Brewfest 2012
Brewfest is upon us once again, and Icy-Veins has an in depth guide to all things Brewfest. This year the event was slightly delayed to allow people to get a start on Mists of Pandaria. It requires level 89 for completion of all of the event.
There are a few new items this year, such as the Pandaren Brewpack and upgraded epics:
Coren Direbrew Drops
| Level | Type | Spec | Slot | Name |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 470 | Trinket | Trinket | | |
| 470 | Trinket | Trinket | | |
| 470 | Trinket | Trinket | | |
| 470 | Trinket | Trinket | | |
| 470 | Trinket | Tank | Trinket | |
| 470 | Trinket | Spell DPS | Trinket | |
Brewfest Prize Token Rewards
| Level | Type | Slot | Name | Cost |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 20 | Companion Pets | | 200 × | |
| 20 | Companion Pets | | 100 × | |
| 20 | Holiday | | 20 × | |
| 1 | Quest | | 200 × | |
| 10 | Head | Head | | 100 × |
| 10 | Head | Head | | 100 × |
| 1 | Head | Head | | 50 × |
| 1 | Head | Head | | 50 × |
| 1 | Head | Head | | 50 × |
| 1 | Head | Head | | 50 × |
| 1 | Chest | Chest | | 200 × |
| 1 | Chest | Chest | | 200 × |
| 1 | Feet | Feet | | 100 × |
| 1 | Feet | Feet | | 100 × |
| 1 | Consumable | | 100 × | |
| 1 | Consumable | | 100 × | |
| 1 | Consumable | | 200 × | |
| 20 | Consumable | | 2 × | |
| 20 | Consumable | | 5 × | |
| 1 | Consumable | | 2 × |
Developer Interviews
Another two interviews today, this time with Jason Hutchins, Game Producer and Gary Platner, Lead Environment Artist. The second interview is with Russell Brower, Director of Audio at Blizzard. Thanks to NinjaPull for providing the interviews!
Game Producer and Lead Environment Artist
- In Cataclysm, high end players would sometimes race to see who could complete a dungeon or raid first, so Challenge Modes were added to support that gameplay style.
- The 50 artists are broken up into five teams: World environment, dungeons, props, animations, and characters and armor sets.
- Mists of Pandaria brought several art improvements:
- Increased the distance you can see.
- Higher level of detail in the world.
- Ground textures are higher res.
- Lighting system and shadows were improved.
- More control over texture blending.
- Ambient occlusion (SSAO) was added.
- Draenei were harder to design than Worgen because it was harder to define what kind of race they were. Everyone understood the Worgen were supposed to have an Eastern European Gothic look.
- Clouds that interact with the mountains were added to add to the Asian influenced landscape.
- One of the things that sets Blizzard apart is the allowance for iteration. Even if a zone has been mostly completed, the art team can decide that it isn't right and go back and redo it until it feels right.
- There was a lot of new technology that went into Mists of Pandaria. It would have been impossible to make this expansion just a few years ago.
Director of Audio
- The audio team even has a hand in the phone tree audio for the Customer Service line.
- Eight years ago there were only three members on the team, now there are almost 40.
- They do a lot of recording in the field to expand the selection and avoid reusing sounds.
- The music used Asian instruments and skilled players.
- The sound is a combination of the sound of Warcraft and an Asian influence.
- Pandaren are all about family, nature, spirit, and harmony, but they know how to fight when they have to. They live every day as their last and do everything all out, no matter what it is they are doing.
Blue Posts
Originally Posted by Blizzard Entertainment
Pet Battle Training Cost
The cost is there, in part, because pet battles are intended to be a fun mini-game, particularly for players who've been around a while and want some new ways to spend their time while logged in -- it's not a profession. The system isn't really targeted toward new players while they're focused on leveling and character progression.
This is why there is a low level cap, but a buy-in barrier. It allows players with high-level characters and/or lots of alts easy access to the system, while reducing the risk of it being distracting or confusing for people just learning the core gameplay systems/mechanics. (Blue Tracker / Official Forums)
Mists of Pandaria Questing
Since the subject of this thread is largely a matter of personal taste, I'm not sure that I can speak directly to your concerns. I mean, core World of Warcraft gameplay evolves over time, but the essential experience will still be there.
What I've personally really enjoyed about questing in Mists is that, as I travel through a zone, there's sort of a zone story-line series of quests, a la some of the Cataclysm zones, but I'll also find entire quest hubs in the course of my explorations too. I've also seen some really cool quest mechanics (GIZMO! SOCKS!) in the course of these quests, and I find myself getting involved in the stories too.
