Download WOW 1.12.1 via torrent
genre: MMORPG
Version: v.1.12.1
Developer: Blizzard Entertainment
Edition type: License
Interface language: Angian
Voice language: English
- 6 GB of free hard disk space
- 1 GB RAM (512 MB Windows XP)
- Broadband Internet connection (MIN 128 kb / s)
- Windows® XP / Windows Vista® / Windows® 7
- Intel® Pentium®3 (800 MHz)
- NVIDIA® GeForce® 5600
Description:
World of Warcraft (WoW) is an MMORPG with a huge number of players, unique content, original storyline, and addicting gameplay.
Players from any corner of the Earth have the opportunity to temporarily immerse themselves in the virtual world, and go on a breathtaking adventure, perform incredible feats, and conquer the vastness of Azeroth.
The dimensions of Azeroth and Draenor first showed themselves in Warcraft I, after which they were improved in further strategy games. In the process of evolution, Warcraft I turned into WoW (World of Warcraft).
Download and install WoW 1.12.1 and many innovations await you, such as: group dungeons, raids, battlefields, many huge and beautiful locations, 8 unique races and much more!
World of Warcraft: Burning Crusade
About the game: | Minimum system requirements: | Download WoW 2.4.3 via torrent |
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| Released: 2007 Genre: MMORPG Version: v.2.4.3 Publication type: License Interface language: English / Russian |
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Description:
This is the continuation of the history of the Warcraft'a universe! In this add-on World of Warcraft Burning Crusade you have to send to the world of demons, the home of the dark orcs, called "Outland". This will be a serious test for everyone. From the moment you enter the dark portal, you find yourself in Outland, on the Hellfire Peninsula. This is the territory of the Bone Chewer Orcs. They are not very friendly, they are wild, and rely on their animal instincts in battle. Next, you have to explore many colorful territories, learn many stories and secrets. You will have to fight the true horde, engage in battle with the nagas, and defeat the main villains of Illidan and Keltas - the Sunstrider. And after the victory, you have to prevent the arrival of the most dangerous demon - Kiljiden into this world.
In WoW Burning Crusade, everything is in your hands, conquer Outland, defeat the main villains, get legendary equipment, and also reach new heights in the battles between players!
What's new?
1) Pumping up to level 70. 2) New professions Jvilry business. 3) 2 new races: Blood Elves and Draenei. 4) Added new battlefields. 5) Added arenas for battles 2x2 - 3x3 - 5x5. 6) New continent "Outland".
World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King
About the game: | Minimum system requirements: | Download WoW 4.3.4 via torrent |
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| Released: 2010 Genre: MMORPG Version: v.4.3.4 Developer: Blizzard Entertainment Publication type: License Voice language: English / Russian |
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Description:
Finally, the Lich King is defeated, and the Radiance of Dawn appeared in the sky. Everyone was celebrating the victory over the Lich King. However, they did not have long to rejoice. In the bowels of the earth, the Ancient Evil is gaining strength. He has many different names, but the most famous is Deathwing. He was in the shadows, and recovered his strength, while the inhabitants of Azeroth existed relatively calmly, and did not suspect anything about his new coming. And now he is ready to show the whole world his true strength. Soon, the vastness of Azeroth will be destroyed, and everything will crumble to ashes, in the shadow of his wings.
With Deathwing coming to World of Warcraft, Azeroth will never be the same again. Deathwing will correct the landscapes of almost all locations, reveal secrets that were very carefully hidden from the whole world. Download WoW 4.3.4 can be on our website. In this World of Warcraft expansion, players will rediscover the familiar world of Azeroth. Fight new monsters, conquer new dungeons, face legendary raid bosses.
What's new?
1) Increase the maximum level to 85. 2) Two new races: Goblins will side with the Horde, and the Worgen will side with the Alliance. 3) New combinations of race and class. 4) New high-level zones. 5) About 3500 new quests. 6) New auxiliary skill -. 7) Possibility of using air means. 8) movement throughout Azeroth, as well as in Northrend and Outland. 9) The possibility of developing guilds, the appearance of guild achievements and awards.
World of Warcraft: Mists of Pandaria
About the game: | Minimum system requirements: | Download WoW MoP 5.3 via torrent
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| Released: 2010 Genre: MMORPG Version: v.5.3 (Official) Developer: Blizzard Entertainment Publication type: License Interface language: English / Russian Voice language: English / Russian |
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Description:
After an epic battle with Deathwing, the Aspects fulfilled their mission and a new era began. The world began to gradually recover from the destruction. However, the flames of war flare up again. The new leader of the Horde, Haroche Hellscream, throws all his strength to exterminate all the enemies of the Horde, and the Alliance, in turn, responds in kind. Not much yet, a new war between the Horde and the Alliance will begin.
But suddenly, during a skirmish in the endless sea, both the Horde and the Alliance discover a new land called Pandaria. The lands of "Pandaria" are shrouded in thick fog in order to hide them and their people from all inhabitants of Azeroth. This has kept them safe from clashes, wars and disagreements, ever since the world split. The lands here are inhabited by various races, mainly by the Pandaren. When the Horde and Alliance invaded Pandaria, the Pandaren split in two, one part following the Horde and the other part of the Alliance.
However, clashes between the Alliance and the Horde led to the emergence of ancient evil forces. All the vices called
SHA.
In the struggle for power, you have to defeat all Sha, and find inner harmony in yourself, which will undoubtedly open up new horizons for improvement in the future.
All the answers you have to find on the shores of the mysterious land of "Pandaria"!
After downloading WoW MOP 5.3, you will plunge into the world of pandaren, full of harmony and new dangers. Fight SHA, and get new skills in battle. And also, you will learn new stories related to WoW.
What's new?
1) Changes that will affect all classes: The spellbook will be "cleaned up", Rotations will improve, Spells will be learned automatically, There will be several new spells, Specializations will be more developed, Now the choice of talents will be interesting! 2) New Battlegrounds: The Diamond Mines of Stranglethorn - Load Matters, Valley of Power - Killing Game, Crater of Azshara - DOTA Style Game. 3) Dungeons and Raids: Mists of Pandaria will have 3 new raid dungeons and 9 regular dungeons, 6 of which will be in Pandaria. Battles are not combat satellites. 4) Another innovation in Mists of Pandaria will be a system of battles between non-combat companions. 5) New talent system. 6) Challenge mode in the Scenarios dungeons. 7) New playable race - pandaren. 8) New -. 9) New locations, and new monsters
Is it hard to become a gaming legend? Of course not. It is enough to produce legendary games for a dozen years. Failures are prohibited, it is advisable not to delay the development time - that's the whole secret!
For the sake of interest, you can try to find a playing person who has not heard about games from Blizzard Entertainment... Impossible task. Strategists-tacticians will immediately remember Starcraft... Connoisseurs of a good fight in a near-role environment will drop a tear in the series Diablo... Even those who like to think about a logical riddle will find something to remember. for instance The lost vikings, a funny story about three "colorful" Vikings who roamed our computers in the early nineties.
However, Blizzard's most important franchise is, of course, strategy. Warcraft... With the release of the first part - Orcs and Humans- in 1994 the whole world understood: it started. Even the creators have penetrated Dune 2, in spite of the elements of the gameplay, which were frankly borrowed by the "Blizzardists". Less than a year later, as the second part - Tides of darkness- cemented the success. Having stamped the public with the addition about the adventures of the Thunder Orc, the developers took up other projects. Only in 2002 the third part of the strategy was released.
By this time, the universe of the game had been worked out in such detail that it could be used as the basis for the suddenly fashionable genre of online role-playing games. Developers from Blizzard took up the development of a new area for them (networks Battle.net and Diablo do not count) with trademark thoroughness. The company went through the full development cycle like a tank - slowly but reliably. It doesn't matter that the deadlines were slightly delayed - this has already happened, and everyone remained alive.
And it finally happened. Gold, long days of waiting, storming stores and sweeping the long-awaited box of World of warcraft... Game servers strained roared and collapsed under the influx of people willing. For several days, the developers plugged the gap, bringing the number of "kingdoms" to several dozen. Finally, everything settled down.
The game has begun.
On a compact: it's better to see World of Warcraft once than read the manual a hundred times. That is why on the enclosed CD you will find two video tours of the game illustrating the article.
Role-playing system
Well, how can you tell about an RPG without mentioning the rules by which heroes reach the heights and depths of gaming nirvana? This sacred section cannot be skipped, and here it is in front of you.
World of Warcraft uses a simple role-playing system that combines both classic levels and skills that "swing" when used.
| One polygon ... two polygons ... |
| At first glance, the graphics World of warcraft leaves a mixed impression. Moreover - strongly mixed. Inevitably, one wonders if in our enlightened times there can exist games in which heroes are made of the devil knows what: three polygons and a bow on the side. Such technological backwardness works into the hands of one of the main competitors of the game - EverQuest 2... The hero has few ways to stand out, the cat cried hairstyles and faces. And everywhere there are these models, made as if the artists were stealing polygons, dragging them in their pants through the checkpoint. Realizing perfectly well that such graphics in a delayed game can scare players away, the developers focused on other elements. They refined the animation, carefully followed the style created for Warcraft 3 and brought the world to life. The details are what makes the game so engaging. These are footprints in the shining snow, birds in the sky, swaying trees and fish floating in the water. The world of Azeroth lives on. Anyone who has seen a leopard abandon his business and begins to chase a hare through the snow will admit this. Every corner, every house here is made with love. And this attention to detail, to detail, is so captivating that low-poly, but such a "home" Azeroth becomes the nicest of all shaders in the world. |
Here the hero goes hunting or on a quest. With each killed monster and completed quest, he gets experience, that very precious XP (Experience Points). She is responsible for the growth in the level.
With the level, the requirements for the amount of experience increase exponentially, and the pumping, accordingly, slows down. But the hero does not have to (unlike the character in Lineage 2) pull out each next level from the game mechanics with his teeth. The last, sixtieth, is not an abstract dream, but a limit quite achievable in three to four weeks. This approach allows you to really play, not fight for tons of experience.
Growth in level gives an increase to the stock of health and energy, increases the basic characteristics of the character. Weapons, armor, and magic spells usually have level requirements (in addition to class requirements).
Skills only grow when used. They waved the sword - the skill grew ... to swing the sword. If you missed a blow, it doesn't matter, the defense skill will be pumped. If it happened that you were disarmed in battle, then in a few seconds, while the hero in powerlessness beats the foe with his fist, hand-to-hand skill will grow.
What do combat skills affect? Mainly, on the probability of success of the action: to reflect the blow, to break through the enemy's defense, to inflict critical damage. They grow relatively quickly: if you decide to switch from two-handed swords to one-handed maces with shields, then you won't have to suffer for a long time.
Starting from the tenth level, the character at each subsequent level receives one "talent" point. They can be spent on "features" - perks. This is already specialization, the creation of a specific profile. Usually the hero has several paths of development. For example, a paladin has an attacker for those who want to inflict more damage, a defensive one for "tanks" and a magic one. It is not necessary to immediately seek out and try on specific patterns on your character. If you wish, you can contact the NPC teacher and ask him to return the spent talent points to their place.
The most important choice
When the colorful box is on the shelf, the credit card is returned to the wallet, all the add-ons are downloaded, and the game graciously accepts your username and password ... Then it's time for the Most Important Choice. Sequentially you will have to choose a server, side (Alliance or Horde), class and race.
Did you know: each server can hold up to ten heroes. Up to fifty characters "fit" into one account.
Do you want belly or death?
Do you like the free system of battles between players or do you prefer only voluntary battles? Will the herd of orcs and trolls that trample your character while peacefully collecting the herbarium will upset you? Or maybe freedom is more important to you, such as in Ultima Online?
The answer to this question determines the type of server you go to: PvP(player versus player) or PvE(player versus environment). But before explaining the differences between them, you need to talk about the combat system in general.
There are two sides in the game that are at war: the Alliance and the Horde. Communication, alliances, teams and joint play are impossible between players of different warring parties. Only a fight, a forceful showdown is possible.
On PvE servers, no one can attack you without your explicit desire. The troll will not attack the elf, and the paladin will not be able to kill the orc unless the other side voluntarily:
Turns on the battle mode (command "/ pvp", valid for five minutes);
Will find itself within the boundaries of an enemy city;
Help his comrade who has combat mode enabled (for example, if a priest heals a fighting soldier);
Attacks someone else's NPC (for example, a settlement guard, a merchant, or a quest "distributor").
Things work differently on PvP servers. The entire area is divided into three types of lands: belonging to the Alliance, belonging to the Horde and disputed. In disputed territories, PvP is not limited. You attack, you are attacked.
On "your" territory, you are completely safe. A crowd of Alliance onlookers running after a crowd of tauren and undead and showing them obscene gestures is not at risk. The PvP mode will turn on for five minutes only if you personally intervene in the battle. But the same tauren who find themselves in foreign territory can be attacked by anyone: NPCs, strong players, or even a novice who plays the paladin.
| These funny creatures are used by high-level Nomergan gnomes. |
It is important: remember that if you, fleeing from the enemy, ran from "neutral" territory to your own, then the "PvP" badge will hang for another five minutes. Don't stop, take refuge in the hills.
There is one more type of servers - the so-called RP or "role-playing". They are no different from PvE servers, but it is understood that role-playing servers are inhabited by those who do not just play, but live their character. Before entering the role-playing server, read the wagering rules on the official website.
We long echo of each other
There are several dozen servers in the game. And opposite each you will see the "clogged" parameter. The "oldest" servers, such as the American "Warsong" or "Illidan", are heavily loaded around the clock. Others usually show moderate to light workload.
With the first instinctive gesture, the player can go to a densely populated server, where people are ... Stop! Think again: do you need a high latency signal between the computer and the server? Maybe you miss not hitting multi-second lags? Would you like to watch the optimistic message "There was a disconnection from the server" in the midst of the battle? And, finally, are you ready to stand in multi-hundred queues for half an hour during peak hours in order to get to the server?
Server crammed to capacity - not only signal latency and lags. This is also a high consumption of network traffic. With an active game among many characters, up to five megabytes and more fly away per hour. For some players, this expense can be painful. Choose a server with a medium load or go where your friends are waiting for you.
Did you know: choosing a side for the first character on PvP servers is final. If your first hero is an elf, then you can no longer make the second hero in the same "kingdom" an orc. There is no such limitation on PvE and RP servers.
Race and class
Eight races, nine classes. There is something to think about. Good for those who have personal preferences, who have long been a born warrior, an experienced trainer or a lover of throwing fireballs. The class almost completely determines the style of play, and they are all decently balanced.
Warrior(warrior) relies on armor, weapons, and uses various stances in battle. Magic is not trained - where ordinary classes have a bar of magical energy, a warrior has anger. Accumulating it in battle, he inflicts especially painful blows.
Magician(mage) is physically weak, cannot carry heavy swords and armor. But his spells are deadly to enemies. It's nice to unleash a powerful ice blizzard spell on an enemy.
Hunter(hunter) wears weak leather armor, relying on ranged weapons and loyal pets. An excellent class for lovers of our smaller brothers, although it requires a careful approach to hunting.
Robber(rogue) refers to the "combat" classes. Stealth and powerful dagger combinations give him the ability to inflict massive damage in combat.
Priest(priest) - auxiliary class. It is difficult for a team going into a high-level dungeon to do without its healing and strengthening spells.
Druids(druid) are powerful with healing spells and the ability to transform into animals such as tiger or bear.
Sorcerers(warlock) can control creatures and cast cursing spells. In addition, they summon demons to help them in battle.
Paladin(paladin) from the Alliance and shaman(shaman) Horde has hybrid classes. Paladin is a warrior with healing and enhancement options. The shaman is more versatile and "shifted" towards magic.
Races differ from each other very slightly. There are, of course, popular combinations of classes and races (elf druid, tauren shaman, undead priest), but after all the difficulties with choosing a class, race is more a matter of aesthetics.
People... Nothing outstanding, except for a slight penchant for magic. Humans have an innate ability to spot hiding characters.
Gnomes(dwarves). They are distinguished by the ability to acquire "stone" properties for a short time every three minutes - immunity to poisons, diseases and bleeding.
Dwarfs(gnomes). Dexterous small dwarfs can easily extricate themselves from the entangling spell. Engineering science is a little easier for them than for other races.
It is interesting: most dictionaries believe that "dwarf" is translated primarily as "dwarf", and only secondly as "dwarf". But with the light hand of Professor Tolkien, dwarf in fantasy is a much larger and more massive creature than gnome, and no decent translator dared to call them "dwarfs". Therefore, let's not swim against the current and call dwarves gnomes, and gnomes - dwarfs.
Night elfs... Elves have an interesting ability to "hide in the shadows" - to become invisible to enemies. Works only out of combat and only if the elf is standing still. An irreplaceable skill if you need to avoid an unwanted meeting.
Orcs... Orcs are warriors by nature - they resist the effects of stunning and can briefly empower themselves every two minutes, paying a small dose of health.
Trolls... A wounded troll can go berserk and speed up its strikes by a quarter. In addition, everything heals very quickly on trolls.
Undead... The only more or less "magical" race of the Horde. They breathe under water for a very long time, recuperate by eating enemy corpses. But the most useful skill of the undead is the innate spell of immunity to fear, sleep and charm.
Tauren... The powerful and slow tauren can stomp their feet once every two minutes and stun the enemy for two seconds.
What class and race should I choose for Virtual Worlds? I will not hide (and why hide) my attachment to the holy and altruistic classes.
A priest who has risen from the dead is original, fresh and even, as they say now, “gothic”. There's something rebellious about running around Orgrimmar with bare kneecaps flashing. But the lands of the undead and orcs are painfully gloomy and unsightly.
The Horned Tauren Shaman is a fun and versatile hero with a Native American flavor. But the huge tauren carcass covers the entire screen, and a leisurely run on the prairie quickly gets boring.
A night elf is not a bad option, but the elven lands are far removed from the main human "civilization". Elves are born on a small island near the "Horde" continent of Kalimdor.
After much trial and thought, I chose the paladin class for my hero. It's so great to bring light and good to the inhabitants of Azeroth on the butt of their beloved hammer! The paladin can easily heal himself in heavy combat while hunting alone. Paladins are very fond of in teams (the most "invited" class after priests). The game for the Warrior of Light is very simple, and the road to the high levels is visible at a glance.
It remains only to choose a race. There are two options: a gnome and a man. Gnomes are a little stronger physically, people have better magic. The appearance of the people seemed too mundane to me, and therefore I chose the gnome. There is one more plus: the squat gnome does not cover landscapes even in the third person mode.
"I will be 17 ..."
Players do not like unprincipled beating of orcs with axes (even if for the sake of a good cause). Even in the most inveterate munchkin, sometimes the desire to create something like that, and preferably not destructive, awakens. Sew a chain mail, forge a sword, mix something explosive in a retort, or even throw a fishing rod into a lake.
All professions are divided into two types: primary and secondary. A character can recruit and use all three secondary professions, but there can be only two main professions at a time. The alchemist will no longer be able to forge - for this he will have to "forget" alchemy. But it is not forbidden for an alchemist, tanner, or blacksmith to catch fish and prepare a dish from it according to the recipe from the cookbook.
Each business needs to be learned. For the initial "groundwork" the hero turns to a special NPC teacher. As the skill grows, you can buy additional recipes from teachers and the opportunity to further develop the profession.
Secondary professions
First aid. It makes it possible to construct bandages from pieces of cloth obtained in battle and use them as first-aid kits. An indispensable skill for all "non-healing" classes.
Fishing. The name speaks for itself. The fish can be used as regular food or in cooking. Details are in the Fishing Conversations below.
Cooking. Cooking isn't just an opportunity to build a couple of revitalizing meals. A well-fed hero receives an increase in characteristics for a few minutes. Becoming an advanced chef is not easy, but a well-trained chef with the right recipes and ingredients can quite match up to an aspiring alchemist.
Main professions
| The road to Azeroth is hard! |
| In order to discover the world of World of Warcraft, you need to spend well. First you need to purchase a box with a game and a unique activation key. The easiest way to do this is through the online store. The most impatient will get a distribution kit in advance (there is a big difference between the European and American releases!), And in the online store they will only buy a key with delivery by e-mail. The box costs about $ 60. To register the game, you must have a decent bank card. MasterCard or Visa Classic fit, but Visa Electron- aldeady no. After the release of the American version of the game, Russian players had to pretend to be a kangaroo in order to register on the official website: connect through an Australian proxy server and provide a fictitious “pseudo-Australian” address and phone number. With the release of the European version, the situation should change. After registering an account, you can play for exactly one month. Then you will need to pay for the subscription in two ways: either with your bank card ($ 15 per month), or by purchasing prepaid game cards in the same stores. I have two news for modem owners: good and bad. Good - World of Warcraft plays great on a modem (well, maybe I got excited about "great"). Bad news: the battles of the players on the modem are very difficult, and participation in major fights is impossible otherwise than as a punching bag. And it is difficult to use voice communication with a modem. Therefore, in order not to be upset once again, it is better to choose a sparsely populated server without PvP. |
Ore business. Provides the ability to detect and extract ore from deposits.
Herbalism. Detecting and collecting herbs.
Dressing of skins. Peeling and tanning of hides from dead animals.
Tailoring. Sewing Clothes and Bags (Cloth is required - usually dropped as loot).
Alchemy. Making magic potions (herbs required).
Leatherworking. Sewing clothes and powder flasks from skins (skins required).
Blacksmith craft. Forging weapons and armor (requires ore).
Engineering. Create explosives and useful tools for yourself and for sale (requires ore).
Conspiracies. Removing slander from enchanted items and using them to turn ordinary things into spells (requires enchanted items and magical ingredients).
The choice of basic professions is an important matter, although there is nothing dramatic here. If you look closely at the list, you will realize that many of them are worth taking in pairs. Mining - with blacksmithing, herbalism - with alchemy, dressing - with leatherwork. It makes no sense to learn how to dig ore and sew bags at the same time.
| This is how real fishermen sort things out in Azeroth. |
Some believe that the profession should be a source of income for the hero. For this reason, alchemy used to be popular until the "inflation" of potions. Someone recommends taking up sewing valuable bags and taking conspiracies into the bargain - there is always a demand for improving weapons and armor. Engineering is generally considered to be very difficult to develop. An aspiring engineer is only able to produce weak dynamite sticks. The advanced can make excellent sights for rifles and bows, long-range glasses for hunters. The great speeding up and character-boosting bracers are useful, and the mechanical squirrels are just plain fun.
You should not give in to the call of the golden calf and choose a business based on future profits. There is one very good rule: you should do what will help your character personally in development.
