World of Warcraft News Source

World of Warcraft: Inside Class Design

2006-04-07T19:44:00.000-07:00

There is an interesting article on the main World of Warcraft site that discusses the process the class designers use to evolve the strengths of each class while ensuring that they remain somewhat balanced. If you really read it, dig past the bullshit, you'll find that they don't consider player suggestions/feedback, other than in the context of things they've already tried.

Check it out here: Class Design Discussion

Patch 1.10 Downtime User Credit

2006-03-29T09:37:00.000-08:00

Given the problems getting 1.10 live, Blizzard has decided to compensate all active players with 24 hours of game time. Check out the official word here: Downtime Compensation

World of Warcraft still down after patch 1.10

2006-03-28T21:46:00.000-08:00

As of 9:45 pacific, the World of Warcraft; is silent. All of the realms are down in the aftermath of the 1.10 patch launch (see the official forum post here: Realms Down Post ).

Yet another major failure on the part of Blizzard raises a few simple questions.

When is Blizzard going to learn? They seem to have a great handle on content production, the artwork is fantastic the game mechanics are reasonable, so why the operating failures? Looks like they need to focus on a few key things:

1) Make a real investment in production infrastructure. If they're going to continue to use colocated server farms for production systems, at the very least they need a 24x7 staff to watch the network (and I don't mean two guys with blackberries). They also need to hammer out an SLA with At&t that puts some pressure on Ma Bell to work out the kinks in the backplane. Each and every time they have network issues now they throw up hands, waggle fingers at At&t and cry. (I had intended to include a forum post by a Blizzard Technical Support rep who cried fowl that people asked him about the status of the servers when his job is to "deal with client issues (ala the UI)" but I'll let you find it yourself if you're interested.)

2) Hire some real engineers. Get some people who've worked on high transactional volume systems. Blizzard is now dealing with a level of load that the EQ weenies who work for them (and the leftover mud hacks) don't grok. They have no insight into the types of load the production systems are under. Profile your system, it doesn't scale well.

3) Change the corporate quality culture. Okay, so QA against content is fine, but the game being unplayable due to stress and balance issues on live realms is unacceptable. That's the highest possible priority defect you can have. Strikes me that they're focusing again on what they understand, not on what needs to be done.

I'm not sure if the failures represent an intentional lack of investment on the part of Blizzard (that'd be another article in itself), a lack of knowledgeable staff, a planning failure, or just blind bad luck, but it strikes me that a few people kicking ass and taking names (9with real world experience to back it up), would go a long way toward fixing the problem.

World of Warcraft Patch 1.10 Talent Calculators

2006-03-28T19:07:00.000-08:00

With the release (well, pending release, we'll see if they don't roll it back off of the live servers, they're still not up) of 1.10, you may find yourself in need of a talent calculator. The official versions can't hold a candle to the wowhead.com setup. Check it out: World of Warcraft Talent Calculator

Patch 1.10 Ui Mods and Problems

2006-03-28T18:58:00.000-08:00

As some of you are already well aware from playing on the public test realms, 1.10 is going to break quite a few of the most popular UI addons for World of Warcraft. Most currently maintained mods are being fixed at frantic speeds. Be sure to keep an eye on the unofficial world of warcraft UI site for up to the minute updates on your favorite mods.

World of Warcraft Path 1.10 is Live (Sortof)!

2006-03-28T18:56:00.000-08:00

Blizzard launched 1.10 today. A full feature release which includes a slew of features, 1.10 promises to be an interesting addition to gameplay. That is, if, they can get it work. So far the realms are still down with no eta posted on the end of the "special patch". Good luck Blizz!

Check out the patch notes here: 1.10 Patch Notes

World of Warcraft Downtime and Outages

2006-03-26T15:50:00.000-08:00

Looks like all the hype on the forums about "capacity planning" and "infrastructure investments" is just that, hype. Check out this interesting article about recent server downtime, including stats:

World of Warcraft Outages

Blackrock Depths (BRD) Strategy Guide

2006-03-25T20:55:00.000-08:00

Blackrock Depths (BRD) Strategy Guide:

IGN's WoW valut has a fantastic new guide to BRD up.

First Rule Of World Of Warcraft: You Don't Talk About World Of Warcraft

2006-03-25T20:36:00.000-08:00

First Rule Of World Of Warcraft: You Don't Talk About World Of Warcraft: "

Gregory A. Beck from Public Citizen Litigation Group writes "Public Citizen Litigation Group has just filed a lawsuit against Blizzard, Vivendi Universal Games (Blizzard's parent company), and the Entertainment Software Association on behalf of a small eBay …

World of Warcraft Community Manager Spoof Video

2006-03-10T01:25:00.000-08:00

If you've ever played a paladin, or are a regular member of any paladin related discussions on the official forums, you'll get a side-splitter out of this video. Don't know who made it, if you have info, leave a comment.

