Class balance in a post-WotLK World of Warcraft
Filed under: World of Warcraft, Classes, News items
Class balance is always a touchy subject, depending on the class a person plays. But WoWRIOT has put together an impressive look a class balance in a post-WotLK World of Warcraft. After looking through much of the post, we’re pretty impressed with its accuracy and overall take on current class balance, especially as it pertains to arena and PvP.
Normally, those who actually play the game are much more interested in these kinds of balance overviews. However, the article contains an extensive look at Death Knights and everything about where their place in the game is right now. So for anybody who’s been curious as to what’s going on with the first new class in World of Warcraft, we’d say the article is definitely worth a look. For everyone who does play the game, it’s probably a good idea to at least check out your class (or classes) if only to see why you should or shouldn’t be upset with Blizzard.
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One of Azeroth’s millions of citizens? Check out our ongoing coverage of the World of Warcraft, and be sure to touch base with our sister site WoW Insider for all your Lich King needs! |
Class balance in a post-WotLK World of Warcraft originally appeared on Massively on Tue, 06 Jan 2009 16:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Behind the Curtain: Take a look back
Filed under: World of Warcraft, Fantasy, Sci-fi, Fury, Culture, Events, in-game, Expansions, Game mechanics, Launches, MMO industry, New titles, Warhammer Online, Opinion, Tabula Rasa, Behind the Curtain
Brace yourself for the obligatory ‘New Year’ post. I’d resolve to lose weight, tone up and be kinder to my fellow man, but I’d be lying. Not because I’m weak and won’t follow through on them, but because I don’t need to. I’m practically perfect in every way.
Except not really. I’m lying. I also hate Mary Poppins with a cold, implacable hatred. But that’s neither here nor there.
It’s been a year of ups and downs in the MMO world. We’ve seen World of Warcraft go from strength to strength with an expansion pack which knocked the socks off of Burning Crusade. Say what you will about Blizzard, but it’s always good to see a company that’s willing and able to learn not only from its past mistakes, but its past successes. We’ve seen the long-awaitied launch of Warhammer Online, but we’ve also seen some downers, with Tabula Rasa going down the tubes, and Fury falling over. Although, not as many people were upset about Fury, given that it was terrible from start to finish.
Continue reading Behind the Curtain: Take a look back
Behind the Curtain: Take a look back originally appeared on Massively on Sat, 03 Jan 2009 11:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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World of Warcraft tops most played list of 2008
Filed under: World of Warcraft, Fantasy, Runescape, Academic
Nielsen Research has published its January through October numbers about the top 10 PC games and top 10 consoles by amount of time played. Once again World of Warcraft tops the charts. In fact, WoW has more time played than the other nine titles listed - combined.
Coming in at position 6 is Runescape, the browser-based game that could. It had just slightly less share than The Sims 2. Numbers for only October are available on the Nielsen website and show a different makeup for numbers 2-10, with WoW still in first. We can only imagine what this data will look like for November 2008 with the added game time of those who bought Wrath of the Lich King.
World of Warcraft tops most played list of 2008 originally appeared on Massively on Fri, 02 Jan 2009 13:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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World of Warcraft claims 11.5 million souls of the faithful
Filed under: World of Warcraft, Fantasy, Business models, Expansions, MMO industry, Humor
The Blizzard Overlord sits upon his World of Warcraft throne, in the grand chamber atop his black tower, the tallest and most ominous structure in all the land. He closes his eyes, projecting his senses outwards, as his gaze sweeps over the conquered MMO world. All he can see before him — stretching past the horizon — is his. But still, he feels his influence expanding beyond those present borders, claiming yet more of the territory of his rivals, as his senses return to his surroundings. He reaches out into the air before him, envisioning the entire MMO world within his grasp, held delicately in the palm of his hand. He envisions its millions of quests, scores of guilds, and oceans of gold. The Overlord makes a fist, savoring the thought of absolute control. Yes, there’s been a shift in power, and the arrival of his minion by his side confirms it.
Blizzard Overlord: My power grows… I can feel it! It surges through me! *smashes table needlessly* Minion! What has changed?
Minion: Sir, millions more have come into our grasp through the Wrath of the Lich King expansion. World of Warcraft reigns supreme, my lord.
