World of Warcraft Expansion Set Change Notes

[silkfire]

These are probably all fake, surely someone's wish thinking, but it's cool to see them anyway, they're at least the first rumored change notes =)


World of Warcraft Expansion Set: Legends of Azeroth

New realms will be opened for expansion users only.

Character transfer to expansion realms from all realms will be permitted for all existing realms.

New Expansion Specific Realm Types

PvP Conquest
RP-PvP Conquest


Experience Azeroth in a whole new light. Complete new adventures, expanded areas, you'd hardly recognize it. Larger, more dangerous, more mysterious, the never-ending struggle in the world of Azeroth takes the next level to titanic propotions.

The level cap has now been extended to 100. This will take place in two phases. First to 75, then later to 100.

Te Expansion also comes with an Audio-enabled program that allows players to speak to one another - you will need a microphone to communicate.

GAME EFFECTS

Fully new implemented weather system.

Rain, fog, mist, thunder, snow, sand and dust storms, wild fires, haze from heat - all visible and dynamic with sound effects.

Random effects of winds. 7 degrees of winds from very light to very strong. Tree branches sway, in strong winds character movement can be slowed by as much 20%.

Distinct climates worldwide from constant winter, to temperate and tropical.

Player animation has changed accordingly:

Visible differences between wet and dry hair. Wind movements and strength affect hair.

Clothes now correspond to weather, cloth gets wet and looks drenched in rain whiles mail has a glossy sheen. Capes if visible, flap.

Perspiration and sweat is visible on faces and clothes and takes shorter time to appear in hot climates and days, a longer time at cooler periods and hardly ever in snowy climates.

Weather affects blow air rides like gryphons off course, freak storms can materialize anywhere sending ships off course as well.

Over 100 new player animations and visuals including 5 variations of each. in particular new /sing , /scream emotes.


VISUAL AND AUDIO EFFECTS

An audio visual pack has been added on 2 special CDs that contain the additions. Options exist to turn some of these on or off.

No less than 75 cut-scenes for quests and battle grounds. [Cut-scenes cannot be viewed if collecting or delivering a quest while still in a party]

Animations for over 500 quests.

Speech implementation for ALL quests from NPCs.

World topography has been refined to be clearer, mountains are far more varied, the Thousand Needles mesas look razor sharp. More versatile vegetation has been added.

You can sink in snow or sand.

Running in water, snow, sand or dusty regions creates visible splashes and dust/sand/snow clouds.

Movement speed responds accordingly to analogue controls, and vibrations can be physically felt on appropriate controllers.

The music library has been severely expanded, no two areas will sound the same, instances have new exciting theme tunes characteristic of the instance. Even taverns have different music depending on what racial capital you are in, with audible laughter, ordering, shouts, fights taking place.

NPCs can be heard advertising their wares, children rushing from learning houses during the day, market places come alive and work places thrive. New sounds for throne-rooms of all racial leaders.


DAY & NIGHT CYCLE

Day and night are no longer uniform worldwide, night in Kalimdor is day on Azeroth: it is mid afternoon in Westfall while late-afternoon to dusk in Quel'Thalas.

Distinctly different luminosities for dawn, early morning, afternoon, late-afternoon, dusk, twilight, night.

Night luminosity varies from very dark requiring a light to see anything to starlight/moonlight night, or settlement light.

Time zones introduced around the world.

NEW CLASSES

Dread Knight [Horde or Neutral only]: Hybrid /Tank/Nuker

Necromancer [Horde or Neutral]: Magical Nuker/Summoner

Ranger [Alliance or Neutral]: Hybrid magical and physical ranged/Melee DPS dealer

Spellbreaker [Alliance or Neutral]: Hybrid (DoT, buffer/de-buffer)

Mechanic [Any]: Magical & mechanical utility/dealer

Amazon [Any]: Melee combatant hybrid

New classes have been added complete with a full array of skills and abilities, all with their own custom talent trees.

Special Druid alteration: Tauren and Night Elf druids are penalized for fighting each other.

Because of the faction system change, certain classes you select will make you unable to join certain factions.

Certain racial types can never get along faction-wise.

HERO CLASSES

Each class has been given epic spells and abilities that are class specific once they become a Hero.

And they may learn some basic skills in the Hero Category they choose. For e.g. a Warrior in the Healing Hero classes does not just learn ways to recover through spirit enhancements only, but learns some healing ability to an extent he can even take on that role in part.


There are four special sects of Hero Classes for each category you can diversify in.

The Level Cap has now been extended to 100.


NEW RACES
High Elf - Classes: Ranger, Spellbreaker, Amazon, Hunter, Warrior, Rogue, Mage, Warlock
Naga - Necromancer, Warrior, rogue, hunter, mage, priest, warlock.
Goblin: Mechanik, Amazon, Warrior, rogue, Mage, Hunter.
Dryad: Amazon, Ranger, Warrior, Priest, Druid, Hunter.

In Addition to what they have now.
Orc: Dread Knight, Necromancer, Amazon [Warrior, Shaman, Hunter, Rogue, Warlock]
Undead: Necromancer, Dread Knight [Warrior, Mage, Warlock, Rogue, Priest]
Human: Spellbreaker, Mechanik [Warrior, Rogue, Paladin, Priest, Mage, Warlock]
Night Elf: Ranger, Amazon [Warrior, Druid, Hunter, Priest, Rogue]
Troll: Necromancer, Amazon [Warrior, Hunter, Shaman, Rogue, Mage, Priest]
Tauren: Amazon [Druid, Shaman, Warrior, Hunter]
Dwarves: Mechanik [Paladin, Warrior, Hunter, Rogue, Priest]
Gnomes: Mechanik, Spellbreaker [Mage, Warlock, Warrior, Rogue]


Racial abilities receive 4 upgrades now, 1 at level 25, at 50, at 75 and at Level 100.


CHARACTER CUSTOMISATION

New Emotes

Added over 30 new facial types and variations for each race.

Added body type selection from gaunt thin to very fat (not available to all races and some classes)

Long periods of rested state or inactivity will cause a physical broadening of features, which will decrease incrimentally to your original body gait selection as you work through your rest state.

Default faction or neutral now selectable as choice.

Up to two new skills can be selected at start, some races can’t learn scertain skills, e.g. Tauren can’t climb trees.

NEW SKILLS

You can now learn to climb trees and mountains

Ride mounts

Fight with mounts

Swimming

Sprinting
Note some classes automatically have these skills from start. E.g. Night & High Elves have the climb tree ability, Dwarves the climb mountain, Undead Swimming.

You can now train running, swimming, riding and climbing skills to different degrees allowing faster movement, or able to climb more difficult areas, or swim faster and breathe under water longer

AREAS & TERRITORIES
New Areas
Dalaran [city & expanded Region]
Quel'Thalas [city & area on map]
Mount Hyjal [forest city & area]
Northrend [ Continental zone]
Southrend [continetal zone]
The Maelstrom
The Lairs of the Aspects
The Emerald Dream [The World in a totally new light-with some additional areas not available in the waking world]

Expanded Old Areas
World areas and Lost Areas.

Lost Areas

Random maze-like instances outdoors are generated every time you are declared as lost. You lose your marker spot on the map and your minimap goes blank. However instead of combating mobs, you must use intuition and find clues to help you out of them.


Every territory has a "lost" zone which is an external instance that resembles the area but which you cannot exit by simply walking to a fixed area. There is no sense of direction here, and you must find and use certain clues that will help you out.


You don't choose when to enter a "lost" area, you have a very high chance of being transported to the territories "lost" area by random exploration through that territory in particular areas you haven’t “discovered” yet. Your chances of getting lost in an area are almost non-existent once you discover the area.


However discovery of an area now requires you to have been through over half it's area. The experience has been raised dramatically as well.


You are also deposited in a random lost area if the victim of a freak storm while on gryphon/wyvern/hippogrriff back or travelling by Ship or Zepphlin. You woudn’t be transported to an area half way across the world, however sometimes you can be blown well off course.


