WoW info deluge - EverCrest Message Forums

Author

Topic: WoW info deluge

Talonus

Loner

posted 05-16-2003 03:50:47 PM

Recently came across this nice deluge of info concerning WoW. Combines some info I've seen in other previews, but a lot I haven't seen before so I thought I'd post it here for folks. I'm not sure of the original source or I'd link it, as it was copy/pasted for me, hence the bad formatting in some places.

Features/Misc

-hour and a half to go from bottom to top of Azeroth

-2 continents, Azeroth and Kalimdor

-PVP will be consentual, 90% of world is non-pvp, 10%

-the Stranglethorn Arena will be player pvp. Players can buy tickets to fight dragons, hyrdras, etc.

-Multiple players can fight a monster at once, but there will be limits.

-Team battles, either groups vs groups or groups vs monster(s)

-Guild battles planned, will be advertise

-Spectators can buy tickets, eventually be able to bet on games

-There will be about 100 or more "micro-dungeons" (which are actually quite large) that players can spend a few hours in killing monsters, quests, etc. Will be located all throughout the world. Not instanced. No loading entrance, to get in you will actually walk in it, no "doors" or dark areas that you go next to and loading "warp" inside.

-Entire game has no loading after initial load, except for certain areas (instanced areas, some buildings like the Monastary). This is because the game is streamed to the user (90% streamed).

-Cathedral of Light in center of Stormwind. Blizzard doesn't want people to come to cities just to trade/buy stuff, wants cities to be a place where players can adventure, do quests, etc. In Stormwind there are large statues of the heroes from past Warcraft titles (including War3x) with plaques on the base of each one showing the hero's name.

-Stormwind will have multiple manors/districts (mage, warrior, trading, etc) which will be told apart by roof colors (red for warrior, blue for mage, etc). It also has a canal system (not fully implimented yet in the E3 demo) which will allow players to travel quickly (not instantaneously) between these areas.

-The cathedral might even be used for player weddings!

-Players will be able to rent the room and buy/send out invitations.

-2000-4000 players per server

-Blizzard wants quests, story, and history as a major part of the game, so players can get involved.

-Languages will work like this: Orcs start out speaking only Orcish, any characters of another race's text will show up as converted text, and the same is true with another race seeing your text. You can learn other race's languages, but not easy.

-Attribute (Strength, Agility, Stamina, Intelligence and Spirit) and skill points obtained on level up ONLY.

-Bind stones: talk to guy standing next to each (binder) and he will bind you to that stone. When you die, you return there. Several of these located throughout the world, can only be binded to one at a time. Most are near major cities.

-Beta: want servers to be packed. Will last 8 months or so. Will do beta in waves, starting with a few and eventually open beta.

-Biggest hurdle is content. Game looks like a released game in terms of graphics and gameplay at this point (and it's still only in alpha)!

-Health recovers slowly over time, will speed up if sit or lay down (/sit, /lay).

World Locations

-Kalidar - NE starting location. It is a city located on the top of a HUGE tree. has wisps, moon wells, etc.
20+ big dungeons, Blackrock Spire is one of these.
Blackrock Spire was created by the Dwarves in ancient times. Some mishap happened (which will be learned) and the mountain was turned into a volcano. Orcs took over in Warcraft I but Humans ousted them. Since then it has been deserted, but lately evil forces have inhabited it, viler than the Orcs. There are 2 parts in it, the upper spire and lower spire. Upper spire will have Dragons in it.

Classes

-Human/Orc can be Warlock. Dark magic, summoning demonic spirits, take/drain life from enemies. Casts sleep, can summon felhound pet. Right click on pet portait to issue commands (like attack, heel, stay, follow, unsummon, etc). Can only have one pet out at a time.

-When you kill something (you actually deliver the killing blow), there will be a magical effect on the corpse telling you you can loot it first. Different loot types.

-Hunter (Dwarf can be this too): ranged weapon proficiency, can tame beats. Can only have one beast at a time, but can dismiss it to get another. This tamed beast will be name-able and will level up with you and grow stronger and larger. It can level to be up to 90% of your level.

-Druids: can cast wards, shapeshift. When shifted, can only use that form's abilities. Can turn into bear, flying thing, and most interestly, rabbit. Rabbit form can't do anything but move, good for scout (enemies see it as a neutral critter, even when clicking, monsters won't attack).
Items

-5 slots for "bags". Each item will take up 1 slot. You can buy more/bigger bags with more slots. The more slots a bag can hold, the more expensive/harder to get it will be. You can put items in these bags and different bag types, like herb bags, arrow pouches, etc.

Skills/Spells

-2 types of spells/skills: Core and Secondary. Shown as X/Max, where x is your current knowledge over it's max, which goes up each level.

-The more you use a skill, the higher it's level/effectiveness.
Gathering/herbalism: can extract ingrediants from herb bushes, find herb spell that will show dots on minimap where herbs are. Can turn on/off, but when on you can only walk (not attack or run).

-These bushes spawn randomly, can't camp. Specific types that give specific ingrediants only spawn in specific areas, like in caves, coasts, etc.

-Tradeskill window: Red spells are hardest to use (ingrediants rarer), but make skil go up more. Grey is easy, but little skill uppage. All these will always be successful (no aggravation by having to do it again and again). Reagants shown as have/need.

-Works the same for herbalism, first aid, smithing, mining, etc.

-You can buy recipes for all these (which will have level and skill requirements), but rarer ones will be only obtained through quests or find off of monsters.

-Higher level tradeskills might require the player to go to a lab/smithy/etc to make the item.

-Core skills require a trainer/money to buy. No skill point required.

-Secondary skills require a skill point to obtain the skill, then it works like a core (not like D2 where you pump points into one skill)

-When you use a spell, it will grey out and have a clock thing like the spell cooldowns in warcraft III.

Transportation

-Higher level char will get more and faster movement methods.

