Announcing WoW Expansion: The Burning Crusade

[slag]

Originally posted by: Stangs55
let's get some mirrors going for that trailer It blows my mind that those dumbasses continue to use the POS blizzard downloader...wow

I've never ever ever had a problem with the blizzard downloader and I originally created my account on november 23rd, 2004. I download patches when they come out as well when everyone else is grabbing them.

Open the ports on your firewall and you'll not have any issues.

The blizzard patcher/downloader is not to blame for this.

 

[Concillian]

Originally posted by: Schadenfroh
How are they going to balance the talent trees and classes with the level cap now 70? Reading over some of these things, i believe that they may very well make the game worse.

This is a big question in my mind.

For example, a warrior only deals physical damage, and the talents are very synergistic as a result. With 61 talent points, a warrior can get Mortal Strike and Deathwish and Flurry (OMG crazy damage). A mage on the other hand, has less synergy, with very few talents that help damage beyond the first 51 talent points spent. Only the arcane tree has talents which significantly help any other damage type, and there are very few.

A talent revamp would be needed, or a seperate tree or two for post 60 talents, but I'm not sure they'd do that. They could also cap talent points at 51, with levels 61-70 giving no talent points, but somehow I don't see that happening.

 

Originally posted by: Concillian

Originally posted by: Schadenfroh
How are they going to balance the talent trees and classes with the level cap now 70? Reading over some of these things, i believe that they may very well make the game worse.

This is a big question in my mind.

For example, a warrior only deals physical damage, and the talents are very synergistic as a result. With 61 talent points, a warrior can get Mortal Strike and Deathwish and Flurry (OMG crazy damage). A mage on the other hand, has less synergy, with very few talents that help damage beyond the first 51 talent points spent. Only the arcane tree has talents which significantly help any other damage type, and there are very few.

A talent revamp would be needed, or a seperate tree or two for post 60 talents, but I'm not sure they'd do that. They could also cap talent points at 51, with levels 61-70 giving no talent points, but somehow I don't see that happening.

My Soul link warlock will be insane with Ruin added on...awesome damage, awesome crit rate, VERY VERY difficult to kill....

 

[necine]

Well... I guess when this update is released I will reopen my WoW account.

 

[DaveNinja]

I'm thinking they need new "specialized" talent trees for the ten points between 61 and 70.
They could even just be extensions of the current trees but you can only spend the points in them if you have 31 points and are level 61.

 

Originally posted by: DaveNinja
I'm thinking they need new "specialized" talent trees for the ten points between 61 and 70.
They could even just be extensions of the current trees but you can only spend the points in them if you have 31 points and are level 61.

Doing that though would force people into fully speccing into one talent tree...I still know plenty of people that like to spread out their talents to get 2 21 point talents. They are very good players and it works for them...making people spec down to 31 points shouldn't be the answer...But I do see the need to rebalance everything if it is indeed an extra 10 talent points.

 

[placebo139]

So is the level cap going to apply only to expansion pack buyers? Or will non-purchasers still have to ability to gain XP to reach level 70 (i.e. Grinding just 60 mobs).

Won't that pretty much force everyone to buy the expansion?

 

[Noema]

Originally posted by: Jeff7181
I can't understand why people don't want the level cap raised. So what if you haven't reached level 60 so far. So what if it'll take even longer to go from 60 to 70 than from 50 to 60. So what if your Epic gear is outclassed by new level 60-70 rare gear. There will be loads of new content. If you play the game to have the most money and the best equipment, you're playing the wrong game. This new content should give you a reason to KEEP playing... not be a reason for you to give up.

The problem is that end-game content is designed for 60s, and so is the itemization. When the level cap is raised, a 70 who has never been in an instance and is equipped with only lvl 70AH greens and blues will be at least as powerful as a 70 in full BWL and MC designed for 60 epics. A MC epic will be equivalent to one of the new regular level 70 greens. In other words, those people who wasted hours not only farming but learning the encounters in those places get shafted.

