WoW Insider Closing Down

I'm sad to report that WoW Insider, the World of Warcraft blog/news site, will be shutting down as the greater Joystiq network appears to be in turmoil due to financial reasons at AOL. I've read WoW Insider since 2008, and it has always been my favorite source for WoW news and analysis. While MMO-Champion and WoWHead might be the ones who data-mine new expansions, WoW Insider had a personal touch, not to mention far more regular posts with charming writers.

Given that WoW Insider is still a very popular site for the world's most popular subscription-based MMORPG (I have no idea what the number look like on the F2P side of things,) I hope that they can somehow manage to relaunch the site independent of AOL. But while I imagine the writers will continue to blog about WoW, we might not have the same familiar format we once knew. Reading WoW Insider has been a big part of my WoW-playing experience for most of the time I've been playing the game, and so its absence will be deeply felt.

I wish all the writers from the site the best of luck.

UPDATE: It looks like the WoW Insider staff are working on something to possibly just find a new host for the website. So I certainly hope that this simply means we'll see only a brief interruption in the site's content, and perhaps a new URL. Fingers Crossed.

Chapter II: Gul'dan Strikes Back

I got my last few Abrogator Stones out of Highmaul this week. With the items off the final two bosses (which are very easy to attain in LFR quite early of course,) this completes the final part of the Highmaul portion of the legendary chain (and considering that I've got all the Protection pieces and all but the Retribution necklace from LFR, I might have my main step away from LFR until Blackrock Foundry opens up.)

Spoilers to Follow:

Returning to Khadgar, the Archmage uses the stones to augment his scrying spell. He faces off against Gul'dan - who has now uncovered his doppelganget's past with the Khadgar. Gul'dan tells Khadgar that the scrying spell has worked both ways, and he sends Garona to assassinate the Archmage.

Unlike in Shadowmoon/Frostfire, Khadgar doesn't get off his Iceblock in time, and he is grievously wounded. You then take off after Garona through Zangarra, eventually getting poisoned as you pursue her into a cave, where you'll face off against her (I did this in Protection spec and had no difficulties whatsoever, though my bodyguard didn't fare as well.) After defeating Garona, you use a rune of incarceration given to you by Cordana which then allows you to capture her.

Bringing her dagger, Cordana and Jaina Proudmoore (though I imagine it might be a different character if you're Horde) come to cure Khadgar of the Fel-tainted poison. Feeling better, if still quite shaken, Khadgar augments your ring up to 690, adding a proc that I believe boosts your primary stats, and then sends you on to Blackrock Foundry, where you'll have to collect a ton of Elemental Runes to put together into tablets as well as items off the three wing bosses.

Blackrock Foundry Release Schedule

Highmaul is currently enjoying its brief time in the limelight as the pinnacle raid in World of Warcraft, but its days are numbered. Blackrock Foundry is coming, and with it, the actual tier 17, with armor sets and everything.

Blackrock Foundry will open up in Normal and Heroic mode on February 3rd. Additionally, Rukhmar, the bird-god the Adherents of Rukhmar worship, will start appearing in Spires of Arak.

On February 10th (a week later,) Mythic Mode will open up for the hardcore.

February 17: Raid Finder Wing 1, the Slagworks (Gruul, Oregorger, and The Blast Furnace)

February 24th: Raid Finder Wing 2, the Black Forge (Hans'gar and Frank, Flamebender Ka'graz, and Kromog)

March 10th (so a two-week gap there): Raid Finder Wing 3: Iron Assembly (Beastlord Tarmac, Operator Thogar, The Iron Maidens)

March 24th: Raid Finder Wing 4, Blackhand's Crucible (Blackhand) unlocks, giving us the whole raid on LFR.

So you'll have almost two months to clear the raid before the plebeians in LFR get to take down Blackhand (I'll most likely be among them.) With ten bosses, BRF should last us a good long while, and while I'm sure there are plenty of guilds who will be finished with Highmaul on their preferred difficulty by the time the Foundry comes out, a lot of us will most likely still be working on it, which means that there will be even more longevity to the raids of 6.0.

