WoWzers!

[Kag]

Not too serious to stop pandaren from making sense in the universe. In any case, they're significantly less silly than Tauren. Or at least there are fewer easy character name puns.

[Deva]

Finds Draenei more ridiculous. Said it best with "Gaze upon my crazy tentacle-face and despair, Azerothian!"

Accepts Pandaren as a playable race (somewhat) and the new Monk class. Mainly dislikes the degree of focus on them. Always focused on stopping an end of the expansion boss. Does not have one in Mists of Pandaria. Feels like the story behind Wintergrasp: get resources from this unspoiled land and kill Horde/Alliance. And have this raid of bosses which has little bearing on the fate of Northrend, Arthas, or even their next-door neighbors. Was too shallow for an entire expansion, so add Pandaren. Is that meant to make up for a complete lack of story?

Might learn new details later. Remains unimpressed until then.

[ProZac]

I thought it was pretty obvious where they are going with this. They already said that Pandaria is a "positive, peaceful land" and when the Horde/Alliance show up all the fighting "releases negative energy which manifests itself as Sha". Essentially, rather than have a known entity be the 'end evil' of this expansion, it's going to end with a Sha boss created from all the horde/ally fighting throughout the course of it. Or at least that's my guess.

[Izawwlgood]

which has little bearing on the fate of Northrend, Arthas, or even their next-door neighbors. Was too shallow for an entire expansion, so add Pandaren.

For what it's worth, I find the addition of a class to be an enormous addition. Adding storylines and new places it, in my opinion, far less of a content investment than adding a new class.

[Deva]

which has little bearing on the fate of Northrend, Arthas, or even their next-door neighbors. Was too shallow for an entire expansion, so add Pandaren.

For what it's worth, I find the addition of a class to be an enormous addition. Adding storylines and new places it, in my opinion, far less of a content investment than adding a new class.

True. Requires a lot of work and upkeep, especially compared to some storylines (corruption, anyone?). Holds little interest in it, unfortunately. Dislikes playing melee damage dealers and tanks. Might be interested in healing.

[Izawwlgood]

I'm curious to see if Monks mechanic is similar to DoKs or WPs in WAR; certain actions/abilities fill up one meter, which is used to fuel healing abilities.

I found different character mechanics to be the only thing that kept me interested, and frankly, as much as I loved Vash'jir, found pretty much every storyline to be totally boring and derivative.

[Sytri]

I might come back to WoW for this but only for a month maybe. Get try out what it's like to be kung fu panda and then leave again.

I've not played in months, are you able to buy BoA gear without being a certain level guild yet?

[Dobblesworth]

Thoughts on the MoP from the perspective of a rather veteran hunter player...

- Oh fuck I guess I oughta stop my Thunderfury progress
- Theramore? Alright Horde, you will pay. Seriously. I am only held back in mercilessly obliterating every square foot of forsaken military in Southshore because they're babysat by 500k health 85 leets. But if we get say Tarren Mill/Crossroads made into a bloody great big gnomish-engineered crater, then maybe.
- I once heard PvP balance described by a blue as "ten balloons of varying shape/material/filling gas, hovering in a vertical column, you want them all to hover level together in unison, but bridging from every one is a connector to the other nine balloons, with all those connectors operating with a unique set of constraints". And now it's eleven.
- "We don't like how Cataclysm had everyone hiding in Stormwind/Orgrimmar, we don't like how Cataclysm felt disconnected with the five (seven if you count MF and TB) 80-85 zones being random spots portaled to." Well then why did you run with it in the first place!
- I approve of the new 'talents'. Cata may have shrunk trees by a third but it was still far too cookie-cutter with no breadth, e.g. counterattack, concussive barrage, resistance is futile, suboptimal to take. And some look really inventive things, not too keen on shamans and totems mind, all those made to medium cooldown reactive drops, the sort of cooldowns you find yourself umming and erring over whether to use them and you choose to save them for when it gets too rough, it rarely does and they sit unused.
- I hope Chen Stormstout is more than an assistant NPC in a levelling dungeon and its associated heroic. He was one quarter of the WC3TFT Orc campaign, man, a true leg end! That said, Rokhan got one quest in Dragonblight...
- If you are going to Blizzcon and intend on asking a panel question, have it researched thoroughly, look at MMO Champion Wowhead Wowpedia before coming and look see if it is on the cards already/been touched on already/has received a flat-out No, and stop wasting time asking for third spec, player housing, love for <race><spec><class> when all around you know you're already broken and overtuned.
- Haters: pandaren are a rather established lore item and were rampant in WC3, no this xpack is not an april fools joke, is not jumping the shark, is not the end of the game and I'm almost looking forward to it whereas I was downbeat looking at Cata (mostly hunter mana->focus, but I think I'm over that now). That was two days of preview content, we're up to or beyond a year away from release. Much can and will change. Anyone remember... path of the titans, the original concept of reforging (armour/weapon crafting professions exclusive, not some npc cash-sink), Abyssal Maw (second half of TOTT), guild talent spec

