In Blizzard's latest Ask the Devs segment, they answer questions from players about tanking.Will we ever see a tanking Legendary? Not soon, but probably eventually. Will threat levels ever be added to the UI? Blizzard would like to do that, but UI changes require the right compromise. You can read the entire Q&A after the jump.
Ask the Devs #10 will focus on questions about damage dealing. You can currently submit your questions in this thread on the official forums.
Lead Quest Designer Dave "Fargo" Kosak has written his first Dev Watercooler entry, and it's an interesting look at how Blizzard is attempting to make questing a rewarding experience after you've hit level 85. Kosak explains that there are a variety of things that can keep players invested in questing past the level cap:
Kosak also discusses the new Firelands daily quest area that's coming in patch 4.2. He hopes that players will enjoy the personal progression and epic storyline that will be told through approximately 60 quests. You can read his entire Dev Watercooler entry after the jump.
So what are your thoughts on questing past the level cap? Do you do it for the storyline or the gold? Or do you simply switch your focus to raiding?
Mark your calendars: Arena and Rated Battleground Season 9 is scheduled to end as early as June 21. At the end of the season, Conquest Points will be converted to Honor Points, possibly exceeding the 4,000 point Honor cap. Season 10 will begin for level-85 players approximately one week after the end of Season 9 and will coincide with the awarding of Season 9 titles and mounts.
For more details, check out Blizzard's full post after the jump.
Are you interested in avoiding online gaming scams associated with gold sales, malicious links and e-mail phishing? Then you should read SiteJabber's recent interview with Cody "Micajah" Bye, ZAM's director of content. He covers a variety of topics, including how our community at ZAM deals with these types of issues:
"At ZAM we never endorse gold-selling and try to make sure that our forums don’t have any malicious links by spammers that may hurt our community. It’s difficult to keep all of the spam off of the forum, but the moderators do their best to get rid of it all. We even take down advertisements sometimes when a community member warns us about a potential problem with a website or advertisement."
Head on over to SiteJabber to read Cody's full Q&A!
"What makes a good MMORPG?"
I've decided to devote a bit of my time and a few articles to exploring this. In my last article, I talked about story and premise. Now I'll focus on gameplay mechanics and combat!
MMORPG Gameplay Mechanics and Combat
As a competitive gamer who has spent many years entrenched in the fast-paced world of first-person shooters and arcade fighting games, some of the most important things I look for in MMORPGs are strong, responsive gameplay mechanics and combat. To me, nothing is more frustrating than having an inconsistent delay between the time when I want to perform an action and when that action actually takes place. In tournament level games, when competitors are fully aware of all the tactical options available, matches are often won by the player who can adapt to his or her opponent's plans the quickest, while instantly executing his or her own counter-actions. Thus, when that final round comes down to the split-second decision to parry an attack instead of blocking, I'm sure you can imagine how frustrating it would be when your inputs are delayed by even a second.
Lead Systems Designer Greg "Ghostcrawler" Street is back with another installment of his Dev Watercooler series, and in this entry he explains what worked and what didn't with the new talent trees that were introduced in Cataclysm. For example, he feels that "the game is as balanced as it’s ever been," but admits that "there are still a few clunker talents" in the trees.
You can read Ghostcrawler's full talent tree post-mortem after the jump. What is your pros and cons list regarding Cataclysm talent trees? Let us know in the comments below.
The Winged Guardian flying mount is now available for purchase in the Blizzard Store for $25. This flying mount will travel as fast as your riding skill will take you, so that means it has the ability to move at 310% speed if you have at least one other 310% speed mount.
Will you be adding this mount to your collection? How do you think it compares to the Celestial Steed mount?
Updates to the official Diablo III site are starting to pick up steam! A couple weeks ago, Blizzard introduced the followers that will aid you in the game. Now Blizzard has provided information on the runestones system that will allow you to customize your skills.
There are five runestone types: Crimson, Indigo, Obsidian, Golden, and Alabaster. Each runestone affects skills differently. For example, adding a Crimson Runestone to a skill may enhance its damage, while adding an Alabaster Runestone might add a stun effect. Also, higher ranked runestones will increase the effects.
Head over to the runestones page to see videos that demonstrate how the items can customize various skills in the game.
BlizzCon tickets are officially sold out! If you still want to attend the convention, your last chance will be to purchase a ticket to an exclusive pre-BlizzCon dinner to benefit the Children's Hospital of Orange County. They cost $500 each and include the price of admission (a $175 value), as well as a signed Blizzard print and the opportunity to speak with members of the Blizzard team. Those tickets go on sale on Saturday, May 28 at 10 a.m. PDT.
Of course, you will also be able to purchase a BlizzCon Virtual Ticket for $39.99 and enjoy the convention from the comfort of your home. Limited streaming coverage of the BlizzCon opening ceremony and certain tournaments will be available online for free.
Were you able to purchase a BlizzCon ticket?
In Blizzard's latest Ask the Devs segment, they answer questions from players regarding Firelands. The questions cover a variety of topics, including why we're not getting the Abyssal Maw dungeon. You can read the entire Q&A after the jump.
Ask the Devs #9 will focus on tanking. The thread will be posted today, May 25, at noon PDT, so get your tanking questions ready!
