AT World of Warcraft Thread (Warlords, Where do you play, General BS and all that)

[JujuFish]

I always liked the mass open betas before a games release to see if I was going to like a game, but for something like expansions beta's I can never understand why they are so popular. You just end up having to do everything you did on a beta server all over again once it hits live and you have already taken the new feel out of it by doing it on the test server.

For me, it's not about playing the new content, but rather checking out all the class changes. Every class has been changed at least somewhat, and a few have had complete overhauls.

 

[DarkRipper]

Did you set the opt in on your battle.net account?

You can do that?

 

[Anubis]

You can do that?

yes its under account and then beta settings, you can opt in/out for all of their games

there is a small file you can run that sends them your system specs which is a good idea

 

[rh71]

I wish Blizz would send ex-players a 5 day re-join trial. I just want to check out what's new (left after MoP) and see if it's worth returning. I fill my time void with other games, but there's never been a game I've committed to so much in the past so I get interested once in a while. I even come back to this thread from time to time.

 

[AznAnarchy99]

I wish Blizz would send ex-players a 5 day re-join trial. I just want to check out what's new (left after MoP) and see if it's worth returning. I fill my time void with other games, but there's never been a game I've committed to so much in the past so I get interested once in a while. I even come back to this thread from time to time.

They do it around expansion time. Wait til Legion comes out.

 

[Harabec]

Yep I remember getting an email months ago with 7 free days to try WoD or something. I think, however, that Legion will be the first WoW expack I won't buy. Community isn't there and real life has moved on.

 

[Rebel_L]

Any recommendations on which early zones or story lines have changed drastically since cata. I havent leveled anything since before then so if there are any good quest lines I want to do some of them on the way. Stuff like the old stormwind king kidnapping line (which I assume is gone now) or something like summoning stitches etc.

 

[Phoenix86]

I haven't leveled a toon since forever either, but I heard the new human zones have great lore.

 

[Linflas]

I wish Blizz would send ex-players a 5 day re-join trial. I just want to check out what's new (left after MoP) and see if it's worth returning. I fill my time void with other games, but there's never been a game I've committed to so much in the past so I get interested once in a while. I even come back to this thread from time to time.

They just did that to me a few weeks ago and managed to set the hook in my mouth lol. I haven't played since 2007 other than a brief 7 day period in 2011 when I received another one of those emails. It is almost like a new game to me, things are that different. When they bumped my level 60 main to level 90 everything I had was stripped and emailed to me and I had a whole new set of level 90 gear and bags. Even more surprising is how quickly the gold accumulated, I had about 90 gold total on my toon and already am up to close to 2k. I guess there has been a lot of inflation.

 

[rh71]

^ So if I don't get an email, I'm out of luck?

 

[Linflas]

^ So if I don't get an email, I'm out of luck?

I guess so for now, I received the email on May 13th: Last Chance to Claim Your FREE Copy of Warlords of Draenor -- Including Level 90 Boost! Offer Expires Monday! Last Chance to Claim Your FREE Copy of Warlords of Draenor -- Including Level 90 Boost! Offer Ends Monday!

The fine print:
*To be eligible for these offers for World of Warcraft, your licence must be inactive on or before January 28, 2016 and in good standing.


**To claim your Level 90 Character Boost, you must log in to World of Warcraft before May 16, 2016 at 11:59:59 PDT. Free 7-day game time offer expires on May 16, 2016 at 11:59:59 PDT. Free game time is non-transferrable.

 

[DarkRipper]

yes its under account and then beta settings, you can opt in/out for all of their games

there is a small file you can run that sends them your system specs which is a good idea

Well... sheeit.

 

[Slacker]

You don't have to run a scan for system specs Battle.net app takes care of that

 

[quikah]

I didn't get a lvl 90 boost, but I did get 7 free days and all the expansions by filing a support ticket to get my OLD account linked to my battle.net (forgot pw and lost access to email). Guessing they had sent me an email for it that bounced during the promotion period.

I hadn't played since BC. Was fun to check out all the changes, but really seems like easy mode now. I was just ripping though things on my rogue. might resubscribe for a month or 2 (yeah that's what they all say) after summer vacations to check out all the content I missed...

 

[lupi]

Everything pre-legion is now free with an account.