-Gryphon taxis, go to gryphon masters which are located throughout the world in major cities and such. They can transport you to other gryphon master areas, but only the ones you have visited before (like waypoints). Once you purchase the trip, you will actually see the gryphon take off and fly to that area, all without any loading screens. Takes about 3 mins on the one I saw. You can't control the gryphon, but can look around. Players will be able to see you flying overhead. When entering a different zone, the sky/music changes (for example, entering Blackrock spire from Ironforge/Dun Morogh). The sky changed to a black/red and music changed. Good for scouting.

-Boats will be same, can go places you have been. There will always be something to do on the boat, like quests (maybe attacked by pirates/harpies) or even gambling. Don't want people to be on the boat just being bored. It is NOT instananeous transportation, you will actually see the boat travelling to the destination.

-World map not implented yet, but when there is it will reveal terrain once you get there (like Morrowind). No annotation option yet, but is considered.

-Humans: Horses. Orcs: Wolves. Dwarves: Rams. Others unknown.

-Mounts will have to be bought, not given. There will be quests to get them as well.

-Low levels will find it easy to get one of their race specific mounts, but won't be able to get other race's.

-If you wanted a human to get a Wolf mount, you would have to raise your reputation with the Orcs and such. Then you would look really Uber .

-Primary purpose of mounts is transportation, cannot fight while on them. Don't want everyone on their mount all the time.

-Come in different colors/types/sizes. Provide armor bonus.
For now, there are summoned by activating an item. You auto get on it. Same way to dismount (mount disappears). Good way so you don't lose track of it and it will be always with you. Cannot use mounts indoors.

Quests

-Exclamation point above head of people who give you quests. Yellow if you can do the quest, blue if they won't give you yet but if you can get it later (when you are higher level).
Quests are shown when talking to them, and you can see description of the quest as well as the reward (which is sometimes a choice of up to 6 rewards). You can take multiple quests at a time, from the same person even.
Quest log shows all active quests, can change order by moving quests up/down. When you select a quest, you will see it's full description and reward(s) again, as well as your current status. Like if a quest is to obtain X items, it will say "X/7 items obtained."

-There will be quests and tasks. Quests can only be done once and rewards are unique items you can't buy or find in that area. Tasks you can do multiple times and are simple things like deliver this item to this person.

Developer Q&

- Where are mounts kept when they are not being used by a character?
You summon mounts by using a scroll, and this is how it will be in the final game. You can toggle the mount as out/hidden by right clicking/using the scroll, which is a normal item you can keep in your backpack and shows the mount's stats. You can carry multiple mounts.

- So far the only class with any ability to heal has been the Shaman, while we've seen or heard about a number of caster and melee types. Will there be a more healer oriented class, can the druid heal, or do they have any more information on the healing aspect of the game?
Druids can heal as well, and some of the other classes that are planned but unannounced will also most likely have healing.

- About how many skills there going to be?
You start out with about 10-12 core skills, and you can purchase more of these with money. There are going to be a lot of secondary skills, but no numbers are known yet.

- Any info on shadowmeld for the Night Elves
It is currently disabled, but will be in the beta/final game. The person I asked said that it will not only work at night, but be more of an ability that is night-elf specific and will in some way boost evasion. Also, it is not necessarily limited to NE females. Each race will have some ability that makes it unique like shadowmeld for NE.

- Night Elf mount?
Unknown at this point. It will most likely be some sort of exotic animal found in Kalimdor (like one of those white tigers or something).

- We need more info on factions. If I'm human will I be kill on sight to other races like Orcs or Night Elfs.
This is yet to be determined, but this is what I know so far. If an Orc goes into a Human city, it will be attacked on sight by the town's NPC guards. As of now there is nothing you can do to change this, as there are 2 factions so far: the Alliance (Human, Dwarf, NE) and the Horde (Orc, Tauren).

- What are the rewards for winning a match in the Stranglethorn Arena?
You will recieve a normal item, but it will be unique in that it looks different, so people who look at you say "he won a PVP match."

- Has he seen the quest engine for the GMs? If so, how elaborate is it?
GM's will be able to have lots of options in the creation/following of live quests. So a GM can go to a town and say "who wants to come help me kill X monster" or something.

- Are there plans for consentual PvP in non-PvP areas? (In the form of duels, more or less) And Group consented PvP in non-PvP areas. (Like a group duel?)
There will be no non-consentual PVP at all, and PVP will only be allowed in chosen places (can't do it anywhere). If your side is dominating a PVP arena or something then more monsters may spawn on the opposing side, or even more interestingly, attack your Guild Hall, to give you a handicap.

- Are gyrocopters going to be included? If so, would they consider including bicycles?
No current plans, but Blizzard is open about this. This could very well be in the final game. As for the bicycle, probably not.

- Can you tell us more about Guild, Faction, and Racially based PvP. Will World of Warcraft actually have WAR? Will it be meaningful and affect the world and plot?
No specific plans yet; however, things you do will effect the world and trigger events (not always located near you either).

- Will WoW have roleplaying-specific servers?
There is a good chance that they will due to user demand. We'll have to wait and see, but the person I asked was optimistic.

- Will WoW have language-specific servers so people can play in their native language?
Yes, there will be various localized servers that will be in the language of that area. For instance, the server in Korea will be the default server in the Korean version of WoW. You will be able to connect to other servers if you wish.

- Is the lighting and shadow in the game real-time?
No, it is pre-done but looks real. This is to save on processing and quite honestly, you would see no difference.

- What classes are restricted to what races?
So far it is: Human/Orc - warlock, Everyone - warrior, Human/Dwarf - mage, Tauren/NE - druid, Orc/Tauren - Shaman, and Dwarf/Tauren/NE/Orc - Hunter.

- Do any classes get "familiars" whose body they can inhabit or look through, like a black cat or owl etc?
None of this planned (seeing through eyes of hireling), but the warlock, hunter, and mage (high level) can summon creatures to fight for them. The druid can also turn into a neutral critter creature (like a bunny, rabbit, squirrel, etc) and be able to spy/scout. Familiar has not really been discusses as of now.

