Next WoW patch details.

[Hivetyrant]

Cool, there is some interesting stuff here

In Blizzard's endless march towards perfecting and balancing their hugely successful MMO, World of WarCraft, the company is putting the final touches on the upcoming 1.10 patch, due some time in the near future. To help give avid WoW players a peek into what's coming, 1UP offers an exclusive look at three of the biggest adjustments to everyone's favorite MMO. The first of the upcoming changes is the redesign and reset of the Priest talent tree. As Paladins were reset recently, so too can priests reallocate their talent points to whatever branch or combination of that they wish. The second adjustment is the ability to upgrade your "blue" dungeon armor sets. The screenshots we've gathered highlight the tooltips that pop when you mouse over the gear, revealing the stat upgrades and bonuses you get from having complete armor sets. Each of these blue armor sets can be upgraded by completing a series of soloable and raid-sized party (5 people) quests. The last new feature the patch will introduce is the addition of weather effects, as shown in our exclusive screens and videos (check out the videos to see what WoW looks like when it's snowing and raining). Since our comps audibly weep every time we fly into Ironforge, as our RAM cache loads in every endgame player riding around on his flaming horse, we got on the horn with WoW Lead Designer Jeff Kaplan to talk about a few things, like whether the weather would lead to dropped frames or if our progress would continue unimpeded. We also talked about moose guys and why the reset to the Priest talent tree. Don't take our word for it, read on to get a glimpse into the methods behind Blizzard's MMO madness. Interview with Blizzard's Jeff Kaplan 1UP: Like Paladins in the last patch, you've now redone the talent tree for Priests. Had too many players spent their points in ways that were detrimental to their effectiveness in the endgame, or were there other, deep-seeded reasons for this decision? Jeff Kaplan: It's not a matter of spending points in certain ways; we simply felt there was room for improvement in the class. The talent reviews take place to ensure that the talent trees are balanced when faced with today's playstyles and encounters. The face of the game has changed significantly since launch, and these reviews help to update the classes along with this content. 1UP: The new weather effects are a nice touch, but how will this affect performance across varying systems? I imagine, just like most other effects that the weather is scalable or removable if your PC can't handle it, but what sort of things have you had to consider in implementing these effects. My PC practically crashes every time I wander into Ironforge, I'm a little nervous about the effect snow could have on my life. JK: World of Warcraft is not terribly demanding on today's systems. We've certainly taken the range of potential system power into consideration when creating these effects, as we do for all our graphics. I think you'll find that many systems will be able to handle weather without a problem, but the option will be there to turn them off if that's what you prefer. 1UP: Like most MMOs, and even going back to games like Blizzard's own classic Diablo II, one of the big reasons people keep coming back day after day is to get better stuff; primarily armor and weapons. What's your priority in the constant adjustments in endgame armor sets? To make them more effective, to look way cooler than lower level players (adding distinction to high level players), or a combination of both? The reason I ask is because I saw a level 60 Druid with moose antlers. I don't know about the next guy, but I don't wanna be level 60 with moose antlers (Thank god I'm a hunter). What's your criteria in designing endgame armor? JK: We certainly do want to differentiate between high level and low level players, appearance-wise. When it comes to designing armor, we do want some distinct and eye-catching looks out there, but that's entirely separate from the actual game design behind the armor. With armor, we want to make sure the spectrum is covered; it's one of the major ways to customize your character's power and abilities, so when creating new armor, we make sure to fill any holes within that spectrum that exist. As far as looks go, we do our best to keep the appearance consistent with the Warcraft style people know and enjoy. 1UP: I have characters on a "Normal" server as well as a PVP server, which I only joined because various 1UP staffers encouraged me to join them on PVP. So I did, and I got up to level 21 but am now unable to go anywhere to continue my quests because I keep getting jacked any time I walk outside of town, and even get jacked IN town when an especially courageous pack of Horde corpse-campers make a dash inside Astranaar (or Redridge wherever I go). Tell me, is there life beyond 21? (I kid, I know there is, but it's a pain for sure.) JK: It's certainly more dangerous on a PvP realm, make no mistake. Still, one of the interesting things about the PvP environment is the stronger community. Because it's easy to get picked off as you describe when alone, it's easier to form groups and get quests done. In the end, you can find yourself surrounded by dedicated friends who will help you at the drop of a hat, as they know you'll do the same for them. It is a multiplayer game, remember -- making friends is essential in PvP.

[Marty4]

If they screw up priests, I'll puke. We're already messed up enough.

Other than that, it looks nice! When will the patch come out?

[Hivetyrant]

Not sure yet, doubt it will be all that long, but I wouldnt expect it this month (maybe towards the end)

[Ivelliis]

I'm giving it too weeks, but let's hope they don't keep is waiting like they did with 1.9. *shudders*

[SpiritWarrior]

Agreed, it won't be too long but won't be too soon either. Who knows what will happen priests, especially after what they did to the poor pallies.

[Timber Loftis]

If they bow to the pressure they're getting on the Warlock forums and nerf our new Death Coil, I'll cancel my account.

As far as changing the talent trees, you can bet there are a bunch of nerveous shammies out there who are just keeping quiet and hoping for the best. I'm not familiar with Pallies, since the only time I see much of them is when I'm trying to kill them (takes about 5 solid minutes, too) -- how bad was their nerfing?

[ 02-02-2006, 12:59 PM: Message edited by: Timber Loftis ]

[SpiritWarrior]

Well back when SotC got nerfed pallies became gimped. It was nerfed because people screamed nerf on their forums daily and finally the devs caved. They were never true hybrids, more like dabblers. The recent pally changes boosted them maybe 1/4 but most people were terribly dissapointed as the majority of the changes seemed like 'tweaks' or bugfixes for a class that badly needed them, but no real boost in power, damage etc. which was what was cried out for.

Warlock too, went through the same changes at one point (they were one of the first I think after warrior) and many are still unsatisfied with the way that class stands now. I remember in PVP on my paladin (before warlock was 'buffed') I'd ignore them because they were nothing to worry about since anything they threw at me I could cleanse, and any curse wasn't even worth removing. So, in a way they are better than what they were but like pallies, not what they should be.