Connect with us

Gaming

Developer Interview for World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King

blank

Published

on

blank

I had the chance to take part in an interview with Brian Birmingham and Ana Resendez in advance of the official release of World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King Classic. They both work as lead software engineers on the classic WoW expansion for the Lich King. Here are some of the interview’s highlights from the wide range of subjects that were covered.

Features: Should They Be Added?

One of the features in Retail WoW that makes finding parties to complete dungeons exceedingly quick and simple is the dungeon finder. However, it is frequently highlighted as something that contributed to weakening the sense of community among players because we weren’t naturally joining groups on our own and kept running into the same faces, which strengthens community bonds and new friendships. Birmingham brought up the fact that they promised not to add Dungeon Finder back in if they ever returned to Wrath from the very beginning of Classic.

The team had to reconsider their position because the community has voiced a strong demand for it. He continued, saying  “the biggest argument we hear against it is ‘if you don’t like it, don’t use it,’ but it doesn’t really work that way. Once it’s available in an ecosystem, it tends to leach players away because it’s so convenient.” This is accurate; the first time around, we saw that play out with WoW. The number of gamers wanting to form groups in various ways crashed as soon as we were able to automatically queue for items. It’s simpler to add your group to the queue than it is to use other techniques to recruit people, even if you were just attempting to find one extra person. So either you have to implement an automatic dungeon finder and understand how it will affect the community, or you can’t include it in the game. With it, there is no genuine room for compromise.

blank

The developers had also considered merging the raid lockouts for raids with between 10 and 25 participants. Many guilds felt under pressure in Wrath to undertake weekly 10 man and 25 man raids in order to increase their chances of obtaining gear. This was troublesome mostly because it lengthened the time required for raiding, and playing the same content twice as often can result in players becoming fatigued twice as quickly. A further stressor on raid groups in Wrath was the inability to easily divide a 25 man raid into two 10 man raids. This specifically became a problem with Trial of the Crusader because there were suddenly four versions of every raid instead of only two after Heroic difficulty was enabled.

Birmingham said they had gotten a lot of feedback from players who preferred to play one version of the raid with their buddies and the other with pick-up groups and didn’t want the lockouts shared. He gave this explanation of their solution: “So what we decided is actually, it wasn’t really a problem until Trial of the crusader, so we’d really like to try the Ulduar model where the lockout is split between 25 man and 10 man so you can do each of those in a week. But still, the Heroic versions are something you can do optionally inside the normal version, so we are going to try and see if we can do that for Trial of the Crusader.” Sincerely, this is a great answer. I’ve always been disappointed that they switched away from having the difficulty of the fight alter as a result of people acting differently during the fight. Each solution has trade-offs, but if they can successfully implement it in ToC, it would be nice to see that applied to ICC as well.

The new user interface (UI) that will be included with the Dragonflight expansion was also brought up, along with the chance that some of it might make its way into the Classic branch as well. Birmingham stated that it is something they may be able to incorporate in portions, highlighting in particular the capacity to rearrange additional elements on the UI. He added, “One of the things that we were really happy about with the initial Classic release, I know I’m one of them I really enjoyed the way it looked, was bringing the original UI for folks who were nostalgic for it. We put a lot of effort into making sure that when you first start the game, you think, “Oh, yeah, I remember this; this is how it looked.” In light of this, it’s probably doubtful that Classic will receive the same comprehensive UI revamp that DF is receiving, but players could see some aspect appear if the community wants it.

blank

Tougher heroic dungeons

According to a recent interview, phase two of Wrath Classic will also include harsher Heroic Dungeons. Although there has been a significant departure from how Wrath operated in the past, ultimately, this should be a good thing. It will definitely serve as a bit of a catch-up mechanic for players, which will make it simpler for raids to backfill their teams when the first tier is complete. This raises several issues, one of which is whether the Heroic+ dungeons will stop rewarding rare gear and start solely dropping epics.

Birmingham quickly clarified that he was unaware of the precise strategy being used to deal with treasure in Heroic+ because it was still being developed. He did, however, state that he thinks it is currently intended for the additional stuff that drops to be genuine additional loot. You will receive both the new epic loot and the rare gear that typically drops in Heroic. The player will still be able to go back and complete the ordinary Heroic version of the dungeons to obtain those rare items and be able to obtain the enchanting mats that way, he added, if that isn’t how they decide to go about it.

