[strafer]

“Nothing is free, Go’el,” Jaina Proudmoore said. “Your knowledge and skills were bought at a cost. The . . . orc you left behind in your place had done much harm in your absence. If I have heard about what is going on in Orgrimmar and Ashenvale, surely you must have!” Go’el’s mien, which had been deeply peaceful, now looked troubled. “I have heard, of course.” “And . . . you do nothing?” “I have another path,” he said. “You have seen the results of that path. A threat that—” “Go’el, I hear this, but now that task is over. Garrosh is stirring up trouble between the Alliance and the Horde—trouble that didn’t exist until he started it. I can understand if you don’t wish to undermine him publicly, but—perhaps you and I can work together. Form a summit of sorts. Ask Baine to join us; I know he has no love for what Garrosh is striving for. I could speak with Varian. As of late, he seems to be more reachable. Everyone respects you, even in the Alliance, Go’el. You have earned that respect because of your actions. Garrosh has earned nothing but mistrust and hatred because of his.” She indicated her cloak, which had blown about with the wind he had sent to bear her to shore. “You can control the winds as a shaman. But the winds of war are blowing, and if we do not stop Garrosh now, many innocents will pay the price for our hesitation.” The ashes of the Cataclysm have settled across Azeroth’s disparate kingdoms. As the broken world recovers from the disaster, the renowned sorceress Lady Jaina Proudmoore continues her long struggle to mend relations between the Horde and the Alliance. Yet of late, escalating tensions have pushed the two factions closer to open war, threatening to destroy what little stability remains in the . . . Dark news arrives in Jaina’s beloved city, Theramore. One of the blue dragonflight’s most powerful artifacts—the Focusing Iris—has been stolen. To unravel the item’s mysterious whereabouts, Jaina works with the former blue Dragon Aspect Kalecgos. The two brilliant heroes forge an unlikely bond during their investigation, but another disastrous turn of events looms on the horizon. . . . Garrosh Hellscream is mustering the Horde’s armies for an all-out invasion of Theramore. Despite mounting dissent within his faction, the brazen warchief aims to usher in a new era of Horde domination. His thirst for conquest leads him to take brutal measures against anyone who dares question his leadership. Alliance forces converge on Theramore to repel the Horde onslaught, but the brave defenders are unprepared for the true scope of Garrosh’s cunning and deceptive strategy. His attack will irrevocably transform Jaina, engulfing the ardent peacekeeper in the chaotic and all-consuming . . . TIDES OF WAR

A short preview I found.

[Magnus]

Background downloader is downloading a 4.3 -> 4.4 patch that's 21gb in size. 21! What the shit?

I read the posts above, but could 5.0 background assets be that large?

[Berordn]

...What. (Last part spoiler?) I imagine that is what will be covered in Jaina's book. I don't get it, where does Rhonin go? He just ups and leaves on his own?

It's probably all closely tied to that book, either way. It might not go down that way in the end either. Benedictus and Varian had dialogue recorded for an exchange between the two where he reveals himself as the Twilight Prophet as early as 4.0, but that got cut out to be used for Thrall's own Mary Sue antics (like everything else in this half-assed expansion).

The Kirin Tor are already irrelevant though. Jaina made more sense as some kind of link into bringing Kul Tiras into the game at some point.

It's a way to rope Dalaran back into the Alliance as a human kingdom, and she still has ties to Kul Tiras, should they ever show up (which would be likely, given how we're probably going to get a Nazjatar/South Seas expansion at some point). As long as we're going to bullshit an Alliance/Horde war, we could at least reunite the remaining human kingdoms.

[Angry Grimace]

oh god, please tell me Thrall isn't going to show up all the time as "Go'el" (and then the awful Aggra voice actor can should GOELGOELGOELGOELGOELGOELGOELGOELGOELGOELGOELGOELGOELGOELGOEL at players)

I hate you so much Metzen

[Magnus]

Also, the freezing issue I mentioned above is actually just a display freeze. The game is still running. I can hear sound effects, I was still in-combat when I relogged, the game was still running for sure.

What's causing this, a video card issue?

I haven't updated drivers in a while. Perhaps I'm due for that.

[Berordn]

Background downloader is downloading a 4.3 -> 4.4 patch that's 21gb in size. 21! What the shit? I read the posts above, but could 5.0 background assets be that large?

That's about the size of the beta at the moment, so it's probably merging some of the archive files together too.

[CarbonatedFalcon]

Bloodthirsty Jaina could be interesting.

