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Developer panel. World of warcraft: Cataclysm
November 19 2009
Last week at the premier Russian games event IgroMir, J. Allen Brack, production director of World of Warcraft, presented the recently announced expansion for World of Warcraft: Cataclysm to the Russian audience. He spoke about three features that WoW players are especially looking forward to: rated battlegrounds, Tol Barad, and guild advancement.
Rated Battlegrounds
Battleground and Arena gameplay are different and currently completely separate. Some players enjoy battlegrounds more but they cannot gain Arena points in battlegrounds and thus they cannot receive Arena rewards. Rated battlegrounds will be an alternative way to get Arena points. Each week, there will be a featured battleground, helping concentrate queues and keeping the rated battleground experience exciting and different from week to week.
If you win a game in a rated battleground you will gain rating, however your mileage may vary depending on the BG. Each victory in a rated BG will also give you Arena points. However, a loss will not affect your rating, nor your total number of Arena points.
If you have Arena points, you should spend them on something epic! The new tabards, mounts, and vanity pets will be purchasable with arena points earned in the rated battlegrounds along with the usual Arena gear. Also we currently expect to bring back the same titles as the old PvP ones like Grand Marshal, High Warlord, etc., that will be earned based on your performance.
Tol Barad
Tol Barad is a brand new battleground which will have features similar to those found in both Wintergrasp and the Isle of Quel’Danas. When battle mode is active, the contest will be similar to WIntergrasp with PvP fights, vehicles and destructible buildings. When battles are not in progress, Tol Barad becomes a daily quest hub like the Isle of Quel’Danas. The faction that wins the battle in Tol Barad will not only get Tol Barad marks of honor, but also will get access to bonus daily quests and special bosses.
Guild Advancement
Guild advancement will be one of the biggest changes made to the World of Warcraft game system when Cataclysm arrives. Guilds will be able to level up and gain talent points, develop guild professions and gain achievements.
Players earn guild experience in a variety of ways, for instance by gaining levels, reputation ranks, boss kills, rated battleground or Arena wins, or profession ranks. Each guild level grants a talent point that can be spent in a guild talent tree which works similarly to character or pet talent trees. Some of the options in this tree include repair cost reduction and increase in looted gold. Guild talents will affect all guild members. To give fair opportunities to both big and small guilds, only the top 20 earners per day in each guild will contribute to guild experience points.
Guild experience will be converted into a special guild currency, which can be used to buy a variety of rewards such as profession plans, recipes and reagents; vanity items (mounts, tabards, etc.), and guild talent respecs. Guild heirlooms can be created with the help of professions and are bound to the guild, which means that if a player leaves a guild, the item will be returned to the guild. Guild items require less reagents, which can be bought with guild currency.
Players will be able to earn achievements as a guild as well. To do so, at least 75% of guild members (for the moment) will need to complete an achievement to make it appear in the guild achievement tab. As players’ guilds complete achievements, players who are offline will be able to read the latest guild news through an RSS feed to the World of Warcraft Armory and get access to profession info and much more. Guild banks will receive a percentage of gold looted from a boss when guild members make boss kills. Also, it will be possible to invite other guilds to various events such as weekly battlegrounds.
Developer panel. StarCraft II
November 19 2009
On November 6 at Igromir, Lead Producer Chris Sigaty talked about the development of the hotly anticipated game, StarCraft II. He described some features that look set to make the sequel even better than the original and at the same time keep all the things that made StarCraft an RTS classic. Chris explained that four basic principles have been taken into account during the development of StarCraft II.
The first is to improve all the features of the original StarCraft; the second to implement an absolutely new approach to singleplayer in an RTS game. The third and the fourth principles are the complete incorporation of the game into the Battle.net platform, and the creation of a unique game editor. The game’s engine has been built from scratch. The graphics follows the style of the first game but look modern and up-to-date.
The three races will be different not only visually but also in how they play. Many units familiar from the original StarCraft have been changed, and many new units have been added. However, StarCraft fans will recognize many units they already know very well.
The maps are rich, filled with lots of new objects, and the user interface has been greatly improved.
