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Why they shouldn’t make the Warcraft movie

Our good friend Kevin Kelly (who writes for Joystiq) has apparently turned traitor — over at the Spout blog, he’s written up four reasons why they shouldn’t bother making a Warcraft movie at all. His arguments go from shaky to solid — he first claims that movies made from videogames just don’t work anyway, In response, I’d submit to you Doom, and — oh wait. Never mind. His second reason is that they just wouldn’t make enough money, even if every Warcraft player bought a ticket, but I don’t know if I’d worry about that: Transformers made money, and that movie was a high-budget pile of junk.

His last two points are probably more solid, though — he says that unlike Lord of the Rings, which the Warcraft movie is often compared to, most people (even players of the games who skip cutscenes) would walk in having no idea what the story was about, which means the story would have to be dumbed down or just be a confusing mess. And finally, we can’t really argue with the last point: since that first piece of concept art, we haven’t heard a peep out of Legendary or Blizzard about what’s happening, so maybe the flick’s not getting made anyway.

And by the end of the piece, we’ve got to agree with Kevin: even if a big-budget worldwide movie release didn’t get made, we’d much rather have a high-quality DVD of Blizzard’s cinematics anyway (or maybe even a feature-length put together by the same department — they do awesome work). The odds are against a live-action Warcraft movie already, it seems — maybe it would be a better idea for Blizzard to just release something themselves.

 

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Armor Penetration - Why does it exist?

Armor penetration was first introduced through PvE content, and no earlier than Zul’Aman if memory serves. Its actual value when compared to other stats has always been tricky to pinpoint, due to being proportionally better the lower the armor of a target is and how much of it you have equipped, and its effect mostly hidden other than the cumulative amount listed in character sheet. It’s a somewhat rare stat, though became more common as guilds progressed further into content, and eventually arena seasons 3 and 4.

 

It’s somewhat ironic that when it was introduced to season gear, there was a community outlash about penetration negatively affecting light armored targets more than those in heavy armor. One of the developers (Kalgan, I believe) responded by saying (and I’m paraphrasing of course) that if they hadn’t introduce it to PvP gear that a problem could arise with players desiring PvE gear [with penetration] over the PvP stuff.

 

You’d think that with all its cons, or shortcomings if you will, that Blizzard would have abolished or at least abandoned the stat. Now we’re well into Wrath of the Lich King, and really to no surprise, penetration continues its existence on quite a few newer pieces of gear.

 

Ignoring all of the above, what I’m particularly concerned with now is the stat does not benefit all classes equally. It is much less effective for death knights, retribution paladins, and enhancement shamans than to those whom penetration was obviously designed for - yet they all share itemization. This is especially true with new talents such as Maelstrom Weapon and Divine Storm. We’re clearly seeing a trend where these classes are more about non-physical damage.

 

So I ask you, the developers, considering all of its shortcomings, why does penetration continue to pile onto gear? At the least, it seems to contradict all of the gear homogenization that’s being done elsewhere.

 

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Please Fix Plate Itemization  

This is in regard to itemization of physicalDPS-oriented armor from raids in the Burning Crusade, why it was flawed, and what can be done to fix the disparity.

 

What disparity, you ask? Well, if you’ve ever wondered why warriors tend to wear Mail or Leather over Plate a lot of the time… it’s not because it’s tight and sexy, but because it’s usually straight up better.

 

This is due to a major flaw in the itemization of plate gear–its points are almost always spent into only 3 dps stats, whereas leather or mail is itemized into 4 dps stats.

 

What’s the difference, you ask? Well, with the way the itemization formula works, the leather and mail is able to have more total stats on an item, despite having less of each stat. Using a DPS spreadsheet, you can get approximate weights for each stat relative to a baseline, which is strength for warriors (known as SEP–Strength Equivalence Points). While some stats are better than others, leather and mail items are often better than the plate counterparts simply due to having more stats. So let me show you a concrete example.