[HarryDemeanor]

Background downloader is downloading a 4.3 -> 4.4 patch that's 21gb in size. 21! What the shit? I read the posts above, but could 5.0 background assets be that large?

They had us redownload the beta client due to a new patching process. That might be what it's doing here.

[aesop]

Jaina as a boss in the Garrosh raid confirmed?

[Berordn]

Jaina as a boss in the Garrosh raid confirmed?

There will be a build-up to it in 5.0 that'll never materialize, and then we'll get it in the final patch in a promising raid instance that was cut down to a dungeon due to time constraints.

I'm not bitter.

But, I also want to see how Garrosh ends up as the final villain as well. Old god BS? (lol as we go into more maws!)

If the Legion is lurking around the corner, it wouldn't surprise me if his experiments are more closely tied to them. But there's been an upswing in old god activity of late.

[Entropia]

Jaina as a boss in the Garrosh raid confirmed?

Potentially could be? I'm curious to see what happens in Mists with her.

Though we all know she'll probably just be some bitch who chills in Dalaran after 5.0, or wherever she ends up. :(


But, I also want to see how Garrosh ends up as the final villain as well. Old god BS?

(lol as we go into more maws!)

[B-Dubs]

Jaina as a boss in the Garrosh raid confirmed?

That would be pretty boss. Garrosh in some kind of crazy-ass death star type thing, Jania tries to take it down but would crash it straight into Thunder Bluff, so we gotta kick her ass too.

[aesop]

They've already laid the groundwork for it, so I can totally see it. Some of the MMO Champion previews have shown various horde/alliance members being overtaken by their manifested emotions. That's what the Sha is supposed to be.

My best guess is that she hops over to Pandaria after the destruction of Theramore and is all pissy. This manifests into whatever and we have to beat the evil out of her on the way to Garrosh.

[Dresden]

TIDES OF WAR

[Berordn]

They've already laid the groundwork for it, so I can totally see it. Some of the MMO Champion previews have shown various horde/alliance members being overtaken by their manifested emotions. That's what the Sha is supposed to be. My best guess is that she hops over to Pandaria after the destruction of Theramore and is all pissy. This manifests into whatever and we have to beat the evil out of her on the way to Garrosh.

I wouldn't mind seeing her turn Dalaran into a flying warship of doom while she's possessed by the Sha of Anger. That might actually be interesting.

It would also be old god shenanigans, but que sera.

[Entropia]

TIDES OF WAR

chaotic and all-consuming . . . TIDES OF WAR

[Angry Grimace]

They've already laid the groundwork for it, so I can totally see it. Some of the MMO Champion previews have shown various horde/alliance members being overtaken by their manifested emotions. That's what the Sha is supposed to be. My best guess is that she hops over to Pandaria after the destruction of Theramore and is all pissy. This manifests into whatever and we have to beat the evil out of her on the way to Garrosh.

No, Blizzard doesn't like corrupted characters.

[Entropia]

No, Blizzard doesn't like corrupted characters.

And tales of redemption? Never.

[aesop]

No, Blizzard doesn't like corrupted characters.

Lulz.

[CarbonatedFalcon]

Oh you guys. :D

[strafer]

And Garrosh is up to something in the new Ragefire Chasm.

[Deputy Moonman]

Who the hell is this guy? [IMG]http://i.minus.com/ieAVJXPTWJkl5.jpg[IMG]

While it's not the same person, the firt NPC i thought of was Reginald Windsor when, after completing Jail break for part of the old and removed Onyxia attunement questline, you meet him outside of Stormwind and escort him into Stormwind Keep to uncover Lady Katrana Prestor's true identity as Onyxia during the quest The Great Masquerade. It was a really cool questline with a cool twist at the end. I have no idea who General Hammond Clay is, though.

[The Lamonster]

Red Shirt Guy could probably help you guys out.

[Angry Grimace]

I really wonder if Blizzard actually intends to just make expansions so long as the game is profitable. I mean, at that rate, we'll never kill Sargeras or anything.

[Nugg]

5.0 stuff is now up on the background downloader! It's a little bit over 6 Gb in size.

[The Lamonster]

5.0 stuff is now up on the background downloader! It's a little bit over 6 Gb in size.

Haha you did not read before you posted did you?

[ciaossu]

I really wonder if Blizzard actually intends to just make expansions so long as the game is profitable. I mean, at that rate, we'll never kill Sargeras or anything.

The real question is, will Metzen put his baby Thrall in the backseat and bring out the real 'most important character in Warcraft'. Dat Med'an

I'll bet we see Me'dan and Sargeras if they get to another Burning Legion expac

[DeathNote]

Haha you did not read before you posted did you?