To exit the “lost” zone you must complete certain tasks.

EXISTING AREAS

Many outdoors areas have been expanded, some doubling in size, new settlements, dungeons and structures have been added.

Some new areas within old ones two have been added to accommodate new starting areas.


Specific detail has been given to houses, workplaces, taverns, shops. Visible tools and equipment can now be seen where appropriate. Workmen working. Shop items can now be seen displayed on walls and shelves but can still be selected via right clicking on the shopkeeper NPC.

[silkfire]

Other World Area Changes

In addition to all areas being expanded to one degree or another - Major towns such as Southshore, Auberdine, Kharanos, Cross Roads, Ratchett, Bloodhoof Village, Razor Hill and more have been redsigned and expanded to look like towns rather than villages.

Stromgarde, Aeries Peak & Hinterlands, Stahnbrad in Alterac, Tauren Settlements in the Thousand Needles and Feralas as well as those zones have all been particularly extensively expanded. The Charred vale for example is partially Forested again, and partially burnt


A lot of attention to detail was given to Horde and Goblin areas with the trebling in size of Gadgetzan and Everlook, the addition of 2 new goblin towns of smaller size. Additional Orc settlements in the Barrens, with Night Elf and Tauren expanstions on Stone Talon Mountain.


Some neutral factions like the Argent Dawn and the Emerald Circle and others have been given settlement camps in their main areas of operation, and HQs in all major cities


A neutral Ogre town has been opened up in the expanded Tanaris. and the Theramore Isle human settlement has doubled in size and now stretches a greater distance into the marsh.


A rebel Silithid Hive in the Un'Goro crater, neutral, has been opened, with quests to do and repuatation to earn. The Crater's mountainous region has been expanded and a small neutral village has opened up in the north section.


Some Areas’ level requirements of have been altered to accomodate the starting areas of Trolls & High Elves. Stone Talon Mountain has expanded to an Upper & Lower section, the Upper section accomdates the starting area for the Dryads.


The world has almost trebled in size with the many new additions and zones to facilitate moving around, it is now possible to purchase a mount from as early as level 5
At Level 40 you may acquire a battlemount, trainable in 8 differnet types of warfare.
What was considered an epic mount before the expansion is no longer
New Seahorse (can move on both land and sea) mount has been added for Naga. Treant Mounts for Dryads (The Dryad can assume a two legged shape for mounting, they look like nightelves but with leaves and twigs as hair and thorny claws for fingers), Mechanical Tin Shredders for Goblins.

It is now possible to train riding skills in any races racial mount, however, battlemounts have specific advantages for their native race, allowing them to boost racial abilities.


Special Gnome and Goblin transports are available in most cities towns and villages that assist direct transportation to nearby territories or areas within territories.


All cities and flight paths have been given multitude stables and hatcheries to emphasize the volume of transport available. Depending on server population and day times, varying numbers of flyers and mounts are spawned in the hatchery and stables

General Structural Customisation
Gates and Doors are closed at night time for most towns and cities except for night elven settlements where the opposite occurs, closing at day time. You may still go into shops at night, but after a certain time, you will have to knock on the closed door, and the shopkeeper may charge you extra, the opposite true for night elves.

CITIES
All cities have been expanded both internally and externally, many given underbellies and dungeons. NpC and shops have been detailed, the amount of NpCs increased tremendously. Cities now have themed activities, fairs and markets. Each City has a disntict activity Ranging From Gladiator Arena fighting to racing and Fishing where you may compete against members of your own faction and neutrals.

Also guards and engines have been increased and are all elite in every city. Beasts and racial related creatures having a bigger presence in the City.

Darnassus
Darnassus and the night elven kingdoms have been expanded. During the night, Darnassus, Auberdine, Astranaar and several new night elven towns come alive at night. Moonwells scattered all over glow, and new night elven specific activities can be found all over.
Darnassus has double in size, 4 new quarters added, new tree and marble homes.

Ogrimmar: New Stone structures have been added, and the cities size increased. All areas around expanded. Orcs have additional settlements and villages in Durotar and the Barrens

Thunderbluff now has an encampment at the base of the hill. And Mulgore has been expanded considerably, additional Tauren villages with quests, and renegade Bristleboar settlements too.

Ironforge: Iron forge has many new layers opened up beneath and above the entrance level areas. The Great forge has undergone a design upgrade, and though the greatest, is not the only one in the city.

Undercity: Has several entirely new sections, some in the ruined Lordaeron above. Others accessible only through tunnelled sewers that stretch north into Lordaeron

A second Night Elven city has been opened up in Mount Hyjal, it is also home to Furblogs and refugee blood elves. Details to follow as it is a high end-game level area.

Gnomeragan:
The Gnome capital city has been opened up and is now the starting area for Gnomes. It’s been fully fitted out, with new structures visible from outside, a main train station port, and looks once more like a city with homes, trading areas, Throne castle/lab for the tinker. A dungeon area etc.

The Zul'Farrak Dungeon has been redsigned as a City and is now the opening area for Trolls. The cities boundaries have been re-placed, now having part lie within the desert of tanaris, part in the Thousand Needles and another part in the lush mountains of the Un’Goro Crater. A starting area zone has been created in the expanded thousand needles area that almost triples in size leading directly into Mulgore.

High Elves now share a starting area with the Dalaran Humans. The region surrounding Dalaran has been greatly expanded to accommodate the new starting area and the expansion of South Shore and Alterac.

Goblins start in a new low level Island South of Booty Bay. Furblogs in Teldrassil which has also been extended.

Naga homecity is a partially submerged city just off an Island halfway between the Maelstrom and Kalimdor.

Stone Talon Peak Has been considerably expanded and serves as starting area for the Dryads. Dryads have a Capital Forest of the Mystic Vale in the area formerly none as the Charred Vale. Stone Talon mountain has been split into 2 halves, upper and lower, Upper Stone Talon mountain holds the Peak and the Vale, whiles lower Stone-Talon Mountain is a questing area ranging from level 10-20. Ventrue Co. quests in the area have dropped by 10 levels, and new additional quests added in the expanded area.

The Timbermaw Hold near Moonglade has been extensively expanded as a home for the Furbolgs..


Naga, Dryad, Night Elf and High Elf settlements have also been added to Azshara and Winterspring. Dryad forest plains added to Ashenvale and Teldrassil


Further Tauren & Orc settlements added to Feralas (with an additional nightelven one on the coast), Dustswallow Marsh. And Troll settlements in Tanaris and the Shimmering Flats


Other racial settlements and zones have been extended such as Centaur oasis in the Barrens and the Maraudine area. Also secret Satyr settlements have been added through out Northern Kalimdor from Desolace to Azhara, Bristle boar and Silithid hives in southern Kalimdor.

Transportation
All trains, ships and Zepphlins have fully manned NpC crews.
Alliance trams now start off in Gnomeragan.
Zepplins and Ships are now subject to be blown off course by freak storms stranding inhabitants on random islands where they can face challenges.

The Number of NpCs in towns and cities, settled areas has been greatly increased. Trade centres are visible for what they are, litter is evident in the human, Ogre, Troll and dwarven cities, with
cleanning crews seen tidying up at a fixed time each day after market closes.

[silkfire]

PROFESSIONS

All professions have many new item additions to lower and post level 60

Maximum Skill extended to 500

Master & Legend ranks available all through special quests.

Mini Professions – Jobs In need of money? Need a paid job? Many taverns, shopkeepers, librarians, farmers are now hiring where you can select anything from a 30mins – 24hr shift of doing a job quest. For e.g. in taverns, you have to serve drinks or take food from the cook to tables [cities have been expanded considerably and details made to match], throughout your shift, you have to quell random disturbances and fights. Listen to tall tales – or a farmer’s hand where you have a challenge to plough the field one shift, plant seeds another, weed a third, douse a fire or even repair his broken machine, if you’re not an engineer, you’ll need to find one quick or miss out on your payment.

