Countdown to BlizzCon

Name: Countdown to BlizzCon | Open Video
Uploaded: 2026-09-12T18:27:48+00:00
Duration: 1 h 16 min 40 s

0:10
Hello everyone and welcome to the
0:11
Blizzard Watch podcast. I am your host
0:14
tonight, Joe Perez, and I'm joined by
0:16
several wonderful co-hosts. Uh, first,
0:20
you know her, you love her, I make her
0:23
make weird noises at least once a
0:25
podcast, Liz Harper. How you doing, Liz?
0:28
>> Howdy. doing doing good. Doing good.
0:31
There's a lot going on this week.
0:33
>> There is
0:34
>> freaking out a little bit, but uh here
0:36
we are. Here we are.
0:37
>> All right. And you heard him chuckling
0:39
there in the background. Uh he is taking
0:41
the place as our resident Canadian this
0:43
podcast because unfortunately Matt is
0:45
not able to be with us today. It's
0:47
Corey. How you doing, Corey?
0:49
>> I'm doing good. I'm happy to be pinching
0:53
for other Canadians.
0:54
>> There must always be a Canadian.
0:56
>> There must always be a Canadian. I only
0:58
count as a diet Canadian. So,
1:02
uh, with Liz's comment about there's a
1:04
lot going on, I guess we could just
1:06
gonna get right into it. Uh, as of this
1:09
recording, we're recording on September
1:10
8th. Uh, as of September 12th, which is
1:15
this coming Saturday and September 13th,
1:17
that Sunday following, BlizzCon is on
1:19
the horizon here, and we're all kind of
1:21
eagerly uh or dreadfully awaiting its uh
1:25
imminent arrival. Uh, I know I saw some
1:29
notes in here earlier that we were going
1:30
to talk about maybe some of our strategy
1:32
for coverage. We've we've usually gone
1:35
pretty pretty ham on covering it for
1:37
obvious reasons. If you're listening to
1:39
us, well, it kind of makes sense. Um, do
1:42
we I know we're going to be doing a lot
1:43
of stuff remotely and a lot of us are
1:45
going to be watching the uh live streams
1:48
and the the convention remotely. Who do
1:51
we have on the ground? Do we have people
1:52
showing up in person?
1:54
>> Uh, yeah. We're going to have Dan and
1:57
Eric and Six is going to be there. So,
2:00
uh, Eric is Eric is newer on the site,
2:03
but you know him from Lore Watch. Eric
2:05
is great. Uh,
2:09
that's kind of that's kind of all we
2:11
got. Mostly with BlizzCon, our goal is
2:13
always you got to be flexible because
2:15
while we have a lot of good guesses
2:18
about what they're going to be doing, we
2:22
we don't know everything that's going to
2:25
be announced. We don't know what's in
2:27
the panels specifically. Um, and you
2:30
kind of we're a smaller team than we
2:33
used to be. We used to really go into
2:35
Blizzcon and like have a a really strict
2:40
schedule of like, okay, every panel has
2:44
two people working on it and just really
2:48
blow out coverage of specific panels.
2:50
But, you know, the site's a little
2:52
smaller and also the internet's a
2:54
different place. We used to do live
2:56
blogs of all the panels, but now the
2:58
panels are so easily accessible to
3:00
everyone. they're going to be live
3:01
streaming everything on YouTube and
3:03
Twitch. So, it's it's much more
3:06
unreached for people to just watch it
3:08
themselves. And kind of the behind
3:11
the-scenes thing here is that instead of
3:14
reading a big write up about a panel,
3:16
people are more likely to read small
3:18
writeups about individual pieces of news
3:20
they might find interesting. If you see
3:23
BlizzCon opening ceremony live blog, you
3:26
might not click on that. But if you see
3:29
everything we know about um the last
3:33
titan, you might or you know the last
3:35
titan has playable murlocs. I don't
3:38
know. You might click on that because
3:39
that's more exciting. So we do a
3:42
different kind of coverage and you have
3:43
to be at least I think you have to be a
3:46
little more flexible to cover things
3:48
like that cuz you don't know everything
3:50
going in and you have to what are they
3:53
announcing in the opening ceremony? When
3:54
are we going to get all of the details
3:56
on that? Because sometimes in the
3:57
opening ceremony you get like okay
3:59
here's a title of something and we're
4:01
going to talk about it in a different
4:03
panel in three hours. So you got to kind
4:07
of do a lot of things on the fly and
4:08
it's like
4:10
having a smaller team also means that
4:14
you know you don't necessarily know
4:15
who's going to have
4:18
who's going to be here at every minute
4:20
of every day because you don't have the
4:22
day just like rationed out and assigned.
4:26
So, you kind of have to there's a lot of
4:28
adaptation going on and making things
4:31
work as they happen, seeing who's here,
4:34
who can write things, and trying to lean
4:36
into your subject matter experts because
4:39
some people are better with some sorts
4:41
of posts. Like, if I have, you know,
4:43
when they inevitably announced that
4:44
Heroes of the Storm is go coming back,
4:46
I'm gonna look for Corey because Corey
4:49
deserves to write that post. You've been
4:52
living in Hopium for so long. If that
4:54
comes up, I'm gonna look to you. So, I I
4:57
hope you're actually going to be around
4:59
to write that when it inevitably
5:01
happens.
5:02
>> I unfortunately can't promise that,
5:07
>> but I will be around.
5:09
>> My limited plans are already falling
5:11
apart,
5:13
the chaos.
5:16
I mean, I can't I can't be Corey, but
5:18
the one thing that I know I'm going to
5:20
be watching for, and I we I don't think
5:22
we've really talked about this on the
5:24
podcast very much. I think I've talked
5:25
about it a little bit. Um, the Starcraft
5:29
Tabletop War game has released.
5:31
>> Mhm.
5:32
>> And Archon Studios is going to be at
5:35
Blizzcon this year. And so, they're
5:37
going to be there with demos of the game
5:39
and we assume product. Uh, nobody knows
5:43
for sure, but I'm also curious what's if
5:46
anything is going to get announced for
5:48
it because and we've talked about this
5:49
before a little bit in some of our like
5:52
predictions and stuff where like
5:55
Starcraft is a franchise that they
5:57
haven't done anything with in a very
5:59
very long time and this really marks the
6:02
first thing that they've done majorly
6:05
with the IP in
6:07
>> when did the last uh Starcraft 2
6:10
expansion release.
6:12
>> It's been
6:14
a hot minute.
6:16
>> It has.
6:17
>> It has definitely been a hot minute. Um,
6:19
but this is also kind of if to me it's
6:22
an a very intriguing intersection
6:26
of games I play and enjoy. I like video
6:30
games and Starcraft. These are things
6:32
that I enjoy thoroughly. I also really
6:34
like tabletop wargaming. And seeing
6:37
Starcraft live on in this way is really,
6:40
really cool for me. Cuz if they're not
6:42
going to make a new RTS,
6:44
having them make a tabletop game that
6:47
actually, from what I've seen and demoed
6:50
and played myself, makes it feel like
6:52
you're playing the RTS
6:55
uh
6:56
>> is really cool. And I'm hoping that
6:59
other players or and people that are
7:01
showing up at Blizzcon are going to give
7:04
it a chance and take a look at it. Maybe
7:06
people that haven't been interested in
7:08
tabletop wargaming before, but are
7:10
interested in Starcraft because I think
7:12
it could be pretty cool to see new
7:15
people get introduced to this and uh
7:18
maybe maybe see this game take on a new
7:20
life. So, I'm really excited about that.
7:23
Is there anything you guys are in
7:25
particular are looking forward to? I
7:26
know we have our schedule coming up for
7:28
for Blizzcon, but is there anything like
7:29
you're really zeroing in on? And no,
7:32
Cory, you can't say Heroes of the Storm.
7:35
[laughter]
7:36
I mean, I love that the voice actor
7:37
panel's back because those are always so
7:38
much fun and it was really
7:40
>> When was the last time they did one of
7:41
those?
7:42
>> 2019 or the one before it, maybe 2018,
7:46
cuz I've been to the last two Blizzcons
7:49
and I I might have the Vegas memory of
7:52
2019, but I don't I can't say for
7:54
certain that that was there that year.
7:57
But I did miss it at 23 because that
7:59
would have been so cool to get to see.
8:03
I'm a huge fan of the voice actor
8:05
panels. I I think the peop a lot of the
8:08
people that do the voice acting for
8:10
Blizzard and their IPs are some of the
8:14
funniest or at least the ones that I've
8:16
interacted with some of the like just
8:18
sincerest people I've ever met. Um so
8:21
I'm super excited uh to see you know
8:25
that return. So how about you Liz? Is
8:29
there anything that you're Oh, sorry. Go
8:30
ahead, Corey. And yeah, I just I really
8:33
want to know what Starcraft's cooking
8:34
up. I'm sure I'm sure the Diablo news
8:36
will be fun and exciting and I have
8:39
nothing against it. I just uh Starcraft
8:41
has been so under the radar for so long
8:44
that
8:46
it's going to be real nice to finally
8:50
get to see it in action again, assuming
8:52
that the rumors are true.
