MoP: Enter the Dragon or Game of Death? We'll find out.

[chaos5061]

Brewfest Prize Token Rewards

20	Companion Pets		Wolpertinger's Tankard	200 ×
20	Companion Pets		Pint-Sized Pink Pachyderm	100 ×
20	Holiday		Preserved Brewfest Hops	20 ×
1	Quest		"Brew of the Month" Club Membership Form	200 ×
10	Head	Head	Belbi's Eyesight Enhancing Romance Goggles	100 ×
10	Head	Head	Blix's Eyesight Enhancing Romance Goggles	100 ×
1	Head	Head	Brown Brewfest Hat	50 ×
1	Head	Head	Green Brewfest Hat	50 ×
1	Head	Head	Blue Brewfest Hat	50 ×
1	Head	Head	Purple Brewfest Hat

[chaos5061]

1	Chest	Chest	Brewfest Regalia	200 ×
1	Chest	Chest	Brewfest Dress	200 ×
1	Feet	Feet	Brewfest Boots	100 ×
1	Feet	Feet	Brewfest Slippers	100 ×
1	Consumable		Pandaren Brewpack	100 ×
1	Consumable		Brewfest Pony Keg	100 ×
1	Consumable		Brewfest Keg Pony	200 ×
20	Consumable		Fresh Brewfest Hops	2 ×
20	Consumable		Fresh Goblin Brewfest Hops	5 ×
1	Consumable		Brewhelm	2 ×

[chaos5061]

Developer Interviews
Another two interviews today, this time with Jason Hutchins, Game Producer and Gary Platner, Lead Environment Artist. The second interview is with Russell Brower, Director of Audio at Blizzard. Thanks to NinjaPull for providing the interviews!

Game Producer and Lead Environment Artist

• In Cataclysm, high end players would sometimes race to see who could complete a dungeon or raid first, so Challenge Modes were added to support that gameplay style.
• The 50 artists are broken up into five teams: World environment, dungeons, props, animations, and characters and armor sets.
• Mists of Pandaria brought several art improvements:
  • Increased the distance you can see.
  • Higher level of detail in the world.
  • Ground textures are higher res.
  • Lighting system and shadows were improved.
  • More control over texture blending.
  • Ambient occlusion (SSAO) was added.
• Draenei were harder to design than Worgen because it was harder to define what kind of race they were. Everyone understood the Worgen were supposed to have an Eastern European Gothic look.
• Clouds that interact with the mountains were added to add to the Asian influenced landscape.
• One of the things that sets Blizzard apart is the allowance for iteration. Even if a zone has been mostly completed, the art team can decide that it isn't right and go back and redo it until it feels right.
• There was a lot of new technology that went into Mists of Pandaria. It would have been impossible to make this expansion just a few years ago.

Director of Audio

• The audio team even has a hand in the phone tree audio for the Customer Service line.
• Eight years ago there were only three members on the team, now there are almost 40.
• They do a lot of recording in the field to expand the selection and avoid reusing sounds.
• The music used Asian instruments and skilled players.
• The sound is a combination of the sound of Warcraft and an Asian influence.
• Pandaren are all about family, nature, spirit, and harmony, but they know how to fight when they have to. They live every day as their last and do everything all out, no matter what it is they are doing.

[chaos5061]

Pet Battle Training Cost
The cost is there, in part, because pet battles are intended to be a fun mini-game, particularly for players who've been around a while and want some new ways to spend their time while logged in -- it's not a profession. The system isn't really targeted toward new players while they're focused on leveling and character progression.

This is why there is a low level cap, but a buy-in barrier. It allows players with high-level characters and/or lots of alts easy access to the system, while reducing the risk of it being distracting or confusing for people just learning the core gameplay systems/mechanics.

Mists of Pandaria Questing
Since the subject of this thread is largely a matter of personal taste, I'm not sure that I can speak directly to your concerns. I mean, core World of Warcraft gameplay evolves over time, but the essential experience will still be there.

What I've personally really enjoyed about questing in Mists is that, as I travel through a zone, there's sort of a zone story-line series of quests, a la some of the Cataclysm zones, but I'll also find entire quest hubs in the course of my explorations too. I've also seen some really cool quest mechanics (GIZMO! SOCKS!) in the course of these quests, and I find myself getting involved in the stories too.

