presumably to support 10-man raiding. Not just capability but "feel" is much more similar.
3) how does each class fare against each other compared to a year or so ago?
- PvP balance changes from patch to patch, and affects PvE balance in weird ways.
- Blizzard is being a lot more forthcoming with blue information on who they think is overbalanced and who is underbalanced. The next round of nerfs/buffs are already in the pipeline.
4) can i get screenshots of ogrimmar or any major city thats undergone a make over?
- mmo-champion has had screenshots of all the reworked zones since the beta NDA lifted.
5) if hunters dont use mana, then how does it work? Hunter was my favorite class before leaving
- Hunters use focus, which works like the rogue/kitty energy resource.
- In practice, you manage focus more actively than mana, over a five-second window rather than a five-minute window. The plus side is that even when you're "out", you're back to normal in another five seconds.
- Hunters don't use ammo any more. The extra damage is baked into the ranged weapon.
- And you keep five pets with you, although still only one is out at any one time. Stable master space is effectively unlimited.
6) what is the OMGWTFBBQ PVP class these days (I realize this answer is dependant on many variables)
- With the new launcher, they can push hotfixes on a day-to-day basis. As a result, tiny balancing adjustments are constantly happening. No one is going to be overpowered for long.
7) What keeps you playing and what do you like to do in the game these days?
- Archaeology, the new timesink.
- Return to the BC instance tuning philosophy, no more faceroll heroics.
- 10-man raiding no longer 25-man's little brother.
- Tol Barad, the new Wintergrasp, will be redesigned to be playable eventually.
- Most of Azeroth is essentially new content.
- A lot more use of Northrend-style quest hubs. Very few quest lines that span multiple zones or even send you back and forth across the same zone.
- A mechanism to allow some quests to be completed without returning to the questgiver. A button pops up when you've killed the 8th murloc and you can complete the quest and get a quest to kill the Murloc Chairman. Sometimes, as in Redridge, they give a backstory introducing the capability (you recover a gnomish communication device).
- Quests targeting a named mob give you a picture of them in the quest interface.
- Many of these named mobs have special abilities, kind of like a mini-dungeon-boss.
- The backstory of a lot of zones has changed to fit the new world order.
- There are few/no quests explicitly for groups. You can solo everything at-level if you try.
- The bastards killed Old Blanchy. (Not a spoiler, it's right at the Westfall border).
2) what are some of the biggest changes to talents?
- Trees are only 31-points deep.
- You must choose a primary spec at level 10, and your first 31 points must go into that spec, and you must always have at least 31 in it from then on.
- The spec-defining ability becomes available at level 10, so your spec starts to have the proper "feel" much earlier than before (e.g. if you want to be a cat druid, you don't have to be a caster/bear hybrid for nearly as long).
- Tanks and healers have been homogenized to a large degree, presumably to support 10-man raiding. Not just capability but "feel" is much more similar.
3) how does each class fare against each other compared to a year or so ago?
- PvP balance changes from patch to patch, and affects PvE balance in weird ways.
- Blizzard is being a lot more forthcoming with blue information on who they think is overbalanced and who is underbalanced. The next round of nerfs/buffs are already in the pipeline.
4) can i get screenshots of ogrimmar or any major city thats undergone a make over?
- mmo-champion has had screenshots of all the reworked zones since the beta NDA lifted.
5) if hunters dont use mana, then how does it work? Hunter was my favorite class before leaving
- Hunters use focus, which works like the rogue/kitty energy resource.
- In practice, you manage focus more actively than mana, over a five-second window rather than a five-minute window. The plus side is that even when you're "out", you're back to normal in another five seconds.
- Hunters don't use ammo any more. The extra damage is baked into the ranged weapon.
- And you keep five pets with you, although still only one is out at any one time. Stable master space is effectively unlimited.
6) what is the OMGWTFBBQ PVP class these days (I realize this answer is dependant on many variables)
- With the new launcher, they can push hotfixes on a day-to-day basis. As a result, tiny balancing adjustments are constantly happening. No one is going to be overpowered for long.
7) What keeps you playing and what do you like to do in the game these days?
- Archaeology, the new timesink.
- Return to the BC instance tuning philosophy, no more faceroll heroics.
- 10-man raiding no longer 25-man's little brother.
- Tol Barad, the new Wintergrasp, will be redesigned to be playable eventually.
- Most of Azeroth is essentially new content.
The new questing looks like a ton of fun. The talent changes look more simplified but I like specialization as it adds to the diversity of the game IMHO.
Oooo, how are the pet differences these days? I remember before the pets had just gotten their own trees before I left. Have they all become vanilla or are the species truly unique?
Ok, that makes sense. Love it.
So, instead of being matched up with a handful of servers, it is now worldwide (or rather, country wide?)
Are there any new BGs? Is the BG gear grind still there or did they make it better/"funner"?
