Today Blizzard launched a new service for World of Warcraft players that them to pay for a faction change. For $30.00 gamers can make their Horde character jump ship and join the Alliance or vice versa.
According to the FAQ, “Each Faction Change costs $30.00 USD (not including applicable taxes). This covers a single Faction Change for a single character.”
In order to change factions, gamers need to go to their Account Management page and click the “Change Faction” button. From here, you’ll be given a choice of which race you want your character to be from those available to their class and faction. If you are looking to just change your race, you’ll have to wait a bit longer. Blizzard notes in the FAQ, “We will be releasing a Race Change service in the near future for this purpose.”
Read: World of Warcraft Launches Paid Faction Changes.
UPDATE: The trailer has been added after the jump.
Today, during BlizzCon’s opening ceremony, Blizzard announced a new World of Warcraft expansion called “Cataclysm.”
According to the trailer, “As the terrible war against the Lich King continues, the proud defenders of Azeroth fight to secure a lasting peace. But there can be no peace when the world itself is devoured by rage.”
While not much is known, we do know that Goblins will be a new race for the Horde, and that the Alliance are getting the werewolf like Worgen. Blizzard also promised there would be new race and class combinations, as well as heroic versions of older dungeons.
As of right now, the trailer isn’t available online, but as soon as it is you can be sure I’ll post is here on The Wire. Read more »
Today Blizzard revealed some details about their upcoming unannounced MMO.
According to Blizzard community manager Zarhym (his name on the World of Warcraft forums), “We’ve already stated it’ll be a brand new franchise, which means the lore, art, and game play are being developed entirely from scratch.” He went on to state that the new MMO is just a, “shell of a game thus far.”
Blizzard has stated in the past that it is developing the title with the World of Warcraft engine for testing purposes.
It seems like Blizzard is feeling pretty confident about the new title. Zarhym said, “It’s an overwhelming process, but a process through which we excel. Our track record supports this.”
Read: Blizzard Confirms New MMO Based on Fresh IP.
Today Blizzard revealed this year’s exclusive BlizzCon World of Warcraft item.
Those who attend BlizzCon, or watch it on pay per view, will receive Grunty the Murloc Marine.
According to Blizzard, “This tiny terror is fully armored and comes equipped with a gauss rifle, which he’ll occasionally fire into the air to make sure no invisible spacecraft are swooping in to attack.”
In order to get Grunty, Blizzard fans need to go here on May 16. Tickets to BlizzCon are $125 a piece. If that’s too pricey, the pay per view is only $40.
Read: BlizzCon 09 Attendees Get WoW Space Marine Pet.
Today Blizzard announced that BlizzCon 2009 tickets will go on sale May 16.
As usual, the event will take place at the Anaheim Convention Center on August 21-22. In order to get in, you are going to have to drop $125 per ticket.
If you aren’t lucky enough to get a ticket on May 16, don’t get too upset. Blizzard has stated that there will be another block of tickets release on May 30.
If you are like me, and have absolutely no way to get out to Anaheim for BlizzCon, you might want to consider watching the event on TV. DirectTV customers will be able to watch the whole event from their couches for only $40. If you don’t have DirectTV, there are also Pay Per View Internet streams, which will also cost you $40. If you pay to watch, either via DirectTV or an online steam, Blizzard will send you this year’s BlizzCon-exclusive WoW item.
Read: BlizzCon Tickets on Sale May 16, Event to Be Streamed Online for First Time.
Today PopCap released a free version of its casual pachinko-esque puzzler Peggle as a free add-on to World of Warcraft. Now whenever you have to wait, you can kill time by shooting pegs.
This version of Peggle features WoW themed levels, a “talent tree” to spec you Peggle skills, and a new “/peggleloot” command, which allows players to divvy up loot based on a Peggle shot. Whoever get the highest score with one shot gets the loot.
In order to snag the Peggle add-on, click here.
Read: Peggle Hits World of Warcraft with Peggle-based Loot Rolling, Custom Talent Tree.
After months of teasing and waiting for new gear, World of Warcraft poopsockers players are able to head into Ulduar to conquer new content.
Here’s a small trailer showing what awaits:
In addition to Ulduar, the patch brings a huge number of changes to the game, from fundamental ones such as allowing ground mounts to swim (yes!) to balance tweaks for each class. Given the amount of time this has been in testing, I can only hope that class balance has improved since the last time I played the game.
The full patch notes can be found over at Blizzard’s patch notes page.
MMO-Champion has the rundown on all the changes, including gear, mounts, pets, dungeon maps, recipes, and anything else you could possibly need.
As I’m sure all of you know, it’s April Fools Day and there is a long standing tradition in the games industry when it comes to April 1st. Every year companies send out fake press releases: some are pretty funny, others not so much.
Every April Fools Day Blizzard Entertainment knocks it out of the park. They go far beyond the normal joke press release. This year they have sent out several videos and screen shots showcasing some “new” features in their games. For example, Blizzard announced today that they will be adding a “Pimp My Mount” feature to World of Warcraft. Blizzard’s website advertises, “Tired of your mount looking like every other raptor, wolf, horse, kodo, or nightsaber out there? Then Z to the A to the zzber (whew, that’s a mouthful!) will be glad to welcome you to his shop where you can epic-ize your mount with some phat total pimpage!”
Also added into the World of Warcraft is a new PVP Dance Battle System. According to Blizzard, “As with the Arena system, close communication and teamwork is crucial–you’ll have to be in sync, both with the music as well as with the other members of your crew, to become the ’server’ and not the ’servee.’” Blizzard even released a special promotion video which can be found here.