- Will some skills be particularly difficult to acquire or train, leaving them to "elite" players?
Yes, some skills will be very rare and hard to find (like from hidden trainers, high level monsters rare recipe drops, etc).

- How much do players have to specialize to maintain maximum effectiveness; does taking a crafting skill mean you're necessarily weaker in combat?
Using just their core skills players should do fine, but specialization will make life easier .

- With all the new classes going around will there be a shadowmage/dark elf type class floating around? Cause Dalamar kicks total arse. . .well except Raistlin's. . .
Nothing like this specificilly planned, but who knows what Blizzard might announce!

- Can you fight underwater?
Yes, but you move slower than you do on land. You will also be able to cast spells and use abilities underwater, though some might not work very well (like fire spells).

- How long can you stay underwater, and is it based on stamina or skill in swimmin?
No current restriction, but there will be something (you can't hold your breath forever). If so, there could be a skill that lets you stay underwater longer/forever.

- What is the Tauren mount?
They most likely will NOT have a mount. The person I asked said that they will be able to run as fast as any other race's mount. However, they will be able to take the Gryphon taxis and such.

- Wondering how the 1st person aspect and ranged weaponry is going to work. Crosshair? Auto?
It works the same as 3rd/melee. There is no crosshair since it auto-aims on the monsters they you have selected.

- how much is the damn game gonna cost per month?
The exact price is not known, but it will be around the same price as all the other MMORPGs.

- How fast is combat with a single creature? How will a player's combat power scale to a monster's power, when both at same level(is it like AC2 where one monster will beat the crap outta you?)? Will it be mostly one-on-one fights, or usually groups of 2+?
If you're fighting monsters you should be (around your level) then battles should last around 30-60 seconds. Blizzard also doesn't want people to camp and pull monsters to them (hence the random spawning locations). There will be no long waiting to heal like other MMORPGs since Blizzard doesn't want people having to waste time just sitting around to heal (this is a game, should be FUN). In a 1on1 fight with a monster of the same level, it should be close if you nor them use any spells/abilities. However, if you use your spells/abilities then you should win.

- Are healing potions the only type of heal, or will there be healing spells?
No, there are several methods in which you can heal. These include sitting, laying, casting healing spells (casted by and on you), first aid, alchemy (making potions), eating food, etc.

- If a hunter tames an animal as a pet, can he use it forever, or will the animal eventually become useless? Yes I know they level, but will a bear tame, be more powerful then a tiger tame?
Yes, he keeps it forever. The second part depends on the monster's level and other factors (like the spells/abilities they have).

- What is the max level if any?
Not decided at this time. The beta is when decisions like this are made.

- Has anything been reveiled about underwater environments?
There will be underwater (and underground) environments. Such environments include sunken ships and underwater temples.

- What race were the characters performing the ritual?
If you are talking about the new Blizzard E3 gameplay vid, then it was Human.

- Will some mount be better than others? rarer etc...
Yes, there will be quest mounts that are better than regular mounts. The exact advantages are unknown at this time, though might include things like faster running speed.

- is dual wielding going to be a skill or automaticly on every char with damage or hit modifiers on it, possibly skills to help the modifiers?
Dual wielding won't be a skill you can start out with, as it will require a certain level to learn. It is unknown about specific skills to boost dual wield, though skills like double slash and the like are likely.

- How long does it take to reload a musket? can muskets be imbued? is there a "hand musket" (apoligize dont recall real name of it.)
Muskets are reloaded automatically (the weapon cooldown between shots). Yes, there will be rare (soulbound) muskets. No one handed muskets are planned at this time, though I wouldn't count it out (remember, the game is still in alpha). If no one handed guns are out at release, they could very well be released in a patch/expansion.

- will there be a pvp level restriction?
No, level 1s will be able to duel each other. However, a level 1 cannot duel a level 50. The exact max level difference for a dual is unknown, and will most likely be decided in the beta.

- will there be a group level restriction?
No, you can join a guild or party at any level. Groups and guilds will probably be able to set level restrictions, though.

- mount will be summoned with items, how? what kind of items, how long cool down, how long to summon.
I answered most of this question above, but there will be no cooldown and the mount appears instantly.

- will language be a secondary skill or a class of its own?
Secondary skill.

- will sign language be a language?(just curious)
Probably not.

- If he gets the chance could he find out the rest of the classes hehehe? Also are the classes simply the only classes available or will they have sub-classes, like under Warrior might be Paladin etc?
They will be announced when they are . There is no plans at this point to have subclasses, though you can be like a paladin with your build.

- Info on fishing!
Still in development. Expect to see the "little things" like this to be developed during the beta.

- Hey King, If u can, ask them about Orcish towns and such I am really excited about learning about them
Blizzard is making the architexture for the Orcs true to the rest of the Warcraft series, so expect to see things like burrows and lots of spikes!

- Will the game be playable on a satellite internet connection? Will the game be playable on a dialup connection that only connects at around 24k?
If the satellite internet connection is fairly stable, yes. The game will also be playable (emphasis on playable) on a 24k connection, though you may experience lag (duh).

- What is the name of the Tauren city seen in the movie and screenshots. Where is it located?
Tauren city is called Thunderbluff and is located somewhere in Kalimdor.

- Will Lordaeron be in the initial release of the game? Can we see it?
The world is still being worked out, but it very well may not be in the initial release. I would however expect to see it eventually in the form of a patch/expansion. It also doesn't have to be all added at once, so patching it in a piece at a time is possibl

- Will inter-racial guilds be allowed if races can't talk to each other? Will you have to wait to form your guild until you have you language skills up?
Alliance races will not be able to ally or party with Horde races. So far the Alliance is comprised of the Humans, Dwarves, and Night Elves and the Horde is made up of the Orcs and Tauren.

- We all know this is Alpha and all, but a Water shot, does it move or is it just kinda sit there, since there will be water craft just curious.
Currently no special effects like waves are planned, but this is not ruled out. It depends on what Blizzard has the time to get to.

