-----
The Burning Crusade Beta
Most screenshots will be removed. However, the featured thumbnails on this page will remain for archive purposes.
-----
-----
November 21, 2006, 2006
Level 70 High Warlord Kyan Mehwulfe equiped with the Lunar Crescent mastersmith axe.
The first stat window shows my current stats fully unbuffed. My weapon is obviously Epic; the first tier of the mastersmith two-handed axe. 105 DPS, +2% Crit and +93 Attack Power. Half of my armor is Level 70 Rare offensive plate, three pieces are still from my High Warlord set, a few offensive pieces are Uncommon quality yet, and my wrists are sub-par for offense as they are a Uncommon tanking piece. The few Rare offensive plate pieces are socketed with offensive-themed gems.
The second stat window shows my stats at their extreme situational self-buffed peak. I'm Enraged and Deathwish, Bloodfury, and my Attack Power trinket are active. I am buffed by Battle Shout and my weapon is sharpened by a Adamantite Sharpening Stone (+12 damage, +0.64% Crit). I do, however, lack the Crusader buff, so these stats could be further increased by an additional 100 Strength. Also, the Adamantite Sharpening Stone is not very expensive. It's the equivelent of one Thorium bar and a Dense Stone or two. Lastly, though this stat total is peak, it is not a rare occurence in PvP. Enrage is obviously triggered often, and each of the notable short self-buffs are on either a 2 or 3 minute cooldown and practical for most skirmishes and long enough in duration for strong burst damage.
I expect notable growth beyond this. The stats shown here are after one busy week. Many avenues of growth remain. Karazhan, Tempest Keep, and Mount Hyjal. Arena and Tier 4 armor. 2 more tiers of the mastersmith weapons (+20 DPS). Epic jewelry, trinkets, and gems. Outside buffs remain unfactored. With a peak situational critical base damage of 3530 right now, I expect Mortal strike to break into 4000 damage territory within the first month of Level 70.
-----
-----
November 20, 2006, 2006
I reached Level 70 one week ago. Since then I've been working on my Blacksmithing and crawling through dungeons. I'm hours away from my Mastersmith weapon as of this update and I'll make an entry for that once it's completed. For now though, I'm going to catch up my back-log of screenshots. Descriptions will be brief.
Nagrand is the lush grasslands of what's left of Draenor. It's a focal Horde region because it's the home of the Mag'har orcs, a clan that has survived untainted on Outland. The region is also a fairly active hub. It has the only major new world PvP object so far in the expansion (the other regions use old tower-capture systems) and it's the only real sense of seige-and-control in Warcraft as well. Furthermore, it's a strong location for crafting materials so between crafters and PvPers, it's an active region.
Garadar is the Horde outpost in Nagrand. It's likely the strongest Horde location in the game in terms of effort put into it. The town is expertly landscaped and it's loaded with detail. It's complete with a "Thrall returns home" event that not only re-enacts the Mannaroth fight from Warcraft III for the sake of Hellscream's son but also reveals Thrall's true name.
Old Hillsbrad is another location that lore hounds will be pleased by. In fact, to Warcraft veterans that have been around since Warcraft II, it's likely the most nostalgic location thus far in World of Warcraft. It's detailed with everything from familar faces from modern-day WoW, to a throw-back to the original World of Warcraft character models, to the Warcraft 2 human music.
-----
-----
November 12, 2006, 2006
I feel like I'm back in Star Wars Galaxies. Netherstorm, much more than any other Outland region, makes you feel like you're off in space on some planet. What really drove the feeling of Star Wars Galaxies back into me just now though was the combination of the eco-domes, terraforming, and ethereal space (nether) smugglers. With help from the lush yet sci-fi soundtrack, I couldn't help but feel like I was back on Taris or even Tatooine checking up on my harvesters.
The entire Netherstorm region doesn't feel entirely like that though. There's a large undead region to the south-east which sort of combines a ghost town and the Alliance town back in Hellfire that I talked about as if it was "falling off the side of the planet". There's also a very strong military presence for the blood elves. At many locations, their mobs are constantly engaging nether beasts in battle or firing arrow barrages into the distance, and they also have a very well crafted stronghold complete with spear ramparts, seige equipment, and military tents (the latter two of which you get to destroy). For the most part though, whether it's from the Nether Helmets that many folks are wearing (that tank you see on my head is a nice piece of Plate headgear) or the goblins building a space rocket to escape Outland, it always retains some level of that sci-fi vibe.
The one other thing that really struck me since Thursday was the following sight I saw while over the Blade's Edge Mountains. It really epitomizes how brutal the region is.
