I really want to know where all these people saying sunwell will be out in January/February are getting their information.
Thier best guess? I think because it's been a few months since the last raid dungeon and they want some time between it comming out and Wotlk so they don't have a repeat of Naxx.
I would like to know as well since one guild on Windrunner will not shut up about it
I think it's going to be March/May because then we have all summer to roll our eyes at those who go if Wotlk is due in Sept?
Tigole promised in november to have 2.4 on PTR before new years, that will not be happening. 2.3.2 still isn't live, there will be a 2.3.3 after (to fix bugs apparently), then 2.4 will go PTR, then live. I doubt it'll be before march at this tempo.
Well at least we'll have BT+MH down to two days by then.
I mean, I don't want to jump down anyone's throat, it just seems like every time someone lays out a speculative timeline for 2.4, someone goes "I dunno dude I heard it was coming out in February."
I see it this way: both arena seasons have lasted between 3-5 months. Since S2 was delayed, I assume blizzard's ideal length for an arena season is 3-4 months. I also assume they want to keep pve and pvp gear progression roughly equivalent, i.e., release new pvp gear and instances/badge gear at the same time.
So, I don't see the release of S4/Sunwell until, at earliest, the beginning of march, with testing starting in february. Then, since I don't expect them to release the expansion as closely after that update as they did with Naxx, I figure at least another four months after that until the expansion goes gold. That puts WotLK somewhere in July/August. I'm fairly confident blizzard's development practices will be enough to delay it until at least september or so.
That schedule assumes a lot. No significant delays, etc. Also, it wouldn't surprise me at all to see them delay it only because such a small percentage of the playerbase will have chewed through BT/Sunwell by this summer. Something like five percent of raiders have seen BT, last I heard, and I can't imagine it'll be more than 10 or so percent by the time Sunwell is released.
I personally think that it'll be a holiday 2008 release.
Eat it You Nasty Pig. on
hold your head high soldier, it ain't over yet
that's why we call it the struggle, you're supposed to sweat
0
HalfmexI mock your value systemYou also appear foolish in the eyes of othersRegistered Userregular
edited January 2008
People were speculating November for the expansion, and while that seems very improbable to me right now, I think back on the delay of 2.3 and that, really, that's the last major content patch we've gotten in a while and the last we'll get until 2.4 apparently. While I'd love to believe that they'll release 2.4 in some semblance of a timely fashion, I know two things are preventing it:
1. 2.3.2 is, inexplicably, STILL on the goddamned test servers, despite the fact that it's a bugfix patch.
2. 2.3.3 is slated to hit next and it, as well, is a bugfix patch.
They could stretch this shit out as long as they like, frankly. I don't know what the fuck they're doing anymore. With a net profit of 520 million clams you'd think they'd be more able to produce content in a more quickly. I guess not.
Halfmex on
0
HalfmexI mock your value systemYou also appear foolish in the eyes of othersRegistered Userregular
edited January 2008
edit: whoops, double post.
Halfmex on
0
Dhalphirdon't you open that trapdooryou're a fool if you dareRegistered Userregular
I don't even understand what they were thinking about Blade's Edge.
It's even worst then the barrens in the 20's were you walk across the zone for hours doing quests
Brainleech on
0
Dhalphirdon't you open that trapdooryou're a fool if you dareRegistered Userregular
God, I hate questing in Blades Edge so much right now. And I don't even think half of my characters are more than a third of the way through it yet.
Ugh, the quests on the other side of that tunnel, with the birdmen, and the cave full of cultists... ugh
Are Netherstorm and SMV any better?
yes.
much.
especially if you're 70 when you get to them.
which its not hard to do, I was 70 with half of Blade's Edge and all of Netherstorm/SMV to do, plus a few group quests scattered across the earlier zones, and i only ran a few instances
They could stretch this shit out as long as they like, frankly. I don't know what the fuck they're doing anymore. With a net profit of 520 million clams you'd think they'd be more able to produce content in a more quickly. I guess not.
Problem is the playerbase isn't ready for more content more quickly. The vast majority of 25 raids are still banging their heads against the kael/vashj wall, and as cool as ZA is it doesn't provide a way around that (also, it's pretty hard, and I suspect most raids that are midway through SSC/TK aren't clearing it.)
On the pvp side, they're happy to keep on killing each other, apparently, and aren't super-hot for the next version of the same old gear to come out, at least not yet. Aside from releasing the new BG early (pie in the sky) or the start of the new arena season, there isn't much content coming down the pipe for pvpers.
