WoW Weekly Podcast Blog

First Impression -'Scenario 'Analysis: Why hasn'

wowweeklypodcast@gmail.com (Kevin and Ryan) — Tue, 22 Oct 2013 01:23:00 +0000

Hearthstone has been in beta since Aug 19, 2013 and is limited to those who have beta keys. Currently October 21, 2013 the game has been in beta for around 66 days and still no word on a release date.

Money

So why doesn't Blizzard release the game to the public yet if it seems ready? It most likely has to do with money. Lets not play stupid the game is making money as it stands right now, I've seen players on YouTube buy 40 packs at a time.

If the game was released to 100,000 players with beta invites then how much money did they make? If each player bought only 1 pack then it would have been 199,900 dollars. 2 packs average? 398,000 dollars. That doesn't even consider the arena money gathered for paying to play.

I would say a rough estimate is that players have spent money on average 5 times. That is a safe assumption it is probably much more than that. 995,000, close to a million dollars from a beta.

The Healthstone game is potentially the most profitable IPO the company has right now. Even if the game is in beta it is making money so it allows them to delay release without too much of the pressures of profit.

Bugs

The game isn't ready for release to be honest.

I have watch hours and hours of the game be played. There are definitely still bugs and the Hearthstone team is a small one so patching and making change is slower than usual. I have seen issues with the cards not displaying correctly (missing card from hand, glowing cards, card hovering over the board) and minions being placed off the board. Also I have seen where the cards do not work as intended, counterspell proc'ing off of a silence battlecry from a minion. Odd things like that make the game close to release but not ready.

Blizzcon

Good news that Blizzard will be showing off the product at Blizzcon with a tournament. They might take the attitude beta is beta but how embarrassing would it be for Blizzard if the game has those bugs show up during a live match in front of their audience? So the game should recieve a huge update fixing all the bugs before Blizzcon if were lucky and thus making us that much closer to a released version of the game.

Dungeons Runs - Part 1 - Cool Story Bro

wowweeklypodcast@gmail.com (Kevin and Ryan) — Fri, 20 Sep 2013 22:40:00 +0000

First Impression -'Scenario 'Analysis: Why hasn''t Hearhstone been release yet? And why the Tournament at BlizzCon is good news!

wowweeklypodcast@gmail.com (Kevin and Ryan) — Thu, 19 Sep 2013 04:51:00 +0000

First Impressions of Timeless Isle 5.4

wowweeklypodcast@gmail.com (Kevin and Ryan) — Tue, 17 Sep 2013 04:59:00 +0000

Hearthstone Beta Key - Buy it now $650

wowweeklypodcast@gmail.com (Kevin and Ryan) — Tue, 17 Sep 2013 04:37:00 +0000

Whether or not the post on ebay is legit it got me wondering, would you pay for a hearthstone beta key? The actual battlenet account has multiple games on it but anyone who is a big enough fan willing to spend that kind of dough most likely already has some of them purchased. Did I mention that it has free shipping :)

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Hearthstone-Battlenet-Account-including-11-other-Blizzard-products-/281169427776?pt=US_Nonfiction_Book&hash=item417700fd40

Did Stranglethorn Vale copy Vietnam?

wowweeklypodcast@gmail.com (Kevin and Ryan) — Mon, 16 Sep 2013 04:41:00 +0000

Did Vietnam inspire the zone Stranglethorn Vale? Reddit user cairneyouhearme posted eerily similar images of maps of Vietnam and Stranglethorn Vale. Link below to original post on reddit and additional images added that show similarity in the visual look and feel of the zone.

http://www.reddit.com/r/wow/comments/1mgupx/vietnam_is_a_possible_inspiration_for/

Return to Writing After Long Hiatus

wowweeklypodcast@gmail.com (Kevin and Ryan) — Mon, 16 Sep 2013 04:21:00 +0000

So I'm back after a long break guys and I am playing WoW again. I just reached level 90 on my first character today. I am going to get back to writing about my experiences and making new videos but first a few things I want to say.

The reason why I stopped subbing WoW was Cataclysm, so here is some criticism while probably well known I want to get off my chest about that expansion.

Cataclysm while I played it a lot, after a while I didn't feel very fondly for the expansion. Maybe because for me I enjoyed the story in Wrath so much. Enjoyed is an understatement, I fuckimg loved Lich King. It's this familiar story arc of a hero who is corrupted by great power.. The Lich King made you feel something, something real. The broken relationship with Jaina and the sadness she feels knowing she lost a friend. For gods sake the ghost of his father that he murdered appears to him as he lay dying.