-----
-----
November 9, 2006, 2006
I've uploaded a handful of new screenshots to beta archive; they're in the Blade's Edge and Netherstorm folders respectively. I've also put up some shots of the Arena weapons. It'll likely be a few days before I get around to an actual report though because I want to concentrate on the new gameplay. My Nagrand report will have to wait as well. I got all the screenshots done this morning - so I'll upload them soon as possible - but a report with thumbnails will have to wait.
Quick thoughts on the new content are: The new Arena weapons looks great, though I don't think they look better than the High Warlord weapons. However, they're certainly on par in terms of looking both cool and powerful. I hope the armor sets aren't done, however, since the Warrior Plate looks the same as the Tier 4 DPS plate. It's a wicked look set of armor, but I really rather see both Tier 4 sets and the Arena set all look unique. Also, Netherstorm looks great but the Blade's Edge Mountains is what I'm really impressed by. It's a very menacing zone with an aura of various reds about it and those wicked rock formations everywhere. Netherstorm won't compete with Hellfire for my favorite region, but Blade's Edge definitely will.
Lastly, this is what my character looks like as of now. I've upgraded about half my gear, but I'm still using my the other half. I could likely be using all my High Warlord armor yet (the lack of quest enchants on new gear is one notable factor), but I've mixed in a few other pieces for variety and to test out Resilience (which is on the belt and legs, both from the Halaa PvP merchant). I've been back in Arms spec for a little while now and I'll likely stay with it for the most part now. Mortal Strike and Flurry spec currently. I'll be dropping Flurry at Level 70 though and using those extra points for PvP utility (Improved Intercept, Tactical Mastery, Second Wind, etc). I rather have all these extra tools than just Flurry or Endless Rage; I don't think they'll be useful enough in burst PvP to justify taking them over the situational advantages that the strong PvP utility can offer.
-----
-----
November 4, 2006, 2006
I'm disapointed that the new Eye of the Storm battleground doesn't offer anything new. It basically just combines the Gulch and Basin. I would of liked a new feature or something that we hadn't seen before. Which isn't to say that it's not well done; but it really is just a new twist on old gameplay.
Same goes for most of the world PvP that I've seen as well. Halaa is the only location that I've really been impressed by based on initial impressions. I was hoping for a Halaa-esque object in every region. Towers and bases that either side can build up and actual seige. Something a bit more tangible. Not just more of the simple let's-trade-towers feature. Something more akin to a DAOC Keep in each zone instead of just more Plagueland towers. Don't get me wrong. I'm still optimistic for Shadowmoon Valley and Netherstorm based on Halaa alone; I'm certainly not concluding anything. But none-the-less, I was expecting more evolution of features and structure-control and for expansion PvP.
I should add that I do love that Damage Done and Healing Done were added the Battleground stat report. Being able to sort by each column would be a great next step. And even if it does use old gameplay features, the Eye of the Storm does have really strong pacing. It's area of activity is likely the smallest of three small-scale Battlegrounds, and you get back into the action real fast. When the battle gets more serious, I could see the swarming nature as annoying. But for just chaotic PUG fun, I think it's going to be a good dose of action.
Also, I've been experimenting with Slam (Improved) in PvP. I was always fond of it in the original beta when it had a 0.5 second cast time, and nothing has changed. It's hard to use; in fact, it's too inpractical for any seriously competitive PvP. But when you're just messing around in PUGs and it's not too hard to catch a target standing still, unloading 50-100 Rage with a big two-hander at a 0.5 cast time is damn fun. The ability is as visseral looking and sounding as ever. It makes me want experiment with a Hammer-spec Slam spec that uses the 3rd version of that Epic BOP Deep Thunder two-hand mace with the massive 3.80 speed, 550ish damage or whatever, and the 4 second stun proc (combined with Mace Specialization). Running around with all those stuns, Improved Hamstring, and a massive freaking hammer and 0.5 second Slam would be a lot of fun.
At the end of the day, I'd feel cripped with Slam though since any good player can exploit its design. And such a plan would require becoming a Master Hammersmith, and thus far too much of a commitment. It's a fun piece of theorycraft though, and if I could find a decent stun-proc maul in beta here, I'd likely give it a shot. And if I were ever to go Fury spec - which I doubt since despite its nice grinding ability, I feel cripped outside of Arms - I'd definitely make sure I put 2 talent points into it just so I'd have that tool at my disposal. 0.5 second Slams can empty a 100 Rage real fast.
Lastly, I'm in Nagrand right now for the most part, and the region is gorgeous. The orc town, Garadar, is likely the most gorgeous Horde location in the game. It's superbly landscaped, and it's loaded with city life as well.