 

[lupi]

http://us.battle.net/wow/en/forum/topic/20745744692?page=1#18

 

[nurturedhate]

http://us.battle.net/wow/en/forum/topic/20745744692?page=1#18

That is quite possibly the worst change Blizzard has ever made when it comes to raiding. That completely screws over tanks, melee, healers, raid leaders, ranged... well everyone that raids at a semi decent level.

I was tempted to come back for Legion as FF14 just doesn't have a well developed raiding scene compared to WoW but this is crushing.

I know some people might see this as something petty to change but it really hurts. I really don't want to stare at a boss' crotch for 4 hours a night. There was something wonder, special, about orchestrating 40 and then 25 people in a raid like a symphony and seeing them executing your plan to down an encounter. Now I would get to stare at a boss leg while hoping the warlock isn't standing in fire, can't help my melee out by calling out fight changes, can't help the healers get into better position.

This is just a flat out horrible change.

 

[cronos]

http://us.battle.net/wow/en/forum/topic/20745744692?page=1#18

Well that sucks.

 

[Slacker]

I did 5 ring upgrades this week (771 to 786), which I think shouldn't have been possible, I know I had 500 or 600 valor going into last reset but the thing I think did it was that I could swear I did certain mythic dungeons but they weren't locked out so I did them again, was 2 mythics that I believe I got valor from twice.

So, 5 upgrades at 1250 valor each is 6250

I did everything possible for valor as follows..

Weekly event 500 valor
Daily heroics x7 700 valor
Highmaul
blackrock lfr 525 valor
Hellfire lfr 750 valor
Mythic 5mans x8 2400 valor

Which comes to 4875

So, 4875 - 6250 = 1375

I know I had some valor going into the reset and if I am right about double dipping on 2 mythic dungeons then I might have had 775 valor going into the week.

Anyway... Only 3 to go for max legendary ring, all from valor grinding, haven't raided since seige.

 

[Rebel_L]

That is quite possibly the worst change Blizzard has ever made when it comes to raiding. That completely screws over tanks, melee, healers, raid leaders, ranged... well everyone that raids at a semi decent level.

I was tempted to come back for Legion as FF14 just doesn't have a well developed raiding scene compared to WoW but this is crushing.

I know some people might see this as something petty to change but it really hurts. I really don't want to stare at a boss' crotch for 4 hours a night. There was something wonder, special, about orchestrating 40 and then 25 people in a raid like a symphony and seeing them executing your plan to down an encounter. Now I would get to stare at a boss leg while hoping the warlock isn't standing in fire, can't help my melee out by calling out fight changes, can't help the healers get into better position.

This is just a flat out horrible change.

I wonder how widespread the extra zoom limit use actually was. I get thats its never fun to loose a feature you used to use but I cant actually see this having a significant impact. If you cant get good angles to see what you want anymore you simply have a ranged calling out things that a melee would have before. I certainly survived much 40 man raiding and some 25/10 people raiding without ever even knowing you could zoom out further.

 

[Pens1566]

I wonder how widespread the extra zoom limit use actually was. I get thats its never fun to loose a feature you used to use but I cant actually see this having a significant impact. If you cant get good angles to see what you want anymore you simply have a ranged calling out things that a melee would have before. I certainly survived much 40 man raiding and some 25/10 people raiding without ever even knowing you could zoom out further.

I can see it being a huge problem for tanks and melee period. Whether or not they're RL.

They really dropped the ball on what seems to be the obvious fix (make UI slider go to the old max). That is, if what they were trying to "fix" is making an even playing field. But I don't buy that one bit.

 

[nurturedhate]

I wonder how widespread the extra zoom limit use actually was. I get thats its never fun to loose a feature you used to use but I cant actually see this having a significant impact. If you cant get good angles to see what you want anymore you simply have a ranged calling out things that a melee would have before. I certainly survived much 40 man raiding and some 25/10 people raiding without ever even knowing you could zoom out further.

I raided decently high end for years, top 100 worldish been a long time since being competitive, and quit raiding around the middle of WoD and you are the first person that I have seen stating they didn't use it. Back from vanilla through WotLK when I was GM it was one of the semi required things for our raiders. Around MoP we stopped asking about it as we just assumed anyone interested in some form of decent progression was already using it.