I think the point of the quests that that have you collect x whatevers, or kill so many of y, is that they get you out into the world, killing monsters, seeing the sights, and playing your character, and doing stuff with your character's abilities. I don't personally get head-down-gotta-plow through-these-quests style tunnel vision though, and I make a point of looking around, getting into some PvP, etc. as I go along.
Every quest probably shouldn't involve super unique mechanics. I imagine that would get fatiguing after a short while. So, with that in mind I suppose what I'd like to know is: what kind of questing experience were you hoping to see?
That is the problem. I don't do anything with my character's abilities anymore! I used to be a hero. Now all I am is a vehicle driver, the guy in some other npc's body, the guy riding the back of a giant, the guy leading a squad of npc's, etc. What happened to quests where I am the hero?
My first impulse was to ask if we're playing the same game, but that would be snippy.
I can say pretty confidently that my experience has been quite different though. I feel like I've gotten a chance to play my character quite a lot (and I've had a lot of fun messing around with talents at the same time), while also getting a pleasant break now and then doing something with more unique mechanics. (Blue Tracker / Official Forums)
Scenarios and Player Specs
I chose to take my warrior to 90 first instead of my priest so I don't have firsthand as to difficulty in a healing spec, but it seems interesting they wouldn't have a second DPS spec. (Do a lot of people actually level in healery specs?) Maybe it's a misunderstanding of what Scenarios are, and why they aren't swapping. Maybe you should just let them know they should probably swap to DPS for Scenarios.
People should be approaching them as outdoor group quests that happen to be in an instance, and not dungeons. It's just getting used to the concept I think. The ability to queue for them probably makes it a lot tougher to shake the "ok I'm going into dungeon/raid" mode.
It isn't like a dungeon, but with outdoor group quests you get to pick who you play with. Disc is a very good spec to run scenario with because it is a good balance of some DPS with good off healing. It is effective.
I wouldn't disagree with that. Would you also say the same for your two group-mates, holy paladins and resto druids? Would you then say each of you had reasonably chosen a spec based on the type of content a Scenario offers?
I can't control who I end up with in scenarios.
Right, which is why my point is I think it's a perception issue where people believe they should be jumping into Scenarios believing it's like a dungeon and that they'll be healing.
I'm going to hit up a designer though, maybe there is some possibility of saving groups from themselves so certain specs aren't matched up at some point. (Blue Tracker / Official Forums)
Pearl of Pandaria Now On Sale!
If you are curious what it looks like, take a look at the preview images that were released.
Originally Posted by Blizzard (Blue Tracker / Official Forums)
The original graphic novel Pearl of Pandaria is now available! Be sure to pick up this story and meet the Pandaren, the newest playable race in World of Warcraft.
Written by Blizzard’s own Micky Neilson and with art by fan favorite Sean “Cheeks” Galloway, this story follows Li Li Stormstout’s adventures through Azeroth. Li Li comes from a line of adventurers who left their homeland long ago to explore the world, and she wants nothing more than to chase that dream.
But when Li Li runs away to find her famous uncle Chen, how will she survive Azeroth’s perils?
You can find the book on Amazon.com and other comic book retailers, and at the Blizzard Store.
Originally Posted by SWTOR
Our fourth major Game Update 1.4: Terror From Beyond goes live today. The center piece is a new Operation that shares the name of the update. This new Op is our most ambitious and difficult to date. The visuals are amazing, the battles are uniquely challenging and the final boss is the most impressive we’ve ever released.
In addition to a new Op we’ve introduced many smaller changes. The shadow system has gone through an overhaul that not only makes the game look better, but also makes the shadow system run better on many machine specs. Changes have been made to class balance, focused mainly on crowd control and the Resolve system. A lot of bug fixes as well.
This Game Update is also the start of a new release cadence. Our strategy so far has been to release big updates every few months. But this leaves long periods of time where you, our fans, don’t have anything new. So we’re moving to a model where we release Game Updates on a much more regular cadence. Our initial aim is for something as close to every six weeks as we can get. I’d promise an exact schedule, but in a live game we need some flexibility as the stability of the service trumps the release of an update on a particular date.
This year has been exciting so far with three Game Updates. But before the end of the year, it’s our intention to have released another three Game Updates, starting with Terror From Beyond. This is in addition to moving to Free to Play. But I can say in all honesty, that our plans for 2013 are even bigger. Our team’s experience, improving tools and better production processes are allowing us to move faster in development than we ever have before. More exciting news to come!
Mists of Pandaria EU Launch Event
Blizzard shared some photos from the Mists of Pandaria EU Launch events on Facebook. You can find the entire event video on Youtube.
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