-----
-----
October 30, 2006
So far I like Terokkar Forest a fair bit. The trees emit lights which gives it a bit of that other-wordly vibe that Zangarmarsh lacks. Once you get into the Bone Wastes, the stunning sky definitely reminds you of Hellfire Peninsula and that you are indeed on Outland. The forest makes more some beautiful scenes as well with all the lights or the stream that rolls across the forest's hills and eventually falls right off of the planet - which you can actually see from Hellfire Peninsula as well, far across the way.
Both Alliance and Horde have very nice outposts here. Stonebreaker Hold is placed very nicely in a small valley at the edge of the Bone Wastes with streams alongside of it. There's both a squad of grunts and an archer who are engaged in active event scripts, and there's a orc bounty hunter who's quite humorous as well. I don't know if the Alliance outpost has similar fluff, but Allerian Stronghold is certainly just as appealing to look at - especially with its watermill.
Much like in Zangarmarsh, one of the best parts of the region is what borders it. In this case, to the east: Shadowmoon Valley. You can only get a glimpse of the region so far, but so far it looks intense. Khadgar described it as quite the war-zone against Illidan's forces as well, so hopefully it's even more epic than the Hellfire Peninsula.
-----
-----
October 30, 2006
Shattrath City is basically the Outland hub for all goodly folk. It's a massive refugee city that all Horde and Alliance will often work out of, and may end up using as their core home location for a long time since it has more utilities and provides the quick route back to Azeroth capital cities. It's a very detailed city full of life, much like Silvermoon City. The upper city is covered with solders training and patroling, and the lower city is littered with refugees of all kinds going about their business.
Unlike Silvermoon though, it features two main factions that are at odds with one another: a holy draenei faction called The Aldor, and blood elf defects from Prince Kael'thals army whom now go by the name The Scryers. Both have a stronhold within the city complete with Arena Battlemasters and an inn, and also a bank and faction reward quartermasters elsewhere in the city. Being able to earn the favor of one, while losing the favor of the other, certainly adds a nice theme to the city.
My only serious complaint is that the blood elf Scryer faction is lacking presence. The Aldor swamp the city with their military force engaged in active events, and the blood elves lack anything like that. It makes them much less appealing so hopefully Blizzard will rectify the flaw in some manner.
-----
-----
October 30, 2006
Zangarmarsh, the swamp region that borders Hellfire to the west, is a nice zone, but it's not exceptionally notable. I think what stands out of the most, after being on the Hellfire Peninsula, is that Zangarmarsh doesn't have much of a cosmic or other-worldly vibe to it. The flora and fauna is certainly foreign, but with its generic black star-lit sky, lack of floating terrain, and emphasis on mushrroms that feel akin to the Plaguelands on some level, it feels like a swamp that could be a part of Azeroth. It never really hits you with the feeling, "this is Outland."
However, as I said, it is still a nice zone. It was quite casual to quest in. Despite its size, travel felt easy, and it was never too aggravating or annoying. It also has a lot of gear rewards [from quests], though still all Uncommon quality and not yet superior to most good Level 60 Epics. It also a small eco-system-ranger vibe to it, thanks to the Cenarian expedition and a few quests where you investigate or help regulate to local habitat.
The Horde presence in Zangarmarsh is decent. I'm fond of the name Swamprat Hold, given to one of our outposts. The main camp, Zabrajin, is fairly well crafted and complete with Zul'farrak-esque tree tents. It doesn't have too much fluff, but a baby murloc-loving witch doctor and a pair of trolls that throw a ball back and forth between each other help while dancing do help.
My biggest suggestion for Zangarmarsh is to give it a unique, cosmic sky. My hope is that such is already in motion and the current sky is just a placeholder. I'd also like to see a bit more detail added to both Horde outposts. A couple headhunters or axethrowers practicing perhaps, and also the troll drums (such as those in Revantusk) in one of the outposts for added audio flavor. Other than that though, despite not being anywhere nearly as epic or war-torn as the Hellfire Peninsula and perhaps a little visually anti-climatic in transition, it does provide good variety. Too much of the same thing would desensitize Hellfire Peninsula.
Perhaps my favorite part of the zone is what borders it to the north: The Blade's Edge Mountains. They look absolutely awesome so far; a mountain-fond Hordelings dream land. I can't wait to trek up into them and start fighting ogres en masse.
-----
-----
October 26, 2006
I'm sitting here late at night listening to the cosmos. The sort of musical themes that entrance you into the sight of sitting below the stars at night, enthralled by their expansiveness, and lost in the moment of wonder at what's beyond them. It's the cosmic twilight zone. It's one of the most soothing and foreboding moods a person can get into. It's beautiful and it's surreal.
