PvE/PvP currencies will convert to Justice and Honor Points in Patch 4.0.

Blizzard poster Bashiok has just posted an in-depth explanation of the PvE/PvP currency system changes that are coming in Cataclysm, and it’s an informative read. The lengthy post can be found in its entirety after the jump, but I’ll attempt to summarize the important parts.

The upcoming 4.0 patch will convert Emblems of Triumph and Frost into Justice Points (PvE), and Arena Points, Honor Points, Battleground Marks of Honor, Stone Keeper’s Shards, Venture Coins, and Spirit Shards into Honor Points (PvP). Simple, right? All PvE badges below Frost and Triumph will be converted into gold.

There will be a limit to the amount of new currencies you can hold, but Blizzard’s providing a grace period in the form of a soft cap. This means your conversion can go over the hard cap, but you can’t earn more until you go below the hard cap. Here’s an example: the conversion gives you 4,200 Justice Points, but the hard cap is 4,000. You’ll have to spend some points to dip under 4,000 before you can earn more. Another patch before Cataclysm will actually enforce the hard cap, and your excess points will be turned into gold.

Keep reading below for more details. Bashiok said that all conversion math should be posted tomorrow afternoon if you’re curious how many Justice and Honor Points you’re going to earn in patch 4.0.

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From Bashiok’s post:

As we discussed in our previous announcement (http://forums.worldofwarcraft.com/thread.html?topicId=24401796793), we’re refining the currency systems used for purchasing PvE and PvP items in World of Warcraft: Cataclysm, and the transition to this new system will take place in two stages. Today, we’re going into more detail on how these changes will be rolled out, so if you haven’t yet, make sure to check out the prior article to get up to speed on the currency names.
One change of note since that original announcement is that we’ve changed the name of the low-tier PvE currency from Hero Points to Justice Points. The original announcement post has been updated to reflect this.
Out With the Old
In the upcoming 4.0 patch we’ll begin the first stage of the conversion to the new currencies. Emblems of Triumph and Emblems of Frost will be converted into Justice Points. For this initial conversion there will be a soft cap of points you can have, with a hard cap enforced later as detailed below. All PvE emblems and badges below Frost and Triumph will be converted into gold. This even includes legacy badges, like Badges of Justice. If any of these older currencies are converted into gold, the player will receive it through an in-game letter.
At this time any bosses a player defeats that are level-appropriate to them (and previously awarded badges or emblems upon defeat) will award them with the new Justice Points. Similarly, any items that previously cost emblems or badges of any type will now cost Justice Points instead.
On the PvP side, Season 8 will end with the release of patch 4.0, and all Arena Points, Honor Points, any leftover Battleground Marks of Honor, Stone Keeper’s Shards, Venture Coins, and Spirit Shards will be converted into the new Honor Points. The new Honor Point pool will also have a soft cap for these conversions, but a hard cap will be enforced later. At the time of conversion, items that previously cost Honor or Arena Points will be sold in exchange for the new Honor Points. Rated Arenas and Rated Battlegrounds won’t be available again until Season 9 (shortly after the release of Cataclysm), when they can be entered to win the higher-tier PvP Conquest Points.
In addition, purchasing any item with these secondary currencies (Honor Points and Justice Points) will now require that the purchaser meet the item’s minimum level requirement.
It’s important to note that these conversions are not 1:1, but are indicative of the level and relative worth of each before the conversion to the new point systems. For example, Stone Keeper’s Shards will convert into more Honor Points than Spirit Shards.
Tip of the Cap
While we previously announced that there’s a limit to the amount of these new currencies you can stockpile, we’re providing a grace period in the form of a soft cap. This soft cap will allow the initial conversion to push the amount owned over the cap, but will not allow any further points to be earned (or returned through item refunds) until enough points are spent to put you below the hard cap.
For instance, a player has 3000 Emblems of Triumph, and 1200 Emblems of Frost; at the time of conversion they’ll be given 4200 Justice Points. The hard cap for Justice Points is 4000, so that player won’t be able to earn any more Justice Points until he or she spends enough points to reduce the total to under 4000. This also applies to the new PvP Honor Points, which also have a cap of 4000.
Shortly before Cataclysm is released, another patch will enforce the hard cap, marking the second stage of the currency conversion. Any Justice or Honor Points above the hard cap will be converted to gold, and just like in the first stage of the conversion, the player will receive an in-game letter explaining that some of their currencies were converted into gold as well as delivering the gold itself.