There still hasn't been any hint as to what we'll be getting in terms of future raids. Blizzard had said before the expansion was released that they might only do two raid tiers if they can get their "one expansion per year" rate up to speed (though I think one every 1.5 years would be a bit more realistic.)

As of last fall, they had said that if they can get expansion six out soon enough (meaning possibly even this year - though color me skeptical) they might just race to the finish and have us handle the final raid next. Personally, I think there's a fair amount of potential left in the Draenor setting (though some adversaries seem to be more the objective of garrison campaign quests than raid-worthy enemies.)

6.1 PTR

The 6.1 PTR has apparently gone live. What is coming for us in 6.1? What defines the patch?

Well, first off, I think it's very clear that we'll be getting a sort of in-between patch much like 5.1's Landfall. While this one is coming a little later in the expansion cycle than Landfall was, it seems it will be adding new quests around the Iron Docks in Gorgrond, and will involve a continuation of the Legendary chain in which we (SPOILERS, I guess) rescue a certain half-orc/half-draenei assassin from the mental domination of her master, and gain her as a legendary follower.

While there will be that bit of content (and I really don't know how extensive the Iron Docks quests will be,) it looks like this is going to be primarily a mechanical update. (Which is probably fine, as we haven't even gained access to Blackrock Foundry yet, meaning we've still got the meat of the first raid tier to experience.)

One exciting feature, for those of you who like heirlooms (personally I've actually enjoyed going back to non-heirloom leveling, though I haven't touched any low-level alts since the expansion came out,) is that they will now be stored in a collection-style panel like mounts, pets, and toys. Presumably you'll be able to drag these into your inventory or something, and hopefully that means you'll only need one of any dual-wielded weapon (also, it'd be cool if they'd change the parry on the strength 1-h to crit so that there's something for DW Frost and SMF. And crit is straight-up parry now, so...) Also, those heirlooms will be upgradable to level 90 and level 100 (so those Garrosh heirlooms are probably less exciting now, though if you care that much, you've almost certainly gotten your main to 100 already anyway.)

There are a number of under-the-hood things, like anti-aliasing options. One exciting thing is that you'll now be able to cancel flightpaths without logging out, which will cause you to land at the next stop in your path.

The garrison is getting a bunch of new features, though no new plots or buildings. But we're getting a jukebox, which will allow you to collect music to play at Lunarfall/Frostwall. Likewise, you'll now be able to get platinum invasion ratings, which will presumably give better rewards.

Finally, Blood Elves will finally get their own model upgrades, making Goblins and Worgen the oldest character models (unless you for some reason prefer to run with the old models.)

At the moment, I think most guilds are still working on Highmaul (indeed, my guild's just getting started) so I'm not all that worried that 6.1 has no new raid content. Indeed, it almost seems like it'll be releasing right as we get into Blackrock Foundry, meaning that it could very well be a "raid patch" in a sense, even though BRF is theoretically a 6.0 feature.

Still, I'm very curious to see how the patch cycle of the expansion works out. Will we see a true middle-tier, or race on to deal with Grommash? What role will the Burning Legion play as we deal a crippling blow to the Iron Horde? Will Gul'dan be the target of those on the Legendary chain? Will he be the true final raid boss? Or will he live to continue tormenting us after we leave this strange alternate Draenor?

Are We So Eager to Leave Draenor?

I'll admit, I was highly skeptical about Warlords of Draenor from the announcement and even through the Beta. And let's be clear: we have yet to experience the expansion in its entirety. Right now it's all bright and new after fourteen months of 5.4.

But I think we can confidently say that the expansion was a big success. After hearing that Blizzard never expected WoW to reach its subscription peak numbers again, they shot up to 10 million, which might be short of the high-water-mark of 12 million, but is a damn sight better than Mists' drop to under 7. People are having fun in the expansion.

It's easy to lose perspective when you obsess over a game like this (something I'll admit to doing: hence the existence of this blog,) and all the issues like a lack of racial customization for garrisons or the seeming laziness of just bringing back a bunch of old Orc characters is, in the long run, not so bad when you consider how much fun people seem to be having with the game.