Blizzard isn’t one to ignore its other franchises. They announced today that there is a new player-class in Diablo III, The Archivist. Wielding magic spells like Lorenado, Quest Bolt and Shush. To see the Archivist in action, click here.
Lastly, Starcraft 2 got a little April Fools attention when Blizzard announced the newst weapon in the Terran arsenal, the Terra-tron. When you are hopelessly out numbered and the situation is looking grim, you can make a last ditch effort by assembling all your base structures into a giant walking robot. To check out videos of this kooky colossus, click here.
Blizzard has previewed the latest World of Warcraft raid content, Ulduar, which will see players fight 14 bosses in various types of encounters.
To gain entry to Ulduar, players have to mount vehicles and charge across a battlefield against the Iron Army, as well as defeat a massive siege engine called the Flame Leviathan.
That’s just the tip of the iceberg; 11 of the 14 bosses will have a hard mode that will give better loot, and many of the bosses appear to be corrupted Watchers of Northrend. Confirmed bosses include:
- Freya
- Thorim
- Hodir
- The Iron Council
The Old God Yogg-Saron has taken control of the Watchers and serves as the final boss of the raid.
Source: Ulduar PTR Testing Information
Hot.
Recently, the powers that be at Blizzard made some changes to the way Arena Ratings work. In essence, this is the next step in their quest to stop the rampant point selling or team boosting that has been happening since the early days of The Burning Crusade.
In all honesty, I don’t even see what the point is. If there is one thing World of Warcraft has been good for in recent times it’s handing players gear. Just look at how fast all the casually tuned content was cleared in Wrath of the Lich King.
Keep in mind that I quit WoW quite some time ago, but I keep my ear to the streets and there is one thing I am sure of: This game has become way easy. In a game that seems to hand you every piece of equipment on a silver platter these days, why do they even care about Arena points anymore?
The new change basically adds a super secret double probation rating to your World of Warcraft toon. So now you have your original team rating, your personal team rating (what you’ve contributed to that team), and your big-brother-is-watching-secret-personal-rating that follows you from server to server. Read more »
Blizzard poster Nethaera intereviewed…Blizzard poster Ghostcrawler today on the upcoming dual spec feature in World of Warcraft, which will allow players to switch talents and roles in game far more easily than before.
Ghostcrawler answered perhaps the most important question on gamers’ minds here:
Nethaera: How do you switch between specs?
Ghostcrawler: Players will be able to switch between their talent specs by visiting any Lexicon of Power provided they’ve paid for the ability to have a secondary spec. Lexicons of Power will be available in major cities, and inscribers will also be able to create a new item that summons one. Anyone can purchase this item, but it requires a ritual of several players to summon it for use by the party. It’s similar to a repair bot in that it will exist in the world for a short duration. It’s important to keep in mind that you will not be able to switch specs while in combat or Arenas. While you won’t be able to switch your spec without the Lexicon, you will still be able to look at your secondary spec whenever you want to.
Ultimately it will be more convenient to switch specs, but probably not as convenient as some players would like (at will when entering a dungeon or arena). Any portable item created by inscribers is going to cost someone money, too. GC also let loose this info about gear management, potentially obsoleting several gear management addons for the game:
Nethaera: Will you be able to switch gear easily to match your spec?
Ghostcrawler: At the same time we implement dual specs, we will also be setting up a gear system. The feature is called “Gear Manager.” It can also be used to just swap weapons or trinkets or put on that tuxedo to strut around town. It will not automatically switch your gear when you change your talent spec, but it will allow for an easy gear change between them. The feature may not be fully functional immediately in the PTR, but we’ll have more information to share about it before too much longer.
The full blue post can be read at MMO Champion.
The Paladin Tier 2 set.
Blizzard’s blue posters are at it again, and today they’ve let loose the details on the next season of arena gear for World of Warcraft.
We’re headed toward the sixth season of play, and rating requirements for the new Furious Gladiator gear are being dropped compared to S5’s Deadly. Deadly items will have their rating requirements lowered. But there’s a catch, too: You won’t be starting at 1500 rating in Season 6; you’ll be lower than that.
Here’s the list from Blizzard’s Kalgan:
| No rating requirement |
Medium requirement |
High requirement |
Hateful Gloves
Hateful Legs
Hateful Chest
Hateful Helm
Hateful Shoulders
Hateful Ring
Hateful Trinket |
Deadly Bracer
Deadly Belt
Deadly Boots
Deadly Neck
Deadly Ring
Deadly Cape
Deadly Trinket |
1300+: Deadly Relics/Idols/Librams/Totems
1350+: Deadly Gloves
1400+: Deadly Legs
1450+: Deadly Chest
1500+: Deadly Helm
1550+: Deadly Shoulders
1400+: Furious Bracer (honor)
1450+: Furious Belt (honor)
1500+: Furious Boots (honor)
1550+: Furious Neck (honor) |
1600+: Furious Gloves
1650+: Furious Ring (honor)
1700+: Furious Legs
1750+: Furious Chest
1800+: Furious Trinket (honor)
1850+: Furious Helm
1900+: Furious Cape (honor)
1950+: Furious Wands/Relics/etc
2000+: Furious Weapon
2100+: Furious Shoulders
2300+: Furious Tabard (cosmetic, no stats) |
No update on when Season 6 will start yet. The best guess is “when it’s ready.”
