At BlizzCon 2013, after the reveal of the upcoming Warlords of Draenor expansion for World of Warcraft, production director J. Allen Brack stated once again that World of Warcraft would not be going free-to-play, ever.
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Player housing in MMOs can be a mixed blessing, which is why Blizzard has completely skipped past white picket fences for full blown fortified garrison construction with new expansion Warlords of Draenor. It has a dash of classic Warcraft, but also XCOM oddly enough as the player takes the role of a commanding officer able to form groups of NPCs and send them off on missions.
In an interview with Digital Spy, lead systems designer Greg Street revealed that Blizzard is looking to release yearly expansions for World of Warcraft to boost subscriber figures and keep the game fresh.
Got enough friends to help you move your virtual coach into that Garrison coming in the Warlords of Draenor expansion? Of course you don't because "this is Warcraft - you make a base, you don't make a house." Lead encounter designer Ion Hazzikostas from Blizzard expresses the studio's view on it being a bit silly to 'just have a house' in World of Warcraft. It's also for solo ownership, not 'fun hogging' guilds.
According to the latest reports from The Guardian from the Edward Snowden leaks, the NSA and the UK's GCHQ have both committed to gaining footholds in virtual communities like World of Warcraft. At least that's what analysts said on their expenses and when quizzed why they're in a 15-man raid in Azeroth. Is that Orc Shaman really little Tiffany, or an NSA role-playing spy?
Blizzard are continuing their Connected Realms programme, with more World of Warcraft servers set to merge on January 9.
Blizzard has altered their default setting for Battle.net parental controls so that the young'uns don't bankrupt their families through in-game real money purchases, which includes World of Warcraft. That also impacts Hearthstone and Diablo III's auction house, which shuts down March 18th. The setting can easily be reversed to see bank balances plummet for new pets.
Inventory full there, adventurer? It's a plague that's stalked loot hoarders ever since the backpack was digitised. Now Blizzard intend to increase inventory space with the new Warlords of Draenor expansion. Blizzard are tinkering with "slightly longer term plans" to do with a gear collection feature, and are letting people craft from banks. More quest items going into the log.
Blizzard had planned to offer free migration this week for players suffering "high queue times at login" in World of Warcraft, but the plan has currently been put on hold due to an unidentified problem with the character migration page on Battle.net.
Advance orders of Blizzard's next installment in the never-ending World of Warcraft story will earn customers a mount, a pet and a boost to level 90.
The trouble with Player vs. Player in World of Warcraft is that so many don't want any part of it, and Blizzard are acknowledging that and the "notably frustrating" times it becomes 'forced' on. The studio is looking into a more comprehensive "PvP on/off toggle" for PvE realms to be introduced alongside Warlords of Draenor. No more AoE flagging?
The general slip and slide of World of Warcraft subscriptions manage to reverse the trend last quarter as figures rose to 7.8 million. However Activision concedes a lot of work is needed to maintain that. It was the "seasonality from the holidays" and the "excitement from BlizzCon" that topped subscription numbers back up. Diablo III now at 15m sales.
For a brief time after the US servers for World of Warcraft came back online following maintenance there was an interesting peek at the character upgrade interface. It includes a boost too level 90 for $60. As part of the Warlords of Draenor expansion, Blizzard is offering everyone a free character boost with pre-purchases given early access. The level cap is being raised to 100.
Blizzard has confirmed that character boosting in World of Warcraft will be sold as a separate service at $60, which they feel is necessary given Warlords of Draneor offering one level 90 boost. They didn't want people buying multiple copies of the expansion just to secure another boost, as that would be "tremendously awkward" to tell fans. $60 'is fair'.
Blizzard's fifth expansion to World of Warcraft is due this autumn, announces the studio. Pre-purchasing has begun which includes Dread Raven Mount and Dread Hatchling Pet in WoW, and other goodies. The level 90 boosts are now available to buy standalone, and are charging £40 in the UK. Warlords of Draenor introduce new lands and adventure, as well as garrisons.
Diablo, World of Warcraft, StarCraft and Hearthstone players might be affected by high latency and disconnections according to Blizzard, after a series of DDoS attacks on European online servers. Although the attacks aren't directed specifically at Blizzard, the publisher's online games have been affected as a result.
World of Warcraft’s Warlords of Draenor expansion has now entered its alpha testing period, giving gamers who signed up for the test phase the chance to glimpse the new content.
World of Warcraft: Warlords of Draenor will be making some big changes to the venerable MMO's rather ancient character models when it comes out later this year. You can see a sample of those changes in a new Blizzard blog post that focuses on the Tauren race.
Prepare yourself for the eighth BlizzCon event where this November Anaheim will endure "two relentless days" of all things Blizzard. The event begins Friday, November 7th with hands-on, games, and eSports. The first batch of tickets go on sale May 8th, and they'll last all of 3 picoseconds. You're better off trying for the second batch on May 10th for a window of opportunity lasting 5 picoseconds!
Hollywood's Empire magazine has a lone image of director Duncan Jones working on the set of the Warcraft movie adaptation. It appears that it could be the set of the Stormwind throne room. Filming for Warcraft is taking place in Vancouver and it's expected to open in theatres around March 2016. Blizzard delayed the film because of a clash with the new Star Wars: Episode VII.