8:55
>> Well, I mean, I guess that's the
8:56
question, right? Are the rumors going to
8:58
be true or is this pivot going to be
9:01
what we see? Right? Like is it going to
9:04
be all in on the this new this new pivot
9:07
or are we going to see like I personally
9:09
would love to see Starcraft 3 announced?
9:12
Like that's something that would make me
9:15
incredibly excited and happy. I don't
9:18
know where the story would go because it
9:21
sort of ended in a very
9:23
specific and unique way.
9:27
Uh
9:27
>> yeah,
9:28
>> but seeing where they could go
9:30
afterwards, like there is a whole
9:32
aftermath of stuff that they've just
9:34
never dealt with, right? And you could
9:37
do a whole campaign about the aftermath
9:38
of it, the aftermath of the Confederacy,
9:41
the aftermath of uh the reemerging of
9:46
the Protos and the Zerg and that whole
9:48
story arc and everything else. and like
9:51
you could do pretty interesting things
9:54
with it in that space. But I guess the
9:57
question too is
9:59
>> would your money be on
10:02
an RTS
10:04
or do you think that they would change
10:06
it up and do something else? And I mean
10:09
>> I think that they're changing it up into
10:11
something else. I think that we're going
10:13
to see the rumor is that we're seeing a
10:16
a shooter
10:18
is that uh whether it's what kind of
10:20
shooter we're seeing, if it's going to
10:21
be like a story focused one like we were
10:23
expecting to get out of Starcraft Ghost
10:27
or if it's going to be something more
10:29
Destiny shaped uh remains to be seen,
10:33
but uh
10:35
all the RTS's that have popped up
10:37
recently haven't done that well.
10:41
And that could just be because that
10:42
they're they're trying to they're from
10:44
small companies that have don't have the
10:46
weight of a AAA studio behind them.
10:51
I think so. RTS's are in a weird spot.
10:54
And not to pivot fully from Blisscon
10:56
here, but um
11:00
unless you're one of the big boys, it's
11:03
really hard to get your your stuff in
11:05
front of people, right? like people are
11:08
still playing
11:10
uh Starcraft competitively, right? Like
11:13
you you you go and and you look at like
11:16
top competitive RTS's
11:18
>> uh and there you go. Um, but then you
11:21
look and see what else is out there and
11:23
a lot of those are independent
11:24
developers that are just sort of
11:27
starting
11:29
uh either to enter the space and this is
11:31
like their first game or they're
11:33
exdevelopers on other RTS's uh that are
11:36
trying to sort of breach, you know,
11:38
breach their way in. [snorts] And then
11:41
you have other ones like we have another
11:42
Dawn of War coming out, right? And
11:44
that's an RTS. It's an actionbased RTS,
11:47
but it's still an RTS strategy game. and
11:50
that's coming out and that's still
11:51
wildly popular. Like that's a wildly
11:53
popular game and I think it's out it's
11:55
due out this year, right? If I'm not
11:58
>> It's due out in a very short order. I
12:01
don't remember exactly when, but it's I
12:02
would hazard a guess and say in the next
12:04
month
12:05
>> December December 26 it looks like um
12:10
>> later than I thought
12:11
>> a little bit is wrong. But then I think
12:14
there's another interesting thing too
12:16
where RTS's have at least a lot of the
12:19
games outside of like Dawn of War or
12:23
Starcraft 2 that people are still
12:24
playing, a lot of them have shifted to
12:27
mobile space as well. And I know that
12:28
there's a plethora of RTS games and
12:32
strategy games in the mobile space where
12:35
it sort of migrated after it fell out of
12:37
popularity in PC gaming, which I do
12:39
think is also pretty interesting. Uh, I
12:43
don't know if
12:46
I don't think they'll ever announce it
12:48
as a major thing at BlizzCon again, but
12:51
I mean, I could see a world in which
12:52
they announced that there's mobile
12:54
versions of Starcraft and Starcraft 2
12:56
available. Uh,
12:58
>> yeah,
12:58
>> I could see something like that
13:00
potentially.
13:02
>> The the mobile version of Starcraft
13:03
would be an interesting thing. Um, h the
13:06
only but we've seen Blizzard announce a
13:09
mobile game and then stop supporting it
13:12
with less than a year on it.
13:15
So, I don't know that
13:17
the
13:19
the weight of history is on their side
13:21
at this point, unfortunately.
13:24
>> Yeah, I I that's fair.
13:27
I because yes, Diablo Immortal is still
13:30
going strong, but at the same time,
13:32
Warcraft Rumble is in maintenance mode
13:35
after less than a year.
13:36
>> Yeah, but I also fully being out.
13:38
>> Yeah, but I think there's also an
13:40
interesting problem there and there's a
13:42
difference, right? So, like Warcraft
13:45
Rumble is a game that was essentially
13:49
pushed into microtransaction hell. Um,
13:52
>> yeah. And so it wasn't a game that
13:54
players could enjoy without feeling like
13:58
they were being monopolized or
13:59
capitalized upon. Um the difference is
14:02
like if they were to say here's a full
14:05
version of Starcraft and Starcraft Brood
14:07
Wars on mobile and it's X dollars and
14:11
you get the full game. That's different,
14:13
right? Um that I think would have a
14:15
different reception versus here are all
14:18
these microtransactions that you need to
14:20
play the game which which is a
14:22
I hated that for Rumble. Rumble was a
14:24
lot of fun and it had a lot of
14:26
potential. It just was just bogged down
14:28
by weird and poor choices,
14:31
but
14:31
>> it became very grindy and the grindiness
14:34
of it did not do it the favors that it
14:36
needed.
14:39
>> No, it really did not. [laughter]
14:42
>> Very unfortunate there because there is
14:45
a val there is a great game there that
14:47
could have been a lot of fun. But
14:50
>> that said, I mean, let's let's look at
14:52
some of the other games that and we've
14:53
talked about this again like
14:55
speculation. We don't have to go too far
14:56
into it. Uh but we know that there's
14:59
going to be a Diablo at least a small
15:01
Diablo panel. Uh Liz is not currently
15:04
here to argue with me about that. Um but
15:07
it is potentially you know it is still
15:09
potentially large in that it could have
15:12
uh capacity to you know tell us about
15:14
the next expansion or the plans moving
15:17
forward because ultimately we've only
15:22
we've only hit one prime evil so far
15:25
over the entire course of Diablo I's
15:27
release and we still have two other
15:31
prime evils left plus all of the lesser
15:33
evils and everything else that we have
15:36
cooking in the background plus sanctuary
15:38
in this weird state knowing about the
15:40
void. There's so much more that they
15:42
can, should, and probably will do with
15:45
Diablo that I do think it's likely that
15:48
we start getting at least a discussion
15:51
about where the franchise will be moving
15:53
to next.
15:56
Do you agree with that or do you think
15:57
that we're not going to get that? We're
16:00
definitely going to get something like
16:02
we're gonna we're going to get the tease
16:04
for the next Diablo expansion. We're
16:05
gonna we're going to be on our third
16:07
season of Diablo I's second expansion at
16:10
Blizzcon. It's going to launch like a
16:12
couple days afterwards.
16:14
So, that means that the time is right to
16:16
get some people hyped for the future.
16:20
And I think that they uh they don't want
16:22
us sitting in these expansions for very
16:24
long, which is annoying because they're
16:25
so they're cost at the full price of the
16:28
full game and they're not designed to
16:30
last very long.
16:33
But I I think that uh yeah, we're going
16:36
to we're going to hear about probably
16:38
ball because they're going to want to
16:40
stretch out the whole
16:43
the whole Diablo for as long as
16:45
possible. And I think that they would
16:46
they would cap it off with Diablo. I
16:48
know that there's some rumors and
16:50
speculations out there right now of Mal
16:52
being the next major villain, but I I I
16:56
get that yes, there are Reapers in the
16:58
current season. I just don't like the
17:00
idea of Malio becoming another major
17:02
villain when there's two prime evils
17:03
left on the table.
17:06
>> Yeah. And I think also,
17:09
what is it? Fear leads to anger. Anger
17:11
leads to hate. Hate leads to
17:12
destruction.
17:13
>> We've gotten hate. We need destruction.
17:15
And then the destruction leads to fear.
