If you want to find out how you'll have to adapt to your class once Cata hits, you can copy your char over to the Test Realm and try out the changes. This is basically the patch that will hit live before Cata comes out. Haven't had a chance to check out the Hunter changes yet, but I plan on doing it today.
Locks and especially Paladins should do the same.
OK. I have never done that before.
So can you tell me where to go, and what to do, to try it out? (and Zan keep it clean).
Thanks.
Go to http://www.worldofwarcraft.com (http://www.worldofwarcraft.com) and click on the link in the list that says Public Test Realm.
Follow the instructions there and you're in.
Of course the instructions include downloading and installing the PTR client, which is over 15gb, so start that up, then while you're waiting for that to download/install you can go back to the Public Test Realm site and follow the instructions to have a couple characters copied over to the PTR. It says that the average waiting time on that is 4 days, but I doubt that sincerely. I've never had it take more than a day. It's probably just saying that because it's a weekend and there's nobody there to do it.
Once the client is done installing and your character is copied over (it'll show up on the character select screen once it has) you can log in on them and feel like a total noob again as you relearn your class.
Keep it clean? Hiih, I'm wounded by that. :P
I did all that this morning just to take a gander. Of Course, checked back a few hours later and my toon still isn't copied, yet. Oh well.
I did manage to start a toon to see what the newbie scene would be like. LOTS of extra help that really just gets in the way. Tried turning them off in settings, but there's still some I couldn't get rid of. One intresting thing is that now, when you go to your class abilites, it tells you at which level you gain them at. That's a tad useful when starting a class you're not totally familiar with. Blizzard is REALLY trying to put as many features in that the most popular addons do.
Still waiting to see how different I'm going to have to set up Zanz as far as spells, rotation, talent spec, and general chants/gem replacement.
Thanks for the help.
Installing the Test realm now. Unfortunately the Character Copy que is full, so waiting for that to clear so I can copy over Shaddam.
Its been predicted that Cat will be a November release...
4.01 on the test servers illustrates that possibility (although expansion have been delayed before: TBC)..
Will set up to test it ;).. thanks for the heads up
I check in with MMO-Champions daily to see what's new. I've been steering clear of some of the major spoilers for Cata, but I was too curious about the opening play of goblins and worgens to keep from spoiling some things for myself.
I only got to fiddle around with Benggaul on the PTR for a few minutes before they went down today, but I am DEFINITELY going to have to relearn my class. I may even start a new hunter just to get a feel for it from the ground up.
My biggest concern is whether or not I'll be taking a big dip in DPS once this hits. I used to be top of the charts all the time, but with crit being nerfed a bit in Cata (yes, heads up on that as well...your crit% will likely be fairly low once you start leveling again) and hunters getting a completely new resource system, I'm scared of how bad I'll suck.
I was in the PTR server this morning when it went down too. All talents have been reset and the new trees are up. Looks like I'll be surfing the net for info on what the best choices/rotations are by people who thrive on number-crunching.
As far as Hit/Crit/etc......we all know that once we have to start leveling again, the bars for caps and standard percentages will be raised with each new level. Sort of makes me thankful that Zanz is well above hit cap (not by choice) so that can be left on the back-burner for now.
At this point, trade chat on the PTR has been chatter with health going way up and dps being lower than expected. I'm sure Blizz will be recalibrating the formulas to correct this in the coming weeks.
other:
I have been worried that if the changes are too dramatic that they change the game play too much, I might not be able to enjoy it as I have been. Case and point with EQ. When it changed too much, too fast (expansions every 6 months), I dropped out. When I saw what EQ2 was like, when it came out, it held no intrest for me. I'll give the new system a shot, but if it doesn't meet/beat my expectations, I might not be around to see it flurish. Just my 2cp worth.
I agree with you Zanz. I am getting my computer set to copy Kael to the test realm to check it out. But if the changes seem to get too complicated, dramatic, mundane, etc. then I too will probably quit playing.
Thats why I left Ultima Online. Maybe Nek, Slim and a few others have the right idea by getting away for long period of time so it feels new again.
Everyone will really have to re-examine their gear once it goes live, at any point, since some stats are being changed or are disappearing entirely. Also certain gems are being transformed into others (ArP is going away, so ArP gems are being changed into crit gems if you have them socketed, for example) so I think the first couple of weeks will be a flurry of shifting, experimenting and readjusting anyway (JC'ers and inscribers will probably make a fortune).
It will all take a lot of getting used to, but I don't think it's being changed too dramatically, overall. I think that the majority will be able to enjoy it, at least. There has been a very positive reception in the beta from the changes, overall, from the standpoint of all the classes.
