In The Beginning
It’s hard to believe it’s been over half a decade since WoW hit the shelves. Since its release back in November 2004, WoW has grown into a titanic force of an MMO. Even if you have never experienced WoW for yourself, there’s no doubt you’ve heard about it through other popular media. With it’s easy to pick up gameplay, fantastic stylized world and all the social interaction you can shake a stick at, it’s no wonder WoW has become the most successful MMO of all time. Pushing upwards of 11 million players, Blizzard has created a monster, destroying most of the competition in the process.
This week we are joined by long time Rawrcast contributor, Cornelious0_0 of Under the Hood. Together we go through his hints and tips for making upgrades in preparation for Cataclysm. We also cover many listener e-mails with questions relating to getting the most from your rig!
Thanks to Nepentheum for sponsoring this week’s news. Make sure to check out their website for more information on their recruitment needs and raiding structure!
This week’s episode is available via iTunes, RSS feed, direct download, or you can stream it from our website!
Links to topics discussed this week:
EXCLUSIVE THIS WEEK
Eulixe takes us on a journey exploring the origins of Red Ridge Mountains in this week’s Land of Lore!
Special Thanks to our Sponsors
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Music Provided by: Morning Glory – Born and Raised
One blue post that caught my eye today announced that Hunters would no longer need ammunition for their weapons. Nethaera posted,
A major change coming for the hunter is the removal of ammunition. Guns, bows, and crossbows will now do damage without consuming ammunition at all. There will be no more ammo slot on the hunter’s character display. Any ammunition that a hunter has at the time of the change will become gray sell-able items. Existing quivers will be converted into large bags — though each hunter can only have one and non-hunters will not benefit from this change — and we will not be making any additional quivers. Read more…
I was talking to a coworker today over lunch when he started to tell me about his time in Everquest when he offhandedly mentioned an interesting bit of trivia that had slipped my mind. Jeff Kaplan, one of the main game designers behind WoW and Rob Pardo, the Executive Vice President of Game Design at Blizzard, were both avid raiders in Everquest before their time at Blizzard. This may seem like another innocuous bit of trivia until you start to take a hard look at the similarities between the two games.
First, a little about both designers and their time in EQ. Pardo was actually the Guild Master of one of the most successful raiding guilds in Everquest; Legacy of Steel. The guild was on the cutting edge of raiding content when interactive virtual worlds were still in their infancy (read: interactive virtual worlds as we currently know them, DnD and MUDS were around much earlier). Another outspoken member of Legacy was Jeff Kaplan. Kaplan went on to take the reins of leadership after Pardo departed and is remembered for his detailed and exhaustive critiques of Everquest game design. It’s rumored that Pardo actually brought Kaplan onto Blizzard’s design team as a result of their time together in EQ. Their experiences in EQ have undoubtedly had a profound impact on the very core of WOW as we see it today.
For instance, the concept of a hybrid tax can be seen quite clearly in Everquest, years before it ever appeared in WOW. The Shadow Knight class, kind of a hybrid Tank and Warlock class, had abilities that were similar to, but not as powerful as the other tank and caster classes in EQ. Strangely enough, the Shadow Knight even had a Feign Death spell…Hunters everywhere can trace their heritage back to EQ! Additionally, if you take a hard look at the function that Deities played in the game (players with certain Deities could wear specific armor sets as well as be free from attack in certain zones), its clear to see the source of reputation and the inspiration behind the recently canned Path of the Titans feature. Even the DKP system used to distribute loot in WoW was first created in EQ.
Unfortunately, I missed the boat when EQ was in vogue. Most of my EQ knowledge comes second hand; epic stories of yesterday told over beers and remembrance pieces of the way things were before WOW are the closest that I get to the source material. I’m curious to know if any of you have played EQ and what your experiences in game were like. Do you have fond memories of the Good Old Days or do you shudder at the hours spent chipping away at the hardcore game design?