Eat it You Nasty Pig. on
hold your head high soldier, it ain't over yet
that's why we call it the struggle, you're supposed to sweat
0
HalfmexI mock your value systemYou also appear foolish in the eyes of othersRegistered Userregular
They could stretch this shit out as long as they like, frankly. I don't know what the fuck they're doing anymore. With a net profit of 520 million clams you'd think they'd be more able to produce content in a more quickly. I guess not.
Problem is the playerbase isn't ready for more content more quickly. The vast majority of 25 raids are still banging their heads against the kael/vashj wall, and as cool as ZA is it doesn't provide a way around that (also, it's pretty hard, and I suspect most raids that are midway through SSC/TK aren't clearing it.)
True, but even so I think the playerbase will be tired of running the same things for yet another year, if the Nov. 08 prediction has any truth to it. One more 5/25 man doesn't seem like enough to hold people's interests for that long (keeping in mind that it's the casual player and questing that makes this game as prolific and profitable as it has been).
Also I think many people are just bewildered by the lack of new WotLK information since Blizzcon. Some new screenshots, and announcement here or there, something to whet people's appetites would be welcome.
There's the trick: they're adding more content, in little chunks, and it's aimed at the more casual crowd. Cooking dailies, pvp dailies, instance dailies, etc. Wouldn't be surprised at all to see more of it in the next few months.
Eat it You Nasty Pig. on
hold your head high soldier, it ain't over yet
that's why we call it the struggle, you're supposed to sweat
0
HalfmexI mock your value systemYou also appear foolish in the eyes of othersRegistered Userregular
edited January 2008
Even another small "town" revamp like they did in Dustwallow Marsh would be pretty cool. One thing I remember reading was that the devs were unhappy that the player never felt a sense of completion after, say, defeating Ragnaros. They were toying with the idea of how to progress beyond The Burning Crusade such that you could tell Illidan had been defeated and was no longer a threat. Adding another town full of quests (say, helping to populate and revamp Shadowmoon Valley) midway through '08 to illustrate that would be an interesting and compelling change, I think.
Yeah, it'd be neat if there was some sort of "end of the burning crusade" event that started up a few months before WotLK came out.
Although, what would new people do to level up if the outland was all peaceful and such?
They would fuck off! Get here early or go home!
I dunno, they could join in on the rebuilding effort or something. I think the zones that would change the most would be SMV and Hellfire. Everything else could probably remain intact more or less, with just a quick explanation of "Now that Illidan's dead, his followers are vying for control of Outland" or some such.
I'd rather see them only make mention of it in Northrend; Outland never really makes it sound like we are worth a damn, no matter what we did pre-tBC. Frankly I'm tired of being called a maggot every time I hop into a new zone; how about some respect for the characters with three years of existing great deeds?
Also, chronologically speaking, other than for a Deathknight it makes sense just to leave Outland the way it is.
Kael, Vashj(kinda) and Illidan were the only thing standing in the way of a full on invasion from the Burning Legion.
Right, but hasn't Blizz stated that Kil'Jaeden will be the boss of the Sunwell raid? If Magtheridon is dead, Kazzak could be dead(if Blizz chose to recognize it, and then perhaps Kil'Jaeden as well? The Burning Legion won't be doing so hot either.
Kael, Vashj(kinda) and Illidan were the only thing standing in the way of a full on invasion from the Burning Legion.
Right, but hasn't Blizz stated that Kil'Jaeden will be the boss of the Sunwell raid? If Magtheridon is dead, Kazzak could be dead(if Blizz chose to recognize it, and then perhaps Kil'Jaeden as well? The Burning Legion won't be doing so hot either.
According to the guild that will not shut up of Windrunner it's
Well Sunwell is supposed to be just that, the defeat (essentially) of the burning legion. Which was what they intended The Burning Crusade to be all along, but they weren't happy with how that turned out. It didn't give the players the impression that they defeated the burning legion or at least halted the threat for the time being.
Sunwell is designed to rectify this. So the burning legion storyarc will be finished with that and then they can refocus on the scourge as the next big enemy for WoTLK.
Huh, 3 people advised me to hit 70 before doing Blades Edge...
But questing is a means to an end, not the other way around! I need to quest in order to hit 70, and I'm past Nagrand but a little low (67/68) for Netherstorm.
