Heya guys!!  So I’ve got a strict policy of no “NDA content” on this site.  But a lot of people misunderstand me when I say that because technically it’s not breaking the NDA to post CATA content.

Technically it’s a breach of the ToU and skirts some really weird copyright laws.  So, in an effort to clarify the matter (and educate you guys so you know what I’m talking about) I wrote this post.

It’s not directed at any of my readers who have posted comments in breach of Blizzard policy.  This post is for *everyone*.

Some of the information in this post is stuff you seriously need to be aware of.  The legal matters involved will likely impact the future of MMO’s, and possible other games as well.

Recent Legal Issues

If you’ve never heard of Glider or MDY, and Blizzard’s suit against them, then you might want to do a few google searches.  Or check out the following links in this post.

The important thing to note is what the recent court findings were.  You don’t own WoW, you have a software license to use it.

Yeah I know, that’s stupid.  But the US court has ruled as such, and for now it stands.  I’m not clear on all of the legal gobbledeegook, but there is significant room for this to be gone over again in the appellate courts.

And that leads into a whole mess of copyright laws, intellectual property, etc…

Weighing in personally, I think it’s a load of crap.  If I buy it, I should own it.  End of story.

That said, I think Blizzard’s stance on this subject is actually a reflection of the flaws in our legal system.  While I do not know the ins and outs of the situation fully, I get the impression that they took the legal stance of it being a software license due to a lack of options to protect themselves.

What do I mean?  I mean that through the angle of the software license they can actually fight companies trying to make a buck off of them and those who would exploit the game.  And without this angle, they would more likely lose cases in court.

I do not think it’s Blizzard’s intention to screw over their players or to tell them, “No, it’s *our* game, not yours.”  I think it’s just the most solid approach to protect themselves.

So before you get up in arms, think of it like this.  Do you want hackers and botters and gold sellers suddenly rising in population more than they are already present?  Or do you want Blizzard to have the legal clout to act against people like this?

Interesting Articles

Here are three links to related articles that are pretty interesting (I thought).  YMMV, but if this subject matter is of interest to you then you should check this out.

World of Lawcraft: Breach of EULA is infringement

• Talks a lot about the breach of EULA in regards to ToU and copyright infringement.

You Bought It, But You Don’t Own It

• Goes into detail regarding the software license and court findings.

The Strange Copyright World of Warcraft

• A bit harder to read (little dry) but has come good copyright info and direct info regarding the Warden program.

What is the NDA?

A non-disclosure agreement (NDA), also known as a confidentiality agreement, confidential disclosure agreement (CDA), proprietary information agreement (PIA), or secrecy agreement, is a legal contract between at least two parties that outlines confidential material, knowledge, or information that the parties wish to share with one another for certain purposes, but wish to restrict access to by third parties. It is a contract through which the parties agree not to disclose information covered by the agreement. An NDA creates a confidential relationship between the parties to protect any type of confidential and proprietary information or trade secrets. As such, an NDA protects non-public business information.

That is not the Blizzard NDA, but a general definition from wiki something that is sufficient to give you an idea of what it is.  What is the NDA for Cataclysm?  Can’t tell you, that’s the rub.

Long story short, this is an agreement between Blizzard and the person playing in CATA Alpha/Beta preventing them from talking about CATA.  So if someone in the Alpha/Beta releases information about WoW then they break the law.

So to sum up, listing CATA information when you never agreed to the NDA is not a NDA breach.  So then why do I refer to CATA posted information as “NDA blah blah blah”?

Because it’s just easier to refer to it as “NDA content” than to get into a discussion about EULA, ToU, NDA, etc…

So for future reference “NDA content” references could mean more than what they appear to mean if *I* say it.

What is the EULA?

It stands for End User License Agreement.  So you know, *this* is why you don’t technically own WoW, and why Blizzard does, even though you paid for the game.

I’m not going to list the entire thing here, but you can view it on their wesbsite:  WoW EULA

I’ve often found their WoW website to be very slow at updating information.  Reading the EULA when you load up WoW would be preferable.

The ToU recently changed and is listed properly on the Battle Net site, but the ToU on the WoW site is not (it’s outdated).  Due to that I tried to find an updated EULA as well, but could only find the one on the WoW site.

You should really note the 3rd rule in the EULA.  It specifies that you *must* agree to the ToU or you cannot even create an account.

So because you agreed to the EULA when you started playing WoW, or downloaded a patch, you agreed to the ToU.

You know, that aggravating box you have to scroll to the bottom to hit “Accept” just so you can play…  *smirk*  Yeah, that thing.  The one you never read. 

What is the ToU

It stands for Terms of Use.  By accepting the EULA and creating an account, you agree to the ToU.

The Terms of Use can be found on the World of Warcraft site, but it is outdated.  Battle Net has the new ToU listed.  And it has changed.

So if you actually read it before (yeah right…), you may need to read it again (like you’re really gonna read it…).

Blizzard’s Terms of Use

So this is where we finally get down to data mining CATA information from WoW and listing it on websites.  The most applicable rule is the following (read not the only rule):

Rule 12 C.  No Data Mining

You agree that you will not (a) obtain or attempt to obtain any information from the Service or any Game using any method not expressly permitted by Blizzard; (b) intercept, examine or otherwise observe any proprietary communications protocol used by a client or the Service, whether through the use of a network analyzer, packet sniffer or other device; (c) use any third-party software to collect information from or through a Game client or the Service, including without limitation information about your character, any Account registered to you, virtual items, other players, or other Game data.

And that is only the most pertinent rule.  There are a ton of other ones that obliquely cover the same topics while actually dealing with something else.

What does it mean?  It means that you cannot legally data mine information about CATA.  And there are other rules about sharing said information, etc…

There is a reason, called the law, that MMO-Champion was 100% willing to comply with Blizzard’s request to drop all CATA information from their site that was not approved.

