YellOw Pimps for Blizzard

China's Yu "YellOw" BaoHui, "Warcraft III" cyberathlete for Team MeetYourMakers, has apparently been drafted by Blizzard for a Korean ad campaign promoting "Burning Crusade."

I wonder if he even plays WoW?

Click to enlarge.

See more images at TeamLiquid.net.

Cloud vs. Star

I, like a lot of you, have had a few weeks to play the "Burning Crusade" expansion for "World of Warcraft" now. I've substantially leveled a couple of new characters*, one of each of the new races (Blood Elves and Draenei if you like, have a life or something) and noticed pretty key differences between the two.

It's not really the new abilities or classes that make the difference, but rather the starting areas, and how they relate to quest progression. WoW was an evolutionary step up in MMORPG design in that it had quests that logically flowed by level and race to new areas that were always level-appropriate. Players were not forbidden to go into areas that they're too low level for, but neither did any of their quests necessarily lead them there - exploration was still possible, and even rewarding - but not a part of the leveling chain. Completing quests was substantially more rewarding than just grinding through countless rats and selling their teeth, and also kept you moving from area to area that progressed naturally in terms of both difficulty and reward.

Still, there were many jokes about the "World of Walking" due to a lot of quests involving running back and forth across the same stretch of terrain several times to deliver things. Sure, one could throw the item to be delivered into a sack and complete the quest when it's convenient, but lots of us knocked out one quest at a time. This lead to a lot of wasted time - and by wasted I mean we weren't exploring new areas, or completing quests, or engaging in combat, or even - Light forbid! - doing roleplaying. How many times did you trot across the Crossroads on the Horde side; a vast area that had little to commend itself visually, and less in terms of ease-of-travel?

The developers at Blizzard have learned some lessons, and improved on the design of quests in the expansion, mostly. The starting area for the Draenei resolves this problem; the starting area for the Blood Elves, for the most part, does not. Blood Elves get quests the old-fashioned way; you're given a quest to go to an area and do something (kill things, explore, acquire something, whatever) and then return to complete the quest. Upon completion, another quest opens up, and you head out again - trotting back and forth across the starting zone many times. Sometimes it's possible to pick up several quests and complete them all in one run - but for the most part it's one at a time - the star pattern method. I call it this because your path of travel makes a star, a whole bunch of radial arms emerging from a central point - that central point being the quest giver.

The Draenei, on the other hand, have it easier. You arrive at the area with the quest-givers, and there are many quests to pick up all at once - all of which lead you to the same general geographical area. In that area, there's a cluster of things to do - NPCs to interact with, creeps to slay and loot, stories to advance. It's easy to further a story this way, too - a whole tableau of a situation is presented upon arrival, and through your efforts, the conflict is resolved. Once that cluster of quests is completed, you run back to the central area and turn them all in at once - and either get directed to a new central area, or get a new batch of quests. I call this the cloud method - your path of travel concentrates in a cloud in each place, with a minimum of back-and-forth just traveling.

Now that I've played through most of the starting quests up to level 20 in both starting areas - which they're designed to do with minimum pain and maximum fun - I'd say the cloud method is a lot more appealing. I appreciate the scenery in Azeroth, and WoW's success has a lot to do with how attractive the environment is - but in reality (so to speak!) we're spending a lot of time in the same vicinity, and the novelty of the backdrop wears off after wandering around looking for that fourteenth Mistbat Vampire - or whatever.

This is not to say that the Blood Elves' area is entirely free of anything like quest efficiency - it's just that it's more prevalent, and more carefully laid out for the Draenei. As a result, I just had more fun playing the Draenei character - even if they don't do little spinning moves when they jump up and down. I hope that future releases or content updates for WoW follow more the cloud pattern, and less the star pattern.

*(Draenei - Iri, Blood Elves - Neeky; Both on Korial'strasz. Say hello!)

European BC Launch Events WAAAY More Interesting Than American

Here is a gallery of pictures from European "Burning Crusade" launch events.

Looks like these events were a lot more fun -- cosplay, crowd signs, all sorts of shenanigans.

WoW Player Levels To 70 In 28 Hours

Well, it had to happen. A French player called “Gullerbone” was the very first player to reach level 70 in “World of Warcraft: The Burning Crusade,” just 28 hours after the expansion was released. Gullerbone and his guildmates used an exploit called “tap-leveling” to achieve this monumental feat.

Let me explain tap-leveling to those who don’t play WoW. You see, and this is a bit complicated, so pay attention and let me know if you don’t understand anything… HE CHEATED.

If you must know more, there's a brief interview on mmosite.com.

"Burning Crusade" Hardware Performance Guide

Gamespot has an excellent article called the "Burning Crusade Hardware Performance Guide." They played with BC's video settings while running it on a GeForce 6600 GT, and compared the results.

I was happy to see that BC runs just as well with 1GB RAM as with 2GB. I have 1.5GB on my machine.

Look at the difference between Terrain Distance Min. and Terrain Distance Max.:

Yipes.

