http://wow.incgamers.com/forums/blog.php World of Warcraft Community Forums. Class, Technical, Professions, Mods and more en Sun, 08 Nov 2009 10:49:57 GMT vBulletin 60 http://wow.incgamers.com:80/forums/images/lichking/misc/rss.jpg http://wow.incgamers.com/forums/blog.php http://wow.incgamers.com/forums/blog.php?b=582 Sun, 08 Nov 2009 06:34:07 GMT Hey guys please help out by clicking this link and signing up, if you earn enough points you get free gamecards! LEGIT http://www.prizerebel.com/index.php?r=1771437 Hey guys please help out by clicking this link and signing up, if you earn enough points you get free gamecards! LEGIT
http://www.prizerebel.com/index.php?r=1771437 ]]> justindd http://wow.incgamers.com/forums/blog.php?b=582 http://wow.incgamers.com/forums/blog.php?b=581 Fri, 06 Nov 2009 13:54:21 GMT My thoughts on the Pet Store can be found here (http://markofsargeras.blogspot.com/2009/11/rmt-living-in-post-apocalyptic-azeroth.html). My thoughts on the Pet Store can be found here. ]]> Shellar http://wow.incgamers.com/forums/blog.php?b=581 http://wow.incgamers.com/forums/blog.php?b=580 Fri, 06 Nov 2009 11:00:19 GMT HEllo folks, this is just a test post. I am working on my new external hard drive (http://myexternalharddrive.com/) site. HEllo folks, this is just a test post. I am working on my new external hard drive site. ]]> toloexternal http://wow.incgamers.com/forums/blog.php?b=580 http://wow.incgamers.com/forums/blog.php?b=574 Tue, 22 Sep 2009 02:29:05 GMT In PvE design, the designer can control how long the fight lasts. It doesn't matter if the player do burst DPS or DoT because the boss will last a long period of time. They can more easily adjust how much HP and armor the bosses have. They can control everyone's movement and position in battle.

On the other hand, in PvP design, the DPS type (burst vs dot cast vs instant) are much more difficult to balance between. The target of the dps may be wearing plate or cloth; they may have a lot of HP or a little. The fights lasts for unpredictable amount of time. The designer cannot control how much CC and running around the players do.

Hands down, PvP balance is much more difficult to design than PvE balance. If one starts with PvP, one can always manipulate the NPC boss stats and AI script to match the power level of the characters. However, when one starts with PvE, if the numbers don't work out for PvP they can't just tell all the mage players to burst less so that their affliction lock enemies can properly compete.

In the example of Lich King, the designers raised player DPS, but they did not raise non-tank players' HP proportionally because it is not needed in PvE. As a result, it caused early PvP scene to completely break because everyone died too quickly. The way they "fixed" it was to tell players to get all new PvP gear. However, that required players to figuratively bang their heads against the wall; they had to suffer through broken gameplay so that they can get the proper gear so that they can get proper gameplay. I understand why we had to do that in TBC when stam and resilience was adjusted and introduced for the first time but... the same excuse doesn't work for WotLK.

On the other hand, if they had started with player HP to DPS ratio according to PvP balance, THEN design the boss dps and HP. Wouldn't it be a lot easier? Changing the HP of the 10~20 raid bosses at the start of the expansion can't possibly be harder than changing all those 100~200 pieces of gear with different item stats budget and stam budget. :P ]]> SSH83 http://wow.incgamers.com/forums/blog.php?b=574 http://wow.incgamers.com/forums/blog.php?b=573 Mon, 21 Sep 2009 00:45:54 GMT from my actual blog. http://www.epicphoenix.blogspot.com from my actual blog.

http://www.epicphoenix.blogspot.com ]]> EpicPhoenix http://wow.incgamers.com/forums/blog.php?b=573 http://wow.incgamers.com/forums/blog.php?b=572 Thu, 10 Sep 2009 01:41:38 GMT I'm a little teapot,
Short and stout
Here's my handle,
Here's my spout,
When I get all steamed up
Tip me Up and pour me out ]]> Julyjuly http://wow.incgamers.com/forums/blog.php?b=572 http://wow.incgamers.com/forums/blog.php?b=570 Mon, 07 Sep 2009 03:29:12 GMT in his eyes:

Broad System Requirements

The WoW juggernaut proves that graphics take a backseat to gameplay for most players. Your game doesn't need to look like 8-bit warmed over, but it does need to scale down gracefully to the low end of the spectrum if you want to take a bite out of the WoW user base. Yes, sexy screenshots help at launch day, but if the game looks wrong and runs slow on the average machine then you're destined to be a minor player in the MMO world.