Yes, there will be a lot of new content for 70s. But all the time wasted getting the Uber items for 60s is pretty much gone to down the drain. It takes months to get a full Tier 1 or 2 set; it will take most people a week to get to 70.

 

[NeoV]

can't they put a max level on instances so that 70's can't get into MC?

 

[magomago]

IF they do raise the cap they should make it hard to level...going from 60-61 should be like grinding hell~ taking the same amount of XP from level 1-60. So even if you tried to grind, you'd gain a level every month (takes about 30 days to hit 60, right?)

 

[Jeff7181]

Originally posted by: NeoV
can't they put a max level on instances so that 70's can't get into MC?

They could... but why? A level 60 can go to Deadmines and clear out the whole thing in a half hour. What's the big deal about a level 70 going into a level 60 instance? How is it different than a Level 60 going into a level 50 instance right now???

 

[Jeff7181]

Originally posted by: Noema

Originally posted by: Jeff7181
I can't understand why people don't want the level cap raised. So what if you haven't reached level 60 so far. So what if it'll take even longer to go from 60 to 70 than from 50 to 60. So what if your Epic gear is outclassed by new level 60-70 rare gear. There will be loads of new content. If you play the game to have the most money and the best equipment, you're playing the wrong game. This new content should give you a reason to KEEP playing... not be a reason for you to give up.

The problem is that end-game content is designed for 60s, and so is the itemization. When the level cap is raised, a 70 who has never been in an instance and is equipped with only lvl 70AH greens and blues will be at least as powerful as a 70 in full BWL and MC designed for 60 epics. A MC epic will be equivalent to one of the new regular level 70 greens. In other words, those people who wasted hours not only farming but learning the encounters in those places get shafted.

Yes, there will be a lot of new content for 70s. But all the time wasted getting the Uber items for 60s is pretty much gone to down the drain. It takes months to get a full Tier 1 or 2 set; it will take most people a week to get to 70.

It depends on how you look at it I guess. I don't see it as getting shafted. I see new content as a reason to keep playing. I think this expansion will be more like an extension of end-game content. Meaning... those people who have already been raiding MC for months won't notice much difference. It will be like the addition of ZG, only bigger. ZG added a lot of loot that outclassed some older loot. This is just on a larger scale.

 

[mOeeOm]

Originally posted by: magomago
IF they do raise the cap they should make it hard to level...going from 60-61 should be like grinding hell~ taking the same amount of XP from level 1-60. So even if you tried to grind, you'd gain a level every month (takes about 30 days to hit 60, right?)

Dear god no...I've played that kinda game, L2, I got to level 53, at that point everytime I kill 10 ''Red'' monsters I gain 0.1% of my exp bar...and I had to group with others to do this....trust me it ruins the game.

 

[manko]

Hmm, I might renew my account and play for another month when this is released. I cancelled my account in February rather than instance grinding, so no wasted time for me. I'm hoping that the raised cap means there's a lot of new small group and soloable content for people to level from 60-70. I had a lot of fun getting to 60, but never understood why endless hours of repeating the same instances for a chance to roll on on a set piece was any fun.

 

[Polyfluoroethylene]

No demo no care.

 

[Jeff7181]

Originally posted by: magomago
IF they do raise the cap they should make it hard to level...going from 60-61 should be like grinding hell~ taking the same amount of XP from level 1-60. So even if you tried to grind, you'd gain a level every month (takes about 30 days to hit 60, right?)

Do you play World of Warcraft? Do you have any idea what it takes to level? If I'm not mistaken, the record for "speed leveling" to 60 is about 7 days... not 7 days of off and on play... 168 hours of gameplay.

That's not taking into account any time spent doing any trade skills... that's just grinding for XP.

At each level, it takes more XP to reach the next, and the increase in XP you get from higher level mobs doesn't even it out. I can go from level 1 to level 10 in a few hours without grouping. Going from 50 to 60 by yourself takes days.

