Unlabelled World of Warcraft - Skirmish Sunday - your weekly PvP thread!

6/12/2017 06:04:00 am
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World of Warcraft - Skirmish Sunday - your weekly PvP thread!

Skirmish Sunday - your weekly PvP thread!

Posted: 11 Jun 2017 03:08 AM PDT

As always, all PvP comments, questions, and discussion are welcome!

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7.2.5 Mythic+ difficulty increase visualized

Posted: 11 Jun 2017 08:02 AM PDT

The Tomb of Sargeras before its corruption, by Hipnos

Posted: 11 Jun 2017 08:58 AM PDT

Another alternate to the default floating combat text: Nameplate Scrolling Combat Text

Posted: 11 Jun 2017 09:02 AM PDT

Looks like people doing an alcohol test

Posted: 11 Jun 2017 06:07 AM PDT

I have become one with the manhole.

Posted: 11 Jun 2017 03:13 AM PDT

How will Illidan react to learning that Arthas is dead?

Posted: 11 Jun 2017 08:15 AM PDT

Title. This was such an iconic match up. These two were easily my favorite characters in all of WoW. IIRC, it was a big deal to Illidan that he met defeat by Arthas. Now with Illidan back, he seems to be strictly LEGION LEGION LEGION. Anyone think we'll ever see some connection back to these two? I would love to get an actual cinematic of the two fighting with the updated cinematic.

submitted by /u/JobeyJewface
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You had one job

Posted: 10 Jun 2017 10:43 PM PDT

Our WW monk experienced a roll bug on M Gul'dan last night...

Posted: 11 Jun 2017 12:47 PM PDT

On Blizzard's Art Choices and Inspirations in Design

Posted: 11 Jun 2017 11:39 AM PDT

Recently I've been looking into the art of WoW as a bit of a project, and looking for 3 things: What influenced the design of certain races and made players attached to who they were playing, how the devs got a deeper level immersion by worldbuilding simply by the structures they used, and how the landscape and towns are used to tell a story as players go along.

Tolkien's Influence

I noticed how much of an influence JRR Tolkien was on the design of the Elves and Orcs, and on the landscapes in-game. The elves take the classic design with the long, pointy ears and the Orcs, which he described as: "squat, broad, flat-nosed, sallow-skinned, with wide mouths and slant eyes" This image is a good example of such. As for the Tolkien inspired landscapes, Tolkien's art has sweeping landscapes, especially of mountains and cliffs. These mountain ranges have very geometric shapes and rock formations, that almost seem to imply they burst out of the ground. An example in-game is Sun Rock Retreat, which shows a little village and the tall mountain range behind it. Taking this kind of inspiration from Tolkien is meant by the creators to evoke familiar images, and to cement the idea that this is truly a deep, high-fantasy genre.

Player Attachment

The main update of Warlords of Draenor came because they decided a graphical update was necessary, especially given the graphical advancements that came since 2003 when it was released. To complete with games like Bayonetta 2, GTA V, Dark Souls I and II, it needed to overhaul the graphics, and the most noticeable changes came with the character models. Using the Tauren as an example, they looked… awful. They had the biggest changes put into them. Along with all the other races, they got facial rigging so that they could accurately express emotions, and have good talking animations, as opposed to looking like a puppet flapping its lips Here's a comparison of the models, and Here is a mouth chart for all the new word sounds that they can form

Worldbuilding

To fully immerse a player, the devs had to take a lot of inspiration from the real world to convey that sense of emotion and imposing structure. Take for example, Temple of The White Tiger. This was one of the locations added in the Mists of Pandaria Update. This particular place is very much inspired by Buddhist temples in East Asia. The closest real world comparison is Buddhist monastery Paro Taktsang. WoW has emulated the architectural structure very closely, down to the filigrees on the corners on the roof. Even the geographical placement is emulated correctly. Paro Taktsang is huddled to the side of a mountain, with the buildings constructed almost so that they appear to be growing from the mountain itself. This world-building is there to deepen our identification with certain areas, and to drive the feeling of realness. If a player has encountered those areas, they immediately understand the cultural weight of where they are.

The Journey

One particularly interesting observation I discovered is that along a player's journey, as they level up, they keep going to newer, more difficult areas. Each area is delineated by level caps, and each "path" of locations is unique to each race. This is obviously there to serve as a multifaceted experience, and to encourage more exploration with multiple characters (and as an extension, to get players to spend more time). But the design here is put into the specific paths that the player chooses. Each area is specifically crafted about the levels that a player might be at. The design is supposed to evoke a certain pathos with each area. Specifically, the higher level areas have a lot more weight to them, story-wise.