17:18
And then like you have this sort of like
17:20
cyclical thing that's going on that we
17:23
haven't even touched upon. And they
17:24
literally quoted that in the game. So
17:27
likely talking about uh the Lord of
17:30
Destruction uh and what he's up to and
17:33
him maybe waking up and his minions
17:35
coming to Sanctuary. Probably not too
17:37
far out of left field. Very likely to be
17:40
what's next and also probably very
17:42
likely to be talked about as early as
17:43
this Blizzcon. Um, that also leaves us
17:47
with a couple other Blizzard games that
17:49
I mean, World of Warcraft being the big
17:52
one, which we'll we're going to talk
17:53
about World of Warcraft here by itself
17:55
in a moment. Everybody has been pretty
17:58
mixed on what we're going to get as far
17:59
as news. We do know that there's a war
18:02
World of Warcraft what's next panel. Uh,
18:05
I maintain that we're going to get
18:06
discussion about what the next
18:10
expansion is going to look like.
18:14
So, but we'll see. We'll we'll see what
18:16
happens. We have a couple days till we
18:18
figure out or find out. But I'm I'm
18:21
excited for this Blisscon and everything
18:24
else uh that will get announced or or
18:27
potentially to be announced when it when
18:30
it hits. And we'll be here talking about
18:31
it immediately after because that's what
18:33
we do.
18:35
>> Yeah. And um
18:39
I really just want there to be I really
18:41
want there to be something new out of
18:43
Blizzard. We're
18:46
they they keep trying and teasing like a
18:48
new thing and that we got the untitled
18:50
survival game that never quite landed
18:52
lasted long enough to become titled.
18:57
And I just wanted I want there to be a
18:59
new Blizzard Tentpole property because
19:03
the they make good games and I really
19:05
like them and I like learning about them
19:07
and their art style is great and
19:10
>> yeah, the the problem that you run into
19:11
or at least that I run into when talking
19:13
about that is like there's so many
19:16
infinite possibilities and I don't know
19:20
that we're going to get an announcement
19:22
this year for something like that,
19:24
right? Like and we'll see. And I might
19:27
be wrong, but it feels like that would
19:29
be a much bigger thing. And maybe that
19:31
will be in the opening ceremony, but I
19:34
also don't see the last time they
19:37
announced something big. There were
19:39
large gaps in the schedule that they
19:40
then filled with those panels,
19:42
>> right?
19:43
>> And I don't see
19:45
too many large gaps this time around.
19:48
Like there are some, but it's not not
19:50
like last time. But again, we'll see.
19:53
And while this is all speculation and we
19:56
have a few days as of the time of this
19:57
recording before we find out all of the
19:59
truths of this, I think it is time that
20:01
we move on from here. With that, we're
20:05
going to move on to some World of
20:06
Warcraft news, uh, which is, well, kind
20:10
of the bread and butter lately. It's
20:11
been going strong and, uh, tons of stuff
20:14
have been going on with it. And we just
20:16
got some more recent stuff which is I
20:19
mean literally ahead of Blizzcon we got
20:21
a new drop with patch 12.1.5 which is
20:24
now live on the PTR.
20:27
>> It's a little weird to get this
20:30
immediately before Blizzcon.
20:33
>> Why is it weird, Liz?
20:36
>> Because you would expect them to hold
20:38
the announcements for Blizzcon. I mean,
20:40
this is uh patch 12.1.5 is a it's a
20:44
minor patch, but it has a fair amount of
20:46
content in it. And you would just expect
20:48
them to like even if they're even if
20:51
they're talking about patch 12.2, you
20:53
would expect them to kind of like, okay,
20:55
we're going to hold this information
20:58
like one week and just have a panel on
21:01
it at Blizzcon. I mean the
21:04
so it just it just feels like an odd
21:06
time to roll out uh PTR for a new patch.
21:10
But I maybe they must have bigger and
21:13
better things to talk about.
21:14
>> Well, maybe not. Maybe
21:17
counterpoint.
21:19
Some of the things that we know that are
21:20
coming in patch 12.1.5 might actually be
21:24
whole big discussions on their own. and
21:26
giving players the ability to experience
21:28
a little bit about them before BlizzCon
21:30
might not be a bad idea. In particular,
21:32
we know labyrinths and mega dels are
21:34
coming, right? Those are rather and
21:38
large and somewhat well anticipated
21:41
things that I'm certain that they're
21:43
going to talk about at Blizzcon. and
21:45
giving players a chance to experience in
21:47
them, you know, before Blizzcon actually
21:49
shows up maybe not be a bad thing, but
21:52
also having it playable in concurrency
21:55
with Blizzcon makes a lot of sense,
21:58
right?
21:59
brand new. These are brand new brand new
22:01
items to existing content or variations
22:04
of existing content that also if players
22:07
don't necessarily want to install the
22:09
PTR at home and they happen to be at
22:11
Blizzcon.
22:13
>> We know that they have station set up,
22:14
right? They can you can go experience it
22:16
firsthand uh and go forth and and also
22:19
think about it this way too.
22:22
>> You can't play the PTR if you don't have
22:23
an active subscription. Correct.
22:26
Uh, you know, I'm not sure.
22:28
>> I'm I'm relatively confident that you
22:31
can't. I could be wrong and and our
22:33
listeners at home can definitely correct
22:34
me if I'm wrong, but you have people
22:37
that are going to go to Blizzcon that
22:39
maybe formerly played WoW or don't play
22:41
WoW anymore.
22:44
And having it on machines, having this
22:46
like PTR stuff available for them to
22:49
experience is a huge selling point. We
22:50
talked about it before that went really
22:52
well with Mist of Pandaria.
22:56
A lot of a lot of people showed up at
22:58
Blizzcon that had stopped playing WoW
23:00
that then tried it because it was there
23:02
and installed on machines there and did
23:04
not require them to have it a
23:05
subscription to to test out and
23:08
immediately wound up back in the game.
23:11
And the same thing worked for Overwatch.
23:13
Overwatch when it was releasing and they
23:15
announced it and said that it was going
23:16
to be, you know, free to everybody that
23:18
had a year-long subscription to World of
23:19
Warcraft, but you could try it on the
23:21
the convention floor immediately.
23:24
>> How many people played Overwatch that
23:26
had never played a first-person shooter
23:27
or a hero shooter before
23:29
>> and then vehemently or or like
23:32
wholeheartedly got into it because of
23:34
that ability to test it?
23:37
>> That's true. That's true.
23:40
>> Corey, any thoughts on that?
23:43
It is it is really good to gain that
23:45
hands-on right away. Uh you'll you'll
23:47
expand your mind and you'll be like,
23:48
"Oh, maybe this is for me." And I I
23:50
think that the Blizzard charm goes a
23:52
long way for dragging people in on that.
23:55
So, being able to get your hands on this
23:57
content is the way to really sell it on
23:59
people.
24:01
>> And that's not the only thing that's
24:03
coming in patch 12.1.5 with the the
24:06
labyrinths and mega delves. Uh there's a
24:08
bunch of other stuff on its way as well.
24:11
Um, do you like invasions? Because
24:13
you're going to get another invasion.
24:14
>> I don't like invasions either, but we're
24:16
going to get a invasions.
24:19
>> This seems odd to me.
24:21
>> Uh, but I'm sure it'll make sense at
24:23
some point. I hope.
24:25
>> Well, I mean, okay. So, if you've kept
24:30
up with the current story line, and I
24:32
think even if you haven't,
24:36
um,
24:38
this was in the patches, the quest line
24:40
added in 1207,
24:43
>> the post, right?
24:45
>> No, not the post, not the postgrade
24:48
stuff, but the the pre-rade stuff, the
24:51
pre- patch stuff.
24:53
Uh, where,
24:55
hang on, I'm trying to get my words.
24:57
where we first find out about Oolletch
24:59
that the trolls summoned Oolletch to
25:02
fight off these Akir Akiri monsters
25:07
and we're getting a new world boss in
25:11
patch 12.1.5 which is also an Aure of
25:15
some kind. I may have the names for
25:17
these things messed up but there is
25:20
something going on in this space.
25:24
We don't know exactly.
25:26
>> Is it a new world boss or is it their
25:28
new layer boss?
25:29
>> Layer boss.
25:30
>> Oh, I Okay, I'm I'm wrong about that.
25:34
[laughter] It is not a world boss. It is
25:36
not a layer boss. It's a one boss raid,
25:39
>> which
25:40
>> Oh,
25:41
>> I I can't ex I still cannot tell you
25:45
kind of what the major difference is
25:47
between a layer boss and a one boss
25:49
raid, but this is I I had it wrong. This
25:51
is actually a oneboss raid, the
25:54
unbinding of Kithix,
25:57
um, which is hidden beneath the vaults
26:00
of Oolletch. Kithix was bound in his
26:03
subterranean layer. With the defeat of
26:05
Oolletch, the restraints keeping Kithix
26:08
at bay have weakened, unleashing the
26:11
monstrosity the Ammani have long have
26:14
locked away so long ago. That's the
26:16
description of the raid in the patch
26:18
notes. Here here's the interesting thing
26:20
about this that I think is I and I'm the
26:23
lore nerd in me has a problem.
