The latest BlizzCast is now up for listening or download. This episode is entirely focused on World of Warcraft: Cataclysm, the game’s third expansion. Zarhym, Nethaera and Lylirra sit down with a number of notable members of the World of Warcraft team, and even some who directly contribute to allof Blizzard’s titles. There are a few tidbits dropped here and there throughout the podcast, so it’s worth listening to all of it.

It kicks off with Zarhym chatting with World of Warcraft Lead Designers Cory Stockton and WoWpedia.org/Alex_Afrasiabi” rel=”nofollow”>Alex Afrasiabi about the content and zone creation, new character threats and alliances in the expansion, and what they’re most excited about digging into as players on December 7. Afrasiabi — known as Valnoth from the forums — even hints at future character development for WoWpedia.org/King_Varian_Wrynn” rel=”nofollow”>King Varian Wrynn and WoWpedia.org/Garrosh” rel=”nofollow”>Garrosh Hellscream, the new Warchief of the Horde. Plus he touches on WoWpedia.org/Sylvanas” rel=”nofollow”>Sylvanas Windrunner, stating that he’s a really big fan of her and her story, and that “he doesn’t trust her,” dropping a hint that we may see even more of Sylvanas’ evil side in the future.

It then transitions into Nethaera sitting down with Director of Audio WoWpedia.org/Russell_Brower” rel=”nofollow”>Russell Brower and Senior Composer of Music and Sound WoWpedia.org/Derek_Duke” rel=”nofollow”>Derek Duke, where they talk about the creation of the expansion’s music, ambient sounds, the differences between music selected for the soundtrack and in-game, what the login screen music is intended for, and more.

The third segment focuses on voice acting with Producer of Casting and Talent Relations Andrea Toyias. Most notable from this portion of BlizzCast is the discovery that Toyias is a hugegeek and gets very excited about voice over recording sessions. She mentions that two of her favorite sessions were recording the voices for WoWpedia.org/Trade_Prince_Gallywix” rel=”nofollow”>Trade Prince Gallywix and WoWpedia.org/Genn_Greymane” rel=”nofollow”>King Genn Greymane, two characters she says the voice overs make much more interesting.

To close out the BlizzCast, Lylirra chats with Lead Systems Designer WoWpedia.org/Greg_Street” rel=”nofollow”>Greg “Ghostcrawler” Street about all of the systems changes in Cataclysm, the challenges of some of the overhauls, how the process works, and much more. Extremely notable from this segment is Street’s mention of the “ranged” slot for classes, and that they would actually like to get rid of it completely, but that it’s such a large change that we probably won’t see that until 5.0, which would be the World of Warcraft expansion afterCataclysm.

He also talks a bit about mounts to close things out and discusses how cool a spider mount could be, why the Horde guild mount changed from a thunderlizard to a scorpion, and how hard it’s become to come up with new ideas for mounts. Oh, and while he didn’t quite promise it, we can probably expect the next “pony” or “moose” meme on the forums to be “Ghostcrawler promised me a musk ox.” Maybe.

You can listen to the episode on the BlizzCast page, or download it from iTunes.

The latest BlizzCast is now up for listening or download. This episode is entirely focused on World of Warcraft: Cataclysm, the game’s third expansion. Zarhym, Nethaera and Lylirra sit down with a number of notable members of the World of Warcraft team, and even some who directly contribute to allof Blizzard’s titles. There are a few tidbits dropped here and there throughout the podcast, so it’s worth listening to all of it.

It kicks off with Zarhym chatting with World of Warcraft Lead Designers Cory Stockton and WoWpedia.org/Alex_Afrasiabi” rel=”nofollow”>Alex Afrasiabi about the content and zone creation, new character threats and alliances in the expansion, and what they’re most excited about digging into as players on December 7. Afrasiabi — known as Valnoth from the forums — even hints at future character development for WoWpedia.org/King_Varian_Wrynn” rel=”nofollow”>King Varian Wrynn and WoWpedia.org/Garrosh” rel=”nofollow”>Garrosh Hellscream, the new Warchief of the Horde. Plus he touches on WoWpedia.org/Sylvanas” rel=”nofollow”>Sylvanas Windrunner, stating that he’s a really big fan of her and her story, and that “he doesn’t trust her,” dropping a hint that we may see even more of Sylvanas’ evil side in the future.

