Monthly Archives: July 2010

Real ID Moves to Blizz Forums, Trolls Worst Nightmare?

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Blizzard ignited a huge debate in their forums with an announcement on the official forums.  Around the time of Cataclysm’s launch all posts made on the forums will use Real ID names which are also of course the real names of the posters.  At the time of this writing there are multiple threads on the US and EU forums, some with over 1400 pages and counting.  Some of you may know as listeners of The Instance, Scott and Randy are not known for their fondness of the official Blizzard forums but what does this mean for future of the forums? Continue reading →

The Instance #195 – Wanna Touch My Beta?

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Big News Of The Week

Lifting An NDA Is A Great Workout

Blizzard blew the doors down on this joint this week with the opening of the last major raid dungeon before the coming Cataclysm, and the sudden release of the beta version 4.0 of that forthcoming expansion to the world. The non-disclosure agreement has been lifted, and that means that beta testers are free to share pretty much anything they like about Cataclysm from here on out.

Rumors And Scuttlebutt

Your Guild Looks Kinda Perky

Along with the Cataclysm beta comes the full prediction of what guild talents are going to look like after the world is partially destroyed, and this week we learned that Blizzard is tentatively calling them Guild Perks.

Much like we discussed last week, guild perks will be improvements to aspects of the game that are somewhat more cosmetic or generalized, and will be available to everyone in the game who is in a guild, can join a guild, or can create a guild and go earn them.

The Real-ID Is For Complain And Worry

As we’re recording, Blizzard’s Real-ID system has been released exactly 13 days, and is now the subject of about 5000 e-mails to The Instance, and about 5000 man-hours of discussion in our guild chat.

Despite the massive FAQ Blizzard posted on the system, complaints and concerns have been rolling into the game forums on worldofwarcraft.com non-stop since Real-ID went live. We’re going to try to break down the concerns into categories, and discuss them as calmly as possible. Please folks, don’t try this at home.

Town Cryer

Soapy from Andorhal writes:

Hey, I was just wondering if you guys think that Blizzard might add some new servers with the release of Cataclysm. And if so, do you think they will offer free character transfers?

Cataclysmic Drop Of The Week

Go Get Something Legendary!

This is the eighth in our limited series, wherein we’re highlighting things for you to do in WoW that you might not ever get to do again after the Cataclysm.

That’s right. We’re crazy, and we’re suggesting that you build Thunderfury, Blessed Blade Of The Windseeker!!

Additional show content provided by Darrell the Tipgiver, Steve “Buxley” Pietrowicz, James “Acuzod” Jefferies and the outstanding Instance Community.

Special thanks to DogHouse Systems, FigurePrints!, TypeFrag and SquareSpace for sponsoring this episode.

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Goblin dance data-mined…Soulja Boy? Seriously?

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Check out the data-mined male Goblin dance in this youtube clip featuring a pretty fantastic bug (when Goblins turn sideways they get very excited).  Is it for real?  If it is I think this means that officially the Horde dances crush the Alliance across the board.  Let’s face it Horde have Napoleon Dynamite and MC Hammer while the Allies get Travolta and the Macarena?  Can’t wait to rock these moves.

Ask CDev answers have begun

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Blizzard opened up the floor to questions on the forums and were promptly flooded like crazy.  The answers are now starting to come in and the thread is a great way to learn more about the lore of World of Warcraft.

Bornakk!

A couple of my personal favorites:

  • Q: Are Mimir and Mimiron supposed to be the same entity, or are they relatives?
    A: Same entity, though only his close friends are allowed to call him Mimir.
  • Q: What happened to Algalon after Ulduar? It didn’t seem like he was just going to go back to business-as-usual.
    A: As shown in the World of Warcraft Special #1 comic, Algalon is currently monitoring the activities of the mortal races of Azeroth. His outlook on life and the titans’ plans has been called into question, so he seeks to understand what makes Azeroth so different from the countless worlds he has observed before.

You can find the complete thread here

Cataclysm Details Swamp The Internet

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In case you’ve missed the news: Blizzard has taken World of Warcraft: Cataclysm to beta, and lifted the requirement barring disclosure of its content.  This means that:

  • You are free to take screenshots of awesome things you see in the beta.
  • You are free to post those screenshots somewhere, like Flickr or ImageShack.
  • You’re free to share them in threads in The Instance Forums.  Woo-hoo!  You know you want to!
  • If you’re not yet beta testing, and you really want to and have properly signed up, it’s only a matter of time before you get your invite.
  • Whether or not you’re testing, you’re free to browse the official beta forums.  They’re a lot nicer than most forums on worldofwarcraft.com.

We’re planning all manner of fun Cataclysm beta contests and community events.  Be on the lookout for prizes to be given away on The Instance along with a “Most Badass Beta Screenshot” contest, perhaps a few “Caption The Beta Screenshot” contests, and a contest wherein you, The Instance listener, can win a cool prize for submitting a photos comparing the real-world to the world of post-Cataclysm Azeroth.  Get your creative eye ready!