I think the point of the quests that that have you collect x whatevers, or kill so many of y, is that they get you out into the world, killing monsters, seeing the sights, and playing your character, and doing stuff with your character's abilities. I don't personally get head-down-gotta-plow through-these-quests style tunnel vision though, and I make a point of looking around, getting into some PvP, etc. as I go along.

Every quest probably shouldn't involve super unique mechanics. I imagine that would get fatiguing after a short while. So, with that in mind I suppose what I'd like to know is: what kind of questing experience were you hoping to see?

That is the problem. I don't do anything with my character's abilities anymore! I used to be a hero. Now all I am is a vehicle driver, the guy in some other npc's body, the guy riding the back of a giant, the guy leading a squad of npc's, etc. What happened to quests where I am the hero?
My first impulse was to ask if we're playing the same game, but that would be snippy.

I can say pretty confidently that my experience has been quite different though. I feel like I've gotten a chance to play my character quite a lot (and I've had a lot of fun messing around with talents at the same time), while also getting a pleasant break now and then doing something with more unique mechanics.

Scenarios and Player Specs
I chose to take my warrior to 90 first instead of my priest so I don't have firsthand as to difficulty in a healing spec, but it seems interesting they wouldn't have a second DPS spec. (Do a lot of people actually level in healery specs?) Maybe it's a misunderstanding of what Scenarios are, and why they aren't swapping. Maybe you should just let them know they should probably swap to DPS for Scenarios.

People should be approaching them as outdoor group quests that happen to be in an instance, and not dungeons. It's just getting used to the concept I think. The ability to queue for them probably makes it a lot tougher to shake the "ok I'm going into dungeon/raid" mode.

It isn't like a dungeon, but with outdoor group quests you get to pick who you play with. Disc is a very good spec to run scenario with because it is a good balance of some DPS with good off healing. It is effective.
I wouldn't disagree with that. Would you also say the same for your two group-mates, holy paladins and resto druids? Would you then say each of you had reasonably chosen a spec based on the type of content a Scenario offers?

I can't control who I end up with in scenarios.
Right, which is why my point is I think it's a perception issue where people believe they should be jumping into Scenarios believing it's like a dungeon and that they'll be healing.

I'm going to hit up a designer though, maybe there is some possibility of saving groups from themselves so certain specs aren't matched up at some point.

[chaos5061]

The original graphic novel Pearl of Pandaria is now available! Be sure to pick up this story and meet the Pandaren, the newest playable race in World of Warcraft.

Written by Blizzard’s own Micky Neilson and with art by fan favorite Sean “Cheeks” Galloway, this story follows Li Li Stormstout’s adventures through Azeroth. Li Li comes from a line of adventurers who left their homeland long ago to explore the world, and she wants nothing more than to chase that dream.

But when Li Li runs away to find her famous uncle Chen, how will she survive Azeroth’s perils?

You can find the book on Amazon.com and other comic book retailers, and at the Blizzard Store.

[chaos5061]

Gold Challenge Mode Run Completed
The first few groups have earned a Gold time in the Gate of the Setting Sun and Scarlet Halls dungeons. WoWProgress has a nice worldwide leaderboard with color coded times. As of tonight there have been 3 Gold runs and 122 Silver runs worldwide.

[chaos5061]

Patch 5.0.5 Hotfixes - September 28

Classes
Vengeance now ignores overkill damage.
Arcane Torrent now returns 2% of base mana (was previously an unintended 6%).

Priest (Forums / Skills / Talent Calculator)
Void Shift can no longer be cast on Dominate Mind targets.
The priest Season 12 four-piece healer set bonus can now only be consumed by the priest that applied it.
The priest Season 12 two-piece healer set bonus should now grant Diamond Soul buff to other players when Power Word: Shield is cast on them.

Rogue (Forums / Skills / Talent Calculator)
Blind should always land as intended. Other players should not be able to dodge, block, or parry Blind.
A priest's psyfiend's Psychic Terror should no longer affect targets under a Rogue's Smoke Bomb.

Warrior (Forums / Skills / Talent Calculator)
Second Wind no longer interrupts a Warrior who is eating or sitting down.

Creatures
Thieving Plainshawks in Valley of the Four Winds now cast Peck while in combat with players and no longer cast Steal Weapon.
The humanoids of Pandaria are no longer devoid of coin, and level 86-90 creatures are now occasionally carrying a Vine-Cracked Junkbox in one of their pockets.
The Hozen Diver in Jade Forest now has 271k health as opposed to the 135k he had before.
Cheung the Stablemaster should now do the duties of a stablemaster, as expected.