What emotion did I feel in Cataclysm? I felt nothing. It is a dragon, a really big bad ass dragon that wants to kill us all. Screw that scaly bastard. The story with Deathwing wasn't involved enough and I remember blizzard admitting to this. We only got to see the effects of his destruction but never got involved enough with who he is to really understand him. The story of Deathwing itself is interesting but it never was revealed to us in such an engaging was as it was in WotLK.

WotLK is and was a tough act to follow. It shows in the numbers as well, 12 million players peaked during Wrath.

Why aren't people Tanking or Healing in WoW?

wowweeklypodcast@gmail.com (Kevin and Ryan) — Sat, 03 Sep 2011 01:24:00 +0000

Spec Breakdown for the 10 Classes

DK - 2 Dps, 1 Tank
Druid - 1 Dps, 1 Tank, 1 Healer
Hunter - 3 Dps
Mage - 3 Dps
Paladin - 1 Dps, 1 Tank, 1 Healer
Priest - 1 Dps, 2 Healer
Rogue - 3 Dps
Shaman - 2 Dps, 1 Healer
Warlock - 3 Dps
Warrior - 2 Dps, 1 Tank

21 Dps, 5 Healer and 4 Tank Specs. The amount of Dps to Tank/Healer specs is really crazy. 21 out of 30 specs are for DPS. That is 70%.

In previous games there has always been a difference in the amount of dps to healer and tank classes. In the original EverQuest the class breakdown was as follows:

Tanks - 3 (Warrior, Paladin, Shadow Knight)
Healers - 3 (Cleric, Shaman, Druid)
Dps/Support - 8 (Monk, Ranger, Rogue, Wizard, Magician, Necromancer, Enchanter and Bard)

8 out of 14 classes are for DPS. That is 57% roughly.

For EverQuest it was necessary to have a group to play and get experience/level. In World of Warcraft it is necessary to level by yourself and to do so you must choose a DPS spec.

There are two colliding Worlds in the World of Warcraft. The world of questing by yourself and the world of running a dungeon. The two don't fit together very well at the moment. It requires messy things like.. Dual Specs and what not. It forces the player to learn to play one spec while questing and another while in a dungeon.

The issue is when I log in as a level 1 and want to be a healer I can't really do it until I hit level 15. From then on I would have to use the dungeon finder for the rest of the game.

The solution? The best idea I can come up with is a way for people to queue up for questing rather than a dungeon. Lets call it the 'Adventure Finder'. You and 4 other adventurers would be placed together to do quests in the game. It could be cross server or restricted your own server. It would encourage teamwork and would reward bonus experience for being in a group.

Reindeer Modification to Worgen Mount

wowweeklypodcast@gmail.com (Kevin and Ryan) — Fri, 02 Sep 2011 02:15:00 +0000

I took a few minutes in photoshop to see how a reindeer mount would look like if I turned it into a horse. I think it turned out pretty good hopefully someone from Blizzard sees this and takes it into consideration. Here is the before picture.

New Frontier

wowweeklypodcast@gmail.com (Kevin and Ryan) — Wed, 17 Aug 2011 19:34:00 +0000

See how it's done over at

http://ryanmihalyi.blogspot.com/2011/08/how-to-photoshop-yourself-crossing.html

Soon..

wowweeklypodcast@gmail.com (Kevin and Ryan) — Wed, 17 Aug 2011 05:06:00 +0000

What is Mist of Pandaria?

wowweeklypodcast@gmail.com (Kevin and Ryan) — Wed, 03 Aug 2011 05:57:00 +0000

It was announced today by MMO-Champion that Blizzard had trademarked "Mist of Pandaria". Based on the type of trademark filed it is most likely to be the next World of Warcraft expansion. If it is the next expansion I am going to ponder some questions.

What is Pandaria?

The island nation of the Pandaren race. Its landscape is covered in bambus forests. The beautiful cities of Pandaria were hand built from stone and bambus reed. The location of Pandaria remains a secret to any outsiders. Since the Third War more Pandaren have traveled to Kalimdor and established a settlement in Stonetalen Mountains . The location of the settlement has remained a secret.

Is there anything special about Pandaria?

Pandaria is known for its magical gems. Who knows just what kinds magic gems lie in the forests of Pandaria?

Will Pandaren be the next playable race?

I sincerely doubt it. It wouldn't follow in the format that Blizzard has previously followed.

Burning Crusade - Two New Races (Blood Elf/Draenei) +10 Level Cap

Wrath of the Lich King - Hero Class (Death Knight) +10 Level Cap

Cataclysm - Two New Races (Goblin/Worgen) +5 Level Cap

Mist of Pandaria - ?

You could argue that Pandaren are considered to be neutral however this didn't stop goblins from becoming the newest horde race. Also their racial mount is a horse which is already taken.

