#0 - March 1, 2010, 1:01 p.m.
A. Having that many different kind of emblems is overwhelming. In hindsight, we wish we had done maybe 2 emblems: the current tier and the previous tier (Frost and Triumph at the moment). They also felt a tad too grindy when 3.3 first came out before all of the sources of emblems were available.
Q: Is there any ETA on tree / moonkin form graphical update?
A. Moonkin is hard because Moonkin players are so in love with that form. It's tough to change it at all. We currently hope to do a new tree form for Cataclysm, but no promises.
Q: Is the Valithria Dreamwalker encounter a deliberate move towards making WoW more “fun & interesting” for healers? Will we see more encounters like this?
A. We want to make healing more fun, yes. Part of that is letting healers use their whole repetoire instead of just their best spells. Part of it is trying to get healers to look at the battlefield a little more and unit frames a little less, that of course means a little more time in between spamming heals so you can do stuff like that.
Q: Does Blizzard have any plans to give healers "fun" procs and on-use effects, like DPS have been getting lately?
A. Yes. Healer procs are trickier to design though to make sure they aren't wasted. Damage is rarely wasted so it's a bit easier to design.
Q: Will existing races have their starting areas reworked to provide a more "epic" experience similar to the Goblin/Worgen starts?
A. Not quite at the Goblin / Worgen level, but we are looking at all the original start zones, especially for two races who feel a little disenfranchised at the moment.
Q: There's no cap on Emblems, but there is on honor. Any plans to remove or raise the honor cap?
A. To be honest, we're more likely to cap emblems. We like the gameplay where you're motivated to periodically check in with WoW. We don't like feeling like you have to log in every single day without fail (cough Frost emblems) and we don't like the grind your face off in order to maximize return (old BG Honor).
Q: The 3.3.3 PTR included some unreleased 'event' details (no spoilers). Should we expect to see that event in the lifetime of 3.3.3?
A. Something leaked in the patch? That never happens! The plan is for these events to go live sometime before Cataclysm ships. We don’t have an exact time yet, but we would like players to have a good month or two to play through these events to help build the back story for what is going to happen in Cataclysm.
Q: Regarding Cataclysm, can you reveal any of the 'major changes' in Blasted Lands and how this will affect the lore?
A. I love the fact that one of our first questions is in regards to the Blasted Lands! We have big plans in store for this zone in Cataclysm. We will be revamping the entire flow of the zone so you can expect an entirely new experience here. Some of the big changes include an opening to the coastline for a new play area, as well as a large new worgen area in The Tainted Scar.
Q: In Cataclysm, do you plan on releasing two raid instances at a time (like Serpentshrine Cavern/Tempest Keep), or are we only getting one at a time (i.e. Naxxramas followed by Ulduar)?
A. We like the idea of having more smaller raids rather than one large one. In other words, we will have more than one at Cataclysm launch.
Q: What happened to the advertised Dance Studio for the Wrath of the Lich King expansion?
A. It's still on the list! We always start an expansion with more than we can realistically do and then shuffle things up and down. WoW is one of those games you just never finish, which is overall a fun thing about working on it.
Q: Where is my moose? Did you see that Ghostcrawler?
A. That was so epic. I was sure the screenshot was shopped until we saw the actual video. I guess we're going to have to do a moose now...
Q: Will there be any upcoming changes to shadow priest anytime soon?
A. We're pretty happy with them currently in Icecrown and PvP. Long term they have some things we want to address, such as having long ramp-up time even on easy mobs when leveling or handling large groups. They also get really punished from school lockout.
Q: With Illidan you removed attunement to give players more accessibility to the instance, so why have you limited pre-Ulduar geared players from using the Dungeon Finder to enter the new 5-player dungeons that were released in patch 3.3?
A. We feel like players using Dungeon Finder need some reasonable guarantee that the other players they get grouped with are going to be able to pull their weight. We don't yet have a robust system for tracking that other than gear. Gear obviously has its problems though, so we'll be looking at smarter ways to do it in the future.
