BlizzCon Cataclysm Press Conference Details
Unfortunately the press conference was a bit of a letdown if you’re looking for specifics on BlizzCon Cataclysm mechanics. There were some… less than useful questions asked by a few attending; stuff the majority of gamers will find completely uninteresting and leave them scratching their heads. These questions also ate into the time we had to ask questions, making them doubly useless.
At any rate, here’s a recap of the World of Warcraft portion of the press conference. There were a lot more Diablo III questions asked, which was really weird considering Cataclysm was announced this weekend. Oh well.
On BlizzCon Cataclysm’s early leak:
They weren’t particularly happy with it initially, but after the weekend they saw how excited people were and got over it. It’s not something they like happening, but they also don’t view it as one of the worst things that could happen.
On new models for old player races (we asked this):
They want to do it at some point as they realize the older models don’t look as great as the recent races. However, they’re being very careful with approaching it as there’s a possibility some players won’t like any new versions of an old race. If they do this, it will likely be an option to either see the old race or the new one. It’s also unclear if they’re be able to do this in time for BlizzCon Cataclysm.
On how closely related the Warcraft movie will be to the novels / game lore:
The goal for the movie is to be a great movie first. Something people who aren’t fans of WoW or the other Warcraft games can enjoy. They don’t want to make the same mistake as other past novel-related movies where you had to be a fan of the novels to truly understand it. Lord of the Rings was an example given.
On the new Council of Tirisfal:
The council’s lore isn’t entirely fleshed out, but one thing you can expect is that the Twilight’s Hammer will be a rival “council” to this new council throughout the BlizzCon Cataclysm cycle.
On why the BlizzCon demo started at level 6:
For goblins, it was a case of the goblin 1-5 experience not being finished. For worgen, it was the fact that when you create your worgen at level 1, you’re actually a human still. The 1-5 worgen experience focuses on being stricken with the worgen curse and trying to find some form of cure to at least retain some of your humanity. They felt this wouldn’t particularly be a fun thing to experience during BlizzCon, since most people just wanted to play a worgen.
On where Blizzard sees WoW in 5 years:
They don’t know where the game will be in 5 years since they have two core focus points at any given time. They have a team that focuses on the current expansion and one that focuses on the next expansion. Once an expansion’s patch cycle is finished, then and only then do they begin focusing on something other than what people are playing or will play next. For example,BlizzCon Cataclysm wasn’t in development until after 2.4 came out because then the live team started helping with development on Wrath of the Lich King, which allowed some development focus to begin on Cataclysm. The same will hold true for whatever expansion comes after Cataclysm; its development will likely begin after 3.3 is released.
On how much impact BlizzCon Cataclysm has on the old 1-60 experience:
It’s being completely removed. While they might theme some of the quests similar to classic quests, the 1-60 leveling experience is being revamped for everyone regardless of whether they own BlizzCon Cataclysm.
On the point of the guild system:
The goal of the new guild advancement system is to encourage players to play with friends, having shared goals. It’s to make people feel good about being in a guild and allow them to have goals outside of just their own personal advancement.
On whether or not the next-gen MMO will cannibalize WoW’s subscribers:
This question was skipped entirely!