Do you think that there will be a new hero class?

I remember Blizzard saying what a nightmare it was to introduce a new class to World of Warcraft at a previous Blizzcon. Its adds to overall load with all the balancing that needs to be done in the game and complicates things further and further. I am not sure if Blizzard will stray from its previous format or not.

What do you think the expansion will have?

Increased Level Cap

Based on what Blizzard has done in the past regardless if it is Mist of Pandaria I would venture to say a few things. The level cap will be raised. In every expansion the level cap is raised, in Burning Crusade it was 10, in Wrath of the Lich King it was 10 and Cataclysm it was 5. I will guess that it will be increased 5 levels seeing as it appears that switched to a 5 level format now

New Quests and Story

Every expansion gets a new story line and questing area. They big question is where and who? According to the information that we have so far I would say that we will be meeting with the Pandaren for the first time and traveling to the island of Pandaria. According to Pandaren lore they are peaceful and secret creatures so I am not sure how or why we will discover them. It has been suggested that the Old Gods will play a significant role in the upcoming expansion.

Rumored to zones for the expansion

Pandaria – 1 to 10
Hiji – 10 to 20
Wolfenhold – 1 to 10
Xorothian Plains – 10 to 20

New Class or Hero Class

After being introduced to the Pandaren I believe it only seems natural that the Alliance and Horde races would have much to learn. The Pandaren have a wide variety of classes that they could potentially offer training in.

Runemaster - Monk-like arcane spell-casters who are also melee fighters who empowers themselves with magical energies by inscribing runes onto their bodies. Runemasters may be found in either the Horde or the Alliance. Though the arts of the runemaster originated among the ancient tauren, these techniques have been adopted by many races.

Wardancer - Skilled warriors who move with grace on the battlefield use shaktani warblades. The greatest hope of the wardancer is to not have to use his skills. The iconic pandaren wardancer wears a long, black tunic with gold buttons and gold trim.

Brewmaster - Known for making drinks and concoctions which give the brewmaster and others special abilities. Brewmasters practice a unique fighting style. They combine typical pandaren finesse and strength with the appearance of being drunk, stumbling apparently at random. While the path of the brewmaster might be learned by any race, the pandaren keep the craft of the brewmaster a closely guarded secret.

For me its got to be Brewmaster or Runemaster standing from lore perspective.

I think they will pick Brewmaster because of the potential for a new unique fighting system. The Death Knight offered a lot to players with the new runic power system. With the Brewmaster there could be a brand new system based on drinking to increase your fighting abilities.

I realize having an avatar drinking alcohol in computer game isn't the best idea so I won't rule out the Runemaster. The Runemaster sounds like a lot of fun too.

"Runemasters fill many roles. They are adept melee combatants. They possess runes to enhance themselves and their allies, as well as to ward certain areas and otherwise make life difficult for their opponents." -wowwiki

Diablo 3 Auction House To Use Real Money

wowweeklypodcast@gmail.com (Kevin and Ryan) — Mon, 01 Aug 2011 21:05:00 +0000

Will World of Warcraft Get Real Money Auction House In The Future?

An announcement has been made about Diablo 3's Auction House System and while not being directly about World of Warcraft many implications can be drawn from the new development. Diablo 3's Auction house will feature the ability to buy and sell items for cash, that's right, real life, hard earned money. The auction house will also allow players to buy and sell using gold, it will be up to players to which currency they want to trade in.

Truly ground-breaking and uncharted territory for the video game world. No company has ever done anything like this before. Potentially players could make money while they play and Blizzard will profit from taking a small cut from each transaction. This could be an excellent solution to manage gold farming and gold sales in Diablo 3.

I find that I must ask myself an important question. If Diablo 3's Auction House is successful will they bring it to World of Warcraft? While it would be ideal to manage the gold farming and selling that has plagued the game it would likely disrupt the games economy being implemented so late in the game. The community would likely be in outrage with such a dramatic change to the original system that has been in place for the past seven years. I don't think it out of the realm of possibility that Blizzard would ever port over the real money auctions to World of Warcraft but I doubt it. I do believe if it is successful in Diablo 3 they would implement it in their future games. Potentially they stand to generate a lot of revenue from this new auction house.

I won't be buying anything from the auction house because I believe in paying for in game items. At first I was skeptical to think that enough people would be buying things with real money but after I think about many players will buy exclusive and rare items. I never would guess that players would buy gold or items for a game but they do. For example in World of Warcraft many players will buy the exclusive Pet-Store items and Trading Card items. I think it all boils down to price and just exactly how rare the item is.