Items
An appropriate amount of spell power has been added to Masterwork Forgewire Axe, Amber Spine of Klaxxi'vess, Amber Saber of Klaxxi'vess, and Forgewire Axe
Zen Alchemist Stone should now work as intended.
Mysterious Camel Figurines should again provide the player with the ability to see Dormus.
The Quilen Statuette now has an item level of 463 (was 384).
Ancient Pandaren Fishing Charm should work as intended to give the player a chance to catch additional fish.

Pet Battles
Turn inputs should no longer sometimes be inadvertently skipped, causing only one pet to take action that turn.
Conceding in a random PVP Pet Battle should now count as a loss.
State-dependent abilities should now properly require that the state be present to gain their bonus effects.
Strong and Pristine Traps should now properly be awarded when the corresponding achievement is obtained.
The Achievement "Win Streak" should now function as expected, and be awarded to players who win 25 consecutive Pet Battles.

Quests
Players should be able to complete "Burning Down the House" as expected.
"SI:7 Report: Fire From the Sky" should always eject the player from Sully "The Pickle" McLeary's vehicle, and can be completed even if the player dies and returns to camp before completing Sully's event.
"Last Toll of the Yaungol" should only provide you with Xiao Tus companionship while you are in Hatred's Vice.
Players who slip and fall from Serpent's Overlook while on the quest "The Seal is Broken" should be able to find their way back to Serpent's Spine by first returning to Grookin Hill or Pearlfin Village. Do watch your step!
All of the trainers for both the Horde and Alliance versions of "Battle Pet Tamers: Cataclysm" and "Battle Pet Tamers: Pandaria" now properly apply pet recovery once defeated.
"Sha Can Awe" quest NPCs should only apply their Languor effect on players who are currently on that quest.
"Gardener Fran and the Watering Can" now includes a bit more guidance for new horticulturists.

Bug Fixes
Loving a Shore Crab in Azshara ... as you do ... now properly counts towards the Achievement "To All The Squirrels I've Loved Before".
The Luck of the Lotus buff should provide a chance to find Plundered Treasure as intended.
Crossing a zone boundary while traveling by boat or zeppelin on a multi-passenger mount should no longer result in players being removed from the transport, but may still dismount the passengers from the multi-passenger mount.
Players can no longer access different Pandaria daily quests by visiting other realms.
Players visiting other realms via RealID or Battletag groups will no longer receive loot from the Salyis’s Warband encounter.

[chaos5061]

Developer Interviews
Blizzplanet had the chance to interview Lead Encounter Designer Ion Hazzikostas and Senior Game Producer Ray Cobo at the Mists of Pandaria launch event. A short summary of the more interesting points are below.

Ion Hazzikostas - Lead Encounter Designer

• Players in Tier 11 said that there was almost too much content, having to raid hard every week to get through it. Mists of Pandaria includes even more bosses, which should give the more hardcore players something to do.
• The Dragon Soul heroic dungeons invalidated the accomplishments of people who raided a lot during Patch 4.2. These heroic dungeons gave gear that was almost as good as the gear found in Firelands. Rather than using heroic dungeons to catch up, players can run older LFR content to gear up their alts.
• Mists of Pandaria raids are more similar to Tier 11 raids than Firelands in terms of difficulty. Firelands had a boss that was designed to allow PuGs to come in and clear so that PuGs could raid. Now we have LFR for those players, so the normal mode content can be more difficult.

Ray Cobo - Senior Game Producer

• Blizzard is constantly looking at ways to make Cross-Realm zones a fair environment.
• If you keep up with the legendary quest line, you will hopefully have a nice legendary item by the end of Mists of Pandaria.

[chaos5061]

Challenge Modes and Item Scaling Tech
Character and item level scaling as you're referring to is tech that was actually added in Mists of Pandaria. This tech is what allows us to have a feature like Challenge Modes, in which we can scale your gear down to a specified level. The same is fairly easily applied to character levels.

Have we done everything we could possibly do with this tech? Absolutely not.

Do we want to throw it into everything we can just so players can run whatever they want at any level, without regard for a specific reward structure or progression system? Absolutely not.

As an example, we'd love to implement a feature where you could, say, at level 90 group up with a friend who's level 15 and run Deadmines together, and the dungeon difficulty for both of you would be relatively equivalent. But we're not going to do that before figuring out a proper system for rewarding both the high- and low-level players for their time.