The beginning areas are designed to be the most stereotypical representations of the culture of the race you're playing as. Mulgore is built on grassy flowing plains, and surrounded by mountains and cliffs. You see the sky is a pastel blue, and the clouds have an impressionist style to them, with lots of subtle pinks and greens thrown in. Similarity can be drawn from Claude Monet's "Poppy Field, Argenteuil" with its very faded, idyllic background scene. You get an immediate sense of what the Tauren are like: they are very opposed to technology being the foundation of their life, and prefer to stay as a nomadic people. The player gets an immediate sense that this is a peaceful race, concerned about the wellbeing of their neighbors, lovers of nature, but proud fighters to have defended their territory against the invaders (due in part to the beginning questline for Taurens). This is a very welcoming environment, and as such, welcomes players into the Tauren life and story. (I like Taurens a lot ok)

Now, as a player progresses along some questlines, they'll inevitably learn more about the story and the history of whatever area they're traveling through. Even just looking at the higher leveled areas, they look so different than what a player starts at. Ed Hanes from the Artcraft blogs has this to say about how they changed Nagrand with the update:

The biggest challenge was giving a fresh look to something players are familiar with. It's definitely a zone that players who had that experience in Burning Crusade know; there's a defined image that comes to mind of what that zone is and what it's about. A lot of people remember the Nesingwary stuff—the sweeping plains, the angular trees, the floating rock islands, the Throne of Elements. It was one of those zones that was around where a lot of people were hitting their max level, and so it's got that association with it as well. So that was a huge challenge, figuring out how to keep it fresh while keeping it familiar. Artcraft Part 4<

Having that emotional payoff is key, and because of this, designers put the utmost care into the art to make getting this far special. Apparent from the concept art, the floating islands are relatively unlike many other places in-game. They float above a sea of mist and a strange moon is in the sky. The colors are bright but not outlandish. This piece of concept art showcases the art of the landscapes of Nagrand, with verdant forests overshadowed by cliffs with vast waterfalls pouring down.

In conclusion:

Blizzard has masterfully created a thriving universe for their games. They accomplished this by taking the most notable and successful fantasy genres from popular media, such as Tolkien's elves and orcs. The "World" of Warcraft is fantasy but takes much inspiration from real-world structures as much as it does from nature, in the form of the Tibetan temples and the Roman Coliseum. To keep this fantasy alive, artists and designers have poured their heart and souls into beautifying this game, and adding more for people to enjoy as they travel. It has grown from simply a game to a world that is thriving as the player base perpetuates it. Few games have such a dedicated following. From here, Blizzard seems like it will keep growing the World of Warcraft and enriching the story.

submitted by /u/NewOldSchooler
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Playing cupid for X-mog: Hidden quest in the hunter's class hall

Posted: 11 Jun 2017 08:18 AM PDT

Patch 7.2.5 Fury Warrior Gearing Guide: Trinkets, Tier 20, and Legendaries

Posted: 11 Jun 2017 02:57 AM PDT

Wowhead KILLING Google Chrome

Posted: 10 Jun 2017 05:26 PM PDT

For the last couple months, wowhead has been borderline unusable. It takes a ton of processing, takes forever to kill a tab it is open in, and is just absolutely infuriating.

I thought perhaps it was because I had adblock enabled, but I disabled adblock for it and took a look at chrome's console, and it was just as bad. I'm happy to keep adblock off on websites I constantly use to help them out, but not when the website is this frustrating to use. Here's a snippet after watching it go crazy for a few minutes:

http://i.imgur.com/P9aZwuN.png

10,000 requests just idly staring at a static page for a few minutes isn't reasonable for any kind of website. And it was nonstop going up at a constant rate, I just happened to get bored watching it at that point.

Has anyone found a solution to this?

At this point I'm simply hoping wowdb catches up to them in terms of functionality so I can flat out switch.

submitted by /u/iArkeus
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I just took the boat from Ru'Theran to Stormwind and ended up in Alterec Valley.

Posted: 11 Jun 2017 07:18 AM PDT

It loaded for a really long time then suddenly I was outside the BG portal. I'm level 18 and I wasn't even queued for the Battleground! How does that happen?

submitted by /u/UUMPI
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Just noticed that you are burning if you stand in campfire in treant form!

Posted: 10 Jun 2017 04:28 PM PDT

Arms 7.2.5 Changes with Corejo

Posted: 11 Jun 2017 04:33 AM PDT

I encountered a Lost Son of Arugal the other day

Posted: 11 Jun 2017 01:04 PM PDT

I was leveling a Druid in Silverpine when it suddenly appeared, and, tbh, I felt kinda bad for it. Arugal dead, his Worgen dead as well, the only remaining Worgen were in the Alliance, he was wondering the forest alone. FeelsBadMan

He also had what appears to be an outdated Worgen model. So not only was he alone, he was ugly too. FeelsBadManV2

I put him out of his misery. No such creature should be left like that. However, he was the only rare mob that challenged me and actually killed me when I wasn't focused (I was turning the camera to take a screenshot and forgot to heal, I ran him down afterwards).

Was old Silverpine full of these guys, only they were Elite (even worse)?

submitted by /u/Perrg
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Challenging appearance (Mage Tower) 4th tint

Posted: 11 Jun 2017 12:28 PM PDT

When I got my mage tower skin, I searched around trying to find what dungeon bosses needed to be killed to get the 4th tint.

For clarification, you only need to run violet hold once, and you do NOT need to run lower karazhan, only upper. They can be run on any difficulty.

submitted by /u/Austrum
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Who is this?

Posted: 11 Jun 2017 12:58 AM PDT

Running of the Trolls 2017 was such a blast! Thanks to everyone that came out and showed support on Feathermoon!

Posted: 10 Jun 2017 08:58 PM PDT

Just a few photos from the annual Running of the Trolls @ Feathermoon-US

Posted: 10 Jun 2017 07:36 PM PDT

I made my first "funny" compilation for World of Warcraft! Looking for Feedback

Posted: 11 Jun 2017 03:32 PM PDT

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