Launcher Issues
Well the Launcher now looks great... Shame it does not work, at least its not working for me, an issue I can not find an answer to. In an attempt to fix it I have uninstalled and reinstalled the Beta client, only to find that as soon as the launcher is updated its stops downloading the patch. GRRRRrrrr.
Here is a picture of the new look..
Revised Downloader
In the mean time I have started to get FF14 Open Beta.. which is almost as big a problem.. really slow download speeds from its downloader... I have found a couple of torrents and file share to patch it up so i suspect the install will complete today 
I have been thinking about what I will be doing with site in the future, this blog in particular will evolve slightly over the coming months.
Mount Hyjal – Part Two
Mount Hyjal as a zone, shows off some of the best WoW quest progression yet. The phasing in particular illustrates why they are investing so much time to redevelop the old and bringing Azeroth into the post WoTLK world. I ran through the majority of Hyjal some time ago in between spurts with the Worgen and Goblin starter zones, there have been changes to the zone since mainly in the flow of the quest lines as you move through the zones but the fundamental theme remains
Mount Hyjal as a zone starts from a quest hub in Nordrassil (the world tree) before you are sent down mountain to stop the progression of the Twilights Hammer and all they madness. Mount Hyjal is being attached by the Fire Lord Ragnaros and his minions with the sole intent on burning every thing in their way, the Twilights Hammer get off on a bit of death and destruction, its the kind of thing that gives you kicks if your purpose in life is.. well to end all life as you know it and bring chaos to the world...
As you progress between quest hubs the phasing subtly kicks in and the world around you changes. You are questing to help the gain the trust of the Ancients of old, who aided Malfurion Stormrage and his pals fend off the desires of the Burning Legion in the War of the Ancients. Tortilla pictured below is one of these a old guys that you need to free from their bonds and raise there support in the battle to save Mount Hyjal.
Tortilla
It is when you aid the spirt of the wilderness Aessina that one of the most striking changes happen. After coming to the assistance of Nordu (pictured below) you meet Aessina who uses her powers to stem the inferno around her, pushing back the flames, transforming the area in which you have spent some time questing.
Nordu
It is this level of interaction with the environment that draws you back into the World of Warcraft, one where you start to read quest texts and pay attention to story your character is progressing through. With this rebirth from the fire WoW became an RPG again, its been an MMO for a long time in my eyes, I think I like the feeling of it becoming being reborn as an MMORPG. Unfortunately you will have to wait for part 3 and the video which I am in the process of finishing, hopefully encoded and uploaded by the end of the week, to demonstrate the changes.
Mage Portals – Simplified
Had a random request for a portal the other night, first time during beta testing which is a nice change! Spotted a very nice adition to the Mage portal and teleport spells...
Portals.. simplified Portals any one?
The Portal/Teleport spell can be placed on you bar and a tab can be clicked, much like the Shaman totem bar, to select the appropriate portal/teleport spell. Small touch but this saves a "mod:shift" bar, silly macros and even reduces the time I spend flicking though my spell book to find the unused portal spells! Lazy Mage I here you say.. the Goblin in me says "Time is Money".
You can also see from the tabs at the bottom of the spell book that it now includes the Professions, Mounts and Companions. I will post screens of these tomorrow.
[EDIT: 29/09/2010] For those looking for a list of portal spells, here is link to Wowhead that you may find handy. LINK
Troll Backdrop and Gear Update
The Trolls have finaly been given their own backdrop on the character select screen, I'm assuming at the moment that the Gnomes would also have the pleasure!
Oh thats new!
As you can see I have been able to upload some more classes to the Beta, issues that stopped me doing this previously have been resolved with the new client.
The image below shows the difference between the holding gear model above to what look to be finished gear models below. I actually liked the simplicity of the holding models but the new designs look great across all the classes that I see running around Deepholm!
New Gear!
With the latest changes to the damage output of mobs, it has become a far more challenging game to play. I'm having to learn how to play my class solo again, which is great! I suspect in the long term (and its been mentioned by Blues) that some of the damage will be down tuned, hopefully not to the point where there is no challenge to levelling at all. One of the biggest disappointments after coming back to WoW was that levelling could be achieved with far less skill than I remembered from Vanilla and BC.
At the moment pulls can feel like a genuine challenge, where reactions matter and rusty skills need to be polished. Its been along time since I have had to kite, CC and counter effectively in a PVE environment. It maybe that I just really suck at magecraft (very probable), but its refreshing and very enjoyable to be forced to play the class!
New Launcher
Still busy! Promise ill be putting more info up over the coming days, although I would be lying if Starcraft 2 was not distracting me in my spare time.
So to show im here and the beta has been reinstalled, I have a couple of shots of the new Launcher.
Not enough to play
When a patch is launched to "Live" the Launcher will start downloading the patch, if the bar is red the client has not been patched enough to be able to play.
Playable, but...
Yellow means you can play, but expect delays in loading zones etc. As you can see this is playable at 1% of a 15GB patch!! TBH this is great news for anyone with a slow conection, my internet speeds are not what I would call great but a lot better than some connections out there.
All good.. well probably..
Now you would be forgiven for thinking that it wont go green until its finished, well no! Green means the core game and major changes are in place, with smooth game play.. most of the time. I'm not 100% sure how the system works but I assume it is a little like the trial client that downloads the data for the zones around those you are playing in at the time. All I can say is it is a great addition and it works well!
The latest pacth has seen some major polish, massive increase in the damage output of mobs (and it feels great!) and masteries have been enabled... but that's for another day, more soon!
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