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MoP Beta - New UI elements and changes

Tue, 15 May 2012 11:30:22 +0000

A lot of new Interface changes are waiting for us in Mists of Pandaria. More will come, I'm sure of it, but until then here are some of the new UI elements introduced until now on MoP Beta.

"Little" Achievements

From now on, whenever you are finishing a part of a bigger achievement, you'll get a nice popup notifying you about your progress. You don't have to always track your achievements and always view the achievements window to check those little green check marks...

Spell Book

The Spellbook was changed a lot. Now you always will have those four tabs: one for your basic abilities, one for your current spec spells and the other two, inactive, where you can check the spells you could have if you respec or switch specs.
If you look below, you'll see a few more tabs too. The Core Abilities consists in the abilities you will use for sure (some kind of mandatory abilities) if you are using X spec.
The last tab, the What has changed? one, has a few lines with the class changes. There you'll find the changes that affect your class after each expansion and, maybe, each patch.

Companions and Mounts

We already spoke a little bit about these changes, especially about the companion pets, when we spoke about the Pet Battle System and Pet Journal.
Now, we have account wide mounts and pets, and it's normal to have a new interface for both. There is also a button for this new UI in the mini menu.

Dungeon Journal Upgrade

The dungeon journal was finally upgraded and it contains all the old dungeons from all the old expansions. The old raids are still missing, but I'm sure Blizzard will add them before the release of MoP.

Dungeon Queue UI

The dungeon queue window, the one it pops up when you can enter a dungeon, was upgraded a little bit. I expect to see this changes for Raids queue popup too. The a look at the image above to see how it looks now.

New popularity/reputation bar

I honestly do not know for sure how this bar will work, but you can find it when you are doing those daily quests on the farms on the Valley of the Four Winds. We will know more about this when the quests are going to become available, and that's at level 90 I think.
Till then, the bar seems to be like a big reputation bar, from neutral to fully exalted, 42999 reputation.

Upgrade your game notice

This screen will popup, when the MoP is launched and if your account is not upgraded yet.

Dungeon Finder

One screen to rule them all! Now, you'll find everything in your dungeon finder window. Dungeons, Raids, Scenarios and Challenges. The Challenges tab is not working at the moment and it has it's own look. We will talk about it when it becomes available.

Help Bubbles

Most of the interface windows allow you to toggle their help bubbles. I think this is pretty neat for the new players and for the new UI elements.

Loot Rolls Monitor

Those who are using the XLoot addon already know what this tracker/monitor is all about. Basically you can track every item and every roll for it while in a group.

Specialization and Talents

This is an expected change, since we already knew since BlizzCon 2010 how the new talent trees will look like. We have a completely new Spec, Talents and Glyphs UI. The images will speak for themselves.

Now I wonder, did I miss anything? Anything that's available? Because we still have to wait a few more builds to have a Black market, Challenges, Scenarios and PvP UI working.
Even so, what do you think about these changes?

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Mists of Pandaria Collector's Edition

Mon, 14 May 2012 11:08:57 +0000

Are there any speculations or any official announcements on that the CE pack is going to contain for this expansion?

I wonder if they are going to use the same trend (old pet, cards, soundtrack, art book, mouse pad and behind the scenes dvd)? I really would like to see something different now...

Pandemonium: A new comic by Lukali

Sun, 13 May 2012 08:42:25 +0000

Lukali posted a new comic on his deviantart page. This time you'll see what happens when both horde and alliance were washed ashore on Pandaria.

If you missed the previous comic, you can find it here.

Check out the author's profile, Lukali at deviantart

If you read any other interesting comics or you found something you like recently, let us know.

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Cross-Realm Zones Coming to Beta

Thu, 10 May 2012 20:51:39 +0000

In the World of Warcraft: Mists of Pandaria beta, we’re introducing a new technology that will enable players to meet up and group with other players in under populated areas of the world such as low level zones or areas that other players may have outleveled or moved on from. This technology will allow players to form a group with other players from within a select pool of realms in order to quest just like they normally would while still allowing the social structures of their home realms to remain intact.

F.A.Q.
Q. Why cross-realm zones?
For many years now, the significant majority of the player population online at any given time has consisted mostly of characters at or near the level cap. This has resulted in an environment where characters that are leveling up experience a world that has fewer other players to interact with than what the world was designed for. Cross-realm zones give us the capability to ensure that level-up zones retain a population size that feels more like the high level areas of the game, leading to a more fun play experience for characters of all levels.

Q. How do cross-realm zones work?
When you’re in a zone that is set as a ‘cross-realm zone’ you’ll notice that in addition to the players you’d ordinarily see from your realm, you’ll also see (and be able to play with) players from other realms. This will happen seamlessly, and players will be able to group and quest as they normally would with players from their own realm.

Q. How will this work on boats or zeppelins?
Usually transitions will occur on area boundaries (think moving from Darkshore to Ashenvale).

Q. Can I form groups with the people I meet in the zone?
Yes! You can group and talk to others within the cross-server zone normally though trading will be restricted much as it is within raids, dungeons, or battlegrounds.

Q. Will my cross-realm group be disbanded if we move on to an adjacent zone together, like from Goldshire to Westfall or from Thousand Needles to Feralas?
Much like how cross-realm groups currently work, your party won’t be disbanded when you move through different zones, though if you’re not in the same home realm, you won’t be able to see each other if you’re in separate zone instances.

Q. Will I be able to group with my friends?
Yes, you will be able to group with your Real ID friends, provided they are within the same faction. The functionality works the same as it does for cross-realm dungeons, raids, or Battlegrounds.

Q. What level range do my friends and I have to be within in order to group?
There is no restriction on level ranges. You’ll be able to group with anyone you would normally be able to.

Q. Can I go into main capital cities while grouped with others?
Capital cities and areas with regularly high populations will not be set as cross-server areas/zones so you will not be able to enter into the same instance of a city as someone who is from a different realm.

Q. Will I be able to trade with others I meet?
Trading restrictions are in place much the same as they are in cross-realm dungeons, raids, and battlegrounds.

Q. How is group loot handled?
Group looting will function the same as it would with any group you would create through normal play.

Q. Who will I be playing with?
You’ll be able to interact with players from within a select pool of realms which will make it possible to run into a player in Redridge that you already ran into within Westfall.

Q. What areas will be shared?
This can vary from realm to realm and relies on how densely populated (or underpopulated) an area is. Capital cities and areas with regularly high populations will not be eligible for area sharing.

Q. What about resources or gathering nodes, will those be shared too?
Resources and nodes will be available to all parties within the shared area the same as always. We will be keeping a close eye on the impact of area sharing and should an area become too populated, we are capable of adjusting how many realms are able to connect to a shared area.

Q. Does this mean that Auction Houses will be merged?
No, when any player access an Auction House, they will be only able to access their home realm’s Auction House.

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Arena Pass 2012 Rated Phase Begun

Thu, 10 May 2012 13:47:46 +0000

The 2012 World of Warcraft Arena Pass has now entered the Rated Phase. All matches now count towards earning exclusive rewards, so get online and play now!

Only two weeks remain to register for the Arena Pass; at the end of the Rated Phase teams will be locked and you’ll no longer be able to sign up for the service.

If you’d like to learn more about the Arena Pass phases, read about them here.

Don’t forget, players that register for the 2012 Arena Pass will also receive access to a level-90 Arena Pass realm once they have upgraded their account with a Mists of Pandaria game license. Once this current registration phase closes on May 22, you will no longer be able to register for this special bonus realm, so register NOW!

To learn more about the Arena Pass, visit the Arena Pass information page or check out the FAQ. GL HF!

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