- Are you sure that the mounts wont contribute to combat? In the IGN preview it said Blizz was thinking about it, but it seems like you knew that mounts will only be for travel.
It is a possibility, though things like this will be figured out in the beta

How will banks work?

In the cities such as Stormwind and Thunderbluff there will be banks where you are able to
store your items for free, for as long as you want and at no charge. If you wish to store
one of your carrying bags you will need to pay a small charge. You simply go to the teller
and click on them and your bank account inventory will appear. Drag and drop whichever
items you wish to store and then close. No one else has access to it, even if you wanted to assign privileges to someone and you do not earn interest on the money you deposit there. You can access your account at any bank in any city. It's really like a mobile stash, only bigger and far more classy.

How do players trade?

There is a trade interface which allows you to safely swap items and/or cash between
different characters. It works in the same fashion as Diablo II's trade interface. You drag
and drop your items into the trade window and the other party does the same, you press
'accept' when you are happy with the trade and when both parties have done so the exchange of items will automatically swap the items into the other player's inventory.

How large an inventory will you have on your character?

Apart from the items you are wearing there are is the backpack and also slots for four more bags of varying sizes, you could potentially have 50+ items on your person as each item only takes up one space no matter what its size.

What is the Shadow Resistance?

This is your protection against dark skills, demonic magiks, the kind you see the Warlock has access to.

Does the Druid's bird form have an attack?

No, it is primarily used for travel at a greater speed than the Druids' running speed.

What use is the secondary skill building furniture?

This would be for player housing however as player housing's inclusion hasn't yet been decided, if and how it will be implemented, this skill isn't in the game right now.

Can you have a pillion on your mount?

No only you can ride your mount.

Will there be player titles awarded when you have reached a certain character level?

This hasn't been decided yet.

As the Druid/Huntress level up will they evolve into Keeper of the Grove/Priestess of the Moon?

"We haven't announced that yet" <grin>

The white cats we see with the female Huntress in screenshots, what is it?

It's a leopard she has tamed as her pet and she can not ride it.

How many slots will there be for your spells and items?

There are twelve slots in a row and 12 rows, you can scroll the rows up and down by using the Shift 1 to = keys or by using he small up and down arrows on the left of the row. Once you have the row of items/skills you want you can hit 1 to = to activate/use, or right click on it with your mouse.

Can you explain some of the warrior's skills.

Aggressive Stance - Combat Mastery, Instant cast, 30 second colldown. 10 second effect +4 damage.

Reckless Strike - Combat Mastery, Instant case, 5 minute cooldown, 5 yard range. Instant effect, Critical Strike, 10 second effect. -10 Defence.

Whirlwind II - Combat Mastery, 2 second cast & 3 minute cooldown. Instant effect. Weapon damage +26-30. Target enemies within 8 yard of caster.

Follow Through III - combat Mastery. 1 minute cooldown. Next melee attack with have weapon damage of +30.

Power Stance - Combat Mastery. Instant cast. 3 minute cooldown. 10 second effect with +100% chance to critical strike

....and even more Dev Q&A

Will any race/class have an advantage/disadvantage in swimming?

What are the attributes?

Strength - Improves weapon damage and slight improvement to blocking and critical damage.
Agility - Improves chances to dodge and proc (changes that a weapons imbued ability such as poison will successfully execute)
Stamina - Improves hit points
Intellect - Increases spell damage and healing (how much you heal when you perform a healing spell)
Spirit - Increases mana regeneration

The base levels of these statistics are different between all classes but not genders and they are increased with skill points you choose to assign when leveling up. How many points awarded with each level-up has yet to be set. Items will also increase these attributes. Resistances consist of Holy, Fire, Nature, Frost, Shadow.

Can you name mounts?

Yes and pets.

Can you buy stables for mounts?

No. Right now mounts are summonable, you turn them 'on' and 'off' by right clicking on it.

Will kingdoms have a king/queen and if so will it be an NPC, a player or a GM?

Yes and NPC. King and Queen is very different between races.

Any seasonal changes?

Probably not but there will be weather changes and it hasn't been decided what effects weather will have on gameplay.

Will NPCs be hostile to characters of a different race?

Yes. If you're an Orc

Will NPCs be hostile to characters of a different race?

Yes. If you're a Tauren and you try to get into Stormwind the guards at the gate will attack you, even if you're with Human party members. There may be other ways to get in such as an invisible Mage or a Druid shifted into a scout form. Perhaps if you prove your faction with them, they may let you in eventually. To prove your faction with them you can complete some of the neutral quests that are dotted around the world, such as those issued by the Human Hunters' Lodge, if you did some quests for them as an Orc for example it would probably help your human faction overall which will make Human NPCs more friendly towards you. There is a 'Reputation' tab which will display details on your factions but it's not implemented.

Any more on Guild Halls?

Haven't announced it and it's still being looked into. They would like to have them, either individual houses and guild houses are still not set in stone

PvP:

What is PvP?
Player versus Player (PvP) is combat between two or more player controlled characters. Players are more intelligent than monsters, and are usually far stronger. Player vs Player combat can therefore be exceedingly challenging, and fun.

Where can players PvP?
Players will be able to PvP in pvp-only areas, which consist of about 10% of the entire world.

When will players be able to PvP?
Players who do not wish to engage in PvP will not be required to do so. What this means is people who want to enjoy the game without fear of being assaulted or ambushed will be able to. In addition, before PvP can occur the players must to consent to being able to attack (and be attacked) via some sort of button or switch.

What are some examples of PvP-only areas?
Gladatorial colloseums and outdoor battlefields such as those seen in the March 2003 gameplay videos are great examples. There is a huge colloseum in Stranglethorn that is very popular as it holds arena events that pit players against increasingly difficult monsters, for example.