WoW: The Text Adventure

2006-03-08T09:43:00.000-08:00

Funny column on Wired spoofing World of Warcraft as an old school text adventure.

Check it out: Wow: The Text Adventure

MacGuyver Saves World of Warcraft?

2006-03-02T20:12:00.000-08:00

This is a must see. MacGuyver is on the job folks, never fear. Take a peak at this, it is hilarious.

Check it out here: MacGuyver saves World of Warcraft!

Girl Gamers?

2006-02-24T01:54:00.000-08:00

Girls who game? Women running around World of Warcraft? Who'd have thunk it. Elizabeth Harper has an interesting read up on wowinsider.com. Check it out.

Read it here: WOW Insider Girls that Play Games

Wow Teaching the Wrong things?

2006-02-23T19:45:00.000-08:00

An interesting article on Gamasutra about the World of Warcraft "fun" factor, what the game might be teaching our children, and some thoughts on the value of time vs. skill. I'm not sure I agree with any of it, but it is nice to see a different perspective on the world's most popular MMO. Stay tuned for info about the new site.

Check it out here: Gamasutra World of Warcraft Teaches you the Wrong Things

World of Warcraft Windows Media Player Skin

2006-02-23T19:40:00.000-08:00

Another quick update while we finish the new site up. This is an oldie but a goodie, check out the Windows Media Player World of Warcraft Skin on microsoft's media site. The skin is fun, but I imagine the last thing you want to be reminded of when actually NOT playing, is being in-game.

Check it out: World of Warcraft Windows Media Player Skin

technorati tags: world of warcraft, wow, warcraftinfo, windows media player, skins

A quick update

2006-02-22T21:18:00.000-08:00

Sorry about the lack of updates over the last week or so, we've been working on our new site design on custom hosting. Check back in a few days for our new feature rich implementation, we have some excellent surpises in store. Until then, a few tasty links from the WoW Community Site. The new Uber chat guide and an interesting bit about murlocs.
Check it out:

Uber Chat Guide
Murloc Info

technorati tags: world of warcraft, warcraft, wow, warcraftinfo, mmo

World of Warcraft Talent Calculator (including 1.10)

2006-02-13T07:40:00.000-08:00

Tired of trying to figure out your talent progressions by hand? Frustrated with the speed of the official community site's talent calculator? A most excellent talent calculator for all classes, kept up to date with the latest patch revisions, with import and other nice features is available at:

World of Warcraft Talent Calculator

technorati tags: world of warcraft, wow, games, warcraftinfo

World of Warcraft Knowledge Quiz

2006-02-13T06:53:00.000-08:00

Balnir @ Argent Dawn (EU) has put together a cool online quiz that will test your knowledge of WoW. Check it out.

So you think you know World of Warcraft? Take the test and see how your knowledge of the game fares...Or, check out the top people in each category, and see what you have to beat! Or even, take a look at the intrepid author of this quiz!

Read more here: So you think you know... World of Warcraft

technorati tags: wow, worldofwarcraft, blizzard, warcraftinfo

As an Aside: Flock!

2006-02-13T05:49:00.000-08:00

Taking a moment aside from World of Warcraft: If you blog, and want to use a much tighter browser/content integration, awesome publishing features, and far more that I couldn't even begin to do justice to here, check out the new Flock browser.

Check it out: Flock Homepage

Gay Rights in World of Warcraft

2006-02-13T03:58:00.000-08:00

The BBC published an article today about the outcry and subsequent reaction (then retraction) of Blizzard's ingame policies toward openly Gay and Bisexual players/guilds.

The real question is: Do we care? If you're not pushing your sexual agenda on minors, why is it even an issue? Does your sexual preference so define who you are that it has to be reflected in every virtual aspect?

When sexual preference is made to be an issue in MMO's you have to ask yourself what percentage of the player base is male? 70%? 80%? I would imagine that a vast majority of female characters in-game are men who use the "If I have to stare at an ass in 3rd person perspective for hours on end grinding, it's going to be a female Night Elf". Quite a few of the women who do play, either play male characters to avoid harassment or suffer the fate of constant bombardment of innuendo and sex chat requests.

Read more here: BBC Article about Gay and Lesbian "Rights" in World of Warcraft

technorati tags: worldofwarcraft, wow, gay, lesbian, bi, games, mmo, blizzard, bbc

World of Warcraft OOC Rez'ing Thread

2006-02-13T03:49:00.000-08:00

There is an interesting (and rather long) thread up on the raid and dungeon forum about the concept of OOC rez'ing, the current Blizzard position, tons of player reactions etc. No matter which side of this debate you come down on, it is an interesting read. I imagine any player who spends a fair bit of time doing high end instances will want to check it out.