I won't blame those of you who feel the need to move on as long as you give it a decent chance to grow on you. I'll probably be with WoW for a long time to come regardless, even if it means I have to scrimp on food to pay for two subscriptions at once (when SWTOR comes out).
I would definately give it time. I may not be as addicted as I once was, but I still get times that sitting at the computer mindlessly mashing buttons is the only thing I want to be doing. =P
Transferred my character this morning, and now 3 hours later he still does not show up on the server.
Any clue if I should patiently wait, or maybe I messed up?
Patiently wait. Mine wasn't on the server until the next day. Right now there's a massive queue of people trying to get on to check it out, and this is the first workday for them after the weekend.
For Zanz to get transferred took roughly 20-24 hours from the time I submitted it.
They now say the wait time is as much as 3 days to even apply to copy a character.
OK, but patients is not one of my better qualities.
On a side note, what was the video you were talking about at the last raid Zan??
45 second video on youtube on dancing or singing cows?
Post the name if you can.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KlJVO1c7_fM&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5QqCDW7iJhI
Thanks..... i think. Funny, but it was udderly ridiculous.
Got the initial part of the test client installed last night, but the copy queue was totally full, so I created a noob 'lock on test. I haven't seen all the changes yet, but I really like the ones that I have seen.
I got some toons in the copy queue first thing this morning, and I'm looking forward to seeing the rest of the changes when Herbert arrives.
I checked this morning and there is still a wait of 3 days to copy a toon. I would rather copy Kael and see what the changes look like for her as my main than create a new.
Is there a cut off point for being able to copy a toon over to the test realm?
When I queued my toons this morning, I was also told that there was a wait of three days. When I got in just now after the servers came up, one of my characters was copied over (my level 35, non-guilded Tauren shaman that duos with my son). It's odd that they copied that one, since Herbert was first in line, the Charona, then my shaman, then a bank alt with all of my extra heirlooms (to twink noob toons on test). This one was flagged for a name change on test, though, so that might be why he's the one that got copied.
OMFG!!! I just got back to Orgrimmar, and people are on their flying mounts! It looks like you can't FLY in Org (they're all walking), but they're there. :D
<edit>
And, thought you might want to know, someone just said in Trade chat, "I LOVE MY NEW TALENTS Holy palys kick major ass".
WOOOOTTTT>>> but I already knew that holy pallys kick ass. =D
You mean there was a wait of 3 days to be able to get into the queue...or it just said that it would take on average 3 days to copy your toon once it's in the queue? If the former, I was just able to submit another toon for copy if you want to try it now. If the latter, don't go by that estimate. Most people seem to be getting at least one toon copied by the next day. The estimate they throw up there is almost always inaccurate.
It says there is at least a 3 day wait to even ask to get a toon copied and now a wait to make a premade
I copied Shaddam over yesterday morning, and he still is not there yet.... 32 hours later.
I let the download continue over-night while I slept. Takes a few hours.
In any case, I went in with Zanz and the changes with 4.0 are, for the most part, disheartening.
The emblem changes, the cost for gear on emblem vendors, the gear stats.......as well as many more things I've seen.
Flying mounts are summonable in Azeroth, the only thing is they act just like regular ground mounts, so don't summon a drake in the old world thinking you can now fly around there.
As far as glyphs go, we have 3 new slots. They are called 'Prime Glyphs'. They work the same way the major glyphs do, so it's basically up to six major glyphs and three minor. Talents have all been reset so look into that as soon as your higher level toons log in.
Unless Blizzard makes a MAJOR overhaul to this new system, I don't see myself staying with WoW for too much longer (Cata expansion or not). If I wanted to get the feel of 'a new game', then I would be playing a different game altogether. Maybe Blizz should have made this WoW2 and left the original alone, as far as mechanics go. <Shrug> It was the deathnail for EQ............looks like this has the possibility of being WoW's.
Will wait and see. I know, I know, the arguement is they are still working on this 'test', but just the direction they are going in makes me leary of it all.
Found some info on the test realm changes as well as Cataclysm changes.
Could very well be on an enormous number of other sites, but just though I'd plop down this link cause it looked rather straight-forward.
http://wowmb.net/
Class mechanics change with every expansion, why should Cata be any different?
I've been playing around with both the new Hunter and Warlock systems and both seem pretty fun. They will just take some getting used to. Pretty much like the skills you use in Live now did.
I'm really getting the hang of the new Focus system for Hunters, and it looks like they'll have to tweak some numbers around since BM has been WAY overpowered from what I've seen, but overall I like it. For locks it's nice not to have to carry a sack of soul shards around and empowering some of your spells with the new Soul skill can really lead towards some kickass combos. I haven't delved into it enough to figure out how you're supposed to regenerate soul pieces during a long battle (Blizz said they'd have a mechanic in to make it possible), but for the typical quest mobs it seems to work almost the same.