Social Tools

MMO games are social by nature, but WoW benefits a great deal because people join simply because that's what all of their friends are playing. Stomping around Northrend with your friends is a perfectly legitimate way to spend an evening. You can joke and gossip and ***** about work and school while sitting around your favorite restaurant, or you can have the same conversation while fighting a Flesh Giant or traversing Zul'Drak. I know the average MMO looks like an RPG with a chat bar, but there's a lot more going on here than just chat. If you want to knock WoW off its perch, you need a way to make that Northrend conversation as seamless as possible. You need to give players lots of tools to acquire and connect with friends while filtering out irritants and idiots.

Strategic Combat

People dismiss WoW as a "mindless clickfest" but the truth is that the game is not multiplayer Diablo. The game feeds you new combat abilities at a steady rate, so that a new one opens up just as your existing skill set is starting to feel a little tired. There are a lot of different enemies that require different approaches. The combat will get old eventually, but for people that like combining powers and experimenting with different character builds it can offer many hours of entertainment. Your upcoming WoW-killer needs to be able to offer a variety of combat experiences, from complex hot-key driven action strategy (Rogues in WoW) to casual point-and-click for people who like to play while watching American Idol. (Hunters in WoW.)

Exploration

What few MMOs seem to grasp is that being able to walk from one end of a massive gameworld to the other is deeply satisfying to people with a sense of wanderlust, and the effect is often ruined if you break the world up into little playpens connected by loading screens. WoW has many different areas with unique music, mood, lighting, monsters, architecture, cities, wildlife, and flora. There is a ton of content to consume here, and lots of players derive satisfaction from taking the world tour. The game creates the impression that there's always another cool landmark or impressive vista just over the horizon. If you want people to stick with your game, you need to give them stuff to look at. A lot of stuff. It's not about square mileage, it's about seamless variety and spectacle.

Gathering

The idea of traveling a gameworld and picking up stuff has been with us more or less since the dawn of gaming. Maybe it's our hunter-gatherer instincts. Maybe we just like finding treasure. Whatever the reason, people love acquiring great big heaps of loot, and WoW has a large number of ways to do that. Gathering herbs, mining, fishing, and skinning are all ways to line your backpack with cool stuff without ever needing to fight anything. The treasure is just laying around the world and all you have to do is get out there and pick it up. You need your game to entice people to play it by drawing them into the wilderness with a trail of useful resource goodies.

Crafting

There is something compelling about making a bit of game content and inserting it into the world. You might sell it, use it, or give it away. It's yours. You made it and it had your name on it. I've never been happy with any of the crafting systems I've tried, but the crafting in WoW keeps a lot of people amused. This is one area where you can best WoW if you're willing to put the time into it. People want to create interesting and visually appealing items. Giving them the same level of control over the stuff they make that you give them over their avatar will make people want to make items not just for their intrinsic value in gold or damage output, but for their artistic value as well.

Character Building

The amount of variety in WoW is staggering. The different sides, races, classes, and areas of specialization within each class mean that there is always something new to try. There are layers of depth that let players build their character according to their own concept or play style. You need to offer your players lots of choices that lead to lots of different gameplay. If you start with "do I use fireballs or a sword?" then you're thinking too small.

Auctioning

Some people get addicted to Ebay. The wheeling and dealing gives them a thrill, and then there's the joy of having new stuff appear on your doorstep. The auction house in WoW can offer that same experience, and many players enjoy making money by buying low and selling high. They shop mid-week when prices are lower and then sell their goods over the weekend when demand increases. They track drop rates and usage patterns to get a feel for when things will be needed. The auction in WoW is superb, and functions as an economic day trading mini-game for people with the right financial disposition. Make sure your auction system is up to standards, or your world will be filled with people spamming chat in all caps looking for buyers or sellers. This breaks immersion, interferes with the social layer of the game, and frustrates the people trying to do business.