In World of Warcraft, the developers are very scrupulous about the question of "how to make the character see the results of his choice as soon as possible." Let's remember Lineage 2 again. There are professions there, but! First, only gnomes could do things. Secondly, in order to seriously engage in the manufacture of things, it was necessary to pump the hero to high levels for a long time and senselessly.
Here, the opposite is true. Almost always the principle is: "press the button - you will get the result." From the very first minutes of mastering the profession, the blacksmith forges shoes and sews chain mail. The tailor sews clothes, the alchemist mixes the herbs collected at the edge of the flask in a flask and receives an excellent strengthening or healing potion. Everything is very transparent and visual - try several professions in a row and take what you like best.
Paladin: path to light
First steps
On one of the bright winter days when the sun shines over the mountain tops Dun Moro, and the snow playfully silvery under its rays, in the valley Cold Ridge(Coldridge) A level 1 redheaded gnome paladin, Teemon, has appeared.
Cold Ridge is a crèche for level 1 heroes. This is where you make the first parties, get the best weapons and learn the game. It has everything for training. The valley is home to wolves and unwashed troggs. In the south, beginners will find a troll cave. NPCs with simple quests will immediately take on the player, and teachers are waiting for you in the north of the valley in the village of Anvilmar.
On a compact: a dwarf game intro, with subtitles and an afterlife explaining the operational situation in Dun Moro.
The first few levels are recruited instantly. There's nowhere to rush, it's better to take the time to get comfortable with the hammer and the basic healing spell. A little later, a paladin teacher will teach you two extremely useful tricks for a small fee.
Blessing of Might("Blessing of Strength") - Increases physical attack parameters for five minutes.
Seal of the Crusader("Seal of the Crusader") - for half a minute will speed up the attack and strengthen the hero.
These are two of the most useful spells for a budding paladin. Only one blessing and one seal can be imposed on a hero at a time. There are many of them in the game, all different - but these are the most useful.
From a young age, you will learn one more spell - Devotion aura("Light of Devotion"), which increases the armor parameter of the hero and all teammates who are nearby. It works for free and constantly, does not require magical energy. There are also several of them in the game. At one moment the hero can activate only one "Light", but if two paladins in a group turn on two different "Lights", then both will act.
At the seventh-eighth level, the "nursery" became cramped. To go from the valley to Dun Moro itself, you must overcome the cave with troggs. This is a kind of survival test. However, even a first-level hero can run through the cave if he wants to.
The Munchkin Mystery
| Everything for the native party |
| The separation of duties in a party has been around for a long time. In World of Warcraft, roles are assigned very transparently and naturally. Tank... A powerful character with high defense parameters and able to withstand many blows, hiding behind a shield. His job is to lure the monster to the team and "keep" him on himself while the others work. For the "tank", not only armor is important, but also a well-placed blow: if a monster is distracted by a magician or a curing priest (this happens), it is necessary to urgently transfer his attention (aggro) back to himself. The tanks are usually warriors or paladins. The tank can be partially replaced by hunting pets or demons summoned by sorcerers. Drummer... The task of the "damage dealer" is to inflict as much damage as possible on the monster in close combat in a short time. High protection is desirable but not required. The role of strikers is most often played by warriors, paladins with two-handed weapons and, oddly enough, robbers with their signature combinations and powerful sneak attacks. Bomber or "nuker". Usually this is a magician with powerful spells, sometimes hitting not just one monster, but over the area. Weak mages stand behind tanks and strikers, trying not to shine. If the beaten monster decided to deal with the impudent magician, the tanks should quickly convince him. Crowd Specialist or "crowd controller". On a hunt, it often happens that several powerful monsters are running towards the team at once. The revival of a monster nearby, the animals patrolling the area - all this can lead to the fact that the team "grabs" a piece that cannot be chewed. Then the specialists start working. Putting to sleep superfluous monsters, weakening, slowing down, instilling fear in them, turning into a sheep for a few seconds - this buys time for the rest. Magic classes (magician, shaman, priest, druid, sorcerer) and partly a hunter can be engaged in this important matter. Cleric. Last but not least, the character on the team. He bears a high responsibility (he got into a lag - the end of the whole team), but his popularity is also high. The cleric deals not only with healing, but also with enhancing spells (buff). The best option for a cleric is, of course, a priest. But a paladin, a shaman, and a druid will do. |
Leveling up in World of Warcraft is easier than in other games - anyone can tell you. Experienced players shared with me two secrets: the secret of fast leveling and the secret of very fast leveling.
The first secret is not to hunt just like that. Quests only. The bigger, the better. Give preference to those quests that require hunting many monsters or elite named monsters. As an experiment, following this rule, I was able to throw my paladin from the first level to the thirteenth in one day.
The second secret is loyal friends. If you organize a "brigade" with your comrades, make a full-fledged team of four or five people, connect voice communication and throw quest monsters into the asphalt with a powerful onslaught, then you can overcome twenty levels in one day.
It is interesting: in the game you can communicate in Russian - her chat understands Cyrillic. But try to make such remarks heard only by compatriots: it is very indecent to express yourself in an incomprehensible language.
Of course, with such a rush, the player loses a lot. Gaming legends and secrets remain behind the scenes. In pursuit of levels, the player will not catch the subtle spirit of Warcraft, will not be able to admire the sea sunsets, city architecture and landscapes. However, is all this necessary for the munchkins and those who are already pumping the third hero?
On a note: know how to communicate. The "/ s" prefix opens a regular chat. "/ 1" - common for the region. "/ P" - in-command. "/ G" - intra-guild. Writing "/ w Name" will send you a private message. To do this, you can also click on the player's name in the chat window.
Among the white snows ...
Behind the Cold War crossing, an operational space opened up - a huge area of Dun Moro: many small settlements, forests, snow-capped mountains and lakes. In the north, at a huge mountain, palaces began Forges(Ironforge) - the main city of the Alliance and all Eastern Kingdoms.
On a note: the world of WoW consists of several islands and two large continents: Kalimdor to the west and the Eastern Kingdoms to the east.
The cave to the east of the lake was chosen by trolls, and a little to the north the green smoke of the ancient and infamous Number gana, the former city of dwarfs. This is a famous dungeon throughout Azeroth, very popular among heroes of the thirties. It refers to "multiplying" dungeons. Each team that goes inside ends up in its own Room and does not intersect with other teams.
After admiring the training of the dwarven mortar team and raising a couple of levels on aggressive snow leopards, I went to Haranos... It is a small town with a smithy and a tavern brewery.
| Tavern. Hard day's Night. |
Inns are special places. In them, the hero can rest and gain strength. A well-rested character on a hunt gains double experience for some time.
In addition, each hero always has a teleportation stone with him. No matter how far the hero goes in search of adventure, he can always activate the stone and return to his favorite tavern in half a minute. And in which one - he chooses. It is enough to approach the innkeeper and ask him to make his establishment "home" - when teleporting you will find yourself right here.
Until the twelfth level, I walked quietly and measuredly. Quest, hunting, quest delivery, experience. North of Kharanos, you can find several settlements of the Nomer gnomes, expelled from their hometown - they give excellent tasks.
With each level I moved further and further from civilization. After the wolves, it was the turn of the cave yeti, then I went out to the frozen Iceflow to the bears and snow trolls. The developers never wanted to let me go, issuing quest after quest. The reward is valuable armor, potions and weapons. Useless things can always be sold, and useful things can be taken on.
The hunt looked like this for me.
With a two-handed hammer or mace, I would get close to the bear and cast a spell that accelerates blows (protective and reinforcing should always be “on”). I previously stunned especially strong specimens for five seconds. After the exchange of blows, the animal died.
Mischievous snow leopards are very fond of running quickly across the terrain. If such a leopard stumbles upon a hero fighting with a bear, then it is not difficult to guess who he will join. In this case, I had two options: to try to kill two animals at once or to escape, for loyalty to include a six-second spell that reflects all the blows. It is suitable only for escape, it does not allow to fight.
It is very difficult to heal under blows and bites. The blows interrupt the healing spell, and its casting is delayed two to three times. Strong monsters can even interrupt him with a blow.
On a compact: video - beating of two bears by a lone paladin.
Good for healing classes - they can heal themselves. Everyone else has to use aids. Healing potions can be drunk right in the battle, but after using it, you can drink "on the second" only after a while.
When the fight dies down, health will slowly recover to its maximum. Those who have the first aid skill after the battle will personally bandage themselves with a bandage made of cloth. For treatment, food is used: the character sits on the ground and eats leisurely - while health grows faster than usual. Drinks (water, milk) restore magical energy. It is very useful for a paladin, especially playing in a group, to have a couple of glasses of milk or magic restoration potions with him.
Your prey is my prey
All animals in the game are divided into three groups: aggressive, non-aggressive and "living creatures". Aggressive ones attack as soon as the hero is within a certain radius, which depends on the ratio of their levels - weak animals are reluctant to attack a strong hero. Non-aggressive start attacks only in response to the first hit. A simple example is the ubiquitous boars.
"Animals" (critter) - bunnies, squirrels, gophers, cows, do not respond to attacks, die quickly and do not give either experience or prey.
After the death of the monster, the prey either drops out (the corpse starts to sparkle), or does not drop out. Sometimes it happens that the sparkle signals that the corpse can be robbed, but nothing turns out to be inside. I never found any sense in this.
Beasts usually throw out skins, teeth, entrails, and sometimes armored weapons. Humanoids (trolls, troggs, gnomes) usually "give" money and pieces of cloth. Tailors for clothes, others for bandages.
The basic sixteen-place bag fills up very quickly. If you find additional bags in the loot, it's a big luck. If there are no bags, then it makes sense to save up a few dozen silver coins and run off to the auction. Six-seat bags are decent, but a beginner by level ten can afford to buy a couple of them.
Stealing prey and stealing experience in the game is impossible in principle. Whoever hit first (an individual or a team) gets the whole experience. There is, however, subtlety - if a weak hero hits, and then a strong one helps him, then the amount of experience for the beast will decrease. You cannot take someone else's prey from a killed animal. What's yours is yours.
Mages and other characters weak in melee cannot hunt "in several runs", that is, beat, and then run back to the side, waiting for the beast to calm down. Returning to the place of deployment, the monster that has not caught up with the hero will instantly restore its health.
Death of a hero
This happens in any MMORPG. I did not calculate the strength, I made a mistake with the spell, got into a lag, met with the Horde magician, the result is the corpse of a hero. The only difference between the games is how the system punishes the player for carelessness. World of Warcraft is extremely kind to the hero. All that he will lose after death is a little experience and a few additional coins for repairing weapons with armor.
After death, you have the opportunity to wait for revival or "release the spirit." Then the spirit of the hero finds himself in a ghostly world, reminiscent of special effects from the famous film by Peter Jackson. Under the black whirlwind of the sky in a colorless world, the hero finds himself in the cemetery, where the winged embodiment of Death rises above him.
Now the unlucky character has two options: ask Death to resurrect - in this case, the hero will weaken for a short time, the items will wear out by a quarter and a small share of experience from the level will be lost. In spite of the Koreans from NCSoft, the game will not roll you back to the previous level if the experience in the "strip" is not enough.
The second way out: right in the ghostly world, run to the place of your death and be reborn. Experience in this case is not lost, and things wear out only by ten percent.
Here are some interesting facts about the spirit life in the game:
Shadows see each other. In a harsh battle, you can stumble into the graveyard on your own teammates;
The shadow moves a quarter faster than the living character. Elves after death turn into a marsh flame (wisp) and move one and a half times faster than usual;
The ghost cannot fly around obstacles, but easily runs on foot on the water;
There are monsters in the game who not only see ghosts, but also attack them (it looks funny from the side of living heroes - a monster fighting a void). "Twice corpse" returns to the cemetery and is forced to either revive there, or repeat the whole path again.
On a compact: watch a shocking video tour of the world of shadows.
Fishing Dialogues
Fishing was taught to me by the fishermen at the Ice Lake near Numbergan. There, for a small fee, I bought a fishing rod, and in between quests I went to the ice hole. There was nothing interesting about the lake itself. After the swim, my gnome settled down comfortably on the ice and dropped the line.
This is a simple matter: you sit and look at the float for half a minute. At a certain moment, he begins to twitch - bite. You pull it out and, if the fish doesn’t come off, you look at what you caught. The fish can be eaten immediately. Occasionally, unusual objects came across: clubs, magic wands, shirts. Everything is for sale. There was no point in selling fish: NPCs priced it at one copper coin apiece. If I had a recipe, spices, and a fire on hand, fish could be a nutritious dish. But the cook didn't come out of me, and I gave up cooking.
After a long hunt for the Nergan gnome invaders, a former comrade-in-arms, a human paladin named Quasi, approached me. Silently we stood on the shore and cast our fishing rods. With each fish caught, skill grew, the bags slowly filled.
Finally, I decided to check if a fishing rod could be useful for something else. It turns out that it can. And before running to the Forge, Quasi and I had a duel on fishing rods.
On a compact: an episode with a fishing elf.
Underground Halls of the Forge
There is something inherent in the fact that the fortress of the dwarves became the capital of the Alliance. Giant stone halls, huge statues and the largest forge in Azeroth symbolize the resilience of the Dwarves and the entire Alliance. Compared to this piedmont fortress, even a human city Stormy(Stormwind) looks like just a small suburb, which is five minutes away by train.
To the entrance to the Forge you need to climb a winding mountain road. The gate with a huge statue of a dwarf is striking in scale. Griffins sweep overhead, and stern guards, clad in metal, stand on either side. Before my eyes, they killed a robber troll trying to get into the city.
Inside, the feeling of majesty only intensifies. Stone walls rise up, and the ceiling is lost somewhere above. Players scurry about in the main square, guards and vendors slowly roam, and below, under a protective grid, an orange melt slowly floats in the floor. Forge is a metallurgical city.
The main square attracts players for a reason - from here they can get to the bank, to the tavern and to the famous auction (by the way, the only one in the Alliance).
On a compact: gnome striptease on the main square of the Forge.
The forge is built in the shape of a circle. If you go around it clockwise, you will find yourself in the Court of Magic (where the teachers of paladins live), the amazing Museum of the Hall of Explorers, Tinkerton (the temporary home of the Nergan gnomes), and, finally, on the Military Court. In the center of the city, among the shops, a huge smithy rises, where molten metal is continuously poured from huge ladles. King Magni Bronzebeard lives here, and immediately everyone can use the griffin public transport.
Each part of the city deserves a separate story. If you are in the Hall of Explorers, be sure to take a look at the exhibits from the history of Azeroth: dragon skeletons, reagents, orc catapult. Take a look at the Hall of Weapons, where gnomish tanks and aircraft are kept.
The Great Forge in the city center is one of the main attractions of Azeroth. Bow down in my name to Magni Bronzebeard and visit the dwarves in Tinkerton. Directly from Tinkerton, you can easily reach the human capital via the Metro.
Yes, you heard right. During the war, the dwarfs built a subway so that the dwarves could send reinforcements to the people. It has survived to this day. If you wish, you can cover all the way from Forge to Stormovaya through the tunnel on foot, but the journey can be delayed. Take the train and view the bottom of the bay through the glass dome on the way.
The forge, built by the hands of the gnomes, is a real triumph of reason over nature. You fall in love with this city immediately and without a trace. Even at high levels, players return from raids to the blacksmith's halls as home.
On a compact: detailed video tour of the Forge.
But who is the hare?
Since I started talking about the city, one cannot but tell about its financial institutions.
The bank is simple: for a few silver coins, you are given a set of safe deposit boxes. There you can put reagents, ore and what may be useful in the future. If all the cells are full, you can buy another one, but each subsequent one costs ten times more.
As for money, their character always carries with him, they do not delay his pocket. There are gold, silver and copper coins in the game. One hundred copper is equal to one silver. One hundred silver - gold. Not that money was easy to get - I saw my first gold only at the fifteenth level. But the newcomers cannot be said to be very beggarly in the game.
It is interesting: to split a bunch of items into two parts or select the amount of money, use Shift and the left mouse button. In order not only to name the item in the sale message, but to give a detailed description of it, use the same combination from the chat window.
The auction is a great opportunity to inexpensively buy everything a hero might need. Weapons, armor, reagents, potions, recipes, drinks, food - and everything can be bought at extremely low prices, several times lower than what NPC sellers ask for. And this, not to mention the fact that at the auction you can find unique items that you will never buy from sellers.
For those who want to sell a thing, an auction is an excellent opportunity to get good money for a unique sword or gun: again, several times more than the sellers will give for them.
The auction works according to a simple principle: the seller puts the goods up for sale. The starting price is offered automatically, but it can be set by anyone. The seller determines the time of the auction - two hours, eight or a day. The auction takes a deposit from the seller - the longer the auction lasts, the more it is. If desired, the seller sets an instant redemption price, at which the item immediately goes to the one who offered the required amount for it.
The buyer comes to the auction and searches for an item among several sections. It offers a filter by "applicability" and by name. Having found the desired item, he places a bet and waits. If the bid is not interrupted, the item will be sent to the buyer by mail at the end of the auction, and the seller (also by mail) receives money and a deposit. If no one has coveted the item, no bids have been made, it is returned by mail to the seller, and the auction takes the deposit for itself.
It is interesting: mailboxes are located near taverns, and with their help you can send money and items not only to other players, but also to yourself - for example, from one character to another (provided that both are created on the same server).
Never buy weapons and armor from an NPC. The auction has everything at once and is much cheaper than in stores. It is enough to place a bet and wait a bit.
Starting from the tenth level, it is sometimes worth putting up unnecessary items found in the loot for auction. In order to estimate whether an item will be in demand or not, try to put yourself in the shoes of the buyer. Think about the level of your customer, what means he has, and what he needs most. Experience shows that people most actively take good weapons at low prices. Place a high-quality "plus" shotgun found in the belly of a wild boar at the price offered by the auction and set the ransom price exactly one and a half times more. It is possible that you will receive the message "Item sold" already leaving the city, and you will have to run to the mailbox for money. Armor is in slightly less demand - it makes sense to put up for auction only very good chain mail.
If your profession in the game is related to manufacturing, try selling your products. Strong and inexpensive hammers and swords will be taken from blacksmiths. Tailors will offer bags for sale, and alchemists will offer augmenting and healing potions.
It is interesting: There are only three auctions in Azeroth. One is in Ironforge, the other is in the Orc capital of Orgrimmar. The third is located in the neutral Gadgetzan Goblin Settlement, and can be used by players of both the Alliance and the Horde.
To avoid the flooding of auctions with the same type of items that the heroes receive as a reward for quests, the developers have introduced a "binding" system. Quest items received by the player can neither be put up for auction, nor sold to another hero. The item is "tied" to a person, and the only way to benefit from it is to hand it over to an NPC seller for little money. Other items "bind" to the character only when used (pick up, put on, activate, etc.). If you do not accidentally "tie" them to yourself, then you can sell them to another player, but, of course, only once.
It is interesting: if you accidentally handed over the wrong thing to the seller (for example, you missed and accidentally sold your sword for a penny), then you have the opportunity to immediately buy it back at the same price.
The famous blacksmith from Dun Moro
It is easy to be a blacksmith, but there is little benefit to a beginner from this profession. If the blacksmith is supported and supplied with supplies by a powerful guild, and he distributes products to his comrades in return, then his work is justified. But a lone blacksmith will not benefit either himself or people.
Having bought a pickaxe, I tracked down ore deposits in the vastness of the Eastern Kingdoms. They appear at the foothills of mountains and hills at random and disappear when you harvest them from them in the form of stones, copper ore and, if you're lucky, gems. More advanced aluminum ore is found where a beginner cannot get it, so you have to make do with what you have.
Smelting and forging can only be done near anvils. The simplest things - bracers, boots - require only ore for themselves. For forging weapons, you need to buy additive powders from NPC merchants. Selling products profitably is a whole problem. Hammers go neither wobbly nor roll, powerful swords are very popular, but their manufacture requires ore, a bunch of purchased powder and gems. Unfortunately, in the game, you can almost always find or buy at the auction an item that will be better than what you can, in principle, forge yourself.
At first I forged armor for myself, but then I realized that with the help of quests and the auction, you can buy much more durable, reliable and useful things. The only thing that really came in handy was the sharpening stones for balancing and sharpening weapons. I made them out of ordinary stones and pieces of cloth and then used them on my hammer. The “balanced” hammer hits much harder than usual for half an hour.
Definitely, it is difficult for a novice blacksmith without a guild to break through to the heights of skill and glory.
On a compact: the process of mining ore on the shores of Lake Lok and forging metal by a keen elf.
This is us, chemists!
Alchemy combined with herbalism is easy even for a beginner. No need to look for cities, bonfires and anvils. It is enough just to buy several dozen inexpensive glass bottles from the seller of chemical supplies - this is the only consumable for a novice chemist.
A chemist walks through forests and fields, does quests and hunts monsters. And in the meantime, activating the ability to detect plants on the map, he looks: is there any flower growing where. Finding a silver leaf, chamomile, or earth root, the chemist carefully cuts the plant and puts it in a bag. Here on the field, he can turn these plants into a useful elixir with a slight movement of his hand. Elixirs of health regeneration and magical energy will be useful in any battle. Strengthening potions increase the characteristics, the hero's defense, and accelerate the regeneration. And each such potion works for an hour. Very simple and for a beginner - extremely useful.
This is a very valuable opportunity - right on the hunt in an open field, mix the ingredients and get exactly the elixir you need. There is practically nothing to replace these elixirs with, they are extremely rare in quest rewards (unlike weapons and armor), so even a novice alchemist / herbalist gets an instant return from his profession.
The publication
At the twelfth level, I was summoned by the priests and paladins of the Court of Magic and given the first short series of special "paladin" quests. Having received a revive spell as a reward for the last quest, I decided to get out of the snowy Dun Moro.
To the east of the Forge are several settlements, a trogg-occupied quarry (a good place for blacksmiths) and two exits to the area Loch Modan- north and south. But I didn't get to Lok right away, deciding to first settle in the vicinity of the human capital. The easiest way to get from Smithy to Stormovaya is by metro. Two free three-car trains run regularly between cities, breaking through the underground and underwater tunnels in just a minute.
It is interesting: at the "station" the gnome can give you a quest to catch three rats. If you pick it up, but do not perform it, you will have a sonorous and melodic flute in your hands.
In Stormy, you will find yourself in a smoke-covered dwarf quarter. Come out to the river and take a look at the white-stone fortress walls and bridges of the city. Beautiful, majestic, but useless; The main trouble of the Storm is that there is no auction here, and therefore it is empty like a ghost town. Inhabitants walk along its streets, children run after each other, but there are no living players in the city. More often than not, only a handful of people are huddled in the shopping district, and crowded at the "terminal" of griffins. As you exit the city, you will find yourself in a vast Elvin forest... Famous throughout Azeroth since the first part of "Warcraft" Northshire abbey to the east of the city, you'll find this "nursery" region for human characters. If you wish, visit the village of Goldshire in the south, but do not take the quests - you have already outgrown them. Your road lies west in Sunset edge(Westfall).