Read more here: World of Warcraft Forums OOC Rez Thread

World of Warcraft Burning Crusade iPod Trailers

2006-02-08T10:20:00.000-08:00

Blizzard has teamed up with apple to provide high quality versions of the new Expansion trailers. The ipod versions are cool, the high rez versions are even nicer. Check them out.

For more information: Burning Crusade iPod Trailers

Brood of Nozdormu -- New Faction Info

2006-02-02T15:32:00.000-08:00

The official site has just added a new faction information and rewards page for the Brood of Nozdormu. There is some epic stuff at the top levels. Looks to be some interesting gear, I talked a bit before about the notion of "epics for casual players", the faction requirements here are a little intense so I don't think it qualifies, but the rewards are nice.

Read more at: Official Brood of Nozdormu Faction Info

AQ World Event Feedback

2006-02-02T11:01:00.000-08:00

As you're well aware, if you've spent even 5 minutes playing WoW, the 1.9 patch released a world wide event for the opening of the gates to two new raid instances in Sithilus. The AQ world event is covered in a previous post, but there is an interesting feedback thread running now about what went well and what didn't. Check it out.

Read more here: WoW Forums AQ Feedback

Wow Addiction - You know you play too much when...

2006-02-02T01:13:00.000-08:00

This is an awesome wow official forums thread which started as one man's observation about playing too much and it bleeding into his real life (the aggro radius of the car in front of him) and turned into an amazing list of WoW vs. Real life funnies. Check i t out.

Read more at: Rl Vs. World of Warcraft

Wow UI: Insomniax Recompilation

2006-02-01T16:53:00.000-08:00

Someone asked in game today what the best UI compilation/set is. I have a preference for the Insomniax Recompilation and it so happens the latest build is up on the ui.worldofwar.net site. Insomniax's setup contains just about everything (not including the kitchen sink, but it'd be in there if they had a mod for it) you could ever possibly want to customize your WoW play experience. The setup is trivial, and the features which require advanced configuration are well documented or hidden from novice users. Have a look.

Learn more about Insomniax at: World of Warcraft Custom UI Site

Slashdot covers NYT article on Tigole

2006-02-01T13:00:00.000-08:00

Slashdot, after us I might add ;), threw up an article about the Tigole interview in the NYT. The author called out the interesting fact that he'd never considered in his wildest dreams that an MMO article, let alone one about an upcoming new instance, would make it onto the sports page of a major publication. I imagine as more games sign up 10's of millions of users we'll see things like this on a regular basis.

Read more here: Slashdot covers Tigole article

Epics: Hardcore or Casual?

2006-02-01T09:41:00.000-08:00

There is and has been a raging debate going on amongst the World of Warcraft player base about equipment available to "casual" players. WoW has always proported to tailor itself to players with less time to dedicate to play. Some of the mechanisms include solo quests that provide higher end equipment, higher world drop rates and smaller instances. A major complaint amongst the casual base is that thus far they've not had access to "epic" class equipment except in rare cases. This is changing and Blizzard has added epic equipment to a number of the bosses in 5 man instances and 15 man raids. Check out this thread on the debate.

Read more at Warcraft Epic Gear Debate

The New York Times interviews lead WoW designer

2006-02-01T00:04:00.000-08:00

The New York Times recently published an interesting interview/perspective piece about Tigole one of the chief designers on World of Warcraft and a former EverQuest designer. It has some interesting insights into the day to day world of a Blizzard employee and covers his general outlook on the future of the game. A great read, check it out.

Read more here: New York Times Article about Tigole

Blizzard Capacity Issues

2006-01-31T21:28:00.000-08:00

As you may or may not be aware, recently, Blizzard decided to suspend new character creation on some 38 realms in an attempt to reduce lag and login problems. This caused a bit of an outcry, seems you can't ever please the player base. The link below is to an active thread about how much longer the ban will be in place and information about other options they're considering. It is an interesting read if you've had any of the capacity related issues they've been facing.

Read more at warcraft discussion

More Weather System Info

2006-01-31T20:13:00.000-08:00

A few days ago I posted a forum link to a discussion about the weather system being in 1.10. Looks like the blue post was correct, check out the link below for official previews of the eye candy, as well as other 1.10 info.

Read More at 1.10 Official Dev Info

New Burning Crusade Expansion Preview

2006-01-31T20:10:00.000-08:00

The official WoW community site has a new preview of the expansion up. The artwork looks great, I'd be happier if they'd announce the alliance race. Check it out.

Read more at Expansion Preview

WoW General Discussion - Weather Effects

2006-01-30T12:35:00.000-08:00

Straight from the forums and straight from blue - Weather is coming in 1.10. Don't quote them on it, but if it does, also don't expect it to have much in the way of environmental interaction, looks like it is just eye candy. Still cool though, check out the thread and the blue response.