26:26
>> Um
26:26
>> well
26:27
>> so Keith was one of the cthrai
26:31
that Loin
26:33
unleashed from Aldoir to send after tier
26:37
to get the discs of Norgan.
26:40
>> Mhm. And
26:43
>> yeah, he was then reawakened under
26:48
Xandelar, the Xandelar Mountains
26:52
to rally the Akir into founding the
26:53
Empire of Azakir
26:56
and then started waging ro war on the
26:58
trolls.
27:00
Like so there's this whole big gap of
27:02
how did it get to the Ammani? like
27:05
[laughter] like there's this whole big
27:07
gap of like this thing has supposedly
27:09
been dead twice.
27:12
So,
27:13
>> we're going for a threer
27:14
>> apparently.
27:15
>> Uh Matt and I are probably and and Eric
27:17
are probably going to be diving into
27:19
this at some point cuz either this is
27:21
some weird storytelling that I'm that's
27:23
going to be really cool or somebody done
27:26
messed up on the naming.
27:28
>> One or the other.
27:28
>> As far as I know, Ulletch's been keeping
27:32
Kithics locked away for a long time. So
27:34
>> yeah, but when that's that's that's like
27:37
how long ago did Tier die like all this
27:39
other stuff like
27:40
>> Yeah,
27:41
>> it
27:42
>> Well, it in Okay, as a non lore nerd in
27:46
my impression of the game, everything
27:48
happened either 10,000 years ago or
27:51
yesterday and there's not a lot of in
27:53
between.
27:54
>> You're not wrong.
27:56
>> That's the problem. [laughter] You're
27:57
not You're not exactly wrong.
28:01
>> Yeah. I don't know. But so we got a new
28:04
the new raid boss. It will be an Akira
28:06
raid boss and there'll be some more
28:09
stuff in there. But again, evasions
28:12
invasions seem a little weird to me on
28:13
that, but okay. Um
28:16
>> I mean I I can see it as
28:20
>> as part of the new raid, I can see
28:26
having some other involvement in the
28:29
patch. And oh gosh, I just feel like
28:33
this is a definite leadup to hey, it's
28:35
the old gods again because it's always
28:37
the old gods again every time.
28:40
>> And uh yeah, next thing we know we'll be
28:43
killing Yong Seron again, which old gods
28:47
very exciting, but it it it
28:50
does feel a little circular.
28:53
I will not a more of a Yagsaron group or
28:56
a Kathun.
28:57
>> I have no idea
28:58
>> because I thought that they were more
29:00
kthuni.
29:01
>> They're more the Akir are more Yagsuron.
29:06
>> Okay,
29:08
>> so that that said, uh I want to move on
29:13
from those and talk about some of the
29:14
other stuff that that is coming in this
29:16
patch. Uh mainly I'm excited for this
29:20
and I'm sure Liz is as well. Uh, new
29:22
housing items are going to be popping
29:24
up, which I think is actually kind of
29:26
cool. There's some items in here that I
29:28
know some of us have been wishing for
29:30
for a while. Uh, namely I get shrubbery.
29:34
I'm very happy about this. I like
29:35
[laughter] I like hedges. Uh, so I'm
29:39
really really excited to see those. But
29:41
again, it's what is it? It's Warlords of
29:44
Drraanor, Shadowlands, and Battle for
29:47
Azeroth foilage or foliage.
29:50
uh that is going to be present in this
29:53
which is you know stumps and pine trees
29:58
and leaf litter and lots of little stuff
30:01
to really like sort of drive home like
30:05
the landscaping or sculpting of your
30:08
setup which I think is really cool. Uh,
30:10
and then also like tons of, well, I
30:12
shouldn't say tons, several new trees.
30:16
Uh, and things like, uh, dormant wild
30:19
seeds and hanging wild seeds from the
30:22
Shadowlands, you know, the things that
30:24
people uh, that go to the Shadowlands
30:26
and need to be regenerated like wild
30:27
gods or Zul Jin are asleep in or, you
30:31
know, and then wait till they're uh,
30:34
fully healed and then sent back to the
30:36
main realm. Uh, and do you like fairy
30:38
rings? because you get a a an [laughter]
30:41
an animushroom circle uh available to
30:44
you as well. It's a good variety in my
30:46
opinion. I don't know how you guys feel
30:47
about it.
30:48
>> And and this is only, you know, this is
30:50
kind of the tip of the iceberg on what's
30:52
been data mined. There are other kind of
30:54
covenants themed things that and of
30:58
course having been data mined doesn't
30:59
mean they're going to be in there right
31:00
away. Uh there are some holiday themed
31:03
things like there are some a bunch of
31:05
different carved jacko'lanterns that
31:07
have been data mined and those seem like
31:10
just an obvious you know hallows thing
31:13
which is going to be coming up uh soon
31:16
very soon. So
31:19
I I I love getting new decor. I love new
31:22
things to decorate. I'm excited to have
31:24
new holiday themed things especially. I
31:27
can't believe it took so long to put
31:29
Shadowlands stuff in the vendors for
31:32
your housing.
31:34
>> The thing is there's there's so much
31:37
stuff to put in housing and they, you
31:40
know, they really came out of the gate
31:41
with housing with just a mountain of
31:44
things. There were things from every
31:47
expansion, vendors from every expansion
31:49
selling things. So, I'm They said from
31:53
the beginning they're planning on
31:54
keeping this as an evergreen feature.
31:57
And I'm glad to see them following
31:59
through on that and continuing to add
32:01
things, continuing to flesh this out.
32:06
>> And again, that's the key right there,
32:07
right? Like it's continuing to grow. And
32:10
again, being that evergreen feature, I'm
32:13
excited for it. I've I really like
32:16
player housing in games that have it. I
32:17
think it's really cool to be able to
32:21
personalize a space in a game,
32:23
especially when you've spent
32:25
a number of years that I will not say
32:27
because I don't feel like turning the
32:28
dust
32:28
>> investing. I was I was about to say it,
32:30
but I shouldn't. Okay.
32:32
>> Uh but then also something that is al
32:35
being updated is the BFA and Legion
32:38
reputations are going to be going
32:39
warbound, which I think is actually
32:41
pretty cool. Uh
32:43
>> I love it.
32:44
>> Yeah. Why and why do you love it, Liz?
32:47
Because for so long, for so long in
32:50
World of Warcraft locked you in, you
32:53
know, you had one character. And of
32:55
course, sure, there were plenty of
32:57
people who had multiple characters who
33:00
were doing all of this on every
33:02
character they had, but
33:05
this makes it so easy to just play the
33:10
game. And let's say your favorite class
33:12
got nerfed or got changed and you're not
33:15
enjoying it anymore. You can go and
33:17
switch over to a different class and not
33:20
be penalized for it by having to start
33:23
all over with reputation grinds because
33:25
there are necessary reputation grinds in
33:28
this game all the time.
33:31
So this just this respects your time as
33:35
a player, not as a character. if I it
33:38
makes it so much easier to play alts and
33:40
it's just it's super convenient for all
33:44
of us. So yeah. Yeah. Having more of
33:47
these shared and this is another feature
33:49
that when Blizzard rolled out war bands
33:51
they said they're planning to continue
33:53
to expand this and I it's just good to
33:57
see them following through. It's
33:59
apparently a process to do this and make
34:02
this work. So, we didn't get everything
34:05
right at once up front, but it's nice
34:07
they're continuing to add this and
34:09
giving us a couple more reputations.
34:12
The the one thing I'm still not thrilled
34:15
about is that your Covenant reputation
34:18
is not warbound. Shadowlands reputations
34:21
warbound, but covenants remain their own
34:24
thing. So, you still, if you want to go
34:26
in and collect all of the armor sets for
34:28
all of the covenants, you still got to
34:30
do that by hand. have fun.
34:33
[laughter]
34:35
>> And then uh there's a note in here that
34:37
I think is absolutely funny. Uh because
34:40
you like currencies cuz we're going to
34:41
get more currencies. Enjoy your
34:42
currencies.
34:45
>> But I mean I don't
34:46
>> it is what it is. That that's how you
34:49
>> siphon out the thing. And again I I last
34:52
time I was on we talked about this. I
34:53
just I don't see the issue with the
34:56
currencies because they sit in a tab and
34:58
you earn them as you earn them by
34:59
playing the game. mental fatigue from
35:01
tracking them, I think, is really the
35:02
the thing. Like, even though your tab
35:04
does it for you, you still have to keep
35:05
them all straight.