Before running there, you should return to Stormovaya and find a cleverly hidden passage to the griffin breeder to the left of the gate (as viewed from inside the city). Talk to him, so that later from the Sunset Land on the griffin, you can easily return to Stormy.
It is interesting: if you call out to the NPC several times in a row, then you can wait for funny answers. This tradition goes back to the days of Warcraft II.
May people not have wings
Griffins are the most spectacular form of public transport in the game. In beauty and majesty, neither the elven dumb hippogriffs nor the bats of the Horde can match them. A ticket for a griffin costs money, but flights are available even for a novice player, and after the fifteenth level you simply stop noticing these expenses. The air transport network is complex: for a flight from the Sunset Land to Loch Modan, for example, transfers will be required.
You can use the griffin not earlier than you will find two communicating "airfields" on the ground, having reached them on foot. The Dwarven Capital communicates with Loch Modan and Storm. From there, if you wish (and if you have open paths), you can easily fly to Sunset Rim in the west and Lakeshire in the east. Long-distance flights are not yet available to you, since the path to the "airfields" lies through very unfriendly lands.
On a compact: flight on a griffin over the expanses of Dun Moro, Elvin forest and in the vicinity of two cities: Forge and Storm.
The second type of public transport in the game is ships. They are free and run regularly from port to port. The closest and most accessible port of the Eastern Kingdoms is located on the southern headland of the continent, in Trophy Bay.
Cthulhu must die
Sunset Land is the perfect location for a Level 12 hero. Up to about the eighteenth level, you don't have to get out of there at all. There are enough monsters and quests for development.
This is a very picturesque region. Eternal autumn reigns here, harvest time. The Sunset Rim is bordered by the Great Sea, which separates the two continents. The entire coastline is lodged with vicious fish-eyed murlocs, but if you wish, you can go fishing there. Having fought off the northern murlocs (the weakest), I swam over a small promontory and threw my line into the sea.
Scarecrow golems roam unhurriedly among the haystacks on compressed fields - an excellent source of experience and the object of several quests. Wolves run in the fields, harmful vultures fly. Occasionally there are unexpectedly powerful demons in the form of desert vortices. They move slowly, so you can easily avoid an unpleasant meeting.
Whatever one may say, World of Warcraft encourages individualism. Teams easily get together to complete a couple of quests together, and just as easily disperse. As soon as two comrades break away from each other by a couple of levels and a few quests, it becomes difficult to play together.
The Sunset Land is a great place to team up and complete several quests in a row together. In the center of the area, near the high tower, next to the griffin driver, the local NPC militia distributes the task, and a little to the south, under the abandoned city, you can find an excellent dungeon for a well-coordinated group of adventurers. The hunter Apani became my first friend. At the request of a local farmer, we drove golems into the fields. The hunter marked the beast with a special mark, opened fire with a gun and lowered the wolf. I ran after the golem and finished it off, trying not to get it to Apani.
On a compact: Fight field golems in the fields of the Sunset Ridge in a team with the hunter and his faithful wolf.
In a series of tasks from the people's militia of the Sunset Land, several more people have joined us. Here's what the resulting group looked like:
Timon, the gallant red paladin;
Metty, another gallant dwarf paladin, dark-haired;
Apani, a tough hunter;
Danger, the clever elf robber;
Kodwalander, a warrior in the wings.
Five members of the group is the maximum allowed. The fighting classes gathered in the group determined the style of play - rough, soldier-like, simple as a Siberian pim, and at the same time (two paladins!) Very reliable.
On disk: Danger finishes off a lone wolf on his way to the lighthouse.
Someone might say that a large group means little money, rare loot and small portions of experience for monsters. Do not believe it! First of all, a large group is a skating rink that systematically rolls all enemies into the ground and speeds up the passage of quests. The reward for the quest is not divided by the number of participants, everyone gets a full portion of experience, and this plays a decisive role.
Rogues with red bandanas (quest items) shook as we approached. All three tasks were completed, and Apani, as an experienced beta tester, offered to go to the lighthouse to take a couple of quests from the ghost of the old captain.
The lighthouse stands on an island at the southern end of the coast. As I said, murlocs lived along the coast - fishmen, inspired by Lovecraft's wild imagination. These slouching and croaking citizens of acid shades have been around since Warcraft 3.
Today they did not yet know that the sword of Damocles was hanging over their heads. The ghost captain gave an unambiguous order to clear the coast: kill so many murlocs and destroy their leader. And we took it literally.
Cthulhu fans will remember this day for a long time. I hesitated at the lighthouse, and when I approached the group, they were already chopping the "fish" to shreds with might and main, concentrating on counting the number of murlocs killed.
The fish-eyed leader, who came running to the noise, immediately fell down when the robber and paladins pounced on him. In short breaks between battles, the paladins renewed the team's strengthening spells, and in battle they stopped to heal their companion, not paying attention to the blows pouring in from all sides.
On disk: the coolest moments of the famous cthulhucid without cuts.
The loot in the team is shared honestly. A situation in which the most nimble "ninja" secretly take everything in their hands is impossible. Most often the following scheme is used: ordinary objects are handed out sequentially "in a circle". Rare ones are played - the players throw a virtual "die", and the thing goes to the lucky one.
The money is always divided equally for the whole team. Experience is also shared among everyone, while the amount of experience gained by the team is less than if one person played. But given the huge chunks of XP from quests, that doesn't matter.
As a hurricane, our team marched from south to north along the entire coast, leaving behind the bodies of murlocs and dead crabs. The spirit of the captain gave us experience and earned things according to the contract. The Commonwealth has disintegrated.
The twenties were approaching.
You will go to the right, you will be rich
Sooner or later, each hero faces the question: in which direction to develop, where to invest talent points?
For a paladin, the answer is not hard to find if you roughly imagine which style of play is closer to you. There are three areas of development in total, and there is definitely not enough talent for all three.
Protection... By investing talent in defensive abilities, you slowly but surely move the character towards the "tank". Many features are tied to improving the possession of the shield. You can increase the specific effectiveness of armor and protective spells.
Holy. It is easy to guess that this is the direction for those who want to heal and protect more effectively. Improved healing, increased protective blessing and focus, preventing spell breakdown on hits (recommended for everyone, even solo players!),
Retribution. This direction increases the damage that the paladin deals in battle. Useful for fans of single leveling and for those who want to play the role of "drummer" in the team. This is where the popular Seal of the Crusader and Blessing of Power improve.
For my paladin's first talent points, I chose the path of Retribution. Since I prefer to use two-handed weapons, the upgraded armor from the Fiefdom of Defense won't hurt. It is worth taking concentration from Holiness in order to heal yourself without leaving the cash register.
Hello Horde
My first encounter with the Horde was in the vicinity of Loch Modan. This area is well suited for a level eighteenth or twentieth character. In the north, it borders on disputed territories, from where the Horde raids very often resort to smash the dwarven outposts and the city of Felsamar.
In the center of Lok Modan there is a very beautiful Lok Lake, in which funny dinosaurs live. Local quests involve the extermination of mountain troggs and the ogre family.
On a compact: battle with cannibals in team with an elf hunter and his tiger.
I started a series of quests about trying to blow up the northern dam on the lake. To identify the gunpowder found at the dam, the engineer sent me to Wetland (Wetlands) to a specialist in explosives. “Run along the road and don't stop anywhere,” he said. - "The mission is deadly."
By this time, I already knew that Wetshire was a contested territory dominated by unbridled PvP. But I did not know that at this very moment orcs, trolls, tauren and undead are going on a raid. By sheer coincidence, they chose Wetshire as the road to Loch Modan.
Without too much trouble, my paladin crossed the cave dividing the two regions and received the Proud Alliance badge on his portrait. So far, everything is going well - evil monsters rarely come out on the high road. Then - another cave, a narrow road between the mountains and the last adit separating the Modan Mountains from the Wetlands plains.
I was collected and focused. Daylight was already visible ahead. And suddenly in the opening appeared the bulky figures of the kodo dinosaurs, on which the tauren sat. Orcs, goblins, and several dead wizards dashed behind them.
Frankly, I did not even notice how my hero in the next second turned one hundred and eighty degrees and ran back through the adit. But where could I compete with the kodo. In a few seconds, the entire raid ran over my lifeless body. Chainmail is not very protective against an arrow, especially if it is aimed between your eyes.
And, lying on my belly, I realized that the quest would not be completed that day.
On disk: the tragic moment of the death of the paladin under the hooves of the tauren.
Defense of the Lakeside City
In the life of every hero of the twentieth level, there comes a moment when he outgrows the safe regions of the Alliance, and he has to go out into the open spaces of disputed areas. One of these places is the lakeside Red ridge(Redridge), which got its name from the characteristic red clay in the local mountains. In the center is Lake Everstill and the town of Lakeshire. The easiest way to get to Red Ridge is from the Stormwind area, if you walk through the entire Elvin Forest to the west.
Remembering the orcs, I tried not to go to the Red Ridge unnecessarily, but then I grew bolder and even visited the lakeside town.
On that day, my paladin wandered aimlessly through the eastern part of Red Ridge, not yet knowing that a huge Horde raid was coming from the southeast. Having bumped into a group of training duelists in the town of Three Corners, I stopped to watch.
On disk: watch a comic duel at the gates of the Sunset Land between a powerful elf rogue and a weak paladin.
Seeing an alien (all the duelists were from the same guild), one of the characters challenged me to battle and won. While I was writing in the chat window: "Ah, it's not fair to take advantage of ten levels!" - something happened. All four bully men suddenly stopped and began to look at something behind my back.
("Attention, a major raid of the horde is heading for Lakeshire," appeared in the regional chat.)
Before I had time to look back and see out of the corner of my eye a dead magician running towards us, a powerful spell drove me into the ground. A fiery rain began, and black arrows fell from the sky, piercing the ground. A clearing by the hill stood right in the path of the raid. Dozens of orcs, tauren, trolls and the dead fled towards the hillside beyond which lay Lakeshire.
The duelists were all dead.
Fortunately, the cemetery was right behind the hill, and in a few seconds I was back to life. The rearguard of the raid fled along a nearby road. Me and Pandaren (one of the duelists who was reborn after death), hid behind a stone and carefully watched the running dead
The general chat was heated with messages:
- Reporting, the raid is moving towards the bridge over the lake. I'm dead, but I keep watching them, welcome.
- Which side?
"The Red Ridge Mountains are Attacked."
- All newbies, run from the city to the hills - they are coming !!!
- I already ran away.
- Prepare your defenses - we must stop them at all costs.
"Quiet Lake Attacked."
- My God, how many are there!
"The Red Ridge Mountains are Attacked."
A skirmish ensued at the roadside tree, and in search of spectacular shots for the readers of "LKI" I ran to him. Out of nowhere, the noble knights who had come out were finishing off the dead man who was lagging behind the main group. Having dealt with the unfortunate, they jumped on their horses and rushed along the road to the lake, where at that moment the NPC guards with their last strength defended the bridge in front of the city.
I picked up the video camera, threw it on my shoulder and rushed after ... And suddenly it began it.
I used to think that such spectacular moments only happen in films.
On the left and right, knights began to overtake me, dozens of Alliance knights of all races and classes. Some rode on horses, others fled, spreading into tigers.
There were many, up to a hundred, and I still cannot understand where they all suddenly came from. Chat thundered: "Attack !!!" When I crossed the hill, the battle at the bridge was already over. The last black magicians perished under the blows of the Alliance. Bodies were strewn everywhere. It was difficult to understand whether the entire Horde had perished or fled. Volunteer mop-up teams inspected the town's tavern.
- Everything is clear! Long live the Alliance!
On disk: Full coverage of Lakeshire, from duels at Three Corners to bridge defense and city cleansing.
Left idle, a squad of more than fifty high-level heroes began to quietly dissolve. Some left through the portals created with their own hands, others used the griffins here on the shore.
Someone threw a cry, which was immediately picked up:
- All - to the Trophy Bay!
Then I did not know yet what this bay is famous for.
Orcs are like tigers
I am surprisingly lucky in Horde raids. Actually, Red Ridge is a pretty safe place, and from the twentieth level I settled in the city by the lake. The sun, the lake, swimming, children-fishermen distribute quests ...
To the north of the city you can find excellent Psoglavians, and in the east there is a fortress Black Rock occupied by the orcs. A team of five people quickly assembled on the bridge mastered only the approaches to the fortress. Black Orcs are extremely serious comrades, they support each other and combine strength with magic. Attempts to enter the fortress have failed, not to mention defeating the orc leader.
Those who did not have time to escape from the shamans in time died. Difficulty running away with an immobilizing curse on your feet. I have just begun to master the "liberating" paladin spells.
On a compact: team fight with the Black Rock Orcs.
A strange story happened after the exhausted team broke up. On the road between Black Rock and Lakeshire, a level 40 tiger suddenly appeared. He behaved strangely and uncharacteristically for a stupid animal: he ran along the road and attacked newcomers. It is easy to escape from an ordinary spider, typical of those places, or a vulture, using a spell. Sooner or later, the beast will realize that it has gone too far from the hunting territory, and will return back.
| Orcs and "Cosmos" |
| The World of Warcraft game is designed in such a way that you can attach interfaces to it "from the outside". The most popular interface modification is called Cosmos... Place it without hesitation - it really makes the game very much easier. Here are just the most basic changes that the modification makes. There are many additional slots for the quick use of spells, items and skills. The original twelve cells on one screen are very few. Automatic spellcasting: now, in battle, it is enough to click once on a healing spell (for example) for the character to cast it on himself. You will see how many minutes and seconds are left until the end of the strengthening spells. In a special window, you will see your level of "damage per second" in battles. The "quick extraction" system will automatically place the extraction window under the mouse pointer so that you do not jerk your hand in vain. The "Quest Assistant" will give a summary of all taken quests in one small window, so that you can see their progress. A huge menu will allow you to customize the game interface as it suits you personally. Cosmos really gives the player a serious edge over those who don't use it. Blizzard looks askance at modifications balancing on the line between fair and dishonest play, but does not prohibit it. You can download Cosmos from here: www.cosmosui.org, or take from our disk. Development is ongoing, the modification is regularly supplemented and updated. |
The tiger was chasing me and biting a good half of the way. The protective spell was over, I could not endlessly heal myself under the blows of the tiger's paws. The beast lagged behind only on the hill in front of Lakeshire.
The animal attacked not only me, but other characters as well. A murmur arose in the general chat. It turned out that the tiger not only cannot be killed - it is generally impossible to attack it. Once again, going up to the tiger and highlighting it, I realized what was the matter: the animal was under someone's control (advanced hunters have the ability to inhabit animals).
The conclusion suggested itself: somewhere nearby the Horde hunter was hiding and having fun, chasing the heroes along the road with a tiger. A strange game bug or hack made it impossible to respond to the harassment of the striped beast.
After long attempts to cope with the annoying beast, the heroes came to the conclusion that it is necessary to submit an application to the game masters: "The more statements there are, the faster they will react." A second question arose: which line to apply: a glitch, problems with a monster? They agreed on "hindrance from the other player."
The submitted application hangs at the top of the screen in the form of a "ticket". The wizards, as they work, get to him and solve the problem. That time I never got an answer.
Imagine my surprise when the next day I received an email from Blizzard with explanations, the essence of which boiled down to the following: “Don't think bad about us. We care about clients, just this time we didn't have time to catch you. We have sorted out your case, so now everyone is tip-top. "
I’m even afraid to imagine what they did to that unfortunate hunter who decided to joke. Ever since Diablo 2, Blizzard masters have been known as people who first ban and then start asking questions.
Two powerful dead mages appeared in the vicinity of Black Rock and began to kill random travelers. Several times the dwarf on a black fiery mare drove them away, and each time they returned.
My level twentieth paladin watched from afar as two ghouls rip to shreds an Alliance warrior who had turned up under his arm. Suddenly I thought, "How would a real warrior of light act in my place?" - and decided to play the role. With a cry, I rushed at one magician and hit him several times with a hammer.
Fifty-level mages, stunned by such insolence, cast spells, but I briskly dashed away, while putting on a protective blessing. The spells bounced, but I didn't have time to run far.
On a compact: you will see firsthand the brave deed of the paladin and the surprised faces of the dead sorcerers.
But even after death, I remained loyal to the Alliance. My disembodied ghost, having come running to the place of the hero's death, carefully watched the movements of the black magicians and informed the heroic gnome about their actions on the night mare.
On a compact: report from the other world - a dead paladin spies on the Horde warlocks.
Sunset at Pirate Bay
Running past the heroes crowding at the doors of the Forge, I witnessed a discussion of professions:
- ... No, not just sticks of dynamite. Engineers can also make mechanical squirrels, the engineer explained.
- And what are these proteins for? Someone asked. - I heard that they interrupt the attention of the monsters.
- No no. A squirrel is like a cat or a parrot from Trophy Bay: it runs after you and does nothing.
“Almost,” said a passing elf. “If you’re a robber, then you’re getting hit in the ears because of her.”
They all laughed.
When the heroes dispersed, I asked the engineer:
- I have heard more than once about this very Bay of Trophies. What is he so famous for?
“Oh, this is a beautiful spot on the southern tip of Stranglethorn Point. The southernmost point of the Eastern Kingdoms. A neutral pirate settlement that goblins maintain. From there, ships travel to Kalimdor across the Great Sea.
- Great! How to go there?
The engineer looked around at my twenty-first level and said:
- Forget about it, sonny, until you grow up to at least the thirtieth level. You will have to go through a foggy forest and a promontory. Do you know what level the monsters are there? You don't even know such numbers.
- Horde robbers roam the roads there. They will sneak up and tear you to pieces. They will simply be interested in whether you die on the first strike or not.
- Are you generally a hunter or something more unconventional?
“I’m a paladin. And I will risk it!
Pirate Bay beckoned with countless treasures and green parrots. To begin with, I flew to the autumn Sunset Territory, making a transfer in the city of people.
From there I moved east into the gloomy and neutral Misty Forest, which lives up to its name. A gloom thickened around me. The level of monsters on the side of the road increased as I deeper into the forest. In the center of the forest, at a bend, I turned south, towards the headland. And then something happened that I was so afraid of: two powerful orcs were slowly riding towards me on wargs.
In desperation, I waved my hand ("/ wave"). One of the orcs growled something indistinctly in response, waved his hand, and both drove by.
Has carried ...
Down to the very Choking Thorn(Stranglethorn) I never met anyone else. Before Gulf of Trophies(Booty Bay) and the goblin town, there was only this long tropical promontory with suspension bridges over the turbulent rivers to overcome. It turned out to be the most difficult. Trying to take a shortcut, I buried myself in a dwelling of powerful cannibals and carnivorous dinosaurs. Having carefully revived by the river, I fell into the teeth of crocodiles, and only the third time was I able to return to the road.
Tigers chased me several times. Unfriendly glances looked sideways from the side of the gorilla. Having passed the turn into the arena (I didn’t want to know who was fighting there), I quietly reached a narrow cave and walked along creaky boards into Trophyev Bay.
Here you are ...
Here, in this pirate village, is the only place in the area where you can meet an orc and at the same time stay alive. Fights between the Alliance and the Horde erupt here constantly, but green goblins-guards try to keep order and attack those who attack first.
I met on the footpaths of the city waving at me the dead, fussy goblins and tauren steadily stomping somewhere. We could communicate only with gestures: I did not know the Orcish language, they did not know mine.
Amazing place. Only here there is a tavern for both warring parties. On its roof stands both a gnome with griffins and an orc with wyverns. A hundred meters from the pier, on the Janeiro cliff, there is a huge stone goblin in a very characteristic welcoming pose. The not friendly giant Mokrash of an incredible level also lives there.
If you dive into the sea and swim towards the rising sun, then sooner or later the hero will swim to the end of the shelf, where the bottom drops abruptly into the depths. The game will not let you go there: a character who has swum too far dies.
A sailing ship regularly sails to the pier of the bay to disembark guests and take everyone to Kalimdor. Boarding it, I was the only passenger.
The sailboat took me to Ratchet. Having disembarked at the pier, I found myself for the first time on the territory of the Horde. According to the map, Durotar, home to the orcs and goblins, was just a stone's throw away. But I did not dare to go ashore and returned by ship to my native Eastern Kingdoms.
The battles with the orcs are yet to come. And in memory of the Bay of Trophies, I bought a green Senegalese parrot in a shop around the corner.
Dicklamer:
This article sets out the history of the MMO game World of Warcraft.
You can find the history of the Warcraft universe, or rather, the 1st, 2nd and 3rd volumes of the "Chronicle of Warcraft".
A very brief history of the world has been described.
Several years ago, on the Gamasutra website, game developers compiled the top 10 best games of the first decade of the 21st century. World of Warcraft took the first place in this ranking.
The rationale for the decision was not only polished design and gameplay, elements of which were borrowed from almost all game genres. The game became a breakthrough in the MMO genre itself, opening it to the general public. The game set the standard for MMO projects and became a reference point for developers trying to replicate its success. And offline games on the PC platform got a boost and became more popular. Its impact on the industry, gamers, and even non-gaming culture has been great, albeit ambiguous. It is played not only by ordinary gamers, but also by politicians, cultural figures, sports stars and the pop scene. Humans meet in Azeroth and get married in the real world. Players paint pictures, edit machinima, write fanfiction and cosplay, maintain resources and blogs. For several million people, this game has become more than a game.
World of Warcraft celebrates its tenth anniversary. This is a lot for a game project. Some MMO projects that were considered "killers of WoW" have already collapsed. Despite the fact that the subscriber base has slowly dried up over the past four years, after the release of Warlords of Draenor, Blizzard reported having 10 million subscribers. That is, the population of Azeroth is now comparable to the population of a small European country. In total, more than thirty million people have passed through World of Warcraft.
What were these fourteen years like? Below is a brief history of the game, which combines edited posts from the "WoW - Story in Patch" series, as well as my other materials from my blog and texts on the game that were published on other resources.
Check out the video below why Legion has become one of the best add-ons to the game.
So let's go.
Development stage, 1999-2004
When exactly the development of the game began, we are unlikely to know. Although this screen shows that the development was carried out already in 1999.
Let me remind you that in 1999 one of the pillars of the MMO genre, Everquest, was released. Like Ultima Online, eka was aimed at hardcore nerds, but the up-and-coming genre certainly caught the eye of Blizzard.