Skeleton Jack’s Stance

If you did not read my three following posts you should check them out as they give insight into why I’ve actually delved into this topic.

• Skeleton Jack got kicked out of Cataclysm Friends and Family
• Big Red Kitty is back!!
• Skeleton Jack versus Blizzard

Short version?  I got into Cataclysm Friends and Family Alpha.  But when someone at Blizzard recognized me I got pulled from the list the week the invites went out.  Yeah, I was peeved to put it mildly.

The result?  I started looking into the EULA, ToU, NDA, and internal Blizzard policies to understand what happened to me and why.

The repercussions?  A flat out refusal to allow NDA content (see what I did there?) to be published on my site.

I got screwed over for helping the WoW community when you break it down.  And I’m not about to justify Blizzard’s actions regarding me personally, which I found to be flat out mean.

The long view?  Personal feelings aside, I’ll honor their legal stances on subject matter for years to come, whether I’m still writing my blog or not.  I don’t *have* to know *that* badly.

Nor do I feel the need to generate a reader base on my site by publishing information that other sites will because they know that they’re too small for Blizzard to bother dealing with.  Just because you can doesn’t mean you should.

Cnofuzed?

Heh,   If you’ve got questions about this stuff post a comment!!  It’s convoluted and tricksy when you get down to it.

I may not have an answer on this one as I did not study law much, but if I can find out something to help you understand all of this then I will.

NDA Lifted

With all of that said, apparently the NDA has been lifted.  Once I confirm that you are free to post comments to your heart’s content regarding NDA content!!

-Suffer Well Brothers and Sisters…

Heya guys!!  You remember how Blizzard kicked me from the Friends and Family Alpha because I was a blog writer?

You don’t?  GG  -.-  Go read:  Skeleton Jack got kicked out of Cataclysm Friends and Family

And then like I found out about how BRK was back and GC sent him an invite to F&F Alpha!!  INORITE?!?!  WTFDAIRYQUEENBBQ!?!?!

You don’t remember that either…  Do you actually read this site?  Or just look at the pretty pictures?!  Big Red Kitty is back!!

So I decided to get to the bottom of this…

Skeleton Jack vs. Blizzard

Blizzard Flunky: Hello, thank you for using Blizzard products!  We’d like…

SJ: I don’t care about that crap.

Blizzard Flunky: I’m sorry about that sir, what can I do for you today?

SJ: I need to speak to someone about my account being pulled from the Friends and Family Alpha.

Blizzard Flunky: I’m sorry sir, but this is main headquarters of Blizzard Entertainment, not our customer service department.  If you’d like to go to our website…

SJ: No way!!  /sigh  OK, look.  Do you have any idea how hard it was to actually find a phone number for you guys that didn’t involve the CSR peons?!

I need to speak to someone down there at Legal or on the Dev Team!  Supposedly I’m a “risk” of some kind due to my web publication and got pulled from the F&F!!

Blizzard Flunky: Heh, you said peons…  Zug zug!!  Dabu!!

SJ: Riiight…  About me getting pulled from the F&F?!

Blizzard Flunky: Oh yeah…  What web site was it anyways?  Tank Spot, IGN, MMO, WoR, Got Frag…

SJ: Er…  SkeletonJack.com

Blizzard Flunky: Oh that’s a great site!!

SJ: *eyebrows raise*  Really!?  You read my site?

Blizzard Flunky: Not really sir, I was just trying to be polite.  Never heard of it.

SJ: /facepalm

Blizzard Flunky: What was that sir, did you fall?

SJ: No, no…  That was me hitting myself since you were too far away to do so.

Blizzard Flunky: That’s nice…

SJ: Look, can you just put me through to someone on the Dev team, or someone in Legal?  Someone who could help me?

Blizzard Flunky: Sir, it’s not our policy…

SJ: PLEASE!!!  For the love of God!  I was *in* F&F and I got pulled.  Someone had to make that kind of a call.  Just put me through to that department!

Blizzard Flunky: /sigh  I’m not supposed to do this sir…  Alright, give me a minute.

*on hold*

*still on hold*

*ran five BG’s and still on hold*

Blizzard Flunky: Hello, thank you for using Blizzard products!  We’d like…

SJ: Are you !@#$’ing kidding me?!

Blizzard Flunky: Oh, it’s you.

SJ: WTF does that mean?!?!  “Oh, it’s you.”  Did you put me on hold hoping I’d hang up and then click over thinking I was a new call?!!?

Blizzard Flunky: I apologize sir for any inconvenience.  It is not Blizzard’s policy to treat our customer’s in such a…

SJ: Yeah, yeah…mumbo jumbo.  I don’t care.  What about putting me through to someone without keeping me on hold forever this time?

Blizzard Flunky: Hold please.

SJ: NO!!!  NO, NO, NO, NO!!!!  Don’t put me…

*hold music starts*

SJ: $#@ $# ! !@#$%!!!!  $#@!$

*five minutes later*

SJ: !#$@#!$#$#!  !!@#$#@!$#@  $#@!!!!!! $#@!#$#@!  $#!#$@!

*several BG’s later with many newbs and kids on Alliance crying after working out my frustration…*

Blizzard Flunky: Hello, thank you for using Blizzard products!  We’d like…

SJ: I hate you.

Blizzard Flunky: Hello again sir.

SJ: What?!  No, “Oh, it’s you” again for me?

Blizzard Flunky: Oh?  No sir.  I was hoping you’d still be here.  I just won an office bet and made $40.00 since you’re still here on hold.

SJ: I…  You…  WTF?!!?

Blizzard Flunky: If you’ll wait just one moment sir, I’m transferring you now.

SJ: YOU SON OF A…  Huh?!  Really?

Blizzard Flunky: Yes sir, one moment.

*clicky noise followed by ringing*

Blizzard Flunky2: Hello, what is the nature of your problem sir?

SJ: Thank God!!  Finally!!  OK, I recently got into the F&F Alpha, but apparently someone over there at Blizzard found out that I write a blog about Death Knights in WoW and they pulled me.