I'll probably add more soon.

[Izawwlgood]

I think Cata streamlining the talent trees made the game more complex not less. It made it so putting points somewhere mattered more, and the talent tree's were typically, actually, significantly different from one another.

[Deva]

Likes the idea behind the Mists of Pandaria talent system. Rarely had any choice between talents before. Always picked specific ones due to larger damage increases. Only personally chose two talents maximum. Depends on personal preference now (or potentially, fight mechanics. Not as good). Does not increase damage (much).

Hates the current Mists of Pandaria Mage implementation. Offers iconic Fire Mage spells to any mage. Suffers from amnesia too. Will forget two spells (Cone of Cold or Ring of Frost and Dragon’s Breath or Blastwave). Partially forget, anyways. Spend a few moments and remember everything, but forget others. Makes as much sense as dual specialization, admittedly.

Wants spells removed from talents. Improve the basic utility spells. Would like an Arcane, Fire, and Frost feel to Blink. Allow a choice between two sheep, a flaming sheep, and a frozen sheep. Make Frost Nova stronger, change it to Flame Wreath, or add an Arcane slowing field. Amplify Frost Armor, Molten Armor, and Mage Armor. Let X specialization augment their arsenal with a hint of Y or Z. Do not give them the key to the house.

And make Living Bomb Fire Mage specific again. Functions mostly fine without damage over time spells. Should never cast off-school spells for damage (looking at you, Arcane and Flame Orb).

[Malconstant]

After playing for ~3 1/2 years (lol internet video game cred, I ended WotLK as the top geared (GS) female troll tank in the world, it helps there are only like 5 other people in the world playing female troll tanks) I quit earlier this year, usual reasons. And I started playing Rift, cause that's where some friends went to. I've pretty much always considered Rift to be an inferior game, but that was it's strength for me, I wanted a game that I was capable of playing ultra casually. But I've been getting a hankering for WoW recently, like some terrible recurring addict, and the justification of paying the same amount to play a game that I consider to be a worse game isn't the most robust of reasons.

So I guess this is my AA post here, though I'm basically kind of intending on giving WoW another shot with a forced ultra casual play, this is a much more conflicting decision than it should be. Ultra casual on account of being married and a grad student and all (used to raid with my then-fiancee, but I have no intension of trying to draw her back)

[Lostdreams]

My only regret was leaving 60k gold, 114 companion pets, and countless soulbound flair items to go unused.

[Chen]

After playing for ~3 1/2 years (lol internet video game cred, I ended WotLK as the top geared (GS) female troll tank in the world, it helps there are only like 5 other people in the world playing female troll tanks) I quit earlier this year, usual reasons. And I started playing Rift, cause that's where some friends went to. I've pretty much always considered Rift to be an inferior game, but that was it's strength for me, I wanted a game that I was capable of playing ultra casually. But I've been getting a hankering for WoW recently, like some terrible recurring addict, and the justification of paying the same amount to play a game that I consider to be a worse game isn't the most robust of reasons.

