Volrath50

I know a lot of people hated the ZA item art direction, but I loved it. The items looked distinct, unique, and fit the instance perfectly. I think the level of success in that is indicated by my brother, who quit the game a year ago and didn't know about ZA at all commented that some of the items I was wearing "looked like they were made by trolls".

The ZA items, and now the Sunwell items really give me faith that Blizzard's art team can make items that fit the dungeon. The only other time this happened was with Naxx, all other times the item art seems pretty arbitrary.

"As surely as I live forever, when I sharpen my flashing sword and my hand grasps it in judgement, I will take vengeance on my adversaries and repay those who hate me."

 

Prinsesa

I think this is/was a symptom of item drops in general. A set of ZA gear looks like ZA gear because it all drops from ZA, and so on for Naxx and Sunwell.

It's a little difficult to justify making something like the Righteous set look thematic if the Breastplate of the Righteous drops from Steamvaults and the Helm of the Righteous drops from Mechanar.

Then again, it's a bit much to ask for a complete set to drop from a single instance's bosses, although perhaps from a single quest hub would work: Helm from Quagmirran, Chest from Warlord Kalithresh, Pants from The Black Stalker, Gloves from Ghaz'an and Shoulders from Rokmar the Crackler, then it'll make you look like a Naga.

That being said, the Crystalforge set itself feels consistent with the art direction of Tempest Keep, but it seems more people got pissed at that look than the ZA items

"We do want Sanctuary to be the tanking seal"

- Ghostcrawler

 

panny

It's okay, but I'd prefer to be able to look over it myself, rather than be treated to a cutscene. And the translocation orb at the end of MGT is really lazy. Why not have the exit lead to the entrance of Sunwell Plateau?

Fix Spirit Wolves not responding to commands.
DK/Rogue

 

Prinsesa

Lazy? Maybe. Consistent with the design? Yes.

We already have an Orb of Translocation that goes from UC to Silvermoon and back, as well as 2 other Orbs elsewhere (one in the Blood Elf starting area as part of a quest and another in Quel'danas itself inside the Sanctum).

One DOES wonder why the Sunblade doesn't simply use that Orb to invade the SSO base since it leads directly into their base, although the use of the Orb itself is not out of place, even if the actual destination feels a little wrong.

"We do want Sanctuary to be the tanking seal"

- Ghostcrawler

 

Soul

One also wonders why they don't set up an Orb of Translocation from Quel'danis to some other place instead of making you run all over the island for a lousy one-time use scroll that ports you to Shattrath City.

 

DJNW

There's an orb in the sanctum nearby that's in place of a staircase - it takes you up in real terms about... 10 feet, perhaps. Blood elves are the very definition of using magic just because you can. "Stairs? You actually expect me to walk up there, like some sort of peasant? I'd get my embroidered slippers dirty - ask one of the magisters to make one of those orb thingies."

 

Yenadar

Side Note: I actualy like Paladin Tier 5 look, though I conceed the point that on anything other than dwarves it's appeal drastically decreases. The rock elemental look isn't that bad at all.

I think their is a difference between ZA nature themed and Northrend. ZA has alot of bone, feathers, and the like, very trollish, and done quite well. If they are matching nordic appearances though, I would expect to see more fur and fur-trimmed. It could easily be a vastly different look while still falling into the 'natural' category.

Though I don't know that a heavy fur cloak classified as plate appeals to me. (Though I am sure they won't take it this far)

 

Kumar

In terms of ZA gear, the only one I have is the Talonblade, I know when I got it my fellow raid members thought it looked like a toenail with fur on it, while I personally love the look. Its nice to have two different swords with differing looks, it would also be nice to have more swords in WOLTK which Sheathe on your back instead of your sides.

 

Addled

Don't forget the AQ20/40 stuff. If anyone remembers the [Blessed Qiraji Pugio], [Blessed Qiraji Musket], [Blade of Eternal Justice], etc, all those weapons had a significant "bug" look. Even [Neretzek, The Blood Drinker] was the same design as the weapons carried by some mobs.

 

Liebestod

It's interesting that the WoW Insider link has an old Sunwell Plateau concept design thing that I haven't seen before... 7 bosses marked, including a Scourge one. I lament the fact that the Scourge don't have much of a presence on the Isle of Quel'Danas, it would've made things more interesting and diverse.

I also like their discussion of snow in Northrend... they seem to have a good grip on how to make the continent aesthetically interesting, which'll be a challenge given that the source material is much less flexible than Outland.

 

panny

Yeah, the destination is what I have an issue with. Having an enemy warp to your home base is really stupid.

Fix Spirit Wolves not responding to commands.
DK/Rogue

 

Nezralix

Who says the orb doesn't deliver you to some area that you're "magically attuned to" or something like that?

 

Prinsesa

The other Orbs are two way deals, and yet MrT's Orb brings you back to the SSO docks with no way back - there isn't any kind of "attunement" quest or process that tells you how or why the Orb would be (re)targeted to the SSO docks either.