Stomp is still a bit bummed about the removal of the Guild Talent Point system, and reflects on how it could have made various guilds more specialized. We also get more clarification of quite a few of the points discussed in the media after the Press Day at Blizzard last week.
This week’s episode is available via iTunes, RSS feed, direct download, or you can stream it from our website!
Links to topics discussed this week:
Igoo’s Heroic Mode Breakdown from WoWProgress.com on 6/8/10
# of guilds that have completed the encounter: (% of the population being tracked)
- H: Lord Marrowgar (25): 6843 (11.93%)
- H: Lady Deathwhisper (25): 3809 (6.64%)
- H: Gunship Battle (25): 11860 (20.67%)
- H: Deathbringer Saurfang (25): 4802 (8.37%)
- H: Festergut (25): 5309 (9.25%)
- H: Rotface (25): 6181 (10.77%)
- H: Professor Putricide (25): 2123 (3.70%)
- H: Blood Prince Council (25): 5239 (9.13%)
- H: Blood-Queen Lana’thel (25): 5414 (9.44%)
- H: Valithria Dreamwalker (25): 5094 (8.88%)
- H: Sindragosa (25): 1951 (3.40%)
- H: The Lich King (25): 114 (0.20%)
EXCLUSIVE THIS WEEK!
Special Thanks to our Sponsors
WootLoots.com & UGT-Servers.com use the code RAWRCAST for 10% off!
| facebook | twitter | call us: 559-949-RAWR | discussion forums | support the rawr |
| DFW WoW Meet-up Squad | Austin WoW Meet-up Squad | NYC WoW Meetup Group
Music Provided by: Darklight Corporation – Sweet Sickness
Helllo Rawrcast readers, Cornelious here bringing you another edition of Under the Hood.
Overclocking is something that eludes many people, whether it be because of cost or potential dangers. I’m about to start a GREAT deal of component testing and overclocking documentation courtesy of DogHouse Systems. Over the coming weeks and months I’ll be taking a variety of different hardware to its limits and documenting not only overclocking procedures but also performance scaling in order to show when it might be worth it to stop pushing your rig. How this ties into this weeks post is a simple heads up. I’m going to attempt to keep some content coming for you guys but until I rebalance my time following this addition I’m not sure what’ll happen. In case I slip in regularity at all I would strongly encourage everyone to follow me on Twitter and check out the DogHouse Systems forums, both of which I’ll be using to post up information as to my progress and when/if I actually have time to weave something else into my schedule.
You guys have been beyond great and I can’t wait to not only get started and share my results with the community.
So, you waited in the queue, sold your soul to the Devil, took out a second mortgage or auctioned off your prized comic book collection; however you did it, you got your trembling nerdy hands on some Blizzcon tickets! Now that the nerd euphoria has faded, the inevitable question sits in front of you, what are you most excited for?
Personally, I am DROOLING over the idea of sitting in on panels discussing internal Blizzard Development Processes for WoW. A close second is going to be meeting up with Stomp, Haf and a bunch of other guildies in sunny Anaheim!
What are you all excited for? Meeting other members of the WoW community, the Costume Contest, checking out footage from Diablo 3 or just being a part of the Horde of Blizzard fans? Cut loose folks, let’s hear it!
Path of the Titans is officially gone. This article is not so much of an examination of what Path of the Titans was but rather the reasoning behind why Blizzard most likely got rid of it. I’ll forgo an explanation of the feature and just direct you to a detailed explanation of the system.
Before we look at why the feature was canned, let’s take a look at the reasons behind why the feature was created. First, the Path of the Titans was going to be a major time sink for players. The path, much like the current Achievement system, would guide players into play styles that they may otherwise leave dormant. For instance, how many players going for What a Long Strange Trip would ever dip their toe into most of the required activities if there wasn’t a major meta-achievement attached to it? My guess is not many. The Path would form the same type of sink, guiding players to engage in activities that they otherwise wouldn’t. More activities equals more time spent in game. Read more…
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