I look forward to seeing how well the system works. It seems like the most complicated and difficult task the Blizzard has ever taken on. They will have to manage millions of transactions between millions of players. Most of all I just want to see if I can make a little cash while I enjoy playing a video game.

Bad Experience With Lightwells

wowweeklypodcast@gmail.com (Kevin and Ryan) — Fri, 29 Jul 2011 04:37:00 +0000

I recently was running the dungeon finder to level up an alt when I encountered something that I hadn't experienced before 'Lightwells'. I was tanking Scarlet Monastary on my Paladin when I noticed I wasn't being healed. I then saw the priest say in party chat, "Click the Lightwell, BRB I'm busy watching porn".

I had assumed the priest was making a joke and had to afk quickly in the middle of the fight to take care of something in the middle of the fight. To be honest I had no previous experience with Lightwells, I had never even heard of it before. I have been playing World of Warcraft for 4 years now.

We arrived at the next trash pack, immediately the priest then hot-keys the same tell to party chat, "Click the Lightwell, BRB I'm busy watching porn". I immediately thought wow this guy is a lazy jerk, why isn't he healing me?

After healing myself through the half the instance I finally noticed the Lightwell in front of me and clicked it. I then realized that it would heal me if I clicked it. After I had learned the function of the Lightwell I became really angry. So the healer just expects to come in here, run through and plop down Lightwells? And its our responsibility to click on the Lightwell on heal ourselves?

Why is this still in the game? Why should I have to do the healers job for them? Its ridiculous! Lolwells is a fitting term for this piece of garbage priest talent. There is a good reason why I hadn't seen Lightwells in my four years of playing WoW! Its because they suck.

World of Warcraft College Dissertation

wowweeklypodcast@gmail.com (Kevin and Ryan) — Thu, 28 Jul 2011 00:21:00 +0000

Have you ever wondered what would happen if someone did their college dissertation on World of Warcraft?

Mark Chen, University of Washington student wrote his dissertation on World of Warcraft. No, he isn't a game designer; he is a student of the Collge of Education. You might be wondering what World of Warcraft has to do with education other than it distracts millions of teenagers from doing their homework. As it turns out Chen wanted to draw a corollary between learning in World of Warcraft to learning in the education systems of today.

When asked what specifically his thesis was about Chen replied,

"Basically, becoming an expert gamer in WoW meant getting enculturated to the norms of a player community that engaged in "expert" play and that these norms included ways of assembling, arranging, configuring, or drawing upon both social (friends, website strat guides, etc.) and material (add-ons, timers, game UI, etc.) resources to be successful. This is important to share with the education community because it turns the concept of expertise on its head: it wasn't necessarily about stuff you know in your head but more how you use tools and draw upon resources to get stuff done. This in turn has deep implications for our schools."

There is no doubt that World of Warcraft has become a culture of its own with a strong fan following, over 11.4 million subscribers. The players of World of Warcraft are part of a community, like it or not. We all understand references to things like "Leeroy Jenkins", "Threat" and "DPS".

Its reach is far beyond the game world with a multitude of websites, videos, podcasts conventions and strategy guides all dedicated to World of Warcraft.

Over time players of World of Warcraft have become adept at using the resources around them. If you become lost you can use your map. If you are unsure about the mechanics of a boss fight you can use the dungeon journal. At a moments notice a player is able to access an infinite amount of useful information without having to memorize it.

Its kind of like the day I got my cell phone and programmed all my phone numbers into it. I stopped needing to memorize phone numbers at that point.

Today we live in an amazing time and we have more information ready at our fingertips with smart phones and computers than ever. Let me ask you a question. What is more important? Knowing a fact or having the ability to find the answer in the palm of their hand?

Why Volley was removed and the reason Multi-shot ruined everything

wowweeklypodcast@gmail.com (Kevin and Ryan) — Sun, 10 Jul 2011 05:18:00 +0000

Before hunters were the kings of aoe damage. Let's be honest hunter aoe used to be one word.. 'volley'. Oh volley how I miss you. Let me tell you a story about my old friend volley.

In the old days.. Volley was the primary aoe damage for hunters. That was until blizzard decided to eliminate redundancies in hunter skills. Primarily Volley and Multi-shot.

It was decided one of these skills had to go and Volley ended up on the chopping block. But how come? The principle reason blizzard argued for this choice was that volley 'didn't fit into the gameplay as they intended it to'.

The truth is that Volley was being used more than any other skill. Players would neglect any rotation in favor of using volley almost exclusively. It was a principle reason for it's removal. I remember going through dungeons during WotLK with my hunter and only using Volley for the most part.

I won't argue that there isn't a problem with this because there is. Its the fact that volley took away from the way hunters played the game. The thing is though.. after a while I really liked using Volley. Let's face volley had been a trademark of all hunters for years until it was removed.