Speaking of Boomkin, yeah, yesterday in Heroic ShH I was outdamaged by one... I had no idea Boomkins had so much DPS potential? This is the first Druid ever in my entire career playing WoW that has ever even come close to me on the meters, let alone passing me up.
I could not believe it, as a Combat Sword Rogue with almost 250 Hit Rating and dual S2 Swords with Mongoose, I'm almost never ever having to fight for #1 dps slot.
There was a mage geared to the gills who was beating me by a good amount, but it is ShH so it was understandable, the boomkin on the other hand? We were constantly around 1 to 2% of eachother on the meters, usually I would pass him up any time I used Blade Flurry, but in between he would close the gap and pass me up.
I'm still in awe about the whole thing. I wish I could remember his name to check his armory.
Huh, 3 people advised me to hit 70 before doing Blades Edge...
But questing is a means to an end, not the other way around! I need to quest in order to hit 70, and I'm past Nagrand but a little low (67/68) for Netherstorm.
Am I doing it wrong?
Yes. You should be a druid, so you can fly at 68
I think you'll be ok in netherstrom at those levels.
a penguin on
This space eventually to be filled with excitement
Huh, 3 people advised me to hit 70 before doing Blades Edge...
But questing is a means to an end, not the other way around! I need to quest in order to hit 70, and I'm past Nagrand but a little low (67/68) for Netherstorm.
Am I doing it wrong?
You're not doing it wrong. I dinged 70 in Netherstorm.
They're telling you to save BEM, Netherstorm, and SMV till 70 because then the xp rewards are turned in to gold. And it's a great way to get gold for your epic mount.
Huh, 3 people advised me to hit 70 before doing Blades Edge...
But questing is a means to an end, not the other way around! I need to quest in order to hit 70, and I'm past Nagrand but a little low (67/68) for Netherstorm.
Am I doing it wrong?
I would think so. You've done all of Hellfire, Zangarmarsh, Terokkar, and Nagrand? Normally this, plus a few instances, gets people to at least lvl 69.
Speaking of Boomkin, yeah, yesterday in Heroic ShH I was outdamaged by one... I had no idea Boomkins had so much DPS potential? This is the first Druid ever in my entire career playing WoW that has ever even come close to me on the meters, let alone passing me up.
They really do have genuinely high damage potential. Last time I checked, they had the second best scaling nuke with Starfire, and scaling can make all the difference in the world. The do though suffer from threat issues, since they still can't get more than about 16-18% threat reduction, which is better than mages and warlocks but without a threat wipe ability. They also have one of the best caster set bonuses ever, with their tier 5 4 piece bonus.
Huh, 3 people advised me to hit 70 before doing Blades Edge...
But questing is a means to an end, not the other way around! I need to quest in order to hit 70, and I'm past Nagrand but a little low (67/68) for Netherstorm.
Am I doing it wrong?
BEM = bullshit questing if you don't have a flying mount, as you'll be running around and up paths and through tunnels ad nauseum. Hence at 70 you'd have a flying mount and can move around easily, or 68 as a druid.
Lunatic Clam on
Friend Code 0302-1076-6730
0
Nova_CI have the needThe need for speedRegistered Userregular
edited January 2008
I brought my hunter out of retirement yesterday and scrambled to get her keyed for Kara (Never bothered before). Also, one of our tanks HATES my bird's screech, so I got a scorpid to spare him that. :P Took the time to get the Scorpid to 70 with loyalty level 6 and got to work keying. Got everything done except BM. And I'm pissed. Pally tanks make BM a breeze. I know, I tank it with my Paladin. But this guy was a complete retard. He would drag the bosses all over the place seemingly at random. Eventually they'd get far enough from the portal to reset. It was retarded. Never finished it and NO ONE else was looking for BM. So I can't take my hunter tonight. Fuck.
Huh, 3 people advised me to hit 70 before doing Blades Edge...
But questing is a means to an end, not the other way around! I need to quest in order to hit 70, and I'm past Nagrand but a little low (67/68) for Netherstorm.
Am I doing it wrong?
BEM = bullshit questing if you don't have a flying mount, as you'll be running around and up paths and through tunnels ad nauseum. Hence at 70 you'd have a flying mount and can move around easily, or 68 as a druid.
However, if you're trying to pad yourself a little so that you can reach Netherstorm of SMV no earlier than 69, try doing just the Sylvanar(?) quests if you're Alliance, or maybe the handful of quests near the first Horde town. Neither areas require much travelling for 4-5 quests.