35:07
>> And just the thing is, okay, here's
35:09
another thing to collect. And you kind
35:11
of a game has to do that. A long-term
35:13
multiplayer game like this has to do
35:16
that because it has to keep driving
35:17
engagements. If it was just, oh,
35:19
everything is sold with void light marl
35:21
all the time, you would go into the new
35:23
patch, you wouldn't have to do any
35:25
activities. You just buy it with all the
35:27
void light marl you. I of course have
35:29
nearly no Void Light Marl because as
35:32
soon as I get it, I spend it. Uh, but
35:35
some people are probably more attuned to
35:38
that than I am. So,
35:40
I see why it happens. And it also it's
35:44
also frustrating because I'm like
35:48
I I would just I would like to not have
35:50
another currency to grind because oh my
35:53
god I really just a couple weeks ago
35:55
finished grinding out all the currency
35:58
that you needed to get all of the
36:01
alternate colored tier sets. And I'm
36:03
like, I don't I don't even I don't even
36:07
love these things, but I feel like I
36:09
need to get them because what if I need
36:11
one in the future? I must have all of
36:14
them. And that was a ridiculous amount
36:17
of currency to get all of those because
36:20
they were also
36:22
blind box. So, I couldn't just say,
36:24
"Okay, I'm going to buy I'm going to buy
36:26
the mage. I'm going to buy the death
36:27
knight." I had to It's all or nothing.
36:30
So, uh, yeah, it's just the frustration
36:33
of another grind. And probably you're
36:35
going to have a currency attached to
36:36
those new invasions that are going to be
36:39
attached to new cosmetics. And I'm
36:41
really going to want those cosmetics,
36:45
and I have to do another invasion event
36:48
for weeks or months or some time that I
36:52
don't have the attention span for. Uh,
36:55
it it's just it's a frustrating thing.
36:58
It's a thing that you expect and it's
37:00
also a little frustrating.
37:03
>> Speaking of things that are cool but
37:04
also potentially frustrating. [laughter]
37:07
Uh do you like do you like gold sinks?
37:10
Do you like long boy neck mounts? Uh do
37:13
you like both combined into one? Cuz
37:15
apparently we're getting a new uh new
37:17
long neck boy mount, the sporebearer
37:21
fungal strider. uh which is going to be
37:25
available and cost you a rather handsome
37:28
sum of about 5 million gold. This base
37:32
includes two passengers who offer uh
37:35
vendor/repair and mailbox services. But
37:38
wait, there's more. Uh, crafty consumers
37:42
will be able to purchase an additional
37:44
or access to two additional NPCs, a
37:47
transmogrifier, which will set you back
37:50
about 500,000 gold, and an auction house
37:52
representative will tack on another 1.5
37:57
million gold. Meaning, if you get
38:00
everything for this, this mount will
38:03
cost you 7 million gold.
38:09
Oh boy. Uh, for folks that have a ton of
38:12
disposable gold in game, uh, sometimes
38:15
I'm one of them, sometimes I am not,
38:17
that is still a princely sum.
38:21
I think it's a beautiful mount. It looks
38:23
really, really cool. I like the idea
38:25
that it has the possibility of having
38:27
four pieces of functionality, but you
38:29
know what? I have a bear. Do you know
38:32
what that bear has? A repair vendor and
38:35
a transmogriifier on it. I've got a a a
38:38
Brutusaur. I paid money for that one.
38:41
That's okay. Do you know what that has?
38:43
An auction house and a mailbox. I'm
38:45
covered. So, as pretty as this thing is,
38:48
I'm not even looking its way. I don't
38:51
know how you guys feel about this. Uh
38:53
I'm I'm
38:54
>> I do not have that kind of cash.
38:56
>> Yeah, I was going to say I was going to
38:57
say your your gold source is probably
38:58
not even close to that, is it?
39:00
>> Oh, no. No. I have I have about a
39:04
million gold right now, which is a whole
39:08
lot for me. And it's because a very
39:10
generous fan of Blizzard Watch gave me
39:13
an amount of gold to cover my transmog
39:16
costs this expansion, which are also
39:19
ridiculous, but uh I I have a little
39:22
stockpile. I don't have a stockpile
39:24
that's going to let me buy that mount. I
39:26
don't have a way to earn that much gold.
39:29
Um,
39:31
so we should we should also say this is
39:33
one of the the long boys that you see in
39:35
Herendar. So it's kind of a fungusy
39:38
thing with sort of a a discshaped head.
39:44
>> It's a fungus version of what you'd find
39:45
in Horizon Zero Dawn.
39:47
>> Exactly. Remind there. Yeah,
39:49
>> it reminds me of the tall boys in
39:51
Horizon Zero Dawn. But, you know, I I
39:54
don't feel too bad about this. I don't
39:56
love the model and I also am never going
39:59
to have 7 million gold unless I spend a
40:03
lot of real life money to get it and I'm
40:06
not going to. I'm I'm just not
40:08
>> I I can accept this that I will not have
40:11
this mount that I will never have this
40:13
mount and I will move on with my life
40:16
and that's okay. That's what I'm telling
40:19
myself. It's um this is a message not
40:23
just to you, Liz, but to everyone else.
40:25
Don't look at this mount and say, "You
40:26
know what? I've got $300 and I'm going
40:28
to buy a bunch [laughter] of Warcraft
40:31
tokens." Don't do it. It's not worth it.
40:33
It's It's not intended to do to be done
40:36
that way. You can you can point to the
40:38
WoW token and and say, "This is clearly
40:40
what Blizzard wants." And no, they want
40:41
you to either have a lot of gold and get
40:43
it or earn a lot of gold and get it.
40:45
They're not looking at you to try and
40:47
>> um
40:49
do this because
40:50
>> this the skeptical person in me thinks
40:51
that maybe a little bit of them. They
40:53
want you to be this entire enough that
40:55
people spend real money on it.
40:57
>> I I can't
41:00
it's so pure evil though. Like
41:02
>> I understand that the microtransactions
41:04
department of of these things is
41:08
uh going to be something like that, but
41:10
I it's too evil.
41:12
>> I I So here's the thing. I don't I'm
41:15
gonna disagree with you. I don't think
41:16
it's evil.
41:18
>> And here's why.
41:19
>> Because there are other mounts and
41:21
services that you can get in game that
41:24
do these things. It is not a
41:27
requirement. It is not the only way to
41:29
get these. It is not the only way to
41:31
have access to these as a mobile
41:32
feature.
41:34
So I think it's not necessarily evil. It
41:38
is however an option that people who
41:42
maybe if there is a a as the industry
41:45
calls them whale out there that wants to
41:46
spend the money because they don't have
41:48
the gold but they want to buy enough WOW
41:50
tokens to go get it that's that's on
41:53
that's a choice that they can make. I
41:55
don't think that is their intention. I
41:57
agree with you. Um, but also they're not
42:00
going to be sad if somebody decides to
42:02
do that because everything they make off
42:04
of the the store is just icing on the
42:08
cake, right? It's additional stuff to
42:10
pay the devs. It's additional stuff to,
42:13
you know, keep the lights on or to make
42:15
Microsoft happy. Uh, we've seen that we
42:18
we've seen it with other things, right?
42:20
We've seen it with Yeah,
42:21
>> we talked about housing and decor,
42:23
right? the was it the springtime pack
42:26
that they released at the you know a few
42:28
months ago which was what $75 to get
42:31
everything and
42:33
>> I think it was more than that but
42:34
>> it might have been more and it was only
42:37
one of everything mind you one of
42:39
everything
42:41
>> um like stuff like that exists that
42:44
people can go get it
42:46
but also you're not required to go get
42:49
it evil it's just temptation
42:53
And there is a difference.
42:54
>> It's like it's like there's so much
42:57
great stuff in the housing store right
43:00
now.
43:01
>> Oh, that tree that you're on right now,
43:02
which is the square tree with the
43:04
mushrooms under it.
43:05
>> Yes. The the lush garden hedge. You
43:07
could make some you could make a cool
43:11
>> You could make a like a a wall outside
43:13
of your house in hedges. You could make
43:15
a hedge mage maze. There's nothing like
43:18
this in game right now, but it's in the
43:21
shop. And each little hedge,
43:25
each hedge costs a dollar,
43:28
>> which okay, a dollar is not going to
43:30
break the bank. I can spend a dollar on
43:32
a hedge. I'm going to need 60 of those
43:34
things to make a hedge maze. That may be
43:38
underestimating what I would need to
43:40
make a hedge maze. So,
43:43
it it is disappointing when there are
43:46
all you can get is things in the shop
43:49
and there's nothing you can do to
43:52
recreate something like that for
43:54
yourself. It feels sometimes like you're
43:57
really pushed strongly to spend money.
44:01
like Blizzard released those treehouse
44:04
exteriors
44:06
which um cost $40 for two treehouse
44:10
exteriors and I was they look amazing.
44:13
They look amazing. There's nothing quite
44:15
like that in game. And I was just so
44:18
annoyed by this. I went and made my own
44:19
treehouse out of a lot of trees. A lot
44:23
of trees.