As a healer, tank, or a raid leader it is basically required to perform optimally. With the default setting healers cannot see everyone within their healing range, 40 yards for the most part. Tanks for the most part could not see past, around, or over the boss' crotch. And there's really no way I could have effectively raid lead without being able to see the whole raid, where people are positioned, what's coming next, such and so forth.

It's also not about always having the camera zoomed completely out either. Questing is more enjoyable zoomed in closer and sometimes to see an objective you needed to zoom in. 5 mans didn't "need" the camera distance either. There are many times in arena when you wanted to be closer to the action as well. It was having the ability to take an option, a tool, and use it to the best of its ability in the appropriate situation that Blizzard has now taken away from us.

The only way I can see this working is if Blizzard drastically shrinks the size of boss' and adds or dumbs down fight mechanics to compensate for the lack of awareness of our surroundings. The other option would be to assign several raid leader type positions for specific areas of the combat zones and frankly I cannot see that working out well. People capable of raid leading adequately, let alone willing to do the job, are already in short supply. Now throw in having to have 3 or 4 people to call things out and voice coms are going to be flooded.

Granted, I don't think this affects a massive number of people. The majority of people who just log in to do their dailies, 5 mans, and LFR will feel nothing from this and probably didn't even think about it before now. Now if you're a guild who does raid say 2 days a week and sit somewhere around spot 25 or lower on your server (decent pop) and who basically progresses past content after overgearing it through farming this might actually have some effect on you. There's bound to be a couple stronger players who help push you over the top and their ability to max out their play will be somewhat limited.

What I think is that this hurts the "progression+" group and up to the top guilds the most. What I mean by "progression+" is the group that tries to finish content while still current. The raid group that gets most of the mythic bosses down before the next raid is released. And I think that hurts the game as a whole. When I first started playing I would be leveling my war and come back to Iron Forge (remember this was the hang out spot in vanilla for Alliance) and see the raiders in their raid gear and I wanted that badly. So I earned that. It was that carrot on a stick that made me want to play more and more. Playing more fostered friendships and a social environment that I wanted to remain a part of, friendships that I still have to this day. That is what I think WoW is missing these days and why people look back on vanilla and BC with rose colored glasses. Yes, the game is a fundamentally, foundationally better game today then back then but it lost that carrot around the end of WotLK and the social aspect somewhere in Mop. At least for me it did.

I was really looking forward to Legion. My children are old enough that the wife and I have time to raid again and FF14 just doesn't really cater to raiding. It is much more a jack of all trades MMO that does a myriad of things rather well but not raiding. This change by Blizzard hurts my desire to raid again.

 

[nurturedhate]

I can see it being a huge problem for tanks and melee period. Whether or not they're RL.

They really dropped the ball on what seems to be the obvious fix (make UI slider go to the old max). That is, if what they were trying to "fix" is making an even playing field. But I don't buy that one bit.

Yep, poor melee. I almost feel sorry for rogues now. Just more dead rogues to pile up in the corner.

 

[Rebel_L]

I raided decently high end for years, top 100 worldish been a long time since being competitive, and quit raiding around the middle of WoD and you are the first person that I have seen stating they didn't use it. Back from vanilla through WotLK when I was GM it was one of the semi required things for our raiders. Around MoP we stopped asking about it as we just assumed anyone interested in some form of decent progression was already using it.

As a healer, tank, or a raid leader it is basically required to perform optimally. With the default setting healers cannot see everyone within their healing range, 40 yards for the most part. Tanks for the most part could not see past, around, or over the boss' crotch. And there's really no way I could have effectively raid lead without being able to see the whole raid, where people are positioned, what's coming next, such and so forth.

It's also not about always having the camera zoomed completely out either. Questing is more enjoyable zoomed in closer and sometimes to see an objective you needed to zoom in. 5 mans didn't "need" the camera distance either. There are many times in arena when you wanted to be closer to the action as well. It was having the ability to take an option, a tool, and use it to the best of its ability in the appropriate situation that Blizzard has now taken away from us.

The only way I can see this working is if Blizzard drastically shrinks the size of boss' and adds or dumbs down fight mechanics to compensate for the lack of awareness of our surroundings. The other option would be to assign several raid leader type positions for specific areas of the combat zones and frankly I cannot see that working out well. People capable of raid leading adequately, let alone willing to do the job, are already in short supply. Now throw in having to have 3 or 4 people to call things out and voice coms are going to be flooded.