The game was announced on September 2, 2001. Big boss from Blizzard, Bill Ropper flew to London for ECTS, among other things to make an announcement of the company's new project. By then, Blizzards were already major league players, a hit company. RTS Warcraft, Diablo1 / 2, Starcraft - these games became cornerstones in their genres and the company was looked upon as the industry leader. In London, many were waiting for the announcement of Starcraft II (naive, right?). When Ropper said that the company was developing an MMO, the reaction was mixed. At the time, MMOs were a niche genre. Some have wondered if the developers understand what they are getting themselves into? Judging by the first months after the launch of the game, they did not understand well. Nevertheless, they got involved. This is how WoW appeared before the eyes of a slightly dumbfounded audience.
Time passed, the blizzards threw in screenshots and videos, promised when it is done, and quietly did the job. In April 2002, the team joined the ranks of hardcore players from Everquest. Rob Pardo, Alex Afrasiabi, Jeff Kaplan are all experienced MMO players. The move was correct and laid the foundations for the success of the game in the initial period. In principle, we can talk a lot and for a long time about this time (and maybe we will come back to this topic), but perhaps it is better to quote from an interview with Rob Pardo, which he gave five years ago.
“… It was early 2004, February somewhere. There was already a sense of the atmosphere in the game, it had its own style and concept of the gameplay focused on completing tasks, but the character could only reach 15th level. By that time, most of the play areas already existed, but those that were designed for a level above the 15th were empty.
How much we have done in 9 months!
During this time, a tremendous amount of work has been done. For example, not all classes were present in the game yet: there were no hunters and druids, and robbers were heavily overworked. Consider that three classes had to be created from scratch. In addition, not all major game systems were ready: although the combat system was present, it had to be completely redesigned in the last 9 months. The game mechanics and work of characteristics have been completely changed. Much of what creates the spirit of the game - the work of dodging and parrying - has been changed.
There was a system of guilds and chats, but this was the only way to communicate with other players. There was no auction house, no post office, no talent, no battlegrounds, no honor points. When I came to the department, it was supposed to develop the PvP system, but we quickly realized that this would have to wait. Based on feedback from players who participated in the internal alpha and beta testing, there was a lack of character customization options. Some have complained, for example, that their warrior is no different from any other. And it was not so much about the external differences, so much about the identical gameplay for all: the experience of passing was the same for all ... "
World of warcraft
World of Warcraft release
The game was released on November 21, 2004 in the United States. It took several months for the game to reach European users, and only in February 2005 the first European servers were opened.
So what was WoW 1.1.x like? Two continents, Kalimdor and the Eastern Kingdoms. The maximum level is 60. Stratholme was designed for 10 people and the main part of the 5ppl instances of the Old World was ready to receive guests. Two raid instances, Molten Core and Onyxia's Lair ... It's probably easier to say what was not in the release, what is now taken for granted. There were no summoning stones near the instances, they got to the entrances on foot. Moreover, even the search channel for the group was absent. There were only auction houses in Ironforge and Ogre. There were no guild banks. The griffins flew only to the nearest station, where the player dismounted and chose the desired point on the route. And so over and over again. Personal flying mounts were only dreamed of. There were no battlegrounds and Arena, PvP was reduced to spontaneous skirmishes in open locations. There were no instances like Maraudon and Dire Maul. There were no shamans from the Alliance and no paladins from the Horde. There were no daily quests.
The list will be long, but I think that you got a rough idea of the "vanilla", which you started to play almost ten years ago. What happened next?
Patch 1.2.0 Mysterious of Maraudon
Release (US): December 14, 2004
The first "vanilla" content patch to add a 5ppl Maradona instance in the Wasteland to the game. Here, in massive caves, Princess Teredras and Cenarius' first son, Zayetar, live, who deviated from the path of the Keeper of the Grove and succumbed to the vicious influence of the elements of the earth associated with the Old Gods. They gave rise to the genus of centaurs and for many centuries ruled the caves of Maradona.
Designed for players level 40-49, Maradona was typical of those times - massive, with a lot of trash and a decent number of bosses. Even in a nerfed form, it took three hours to complete it. True, we should pay tribute to the developers - the instance turned out to be great.
Patch 1.3.0 Ruins of Dire Maul
Release (US): March 7, 2005
The second content patch of WoW, introduced another "classic" instance - Dire Maul (Dire Maul) in Feralas. Before it was inhabited by satyrs and ogres, the city in the center of Feralas was called Eldre'Thalas. The Night Elves dwelt in it. Built centuries ago, the city of Eldre'Thalas reliably protected the secrets of Queen Azshara. The city was destroyed during the Great Schism, but even its ruins are amazing. Its three wings are inhabited by many different kinds of creatures, including Highborne ghosts, satyrs, and ogres. Remnants of the Night Elves, members of the Shen'dralar sect, have also survived. The instance was designed for players of levels 55-60.
Other major innovations:
- the first outdoor bosses, the killing of which required the efforts of a large group of players. Thus, Azuregos appeared in Azshara, and Lord Kazzak in the Blasted Lands;
- Meeting Stone, which were supposed to help players find suitable group members; with their help, it is not yet possible to summon (summon to an instance) other members of the group;
- for instances, we have introduced a limit on the number of players:
- Molten Core and Onyxia's Lair - 40 people;
- Black Mountain Peak - 15 people;
- Forgotten City - 5 people;
- The rest of the instances - 10 people;
Patch 1.4.0. Call to War
Release (US): April 8, 2005
The main innovation of the patch is the change in the PvP system in terms of the introduction of ranks. Depending on the player's PvP activity, he could receive different ranks for killing other players.
Patch 1.5.0. Battlegrounds
Another excerpt from an interview with Tom Chilton:
"- Last question. You have been working on this game for 6 years now. What is your most memorable moment?
- It is difficult to single out one such moment. What comes to mind first, of course, is the release of new games. World of Warcraft, Burning Crusade and Wrath of the Lich King released. As for the updates, I remember the appearance of the battlegrounds - I still remember the first day of their existence. Before that, PvP battles were completely ill-conceived and haphazard, almost meaningless: no awards for victories and no sense of satisfaction, except moral: they say, ha, how am I! .. And compare with the first battle in Alterac Valley or Warsong Gulch, when you you fight for real, and then you see the feedback from other players ... "
The first battlegrounds (Warsong Gulch and Alterac Valley) appeared in patch 1.5.
Patch 1.6.0. Assult of Balckwing Lair
The content patch brought new raids in Blackrock Mountain. Advanced players who had already farmed Ragnaros were offered eight bosses with Nefarian, Deathwing's son, as their final opponent. In Black Mountain, another boss has appeared, equal in scale to Ragnaros and is in constant war with him.
In addition, patch 1.6.0 brought the Dark Moon Fair and battlemasters into the game, which made it possible to queue up on the battlefield in any city, and not run to the portal that leads there.
This is how vanilla WoW was in the first months of its existence in terms of content. Not bad, let's put it this way. There was a lot of content, pumping was slow. The average casual player has been crawling to cap for several months. For hardcore players, raids on forty bodies were another challenge, and two items from the boss also did not contribute much to quick dressing, so the shouts of "give more content !!! 11" were not heard so often.
But from an organizational point of view, the game slipped in all respects. As already mentioned above, the Blizzards did not understand very well what they were getting themselves into. The demand for boxes with the game in the first months was, let's face it, excitement. The delivery times of these boxes even had to be cut, because in addition to boxes, servers are also needed. As the developers later admitted that they did not expect this.
September 2005. WoW was approaching its first anniversary. The players mastered the content, the developers looked at the players and also learned. Another excerpt from an interview with one of the leading developers, Tom Chilton, about those days.
“… - We had little idea what the so-called“ casual ”wants to get at the advanced levels of the game.
- Then in online games and did not hear about "casual".
- That's it.
- And when did this approach take shape?
- I think during the time of Zul'Gurub. Then we began to understand that not everyone can organize 40 people, let alone lead them to success. At that time, there were many small guilds that also wanted to master the final content, so they endlessly passed the Upper Black Mountain and could not advance anywhere else - further development was ordered to them. Then we began to divide the updates into those in which new dungeons for small guilds will open, and those in which there will be a raid zone for hardcore players ... ”.
Patch 1.7.0 Rise of the Blood God
The content patch is based on Zul'Gurub, the first 20-man raid instance in WoW. Instance was the first blizzard move towards casuals, filling the gap between UBRS (Upper Black Mountain), Scholomance, Stratholme and the massive 40 Molten Core. Zul'Gurub was a relatively small raid - six required and four optional bosses. In it, novice raiders not only dressed, but also gained raiding experience. True, veterans say that the "intermediate link" did not work out, the instance remained difficult for players without raid training.
In patch 4.1, this raid was creatively reworked into a five-person instance.
Other innovations:
- Warsong Gulch and Alterac are adding another battleground - Arathi Basin. For the Gorge and Arathi, brackets are introduced at the following levels - 20-29, 30-39, 40-49, 50-59, 60;
- A weekly Stranglethorn Vale Fishing Challenge opens for peace lovers;
- now, before buying a thing, you can see how it will look on the character.
Patch 1.8.0 Dragons of Nightmare
Release (US): October 10, 2005
Emerald Dream. He was first mentioned in Warcraft III. After the War of the Ancients, Malfurion retired there along with the druids and Tyrande summoned him back in order to resist the invasion of the Burning Legion.
He knows little about this space. The Emerald Dream is the "reference" version of Azeroth created by the Titans. Primordial, untouched by intelligent activity, wars and disasters. This is how the world was at the dawn of centuries. Then came the trolls, tauren, elves and other races. Sargeras decided to crush the planet for himself and after the battle with the Burning Legion, a single Kalimdor split into several parts. Then other sentient beings appeared, including aliens from other planets - orcs and draenei. The Emerald Dream has remained unchanged throughout the history of Azeroth.
There is an interesting phrase in Wikipedia. Malfurion says that the Dream is multi-layered and has levels - unfinished parts of the world. The Titans made some sketches that did not go into business, but it was a pity to throw it in the trash. Isn't the Emerald Dream some kind of digital copy of Azeroth, but the "unfinished versions" that have not reached the status of the approved project documentation on which the world was built - working files of the program written by the Titans.
During the development of the original game, it was planned that the Emerald Dream would become an endgame in vanilla. Back in 2003, Tigol said that this is a really cool place.
At the end of 2005, the developers kept plans for the Emerald Dream. In any case, the appearance of four Dragons from Ysera's flock was considered as a prologue to the storyline of the Emerald Dream. Crazy and aggressive towards all living things, Dragons appeared near the Trees, with portals to the Emerald Dream. Before the release of the first expansion, we thought that this would be the main theme. Moreover, especially curious players found a way to get into the Emerald Dream, which was contained in the game files. Only by the release of Cataclysm and Richard Knaak's novel "Malfurion" did it become clear that Metzen's comrades had put a fat end to the Emerald Dream.
However, Metzen still has one more epic theme - the Old Gods and Titans, where he unleashed his fantasy to the fullest already in patch 1.9.
Patch 1.9.0 "The Gates of Ahn'Qiraj"
After the War of the Ancients, one of the opponents of the Titans, the Old God K'Thun, was thrown into Silithus, where he remained in a coma for thousands of years, gathering strength and preparing to return to the surface. As the conductors of his will, he chose the primitive creatures, the Silithids, from which he brought the Kiraja race, endowing them with reason and will. The Qiraji built a fortress in the south of Silithus and began to prepare for the conquest of Kalimdor and the coming of their master K'Tun. The Qiraj raided the lands of Kalimdor, causing a lot of trouble for the elves, who eventually erected the Scarab Wall to protect the rest of the world from the Qiraj. In the last War of the Shifting Sands, the Elves and Dragons drove the Qiraj back to their city and sealed the Gate. For all their wisdom, they did not know that by doing so they made it easier for K'Tun - now he could calmly prepare for the next war with the peoples of Azeroth.
Centuries passed and the heroes of Azeroth decided to print the Gate and give battle to the invaders ...
The highlight of patch 1.9.0 was the massive raid zone, the entrance to which was located in the south of Silithus. Rather, there were two raids. The first, Ruins of An'Qiraj, continued to "casualize" the raid content and accommodated 20 people. The second was developed for those who have already gone through fire, water and Molten Core and BWL copper pipes. Temple of An'Qiraj, another 40-person raid. The final boss of the last raid was the Old God K'thun. The bosses in An'Qirazh were more difficult than in previous instances.
But in order to get into the raid zone, it was necessary not only to be equipped according to the latest fashion. The opening of the Gate of An'Qiraj was preceded by the large-scale The War Effort - a global event, during which players had to collect and donate resources. Lots of resources. To open the gate, it was necessary to complete a difficult quest to restore the Scepter of the Shifting Sands. The quest could only be completed by the top raid guilds. For example, one of the tasks required not only to defeat Nefarian from the BWL, but also to do it within 5 hours after the raiders talked to Valeastraz.
Neither before nor after in the game there was such an event as the Opening of the An'Qirazh Gate. Is this good or bad? Such events are sorely lacking in the game. Yes, the Battle of the Wrathgate was well organized, but it's much more interesting to take part in a large-scale event yourself.
Patch 1.9 made significant changes to the economic system of the game. The auction houses of the factions are tied into a single is. A neutral "black" goblin market appeared, where factions could traded among themselves. The trading system has taken on the form that we know now.
For fans of PvP, it became possible to queue up on all three battlefields at once.
The raid instance resets calendar has undergone a major overhaul. Molten Core, Blackwing Lair, and Temple of An'Qiraj were updated once a week. Ruins of An'Qiraj, Zul'Gurub and Onyxia's Lair every three days.
Patch 1.10.0 Stroms of Azeroth
Release (US): March 28, 2006
This patch didn’t bring any more end-game content, but it nevertheless introduced some very remarkable things into the game. First, weather has finally arrived in the world of Azeroth. It would seem a trifle, but still important and creating a certain atmosphere in the game.
Another change concerned flights. Previously, in order to move from point A to point D, it was necessary to fly from A to B, dismount, again sit on the griffin and choose point C, at point C it was dropped from the griffin and we finally chose point D. Now imagine how much then toiled so that get from Tanaris to Winterspring. In patch 1.10.0, the flight from A to D was non-stop.
For 60s, a useful thing was provided in the patch. Now the experience that they received for completing quests did not disappear, but was converted into gold.
Raid content has increased, but apparently not many people have seen it. Obviously, in order to make life easier for the freshly baked 60-cam bliz, they improved the loot in instances by 5-10 people and introduced a new Dungeon Sets 2. The second set was an upgrade in relation to the first and could be obtained by completing quests in instances.
Patch 1.11.0 "Shadow of the Necropolis"
He was one of the members of the Supreme Council of Mages of the Kirin Tor, a powerful order of mages and wizards. His colleagues did not share his fascination with the mysteries of necromancy, and he wanted to know more. The Lich King, then still composed of only Ner'zhul, recognized a perspective shot in the mighty magician. Ultimately, Kel'Thuzad ended up in Northrend, where he served the King. Later, Kel'Thuzad was killed by Artas when he found out what happened to the inhabitants of the town of Brill. When Arthas himself switched to "the dark side of power" Kel'Thuzad, he resurrected him, forever desecrating the waters of Silvermoon City. The place of his dwelling (as well as of the undead subordinates to him) was the former nerubian necropolis - Naxxramas, extracted from the underground by the magic of the Lich King.
Half a year has passed since the introduction of An'Qiraj, and Blizzard delighted hardcore gamers with another furious raid. The pyramid of Naxxramas appeared in the sky above blazing Stratholme. The Original Naxxramas, or Nax-40, was the hardest-to-find instance of the Vanilla era. To complete it, players were required in Tier 2-2.5, raid sets from Blackwing Lair and Ahn'Qiraj. Of course, not everyone should be dressed like that.
It is no wonder that Nax-40 turned out to be content that a scanty number of guilds could go through to the end. According to some estimates, about one percent of all players were able to overcome it. Even during The Burning Crusade, the raid required 25-30 well-equipped players, and the Four Horsemen of Nax-40 was considered the most difficult encounter in the game.
However, then not only Naxxramas appeared in Azeroth, but other necropolises as well. During this World Event, fortresses flew across Azeroth and spawned the undead players were fighting.
Patch 1.12.0 Drums of War
The main innovation of this patch is the introduction of cross-real battlegrounds. Players from different servers gathered on the BG and, of course, much faster than it was when the groups were formed from the players of the same server.
Let's summarize. For two years, the game developers have added a lot of content, and changed a number of game mechanics, improved the interface, and introduced convenient innovations. The success of the game in the first two years of its existence was phenomenal - at the beginning of 2007, before the release of The Burning Crusade, the audience exceeded 8 million people. Despite the fact that the endgame was made for hardcore players, leveling up to 60 took a lot of time.
World of Warcraft: The Burning Crusade
The first expansion to WoW was announced at Blizzcon 2005. The fact that the Burning Legion theme would be central was not a surprise, although the Emerald Dream was also set. In the files, players found both Outland and the Emerald Dream. We settled on Outland and the Burning Legion. RTS Wacraft 3, a shock game from the Blizzard series, was dedicated to exactly this confrontation between the peoples of Azeroth and the army of Sargeras. It was 2007 and many of those who played in Warcraft III Reign of Chaos, as well as in the sequel to The Frozen Throne, remembered these stories. So from a marketing point of view, the move was correct.
What did The Burning Crusade bring to the gaming universe? Outland is the wreckage of a world once called Draenor and destroyed by the magic of Ner'zhul, an orc shaman who became a conductor of Sargeras' will. The world, home to the orcs and the exiled draenei, has become a patchwork quilt of unknown territories straying into one another. New zones and instances have appeared in the Old World. Medivh Tower, one of the most mysterious places in Azeroth, has become a raid instance.
The mysterious Caverns of Time opened in Tanaris, giving access to a whole group of 5ppl. In one instance, we had to help Medivh, and in the other - Thrall. The caves have really become a great find for designers.
Lore TVS was experimental and somewhat provocative. Yes, in the Old World, the mysterious Medivh Tower became available for everyone to visit, but still this piece of content remained traditional fantasy. But take the draenei. Humanoids with horns and hooves are associated with devils, evil creatures and running the affairs of the underworld. Here, the horned-hoofed race took the side of the conditionally positive Alliance. True, for this, Metzen had to rewrite a fair chunk of the history of the world. The draenei were originally eredar, a sinister race that was first defeated by Sargeras, but then served him after his fall. In the new version of the history of the world, the eredar were at first good guys, and it was Sargeras who spoiled them. Of the three leaders of the eredar, Archimonde, Kil'jaeden, and Velen, two have become his main henchmen. Velen did not succumb to the promises of Sargeras and took part of the people literally into outer space. They left their home planet and ... became draenei. The "cosmic" lore of TVS did not end there, but the "technocratic fantasy" of WoW deserves a separate discussion.
The matter was not limited to content. The level cap has grown to level 70. Two new races have appeared in the game, in addition to the already mentioned draenei, blood elves have joined the ranks of the Horde. They did this because a significant part of the players refused to play Horde characters due to aesthetic considerations. At the time, the Horde did not have many cute races. Orcs, tauren, Forsaken, trolls looked warlike, yes, but they clearly had more fangs and horns than the Alliance. And the girl characters were not much different from the boy characters.
Aside from purely aesthetic goals, this innovation gave the Alliance shamans and the Horde paladins. While developing the addon, Blizzard made Outland without seams and glitches, therefore, flying mounts finally appeared. Sockets for precious stones have now appeared in things, which in turn had to be made by someone - this is how jewelers appeared in Azeroth.
The concept of endgame has changed dramatically. Raids on 40 people are a thing of the past. Only large guilds could organize them, and hardcore guilds could lead to success. Raids were introduced in two formats - for 10 and 25 people. True, the system was not yet what it became in WotLK. The raids on ten people were Karazhan and Zul'Aman, who was introduced much later. Everything else was intended for more severe guys who are used to walking in a large company. But this was another step towards meeting casuals.
Second, there are “heroic” versions of instances for five people. They went to the 70th and, as the veterans say, they were more difficult than the "heroics" of all the other add-ons. By the way, the 5ppl themselves became shorter and many of them were built according to the "wings" scheme - that is, geographically, the instance was located in one place, but was split into several separate parts.
In the release, TVS opened such raids as Karazhan, Lair of Gruul and Magtheridon, Serpent's Sanctuary, Tempest Keep and Hyjal. Moreover, in order to get into the raid, not only equipment was required, but also the key that was given for completing the quest chain. Some quests could only be completed in a group. So, for example, to access Karazhan, the player went through the Dark Labyrinth, Arkatraz, Steam Dungeon, and also something in the Caverns of Time. Further more fun - in the Serpentine Sanctuary was not allowed without completed quests in the heroic version of the Prison, as well as in the Lair of Gruul and Karazhan. And in order to get into the heroic versions of the dungeons, you had to have a certain level of reputation with the factions. In general, it was difficult to get into the instance from the street just like that, even into the heroic 5ppl.
And now a little more detail about what happened in the period from January 2007 to November 2008. The January release was preceded by patches 2.0.1 and 2.0.3, which were not add-ons, but introduced changes to game mechanics and classes.
Patch 2.0.1 "Before the storm" (Before Strom)
- new branches of talents and, accordingly, new talents;
- the group search interface has been changed;
- there was a new PvP-parameter in items - "resilence", which reduced the chance of "hitting" the enemy's critical hit and the amount of damage received.; The honor system for PvP activities was radically changed. It was simply reset to zero. As a consolation, the players were given the opportunity to wear the highest title over the head of an avatar, which was obtained in the course of a bullshit, honor farm;
- Arena. A new format of PvP battles has been introduced, in which players have the opportunity to choose teams 2? 2, 3? 3 and 5? 5.
Later, in November 2009, Rob Pardo admitted that the introduction of the Arena was a mistake.
“You also asked about the most serious mistake ... if we talk about mistakes in game design, then it is important to note that in fact, we never developed WoW as a platform for esports, but there was a desire to improve this part of the game, and consumer demand did not lag behind. That is why we decided to create the Arena. Now I am no longer sure that such a move was reasonable and correct.
We designed the game and classes without considering the need for serious balance. We were just adding something new, so it's really difficult to work on the balance right now. It's impossible to even say for sure if WoW is a co-op pve game or if it focuses on PvP content. The team of balancers is constantly changing something in the game system, the game in general is constantly changing, and the crowd of players who prefer pve looks at it all and can not understand why the class they preferred from time to time becomes different. We didn't foresee how much work would have to be put into making the gameplay even a little more balanced. If I managed to get into a time when no one had even heard of WoW, I would change the rules of the game so that it is less dependent on the influence of esports, and if I did not, I would at least try to declare that this influence it does not matter. Now WoW is a very complicated game and we are constantly trying to figure out what we have done ourselves. "
Nevertheless, Arena has become popular and this component of WoW has become a standalone game with its own tournaments, stars and prize pools.
