Dev Interview - No More Flying, May 22 Hotfixes, Blue Tweets

[Haggle]

2.2.1 Hotfixes and Carnevil Bug, Iceblink Guide



Deck Spotlight: Mech Druid, Design Competition #17 Voting



Mad Martian Gazlowe and Super Sonya Skins, Epic Plays of the Week #30, AUZ Starter Pack



Developer Interview - No More Flying

Polygon has an interview with Ion Hazzikostas talking about Patch 6.2 and beyond.



Flying

• The team will not be adding flying to Draenor.
• Moving forward, new expansions are also unlikely to have flying outside of specific zones or expansion ideas.
• The team will continue to improve flight paths.
• Being able to fly added convenience, but removed the ability to add things like targeted exploration of the world and made the world feel smaller and less dangerous.

Future Content

• Is Patch 6.2 the final content patch? "We've got plenty of more story to be told after this"
• The team is working hard to make sure players aren't left waiting for new content.
• Patch 5.4 went on for a really long time, so they are trying to balance having a shorter time between expansions and the patch release cycle during the expansion.

Tanaan Jungle

• There will be some "big setpiece quests that tell the story of bringing the confrontation to the gates of Hellfire Citadel"
• New factions will be added that give reputation when you defend areas under attack or kill rare spawns. They offer cosmetic upgrades, player power items, and convenience items.

Timewalking

• Timewalking is a trip down memory lane, not trivially easy, but not a way to give players brutally hard content.
• Timewalking could be expanded to raids, but there are still some challenges that would have to be solved first.
• The team wants to expand timewalking to Cataclysm and Mists of Pandaria dungeons in the future.

Flying in Warlords of Draenor

Originally Posted by Blizzard
(Blue Tracker / Official Forums)

Thanks for creating a thread on this. As you noted, lead designer Ion Hazzikostas mentioned in a recent interview with Polygon that we’ve decided not to allow the use of flying mounts on Draenor. There’s been a lot of debate about the pros and cons of flying over the course of this expansion—not just in the community, but in the hallways, offices, and break rooms at Blizzard—and we know it’s something everyone feels passionately about.



During Patch 6.2’s development, we continued to discuss how flight would fundamentally change the way players experience all of Draenor’s ground-based content, and carefully weighed that against the benefits flying would bring to the game. Ultimately, after much deliberation, we came to the conclusion that the world of Draenor would simply no longer provide the experience we envisioned it if we were to reintroduce flight in this expansion.



We appreciate everyone who has taken the time to weigh in on this topic. You’ve provided some great insight and feedback, and we ask that you please be respectful of one another as you continue to discuss your thoughts and experiences.

Patch 6.1.2 Hotfixes - May 22

Originally Posted by Blizzard
(Blue Tracker / Official Forums)

Creatures and NPCs

Spires of Arak

• Rukhmar now moves faster and can also move while channeling Solar Breath.

Elwynn Forest

• Fixed an issue that could cause Hogger in Elwynn Forest to bug out if General Hammond Clay in Stormwind was slain.

Quests

Tanaris

• Thunderdrome: Grudge Match! Fixed an issue where the quest would fail if Megs Dreadshredder deals damage to Steelspark LX-506.

Raids and Dungeons

Blackrock Foundry

Operator Thogar

• Fixed a number of issues that could cause the Operator Thogar encounter to not start correctly.

Blackhand

• [Requires a realm restart.] Slag Bombs' explosion now damages players in a 6 yard radius (down from 10 yards) on Normal and Heroic difficulties.
• Incendiary Shot's damage has been reduced by 25% on Normal, Heroic, and Mythic difficulties.
• Blackhand's Shattering Smash now deals 25% less damage during Stage Two on Normal, Heroic, and Mythic difficulties.

PvP

Battlegrounds

• Fixed an issue where players were receiving more Conquest and Honor than intended for winning a Strands of the Ancients match via Random Battleground.
• Fixed an issue that could cause the Isle of Conquest Workshop to not work correctly.

Blue Tweets

Originally Posted by Blizzard Entertainment

Art

Any plans on making the epic version of leggy capes available to all chars on an account whose one har has done the quest?

We have no plans to do this. (WarcraftDevs)



Character / Items

So..wait..you can now buy ilvl 675 gear with gold? Conveniently after you can purchase gold with real money? come on...

The high pricing is deliberate to discourage their purchase in favor of crafted items or raid BoEs. (WarcraftDevs)



PvE

will the Inn dungeon quest items work in Mythic dungeons? Will 6.2 have additional Inn quests?

Objectives for quests received from the Inn/Tavern can be completed in Mythic dungeons. No plans to add additional quests in 6.2. (WarcraftDevs)



Pets and Pet Battles

Un-official poll: the next Exquisite Costume Set should be...??? (Muffinus)

Really disappointed with the Lich King Exquisite Costume. Why would I want something else like it?

Make a change to it that would make you happy (Muffinus)



Misc

"spectacle creep" sounds like blaming the audience for not liking your product

He is blaming the audience, for blizzard failing the game. maybe he should see the out cry over the new cash mount.

This is a general video about game design, how did you take this as anyone blaming anyone else for anything? (Muffinus)

It's a video on the challenge of making continually interesting twists, as a designer, generally. (Muffinus)

cutting content a twist? you hired 40% more workers yet still cut content, then say "making things exciting is hard"

Sounds like that's unrelated to the video, mostly. (Muffinus)

Making things unique after many things have been done IS challenging, but it's a very fun challenge. (Muffinus)

No, I have a issue with you using the video as a scape goat, to why WOD was not exciting. I know I'm not the only one.

I never said "this video is about WoD," because it's not. Could be said about any long-run project. (Muffinus)

I like to entertain general game design chat here, not WoW content specific. Don't assume I'm the enemy (Muffinus)



MoP was the most action packed expac since Wrath. Are you calling it dull so newcomers won't notice WoD is trash?

Things can be toned-down without being "dull." I loved some of the peaceful expanses/music. It was less explosive, but unique/cool. (Muffinus)

Jade forest & Vale explode. Krasarang is war torn. Every zone aside valley is sha infested. You have a strange concept of peaceful

Each zone had some elements to it, but overall I think tended to more character pieces than usual, V4W brewery, yak wash, etc. (Muffinus)

Regardless, it wasn't a statement about WoD, more of a general game design chat about design challenges. (Muffinus)



Do you have a favorite site you visit for free? Do you run adblock? Consider disabling it for the ones you really enjoy. It helps them. (holinka)

WoW Marathon World Record and Fundraiser

Margaret is going to be attempting the Guinness World Records for the Longest Marathon of World of Warcraft, starting Saturday, May 23rd, 2015 at 12:00 AM Central to help raise money for St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital.

http://www.mmo-champion.com/content/491 ... hon-Record