Blizzard Overlord: How many? How many more souls have I claimed?
Minion: Gamesindustry.biz reports that 11.5 million subscribers have been claimed by World of Warcraft, boosted by over 4 million copies of Wrath of the Lich King sold to date.
Blizzard Overlord: 2.8 million copies of Wrath sold in one day. ONE DAY! And now this. I am unassailable… the world is truly mine.
Minion: It is indeed, my lord. The World of Warcraft Battle Chests continue to sell as well, as confirmed by GameStop. Our sales exceed even last year’s performance.
The Blizzard Overlord laughs maniacally, heady with the newfound power flowing into him. Waves of energy ripple outwards, felt throughout the MMO world, as the Blizzard Overlord continues his ascension to godhood.
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One of Azeroth’s millions of citizens? Check out our ongoing coverage of the World of Warcraft, and be sure to touch base with our sister site WoW Insider for all your Lich King needs! |
World of Warcraft claims 11.5 million souls of the faithful originally appeared on Massively on Tue, 23 Dec 2008 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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The Digital Continuum: Looking back while moving foward
Filed under: MMO industry, New titles, Opinion, The Digital Continuum
This last year has seen a lot of things happen in our beloved MMO-world. Things like the launch of Pirates of the Burning Sea and Age of Conan delays seem long lost in the fog of summer and winter. It was all buried underneath the revelations of DC Universe Online and Star Wars: The Old Republic. And the noise created by the build up to Warhammer Online’s launch seemed squelched by the silent wall that was the Wrath of the Lich King launch. It was all a gust of insanity that blew through our brains, creating ebbs and tides in our attention and interest faster than any of us probably thought…
Continue reading The Digital Continuum: Looking back while moving foward
The Digital Continuum: Looking back while moving foward originally appeared on Massively on Sat, 20 Dec 2008 17:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Wrath of the Lich King ranks in Edge’s top games for 2008
Filed under: World of Warcraft, Fantasy, News items
It’s been a good year for the second expansion to World of Warcraft, but things just got even better. Edge Magazine has tossed up it’s top 30 of 2008 and Wrath of the Lick King placed at number sixteen. The expansion is the only MMO on the list, which is saying a lot in a year when Warhammer Online and Mines of Moria came out, impressing many players.
The placement is attributed to Blizzard’s re-imagining of what’s possible in Azeroth through new quests and zones, as well as the addition of the Death Knight class. We’ve got to agree with them there, which is why Massively awarded Wrath with the best expansion of 2008.
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One of Azeroth’s millions of citizens? Check out our ongoing coverage of the World of Warcraft, and be sure to touch base with our sister site WoW Insider for all your Lich King needs! |
Wrath of the Lich King ranks in Edge’s top games for 2008 originally appeared on Massively on Wed, 17 Dec 2008 11:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Massively’s best of - Favorite expansion of 2008
Filed under: World of Warcraft, Lord of the Rings Online
Winner: Wrath of the Lich King for World of Warcraft (writeup by Kyle Horner)
When Blizzard released their first expansion to World of Warcraft, they made some improvements while at the same time making plenty of new mistakes. With Wrath of the Lich King, Blizzard has leapt beyond the original game’s vision to introduce substantial new improvements to the title.
So many quests in the new expansion involve both epic lore and quest mechanics that it’s easy to forgive the rehashing classic MMO gameplay. Be prepared to literally stand on the shoulders of giants while battling your foes in ways unseen in any MMO experience to date.
Zone design is part and parcel with enjoyable questing, which is why the Northrend quests are some of the most fun yet in the game. The pacing is much better this time around, and a lot of the new zones feel either fresh and new or evoke themes running through the entirety of the Warcraft saga. Dragonblight is in many was as much of a wasteland as Desolace or the Barrens - but Blizzard figured out how to make the whole area packed to the brim with interesting content and locales.
As the icing on the cake we now have Death Knights, a triumph of Blizzard’s improvements to the game since their first set of MMO classes. Not only does this first hero class feel entirely heroic, the starting zone and quests associated with the class recapture for some the emotion and wonder of playing World of Warcraft for the first time. Once you’d stepped into those dark shoes, it was impossible to stop until the ride was over and you were back in Outland.