And it's that exact mood, that feeling, which entralled me as I stepped into Outland for the first time.
You pass through the Dark Portal for the first time and you're met with the stunning vista of a broken cosmos sky. It's mesmerizing. As you slowly turn your head to take it all in, the crest of your vision catches the Dark Portal towering over you. In this world, it's gigantic in size and utterly imposing. When you regain your composure, you press forward and survey the scene in front of you. The Horde and Alliance are entrenched onto the base of the massive portal, and are under furioussiege from the Burning Legion. It's a relentless slaughter as orcs, humans, and demons alike continously swarm into the fray. It's this threat and war effort from the Burning Legion which encompasses the entire broken peninsula of Hellfire.
This sort of scene is really what symbolizes Outland, and specifically the Hellfire Peninsula. It's epic. Everything is massive in size. Unlike Azeroth, instead of condensed hills, they're sprawling and rolling across the Hellfire Peninsula. Many sights are stunning, whether its the sparkling sky or the shattered terrain. It's unsettling at times when you realize that Outland truly is a broken planet floating amongst the cosmos. You often forget, but there are times when that fact is jarred back into realization. There's a destroyed human base near the broken edge of the south, and it feels as if it were almost ripped off of the Outland. The entire ground below it is bent sideways as if the town would slide off edge of the planet. The architecture itself is familar, but walking through at at such an angle really nails home the state of the planet your on.
It's not only the terrain that's epic either - the conflict is as well. Soon after being sent off from the Dark Portal aback a wyvern, you arrive at Thrallmar, the core Horde base in the Hellfire Peninsula. This is a base that was hand-crafted by someone that loved faction war. There are details everywhere: patrols along every route, injured soldiers resting, stables, troops formed and rallying calls being spoken, and archers in battle stance in the towers. The Chaos orcs are no different. They are firmly entrenched across the center of the region with a massive stone rampart, and war machines and camps littering the landscape in small scenes of either battle or post-battle decay.
-----
-----
October 22, 2006
The Dead Scar is what the Scourge brutally carved into Quel'thalas when Arthas marched upon Silvermoon. The name is quite literal. It's a massive scar of death that carves itself through the entirity of the blood elf land; from the very southern most moutain edge all the way into Silvermoon City at the northern tip of Quel'thalas. Ultimately, it's one of the most imposing landmarks in World of Warcraft, and also one of the most nostalgic. As I trekked through the jagged spine, I kept having flashbacks to Warcraft III and the march of the Scourge. At each new detail, I was inspired to imagine how the carnal seige must of appeared. The scar is littered with roads crushed into its dirt, rivers ignored like pests and trampled upon, and massive oaks blown apart. It's as if a meteor had crashed through the land, so relentless is the wake that was left behind by the Scourge juggernaut.
It is undoubtedly the most imposing and disturbing taint carved into Azeroth by the Scourge.
-----
-----
October 22, 2006
I've long been a strong supporter of very high levels of aesthetic detail: NPCs whom interact with one another, random event scripts which bring the city to life, and simple details crafted in such a way that they tell story as you look upon them. And that's what Silvermoon and the land of the blood elves does. Every corner seems to have something waiting for you. In the capital city, the streets are alive, every dark corner seems to have a secret, and every area has a theme. Consider Farstrider Square, where both the rangers and Blood Knights have established their bastions. While soldiers train and craftsman work in the corner's grounds, the NPCs set an intriguing stage through simple pieces of random dialouge. The Blood Knight Champion Vranesh throws condescending smirks toward the rangers; two iniates rant of the haughty attitude of their bowslinger neighbours while thirsting for prideful vengeance. Despite only being minor pieces of dialouge, as a whole it brings the corner to life with hinted themes of politics and drama between arrogant rangers and power-hungry Blood Knights.
The city is full of secrets as well. I was inside the Blood Knight keep when I accidently fell into a small hole in the ground - I had thought I would simply brush off the railing, not climb over top of it. But my surprise was quickly replaced with astonishment. Before my eyes was an massive and incredible being of light and runes being magically leeched upon my blood elves. It soon dawned on me. Hidden below the Blood Knight keep was the naaru the blood elves were leeching off of; it's how they were "stealing the Light". It was a stunning thing to behold. Eventually, after watching for some time, I followed the dark stair case out of the hall in which the naaru was imprisoned, and I came out in the same small Farstrider Square that I had been in for the last while, but through a small passage behind blue veiled curtains which I had not seen yet. And it's precisely that sort of design that creates the "secrets" of Silvermoon. By no means are they hard to find; I would of likely saw the entrance to the naaru's prison before long. But they're hidden enough that now and again they will surprise someone. Even if it doesn't happen to you, their existance paints both the blood elves and their city with a dark side just below the skin that lusts for power and pleasure at any cost.