We already know there'll be no Tier 7 in Sunwell. So far Blizzard has started a season per tier set. Makes sense that there'll be no 4th season to go along with Sunwell.
I never said there would be a T7; Blizzard has said as much, but they DID state that there would be "sets", likely things similar to the "armour class sets" found in 5 mans; a Plate, Mail, Leather and Cloth set, likely mostly dps (it's the only thing all classes have in common) with non-set pieces filling in the tanking/healing gaps.
BT/MH items are ilevel 146, with the best of the best being 151. T4 was ilevel 120, T5 was (I believe) 130ish, and T6 is 146, with the season tiers around that as well (but with more stat points allocated to stamina and resilience, of course).
I simply suspect that Sunwell gear will be around ilevel 151-161+, meaning that it'd make sense to have similar ilevel pvp gear, which means it'd make sense to have another Season.
Forar on
First they came for the Muslims, and we said NOT TODAY, MOTHERFUCKER!
Posts
that's why we call it the struggle, you're supposed to sweat
Thier best guess? I think because it's been a few months since the last raid dungeon and they want some time between it comming out and Wotlk so they don't have a repeat of Naxx.
I would like to know as well since one guild on Windrunner will not shut up about it
I think it's going to be March/May because then we have all summer to roll our eyes at those who go if Wotlk is due in Sept?
I've nearly been playing for three years now.
I'm out guys.
Well at least we'll have BT+MH down to two days by then.
I see it this way: both arena seasons have lasted between 3-5 months. Since S2 was delayed, I assume blizzard's ideal length for an arena season is 3-4 months. I also assume they want to keep pve and pvp gear progression roughly equivalent, i.e., release new pvp gear and instances/badge gear at the same time.
So, I don't see the release of S4/Sunwell until, at earliest, the beginning of march, with testing starting in february. Then, since I don't expect them to release the expansion as closely after that update as they did with Naxx, I figure at least another four months after that until the expansion goes gold. That puts WotLK somewhere in July/August. I'm fairly confident blizzard's development practices will be enough to delay it until at least september or so.
That schedule assumes a lot. No significant delays, etc. Also, it wouldn't surprise me at all to see them delay it only because such a small percentage of the playerbase will have chewed through BT/Sunwell by this summer. Something like five percent of raiders have seen BT, last I heard, and I can't imagine it'll be more than 10 or so percent by the time Sunwell is released.
I personally think that it'll be a holiday 2008 release.
that's why we call it the struggle, you're supposed to sweat
1. 2.3.2 is, inexplicably, STILL on the goddamned test servers, despite the fact that it's a bugfix patch.
2. 2.3.3 is slated to hit next and it, as well, is a bugfix patch.
They could stretch this shit out as long as they like, frankly. I don't know what the fuck they're doing anymore. With a net profit of 520 million clams you'd think they'd be more able to produce content in a more quickly. I guess not.
did you transfer Arianrhod off Dath'Remar?
Ugh, the quests on the other side of that tunnel, with the birdmen, and the cave full of cultists... ugh
Are Netherstorm and SMV any better?
It's even worst then the barrens in the 20's were you walk across the zone for hours doing quests
yes.
much.
especially if you're 70 when you get to them.
which its not hard to do, I was 70 with half of Blade's Edge and all of Netherstorm/SMV to do, plus a few group quests scattered across the earlier zones, and i only ran a few instances
Yuppers.
what a shame, i was going to offer you the secret to eternal happiness.
also, find a good guild on Dath'Remar and its an awesome server. I got accepted into Asylum, Rizzi, if you know them.
Problem is the playerbase isn't ready for more content more quickly. The vast majority of 25 raids are still banging their heads against the kael/vashj wall, and as cool as ZA is it doesn't provide a way around that (also, it's pretty hard, and I suspect most raids that are midway through SSC/TK aren't clearing it.)
On the pvp side, they're happy to keep on killing each other, apparently, and aren't super-hot for the next version of the same old gear to come out, at least not yet. Aside from releasing the new BG early (pie in the sky) or the start of the new arena season, there isn't much content coming down the pipe for pvpers.
that's why we call it the struggle, you're supposed to sweat
Also I think many people are just bewildered by the lack of new WotLK information since Blizzcon. Some new screenshots, and announcement here or there, something to whet people's appetites would be welcome.
that's why we call it the struggle, you're supposed to sweat
And with a flying mount, it's an awesome zone. It looks really nifty, and the black dragon questline is great.
