Wrath of the Lich King Is Out!!!

[TheBrew]

Got my DK to 71 and have been checking out the new areas. The quests are a lot more fun than BC though that may be because I've taken 3 characters now through 70.

Tried out tanking for the first time: it is a good amount of fun and a lot different from just doing dps. I actually need to make sure I have the highest threat now!

And "Death Grip" is all kinds of awesome. My favorite ranged pulling ability in the game.

 

[Roshi]

Got my DK to 71 and have been checking out the new areas.

gg, dude!

 

[darthraidr]

the game sold 2.8 million copies in it's first 24 hours. (Burning Crusade sold 2.4 million in 24 hours)

 

[LitmusDragon]

I'm leveling my warrior first. He'll probably ding 77 over the weekend.

I swear I'm not going to play a Death Knight until about six months from now. If everyone else is playing them I'm going to wait until it's unfashionable. The stuff about the starter zones sounds really cool but it will still be there six months from now.

Personally I can't wait to get into Naxx and start raiding again. The level 80 epics look seriously crazy. 100 stamina on a fist item. WTF.

As a min/max type player and a blacksmith I have to say I'm loving the profession in the expansion. Two extra gems slots. Wackiness. This is the best buff you can get from a profession, in terms of stats.

 

[Garrett]

Yeah. Blacksmithing got a nice bonus. I was tempted to even train it on my mage. I ended up dropping tailoring for jewel crafting instead. But I'm definitely taking it on my death knight.

I'm waiting on the rush of death knights to die down a little bit, too. Well, that and I want to make sure my mining is at 300 before I start seriously questing in Outland. My made is about 2/3 of the way to 76. I'm hoping to be 80 sometime next week.

 

[TheBrew]

Once you get past OL, the rush of Death Knights is a lot less.

 

[darthraidr]

2 new commercials:

Steve Van Sandt:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zXeyYdGoLCU

Ozzy:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mT8maUTzE48&feature=related

 

[Rii]

Don't forget to login today and collect your Baby Blizzard Bear (available today only) in celebration of WoW's 4th Anniversary.

Rii and Baby Blizzard Bear, BFF. <3 Also some Druid who wouldn't get out of the frame.


I love the new Forsaken architecture in WOTLK. For those without Horde characters, an example, Vengeance Landing in Howling Fjord:

 

[Garrett]

^I'm liking most of the new architecture used in the expansion. Warsong Hold looks pretty cool, as well.

There's some quests that you do in Northrend that are as awesome as the Death Knight starting area quests. Dragonblight has several good ones, including a chain that eventually leads you to fighting in Undercity. That's easily the coolest event I've ever seen in game. BTW, you don't want to pull aggro off of Thrall (or whoever it is for Alliance). One of those bosses hit me for over 100k. 28k frostbolt crits are awesome.

Once you get past OL, the rush of Death Knights is a lot less.

Yeah. Nowhere near as many as in Outland, but still seeing more and more in Northrend.

 

[Rii]

^I'm liking most of the new architecture used in the expansion. Warsong Hold looks pretty cool, as well.

Warsong Hold is confusing.

I'm not a fan of Orcish art/architecture, but it's definitely a step up from Orgrimmar, which is my least favourite city both aesthetically and in terms of internal layout.

There's some quests that you do in Northrend that are as awesome as the Death Knight starting area quests. Dragonblight has several good ones, including a chain that eventually leads you to fighting in Undercity. That's easily the coolest event I've ever seen in game.

Is this the Wrath Gate chain? I've heard that's something special. Unfortunately my highest character is only 72 so I've yet to see it. The only dungeons I've done so far are Nexus and Utgarde Keep.

Yeah. Nowhere near as many as in Outland, but still seeing more and more in Northrend.

51-60 Alterac Valley is overrun with DKs, it's like Death Grip pinball in there.

 

[Capt_Piett]

Aw, that bear is SOOO cute! Is there anything you need to do to get him other than log in on the 23rd?

And yeah, the graphics in some areas are awesome, like the fire in Charred Vale in the Fjord and the icebergs in the same area. Blizzard really knocked this one out of the park.

 

[Rii]

Aw, that bear is SOOO cute! Is there anything you need to do to get him other than log in on the 23rd?