Wrath is a cut above the rest this year. It’s a huge improvement over The Burning Crusade, and has done much to change player perceptions of what a WoW expansion could be. If you’ve been hoping for a WoW 2, the closest thing you’ll find to that for a long time is Wrath of the Lich King.%Gallery-36550%
Continue reading Massively’s best of - Favorite expansion of 2008
Massively’s best of - Favorite expansion of 2008 originally appeared on Massively on Tue, 16 Dec 2008 14:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Massively’s best of - Favorite expansion of 2008
Filed under: World of Warcraft, Lord of the Rings Online
Winner: Wrath of the Lich King for World of Warcraft (writeup by Kyle Horner)
When Blizzard released their first expansion to World of Warcraft, they made some improvements while at the same time making plenty of new mistakes. With Wrath of the Lich King, Blizzard has leapt beyond the original game’s vision to introduce substantial new improvements to the title.
So many quests in the new expansion involve both epic lore and quest mechanics that it’s easy to forgive the rehashing classic MMO gameplay. Be prepared to literally stand on the shoulders of giants while battling your foes in ways unseen in any MMO experience to date.
Zone design is part and parcel with enjoyable questing, which is why the Northrend quests are some of the most fun yet in the game. The pacing is much better this time around, and a lot of the new zones feel either fresh and new or evoke themes running through the entirety of the Warcraft saga. Dragonblight is in many was as much of a wasteland as Desolace or the Barrens - but Blizzard figured out how to make the whole area packed to the brim with interesting content and locales.
As the icing on the cake we now have Death Knights, a triumph of Blizzard’s improvements to the game since their first set of MMO classes. Not only does this first hero class feel entirely heroic, the starting zone and quests associated with the class recapture for some the emotion and wonder of playing World of Warcraft for the first time. Once you’d stepped into those dark shoes, it was impossible to stop until the ride was over and you were back in Outland.
Wrath is a cut above the rest this year. It’s a huge improvement over The Burning Crusade, and has done much to change player perceptions of what a WoW expansion could be. If you’ve been hoping for a WoW 2, the closest thing you’ll find to that for a long time is Wrath of the Lich King.%Gallery-36550%
Continue reading Massively’s best of - Favorite expansion of 2008
Massively’s best of - Favorite expansion of 2008 originally appeared on Massively on Tue, 16 Dec 2008 14:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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One Shots: Magic Carpet ride
Filed under: World of Warcraft, Fantasy, Screenshots, One Shots
Today’s One Shots shows off an area of Northrend that’s been causing a lot of interest from World of Warcraft players. It’s an area called The Engine of the Makers, which Vasius from the Darrowmere server took this really cool screenshot of. Vasius writes in: [This is] me on my flying carpet in the zone of Storm Peaks in Northrend. The Engine of the Makers is actually labeled on the map in game. You can fly inside it - there are mobs in there - but I have yet to get any quests to go there. Maybe its for Alliance quests only or something. There is indeed a quest to go there for Alliance, and a pretty awesome mount attainable for all factions nearby. However, I’m not going to spoil it for those who haven’t been to this picturesque locale as yet.
Find an interesting spot in your favorite game recently? If so, we’d love to see screenshots of it. Just send those to us here at oneshots AT massively DOT com along with your name and the game it’s from. Descriptions are always welcomed, but not needed. We’ll post it here and give you the credit for it!
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One Shots: Magic Carpet ride originally appeared on Massively on Sat, 13 Dec 2008 14:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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The Digital Continuum: Microtransaction stigma
Filed under: World of Warcraft, MMO industry, Opinion, The Digital Continuum
There’s been a lot of news about microtransactions this week, and because of that I felt it was as good a time as any to discuss the topic. Are they good or bad, useful or useless and are they really the future of the MMO industry? The subject of business models is certainly a hot issue, with some players abhorring the idea of microtransactions while others refuse to pay a standard monthly subscription for any sort of game. All of this amounts to a good deal to discuss, so let’s get started.
Continue reading The Digital Continuum: Microtransaction stigma
The Digital Continuum: Microtransaction stigma originally appeared on Massively on Sat, 13 Dec 2008 14:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