Although, what would new people do to level up if the outland was all peaceful and such?
that's why we call it the struggle, you're supposed to sweat
I dunno, they could join in on the rebuilding effort or something. I think the zones that would change the most would be SMV and Hellfire. Everything else could probably remain intact more or less, with just a quick explanation of "Now that Illidan's dead, his followers are vying for control of Outland" or some such.
Well, if they took it in the direction they should, It would be the very definition of anti-peaceful.
Kael, Vashj(kinda) and Illidan were the only thing standing in the way of a full on invasion from the Burning Legion.
Oh, and whoops Kael works for them now(out in the open), and both Illidan and Vashj are apparently dead.
The only Hero level people in outland are Maeiv(kinda crazy) and Akama, and neither of them have the kind of manpower that those three had.
It would be nice to see the ramifications of killing an enemy of the enemy in the Warcraft universe
Also, chronologically speaking, other than for a Deathknight it makes sense just to leave Outland the way it is.
Right, but hasn't Blizz stated that Kil'Jaeden will be the boss of the Sunwell raid? If Magtheridon is dead, Kazzak could be dead(if Blizz chose to recognize it, and then perhaps Kil'Jaeden as well? The Burning Legion won't be doing so hot either.
According to the guild that will not shut up of Windrunner it's
Sunwell Plateau
<Kil'jaeden the Deceiver>
<Kalecgos>
<The Eredar Twins>
<Fel Dragon>
<Dark Naaru>
<Brutalicus>
Sunwell is designed to rectify this. So the burning legion storyarc will be finished with that and then they can refocus on the scourge as the next big enemy for WoTLK.
But questing is a means to an end, not the other way around! I need to quest in order to hit 70, and I'm past Nagrand but a little low (67/68) for Netherstorm.
Am I doing it wrong?
I could not believe it, as a Combat Sword Rogue with almost 250 Hit Rating and dual S2 Swords with Mongoose, I'm almost never ever having to fight for #1 dps slot.
There was a mage geared to the gills who was beating me by a good amount, but it is ShH so it was understandable, the boomkin on the other hand? We were constantly around 1 to 2% of eachother on the meters, usually I would pass him up any time I used Blade Flurry, but in between he would close the gap and pass me up.
I'm still in awe about the whole thing. I wish I could remember his name to check his armory.
Yes. You should be a druid, so you can fly at 68
I think you'll be ok in netherstrom at those levels.
You're not doing it wrong. I dinged 70 in Netherstorm.
They're telling you to save BEM, Netherstorm, and SMV till 70 because then the xp rewards are turned in to gold. And it's a great way to get gold for your epic mount.
I would think so. You've done all of Hellfire, Zangarmarsh, Terokkar, and Nagrand? Normally this, plus a few instances, gets people to at least lvl 69.
They really do have genuinely high damage potential. Last time I checked, they had the second best scaling nuke with Starfire, and scaling can make all the difference in the world. The do though suffer from threat issues, since they still can't get more than about 16-18% threat reduction, which is better than mages and warlocks but without a threat wipe ability. They also have one of the best caster set bonuses ever, with their tier 5 4 piece bonus.
BEM = bullshit questing if you don't have a flying mount, as you'll be running around and up paths and through tunnels ad nauseum. Hence at 70 you'd have a flying mount and can move around easily, or 68 as a druid.
However, if you're trying to pad yourself a little so that you can reach Netherstorm of SMV no earlier than 69, try doing just the Sylvanar(?) quests if you're Alliance, or maybe the handful of quests near the first Horde town. Neither areas require much travelling for 4-5 quests.
I never said there would be a T7; Blizzard has said as much, but they DID state that there would be "sets", likely things similar to the "armour class sets" found in 5 mans; a Plate, Mail, Leather and Cloth set, likely mostly dps (it's the only thing all classes have in common) with non-set pieces filling in the tanking/healing gaps.
BT/MH items are ilevel 146, with the best of the best being 151. T4 was ilevel 120, T5 was (I believe) 130ish, and T6 is 146, with the season tiers around that as well (but with more stat points allocated to stamina and resilience, of course).
I simply suspect that Sunwell gear will be around ilevel 151-161+, meaning that it'd make sense to have similar ilevel pvp gear, which means it'd make sense to have another Season.
Taken care of.
S3 and ZA came out at about the same time.
Also, ZA is a difficult but midlevel instance, with item levels around T5.
Introducing a "T6.5" of gear would advance the PVE'ers, and Blizzard has shown that they're big fans of keeping the PVP and PVE gear levels similar.