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WoW News

Postby ZX7 on Thu Feb 05, 2004 2:13 am

February 4, 2004


World of Warcraft Beta Test Signups are Closed
We thank everyone for participating in our World of Warcraft beta test signups. We’re now reviewing the applications and will notify selected testers by email before the start of each beta phase. If you are not selected you will not receive an email.

Please note that we can neither accept any additional applications nor make any changes to the information on anyone’s current application. Also note that we are unable to comment on the status of any application prior to the email announcements going out, so please refrain from contacting us regarding your application.

We’re looking forward to an extremely productive beta test; please visit our Web site regularly for extensive coverage after the beta test goes live!

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Postby Zeph_BL on Fri Feb 06, 2004 6:05 pm

omfg, score! its time tah rock bitches! this means itsa comin
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Postby [T]errorist[yC] on Fri Feb 06, 2004 8:27 pm

/crosses his fingers and prays to the almighty WoW god.
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Postby Zeph_BL on Sat Feb 07, 2004 9:08 am

*removes drywall from opening the size of a small door in his wall*
*feels the smell of his WoW shrine, is walking for a good half a minute and reaches a lit door, walks in, sits down on carpet surrounded by wow screenshots and candels sits and waits for this shit to hurry up*
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Some Q&A's

Postby ZX7 on Sat Feb 07, 2004 9:27 am

World of Warcraft Fan Site Chat - February 5, 2004.
Members of Blizzard met with Blizzard Fan Sites on Battle.net to discuss World of Warcraft. The chat was attended by Blizzard Reps:

Donna Anthony (Katricia), World of Warcraft Community Manager.
World of Warcraft Development Team: Mark Kern, Rob Pardo, Shane Dabiri, and Jeffrey Kaplan
Public Relations: Lisa Bucek, Gil Shif, and George Wang
Web Team: Geoff Fraizer, Blaine Whittle, and Mike Hein.
Special Guest: Mike Morhaime, President.
[LisaB.PR] Hey everyone, good to see you - we'll start the chat now - fire away

[Katricia] Hiyas all ... Good to see you all here this afternoon :)

[LisaB.PR] Question - if a group of people enter an instanced dungeon, how does a new player join that group or enter their dungeon?

[Katricia] Basically the group can invite that player into their party and when the player enters the instance they will automatically be in the same instance as that party.


[LisaB.PR] Question - what sort of information is the map going to display?


[Katricia] Which map are you referring to .. mini or world? :)
[Katricia] Well, lets go with the mini first ....
[Katricia] The mini map will show various points of intrests such as towns and major cities. You will also be able to see members of your group and if they are out of range, you'll get a directional arrow so you can easily find them.
[Katricia] ... and the world map ...
[Katricia] You can see the entire world at once, half the world or zoom into particular zones which will show areas that you've already discovered.
[Katricia] You'll also be able to place a rally point on the zone map which group members will see .. this will be used for navigational purposes.


[LisaB.PR] Will I be able to place flags down on the minimap to mark locations I wish to return to later


[Katricia] You can ping the mini map to make group members aware of a particular area.
[Katricia] You will also be able to make notes on the world map including key locations to use later.

[GilS.PR] How does pathing work? In other MMOs problems have resulted from players being able to affect NPCs without retaliation and vice versa, what are the solutions to these problems in WoW? Summoning, warping, line of sight, etc?


[Katricia] We have special creature AI so they can't be exploited. Creatures know when they are being exploited and go into "evade" mode and return to their spawn point.


[LisaB.PR] Will players be able to customize their interface?


[Katricia] Yes, you can drag and resize chat windows and later on we hope to enable dragging for other windows in the game as well ...
[Katricia] For those more technical types you can completely customize and change the interface using XML and Lua scripting ...
[Katricia] we expect users to create custom interfaces for PvP, tradeskilling, guild skins, specific classes etc.

[GilS.PR] how many trade skills can a player master on an individual character?


[Katricia] A player will have to pick and choose as they will not have the skill points to take everything. Skills can be "untrained" though, so there's no worry with picking the wrong one and being stuck with it.


[GilS.PR] EVERYBODY: You can just type your questions into the channel. We'll get to as many as we can. Don't worry, we can see 'em even though you can't ;)


[GilS.PR] How will the trading interface work?


[Katricia] You must be side-by-side. The interface is designed to be as secure as possible ....
[Katricia] A similar interface is used to provide a secure system for enchanting and unlocking boxes etc.
[Katricia] This is cool because in other games you actually have to hand over your items to the enchanter, who may not be honest ...
[Katricia] in WoW, the enchanter never has physical possession of your item

[GilS.PR] Can you give any comparisions, or lack of, between the drop system in World of Warcraft and Diablo 2?


[Katricia] Like D2, WoW supports a form of random item generation.
[Katricia] Unique items can be created by the system such as "Sword of Lifestealing" or "Breastplate of Stamina" ...
[Katricia] We take the base item like the sword and the system randomly combines it with a modifier such as lifestealing


[GilS.PR] We've seen from an older screenshot that the Dark Portal has been rebuilt (after having been destroyed in War2 expansion). Can you give us any background on why it's back or what role it'll play in the game?