 

For my fury warrior in BT/SW gear, my approximate stat weights are, in SEP:

 

1 Str - 1.00, 2 AP - .909, 1 Agi - .648, 1 Hit - .576, 1 Crit - .881, 7 ArP - 1.293, 1 Haste - .848

 

I’m using BB legs, so let’s compare the upgrades from SW: Brutallus’s plate legs and Felmyst’s leather ones. We’ll ignore the sockets because it makes no significant difference–assuming you have 1 blue in your Bladed Chaos Tunic, if you were to use the plate legs, you’d have a combined 3 red gems, 1 orange, and 1 blue in the legs and T6 shoulders, and the same combined number of gems if you were to use the leather legs. The only difference would be socket bonuses–4 agi + 3 crit vs. 4 str that is, which is actually in the leather legs’ favor (by 1.235 SEP or so). Anyway, let’s get to it.

 

Felfury Legplates

Binds when picked up

Legs Plate

1735 Armor

+61 Strength (61*1.00 = 61 SEP)

+48 Stamina

Blue Socket

Red Socket

Yellow Socket

Socket Bonus: +4 Strength

Durability 120 / 120

Requires Level 70

Equip: Improves critical strike rating by 34 (1.54% @ L70). (34*.881 = 29.954 SEP)

Equip: Improves haste rating by 50 (3.17% @ L70). (50*.848 = 42.4 SEP)

 

Total SEP = 133.354

 

vs.

 

Leggings of the Immortal Night

Binds when picked up

Legs Leather

436 Armor

+41 Agility (41*.648 = 26.568 SEP)

+48 Stamina

Red Socket

Red Socket

Red Socket

Socket Bonus: +4 Agility

Durability 90 / 90

Requires Level 70

Equip: Improves hit rating by 32 (2.03% @ L70). (32*.576 = 18.432 SEP)

Equip: Increases attack power by 124. (62*.909 = 56.358 SEP)

Equip: Your attacks ignore 224 of your opponent’s armor. (32*1.293 = 41.376 SEP)

 

Total SEP = 142.734 (143.969 if you take into account the socket bonus difference).

 

So the leather legs win. Despite 3 out of 4 of those stats being relatively weak for a warrior, the sheer amount of them due to the itemization points being spent into 4 dps stats rather than 3 makes the leather legs superior to the plate ones. Furthermore, this doesn’t even take into account the benefit of the Hit rating for an already hit-starved SW warrior, as well as the increasing returns on ArP.

 

Actually switching out these items in the spreadsheet (landsoul’s) yields 2601 DPS on Brutallus with more-or-less optimal buffs with the leather legs but 2589 DPS with the plate ones. The above calculations were essentially “napkin math” to visualize the point; this is a more definitive verdict, as its based on a fairly accurate yet complex model, rather than simply stat weights (though they’re derived from the model).

 

Another downfall of plate gear in SW is that there is a fair bit more stamina than the alternatives in addition to itemizing into fewer stats. While not present on these legs, it makes even more of a difference between item choices for other slots. It’s pretty obvious (to me, anyway) why the plate DPS gear is inferior.

 

To fix this issue for future items and actually make plate desirable by plate-wearers:

 

1) Itemize it into the same amount of stats as leather and mail

 

2) Use roughly the same amount of stamina

 

3) Prioritize the stronger stats–those would be Str and Crit. Haste, Hit, and Expertise are also important, but should not all be present on every item. Currently, Armor Penetration is amazing and is the best stat, but I fear that ArP will go down into the same category as Haste/Hit/Expertise, a tier below Str and Crit, due to the change into ArP rating.

 

4) To reiterate the above, all plate dps items should have Str and Crit, with 2 of the others(or 3? if the itemization formula is capable of that for high level 80 raid epics, /shrug), and Stamina, though it’s optional. There’s a good reason the SW plate T6 is the best-itemized plate in that zone; take a lesson from it.

 

These changes to gear design should fix the problem I’ve been explaining.

 

Edit: bolded DPS stats in each item for better clarity and for an error

 

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Screenshot Folder  

Assumptions.

 

1. Your OS is Windows Vista

2. Your beta client is installed in the Program Files folder

 

If the above is true, you need to look at the link below, as Vista does not allow applications to write to the Program Files folder during regular use. This is in place to nudge software developers to write their applications with security in mind (hint hint Blizzard).

 

Paste this into a WIndows Explorer window, or into the Start Search box.