So I guess this is my AA post here, though I'm basically kind of intending on giving WoW another shot with a forced ultra casual play, this is a much more conflicting decision than it should be. Ultra casual on account of being married and a grad student and all (used to raid with my then-fiancee, but I have no intension of trying to draw her back)

I tried coming back to WoW as an ultra casual. It ended up with me being an integral officer and raid organizer in the guild that ended up being top of the server. It depends on your personality. Me and my friends who used to play will inevitably start taking leadership roles. This does NOT mesh well with staying casual. If you're the same, I suggest running away

[Malconstant]

Fair point.

Anyway, RE: Pandas. It's an interesting problem to think about developing new expansions for an aging base. Big Bads are fun and all, but the one-dimensionality isn't going to be compelling. WotLK was a great step in this regard, at least coming from "demons from space who want to destroy everything". It had good intentions and self-sacrifice, yet still managed a Big Bad manifest which was constantly present. I was a fan.

Cataclysm was a step back in this regard, but I think the intent was to focus on shamanistic/elemental symbolism, and it makes for a very pretty expansion, but less of a compelling narrative. So here's a Alliance vs. Horde based expansion, with pandas who have a personality trait of being very good sports about combat. I've tended to find the Alliance vs. Horde narrative lacking anyway, like some kind of N Korea vs. the world relationship of periodic senseless provocation and then reluctant teaming up. But the motivation for sustained conflict is shaky, especially after all of that reluctant teaming up. So I'm not opposed to shining a light on that and building up that narrative some more anyway. And I'd also see it as a step up from a one-dimensional big bad narrative.

Although, if the idea is that the fighting makes more of this Sha, and then they join forces to defeat the Sha as ProZac suggests, I feel that would be a little disappointing. Just kind of externalizes the conflict.

[ProZac]

Although, if the idea is that the fighting makes more of this Sha, and then they join forces to defeat the Sha as ProZac suggests, I feel that would be a little disappointing. Just kind of externalizes the conflict.

I hope I'm wrong. I mean, it'd be cool if they convert Stormwind/Orgrimmar into raid instances for you to go in and actually fight the opposing faction... but I don't think there's a viable way to do this. The one thing I am certain of is that there are "Sha dungeons". "Sha raids" is the next logical step.

[Melic]

When this new panda thing came out i got really mad for some reason not knowing how Blizzard got the nerve to add disney into MY game, then I remembered that i pay them 15 dollers/month to play THEIR game and if it was my game id have light sabers in it. if only there was some way i could download a addon that gave me light sabers and way better quests with different storlines for every player and space ships. Oh well I guss ill go back to grinding for my raid tommarow with no hope of a bright future.

[Obby]

When this new panda thing came out i got really mad for some reason not knowing how Blizzard got the nerve to add disney into MY game, then I remembered that i pay them 15 dollers/month to play THEIR game and if it was my game id have light sabers in it. if only there was some way i could download a addon that gave me light sabers and way better quests with different storlines for every player and space ships. Oh well I guss ill go back to grinding for my raid tommarow with no hope of a bright future.

You almost had me for a second there.

[Deva]

When this new panda thing came out i got really mad for some reason not knowing how Blizzard got the nerve to add disney into MY game, then I remembered that i pay them 15 dollers/month to play THEIR game and if it was my game id have light sabers in it. if only there was some way i could download a addon that gave me light sabers and way better quests with different storlines for every player and space ships. Oh well I guss ill go back to grinding for my raid tommarow with no hope of a bright future.

Already contains two of three: The Very Light Sabre (see below) and the Exodar.

