Personal computing discussed
(only one mage in the group has to have it). It is awesome on elite mobs. Another plus is Ice Barrier now on a 30 sec cooldown. Saves my butt quite often.
[/quote]Blizzard Entertainment has revealed a very significant development that will accompany its upcoming World of Warcraft expansion pack, The Burning Crusade. Blizzard has also outlined the reasoning for the changes, which are founded in the game's fantasy lore.
As announced previously, the expansion will add two new playable races, the Alliance's pale-skinned Draenai and the Horde's Blood Elves, who originally appeared in Warcraft III: The Frozen Throne. The additional lore that Blizzard has released explains key characters from each race's past have affected their societies--and these effects will translate into a considerable shift in gameplay.
Specifically, a key figure from the Draenei's past, the priest Nobundo, apparently drew inspiration from the vision of one of his race's noble leaders. According to the Warcraft universe's lore, the Draenei suffered attacks by the orcs. Some, like Nobundo, fled, and abandoned their priesthood to study the primal forces of nature in Outland, the new otherworldly realm that is part of the expansion pack.
Likewise, the cruel Blood Elves will find new opportunities, thanks to their forebears, including the fanatical Prince Kael'thas Sunstrider and the wizard Astalor Bloodsworn. These key figures used a captured Naaru, one of the ethereal beings that infused the Draenei with "the Light"--the Warcraft universe's version of priestly power that infuses priests and paladins--and conducted various magical experiments on it. As a result, the Blood Elves were able to manipulate the creature's essence so that the fanatical warriors of their own ranks, known as the Blood Knights, were able to wield the same sort of holy power.
So what does all this background mean in terms of gameplay? Simply put: In The Burning Crusade, Alliance players can play as Draenei shamans, while Horde players can play as Blood Elf paladins. Previously, players on either side weren't able to access those character classes: paladins were exclusive to the Alliance, while shamans were exclusive to the Horde. According to Blizzard, Horde paladins and Alliance shamans will have many of the same talents of their traditional counterparts, though they "will also enjoy some unique abilities to themselves, similar to the priest class' racial specialties." Since this new feature will fundamentally change the asymmetry between the game's two factions, it will presumably have a significant impact on the way the game is played, especially in competitive player-versus-player combat.
The Burning Crusade is the highly anticipated expansion pack for Blizzard Entertainment's critically acclaimed 2004 massively multiplayer role-playing game, World of Warcraft. Blizzard hasn't confirmed a final release date for the expansion, though representatives have suggested that the studio is aiming to release it this year. For more information, consult GameSpot's previous coverage.
In terms of game design, one of the options it opens up is for specific classes in dungeon encounters. We already have several encounters that highlight the abilities of a single class or make use of a classes specific abilities. Shaman and Paladins in the previous design could not participate in such encounters. If killing a creature required a Shaman, the Alliance could never beat the encounter and vice versa. This change allows the two classes to bring their own abilities into a situation which may highlight their class as an integral part of the encounter.
Hawkwing74 wrote:tanker27 wrote:
Bastards Blizz are bastards! Its what I always suspected.
Agreed. My guild is shaman-heavy, that will have to change by level 70. It will suck to kick out certain long time members. I could very well be one of them.
redeye wrote:Can anyone suggest a good frost mage build. I recently respecced from arcane to frost but I'm not entirely happy with the way some of my talent points are spent.
tanker27 wrote:Hawkwing74 wrote:tanker27 wrote:
Bastards Blizz are bastards! Its what I always suspected.
Agreed. My guild is shaman-heavy, that will have to change by level 70. It will suck to kick out certain long time members. I could very well be one of them.
That sucks. The only way to ensure its not you is be at every raid be the best at what ever you trak on the DMG/healing meter, respec if need be.
But I can't help but wonder why Blizz is doing this. Why not just fix the disaprity? I think they took the easy way out IMHO.
Hawkwing74 wrote:pete_roth wrote:Or play with a group of people who are not so demanding as to make the game a job, instead of a fun activity.
I can't advance any further with 5 man stuff until at least the expansion comes out.
PRIME1 wrote:You and Velvet Elvis could help me get my Epic Mount.
tanker27 wrote:But I can't help but wonder why Blizz is doing this. Why not just fix the disaprity? I think they took the easy way out IMHO.
Velvet Elvis wrote:I worry that Shaman players, deeply invested in their toons, will now be bumped from raid content. You've essentially getting 9 classes fighting for raid slots, where there used to be only 8. Bliz has shown that they basically have no interest in any endgame other than PvE raids, and Pallies are generally viewed as having a much better endgame raid support set of abilities.
random gerbil wrote:I think your worry is unfounded. Pally cant replace shaman, shaman cant replace pally. Yes there will be more classes, but the addition of pallies wont come at the exclusive expense of shaman...instead of loading up on extra druids/priests, add a couple of pallies. Or rather than bring 8-9 mages (as my guild seems to have every night) swap in a couple shamans/pallies for them. Yes shamans have to compete with another class, but so will everyone else.
redeye wrote:I just see the possibility of the combinations. Pally and shaman together would be uber powerful. Windfury totem + seal of command + judgement of wisdom + shocks. The shaman would never run out of mana and the paladins attack power would be phenominal.
I do think they need to do something for raiding for the shamans though. I single totem like buff that effects the entire raid.
Velvet Elvis wrote:Shaman players (esp the ones I've talked to) are very frustrated with their role in endgame. Pigeon-holing Shamans into a strict healing role takes a huge investment in talent points and a lot of fighting over healer gear to make up for the shortcomings of a shallow mana pool an inefficient spells. It's gotten so tedious that many Shaman players are re-rolling now.
Hawkwing74 wrote:Lol Vael and Razor are like the only fights where totems are actually required. And that one poison boss in AQ40. (Not in Naxx yet) And in Razor, they don't work on dragonkin or mages so it's not that much of an ezmode.
random gerbil wrote:Velvet Elvis wrote:I worry that Shaman players, deeply invested in their toons, will now be bumped from raid content. You've essentially getting 9 classes fighting for raid slots, where there used to be only 8. Bliz has shown that they basically have no interest in any endgame other than PvE raids, and Pallies are generally viewed as having a much better endgame raid support set of abilities.
I think your worry is unfounded. Pally cant replace shaman, shaman cant replace pally. Yes there will be more classes, but the addition of pallies wont come at the exclusive expense of shaman...instead of loading up on extra druids/priests, add a couple of pallies. Or rather than bring 8-9 mages (as my guild seems to have every night) swap in a couple shamans/pallies for them. Yes shamans have to compete with another class, but so will everyone else.
