The Hellgates Have Opened on Console, How Soon is Soon for the Itemization Patch, Best Class for Console
Hearthstone Facebook Sweepstakes Over, Blue Tweets
Patch 5.4 - Paragons of the Klaxxi Preview
Paragons of the Klaxxi is the thirteenth boss in the Siege of Orgrimmar. The encounter takes place under Ragefire Chasm in Orgrimmar. As promised, Kil'ruk and the other Paragons stand by Garrosh after he has the Heart of Y'Shaarj
Patch 5.4 Developer Interviews
Convert to Raid recently had the opportunity to interview Ion Hazzikostas. You can find information from previous interviews on our Patch 5.4 Developer Interviews page.
Siege of Orgrimmar begins in Pandaria so that you don't just end up going back to Orgrimmar in Patch 5.4, but instead experience a story that leads you there.
Gamon is one of the more notable things in Orgrimmar, so he got an achievement: Gamon Will Save Us!
Valor gear originally was added to complement normal difficulty raiding and filling in for bad luck. The Valor gear continued to work like that for normal difficulty raiders, but for players that just do LFR, it replaced the gear that dropped in LFR. Most of the gear that was best in slot for players that only do LFR was just purchased off a vendor, which isn't very exciting.
The devs try to attract players to higher levels of difficulty by adding new things, rather than taking away old things. The new things that are being added aren't essential. People that don't manage to kill Garrosh on Flex, Normal, or Heroic and don't get their heirloom weapon will still be able to level just fine.
Every spec in the game can get Gold in Proving Grounds for the appropriate role. Not every spec will be able to get deep into Endless. When comparing performance in Endless mode, it may be best to compare yourself to other players of the same class and spec rather than everyone.
There are some players that won't do Brawler's Guild because they don't want to have other players watching them make mistakes.
Blue Posts
Originally Posted by Blizzard Entertainment
Saylin Battle Banner Disabled in Raids
The Salyin Battle Banner can no longer be used inside of raid instances. The item can still be used in regular dungeons, Scenarios, and in non-instanced areas.
Wow, fast reply. Any reason for the change?
The change was made to address a raid exploit. (Blue Tracker / Official Forums)
Patch 5.4 - Shine Engineering Auction House
Just checked in on this. The removal of the Engineering Auction House NPC's is, in fact, unintentional, and was merely an oversight that occurred along with some of the other changes to the Vale for 5.4.
We're in the process of getting them re-enabled in the faction shrines on the PTR, and they will continue to be available once Patch 5.4 is released. (Blue Tracker / Official Forums)
Battlefield: Barrens Ending Soon
Quick note: Kor'kron supplies (lumber/stone/etc.) will turn gray when 5.4 hits (Sept. 10!) and be sellable. No need to destroy any extras (Blue Tracker / Official Forums)
Blue Tweets
Originally Posted by Blizzard Entertainment
New Character Models
I'm honestly a little miffed that models are ~25%. Kind of blew my mind in a bad way.
It is not necessarily the case that it will take 3x as long as the elapsed time to finish. Work, yes. Time, perhaps not. (Source)
Even still, it's a complicated task that needs to be done well or not at all, patience from the players is key
TOTALLY. May have tweeted this already, but this would be an easy thing to screw up and spend years trying to earn forgiveness. (Source)
I know new character models take a very long time and need to be perfect, but you talked about them 5 years ago. 25% done? wtf
I don't know when we first talked about them. We didn't start them until relatively recently. (Source)
There is a lesson here about not talking about things too early. (Source)
I think the assumption many made is we have been working on them nonstop and only 25% of the way there. (Source)
I just assumed since we didn't get them in MoP, they would be a major feat. of the next XPac. I think most ppl did
I would not make any assumptions about future expansions since we haven't made any announcements about them at all. (Source)
really? I cant remember the last time I actually saw my character model. Gear hides much and I'm zoomed way out
Keep in mind all the other PCs and NPCs (that use player races) would look better as well. (Source)
Are new character models not priority 1 right now?? /boggled If they are not.
They are *a* priority. I don't think players would be understanding if they saw no new art in the game just to get new models. (Source)
I thought these were expected feature for the next expansion? Guessing I assumed wrong.