What type of PvP will you offer?
We know that the player vs. player (PvP) option is very important to many gamers. Therefore, we plan to incorporate a form of player conflict into the World of Warcraft. However, players who do not wish to be participate in PvP combat will not be required to do so. Announcements regarding PvP options in the World of Warcraft will be announced in the months ahead.

Action

Can I climb trees?
Many fans agree that the ability to climb trees would be useful to see farther, as a means of escape, or simply for the fun of leaping from branch to branch. However, Blizzard has neither confirmed nor denied this feature.

Can I swim?
Yes. World of Warcraft will have many water based environments indluding rivers, lakes, streams, oceans and underwater environments for you to explore. A good example was shown in the 2003 May Gameplay video, which showed several characters swimming into a sunken ship. Virtually all water that is visible will be able to be swimmed in, unlike previous MMORPG's that only had a handful of underwater zones.

Will players be able to hide from enemies or other players?
Yes, high level mages will be able to cast invisibility. More information about possible skills or items that grant stealth bonuses will be posted here in the future.

Will players be able to outrun enemies or other players?
Yes, however, not all enemies will be easy to run from.

Will there be emotes?
Yes, Blizzard has confirmed that there will be a wide spectrum of emotes available for players. Some good examples can be found in the 2003 March Gameplay video.

What is an emote?
An emote is one of many actions you can get your character to do in World of Warcraft by entering a chat command like /cheer or /greet, by selecting it through a graphical user interface for emotes, or possibly through assigning a hotkey to your favorite emote. They convey emotion through automatically making your character perform a short animation, such as waving hello, doing a victory dance, or even rude guestures like the "up yours" emote seen in the 2003 March Gameplay video.

Can I sheathe my weapons?
Absolutely. Many screenshots show weapons that are not in use slung over the back or on the hips of your hero. Shields can be sheathed as well.

A screenshot released on Valentines Day showed two Dwarves hugging. Is that just photo editing or will this actually be possible in WoW?
That was an actual screenshot and not photo editing so it is highly likely that Blizzard was showing off a multiple user emote system of some kind, something very origional indeed to the MMORPG genre

Characters:

What races can you play in World of Warcraft?
The game currently features Humans, Orcs, Tauren, Dwarves, and Night Elves. Blizzard has plans to include additional races. Please watch our site for any additional news regarding new races.

What classes can you play in World of Warcraft?
The game currently features the Warrior, Mage, Shaman, Warlock, and Hunter as classes in World of Warcraft. Blizzard has plans to include additional classes. Please watch our site for any additional news regarding new classes.

Can any race be any class?
Yes, so far it seems as if this is the case, although nothing is finalized yet.

Who are the Tauren?
The Tauren are a mighty race of nomadic tribesmen who live on the dusty plains of a faraway land. These noble, bull-like hunters have lived in harmony for countless generations and are threatened only by the periodic raids of marauding centaur herds.

Will character names be unique on each server?
Yes, and there will be a naming filter as well to screen out inappropriate names. GFraizer has been playing a character "Sirorcsalot", so I would not expect the naming filter to be too strict.

How many characters can I play at one time?
Only one per account. But you will be able to have multiple characters per account.

How many characters will be given per account, then?
10 per account, and remember, you'll never have to create useless 'mule' characters in WoW because of the banking system, meaning each of those 10 characters can be put to good use.

Will there be more than the five races in the game?
Yes, there will be additional races in the game.

Does each race have unique properties?
Yes. Each race in the game will have access to racial skills, abilities and equipment.

Will there be different starting locations?
Yes. Each race will have a unique start location. The starting location for humans is in Northshire, Elwynn Forest; Orcs start in Durotar, Tauren start in Thunderbluff; Dwarves start in Anvil Marr, Dun Morogh; and Night Elves will start in Felwood?? The NE start point is just a guess at this point.

Will I be able to customize the look of my character?
Yes. Blizzard feels that one of the most important features in World of Warcraft will be character customization. Players will have a wide variety of character modification options including hairstyle, hair color, skin color, tattoos, faces, eye patches, and for Tauren, horn length. There will be additional character customization options.

Will characters require food and water to survive?
A character will never be required to eat or drink. Nor will there be negative consequences for not consuming food and water. While the specifics have not been determined, there will be benefits associated with eating and drinking.

Will characters age?
Characters will not get older as they progress in the game. You can make your character look older by changing their hair color to white.

Will characters require food and/or water to survive?
No, food is not

Can characters be male or female? If so, will gender have any effect on your statistics?
Yes, you can make any character either male or female, and no, males and females will be equally effective in all areas of the game.

What classes will be offered?
Right now there are the warrior, mage, shaman, warlock, and hunter classes. Additional classes will be revealed.

Will the classes be based on Warcraft units?
Some of the classes in the game will be similar to units found in the Warcraft series. Certain additional classes will also be included that are unique to World of Warcraft.

Will you have a skill-based or level-based system?
Blizzards goal is to incorporate the best elements of both skill-based and level-based systems. This means that players will be able to gain levels and gain abilities based on their class as they level up through the game. Players will also be able to acquire additional skills through other gameplay methods such as seeking mentors or by completing quests. These extra skills may not always be related to the player's class.

Is there a max level characters can gain and if so, what is it?
Blased systems. There will be a max level, but Blizzard has not yet released what it will be.

How does the skill system work?
Characters will have access to a huge variety of both class-specific skills (class skills) and general-use skills (secondary skills). Class skills are determined by your character class and are an integral part of your character. For example, a warrior's sword skill, axe skill, and mace skill are all considered class skills. There will also be a wide variety of secondary skills available, so players will be able to uniquely flavor their characters. Examples of secondary skills might include first aid, lock picking, riding, fishing, and herbalism, to name a few.

Do classes be very different from one another?
Yes, each class has special abilities that makes it truly unique from other classes. Furthermore, two characters of the same class can be significantly different as well.

How do you improve your skills?
Players will improve their characters' skills through a combination of usage and leveling. A character's level determines the maximum potential for any given skill, while actually using a particular skill determines the current proficiency in that skill.