4 new primary professions added and 1 Secondary

Several design changes to existing professions, on some gear, potions and devices you may customise what ability statistic or effect is applied by a slight variation of ingredients, for e.g. your chest piece may have Spirit instead of stamina by using green opals instead of red ones, +4 of 1 and +5 of the other instead of5/4 or 4/4 by having 4 green opals and 1 red.

Certain items can also have certain special abilities added to previously made or bought items if you are a Master or Legend, but you need to discover what does what, and sometimes bad combination can ruin a piece. A master alchemist can add an ingredient to an existing potion to add the effect of a size increase or turn into a skeleton. Or the Master Engineer add a red crystal to the bomb construction to give it a slow effect in addition

All manufacturing professions require the use of key tools, and animations have been added to each. For e.g. going to the forge to make leg piece will now animate the action of putting the ingredient on the anvil and raising the hammer to refine it, sparks may even fly on weapons where you visibly sing in oil/water tanks to cool after visibly heating in forge. The more complex the item, the more specialised a forge you may need. A tailor would need a sewing machine and items to make certain pieces and will be animated taking a seat and making the item in the time period. Items that can be tailored without can be made anywhere but will be animated as the PC will sit, take out a needle and cloth, and a sewing action ensue. Similar, some Alchemy or Engineering potions and devices require to go to a full lab in cities and stand at desks with equipment to make whiles others that don’t require, will have the animation simulated, you will see a vial being held the herb being crushed and ground, you pour some water into it the vial and swirl to make a potion. Some may require heat of a fire in which case you’d need to at least learn cooking enough to make one.
Making purple and rarer items now yields experience points.



GAME DYNAMICS

New Faction: Neutral - whiles not a faction as such it simply means unaffiliated with Horde or Alliance. The Steamwheedle Cartell and the Argent Dawn are neutral factions for example. Whiles Stormwind, Darnassus and Ironforge are Alliance Factions, the Hyjal Elves are Neutral, Thunderbluff, Ogrimmar and Zul’Farrak are Horde Factions, despite the fact that Taurens may start off neutral. Gnomeragan & Undercity are Alliance & Horde leaning factions.


You can now change faction affiliation. Only Human and Dwarves start off default as Alliance, and Orcs & Trolls defaulted as Horde and Goblins the Neutral Steamwheedle Cartell. The rest can choose between Neutral and Horde or Alliance. [Elves (night & High), Gnomes, are neutral and are free to join a faction after doing some basic quests in the major settlements of the faction.]. Whiles Humans are defaulted to Alliance, they can choose Neutral to start with, however becoming horde is as hard as it is for an Orc to become Alliance.


You may also be part of certain smaller factions such as the Argent Dawn, the Cenerarion & Emerald Circles, the Bloodsail Buccaneers and more.


The Horde and the Alliance are the two Main Factions the PvP Honour system and the Conquest system are based around. Neutral .


Rival factions that are at war with yours will be flagged as hostile in all territories you encounter them except in their territory where in the PvP game, you have the option of disabling PvP whiles in your factions territory or zone.



Quests

Added over 1500 additional quests and epic quests.

Many new race specific quests, and class specific quests.


Some quests can now only be taken and completed at certain times.


We have introduced a more dynamic system that spawns necessary numbers of mobs for quests that involve killing x number of mobs. Meaning that certain mobs you will only see one or two of if casually passing by (unless there are quests involving those types of mobs that demand otherwise). However if you have a quest that pertains to the mob in the area, an appropriate number are spawned as you approach the area, growing if you are accompanied. We found this did the following
[ul]
a) created the surprise factor for wandering adventurous who weren't on that quest,

b) gave a sense of completion to those who had finished a quest, afterall, if you are thinning the population of Gnolls in region x, you'd like to notice that you've had an effect, rather than see the whole lot respawned every time you pass.

c) This saved computer resources considerably and allowed appropriate numbers to be generated based on the number of people taking the quest who were in the specific are it spawned.

New 120-man titanic quests and battles have been introduced, this often have a racial leader and sometimes an army accompanying you. 120-man activities can link up to 3 full 40 man raids.


Miscellaneous quests and activities: Added to many cities and areas are activities you can partake in, such as Racing on tracks, or Tournaments in Arenas where spectators will gather to watch competitors, you will duel both PCs and NPCs and will have to progress to the last round to win. Each Capital city has a unique activity associated with it.


Some quests done in the original game have been replaced with new ones, for e.g. The Charred Vale being partially restored no longer has the old quests there, but new ones.

[silkfire]

BATTLEGROUNDS
An additional 10 battlegrounds

Instances.
30 new instances added. Including level 75+ Instance for Uldan and Uldranan. Instances added at Northrend, Southrend, Hyjal, The Maelstrom, Quel’Thalas, Ferelas, Un-Goro, Dustswallow Marsh, Thousand Needles, under each capital city, Dalaran, Stranglthorn Vale, Duskwood, Badlands, Dun Morogh, Loch Modan, Arathi, Lordamere, Da’arsalan, Nagarathis. Spread through out the levels, a few original instances were closed such as Gnomeragan and Zul’Farrak.


Many Old Instances updated with new quests and new troubles


New type Realm : Conquest
Expanded Honour and Reptuation System!

EXCLUISVE CONQUEST REALM SYSTEM
Conquest realms has a worldwide theme available. The aim is to gain control of 2/3 of all territories for your faction.

It's a side game that is intended to be done gradually and designed so that normal questing and game play can continue despite it. You must win over a territories to the faction you have allied yourself with.

The aim is to pvp in groups or raids. Go to a Capital City of a race allied to your faction. There you can speak to a battlemaster to begin the conquest. Note this must be done otherwise any fighting in settlements will not be regarded as official victories.

You win a territory over by conquering the opposing faction's settlements/towns or bases.

You conquer a settlement/town or base by first having selected it with the battlemaster, then proceeding with your party or raid to the town and eliminating all NPCs and players.

The battle is declared as started once your party attacks any NPC guard or opposing faction PC in the area. After starting, you have a certain period of time called the joining period to call re-enforcements to your group from fellow faction members in the area or abroad. After joining period is over any new member arriving in the area will not be able to engage in pvp battle in that area till the battle is over.

The battle is over when you've killed all NPC guards and all opposing faction PC members that were part of the fight.

To prevent endless fights, once battle has commenced for settlement, you are given up to 5 times to die. After five deaths within that battle, you are flagged off for pvp in that area entirely for the duration of the battle unable to attack/heal or be attacked. IF your faction loses the battle, you are flagged off for pvp in that area for 120mins, however the controlling faction can initiate a conflict with you.

Once you win a settlement, all opposing faction NPC guards are replaced with the your faction NPC guard. The race of the guards depends on what racial capital city you selected the conquest for. And your faction and racial flags are &&$%ed.

In conquered settlements, the beaten faction PCs may still enter freely to hand in quests and purchase goods with the non-guard npcs who still remain unchanged. However the victorious faction can now buy items from the conquered factions NPCs. The conquering faction PCs are not allowed to attack the conquered factions PCs and vice versa unless the battle to reclaim the town has commenced. This is ensured by the NPC guards attacking any PC who starts attacking an opposing member. That way, ganking should be prevented for the conquered faction PCs who need to enter the settlement to hand in quests and trade.

Your faction can win back a settlement by contacting the battle-master in the racial capital the conquered settlement belonged to. Then proceeding with you raid group and initiating the battle by right clicking on any NPC guard. This then starts up the battle timer once more.

Each settlement, town or base now has an NPC guard leader depending on it's size and strategic importance. A settlement cannot be claimed without eliminating this boss.

Only contested territories are controllable in this way. Your faction, must seize control of all enemy settlements before the territory is declared as belonging to your faction.
Once you control 2/3 of the world, the server server records a win and the faction scores will be displayed on a special page of the website. Also special items and money will be granted to all participants.