This leads me to believe that the MrT Orb really is preprogrammed to teleport anyone who uses it to the SSO docks, which goes back to the earlier problem of the Sunblade not using it for themselves.

I think Blizzard was a little too direct in their problem-solving with that Orb.

Mana Tombs and Sethekk Halls both wrap around each other such that you only have to take a 2nd floor drop back down into the entrance after killing the boss opens a door behind him. The Mechanar has a second "exit-only" instance portal behind Pathaleon the Calculator.

Yes, the architecture had to have been a little contrived and deliberate for that to work, but it's much more believable than the current MrT Orb. An easier pill to swallow would have to teleport you back to the entrance (or close to it).

"We do want Sanctuary to be the tanking seal"

- Ghostcrawler

 

Nezralix

It's foolish to think that every instance should be designed such that the end leads straight back to the beginning. Given how painfully bland the design of basically TBC 5-man is, the last thing they need is another arbitrary constraint piled onto the list of instance requirements. If they want to afford people the convenience of an easy exit from a dungeon, then I'm more than fine with an orb at the end of it that teleports you someplace else, and focusing their efforts on making 5-mans not be so horrendously linear.

 

◊ Embar

Wasn't there an orb at the back of Blackfathom Deeps which would also teleport you out of the instance? Although I can't quite remember offhand whether it landed you at the actual town.

If you look at the MgT orb from another perspective though, the docks was THEIR area, the orb was their transport to the frontline. It's not an enemy device warping to your home base, it's an enemy device that was calibrated to warp to their fighting zones.

[sidetrack] They could have decided to send people through the orb, but given that it possibly works only on a small scale, sending one person through at once - and you end up with whichever blood elf decides to go through getting quickly annhilated on the other end. Sooner or later, whoever is in charge of the army is theoratically going to stop wasting resources by sending people through.

Having it warp out of Kael's private room to just outside the terrace would potentially be more disturbing. Imagine Kael actually wanting to get out into the sunshine instead of getting high on demonic power, and being lazy enough to create a teleport orb for that.

 

Prinsesa

I'm not saying that EVERY instance should lead you back to the beginning. Of the 16 TBC dungeons, 9 of them do this:

1. Mana-Tombs: Door behind the Nexus Prince leads you back to the first room
2. Sethekk Halls: Door behind Ikiss leads you back to the first room
3. Old Hillsbrad Foothills: Erozion teleports you back to Andormu after you slay the Epoch Hunter and he neuralyzez Thrall and Taretha
4. Underbog: Cave behind The Black Stalker leads you back to the zone portal
5. Hellfire Ramparts: Crack in the wall BEFORE Nazan/Vazruden's platform leads you back to the zone portal
6. Blood Furnace: Tunnel behind Kelidan the Breaker leads you back to the first room
7. Magister's Terrace: Aforementioned Orb of Translocation
8. Botanica: Passageway behind Warp Splinter leads you back to the first room
9. Mechanar: Second zone portal for exit only behind Pathaleon the Calculator

Of these 9, only 2 of them, Magister's Terrace and Old Hillsbrad Foothills, teleport you directly out of the area and into relatively distant place. OHB is rather justified in that Erozion is not only teleporting to another place, he's also teleporting you to another time (the present), and that your destination (back to the main Cavern itself) is plausible within the context.

Again, given the fact that most people hearth out of an instance to repair/restock/bank/etc. anyway, I don't particularly see the need for a way back to the zone portal, but the disconnect I'm having is that the MrT Orb's destination is does not seem particularly well thought-through with regards to the lore and only with regards to player convenience.

Much better explanation. I think I'll run with this.

As DJNW said before, I wouldn't put it past Kael to do just that. Blood Elves magically enchant their brooms to do their sweeping for them - creating an Orb of Translocation to get you from one end of your "house" to another would be par for the course.

"We do want Sanctuary to be the tanking seal"

- Ghostcrawler

 

Axl_Stukov

I definitely agree about that scourge boss. Hell all they had to do was make some Death Knight ride up after Brutallus dies and do some necro-magic on Madigrosa instead of just her turning into Felmyst for no real reason.

 

Liebestod

Even though I agree that the linear, winged instance system is somewhat boring, I personally do not remember fondly the Scholo PUGs that wanted to kill the Barov chick in the basement, or do a 7-hour BRD clear, or whatever else (live and dead Strat may as well have been two instances).

Personally I hope Blizz resurrects the idea of a dungeon that can be either friendly or hostile, depending. When I first did the Dragonmaw netherdrake quests I couldn't think of how cool it would've been if they sent you inside BT as some kind of instanced questing zone where you could help clean out the sewers or train netherdrakes or whatever... you'd see all the bosses, then maybe come back and kill them later without your disguise. Would've worked with Karazhan too: "Help Attumen clear the stables", "help the actors rehearse for the opera", etc. Alas.