"Burning Crusade" Collector's Edition

Thanks to Jason “Unholy” Carlton, who stood in line at Fry’s while we were freezing to death at Citywalk last night, we have a precious, precious copy of the now unavailable “Burning Crusade Collector’s Edition” box set.

Jason paid $69.99 at Fry’s. If you still want one, you can pay $169.99 on Amazon, or $560 on eBay.

For your extra cash, you get:

A big ol’ green cardboard box.
The expansion on both DVD (1 disc) and CD (4 discs).
A behind-the-scenes DVD, to dispel the dreams of those of you who imagine it’s fun to make video games.
The hardcover “The Art of World of Warcraft: The Burning Crusade,” which is very beautiful with high-quality printing. If you paid $69.99, this was well worth the additional $30. If you paid more, well…
A code for a Netherwhelp, the exclusive in-game pet, and the only reason I wanted the Collector’s Edition. Now I have to get my turtle.
TCG starter packs. For those of us who want the turtle.
A mouse pad with a map of Outland printed on it. No sign of Opus the Penguin, though.
A soundtrack CD. Trust me, you’ll be hearing enough of this music while you play.

Becky "Aktrez" Young with the "Burning Crusade" Collector's Edition.

If any of you bought the CE, please let us know what you think of it in the fora!

"Burning Crusade" Midnight Launch!

Last night hundreds of fans stood for hours in sub-freezing temperatures to be the first to buy “Burning Crusade,” the first ever expansion for “World of Warcraft.” Also braving the Arctic temperatures were iTG’s Hogan “kam-RA” Carter & Rance “djRoME” Costa, as well as your faithful correspondent, Avataritoria’s Erik “Kunochan” Even.

By midnight, roughly 250 people were in line at the EB Games on Universal City’s storied Citywalk. The earliest arrivals had been waiting since 8:30am, but most arrived sometime after 5:00pm. EB employees worked the line and gave out prizes such as t-shirts and posters, while Blizzard reps set up the booth where WoW developers would sign “Burning Crusade” collector’s edition boxes.

We interviewed dozens of fans, and these clips will be featured on “Epileptic Gaming” this Thursday. I did learn few important facts:

1. Some people do actually care about the plot and characters of “World of Warcraft.”
2. No one, and I mean no one, actually role-plays in WoW, “MMORPG” notwithstanding.
3. Many WoW players actually have jobs. But the best way to level-up fast is to be a home-schooled teenager.
4. Lots of fans are disappointed because BlizzCon was too expensive.
5. Horde FTW.
6. Undead females are sexier than Tauren females.

Click here to see all the pics, hosted by GGL.com!

EB Games Midnight Openings for "Burning Crusade"

For all of you who don't live in California, here is a list of every EB Games store that will be open at midnight tonight.

Have fun in the cold! I know I will!

Burning Crusade Midnight Live Events

Happy National Burning Crusade Day! (Oh, there's something about some civil rights guy too.)

The lines are already forming to be the first to buy the "Burning Crusade" expansion when it goes on sale at midnight tonight, January 16th 2007 at 12:01 am.

All these events are in California, so if you don't live here, you are a LOSER.

Fry's Fountain Valley pops	10800 Kalama River Ave Fountain Valley, CA 92708	4500 copies
Fry's Anaheim pops	3370 E. La Palma Ave Anaheim, CA 92806	4500 copies
Fry's Sunnyvale pops	1077 E. Arques Ave Sunnyvale, CA 94085	4500 copies
Universal Citywalk Gamestop/EB Games pops	1000 Universal Studios Blvd (Cross Street: Buddy Holly Drive) Universal City, CA 91608	1500 copies

Blizzard has promised some developer-celebrity action at the Citywalk store. We will be at that location tonight, so we'll see. Check back tomorrow for coverage and pics.

Here's the one thing that SUCKS about the BC launch:

We are not offering online purchase or download of The Burning Crusade at this time.

It seems like some people just don't understand the Internet. Even people who produce one of the most popular Internet products.

Why do I have to leave my house, go to a store, and purchase atoms in order to upgrade my online game? I'm sure this all fulfills some arcane marketing or financial need on Blizzard's part -- but does it fulfill any needs for the user? No, it does not. It just makes us go out in the cold and stand in line. It makes us prop up EB Games' failing business model.

Thanks, Blizzard. I'm still levelling my Undead Rogue and my Human Paladin. Maybe I'll wait for Burning Crusade until it's a free download.

WoW Patch Prepares for "Burning Crusade"

The latest "World of Warcraft" patch (2.0.3) unleashes changes and story content that lead up to the January 16th launch of the "Burning Crusade" Expansion. It's really happening, folks.

Looking over the changes, here's what I care about: "Due to various talent changes, Rogues will have all talent points refunded." Do I keep my current talents, or do I have to repurchase? (I suspect the latter.)

Dauðafylga the Undead Rogue is unamused.

Here are the full details on the patch.