Anyone may participate in conquest at any time, how much reward and reputation you receive once the game has been won depends on how many conquests you participated in.

At a later date, we will expand this to include capital cities, the aim will extend to, once having conquered 2/3, you must then proceed to win a battle for a capital city. Each capital city would have a surrounding territory that isn't contested. You must win just one surrounding territory and then the battle for the capital city commence. You only need one capital city to win the game.

[silkfire]

REPUTATION AND HONOUR SYSTEM CHANGES
Reputation's importance has been increased for all factions and racial alliances. Each racial faction has a settlement and territory you can now gain reputation for.

You gain reputation by completing quests largely, once you are gain a pvp rank, and the "Honoured" reputation with the town or area, you can choose to become an enlisted defender of the settlement. You do this by speaking with the settlements NPC leader or magister, or if an area, a designated NPC in a neighbouring town or city. Some such NPCs you must actually look for. Some settlements like major towns or capital cities require a minimum PvP rank to become a defender.

Being a defender means you get visual and audible recognition from the townspeople whenever you interact, and as you move to "Revered & Exalted" that increases.

There is a PvP element to a defender, whenever the settlement or area you have chosen to defend is undergoing a Conquest battle, you are alerted wherever you are on Azeroth and given the option to immediately teleport to an area near the settlement or zone being fought for, and you must join the battle before it closes off.

Defending your settlement successfully raises your reputation most with the settlement, and also with the settlements' racial capital. You are also rewarded for fending off the invasion with money. The extent your reputation rises depends on how many successful kills you made, and how many of your five lives you did not spend.

Failure to answer the summons to defend will decrease your reputation and losing the battle will lower rep for all defenders.

When nearby towns are being fought for, defenders from surrounding areas who do not have a high enough pvp rank to be listed as a town defender, may also be called, they are not penalised for not answering the call however, they gain higher reputation with the town they help and with the settlement or area they are defenders off.

Conversely, higher ranked pvp-honoured members able to be called defenderse of the larger settlements, are not informed when lower settlements are under attack, however they can lose reputation if they are high enough in rank to become Territorial Defenders and they failed to assist. (however the amount lost is smaller)

Having an exalted reputation with an area or settlement allows you to ride the settlements mount type and for certain quests and tasks you may have an npc defender from that area accompany you. He follows you passively but can defend you, or in a manner similar to pets, you can direct him to attack hostile targets. However that is the extent of your control. He mounts up when you do on a mount of his own, or should you not have one, he works. The number of guards you can enlist from your town depends on your reputation.

Higher reputation now also opens up access to new quests and plots.


GUILD MANAGEMENT CHANGES

Guilds play a much larger role now. There are better customisation menus, allowing you to better structure your guild, add notes, plan events with the scheduler.

Due to the expansion of Capital cities and some towns, guilds are now permitted to buy a headquarter within a capital city or a town. However it does not come cheaply. Your guild flag of similar design to your tabard will be displayed over the building.

All guilds can now have a trading house accessible via an NpC in your guild house, or if you do not have one, the auction house in a capital city. You can access wares sold by all guilds via the auction house, where you can search items by guild, or by item type where the name of the guild selling will be displayed. Guild members can be afforded a discount by the guild that is set by the guild master or a guild officer he can designate as treasurer. Discount rates can be set per rank as well.

Guilds can gain special reputation with factions when they exclusively partake in conquest campaigns as a guild.

Build Your Own Guild House

The world structures change from time to time, certain areas in or near capital cities or HQ of the faction your guild is associated, can have a guild house build. Guilds can either rent empty properties in towns or cities, or alternatively pay for ones to be build in the surrounding area.

After paying a high price, you can select several designs of accomodationi for your guild, each area can only have designs similar to those of the town/city they make their chapter house. The larger the dwelling the more expensive.

Once done, thhe request submitted to the GM HQ in the area, a structure would be &#&$%ed in after the weekly maintenance scheduled. Certain areas can reach a limit of new buildings, however there are many areas worldwide near towns and villages and faction HQs that we have provided sufficient land area for guild structures. Should an area be full near one town or city, then try another. [there are enough areas to cater for the maximum population of a realm players to each have a house - while this is not possible on an individual basis, we may seek to implement it later]

You recover rest state in your guild house and can have your hearthstone set to it.


NEW ITEM TYPES

Ring slot has been expanded to five.
Items now have a weight factor that you cannot exceed even if you haven't used up all your slots.
Strength ability now directly increases that.

[toader]

Im moving my gnome to horde!!!

*lvl 60 male gnome currently seeking Tauren female to marry*

[Lord_Shinnok]

Im moving my gnome to horde!!!

*lvl 60 male gnome currently seeking Tauren female to marry*

*imagines ugliest thing possible*

what wonderful children you have....

[DrunkCajun]

*imagines ugliest thing possible*

Stop fantasizing about your female dwarf pally, sicko.

[Can0mark]

Im moving my gnome to horde!!!

*lvl 60 male gnome currently seeking Tauren female to marry*

I wonder if you would survive your honeymoon...

[Dark Matter]

This sounds more like a wishlist to me rather than actuality.

Some of the points have already been Blue rejected on the US forums, but those could have been red herrings by Blizzard employees.

Having said that, even for an expansion this is far too much to introduce in one go.

Just consider the changes to all the main towns - extra buildings etc. - and weather etc. - that will mean a huge patch for those who do not buy the expansion.

The expansion is unlikely to make so many changes to the world we already know (although I am sure there will be some), but rather introduce new areas not accessible to those without the patch.

My 2copper

DM

[toader]

I wonder if you would survive your honeymoon...Me? Youve heard of the gnomish world enlarger right? Well, us gnomes have been working on another form of enlarger as well. You better worry about that Tauren!!!

[Gorny]

Me? Youve heard of the gnomish world enlarger right? Well, us gnomes have been working on another form of enlarger as well. You better worry about that Tauren!!!


Bah.

The Guild would likely have to take you to the trauma surgeon!


-whats left of you after trying to get it on with a rather drunk female tauren that is!

Toader- just think of the your new tauren wife as a rather pumped up female klingon...all ready to go with a mating ritual!

[Shanda]

if i am to be serious i dont think all that was just bull****... some things are just to weird to be true.. like change faction, wouldn´t that be kinda hard for a horde gnome to get into gnomeregan? or should the now starting "neutral" races towns be neutral to? and removing some instances to make capitals also makes no sense, even if it would be cool.
i could write all day but that would be boring, and someone would just flame me in some way so i just finish with saying i dont belive in it.

/shanda

[Gunmetal]

clothing and hair appearing wet during rainfall, sweat, hair/clothes blowing in wind, seems a bit far fetched to me

rest of the stuff is possible tho :happy34:

[LunarSolaris]

Seems almost too good to believe... but then, that's what speculation is all about.

To be honest, the changes in environment, etc. sound awesome, but it pretty much assures that anyone playing the game on a machine 2 years old or older won't be able to play it. It will take quite a bit of processing power to handle all that was mentioned here.

In the end, we'll see what happens when the expansion comes out. I'm sure Blizzard will definitely add a lot of new content, but I'm sure they want to do it in a way to keep as many customers as possible. Making too many changes which lock out a bunch of people wouldn't be the way to go.

[Your Average WoW Player]

This sounds more like a wishlist to me rather than actuality.

Some of the points have already been Blue rejected on the US forums, but those could have been red herrings by Blizzard employees.

Having said that, even for an expansion this is far too much to introduce in one go.

Just consider the changes to all the main towns - extra buildings etc. - and weather etc. - that will mean a huge patch for those who do not buy the expansion.

The expansion is unlikely to make so many changes to the world we already know (although I am sure there will be some), but rather introduce new areas not accessible to those without the patch.

My 2copper

DM

I agree... It does seem WAAAAy to large for one expansion. The Patch for non X-Packs would be ungodly to handle all of this.

