This article is less of a philosophical rant and more of an update on how my play is going, so if you come here for the grand idea stuff, feel free to skip this article.
I've basically come to the conclusion that until we actually get our raiding going (and that's partially my responsibility, as a guild officer,) I've got to use LFR as my main progression path. As I've said before, tanking for LFR can be a pain.
This expansion, I fairly quickly switched Oterro from being a tank back to being dps. I actually originally created him to be my plate dps character to counter Jarsus as my plate tank, but tanking in Wrath was so fun that I wound up making not only my Death Knight, but also my Druid and Warrior (the Orc one - this was before Worgen) into tanks, such that I had a tank of every class.
Oterro was originally Blood DPS, which was the best leveling spec the game's ever seen. This was back in the day when the general impression was that Frost would be the tank spec, based on the original announcement of the DK class. As you may or may not know (I tend to assume everyone played during Wrath at least, but I realize that could be false,) when the DK was first announced, people were still very much in the Burning Crusade mindset, where specific specs would serve specific functions. Back then, Warriors were main-tanks (boss tanks,) Paladins were AoE tanks, and Druids were off-tanks. Death Knights were announced as the "magic tanks," being adept at tanking casters. In addition, the specs had specific functions as well. Blood was the PvE DPS spec, focusing on sustained damage. Frost was the tank spec (with various anti-magic bonuses in addition to higher armor.) Unholy was the PvP Utility spec, with lots of tricks to compete on the battlegrounds. Shortly into the development of Wrath (pre-Beta) they decided to make every spec for Death Knights capable of tanking and doing DPS, the way that Feral Druids worked (in the days before the Guardian spec and the whole talent revamp, Feral druids could assign their talent points differently to serve as better tanks or better melee dps.)
Over the course of Wrath, Blood and Frost tended to be the stronger tank specs while Frost and Unholy tended to be better at DPS. Cataclysm reworked the specs so that Blood became the tank spec, and the others were DPS. At that point, I didn't mind, because I'd already made the switch to tanking (when they introduced dual-spec, I went with Blood tank/Blood dps.)
Anyway, after having about ten decently geared characters by the end of Cataclysm, it's been a bit of a shock to the system to only have really two (I keep telling myself I'm going to gear up my Rogue so that I have someone competent Horde-side.) I wish it were easier to gear up alts, but then again, it might just take waiting for future patches.
Today I got my LFR tier shoulders for Oterro (and a second Shin'ka, which is fine for his tank set but makes me feel like a bad person) bringing him up to iLevel 480, which is the same as Jarsus (Jar has fewer raid drops but more VP gear. He still has a blue sword and shield, but it's not like there are a ton of those in LFR.)
So on one hand, they're both ready to queue for Throne of Thunder when it comes out, but both still have a lot to work on for the Legendary chain.
As I've said, I've been more reluctant to run Jarsus through LFR (he actually still needs the Protectors of the Endless for the Terrace of Endless Spring achievement,) which means that Oterro's actually much farther along his Sigil hunt than Jarsus, needing only 6 sigils of Wisdom (if I get super-lucky, I could technically get them all this week, if I got one from every boss in Heart of Fear.)
I've never actually done a Legendary chain before - I started raiding in Wrath, and back then Legendaries only came in 25-man raids - not to mention that Shadowmourne was a dps weapon, and while technically I could argue that Oterro could use it as a tank, it's a moot point, because we're a 10-man guild (I actually miss 25-man being tuned harder and granting better gear, because it meant that 10-man was easier.) Even if we had been seriously raiding in Cataclysm (we did finish BWD, to be fair) the Legendaries there were for Casters and Rogues, and as cool as Darsino is, he's Horde, and thus is strictly LFR-only.)
So currently what I've got to do is religiously run Heart of Fear on LFR (and Terrace, of course) every week. Then there's the issue of reputation. I waited to grind reps on Oterro mostly until after getting the Grand Commendations. The result is that I actually wasn't quite honored when I was done with them and started on Shieldwall. Oterro's already revered with them, so when I do actually get to the second stage of the Legendary quests, I'll presumably have to grind rep by killing Horde in Krasarang. Oh well, at least there's no daily limit on that.
Last bit of news: I finally got into the Brawler's Guild (on Oterro - I'd originally meant to do so on Ardten, but I don't think he's geared enough for it, and I just happened to get the invitation while on Oterro.)
Bizmo's Brawlpub is, of course, a really cool location (SO much better than the Brawl'gar Arena) and the fights in the pit are pretty cool - really designed as solo boss fights. I'm sure some classes have an easier time on them than others, but there's some fun little strategies.