Let us know what you think and if you have any questions. We’re planning to post all of the conversion math tomorrow afternoon for those that want to know how many of each they’ll be getting.

Herbalists, Miners will get a little boost as they gather materials.

ZAM user CrimsonNeko has pointed us toward a short, but sweet, blue post on the official Cataclysm beta forum: “Tradeskill nodes are intended to give you experience when you loot them.” Pick an herb, earn some exp. Mine a node, earn some exp. Seems like a nice little bonus for characters with these tradeskills.

According to Blizzard poster Daeleht, the exp values that are currently being seen on the PTR may not be final. Regardless, don’t expect to level your character solely through gathering materials (although I’m sure a roleplaying pacifist will give it a shot). Players who skin and collect cloth earn experience for killing enemies, so this will seemingly just give a boost to those who chose mining and herbalism.

What are your thoughts on the upcoming change? Let us know in the comments below or in CrimsonNeko’s thread in our general forum.

Cataclysm will turn Ashenvale into a warzone.

When Cataclysm changes the face of Azeroth as we know it, Ashenvale will become a warzone. A volcano will erupt in the center of the map, disrupting the Night Elves and giving the Horde the opportunity to take control of several Alliance strongholds. Intrigued? Then you should definitely check out the Q&A that Blizzard recently posted with quest designers Eric Maloof and Steve Burke that focuses on how the zone will change in the exapansion. We’ve posted the entire interview after the jump for your reading pleasure.

Ashenvale will be a major questing hub for both Horde and Alliance players from levels 20-25. According to the Q&A, “Horde players will have much more to do” in the zone, including a variety of new quests. There are no significant changes planned for Blackfathom Deeps at this time, but the changes to the storyline and terrain should be more than enough to keep players occupied. More details can be found in the Q&A below.

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Q. What was the original concept for the zone?

A. The concept for Ashenvale was to show the effects of the Cataclysm while taking the opportunity to streamline the zone’s level design. There were areas of Ashenvale that were pretty unfriendly in terms of accessibility and quest flow. The level designers and quest designers worked together to alleviate the problem areas and highlight the big changes.

Q. Who will be using this zone (what levels/factions)?

A.Both Horde and Alliance players, roughly from levels 20–25. We anticipate that this will be a well-traveled zone in terms of general player flow.

Q. Without giving up any spoilers, what’s the general storyline for this zone? How has it changed from the original design?

A. Among other catastrophes, an enormous volcano has erupted in central Ashenvale. As the night elves struggle to deal with the chaos caused by the Cataclysm, the Horde is seizing what it perceives to be a golden opportunity. Garrosh Hellscream’s forces are now bearing down upon the night elves and have overtaken several key positions that once served as Alliance strongholds. There is a definite feeling that the balance of power in this region now teeters on a goblin tripwire….
These changes also mean that Horde players will have much more to do in Ashenvale.

Q. What do you think is the most exciting new feature of the zone?

A.Visually, it has to be the volcano. It’s stunning, and it provides a great landmark in a place otherwise known for its dense forest. Thematically, the tension present in the zone gives it a whole new feel. The Horde is barricaded inside the walls of Splintertree Post under a massive assault by the night elves and their allies. Meanwhile, Astranaar is desperately fighting off waves of Hellscream’s forces. Practically everywhere you go in Ashenvale, it’s impossible to escape the fact that it has become a warzone.

Q.What goes into redesigning a zone like this?

A.A bit more than meets the eye, we think. Ashenvale is deceptively large, and previously there were many issues in terms of quest flow and Horde/Alliance content balance. Soon after we rolled up our sleeves and broke ground, we realized that our work was cut out for us. There were numerous quests we wanted to keep, but there were also a great many that no longer fit or didn’t play out efficiently. We also needed to create a variety of new quests, especially ones “For the Horde”™.