The singleplayer campaign will be absolutely unique. The story of StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty takes place four years after the conclusion of StarCraft: Brood War. Players take the role of Jim Raynor. The singleplayer mode will be brought to life with a so-called history mode where players will be able to interact with the environment; for instance, you can talk to NPCs and discover the latest news from all over the in-game world. Players will be able to buy upgrades, hire mercenaries and conduct laboratory research. For example, if a player prefers to use marines, he or she can concentrate all their efforts on upgrading this unit.
StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty’s singleplayer campaign will consist of 28 non-linear missions. The sequence of events will differ depending on the actions of the player.
The new version of Blizzard’s online gaming platform, Battle.net, will be one of the most important parts of StarCraft II. It will allow users to always be online: now players will not need to log into Battle.net to find a match. Moreover, each player will be able to find an opponent of the same experience and skills.
Each player will have their own profile which will contain all the up-to-date information about them including achievements.
Achievements will be something new to the StarCraft series. They will make the gameplay more exciting and challenging. Also some of them will have unique rewards like decals.
Players will be able to participate in multiplayer with the implementation of leagues. Each player will have to take part in 10 qualifying matches to be included in a league uniting players of the same experience and skills. Ladders will be compiled within those leagues.
Battle.net will also unite players of all Blizzard games. One of the features which will help in this is cross-game chat for all Blizzard games. Thus, a StarCraft II player will be able to talk to his or her friend who is currently playing World of Warcraft.
The StarCraft II editor will allow users to create various maps and mods for the game with very few restrictions. Also planned is a special map market which will ultimately allow players to trade maps with each other for money.
IgroMir 2009: Days Two and Three
November 9 2009
After a great start to IgroMir 2009 on Friday, the week-end was even busier at the Blizzard booth: the number of visitors surpassed all expectations!
Our guests formed two very long queues to test out the playable demos of two upcoming Blizzard games, World of Warcraft: Cataclysm and StarCraft II. For most of the Russian-speaking community this was their first chance to experience these games. World of Warcraft fans were impressed with the changes brought to Azeroth by the coming Cataclysm, while StarCraft lovers were excited by StarCraft II’s blend of authentic atmosphere and cutting-edge real-time strategy design.
Our quizzes and contests gave attendees their chance to fight for fame and glory. Our Online Community Representative Kihjawi asked the questions, and correct answers gave attendees the chance to participate in our live contests. World of Warcraft players were challenged to level up a Goblin or a Worgen as quickly as they could in World of Warcraft: Cataclysm, and StarCraft fans participated in a ‘hot streak’ to prove their multiplayer skills. Among the prizes there were not only Blizzard souvenirs, but also Gurky codes and Collectors’ Editions of World of Warcraft: the Wrath of the Lich King.
Another important event that happened at the Blizzard booth over the weekend was a meeting of the Russian-speaking role play community. People came to meet up not only from different towns but even from different countries. For most of them it was their first real-life gathering, and people really enjoyed meeting their friends ‘in the flesh’. You can discuss your experiences and create new role playing threads on our Russian forum.
As at IgroMir 2008, the "Blizzard is hiring" desk drew lots of people. Those wanting to work with Blizzard’s great games could bring us their resumes or fill in a special form to tell us about their talents. If you missed this opportunity, you can always visit our job page to find the most up-to-date information about positions open right now.
Once again we would like to thank you for visiting our booth. Stay tuned for further updates!
IgroMir 2009: Day One
November 6 2009
Today the biggest Russian games exhibition, IgroMir, opened its doors to the public! Players flooded the Blizzard booth throughout the first day of the show, meeting our staff and trying out the playable demos of World of Warcraft: Cataclysm and StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty.
Quizzes on World of Warcraft and StarCraft gave those waiting to play the chance to win some nice prizes from our partners if they knew the correct answer to one of the questions asked by our Community manager Кихьяви (Kihjawi). The crowd won lots of great Razer and SteelSeries loot!
Further attractions for the Russian communities were the discussion panels on two hotly anticipated Blizzard games: World of Warcraft: Cataclysm and StarCraft II. Chris Sigaty (lead producer on StarCraft II) and J. Allen Brack (production director on World of Warcraft) visited IgroMir for the first time to tell players about the games that were presented to the Russian audience.
J. Allen Brack spoke about some of the many changes coming to the world of Azeroth, paying special a