The mention of pleasure brings me to another dark secret. Silvermoon has a hint of cruel Persion or Drow luxury in its design; beautifully decorative pillows, sheet, and curtains are everywhere. The first building I walked into I mistook for a harem, yet I would see many more rooms of similar excess before I left the city. This in itself is no secret - quite the opposite in fact - but like much of Silvermoon, things are never as simple as they appear. Later in my exploration of the city, I discovered the source of it all. The tailor guild was a simple enough building. It's full of what you'd expect: simple blood elf tailors, tables, and cloth materials. However, the far wall, though covered in blue vieled curtains, clearly opened into a small staircase. I passed through the curtains and made my way down into the basement. I don't know what I expected to find. Perhaps a typical storage room like most every other basement in Azeroth? Simply another room for blood elf craftsmen?
Enslaved leper gnomes being tortured into fueling the blood elf thirst for silk luxury by a cruel succubus demon. Most of the slave labor were busy, their noses to the wall and their eyes locked onto their work. Two slept on the ground nearby, but the succubus would occasionally walk over, whip one of the leper gnomes, and chase him over to a work station. Another sat in a cage hanging from the roof, with a piece of meat hanging right outside of it.
It's such details that bring Silvermoon to life.
-----
-----
October 21, 2006
The new blood elf territory is a dream come true for forest troll loyalists from Warcraft II. Most of the entire eastern edge from the blood elf capital of Silvermoon all the way down to the Plaguelands is dominated by forest troll tribes, such as the core Amani or the Shadowpine. There are dozens upon dozens of huts, likely over a hundred trolls across the two zones, and also two large instanced gates which currently aren't open. The terrain is stunning as well. The troll territory is still quite scarred like much of the Ghostlands, but the mighty pines remain alive and seem to tower over and crown every horizon along the eastern mountains. And the entrance to Zul'Aman itself has one of the most beautifully, hand-crafted waterfall sections in the game. Very fitting of the great troll city. All the remain is the most important question: What of Zul'jin?
-----
-----
October 19, 2006
I'm really impressed by what I've seen of the Ghostlands so far, the Scourge-invested elf forest. It has a strong atmosphere about it. Dark like duskwood, yet it feels confined in a threatening manner because of the terrain and how the trees spread out to form a pseudo-roof - even despite the brighter sky than Duskwood.
The music is what impressed me the most though. It's clearly very fitting for the Scourge, and anyone familar with Scourge themes will see the resemblance. But there's a hint of epic sci-fi in there too - imagine Mission to Mars, some of the beautiful planetary vistas in Halo, or just entralled by a roof of stars - yet as odd as that sounds, it fits well with the darker Scourge tone. That sense of mystery and entrallment you get from epic sci-fi themes does well to really pique your senses and make you feel like there's a greater threat out there. Which is perfect since there's a very intimidating Scourge wall and base to your left as you come down the side of the mountain from the Eastern Plaguelands.
Speaking of which, the entrance to the Ghostlands from the Plaguelands is one of my favorite transitions in the game. It struck me as I did so for the first time. You sort of wind through a short valley and this massive blood elf stronghold, which doubles as a gate, slowly peers around the corner of the twisting valley. Then as you turn the last corner it slowly comes into sight right before you, standing tall.
-----
-----
October 18, 2006
For this beta, I'm going to thumbnail all the best shots into my preview updates here on this page rather than just have them sit in my screenshot archive for people to check out like I did in the original WoW beta. However, I will still do that for weaker quality shots which aren't relevant to the actual text update, so if you're looking for more shots, check out the archive - there may be some more in there.
Beta Screenshot Archive
I put a lot of effort into my screenshots. For most big updates, I'll spend a couple hours taking screenshots, taking a few of each target in an attempt to get that perfect view and set of proportions - sometimes that's quick, sometimes it's a slow process. Rarely I may even return at dusk or dawn to get the sun or moon in the sky horizon too. Then I'll spend an hour or so going through the one or two hundred shots I took and pick out the best. From there I crop them to further try refine their proportion and size. Then there's the site work: uploading files, updating code, etc. It's a lot of work, but I love it - virtual photography, so to speak. Getting that perfect screenshot can be as rewarding to me as most anything on a similar scale in this online genre.
-----
BACK - Front Page