The dungeons are tuned just right, I think, and while I haven't been able to do much in the way of traditional raiding (we're hoping to get that going after the holiday, assuming my guild is still in a shape to do so,) LFR at least seems perfect (in Mists it was more akin to Wrath's 10-man normal, which is not too hard, but a real pain to organize without voice chat,) as a "preview" version of the raid (though I'll be curious to see how well it works when the regular raiders stop going to it. How's the new wing, by the way? I won't be able to play until January.)

We got a few announcements about 6.1 this week, which is exciting, though I don't think we'll be seeing it for a while. Blackrock Foundry isn't opening until Feburary (which is fine - Highmaul is plenty of raid to keep us occupied for a mere two months,) and I expect 6.1 will have to come out after that's been open for a while, even if it's not a raid patch.

But this brings us to an interesting question: Blizzard said they want annual expansions, but I think most people like Draenor a lot more than they liked Pandaria (I'm super excited about Draenei and Arrakoa, and actually Ogre lore, though I also really liked the wide variety of humanoids on Pandaria, particularly the grummles.)

So while I'm super excited to see if we get a new class, or at least new races next go around, I don't know if I'm so eager to move on. I'm settling in at Lunarfall (and Frostwall on my poor neglected Horde characters,) and having my own little army is, well, pretty darn cool (my Death Knight has Ebon Blade guards! I only wish my Paladin could have Argent Dawn ones.)

Right now at least, I'm actually pretty comfortable with the idea of just announcing the next expansion at next year's Blizzcon and getting it the following fall.

But there's a big caveat to all this: We do need to maintain the flow of content.

6.1 is clearly coming out slower than 5.1 did (if it were the same rate, we'd be getting 6.1 next week or something.) That's ok - there's a lot in 6.0 that remains to be explored. Part of the problem with Mists is that I think Blizzard used up their content too quickly. If they can pace things out a little more reasonably, the expansion can probably fit the two year schedule - but mind you, that's only if they do produce a third raid tier. If we're going from Blackhand to Grommash (or whoever the real final boss will be... Gul'dan seems the obvious one,) then yes, we better get sent off to the South Seas or the Emerald Dream or wherever we actually wind up in early 2016 at the absolute latest.

But, if Warlords winds up being as big an expansion as we are accustomed to, maybe it wouldn't be such a bad thing if we stayed around.

Wherever we go next, though, I want my own Airship (one that I can name, preferably.)

Level 100 Talents - My Choices

Most of the perks we got in Draenor had little effect on the number of buttons we hit (I've got a wash - with Assassination's Slice and Dice becoming a passive but Frost Mages getting a new button in the form of Water Jet.) And in fact, most of the new talents are also designed to avoid increasing the number of buttons we've got to hit, lest they undo all the work they did in the ability squish.

There a lot of new talents, especially because they will now sometimes change depending on your spec - Druids, for instance, got effectively twelve different level 100 talents. So I won't go into every last one of them. But I figured I'd share my thoughts on the ones that I picked.

Paladin:

Protection: I went with Holy Shield. Now there's a couple reasons why I did that. The first is that Holy Shield used to be an active ability that was at the core of the Protection Paladin rotation (Shield of the Righteous - originally just a source of damage during Wrath, sort of became its spiritual successor.) At some point, Blizzard decided they didn't like the idea of reflective damage, but it looks like they changed their minds on that. Anyway, Seraphim and Empowered Seals seemed way too fussy to be fun to play with, and bringing back an old favorite, albeit in a totally different form, was hard to pass up.

Retribution: I went with Final Verdict here. The main reason is that, again, I'm not really interested in the fussiness of the other two, but Final Verdict isn't just a passive - it does alter your AoE rotation, albeit slightly.

Death Knight:

Blood and Frost: I had to go with Defile. For anyone who did not raid during Wrath of the Lich King, Defile was an ability that Arthas could use that, if you didn't react in time, could wipe the raid in mere moments. Obviously the DK version is watered down a bit - really acting as a souped-up Death and Decay - but there's a nostalgia factor, plus the fact that it works its way into your single-target rotation and benefits from Frost's mastery.