Blizzard Flunky2: Well, that sounds like the normal practice sir…

SJ: OK, but then why in the hell did Big Red Kitty get in?!  Ghost Crawler invited him into the F&F!!  And he writes a blog about Hunters!!

Blizzard Flunky2: Oh!!  BRK!!  We love that guy!!  Tons of people here at the office read him!  Funny as hell!!  Oh man…  So you write a blog too?  What is it?

SJ: SkeletonJack.com

Blizzard Flunky2: What?

SJ: SkeletonJack.com

Blizzard Flunky2: Never heard of it.

SJ: Well aparently someone over there has because that is why I got pulled…

Blizzard Flunky2: Unlikely sir.

SJ: Huh?!

Blizzard Flunky2: I said, unlikely sir.

SJ: I know what you said, what does that mean!

Blizzard Flunky2: You don’t sound important enough to be noticed sir.  It’s unlikely anyone here knows who in the hell you are.

SJ: *blink*

Blizzard Flunky2: Are you still there sir?

SJ: Yeah…  I’m here.

Blizzard Flunky2: Well if that’s all sir I’ll be…

SJ: No that’s not all damnit!!

Blizzard Flunky2: Well sir what exactly…

*background talking*

Unknown Person: I told you to answer the damn phones!  Not sit there on one phone call while we have other calls and ignore them!

Blizzard Flunky: Yes sir!  I’ll take care of it.

SJ: WTF?!?!!  YOU’RE THE FIRST GUY I TALKED TO!!

Blizzard Flunky: Damnit, I had that going pretty damn well too…

SJ: That was you the entire time?!!  You were disguising your voice?!  What the !@#$??

Blizzard Flunky: Yeah.  Pretty good huh?  Always thought I should go into acting…

SJ: I hate you.  Do you understand that?  I !@#$’ing hate you.  KITTENS ARE DYING AND GOING TO HELL BECAUSE YOU EXIST!!!

Blizzard Flunky: I apologize sir for any inconvenience.  It is not Blizzard’s policy to treat our customer’s in such a…

SJ: Don’t you dare start feeding me that crap again!!

Blizzard Flunky: Uhm…ok…  So now what?

SJ: What are you serious?!  You’re done humiliating me now?!  How about you put me through to someone who actually WORKS there!?!?

Blizzard Flunky: Hold please!

SJ: DON’T YOU…

*hold music*

SJ: $#@!$$#$!!@#$#@!$@#$#@$$$#@!!!!!!@#!@#$#@!$

Final Score: Blizzard: 1  Skeleton Jack: 0

Blizzard Wins!

GG…

Disclaimer

This is no way actually happened.  It is meant to be a humorous jibe at Blizzard for what happened to me with getting pulled from the F&F Alpha due to my being a WoW DK blog writer.

If you thought this was legit, then I have a bridge for sale.  PST for price!!

-Suffer Well Brothers and Sisters…

Heya guys!!  So I debated about whether I should even talk about this…  But it still annoys me, so why not?  It’s not like Blizzard is doing me any favors here.

Plus, it will explain my severe policy on this site about breaking the NDA.

Story Time

So as it turns out I knew 2 people in WoW on Bronzebeard-US who were friends with someone that works at Blizzard.  Supposedly this person is a Developer, but I can neither confirm nor deny that.

Just before the Cataclysm Friends and Family was about to start I was approached, along with some others, as to whether we’d like to be included in the F&F Alpha for Cataclysm.

I was like, “OMFG HELLS YES!!!” You know what I mean!?!?

At first it was an iffy prospect, but a week before the release it was confirmed.  We were all in.  Guaranteed.

Not only did every single person put on the list get in, but a second list of friends got in afterward.  Turned out this “friend at Blizzard” could get more people in than originally thought.

So the 2 people in WoW who had the friend at Blizzard expanded the list to include even more people.  I don’t know the final total, but it was well over 20 people invited from this contact.

Know who the one person was that got removed when the invites were being sent?  Me…  Skeleton Jack.

…*blink*…

“WTF Kimosabe?!”

So I sat there and watched in posts how my friends all got into CATA while they talked about it among themselves…  Sounds fun right?  /sarcasm

Details Time

I talked to the two people who were friends with the Blizzard employee.  They told me that everyone got into the F&F except for me, and that I had been removed from the list right before it was sent out.

The reason I was removed is this website:  http://www.skeletonjack.com/

Attempting to better the WoW community with my blog has seriously bit me in the ass.  It honestly feels like I’m being punished for trying to help other DK’s out there…  And that sucks.

Apparently there is some internal policy at Blizzard that prohibits people from participating in NDA content who have some form of media interaction and/or publication dealing with Blizzard games on any level.  IE., I have a blog about WoW so I’m out.

They were extremely vague on said policy, and were not even 100% sure how it was found out that my account was the Skeleton Jack blog writer.  Then again, they could have been blowing smoke up my #!@.  *shrug*

I was told that they’d try to still get me in (by the 2 friends in WoW), but then they stopped talking to me entirely.

They won’t even respond to e-mails or notifications/mail on a website they use regularly.  I can take a hint.  But a simple, “We can’t get you in, sorry…” would have been far more appropriate in my eyes (read: thanks for being jerks).

Fin

I don’t blame Blizzard too much.  Their employees do not know me, and I’ve not always painted the Dev team in a favorable light.  So I think removing me from the list once I was in can be seen as reasonable, even if I don’t like it.

But I’m still bitter.  I think any gamer would be in my situation.  I was *IN*!! Damnit…

I was on the list for invites!!  They deleted me!!  /pout

Why bother posting about this?  It helps to vent for one and I felt like bitching about it.  It is my site…  Consider this to be an autobiographical editorial rant of exasperation!!   And then there is this…

NDA

I’ve already had a few comments posted on site that breach the NDA.  They have been deleted.  So you know, people were breaking the NDA and feeding me information about CATA.  I’ve since stopped talking to those people about any NDA restricted information.