Q. What was the most challenging aspect about implementing these changes?

A. It can actually be a bit tougher to come in and “do surgery” to an existing zone than it is to completely gut it and start from scratch. Given our ambitious time constraints, trying to determine what stays, what goes, and what other changes to make is certainly a challenge.

Q. What should players do or go see first?

A.Horde players should visit the Mor’shan Rampart first. There’s a new Horde contingent there who is fighting hard to make sure that no night elves escape Hellscream’s onslaught — not that they’d make it far into the Northern Barrens! Alliance players who come down from Darkshore will want to help defend Maestra’s Post and Astranaar as both settlements struggle to keep from falling under Hellscream’s control.

Q. Who seems to have the upper hand in the zone: the Horde, the Alliance, or the elementals?

A.The Horde and the Alliance are throwing themselves at each other on many fronts; neither has a clear upper hand here. The elementals in Ashenvale are a minor nuisance in comparison to the faction struggle.

Q. Should we expect any changes within Blackfathom Deeps?

A.There are no significant changes planned for Blackfathom Deeps at this time.

Q.What has happened to Silverwind Refuge?

A.The Horde has happened!

Q. What has changed the most: the storyline or the terrain?

A.The amount of change has been pretty equal between storyline and terrain. The terrain is much less frustrating than before, and the visual results of the Cataclysm tell the story as much as the quests do. Story-wise, the theme hasn’t changed so much as its intensity has.

These new Druid forms are coming in Cataclysm.

Blizzard recently posted a sneak peak of the new cat and bear forms that will be available for troll and worgen Druids in the upcoming Cataclym expansion, and you can check out the screenshots after the jump. The infamous troll tusks and hair play a prominent role in that race’s animal forms, while the worgen forms are distinguished by their teeth and claws.

What do you think of the new designs? Which race are you more likely to pick if you plan on rolling a new druid in the expansion? Let us know in the comments section, or head over to our WoW general forum for more discussion surrounding Cataclysm.

Worgen Cat Form

Worgen Bear Form

Troll Cat Form

Troll Bear Form

Last week was certainly an interesting one for those of us in MMOG land, with a phenomenal PR blunder from Blizzard dominating the headlines. Unless you were on a desert island, in solitary confinement, or just avoid anything related to Blizzard or World of Warcaft you no doubt heard the outcry over the proposed change to the WoW forums that would require all members to post with their real names. While Blizzard saw no downside to turning their forums into the newest incarnation of social media, players of a fantasy MMOG seemed to feel differently.
I don’t wish to debate the merits or pitfalls of the proposed changes, that has certainly been done enough this week, but it made me think about Susan Wu of Ohai games and her plan to make social media centric MMOGs. Players have flocked to, and fallen in love with, their initial game offering City of Eternals — a browser-based game that uses a player’s Facebook login to create their character, populate their friends list, and even create their guild. With integrated status-update-style announcements and leader boards adorned with player’s real life pictures, City of Eternals exalts the merging of real life and MMOG play. So why do gamers seem so willing to let their real information flow freely in City of Eternals and yet seem so violently opposed to it in WoW? I assume it relates back to our overall resistance to change; if Blizzard had implemented this system at the launch of WoW then I imagine there wouldn’t have been much said about it and their forums would have never have reached the level of buffoonery that they are infamous for.
This week’s review looks at a game that has been no stranger to change or controversy, Dungeons and Dragons Online.

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Controversial decisions are nothing new to MMOG developers. Even though this week’s example may have been the most widely reported, Blizzard isn’t the only company ever to spark outrage by announcing their forthcoming plans. Turbine fanned some flames of their own when they announced that their AAA title, Dungeons and Dragons Online: Strormreach, was going to shift from subscription-based to microtransaction driven. But both Turbine’s well implemented plan and the gaming community’s positive reaction put the fire out and helped change the perception of free-to-play games here in North America.
Once a faltering title that was destined for the dust bin of MMOG history DDOU is now the leader in the fastest growing segment and the model of success that many other developers are beginning to look at for aging or disappointing games. But can a formerly pay-to-play title cut it as a free-to-play? While the polish and content factors may be heavily weighted toward success, how well can the game capture players who are looking for value above all else? Let’s put Dungeons and Dragons Online: Eberron Unlimited under the Microcosms microscope and find out.