We've also discussed the idea of allowing players to, for example, form a raid group of 10 players at level 90, enter Karazhan, and be scaled down to roughly level-70 character power.

This type of tech is great, but we can't throw it around arbitrarily just because we have it. We need to carefully consider ways it can be incorporated into a fun system that still feels rewarding in some regard.

It's safe to say the scaling in Challenge dungeons is just the beginning. (Another example on the horizon is Proving Grounds.) If these types of features are successful, and we see players calling for more scaling to allow them to run content without just zerging/overpowering it, we'll absolutely look at additional ways it can be applied -- what I said above should be more than a hint that we already are.

Would that mean that if it were implemented, that we would no longer have access to the soloable raid content? Or would this be an option? Similar to Normal/Heroic modes.
Those are exactly the types of questions we've been stockpiling and pondering internally when it comes to brainstorming how tech like this can be applied to different facets of the game!

It's not only stat scaling people. Talents have been reworked extensively. Considering that 1-70 content had a a lot of threat mechanics, pots were on a general cd, buffs stacked, aoe tanking was risky without discipline, crushing blows...

You are talking about retuning every instance in the entire game.
This is also a great point I forgot to mention in my first post. If we literally just said, "okay, everyone can run any dungeon or raid and you'll be scaled to its intended level," it might be fun for a while, but it'd feel very broken, inconsistent, and without direction. We need to offer proper support for such a system so that there's some kind of consistent gameplay, which means it's not a trivial task -- as I said before -- such that we can just loosely apply the tech to the affected area and expect healthy results, hehe.

[chaos5061]

New Character Models Contradictions
So what's with the change in priority?
Tom and Rob are both correct, and combined, pretty much sum up the thinking that's ongoing within the World of Warcraft development team. Are having new character models a high priority for the team? Yes! We have discussed this with the developers numerous times and they are definitely excited about making this happen.

Keep in mind the rhetorical questions that Rob stated with his response. A high-priority task such as this demands a lot of resources. With the work that was needed for Mists of Pandaria and is needed for the upcoming content patches, character designers have to prioritize their work. Thus, we REALLY (yes, honestly, truly, really) want to get this done, but it's something that will require a lot of time and people to do.

Pet Battles Update – Hotfixes
As Mists of Pandaria continues to unravel its mysteries, there are bound to be a few bugs that crop up from time to time and we’re working diligently on getting each one addressed. For the pet battlers among you, here are some of the hotfixes we’ve recently applied to the game:

A bug has been fixed that caused turn inputs to sometimes be skipped, causing only one pet to take action that turn
Conceding in a random PVP Pet Battle should now count as a loss
State-dependent abilities should no longer have their effects reversed (example: Maul should correctly require that the target be Bleeding)
Many balance changes have been implemented (example: Build Turret now has a 2-round cooldown, up from 1)

In addition, we’re investigating a possible issue with traps not upgrading and will get it resolved as quickly as possible.

Thank you for your continued feedback and bug reports. We appreciate your enthusiasm for this new feature, as well as the time you’ve taken to discuss the Pet Battle system!

Is there any word about the issue that some new alts especially pandas can't learn pet battle training and thus can't buy the special pet for their race from the pet battle trainer?
Yes, this should be fixed now.

nope it's not fixed
I've just been informed that this is being looked into now.

Pet Battle Training Cost
If you want to keep the cost, increase the level needed to buy it. New and low level players will get confused by this feature. It's already bad enough having people beg you for gold so they can buy some overpriced glyph or green gear.
Increasing the leveling requirement isn't a reasonable solution. If you're a more experienced player and you want to roll a new character, we don't want to keep you locked out of pet battles. Since the system is account-wide, we want you to have the option of participating in pet battles while you level.

We still don't think the same should apply to new players. The gold cost is a clear indication that you need some level of experience with the game and the economy in order to access the feature, even though it's unlocked at level 5. I don't know why this would be more confusing for new players, as I've seen many assert in this thread, than giving them access to a series of random quests that don't enhance their characters, are almost completely separated from character leveling progression, and require a modest number of pets that they may not have.

Reading through the thread, so far I haven't seen any clear indication in anyone's post that they are, in fact, new players who feel limited by being unable to access this feature. Most of what I'm reading comes from more veteran players weighing in on what's right and what's not right for new players.