In addition I am not going to any sites or reading up on any NDA material.  *I* plan on talking about CATA still and will do so from my own mind as freely as I wish.  So if you’ve got leaked info, keep it to yourself and don’t post it here.  It will be deleted if it even looks like it breaks the NDA.

And more importantly, I will not have leaked information on my site or linked on my site (with my knowledge) as I refuse to justify Blizzard’s actions for removing me.

-Suffer Well Brothers and Sisters…

Heya guys!!  For those who have no idea what’s going on, there is a mod called AVR.  Basically it dumbs down boss encounters big time by drawing circles, graphics, etc… on the game field.  And Blizzard doesn’t like it…

Quote from Bashiok

This is a notice that we’re making changes in 3.3.5 in attempts to break the ability for the AVR (Augmented Virtual Reality) mod to continue functioning. For those unaware, this mod allows players to draw in the 3D space of the game world, which can then be shared with others who are also using the mod. In some cases this manifests itself through drawing/tagging/defacing the game world, but more popularly is used to give visual guides for dungeon and raid encounters.

We’re making this change for two reasons. The invasive nature of a mod altering and/or interacting with the game world (virtually or directly) is not intended and not something we will allow. World of Warcraft UI addons are never intended to interact with the game world itself. This is mirrored in our stance and restriction of model and texture alterations. The second reason is that it removes too much player reaction and decision-making while facing dungeon and raid encounters. While some other mods also work to this end, we find that AVR and the act of visualizing strategy within the game world simply goes beyond what we’re willing to allow.

The change we’re making in attempts to break the functionality is light in its touch and approach. When blocking any functionality we run the risk of affecting other mods, but we’ve targeted the changes as carefully as possible. If we find that the AVR mod (or any mod attempting to replicate its functions) are usable after 3.3.5 we will take further, more drastic steps.

Hmmm…

“What to think…”

Shenanigans?

First off, some part of you has to call shenanigans.  With all of the mods in game already popping up graphical displays you have to wonder what they are talking about.

AVR already exists in game with the current mods, just without the pretty graphics.  DXE and DBM being the most infamous of culprits…

A chat bubble popping up over someone’s head to indicate where something will spawn and symbols appearing over targets with debuffs is graphical in nature.  I’m sorry, but it is.  I can see it. Derp a derp!!

So their claim “World of Warcraft UI addons are never intended to interact with the game world itself.” is false in practice.  Current mods available and in use are evidence of that.

The flip side of the coin…

Now their other reason “The second reason is that it removes too much player reaction and decision-making while facing dungeon and raid encounters.” is about as accurate as it gets.

Being able to just pay attention to the game field itself and have a graphical display of boss ability interactions makes things significantly easier.

For a player, it’s a huge improvement from the “better living” perspective.  Being able to actually “watch the game” and immerse yourself more is totally /win.

But the flip side is that it messes up the game balance by making encounters far easier than they are intended to be.  AVR really does dumb down the encounters.

So SJ, good or bad call?

Good call on Blizzard’s part even if they’re not being honest with their player base about all of their reasons behind doing so.

I think this news would have been far better received by the community if Blizzard had just stated that AVR goes further past the line than they are willing to allow due to making encounters far easier than intended.  They should have left it at that.

The additional reasons they listed just smack of fallacy, which will lead to community anger and disgruntlement due to the inaccuracy of the claims.

I’ve personally used AVR for a total of 2 weeks.  I found out some of my guild members had the mod, so I got it as well.  So I’m not all that broken up about losing it.

/wave AVR!!  Nice knowing ya!

-Suffer Well Brothers and Sisters…

Heya guys!!  So if you pay attention to other websites (and you should) you may have noticed the chatter…  The Alpha and/or Beta is coming out soon.

MMO Champion has this to say on it coming out:  (Click me!)

World of Raids has this to say on it coming out:  (Click me too!)

Know someone who works at Blizzard?  Got an extra key?  You happen to be a Dev and come here to learn about DK’s?  (yeah right…lol)

GET ME IN BETA OR I KILL THE PUPPIES!!!

please? o.o

You can e-mail me to get me into the Alpha or Beta…  Really, I don’t mind!

Friends and Family Alpha is out!! (click me) Feel free to think of me as a friend!!

Skeleton.Jack@hotmail.com

-Suffer Well Brothers and Sisters…

Heya guys!!  Damn I still love that logo!!    There have been some ground shattering announcements about the Cataclysm release in the past few days, so I figured it was time to talk about them a little bit.  *Edit: no longer a sticky post.

But first, if you have no idea what I am talking about you can check out these links to Blue Blizzard posts:

• Cataclysm Raid Progression Refinements
• Cataclysm Raid Progression Refinements Response
• Cataclysm Badge and PvP Point Changes
• Cataclysm Badge and PvP Point Changes Response
• Cataclysm Badge and PvP Point Changes Response 2
• WoR Article Related to Changes

Also, if you’re interested in a breakdown on Cata DK’s:

• A Breakdown on Cataclysm Death Knights

Cataclysm Raid Progression Refinements

Where to start…  OK, the big big deal here is that 10 and 25 man raids will both drop the same loot and be on the same raid lockout.

So this means that there will no longer be different loot in 10 and 25 man and that that you cannot do both 10 and 25 man for the same instance anymore.

But I’m getting ahead of myself.  One step at a time…

Identical Raid Lockouts

Every raid that exists can only be done once a week.  You will have to choose whether to do the 10 or 25 man version.  They might allow players to shift a Raid ID between 10 or 25 man mode, but once a boss is dead for the week, he’s dead.

So there will be no farming 10man and 25man both for loot and badges.  You only get to do one or the other.  And again, the idea of doing 25man one night and then splitting it into 2 different 10mans the next evening due to attendance is only a vague “maybe” atm.  They have not said they are seriously considering adding in that functionality.