 

[electified]

Originally posted by: Jeff7181

Originally posted by: magomago
IF they do raise the cap they should make it hard to level...going from 60-61 should be like grinding hell~ taking the same amount of XP from level 1-60. So even if you tried to grind, you'd gain a level every month (takes about 30 days to hit 60, right?)

Do you play World of Warcraft? Do you have any idea what it takes to level? If I'm not mistaken, the record for "speed leveling" to 60 is about 7 days... not 7 days of off and on play... 168 hours of gameplay.

That's not taking into account any time spent doing any trade skills... that's just grinding for XP.

At each level, it takes more XP to reach the next, and the increase in XP you get from higher level mobs doesn't even it out. I can go from level 1 to level 10 in a few hours without grouping. Going from 50 to 60 by yourself takes days.

I heard that they want it to take the same amount of time to get from 60-70 as from 1-60.

 

[Velk]

Originally posted by: FallenHero

Originally posted by: DaveNinja
I'm thinking they need new "specialized" talent trees for the ten points between 61 and 70.
They could even just be extensions of the current trees but you can only spend the points in them if you have 31 points and are level 61.

Doing that though would force people into fully speccing into one talent tree...I still know plenty of people that like to spread out their talents to get 2 21 point talents. They are very good players and it works for them...making people spec down to 31 points shouldn't be the answer...But I do see the need to rebalance everything if it is indeed an extra 10 talent points.

I believe they are extending the existing trees upwards. I'd think they would have to be pretty good top tier talents to outweigh a 31/30 arms/fury build as previously noted though. My guess is they will restructure the warrior talent tree some.

 

[Hacp]

Originally posted by: Jeff7181

Originally posted by: magomago
IF they do raise the cap they should make it hard to level...going from 60-61 should be like grinding hell~ taking the same amount of XP from level 1-60. So even if you tried to grind, you'd gain a level every month (takes about 30 days to hit 60, right?)

Do you play World of Warcraft? Do you have any idea what it takes to level? If I'm not mistaken, the record for "speed leveling" to 60 is about 7 days... not 7 days of off and on play... 168 hours of gameplay.

That's not taking into account any time spent doing any trade skills... that's just grinding for XP.

At each level, it takes more XP to reach the next, and the increase in XP you get from higher level mobs doesn't even it out. I can go from level 1 to level 10 in a few hours without grouping. Going from 50 to 60 by yourself takes days.

I think he means this. If it took you 10 hours to get from level 1 to 60, it will take you 10 hours to get from lvl 60-61. Also, it does take some time for you to lvl from one to 60 if you aren't a hardcore grinder. I don't own the game, but many people in my school do, and during holidays/weekends, all they do is grind new chars to 60 .

 

[lagvoid]

:thumbsup:

Can't wait to see how it turns out!

 

[ArchAngel777]

Originally posted by: Noema

Originally posted by: Jeff7181
I can't understand why people don't want the level cap raised. So what if you haven't reached level 60 so far. So what if it'll take even longer to go from 60 to 70 than from 50 to 60. So what if your Epic gear is outclassed by new level 60-70 rare gear. There will be loads of new content. If you play the game to have the most money and the best equipment, you're playing the wrong game. This new content should give you a reason to KEEP playing... not be a reason for you to give up.

The problem is that end-game content is designed for 60s, and so is the itemization. When the level cap is raised, a 70 who has never been in an instance and is equipped with only lvl 70AH greens and blues will be at least as powerful as a 70 in full BWL and MC designed for 60 epics. A MC epic will be equivalent to one of the new regular level 70 greens. In other words, those people who wasted hours not only farming but learning the encounters in those places get shafted.

Yes, there will be a lot of new content for 70s. But all the time wasted getting the Uber items for 60s is pretty much gone to down the drain. It takes months to get a full Tier 1 or 2 set; it will take most people a week to get to 70.

Mark my words. People will *not* be L70 within a week. With the current XP curve, L48 is the half way point to getting to 60. Granted, the XP is slightly more with each level. Therefore, L45 is when you are halfway to 60.