10 new BGs?! That's insane! 1 BG is bad enough to DL. I didn't see it, but I am assuming they are taking my idea of not creating things like PvE X-Pack and PvE-Reg and just keeping them the way they are, and patching the old versions to accept some of the things in the X-Pack.
IE: The originial won't flip out and go nuts when it sees the "Annoyingly bright Pink Robes of doom" which is a very flashy Pink piece of Armor for the X-pack (example here) with the patch. That would be HUGE to do in one run.

I think what they'd do is release some main stuff in the CDs, and then a string of patches (Adapt patches for Original, Content for X-pack).

A lot of this seems like Rumor. A +40 cap to the level seems a bit extreme, unless they are actually adding entirely new Regions (IE Northrend) for this.

I say this: Let's just leave the Topic of X-Pack content and hopefuls alone for now. Enjoy what we have now, and talk later after Blizz-Con when we can have some info on it.

[niteshade6]

It's pretty clearly fake. Not even very well researched given that it lists changes that Blizzard has absolutely said would never happen.

[Valas Azuviir]

Wishlist, plain and simple.

Why??
a) The graphical additions would require the heftiest of machines, this goes contrary to the stated design goal of WoW to keep it playable even at minimum requirements.

b) Some of the additions would require a complete redesign of the entire engine. It took them 5 years to make the current one, and roughly an additional year to add what's currently been added. Even with the expansion team having started the moment WoW went gold.. Not enough time to make such breakthroughs. Not enough time by far.

c) The racial mount statements, when Blue just answered that question to the negative. If it were something they were working on, you'd get the usual: This would be a rather drastic change, and we currently have no intentions to make such a change. If it's a maybe, then they're vague about things. They seldomly engage in "fooled ya" (April's fool being a noted exception to that rule)..

[Xal]

At the point it said "All quests now have dialogue" I think it was safe to assume this was completely bogus.

Do you have any idea how much space that would take up?

[DoomDrake]

Naga have no legs. No pants for them.

Dryads have 4 legs. No pants for them.

Wet hair? Glossy Armour? Instant Real-World Half Life 2 astrophysics?

Thats no wishlist. Thats like telling a Magic-Player that Black Lotus is coming back.

[Azmodious]

plus a level cap to 100? you gotta be kidding, that's the dumbest crap i've ever heard. plus im sure blizz uses spellchecker also lol.

[Ablamar]

You only have to read the first part of the post to see it is completely fake. Expansions are never on different realms in an MMO. The person who fabricated this must have never played an MMO in his life. People with and without an expansion always play on the same exact server/realm.

[Isabeau]

I wish if people were going to post fake expansion notes they would at least try to make it somewhat believable. Too funny.

[DrunkCajun]

Me? Youve heard of the gnomish world enlarger right? Well, us gnomes have been working on another form of enlarger as well. You better worry about that Tauren!!!

:lol::lol::lol:

Wow. I just saw that. Wow.

[Eiger]

This sounds more like a wishlist to me rather than actuality.

Some of the points have already been Blue rejected on the US forums, but those could have been red herrings by Blizzard employees.

Having said that, even for an expansion this is far too much to introduce in one go.

Just consider the changes to all the main towns - extra buildings etc. - and weather etc. - that will mean a huge patch for those who do not buy the expansion.

The expansion is unlikely to make so many changes to the world we already know (although I am sure there will be some), but rather introduce new areas not accessible to those without the patch.

My 2copper

DM

I agree. Much too much. It sounds like all characters would need to be transferred to a brand new expansion server - kind of like was done with the Diablo 2 expansion. While totally feasible, this would break up most guilds to some extent or other. I just don't see it happening.

10 new battlegrounds? Expansion of the game world to that degree - like tripling the size of Tanaris? Why? That makes no sense. A neutral faction I can see I suppose, but I think there'd be more detail on that in notes.

Mounts at level 5? Highly doubt that.

Basically, my doubts on this whole thing are huge...

[OverKill]

Fake! Fake! Fake!

[Can0mark]

Naga have no legs. No pants for them.

They probably wear a very big sock

Dryads have 4 legs. No pants for them.

Well they dont really need pants... Furry little centaur wannabe's

[Shearre]

Evidently someone has far, far too much free time. :lol:

[ZaxGreia]

Evidently someone has far, far too much free time. :lol:
Exactly my thought.

Of course, if you want to be taken semi-seriously, I guess you've gotta try to make it stick. Length is a way some people think they're taken more seriously (think Toader's gnome).

[Snugglz]

It's fake...you wanna know why? Why would an official blizz employee put the word ***ked in a xpack note list? helloooo

[DwarfInvasion]

Thank god this isn't true. If it was my computer couldn't handle the graphical changes. It would go from WoW to Everquest II where you couldn't have more than 10 characters on the screen without getting lag.

THX FOR MAKING ME CRAP MY PANTS YOU FANTASIZER

[cdstp]

Evidently someone has far, far too much free time. :lol:

erm...I think they had too much of something else too...like, saw too much powerpuff girls? or maybe ninja turtles, you can only wonder

Edit: for the record i too think this is totally BOGUS/SH*T, like mounts on lvl 5? would that be like 5% speed increase to make it balanced?

Water-walking mounts for the naga?

Being able to change factions?hello?how unbalanced would the races be then?

Character transfer from every realm to every realm? then it would be 4-5 servers where the population would be skyhigh, and the rest would be 30-60% of the "high pop" servers. Yay, wait extremely long to get a group...
maybe if it was only lvl 100s who could transfer(lvl 100!! gimme a break plz)

How fun would it be if your group flew to the instance , and one would be "blown off course"? totally bull****, if you ask me.

[XaToM]

ROFL, It's the look it's 4 posts long it couldn't have possibly been made-up factor.
*Netural faction = no they will just add new races to the existing factions,I.e naga and goblin on horde, and on the alliance.... ,oh,wait they had to make up gnomes for WoW, just to make it even.....
*Druid faction = there already i one the centurian circle but penalize horde and alliance attacking each other, then why PvP realms?!
*name = blizzard have already copyrighted the name "The Burning Crusade" :scratch:
*Realm transfers are on the books for WoW in blizzards newest battle plan, however these will not be free.
*Level cap = I expect it will be done in a patch from 60-80, for 100 to be possible would require a COMPLETE overhaul so instead of making an expasion pack it will be re-making WoW :chinny: there gunna do that arn't they?

[KalziEast]

Lol... All I am going to do is point out a couple things... First. They would never increase the level cap that much... They might extend it to level 72 about ( Most likely the last 12 levels will be " Hero Class " or something. ) Second. They would never be able to increase the size of all the capital cities and everything, the game would have to have min. requirements of like, 4 times higher then what they already are. Cities ( Even the " Small " ones he named ) would lag too much. He said there would be more NPC's and stuff all around, that means a bit more lag, especially considering all the NPC's with quests and stuff will have a voice chat and stuff... ( And also, they're not going to impliment a new " Neutral race " thing where you can be that race, it'd mess up the game if they didn't impliment it perfectly. )

Now, what I would like, is something like Battlegrounds ( Only level 40-max level can join them ) like this: The battlegrounds has a couple people from each race on your side ( That's allied to you ) to help run along with you and fight. Also, I'd like it if they didn't make Onyxia a " 10 man raid " thing... I say if the level cap is 72, level 60-68 can join it, Unless you have quests and stuff for it, that'd still cause some problems cause people would just keep the quest to continue to raid it over and over... I think all instances level 40-68 can only be gone to... Eh... 15 times, UNLESS you have to help guildies or something, and there would be special things you would have to go through to make you be able to help them.

Edit: I'll put it on this one... Like they're going to have a " Lost " thing... That's retarded... " Yes, let's ruin the people's time EVEN MORE! Brilliant! :) "
Eh, and one more thing... They should have EVERYONE able to have a " Teleport " bar in their " Skills " where they can have a 20 second cast to teleport to a main city. Like, they're in the middle of Stranglethorn Vale, but they used their Hearthstone 10 minutes ago, so they just use their teleport to Orgrimmar where they have to meet a friend or whatever.