Identical Loot

Plain and simple, you kill a boss in 10 or 25 man and they will drop the exact same loot.  End of Story.  The End.

Blizzard has stated that their intention is to have the 25man version of raids drop extra loot, badges, and gold to compensate for the logistical requirements of forming a 25man over a 10man.  However they also intend for the disparity in rewards between 10 and 25 man to be as minimal as possible.

Raid Duration or Raid Encounter Total

The intention at the start of CATA is for multiple smaller raids.  Instead of raids being released with say 12 bosses, you’ll see 2 raids released with 5-6 bosses.

Other Raid Plans

• 10 and 25 man content should be nearly equal in difficulty, unlike now where 10 man content is easier.
• The gating mechanic for slowly releasing boss content will continue, but they will no longer limit attempts on bosses.
• Heroic and Normal mode will follow the ICC model where you can swap the difficulty as you go.
• No clear answer on whether special drops such as mounts/legendary items will drop in both 10 and 25 man or how server first achievements will be handled.

What does this mean to a Raider?

I’m afraid that this is a lot of good and bad news actually.  Even for the casuals.  This isn’t a cry of the hardcore player about how the game is going too casual.  It’s a strictly honest appraisal.

The identical raid lockouts deal isn’t too bad of a change.  It kind of stinks insofar as it reduces the total amount of options to “do stuff” during the week, but it’s not a bad thing in and of itself.  In fact, for some, it’s a *really* good thing.

The upside is no more running 2 raids a week for one tier of content on your main, and then possibly again on your alt.  You’ll run one tier of content once only, and can then do the “2nd” time through on an alt only if you choose, giving you a lot more free time.  You won’t be obligated to do multiple content runs in order to be at “peak” efficiency.

Also if they allow a Raid ID to be split up then that will be amazing, however unlikely it is that they will do it. But if you had a 25man that was short a few people on the 2nd or 3rd night, you could possibly split the Raid ID in two and form two 10mans.

The problem arises however with the identical loot.  You combine this with identical raid lockout and the trouble rises up.

Why is combining Identical Loot and Identical Raid Lockouts an Issue?

Blizzard has stated that they plan on making 10man content more difficult, tuning 10 and 25 man to be the same difficulty.  But the problem that they are missing is that that will not make them equal.  Ever.

When you form a 25man run you usually have several people on the run who kind of suck.  Let’s be honest.  You know who they are, even if “they” includes you.    But in a 10man that is far less likely to occur.  Composition becomes very important and unless you’re putting together a PuG, 10mans tend to be more solid than 25mans.

So in essence, even if the 25 and 10 man content is equal in difficulty, the majority of guilds will be able to put together 10 good players for 10mans and 10-20 good players with 15-5 average players for 25mans.  Do the math.  The fact that you can stack more good players in ratio for 10mans will make 10man easier.

25man raids are also a logistical nightmare, causing officers fits in regards to recruiting people.  But to date it was worth it for some people because of the improved rewards.  But in CATA, why bother?

One answer is that the “hardcore” top end guilds will still view 25man as the standard for progression, meaning that is where the competition will take place.  Another answer is that even with buff homogenization you will have buff/debuff issues with class balancing more in a 10man than you ever will in a 25man.

But the list of reasons goes on and on.  But even with those answers, some still won’t want to bother with 25mans anymore.

The end result will likely be that many guilds will fracture.  Whether this means that the guilds will split into multiple smaller guilds, or just simply stay together for the social aspect while scheduling multiple 10mans is an unknown.  The flip side however is that many guilds may still want to compete in the 25man progression or just want to keep all of their people together raiding.

While it’s too early still to predict the actual outcome (and too many unknown variables such as the impact of 10/25 man progression on the guild talent trees), if this model does hold firm you can expect to see at least 25% of WoW guilds fracture into multiple 10mans, or new smaller guilds.

So what about those smaller raids?

Well, this is both a good and a bad thing.  On the upside it means that if they mess up one raid, you don’t have to spend that much time in it (read: ToC which sucked).  Also, the added variety of content could be really interesting and fun!  Moar raids = guud!!

But the *HUGE* major deal?  If you ever have to do a run with people who have restrictive schedules (guild or pug), smaller raids are *PURE WIN*!!  Think about it.

How many times have you gone into a raid and only killed 4-6 bosses before having to call it, and then you have a saved raid ID with people and can’t figure out when to get everyone together again?  Who cares in Cata?  Go to the next raid with new people.  Problem solved. 

So what’s the downside?  Blizzard keeps to a budget on content design.  Unless some of the raids share artwork and design, it becomes more likely that Blizzard will take short cuts and use a ToC model again.  I *dread* reused skins for bosses, 2 room raids, and multiple class shared armor designs.  I’m getting aggravated just thinking about it.

The only truly positive feedback Blizzard ever got from the ToC model was the lack of trash, but it was a *lot* of positive feedback.  Due to that we could see something similar again.

So, in the end it’s going  to come down to how much time and effort Blizzard decides to put into these smaller raids.  If they run with it however, the potential is just amazing.  This could really be a huge, huge improvement to PvE content.

Cataclysm Badge and PvP Point Changes

The short version is that badges are going away and becoming a point system.  The honor system is also being folding into this design as well.  This is actually good news and gonna make stuff way less complicated.

New PvE Point System

Remember those times where you had to change 60 badges into 60 different badges, just to turn those into another 60 different badges so you could but those epic gems?  That is gone forever.  Finally!  *yay*

The new point system mirrors the current badge system, except that the “lower tier badges” are always lumped into just one category.

• Hero Points – Current lower tier (current equivalent Triumph Badges) – there will be a max earned per week and a maximum total owned (no word yet on caps).
• Valor Points – Current top tier (current equivalent Frost Badges) – there will be a max earned per week and a maximum total owned (no word yet on caps).