So why did Blizzard choose to keep Multi-shot? It really frustrates me that Blizzard couldn't think of a way to change Volley in way that would fit better into the game.

I would have liked to see Volley stay in some way as a proc. The best way I could think of this is to have Multi-shot have a chance to let you use Volley. So if you were dpsing and using Multi-shot then it would have a chance to proc and have the Multi-shot button transforms into the Volley button for you to use.

Hitting [Multi-shot] button and it has the chance to randomly transform to [Volley] button to use.

Thats what I came up with off the top of my head right now. I'm not sure if anyone else misses Volley as much as I do but I haven't played my hunter since Cata came out. It's not that I'm protesting or anything its just that I'm scared of all the changes made to hunters.

How do you feel about these changes and how do you think they could of been done differently? Leave Us a Comment or Email Us at wowweeklypodcast@gmail.com

How to Get the Alliance Balloon Pet

wowweeklypodcast@gmail.com (Kevin and Ryan) — Sat, 02 Jul 2011 17:25:00 +0000

Have you noticed people running around with balloons lately? You haven't? Well you should have because Blizzard has introduced a simple and easy quest that awards players with a brand new balloon pet.

Heres what you need to do.

Head to Stormwind City, Cathedral Square.
Go to the right corner to the small Draenei girl named Vin.
Click on her to recieve the quest, to recieve the quest players must be level 10.

Run around Stormwind and collect balloon for the little girl. Thats it! Your done, turn it in and recieve your brand new Alliance Balloon. And thats how you get the alliance balloon.

80-85 Leveling Guide for Patch 4.2

wowweeklypodcast@gmail.com (Kevin and Ryan) — Thu, 30 Jun 2011 20:03:00 +0000

With the Rage of the Firelands now upon us in Patch 4.2 its time to reevaluate our leveling strategies for Cataclysm. Lets take a look at what should be taken into consideration while leveling after Patch 4.2.

New Unlockable Daily Quests Content

The Regrowth and Molten Front Daily Quest Hubs will offer level 85 players daily solo content, including over 60 new quest, four 'unlockable' iLevel 365 gear vendors and much more. Players must complete all the quests in Hyjal up to the regrowth cut scene before they may access the daily quest hubs.

Leveling in Mount Hyjal

If you are leveling a character from 80 to 85 I strongly suggest that you take you character to Mount Hyjal and not Vashj'ir. While Vashj'ir may be a wonderful zone its not as essential to your progress in the game as Hyjal. If you eventually want to have access to the new daily quests you will need to do all the quests in Hyjal so you might as well do them while your the appropriate level.

Mount Hyjal Quest Flowchart by Kardeethree of Medivh

Mid-Summer Fire Festival Experience Bonus

During the Festival for every location you visit and honor the flame you will recieve a buff that increases your experience recieved by 10% for one hour.

How I have leveled so far..

I wanted to see how many levels I could get if I leveled my level 80 death knight through Hyjal with full rested experience and using the 10% experience buff.

Day One - I completed 75 out 115 quests in Hyjal and finished two dungeons from the dungeon finder, Blackrock Caverns and Throne of the Tides. So far I am half way through level 82.

Day Two - I completed all the Quest in Hyjal and I almost reached level 83. I decided to go to Deepholm and start questing. Meanwhile I queued up for an instance and did the Stonecore and reached level 83 shortly after.

Firelands in Panoramic View

wowweeklypodcast@gmail.com (Kevin and Ryan) — Sun, 26 Jun 2011 19:55:00 +0000

I wanted to share a forum-thread I recently came across on mmo-champion called 'Sulfuron Spire in all it's panoramic glory...' where player Cthulhu Ftagn posted numerous amazing panoramic pictures of World of Warcraft. He first debuted a glorious image of the firelands in full panorama and began taking request from the forum. So far he has posted over 25 pictures. Here are some of my favorites.

1. Sulfurion Spire

2. Booty Bay

3. Gilneas

Patch 4.2 Firelands Guide - Top 10 Most Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

wowweeklypodcast@gmail.com (Kevin and Ryan) — Sun, 26 Jun 2011 05:59:00 +0000

1. When is Patch Day?

Patch 4.2 will be released on Tuesday, June 28, 2011 at approximately 11AM PST.

2. Why are Valor Points being converted to Justice Points?

Tier 12 armor is being released with 4.2 which will be purchasable with Valor Points. Thus all existing Valor Points will be converted to Justice Points or else the players with stockpiles of Valor Points could just buy full suits of Tier 12 on the first day of the patch. And we wouldn't want that now would we?