World of Warcraft Community Site -> Ahn'Qiraj World Event

2006-01-30T07:14:00.000-08:00

The folks on the Medivh Realm were the first to open the Gates of Ahn'Qiraj. This was a massive, server-wide, horde and alliance effort to procure war supplies and do a myriad of quests. Check out the screenshots of the event!

WoW Paladin Discussion - Talents Guide 1.9

2006-01-29T21:41:00.000-08:00

Having playing a Paladin to 60, and spent considerable time at 60, I have to say that the 1.9 changes brought about some interesting (a few good, many bad) play change dynamics. The talent shuffling can be a bit confusing and I found this guide, check out the link below, to be a life saver while retuning my character.

BlizzCon Day One - WARBUCKET FORUMS

2006-01-29T20:51:00.000-08:00

Another great thread about Blizzcon '05, complete with pictures. Looks like it was a great time, hope to make it in '06.

Blizzcon 2005 - a photoset on Flickr

2006-01-29T20:50:00.000-08:00

A neat collection of photos from Blizzon this last year. Check em out.

World of Warcraft Community Site : Lunar Festival

2006-01-29T15:23:00.000-08:00

WoW's Lunar Festival has started. Looks to be a bit more fun than the idiotic father christmas based holiday event they had running. More fireworks and a series of cool quests which culminate in an epic. Check it out.

Blizzard Fan Art Program

2006-01-27T11:26:00.000-08:00

Blizzard has complied an amazing collection of fan art. Most of the content is Warcraft centric but there is a bit of Starcraft as well. If you want to see how dedicated and talented people are, take some time and check it out.

RPG Vault: World of Warcraft: The Burning Crusade

2006-01-26T15:12:00.000-08:00

IGN has a great preview article up about the upcoming WoW expansion. Check out the screenshots!

The Unofficial WoW UI Site

2006-01-26T15:10:00.000-08:00

Let's face it, the stock WoW interface isn't all that it should be. Don't settle, check out worldofwar's UI-Mod site. This is the most comprehnsive collection you'll find on the web and is kept current with compatability status for patches.

Player Picutres: www.facesofwow.com

2006-01-26T15:07:00.000-08:00

Ever wonder what the people playing with you look like? Check out Faces of Wow. Interesting stuff, try posting one!

Blizzard Entertainment - Employment Opportunities

2006-01-26T14:59:00.000-08:00

Blizzard is hiring! Not satisfied with playing WoW? Try working there.

GameSpy: World of Warcraft Level 60 Quest Guide

2006-01-26T14:49:00.000-08:00

An interesting article from Gamespy about what to do at level 60. I've read through this and it strikes me that the author didn't even screatch the surface, but at least made a noble attempt.

GameSpy: EverQuest II vs. World of Warcraft

2006-01-26T14:46:00.000-08:00

A most excellent and very deep review of the contrasts between both games.

Discrimination in World of Warcraft/Farming

2006-01-26T14:27:00.000-08:00

Here's a great post from David Edery at GameTycoon about discrimination in WoW against non-english speaking players. I have to agree with his conclusions about blizzard needing to deal with farming in a different light. Why not try what Sony did and make it legel? Define a server type which allows for a real-life auction house. Blizzard makes some cash over the top, players who want to be lazy and buy items/gold can, and players who want to avoid it can play on non-rl/auction servers.

World of Warcraft FREE Trial on Fileplanet

2006-01-26T14:22:00.000-08:00

Interested in WoW but unsure if you're ready to commit the cash? Check out this 14 Day free trial. You'll need to register for fileplanet, which is free, and download the client, which is rather large, but well worth the wait.

WarcraftMovies.com - World of Warcraft Movies

2006-01-26T14:19:00.000-08:00

WarcraftMovies.com is an excellent central resource for just about every warcraft movie you can imagine. Check out the instance runs and the pvp scuffles, great stuff.

Allakhazam.com: World of Warcraft:

2006-01-26T13:58:00.000-08:00

Allakhazam is the other definitive site for warcraft item/quest/zone information. I have a bias toward thottbot, but Alla is an outstanding resource. Check it out.

Thottbot: World of Warcraft Guide

2006-01-26T13:11:00.000-08:00

If you play WOW, there are only two definitive sources of in-game zone/quest/object information that are worthwhile. Thottbot is the king of the hill, the grandmaster of info. Level 20 warrior who needs class specific quests? No problem, use the class filter in the quests search. Looking for a a good 1h sword with +int at level 57? Try the item search. You get the point. Check it out, you'll like it.

World of Warcraft Community Site

2006-01-26T12:43:00.000-08:00

World of Warcraft News Source is going to provide up to the minute WOW information from as many official and fan sources as possible. Check back on a regular basis, or use our RSS feed for up to the minute information.