It then transitions into Nethaera sitting down with Director of Audio WoWpedia.org/Russell_Brower” rel=”nofollow”>Russell Brower and Senior Composer of Music and Sound WoWpedia.org/Derek_Duke” rel=”nofollow”>Derek Duke, where they talk about the creation of the expansion’s music, ambient sounds, the differences between music selected for the soundtrack and in-game, what the login screen music is intended for, and more.

The third segment focuses on voice acting with Producer of Casting and Talent Relations Andrea Toyias. Most notable from this portion of BlizzCast is the discovery that Toyias is a hugegeek and gets very excited about voice over recording sessions. She mentions that two of her favorite sessions were recording the voices for WoWpedia.org/Trade_Prince_Gallywix” rel=”nofollow”>Trade Prince Gallywix and WoWpedia.org/Genn_Greymane” rel=”nofollow”>King Genn Greymane, two characters she says the voice overs make much more interesting.

To close out the BlizzCast, Lylirra chats with Lead Systems Designer WoWpedia.org/Greg_Street” rel=”nofollow”>Greg “Ghostcrawler” Street about all of the systems changes in Cataclysm, the challenges of some of the overhauls, how the process works, and much more. Extremely notable from this segment is Street’s mention of the “ranged” slot for classes, and that they would actually like to get rid of it completely, but that it’s such a large change that we probably won’t see that until 5.0, which would be the World of Warcraft expansion afterCataclysm.

He also talks a bit about mounts to close things out and discusses how cool a spider mount could be, why the Horde guild mount changed from a thunderlizard to a scorpion, and how hard it’s become to come up with new ideas for mounts. Oh, and while he didn’t quite promise it, we can probably expect the next “pony” or “moose” meme on the forums to be “Ghostcrawler promised me a musk ox.” Maybe.

You can listen to the episode on the BlizzCast page, or download it from iTunes.

The Alliance has won the race to the first content unlock on the Azeroth’s Fortune website. The first unlock is a video interview with Gary Platner –World of Warcraft’s Lead Environment Artist– who has been with Blizzard since 1999.

If you haven’t had a chance to check this out yet, I encourage you to do so — it’s really awesome. You can have your fortune read, discover your destiny, and check out entries for the Cataclysm promotional advertisement image contest and video contest.

Well that was a close race! The Horde has unlocked its first content on the Azeroth’s Fortune website. It’s a video interview with Jesse McCree — Lead Level Designer for World of Warcraft — who spent a lot of time working on the Goblin and Worgen starting areas.

Jesse talks about the challenges of fitting two already-existing races in Warcraft lore into a game now six years old. He also touches on things different in the Goblin and Worgen areas compared to other races. They will utilize a lot of terrain phasing, and Blizzard feels that most who play the races will already be experienced players, meaning that they do a lot less hand-holding.

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.

WoW.joystiq.com/2010/11/16/blizzard-releases-new-cataclysm-preview-tol-barad/” rel=”bookmark” title=”Permanent link to this entry”>Permalink | WoW.joystiq.com/forward/19720999/” title=”Send this entry to a friend via email”>Email this | WoW.joystiq.com/2010/11/16/blizzard-releases-new-cataclysm-preview-tol-barad/#comments” title=”View reader comments on this entry”>Comments

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.

WoW.joystiq.com/2010/11/16/blizzard-releases-new-cataclysm-preview-tol-barad/” rel=”bookmark” title=”Permanent link to this entry”>Permalink | WoW.joystiq.com/forward/19720999/” title=”Send this entry to a friend via email”>Email this | WoW.joystiq.com/2010/11/16/blizzard-releases-new-cataclysm-preview-tol-barad/#comments” title=”View reader comments on this entry”>Comments

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

Many players were a bit confused about some of the rules and mechanics revolving around the new rated battlegrounds coming in Cataclysm. Blizzard has, thankfully, posted a new FAQ on the official forums detailing some common questions players had about the new system.