3. What should I do with my Justice Points?

For the love of god don't spend them!! Its the worst mistake you can make right now. Save them because when 4.2 comes out you will be able to purchase Tier 11 armor using Justice Points. But remember that there is a 4000 point cap to Justice Points. If the combined total of your Valor and Justices Points together is more than 4000 then the extra points will be converted to money (47 silver per point to be exact). So manage your points carefully.

4. How do I start the 'The Elemental Bonds' quest?

The quest is available to players that are level 85 and is obtained from the players capital city, Alliance (Stormwind) or Horde (Orgrimmar), which will send them to Hyjal to meet Thrall.

5. How do I get to the Firelands 10 and 25 player raid?

The Firelands Raid can be accessed through Mount Hyjal. The only requirements is to be level 85 and have a minimum ilvl of three hundred and fifty something. I don't know exactly. Its either 355 or 359 for normal mode.

6. I'm a casual player, What is there for me in this Patch 4.2?

'The Elemental Bonds' quest and Regrowth and Molten Front daily quest hub. The new encounter journal could help get you introduced to heroics. New haircuts! And umm.. well there a quest for a balloon pet in the capital city of Stormwind and Orgrimmar.

7. What are the requirements for the Regrowth and Molten Front daily quest hub?

Two requirements. First you must be level 85. Check! Second you must have completed enough quests in Mount Hyjal to have reclamined the Regrowth Area. Aw crap! If your like me your going to need to go to Hyjal and do some questing.

8. Are there any quests that stand out to you from patch 4.2?

Yes but mostly from a lore perspective. A quest called 'The Rest is History' will reward players with Leyara's Locket and also give insight into the transformation of Archdruid Fandral into Majordomo Staghelm.

9. How do I start the quest to get the legendary staff 'Dragonwrath, Tarecgosa's Rest'?

Let me just say don't start what you can't finish. Just kidding. Go to the Firelands and kill a Molten Lord. Molten Lords are elite mobs in the Firelands. Killing one will unlock the quest for you, after which you need to visit Grommash Hold in Orgrimmar or the Wizard's Sanctum in Stormwind to pick up the quest. You'll find them pretty close to the entrance. Good luck!

10. Are new pets coming in 4.2?

There are many!

Hyjal Bear Cub
Fire Lasher
Feline Familiar
Dragonwrath Whelpling
Nuts' Acorn from collecting 100 pets, Petting Zoo
Brilliant Kaliri from collecting 125 pets, Menagerie
Celestial Dragon from collecting 150 pets, Littlest Pet Shop

World of Warcraft Lore: Who is Deathwing?

wowweeklypodcast@gmail.com (Kevin and Ryan) — Fri, 24 Jun 2011 06:27:00 +0000

I. CREATION

In the beginning the titans created the leaders of the dragons races of Azeroth. These dragon leaders are known as the five dragon aspects. The dragon aspects were created using Galakrond, a massive proto-dragon that is the ancestor of all dragonkind. The remains of Galakrond can be visited in Dragonblight at Galakrond's Rest.

The titans created these five dragons to watch over Azeroth. Alexstrasza the red dragon in charge of protecting life. Nozdormu the bronze dragon in charge of protecting time and fate. Ysera the green dragon in charge of protecting the Emerald Dream. Malygos the blue dragon in charge of protecting magic. Neltharion the black dragon in charge of protecting the land.

II. CORRUPTION

Neltharion was driven mad by the voices of Old Gods who had convinced him that he could have power beyond his wildest dreams. Neltharion then created an object of incredible power using his own essence to fight the Burning Legion, the Dragon Soul. The voices of the Old Gods then convinced Neltharion that he could take control of all the dragon races of Azeroth using the Dragon Soul.

Neltharion brought the Dragon Soul to the four other dragon aspects to unveil the Dragon Soul. He persuaded them to give their essence to the Dragon Soul. Neltharion used the enhanced power of the Dragon Soul to combat the Burning Legion and began to demand all dragons of Azeroth bow before him. The black dragon, Neltharion fought and killed numerous dragons that stood against him, however he was ultimately unsuccessful and was forced to retreat from the battle.

Due to the corruption that surged through Neltharion from the Dragon Soul, he was forced to apply adamantium plates to his body to prevent himself from being torn apart. In time the Dragon Soul became known across Azeroth as the Demon Soul and Neltharion became known as Deathwing.

The Demon Soul was eventually stolen from Deathwing by Malfurion Stormrage but was unable to hold onto it for long. Illidan had managed to take the artifact. After Malfurion and the four aspects took back control of the Demon Soul they placed a spell on it preventing Deathwing from using its power and hid it.