PvP

There aren't many MMO games that don't have player-versus-player action in some form or another. It's an activity, and a crucial one. Many players build their characters for the express purpose of destroying other characters on the field of battle. Other people build their character because they enjoy the process of building. You need to let both of these people have fun without cannibalizing each other's gameplay. The PvP player should be given an outlet where they can meaningfully compete for rewards, and the builder should have the ability to opt out of the ganking and corpse-camping.

Story

It's true that a vast majority of MMO players are filled with epic levels of apathy towards the story in the game. They click on a quest dude, do the quest, and run off again without reading a single line of prose. But WoW has robust (by MMO standards) storytelling and the NPCs generally try to make it worth your while if you take the time to read what they have to say. You might be tempted to cut corners here, but a lot of players enjoy knowing that they inhabit a good story, even when they're fuzzy on the specifics.

Bugs

Enough MMOs have staggered into the fray before they were ready and ended up turning hype and anticipation into bad press and ill will. I would think that their failures ought to be enough to convince you to complete and then polish your MMO before you hit the launch button. You can only launch once.

Far too many MMO games will simply lock onto two or three items in the WoW activity list and decide that, "this is what WoW is all about." They build a game around those simple elements and neglect the others, and then wonder why their game is an empty wasteland while the population of WoW is more than double that of the entire country of New Zealand.

People dismiss MMO games as "grinding" or a "leveling treadmill," but the really successful games are more like a health club with a broad selection of exercise machines than a single treadmill. Yes, there is a lot of repetition, but you can jump from one (repetitious) activity to another to keep things interesting. In the broadest sense, the activities in these games stimulate the part of your brain that enjoys creating order from chaos by getting stuff done. Only instead of doing useful stuff like the dishes or your homework, you're doing stuff like cleaning out rat infestations, gathering up resources, and building items. In the real world, the war against entropy isn't nearly as swift or as gratifying. The stuff you're getting "done" starts as short-term goals that lead to longer-term goals that lead to really long-term goals. You're always on the threshold of getting something done and getting your next reward. (And your next goal.)

It may look like players just stand around killing monsters over and over (because they are) but that's not the heart of the game and not the source of motivation. Give the player lots of goals and you'll go a long way to making a game they never want to quit. Then sit back and let the cash roll in, you greedy, life-sucking, career-ruining, homewrecking bastards.

Be sure to send me an invite when you reach beta.

Shamus Young is the author of Twenty Sided and the vandal behind Stolen Pixels. He played as a hunter in WoW, although he never stuck around long enough to hit level 40. ]]> zhenghao http://wow.incgamers.com/forums/blog.php?b=570 http://wow.incgamers.com/forums/blog.php?b=567 Sun, 06 Sep 2009 04:45:16 GMT OMG! My feral druid only did 1,000,000 damage in the boss fight while the rogue did 1,200,000!!! My class is broken!!!!! OMG!!! QQ!!! There has to be something fundamentally flawed when the raiders (in a cooperative game mode against a scripted AI) would be upset about their allies are doing... OMG! My feral druid only did 1,000,000 damage in the boss fight while the rogue did 1,200,000!!! My class is broken!!!!! OMG!!! QQ!!!

There has to be something fundamentally flawed when the raiders (in a cooperative game mode against a scripted AI) would be upset about their allies are doing a lot of damage. Yes, I'm aware that your class would get booted if you can't “keep up” with the dps of the other class. Though is exactly the problem I wish to discuss.

When I'm in arena, if the rogue on my team pulled a 20k burst, I am definitely NOT upset about his performance because he helped us win. At the same time, I am not afraid of being replaced because I have a role that a second rogue cannot replace. Looking back at Season 3, before PvP was dumbed down by out-of-control burst dps, there were different CC on different diminishing return, different dispells, different types of healing and damage, movement advantages, debuffs, mana drain, damage prevention, etc. There were a whole gallery of strategic class features that each class can potentially bring to the table. DPS was a factor, but it was not the primary deciding factor. In 5v5, especially, there were sometimes “DPS” class whose job was NOT to DPS at all except for probably 3 seconds in a fight. Each class had a truly unique niche. Each class was useful. Players were not thinking about being replaced as much as they were striving to innovate and trying to come up with new strategies and combinations.