And to be clear, we don't hold a monopoly on knowing what is or isn't potentially something that may confuse (and perhaps even drive away) a new player. But we do have the advantage of being able to carefully analyze years and years of data which reflects how the average new player approaches the game, the things that trip them up, the things that make them feel like their progression is barred, etc.

What I do know is that a lot of posters in this thread -- even those who claim to be very casual -- take their knowledge of the many core aspects of WoW gameplay for granted. If you look at the way the 1-20 experience has evolved and been streamlined over the years, it should be quite clear that it's a direct reflection of design decisions we've made to try and better ease new players (especially those without MMO experience) into the game, based on a lot of research on our end.

Someone earlier in the thread pointed out that, when we first introduced dual spec, the cost and level requirements were meant as a barrier to entry to ensure leveling characters didn't feel like it's something they should spend their gold on asap. We later drastically reduced the gold and level requirements when we felt more confident about this not being an issue. The same could be true for the cost of pet battles. We'll certainly take player feedback into account -- though, as I mentioned, hearing almost entirely from players not adversely affected by this gold cost, as opposed to new players who are, leaves us with very incomplete actionable intel -- and we'll evaluate whether or not the current cost is necessary.

For those who implied that our change over time on dual spec should've been a learning lesson, keep in mind what we say all the time: we prefer to introduce a new gameplay feature or piece of content with slightly conservative implementations, and then, if necessary, loosen the restrictions or increase accessibility over time. That's held true for everything from raid tuning to Transmogrification restrictions. If we get things wrong and a feature is too accessible or too easy, to the point that it's negatively affecting overall gameplay, it's much meaner of us to then tighten restrictions after the fact.

[chaos5061]

Mists of Pandaria Questing
While I think the person you were responding to is being melodramatic, I do have to say... having just finished playing through the Valley of the Four Winds, absolutely *no* quest there made me feel heroic. When I wasn't doing farmwork, escorting around a little girl and collecting muddy water, cleansing rolling plans of oversized Rabbits, or hunting wildlife for sport... I was slaughtering innocent Curious Water Sprites to get ingredients off their bodies to fund some Panda's drinking problem.

I am kinda not getting the "heroic" vibe from that.
Great discussion so far! I know I'm coming back late, but I've read the entire thread, and I wanted to come back to talk about a couple of things.

It seems to me that the Valley of the Four Winds offers a chance to get to know some of the residents of Pandaria in a more personal way. You help them with their day to day struggles. You get a glimpse of how they live their lives. After all, the Jade Serpent flies you there, she tells you that it's an opportunity to learn about how the people of Pandaria live.

Still, while the concerns may seem a bit pastoral at first (I would like to take this opportunity to speak up in favor of puntable marmots), they become much more urgent as you come to the conclusion of the zone, and I think that some pretty heroic stuff happens as the quest lines there come to a conclusion. If the tone present in the Valley of the Four Winds isn't quite your speed, you can head over to the Krasarang Wilds for a different feel. There will also be plenty more opportunities for heroic deeds in Kun-Lai Summit, the Townlong Steppes, the Dread Wastes, and the Vale of Eternal Blossoms.

Did a quest in a group last night and noticed I was getting 0 xp per kill. my chat log said (mob dead=2000xp-2000xp penalty) I was pretty pissed about that.
That's extremely odd. There's actually a small experience bump for grouping. Can you remember which quest you were on?

Also, while it’s true that partying up and doing the quests in the zone will result in less experience over all, it should result in faster experience gain. So, a bit less total experience, but better experience per hour.

Assorted reputation grind concerns.
I think it's worth mentioning that, for the most part, the really important stuff from reputations in the past came at Exalted. In Mists, 'power' rewards that come from reputations are available a bit earlier. The rough run-down as I understand it works like this:

Honored unlocks 450 blue items that you buy with Justice Points and profession recipes
Revered unlocks 489 epics that you buy with Valor Points and more powerful recipes
Exalted unlocks the more unique non-power rewards: mounts, tabards, weapons and armor intended for Transmogrification, etc.

The thing that annoys me about these threads is that the devs take them seriously. Here is a guy who only wants to pvp commenting on things like story and cut-scenes.