You do get a fair amount of gold for a short amount of time down there, but gold is of course not a huge incentive these days. It would be cool to get a set of transmog gear or a title, or even get some kind of power-level reward. I'm currently rank 3, so I'm not sure what happens when you finish all the fights. It is a pretty small feature, for all the hype that it got, and while it's enjoyable, I think they're going to need to do some serious re-working to keep it as a relevant feature in future expansions.
Tuesday, January 29, 2013
Monday, January 28, 2013
Justice for... Justice!
The very first PvE currency WoW introduced was the Badge of Justice. At first, only heroic 5-man bosses would drop these during Burning Crusade. PvE currencies have evolved considerably since then - with Wrath's introduction of tiered currencies and then Cataclysm's simplification of Wrath's system by making two tiers of currency: Current (Valor) and Old (Justice.)
Justice Points were basically the main catch-up mechanic. The idea was that every 5-man boss would drop Justice Points, and you could easily get a lot of JP from running random dungeons. At the expansion's launch, this would provide decent heroic-dungeon-level blue items, and as the expansion went on, the gear that used to sell for Valor Points would be downgraded to sell for JP. Because a player running old dungeons could acquire JP with relative ease, if you needed to catch up, you could run dungeons until you had enough of last patch's gear to enter the current content.
The entire premise of JP as a useful currency is based on the idea that it's easy to acquire, and easy to acquire quickly.
The irony in Mists is that JP is actually kind of hard to come by.
The acquisition of both Valor and Justice has been considerably slowed this time around, not to mention the fact that Valor gear has been locked behind reputations requiring weeks to grind (on a per-character basis, though I don't want to get too far into that.)
While Valor isn't exactly flooding us, the methods of acquiring it are myriad. One gets VP from dungeons, scenarios, raids and raid finder, and even daily quests. JP is only acquired through dungeons, and recently, scenarios. Therefore, it's actually easier to come by VP than JP these days, which raises the question: why have JP?
The culprit here, I think, is Raid Finder, and specifically Blizzard's decision to push Raid Finder as the main PvE activity. One does not gain JP through LFR.
Also, JP gear is not even up to the same level as heroic dungeon gear. It seems as if JP gear is meant to get you into heroics, rather than past them.
The thing is, we're still in the early phase of the expansion. We may be past the first patch, but we're still on the first raiding tier. I don't know what the intention for the various points is, though what I've heard is that they intend to reduce the VP cost for the current stuff. This seems to suggest that it will still be VP.
Truthfully, it looks as if we're returning to a one-currency system, which we have not had since BC. The irony is that this will likely make catching up more difficult, as they will keep that one relevant currency hard to acquire.
And if this is the path they take, it means we'll probably hit a point where we've got tons of JP and absolutely nothing to spend it on.
Justice Points were basically the main catch-up mechanic. The idea was that every 5-man boss would drop Justice Points, and you could easily get a lot of JP from running random dungeons. At the expansion's launch, this would provide decent heroic-dungeon-level blue items, and as the expansion went on, the gear that used to sell for Valor Points would be downgraded to sell for JP. Because a player running old dungeons could acquire JP with relative ease, if you needed to catch up, you could run dungeons until you had enough of last patch's gear to enter the current content.
The entire premise of JP as a useful currency is based on the idea that it's easy to acquire, and easy to acquire quickly.
The irony in Mists is that JP is actually kind of hard to come by.
The acquisition of both Valor and Justice has been considerably slowed this time around, not to mention the fact that Valor gear has been locked behind reputations requiring weeks to grind (on a per-character basis, though I don't want to get too far into that.)
While Valor isn't exactly flooding us, the methods of acquiring it are myriad. One gets VP from dungeons, scenarios, raids and raid finder, and even daily quests. JP is only acquired through dungeons, and recently, scenarios. Therefore, it's actually easier to come by VP than JP these days, which raises the question: why have JP?
The culprit here, I think, is Raid Finder, and specifically Blizzard's decision to push Raid Finder as the main PvE activity. One does not gain JP through LFR.
Also, JP gear is not even up to the same level as heroic dungeon gear. It seems as if JP gear is meant to get you into heroics, rather than past them.
The thing is, we're still in the early phase of the expansion. We may be past the first patch, but we're still on the first raiding tier. I don't know what the intention for the various points is, though what I've heard is that they intend to reduce the VP cost for the current stuff. This seems to suggest that it will still be VP.
Truthfully, it looks as if we're returning to a one-currency system, which we have not had since BC. The irony is that this will likely make catching up more difficult, as they will keep that one relevant currency hard to acquire.
And if this is the path they take, it means we'll probably hit a point where we've got tons of JP and absolutely nothing to spend it on.