You should have no expectations for the next expansion IMO since we haven't talked about a next expansion at all. (Source)
Stretching out new character updates over the next few years on into the next expansion? Art Dept take a budget cut?
We didn't think our players would accept tons of reused SoO boss models or armor sets. (Source)
We're making good progress, but at some point players started expecting it imminently. We wanted to remind them it's a long job. (Source)
Or another way to think of it: this is a really easy thing to screw up and you all deserve better than that. (Source)
PTR
Do you pay attention to PTR numbers dps wise?How much input?Good players showing true performance,not sims.
Yes, we look at PTR nos. a lot. It is a stronger argument when a player can link logs than to argue for buffs based on sims. (Source)
Lore
Made an acc to ask you this, WAS Garrosh behind Stonetalon's bombing? Kosak's answer was really up to interpretation. GJ btw
My assumption is he was, but that's my interpretation and not a canon answer. (Source)
Please stop being skeptical and at least *pause* for a moment to consider how important story is to your player base.
It is important to us as well. But WoW is primarily a game intended to offer fun gameplay. The gameplay for us is always first. (Source)
We care about story w/in that constraint, but story changes that require a lot of work w/out bringing gameplay tough to justify. (Source)
That is the context I am trying to provide to the "re-quest Ashenvale once again" crowd. (Source)
We spent A LOT of effort redoing Ashenvale and other zones for Cataclysm. In retrospect not sure bang for the buck was there. (Source)
Please don't interpret that as story not mattering to us. (Source)
So what was the reason for giving the horde Darkshore, South Shore and allowing them to nuke Theramore?
Those were all motivated by tryingnto provide an interesting leveling / scenario experience. (Source)
Many of these concerns seem motivated by issues like fairness or justice. We're just trying to make playing WoW interesting. (Source)
Pet Battles: The Celestial Tournament
Originally Posted by Blizzard
(Blue Tracker)
Not far off the southeastern shores of the Jade Forest lies the Timeless Isle, a mysterious place riddled with spirit creatures, challenging encounters, and even a fiery demigod. Explorers who reach its shores enter uncharted territory filled with trials that will test their skills, tenacity, cleverness . . . and Pet Battle prowess.
A Timeless Tournament
Among its many enigmas, the Timeless Isle plays host to a Celestial Tournament where veteran tamers can exercise their skills in an all-new Pet Battles Scenario. Led by Emperor Shaohao and featuring notable figures from Pandaren lore, this legendary event demands the utmost from those who participate—and requires a skilled and varied roster of level-25 pets if you have any hope to survive.
Speaking to Master Li will get you into the Celestial Tournament, where you’ll take on powerful Pet Battle pros like Chen Stormstout, Shademaster Kiryn, and even the imitable Blingtron 4000—and in the end, your skills will be pushed to the limit as you face off against the mighty Celestial Champions.
To the Victor Go the Spoils
Upon completing the quests and your first run through the Celestial Tournament, you’ll be rewarded with enough Celestial Coins to purchase your very own Celestial battle pet. Each additional weekly attempt will continue to reward one Celestial Coin, which can be saved up and used to purchase the other three pets that will be available through a nearby vendor (progress will be tracked at the account level). Caring for these pets is a sacred honor, so each is account-bound and cannot be traded to other players.
To ensure only the best come out victorious, healing and reviving pets during the Scenario is strictly forbidden—so it’s important to come prepared. To win, participants will need to defeat three random tamer teams, along with all four offspring of the August Celestials. Losing a battle from time to time will be inevitable, but that’s not the end of the line. Though your defeated pets will remain down, you’ll be able to restart the fight and adjust who’s on your team before giving it another try. You’ll also be able to switch up your team between battles. Should you happen to leave the Scenario before it’s completed, you’ll be able to return later to restart the event.
Once Patch 5.4 is live and the Timeless Isle is revealed, new pets, new abilities, and exciting new challenges will be waiting . . . so keep practicing, pet battlers. You’re about to be put to the test!
Fan Art
Today we have some nice fan art that was done for the WoW Fan Art Tribute book.