Filed under: WoW.joystiq.com/category/news-items/” rel=”tag”>News items, WoW.joystiq.com/category/pvp/” rel=”tag”>PvP, WoW.joystiq.com/category/cataclysm/” rel=”tag”>Cataclysm

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• Tol Barad is not only an open PvP zone; it’s also a daily quest hub.
• Unlike Wintergrasp, Tol Barad won’t have a Tenacity mechanic. Instead, players will be matched up at a 1:1 ratio, with a maximum of 80 players allowed in the zone.
• Much like Eye of the Storm, players will have to claim three keeps around the zone. Unlike Eye, if a player dies while defending a tower, that will directly affect the slider bar, moving it in favor of the opposing faction. So stay alive!
• Winning Tol Barad opens a raid, just like Wintergrasp. The Tol Barad raid takes place in Baradin Hold.
• And of course there are reputation rewards, including two brand new mounts with a ghostly look.

WoW.joystiq.com”>WoW Insider” style=”float:left;padding:0 5px 5px 0″ />WoW.joystiq.com/2010/11/16/blizzard-releases-new-cataclysm-preview-tol-barad/”>Blizzard releases new Cataclysm preview: Tol Barad originally appeared on WoW.joystiq.com”>WoW Insider on Tue, 16 Nov 2010 17:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Filed under: WoW.joystiq.com/category/news-items/” rel=”tag”>News items, WoW.joystiq.com/category/pvp/” rel=”tag”>PvP, WoW.joystiq.com/category/cataclysm/” rel=”tag”>Cataclysm

WoWcom-tol-barad-000-1289939981.jpg” alt=”" />

• Tol Barad is not only an open PvP zone; it’s also a daily quest hub.
• Unlike Wintergrasp, Tol Barad won’t have a Tenacity mechanic. Instead, players will be matched up at a 1:1 ratio, with a maximum of 80 players allowed in the zone.
• Much like Eye of the Storm, players will have to claim three keeps around the zone. Unlike Eye, if a player dies while defending a tower, that will directly affect the slider bar, moving it in favor of the opposing faction. So stay alive!
• Winning Tol Barad opens a raid, just like Wintergrasp. The Tol Barad raid takes place in Baradin Hold.
• And of course there are reputation rewards, including two brand new mounts with a ghostly look.

WoW.joystiq.com”>WoW Insider” style=”float:left;padding:0 5px 5px 0″ />WoW.joystiq.com/2010/11/16/blizzard-releases-new-cataclysm-preview-tol-barad/”>Blizzard releases new Cataclysm preview: Tol Barad originally appeared on WoW.joystiq.com”>WoW Insider on Tue, 16 Nov 2010 17:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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We’ve had some recent news concerning WoW.joystiq.com/2010/09/09/the-overachiever-new-and-altered-cataclysm-achievements/”>achievements in categories we’ve WoW.joystiq.com/2010/09/23/the-overachiever-more-new-and-altered-cataclysm-achievements/”>already covered, and my original intent this week was to play catch-up with that in addition to finishing off the new reputation, world event, and feat of strength achievements in Cataclysm. However, given equally recent news concerning achievements that are set to become feats (and may do so as early as WoW.joystiq.com/tag/patch-4.0.1/”>patch 4.0.1), I thought it would be more sensible to cover the stuff that you’d want to do as soon as possible WoW.joystiq.com/2010/05/13/the-overachiever-endangered-achievements/”>before it disappears.

I’ve cross-checked the list of known Cataclysm WoWwiki.com/Feat_of_Strength”>feats of strength against the feats already present in game, and as far as I know, this should be a comprehensive set of current Wrath of the Lich King achievements that will become inaccessible as of patch 4.0.1, patch 4.0.3, or Cataclysm’s release (or at least, a comprehensive list as of the current beta and PTR builds).

I’ve written this list assuming the following:

• Although it hasn’t been officially confirmed that all of these will disappear in patch 4.0.1 or 4.0.3 rather than the expansion itself, for the time being, I’m guessing it’s one of the two patches you need to worry about.
• With the recent announcement of WoW.joystiq.com/2010/09/28/arena-season-8-to-end-as-early-as-oct-12/”>arena Season 8 ending on Oct. 12, 4.0.1 may hit in less than two weeks. Zarhym’s post just made it clear that the season could end as early as the 12th, not that it definitely would, and there’s still a lot of stuff to fix on the PTR and beta — but every Tuesday from hereon is a potential patch day.
• Accepting Oct. 5 or 12 as possible patch dates, I’ve included an opinion on the feasibility of getting the following achievements done as quickly as possible.

WoW.joystiq.com/2010/09/30/the-overachiever-do-them-now/” rel=”bookmark”>Continue reading The OverAchiever: Do them now!