This entire interview was a fantastic opportunity to go over some of the information we already knew and to get a glimpse of what is coming up for Wrath Classic. When phase two is released, some people could be disappointed by the concept of changing some aspects of raiding and the addition of Heroic+, but these modifications could make Wrath Classic even greater than it was. Although Wrath had many positive reviews, there were also several significant drawbacks. It is amazing to watch the development team address these problems by coming up with fresh approaches.

At 3 p.m. PDT on September 26, Wrath of the Lich King Classic will be live worldwide. To find out what time zone you are in, go to the Wrath Classic launch page.

As Editor here at GeekReply, I'm a big fan of all things Geeky. Most of my contributions to the site are technology related, but I'm also a big fan of video games. My genres of choice include RPGs, MMOs, Grand Strategy, and Simulation. If I'm not chasing after the latest gear on my MMO of choice, I'm here at GeekReply reporting on the latest in Geek culture.

Gaming

Recruited Since Last Month: More Than Eight Million Helldivers 2 Players

blank

Published

on

blank

The relentless force of Helldivers 2 shows no signs of slowing down, as recent reports indicate that Arrowhead Games Studios, the Swedish developer behind the game, has sold over eight million copies since its release on both PS5 and PC just last month.

According to TD Cowen analyst Doug Creutz (thanks, VGC), who spoke to Bloomberg, it is believed that the game has exceeded expectations in terms of performance. It’s amazing how word-of-mouth buzz and the unconventional guerilla marketing strategy keep driving up recruitment numbers week after week. Arrowhead’s studio motto, “A game for everyone is a game for no one,” reflects their unwavering commitment to their unique internal design philosophy.

It appears that the PC community has recently surpassed the PlayStation fanbase in terms of player numbers and platform preference. However, thanks to crossplay, both groups continue to benefit from the growing popularity of gaming. Although it’s not particularly thrilling to see yet another service game achieve rapid success, the hardcore nature of Helldivers 2 fills us with optimism for Sony’s ongoing live gaming endeavors. We anticipate dedicating ourselves to the defense of Super Earth for many years to come.

What are your thoughts on Creutz’s sales estimate? Does it come as a surprise to you? Does it exceed or fall short of your expectations? Have you noticed any changes in your level of enthusiasm for the Democratic Party? Has it waned or grown stronger? We would greatly appreciate your feedback in the comments section below.

 

Continue Reading

Gaming

Exciting news for gamers! A wide selection of PS5 and PS4 games are now available at discounted prices, but only for this weekend

blank

Published

on

blank

Don’t miss out on this limited-time opportunity to grab some amazing titles at a fraction of their original cost. Sony clearly understands the potential of the PS Store, as it consistently adds a plethora of new titles every week. This allows for future opportunities to offer discounts and promotions on these games. It’s evident that sales are consistently growing each month, with the introduction of time-limited weekend offers in addition to the usual sale events.

This weekend brings another round of exciting deals, with significant discounts on several popular PS5 and PS4 games. For instance, Star Wars Jedi: Survivor is now available for £35.99/$35.99, while DiRT 5 Year One Edition can be purchased for just £14.79/$15.99.

Here are a few other standout moments we noticed:

Hurry up and make your decision before the offers expire on March 19th. Don’t miss out on your chance to snag some great deals. For a comprehensive list of all the latest offers, make sure to visit this page. And don’t forget to share your purchases with us in the comments section below!

Continue Reading

Gaming

Geoff Keighley’s Summer Game Fest on 7th June keeps the spirit of E3 alive

blank

Published

on

blank

E3 is long gone, but that doesn’t mean we won’t have any exciting video game events this summer. Geoff Keighley, the host, has just revealed that the highly anticipated Summer Game Fest event is making a comeback on Friday, June 7th, at 5 PT/5 p.m. ET/10 p.m. BST. The event will be streamed live from the YouTube Theatre in glamorous Los Angeles.

In a recent tweet, Keighley assured his followers that a large number of fans will be present at the event, both in person and online. He expressed excitement about the upcoming cross-platform showcase, where the future of video games will be unveiled. Presumably, PlayStation and other gaming companies will have their own separate livestreams. However, Sony has a tendency to support Summer Game Fest, so it’s worth keeping an eye out for any announcements from them.

If you’re thinking of going, tickets will be available for purchase starting on Tuesday, May 7th. It’s definitely an event worth noting on your calendar. So, what are your expectations for this year’s Summer Game Fest? Feel free to share your dream announcements in the comments section below.

Continue Reading

Trending