III. THE SECOND WAR

Ten thousand years later, Deathwing led the Dragonmaw Clan to the Demon Soul. They used its power to capture Alexstrasza and control the red dragonflight to fight for the Horde. Meanwhile Deathwing disguises himself as Lord Prestor and gains strong influence in the Alliance by befriending King Terenas Menethil II. After infiltrating the Alliance he planned to have the Alliance turn on the Kirin Tor of Dalaran and attack them. A member of the senior council of Dalaran named Krasus had discovered the secret identity of Lord Prestor to be Deathwing and gained knowledge of his plans. He sent his student Rhonin to obtain the aid from the three other aspects to help free Alexstrasza.

Rhonin while on his mission was decieved by Deathwing and was convinced to take one of his scales to Grim Batol. The four aspects fought against Deathwing and Rhonin used the scale he was given to cut the Demon Soul which returned power back to the aspects.

IV. RETURN

Deathwing remained hidden deep beneath Azeroth in Deepholm while the Twilights Hammer created new armor using elementium for him. Eventually bursting through the ground, Deathwing appeared and reigned down fire upon Azeroth. He now currently resides in Grim Batol.

What is Project Titan?

wowweeklypodcast@gmail.com (Kevin and Ryan) — Wed, 22 Jun 2011 05:25:00 +0000

Project Titan is the next MMO property that Blizzard is currently working on. An MMO news website, http://www.mmogamesite.com/, released a Blizzard product slate on November 30, 2010. It was found listed as 'Titan' with a date of 4th quarter, 2013.

'This picture is fake. I spent 5 minutes with photoshop and a mass effect picture.' -Ryan

It was later confirmed by Frank Pearce, founding member and senior vice president of product development at Blizzard, to be the next gen MMO during an on the spot interview at the 2010 Video Game Awards.

Frank Pearce's quote: (Source)

"Titan is... the media is not meant to know anything about that. It's our next gen MMO and we've only started talking about it in a limited fashion because we want to leverage the fact that we're working on something like that for the purpose of recruiting – getting some of the best talent in the industry on that."

Rumors say that this project has been in development for the past four years based on reports of Blizzards job recruiting history. It is known for sure that the game is being called Project Titan by Blizzard. It is extremely unlikely that this will be the official title of the game because Blizzard has a history of naming their secret projects with these types of names. Starcraft II was code named Medusa and Diablo III was code named Hydra.

According to a post by Zarhym, Project Titan is a completely unique and brand new franchise unlike any of their other intellectual properties. Which means it defintely wont be a Diablo 2 or Starcraft 2 MMO.

Zarhym's quote: (Source)

"We have nothing to advertise for the new MMO because it's a shell of a game thus far. We've already stated it'll be a brand new franchise, which means the lore, art, and game play are being developed entirely from scratch. It's an overwhelming process, but a process through which we excel. Our track record supports this."

Blizzard has been previously searching for texture artist with a sci-fi/fantasy background leading to the belief that the game will be science-fiction and fantasy themed . This seems like a believable choice for their next project. They already have Warcraft and Diablo, two similar fantasy genre game franchises. As for science fiction they only have Starcraft which leaves room for a second. This would give Blizzard two fanstasy and two science fiction franchises.

The last and best rumor of all is that this game is going to be a first person shooter (FPS). I have the hardest time believing this rumor because I'm not certain that Blizzard would take such a gamble on something like a shooting game. I do believe it is possible for Blizzard to develop a game that is played in first person but the shooter part is what I have trouble swallowing. First person shooters are a large market but I'm not sure it reaches the mass appeal that they are searching for with a game like Titan. If they did create such a game it would practically be a Halo MMO which isn't a bad thing, I just expect better. Sure millions of people play Halo and Call of Duty but, is this the audience they want to reach out to?

I don't think this is going to be the only way to play the game because it seems like too narrow a scope. No pun intended. The difficultly level in learning how to play first person shooters is high and most girls already hate them outright due to Call of Duty. That cuts the audience in half already.

My belief is that the game will have first person shooting elements in the game. I think the game will most likely be played in a third person over the shoulder view in the style of gears of war. How else would I be able to see my characters awesome equipment? I think this view will be for running around and doing every day activities. It could be that when you enter combat that it will force you into first person shooting in some way.

I think I have made my point that its probably not going to be a 'strict' first person shooter and will likely involve other game-play elements. So what will those other game-play elements be like.. I have no idea. I truely am stumped. Maybe it will involve hitting pigs with birds from a slingshot or maintaining your own farm plot. Could be anything.. definitely not those things.. but something.

My Authenticator Isn't Showing Up When I Log In WoW

wowweeklypodcast@gmail.com (Kevin and Ryan) — Tue, 21 Jun 2011 00:54:00 +0000

You may have noticed that when logging into World of Warcraft that after entering your password that you were not asked to enter your authentication code.