Friday, January 25, 2013
Legendary Redefined: Wrathion's Pandarian Tour
Legendaries have been a part of the game since the first raid (though they might have been added in a patch - I wasn't playing at launch.) Historically, Legendaries have always been weapons. Molten Core introduced Sulfuras, Hand of Ragnaros, and everyone's favorite Trade Chat spam: Thunderfury, Blessed Blade of the Windseeker. Later on, Atiesh, Greatstaff of the Guardian was made available to casters after battling through the original Naxxramas (again, if there are errors here, it's because I don't remember this era very well.)
Burning Crusade changed Legendaries to simply be ultra-rare drops off of very difficult end-game bosses - the Twinblades of Azzinoth and Thor'idal, the Stars' Fury (at the time, Thor'idal's self-generated ammo was what made it truly Legendary, which seems quaint now.)
Wrath brought back the epic Legendary quest chains with Val'anyr, Hammer of Ancient Kings and Shadowmourne (the closest we were allowed to get to wielding Frostmourne.) Likewise, Cataclysm's Legendaries involved very elaborate quest chains with many unique experiences and plot developments, granting casters of all sorts Dragonswrath, Tarecgosa's Rest and the Blades of the Father, the latter of which of course introduced us to Wrathion.
Legendaries varied in accessibility. Wrath limited them to 25-man mode (which was tuned harder those days and rewarded better gear) while Cataclysm made starting the chains relatively easy (as long as one was working on normal-mode raids at least) but required diligent clearing of the raids with great frequency.
The thing is that Legendaries have always been for specific classes or roles, and they've always been a single item (or dual-wielded set.) Admittedly, some of these items take on different forms, growing more powerful as you progress through the chain, but it was always focused on that one, shiny weapon.
Mists has absolutely redefined what Legendary means. For one, it is far more accessible. Legendaries in Mists are for everyone, and starting the quest chain requires only that you hit 90 and speak with Wrathion.
The rewards are also quite different. Completing the first leg of the chain grants you your first item - a Sha-Touched gem, for use in specific weapons that drop from Heart of Fear and Terrace of Eternal Spring. We've never had a Legendary gem before, but there you have it. Likewise, 5.2 will be bringing us Legendary Meta Gems, with the ability to give your helmet a socket to hold it (not tied to a specific helmet the way it is for weapons.)
While there has not been, so far, the kind of world-trekking story-based quest chain one sees with some of the older quests, the theme of Wrathion's chain is about exploring Pandaria and basically participating in all aspects of the expansion.
As of yet, we don't really know what the subsequent parts of the chain will involve. Will we get super-fancy weapons, like the Legendaries of old? How will it all come to a head?
The other interesting question is this: how many of us are expected to complete the chain? Currently, you can get the Sigils for the first part even from LFR, and while the droprate is very low, many have been able to get all 20 (on Oterro, who's farthest along, I've got 8 Power and 2 Wisdom.) Other requirements have tended to require diligence more than anything else, like gaining rep while working on daily quests or gaining a certain amount of Valor.
Legendaries used to be a sign of being one of the elite, but perhaps the goal of the Legendary has shifted. Rather than simply showing who's in a top raiding guild, now the Legendary quest chain is about telling the story of the expansion.
I'm still far away from finishing even the first part of the chain (I think I need to make peace with the fact that I need to spend more time in the Raid Finder than the Dungeon Finder,) but it would be quite awesome indeed to be able to complete a Legendary quest.
Burning Crusade changed Legendaries to simply be ultra-rare drops off of very difficult end-game bosses - the Twinblades of Azzinoth and Thor'idal, the Stars' Fury (at the time, Thor'idal's self-generated ammo was what made it truly Legendary, which seems quaint now.)
Wrath brought back the epic Legendary quest chains with Val'anyr, Hammer of Ancient Kings and Shadowmourne (the closest we were allowed to get to wielding Frostmourne.) Likewise, Cataclysm's Legendaries involved very elaborate quest chains with many unique experiences and plot developments, granting casters of all sorts Dragonswrath, Tarecgosa's Rest and the Blades of the Father, the latter of which of course introduced us to Wrathion.
Legendaries varied in accessibility. Wrath limited them to 25-man mode (which was tuned harder those days and rewarded better gear) while Cataclysm made starting the chains relatively easy (as long as one was working on normal-mode raids at least) but required diligent clearing of the raids with great frequency.
The thing is that Legendaries have always been for specific classes or roles, and they've always been a single item (or dual-wielded set.) Admittedly, some of these items take on different forms, growing more powerful as you progress through the chain, but it was always focused on that one, shiny weapon.
Mists has absolutely redefined what Legendary means. For one, it is far more accessible. Legendaries in Mists are for everyone, and starting the quest chain requires only that you hit 90 and speak with Wrathion.
