World of Warcraft - English (NA) Forums -> Scourge Invasion coming back?

Nicholai

< The Enclave >

Thunderlord

60. Re: Scourge Invasion coming back? 05/12/2008 10:42:27 AM PDT

Ashbringer quest line is most likely a dead end now. Talked to a GM and he essentially said that Tirion Fordring will have the cleansed Ashbringer in Northrend, the level 60 one will remain useless besides the wicked cool SM event. My buds guild leader went to Blizzcon talked to a dev about it and he stated its too important to lore to just hand over to any clown, he also commented that the Frostmourne (being its sister weapon) will not be wieldable (despite what was shown at blizzcon). Granted i'll be flamed for saying all of this but it doesn't seem unreasonable considering what devs did with the Ashbringer quest. It went from "will continue to outland" (which it didn't), to "It will continue in Northrend" to now, "It will be wielded by an NPC". Seems fair to assume they will do the same with Frostmourne "Yeah you can get it", to "We will find a way that Private Ownusohard won't get it", to "Its too important to lore to hand over to a player".

But hey it keeps people playing and waiting for WotLK.

I am Christopher Walken

Torchure

Blackrock

62. Re: Scourge Invasion coming back? 07/02/2008 05:03:33 PM PDT

Q u o t e:
Currently we're focused on developing future events so the Scourge Invasion is a bit on the backburner though it may very well be back again at some point in the future.

You'll have to excuse me when I say I don't believe you.

There have been a very limited amount of World Events that have taken place so far, and I've seen Blizzard say they would be running them again, but never have. I highly doubt the Scourge event will ever return.

Seasonal Events and Holiday Events do not count as World Events. They are a gimmick and provide little entertainment.

World Events provide massive amounts of entertainment for players. It can also be the perfect opportunity to create new lore and change the game world. Yet we are still to see this happen....

Example: Have random occasions where a bandit lord and his tribe ravages through land plundering things in his path.
Have a major city be seiged and changed forever as its rebuilt over 2 or 3 months. Have a giant goblin drilling team show up randomly in the barrens from underground, with NPC goblins saying they come from distant lands....

Kaindra

< Poo Touchers Anonymo… >

Dreadmaul

63. Re: Scourge Invasion coming back? 07/02/2008 05:05:03 PM PDT

I hope there's no necromancers along with the Scourge Invasion. God damn I hate those things so much.

I got this neat-o new Stormstrike icon, but it doesn't work. Everytime I press it I get an error message that says, "You can't do that while stunned."

Should I call tech support?

Cranica

Blackhand

64. Re: Scourge Invasion coming back? 07/02/2008 05:05:48 PM PDT

This thread is an ANCIENT necro.

http://forums.worldofwarcraft.com/thread.html?topicId=7116412587&sid=1

- My paladin kiting video. More to come.

Kisirani

Blizzard Poster

66. Re: Scourge Invasion coming back? 07/02/2008 05:23:34 PM PDT

Q u o t e:
I highly doubt the Scourge event will ever return.

You keep right on thinking that.

It's exactly what Arthas wants.

Your friendly neighborhood World Designer.
"The basic molecular structure of your little friend is still vastly compromised. Hand me that staple gun."

Kaindra

< Poo Touchers Anonymo… >

Dreadmaul

67. Re: Scourge Invasion coming back? 07/02/2008 05:25:00 PM PDT

Q u o t e:

You keep right on thinking that.

It's exactly what Arthas wants.

i can haz ad tabard?

I got this neat-o new Stormstrike icon, but it doesn't work. Everytime I press it I get an error message that says, "You can't do that while stunned."

Should I call tech support?

Xelfer

< Goon Squad >

Blackrock

68. Re: Scourge Invasion coming back? 07/02/2008 05:25:57 PM PDT

bah.

[ Post edited by Xelfer ]

Torchure

Blackrock

70. Re: Scourge Invasion coming back? 07/02/2008 06:11:22 PM PDT

Q u o t e:

You keep right on thinking that.