 

%userprofile%\AppData\Local\VirtualStore\Program Files\

 

There will be a folder here that matches your WotLK install, with your screenshots.

 

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Screenshot Folder  

Assumptions.

 

1. Your OS is Windows Vista

2. Your beta client is installed in the Program Files folder

 

If the above is true, you need to look at the link below, as Vista does not allow applications to write to the Program Files folder during regular use. This is in place to nudge software developers to write their applications with security in mind (hint hint Blizzard).

 

Paste this into a WIndows Explorer window, or into the Start Search box.

 

%userprofile%\AppData\Local\VirtualStore\Program Files\

 

There will be a folder here that matches your WotLK install, with your screenshots.

 

 

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Health Concern - Carpal Tunnel / Hand Pain  

I have a large concern with where the game is headed due to Spell Haste and the need to mash specific keys up to 150 times a minute to maintain a proper rotation. I currently have been suffering from pain on my fingers from having to cast Lifebloom on Live so frequently and in such a specific rotation to maintain the stacks. And now you guys have made it where I have to cast it even more frequently to be an efficient healer. In addition, on my server I’ve heard of several people leaving the game due to hand pains, including tanks and other healers.

 

So I think there’s a way around this, that would greatly aleviate the problem of having to mash the keyboard so often. Windows can detect it, and obviously it works when holding down keys to run, so programming wise this should be perfectly doable. Please make it so that to cast a spell repeatedly, I can just hold down the key. This way, I can hold Lifebloom and select different targets, and it will just cast it for me. That way Mages can hold down their normal cast button and not have to continue to press it. That way tanks can spam Devestate or whatever they do and just reach over to press the other buttons they need as they need to instead of mashmashmashmashmash Press mashmashmashmashmash Press.

 

Please, save your raiding subscribers the pain of needing to cast so often. Impliment an easier way to cast spells on a repeating basis. It’s doable, and it’s becoming a health concern for many raiders I know.

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Ret to be nerfed “to the ground”

 

Now Ret pallies, don’t panic. Ghostcrawler was joking in that quote, but it was too good not to use for a headline. As most people have figured out by now, Retribution’s damage post-patch, especially in PvP, is a little overpowered. GC says that Blizz is worried specifically about the burst damage potential, and the fact that it’s Holy damage, which resistances typically do not affect. It took them a while to diagnose this particular balance issue, because there was a bug with weapon equipping; now that that’s fixed, Blizz is in a much better position to figure exactly what needs to be done.

GC also says that they think Ret DPS is good in PvE right now. They want to make sure that sustained PvE damage is not negatively impacted, and they don’t want to over-nerf PvP either. That said, there are going to be some changes soon, “perhaps even hotfixes.” I doubt anyone is very surprised. How would you adjust the situation, dear readers?

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Christie Golden talks about Arthas, Rise of the Lich King

Our friend Medievaldragon (of Blizzplanet, who’s now posting occasionally over on World of War) got a chance to talk to author Christie Golden at BlizzCon last weekend. She’s working on a book about Arthas (which has a title now: “Rise of the Lich King”), and she chatted with MD about what kind of lore fun is going to be in those pages.

The book starts with Arthas as a ten-year-old prince, and then obviously follows his path through what we saw in Warcraft III, including all of that bad business at Quel’Thalas, and Arthas’ past with Jaina and Kael’thas (you don’t think Blizzard would bring KT back again in WotLK, do you?). Golden promises some good looks as the High Elves, too — “two very pivotal characters are elven,” she says. Including Sylvanas? We can only hope.

The book’s due out in April, sounds like it’ll be a good read, for Arthas fans especially.

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Is ‘Spirit’ too Complicated

“Spirit increases health regeneration while not in combat and mana regeneration while not casting.”

 

(1) If I am injured and I am in combat, Spirit regeneration ceases and I cannot recover health without outside aid (bandage, heal, etc).

 

(2) If I chain cast spells, Spirit regeneration ceases and I cannot recover mana without outside aid (shadow priest, talents, armor, potion, gems, etc). Yet, if I cast a spell, allow 5 seconds to pass before casting the next spell, I can recover 5 seconds worth of mana (mp5).