? It's confirmed to be MOP data by blue's and mmo-champ.

Edit: You mean this thread, nm

[Angry Grimace]

The real question is, will Metzen put his baby Thrall in the backseat and bring out the real 'most important character in Warcraft'. Dat Med'an I'll bet we see Me'dan and Sargeras if they get to another Burning Legion expac

Maybe the Titans will show up and explain why they're such lazy assholes who basically just did nothing and left the entire universe to rot

[Enosh]

so this is why my ping was shit the whole time now

[Nugg]

Haha you did not read before you posted did you?

Haha sorry, I did read a few posts back, and I saw a bunch of Theramore spoilers I didn't want to read, so I didn't bother reading further back. I didn't realize I was THAT late ^^

[davidsaurus]

Logged on today for the first time in close to a year. Discovered that my server is completely dead. I mean 10 people in Stormwind at prime time friday night dead. I have 3 85's that I love equally on the server as well. £45 to transfer them all over to a proper server so I can have a good time - *sigh*. I'll bite the bullet the same time as MoP I guess. Also discovered there was a 25% reduction a few weeks back, makes it even more depressing.

[Berordn]

Logged on today for the first time in close to a year. Discovered that my server is completely dead. I mean 10 people in Stormwind at prime time friday night dead. I have 3 85's that I love equally on the server as well. £45 to transfer them all over to a proper server so I can have a good time - *sigh*. I'll bite the bullet the same time as MoP I guess. Also discovered there was a 25% reduction a few weeks back, makes it even more depressing.

The Cataclysm post-expansion lull has been much worse than Wrath was on most servers if only because the last patch's content was just so dramatically underwhelming. I'd say wait it out or try rolling alts on other servers in the meantime, since there's a good chance it'll pick back up for MoP.

[Magnus]

WTB the various awesome art from the loading screens without the WoW logos. Any ideas?!

The Cataclysm post-expansion lull has been much worse than Wrath was on most servers if only because the last patch's content was just so dramatically underwhelming. I'd say wait it out or try rolling alts on other servers in the meantime, since there's a good chance it'll pick back up for MoP.

But. But. Transmog.

I agree with you

But I still love TMog

[Deputy Moonman]

WTB the various awesome art from the loading screens without the WoW logos. Any ideas?! But. But. Transmog. I agree with you But I still love TMog

speaking of which, i saw someone with a nice transmog set earlier today. i don't usually take enough time to stop and look at what other people are using for their transmog, but this one caught my eye.

[CarbonatedFalcon]

So related to something we've been discussing...

I'm not going to link where I found this exact quote (ghetto PDF scan of some magazine in conjunction with some school assignment or something) and it's not directly related to WoW, but I thought it was quite poignant, especially in relation to that one thread that's been on the Blizz forums (note the bold).

Gamers like to be evaluated, even compared with one another, through systems of points, rankings, titles, and external measures. Their goal is not to be rewarded but to improve. Game worids are meritocracies where assessment is symmetrical (leaders are assessed just as players are), and after-action reviews are meaningful only as ways of enhancing individual end group performance.

Just giving us (as players) stuff, or making it easier, kills the entire purpose of it being there in the first place. It's tricky to balance though, since the community disseminates information exponentially that making encounters strategically difficult is all but impossible, so Blizzard has to resort to hard modes which are much more brutally gear dependent than anything else (unless you're on the bleeding edge.)

[The Lamonster]

Found this in the Diablo III thread but I think it relates to he discussion here about that video saying WoW is going in a bad direction because content is too easy to experience nowadays.

For the life of me, I don't get all of these folks who complain when the game is made easier. Newsflash: you're not competing against anyone else who is playing the game. EVER. There's plenty of things that you can do to make the game harder FOR YOURSELF. They are called challenges. Think the game is too easy? Play it without using rares, or without using magic items. Don't like the AH? Don't use it, ever. Or buy from the vendors. Play it "live off the land" style, as was popular in D2. Limit the number of skills you use in a build, or refuse to rune your skills. Play without using amulets or rings... or the armor slot of your choice. Or no armor. Do any of the above in Hardcore. It's trivially easy to make the game as hard as you want right now. There's no good reason to make sure that other people who don't have your level of skill can't make progress. Their progress doesn't hurt you, after all. Quit trying to raise yourself up by pushing other people down.

[RoninChaos]

I rolled a pally on a different server with some friends. I literally went from 15-21 in an hour doing dungeons. Makes me not even want to quest.