The rewards are also quite different. Completing the first leg of the chain grants you your first item - a Sha-Touched gem, for use in specific weapons that drop from Heart of Fear and Terrace of Eternal Spring. We've never had a Legendary gem before, but there you have it. Likewise, 5.2 will be bringing us Legendary Meta Gems, with the ability to give your helmet a socket to hold it (not tied to a specific helmet the way it is for weapons.)
While there has not been, so far, the kind of world-trekking story-based quest chain one sees with some of the older quests, the theme of Wrathion's chain is about exploring Pandaria and basically participating in all aspects of the expansion.
As of yet, we don't really know what the subsequent parts of the chain will involve. Will we get super-fancy weapons, like the Legendaries of old? How will it all come to a head?
The other interesting question is this: how many of us are expected to complete the chain? Currently, you can get the Sigils for the first part even from LFR, and while the droprate is very low, many have been able to get all 20 (on Oterro, who's farthest along, I've got 8 Power and 2 Wisdom.) Other requirements have tended to require diligence more than anything else, like gaining rep while working on daily quests or gaining a certain amount of Valor.
Legendaries used to be a sign of being one of the elite, but perhaps the goal of the Legendary has shifted. Rather than simply showing who's in a top raiding guild, now the Legendary quest chain is about telling the story of the expansion.
I'm still far away from finishing even the first part of the chain (I think I need to make peace with the fact that I need to spend more time in the Raid Finder than the Dungeon Finder,) but it would be quite awesome indeed to be able to complete a Legendary quest.
Thursday, January 24, 2013
Thank the Light: Ghostcrawler on Prot Paladin Haste
Recent blue posts have acknowledged the problem I've had with Prot Paladin gearing this expansion.
This is some fairly esoteric stuff, and even though Paladins are probably the most popular tank class (well, them or DKs,) most people don't tank, so I'll give some background:
Mists gave Prot Paladins a passive that Ret has had since Cataclysm: Sanctity of Battle. Because Paladins are a long-term resource class, nearly all our abilities have cooldowns - using the CD to keep us from casting or striking every global CD. Sanctity of Battle shortens the cooldowns of those important abilities relative to our haste, mirroring the way that a Rogue, for example, gets extra energy with more haste (a Cataclysm change.) With ability cooldowns as our "resource," haste lets us fit more button-presses in a minute, just as it does for those with short-term resources.
The weird thing, then, is that because of the change to "Active Mitigation" tanking, Prot's need to generate Holy Power so we can cast Shield of the Righteous more often becomes paramount to survival.
The odd consequence of this is that after hit and hard-capping expertise (to make sure our abilities connect and thus grant our Power,) Mastery and Haste share our third priority spot for secondary stats. With role-neutral Mastery and Haste as our chief uncapped stats, we actually wind up preferring what would usually be considered DPS pieces instead of "tanking pieces," which have the two stats that are strictly for tanks: dodge and parry.
I have a necklace, for instance, from hitting exalted with the Klaxxi, that is expertise and haste. I passed up a dodge/parry one to get it, and that seems super wrong. Worse still, with the current gearing system, there are plenty of pieces in LFR that would be upgrades but that I'll never see because they're not "tank" pieces.
Ghostcrawler has seen this, and help is on the way: They're going to reevaluate some of the systems, likely nerfing Shield of the Righteous (and compensating elsewhere) to encourage dodge and parry over haste. They still want haste to be useful, but they don't want us wishing for DPS gear and sighing at all the useless dodge and parry on our tier sets.
I appreciate the desire to make non-traditional tank stats viable, but stacking haste on a tank - and a plate one, no less - is just plain wrong. Bring on the changes, hopefully as of 5.2.
This is some fairly esoteric stuff, and even though Paladins are probably the most popular tank class (well, them or DKs,) most people don't tank, so I'll give some background:
Mists gave Prot Paladins a passive that Ret has had since Cataclysm: Sanctity of Battle. Because Paladins are a long-term resource class, nearly all our abilities have cooldowns - using the CD to keep us from casting or striking every global CD. Sanctity of Battle shortens the cooldowns of those important abilities relative to our haste, mirroring the way that a Rogue, for example, gets extra energy with more haste (a Cataclysm change.) With ability cooldowns as our "resource," haste lets us fit more button-presses in a minute, just as it does for those with short-term resources.
The weird thing, then, is that because of the change to "Active Mitigation" tanking, Prot's need to generate Holy Power so we can cast Shield of the Righteous more often becomes paramount to survival.
The odd consequence of this is that after hit and hard-capping expertise (to make sure our abilities connect and thus grant our Power,) Mastery and Haste share our third priority spot for secondary stats. With role-neutral Mastery and Haste as our chief uncapped stats, we actually wind up preferring what would usually be considered DPS pieces instead of "tanking pieces," which have the two stats that are strictly for tanks: dodge and parry.