It's exactly what Arthas wants.

Because Blizzard will be running World Events while everyone is in Northrend??? Yeah, Blizzard aren't that generous.

Sure Blizzard might have some gimmicky pre-release event (similar to kazzak attacking cities prior to TBC), but that was a lazy drag and drop event.

Bring on the epic and world changing events, please.

Gerlyn

Skywall

71. Re: Scourge Invasion coming back? 07/02/2008 06:13:34 PM PDT

Q u o t e:

You'll have to excuse me when I say I don't believe you.

There have been a very limited amount of World Events that have taken place so far, and I've seen Blizzard say they would be running them again, but never have. I highly doubt the Scourge event will ever return.

Seasonal Events and Holiday Events do not count as World Events. They are a gimmick and provide little entertainment.

World Events provide massive amounts of entertainment for players. It can also be the perfect opportunity to create new lore and change the game world. Yet we are still to see this happen....

Example: Have random occasions where a bandit lord and his tribe ravages through land plundering things in his path.
Have a major city be seiged and changed forever as its rebuilt over 2 or 3 months. Have a giant goblin drilling team show up randomly in the barrens from underground, with NPC goblins saying they come from distant lands....

Bandit lord? Okay, well if he goes through lowbie zones, you're seriously screwing them up because they would aggro from a million miles away. If he's confined to high-end zones, he's basically a world boss. Sounds like Highlord Kruul if he never went to cities.

Have a city be sieged? Okay, that creates a lot of server stress and would probably screw up a lot of people who want nothing to do with it. Sounds a lot like Highlord Kruul when he went to cities.

The goblins do what? Is it just another world boss? Are they just more mobs for low-level people to fight? What purpose do they serve?

Congratulations, you suggested things that have been done.

Athalon

Rivendare

72. Re: Scourge Invasion coming back? 07/02/2008 06:25:06 PM PDT

id like to see a huge undead invasion.. beginning at every graveyard heading for every city...

Q u o t e:
Somewhere, on the side of the road, a lone Native American comes upon a pile of AFKers. As a passing car throws another AFKer out the window, a single tear rolls down his cheek.

-belfa

Talda

Azjol-Nerub

73. Re: Scourge Invasion coming back? 07/02/2008 06:34:30 PM PDT

Q u o t e:

Bandit lord? Okay, well if he goes through lowbie zones, you're seriously screwing them up because they would aggro from a million miles away. If he's confined to high-end zones, he's basically a world boss. Sounds like Highlord Kruul if he never went to cities.

Have a city be sieged? Okay, that creates a lot of server stress and would probably screw up a lot of people who want nothing to do with it. Sounds a lot like Highlord Kruul when he went to cities.

The goblins do what? Is it just another world boss? Are they just more mobs for low-level people to fight? What purpose do they serve?

Congratulations, you suggested things that have been done.

They should make a new type of "Event" NPC. One that has no specific level, but has a special icon to show that. They'd basically act like "Player level +X" to anyone that attacks them. They'd do less damage to lower level characters, and more damage to higher level characters. Lower level characters could also deal bonus damage to them too, so they don't feel useless when fighting them ("I've been hitting this NPC for 4 hours and he's still at 96%!").

Then, you could have consistant event content that doesn't keep anyone out of it, nor does it make it possible for higher level characters to destroy what is intended for lower level characters, as it would be challenging for all of them.

You might be a WoW Redneck if you have a macro to spam /emotes at people.

Torchure

Blackrock

74. Re: Scourge Invasion coming back? 07/02/2008 07:11:27 PM PDT

Q u o t e:
Congratulations, you suggested things that have been done.

Obviously my ideas are rough and are simple and quick ways to stir up gameplay.

Throwing a world boss at a city is boring. Lowbies cannot participate to any great degree and although players try to help out, it usually is fruitless and generally causes more harm then good.