Yea, I have to imagine that Felmyst was going to be the Scourge boss, but that was changed at the last moment for whatever reason. Maybe because it'll tie into Malygos going nuts in WotLK.

Still, would've been awesome to see the deathknight cavalry fight Brutallus or something. How about a 3-way boss fight?

 

Kumar

I actually want to see how we go from working with the Blue Dragonflight in Sunwell to fighting them in WoLTK.

 

Dancing Wu Li Master

My issue with "ZA gear" is two-fold. Firstly the 2.3 badge gear (which has no direct link to ZA at all) has matching style. Secondly, I'm not a troll. It fits the ZA theme really well, but that doesn't mean it looks good on players, especially for certain races.

 

Prinsesa

A discussion with a guildie of mine recently turned towards preparing for WOTLK itself, specifically regarding professions. That is, what mats can we stock up on right now to get a quick boost towards 450 Enchanting/Blacksmithing/What-have-you? Intrigued by the concept, I started looking toward's WoWHead's recipes to form a rudimentary plan:

Enchanting: The highest possible skill you can go is 415, at which point all current TBC enchants turn grey. Of the 5 enchants that can do this (Ring - Stats, Mongoose, Executioner, Soulfrost and Sunfire), Ring - Stats is the cheapest, although will yield no profits since you can only do it on your own gear.

Ring - Stats requires 2 Void Crystals and 2 LPS. As a Blood Elf, my enchanting is capped out at 385.

The recipe is yellow right now and goes green at 400. That's 15 yellow skill ups. With a 50% chance for a skill-up per cast, that's 30 enchants, or 60 Voids and LPS each.

At 400, the recipe goes grey at 415. That's 15 green skill ups. With a 25% chance for a skill-up per cast, that's 60 enchants, or 120 Voids and LPS each, for a total of 180 Void Crystals and Large Prismatic Shards. For a non-Blood Elf, going from 375 to 385 required 10 orange skill-ups, upping the total to 200 Void Crystals and Large Prismatic Shards.

Yes, this is relatively expensive, but with the amount of cash I'm raking in with daily quests, I have no doubt I'll have more than enough by Fall (assuming WOTLK's release by then), if I choose to pursue it.

As for Engineering, my other profession, I haven't really considered it since there are no cheap skill-ups, even in a relative sense. [Ornate Khorium Rifle] and [Stabilized Eternium Scope] are both orange until 385 (since I'm not a Gnome), but that's about it. 12 [Khorium Bar] or 6 [Felsteel Stabilizer] are both way too expensive for my tastes, even as yellow skill-ups from 385 to 395, much less green skill-ups from 395 to 405. I suppose I could push from 385 to 390 with [Felsteel Boomstick] as green skill-ups, but that's as far as I'm willing to go.

Any other ideas from fellow Engineers, or perhaps from other professions?

*I realize this might be a little oriented towards The Art of Making Gold as well, as a lookout for what people might stock up on, but I'm tackling the idea as a buyer, not as a seller.

"We do want Sanctuary to be the tanking seal"

- Ghostcrawler

 

Liebestod

I wouldn't worry too much about skilling up on accumulated mats when WotLK will probably introduce a bunch of new recipes that cheaply use new mats. It's not only simpler, but it'll probably be straight-up cheaper as well. I mean, I don't think anyone skilled up their enchanting from 300 to 320 on 20 Crusaders when WotLK came out, not when you could disenchant a random green and get a skillup off of that.

In fact, arguably Blizzard should start the new recipes at 350 skill or less... one thing that annoyed me with TBC is that it seems like most professions have a "hump" where it's quite difficult to get from 250 -> 300 skill, but then incredibly easy to get from 300 -> 340 or so. Blizz should do more to avoid that..

 

Valerys

I've been thinking about it as well, but I'm guessing WotLK will provide new enchants that are much cheaper. Also as blood elves we will have a small headstart anyway, assuming there are enchants that require skill 385.

 

songster

Aye. Or, even more rationally, it was once the equivalent of the "hotline" - for Kael's generals to warp in and out and contact him. Limited to a couple of people at a time as an obvious security measure. Of course, once it became clear they were going to lose control of the other end of the link, they destroyed the "inward" orb as they retreated. In fact, they destroyed it so comprehensively that we can't even see exactly where it used to be...

 

Metrosexuelf

Actually it was present in BWL (weapons only) and AQ (where everything had that horrible bug design). Personally I don't care for it. Weapons and armor should look interesting in their own right and maybe have a bit of a backstory/flavor to them and not necessarily take on the 'theme' of the instance they drop from.

Cooking wise I have a ton of [Enormous Barbed Gill Trout] stashed on an alt -- the recipe is yellow at 375. As far as my main professions of Enchanting and Engineering I just don't see it being worth it to raise my skill on TBC recipes when chances are there will be enough simple early WotLK recipes to create. Coldiron casings or such.