Graphics

One of the unfortunate caveats that we often have to mention when reviewing a free-to-play game is that you often compare their graphics to those of their subscription-based counterparts. Coming from a major publisher and sporting the major budget that goes with an AAA title, you don’t have to worry about getting such a warning here. You will find all the spell effects, textures, shadows and lighting that you would expect, but without the system crippling requirements that leave some budget minded gamers feeling left out. In fact the scalability of Eberron Unlimited may be its best asset, especially when dealing with gamers that may choose to play a subscriptionless game due to financial considerations. Having a game that can morph from stunning on a bleeding edge system to smooth and playable on the Radio Shack machine that you got for Christmas in 2002, and do both remarkably well, is a huge upside.

The UI is clean and well laid out with a style that has its own unique flavor without feeling foreign to gamers. Some mental retraining will be needed to remap hotkeys and their function, but the game’s starting area and its myriad quests will help accomplish this pretty easily. My best recommendation, however, is to not disable the help tooltips that pop up, and to do the tutorial quests– they are less of an annoyance and more beneficial here than they are in most other games.

Gameplay

MMO gaming has become somewhat of a paradox in the last few years. What started out as something that was, by its very nature, a group and social experience has given way to becoming a solo affair with some grouping thrown in. Dungeons and Dragons Online was built to be as close to the tabletop game as possible which means it was designed for more than one player, but the developers have added a couple of features to allow solo players to be successful without compromising that feeling of interaction.
The first, and most prominent, mechanism that achieves this is The Dungeon Master (I visualize the little balding guy in the robe from the 80s cartoon series, but that could just be a me thing). The Dungeon Master is a persistent companion who sets the stage of your adventures via a voice over. In addition to the unseen guide there are mercenaries that are purchasable from an in-game vendor who will fight along side you in the game’s many instances.

Leveling and combat are both handled a bit differently in DDOU than they are in the typical MMOG offering. For each of the game’s 20 levels there are 5 “sub levels” that help to stretch out the time needed to level, keeping the pace on par with that of the tabletop game. While that may sound like a grindy mess to they typical player, this isn’t the typical game and you are introduced to rather epic feeling battles from the get go. The combat system of DDOU also gives it a more intense feel than auto attacking to kill your 10 rats. Combat is handled primarily by left clicking on the mob (or mobs) you are fighting in a fashion reminiscent of a first person action game, with spells and abilities triggered off of action bar hotkeys.
Before I get into one of the more interesting aspects of gameplay, the puzzles, let me first give you a warning about controls in DDOU. As I stated earlier, left clicking a mob in combat will cause you to swing your weapon in the direction the mouse is aimed. It will also create the same effect if you are out of combat or trying to interact with any world object and aren’t close enough. This can be a major source of frustration until you become familiar with it.
Puzzle solving was a major part of the tabletop version of D&D and this iteration stays with that theme in a major way, adding a very nice element of gameplay that is typically missing in MMOGs. Puzzles come in all shapes and sizes and are an integral part of gameplay from the intro quest line on.

Value

 

Radically changing the way a MMOG is monetized could easily be the final nail in the game’s coffin, but Turbine has pulled off nothing short of a miracle with this resurrection. With strong graphics, amazing gameplay and tons of content available, the free portion of DDOU is the strongest in the industry, and the item shop pricing is superbly handled as well. If you chose to pay for DDOU, there is still a subscription model available that unlocks all the game’s features and rewards you with an allotment of item shop currency each month. Players who make any purchase in the item shop will be upgraded to Premium membership, which could be the best overall value in all of free-to-play gaming.

Score

 

Overall DDOU receives 5 out of 5 hammers, with its amazing value easily making up for the slight downsides of the leveling system and learning curve. Blessed with the advantage of starting life as a big budget game, Dungeons and Dragons Online: Eberron Unlimited has made the most of its second chance and is a model for how to properly make a free-to-play game.