When a new tier of content comes out your current Valor Points will be added to your Hero Points total, so your Valor Points will be zeroed out at the start of each new tier of content.  It is possible that the first tier of content in Cata will be Hero Points, but no word on that implementation yet.

This all follows the exact same model that exists in LK, except that all of the lower badges are going to be lumped into just one pool.  Making it far easier to track and spend.  The one other difference is that there will be a maximum cap on how many you can have at one time.  The weekly earned cap already exists in LK, just the Cata cap will likely be lower (aka more restrictive on generation).

New PvP Point System

Now this is going to be a pretty big change.

• Honor Points – Earned from almost all PvP activities (spend to purchase lesser pvp gear, including previous season gear) – there will be a max earned per week and a maximum total owned (no word yet on caps).
• Conquest Points – Earned from Arena and Rated Battle grounds (spend for the best pvp gear of the season) – there will be a max earned per week and a maximum total owned (no word yet on caps).

The biggest change is the removal of rating requirements on all PvP items except for the PvP weapon equivalent of the current Heroic (hard mode) PvE weapons.  Those will be the one PvP item with a rating requirement.  PvP weapons that are equivalent to normal mode 10/25man raids will have no rating requirement.

The next major change is the induction of Rated BG’s.  You can either Arena, or you can play in Rated BG’s to earn Conquest Points.  So that uber awesome gear that only Arena players had?  You can now earn them in the rated BG system.

The easiest way to think about all of this is imagine that the current season (Wrathful) of PvP gear is the equivalent of ICC gear.  You’d spend Conquest Points on these.  Last season (Relentless) of PvP gear is the equivalent of ToC gear.  You’d spend Honor Points on these.

That’s the model that it will follow.  No word on how much Conquest can be earned at a time however, aka how quickly you can gear out.

PvE and PvP Meet!!

Some players from the BC era may remember how many PvE raiders did Arena.  It was free epics.  You put together a 5man, did 10 games, and collected your free gear periodically.  Who doesn’t like free loot?  While Cata will not be exactly like that, there are similarities.

Many PvP’ers supplement their gear with key specific PvE items.  The new PvE model will make it far easier for them to do so.  Whether it’s due to the new point system, or just heading on into 10man raids.  You will see PvP’ers spend more time raiding than before.

On top of that, the PvP equivalent weapon of 10/25man raid normal mode will be available for anyone who spends enough time and effort farming rated BG’s.  While we don’t know how that system will work yet, it is a likely prediction that anyone who wants a decent weapon, but can’t seem to get one, will be doing rated BG’s.

You are going to see not only PvP’ers in rated BG’s, but a crap ton of raiders and solo’ers as well.  All after a current tier weapon, even if it’s got resilience on it.  Blizzard has been making the steady progression of having PvE and PvP both as desired end game content for all players.  And this is just one more step in that direction.

Summation

Long, or short, Cataclysm is looking really good overall for WoW as a game.  The biggest fear and change will be the identical raid loot/lockout on 10/25man content.  Again I fear this will be the death of many guilds, but like the transition from 40man to 25man, I feel that the guilds of WoW will bounce back from it all the same.

The point system is a straight up much needed improvement and promises many good things.  Combined with less “required” farming, WoW is looking more and more to be less “grindy” and more fun for both the hardcore and casual player.  It’s going to open up a lot of room for alts.

As always, if you’ve got questions and need answers leave a comment on site or e-mail me at:

Skeleton.Jack@hotmail.com

-Suffer Well Brothers and Sisters…

Heya guys!!  Sure you can see this elsewhere, but this is going up here as well.  I will post later about these changes, but I’ve not even had a chance to read them in full yet myself.  It’s not a “pretty post” and I did not go through to edit/space things, but you can read it.  That’s what counts. 

World of Warcraft: Cataclysm will bring with it several changes to class talents and abilities. In this preview, you’ll get a glimpse at some of the new abilities, spells, and talents in store for the death knight class, along with an early look at some improvements we plan to make to the rune resource system.

New Death Knight Abilities

Outbreak (level 81) : Outbreak infects the target with both Frost Fever and Blood Plague at no rune cost. This ability allows death knights to apply diseases quickly when they are switching targets or when their diseases have been dispelled.

Necrotic Strike (level 83) : Necrotic Strike is a new attack that deals weapon damage and applies a debuff that absorbs an amount of healing based on the damage done. For context, imagine that the death knight can choose between doing 8,000 damage outright with a certain ability, or dealing 6,000 damage and absorbing 4,000 points in incoming heals with Necrotic Strike — the burst is smaller, but a larger overall amount of healing would be required to bring the target back to full health.

This ability is meant to bring back some of the old flavor from when death knights could dispel heal-over-time (HoT) effects. It also gives the class a bit more PvP utility without simply replicating a Mortal Strike-style effect.

Dark Simulacrum (level 85) : The death knight strikes a target, applying a debuff that allows the death knight to copy the opponent’s next spell cast and unleash it. Unlike Spell Reflection, Dark Simulacrum does not cancel the incoming spell. In general, if you can’t reflect an ability, you won’t be able to copy it either.

Rune System Changes

While we’re satisfied with the way the rune system works overall, we’re making a few major changes to the mechanics that will ultimately help death knight players feel less constrained. Here’s the rationale behind the changes, followed by an explanation of how the new system will work.

• In the current rune system, any time a rune is sitting idle, death knights are losing out on potential damage output. By comparison, rogues spend most of their time at low energy levels, and if they’re unable to use their skills for a few seconds, that energy builds up and can be spent later, minimizing the net loss from the interruption.

• A death knight’s runes, on the other hand, cannot be used until they are fully active. If a death knight ever goes more than a few seconds without spending an available rune, that resource is essentially wasted. Because the death knight is pushing buttons constantly, it can be difficult to add new mechanics to the class because the player doesn’t have any free global cooldowns to use them. We can’t grant extra resources or reduced cost, because there is no time to spend them. Missing an attack is devastating, and it’s impossible to save resources for when they’re most useful.