Q: You talk a lot about changing how we heal tanks, but will aggro ever come back as a challenging part of the game?
A. Not sure. This is something we discuss a lot. I even had a meeting on it this week! On the one hand, some tanks really felt like the way to distinguish themselves was to generate maximum threat per second. On the other hand, threat is a pretty invisibile part of the game (it's limited to the UI at best), and I know when I tank that I always feel pretty emasculated when someone actually pulls off of me. It's challenging, but is it really fun? This is the kind of thing we'd love to get more feedback on.
Please include your feedback on large banners to be shown in the background during the Olympics. Failing that, the forums would work too.
Q: Could you add a resilience enchant for professions like enchanting, inscription, etc.? Right now only Jewelcrafting and Blacksmithing can get this PvP benefit.
A. Yeah, we'd like to do more of this. Enchanting makes sense.
Q: Will existing races get a more "epic" start to the game, similar to the goblin/worgen starting experience?
A. We have big plans in store for both the trolls and the gnomes in regards to their starting experience but you probably already know that. ;)
We are also planning to spice up the starting zones for all of the other races as well. You can expect gameplay changes to the actual zones, as well as improved quest flows and all new items to match.
Q: What have you learned from the inclusion of Wintergrasp in Wrath of the Lich King?
A. We learned a lot from Wintergrasp. I think our biggest takeaway is that we do not want to create such a technical strain on the servers like that ever again. We are pretty happy with the way that the gameplay worked out overall and are looking to grow and improve upon it with Tol Barad in Cataclysm. Tol Barad is going to have similarities to Wintergrasp, but the gameplay will be very different. We are still working out the details, but one thing I can say is that we want to reduce the overall amount of vehicle combat and get players back into the action using their own actions bars in pvp combat.
Q: When will we get new info and updates on Cataclysm?
A. We have an article on the stat changes that should be going up really soon. You'll see more over time as we get closer to launching this next expansion.
Q: How do you feel about the limited attempts mechanic that has been use in Trial of the Crusader and Icecrown Citadel?
A. We're not crazy about how they worked out. They were designed in essence to save players from themselves. In the past, some people would make 400+ attempts on new bosses. That's not healthy and at some point you're not measuring skill but tenacity. Yet, that's not what happened. Guilds just made alts to get around the limitations, and things like disconnects and accidents make losing an attempt really frustrating. We like gating because if nothing else it lets the community focus on more than just the final boss in the zone. If we do limited attempts again it would probably be limited to optional bosses like Algalon.
Q: Are there any plans to allow cross-realm raiding?
A. If we can solve the problems with it, we might give it a try. One of the problems is getting the group back together, especially on the longer instances. Loot drama and stuff like that is always a problem. There is also the ongoing concern about the concept of your realm having less of a sense of community.
Q: With Illidan you removed attunements to give players accessibility. Why limit pre-Ulduar-geared players from even entering Icecrown Citadel LFG?
A. Gear requirements are a way for us to help players have an experience that is more in line with their skill level. We would much rather you not be able to get into the instance than to have you get in there with a group and find out that you can’t even tank the first boss. Gear requirements are not locked in stone either -- we are updating these as we see fit.
Q: When will we get new info and updates on Cataclysm?
A. Soon, but not too soon. Ragnaros would be pissed.
Q: Will there ever be cross-realm raiding?
A. This is something that we are looking into. There are a lot of design issues that need to be addressed before we could implement something like this, but we are definitely interested in the idea.
Q: With the new gear stats system in cataclysm, will you go back and redo all the old gear, or will it only affect new gear?
A. Yes, we redid all the old gear.
Q: Should players be concerned about what gear they pickup in this expansion, because of the gear overhaul that is coming?
A. I wouldn't stress over it. You'll probably replace that gear pretty quickly. Since we have 5 levels, we don't really want players getting all the way to 85 without having upgraded at all.