The system now tracks the location of where you log into your account. If you keep logging in from the same computer at home the system recognizes it and won't ask you to authenticate. However if your planning a trip to China anytime soon and are planning on playing some WoW while your there.. you might want to bring your autheticator with you. Theres a good chance the system is going to be suspicious.

Topic: Battle.net Authenticator Changes

Zarhym
Community Manager

If you use an authenticator – and we hope you do – you may soon notice that an authenticator prompt may not appear with every login. We’ve recently updated our authentication system to intelligently track your login locations, and if you’re logging in consistently from the same place, you may not be asked for an authenticator code. This change is being made to make the authenticator process less intrusive when we’re sure the person logging in to your account is you.

We hope to continue improving the authenticator system to ensure the same or greater security, while improving and adding features to make having one a more user friendly experience. If you don’t already have a Battle.net Authenticator attached to your account, don’t wait until it’s too late - http://us.battle.net/en/security/checklist\

No doubt in my mind that people will find a way to complain about this. In fact people already are. Lets see what they have to say and I will reply.

"If it "thinks" its me, Could be my sister or my brother-in-law logging into my account. Then what?" -Why are they trying to hack your account? How did they get your password? Anyways.. I have two solutions, either A. Change your password or B. Confront your sister and brother in law about their evil plans to steal your wow account.

"Hackers will be able to spoof my ip address and steal my account."
-It's possible but that would require a lot of information. First they would need your internet ip-address. Second they would need your battle.net id. Third they would need your password. All this information is easily stolen if you go to websites like iwanttobuylotsofworldofwarcraftgoldplz.com (don't click that I don't know if its real). Forth Blizzard has an ace up their sleeve to protect these idiots.

What people don't realize is that Blizzard has access to much more information about you than you think. Hardware specs.. Screen Resolution.. Addons.. Performance Settings... A whole host of things that Blizzard remembers and is more than likely going to check for upon log in. Come on people give Blizzard some credit they aren't stupid, Sony got hacked just a month ago.

So all you complainers who are afraid of change shut your yappers. All I know is I am going to appreciate not having to spend 5 minutes looking around my room for my cellphone so I can enter my authenticator every time.

World of Ponycraft: Friendship is Magic

wowweeklypodcast@gmail.com (Kevin and Ryan) — Sat, 18 Jun 2011 02:32:00 +0000

Sadly this isn't the secret mmo-project that blizzard has been working on. Its a remake of the trailer for Cataclysm using footage from the television series My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic. Heres the video.

You might be wondering how this ended up on WoW Weekly. I came across a small thread on mmo-champion called My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic! and by small, I'm being sarcastic because the thread was ginormous, around forty thousand comments. Don't believe me? Check it out here! I saw things that I never thought I would see. Terrible things. Pictures like this.

From there I was intrigued, dare I say, "pony-curious" due to the amount of interest in the forum thread. Later on, while at wow.joystiq.com/ I discovered an article with the following video attached. It's a ten minute presentation on the physics of my little pony from what appears to be a high school classroom.

From this I was lured into watching an episode. Privately. Alone in a room. With the doors locked. With headphones on. I'm aware its similar to how I watch pornography but I could not risk the humiliation of having someone burst through the door and ask, "What are you watching?"

It would seem My Little Pony is marketed to small audience of young girls but it isn't. Its largest audience is female teenagers (13-19) and college men (18-24). Creepy right? The creators of the show have acknowledged their shows older demographic and even reach out to them via websites like deviantArt and 4chan.

As much as it pains me to say this .. I liked it, Its actually a good show. The best way I can describe it is by comparing it to something like spongebob. I watched spongebob eventhough it was for kids because beneath the surface of thechildishness its a show created by adults. When I watched it I knew that the creators behind the show put in jokes and nods to the adults who were watching the show. The same way a disney animator slips in a boner in the little mermaid. Seriously I think the show has the potential to be the next Powerpuff girls.

Patch 4.2 Rage of the Firelands Official Trailer

wowweeklypodcast@gmail.com (Kevin and Ryan) — Fri, 17 Jun 2011 04:51:00 +0000

Patch 4.2 is coming soon. I mean really soon. Blizzard even said so.

World of Warcraft: Cataclysm patch 4.2 is just on the horizon. Building off of our preview of the Rage of the Firelands content introduced in this patch, we’re pleased to present you with the official patch trailer!

See theres proof right there. Wait a second... did they just say there is an official trailer! Awesomesauce! I am pleased to present to you.. on behalf of blizzard entertainment *cough, the official patch trailer.

UPDATE: Rumor has it that patch 4.2 is coming out on June 28th.