Granted, I don't think this affects a massive number of people. The majority of people who just log in to do their dailies, 5 mans, and LFR will feel nothing from this and probably didn't even think about it before now. Now if you're a guild who does raid say 2 days a week and sit somewhere around spot 25 or lower on your server (decent pop) and who basically progresses past content after overgearing it through farming this might actually have some effect on you. There's bound to be a couple stronger players who help push you over the top and their ability to max out their play will be somewhat limited.

What I think is that this hurts the "progression+" group and up to the top guilds the most. What I mean by "progression+" is the group that tries to finish content while still current. The raid group that gets most of the mythic bosses down before the next raid is released. And I think that hurts the game as a whole. When I first started playing I would be leveling my war and come back to Iron Forge (remember this was the hang out spot in vanilla for Alliance) and see the raiders in their raid gear and I wanted that badly. So I earned that. It was that carrot on a stick that made me want to play more and more. Playing more fostered friendships and a social environment that I wanted to remain a part of, friendships that I still have to this day. That is what I think WoW is missing these days and why people look back on vanilla and BC with rose colored glasses. Yes, the game is a fundamentally, foundationally better game today then back then but it lost that carrot around the end of WotLK and the social aspect somewhere in Mop. At least for me it did.

I was really looking forward to Legion. My children are old enough that the wife and I have time to raid again and FF14 just doesn't really cater to raiding. It is much more a jack of all trades MMO that does a myriad of things rather well but not raiding. This change by Blizzard hurts my desire to raid again.

I raided as a rogue in vanilla, played from launch, MC, bwl, and some of AQ, I stopped playing shortly after nax was released and started playing again towards the end of BC, just pvp'd for the end of BC and then raided for a while in wrath again, this time as a pally tank for nax, ulduar, and some of argent tourny until I quite playing again. In vanilla I was in one of the better guilds on the server, by wrath it was pretty casual and I only regularly raided with a 10 man group.

I do zoom out to the standard max, and yes I I never really see the tops of many bosses, its just never been necessary. The raid leaders calling out stuff was usually just to reiterate addon callouts for those who missed it on their screen, the only shout out I can remember that was more than that was ony positioning for the flame breath from phase 2, and I was in plenty of raids that didnt use that and were not overgeared and still managed to take her out.

In wrath with all the effects being marked on the floor I never had problems with sight, the only time I find I have hard time seeing is when in confined spaces where the zoom zooms in due to your positioning relative to walls (I dont recall this being the situation with any raid bosses though, mostly general world trying to peak around corners etc). The healers I talked to about healing said they pretty much healed off of raid frames and only glanced at the game to keep general positioning, those that sucked at that sometimes just put themselves on follow. The standard zoom out gives a pretty decent overview of the raid bosses general area and the only time I ever thought a bigger zoom out would be nice is when I was appreciating a view before the fight actually started and I was trying to look at the whole boss.

I dont have experience with that many fights when it comes down to all the boss fights in the game, but I honestly cant think of any where I couldnt perform well without more than default zoom. There were always people who had trouble with awareness but I always figured that was just the person. I know a friend of mine on the horde side was in a guild that used to do the baron fight in MC by having the whole raid in a single cluster rather than lots of individual groups because while they had no problem getting people to run away when they were the bomb they could not get them to run to the walls and they were constantly running into other groups. Maybe with low res monitors I could see it being a problem, I have played on 1600x1200 and 1920x1200 screens so they are not in the really high end for rez either, but not low res for sure.

I dont really see why they are taking it out, I just never got what the fuss is about. Maybe I am not remembering the issues since its been so long, I just honestly cant recall any.

 

[ewdotson]

As a healer, tank, or a raid leader it is basically required to perform optimally. With the default setting healers cannot see everyone within their healing range, 40 yards for the most part.

Why would a healer need to see the people with their healing range? I admit I haven't raided seriously since Wrath, but as far as I'm concerned, anyone gets outside my healing range, that's on them. Heck, I remember doing Ulduar on a substandard pc back in the day and *literally* pointing my character at the wall when fighting Kologarn in a desperate attempt to keep my framerate at a viable level.