Devs.. please listen.. it doesn´t matter what you do, these types of players will never be happy
I believe that all our players matter: PvPers, raiders, questers, achievement seekers, collectors, parents playing with their kids, etc. etc. etc. There's not one kind of player and often a single player embodies many different motivations; the World of Warcraft is populated by an incredibly diverse community.
When someone says "I don't like this" that's actually okay. At the risk of making a real world analogy, I wouldn't expect someone to walk into a restaurant and absolutely love everything on the menu. Still, if someone isn't enjoying part of the experience, I want to find out why. Maybe there's just a misunderstanding at work, or perhaps there's something more fundamental in play. Regardless, without criticism (constructive criticism, simply saying x, y, or z 'sucks' isn't helpful), it's harder to grow. I believe that there are certainly cases where having a discussion about a point of contention can be really valuable for everyone involved.

Twitter
When are gathering nodes and mobs going to be sharable? Would alleviate many of the issues with CRZ.
Those may not be the right answers, but I'd agree that seeing other players should be a good thing not a hassle.

[chaos5061]

Mists of Pandaria Interview with Ion Hazzikostas
We had the opportunity to talk to Ion Hazzikostas (Lead Encounter Designer) at the Mists of Pandaria Launch event.

[chaos5061]

Q: Can you tell us a little more about your job and the responsibilities of the encounter design team?
A: I am the lead encounter designer for World of Warcraft. I run the team that makes the raid and dungeon content for the game. We also help out with major scenario bosses and outdoor quest bosses. We are specialists in multiplayer PvE combat.

Q: Are you happy with how the PvE content turned out?
A: Incredibly happy. We have more endgame PvE content than ever before in any of our expansions. We have 18 raid bosses waiting for players. 16 in instances and 2 outdoor world bosses. Nine instances, a new challenge mode feature, and there is really no end to the new raid and dungeon content.

Q: Do you have a favorite encounter?
A: That's like asking me to pick a favorite child. It's tough. One encounter that is really cool and I am looking forward to players seeing in the Mogu'shan Vaults raid, which opens up next week, is the Spirit Kings encounter. That is an encounter that has four ancient Mogu kings. The Mogu'shan Vaults is the repository of ancient Mogu history and secrets. They are the race that rule over the continent of Pandaria thousands of years ago, before their empire crumbled mysteriously. Their greatest secrets and history have been locked away in this vault. As players are exploring it, they trigger a trap or unlock something that reanimates the spirits of four of the great Mogu warlords from the past. The mechanics of the encounter are very reminiscent of the Omnitron Defense Council in Blackwind Descent where the bosses come out in a different order. Each one of those poses different threats as well as some very cool visuals. It is just a very dynamic experience that will change every time you pull the boss or play the encounter. I think players are going to have a really great time with it.

Q: What's next for your team?
A: Fixing bugs, though there won't be any in the content once players get to see it. We will always be working on the next thing. We are going to keep making more raids and more dungeons, so we are hard at work on whatever comes next. Players will have to see what that is.

Q: Can you give us an example of something that didn't make it out in the expansion?
A: For the most part we got the main things that we wanted to get out there out there. There is really more end game content than ever before. There were a couple of scenarios that players who were in the beta might have seen names of that we are still working on and will release in a future patch. The actual core raid and dungeon content that we wanted is all there.

Q: Scenarios seems to be aimed at a more casual play. Will we ever see some more challenging scenarios that really pushes the players?
A: Potentially. One of the main features of the scenario system is how accessible it is. It is a short, roughly 15 minute experience. There are no specific role requirements, so the queues are really quick. You can hop on during your lunch break, queue for a scenario, and you will be playing a scenario right away, which is a very cool thing. As a primarily queue focused experience, those scenarios aren't the best place to push the envelope of challenging content. Now that is not to say that we might not explore that space in the future, in terms of smaller group content that doesn't necessary have the traditional Tank, DPS, and Healer roles, but is hard.

One lesson that we have learned from Cataclysm is that challenging PvE content and random matchmaking queues don't really go well together. One of the core experiences that we hope for players to have as game designers when we make challenging content is the evolution of learning a fight. You fail initially, you make mistakes, you lose. Then you adapt, learn from those mistakes, apply your knowledge, and you eventually overcome and win. You feel good about that and you celebrate. Then you come back next time and you get to apply your knowledge and exhibit mastery of the encounter. That is really what feels good and reinforces the whole learning mechanism of learning the encounter and mastering it.

