Blizzard to create World of Warcraft Classic "vanilla" servers

Finally, no need to play on private servers. Blizzard is actually listening to wow players.
Wow classic still offer the best MMORG experience ever.

At BlizzCon 2017, Blizzard announced World of Warcraft Classic. This is the vanilla version of World of Warcraft. What this means is, fans will be able to play World of Warcraft as it originally released, prior to its many updates and gameplay changes. There have been several third-party vanilla servers in the past that Blizzard has shut down and World of Warcraft Classic appears to be the company's way of catering to its many fans who want an old school experience.

No release date or timeline has been given for World of Warcraft Classic other than Blizzard saying it's being worked on.

World of Warcraft Classic is Blizzard's response to fans who have long begged for a server based on the original version of World of Warcraft.

“We want to reproduce the game experience that we all enjoyed from the original, classic WOW,” said executive producer J. Allen Brack, following a trailer that revealed the server.

Fans have worked on making their own vanilla servers over the years, some of which Blizzard Entertainment has shut down over copyright and other issues. But that hasn’t stopped players from wanting to return to the classic World of Warcraft experience. That typically refers to gameplay from prior to the Burning Crusade expansion, which dramatically changed the game when it launched in 2007. 2010's Cataclysm expansion further removed content from what fans call the “vanilla” version of the game.

The official Classic version is currently in development, Brack said.

I got a 19/20 sorceress torch from Uber Tristram

I completed Uber Tristram event last week, and got a really nice 19/20 sorceress torch charm.
The event is easy for my paladin with shield bash.
The hardest part is actually to collect 3 keysets.
The event starts by killing 3 uber monsters, Lilith drops Diablo's Horn,Uber Duriel drops Baal's Eye,Uber Izual drops Mephisto's Brain.
To create a red portal to Uber Tristram, place Diablo's Horn, Baal's Eye, and Mephisto's Brain in the Horadric Cube, and transmute them while standing in Harrogath in a Hell difficulty game. A red portal will open, the fourth in that area if you've done them all in the same game.
It takes you to Uber Tristram, where the real fun begins.
Uber Tristram has the same layout as regular Tristram, though the entry portal appears towards the north of town, rather than in the far eastern corner. Scattered through the center of town are Uber Mephisto, Uber Baal, and Pandemonium Diablo (so named because Uber Diablo was already used in another bonus quest). They are massively harder than their usual act boss selves, boosted by new abilities and much higher hit points, defense, damage, and more. They are also able to summon minions at regular intervals, further complicating things for intrepid adventurers.

The rare runes I found in Diablo 2

The new ladder season of Diablo 2 started in May 2017.
 I created a new sorceress and a new Paladin.
I love rare runes, they are very useful in creating powerful runeword items.
Countess in Black Marsh always drops runes, she is a great place to hunt runes.
Here are some of my founds: Um, Mal, Vex, Ist, even Lo.
Um is good for resist gears.
Ist is for magic finds.
Vex is very popular for the heart of the oak mace.
Lo is used to create a great melee weapon Grief.

 

Crafting rare amulets in Diablo 2

Diablo 2 came out in 2000 (17 years ago), and I am still playing it.
Blizzard continues to release new patches for this game ! (Is this a record for an old game ?)
A reason I still play this game is for crafting. Crafting in Diablo 2 is really fun.
Crafted items can be created with The Horadric Cube.
Crafted Items have the potential to be better than Rare Items and possibly certain Set or Unique Items.
Crafted Items may have 3-4 Fixed Properties + a set of random properties.
I love crafting amulets, because with good luck, you can get +2 skill amulets,
with dual leech, faster casting and other good properties.
But you could also get an amulet with 95 level requirement.
Crafted Recipe is usually: a magic item + a crafting rune (middle rune) +Perfect Gem + Any Jewel
You must craft many times before you can get a good item.
see some examples below.