Combat:

How does combat work? What makes it different from combat in other MMORPGs?
In general, combat in World of Warcraft is faster paced than it is in other MMORPGs, without being a "clickfest." When a character attacks a creature, he or she enters into combat mode. In combat mode, the character automatically and repeatedly attacks the target creature, but the player is responsible for timing the use of spells and special abilities to be maximally effective. Warriors and other melee classes will have a host of combat abilities that they can employ while fighting, whereas magic users will be able to cast a plethora of spells.

Will the game feature hack and slash combat like Diablo?
While combat is fast paced, there will also be tactical decision making and strategy elements required to win each fight.

Will the game be a "potionfest" RPG?
No. Health and mana regenerate naturally over time, and players will not be required to drink potions to restore either. That being said, having potions is a useful way to further minimize downtime (at some cost). However, most consumable items have cooldowns to prevent them from being consumed in rapid succession.

How do I attack something?
Mouse over the enemy you want to attack, and you'll notice your mouse cursor automatically changes into a sword icon, indicating you can attack. Click again to order your hero to attack the enemy. While attacking the enemy you are in what is known as 'combat mode' and your character will automatically continue to attack the selected monster until it dies, or you do. This saves your mouse (and your hand) a lot of wear and tear. In short, WoW is not a clickfest.

Can I attack certain areas of the body to disable my adversary or deal extra damage?
Although this is a fantastic idea, it is not likely that it will be implemented in WoW due to latency. We haven't recieved any word on this issue from Blizzard yet though, so it may be in WoW, we don't know for sure.

Can I do special attacks too?
Absolutely, during combat mode you'll be able to use all sorts of spells and skills to maximise your efficiency in combat. Strategic timing of these will be very important to your sucess in combat.

How much blood and gore will there be in WoW?
Blizzard is expecting that WoW will be rated "PG". Blood will be minimal, certainly not gory. Use WoW screenshots and the amount of blood present in Warcraft III as a guide.

Will there be monsters that are extremely tough?
Yes, Bill Roper mentioned it would be possible to create monsters that take 20, 30, even 200 players to defeat!

How is death handled in the game?
A character will remain where he or she died for a reasonable amount of time (to allow for possible resurrection) or until the player chooses to "release" the character. After the player releases the character or the designated amount of time has passed, the character will reappear at a bind point with all of his or her equipment safely intact. The current penalty for death is a period of time where your statistics are reduced. Bill Roper comments that this is still too lenient for players to truly respect the game world, so it will likely be more harsh than just what it currently is. It is Blizzards goal not to create a game where death is frustrating

Communication:

Will there be a buddy or friends list in WoW?
Yes, WoW will have a fully featured friends list for managing your interactions with the community.

Will WoW support voice chat like in games such as CounterStrike?
It isn't likely, because voicechat takes up a large amout of bandwidth. Blizzard hasn't given a response for this question yet so it may yet appear in WoW.

Will I be able to whisper players in WoW on the same server as me?
Yes of course, as is the tradition for Blizzard games.

How about players on other servers as me, will I be able to whisper them?
Probably not, but this isn't for sure, it's more of an educated guess.

Will there be a feature in WoW that lets players write on paper or keep their own logbook?
This is a feature that many forum-goers are asking for, and it wouldn't be incredibly difficult to incorporate in-game. Alas, Blizzard has not yet given a response for this question.

Will there be channels to chat in?
Not in the traditional sense. WoW is a persistant world so your character will never enter a channel like you would see in Diablo 2. In the chat bar, however, you will be able to filter what chat channel(s) you are in. Bill Roper gives trade and clan channels as examples, although there will certainly be more channels than just those two.

Features:

Will there be Cinematic sequences in the game?
Yes. The Blizzard Film Department will create cinematic sequences for World of Warcraft. We do not anticipate, however, that the game will have as many as our previous games due to the nature of Massively Multiplayer Role Playing Games. You can see the first cinematic for World of Warcraft on the movies page.

How do mounts work in World of Warcraft?
World of Warcraft offers a variety of mounts for the different races of Azeroth (the world on which the game takes place). For example, Humans generally ride horses, and Orcs tend to favor their trusted wolf mounts. Mounts are a great way to travel the world for mid-to-high-level characters. With extensive training, riding specialists will be able to use mounts not generally available to their particular race, but this ability will be rare.

What are cities like in World of Warcraft?
The cities in World of Warcraft are large, sprawling areas, each with their own distinctive architecture and style. Cities are where players go to train in their professions, shop for rare goods at local vendors, develop their trade skills, obtain new and exciting quests, buy and sell goods with other players, construct and maintain their personal dwellings, and sometimes, even participate in unique city adventures.

What modes of transportation will be found in the game?
There will be many forms of transportation within the World of Warcraft including portals, ships and zeppelins. We are currently evaluating the balance ramifications for several alternative forms of travel and will continue to update the FAQ with new information on a regular basis.

Will there be a bank? How much will it hold?
Yes, there will be a bank with ample storage space to hold multiple player items. This option will allow players to store as many items as they need without requiring them to create additional characters to store surplus items.

What's all this about "instancing?"
Instancing is an awesome feature in World of Warcraft. Certain areas, last reported 15% of the world will be instanced, and this means you can get your own private copy of that area for you and your party. This eliminates the vast majority of camping, kill stealing, and downtime waiting for quests to appear.

Will there be a Hardcore Mode?
No. Hardcore Mode is a feature in the Diablo universe

Gameplay:

What is the viewpoint of the game?
WoW supports 1st and 3rd person perspectives. Viewing in 1st person puts you that much closer to the action, whereas the 3rd person perspective lets you see the big picture. When in 3rd person you can rotate the camera around your character any way you like by pushing and holding the right mouse button. Releasing the right mouse button makes the camera stick where you put it. You can also zoom in and out easily, zooming in all the way snaps the camera into first person view.

Will there be banks in WoW?
Yes WoW has a fully featured banking system where you can store gold and items.