[Katricia] The foundation of the dark portal was never destroyed even though the connection of the worlds was severed ...
[Katricia] and while it is no longer to open, there is legend of a ritual contained within Medivh's spellbook
[Katricia] which might one day allow powerful Warlocks to open the portal.


[GilS.PR] What happens when a player fails to complete a quest? Will there be an option to try that quest again?


[Katricia] Yes, players can always go back to the quest giver and try again.

[GilS.PR] Can you tell us more details about group spells and/or rituals?


[Katricia] The Warlock has the ritual of summoning. With three people in a group, the Warlock will cast a portal that two others must touch that will summon a distant party member to that location.


[GilS.PR] Will it be possible to journey into Outland (or if not for the initial release, is this planned for later)?


[Katricia] Ahhh .. we've got to keep some secrets :)


[GilS.PR] Will there be class-related quests that take you to enemy towns and/or cities? (For example, can a rogue get to sneak in, steal stuff, and sneak out for a quest?)


[Katricia] Yes, there are quests in the game that take you into enemy towns.

[GilS.PR] Will the quests progress the Warcraft storyline, and can we expect to see this storyline drastically affect the Warcraft game world as time progresses?


[Katricia] We have a story planned over the next few years which affects the world in dramatic ways.


[GilS.PR] For people who have friends that want to play together from the start, but play different races, is it going to be easy and/or quick to start playing with your friend as soon as possible?


[Katricia] For some races it's easier than others ...
[Katricia] For example, the humans and dwarves have easy transit between their two cities while the night elves are in a distant land.


[GilS.PR] Will there be a variety of fish to catch while fishing? Will there be special items, treasure chests, or SOS bottles that are able to be fished up?


[Katricia] Yes .. we're even planning on having seasonal fish -- and they can tie into quests and other tradeskills.
[Katricia] You can also fish up things like lock boxes, unique armors and other things :)


[GilS.PR] How will players use mounts? Will they be available through a summonable skill, or merchant (ie stables). How long will they last and are there different levels for mounts?


[Katricia] Mounts become available to each race at a high level. We also have other specialty mounts ... Warlocks for example can summon a night mare. Mounts can be "called" when needed by the owner.


[GilS.PR] Will Hunters who train in bows and rifles always be better than say a Warrior who has trained to the same level of said weapons?


[Katricia] They will very likely be very similar in skills, however; the hunters will have additional abilities with those weapons that are unique to the class. This will ultimately make them more powerful with ranged weapons.


[GilS.PR] Will there be "named" or "unique" monsters in the World of Warcraft? If so, will they appear randomly or will they only spawn under certain circumstances?


[Katricia] Yes there are many unique monsters in WoW. Some will appear randomly while others will only spawn when certain conditions have been met.


[GilS.PR] Will items crafted in WoW be more useful to other players than crafted items typically are in other RPGs?


[Katricia] Throughout your career as a crafter, there will always be items which you can create that will be the best items a player can use at that level...
[Katricia] For example, at level 40 the best bracer might come from a blacksmith while at level 45, the best bracer might be from a quest.
[Katricia] There are also a number of consumable items that can be created such as armor patches and sharpening stones.
[Katricia] Tradeskillers can sell these consumable items to players who use them to improve their existing armor and items.


[GilS.PR] Will players be able to recreate the same item over and over as long as they get the right materials?


[Katricia] Yes :)

[GilS.PR] Will there be a follow option to have your character automatically follow your group leaders?


[Katricia] Currently, you can follow anyone and not just the group leader.

[GilS.PR] Hey everyone, that was the last question. However, we have a special announcement for you, so hold on a sec', and I'll turn it back over to Katricia.


[Katricia] Just wanted to thank you all for coming today and wanted to let yas know that all of the sites in the Fansite Program have automatically been entered into our beta program ...
[Katricia] this includes international fan sites.
[Katricia] Also, we will be handing out additional beta accounts to fan sites to use for contests ... (more on this at a later time).
[Katricia] Thanks again for joining us .. yas all have a great night :)\


[GilS.PR] Thanks everybody. Katricia has left the building ;) See you next time.
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Postby Zeph_BL on Sat Feb 07, 2004 1:32 pm

thanks for postin that zx :mrgreen:
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Postby Brak_BL on Thu Feb 19, 2004 6:18 pm

heh wow a story like for years already can't wait to see what it is
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Postby Zeph_BL on Thu Feb 19, 2004 8:52 pm

W3 wasnt talked about nearly as much as WoW, and W3 kicked ass
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Postby InSoMNiaC on Sat Feb 21, 2004 10:30 pm

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Postby InSoMNiaC on Sat Feb 21, 2004 10:37 pm

oh and another interview with Kat:

"Recently, Donna Anthony aka Katricia joined Blizzard as their World of Warcraft Community Manager. Kingdoms of Azeroth got a chance to ask her some of the questions you submitted, and without further ado, here they are:

You recently were hired by Blizzard for your job as the World of Warcraft Community Manager. How does it feel to work for what is arguably one of the best gaming companies in the world?