Patch 2.0.3 The Burning Crusade
Another pre-TVS patch that fixed some bugs and started an event dedicated to the opening of the Dark Portal. Hordes of monsters poured out of the gates, and Lord Kazaak, who instilled fear in Blasted Lands, went to the other side, to Draenor, leaving his deputy Kruul.
World of Warcraft: The Burning Crusade Release
The add-on officially launched on January 16, 2007. Dry numbers say that 2.4 million copies of the game were sold in the first day. In the first month - 3.5. The excitement that accompanied the start of sales was high. People were queuing up in the evening, waiting for stores to open at midnight to run home at breakneck speed, install the add-on and go through the Dark Portal and find themselves ... in a crowded and lagging starting area. However, this did not bother true fans.
Patch 2.1 Black Temple
The add-on animation cutscene unequivocally hinted that Illidan would be the main villain of the add-on. Another good guy who has gone over to the dark side of the force. The story of Malfurion's twin brother is familiar to those who played Warcraft III Reign of Chaos and The Frozen Thorne expansion. A sibling, moreover, a twin brother of Malfurion, who did not stand the test of power and ultimately became a demon.
In TVS, he took a fancy to the Black Temple, which was once Karabor, the temple of the draenei. The massive complex, which was both a fortress and a temple, passed from hand to hand several times. The orcs of Gul'dan drove out the draenei, settling in the Black Temple, but they were driven out by the Burning Legion. Ultimately, these were driven out by Illidan.
The instance was positioned as the final one in the TBC raid content chain and contained nine bosses, including Illidan. In fact, prior to patch 2.4.0, when the Sunwell appeared, killing Illidan was the high point of a raider's career in those days. True, given the complexity of the TVS content, few have reached it. According to the statistics of www.guildprogress.com, Illidan was able to kill ~ 15% of the guilds and this is taking into account the nerf in the 3.0.2 patch.
However, this raid is still interesting, because this is where the legendary blades of Azinoth fall. Now the instance can solo any 100 in half an hour. So if you have a character capable of carrying this weapon - try it, try your luck. The weapon is very beautiful.
In addition, patch 2.1.0 introduced the following into the game:
- druids received a budget option for air travel - a "flying form" that could be learned by completing quests in the Settec Halls;
- the first dragon in the game, the Nether Dragon, has become available to players. Now, after completing the quest chain, you could start farming your reputation in order to finally get one of the most beautiful flying mounts in the game. Even now, in spite of the fact that the number of flying dragons has increased, non-serdrakes are still popular among collectors;
- a new arena was introduced for the pvpesher - in the ruins of Lordaeron.
It is interesting to compare the structure and order of the endgame content in TBC and WotLK. In WotLK and subsequent expansions, the shooting ranges were introduced sequentially, one by one. Each new patch is a new tier of raids. TVS was launched with two shooting ranges (T4 and T5), and six months later T6 was introduced. Six months after the start of the add-on, the endgame existed in the game in the full spectrum.
Was this the right strategy? Perhaps for that time, yes, because the raids were more difficult and the speed of development was far from the same as it is now. Even the "heroics" of Outland were quite complex content, more demanding than the "heroics" of other add-ons. Unless the cataclysmic "fives" were given a light in the first month after the release.
In fact, raid bosses then existed only in the hardmod format. The statistics of guildprogress.com, said that the content of T4 (Lair of Gruul and Magtheridon) was mastered by no more than a third of the players. Someone by the time the Black Temple came out was ready to go there, and someone else had not passed Karazhan. The previously introduced raids remained relevant until the release of the new add-on precisely because they were difficult and, in fact, it was possible to dress only in them. Such intermediate options as, for example, the "Zandalariki" of patch 4.1 or "Test of the Champion", with an attachment equal in level to the "ten" of Ulduar did not exist then. Only in the latest patch 2.4.0, badges were used to buy things equal in level to the raid kit.
On the other hand, the change in the system led to the fact that in later additions we had a situation where previous raids were "killed" by new ones. So, luxurious Ulduar was ruined by the gray "Trial of the Crusader". Throne of Thunder was more fortunate, but the Bliz could have launched a Siege in November and October, and I think that by then the Throne would have continued to delight.
Perhaps it was precisely because the content was difficult in the fall of 2007 that the developers released Zul'Aman, a tier 4 raid. A bit illogical, but nonetheless. Obviously, a lot of small guilds were stuck in Karazhan and they also needed to be given some kind of entertainment. However, more on that later, let's go in order.
Patch 2.2.0. Voice Chat
Release date: September 25, 2007
The patch introduced voice communication capabilities to the game, as well as some changes in the balance of classes. The benefits of real-time voice communication, especially in raiding or arena fights, are not worth describing. However, personally, I have never used the voice chat function from Blizzards. As far as I remember it was always either TeamSpeak or the more popular in Russian-speaking latitudes "Ventrillo" or Raidcall.
Patch 2.3.0 "Gods of Zul'Aman"
"Trolls" is a topic in World of Warcraft that deserves a separate discussion. A very colorful race, "built" by the developers "based on" the Mayan civilizations and voodoo beliefs. Trolls have always held a special place in Azeroth's history. Consider the legend that the night elves descended from trolls who mutated after living near the Well of Eternity. Troll cities, most of which are instanced zones, have also always been picturesque.
Patch 2.3.0 introduced another troll city, Zul'Aman, which, like Zul'Gurub during the "vanilla" period, served as an intermediate link between Karazhan and higher tier raids.
Instance contained six bosses and did not require attune, which made life easier for casual players. However, it cannot be said that the instance was passable. Even for T5 groups, the final bosses were challenging. The instance is also interesting in that it was the first to test the hard mod, which rewarded players with special loot. Veterans remember what and why. The Amani War Bear was in the fourth bonus chest. But to get it it was necessary to keep within the timer. The task was quite difficult and not everyone could complete it. Before the release of WotLK, the bear was removed from the loot table. So if you see a player on such a mount, then you should know that he was an excellent raider already in the days of TVS. Or a very rich player. At one time, there was an article on Vovinsider about the buyer, which laid out twenty thousand for parabooting.
The instance was also interesting in terms of lore. The final boss was the leader of the forest trolls, Zul'jin, whose tribe took part in the Second War on the side of the Horde. At the end of the war, he was captured, tortured and gouged out. Then he managed to escape, and for this he had to cut off his hand. Outraged that the Horde had accepted his sworn enemies, the elves, into their ranks, he and his tribe left the Horde. Hiding in Zul'Aman, Zul'jin created a new army of trolls to deal with the Blood Elves.
What else is so special about patch 2.3.0? Firstly, it was this patch that introduced guild banks into the game. Secondly, pumping was nerfed. On the one hand, we have reduced the amount of experience required for leveling between 20 and 60 levels, on the other hand, we have increased the amount of experience for quests between 30 and 60 levels. Instance quests now provide more experience and reputation points. The third interesting point is that the difficulty of elite mobs was reduced, now some of them could be felled alone. It was one of the first global content nerfs.
In summary, patch 2.3.0 was a big step forward for casual gamers.
Patch 2.4.0 Fury of Sunwell
Spring 2008. The next expansion, Wrath of the Lich King, was over half a year away. Hardcore guilds have been farming the Black Temple for more than a month and are already starting to get bored. In response to the expectations of the most advanced part of the gaming community, blizzards are releasing a furious instance for 25 people - "The Sunwell Plateau".
The Sunwell was founded by the High Elves using water they took from the very first Well of Eternity. This happened before the world fell to pieces for the first time (Great Rift). Silvermoon City was built around it. After Arthas used the Well to resurrect Kel'Thuzad, its waters were desecrated. At the same time, the well continued to feed the High Elves with its already tainted energy.
As for the raid itself, it was imprisoned under a group of fighters in T6. Interestingly, it was here that the developers first applied the content “gating” system. Since the release, only three bosses were available, then the gates to the next were opened. The first gate opened on the 8th April, the second on the 29th, and the third on the 20th. In this way, the Blizzards artificially reduced the rate of development of the instance. The main villain, Kil'Jaden, was pushed back into the Well by the SK-Gaming guild on May 25. True, it is believed that the most difficult boss of the instance was not KL, but Muru, nicknamed the Guildbreaker. Before the nerf, he was killed by a few guilds.
Patch 2.4.0 pleased not only hardcore players. Group content and solos were also enough. In the north of the Eastern Kingdoms, a whole island arose - Qel'Danas, on which the faction of the Shattered Sun, the alliance of the Aldor and Seers, led the siege of the Sunwell. Players were invited to take part in this event by completing new daily quests, the number of which increased to 25. Phasing technology was tested for the first time on Qel'Danas. As the daily players were completed, new vendors opened up who sold all sorts of goodies for badges that were farming in heroics.
In addition to the raid instance, a 5pp instance was opened - the Terrace of the Masters. It was remarkable not only for the plot and the new mount that fell from the last boss. Notable was the boss himself - Prince Kael'Tas, whom the players had already killed in Tempest Keep.
Patch 2.4.0 was the last content patch before the new addition, Wrath of the Lich King. The last of the 2.4.x patches was 2.4.3, in which another nerf took place - mounts became cheaper and, most interestingly, became available from level 30, not 40. Now I remember this news with a smile. I received the 40th and two weeks before the patch and bought my first ram at the old prices. And here - such a decrease in prices and the required level.
What else is remarkable about the summer of 2008? Of course, the localization of World of Warcraft in Russian.
A bit of prehistory. Russian-speaking players loved WoW. And so much so that in the Euro-segment, the "Russians" occupied three servers - Stonemaul, Warsong and Molten Core. The zaletny burg, who unknowingly created a Persian in such a realm, saw Russian speech on the channels and exclaimed “WTF ??? Speak English! ”, After which he was sent unchecked along the sexy walking route. In addition, a large number of "Russians" were found on Shadowmoon, not to mention the fact that a lot of people played on "clean" English-speaking servers. Bliz turned a blind eye to this, but in the end they decided to do localization for the "Russians". Mike Morheim announced this decision in December 2007, which caused not only jubilation, but also very heated discussions about whether to play the localized version or not. In July 2008, the Russian WoW test began, and the localization release took place on August 6, 2008. Then the "big Russian transfer" began.
Initially, we opened three servers - Pirateskaya Bay, Azuregos and Ash Forest. The transfer was accompanied by queues, glitches and similar troubles. It immediately became clear that three servers would not be enough. Within a few weeks, several more north were introduced. They moved in droves, in whole guilds. Despite all the controversy, it became clear even to the most stubborn that "fresh blood", new recruits could be obtained only on "Russian" servers. As a result, previously occupied Stonemaul, Warsong, Molten Core and Shadowmoon were completely empty. For those few foreigners who played there, they opened a free transfer to other Euroservers. In the end, after the "Russians" left, the servers were closed. Bliz did this for the first and last time in the history of the game.
However, this did not end there. In September, the bliz offered a freebie - when converting the euro-account into a ru-account, a month of free play was given. The subscription fee on the ru-servers was lower. The people fell for free. The catch was that after the conversion, the player could no longer create characters on the Euroserver. Thus, the notorious "Russian ghetto" was formed. Our players were not able to transfer and create characters on Euroservers.
Finally, it is worth remembering some numbers. The Burning Crusade expansion, without exaggeration, continued the success of the game and led to the fact that the population of Azeroth increased to the size of a small real country. By the fall of 2008, the number of subscribers increased to 11 million and over. It cannot be called anything other than success. Maybe that's why many people call this addition the most successful.
World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King
Before the release of the Wrath of the Lich King add-on, an interesting article was published in one of the English-language blogs. It talked about different generations of players depending on when they started playing. At that time there was a generation of "vanilla" and TVS. The author talked about the difference between them, and also talked about the "children of Wrath", which originally sounded like "children of Wrath".
Technically, I started playing six months before the release of WotLK. But in those days, pumping was harder and I got to the endgame exactly two weeks before the release. I never found out what endgame is in TVS. Why, I didn't even complete all the quests in Outland. So I consider myself to be the "children of the Lich." Why am I writing about this? Then, so that you will forgive me some bias, because WotLK for me is the best WoW add-on.
Let's move on to the events of that time.
Summer 2008. Hardcore players master Sunwell, casuals bang their heads against Zul'Aman. Both are waiting for the same thing - the release of the second add-on to the game - Wrath of the Lich King. The beta test is in full swing, the network is filled with screenshots of Northrend, more and more information about the innovations in the game appears from official sources.
Perhaps the most discussed topic of that period was the achievement system that the developers were going to introduce into the game. Yes, now the phrase "link achiev" is something self-evident. And then, six years ago, the concept of "complete the task - get ten points" caused in most cases the reaction "Whoa is that all?" Well, as the bliz would say, we will also give titles and mounts. "And the epics?" - asked the community. No, go to raids for epics, bliz answered. “Ok,” said the community and froze in anticipation.
For the raiders, the fate of Naxxramas became a hot topic of discussion. One of the hardest raids of "vanilla" in actual time was attended by a meager number of players. Even in the days of TVS, an instance required knowledge of tactics. And they continued to go there, not least for the legendary staff of Medivh - Atiesh. The developers made a decision, which caused another wave of bewilderment - to remake Nax in formats that are relevant for WotLK. So Nax-40 became Nax-10/25. Atiesh and the T3 raid set were cut out of the game forever. Having flown from the Plaguelands to Northrend, Nax-40 has turned from an impassable raid into a sandbox for beginner casuals.
Patch 3.0.2 Echoes of Doom
Release date: October 14, 2008
WotLK prepatch, which was released a month before the release of the add-on. The main buns that were contained included:
- system of achievements;
- new profession - tracing;
- a barber shop where you could change your hairstyles;
- talent tree with the number of points increased to 51;
- the stat system has undergone an easy upgrade.
Speaking of content, it is worth mentioning the completion of the port in Stormwind, from which the route to Northrend for the Alliance opened, as well as the Naxxramas that flew north. Dalaran followed Nax to Northrend. He was destined for a neutral capital for the next two years.
For hardcore raiders, Patch 3.0.2 remains in memory for another reason as well. In it, all TBC raid encounters underwent a global nerf. They seriously (by 30%) cut not only their health, but also the amount of damage they dealt. Some difficulty buffs took this as bad news, considering that the patch killed PvE in TBC. The bosses weren't the only ones who got it. The quest to access Onyxia's Lair has been removed. Those who were far from endgame and rocked their characters were also given a break. The amount of experience required to reach new levels has been reduced by 20%.
The user interface has undergone changes. First, there was a guild calendar. Secondly, mounts and pets stopped taking up space in bags and bank slots. A special tab was made for them in the character's menu. Like the keys, there is also a separate tab.
What else do you remember about 3.0.2? Of course, the invasion of zombies. Braiiiinnnnzzzz !!! This world event was similar to what was already in patch 1.11 when Naxxramas came out, and it consisted in the fact that flying necropolises appeared on Azeroth and hordes of undead attacked. Invasion of Zombies 2.0 was quite funny. Zombies could and should have been killed, and for the shards that fell out of them, you could buy all sorts of useful things, including low-level epics. But the most interesting thing was that the Scourge again brought with them an infection that afflicted the players and the NPCs. If you have been infected, then within ten minutes you should have found a healer (a nepisy or a player who could disperse the infection). If this failed, the player turned into a zombie and acquired interesting abilities - the ability to infect other players and NPCs, as well as explode. The next couple of weeks, the capitals of cities from time to time turned into cemeteries - those who like to play pranks became kamikazes and blew themselves up in crowded places, preventing them from trading on the auka, buying from vendors and handing over and taking quests. All in all, it was fun.
Shadows also appeared in Azeroth.
World of Warcraft: Wrath of The Lich King released
Release date: 13 November 2008
Bearing in mind the lags at the start of TBC, when both factions were pounding through the narrow throat of the Dark Portal to the Peninsula, the blizzards made four entry points to Northrend, two per faction.
Northrend amazed with landscapes, grandiose structures and the northern lights. We must pay tribute to the work of the designers - they did their best. WotLK has done a lot of solo content. Much more than was needed to level up the character in the range of 68-80. I remember that I received the 80th, and all the quests of Gundrak, Icecrown and Storm Peaks remained unused. And it was good, it is obvious that the developers took into account the fact that many gamers have not one, but at least a couple of characters and pumping in the same places will not please such players too much.
It was interesting to introduce so-called hereditary things that could be sent to your characters. Their characteristics were tied to the level of the character, and some also gave bonuses to experience. A very good solution for those who liked to download Twinks and Violas.
The format of instances for five people continued the tradition of TVS - short, linear with 3-4, maximum 5 bosses, united in hubs. Is that the Old Kingdom had some kind of non-linearity and scale. In general, it's okay, it took an hour on average for 80 to complete such an instance in patch 3.0.x. Another step towards casual. But the most interesting surprise awaited the players in the endgame.
Three days after the release of the add-on, the TwentyFifthofNovember guild, formed by the merger of SK-Gaming and Nihilum, cleaned out all the starting raid content of WotLK. At the time of the start of WotLK, there was one long Naxxramas and three short raids - Crypt of Arkavon, Eye of Eternity and Obsidian Sanctuary. The developers did not hide the fact that the first tier of WotLK raids would be simple, but hardcore raiders hardly expected such a simplification. Indeed, at one time, only the Four Horsemen in the original Naxxramas were overwhelmed for several weeks. And then three days, and still had to pump the characters to the maximum level.
Some personal memories. Naxxramas was my first "actual" raid. I got there quite late, after the release of 3.1, but then, with the old emblem system, passing Naks was a mandatory step in the process of dressing a character for Ulduar. Our guild was more than casual, and we made the top ten without any problems. I won't say that it was quite simple, but after 5-6 fights, the boss's mechanics became clear, as well as what to do. "Twenty" turned out to be more difficult, however, the composition of our raid constantly fluctuated and the clearing was not always uniform. Sometimes they reached Thaddius, sometimes they didn't crawl over Razuvia. It seems to me that for novice raiders, the Nax-10 has become a good training ground for novice and casual raiders. It was there that you could get the experience of playing in a large group and with more difficult bosses than in 5ppl "heroics". From the point of view of bringing raiding to the masses, the Blizzards, in principle, did the right thing.
But hardcore fans expected something completely different. And this other came in April with patch 3.1.
Patch 3.1 Mysteries of Ulduar
This patch has been awaited by many raiders who have farmed both versions of Naks. Judging by the PTR, Ulduar promised to be more complex and interesting than Naxxramas. But first, a few words about what Patch 3.1 brought to the bulk of the gaming community.
Dual specialization. By paying 1000 gold, a player from level 40 was able to switch between two talent layouts without running to the coach every time.
This was especially convenient for hybrid classes, which needed to change the layout quite often. The built-in outfitter was also very handy for this innovation, which made it possible to quickly change the character's body kit. The mounts began to float. And not only horses and rams, but even engineering motorcycles. Previously, if the depth of the water barrier did not allow to run over it, the mounts would hurry the rider. After 3.1, this annoying moment was removed.
In the far north, away from Icecrown Citadel, the Argent Crusade opened the Silver Tournament, where both Horde and Alliance warriors could measure their strength without death. Either the builders pumped up, or the supply, but at the time of the opening of the Tournament, the main structure of the Ristalische was not ready. Those who were then completing the daily quests of the Tournament brought a lot of stones and wood to the two goblins-foremen to finish the construction. At the Tournament, it became possible to fight without getting off the mounts (albeit specific ones, not yours, relatives). Plus a bunch of daily buns and buns such as level 200 epics, again mounts and pets, which the most adventurous began to trade. Trading in petas of the opposite faction was especially profitable through the use of a neutral auction. However, this place was supposed to become the center of life a little later, in August 2009. The highlight of the program was, of course, Ulduar.
Ulduar. An instance that has been long awaited and that has lived up to these expectations. In it, Blizzard for the first time fully implemented the concept of hard modes (difficult modes). Let me remind you that the first hard mod was implemented in the Obsidian Sanctuary, where three mini-bosses came to Sartharion's aid (if you did not kill them before the fight with the brss). For those who “just wanted to watch the content”, the normal modes were left, for those who like wiping the difficulties, more difficult battles were envisaged, for victories in which, of course, more serious rewards were given. The climax of the hard mods was the fights with Mimiron and Yogg-Saron, the final boss (without the help of the Guardians) and the fight with Algalon the Observer. The Naxom story did not repeat itself. Ensidia (the same TwentyFifthofNovember) was able to kill Algalon in the top ten only at the beginning of June 2009.
The raid content culminated in the hard mod, in which players fought Yogg-Saron without the help of the Guardians. Experts on the forums have calculated that in the current body kit, this boss is not mathematically killable. Despite this, at the end of June 2009, the gaming community spread the news that Exodus from the Ysondre-US server mastered this mode. True, a bug helped them to win and the "exodus" were banned for three days. However, ten days later, the Chinese from Stars made the impossible possible.
The design of the instance was solid five. There was everything from the green gardens of Freya and the subway to Mimiron's workshop to huge open spaces with hundreds of hostile mobs. The lor of Ulduar deserves a separate article and, according to some, is much more interesting than Icecrown Citadel. Encounters were also pleasing. Even a year after the release of the instance, the T10-clad raid wiped on Yogg-Saron with one Guardian, if he didn't know the tactics. Zerking in the overgear did not work.
Ulduar was a success from every point of view. In an amicable way, this should be the last raid of WotLK. Still, if you look at it this way, then the Ancient God of Death Yogg-Saron is not some kind of Lich King. The figure is larger. But Wrath of The Lich King is still the story of the Lich King and no matter how great the Ancient God was, his storyline still turned out to be secondary.
And in early June, the developer announced a new raid instance, which was supposed to become the basis of the 3.2 content patch. The Trial of the Crusader was destined to play a fatal role in the fate of Ulduar.
They started talking about "WoW is not a cake" after the release of the first expansion, The Burning Crusade. This topic is a classic holivar of all thematic forums. Players of different generations argue until hoarse about when the grass was greener. Some say that WotLK was an add-on where the blizzards took a big step in the direction of casuals and thus began to "kill the game." Despite the relative simplicity of the updated Naks, the first half of WotLK was not casual, if only because of the far from simple hard mods of Ulduar.
The watershed was patch 3.2.
Prior to this patch, the concept of endgame in WoW basically retained the features that were in "vanilla". Raid content was mastered progressively. The player who reached the level cap had to go through all the steps without fail. For example, for "vanilla" such a sequence was 5ppl 55-60 levels - Upper part of Black Mountain - Zul'Gurub / Molten Core / Onyxia's Lair - Lair of the Black Wing - An'Qirazh 40 - t; Naxxramas (original version). The player who got 60 today could hardly count on being in Blackwing Lair even in a month. The same situation persisted throughout almost the entire fuel assembly.