I have a necklace, for instance, from hitting exalted with the Klaxxi, that is expertise and haste. I passed up a dodge/parry one to get it, and that seems super wrong. Worse still, with the current gearing system, there are plenty of pieces in LFR that would be upgrades but that I'll never see because they're not "tank" pieces.
Ghostcrawler has seen this, and help is on the way: They're going to reevaluate some of the systems, likely nerfing Shield of the Righteous (and compensating elsewhere) to encourage dodge and parry over haste. They still want haste to be useful, but they don't want us wishing for DPS gear and sighing at all the useless dodge and parry on our tier sets.
I appreciate the desire to make non-traditional tank stats viable, but stacking haste on a tank - and a plate one, no less - is just plain wrong. Bring on the changes, hopefully as of 5.2.
Thursday, January 17, 2013
The Grand Plan of the Old Gods
We've had four Old Gods named so far: C'thun, Yogg-Saron, N'zoth, and Y'shaarj. We know that they've been trying to take over Azeroth since it was created (Kil'ruk the Windreaver believes the Old Gods got there first, but I'm inclined to think that what he thinks of as the invasion of the Usurpers was actually when the Titans came back to visit a second time, only to find their creation infested with Eldritch Abominations.)
We know that they've been in conflict with each other - sending their Faceless Ones against each other in many wars, though this may have not been because of any actual disagreement, instead being their nature as creatures of chaos.
Anyway, Y'shaarj did not survive that encounter with the second arrival of the Titans, leaving the Sha behind. If he was in that part of the world for a specific reason, it probably had something to do with the waters of the Vale of Eternal Blossoms - which I've speculated is either a back-up or remnant of the Well of Eternity.
If I recall correctly, during a lore panel, Blizzard said that Ahn-Qiraj was actually built by the Titans, though we can also probably guess that it was heavily modified by the servants of C'Thun. The most important thing we know of existing in that part of the world is Uldum, and specifically the Halls of Origination.
Yogg-Saron is way up in Storm Peaks, and Ulduar does serve as his prison, but I also think that the facility was there more as a monitoring station for the planet. Ulduar was, I would guess, the main Titan headquarters on Azeroth (it's certainly the most opulent.) So there's an obvious reason for the Old Gods to want a presence there, but if we also assume that the Storm Peaks are where the first Earthen, Mechagnomes, and Vrykul were created, it would imply that this is where the Titans made their sentient constructs - and thus Yogg-Saron could have been the one most responsible for the Curse of Flesh (ignoring my earlier article about how that curse may have actually been a blessing.)
We don't really know where N'zoth is, but we do know that his influence is very wide, and that he is responsible for the Emerald Nightmare. It would not be too far-fetched to imagine that N'zoth is, actually, in the Dream as well.
And that means the N'zoth is a freaking genius.
The Titans knew that Azeroth may have gone wrong somehow. It's an important project for them, for reasons that we do not yet know, and so a lot of safety features were built in. One of these features was the Emerald Dream - a back-up of Azeroth in its natural state, before sapient beings are introduced. The other is the Halls of Origination - this is the big red "Abort" button that the Titans can push if things go wrong. If the world is compromised and cannot be salvaged, the Titans can hit that button and the whole planet gets broken down to the atomic level and rebuilt from scratch.
The blueprint for that re-build? The Emerald Dream.
So let's say that C'thun and Yogg-Saron rise from their prisons and Sha start running all over the place, and just for good measure the Scourge, the Burning Legion, and the Murlocs are overrunning the place while what's left of the Alliance and Horde are either zombies, insane, dripping with ingested demon blood, or all three? Algalon comes down, says "whoa damn! Time to hit that button like a mofo!"
He hits the button, and poof! Reset. All's well, except... No, the planet's totally overrun with Nightmare and N'zoth cackles to himself and then thanks the Titans for building him such a lovely home.
N'zoth's running a classic Xanatos Gambit. Even if the Titans manage to use their doomsday device to stop the Old Gods, he still wins. The only hope, then, is for heroes like us to beat down those Lovecraftian beasties the old fashioned way.
Yippie-ki-yay, motherfucker!
We know that they've been in conflict with each other - sending their Faceless Ones against each other in many wars, though this may have not been because of any actual disagreement, instead being their nature as creatures of chaos.
Anyway, Y'shaarj did not survive that encounter with the second arrival of the Titans, leaving the Sha behind. If he was in that part of the world for a specific reason, it probably had something to do with the waters of the Vale of Eternal Blossoms - which I've speculated is either a back-up or remnant of the Well of Eternity.
If I recall correctly, during a lore panel, Blizzard said that Ahn-Qiraj was actually built by the Titans, though we can also probably guess that it was heavily modified by the servants of C'Thun. The most important thing we know of existing in that part of the world is Uldum, and specifically the Halls of Origination.
