Welcome to the first ever Warcraft Weekly here at Sarcastic Gamer. Every Monday, there will be a new edition highlighting a certain aspect of World of Warcraft, whether it be an in-depth look at a certain class, or showcasing one of the many awesome add-ons you can find out there. Sometimes I’ll focus on some interesting news circulating around my favorite MMO, but most of the time it will simply be an editorial, guide, or any other tidbit I can think of.
So for all of you WoW fans out there, whether you play regularly, or have been considering getting back into the game, this weekly editorial is for you. This week? I think I’m just going to focus on some of the major changes in the recent patch 3.0.2, or “Echoes of Doom.” If there’s ever been a time for old players to come back to Azeroth, this is it. Find out what’s been changed after the jump.
Man, there’s so much new stuff that’s been added to the game, that I’m not sure where to start. I suppose the most major change that affects players off all classes would be the new talents, including the 51-point talents. Every class has gained a good number of new talents in anticipation for the level cap raise in Wrath of the Lich King, and many of the older talents have been reworked, removed, or replaced. That means, of course, that each player has been given a complete talent point refund. So if you’re just hopping back into the game after a while, or are just curious, I suggest checking out Blizzard’s talent calculators to plan out your new spec.
The next major feature takes a page from the Xbox 360’s book, and that is the new Achievement system. Veteran 360 players will know that achievements can not only be an addictive addition to your game, but they can lead you to do things you normally wouldn’t think about. Adding this system to an MMO, where you already have nearly infinite choices, is simply a brilliant move. Also the fact that these achievements give you certain titles or vanity pets is also an extremely smart move, since you’re not always working towards nerd points.
I know that Lord of the Rings: Online had a similar system, and I actually wish that WoW copied a good bit of it. The main thing I like from LotRo’s is that the mundane achievements (Kill 100 Goblins) actually gave you a way to add more power or functionality to your spells. Warcraft could have easily followed this example, since even a lower level player can grind an arbitrary number of mobs, so it wouldn’t necessarily overpower someone with a high level or twinked out character. Plus, following LotRo’s model, you could only use so many of the benefits you gain, so those who have the time to get every achievement wouldn’t gain an advantage there.
Just my two cents, either way the achievement system is awesome. I’ve got info on the new Mount storage and the new profession on page 2.
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The changes have been numerous, but my favorite has to be mana generation. I’m a Paladin, and pre-3.0.2, that meant that I was out of mana 5-7 minutes into a fight. Now I’d be hard pressed to OOM in a single combat encounter.
Also, as a Paladin, I feel I need to mention a few things about Inscription. The minor glyphs available aren’t all just fluff and vanity. A lot of them make certain spells reagentless. I’ve got Glyph of Blessing of Might, which makes my BoM last as long as Greater Blessing of Might when I self-cast (30min, as opposed to 10min). The major glyphs are nice, but there’s plenty of minors worth picking up as well. Just, y’know, wait till the economy levels out first.
Great read Thanks animathias
@Codespace: I agree completely. For the Hunter, even though Aspect of the Viper has become nearly useless for out-of-combat mana regen, I’m still able regenerate manan extremely quickly. Add on my Rapid Reprocution, which gives me mana each time I enter Rapid Killing, and it just gets better. I’ve only gone OOM in intense battleground fights.
Also, I agree with the Minor Glyphs, my Mend Pet now gives my pet happiness, so I save on alot of food. There are some out there for vanity, but there are also plenty of useful ones, no matter how small the effect is.
@Victor – Thank you.
I would be all over WoW if I didnt hate the fact that it is subscription based…in fact…SC2…may baby…I might have to ditch it because of that.
For now…I’ll stick to Guild Wars…that is IMO…a good alternative…not equal…but enjoyable….
Anyone else in NightFall?
Weekly? really? I had to actually check if it was friday or not. I mean cmon are you serious?
@Kiljoy: I could do a daily one if you’d like. There’s enough content in WoW that I could write a daily article for a year and still have new stuff to talk about.
Good stuff Animathias. I don’t play that much anymore, and don’t visit the site much. So this will keep me up with the lastest.
I am not arguing whether their is enough content, i’m arguing the relevence of it. Your starting a weekly installment for a four year old game. Now I know people still play it, a lot of people, but those people already know about a lot of the stuff your talking about. Now I can understand a special set of segments for wrath of the lych king, but that’s becuase it’s an entirely new addition.
I see your point, Kiljoy, but a majority of people I talk with on this site and ingame have never even been to wowinsider.com, which is the main inspiration for this segment.
I have been playing WoW since day 1, and I found their website about a year or so ago, and I’ve learned many, many things from it. So there is plenty of things for veteran WoW players to learn, and many discussions to be had.
Not to mention that this was extremely fun and easy to write, and the more fun I have writing something, the more people enjoy reading it. I want to try and get older players interested in WoW again, I want to try to grow the SG guild, and I want to entice those who haven’t played to give it a shot.
Are they going to update the graphics for the game anytime?
Well if people like it then by all means keep going, that’s the point of it anyway. It just seemed a little late to the party when I saw it.
NoneOfYourBusiness wrote: “Are they going to update the graphics for the game anytime?”
Yes! 3.0.2 introduced new dynamic shadows to the game, which really make a difference in the way the game looks. Wrath of the Lich King is also going to introduce some new, higher detail landscapes and npcs.
Of course, that’s not the graphical upgrade you’re looking for. A person at Blizzard stated that they don’t want to release an entire graphics update at once, which is understandable. Instead, they’re going to be tweaking and adding new graphics options with patches after WotLK hits. The new shadows were the first of many.
By the time the next expansion comes out, the game should no longer look dated, and should be closer to current MMOs on the market.
Great stuff Ani. Anyone who used to play WoW but quit. Give WotLK a shot. They added a ton of new stuff which will help those of you who didnt have time to raid or were too under geared to compete in pvp.
@ Killjoy: Yes this is relevant. WotLK will sell more copies day 1 then any console game. There are near 11 million players in WoW. More people are joining every day.
@Noneofyourbuss: “I would be all over WoW if I didnt hate the fact that it is subscription based” It works out to be 50 cents a day to play. I spend 15$ a month playing WoW. With putting in easy 30+ hours worth of game time a week. If its raiding, pvping, farming, or just hanging out chatting. thats ~120 hours (prob more O.o) over 1 month..for 15$. But hey I can go drop 60$ on _____ Console game for a solid 12 hours of gameplay! Wow is the reason why I buy very few console titles unless they have long term replayability. Example, Uncharted was a awesome game. But I beat it in 2 sittings. Luckily I got it off Gamefly or else I would have been pissed I dropped 60$ on it.
I said it made sense to have a special time for wrath of the lich king, I just didn’t think it was relevant to do it weekly.
Nice; keep it up Ani!
Nice! Keep it up Ani