That breaks down when you are playing with random groups. You might have learned the mechanics, but that is no guarantee that the people you are playing with have done the same. Your own personal knowledge ends up not mattering when it comes to success or failure, and that can lead to frustration. We heard a lot of feedback about the release dungeons in Cataclysm, so we applied that to crafting our experiences for the Mists of Pandaria heroic dungeons, which players should find much less frustrating. At the other end of the spectrum we have a challenge mode difficulty that will make sure that the hardcore guilds or groups of friends who like to play together and use voice chat for coordination that was required in the Cataclysm launch heroics have that gameplay experience available to them.

[chaos5061]

Q: The legendary questline and itemization seems to work differently in Mists of Pandaria, with entire raids getting a legendary gem upgrade. Did raid design influence this decision to make raid balancing easier and make sure it doesn’t depends on how many legendary weapons people stack?
A: What players are seeing of the legendary quest experience throughout Mists of Pandaria in Patch 5.0 is just the tip of the iceberg. As players may have seen hinted at the in the achievement names, there are future steps to this questline in Patch 5.1, 5.2, and so forth. The legendary gem is just the first step. It is something players can work on in parallel. It isn't something where the guild leader has to decide who gets the first or second. Anyone who works on the personal parts of the quests and does the raid portion gets a gem which they can put in a Sha-Touched weapon from LFR, Normal, and Heroic. The stronger of a weapon that you get, the stronger the combined effect of the weapon and gem is going to be. Even though you can get the gem in Looking for Raid mode, the heroic raider who has a Heroic Sha-Touched weapon is going to have a much more powerful weapon in the end.

As far as raid balance goes, it is certainly helpful. The one thing we found with how Dragonwrath played out and the transition of Dragonwrath to Dragon Soul is that our traditional model of what a legendary item meant, its power level, wasn't really compatible with a model in which the legendary is at least one person, if not more, in every single raid group is going to have. It was different in Burning Crusade, where we could say "If you have Illidan's Warglaives, you win. You are going to top damage meters, do 20% more damage than anyone who doesn't, but that is okay because you are one guy that got really lucky." It is a very different dynamic when a guild can have twelve Dragonwraths from having farmed them up. Suddenly it affects raid balance, not just class balance. One of the big questions going in to Dragon Soul was how to handle ranged vs melee balance. If you have a raid where every caster has a Dragonwrath, is the melee balanced against the casters with Dragonwrath? That would make the casters without one fall behind. Is the melee balanced against the caster without one, in which case high end guilds where everyone has the weapon won't bring melee. This was not a great place to be. We are still evolving how legendary distribution methods should work.

One thing that we felt was really successful in the Cataclysm legendary experience were the custom quest lines that we offered for people that did the Dragonwrath quest line or the daggers quest line. That was some really cool gameplay, evocative of what players like about the priest and hunter quest lines in Vanilla. That is the kind of thing we can expect to see continued.

Q: Now that the first phase of the legendary questline is raid-wide, does it mean every player will get a legendary weapon in a few patches?
A: Not necessarily. I think the future steps of the legendary chain have yet to be announced, and that is something that players will see as we get there.

Q: Can you tell us a little more about the proving grounds game mode and when we will see it? Should we expect something challenging with unique rewards or is it just an innovative way to teach players how to play their class?
A: When you were talking about the things that we wanted to make in Patch 5.0 and didn't, that is one shining example. The Proving Grounds feature was a one player scenario that would give players a chance to learn the basic skills needed for tanking, healing, or doing damage. Proving Grounds for a tank might have an NPC healer that you have to protect from a stream of mobs that are coming in. There are different mobs that those mobs pose, spells that they cast or the ways in which they move. You have to hold agro, move around a lot, control the playing field, and do all the things that a tank would have to do in a fast moving dungeon group. The longer your NPC survives, the better your score will be. At the very high end it would give players who are very competitive a way to say "I am the best tank on the server", through leaderboards that would accompany it.

At the other end of the spectrum, it would give players who aren't as experienced at tanking a chance to learn those skills in a safer environment. World of Warcraft from level one to the max level is a DPS orientated game. Your quests are generally completed by killing things, even if you are a tank or healer spec. You are defeating creatures, looting them, getting them things, and so forth. If you don't do instance runs while leveling, you may reach max level without experience in applying those skills. There is no way to practice how to tank right now, other than the one that comes at the expense of four other people's experiences. You are stumbling through learning how threat works, learning how your buttons work, how the other dynamics of group gameplay work while other people are getting frustrated. That is part of what leads to the long queues as we are waiting for more tanks. It can be a very pressure filled experience and not a lot of people like being in the spotlight in that sense. If they had a chance to practice those skills and gameplay involved before they go in, they might feel more comfortable in doing it.