Yogg-Saron is way up in Storm Peaks, and Ulduar does serve as his prison, but I also think that the facility was there more as a monitoring station for the planet. Ulduar was, I would guess, the main Titan headquarters on Azeroth (it's certainly the most opulent.) So there's an obvious reason for the Old Gods to want a presence there, but if we also assume that the Storm Peaks are where the first Earthen, Mechagnomes, and Vrykul were created, it would imply that this is where the Titans made their sentient constructs - and thus Yogg-Saron could have been the one most responsible for the Curse of Flesh (ignoring my earlier article about how that curse may have actually been a blessing.)
We don't really know where N'zoth is, but we do know that his influence is very wide, and that he is responsible for the Emerald Nightmare. It would not be too far-fetched to imagine that N'zoth is, actually, in the Dream as well.
And that means the N'zoth is a freaking genius.
The Titans knew that Azeroth may have gone wrong somehow. It's an important project for them, for reasons that we do not yet know, and so a lot of safety features were built in. One of these features was the Emerald Dream - a back-up of Azeroth in its natural state, before sapient beings are introduced. The other is the Halls of Origination - this is the big red "Abort" button that the Titans can push if things go wrong. If the world is compromised and cannot be salvaged, the Titans can hit that button and the whole planet gets broken down to the atomic level and rebuilt from scratch.
The blueprint for that re-build? The Emerald Dream.
So let's say that C'thun and Yogg-Saron rise from their prisons and Sha start running all over the place, and just for good measure the Scourge, the Burning Legion, and the Murlocs are overrunning the place while what's left of the Alliance and Horde are either zombies, insane, dripping with ingested demon blood, or all three? Algalon comes down, says "whoa damn! Time to hit that button like a mofo!"
He hits the button, and poof! Reset. All's well, except... No, the planet's totally overrun with Nightmare and N'zoth cackles to himself and then thanks the Titans for building him such a lovely home.
N'zoth's running a classic Xanatos Gambit. Even if the Titans manage to use their doomsday device to stop the Old Gods, he still wins. The only hope, then, is for heroes like us to beat down those Lovecraftian beasties the old fashioned way.
Yippie-ki-yay, motherfucker!
The Expansion of Our Dreams
There's a very obvious place that we ought to go in a future expansion. It's been teased and hinted at, and the concept seems to scream with potential. Every time talk begins of a new expansion, this is the first one people jump to.
I am referring, of course, to the Emerald Dream.
(No, that was not a build-up for an ironic pay-off, unless you were expecting that, in which case it was meta-ironic, which may be the most hipster-ish adjective ever known to exist.)
Yet four expansions in, and we have yet to enter the Emerald Dream. WoW Insider has a post that argues why Mists of Pandaria is actually the closest we'll get to an expansion focusing on the Dream. I am still not convinced that Blizzard will not find a way to get us there, but at the same time, there are some huge roadblocks in place.
PRO: Background
We know that the Emerald Dream is there, and that it's got a huge influence on Azeroth. As far as we can tell, the Dream is another layer of Azeroth, somewhat akin to the Elemental Planes, but this one was created not as a prison, but as a back-up. Presumably, should the Titans or their representatives decide to re-originate Azeroth through the mechanism in Uldum, the planet will revert to a state identical to the Dream, which is that of a single continent, devoid of civilization, or possibly even the sapient species who could create one (apart from visiting Druids while they sleep. I'd also guess that Cenarius and the other Ancients are from here.) There's a lot of background that would make this feel like a logical destination.
CON: Nothin' There!
One of the key concepts of the dream is that there's no civilization, which presumably means no buildings. Having an entire expansion take place in a completely unsettled wilderness (without even ancient ruins or mysterious tribal people) would probably get pretty damned dull, even with cool landscapes.
PRO: An Obvious Villain
We've been hearing about N'zoth since Cataclysm, and we've been hearing about the Nightmare since vanilla. The WoW Insider article points out that the Sha are not too much unlike what we might imagine the Nightmare to be like, but I could imagine the Nightmare being really, really trippy. Plus, the existence of the Nightmare corrupting the Dream could be an excuse to have more than just wild country.
CON: The Nightmare Was Defeated
In Stormrage, or one of those books, Malfurion beats Xavius and clears out the Nightmare.
PRO: But Not Destroyed
Despite defeating the Nightmare, it still exists, stuffed into something called the Rift of Aln. There's your Shadowmoon Valley/Icecrown zone of the expansion! In fact, even areas free on the corruption might still need to mend.
CON: It's super Druid-centric
Don't get me wrong, Druids are cool, but it's not as if they've ever lacked story focus. And despite the fact that they're available to four races, Night Elves really dominate Druid lore (despite the Worgen being tied more inextricably to Druidism.)