I like the emblem changes. For one thing, now I don't have to exhange Triumph emblems 5-6 times just to get the sort of emblem I need to buy older items (or gems). For another, it just seems to make more sense in the long run to keep us from getting into the same situation again with "legacy" emblems.
Gear stat changes for the most part make more sense and help people figure out whether or not a new piece of gear is an upgrade without having to ALT+TAB out of WoW and look up a stat calculator or whatever. Some of the more confusing stats were removed and Mastery is thrown in instead (though that's not on the PTR yet from what I see).
I mentioned it before, but it's all really just going to take a lot of getting used to. I think in the end most people will be happy with the changes, though I understand some people are fed up with change. :P hehe
Zan, if you head off you'll have to give me your contact info so I can sucker you into some other game. Plan on playing SWTOR? :D
Just did a quick test with Recount loaded (Didn't have it in the rest of the time) and without having an optimal spec/gems/added glyphs/shot rotation I'm only doing slightly less DPS than I used to, AND I don't have to worry about running out of mana and switching to Viper during a long fight.
Also, every char I've had marked for copy (including ones I requested yesterday) are in now. I think they're working quickly through the backlog now that it's not the weekend. :P
My toons were in when I checked just now. It's a pity that I don't have time to mess with them because I've got to go to work. :(
Don't these people realize that I've got games to play? :P
Just FYI, the first part of the 4.0.1 patch is now coming through to Live via the background downloader. It's about 1.6gb, so not nearly as brutal as the PTR download, but enough that people should probably get started on it sooner rather than later.
The second part of patch 4.01 is on the background downloader now, and it's up to 4Gb total. Start downloading it now if you haven't already. Looks like we could see the first pre-Cata changes on Live within the next couple weeks.
If you haven't logged in to test yet today, your toons are gone. They patched something that required a total re-download of the PTR client and wiped all the characters. I'll be re-queueing my guys as soon as I can, but I'm playing with a baby hunter in the meanwhile to see how the change from mana to focus feels.
And I think my new favorite ability on Herbert is going to be Soul Swap, especially when I get the glyph for it. Who do I need to brown-nose to get the hook-up? :D
Got Zanz transferred over this morning. After looking closer, I found the reason why my spellpower was lower than it should be........
The gems have been converted from SP to INT.......but things like enchantments and gear socket bonuses have not. They still show SP bonuses on the PTR.
guess the new engine can't factor in that part yet.
On a lesser note, the water effects have been changed and look more 'real' with swimming and what-not. The slime pools and slime areas still show the same graphic as current, but Blizz may or may not change that.
Had to do a name change, so it's Zanzierx for the PTR realm.
I haven't gotten a chance to redownload the thing since I was downloading the stuff for Live. It's d'ling now so I should be able to screw around on there tomorrow.
I still wish I could afford the CE for the Deathy. :(
The next stage of the pre-Cata events is up on PTR. I imagine that'll be going live next week if not today. Not sure on the 4.0 changes, though. That probably needs at least another week.
And now the third stage of the pre-Cata events are up on PTR. They're really moving them along fast. I'm pretty sure we'll see at least some of them Live come Tuesday.
And the third part of the background download for the next Live patch is going out tonight, bringing the total up to around 4.68gb. I would say that this is certain to go out Tuesday except they're only doing rolling restarts for many realms and the full maintenance for only some of them. I'm not sure if they actually need a full downtime to implement a patch like this or if a rolling restart would be sufficient, but I'm leaning more towards it being released on the following Tuesday.
For those who have not put a toon on the PTR, yet, or those who have yet to visit Orgimmar, go there.
About 10-ish short quests are found there with the storyline right before the cataclysm. One sends you to speak to Thrall who is in Nagrand at this time.
I havn't gotten that far in the story, but expect all of this when 4.0 goes live.
Suspected 4.0.1 release date: October 12th/13th. Suspected Cataclysm release date: December 7th.
Looks like everyone will have a lot of time to get used to their new class mechanics/spells/talents before they delve into 80-85 content.
Here is a little tidbit about how raid lockouts will work in patch 4.0.1. It's going to be interesting to see how this all works out, as it will surely get changed between WoTLK and Cata.
http://wow.joystiq.com/2010/10/01/flexible-raid-locks-in-patch-4-0-1/
It was officially announced on the EU side of things that Cata will be released on December 7th. Guess when my 3 week vacation is over? Yah. Bastards.
is that just EU, or have they said anything about us.. would they release it their before here?
They followed-up with another press release (http://us.blizzard.com/en-us/company/press/pressreleases.html?101004) confirming that Cataclysm is scheduled to release on December 7 over here, too.