Filed under: WoW.joystiq.com/category/achievements/” rel=”tag”>Achievements, WoW.joystiq.com/category/the-overachiever/” rel=”tag”>The Overachiever

WoW.joystiq.com/2010/09/30/the-overachiever-do-them-now/”>The OverAchiever: Do them now! originally appeared on WoW.joystiq.com”>WoW Insider on Thu, 30 Sep 2010 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Blizzard puts an immense amount of time and thought into every piece of tier gear (at least, you’d hope it does). For those of us who raid (even casually), it’s the armor set we’ll see our characters in the most. You get a blue drop out of a heroic, and you might replace it in a few weeks. You get a piece of tier gear, and … well, the only thing that’s prying that out of your hands is an even better piece of tier gear.

That said, our datamining friends over at MMO-Champion have released some terrific finds today — the tier 11 sets for druids, rogues and warlocks that so many of you will be wearing just a few months after the Cataclysm release. The druid set, which seems to turn you into some manner of electrified bird-man, is absolutely gorgeous. Warlocks get a nice, evil-looking set that comes complete with skewed horns. As for rogues … well, somewhere out there, there’s a rogue who roleplays as an Arabian ghost — and man, is he happy today!

Though the full warrior set is not yet in the Cataclysm beta files, MMO Champion did dig up the warrior tier 11 helm, so the WoW.joystiq.com/bloggers/matthew-rossi/”>Matt Rossi posse gets a sneak peek at its gear as an added bonus. The video for the druid tier 11 is above; rogues, warlocks and warriors will have to follow me after the break.

WoW.joystiq.com/2010/09/29/cataclysm-beta-new-videos-of-druid-rogue-and-warlock-tier-11-a/” rel=”bookmark”>Continue reading Cataclysm Beta: New videos of druid, rogue and warlock tier 11 armor

Filed under: WoW.joystiq.com/category/druid/” rel=”tag”>Druid, WoW.joystiq.com/category/rogue/” rel=”tag”>Rogue, WoW.joystiq.com/category/warlock/” rel=”tag”>Warlock, WoW.joystiq.com/category/cataclysm/” rel=”tag”>Cataclysm

WoW.joystiq.com/2010/09/29/cataclysm-beta-new-videos-of-druid-rogue-and-warlock-tier-11-a/”>Cataclysm Beta: New videos of druid, rogue and warlock tier 11 armor originally appeared on WoW.joystiq.com”>WoW Insider on Wed, 29 Sep 2010 17:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Beta is gone. Forever. Well until PS3 has its own. Needless to say beta is in a better place for now. But from its ashes rises a glorious and awe-inspiring release client. It’s harder, better, faster, and stronger than beta, and it can totally beat you in arm wrestling.

ThusGAME Watchrecently sat down with director Nobuaki Komoto and battle planner Atsushi Okada to discuss the end of beta and the impending release.

Translated by Savalithos of FFXIVCore.com

Left: Director Komoto; Right: Battle planner Okada.

GW: How’s beta coming along?

DK: I finally managed to get some time to log in a play for a bit and even secretly partied up with players. For every part of the game that we’re pleased with, there’s one we’re still not quite happy with yet. There are still things to fix, so we’re continuing adjustments.

There were things we kind of expected would be met with criticism. We realized we weren’t touching base with the community enough, so we’re in talks with management about how to remedy that.

GW: From what we heard at the CEDEC presentation, it looks like the development team is kept extremely busy.

DK: I’m usually focused on solving the problem right in front of me, so I guess I’ve stopped noticing how busy we are.

Continue here to read the fully translated interview!

Beta is gone. Forever. Well until PS3 has its own. Needless to say beta is in a better place for now. But from its ashes rises a glorious and awe-inspiring release client. It’s harder, better, faster, and stronger than beta, and it can totally beat you in arm wrestling.

ThusGAME Watchrecently sat down with director Nobuaki Komoto and battle planner Atsushi Okada to discuss the end of beta and the impending release.

Translated by Savalithos of FFXIVCore.com

Left: Director Komoto; Right: Battle planner Okada.

GW: How’s beta coming along?

DK: I finally managed to get some time to log in a play for a bit and even secretly partied up with players. For every part of the game that we’re pleased with, there’s one we’re still not quite happy with yet. There are still things to fix, so we’re continuing adjustments.

There were things we kind of expected would be met with criticism. We realized we weren’t touching base with the community enough, so we’re in talks with management about how to remedy that.

GW: From what we heard at the CEDEC presentation, it looks like the development team is kept extremely busy.

DK: I’m usually focused on solving the problem right in front of me, so I guess I’ve stopped noticing how busy we are.

Continue here to read the fully translated interview!

WoW.joystiq.com/media/2010/09/wi-worgensnarl.jpg” />

This week we’re returning to a look at new and altered achievements to expect in Cataclysm, but today’s outing is going to be a little murkier than WoW.joystiq.com/2010/09/09/the-overachiever-new-and-altered-cataclysm-achievements/”>our previous examination of general, quest and exploration achievements. While those seem within a stone’s throw of being done, today’s achievements — dungeons, raids and professions — concern content that’s often been inaccessible or buggy on the beta. There’s also the minor matter of raid content that’s not yet been implemented, but we’ll hazard a few guesses anyway.