 

To see how complicated this is, see WoW Wiki

 

Since the class designers are trying to simplify the game so that we don’t have to go to Elitist Jerks to find out the best way to play our class, I would like to see health and mana regeneration work the same no matter if you are casting or if in combat.

 

It is obvious they would have to adjust mana costs, change some talents, etc. But wouldn’t it simplify things quite a bit?

 

Discuss.

 

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Early impressions: Your thoughts?

I’ve been busily filling out QUESTionnaires as I complete each quest, but I thought a more fleshed-out post might be valuable for the developers.

 

Some quick background: I’ve been playing WoW since the stress test beta. I’ve got 3 70’s and working on my 4th. At various points I’ve gotten very, very bored with the game, as I’m part of a small guild and hence endgame raiding wasn’t usually a legitimate option for me (which I’ve always seen as a failure of the WoW game design, and resented). Twice, my group of players have hooked up with larger guilds to pursue that content; both times have begun promisingly enough but ended in acrimonius splits. Since the last one, I’ve been in the Warhammer Online Beta (August of ‘07) and the AoC retail launch (for as long as I could stand it).

 

So, as down on WoW as I have been at times, and having taken long, direct looks at your closest competition, I’ll say this: I believe Wrath will be a far superior product for anyone save extreme niche PvPers or people who don’t want to play WoW to begin with (probably not your target audience, heh). Spoken by someone who’s been actively looking for “the next big thing”, it’s my opinion that this is a powerful statement in your favor. So, why am I making it? Here’s what’s turning me around already:

 

1. Models! My first foray into Wrath was with a copied-over level 70. Things seemed fairly pedestrian to begin - kill x of Bugs, collect Y of crates, etc. Then I got my first Uncommon set of quest rewards, and couldn’t believe the detail on the weapon models. Aesthetically speaking, the starter weapon models outstiripped many TBC epics I’ve seen, particularly the Warsong Bow. It would seem that you have a very good handle on the effect that pleasing character model aesthetics have not only on endgame raiders, but on those of us who can’t raid Illidan but also don’t want to look like escapees from the Hobo Clown Circus. This is another good step in the right direction for the game, visually speaking. Nobody wants to be a Hobo Clown.

 

2. Raid-scaling. While I haven’t experienced this myself, obviously, I can tell you that word of raid-scaling was the single biggest reason I began closely following the new expansion. Your endgame has really been large-scale (40 and 25-man) raiding, and I haven’t seen a single one since Blackwing Lair. I’d have loved to have been able to see Hyjal, and take on Illidan himself, but I despise pugging and, honestly, most of my friends feel the same - we’re simply too elitist and demanding of performance for most non-hardcore players to tolerate us for long. Yet, we simply don’t have the time to raid 30 hours a week, either. So, the idea that we can at least see truncated versions of content and have something to do in the end that doesn’t involve running the same 10-man instance for months on end, with alt after alt, is pretty compelling. This was something we’d mused about for many months; glad to see it being implemented.

 

3. The Death Knight experience is great fun. I have no intention of playing one at retail release, but I felt I’d be remiss as a tester if I didn’t fully explore the Death Knight and its starting area. I can tell you that I find the model breathtakingly beautiful in its dark and sinister way, the quests much more “flavorful” than those for any other race in the game (although Tauren and NE’s are close), the mechanics smooth and enjoyable. I’m close to the end of the Scarlet Crusdaer campaign (at least, based on the quest descriptions), and what can I say: Swooping down on an undead dragon and eating up Scarlet Crusaders was pretty damned cool.

 

I obviously have a lot more to experience, and will report back in again when I make more serious progress. However, the first few hours of gameplay is a critical time for any new expansion release - it’s either going to set the hook firmly in place, or justify growing apathy about a product . In my personal case, my growing apathy has once again been negated by immersion in a new, superior product. For me, the hook has been re-set, my WAR preorder cancelled, and barring some sort of catastrophic fail, my (and likely many of my friends) presence in WotLK likely secured.

 

I’ll be back in a week or two with an update. And thanks for letting me playtest your game, I surely do appreciate it.

 

I’d be curious to see what my fellow testers think so far. Like it? Hate it? Let’s hear it!

 

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