Still not available for digital purchase in the Blizzard store, though. :(
It'll be in the store the day of release. There's still over 2 months to go. :P They can't really let people start pre-downloading already considering the amount of changes that are still likely to be put in over the course of those 2 months.
No background loading when you try to log in. The changes won't be this week. I get so sick of seeing trade chat spammed with 'Is 4.0 going to happen this week?'.
It's as annoying as 'Do we have WG?' for the lazy asshats that can't look it up on their que log. It even shows the countdown timer til the next WG fight.<sigh>
I wish I could say that there's nothing worth seeing in trade chat, but sometimes (like 1-5% of the time) something intresting to me comes along worth my attention. Everything else is troll fodder.
Off for another round of brutal football in Blood Bowl.
Comment #1: 'It's only a flesh wound.'
Comment #2: 'Yeah, only 4 inches deep.'
Yah, I was hoping for a b-day present from Blizz today but all signs were pointing towards next week at the earliest for 4.0.1. I also think my beta invite must have gotten lost in the mail. Obviously they're letting just anyone in now if Ulty got in. ;)
Extended maintenance tomorrow. I'm betting 4.0.1 is getting pushed. Get ready to relearn your classes if you haven't been playing around on PTR. Also, get ready for madness in the home cities!
Also, guild scribes, you'll be pretty busy when this first comes out. I'd like one of every Hunter glyph, please. :D
To my knowledge, Dur and I are the only ones that have all glyph recipes atm. I will not be making any extras to stick in the bank and the ones in the bank need to be used up first, if needed. Again.......people need to check it out even for alts (lhigher level or not). I'd say, give it til mid-November, then wipe the bank of all glyphs. I'll make whatever is needed on an individual basis and only if people send Toyman an in-game letter.
My DK, Stilgar, also has all the receipes. I will have to get busy farming mats.
Well the reason I mentioned the glyphs is that several of the glyphs will be changing, new ones are going to be added and others are being taken away and I'm not sure how that will affect the ones that are currently stocked.
Also, you can now (in 4.0.1) permanently learn all of the glyphs and switch them out whenever you want without having to buy a new scroll. This is why I figured the scribes would be busy early on since I'm wagering a bunch of the population (not just in-guild) will want to get ALL of the scrolls learned so they don't have to worry about getting different ones later on. I figure you guys could make a decent amount of cash if you care to.
My Druid is also an herbalist so any gathering you'll need done I should be able to help with. Especially once Catacslysm actually goes live and we can fly all over Azeroth.
Official confirmation: 4.0.1 is going in tomorrow.
http://forums.worldofwarcraft.com/thread.html?topicId=27189089214&sid=1
Patch downloaded, updater run, client ready. Now I just need to wait for the server to come up. :(
Depending on your connection, the download is 4.7gigs and took me about 20 minutes. The LONG part is the initialization of the patch. Once it's downloaded, takes about an hour to install (at least on my system).
I've already stated that I'm NOT looking forward to the changes cause locks got a complete overhaul and it was like learning to play a warlock in a different game but with WoW scenery.
For those who don't already know, go to Ogrimmar as soon as you can to start on the pre-Cataclysm storyline/quests. On the PTR, they gave 13g (or roughly there of) and at the end portion, will require groups to go into the phased instance portals to defeat the bosses. I didn't complete them on the PTR for lack of intrest due mostly to asshats on the PTR and cause I was having to learn a totally different spell rotation and getting frustrated with it.
Ciao for now.
Zan, check out the Warlock forums on MMOChampion.com if you haven't already. I've found the class forums there to be a valuable source of information with respect to the Hunter overhaul, and I was able to get my hunter for the most part back in shape by the end of the PTR. They're very good sources for class information, and the people there really seem to know what they're talking about for the most part. Just ignore the inevitable occasional troll.
From what I've been able to figure out about the "new" warlock, the biggest change is that you don't need soulshards for most of your spells, but rather have the option to use 3 (or more, if you use a talent that regens a soul shard) during a fight for improved versions of the spells you're casting. Then after the fight you click one spell to regenerate both health and your 3 soul shards. It's kinda neat, really. But as I mentioned, I'm not a pro at the warlock class. I WILL be rolling a gobby lock, though, so you're welcome to join me on my journey and relearn if you like. :D
One thing I do have to say to everyone in general with respect to the class changes is do NOT focus too much on how things "feel" at 80. The changes were all balanced around level 85, which means during stages of previous levels some classes will be more or less powerful than others, kind of like how level 70 was when 3.0 hit before Wrath came out. It also means there will be an "awkward" period betwen now and the release of Cata in two months. Things WILL get better.
Oh, as expected, maintenance is extended by another two hours. So now there's plenty of time to peruse the forums.