44:23
>> And see, and that's and that's the
44:25
interesting thing about this. Like I
44:26
agree that I was very annoyed by it and
44:28
and didn't go and do it. But then I also
44:31
looked at it like this. The WOW housing
44:34
community is incredible. Uh if any of
44:38
you out there are in the the WOW housing
44:40
community or listening to this podcast,
44:42
I love your work. Uh I literally spend
44:44
hours a week looking through your posts
44:47
on various websites and Reddit and
44:48
everywhere else.
44:50
uh if there is something that exists in
44:53
the housing world that is expensive or
44:57
prohibitive, they will find a way to
45:00
make it out of other things that exist
45:01
in the game. Like I talked about this
45:04
before, I made a chest set in game with
45:06
in-game assets and items before the
45:08
Diablo chess set was made available
45:11
>> and like a lot of other people did too.
45:13
These were options.
45:15
The housing is one of those things where
45:17
I also don't find it evil
45:20
>> because you can genuinely
45:24
you're just genuinely limited by your
45:26
creativity.
45:28
Now the mount go ahead. What I find
45:31
really frustrating about housing is when
45:34
just when all of your options are
45:36
purchases, which when they rolled out
45:38
those first spring lo spring housing
45:41
exteriors, it's like
45:43
we have four housing exteriors and now
45:45
you've rolled out two more and they're
45:47
both pay for purchases. We have we don't
45:50
have a ton of look options and now
45:52
you're saying if we want more, it's a
45:54
purchase. Okay, so on one hand,
45:58
transactions like this are kind of a
46:00
necessary evil to support games and
46:02
support game developments and to keep
46:04
Microsoft from shutting you down because
46:05
they will shut you down with a blink.
46:08
Um,
46:10
yeah, but at the same time, they can be
46:12
frustrating when it's like, okay, I'm
46:14
paying a subscription for this game. I
46:15
am paying a monthly subscription. I've
46:17
been doing so for a certain number of
46:20
years that will not be named.
46:22
And on top of that, I have to spend $40
46:26
if I want a treehouse, which obviously I
46:29
want a treehouse. You know, that it just
46:32
feels bad. Even though I I understand
46:34
you need to support the game, you need
46:37
to pay the developers, you need to do
46:38
all of these things, but I pay a monthly
46:40
subscription and I at least want a
46:43
number of in-game options without
46:46
spending additional money that let me
46:48
make cool things. And you are exactly
46:51
right, Joe. There's tons of creativity
46:53
in the community, tons of unique ways to
46:56
do things, which is great. It's great.
46:58
Um,
47:00
but also but also it's it's good when
47:02
you have options that don't feel like
47:05
you're pushed to the shop. And the line
47:08
there is going to be different for
47:09
everyone. What makes you feel like
47:11
you're pushed to spend money in the
47:13
shop? That's
47:16
everyone's going to have a different
47:17
answer there.
47:19
>> Yeah. Uh, and maybe we move on from this
47:22
because I think we've
47:23
>> we've talked about this a lot. I think
47:25
we could go on for hours. We could go
47:26
around. We could go around in circles
47:28
all night. All night. And there has been
47:31
there has been another house exterior
47:33
data mine that looks like it might be a
47:35
uh shop house, but we'll see. We'll see.
47:38
>> That's the one that looks like the tide
47:39
sages from
47:40
>> Yes.
47:41
>> Yes. Uh
47:42
>> yes, it's beautiful.
47:44
>> It's amazing. It's the Cthulhu house of
47:46
your dreams.
47:47
>> That said, I don't want and and I'm
47:49
going to say this real quick before we
47:50
move on. I am very happy with the stuff
47:53
that they've been putting in game for
47:55
in-game uh coupons.
47:58
Like the farmhouse exterior is
48:00
absolutely phenomenal. The new rooms are
48:03
really really good. Like I literally
48:05
made a tavern out of the new rooms.
48:08
>> Uh which, you know, one day I will make
48:10
Liz go see and do it on stream so people
48:12
can see it live. Um, but like they they
48:16
are putting cool stuff in game, so I
48:18
don't want to make I want to make sure
48:19
that we're we're not doom and glooming
48:21
everything.
48:21
>> Oh, yeah. Yeah.
48:22
>> So,
48:23
>> it's it's not doom and gloom, but it can
48:25
sometimes be frustrating.
48:27
>> Yes. Uh, and before we move on from
48:30
this, it is worth noting that the the
48:33
new $5 million gold mount will be going
48:35
away at the end of midnight. It's $5
48:37
million now for the Fungal Strider
48:39
>> gold. If you do buy the $5 million
48:43
Fungal Strider,
48:44
>> sorry, 5 million gold fungal strider. If
48:47
you do buy,
48:48
>> it's a slight difference in cost,
48:50
>> just a little bit. Yeah. Uh, if you do
48:52
buy it in midnight, you do not have to
48:55
worry about losing access to it uh to
48:58
the extra vendors that you can buy. So,
49:00
you just need to make 5 million gold
49:02
before the end of midnight. You will
49:03
still be able to buy extra vendors.
49:06
>> Yeah. the transmog and the auction house
49:08
as time goes on because they're probably
49:11
being sold by the same person that is
49:13
responsible for switching them around on
49:15
you because you do have to
49:17
>> play hot seat.
49:17
>> Um, play hot seat. You can only get two
49:20
people riding on your mount. So,
49:22
>> don't get me wrong, like I I have I have
49:25
7 million gold. I'm not spending it on
49:27
this mount, but I hear you. Um,
49:29
>> you have 7 million gold even after
49:31
buying all those bookcases, man.
49:33
>> Across all my characters. Yes. Um,
49:37
[laughter]
49:39
one day we'll talk about how Joe makes
49:40
gold at the beginning of an expansion.
49:43
Uh, but let's talk about something that
49:45
everybody can participate in that is
49:47
actually very, very good news for
49:49
everybody and has some extra added
49:50
benefits coming with it this time. The
49:53
winds of mysterious Fortune are back.
49:56
Uh, this event is something that allows
49:58
you to go through, you get a uh, XP
50:01
boost and rep boost. Or is it just rep
50:04
boost?
50:06
rep and experience.
50:06
>> It is rep and experience. Uh to your
50:08
characters, which is encourages alt
50:10
leveling, which means we've officially
50:12
crossed the midway point of the
50:13
expansion. Yay.
50:15
>> Uh specifically, it's 20% experience and
50:20
uh 50% reputation boost,
50:24
>> which is massive. And do do note that
50:28
that is all reputations except
50:31
the patch 12.1 reputations, the new
50:33
reputations. So it doesn't apply to
50:35
Zeljarus forces are Captain Torca. But
50:38
everything else, yes. So I'm I plan on
50:42
making good use of this because I do not
50:46
like grinding reputations.
50:48
>> Me either.
50:49
>> And this this will help. I am going to
50:53
multitask leveling alts and doing the
50:56
side quests I haven't done before. Um,
50:58
I'm going to get there maybe.
51:03
Uh, I will say that the last reputation
51:05
that I ever ever ground like seriously
51:09
and made a concerted effort to do so was
51:11
Hydraxian Waterlords. So, I'm right
51:13
there with you [laughter] guys.
51:16
>> Uh, but I could go do that. I could go
51:18
work on that except that is not
51:20
accountwide yet. So I maybe I just
51:23
shouldn't bother. I do have I do have
51:25
characters that have that.
51:26
>> Fair.
51:26
>> But
51:27
>> but the other thing that comes with this
51:29
is actually another benefit that I think
51:31
some players would be very excited to
51:33
hear about which is
51:34
>> me. Uh you also can get 500 traders
51:39
tenders or attendees as we call them uh
51:42
for free as long as you log in five
51:44
different days from the time of this
51:46
recording through September 23rd. Uh and
51:48
it is a tracked in an achievement on the
51:51
feats of strength tab. So you can
51:53
actually see how you're doing on that as
51:55
you move along. I noticed this pop in. I
51:58
didn't even know this was coming. Uh but
52:00
I noticed it pop up when I went to go
52:02
check my vault today. It's like this
52:04
thing popped up and oh, you did a thing.
52:05
Do it more. I'm like, okay. And then I
52:08
saw the note here and I was like, oh,
52:09
okay. Free tendies. Thank you. I like
52:12
this because I need to buy more stuff.
52:14
>> Free tendies.
52:15
>> Yes. Uh, for those of you that don't
52:17
know, uh, trader tenders can be uh used
52:21
to purchase items from the uh, trader. I
52:25
I I forgot what we actually call it. I
52:28
just call it the tendy vendor.
52:29
>> Trading post.
52:30
>> Yeah, it's the trading post. 10D vendor
52:32
sounds better to me. Uh, but you can get
52:34
items from the trading post.
52:35
Traditionally, these are mounts or
52:37
transmog items. Uh, lots and lots of
52:40
transmog items. I have bought so many
52:42
transmog items from this. Oh, goodness.