Until 3.2, the newly minted 80-k had to first be like heroics, then in Nax, and only then could count on a raid in Ulduar. A radical change in the emblem system in patch 3.2 led to the fact that any player could dress in the last raid shooting range, and for this it was not at all necessary to go through all the stages of raid content. On the one hand, this was the right decision, suitable for beginners who have just come into the game or for an alto driver swinging a third or fourth Persian.
On the other hand, 3.2 became the gravedigger of the content that was released before it. And if Naxxramas was no longer a pity, then Ulduar is just the opposite. Such an instance could remain relevant for at least nine to ten months. Fourteen bosses, interesting hard mods, impressive design, powerful storyline. In 3.2 players got ... However, read the details below.
Patch 3.2.0 Call of Crusade
Release date: 09/04/2009
For fans of PvP, the patch brought a new battleground - the Isle of Conquest, where wall to wall, forty bodies on each side, players could take part in get-togethers. Still, the main innovations were in the PvE aspect of the game.
One of the bombs that detonated the community in June was the news of a price cut and the level required to purchase riding skills. Now they promised to sell the first mount for mere pennies already at the 20th level. The budget epic flyer was given on the 60th and his speed increased to 150%, whereas before he was taken on the 70th and the speed was 60%. Life has been made easier for the players once again.
Even more impressive was the news of the change in the emblem system. Now, from every boss, starting with 5ppl "heroics" and ending with Ulduar-25, Emblems of Conquest dropped, for which vendors in Dalaran sold equipment of level 226 (equivalent to Tier 8.5). Moreover, for completing the daily quest in "heroic", the player received two Emblems of Triumph, for which the entire Tier 9 starter set was bought. Naturally, all this caused a serious vine.
Two more points that relate to PvE have changed dramatically. The first is the ability to extend the retention period for a copy of an instance for a week. For many guilds, this was a great solution. Especially for casual and semi-hardcore guilds, which in one or two evenings managed to reach the Guardians and, perhaps, kill one of them. Now, instead of annoyingly cleaning what they saw for weeks, the CD was extended and other bosses could be spent.
The last major change concerned such a delicate item as loot. The ability to transfer items within two hours between raid members to each other was a great innovation, especially if mistakes were made during the "distribution of elephants". At the same time, this change gave impetus to such a segment in the WoW economy as the GDKP, where enterprising GMs sold loot from bosses for "very additional" money.
The construction in the area of the Tournament was completed and now in the middle of the Stadium the building of the Vanguard Colosseum stood proudly. In terms of interior design, the Colosseum is the most primitive and dull not only in WotLK, but in all of WoW. A large round room with a very modest decoration and a couple of legendary inscriptions in the parterre. Two instances were placed in the Colosseum at once - 5ppl and a raid for 10 and 25 persons with two difficulty levels for each. However, the action took place in the same round room. Three bosses in 5pp and five in a raid. No trash, other than the equestrian combat in Trial of the Champion. The loot that fell in the normal version of the IC was equivalent to that that fell in the old "heroics", in the "heroic" - the drop in Ulduar-10. In the raid instance, the loot was higher in level than in the hard mods of Ulduar.
The Colosseum has become a farm zone for players of all levels. Characters who have just upgraded from the 80th are guaranteed and quickly put on the new 5ppl and, running around the old "heroics", collect badges. The naked eye could see that they were dragging the maximum number of players under the final raid instance - Icecrown Citadel.
Patch 3.2.2 Return of Onyxia
Release date: 04 October 2009
Onyxia's Lair, a forty-man raid instance, was one of the first to enter the game together. The disc from the TVS Collector's Edition contains a lecture by Tigol about how they developed this boss. At the end of the fuel assembly, the raid began to be carried out in groups of 5-6 people. After the release of WotLK, Onyxia was killed solo and not even 80s.
Obviously, the developers got tired of such a mockery of the legendary encounter and they remade the raid for the realities of WotLK. Two versions for 10 and 25 people, slightly changed combat mechanics, new loot, among which only helmet models remained old. A couple of weeks after the patch, Onyxia was killed by scares. Instance became a good addition to the farm zone of the IR - the loot in them was the same. And also a mount fell from Onyxia with a scant chance.
The very fact that blizzards are reanimating old content was perceived by some as an outrage against the classics, while others - as a significant fact. Demands to update the raids of the Old World were heard long before the announcement of the Cataclysm. All the same, these places were empty, and were of interest to lovers of antiquity, achievements and legendary items. Be that as it may, the experiment was successful.
Patch 3.3.0 Fall of the Lich King
The Lich King, formerly Prince Arthas, is undoubtedly one of the central figures in the lore of the Warcraft setting. It is tied to the plot of Warcraft: Reign of Chaos and the sequel to The Frozen Throne. For many players, the second expansion was a logical continuation of the main plot of the RTS Warcraft series. As some players said after - for them, WoW ended in WotLK. If the first half of "Cataclysm" was still an attempt to harmoniously continue the old storylines, then after patch 4.3 Metzen associates do not cease to "amaze" with their delights. Let's move on to the details.
New content is good. Especially with the final raid of the add-on. However, there are things that have a more serious impact on the game.
The cross-server 5ppl and automatic group assembly system has become one of the most significant innovations. Prior to 3.3.0, putting a company of five people into low and mid-tier instances was a challenge. Especially on servers with medium and low population density. We got together for an hour or two, then we got to the instance for another twenty minutes, then someone dropped out of the group and everyone sat smoking bamboo, trying to find a replacement. In general, it was a dreary business. After 3.3.0 the situation changed dramatically. Now there was no need to spam in the trade or hang out in the LFG to form a group. All that remained was to select an instance and click a button. The system assembled the group itself and, moreover, dropped everyone there automatically. And threw back after the instance was passed.
As with any major innovation, the players perceived it ambiguously. Of course, many were glad that now there was no need to spend a lot of time searching and gathering a group. On the other hand, sometimes the system "packed" groups in which there were both strong players and frankly weak ones. All this gave rise to a lot of vines on the forums.
As for the new content, not only the long-awaited Citadel came out in 3.3, but also the Ice Halls, as many as three 5ppl instances, each of which had two or three bosses and which significantly differed in complexity from the "old" 5ppl, released in 3.0 -3.2. In them, the playing audience again remembered what it means to wipe on trash. The battles turned out to be original, especially with the Lich King. This was the first boss, the fight with which was to run away from him, not kill. Loot in the Halls was equal in quality to what dropped in the top ten of the Trials of the Crusader.
As for the Citadel itself, the instance has become, let's say, a completely logical embodiment of the concept of "raiding to the masses". As in the IR blizzard, two levels of difficulty were cut down - "normal" and "heroic", and the second one opened only after defeating the Lich King in the normal version. In principle, the normal level of difficulty turned out to be within the power of many casual guilds, players who did not have much raid experience (especially after the successive introduction of the buff). Sindragosa and the Lich King himself were considered really serious bosses, especially in the "heroic" version. The wings of the Citadel opened in sequence. Until January, only the first wing with four bosses was available. Then the pace accelerated and the hardcore players came out to Lich himself in early February.
A scandal in which the top guild Ensidia was seriously damaged is also associated with the kill of the Lich King. Let me remind you that the first in the top ten, Arthas was killed by Blood Legion. They killed cleanly, for which they received a well-deserved achievement. Kungen with the company was the first in the "twenty", but a day later Ensidia was banned. They used a saronite bomb cheat. Ban for three days, selected loot and canceled achievement.
In this race of progress, our guild "Exorsus" was noted as well. They were the first to kill Abomination, Lana'tel and Sindragoza at CLK10hm and completed Glory to the Icecrown Raider.
Some time after the discovery of hard modes and the killing of the Lich King in the "heroic" version, a zone buff was introduced, which increased the damage and health inflicted by players. Each month was understood at five percent and by the summer the buff was 30%. In other words, the CLK was nerfed into the trash. The Finnish team Paragon made the first first kill Leach in "heroic". True, they did it after the first 5% buff. Later, after farming Arthas in full, they still killed him without a buff.
Patch 3.3.5 Defending the Ruby Sanctum
Release date: June 22, 2010
It's not for you to tell me what it means to farm one raid for more than six months. For the raiders of the WotLK era, the CLK has become something like the current OO. In order to slightly dispel the bored raiders, the developers have released a "raid filler" - the Ruby Sanctuary. Three mini-bosses and the dragon Halion were called upon to scare the raiders a little. What can I say, one boss is like that, master it for one cd, and then farm until it drops. Actually, patch 3.3.5 was significant not only for this.
It was in this patch that the Blizzards introduced Real ID, a feature that allowed you to communicate via battle.net with your friends who are playing other Blizzard games. As the name suggests - "real identifier" - your real name was visible to your friends. It doesn't matter under what alt you crawled into the game, your Real ID friends saw that it was you.
Well, okay, that's all right. But when the developers announced that it would be possible to write on the forum only by logging into the Real ID, perhaps the largest wine in the history of the game rose. One of the bliz decided to prove that everything is fine, it’s not scary, to enter the network under his own name. A couple of hours later, he was bombarded with pizza ordered by kind gamblers at his house, after his address, as well as all his personal details, were figured out. After that, Blizzard refused to de-anonymize players and closed the issue.
So WotLK ended. The expansion that hit the peak of World of Warcraft's popularity. December 2010 was approaching and the release of the add-on, which turned out to be a truly cataclysm in all respects.
World of Warcraft: Cataclysm
Cataclysm was the most anticipated addition to the game. In August 2009, at Blizzcon, a lot was said about him. And about the fact that the Old World will be changed and it will finally be possible to fly over it. And about the new system of character development on the level cap, proudly called "The Way of the Titans." And about archeology, as something with which you can develop the path of the Titans. And, of course, about a lot of raid and other content. We will talk about what we got as a result later. In the meantime - about what preceded the most destructive catastrophe in Azeroth. Destructive in every sense.
Patch 4.0.1
Release date: 12 October 2010
The prepatch, released in mid-October 2010, brought fundamental changes to the mechanics of classes. For example, the brains of the hunters were taken away and mana was replaced with concentration. The rotation had to be mastered anew. The rest also got it. The evening after the release was remembered for a cheerful chat, in which grateful inhabitants of Azeroth sent rays of goodness to the developers and threatened to cancel their subscription.
To these troubles were added minor inconveniences - plaster began to fall from the ceilings. The tremors were felt in all cities. In early November, it became clear what was what. The elemental invasion of Azeroth has begun, awakened by Deathwing. It all started out quite cheerfully, but somehow it was quickly blown away. It all came down to chaotic running through the streets of the capitals and the execution of a simple chain. Those who took part in the event before the release of WotLK noted that it was "ok" then, and now "none". Players are accustomed to the new class mechanics, they received a "great feat" for closing portals. Everyone was waiting for the release.
Patch 4.0.3
Release date: November 16, 2010
The patch loaded all the new Cataclysm content that was supposed to be available after the December release.
Patch 4.0.3a "The Shattering"
Release date: 23 November 2010
It was this patch that changed the Old World of Azeroth forever. Many locations in the Eastern Kingdoms and Kalimdor have been extensively changed. For example, the Barrens used to be one location, the Wastelands fully corresponded to their name without any oases in the middle, Thousand Needles were not flooded, Azshara was deserted, and Pirate Bay was safe and sound. Many quests have been removed and hundreds of new ones have appeared. Also, new combinations of races and classes have become available, for example, tauren paladins.
World of Wacraft: Cataclysm Release
Thunder struck on the night of December 6-7. The servers went offline at midnight European time. For the inhabitants of densely populated servers, the chances of breaking through back tended to zero. Nevertheless, those who managed to do it already in the morning "pleased" the public with server-farts. The first 85 hatched in less than six hours. By the evening, a bunch of 85 players were already running on the top servers, looking for a group in "heroics".
And this is where "pain and suffering" began. The fastbajrans, which the fearless heroes were used to in the second half of WotLK, did not roll. In the "heroics" of "Cataclysm" required control, accurate disassembly of packs, knowledge of tactics and class. A serious wine has begun on the forums.
The raids were also tough. The tough fighters, who knocked out the Citadel bosses with a half-kick, faced problems. And the heat was set not only by the flippers. Many simply did not reach them, stumbling over the blind dragon Atrameda and the Council of the Ascended. Some managed to wipe on Magmar for a month. Yes, the hardcore players were happy, but the rest of the audience did not enjoy these difficulties.
The problem was further complicated by the fact that little content was made for leveling 80-85. Sagging on bent ones, any casual could be pumped to a cap in a couple of weeks. Personally, it took me a month, but then I played a lot on the auke and spent half of the playing time at the auction. There were practically no other alternatives. Either heavy raids or PvP.
The content for 1-60 levels, which was staked on during the marketing campaign, did not meet the expectations of the developers. Yes, it passed, lovers of lore savored the new quests, critics complained that Outland is now generally incomprehensible in what direction, but did not shoot. Because with inheritance and guild bonuses, pumping turned into an easy walk.
As a result, by March-April disappointment resulted in a massive exodus of players. For the first time since the release, there has been a negative trend in terms of the number of subscribers.
Patch 4.1 Rise of Zandalari
The announcement of this patch caused a mixed reaction, which, against the backdrop of the mass exodus, was mostly negative. Traditionally, content patches have included full-fledged raids. 4.1 was one of the first patches in which there were no raids, only 5ppl instances. Moreover, these were “creatively revised” TVS raids - Zul'Gurub and Zul'Aman. Yes, these raids on twenty people have long attracted only lovers of antiquity. This mainly concerned Zul'Gurub, where the bosses dropped mounts - a lizard and a panther. Therefore, reformatting was received with hostility.
After the release of the patch, cries about the excessive complexity of new instances were added to Vine about laziness. Yes, that's exactly what happened. Firstly, even in the cut-down form of the bosses, it was too much for 5ppl. Over the past couple of expansions, players have become accustomed to compact instances. Added to this was the complexity of the Zuls. In the first CD, it took a group with an average level of play two hours to complete. The groups gathered in the LFD sometimes could not get through to the end at all, falling apart on intermediate bosses. Jin'do, the last boss of Zul''Gurub, has been hitting even the guild groups. On the one hand, it was liked by the lovers of difficulties, who saw in this the correctness of the chosen course. On the other hand, the silent majority continued to leave the game.
Plot 4.1 was out of tune. The return of Desving, the invasion of the elementals, the cult of the Twilight's Hammer. It all started very epic. The people were waiting for the continuation of the banquet in the form of a continuation of the story with the kidnapped Neptulon, further outrages of Desving and his henchmen, and then some Zandalari. No, no one belittles the importance of this tribe in the history of Azeroth, but it all looked like some kind of local conflict that was sewn into the main plot, simply because it was necessary to revive the old raids.
Patch 4.1 is controversial. The Zuls turned out to be too difficult for the 5ppl format, but did not hold up to traditional raids.
Summarize. The first months of "Cataclysm" pleased with the novelty, but in the spring, problems loomed ahead - people began to leave the game. The reworked Old World was not appreciated. Cataclysm's launch raids proved too difficult for the general public, accustomed to the nerfed CLK. The developers did not provide alternative entertainment in the endgame. Archeology rightfully received the title of the most boring profession, which, moreover, did not give any tangible profit. The result was a massive churn of players. It was in the summer of 2011 that they started talking about the fact that the project began to lose popularity.
The first months of the add-on were interesting, but by the summer it became clear that "there will be no kinetic". Moreover, this became clear not only to the players, but also to the Blizzards. The game in the literal sense of the word had to be saved. RIFT released in the spring, the first AAA project since Warhammer (fall 2008), which claimed the audience for WoW, threw logs into the fire. It is worth saying that RIFT at that time managed to draw off a decent part of the subscribers from WoW. It was necessary to do something, because in December another WoW competitor was expected - Star Wars the Old Republic. So the situation was awful.
Patch 4.2.0 Rage of Firelands
The first "final" boss in WoW at one time was the Lord of Fire, Ragnaros. In patch 4.2, the second coming of the Fire Lord awaited us, because as it turned out, those forty heroes who stormed Black Mountain did not defeat him, but only shoved him back into ... these very Firelands. Now our task was to finally put an end to Ragnaros, who became Desving's ally. The raid itself turned out to be, shall we say, contradictory. The vast wasteland of fiery blacks, over which six bosses and Ragnaros' reception room were distributed, made me personally longing. Some generally did not tolerate this bright gamut of colors. As for the mechanics of the bosses themselves, in my opinion, only Ragnaros himself was interesting in the normal. All the rest were boring and expressionless.
The Fiery Frontline has become a separate topic of patch 4.2. Realizing that not all players are fond of raids, the blizzards sawed down an epic quest location called the Fiery Frontline. The main trick here was that the location was phased and opened sequentially after the delivery of the badges to the main signatures, which were farmed only through the daily. Along with the new phases, the player got access to new areas of the location and vendors with all sorts of goodies such as weapons and recipes. The idea, of course, was good, like here's the content, in which everything depends on your actions. But it turned out Ristalische-2 with daily dailies, which got stuck in the teeth already in the third week. In short, the content turned out to be "second fresh", because there were already such quest hubs, and they even had phasing.
What else is so special about patch 4.2? Of course, the legendary staff for the caster. The chain for obtaining the staff turned out to be long and in order to get hold of the staff, it took a long time to farm. The easiest way, of course, was for those who farm OP25hm - the hardcore team collected the first staff in early August.
As already mentioned in the last posting about this add-on, "Cataclysm" lived up to its name and not only in terms of Azerothian lore. The total outcome of the players by the summer was about 900 thousand people (compared to the pre-release state). The situation had to be saved. And urgently save. Probably, the decision on how to do this was made even before the release of Firelands, because the raid turned out to be surprisingly small. Seven bosses are not enough. Yes, in WotLK there was a Colosseum with five, but before it there was Ulduar with 14, and after that there was a TsLK with 13. That the topic was merging became clear after the announcement of patch 4.3. Even before the release of the add-on promised a raid on such a theme as "War of the Ancients" and a raid on the naval theme. After all, what Ozumat did with Neptulon, we never found out. So we expected this too. But it didn't turn out that way.
Three 5ppl instances were made from the "War of the Ancients" raid. The "sea" raid was cut from the plans. According to the announcement, the final raid was supposed to contain eight bosses, which was sad in itself and hinted that all forces were now thrown into the next expansion. However, bliz still prepared something tasty for the players.
Patch 4.3.0 "Hour of Twilight"
Patch 4.3 was released three weeks before the release of one of the main competitors of WoW at that time - SWTOR. The online universe based on Star Wars looked menacing. Created by an eminent studio based on the cult franchise - a killer combination. Time has shown that the budget and popularity of the setting are not yet components of the success of an MMO project. However, the Blizzards have produced one of the most ambitious patches since the late TVS. The endgame part contained the Dragon Soul raid of eight bosses, and with Desving we had to fight in two battles. First on his back, forcing him to land in the Maelstrom, and then four times with his claws with them. Also in the package were three instances, in which players late for the holiday could quickly get dressed - the things that fell there were equal in ilvl to those that fell from the bosses in the Firelands.
In this component, it was not only depressing that there were only eight bosses. The raid itself was made from "old scenery". The action took place in Dragonblight, the Eye of Eternity, on the ships that once stormed the Lich King's Citadel. The naked eye could see that the blizzards were going according to the minimum program, saving resources. Instances for five persons were made, apparently, on the basis of the fact that the Blies had time to finalize for the "War of the Ancients" raid. The disappointment was complemented by the fact that the plot was sucked from the finger - the search for the Dragon Soul in the distant past looked far-fetched. Personally, I was most jarred by the fact that such an epic theme as "War of the Ancients" was ineptly merged. Is Azshara a boss in a five-man instance? And not final. The battle of dragonflights with Deswing could be an interesting encounter. Not to mention the fact that the city of Zin-Azshari deserved a more ambitious embodiment. Something like Ulduar could be made.
The paucity of endgame was compensated by the introduction of several game systems. The first one is transmogrification, the ability to "apply" "skins" of other items to the armor. Such "cosmetics" have already existed in other games and have proven their popularity. The topic really shot well, becoming a serious hobby for some collectors. The transmogrification was in charge of the Epherials, which also opened up additional storage for items.
The second major innovation was the Raid Build System (LFR). Automatic assembly of raids was promised at Blizzcon'e 2009, when the expansion was announced. Many were waiting for it after the release, but it was introduced only in the second half of the addon. Now, anyone who wants to and has the appropriate body kit, by simply pressing a button, gets into the company of the same "adventurers".
The latest innovation is that Darkmoon Fair has moved to a separate island and expanded. There are new attractions, quests and badges with vendors. However, nothing particularly interesting appeared there. So, another quest zone that appears once a month for a week.
The last thing the patch brings is the legendary rogue chain. It was for them and only for them that a new quest chain was introduced, as a result of which the character received the legendary daggers - "Fangs of the Father". In the very same chain, a new character took an active part, who began to play a large role in Pandarian history - Wrathion, the son of Desving.
In general, Patch 4.3 turned out to be quite voluminous and in some places radically changes the players' attitudes. For example, transmogrification has become a popular activity and many sites have appeared on the Internet on this very topic. And the LFR opened up access to raids for a mass of players who did not have the opportunity to regularly play in a permanent group.
That's all. In November, when patch 4.3 was released, it was already known what the next addition would be about. The Mists of Pandaria has received mixed reactions in the gaming community. Who knows, how many more subscribers the game would have lost if Bliz did not come up with the "Annual Subscription". Paying for WoW a year in advance, the player automatically bought Diablo III and access to the Mists of Pandaria beta. The move was correct, because in "Cataclysm", in fact, there was nothing to do, but playing Diablo III and Mists of Pandaria was nothing.
And "Cataclysm" turned out to be an add-on that showed a simple thing - as soon as the developer relaxes, the player will immediately flee to another project. After a sharp outflow of players, the blizzards tensed in order and issued an addition, which was literally crammed with innovations. But I'll talk about this next time.
World of Warcraft: Mists of Pandaria
2011 was the most difficult year for developers. The rapid drop in the number of subscribers forced the fire brigade to reconsider plans and make unpopular decisions. With the naked eye, it was clear that close by threw all their forces on the new addition. Which?
In August, exactly after the announcement of the next losses, a rumor spread through the network. Bliz registered the rights to the name, literally vague - "Mists of Pandaria". The people scratched their turnips in bewilderment and decided to wait for Blizzcon'a. We waited for Blizzcon'a, and with it confirmation of the main theme of the addon. Then the playing audience was divided into two parts. The first was loudly outraged by the attempt to please the Chinese audience, the second said "wait and see." In order to somehow keep the audience and get a penny from it, the blies decided to take a bold step. The "Annual Subscription" promotion gave more than just the right to play WoW for a year. For the same money, the player received Diablo III, as well as access to the Mists of Pandaria beta.