Most people will take around 15 days to get L60. The harcore players can do it slightly under 10 (if they grind hardcore). I believe L60 - L70 will take about 7 days /played. Which will work out to at the very least, 2 weeks to someone who does not have a life. All the rest of of us with lives who might spend 3 hours a night a few nights a week, well, it is going to take us a few months to hit 70.

You also have to remember how congested those zones are going to be... Winterspring is already congested, imagine how much more when every L60 in the game needs to start leveling? Sounds like I might take the first week or two off, to limit the ammount of people competing in any given zone.

 

[Malladine]

Originally posted by: ArchAngel777
You also have to remember how congested those zones are going to be... Winterspring is already congested, imagine how much more when every L60 in the game needs to start leveling? Sounds like I might take the first week or two off, to limit the ammount of people competing in any given zone.

Remember that only those who have the expansion will be able to lvl beyond 60

 

[ArchAngel777]

Originally posted by: Malladine

Originally posted by: ArchAngel777
You also have to remember how congested those zones are going to be... Winterspring is already congested, imagine how much more when every L60 in the game needs to start leveling? Sounds like I might take the first week or two off, to limit the ammount of people competing in any given zone.

Remember that only those who have the expansion will be able to lvl beyond 60

Which will be 99% of all the L60 active players in the game, in addition to all the L60's that quit due to lack of single player content.

On a different note, are you sure that someone without the expansion will not be able to level past 60? It seems that you could, but they they would have access to none of the new content (Zones, Gear, etc...). You are probably right, I am just curious.

 

[Malladine]

Originally posted by: ArchAngel777

Originally posted by: Malladine

Originally posted by: ArchAngel777
You also have to remember how congested those zones are going to be... Winterspring is already congested, imagine how much more when every L60 in the game needs to start leveling? Sounds like I might take the first week or two off, to limit the ammount of people competing in any given zone.

Remember that only those who have the expansion will be able to lvl beyond 60

Which will be 99% of all the L60 active players in the game, in addition to all the L60's that quit due to lack of single player content.

On a different note, are you sure that someone without the expansion will not be able to levle past 60? It seems that you could, but they they would have access to none of the new content (Zones, Gear, etc...). You are probably right, I am just curious.

I'm actually not 100% sure. Just seems unlikely they'd give that away for free

And I don't think many of the old zones, so to speak, will be TOO crowded once 60s can lvl some more. They'll mostly be in the new continent/zones.

 

[Jeff7181]

Originally posted by: Hacp

Originally posted by: Jeff7181

Originally posted by: magomago
IF they do raise the cap they should make it hard to level...going from 60-61 should be like grinding hell~ taking the same amount of XP from level 1-60. So even if you tried to grind, you'd gain a level every month (takes about 30 days to hit 60, right?)

Do you play World of Warcraft? Do you have any idea what it takes to level? If I'm not mistaken, the record for "speed leveling" to 60 is about 7 days... not 7 days of off and on play... 168 hours of gameplay.

That's not taking into account any time spent doing any trade skills... that's just grinding for XP.

At each level, it takes more XP to reach the next, and the increase in XP you get from higher level mobs doesn't even it out. I can go from level 1 to level 10 in a few hours without grouping. Going from 50 to 60 by yourself takes days.

I think he means this. If it took you 10 hours to get from level 1 to 60, it will take you 10 hours to get from lvl 60-61. Also, it does take some time for you to lvl from one to 60 if you aren't a hardcore grinder. I don't own the game, but many people in my school do, and during holidays/weekends, all they do is grind new chars to 60 .

I know exactly what he's saying, and I don't aggree with it. If it takes somebody 168 hours to reach level 60, it should not take an additional 168 hours to get to level 61. That's ridiculous.

Leveling is not too easy and it's not too hard... it's fine the way it's set up. And if they keep the same method of getting to 70, it'll be fine.

I'm sick of people who reached level 60, and consider themselves 1337 or something because of it, and are now pissed off that they have to put in more time to be 1337 again. Stop playing the game if that's your goal... to be the best... cause you're not, and you never will be with that mentality.