Continued on next one.

[KalziEast]

I think all classes should get an upgrade in speed and stuff at certain levels, like this: At Level 1 " You're no more special then a kid with a dagger in his pocket. Increase in attack speed: 0%. Increase in movement speed: 0% " At Level 10 " You're slowly learning how to hold that (Dagger,sword,mace,whatever) Increase in attack speed: 1%. Increase in movement speed: 3% " At Level 25 " You're finally a beast slayer! Increase in attack speed: 2%. Increase in movement speed: 5% " At level 40 " You're close to mastering your (Dagger,sword,mace,whatever). Increase in attack speed: 4%. Increase in movement speed: 7% " At level 60 " You've mastered your (Dagger,sword,mace,whatever) and you're finally ready to take on the strongest of beasts! Increase in attack speed: 7%. Increase in movement speed: 10% "

Then, finally: At level 72 ( Or whatever max level is ) " You're one of the few to actually learn how to wield your (Dagger,sword,mace,whatever) like this. Once you beat (Some level 72 Elite that requires a 5-man group to complete the quest) you will get an Increased attack speed of 9%. Increase in movement speed: 12% " All different classes should get a special kind of name for it, like Warriors and Rogue's and stuff. They should also get a VERY slight increase in crit dmg, like instead of dealing double dmg when hitting with a crit, they should get " Level 10: 105% extra damage when you crit " increased by 5% every level of increased attack/movement speed (10,25,40,60,72), but at level 72 it goes to 150%. (2.5x instead of 2x)

All classes should also get a " Sprint " at level 10, Rogues should be able to use it more and it should be a little bit faster and last slightly longer, but everyone should get a sprint that is also class specific. Like " Warrior's Powerful Legs. Description: You run 20% faster for 10 seconds " " Mage's Intelligent Movement. Description: You run 18% faster for 9 seconds. " stuff like that. I also want to add to this that if you turn this on while someone/something's attacking you, you get an automatic " Dazed " state for 5 seconds every time they attack you.

One last thing, there SHOULDN'T be battlemounts... I know it sounds cool to most, but think about it... Epic: " Increases movement speed by 100% and you deal 50% more dmg because you're gaining momentum toward the target. " Something like that. Now, in battlegrounds it wouldn't be fair to those without battlemounts and even outside of battlegrounds, randomly in a PVP server you're hit by a level 72 and you're level 30, or even level 72 also... You're just going to have to take it until you die, because you can't stealth now ( For rogues ) or run away ( Mount ) because you're in combat, you will be able to run circles around regular creeps ( monsters in the world, whatever they're called ) and just keep hitting them over and over without getting 1 spec of dmg on you. Sure, they can hit you, but you have 50% more dmg and you're dodging about 20% more of the attacks, and missing only about 5% more. ( Yes, I've done my math, lol )

But, I find it kind of rediculous that everyone says they want battlemounts... Why? So 90% of you can't afford them and you'll die to those mounted guys? That's dumb. Imagine a caster running around on one of those. " Fireball, run back real quick, fireball, fireball, run back real quick, fireball, they're dead " I mean, if they're going to be battlemounts, how's a druid going to do anything? They rely on forms for the most part. A dire bear form druid on a brittle legged horse... I'd love to see that.

[deathgrasp]

didnt read all responses, but few things that dosnt sound like they will be done: changing faction to horde/alliance from alliance/horde, WoW has a storyline, and the orcs never been allliance and such.

spaciel mount for each area? i dont think so. no more epic mounts? how blizz gonna refund the 60s who bought it?

also, as there will be new races and cities, ull have tohave more areas for 1-10 11-20 etc, as each race has his own 1-10, 11-20, 21-30, 31-40 areas

[Valas Azuviir]

*Netural faction = no they will just add new races to the existing factions,I.e naga and goblin on horde, and on the alliance.... ,oh,wait they had to make up gnomes for WoW, just to make it even.....


Have to point out that Gnomes weren't invented for WoW. They already appeared in the Warcraft universe in WC2 and its expansion. In WC3 and TFT, they dropped out of sight, but now in WoW we've learned why they did that.

Granted true, they had a bit part, pun intended by the by :lol:, but it's not as if they dropped into WoW from thin air.

[KalziEast]

Have to point out that Gnomes weren't invented for WoW. They already appeared in the Warcraft universe in WC2 and its expansion. In WC3 and TFT, they dropped out of sight, but now in WoW we've learned why they did that.

Granted true, they had a bit part, pun intended by the by :lol:, but it's not as if they dropped into WoW from thin air.

Actually, they were also in WC1, and they were in WC3, both of them, their technology and such. They weren't in the game as special fighters or anything, but they were having their technology and stuff used. Also, I don't think he meant " The gnomes were invented for WoW " ( He might've ) I think he meant " They were created at the VERY end with the Undead just to add another race to each faction " because they did. They thought " Oh, we should really put the gnomes in as an extra race for the Alliance. Oh... We would need another race for the Horde though... " took them a little bit then they went " Oh, we can add the Undead to the Horde "

[Your Average WoW Player]

A few more coppers on this issue.

First of all, Rumors have to start somewhere. In this instance, it either as somehow come from Blizzy, or was made up. I doubt Blizzy is releasing anything this major this early. So this is clearly made up, I highly doubt we will see anyting specific until AFTER Blizzcon at the earliest. It's just too damn early right now.

Most rumors have SOME truth to them. In this case, the truth would come from Blizzard. I don't think Blizzard is going to be releasing stuff this early.

Also, it's TOO good. +40 inrease to the level cap is extreme. I think 15 is more realistic. +40 would be too unfair in PvP when you have Regular vs. X-Pack. I know you're all gonna say then they'd all need to get the X-Pack, some people can't. They can't. Or they don't want to.

[Valas Azuviir]

Actually, they were also in WC1, and they were in WC3, both of them, their technology and such. They weren't in the game as special fighters or anything, but they were having their technology and stuff used. Also, I don't think he meant " The gnomes were invented for WoW " ( He might've ) I think he meant " They were created at the VERY end with the Undead just to add another race to each faction " because they did. They thought " Oh, we should really put the gnomes in as an extra race for the Alliance. Oh... We would need another race for the Horde though... " took them a little bit then they went " Oh, we can add the Undead to the Horde "

Well, it was only in hindsight that we learned that the Gnomes were responsible for the human tech in WC1, just like we learned in hindsight why they weren't in WC3.

I took issue with his erroneous statement with regards to how the Gnomes got into WoW. Anyone who read the Blizzard Insider, which introduced them, knows that it was a tossup between them and the Goblins, and that the Gnomes won, due to Goblin mercantile outlook on the conflict. Also, the Gnomes were introduced together with the Trolls, hence why neither has a starting city of their own.

Also, I've seen far too many folks made those types of comments on how the Gnomes were made up for WoW, which is technically untrue as I've already pointed out, so it wouldn't surprise me one danged bit if he did mean what he said.

[Antiochous]

Man i wish that just about all of that was true. There are some ideas in there that are totaly bogus but would be awsome to see.

I don't see why people get all bent out of shape when talking about making a game require a better computer. Some of you are just going to have to realise that computers are not consoles. That is what makes them great. You can upgrade them, game makers can make the games look better, and it doesn't require you to wait 5 years for the new console to come out. No one ever said that pc gaming is cheap. I think WoW looks great but I am not at all against Blizz making the game better looking with cooler effects, larger more involved towns and more detailed environments. If i need to buy a new video card, upgrade my ram, or build a new computer to be able to play at the resolutions I want then I am happy to do that. PC Gamers are a hardcore crowd. Sadly i think most of you are right when you say that blizz will not do many of those things for fear of alienating all the 12 year olds that are playing on their PIIIs with a geforce 4 mx. We can dream though.

