Ciderhelm posted this on Jul 03, 2009 - 3:15 AM
YouTube has released a long-awaited update to their channel system and we've done a complete channel overhaul to accommodate this. With the addition of playlists, our visitors can now view all of our encounter movies sorted by tier and presented in the recommended order!
Be sure to subscribe to TankSpot's Project Marmot on YouTube to get updates as we release new movies. Expect Thorim, Iron Council, and UI movies soon!
Ciderhelm posted this on Jul 01, 2009 - 12:42 AM
Two months ago I went on a search for the best Warcraft artists to find someone who could put together a background worthy of our website. Among the artists, Azazel seemed the most natural choice given his collection of stunningly detailed work on DeviantArt. The new background -- force reload your browser if you don't see it -- is the result of this commission. It's special in part because it's the first time we've been able to invest in a huge project like this, and the results speak for themselves.
There may be some controversy regarding the art, both due to the artist's previous work and due to the nature of this particular piece. We were careful in designing this piece to make sure that it was within the boundaries established by Warcraft in-game artwork and by well-known current and past WoW artwork.
Though we had mentioned Hodir as one of the first hard modes any guild should work on, the recent Ulduar instances make both Flame Leviathan and XT-002 idealy first hard modes to work on for guilds. Hodir would ideally come immediately after these two, followed by Thorim, Steelbreaker and on.
The following are not class-vs-class balance concerns so don't take them as such. They're longstanding issues the Warrior class has had that are fairly specific to the class.
Source: Ghostcrawler Rage starvation is a problem. Frankly, we're not sure a model where you have to get hit in order to tank is that compelling anymore. Something that has come up a lot is changing rage (even for Prot) to damage done. This is a slight nerf to the PvP mechanic of being punished when you hit the warrior, but there are other ways to solve that as well. Again, we're talking a big change here. I'm not sure we're comfortable jacking with such a core mechanic before 3.2.
When will the developers be comfortable with it? This has been a serious issue for years. My concern is that developers have been looking at this in a patch-to-patch perspective, always pushing it off. But when do you break the cycle? When do you say, 'now we're ready?' Do you wait until 4.0 when you can change mechanics? A passing solution was in place in 3.0 and was removed in the beta process for no apparent reason, followed by the removal of rage from Sanctuary in live.
Give us rage on Avoidance. Don't make it a glyph, don't make it a new set of talents, put it somewhere that we're going to get it by doing what we're already doing. There is absolutely no reason for us to be doing worse DPS as our gear increases, and it serves absolutely no sensible purpose. Even if it's a bandaid or a short-term fix until a long-term solution is given, it's still better than sitting there wondering when we're actually going to get to use an ability because we were unlucky.
Heroic Strike spam is another issue that has been acknowledged for months but nothing has been done. The best we can say is to bind it to the mousewheel to reduce the impact it has on our wrists. While this works, not everyone reads forums to find these things out, and it's still a clunky mechanic that ties directly into the rage issue.
Damage output for Protection Warriors needs to be increased and innate Threat (or Vigilance, or both) needs to be decreased. Taking it out of the realm of the abstract, I can recall very specific instances where a tank with higher damage output would have prevented a wipe and earned our guild an initial boss kill. Prior to the most recent nerf, XT-002 came down to whether he decided to tantrum immediately after an enrage or not, and with how tight the timer was, simply switching tanks would have been a kill much earlier. This may be anecdotal, but this is specifically what was being referred to when developers said tank DPS may be a contributing factor in encounter timers.
Two major glyphs & two talent points to bring our survivability cooldowns in line with encounter timers. Why? (Not dismissing that Paladins have this issue as well)
I'll defer the rest of this to Satrina's thread on the Tanking Forums.
Lore posted this on Jun 18, 2009 - 2:56 PM
The initial patch notes for the first wave of PTR testing have been posted, including many surprising changes (particularly for Paladins). You can view them on the Official World of Warcraft site, or here on Tankspot!
Lore posted this on Jun 16, 2009 - 10:57 PM
Bornakk confirmed today that, as many have speculated, level 80 Epic gems will be added to the game as part of Patch 3.2. These will be obtainable through a handful of methods, including alchemy transmutations, Emblems of Heroism, honor points, and by prospecting Titanium Ore.
At the same time, most professions will see an increased benefit from the profession-specific patterns and abilities:
Stat benefits from ring enchants, Dragons Eye gems, Master's Inscriptions, Fur Linings, Toughness, and Master of Anatomy are being increased
The effects of Tailoring embroideries, Engineering glove enchants, and Alchemy's Mixology are being increased
The healing effect of Lifeblood is being increased, it is being removed from the global cooldown, and will have some form of scaling with maximum health
In addition to Mixology being increased, Alchemists will be able to create a new, non-consumed flask that will be usable in arenas and increase either Spellpower, Attack Power, or Strength. Endless Healing and Mana Potions will no longer be usable in arenas, but the health or mana returned will be increased, and the cooldown reduced. Blacksmithing receives no changes, as it gains an indirect increase through the addition of Epic gems.
Ciderhelm posted this on Jun 15, 2009 - 5:25 AM
We've nailed down some of the final arrangements and I'm ready to officially announce that Lore and Satrina will be representing TankSpot at BlizzCon 2009! They will have special press badges for the event and will keep us covered here on the site. Lore will also be attending the Fansite Summit immediately prior to BlizzCon and I'm sure he'll keep us posted!
Ciderhelm posted this on Jun 10, 2009 - 11:33 PM
I still haven't been able to get in touch with a third winner who is actually able to attend the BlizzCon event... so here's a new contest to settle it once and for all! If you are interested, please make a one-word reply to this post with the word "Marmot."
This is a one-day giveaway starting now and ending Thursday evening at midnight (Pacific). Friday morning, check your private messages on the site -- you must respond to the private message on Friday (Pacific).
If you post in this thread, you acknowledge that you are capable of attending BlizzCon. As before, entries will be disqualified if the poster makes multiple entries or uses multiple accounts to enter.
Keep in mind that you cannot edit posts in our news forum, so be careful! (That said, there's no trick syntax to the entry word; we just like marmots)