How much can banks hold?
The specifics are not currently known, but we have been reassured that banks hold enough so that you will never have to create a 'mule' character to hold your items for you.

Do I have to wait before I can log out of WoW?
Blizzard is creating an alternate way of handling this issue. No, there will not be a wait before you can log in or out; logging in or out can be done instantly. Players will not be able to use this ability to disconnect unfairly, such as disconnecting when they are losing a battle.

Is Blizzard aware of some of the game play problems that have been prevalent in other MMORPGs?
Yes. Blizzard employees are gamers first and foremost, and we have played more than our fair share of existing Massively Multiplayer games. We tend to agree with MMORPG gamers on the strengths and weaknesses of the genre to date. We will strive to advance the genre by both building on its positives and improving its negatives.

How will you prevent camping and kill stealing?
We limit camping and kill-stealing issues by "instancing" certain areas of the game. An instance is a section of dungeon or outdoor area that is private. No other players, unless they are part of your group, can enter your instance of the dungeon/outdoor area. There are also plenty of non-instanced common areas where players can meet and adventure together.

How do you prevent camping and kill stealing in non-instanced areas?
Competition over rare item drops and quest items is the primary cause of camping and kill stealing. In World of Warcraft, many rare item drops are not exclusive to any one creature. Several creatures will have a chance of dropping the same item. If the required item is a quest item, the player can join a group of other players on the same quest and seek the item together with them. Every player on the quest will receive a copy of the quest item from the monster or location where it was found.

Will there be other things to do besides leveling?
There will be a huge variety of things to do to keep players from feeling like they just have to grind through one creature battle after another. Characters can craft items, fight in vast battles against other players, establish homes, and explore distant lands. Even when players do fight monsters, it will often be as part of a quest, or in search of special ingredients for their crafts.

Is there a way to finish World of Warcraft? How long can I play?
There will be thousands of hours of game play in the shipping game, and nearly infinite goals for players. Because we'll have a live team regularly adding new quests, creatures, and items, the game will never truly end.

How does Blizzard intend to keep a stable economy in WoW?
Blizzard will provide many ways for players to use excess money. Gambling, constructing and maintaining player owned housing, decorating those buildings, care for mounts, the price of chartering a boat or zepplin, repairing the durability of items, etc. In addition to these, vendors may offer high end items for sale or pay better for the items you sell back.

Will there be a party system for group adventuring?
Yes.

How large is the party size for players?
Currently, the party size is five players, and the game is generally balanced for groups of five. Smaller groups can still be quite successful, and regardless of the group's size, everyone in the group will be able to make important contributions. Also, players will be able to "link" groups in order to form larger parties for raids or guild activities.

Will quests provide adequate experience and/or items that will substitute for combat?
Yes, Blizzard is planning a vast number of quests, that provide meaningful amounts of experience and lots of good loot.

How long is the day/night cycle?
The day/night cycle was recently exhibited in a private showing of WoW with worldofwc.de, where 1 real hour translated into approximately 10 in-game hours. WoW runs on accelerated time.

Will there be different difficulty levels in World of Warcraft?
Nope, it's a persistant world. There will be areas specifically designed for higher level characters to give them a challenge!

What mounts are available?
Currently, horses, wolves, and tigers have been showcased as mounts. There will be additional mounts.

I don't want to have to wait to find a group to go on an adventure. Will soloing be possible?
Blizzard has heard your requests! Soloing is very possible in WoW, even for characters traditionally unable to, like mages!

How and where can I bind?
Players can bind at bindpoints, which are scattered throughout the land. Anyone can bind at these locations, regardless of class or race

Guilds:

Can two races be in one clan or guild?
Multiple races can be in a single clan or guild. If the guild leader desires, there are guild management options that will allow the guild to be specific to one or more races.

Will clans and guilds be formally supported in the game?
Yes. Blizzard fully intends to support a full-featured guild and community. Additional details will be released in the months ahead.

Will clans and guilds recieve web profiles?
Yes. Clans will get their own websites much like Warcraft III players got their own ladder profile web pages. Confirmed by Blizzard VP Bill Roper April 11/03.

How do guilds work?
Players can band together to form guilds, which are large social groups, in order to help each other progress in the game. Players get to choose an emblem and color combination unique to their guild, embroidered on special guild tabards that players can display proudly over their characters' armo

Items:

Will you be able to randomly find items, and if so, will these items be classified as in Diablo II (Rare, Unique, elite, set, etc.)?
Monsters will have treasure that characters can loot, but these will be drawn randomly from a specific item class for that monster type. Blizzard does not expect to have the same vast amount of random items as in the Diablo series, but there will be items that are rare and even some that could be truly unique by limiting them to only one per server. WoW will have set items, but they may not provide set bonuses as they did in Diablo 2, comments Bill Roper.

Will there be ranged weapons? Can Dwarves use Guns?
Yes. Different classes can use a variety of ranged weapons, such as bows, crossbows, and yes, even Dwarven muskets.

How can I transfer my items between characters safely?
Blizzard is contemplating allowing multiple characters on the same realm to have acess to each others banking accounts. Of course, you can always give a trusted friend your items to hold and transfer them that way. Although risky, you can drop items on the ground and return with another character to pick them up, as items do not disappear right away.

Will players be able to create their own items using trade skills?
Yes, players will be able to craft all sorts of items. There will be an alchemy trade skill as well.

How are item drops handled?
Unlike Diablo, certain monsters will carry certain items. This is referred to as a "drop-table" system. This ensures monsters drop items appropriate to themselves. A rat will not drop a large maul, but an enemy that uses a maul might. This means the item drop system is very realistic.

How do you carry items?
Items are carried in a personal character inventory, there are (16) inventory slots. Players will not have to play tetris with their inventories, however, as the inventory is much that for heroes of Warcraft III, one slot will just as easily carry a huge maul as it will a small ring. What is speculated is that each item will have a weight value, and depending on how strong your character is, you will move and attack more slowly if you are carrying too much weight

Realms:

Will World of Warcraft be hosted on Battle.net?
No. World of Warcraft has a new server architecture that was developed from the ground up with MMORPGs in mind, taking into account everything blizzard learned from Battle.net and Diablo II. When you log into the game, you will be logging directly into World of Warcraft.