Just my thoughts

Anti

[Valas Azuviir]

Man i wish that just about all of that was true. There are some ideas in there that are totaly bogus but would be awsome to see.

I don't see why people get all bent out of shape when talking about making a game require a better computer. Some of you are just going to have to realise that computers are not consoles. That is what makes them great. You can upgrade them, game makers can make the games look better, and it doesn't require you to wait 5 years for the new console to come out. No one ever said that pc gaming is cheap. I think WoW looks great but I am not at all against Blizz making the game better looking with cooler effects, larger more involved towns and more detailed environments. If i need to buy a new video card, upgrade my ram, or build a new computer to be able to play at the resolutions I want then I am happy to do that. PC Gamers are a hardcore crowd. Sadly i think most of you are right when you say that blizz will not do many of those things for fear of alienating all the 12 year olds that are playing on their PIIIs with a geforce 4 mx. We can dream though.

Just my thoughts

Anti


You are forgetting that not everyone can afford to upgrade their comps every 6 months, and I'm not talking about 12 year olds either. Some folks have families to support and bills to pay. Often, upgrading the comp is at the end of the bottom of their to do list. Me?? I feel compassion for folks like that, so seeing a game put out of their reach with ill conceived notions of making it "c00l" by going overboard with the eyecandy..

You're darn tootin' that I'd have a thing or two to say about it. Some folks just stare themselves blind at all the eyecandy. Well, eyecandy a game does not make. Better to tone down the graphics and have good gameplay and let millions have a crack at it, rather than kick up the requirements so high that only a small group have the machines to run it and then have mediocre gameplay.

Oh and before anyone has the temerity to suggest that I speak up, because my own rig isn't tough enough. P4 3.2 Ghz, 1024 MB RAM (two of 512 with room for another 2 modules of ram), a 100 GB Harddisk and a mere NVidia 5950 graphical card. When I upgrade my comp, I ensure that it'll last for at least two years. Not everyone has that luxuary. Noblesse Oblige in its alternative usage.

[Antiochous]

You are forgetting that not everyone can afford to upgrade their comps every 6 months, and I'm not talking about 12 year olds either. Some folks have families to support and bills to pay. Often, upgrading the comp is at the end of the bottom of their to do list. Me?? I feel compassion for folks like that, so seeing a game put out of their reach with ill conceived notions of making it "c00l" by going overboard with the eyecandy..

You're darn tootin' that I'd have a thing or two to say about it. Some folks just stare themselves blind at all the eyecandy. Well, eyecandy a game does not make. Better to tone down the graphics and have good gameplay and let millions have a crack at it, rather than kick up the requirements so high that only a small group have the machines to run it and then have mediocre gameplay.

Oh and before anyone has the temerity to suggest that I speak up, because my own rig isn't tough enough. P4 3.2 Ghz, 1024 MB RAM (two of 512 with room for another 2 modules of ram), a 100 GB Harddisk and a mere NVidia 5950 graphical card. When I upgrade my comp, I ensure that it'll last for at least two years. Not everyone has that luxuary. Noblesse Oblige in its alternative usage.

I have not forgotten that some people cannot afford to upgrade. On the contrary i am suggesting that maybe pc gaming isnt for you if you have 5 other mouths to feed. Pc Gaming is in a completely different league then relitively cheap consol gaming. The main problem is people expect to be able to have all the eye candy with non of the money involved in the hardware to make it look like that. If blizz were to add in half of the things mentioned in the mock exp notes, all most people would have to do would be to turn that stuff off. Can't handle water textures, facial features, 8x AA or the new weather effects? Turn it off and stop crying about the fact that the game does not look the way it does on my computer.

I see no reason why blizzard should cater to the lowest common denominator. If you dont have the money or the desire to spend at least $1000 every six months on computer upgrades then play the game at 1024x768 with everything turned to "performance". Don't try to turn on 8x AA and high quality shadows and then complain about how it runs crappy.

I would say that I am a member of the poorest segment of society, college students. I am paying for college plus all of the other exspences in life. Granted, I am into computers and I like building them to my specs with the parts that I want for gaming, so I can run the games with all the "eye candy" enabled. But don't complain about game companies adding new "eye candy" just because you dont want to pay the money to be able to see it.

Right now I am running a:
Athlon 64 4000,
Asus A8N SLI mobo,
2 gigs of DDR 400,
2x WD Rators Raid 0
and 2 6800 GTs.

The way I see it, if the game already has great game play and mechnics like WoW, then go ahead blizz, add all the eye candy you want. Guys like me that have the hardware to run it, really enjoy it and those that don't can continue to play the game the way it is.

Anti

[Four Fathers]

Hemingway is back!!!!
..some of this stuff would be nice though….

[Four Fathers]

I have not forgotten that some people cannot afford to upgrade. On the contrary i am suggesting that maybe pc gaming isnt for you if you have 5 other mouths to feed. Pc Gaming is in a completely different league then relitively cheap consol gaming. The main problem is people expect to be able to have all the eye candy with non of the money involved in the hardware to make it look like that. If blizz were to add in half of the things mentioned in the mock exp notes, all most people would have to do would be to turn that stuff off. Can't handle water textures, facial features, 8x AA or the new weather effects? Turn it off and stop crying about the fact that the game does not look the way it does on my computer.

I see no reason why blizzard should cater to the lowest common denominator. If you dont have the money or the desire to spend at least $1000 every six months on computer upgrades then play the game at 1024x768 with everything turned to "performance". Don't try to turn on 8x AA and high quality shadows and then complain about how it runs crappy.

I would say that I am a member of the poorest segment of society, college students. I am paying for college plus all of the other exspences in life. Granted, I am into computers and I like building them to my specs with the parts that I want for gaming, so I can run the games with all the "eye candy" enabled. But don't complain about game companies adding new "eye candy" just because you dont want to pay the money to be able to see it.

Right now I am running a:
Athlon 64 4000,
Asus A8N SLI mobo,
2 gigs of DDR 400,
2x WD Rators Raid 0
and 2 6800 GTs.

The way I see it, if the game already has great game play and mechnics like WoW, then go ahead blizz, add all the eye candy you want. Guys like me that have the hardware to run it, really enjoy it and those that don't can continue to play the game the way it is.

Anti

If someone took that computer away from you your life would be empty. Sad.

[KalziEast]

I'm 16 and I'm getting a job as soon as I move to Kansas, even when I DO move there, I'm not going to upgrade my comp for awhile, I know the value of a dollar ( But not a penny, pennies suck ) and every dollar I get I cherish ( Except on my birthday, that's when I usually waste it on a new game and stuff =) ) But yeah, once I move to Kansas, 1. School, job 2. Money for car 3. Payments for car 4. Getting skinnier 5. Extra money saved up for a new comp. 6. Family ( Lol, just kidding, but you get it )

[Naolin]

I have not forgotten that some people cannot afford to upgrade. On the contrary i am suggesting that maybe pc gaming isnt for you if you have 5 other mouths to feed. Pc Gaming is in a completely different league then relitively cheap consol gaming. The main problem is people expect to be able to have all the eye candy with non of the money involved in the hardware to make it look like that. If blizz were to add in half of the things mentioned in the mock exp notes, all most people would have to do would be to turn that stuff off. Can't handle water textures, facial features, 8x AA or the new weather effects? Turn it off and stop crying about the fact that the game does not look the way it does on my computer.

I see no reason why blizzard should cater to the lowest common denominator. If you dont have the money or the desire to spend at least $1000 every six months on computer upgrades then play the game at 1024x768 with everything turned to "performance". Don't try to turn on 8x AA and high quality shadows and then complain about how it runs crappy.

I would say that I am a member of the poorest segment of society, college students. I am paying for college plus all of the other exspences in life. Granted, I am into computers and I like building them to my specs with the parts that I want for gaming, so I can run the games with all the "eye candy" enabled. But don't complain about game companies adding new "eye candy" just because you dont want to pay the money to be able to see it.