Nope, it's in the mailbox (attached to a letter from the dev team) upon login. I don't think it's up on the North American realms yet, Oceania ftw.

The Bear isn't on as tight a leash as most companions/pets/minions. It'll sit by you, but if you move it'll stay in place until you're around 20yds away, at which point it hurries over. It's very cute.

And yeah, the graphics in some areas are awesome, like the fire in Charred Vale in the Fjord and the icebergs in the same area. Blizzard really knocked this one out of the park.

Definitely. WoW is still one of the most gorgeous games on PC if you ask me. The art style is most of it, but the technology has evolved also. Of course the downside to that is increased system requirements. Prior to 3.0 I was running WoW at 1080p with all settings at maximum, AA/AF enabled, getting around 35fps. The new shadow/lighting system in 3.0 dropped that down to 25fps, and I had to drop shadows back to medium to maintain above 30fps, and now with Northrend pushing significantly more polygons and greater draw distances and such, I've had to drop AA too and it's still a little choppier than I'd like, although perfectly playable, at 25fps.

I'd like to see Blizzard update the player models soon, or rather to provide the option for those interested as there are no doubt many players attached to each and every wrinkle on their character's face. The Blood Elf and Draenei models from BC are fine, but those for the vanilla races are positively conspicuous in how low-poly they are against the surrounding environment in Northrend.

 

[Garrett]

^I've always loved the art style of the game, but it looks even better now with the shadows. It makes a huge difference even in the older zones. There's a surprising amount of detail on some of the newer models, too. Like that Murloc costume you wear in Borean Tundra.

Warsong Hold is confusing.

I'm not a fan of Orcish art/architecture, but it's definitely a step up from Orgrimmar, which is my least favourite city both aesthetically and in terms of internal layout.

Yeah, it's definitely confusing at first. I finally got a feel for it by the time I was done in Borean Tundra. Most of my time there now is going from the zeppelin to the flight master. I still have no idea if there's a reagent vendor or anything. It's easier to port to Dalarn if I need that stuff.

Is this the Wrath Gate chain? I've heard that's something special. Unfortunately my highest character is only 72 so I've yet to see it. The only dungeons I've done so far are Nexus and Utgarde Keep.

Yep. It's a really long quest chain, but it leads to a cinematic and then going to UC. There's a lot of cool quests you do for the Wyrmrest along the way, too. Though one of them drove me nuts. I couldn't use the abilities of the dragon until I renamed my cache folder. Apparently a lot of pet classes are having trouble with that particular quest.

51-60 Alterac Valley is overrun with DKs, it's like Death Grip pinball in there.

That's hilarious. I haven't been to any BGs since WOTLK came out. I did a /who shortly after arriving in Hellfire Penninsula on my death knight. There was like one hunter and a priest, and the rest of the list was death knights. That priest was real popular that night, I'm sure.

 

[Stone_Cold_Sisko]

Yep. It's a really long quest chain, but it leads to a cinematic and then going to UC. There's a lot of cool quests you do for the Wyrmrest along the way, too. Though one of them drove me nuts. I couldn't use the abilities of the dragon until I renamed my cache folder. Apparently a lot of pet classes are having trouble with that particular quest.

So, I'm also 72 and doing this quest chain from Winterguard Keep, near naxrammas, going here and there, fighting scourge, etc... am I on the right chain? I don't want to "research" it too much to spoil it, as i've heard good things about those quests too.

 

[Garrett]

So, I'm also 72 and doing this quest chain from Winterguard Keep, near naxrammas, going here and there, fighting scourge, etc... am I on the right chain? I don't want to "research" it too much to spoil it, as i've heard good things about those quests too.

From glancing over at the list of quests on Wowhead for Alliance, it sounds like you probably are. It looks like it starts in Wintergarde Keep. There's another section of quests in the chain at Wyrmrest Temple. After that one's done, it starts the last section of quests I mentioned earlier. There's a ton of quests to do in Dragonblight, including a number of them that will lead to chains in Wyrmrest Temple, if the Alliance quests are anything like the Horde quests. (Trying to be a bit vague here so I don't spoil anything )

I wish I had a high level Alliance character so I could see the event from their perspective.