I think that in a sense this saved the game from an even greater churn of players in the first half of 2012, which was very rich in new releases. SWTOR was still shining in the first half of the year, the controversial but anticipated The Secret World came out in the summer, and one of the most promising MMO projects, Guild Wars 2, was to be released in August. The game started early on August 24, 2012. Bliz, these old, shredded rolls, who still knew how to beat the game to competitors, launched the Mists of Pandaria pre-patch.
Patch 5.0.4 Mists of Pandaria
Release date: 28 Aug 2012
Like all previous pre-release patches, this one made a number of dramatic changes to the game. The main changes were the following.
Another radical overhaul of the class system. The tree system was abandoned once and for all, replacing it with the ability to choose one talent out of three every fifteen levels. The announcement of this at the convention caused another seething in the style of "sho, again? !!!", but in fact the new system was entirely justified. In the MoR Bliz were going to introduce scalable content in the form of test modes for 5ppl. The old system was of little use for this.
Cross-server locations. The first cross-server locations date back to the days of the original WoW. These were the battlefields. Much later, in patch 3.3, five-person instances became cross-north. Patch 4.3 made cross-server raids. The assembly of LFR groups was carried out automatically from among the players of the same battle groups of servers, and the Battle Tag made it possible to collect groups of friends. And so, the technology got to the open world. Now players from servers could play together in open locations and cities, except for capitals.
This step has been asking for a long time, since most of the locations of Old Azeroth, Northrend and Outland were deserts in terms of population. Swinging, the player could not meet a single player at all for several dozen levels. This was especially true for low and medium populated servers. I remember then I was playing with the old main Deckven on Nordrassill-EU, a server that was somewhere in the top hundred in progression. So I did the achievements for killing Rarniks in Outland and Northrend without much difficulty, because the locations were completely empty. Some players said so - by the introduction of cross-server zones, the blizzards are secretly merging servers. However, the real merger was still far away.
Mounts and achievements have become the same for the entire account. This innovation was perhaps the most noticeable and delighted many players. Especially those who unsuccessfully went to Maine Al'lar's Ash for several years in a row, and then accidentally loot his viola in pugofanreid. Yes, the owners of prestigious titles such as "Death Conqueror" could now choose them for violas. In short, the innovation was great and now mountodrochers could run after the dragon of Onyxia or Anzu with all available characters, and the "Messenger of the Titans" could be worn by a maine, although the title was earned by a specially created character.
All this was cool and correct, but with the Prerelease event, the blizzards pumped up this time. Instead of an action that stretched out over several weeks, as it was before the releases of other add-ons, we were given a short, twenty minutes script. The sad story that happened to Theramore replaced the event for us. Greg Crabovich Street then said that, they say, it is better to spend resources on making some long-playing feature than to make a one-time event. Everyone I knew disagreed with this.
Mists of Pandaria release
Once upon a time, the release of the add-on assumed a server reboot. That is, after 00-00 server time, the game was buried, and then how lucky it is, because it is almost impossible to break through the authorization server, simultaneously with thousands of others. This time blizzards promised a smooth start without overloading the servers. And so it happened. After 00-00 server time, players automatically received a quest that sent them to the shores of Pandaria. On release, I played for the Alliance and upon arrival on the aircraft carrier of the faction, I saw the following picture.
This column of helicopter flying upward did not promise anything good, so I decided not to take the next quest, but immediately jumped off the ship into the water. Before that, I visited the beta and knew that completing the quest was not at all necessary. The decision turned out to be correct. The helicopter quest turned out to be a trap for many players, who, due to lags in the starting location, could not really complete and pass it. However, this did not bother me much, I headlong ran lags through the Jade Forest and only when I reached the Valley of the Four Winds I felt relief.
So what did Mists of Pandaria bring to the game in September 2012? In addition to the above benefits, the following has been added:
- new continent - Pandaria. The emergence of an island out of nowhere, wandering for almost ten thousand years, turned out to be slightly pulled by the ears, but we must pay tribute, everything else was invented by the Bliz quite well;
- a new race - pandaren and, of course, a new starting location in the form of a giant turtle. The Pandaren were the first race in the game to be available to both factions;
- new class - monk. Depending on the type of beer drunk, he could become a tank, a healer, or a damaging one;
- the level cap has grown to level 90;
- seven new instances for five players, and three instances that were reworked versions of classic dungeons.
- for all dungeons Pandaria introduced a special format - a challenge mode. In this mode, all the characteristics of the body kit were brought to level 463, and the monsters became thicker and angrier;
- three raids - Mogu'shan Dungeons, Heart of Fear and Terrace of Eternal Spring. There were a total of fourteen bosses in these raids, which was quite a decent number for a starting shooting range;
- fighting pets. Pets that used to run after players with their tail could now be trained and pitted against each other. This game was to the liking of many, both collectors and fans of turn-based games, as well as Azerothian hucksters who began to trade animals that quickly turned into a popular and rather expensive product;
- Black market. Among the pandaren were not only brewers, farmers, and brawler monks. The local mafia and one of its leaders, Madame Goya, managed to establish a trade in Azerothian antiques and scarcity. At the "point" in the area of the Hidden Stairs, Madame Goya traded in rare mounts, pets, T3 pieces and even heroic body kit. At first, a certain category of players had a fierce butthert about this, but then nothing, they got used to it;
- PvE scenarios. Bliz have always been famous for their ability to efficiently process other people's ideas. So, the SWTOR developers created locations in the open world, designed for the passage of several characters, and the passage was not tied to the tough classic scheme "tank-heal-several dd". H2-H4 zones were sometimes covered with pure dd-setups. The Blies adapted the idea and got some pretty good fun for three people, detached from the classic scheme;
- Farm Frenzy. After completing the quest chain, the local farmers' cooperative "Farmers" allowed the player to stake out six hundred square meters in the Halfhill region. Now a brave soldier of the Light or a child of the Horde could swing not only a sword or a talisman, but also a hoe.
Despite the steep tilt to the oriental theme, Pandaria was generally received positively. True, some moments nevertheless caused gnashing of teeth.
Firstly, the reputation with the factions of Pandaria was pumped exclusively through quests, regular and daily. No fan-made T-shirts or heroic races, which was widely practiced in previous expansions. Secondly, in order to start building a reputation with the Shado-Pan and the Celestials, you first had to level up to exalted at the Golden Lotus. Thirdly, for daily quests they gave not only valor, but also small amulets of good luck. These amulets were exchanged for large amulets, which gave the possibility of an additional roll in raids. True, the exchange rate was 3:90, that is, three large amulets were given for ninety small ones. Therefore, even if you pumped up all the reputations, then later you had to make dailyiki exclusively for the sake of small amulets. And the last thing - the limit of twenty-five daily dailies has been lifted. Therefore, the hardcore players made them until they turned blue, "every day they are all pandareas."
Patch 5.1 Landfall
Patch 5.1 was the first "with numbers" patch in many years to not include a raid. Instead, the Blizzards made quest content a highlight of patch 5.1, namely two campaigns for the Alliance and Horde. After the landing of the forward detachments of mercenaries, that is, us, the heads of the factions decided to send regular units to conquer new territories, which were to gain a foothold on a new bridgehead. The Alliance campaign was called Operation Barrier, and the Horde's was Army of Conquerors. There were also two new factions with which you could pump your reputation. In general, "Landing" is considered the most successful implementation of such content when compared with the Stadium and the Fiery Front. But the innovations of patch 5.1 did not end there.
In my memory, the PvE arena was talked about back in the early days of WotLK. Why not? Bliz know how to make bosses. And once again it will not be superfluous to practice. Here in patch 5.1 and introduced the "Fighting Guild", where in front of other players you fight against monsters that are controlled by a computer. In order to enter this arena, one had to receive a special invitation. He was either knocked out of the rarniks in the new quest zone or bought for a lot of money on the Black Market. At first, prices went off scale. In general, the people liked the new entertainment.
Upgrade items. Surplus badges sooner or later form even among the most casual players. Therefore, the Bliz decided to upgrade with Valor and Justice Points. The prices went off scale at first - for four additional levels for an epic, you had to pay 750 valor points, but nevertheless, people liked the innovation. Moreover, the progress of the raid was not going well for everyone.
The grindfest didn't end there. Wrathion's legendary chain is just the apotheosis of the grind. At the first stage, it was necessary to collect ten Seals of Power and ten Seals of Power. In addition, it was necessary to bring the reputation with the Black Prince to respect. And yes, it was all just the beginning.
In general, Pandaria sample 5.0.4-5.0.5 was a success and the players had enough lessons. And the blies, who promised to issue content patches more often, kept their word and at the end of November 2012 threw out patch 5.1 on the players.
Patch 5.2 Thunder King
At the beginning of the add-on, the developers promised to issue patches more and more often. And, oddly enough, they kept their word. Patch 5.2 was released just months after 5.1 and was outstanding in many ways.
The plot in patch 5.2 continued the main line smoothly. For those who have completed the Kun-Lai Summit quests in full, one episode will surely be remembered. It is about the resurrection of the legendary mogu king - Lei-Shen by the Zandalari trolls. This king was famous for the fact that once upon a time, he defeated all other mogu leaders and united his people. Moreover, he was able to gain the upper hand over the "curator" of the Titans, Ra-den and take possession of the technology of space aliens. And now, after thousands of years in another world, Lei-Shen returns to take revenge by defeating his former slaves, the pandaren. True, Lec-Shen and his mogu did not take into account one factor - now in Pandaria not only good-natured bears softened from drinking beer. The island is not only marching regular units of the Alliance and Horde, but also crowds of mercenaries who have passed fire, water and copper pipes. With them and will have to deal with as I can, and their long-standing, even before the Sundering, allies in the person of the Zandalari trolls.
This plot unfolded both in the new play zone, Isle of Thunder, and in the raid, Throne of Thunder. Isle of Thunder was a phased location with a bunch of quests. The solution is as old as patch 2.4, because it was in it that this concept was first tried out. In addition to the dayliks, rare mobs were found on the island, which required the efforts of several players to defeat them. Another little thing that pleased this arcade zone is the Treasury of the Thunder King. Once a week, a key fell from the mobs of the island, which opened access to a solo scenario in which you had to run through a location in which chests with all sorts of goodies were scattered. Money, valuable items, Large amulets for T14 raids. The experiment turned out to be successful, but, unfortunately, the developers in the MoP did not provide more of such content.
As mentioned above, the content of the island was phased, that is, it opened after players completed a certain number of tasks. In general, the place turned out to be atmospheric, but rather gloomy. One got the impression that the island is a giant cemetery, where someone decided to take up the resurrection of the dead.
Isle of Thunder was not the only one. Near the northern coast of Pandaria, out of nowhere (as usual - out of the fog), another island appeared - the Isle of Giants. It was inhabited by dinosaurs and large animals, and entirely elites. This mob was headed by Ondasta, a giant dinosaur, who required the efforts of an "old school" raid of forty men to win. Bones fell from dinosaurs, and all sorts of utility could be replaced on bones.
Now about the "highlight of the program" - the Throne of Thunder raid. Even at the stage of testing on the PTR, it was clear that the developers were preparing something large-scale. So it turned out as a result. Blizzard has managed to create a raid zone in its best tradition. Twelve bosses and one "secret" in "heroic" mode, many of which were distinguished by original mechanics, impressive interiors and a lot of trash, an interesting plot. I don’t know about you, but for me the Throne of Thunder is on a par with Ulduar and the Black Temple. After the rather dull in all respects raid content of the late Cataclysm, the developers have shown that there is still gunpowder in the flasks. True, a couple of spoons with tar still got into this barrel of honey.
The disadvantages were yes. The first is instance linearity. Why did the blizzards decide to make the PG like this - God knows. Many instances with a large number of bosses had a "quarterly" structure that allowed you to choose from the bosses that you wanted. Here the order was the same. This was aggravated by the fact that the difficulty of the bosses increased unevenly. So, after the checkpoint with a fairly simple Jin'rock, the raiders attacked Horridon. A typical trash fight, the essence of which was mainly fighting against adds, became a barrier through which some guilds could not pass for weeks. This was followed by the relatively simple Council of the Zandalari, and then followed by the most chaotic battle in the instance - Tortos. Further, again, relatively simple Megera and Tszi-kun. And then again the barrier in the form of Durumu. After going through all the twists and turns of the first three quarters, the players ended up in the fourth. The first two bosses there were a classic "don't stay on fire" and only Lei-Shen was original there.
There was an impression that different groups of designers made different quarters of PG. Although this is not the point. The combination of straightforwardness and bosses - "gates" led to another decrease in the number of raiders in the "normal / heroic" bracket.
Added to these delights is the fact that in 5.2 we were offered the continuation of the "legendary" chain. The Black Prince offered us to farm twenty plus twelve "badzhiks". The drop rate of these next orange things left much to be desired. Added to this was the solo script, which required straight arms, especially for those whose classes did not have self-healing.
However, the patch was a success. Everyone got it - solo players and hardcore raiders and achievers. The people were delighted and waited for the next portion of the content, which was not long in coming.
Patch 5.3 Escalation
Release date: May 21, 2013
The fact that Garrosh is Thrall's biggest personnel failure was clear back in the days of the Cataclysm. Killing Cairne alone is worth it. The further, the worse things got. In the end, a rebellion was raised against Garrosh, led by the leaders of the Horde. Of course, in order to conduct hostilities, you first need to organize the supply. What the leaders of the Horde did with the help of their troops and mercenaries (that is, the players).
This is the story behind Patch 5.3. In order to implement this in the game, the developers borrowed the concept of "dynamic events" from ArenaNet. In the Barrens, high-level characters were deployed to guard the places where timber, oil and other useful things were mined. These places had to be plundered, and from time to time, a korovan appeared in the steppe, which had to be protected from raids by Garrosh's troops. In general, it turned out well, although this idea did not reach the dynamics of the original.
Another innovation of the patch is the "heroic" scenarios. Since the usual ones have already been imposed on everyone in the teeth, and they were no longer satisfied in terms of awards, GS became the main source of "valor" and body kit for those who were late for the holiday. From the purple chests that were given after completing the scenario, the epic of level 516 fell with a fairly high chance, which was quite nothing.
And, of course, the Black Prince Wrathion once again delighted players with a new stage in the legendary chain.
Patch 5.4 Siege of Orgrimmar
Resources have been gathered, an attack has been prepared. The "moment of truth" came when Garrosh decided to topple the Black Heart of the Old God into the sacred springs of Pandaria. The head of the Shado-pan tried to remind Garrosh of his father's fate, then he tried to slap his face, but nothing helped. Currents of dark energy shattered Dol's charm, corrupting him forever. It's time to kick Garrosh in the teeth together.
In 2013, the developers did not slow down and kept their promise - to make updates more often and thicker. In terms of saturation, patch 5.4 was not much inferior to patch 5.2, and in some ways even superior, because it made serious structural changes to the game. Let's start with the fact that an "experimental" location has appeared - the Timeless Isle. There were few quests, for that there were a lot of rarniks that spawned quite often. In addition, all sorts of chests were scattered across the island. Small amulets of good luck, as well as "blanks" for epics of level 496 fell from mobs and chests. In the middle of the island was an arena where four Celestials were testing players for strength.
The developers stated that they wanted to make a location in which the players did not feel limited by completing dozens of daily calls. Such a "zone of freedom". Yes, indeed, for WoW, the Timeless Isle was an experiment, but the bliz got excited about "freedom of action". There were quests, the murders of the rarniks were immediately put on stream, and now they came here for Small Amulets, and did not make the daily dailies that had stuck in their teeth. But, in fact, a farm zone was made for dressing alts, new players, as well as returning veterans. After putting on the freshly baked 90th in the 496th body kit, one could forget about the Island.
The next two innovations were related to the changes in the raid system. A new format was introduced - a "flexible" raid. If earlier the number of people in a group was either 10 or 25 people, now their number could fluctuate within these limits. This was perhaps the most rewarding structural change in the entire MPA. First, it made it possible for small guilds to take everyone into the raid. Secondly, the difficulty of such a raid was higher than that of the LFR, but at the same time lower than in the normal. This somewhat lowered the bar and made it possible to play for those who were slightly below the class in normal, but at the same time did not want to play with LFR-pugs.
The second most important structural change was Connected Realms - "united servers". This was a continuation of the ideology started back in patch 3.3, when for the first time players from different servers could play 5ppl together. Then there was LFR, cross-realm zones in the "open" world and battle tag. True, the merger of servers has gone hard - they are still being merged.
Another interesting innovation was the Challenge Arena. It was a solo scenario, a kind of "training ground" where players could test their skills in dealing damage, healing and tanking. Those who previously performed one role could practice in another. The need for such a "simulator" has been around for a long time, since it is better to train "on cats" than to do it in instances.
Wrathion's "legendary" chain has been completed. As a reward, players received a legendary cloak. The reward is not that dubious, but the cloak has become the most massive Legendary item in WoW. To obtain it, it was not even required to go through the normal raid modes, it could be limited to the LFR.
And finally, the final raid of the addon - Siege of Orgrimmar. The raid was controversial. On the one hand, fourteen bosses are no joke. Few raids in WoW boast that many encounters, many of which have interesting mechanics. On the other hand, it was clear that the blies were sculpting OO "from what was." The Vale of Eternal Blossoms and Orgrimmar served as the backdrop for the first and second quarters. With the new models of bosses, too, no one was particularly tormented. The third point was more about Horde players. The patch did not make any changes to the capital itself. That is, Garrosh stood still, the auction worked, vendors and trainers were selling services. And after you received an invite, you ended up in the version of the capital that is under siege. In short, cognitive dissonance.
Why this happened, I think, is obvious. As in Cataclysm, the blizzards followed the path of least resistance, using pre-existing sets and models. By the way, according to rumors from insiders, the first quarter is part of a completely different raid, which they decided not to complete, but included in the Siege. This is why we launch our attack on Ogrimmar with a large detour across the Vale of Eternal Blossoms.
As already mentioned, the patch turned out to be rich and interesting. But ... after it, the developers didn't just slow down, they just stopped doing something new. For they have not released a single major content patch. OO will be the raid that sets the record for "longevity" - fourteen months. That's two months longer than Icecrown Citadel stood.
Let's summarize. Overall, the Mists of Pandaria expansion worked well. Compared to Cataclysm, the developers have introduced a lot of new entertainments for players on the cap - pet battles, challenge modes, Brawler's Guild, Trials Arena. Raid content did not disappoint. It was made not only more than in "Cataclysm", but it turned out to be of high quality in the best traditions of Blizzard. Despite all the skepticism, the lore and atmosphere of the addon also worked well. Some say that Pandaria is too homely, they say, "family, friends, food, and the rest does not matter", but if you look at the quest chains, you can find a lot of dramatic moments and the notorious "epic" in them.
At the same time, the addition turned out to be uneven in terms of issuing content patches. I would even say the most uneven. More than a year without updates is too much. Especially after the developers at the beginning of the MoP assured that the content would be delivered more often. Actually, the first year it was. And then something went wrong. Yes, Blizzard did not originally plan for Warlords of Draenor to come out in November 2014. And recent interviews suggest that they delayed the release of WoD by six months. The excuses do not sound very convincing; rather, some kind of discord has occurred at the very top of the development team. The departure of Greg Street in the fall of 2013 and the recent firing of Rob Pardo most likely testify to this.
World of Wacraft: Warlords of Draenor
Let's start a little from afar. November 2013, Blizzcon, Metzen portrays an orc, audience roars with delight - expansion presentation. Of course, Warlords of Draenor was the highlight of that convention. The plot caused surprise, indignation and controversy, which continued for more than one week. Most intrigued by the garrisons. What was voiced by the Blizzards aroused genuine interest and timid hope that they would finally be able to move at least a little from the concept of the game, which was laid down in vanilla. Garrisons were presented as another system that would allow the development of a character on a cap. Various combinations of structures with various bonuses are just what you need. Add to this a bunch of followers, whom you can also download and, voila, almost the Way of the Titans.
On the other hand, what was shown at the convention left the feeling that the game was damp. And that the team's promises to release content more often and more are somehow too optimistic. The people hoped that WoD will be released in the spring, well, on the extreme in the summer. Well, Blizzy can't torture people with a final raid for a whole year, they can't. How long can you step on this rake? Nevertheless, it turned out that the Siege broke all previous records, becoming an actual raid for more than fourteen months, surpassing Icecrown Citadel and the Dragon Soul. However, before the release there was a pre-patch, with which we will begin our story.
Patch 6.0.2 The Iron Tide
According to the good old tradition, before the release of the add-on, there was a pre-patch with an event and all sorts of changes in the mechanics of the game. The event consisted in the fact that from the suddenly reddened Dark Portal, orcs with weapons, hitherto unseen, again begin to pour. The Iron Horde is trying to gain a foothold on the borders, but we will not let them go beyond the Blasted Lands. All of this was more interesting than the Terramor scenario, but did not even reach the pre-catalism events, not to mention the fact that the zombie festival before WotLK was never surpassed.
In addition to the changes to the class mechanics, there have been major adjustments to the raid system. Heroic difficulty became mythical, the size of which was calculated for 20 people. Normal began to be called heroic, and flex - normal. It was the final nerf of the Siege of Orgrimmar raid and over the last few weeks the people were farming the Iron Scorpion hard.
Warlords of Draenor release
The release took place on November 13, exactly six years after the release of the Wrath of the Lich King add-on. So what was so interesting about the addition? Let's start with the plot.
... Garrosh Hellscream makes a daring prison break. One of the dragons of the Flight of Infinity helps him get into an alternate reality, and thirty years ago before the events taking place. Garrosh finds his father Thunder in the alternate Draenor. As a result of propaganda work, Thunder and the other leaders of the Old Horde refuse to drink Mannoroth's cocktail. As a result of a fight between the family of Hellscreams and Mannoroth, the latter dies, and Gul'dan is relegated to the background. Thunder informs ordinary clan members that they will not be slaves, but will be conquerors. With the technology that Garrosh stole from his reality, the leaders of Draenor create the Iron Horde and build a portal ... to Azeroth, which they want to conquer. Our goal is to sneak into an alternate reality and prevent a new invasion of Azeroth by the Horde.
So, the place of action of the new addition is an alternative Draenor. For those who are not familiar with the intricacies of lore, Outland is what was left of Draenor after Ner'zhul's unsuccessful experiments with fel magic. Therefore, in the alternative Draenor, the mass of locations correlates with the locations of Outland, but in general they are very different. In short, a pristine, wild and untouched land awaited us. Traditional new content with locations, quests, 5ppl and more. The only difference from the continents in previous expansions was that one of the locations - Tanaan Jungle - was closed from players. There passed only the starting chain of quests, and after that we immediately found ourselves in the garrison, which was located quite far from the jungle.