Right now I am running a:
Athlon 64 4000,
Asus A8N SLI mobo,
2 gigs of DDR 400,
2x WD Rators Raid 0
and 2 6800 GTs.

The way I see it, if the game already has great game play and mechnics like WoW, then go ahead blizz, add all the eye candy you want. Guys like me that have the hardware to run it, really enjoy it and those that don't can continue to play the game the way it is.

Anti


And I must say I'm happy blizz doesn't agree with you there. The ideal world for a company is get as many souls playing as possible, that means people without the phat lewt pc's as well.

[Antiochous]

If someone took that computer away from you your life would be empty. Sad.

Yea, thanks for that. You nailed me.
You have made your contribution to a enlightened debate. Now that eveyone knows that you are devoid of anything intelligent to say, please take your seat in the back of the bus where you belong. Don't worry, we will ask you the next time when we want the 10 year olds to weigh in on a topic.

Anti

[Antiochous]

And I must say I'm happy blizz doesn't agree with you there. The ideal world for a company is get as many souls playing as possible, that means people without the phat lewt pc's as well.

I completely agree with you. Any good buisness is going to try to appeal to as wide a audience as possible. All I am saying is that people need to stop promoting this idea that "if I cant have it, it shouldn't exist". 90% of all the graphical enhancements that were proposed in the fake expansion notes would fall into the catagory of "advanced video settings". They would be things that would make the game look better if and only if you enabled them. If your computer can't handle it without incurring unaceptible lag then just don't enable it. If your computer can handle it, then you get some pretty new visuals. What is wrong with that?

Anti

[Valas Azuviir]

I completely agree with you. Any good buisness is going to try to appeal to as wide a audience as possible. All I am saying is that people need to stop promoting this idea that "if I cant have it, it shouldn't exist". 90% of all the graphical enhancements that were proposed in the fake expansion notes would fall into the catagory of "advanced video settings". They would be things that would make the game look better if and only if you enabled them. If your computer can't handle it without incurring unaceptible lag then just don't enable it. If your computer can handle it, then you get some pretty new visuals. What is wrong with that?

Anti

It's called resource management. You do not implement material that maybe 1.25% of your customers can enjoy. How did I get 1.25%?? It's fairly safe to say that maybe around 50.000 customers have a serious gaming rig. They have a total gaming population of 4 million and counting. The Raid instances?? Folks will get there eventually, even the casuals EQ has proven that. So it's not limited to just the current raiding groups, so it's not wasted effort on a small, but loud group of players.

In addition, there's the small matter of the I-net cafe's, which allow folks to play. Something which is huge in S.E Asia, where less folks own home pc's. Those companies, most of them operated by enterprising individuals as opposed to big chains, simply cannot afford to upgrade all of their machines at once. Especially, considering the cost/profit margins they operate on.

So, if you're not offering said material to the customers in the West and you're not offering it to the folks in the East either, than it's just wasted resources.

In addition, the more eyecandy approach you advocate, eventually blinds the companies themselves. They then think that more eyecandy will make a great game and they will forget about gameplay. That's a serious problem the gaming industry faced during the '90s.

Eyecandy is nice, but it shouldn't trump gameplay and it's essentially a waste of resources when it only effects a small portion of the entire customer base. Better that they concentrate on something that everyone can enjoy. The needs of the many outweigh the needs or the wants of the few or the one in this case.

[Ahldorn]

First of its great, really fantastic if that could happen, i mean come on, every one can admit, that besides the faction changes (what business does a gnome have teaming up with orcs, or a tauren or a undead battling on the side of a human) cos there utter crap, i know nothing about computers, well about 20% of what you all seem to know, and i know thatd be stupid, i mean that alone makes me this those notes are about as valuable as used toilet paper. And the neutral faction, pretty stupid it think

But all the environment changes, BEAUTIFUL, i would love it. and mountain climbing, fantastic. And Alot of other things. But i agree it would take a hell of a huge patch to make it all, and a good computer. And it will probably happen the exact instance hell freezes over, and people stop telling blonde jokes (we all know these both will never happen)

But what i want you all to do, is get of your high horses, and stop being so 'im the greatest cos i know everything about computers' thats right everyone down to the same level, and just imagine, the day when that can be on your computer screen. Cos im 90% sure at least 50% of that crap, was made up. But i think the guy/girl who did it was just dreaming and thinking how awesome it would be, but all he wanted you to do is imagine. And perhaps be happy that hell, it MAY happen.

Now for my rant/flame/whatever the hell its called, bit. You all need to chill, so its made up, SO WHAt, no need to go all crazy on us. No need to argue, as impressed as no one is at this great display of masculinity funnily enough you are getting worked up AT NOTHING, think of all the hunger in the world, and your argueing to some guy you dont know, about how empty his life would be without his computer. LISTEN TO YOURSELF. there is no need to get so worked up people. So thats my rant

But can all of you 'fantastic computer geeky guys' just imagine how good it would be? please? Cos it would be fantastic...



Peace out, Ahldorn :scared:

[Your Average WoW Player]

A few more coppers (I think a lot at times and sometimes it's after the 1 hour time limit of editing)

These coppers are on the fact that you could go neutral at start, and possiblity to run around as a NE with an Orc questing. I don't think they will do that. Rather, they will do this:

Be it this X-pack or another, I think the Burning Legion is going to return to Azeroth. And what will happen is the Horde/Alliance will see the need to re-ally to fight against the common foe (the Legion). So what I think will happen is you will start with all 8 factions. You're original allies (Alliance or Horde) you will be friendly with. The other four you will be the lowest possible rep that you can still interact (which I think is Neutral), as it is an uneasy alliance.

Existing players would just have those four slapped on.

Now what about PvP you ask?

Well, here they would add a new Race, and it would be the Nathrazem (SP?) (the Dreadlords from WCIII). To make it even, as it is 8v1, they are really powerful enough so that if it was the old way (4v4v1) it would be REALLY unfair for the other 8 races.

[KalziEast]

I'd rather have a car than a computer. Lol. I could buy a car for 1,000 dollars instead of just 1 new part on a computer to make it go twice as fast.

[KalziEast]

Am I wrong or am I right?

[OverKill]

Fakest thing ever.

[KalziEast]

Lol, how is it fake? I don't see how it's fake.

[deathfromabove]

I wish most of these things would be implemented.

Sadly I can't see it happening

[KalziEast]

Lol... Okay, so, the Dreadlords are like, WAY more powerful. As in, 8 other people VS 1 of him. Now, imagine them leveling. "1 Dreadlord Warrior, 1 Dreadlord Warlock" vs "Onyxia". 2 DL's vs. Onyxia and it'd be a little bit tough. Or, even if they have their own zone where the level 1's are almost just as tough as them. They can leave their place, go to Wailing Caverns at level 1 and own the place, be level 10 just walking into the Instance, then they can go straight to the boss, and kill him in a couple strikes. Then, they go to SM at level 12, kill everything, they're now level 30 (Because they had to get the key first. =P.)

Now... Let me think... If a Warrior Dreadlord is going to fight off 8 Alliance and Horde characters, everyone's level 60, even the Dreadlord, the Dreadlord is most likely going to have better weapon's than "The New Alliance" of people right? AKA "Level 60 Dreadlord, you have to go to (Whatever) and kill (Whoever). Then you have to go to (Whatever2) and kill (Whoever2). If you do this you'll get this sword: "Elite Dreadlord Sword - Green (Uncommon) Item - 92 DPS" lol. I'm just giving an example, cause if they're so much stronger, they're gonna have to have stronger weapons and armor and stuff.

Their helm will be like 1 warrior's shield. AKA "2300 armor". Imagine that crap. Also, that would mean "The New Alliance" could probably "Somehow" get one of their weapons or a piece of their armor. "Level 70 Tauren Warrior: 12000 Armor, 9000 Health, 13% crit chance, 15% block chance 90+ DPS weapon." a bunch of crap like that. That'd be a bit rediculous.