As with our earlier article, I didn’t bother mentioning any achievement that’s completely unchanged, but you’ll find everything else here.

WoW.joystiq.com/2010/09/23/the-overachiever-more-new-and-altered-cataclysm-achievements/” rel=”bookmark”>Continue reading The OverAchiever: More new and altered Cataclysm achievements

Filed under: WoW.joystiq.com/category/achievements/” rel=”tag”>Achievements, WoW.joystiq.com/category/the-overachiever/” rel=”tag”>The Overachiever

WoW.joystiq.com/2010/09/23/the-overachiever-more-new-and-altered-cataclysm-achievements/”>The OverAchiever: More new and altered Cataclysm achievements originally appeared on WoW.joystiq.com”>WoW Insider on Thu, 23 Sep 2010 11:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Fresh off the heels of WoW.joystiq.com/2010/09/07/operation-gnomeregan-and-zalazanes-fall-events-now-available/”>Operation: Gnomeregan, Blizzard has published a web reveal of New Tinkertown. High Tinker Mekkatorque and the gnomish forces have seized control of an area on the surface just outside of Gnomeregan and have started efforts in retaking their city. Mekkatorque will ask you to complete new missions like rescuing gnomes and routing troggs, with the main goal of stopping Razlo Crushcog. New Tinkertown is the WoW.joystiq.com/2010/08/26/WoW-rookie-alliance-newbie-zone-revamps-in-cataclysm/”>new level 1-5 leveling zone for gnomes. While the quests and the content have been on beta for a while now, you can read more about the official details after the jump.

WoW.joystiq.com/2010/09/22/cataclysm-beta-welcome-to-new-tinkertown/” rel=”bookmark”>Continue reading Cataclysm Beta: Welcome to New Tinkertown

Filed under: WoW.joystiq.com/category/news-items/” rel=”tag”>News items, WoW.joystiq.com/category/cataclysm/” rel=”tag”>Cataclysm

WoW.joystiq.com/2010/09/22/cataclysm-beta-welcome-to-new-tinkertown/”>Cataclysm Beta: Welcome to New Tinkertown originally appeared on WoW.joystiq.com”>WoW Insider on Wed, 22 Sep 2010 23:10:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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I admit it. I’m an achievement-holic. I’ll repeat the WoWhead.com/achievement=944″>most idiotic, mind-numbing task for hours on end just to earn a handful of achievement points. It doesn’t matter that I can’t do anything with those points. I want them. I need them. And I know I’m not alone in my obsession — some people play World of Warcraft just for the achievements. (You know who you are.)

Once Cataclysm launches, WoW.joystiq.com/2010/08/31/cataclysm-beta-guild-achievements/”>there will be a whole new set of achievements just for guilds, only compounding my poor, crippling obsession. A metric ton of them are for completing old instances and raids as a guild, and grabbing those points requires 80 percent guild participation. Under the guidelines laid out earlier in September, that meant you’d need to take along at least 20 guildies to conquer Serpentshrine Cavern (a BC 25-man), even if you could easily complete it with fewer.

Well, for those of us who are obsessed with collecting achievement points, there’s good news — Blizzard just cut the required participation rate for all the old school Burning Crusade raids. On the official forums, blue poster Mumper confirmed that they’re treating all old 25-man raids as 10-mans — instead of needing 20 guildies to take on Lady Vashj and Kil’jaeden, you will now only need 8.

The full blue post is after the break.

WoW.joystiq.com/2010/09/24/cataclysm-beta-select-guild-raid-achievement-requirements-reduc/” rel=”bookmark”>Continue reading Cataclysm Beta: Select guild raid achievement requirements reduced

Filed under: WoW.joystiq.com/category/raiding/” rel=”tag”>Raiding, WoW.joystiq.com/category/burning-crusade/” rel=”tag”>The Burning Crusade, WoW.joystiq.com/category/cataclysm/” rel=”tag”>Cataclysm

WoW.joystiq.com/2010/09/24/cataclysm-beta-select-guild-raid-achievement-requirements-reduc/”>Cataclysm Beta: Select guild raid achievement requirements reduced originally appeared on WoW.joystiq.com”>WoW Insider on Fri, 24 Sep 2010 21:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Filed under: WoW.joystiq.com/category/shaman/” rel=”tag”>Shaman, WoW.joystiq.com/category/cataclysm/” rel=”tag”>Cataclysm

WoW.joystiq.com/2010/09/24/ptr-build-13033-restoration-shaman-update/”>PTR build 13033: Restoration shaman update originally appeared on WoW.joystiq.com”>WoW Insider on Fri, 24 Sep 2010 20:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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