52:45
Uh, so thank you because this 500
52:47
attendees will enable me to buy more and
52:50
be more ridiculous in Raid. Yes, because
52:54
last last month they had the cowboy
52:56
outfits
52:57
>> and I got I got two of them. I couldn't
53:01
get the third one. And this month
53:04
there's also the vendor selling all of
53:06
the old content. So, I still have I
53:10
still have a cowboy outfit frozen.
53:14
>> Mhm.
53:14
>> That I clearly need to purchase.
53:17
>> And this this will get me there. This
53:19
will get me there. So, very good, very
53:22
good news.
53:23
>> Excellent.
53:25
Uh, and then last, but certainly not
53:27
least, as far as the World of Warcraft
53:28
news goes, is that the race for World
53:31
First has wrapped. Uh, I did not follow
53:34
this, so I'm going to be looking to you
53:36
guys to talk about it.
53:38
>> Oh boy. Um, it was a race. [laughter]
53:42
It was,
53:44
um,
53:46
it's Liquid. Team Liquid has won for the
53:48
fifth time in a row.
53:51
And
53:52
depending on how you feel about the
53:54
North American advantage of
53:58
the early reset,
53:59
>> this is a hot debate.
54:00
>> You It's a It's the hugest hottest
54:03
debate. Um because yeah, guess what?
54:06
They had that early reset and me Ekko
54:10
was very close to winning. They had
54:11
several sub 2% wipes on
54:14
>> Ekko. Ekko actually got the kill a half
54:17
hour after Liquid got the kill.
54:19
>> They were second place.
54:20
>> It was extremely close.
54:22
>> So, not only does Liquid have the
54:24
benefit of the North American start
54:26
time, they have the benefit of the North
54:29
American business hours that Blizzard
54:33
holds because they are North American
54:34
company. And so, a lot of hot fixes will
54:36
come out favorably for Liquid. Um,
54:40
>> except sometimes those hot fixes can
54:43
come unfavorably. I personally
54:47
I am of the opinion one Blizzard could
54:50
make this a completely fair race if it
54:52
wanted to. Blizzard could put this on
54:55
tournament realms everyone the same item
54:58
level. They could lock this down, but
55:02
they have chosen not to and make it
55:04
happen in the live game, which is
55:06
inherently unfair for a many, many
55:08
reasons because
55:11
you've got, you know, a normal guild
55:14
does not have the resources to
55:16
participate in this. Not only because of
55:18
time, maybe you could make the time,
55:20
take vacation days for everyone and make
55:22
the time to do this, but you can't
55:24
participate because you can't spend the
55:26
weeks it takes to do splits and to spend
55:30
all that time doing splits. You can't
55:32
make the time it takes all of these um
55:36
to farm up enough gold to buy your food,
55:39
your potions, all of that. And you're
55:42
always going to be chasing the highest
55:44
possible item level, the best items, and
55:47
you everyone has different reset times.
55:49
You know, uh, North American realms come
55:52
on Tuesday. North American and
55:53
Australian realms have reset on Tuesday.
55:55
European realms have reset on Wednesday
55:58
and, uh, Asian realms, I believe, Asian
56:01
realms are Thursday. So, you have this
56:03
kind of staggered maintenance, which
56:05
means staggered raid launches. Blizzard
56:08
could even
56:10
you could just say the raid always
56:12
launches on Thursday
56:15
and have everyone start the raid on the
56:17
same day. You could have maintenance on
56:19
different days but have the raid start
56:21
day be the same for everyone. But they
56:23
choose not to do that. And so you have
56:26
this inherently unfair race that is
56:29
always going to favor a handful of
56:32
professional guilts who can afford to
56:34
put the resources for it. And that's
56:36
that's just rough. I mean, when we do
56:38
the MDI, the mythic invitational, that's
56:41
on tournament realms, that is not your,
56:45
you know, so it's
56:47
it it just feels like it is this way for
56:49
a reason.
56:50
>> It does.
56:51
>> But also,
56:52
>> the guilds seem really opposed to the
56:54
tournament realm idea, though.
56:56
>> Uh that that's comes from Max and it
56:58
comes from the leader of Ekko as well,
57:01
>> that they just don't seem to want that.
57:04
And ultimately, if they all got together
57:06
one day and said, "You know what? This
57:08
has been going on weirdly enough long
57:10
enough, we would prefer the tournament
57:11
realm style." I think Blizzard would be
57:13
accommodating. They they might work with
57:14
them in between seasons or in between
57:17
expansions to make that a reality.
57:19
>> The interesting thing to me is that
57:24
I don't want this to sound dismissive
57:26
because it's not meant to be that way.
57:29
It is the most important non-important
57:32
thing that happens in WoW, right?
57:33
[laughter]
57:34
Like it it's tournament realms are are
57:38
definitely a solution, but they're not
57:40
necessarily the solution. And they could
57:44
do things to smooth this curve out, but
57:47
part of the draw of it is that this is
57:50
happening on live. These are not curated
57:54
uh tournament events. These are not, you
57:57
know, things that are being done in a
58:00
vacuum, in a controlled environment. And
58:02
that makes it exciting if and and there
58:06
is I can see both sides of the coin. One
58:08
is like, well, if it is controlled, then
58:10
it's your skill that really shines
58:12
through and not luck. But anybody who
58:14
has ever played a video game at any
58:16
point in time in the last 40 years, luck
58:20
plays a factor in this. It plays a
58:23
factor in gaming. Also, I mean, you're
58:27
playing a game on the internet.
58:29
>> You could lose internet connection. You
58:31
could have a storm roll through. You
58:32
could have a natural disaster happen to
58:34
you. You could have any number of
58:36
things, even if you're connected to a
58:38
tournament realm that cause an undue
58:42
failure, right?
58:44
um it could cause a wipe or cause you to
58:48
miss a 2% uh kill because you know 30%
58:53
of your raid disconnected because
58:54
they're in a different part of the
58:56
world.
58:57
>> Now in this case there was a bug
58:59
occurring even after the hot fixes the
59:01
night before the kill.
59:02
>> Um yes
59:03
>> happened in about 25% of the attempts.
59:07
The argument that I heard after it was
59:08
that it didn't happen on North American
59:10
realms, but looking through the disc the
59:12
discourse thread and the logs, it sure
59:15
did occur on the North uh the North
59:16
American realms, it
59:18
>> it just didn't affect the North American
59:20
strategy because North America was using
59:23
a slightly different strategy than Echko
59:25
was.
59:26
>> And
59:26
>> the North American strategy adjusted for
59:28
the bug almost, right? And
59:31
>> unintentionally, no one they didn't
59:32
really realize it was happening until
59:35
the kill had happened.
59:37
But I think that's that's where a lot of
59:38
this debate is coming from too is this
59:41
this idea that they won unfairly. And I
59:45
don't know that that's true because it's
59:48
the same amount of variance that could
59:50
happen everywhere. And I think that's
59:53
again part of the excitement for it.
59:55
Even as somebody who doesn't necessarily
59:56
follow this,
59:58
>> I it's almost like although it's the
1:00:01
realworld I don't want to say cost.
1:00:06
But it's like it's this really
1:00:08
interesting
1:00:10
set of variables that could just happen.
1:00:14
>> So I don't know.
1:00:15
>> I also think I think
1:00:18
frankly I feel like it's a wash, you
1:00:20
know, because being in different regions
1:00:24
gives you different advantages. If
1:00:27
you're in North America, you have a time
1:00:29
advantage. You can get to everything
1:00:31
first. But the thing is getting to it
1:00:33
first doesn't mean finishing first.
1:00:36
>> And several times it has they haven't
1:00:38
resulted like even them getting the
1:00:39
advantage they haven't gotten the win on
1:00:41
some of these things
1:00:42
>> because yes I mean they are on a five in
1:00:46
a row streak but also if you're first to
1:00:48
a boss you're the first to encounter any
1:00:50
bugs with that boss.
1:00:52
you are the one streaming and showing
1:00:55
other people what this fight looks like
1:00:58
so they can jump into it with more
1:01:00
knowledge than you had when you jumped
1:01:02
into it. So you have different
1:01:04
advantage. I do think Asian realms start
1:01:06
so far behind that it's very difficult
1:01:08
for them. They never wind up more than
1:01:12
like did we see one fourth place last
1:01:15
race
1:01:15
>> there was never for a little while one
1:01:18
was in fourth place. One of the Asian
1:01:19
guilds was in fourth place this tier,
1:01:21
>> but being two days behind makes that
1:01:24
starts to be hard to catch up. But when
1:01:26
we're talking about North America and
1:01:27
Europe, the European guilds have an
1:01:30
advantage of information, of learning
1:01:32
from what the uh NA guilds see. And the
1:01:37
NA guilds have the advantage.
1:01:39
>> And often times the reset day can be hit
1:01:41
by the hardest lag and the hardest bugs,
1:01:43
especially coming into the
1:01:45
>> um Max has talked about how this raid
1:01:48
felt like the shakiest overall in terms
1:01:51
of just bug quality.