So, why then, do they need to dumb down PvE to the point where none of these other class features factor in? Are the PvE players not able to handle the extra dimensions to a battle? I highly doubt that, especially if the are eased into using those long-forgotten skills in their spell book in a raid.

If PvP and PvE is to strive and co-exist in this game, they must become more similar. Every aspect of a class that is tested and valued in PvP must also be useful in PvE, and vise-versa. Here is some example of how to do just that:

1) Armor differential: DPS with higher armor needs to do less damage than classes with less armor, so that they balance out. But in PvE, that DPS with plate don't have any advantage over DPS with leather, so that is not justified. Not now at least. But what if bosses start to do more full-circle cleave, BUT not in the same way they did before. Slightly different in that it exist to force leather to sit out for some period of time so that the plate wearers can catch up in the dps. So if a warrior did 20k in 20 seconds, and a rogue did 25k in 20 seconds. Then the cleave would come up for 5 seconds, so that the warrior can catch up. In practice, the melee players could all receive a HoT from an NPC that heals for 5k per tick. The boss would then cleave physical damage that amounts to average of 4,5k on plate, 6.5k on mail, and 8k on leather. So leather has to back up almost immediately. Mail can sit there for a short time before they need to back out, and plate can stay there for the entire duration.

2) Control abilities CC/Dispell/Debuff: Let's be honest here. It's really QUITE IDIOTIC for the raid bosses to ALWAYS sit in their throne rooms by themselves when they can easily recall just 1 or 2 groups of trash to engage the raiders at the same time to make it interesting. Add debuffers that you need to have a DPS to help you dispell since the healer needs to stay on the tank, a dispeller that you need to keep Cced on a rotation of different CC before it removes all your buffs, an enemy mage sidekick that constantly channels an AOE effect and all the classes that have range Dispell needs to keep an eye on it. How about an extra add that needs to be kited?

3) How about mana drain? Is it really necessary for the bosses to have 1,000,000,000 mana? What if their mana is low enough but regenerate fast enough or periodically that need classes with mana drain to earn their spot in the raid?

Bottom line is, if they ever hope to make PvP and PvE balance co-exist... actually if they ever hope to fix the problem with PvE DPS complaints, they need to go back to the roots and re-explore what it really means to be a druid, what it really means to be a shaman, what it really means to be a rogue, etc. Are they all just DPS robots with different costumes or are they more than that? ]]> SSH83 http://wow.incgamers.com/forums/blog.php?b=567 http://wow.incgamers.com/forums/blog.php?b=563 Wed, 26 Aug 2009 13:32:26 GMT Well last night I saw Armando Iannucci's hit British Comedy In the Loop and it was hilarious. The plot is:

The US President and UK Prime Minister fancy a war, but not everyone agrees that war is a good thing. US General Miller (James Gandolfini The Sopranos, The Taking Of Pelham 123) certainly doesn't think so and neither does the British Secretary of State for International Development, Simon Foster (Tom Hollander Pirates of the Caribbean, Pride and Prejudice). But when the mild-mannered minister inadvertently appears to back the war on prime-time television, he immediately attracts the attention of the PMs venomously aggressive communications chief Malcolm Tucker (reprised from The Thick of It by Peter Capaldi), who latches onto him like a hawk. Soon, the Brits are in Washington, where diplomatic relations collide with trans-Atlantic spin doctors and Fosters off-hand remark quickly spirals into an insurmountable mountain of conflict.

The film is memorably quotable, I am still laughing about it just thinking of the quotes from this foul mouthed political satire. The laughs come fast paced and they rarely miss the mark. The acting is good, Tom Hollander is great as the hapless Minister, Chris Addison is good too as his dim assistant Toby. Gandolfini is on a good streak too playing the peace loving general. But the star of the show is Peter Capaldi whose foul mouthed spin doctor Malcolm Tucker, (based on Allistair Campbell) is the star of the show. He is a swearing genius and quotes are easily the most memorable. Paul Higgins is memorable too as his assistant Jaime, dubbed The Crossest Man in Scotland who at one point threatens to hole punch Toby's face in and in a memorable scene trashes a fax machine to represent someone career. The face off between Capaldi and Gandolfini is memorable too.