• Additionally, each individual death knight ability has a fairly low impact on its own, making it feel like most of the death knight’s attacks are weak. The death knight’s rotations are also more easily affected by latency or a player’s timing being just a little off. At times, it feels like death knights aren’t able to take advantage of their unique resource mechanic, which can diminish the fun.

• The new rune system will change how runes regenerate, from filling simultaneously to filling sequentially. For example, if you use two Blood runes, then the first rune will fill up before the second one starts to fill up. Essentially, you have three sets of runes filling every 10 seconds instead of six individual runes filling every 10 seconds. (Haste will cause runes to fill faster.) Another way to think of this is having three runes that go up to 200% each (allowing extra “storage”), rather than six runes that go up to 100% each.

• As this is a major change to the death knight’s mechanics, it will of course require us to retune many of the class’s current abilities. For example, each ability needs to hit harder or otherwise be more meaningful since the death knight is getting fewer resources per unit of time. Some abilities will need to have their costs reduced as a result.

Talent Changes

Next we’ll outline some of the death knight talent-tree changes we’re planning in Cataclysm. This list is by no means comprehensive, but it should give you a sense of how we’re intending each death knight spec to perform.

• One of the biggest changes we’re making is converting Blood into a dedicated tanking tree. While we feel that having three tanking trees was successful overall, it’s less necessary in a world with dual-specialization. In addition, the current breakdown isn’t as compatible with the Mastery-based passive talent-tree bonuses we want to add (see below). We’d rather spend time tweaking and balancing one good tanking tree rather than having a tank always wondering if they picked the “correct” tree out of three possibilities.
• Blood seemed like the best fit for tanking. Unholy has always had a strong niche with diseases, magic, and command over pets. Frost now feels like a solid dual-wield tree with Frost magic damage and decent crowd control. Blood’s niche was self-healing — fitting for a tank — as well as strong weapon swings, which could easily be migrated to Frost and Unholy.
• Our plan is to move the most interesting and fun tanking talents and abilities to Blood. For example, you will likely see Vampiric Blood and Will of the Necropolis remain, while Bone Shield will move over from Unholy.

Mastery Passive Talent Tree Bonuses

Blood

Damage reduction
Vengeance
Healing Absorption

Frost

Melee damage
Melee Haste
Runic Power Generation

Unholy

Melee damage
Melee and spell critical damage
Disease Damage

Healing Absorption: When you heal yourself, you’ll receive an additional effect that absorbs incoming damage.

Runic Power Generation: This will function as the name implies, and the new rune system will make generating Runic Power more appealing.

Disease Damage: Unholy death knights will be able to get more out of their diseases, which are integral to the tree’s play style.

Vengeance

-Suffer Well Brothers and Sisters…

Heya guys!!  Blue Post quote time!!

Quote from: Bashiok (Source)

Beginning Wednesday, April 7 we will begin releasing class previews containing an overview of some of the changes currently being planned for each of the 10 World of Warcraft classes.

The type of information you can expect from these posts are a list of the new spells from 80-85, the new passive mastery bonuses for all talent trees, a brief outline of some of the talent changes we’re currently planning, and in some cases new low level spells for select classes.

These changes will by no means be comprehensive, and are subject to change between now and the launch of the expansion. It’s also important to understand that some classes are currently further along in the development process than others, and as a result the amount of information will vary from class to class.

Please do not let this frustrate you should your class be amongst those which are on the “lighter” side of things, as all classes will receive the same level of design attention before the expansion is released. Additionally we’ll be providing more information for all classes, especially as we move into the beta phase.

Below is the schedule for each class:

• Shaman – April 7
• Priest – April 7
• Warlock – April 7

• Warrior – April 8
• Death Knight – April 8 (**OMFG LOOKIT HERE!!!!**)
  
• Rogue – April 8

• Hunter – April 9
• Druid – April 9
• Mage – April 9

• Paladin – April 16*

These posts are being coordinated internationally so they’ll be posted at different times throughout the day and night on the given dates to give players around the world the ability to see posts made at a convenient time. This thread will be updated with links directly to each class preview as they’re posted.

*The paladin is still deep in development. Instead of giving a preview that would be potentially less comprehensive than the other classes we made the decision to post it when it’s ready, in order to properly honor the paladin class and those that play them. The wait isn’t too long however as we’re expecting to be able to post it on April 16.

How cool is that?!??!  Even Blizzard had exclamations over Death Knights!?!? 

Heh, not really…I took some liberal editing choices, but we know they *wanted* to put that in there. 

You know the odd thing?  Paladins are the “problem” child for each expansion it seems.  Last expansion release they revamped the Paladin because they were not happy with it.  And here again they are the “late bloomer”.  Makes you wonder if it’s simply a priority issue, or a looming change on the horizon.

I am working on the 8th, but off on the 9th.  I fully expect to be posting commentary on the new “releases” for DK’s.  And I suppose that means I need to start doing some back reading I’ve been pushing off regarding recent DK changes and the new mechanic over haul for Cataclysm.

Why you ask?  Because it all plays into whether or not I will play WoW with the Cataclysm release.  Pretty simple when you break it down.  “I’s is intrested pa!!”

Besides, who doesn’t like to hear about the new ways in which we will be murdering people?    I know I am!!  /sign me up!!

-Suffer Well Brothers and Sisters…

Heya guys!!  Long term readers know by now that I’ve suffered the burn out blues on several occasions when it comes to WoW.  The only reason I came back was to try my hand at this internet thing as a business to see if it was something I wanted to do.  Yet now I find that 3.2 is making my stomach turn so much I’m really wondering if it was worth it.