Rogue:

Assassination: Shadow Reflection is pretty simple to just macro with Vendetta, as they have the same cooldown. I like to use it right before I put up Rupture, which hopefully means ticks beyond the duration of the guy. Unfortunately, when you're packed in with the melee, you don't often get to see your clone, but it's a nice little reminder that Rogues have a little bit of magic to them.

Mage:

Frost: Comet Swarm is really cool, and I've been using it. I wouldn't say I'm entirely happy with it, though. Frost is all about ability synergy, and as far as I can tell, Comet Swarm is just one big burst of damage that you can hit twice a minute. You also want to make sure you use it on a target that isn't going to move in the next couple seconds, as it's really targeted at the ground beneath them. Still, the visual and the fantasy of the ability are awesome. I'm hoping they'll tweak it to make it fit in with the other abilities better.

Warlock:

Demonology: Demonbolt is kind of fascinating, as it adds a button, but actually simplifies the spec. Basically, you now use your Molten Core procs immediately in order to build up Demonic Fury. When you cap out or get near the cap, you hit Demon Soul (and I think the glyph works well for this,)  and then proceed to blast away four times with Demonbolt, which will do massive damage and put you down to only a hundred or so Fury. Then you just build up in order to do it again. I've been beasting with Demonology since hitting 100 - I'm one point shy of heroics but I can regularly do 10k DPS.

My warrior and shaman are on their way up to 100. I'm hoping to have the Warrior there soon (and I'll be trying Gladiator's Resolve,) and probably after the holidays I'll take the Monk, Hunter, Druid, and Priest up.

LFR and Loot

Here's the huge caveat: this is a sample size of four characters, and it may have just been a fluke.

LFR's first wing of Highmaul opened up on Tuesday, and it's clear that some big changes were made to the way LFR works. First off - I have no idea how they managed this or if it was sheer stupid luck, but I didn't have more than a 5-minute queue time as a tank or DPS (with one exception, after re-queueing my rogue, who got in on the last boss, and had to wait about an hour to get another run to see the first two.)

The other thing that struck me is that the loot flowed freely. I did get one item via a bonus roll (on the hapless rogue,) but all four characters I took in there got at least two pieces of gear (the mage got three.)

So is the drop-rate in LFR far higher than it has been in the past? Again, this is anecdotal - it's possible I was absurdly lucky. But the other possibility is that they have made LFR drop gear far more easily than it had in the past.

Given the extreme ease of the fights - making Mists' LFR difficulty look like Heroic - this reinforces the impression I get that Blizzard really, really wants players to move past LFR quickly and start running normal mode.

The odd consequence here is that it sort of obsoletes heroic dungeons. Heroics are what we've had available since the launch of the expansion (which was just under a month ago,) and while they haven't been absurdly hard, there have been things you've had to pay attention to lest you go splat.

LFR requires somewhat higher-level gear. You'll need an average item level of 615 to run it, meaning you'll really have to exhaust the normal level 100 dungeons (or get some crafted/Apexis/vignette gear) if you want to do it without running heroics.

But once you hit that threshold, I don't really see many people worrying too much about heroics. If you want to gear up for your guild's normal mode runs, the rapid speed of the LFR wing and the apparent higher loot drop-rate would seem to make it a superior method for gearing. The main downside is that it's a weekly lockout, rather than daily. Still, with everyone grabbing lots of LFR gear, runs through heroics to fill in the gaps should go incredibly smoothly (and to be fair, at this point they're mostly pretty smooth now that people know the fights.)

I really have no idea why queue times were so fast, and I'll be curious to see if that holds up later in the week (if I can get my newly-100 warlock geared up before I go home for the holidays.) But it seems like hitting that 615 threshold will be enough to propel you far higher into fantastic (for now) gear levels. (Should make solo stuff on squishier classes a lot easier. I'm interested to see how soloing on my mage will be with these epic pieces.)