Warcraft movie will finish shooting in June, coming out in 2016

This movie will be mostly on Computer Graphics.
The question is who will be the voice actors.

Too bad Sam Raimi is not the director anymore, I want to The Army of Darkness in Wow setting.

The upcoming Warcraft movie doesn't come to theaters until March 2016, but the production crew is expected to finishing filming in just three weeks, director Duncan Jones has revealed.

"For those counting down with me, we're done shooting Warcraft in three weeks as of tomorrow! Holy shnikey…," Jones said on Twitter today. Filming began earlier this year.

But filming isn't the only component of making a movie, especially a movie like Warcraft, which we expect to have a significant CG component. Acclaimed Star Wars effects studio Industrial Light & Magic is working on the CG components of the movie, like the Orcs.

Unfortunately for fans, the only glimpse of the Warcraft movie seen so far is a mood piece and one image from the Stormwind throne room. The Legendary Pictures-produced movie was expected to debut on December 18, 2015, but it was delayed after Disney announced that Star Wars: Episode VII would also premiere on that date. It was probably the right move, we'd have to say.

The Warcraft movie will tell a Humans vs. Orcs origin story (from the warcraft 1 game), specifically the battle between Durotan and Lothar. The movie will be a mix of live-action and CG, with an overall goal of coming across as "Avatar meets Game of Thrones."

The next World of Warcraft expansion is Warlords of Draenor, which introduces seven new zones and raises the level cap to 100 (grinding from level 1 to 100 would be crazy if under the original pace). In other World of Warcraft news, the third episode in the Azeroth Choppers web series is now live. The video series follows acclaimed custom-bike designer Paul Jr. and his team as they create two real-world bikes, one for the Horde and the other for the Alliance. Fans will get to vote on which bike is ultimately recreated in the game.

You can buy a level 90 character directly from Blizzard

I guess Blizzard wants to cut off the middleman.
How much more can Blizzard milk Wow franchise ?



Blizzard has been flirting with in game purchase for a while now. The World of Warcraft store is mostly stocked with cosmetic items, or flashy pets, but nothing that does much to change the way the game is played. Today, though, Blizzard steps across that line with its new Character Boosts, sending one character on the fast track to level 90. Character Boosts can be purchased from the in-game interface for $60.

We got an unintended sneak peek at that price tag when a glitch allowed players to visit the in-game store last month, but the details weren't confirmed back then. Now, it seems like this is the real deal: one Character Boost comes free with all purchases of the Warlords of Draenor expansion, but subsequent boosts will cost $60. For those keeping track at home, that's ten dollars more than the price of the expansion, which you'll need to own to reach the level cap.

Once you purchase a Character Boost, you'll be able to use it on any character with a level lower than 90. The Boost brings that character to the level cap, outfits them with level-appropriate gear to start playing end-game content, and (if the character was level 60 or higher) maxes out their professions.

This is definitely a convenience purchase, intended for players with a lot of disposable income. Still, it raises some questions - if you're willing to pay the equivalent of four months of subscription time to skip most of the game's content, your definitions of "work" and "play" might be getting a little blurred.

Some old pictures from the Molten Core raid

The good old days of Wow vanilla ! The Molten Core was a level 60 raid dungeon located within Blackrock Mountain, home to Ragnaros the Firelord. It was a forty (40) player raid dungeons available upon release of World of Warcraft, with the other being Onyxia's Lair. That was before any of the expansion releases. A raid of forty players was an accomplishment just for the organization skill involved alone. It was a time when getting a purple item meant something ! Epic items are no longer epic in the current wow ! Considered the pinnacle of raiding achievement at the time, the Molten Core enticed adventurers to enter the instance in the search of realm glory. Before even seeing Ragnaros, you must defeat several of his lieutenants. And the trash mobs were not easy either, the raid group can get wiped by the trash mobs. My hunter finally got the Blastershot Launcher gun after many hours of raiding !