Some highlights include the three brackets (10v10, 15v15, 25v25); weekly conquest point caps based on your highest PvP rating in any bracket; and winning in a group comprised of 80 percent guild members awarding guild experience. Hit the jump for the full blue post.

WoW.joystiq.com/2010/11/04/rated-battlegrounds-faq/” rel=”bookmark”>Continue reading Rated battlegrounds FAQ

WoW.joystiq.com”>WoW Insider” style=”float:left;padding:0 5px 5px 0″ />WoW.joystiq.com/2010/11/04/rated-battlegrounds-faq/”>Rated battlegrounds FAQ originally appeared on WoW.joystiq.com”>WoW Insider on Thu, 04 Nov 2010 23:40:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | WoW.joystiq.com/2010/11/04/rated-battlegrounds-faq/” rel=”bookmark” title=”Permanent link to this entry”>Permalink | WoW.joystiq.com/forward/19704069/” title=”Send this entry to a friend via email”>Email this | WoW.joystiq.com/2010/11/04/rated-battlegrounds-faq/#comments” title=”View reader comments on this entry”>Comments

Today during the Activision-Blizzard Q3 earnings call, Mike Morhaime finally revealed the percentage of revenue from the Moonkin Hatchling — previously announced at BlizzCon — that will be donated to charity.

As he said, it’s the next companion pet for the Blizzard Store created specifically as a means of raising funds, and it will follow the same lines as the Pandaren Monk from last year, with 50% of revenue being donated. He also reiterated that the pet will go on sale in the store later this month.

While Morhaime didn’t confirm that the proceeds will go to the Make-A-Wish Foundation, like the 1.1 million generated by the Pandaren Monk, it’s probably a safe guess that it will be. Blizzard has very close ties to Make-A-Wish, and so these charity companion pets look to be another means to them contributing to the foundation.

Sadly there aren’t any models available for the hatchling yet, so you’ll have to wait on that a bit longer!

WoW-blue-tracker/Mumper.html” rel=”nofollow”>Mumper put out a call to arms today, requesting that players participate tomorrow in WoW-blue-tracker/us-forums/27397546579-tol-barad-focus-test-w-devs-round-3.html#0″ rel=”nofollow”>focus testing for Tol Barad, the new Wintergrasp-like open world PvP area being introduced in Cataclysm. This is round three of the focus testing, with Blizzard implementing a decent number of changes based on feedback and testing results.

If you haven’t yet had a chance to try WoWpedia.org/Tol_Barad” rel=”nofollow”>Tol Barad on the beta realms, then tomorrow will be a great opportunity to get involved in the testing. The developers will be on hand starting at 4PM PST on the Lost Isles realm and any players at level 85 can join in the fun.

If your side wins the battle for Tol Barad you gain access to WoWpedia.org/Baradin_Hold” rel=”nofollow”>Baradin Hold for a bit, which will have raid bosses similar to WoWpedia.org/Vault_of_Archavon” rel=”nofollow”>Vault of Archavon. Right now the boss inside the prison is a pit lord named WoWpedia.org/Argaloth” rel=”nofollow”>Argaloth.

Hey Guys,

We have made a number of changes to Tol Barad and are looking to get some good feedback from the beta players. First off, a few of the big changes.

-Siege Engine HP tripled to 1.35m.
-Tower HP reduced from 180000 to 150000.
-Vehicles now protected from 99% of damage until someone hops in the first time.
-There’s now a Spiritual Immunity Area Aura given by the Spirit Healers at all GYs.
-4 guards have been added to the bridge spawn point to protect it.
-The queing system has been modified to keep the balance of players on each team at the same value. The system will not let someone else queue for a team until the balance falls out of sync.

The test is scheduled for 4pm PST tomorrow (Wednesday the 27th) on the Lost Isles beta server. You must be level 85 to queue for the battle and we will be on hand to speed up the time between games. We will use this thread for feedback after the test so please come back to the forums and post your thoughts!

Thanks!

This is a World of Warcraft guide designed to take advantage of Blizzard’s Recruit a Friend program. It shows you step by step how to level 1-60 in under one day! The guide includes maps and links and shows you exactly what to do to level fast!
Redwin’s World of Warcraft Horde Recruit a Friend Leveling Guide