Where will servers be located?
World of Warcraft servers will be located around the globe in order to support our gaming community worldwide.

How many players will you support?
Players will be divided into several Realms, each realm comprising a complete version of the game world. The development team is currently finalizing the number of players that will occupy a Realm.

Will there be a pvp-only server?
No, there are instead pvp-only areas on each server. Eventually a pvp-only server may be created, but at the moment it is virtually certain that they will not exist.

Will there be a roleplaying-only server?
Blizzard has neither confirmed nor denied roleplay only servers. More than likely, there will be a roleplaying only server, though how soon this server will be implemented is not definate.

How many servers can I play on?
As many as you like.

Will players be able to host small (8 players max), temporary servers on their own machine?
No, players will not be allowed to run their own servers for World of Warcraft. A massively multiplayer online role-playing game demands a high level of server security and a well-connected community to flourish and evolve. Blizzard is focusing all of our networking efforts on creating such an environment.

Will there be a limit to how many players can occupy a realm?
Blizzard is currently evaluating the optimal number of players per Realm. Their plan is to create a solution that fosters a sense of community and helps to prevent overcrowding. Blizzard understand fully that the number of players on a server directly impacts this and will be working closely with the community during the beta test program to fine tune this number, alhough at the moment the unconfirmed amount will be "several thousand", in the range of 3,000-5,000 players.

Can my characters switch servers?
This was briefly discussed by Bill Roper, who said they did not plan on letting players switch characters between servers. This feature may eventually be available, however, as the game will be able to recieve new content.

Will player names be unique on each Realm?
Yes. In order to promote individuality, World of Warcraft will feature an advanced naming system allowing players to create a unique name for their characters on each Realm.

Spells:

How do spells work?
All of the character classes in World of Warcraft have access to spells and/or special abilities. As a character levels, they can purchase, train, research, or simply find new spells and add them to their spell book and/or ability book. Casting spells and using special abilities generally requires mana and may sometimes require one or more reagents.

How do I use a spell?
Point and click. You can select a spell from either your spellbook or assign them to hotkeys. Then mouse over your target and click to cast the spell. Some spells have a casting delay, requiring the caster to chant for a set period of time before the spell is cast. Other spells have a cooloff time where you will not be able to cast the spell again for a set period of time. This should work exactly as it did when implemented in Diablo 2 and Warcraft 3.

Will there be level limitations determining what spells a character can use?
Yes they will. What the exact level requirements are for each spell is currently unknown.

Will there be point-blank and area of effect spells in WoW?
Yes. A point blank area of effect spell damages NPC's in a small radius around you. Two examples of point blank area of effect spells in WoW are Fire Shield and Immolation.

What is a ritual spell?
Ritual spells are multi-caster spells, which means in order to cast them you'll need to get together a group of spellcasters. They are very powerful, and mighty nice looking too

Miscellaneous:

Do you plan to create additional content after the game is released?
Yes. We are completely dedicated to evolving the world with additional content after the game ships. Our plan is to keep an active in-house development team dedicated to providing new content on a regular basis. Our plans include opening new lands, introducing new monsters and items along with incorporating new quests and ultimately evolving the overall story of the World of Warcraft.

How many GM's will WoW have?
About 100 exceptional and experienced GM's have been hired so far for the sole purpose of servicing WoW.

How will Game Masters enhance my gameplay experience?
Game Masters will be able to answer your technical or gameplay questions, but also, they will be able to lead town adventures or take control of monsters says Bill Roper.

What will Blizzard do to prevent cheating?
The development team is currently doing everything it can to eliminate the possibility of cheating. Also, because the game requires gamers to have a personal account to play, Blizzard will be able to identify and track cheaters much more closely. The server architecture of WoW is such that all the information is on Blizzard's servers, not the user's computers, meaning the informaiton is out of reach of being manipulated.

Will players be able to have mercenaries?
Mercenaries is a feature of the Diablo II Universe. While Blizzard has said that World of Warcraft may borrow features from the Diablo 2 or Warcraft RTS universes, there is no information on this question yet.

Will players be able to summon minions, pets, or familiars?
Yes, the Warlock can summon imps, infernals, succubi, and pit lords, to name a few, and the Hunter can enlist any of the world's 1,000 creatures as a sidekick pet. The shaman can also summon things, but the warlock will have the ability to directly control their familiar, whereas a shaman will not.

How many hotkeys can I set for spells, skills, etc?
Currently, you can set up to 12 hotkeys, though this may be subject to change.

Will players be able to host small (8 players max), temporary servers on their own machine?
We will not allow players to run their own servers for World of Warcraft. A massively multiplayer online role-playing game demands a high level of server security and a well-connected community to flourish and evolve. We are focusing all of our networking efforts on creating such an environment

Confirmed Spells:

*Word of Recall (Teleportation) - Returns you to bind point.
*Rain of Fire (DD AOE) - Rains fire down in the specified area
*Phase Shift (Teleportation) - Teleports you a short distance
*Death Touch (DD) - Target Drains life from an enemy and restores life to another.
*Heal (Healing) - Target Partially heals a party member
*Shock (DD LOS) - Target Deals a small amount of damage to one enemy
*Blizzard (DD AOE) - Sends down a a rain of ice upon enemy heads.
*Bloodlust (Buff) - Increases the movement rate, attack speed, and damage of one party member.

Confirmed Skills:

*Defend - Similar to the skill in WarCraft III, defend is a skill for Warriors where they raise their shield (which improves armor rating).
*Impale - This will cause the target to bleed and suffer damage over time. Spurts of blood indicate when he takes more damage
*Dismember - Somebody loses an arm
*Slice & Dice - Provides additional damage to an attack by attacking twice in a row