See this film and you will laugh. ]]> Snorkyorky http://wow.incgamers.com/forums/blog.php?b=563 http://wow.incgamers.com/forums/blog.php?b=558 Thu, 13 Aug 2009 00:18:46 GMT If anyone wants to do the black temple raid I'd be glad to join.....i can't promise much from me because I'm only level 63....so what ever send me a message if you want me to join.Thanks. ]]> Malruibus http://wow.incgamers.com/forums/blog.php?b=558 http://wow.incgamers.com/forums/blog.php?b=548 Sun, 02 Aug 2009 18:37:00 GMT Well , first blog I made, i deserve and achievement.

Anyway , didn't play World of Warcraft since June 24th :O. On vacation in Europe. Gonna be back Aug 17th, can't wait. Lulz i miss my guild.

So, what am I doing , you may ask.
Im eating..um..sumthing. TOP SECRET xD .

Sunny today....:sunny:

Lemme get some more blog ideas... 'till then

This is a Human Deathknight , and I approve of this message....:evil2:



Okay me Bak. Dunt see how wowhobbs can do this thing for over 2 years. ...


right ... So if you were wondering how old am i ? OVER 9000!

xD sorry had to do it. ]]> xXGunStraXx http://wow.incgamers.com/forums/blog.php?b=548 http://wow.incgamers.com/forums/blog.php?b=515 Wed, 01 Jul 2009 13:13:04 GMT The dark side of yours truly (http://markofsargeras.blogspot.com) The dark side of yours truly ]]> Shellar http://wow.incgamers.com/forums/blog.php?b=515 http://wow.incgamers.com/forums/blog.php?b=507 Fri, 26 Jun 2009 14:55:23 GMT So I'm leveling up a Druid, as many of the regular forum readers will know. I started doing this just before patch 3.1 came out due to boredom, but it has meant that since the patch, I haven't seen Ulduar at all.

I know, that's bad. But after a while, regular raiding becomes a drag and it's nice to just relax and do something at a slow pace for a while.

A friend of mine recently started playing WoW and I found myself leveling up with her. I've discussed the pros and cons of leveling with a friend before - the fact that you can be ready to murder someone after a while because you want to do things differently - but it's been ok so far because I'm leading and she's just following. Trouble is, I feel like I'm taking away some of the magic of the game. I'm flying through quests, just getting them done and moving on, and she's following along blindly. She appreciates the help, because she's leveling quicker and being shown where everything is (before, she'd take over an hour to do a simple quest), but I don't think I'm doing her any favours.

I'll continue this later :smiley: ]]> Maticus http://wow.incgamers.com/forums/blog.php?b=507 http://wow.incgamers.com/forums/blog.php?b=506 Sun, 21 Jun 2009 06:24:39 GMT I joined this to complain about my own stupidity (Not really), i logged into a website that i believed to be Blizzards, and found that even though the pictures and everything were exactly the same as the real website, it wasn't. they took my account and changed the password, then they advertised, getting me kicked off.
great yeah?
so i just want to say, i'm still fighting to get my wow account back and if anyone could help me that'd be great. ALSO
www dot usblizzard-worldofwarcraft dot com is fake!
i'm sure i sound stupid, but if anyone benefits from this i'll be able to sleep well
(and if anyone can help me recover my account i'll love you forever!) ]]> arkarian http://wow.incgamers.com/forums/blog.php?b=506 http://wow.incgamers.com/forums/blog.php?b=504 Sat, 16 May 2009 17:55:03 GMT Right then. I've never blogged in my life, but I though why not give it a try. I've been playing wow for about a year, but my highest character is 57 mage. I've decided to start afresh on the Roleplaying server Argent Dawn as I've had some good fun roleplaying over there, but now I want to get down to some leveling. I've created a Dwarf Hunter named Kharoz and he's currently level 19. I think I'll just use this blog to talk about how I'm getting on with him and any random thoughts that pop into my head - Just your average blogger!

Kharoz ]]> Cobbs http://wow.incgamers.com/forums/blog.php?b=504