And I wanted to see the changes to the low level since cata but I'm steam rolling so fast I'm wondering what the point is. Maybe I'll take it slow on my monk.

[scoobs]

I rolled a pally on a different server with some friends. I literally went from 15-21 in an hour doing dungeons. Makes me not even want to quest. And I wanted to see the changes to the low level since cata but I'm steam rolling so fast I'm wondering what the point is. Maybe I'll take it slow on my monk.

the point is to enjoy the quest lines. They are actually quite good, the stories for each zone have satisfying endings and usually involve important heroes in the WoWverse. Also, you get pretty good gear.. idk, dungeons are prob faster

[CarbonatedFalcon]

See the thing is - handicapping yourself on purpose is pointless if there aren't any rewards and there's no other reason to (playing with weaker players). Especially in number-centric games that have a big focus on min-maxing like WoW and D3. When there's achievements for it, sure (like the new Cutting Edge feats, and things we've had in the past like Herald of the Titans). No such thing exists in D3, so it's more of a problem there.

The game itself should be challenge enough, or at least provide the opportunity to have a record of instances where you may want to make it harder than normal. It's not just going to happen on its own. People want to get stronger and face tougher content, not be weaker to face the same level of difficulty in order to make it harder.

[Cipherr]

See the thing is - handicapping yourself on purpose is pointless if there aren't any rewards and there's no other reason to (playing with weaker players). Especially in number-centric games that have a big focus on min-maxing like WoW and D3. When there's achievements for it, sure (like the new Cutting Edge feats, and things we've had in the past like Herald of the Titans). No such thing exists in D3, so it's more of a problem there. The game itself should be challenge enough, or at least provide the opportunity to have a record of instances where you may want to make it harder than normal. It's not just going to happen on its own. People want to get stronger and face tougher content, not be weaker to face the same level of difficulty in order to make it harder.

There is plenty of challenge in this game. All you need to do is go play the hard mode if you actually want a challenge. However most of the people claiming that this game is too easy have not even cleared the hard modes.

[Draxal]

There is plenty of challenge in this game. All you need to do is go play the hard mode if you actually want a challenge. However most of the people claiming that this game is too easy have not even cleared the hard modes.

See totalbiscuit.

[Berordn]

But. But. Transmog.

Don't get me wrong, I love Transmog and I love having the incentive to do runs through older raids again, but it's no replacement for a good final raid tier.

[eudaemonic]

Did they change something?

I have the launcher up and it says "World of Warcraft is up to date. Downloading data for next update." but it does not have a progress bar nor does it show up in my tray that it's downloading anything.

I wanna see my progress, dammit!

[HarryDemeanor]

Did they change something? I have the launcher up and it says "World of Warcraft is up to date. Downloading data for next update." but it does not have a progress bar nor does it show up in my tray that it's downloading anything. I wanna see my progress, dammit!

You should have a Blizzard Downloader program running in the background for 5.0. Maybe you have background downloading turned off in your launcher settings?

[eudaemonic]

You should have a Blizzard Downloader program running in the background for 5.0. Maybe you have background downloading turned off in your launcher settings?

I clicked everything off and then closed the launcher and turned everything back on and it seems like that worked for the background loader progress bar. Apparently it has been downloading regardless because I was already at 20.6 of 21 gigs when I did this - it just wasn't showing up. Odd...

[Rösti]

I clicked everything off and then closed the launcher and turned everything back on and it seems like that worked for the background loader progress bar. Apparently it has been downloading regardless because I was already at 20.6 of 21 gigs when I did this - it just wasn't showing up. Odd...

To make sure everything is correct, launch BackgroundDownloader.exe (by default in\Program Files\World of Warcraft).



I don't know why the program claims the download will take seven hours, it usually takes twenty minutes for me.

[Magnus]

So it actually was 21gb? Damn.

Was anyone else having a problem where two instances of the Launcher were...launching, when you started WoW up?

[TheYanger]

There is plenty of challenge in this game. All you need to do is go play the hard mode if you actually want a challenge. However most of the people claiming that this game is too easy have not even cleared the hard modes.

Except the whole reason this debate comes up is because even the hard modes are subject to ridiculously deflating blanket nerfs for the sake of EVERYONE seeing them. I doubt most people who call the game too easy haven't gotten to experience it (since at this point nearly everyone who wants to has done so with that kind of completion rate). If it worked as you noted (the logical way) there wouldn't be issues.

[strafer]

I wish Enslave Demon would last longer.