Very Light Sabre.jpg (12.55 KiB) Viewed 3137 times

[Lostdreams]

When this new panda thing came out i got really mad for some reason not knowing how Blizzard got the nerve to add disney into MY game, then I remembered that i pay them 15 dollers/month to play THEIR game and if it was my game id have light sabers in it. if only there was some way i could download a addon that gave me light sabers and way better quests with different storlines for every player and space ships. Oh well I guss ill go back to grinding for my raid tommarow with no hope of a bright future.

Already contains two of three: The Very Light Sabre (see below) and the Exodar.

Very Light Sabre.jpg

Is the Argent Avenger still in game? It was one of 3 choices at the end of the Araj the summoner questline but everything was revamped in Cataclysm. I still have it on my rogue along with a crusader enchanted felstriker and the banner to summon the optional bosses from the tier 0.5 questline.

Felstriker still has the best proc in the game. Period.

[Deva]

Is the Argent Avenger still in game? It was one of 3 choices at the end of the Araj the summoner questline but everything was revamped in Cataclysm. I still have it on my rogue along with a crusader enchanted felstriker and the banner to summon the optional bosses from the tier 0.5 questline.

Felstriker still has the best proc in the game. Period.

According to Wowhead, no. Uses the same model as the Spellfire Longsword (from normal Slave Pens) too.

Enjoyed Nibelung’s Val’kyrs the most. Worked great with Blizzard (the spell). Recalls the record of seven out at once.

Also, a Jawa Mage.

Wrathful Jawa.jpg (5.36 KiB) Viewed 3124 times

[crystal_owl]

Hey there, I was wondering if you guys could help me out for a minute? I've got to buy Christmas presents for all our new in-laws, and one of the daughters is a massive WoWer. Could you guys recommend a great present for a WoW player? I can only spend around £10/$15 so things like the keyboard adaptors are out. She's 15 and plays as a Draenei Shaman, Alliance side.

[Deva]

Three ideas:
- One month of game time. Not an exciting gift. Keeps the fun coming, however.

- An in-game vanity pet. See the Blizzard store here. Appears to require making a Battle.net account (but not owning any game accounts…probably). May choose an option to gift the pet via code. Be certain to not add it to your own (and to not choose plushies, if you want in-game items). Can look through her character profile here with a character name and server name. Displays her pet collection by selecting “Companions & Mounts”. Prevents buying a pet she already owns.

- Saw books in the Blizzard store too. Contains Warcraft lore which is usually glossed over in the game. Has never read any, unfortunately. Suggests one with "World of Warcraft" at the top. Guesses the straight "Warcraft" logo refers to lore before the time of World of Warcraft. Probably possesses fewer "Saw you and did your quests!" moments.

Never used any peripherals intended for games like World of Warcraft. Cannot recommend any, consequently. Likely runs higher than your price range anyways.

[Izawwlgood]

Pretty spectacularly massive overhaul coming up it looks like.
http://us.battle.net/wow/en/game/mists- ... calculator

[Frucifer]

I'm about to reactivate my WoW account...anyone willing to send me a scroll of resurrection and get the mount? I will PM email.

[Dobblesworth]

What region are you on? *Can send a scroll of res on EU account*

[Ralith The Third]

I'm about to reactivate my WoW account...anyone willing to send me a scroll of resurrection and get the mount? I will PM email.

If you're US, I can. I just reactivated myself because everyone in my goddamn house is playing and talking about it and hnngnghhh.

[Melic]

Im actuall not displease with the story so far. spoliered for if you havnt started leveling to 90 and want to see it for yourself.

Spoiler:

The first zone leads up to a big battle between ally and horde when a ginat sha comes out now you get to see who the real enemy is, after that it seems liek to much " go kill 10 wolves" untill you start unlocking the dailys thne the dailys kinda run that into the ground.

The world bosses drop good stuff now and take 30+ people to kill them. you can kill them all you want but only get loot the first time every week.

Lots on new and fun looking mounts I cant wait to get (im poor).