The level cap, as expected, increased to the round figure of 100. In addition, it became possible to upgrade one character to the 90th, and for a certain amount of others. This caused a slight butthrt on the forums, but, in general, was swallowed by the community as a fact that cannot be avoided.
Another innovation that was marketed as a big step forward is the new character models. Models added polygons and made new animation. True, not everyone, for example, blood elves, were not included in the list. Goblins, worgen and pandas were also left unchanged, since the models were relatively recent.
The mechanics of the game have been greatly simplified - sockets have been removed from armor and weapons, the number of chanting scrolls has been greatly reduced and reforging has been eliminated. The game "Dress up the Masha doll" has become even easier.
The main innovation was the garrison - the personal fortress of the conqueror of Draenor. The concept was, in principle, not bad. A set of buildings that can be upgraded and that gave bonuses for crafting and combat. Thus, it became possible to customize the character on the cap. I built this building - I got this bonus, I built another one - this bun. Having a personal squad of followers gave us weight and also created a kind of field of opportunity for diversity. In addition, the garrison had a significant impact on the economy of the game. Take, for example, the fact that there was grass and a mine in the garrison, and most importantly, you didn't need to be a miner or herbalist to extract them. And the buildings associated with crafting made it possible to produce a significant amount of spare parts with a daily CD.
All in all, if we close our eyes to the story cobbled together on the knee, Warlords of Draenor seemed like a pretty good addition. The prospects were pleasing. What were the realities?
It's no exaggeration to say that the release of WoD was the worst start in WoW history. It is said that perhaps the first months of vanilla were similar to what happened after the release of WoD. Characters got stuck in textures, hung in the air. In the dressing room in front of the garrison there were crowds that could not get into it. The people were afraid to get into the garrison itself, because there was a risk of staying in it for a long time. In the chat, indignant cries about the rolled back quests slipped by. The more adventurous offered paid services for extracting characters from textures at a low cost. In the open world, the crossserver made a trick and non-quest givers turned into ghosts. It lagged terribly. When trying to log out and then re-enter the game, there was a risk of stumbling upon the message "Character not found". All this trash lasted for several days. The worst of the bliz was probably only the start of Diablo III.
Then everything was repaired and a full-fledged game began.
What can I say, Blizzard is able to do level content. Despite the tension of the plot, the quest chains in the locations turned out to be interesting as always. Brutal orcs, harsh winter landscapes, iron and fire - all this contrasted with what players encountered in Pandaria. Yes, there was also brutality, but in general, the island of fog turned out to be much more peaceful than Draenor. The continent itself came out great. Snow-capped mountains, scorched valleys, wild jungles. What was Shadowmoon Valley worth? Not only were the locations varied and interesting, but also the cities turned out to be, perhaps, the largest of all that is already in the game. Shattrath was enormous. It turned out that there was only one small area left of it in TVS.
However, the pros ended there. Crafting has been greatly simplified. He was strongly tied to the garrison, tied to buildings, which hit hard on those who had workshops of low-level crafting alts. Those who had gathering professions on the Mains also suffered. Now everyone could swing a pickaxe in the garrison and provide themselves with the right amount of materials on their own. Further, for the manufacture of Draenic items, it was not necessary to pump the skill up to 600. This practically killed the market of reagents for pumping. All this led to the simplification of crafting and a slow dying of the market. Engaging in crafts and trade has become elementary uninteresting.
But the role of the garrison in the player's life has become prevalent. In fact, they were daily, which are not called daily. Run through the mine and the garden, collect junk from buildings, give new craft tasks, puzzle followers. And so every day, and if you have several characters - several times. Many quest chains and the entire economy were tied to the garrison.
At the same time, it soon became clear that there are not so many effective building setups, and some buildings are not needed at all. There was also a slight mess with the followers. It took several weeks to collect, pump and dress. Forming a group for a mission did not require much brain use, especially with the appropriate add-ons. So a month after reaching the cap of the followers, it was possible to put on and put on shoes and that was the end of it. In other words, hopes that the garrison will become an alternative plane of development remained hopes. Players received veiled daily quests and overwhelming game mechanics with a very limited set of options.
Legendary item. Even before the release, bliz said something about the fact that they had taken into account the mistakes of the MoP and that there would be a "budget" legendary and something for hardcore comrades. The budget legendary turned out to be rather faded. Firstly, it was a ring, that is, it did not affect the appearance of the character. Secondly, you could get it by farming a bunch of stuff in the raid, that is, the process was not original.
Traditionally, the raid portion of the content remained strong. The starting raid - the capital of the ogres, Highmaul - turned out to be pretty and challenging enough. True, the number of bosses (only seven), as well as the absence of tokens in the loot table, seemed to hint that this raid will not be relevant for long. And yet, yes, Highmaul was a checkpoint and delighted the players for only two and a half months. Already in early February, the second raid T17 was opened - the Blackrock Foundry. Ten bosses, the last of which was one of Draenor's warlords, Blackhand. Everything was more interesting here. True, some tightness was embarrassing. Narrow corridors, relatively small spaces, dark corners, equipment, conveyor lines. Highmaul was small overall, but there was more headroom.
The release of the new raid, as always, breathed a little into the gaming life, but, as you know, not only raiders play in WoW. After going through all the story content with several characters, pumping an army of followers several times and kissing all the Draenic squirrels, the players were bored. And already at the end of February, the blizzards rolled out a new patch to the servers, numbered 6.1.
Patch 6.1 Garrison Update
This was one of the content patches that did not introduce a new raid. In some ways, 6.1 continued the tradition of the MoP patches, which went through one without raids, making changes to the game mechanics. Although technically 6.1 is still more associated with the period of the HCKG than with the start of WoD. So what's new with this content patch? First, about the "small innovations":
The biggest changes were in the garrisons:
- every day, visitors began to visit the garrison, who gave quests. Among the visitors were famous personalities such as Harrison Jones. Quests were associated with both open locations and raid bosses;
- the level of followers' items could be increased up to 675;
- Added new missions for followers related to professions, including archeology, as well as new raid missions for followers associated with the Blackrock Foundry;
- the interface of the followers' missions has been changed;
- a new vendor that sold retraining books for users;
- Another vendor spawns randomly in the garrison. We are talking about a merchant associated with a certain type of craft. This comrade not only sold new recipes, but also exchanged raw materials for the Primal Spirit. This slightly botched the economy of the game and made the game on the market more interesting;
- the changes also affected the buildings of the garrison;
- Added a new difficulty level for the invasion of the garrison - platinum;
- music box - if you wish, you could get a device that would play you the melodies found in Draenor.
- the legendary quest chain was continued and as an intermediate reward we were given a truly legendary follower - Garona (especially the players remember the final quest in this chain).
Actually, that's all. If we summarize all the innovations, then we have two main aspects to which the patch was directed. The first is to diversify the garrison. The naked eye could see that this mechanic had exhausted itself a couple of months after the release. It was necessary to give players new opportunities and subtract what prevented them from playing. Secondly, there was an attempt to fix the craft, which was, without exaggeration, killed, but it should have been brought up to fit the realities of the LCHKG.
In general, in the first six months everything was pretty good, especially since it was thought that this addition would not last long. In particular, this was indicated by the fact that only two raid shooting galleries were promised. There has not yet been a single expansion in which there were only two shooting tiers. In addition, it was still believed that blizzards would keep their promise and would provide content more often, and make global add-ons faster.
Patch 6.2 Fury of Hellfire
The patch turned out to be large and, traditionally, designed for all categories of players. The center of activity has shifted to Tanaan Jungle, an area that has been closed since release, with the exception of a small questline at the start. Tanaan Jungle was essentially a full-fledged location, comparable in size to other locations in Draenor. In addition to the dayliks, a mass of rare creatures settled here, under the bushes one could find all sorts of treasures, and in the very center there was a fortress, where the forces of evil were hidden.
It also houses the two strongholds of the Horde and the Alliance, from which players raided the surrounding area in order to undermine the power of the Iron Horde. True, this power had already been undermined by the order - Gul'dan and Killrog survived from the leaders, and Grommash was overthrown and captured. The Burning Legion was now in complete control of the Iron Horde and was preparing for an all-out invasion of Azeroth. The main focus of the forces of the Legion and Horde has become the Hellfire Citadel. In the citadel, players were waiting for a battle with thirteen bosses, among which were Killrog, Theron Gorefiend, Mannoroth and, of course, Archimonde. What else did patch 6.2 bring?
The garrison received additional buildings - the harbor and ships became available to players. We build a ship, equip it and send it on a campaign. Unlike garrison missions, sailors had to be paid not with the resources of the garrison, but with a new currency - oil. In general, the essence was the same, except that the ships could be sunk by the enemy during the mission and then they had to be built and pumped again. The addition turned out to be pleasant, but cosmetic.
More dramatic changes were made to the format of the five-person instances. Patch 6.2 introduced two new types - Mythic dungeons for WoD instances and Timewalking for 5ppl old content. Mythic instances have increased the difficulty and level of loot dropped from bosses. 685 items fell from ordinary items, and 700 items fell from flippers with some chance. Timewalkers were old instances of previous expansions, in which the character's level and attachment were scaled down to the level of the instance. Timewalking became an event when, say, instances from, say, the Wrath of the Lich King add-on were opened in some of the weeks. The very idea of travel was announced a long time ago and, in principle, turned out to be quite successful. The dungeons were as fun as they once were when they were relevant.
Bonus events. Bonus events awaited players every week, which gave a significant increase to the crystals of apexis and other in-game currency received for completing tasks.
Legendary chain. In patch 6.2, the legendary chain continued. As a reward for completing, players received a level 735 ring, which could be upgraded further. In order to do this, a certain contraption was knocked out of Archimonde in normal or heroic mode, which, when used, increased the level of the item by several points.
Flying over Draenor. The topic, without exaggeration, was scandalous. At first, the developers said there would be flights. Then they said that there would be no flights. There was a noise. Flights were still announced, but in order to get up into the air, it was necessary to complete a bunch of all sorts of achievements. The list of good deeds for the achievement "Trailblazer of Draenor" was: open all locations of the continent, find 100 treasures, pump reputation with three factions to reverence, complete all quests for "Loremaster of Draenor" and a rather long list of daily calls. In general, it was necessary to sweat.
In general, the patch turned out to be quite good and quite voluminous, with good innovations such as the new 5ppl formats. Everything would be fine, but the old problem again played its role - the pace of the release of patches. Why such a tradition has developed is difficult to say, one can only guess, but for the fourth addition, the last content patch has been on live servers for more than a year. Yes, of course, there were some changes, for example, for the murder of Archimonde they began to give a mount-elk, and things can again be upgraded for valor. But the tradition remained unshakable. The first half of the new addition is characterized by a rather vigorous release of patches, then the last one comes and the situation freezes for a year.
Actually, if we talk about patch 6.2, that's all. Now, let's take a look at the result.
Warlords of Draenor: summary
Let's start with dry numbers. In early August 2015, Blizzard released its Q2 report. It announced the number of active subscribers to WoW at the end of the period - 5.6 million people. Thus, Warlords of Draenor set the record for the rate of decline in the number of subscribers. No supplement has had such a sharp decline. Probably upset, Blizzard said they would no longer publish subscriber numbers as they have other ways to measure performance. The motivation is clear - why demoralize the audience once again? In addition, as the experience of other MMO projects shows, even having several hundred thousand subscribers, they provide an acceptable level of income.
Why did it happen the way it did? I have already written about this more than once, but it will not be superfluous to repeat it. The main problem with World of Warcraft is that conceptually the project has not changed for many years. This applies to both the character development system and the main content formats. From year to year, players complete quests, go through dungeons and then farm raids or grind for titles, mounts and pets until they turn blue. Whistles-fakes like battle pets do not bring cardinal changes to this scheme, they can distract players for a while, but they do not in any way affect the main thing - the character development system and the realization of his potential in the game world.
What else has played negatively? In my opinion, the following:
- garrison as an attempt to create a new plane of character development on the cap failed. First, the garrison and followers were pumped over in a couple of months. Secondly, the variety of garrison layouts was very modest. All this led to the fact that the interest in pumping was exhausted pretty quickly.
- simplification of character characteristics. The decision to remove the refitting, sockets from the body kit and minimize the chances of chanting was fundamentally wrong. Yes, probably, for some players the “knock out the clothes, put them on, run on” approach is quite acceptable. But the game "dress the doll Masha" has always been one of the cornerstones of WoW. Returning with loot from the raid, we played a mini-game, combining various items and changing their characteristics. It was interesting and made me tense up a little.
- the craft aspect of the game was almost completely killed. This was partly due to changes in the characteristics of the character, and partly due to changes in the craft itself. This aspect of the game was interesting even at the end of the add-ons, not to mention the periods after the release. In WoD, craft was again simplified to a disgrace, reducing interest to a minimum. It's easier to farm several raids with three highlevels than to produce something. I generally keep quiet about the collective profs - the garrison has eliminated the need to have them on the character.
- Grinding and farming are still the mainstay. We look at the same "time travel". Again badges, and again things for these badges. Do you want to add a hundredth konyak to your collection? 5000 Badzhiks and your horse, farm for your health.
Actually, this is quite enough in order to accept the simple fact: Warlords of Draenor turned out to be another disastrous expansion. Mists of Pandaria innovations were able to seriously slow down the drop in the number of subscribers. Warlords of Draenor with its crooked concepts, simplification of everything and everyone, an awkward attempt to play on nostalgia, led to the current state of affairs.
Two months later, a new chapter opens in the history of the game and the entire franchise - the Burning Legion wants to destroy Azeroth again, but we don't want that again. World of Warcraft: Legion is a joker that Blizzard has decided to play in light of a severe decline in popularity. A game of nostalgia again? About the further fate of the game and the entire franchise - in the next posting.
Indeed, the history of the Warcraft universe cannot be easily told, but it is not so difficult to understand how it is organized and from which side it is better to approach it. The following review will carry a navigation function, and may be useful even for those who are in the subject, but would like to expand their knowledge. My goal in this answer will not be to retell the content of numerous sources, but to give the most general outline of events and show where each source occupies in this outline.
Conventionally, the history of the universe can be divided into three sources: strategy, MMORPG World of Warcraft, books and comics. It seems that there are also board card games, but I don't know anything about them, and these three layers of the universe will be more than enough for you.
The story covered in strategies can be divided into three parts, according to the parts of the games.
Warcraft i, she's the first war. A recently released film was filmed on this part. It tells about the invasion of the Horde into Azeroth, about Medivh, about the fall of Stormwind, about the death of King Llane.
Game: Warcraft: Orcs & Humans
Warcraft ii, the second war. After the fall of Stormwind, the story of how Anduin Lothar, Turalyon, and Daelin Proudmoore fought back against the Horde. Then - the Alliance counterattack in the homeland of the orcs, Draenor, where Ner'zhul, since nothing worked out with Azeroth, wants to open portals to other worlds.
Games: Warcraft II: Tides of Darkness; Warcraft II: Beyond the Dark Portal.
Warcraft iii, the third war. The most intense and popular part of the game. The remaining orcs on Azeroth are being held in camps, and Lordaeron has a moment of peace and tranquility. However, not everything is so rosy, since on the northern continent of Azeroth, Northrend, Ner'zhul, imprisoned in an icy throne, is gathering forces to unleash a third war.
Simultaneously with these events, the young slave Thrall begins to have strange dreams in which a stranger urges him to lead the orcs to Kalimdor, the western mainland of Azeroth. In this part of the strategy, we get acquainted with the most famous heroes of the universe, with whom Warcraft is actually associated: Arthas, Illidan, Kael'Tas.
Games: Warcraft III: Reign of Chaos, Warcraft III: The Frozen Throne
The explanations that I give for each part are not even a retelling, but almost randomly selected facts, just to give an idea of what is happening in the series of games, and, naturally, so as not to spoil.
The logical continuation of the history of strategies was the famous World of warcraft, which is also divided, but not into parts, but into addons.
Wow classic: The Forsaken (Undead who no longer obey Arthas) join the Horde, so we get two unfriendly coalitions.
Alliance: Humans, Dwarves, Dwarves, Night Elves. Horde: Orcs, Trolls, Tauren, Forsaken. The main antagonists of this stage are the black dragons, the ancient gods and Kel'Thuzad, who again began to spread the plague across Azeroth on the orders of Arthas, now the Lich King.
Wow burning crusade: A new people, the Draenei, are emerging on Azeroth and are being welcomed by the Alliance. The Blood Elves, led by Lor "Temar Theron, join the Horde. The Dark Portal through which the Orcs entered Azeroth during the First War is reopening. The antagonists of the expansion are Kael'Tas, Illidan and the Burning Legion itself in the person of Kil'Jaden.
WoW Wrath of the Lich King: Some Death Knights are joining the Alliance and Horde, who in this expansion decide to fight the Lich King on his territory. Players in this expansion will have to confront the Titans themselves, the creators of Azeroth and the Lich King.
Wow cataclysm: The distraught Aspect of the Earth, the black dragon Deathwing has awakened in the depths of the Underdark and is determined to destroy all Azeroth with the help of the cult of the black hammer. The Kezan Goblins recently had enemies in the ranks of the Alliance - several unexpectedly losing deals have forced some of the merchant magnates to abandon their comfortable position of neutrality. Old agreements with the Horde were renewed, and the Horde welcomed the goblins with open arms. Outside the Greymane Wall, in the human city of Gilneas, meanwhile, a strange madness gripped the inhabitants. It turned people into bloodthirsty werewolves, attacking everyone. Having dealt with this madness, the Gilneans began to call themselves Worgen, half-humans, half-wolves and found their home in the ranks of the Alliance.
WoW Mists of Pandaria: Suddenly, a new continent was discovered in southern Azeroth, Pandaria, previously hidden from view by a thick layer of fog. The Horde and the Alliance raced to this mainland, unleashing a war on it, thereby awakening the strange Sha creatures, personifying our bad emotions and feelings. Some Pandaren decide to join the Horde and the Alliance. Warchief of the Horde during the Cataclysm era, Garrosh Hellscream goes mad and revives the heart of the ancient god Y 'Sharaj to strengthen his army and destroy the Alliance. Heroes of both factions must begin a siege of Orgrimmar, the main city of the Horde, to overthrow the tyrant.
Wow warlords of draenor: Garrosh escapes justice with the bronze dragon Kairozdormu (bronze dragons in the world of Warcraft have the ability to manipulate time). Garrosh returns to the past, before the orcs made their way to Azeroth. There he finds his father, Grommash, and shares the technology with which Garrosh hoped to destroy the Alliance. Grommash rallied all the scattered clans of the Draenor orcs under his banner, making their leaders their warlords and began an invasion of Azeroth, not Azeroth during the first war, but during the post-Pandarian campaign. Players become participants in the events of this very changed Draenor of the past.
And now in August we are waiting for Legion, a new page in the history of Warcraft.
As you can see, the further the story of the game develops, the more confusing and uninformative my retelling becomes. The reason for this is the complication of the story, the number of key characters increases several times. If for Warcraft I Garrona, Durotan and Lothar are important to us, then in Warcraft III Jaina, Arthas, Uther, Kel'Thuzad, Thrall, Medivh, Illidan, Mev and Kael'Tas are equally important. Naturally, in order to adequately finish the stories of all these characters, the game space is completely insufficient. Therefore, the creators draw on the third and last layer of sources - books.
At the moment, 22 books have been published, which are divided into three series.
I. Warcraft series
Includes books that are not related to a common plot:
- With Blood and Honor - the very first novel in the Warcraft universe, written by Chris Metzen (the father of the entire Warcraft universe). It tells about Tirion Fordring. Timeline, if I am not mistaken, after the second war.
- Day of the Dragon - tells about the events after the second war. The main character of the book, the magician Ronin, rescues the supreme aspect, Alexstrasza, from the captivity of the Horde.
- Lord of the Clans - tells the story of Thrall (the same little orc who does the GRRR at the end of the film), about how he began to revive the Horde, freeing the orcs from the Alliance camps.
- The Last Guardian - narrates from Medivh the Guardian, with whom many are now also familiar thanks to the film.
II. Warcraft Series: War of the Ancients Trilogy
It tells about the events after the Battle of Mount Hyjal (Warcraft III: Reign of Chaos) and at the same time about those events that took place several thousand years before the first war.
Includes books: 1. The Well of Eternity 2. The Soul of the Demon 3. The Sundering
III. World of Warcraft Series
It also includes books that are loosely connected by a common plot:
- The circle of hatred - events a year before WoW, that is, after the first war. It tells how Jaina Proudmoore and Thrall tried to keep the peace between the Horde and the Alliance.
- Rise of the Horde is the book everyone should read before going to the movies on Warcraft. It tells about who the orcs are, why they needed to attack Azeroth. And he also introduces us to the people of the draenei, these are the same blue-skinned dudes who were killed at the beginning of the film.
- Dark Tides - tells the story of the events of Warcraft II: Tides of Darkness.
- Beyond the Dark Portal - tells about the events of Warcraft II: Beyond the Dark Portal.
- Day of the Dragon - is in a sense a continuation of "Night of the Dragon" and tells about the events between Burning Crusade and Wrath of the Lich King.
- Arthas: Rise of the Lich King - Biography of Arthas, naturally.
- Stormrage is the only book that I cannot localize in time, which tells about what the Emerald Dream is and about Malfurion Stormrage.
- The Sundering: Prelude to Cataclysm - Narrates the events between Wrath of the Lich King and Cataclysm.
- Thrall: Twilight of the Aspects is a continuation of the previous book.
- Wolf Heart - tells about the events after Cataclysm, about how the leaders of the Alliance tried to protect Ashenvale from Garrosh, already starting to go crazy.
- Jaina Proudmoore: Tides of War - Narrates about Jaina Proudmoore, pre-Mists of Pandaria.
- Dawn of the Aspects - tells about the events after Cataclysm, about what happened to the five Aspects after they gave up their immortal power in the name of defeating Deathwing.
- Ox Jin: Shadows of the Horde - captures the events of Mists of Pandaria, specifically update 5.1.0 tells us about Vol'jin, who at the end of this addon becomes the new leader of the Horde.
- War Crimes - recounts the events following Mists of Pandaria, about what happened to Garrosh after the Siege of Orgrimmar.
- Illidan - The book was published in 2016, and as far as I understand, it is a biography of Illidan Stormrage.
As you can see, in these books the devil will break his leg, but there are also manga and comics that I will not even write about here.
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