[chaos5061]

Q: Can we expect any kind of unique armor sets or rewards for the challenge modes?
A: Certainly. The reward structure for challenge mode players is equivalent to getting gladiator in PvP in terms of how difficult to earn it will be. Your gear is scaled down, so it isn't something that you can come back to a few patches later and get gold medals with no problem. For players who earn gold medals in all of the challenge modes will obtain a class specific set of armor for transmogrification. This armor has unique effects associated with it, aside from looking really over the top and epic. You will really stand out when standing around in Stormwind or Orgrimmar with this armor on. It has build in animations as well. For example, the Shaman armor has giant totem poles on the shoulders. When you cast spells, fire will well up within them. When you do a /laugh, the heads on the totem poles will laugh along with your character. Every set has a few built in hooks like that for players to discover. It is something that players can really take pride in and show off. Everyone who sees someone wearing the armor set will say "Where can I get that?" and "You must be really good at the game to have earned it".

Q: Is there any chance that you will bring back shorter raids like Zul'Aman in future patches.
A: It basically fits the storytelling we are trying to do. The 4.1 patch tried to focus on the evolution of the Zandalari trolls and what was happening there, so it made sense to bring back those old raids. We don't just bring them back; we update them heavily. To a player who does Zul'Gurub today, it is almost is unrecognizable compared to the Zul'Gurub that was a 20 player raid years ago. It is the same thing when you go into Deadmines, Scholomance, or Scarlet Monastery; they are very different zones with different bosses and mechanics. Players enjoy that and we enjoy visiting our classic dungeons and settings, but it is on a case by case basis that depends on the story we are trying to tell in a given patch.

Q: What are the most challenging raid encounters and dungeons in this expansion according to you and why?
A: All of the challenge modes are tuned to be demanding as far as dungeons go. Just finishing them is going to be an accomplishment for many players. With the way the medals are tuned, just getting a Bronze medal in a challenge mode is both a challenge and an accomplishment. Players who get all of the Bronze medals will get a title to show off their accomplishment. Shado-pan Monastery is going to be a tough one for players to go into. That is the enclave of the Shado-pan monks, who are an order of Pandaren that are dedicated to protecting the continent of Pandaria with ancient traditions. The overall feel of that dungeon is very much inspired by some of the cooler moments that we enjoyed in movies like Kill Bill. It has a Hollywood martial arts feel to it, a very cool place overall, but very hard on challenge mode.

On the raid front, in keeping with our traditions the hardest boss is probably the heroic mode of Sha of Fear, our final boss of this patch. Odds are good that it will be hard. The heroic mode was not tested at all on beta servers, so it has surprises that players will have to discover for themselves. There is a whole extra phase that is awaiting players that is not in normal mode, similar to heroic Ragnaros.

Q: A blacklisting feature was added for PvP to remove two battlegrounds from our random battleground queue; do you plan to add a similar feature for the random dungeons system?
A: We don't have any specific plans along those lines in the future, but it may be something we can consider. We obviously look at the dungeons our players run the most and the feedback that players are giving on the dungeons. The first thing we would rather do is improve the experience. If we are consistently hearing players groan when a specific loading screen pops up we would rather figure out what's wrong there and improve it. With battlegrounds it is a little bit different because don't purport to offer the same experience as each other. Some involve vehicles, some don't, some are small, some are large, so it is really hard to compare Battle for Gilneas to Alterac Valley. You are not necessarily looking for each of those experiences when you queue up, so players can decide not to play a large scale battleground today and blacklist Alterac Valley and Isle of Conquest. You could decide you want to play a large scale battleground, so you blacklist CTF maps. With our dungeons we try to offer a relatively consistent experience in terms of the feel and flow of PvE gameplay.

Q: Is there anything else that you want to talk about?
A: We are really excited to see all of these fans come out tonight to celebrate our launch, and even more excited to see everybody get on and dive into the game over the next week or so. It's been a labor of love for the past year and a half or two years. One of the most gratifying moments for us as a designer or anyone in a creative line of work is seeing people get to enjoy what you have produced. We can't wait to see people play the game and I can't wait to get home myself and start leveling.