Having 50-60 centaurs roam the land, cleaning out a lowbie town or two, allows for players to do something. A player raid of level 30-40s isnt going to even touch a major boss thrown into a city. They will however punch a hole into a 60 strong centaur raiding party that has NPCs ranging from levels 30 to 60.

The idea I'm trying to put forward is World Events would be popular, and give the perfect opportunity for Blizzard to move the Warcraft world forward. Azeroth hasn't changed in a long in a major way.

PS. I also see a LOT of people mention that doing World Events will effect gameplay too much, and people will be annoyed that they can't do certain things (ie. go to a quest location or something). This is irrelevant. WoW is an game and World Events provoke gameplay. Sure angry lowbie 'X' is mad that he can't hand in quest 'Y' because the questgiver got killed when the bandit party came through, but WHO cares. He will respawn in less time than you could make a milkshake in, and odds are angry lowbie 'X' is off fighting the bandit party seeking revenge anyway.

Kisirani

Blizzard Poster

75. Re: Scourge Invasion coming back? 07/02/2008 08:27:25 PM PDT

Torchure, you seem fond of saying that this would be popular and entertaining for "players," but you're not speaking for the majority. I completely understand that this is something you would like to see, and the events you're pitching are something that would interest you and people like you. But those people are not the only people who play the game, and in more or less every example you've given thus far, you bring forth something that can end up being a phenomenal inconvenience for an individual who has just started the game or has a very limited time to play.

When designing events for World of Warcraft, we have to keep all players and supported playstyles in mind. The "casual" player isn't less of a person than the hardcore; what's important is to make such events appeal to everyone in some way, new or old, dedicated or casual.

We do have some things in the works, but please don't expect a city to be razed or some such event. If we were to raze Stormwind, for example, that's a whole slew of quests and the like that would have to be rewritten or repurposed -- and that's just the quest load alone. There are dozens of other tasks associated with that, including art and programming... and while this is occurring, dungeons aren't being made, new and more relevant content isn't being created. It's replacement of content rather than an addition, and therefore the world isn't necessarily the richer for it.

It's a matter of priorities and smart use of manhours. Creating a new dungeon or epic quest line, for example, gets far more bang for the buck than a one-time event that replaces old content and never again plays out, even (or especially) at a large scale.

This isn't to say that we won't have one-time events, as I'm quite sure we will, but the odds of the world drastically changing as a result are slim and shouldn't be counted upon. By doing that you often destroy existing content, and that's not something that should be done lightly.

I'm sorry you dismiss the holidays so out of hand, as they're becoming fairly meaty and should have something to entertain most people, even if only for a little while.

We'll keep on making world events, holiday and not. I appreciate your passion, but I'm afraid world events likely will not take shape as you wish them to.

Your friendly neighborhood World Designer.
"The basic molecular structure of your little friend is still vastly compromised. Hand me that staple gun."

Grapenuts

< KSP >

Bonechewer

76. Re: Scourge Invasion coming back? 07/02/2008 08:30:27 PM PDT

First, but more...

...the inclusion of events that truly force someone to drop a jaw is what moves many, casual or dedicated.

[ Post edited by Grapenuts ]

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Azair

Area 52

77. Re: Scourge Invasion coming back? 07/02/2008 08:30:32 PM PDT

Q u o t e:
Torchure, you seem fond of saying that this would be popular and entertaining for "players," but you're not speaking for the majority. I completely understand that this is something you would like to see, and the events you're pitching are something that would interest you and people like you. But those people are not the only people who play the game, and in more or less every example you've given thus far, you bring forth something that can end up being a phenomenal inconvenience for an individual who has just started the game or has a very limited time to play.

When designing events for World of Warcraft, we have to keep all players and supported playstyles in mind. The "casual" player isn't less of a person than the hardcore; what's important is to make such events appeal to everyone in some way, new or old, dedicated or casual.