I know this is going to sound crazy, but I'm still walking around on cloud nine. I'm in a daze and some days still can't believe my great fortune. Working at Blizzard is a dream come true for me.

Blizzard is without a doubt the best company I've ever worked for. For the first time in my life I can honestly say, "If I won the lottery, I would continue to work."


What is your opinion of the World of Warcraft Community?

The Community is coming along nicely. People are already coming together, starting friendships and joining guilds. This is only going to increase as the game is released, especially once people can start making plans to meet in the game.

Will there be different servers with slightly different rules (example Role Playing Server). If so, what types will there be?

There will probably be various servers such as PvP or RP servers, but in all honesty, this hasn't been decided yet.
Can we expect the classic Blizzard touch of humor in World of Warcraft? You know, exploding sheep, Arthas rock band, that kind of stuff!

Blizzard humor is spread all throughout World of Warcraft. One recently added touch is the cowbell - an accessory for Taurens only, of course.


Of the multitude of posts on the Official Battle.net Forums, what percentage of posts would you say you read? 100%? 90%? 50%?

I read as much as I can, and of course we have others reading the forums too. It's difficult to judge the percentage, as some days I'm able to devote more time to the forums than others. Most people think that if their post doesn't receive a comment, that it hasn't been read. That's simply not the case. We just don't have the time to respond to every single post, but it doesn't mean we aren't reading them.

We know that the Death Penalty is being handled as somewhat of a delicate issue, but could you give us some specifics in what the penalties might be? Will the penalty be unique to the situation (quest, PvP, PvE, etc)?

When a player dies, he or she will appear at a nearby bindstone as a ghost. While in ghost form, a player can neither be seen by nor see the living. The player must now travel back to where his or her corpse is to become corporeal again. Finding one's corpse will be easy, since players will have a minimap marker that clearly shows the way. Because the player's ghost won't be detectable by monsters, the journey back to the corpse won't be dangerous. After getting close enough to where the corpse is, the player will receive the option to be resurrected a small-but-safe distance from where he or she originally fell (to avoid any nearby monsters). Once the player becomes corporeal again, there are no further penalties for death.

Should a player choose not to retrieve his or her corpse, a Spirit Healer (ghostly NPC) will be available at the bindstone to resurrect the player there for a modest loss in experience.

Of course we are still exploring the death-penalty system and will be flexible in keeping our options open for future changes.


How does Blizzard plan on dealing with the selling of items on Ebay?

The selling of characters or items is not a feature supported in World of Warcraft. Any users that choose to participate in this activity do so at their own risk. Blizzard will not facilitate nor mediate in the sale or trading of characters/items. Further, users should be warned that attempts to transfer items between characters can result in lost items or damaged characters. Blizzard is not responsible for lost items or damaged characters.

If two players of a different race, but same faction wanted to group up and play together, how long would it take for them to get together?

Generally speaking, most players should be able to hook up within the first few levels, either by running or using the various modes of transportation.

Since you play as a Priest, what interesting facts can you tell us about this class? Do you think the followers of the Priest will be disappointed? Why do you like the Priest in specific? What are the benefits of playing as a priest?

I always play a healing class. I enjoy the ability to help other players which makes the Priest a perfect fit for me. My main playing preference is group play; however, one of the reasons that I'm especially enjoying the Priest in World of Warcraft is its ability to solo. Sometimes you just need to do something alone and it's nice to know that I can.

What kind of Battle.net forum avatars can we expect from World of Warcraft?

Our forums are being redesigned and will not be a part of Battle.net once World of Warcraft goes live. The new forum avatars will be each player's character portrait, with the ability to click through to the paper doll."
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Banking

Postby ZX7 on Mon Mar 01, 2004 10:05 pm

For those interested...a new page about banking in WoW

http://www.blizzard.com/wow/townhall/banking.shtml

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Transportation!!

Postby ZX7 on Wed Mar 03, 2004 11:34 pm

Some good info about mounts, and an ingame MOVIE!!!

http://www.blizzard.com/wow/townhall/airtransportation.shtml

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Postby Jericho on Thu Mar 04, 2004 11:33 am

Zeph_BL wrote:W3 wasnt talked about nearly as much as WoW, and W3 kicked ass


so was Daikatana
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Postby Zeph_BL on Thu Mar 04, 2004 7:14 pm

So much news, its like a novel...
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New W3 Map!

Postby ZX7 on Wed Mar 17, 2004 11:18 pm

New Warcraft III Bonus Map: Hearthglen Hills
Once a thriving mining region, Hearthglen Hills is now overrun with vile creatures who scrounge for what little gold remains.

Download it here http://www.battle.net/war3/maps/war3xbonusmaps.shtml

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