I really like they way they did rare spawns, rare spawns seem much harder than dungeon bosses with simple to avoid yet devestating attacks. The gear isnt great however they also drop some nice BOP vanity and some very usefull on use items. The acheivemnt for killing them is much better than WotLK instead of killing each one you only have to kill one of every race and there are half a dozen of each race pretty spread out.

I am a litttle confused with how they did the gear, before you got some dungeon lvl gear out of the end quests the '"justice" vendor sold some and you did dungeons for the rest, now heroic dungeon gear beats all, the end level quests drop gear that will get you into heroics and the justice vendor gear isnt that good. I cant be to upset because it means that for now to get into raids you have to do dungeons. there are a few epics spread out among the factions, but it seems like a bit of grinding to get them and then they cost valor I believe.

I do hope the haters give this a chance, I have one friend who is completly against pandas and wont even check it out. I may not be the biggest fan of pandas but that just means I probabley wont make one not that I wont play the game with them.

[Izawwlgood]

Can someone chime in about the Monk mechanic? I'm wondering if it's entertaining to play.

[Ralith The Third]

It's around as engaging as the DK mechanic, so far.

That is to say, not terribly, but a plus.

[Deva]

Is apparently a jerk. Received a quest to heal defenders. Flew to the first one spotted. Loaded players after completing most of the cast time. Missed someone inside the defender's model. Only saw a blue name. Got ignored before explaining.

Smolders. Buffed every mana-user afterwards.

[mike-l]

Bought MoP. Been inactive for 8+ months, but had a subscription for most of it. Log in, clearly been hacked. All my non-maxed characters are naked, noone has any money, all my sub 85 gear has been sold, all my helm/cloak heirlooms have been sold.

Not a huge deal, but I want to play a monk, I'd like to have heirlooms for him (I do have weapons, chest, shoulders, and trinks, but my cloak and helm are gone, and I can't afford legs). So I open a ticket. Get told it happened too long ago so there's nothing they can do. But then, they say 'but you still have a well geared 85, so you should have no problem coming back'... fuck you Blizzard.

[philsov]

back in my day, we leveled in non-scaling greens, without an exp bonus, without dungeon/BG queueing from anywhere, without getting exp for gathering, and WE LIKED IT.

[Izawwlgood]

Maybe scammers opened characters on a different realm?

[mike-l]

back in my day, we leveled in non-scaling greens, without an exp bonus, without dungeon/BG queueing from anywhere, without getting exp for gathering, and WE LIKED IT.

It was fun on my first character. It was painful but bearable on my 2nd and 3rd characters. I had the first round of heirlooms for my 4th and 5th characters. This is now my 11th character, I'm sick of the same zones, the same dungeons (ok, so a couple of them got redone, but I've experienced both the old and the new many times), and mostly, the literal days-long grind that poses 0 challenge the whole time, just patience.

Maybe scammers opened characters on a different realm?

No no, they left my main's gear in tact, so bliz basically said 'They only stole all your money and leveling items, but you still have some phat lewts, so come back anyway'

[Izawwlgood]

What could they have done with your heirlooms? They just vindictively trashed them?

[mike-l]

The helms and cloaks sell for a few hundred each. Most of my other heirlooms are still there, though a couple did get trashed. In particular my druid's did, which, sadly, are what I want for my monk, but I do have the leather pvp items and the agi maces.

[Izawwlgood]

Ah. I thought for some reason that heirlooms couldn't be sold. Whelp, that sucks.

[mike-l]

In general, if it's not a skill, if it can be bought for gold it can be sold for gold.

[Ralith The Third]

Do tell where you can buy heirlooms for gold.

[Deva]

Earns some heirlooms through guild levels (ten and twenty) and a guild achievement (all professions at six hundred skill level). Check the guild vendor in major cities. Costs one thousand two hundred gold for cloaks, one thousand five hundred gold for helmets, and one thousand seven hundred fifty gold for leggings.