We do have some things in the works, but please don't expect a city to be razed or some such event. If we were to raze Stormwind, for example, that's a whole slew of quests and the like that would have to be rewritten or repurposed -- and that's just the quest load alone. There are dozens of other tasks associated with that, including art and programming... and while this is occurring, dungeons aren't being made, new and more relevant content isn't being created. It's replacement of content rather than an addition, and therefore the world isn't necessarily the richer for it.

It's a matter of priorities and smart use of manhours. Creating a new dungeon or epic quest line, for example, gets far more bang for the buck than a one-time event that replaces old content and never again plays out, even (or especially) at a large scale.

This isn't to say that we won't have one-time events, as I'm quite sure we will, but the odds of the world drastically changing as a result are slim and shouldn't be counted upon. By doing that you often destroy existing content, and that's not something that should be done lightly.

I'm sorry you dismiss the holidays so out of hand, as they're becoming fairly meaty and should have something to entertain most people, even if only for a little while.

We'll keep on making world events, holiday and not. I appreciate your passion, but I'm afraid world events likely will not take shape as you wish them to.

Quote for truth. Thanks.

Kyan

< Severance >

Stormreaver

78. Re: Scourge Invasion coming back? 07/02/2008 08:44:15 PM PDT

Q u o t e:
Torchure, you seem fond of saying that this would be popular and entertaining for "players," but you're not speaking for the majority. I completely understand that this is something you would like to see, and the events you're pitching are something that would interest you and people like you. But those people are not the only people who play the game, and in more or less every example you've given thus far, you bring forth something that can end up being a phenomenal inconvenience for an individual who has just started the game or has a very limited time to play.

I feel it's still an unsure matter in many ways. On one hand, I've seen such happen before; on another hand, I've seen those players still treasure those events. Especially in hindsight. "You cannot have the sweet without the sour." Sometimes a little sour not only makes for good memories but really bolsters the sweetness as well.

I remember when Funcom shut down Omni-Tek Headquarters, the center district between the two major Omni city hubs (AO's Stormwind+Ironforge), in a one-time rally, propaganda, and raid event. Any possible negative inconvenience was taken in stride to experience what was a pretty cool event with a sort of 'wow there's a Dungeon Master affecting the world/things really happen here' mystique. This was back when I was newer to MMOs as well so I wasn't quite the same niche that I am now. If anything, I think I treasured the event --more-- exactly because I was a new, casual, and inconvenienced player. It made it more notable.

I'd be curious to know what sort of negative reaction you had to, say, the ZA plague. Or some of the past city invasions (whether it be the unintended result of letting players train a raid boss to a city) or something a little more planned (pre BC perhaps). Is there that much negative reaction that makes it an inefficient or unwise strategy? Does a PvP raid on a city result in a notable increase in CSR petitions? When organized raids, as we've seen on Stormreaver, Archimonde, and I think Blackrock before (though likely not in a long time), actually 'take over' a part of the city for a while -- is it truly that major an inconvenience that your CSRs are flooded with complaints? I don't mean a few reports, but a genuine surge justifies counter measures to discourage (or at least not encourage) the action.

I've never been on your side of the fence so I don't know for sure. But I still get the anecdotal feel that even casual players may be a little more open to some inconvenience than the current history of [almost no] events suggests. Which isn't to say they'd be OK with Stormwind in rubble once a week; but not even once every half year? It feels like it's not just player inconvenience but also development efficiency (a fair concern, mind you; distinguishably different, but still fair).

Kyan Mehwulfe
http://www3.telus.net/public/mehwulfe

Ashran

< Divine Legends >

Malfurion

79. Re: Scourge Invasion coming back? 07/02/2008 08:47:03 PM PDT

Q u o t e:
June 20th last year was the day Naxx went live, with the Scourge Invasion world event that came with it; we're nearing the 1 year anniversary, is it coming back?

oh geeze i hope not...it made me cry seeing an army of lvl 10s running around in front of the horde cap cities and the cap cities being attacked by NEUTRAL SCOURGE that wouldn't kill anybody

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