PRO: Huge Potential for Lore
Knowing what the back-up for Azeroth is would give us huge insight into what the Titans actually intend to do with our planet. So far, most of the time the big reveal is not so much what the Titans are doing, but just that Titans are involved in something (though I expect to learn more in 5.2.) We already know how the Titans relate to the Dream, and I think Blizzard could move the lore forward in a serious way in an Emerald Dream expansion.
CON: We've Seen the Emerald Dream Before
There are actually a number of quests for druids and non-druids alike where we've been able to enter the Emerald Dream. This usually just shifts us to a different phase with a green filter, though. Shouldn't ICC disappear around us when healers enter the dream to get mana back on the Valithria Dreamwalker fight? How is there a Maelstrom there when we enter the dream during Madness of Deathwing (ok, maybe our characters enter it while the camera stays on them in their sleep-state in the real world.) If the Emerald Dream were just normal Azeroth through a green filter, that would be pretty lame, yet so far, that's what it is.
There are probably some points I've overlooked, but I'm not giving up all hope of an Emerald Dream expansion (Alliance faction: Druids of the Pack? Please?) If they could justify (or just ret-con, though this is less elegant) putting towns and cities into the dream, I think it would be a cool area of conflict, especially if they take the "dream" idea and really freaking run with it. I want Alice in Wonderland-level stuff! Floating clocks and spiraling roads! I want to slay a Jabberwocky with a Vorpal Sword, damn it! And then I want to tame one on my hunter!
All this has got me thinking about Emerald Dream lore. I'll make a post about that soon.
I am referring, of course, to the Emerald Dream.
(No, that was not a build-up for an ironic pay-off, unless you were expecting that, in which case it was meta-ironic, which may be the most hipster-ish adjective ever known to exist.)
Yet four expansions in, and we have yet to enter the Emerald Dream. WoW Insider has a post that argues why Mists of Pandaria is actually the closest we'll get to an expansion focusing on the Dream. I am still not convinced that Blizzard will not find a way to get us there, but at the same time, there are some huge roadblocks in place.
PRO: Background
We know that the Emerald Dream is there, and that it's got a huge influence on Azeroth. As far as we can tell, the Dream is another layer of Azeroth, somewhat akin to the Elemental Planes, but this one was created not as a prison, but as a back-up. Presumably, should the Titans or their representatives decide to re-originate Azeroth through the mechanism in Uldum, the planet will revert to a state identical to the Dream, which is that of a single continent, devoid of civilization, or possibly even the sapient species who could create one (apart from visiting Druids while they sleep. I'd also guess that Cenarius and the other Ancients are from here.) There's a lot of background that would make this feel like a logical destination.
CON: Nothin' There!
One of the key concepts of the dream is that there's no civilization, which presumably means no buildings. Having an entire expansion take place in a completely unsettled wilderness (without even ancient ruins or mysterious tribal people) would probably get pretty damned dull, even with cool landscapes.
PRO: An Obvious Villain
We've been hearing about N'zoth since Cataclysm, and we've been hearing about the Nightmare since vanilla. The WoW Insider article points out that the Sha are not too much unlike what we might imagine the Nightmare to be like, but I could imagine the Nightmare being really, really trippy. Plus, the existence of the Nightmare corrupting the Dream could be an excuse to have more than just wild country.
CON: The Nightmare Was Defeated
In Stormrage, or one of those books, Malfurion beats Xavius and clears out the Nightmare.
PRO: But Not Destroyed
Despite defeating the Nightmare, it still exists, stuffed into something called the Rift of Aln. There's your Shadowmoon Valley/Icecrown zone of the expansion! In fact, even areas free on the corruption might still need to mend.
CON: It's super Druid-centric
Don't get me wrong, Druids are cool, but it's not as if they've ever lacked story focus. And despite the fact that they're available to four races, Night Elves really dominate Druid lore (despite the Worgen being tied more inextricably to Druidism.)
PRO: Huge Potential for Lore
Knowing what the back-up for Azeroth is would give us huge insight into what the Titans actually intend to do with our planet. So far, most of the time the big reveal is not so much what the Titans are doing, but just that Titans are involved in something (though I expect to learn more in 5.2.) We already know how the Titans relate to the Dream, and I think Blizzard could move the lore forward in a serious way in an Emerald Dream expansion.
CON: We've Seen the Emerald Dream Before
There are actually a number of quests for druids and non-druids alike where we've been able to enter the Emerald Dream. This usually just shifts us to a different phase with a green filter, though. Shouldn't ICC disappear around us when healers enter the dream to get mana back on the Valithria Dreamwalker fight? How is there a Maelstrom there when we enter the dream during Madness of Deathwing (ok, maybe our characters enter it while the camera stays on them in their sleep-state in the real world.) If the Emerald Dream were just normal Azeroth through a green filter, that would be pretty lame, yet so far, that's what it is.