Quote:
- In practice, you manage focus more actively than mana, over a five-second window rather than a five-minute window. The plus side is that even when you're "out", you're back to normal in another five seconds. [/quote
Wow, this is cool. I hated having to put any thought into mana for my gear.
Even cooler! All that wasted bag space to carry ammo for those long sessions.
[quote] And you keep five pets with you, although still only one is out at any one time. Stable master space is effectively unlimited.
Wow, this is cool. I hated having to put any thought into mana for my gear.
Quote:
- Hunters don't use ammo any more. The extra damage is baked into the ranged weapon.
Even cooler! All that wasted bag space to carry ammo for those long sessions.
[quote] And you keep five pets with you, although still only one is out at any one time. Stable master space is effectively unlimited.
Oooo, how are the pet differences these days? I remember before the pets had just gotten their own trees before I left. Have they all become vanilla or are the species truly unique?
Jordster wrote:
Move back to original capital cities - SW and Org are the center of the world now. No more "sanctuary" shared with the enemy. Without Dalaran portals (or Shatt portals) in the game any more, it feels more like a world
Ok, that makes sense. Love it.
Jordster wrote:
PvP brackets are now x0-x4 and x5-x9. You can now PvP successfully from L10 all the way to L80. There are no more battlegroups any more, either, so they have the numbers to support twice as many PvP bracket
So, instead of being matched up with a handful of servers, it is now worldwide (or rather, country wide?)
Are there any new BGs? Is the BG gear grind still there or did they make it better/"funner"?
Webjunky wrote:
Have they all become vanilla or are the species truly unique?
They are all different. Now many of them will bring a unique buff or debuff as well. For example: this or this or this. Given that you can have a buttload of pets these days, hunters can substitute just about any buff or debuff a party may be missing in a pinch.
That monster in the mirror, he just might be you. -Grover
Mage has become as close to flavor of the month in PvP as any class so far. While a mage, I do not PvP sadly, so details I cannot give. I hear my guild in mumble all the time though complaining about mages OPness while they do various BG's.
Magilicotti wrote:
Mage has become as close to flavor of the month in PvP as any class so far. While a mage, I do not PvP sadly, so details I cannot give. I hear my guild in mumble all the time though complaining about mages OPness while they do various BG's.
Edit: After a bit more research, the RoF problem is that it also allowed for machinegunning Ice Lances at someone who was now chain frozen.
Edited, Jan 7th 2011 1:49am by Poldaran
Hunter pets can cover any raid buff (they reduced the number of these too, classes overlap a lot more). Most buffs can be covered by ferocity or cunning pets, the exception being 5% stats (Kings or Gift of the Wild) which is given by the Shale Spider, a BM-only tenacity pet. I haven't toyed around with a cunning pet but I *think* it should be slightly under the dps of a ferocity one, using abilities like proccing free basic attacks or giving the hunter extra focus to replace the sheer damage of a ferocity.
Exotic pets tend to have abilities covered by other pet classes, and then have something extra. For example spirit beasts (rare spawns of varying creature types, often ghostly) boost strength/agility (DKs among other classes) the same as cats do but also have a 15K heal. Devilsaurs boost crit by 5% (feral druids, arms warriors and some kind of rogue) like wolves do and also have a mortal strike bite. Corehounds are another BM-only pet buff, giving Bloodlust (also provided by shamans and now mages) and also having a breath that slows cast speed. BMs now have the advantage of a little more versatility in their pets rather than the flat damage boost that used to be built in. Talents still boost pet damage, of course, I just mean comparing pets. A BM with a cat will do the same damage as one with a spirit beast.
They've put some effort into balancing the various pets so that the hunter can bring what the raid needs (or what looks cool) without worrying about his own dps. The exception is in the ferocity/cunning/tenacity split (which means my slime won't be seeing raids anytime soon) but there isn't an overpowered pet like cats or wolves were at various times in Wrath.
Exotic pets tend to have abilities covered by other pet classes, and then have something extra. For example spirit beasts (rare spawns of varying creature types, often ghostly) boost strength/agility (DKs among other classes) the same as cats do but also have a 15K heal. Devilsaurs boost crit by 5% (feral druids, arms warriors and some kind of rogue) like wolves do and also have a mortal strike bite. Corehounds are another BM-only pet buff, giving Bloodlust (also provided by shamans and now mages) and also having a breath that slows cast speed. BMs now have the advantage of a little more versatility in their pets rather than the flat damage boost that used to be built in. Talents still boost pet damage, of course, I just mean comparing pets. A BM with a cat will do the same damage as one with a spirit beast.
They've put some effort into balancing the various pets so that the hunter can bring what the raid needs (or what looks cool) without worrying about his own dps. The exception is in the ferocity/cunning/tenacity split (which means my slime won't be seeing raids anytime soon) but there isn't an overpowered pet like cats or wolves were at various times in Wrath.
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