» SourcePatch 4.3 Escapist Interview
Tito: What else can we expect in 4.3?
Brack: The next big thing that we'll be doing is the random raid finder. The idea behind this is that it is very similar to the dungeon finder we have now except that it is for raids. There are special rules associated with how that is going to work, the first one is that the raid finder is going to be for 25 person only, it's not a way for you to have 10 person raids, it's only for 25 person. It is cross server we will do some auto match making very similar to how it is looking for dungeon. Another piece is that there is going to be another difficulty level and this raid difficulty - the random raid finder difficulty level - we haven't figured out exactly what it's going to be called but there will be a difficulty level easier than normal mode. You'll end up having this raid finder mode then you'll have your normal mode and your heroic mode. The normal and heroic modes are exactly what they are today.
Tito: It's a way to introduce players that aren't able to raid now to be able to do so.
Brack: That's exactly right. So the idea behind that is that it's a little bit easier. There will be restrictions as well for players, you won't be able to get your achievements done, you won't be able to get your titles or your mounts or your awards in that way as if you complete them on normal/heroic. We'll have special achievement s that are specifically for looking for raids tier of difficulty.
Tito: Will the item level of items and loot be cut down as well?
Brack: Absolutely.
Other than that, the next legendary item has been revealed. Following the caster DPS staff from Firelands, they are creating a dagger for rogues which they have yet to name.
» SourcePatch 4.3 Escapist Interview
Tito: Is that everything on 4.3?
Brack: There's one more piece which is an announcement that we're releasing a rogue legendary weapon. Specific for rogues, so it will be a dagger. There will be some sort of quest, traditionally we've done these quests that players need to participate in order to create the legendary weapon in this case we'll be focusing on rogues that will try to make that happen.
Tito: Do you know what it's called yet?
Brack: We do not?
Tito: How does it fit into the lore?
Brack: We haven't decided on the name and how it's going to work, we just know that we really want a legendary weapon to come out of this tier and we really want it to be a rogue dagger. That's really all we know at this point. As time goes on we get a lot more lore, a lot more story, an "in" to the creation of all the legendary weapons. We really did a lot with the legendary axe that you got out of Lich King and then we've had other legendaries with the Cataclysm tiers that have had these storylines, we're hoping this one's going to be the most exciting, the most epic legendary quest line.
The interview also goes into a little detail on Void Storage and the Transmogrification process, and hints that we should wait for BlizzCon for information on the next expansion, and it might have something to do with pandas.
Editor's analysis
The Raid Finder, if done properly, can really be what WoW needs to make pickup groups less of a disaster when it comes to raids. They have to be careful with the itemlevel, it can't be as good as normal raids, but it can't be too poor either or no one will bother going. For people already in a raiding guild, it'll not really affect them at all, but for alts and people who don't play in a guild that has a steady raiding guild, this could be a huge thing for World of WarCraft.
As a rogue myself, I'm ecstatic about an upcoming legendary Dagger. It's been since the Black Temple and Illidan since there was a legendary for a rogue, and those damn things just have too little chance to drop. Running that place over and over again praying to the RNG gods is depressing. That said, I was under the impression that Blizzard didn't really like the idea of a legendary only really working for one class, or in this case, only two of one class's specs. Unless they make it an offhand dagger (and that would suck) a Combat rogue will not want to use this dagger. At least this is the sentiment they've brought up any time they've been asked about a tanking legendary, like a shield or a weapon.
Whatever the case, 4.3 seems to be a very cool patch, and I'm looking forward to it.
Links
The Escapist - Where the original interview went up
MMO-Champion Forums - Where the interview has been mirrored
Tito: What else can we expect in 4.3?
Brack: The next big thing that we'll be doing is the random raid finder. The idea behind this is that it is very similar to the dungeon finder we have now except that it is for raids. There are special rules associated with how that is going to work, the first one is that the raid finder is going to be for 25 person only, it's not a way for you to have 10 person raids, it's only for 25 person. It is cross server we will do some auto match making very similar to how it is looking for dungeon. Another piece is that there is going to be another difficulty level and this raid difficulty - the random raid finder difficulty level - we haven't figured out exactly what it's going to be called but there will be a difficulty level easier than normal mode. You'll end up having this raid finder mode then you'll have your normal mode and your heroic mode. The normal and heroic modes are exactly what they are today.
Tito: It's a way to introduce players that aren't able to raid now to be able to do so.
Brack: That's exactly right. So the idea behind that is that it's a little bit easier. There will be restrictions as well for players, you won't be able to get your achievements done, you won't be able to get your titles or your mounts or your awards in that way as if you complete them on normal/heroic. We'll have special achievement s that are specifically for looking for raids tier of difficulty.
Tito: Will the item level of items and loot be cut down as well?
Brack: Absolutely.
Other than that, the next legendary item has been revealed. Following the caster DPS staff from Firelands, they are creating a dagger for rogues which they have yet to name.
» SourcePatch 4.3 Escapist Interview
Tito: Is that everything on 4.3?
Brack: There's one more piece which is an announcement that we're releasing a rogue legendary weapon. Specific for rogues, so it will be a dagger. There will be some sort of quest, traditionally we've done these quests that players need to participate in order to create the legendary weapon in this case we'll be focusing on rogues that will try to make that happen.
Tito: Do you know what it's called yet?
Brack: We do not?
Tito: How does it fit into the lore?
Brack: We haven't decided on the name and how it's going to work, we just know that we really want a legendary weapon to come out of this tier and we really want it to be a rogue dagger. That's really all we know at this point. As time goes on we get a lot more lore, a lot more story, an "in" to the creation of all the legendary weapons. We really did a lot with the legendary axe that you got out of Lich King and then we've had other legendaries with the Cataclysm tiers that have had these storylines, we're hoping this one's going to be the most exciting, the most epic legendary quest line.
The interview also goes into a little detail on Void Storage and the Transmogrification process, and hints that we should wait for BlizzCon for information on the next expansion, and it might have something to do with pandas.
Editor's analysis
The Raid Finder, if done properly, can really be what WoW needs to make pickup groups less of a disaster when it comes to raids. They have to be careful with the itemlevel, it can't be as good as normal raids, but it can't be too poor either or no one will bother going. For people already in a raiding guild, it'll not really affect them at all, but for alts and people who don't play in a guild that has a steady raiding guild, this could be a huge thing for World of WarCraft.
As a rogue myself, I'm ecstatic about an upcoming legendary Dagger. It's been since the Black Temple and Illidan since there was a legendary for a rogue, and those damn things just have too little chance to drop. Running that place over and over again praying to the RNG gods is depressing. That said, I was under the impression that Blizzard didn't really like the idea of a legendary only really working for one class, or in this case, only two of one class's specs. Unless they make it an offhand dagger (and that would suck) a Combat rogue will not want to use this dagger. At least this is the sentiment they've brought up any time they've been asked about a tanking legendary, like a shield or a weapon.
Whatever the case, 4.3 seems to be a very cool patch, and I'm looking forward to it.
Links
The Escapist - Where the original interview went up
MMO-Champion Forums - Where the interview has been mirrored