There are probably some points I've overlooked, but I'm not giving up all hope of an Emerald Dream expansion (Alliance faction: Druids of the Pack? Please?) If they could justify (or just ret-con, though this is less elegant) putting towns and cities into the dream, I think it would be a cool area of conflict, especially if they take the "dream" idea and really freaking run with it. I want Alice in Wonderland-level stuff! Floating clocks and spiraling roads! I want to slay a Jabberwocky with a Vorpal Sword, damn it! And then I want to tame one on my hunter!
All this has got me thinking about Emerald Dream lore. I'll make a post about that soon.
Tuesday, January 15, 2013
Valor Gear and Reputation in 5.2
Well, big news coming from Blizzard: The new valor gear coming with the new tier of content will still be tied to a reputation faction, but it will be the new raid faction: Shado-Pan Assault. What this means is that players who are sick of dailies and just want to raid can rejoice - as long as you're running the Throne of Thunder, you'll get access to the new sweetness.
As long as one can gain rep through LFR (and given how much they're pushing LFR this expansion, I imagine they will allow that) I think this is a fantastic change. While I'm not entirely against daily quest factions, as an altoholic I think rep-grinding through instance runs is a lot less of a pain (soloing as a mage - something I've never really enjoyed.)
On the other hand, that does leave a certain question of how non-raiders are going to get by. One could argue that as non-raiders, they don't need the fancy gear, but I think that's a pretty bad philosophy - as soon as one's avenues to improvement are closed, the game feels less like fun.
And even though Blizzard clearly wants to convert a lot of non-raiders to at least LFR raiders, I think allowing multiple options for people is a very good idea.
The question all of this raises is what the new daily factions, the Kirin Tor Offensive and Sunreaver Onslaught, are going to reward. A mount might be cool, but I think there ought to be some kind of power-increase reward for the weeks it will take to hit exalted.
The simplest solution is of course to merely let people buy Reputation Gear with gold from these two. They could return to a more traditional reputation model, though the big problem with those old-fashioned types was that they usually had a very limited selection. By having "all shoulders" or "all helmets" tied to a particular faction, the appeal was fairly general.
Frankly, I actually think it might just be time for them to return to the old model of having VP gear available without any gating other than the weekly cap. Then, you could keep the daily quest model for factions (allowing the faction grind to really feel like a grind for that faction and not just a "check out my tabard! I'm totally fighting the Neferset in the name of the Wildhammer Clan!") Hardcore daily-questers would be able to get decent gear for their efforts, and the way one acquired VP (and VP gear) would be up to them.
I get what Blizzard is trying to do: They're balanced on the edge of a knife, trying to make content appealing without making it feel mandatory, and while I think that the fragment of 5.2's Valor system that I've seen is a step in the right direction, I think the system I've just proposed would be the optimal one.
As long as one can gain rep through LFR (and given how much they're pushing LFR this expansion, I imagine they will allow that) I think this is a fantastic change. While I'm not entirely against daily quest factions, as an altoholic I think rep-grinding through instance runs is a lot less of a pain (soloing as a mage - something I've never really enjoyed.)
On the other hand, that does leave a certain question of how non-raiders are going to get by. One could argue that as non-raiders, they don't need the fancy gear, but I think that's a pretty bad philosophy - as soon as one's avenues to improvement are closed, the game feels less like fun.
And even though Blizzard clearly wants to convert a lot of non-raiders to at least LFR raiders, I think allowing multiple options for people is a very good idea.
The question all of this raises is what the new daily factions, the Kirin Tor Offensive and Sunreaver Onslaught, are going to reward. A mount might be cool, but I think there ought to be some kind of power-increase reward for the weeks it will take to hit exalted.
The simplest solution is of course to merely let people buy Reputation Gear with gold from these two. They could return to a more traditional reputation model, though the big problem with those old-fashioned types was that they usually had a very limited selection. By having "all shoulders" or "all helmets" tied to a particular faction, the appeal was fairly general.
Frankly, I actually think it might just be time for them to return to the old model of having VP gear available without any gating other than the weekly cap. Then, you could keep the daily quest model for factions (allowing the faction grind to really feel like a grind for that faction and not just a "check out my tabard! I'm totally fighting the Neferset in the name of the Wildhammer Clan!") Hardcore daily-questers would be able to get decent gear for their efforts, and the way one acquired VP (and VP gear) would be up to them.
I get what Blizzard is trying to do: They're balanced on the edge of a knife, trying to make content appealing without making it feel mandatory, and while I think that the fragment of 5.2's Valor system that I've seen is a step in the right direction, I think the system I've just proposed would be the optimal one.
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