Patch 3.0

Basically the intro of LK was amazing.  The zones, the content, the quests, the Death Knight class, the introduction of hard mode 3 drake Sartharion.  It was good enough to knock your socks off.  But then after about 3-5 weeks, the new flavor wore out.  Something was missing…

Naxx was a joke.  Sure, it was fun the first few times.  But then, it got stale quickly.  Even for those people who had never been in Naxx40, you could know all about it.  The lore, the bosses, the fight mechanics, the screenshots, the videos, etc…  None of it was new.  You knew what was coming before hand.  And as far as difficulty was concerned, you gotta be kidding me…

Sure Blizzard says that it’s supposed to be the introduction to raiding, and therefor easy.  But just because they think that, and want it to be, doesn’t make it a good call.  The fact is that the vast majority of WoW players, even the newbs, find Naxx too easy. 

In the end Naxx was pure misery to be farming over and over again.  And at this point, I know people who are farming it for Conquest badges only.  They couldn’t care about the drops or the encounters.  How sad is that?

And let’s not forget PvP.  Not only has Arena been a joke since release, but the armor models are a joke.

How broken were DK’s?  Seriously, it was retarded.  The resilience system was completely newbed up, and since they scaled DPS up across the board without scaling up HP or RES, everyone died in a heart beat.

And then these stupid lame pvp armor graphics?!?  When the players cried out and complained about re-using PvE Tier sets, we didn’t mean for Blizz to give us one suit of armor forever.  It’s not ok to just slap a new coat of paint on an upgrade and then pat me on the fricking head.  I’ll bite your fucking damn hand off.

Patch 3.1

So now we get Ulduar.  Big improvement.  All kinds of new bosses with unique looks, an amazing dungeon design, lots of hard mode encounters.  We’re getting somewhere right?  Not really.

When you think about it, Ulduar was really too little too late.  Far too many players suffered under the yoke of Naxx by this point that burnout had settled pretty deeply under their skin.  There were scars that would be ready to rise again if not enough “healing time” was given.

As to PvP?  Did they make it better?  Hell no.  Still workin on bugs/problems, still slapping new coats of pain (pain/paint?  it’s the same by this point) on our PvP armor patting us on the damn head.  I swear to God I would punch the Dev group right in the kitten that approved that moronic concept.

And they still can’t get Arena right.  Everyone gives up on 3v3 and 5v5 for the most part because 2v2 is where it’s at.  It’s easier to get rating, there is more competition, easier method to getting shoulders/weapons, etc…

So while Ulduar has been amazing, everything else has tanked.  It was too easy to progress into Ulduar from Naxx, and because of that (and the ilvl of drops), everything outside of raids becomes pointless outside of the novelty/fun aspect.  There are no Heroics worth doing from a “gear standpoint”.  You’ve basically outleveled all of the content once you’re entering Ulduar.

Outside of Uld10/25 you really just have rep grinds (which don’t yield anything gear wise), novelty item farming (pets/mounts), achievment whoring (fun for some, boring as hell for others – like me), and PvP.  Oh yeah, they borked up PvP.  2v2 is the only viable Arena alternative, and BG’s award less than a new PvE raid called VoA10/25…  Morons…

Patch 3.2

Yay!!  New content here I come!!  First night of raiding…kill one boss.  Next please!!  Whadda ya mean no?!!?  WTF DO YOU MEAN NOT TILL NEXT WEEK!?!?!  WTF KIND OF BS IS THIS?!?!!?

That was me.  Right there.  *grumble*  And don’t even get me started on the stupid lame armor graphics.  I’m sharing the same armor skins as paladins and warriors?  Oh, I’m sorry.  You gave me a fresh coat of paint.  If you reach to pat my head, I will bite you.  I swear it.

First off, every single damn boss has been re-used from previous content (read: graphics, skins).  Second off, we’ve been waiting for months for new content just to be told you only get to see one boss per fricking week?!!?  Are you kidding me?

And the dungeon?  The trash mobs?  The cool exploration?  Gone.  Have fun standing in a big fricking circle for the next 3-6 months while Blizz sits on their asses.  GL with that!!

No new Arena season yet.  But who cares except for the super hardcore pvp’ers since they’ve not been properly supporting PvP anyways.  The ever present promise of upgrades to the BG’s resulting in progress outside of Arenas still fails to appear.

And now they’re telling us they will bring us back Onyxia!!  Seriously?  o.o  You’re joking right?

Think about it for a minute…

Blizzard makes billions per year off of WoW.  Not millions.  BILLIONS.  And their big new exciting content is going to be a re-release of old content.  Again…  LK has been nothing but re-releases of old content, finding ways to make people repeat current content (hard modes), etc…  And then making us wait for it all…

WTF happened to the concepts out of BC?  Where there were MULTIPLE raid encounters sitting there waiting to be unlocked!!  T4, T5, and T6 content were all in place rip, roarin’, ready to go!!  Why doesn’t anyone remember this?!!?

Blizzard spent 2 years getting BC out.  And they had 3 different tiers of dungeons ready to go.  They had Gruul, Magtheridon, Karazhan, Serpentshrine Cavern, Tempest Keep, Mount Hyjal, and Black Temple.  Stop.  Go back and re-read this paragraph.  LK also took two years btw.  BC = 2 years.  LK = 2 years.

Seven.  Count them, SEVEN RAIDS ready to go for BC release.

LK?  One raid ready for release, and it was just a re-do of an old vanilla WoW raid…  Blizzard is spending their billions on us guys.  Obviously…  No seriously.  I mean it.  Really.

Things like this make me sit here and question my resolve to continue playing WoW.

What do you think?

 -Suffer Well Brothers and Sisters.

P.S.  For those wondering where this is coming from…

Everything was cemented in place once I saw what the 3.2 content release was going to actually be.  I had been holding out hope that they’d revamp the PTR again before going Live.  But they didn’t.  While in some ways the Onyxia thing is really really cool, overall it’s just another reminder of how weak ToC is.

Combined with remembering how well done the BC release was while knowing how much money Blizzard makes off of WoW, and it leaves me here fuming.  The kettle’s been steaming for a while now, but it’s finally boiling.