1:01:53
>> Mhm.
1:01:54
And again,
1:01:55
>> I just think
1:01:56
>> go ahead.
1:01:58
>> One one interesting thing about this
1:02:00
particular race about fighting Ulletch
1:02:03
was there was a strategy both guilds
1:02:05
were using while they were closing in
1:02:07
for the kill where
1:02:10
in the last phase of the fight you're
1:02:12
fighting on four platforms and the
1:02:15
platforms gradually disappear and get so
1:02:18
you have less and less space. On mythic,
1:02:21
there are those three debuffs that go
1:02:24
out and send out poison waves, and you
1:02:28
have less and less space to spread those
1:02:30
out, so it becomes more and more
1:02:32
difficult to dodge. Going as they were
1:02:36
getting low on this fight, guilds were
1:02:38
using a strategy. Liquid and Ekko were
1:02:41
using a strategy that's like, okay,
1:02:44
instead
1:02:46
dodging these things is insane. Why are
1:02:48
we going to dodge these things? and
1:02:50
instead they would jump in the poison
1:02:53
pool that surrounded Oolletch because
1:02:56
that was less damage to heal through.
1:02:58
You could heal through that damage and
1:03:00
make your healer suffer but that was
1:03:03
healable whereas and you could stand
1:03:06
still and DPS
1:03:08
instead of trying to dodge these in this
1:03:10
tiny tiny space. you could stand still
1:03:13
and DPS in the poison pools because the
1:03:16
uh the poison waves did not path over
1:03:20
the pools. They would not hit you.
1:03:22
>> They had bad Zaxis movement.
1:03:26
>> Yeah. So, it let you do more DPS. It let
1:03:29
your DPS stand still and not dodge
1:03:31
everything. And the last day of the race
1:03:34
before
1:03:35
Liquid won, Blizzard said, "We're going
1:03:39
to change this. So, you can't do this.
1:03:41
This was while both Liquid and Ekko were
1:03:43
actively pulling the boss. Blizzard
1:03:45
said, "We're going to be putting out a
1:03:48
bug fix that prevents you from doing
1:03:49
this." And that's that's tough to adjust
1:03:53
your strategy at that point if you're
1:03:55
using the strategy and overcome this.
1:03:58
So, that came in and it wasn't too long
1:04:02
after that was announced that uh Liquid
1:04:05
got the win. And they didn't use that.
1:04:06
They didn't, you know, jump in the
1:04:08
poison pool. They did it the way it was
1:04:09
intended to be done. And it wasn't it's
1:04:12
not exactly an exploit. It was I think
1:04:14
it's the very definition of creative use
1:04:16
of game mechanics. They were doing
1:04:17
something Blizzard didn't expect that
1:04:20
worked.
1:04:22
Um
1:04:23
but yes, Ekko has commented that, you
1:04:26
know, they had difficulty because of
1:04:27
bugs. They had a low pole that
1:04:29
encountered some bugs not long before
1:04:32
Liquid won. So yeah, it's is this fair?
1:04:36
Is this not fair? Should Echo have won?
1:04:39
It's impossible to say.
1:04:41
>> Yeah. And I mean the the problem is too
1:04:43
is that it's a a situation where if
1:04:48
you're on the losing end, it's always
1:04:49
going to feel unfair if you lost because
1:04:51
of a bug.
1:04:53
>> Um potentially. I'm not saying all I'm
1:04:55
not saying they're sore losers and
1:04:56
please no. I'm not making that comment.
1:04:58
>> Yeah. No,
1:04:59
>> we're not trying to stoke the fires of
1:05:01
the
1:05:02
>> skills. It's really hard when you're
1:05:04
going into three weeks of doing the same
1:05:07
content and you've been working super
1:05:09
hard putting your all into it and you
1:05:11
come up in second place again. That's
1:05:14
that's so difficult.
1:05:16
>> But
1:05:17
>> not only second place, but by a percent
1:05:19
like
1:05:20
>> Yeah. Yeah. And but at the same point
1:05:22
like it's also one of those things where
1:05:25
again just to to reiterate that it's
1:05:28
that's part of the excitement and
1:05:31
prestige of this is that you overcome
1:05:34
the odds to claim that throne or to
1:05:38
claim that prize to to cross the finish
1:05:40
line first. Um, and in a perfect world,
1:05:44
everything would be perfectly flat and
1:05:46
even, but at the end of the day, it's
1:05:49
not. And you're connecting to different
1:05:52
servers through different connections.
1:05:55
you are still playing the same version
1:05:56
of the game as everybody else most of
1:05:58
the time with rare instances where
1:06:00
there's a a lag time in in patching, but
1:06:04
there are too many other variables that
1:06:07
are potentially more devastating than
1:06:08
this that they already deal with
1:06:12
without, you know, just in-game bugs. So
1:06:16
>> yeah,
1:06:16
>> I I think that if it becomes more
1:06:21
one-sided, I liken it to balancing in
1:06:26
like war games and like TCGs. If
1:06:29
something becomes incredibly dominant
1:06:32
where it you can almost predict it with
1:06:35
a unairring amount of of certainty and
1:06:40
be correct, then you start looking at
1:06:42
what you can change to make it more
1:06:45
equitable, right? Like it's in in card
1:06:48
games, you see the same card show up in
1:06:50
every deck that plays in like a big
1:06:51
tournament, that card's probably too
1:06:54
good and you're probably going to ban or
1:06:56
nerf or whatever. Same thing with this.
1:06:58
If it turns out that we see the same
1:07:01
race to world first winner every time
1:07:03
over an extended period of time, I I
1:07:06
can't believe that Blizzard isn't
1:07:07
already looking at it and making sure
1:07:09
that it is as fair as it can be without
1:07:11
just dumping them on a tournament realm.
1:07:13
And if it is determined to not be fair
1:07:15
and that is the only option, then maybe
1:07:17
we see the race to roll first instead of
1:07:20
being a natural organic thing that
1:07:23
happened over the course of years of
1:07:25
playing this game and become a spectacle
1:07:28
tournament between these guilds much in
1:07:31
the same way we saw arena tournaments or
1:07:34
uh Overwatch Cup or any other number of
1:07:37
competitive e esports events and it
1:07:40
becomes an esport event. The future will
1:07:43
will show us where this is going to go,
1:07:46
but there is a chance that changes on
1:07:49
the wind. We'll see. But as of right
1:07:51
now, race to world first still seems to
1:07:54
be sitting in that same spot it has been
1:07:56
for a while.
1:07:57
>> But it's Liquid won every race last
1:08:01
expansion at midnight or the war within
1:08:03
and they're two out of three on myth on
1:08:06
midnight here.
1:08:07
So, uh, good luck to them. They're
1:08:11
they're a great team. They're fun
1:08:12
people. Everyone like all the people in
1:08:13
the race to world first are they're
1:08:15
having a good time and it's fun to see
1:08:16
them play.
1:08:17
>> I mean, but I also remember the days of
1:08:19
League of Legends early esports where
1:08:21
teams on other parts of the world would
1:08:24
fly their teams to live in California to
1:08:28
compete in these tournaments because it
1:08:30
was closer to the servers that they were
1:08:32
connecting to so that it was more fair.
1:08:35
Right. So like I've seen I've seen the
1:08:37
extremes of this. So
1:08:39
>> I am.
1:08:41
>> Now that said, I know that
1:08:43
>> the only issue there is the length of
1:08:45
the tournament of the of the race to
1:08:47
world first. If this was a oneweek
1:08:48
experience, then yeah, maybe we could
1:08:50
see that. Also, the fact that the
1:08:52
servers are so locked down region-wise.
1:08:54
>> Well, maybe if it turns into a
1:08:55
tournament realms, we will. But I want
1:08:57
to move on from this. And I know Liz has
1:08:59
just done a bunch of talking, but I am
1:09:00
gonna ask Liz to do a little bit more
1:09:01
talking for us
1:09:03
>> right now. Liz, if you don't mind.
1:09:06
>> Absolutely. I want to thank you to
1:09:09
everyone who's listening to us today. Uh
1:09:12
just thank you for being here. Your
1:09:13
support means everything to us and
1:09:15
tuning in really helps site the podcast.
1:09:19
It helps keep us going. But I do want to
1:09:21
give an extra special thankout to our
1:09:23
supporters on Patreon. You guys give
1:09:26
that extra bit, giving us a little bit
1:09:28
every month to keep everything running,
1:09:31
to keep everything going. and that
1:09:34
listening helps, but uh Patreon support
1:09:38
really helps. If you are able to support
1:09:40
us financially, and I understand if you
1:09:42
can't, go to patreon.com/blizzardwatch
1:09:46
and toss us a few bucks. It's a lot of
1:09:48
people contributing a little every month
1:09:49
that keeps the site alive. Uh, if you
1:09:52
subscribe at $3 a month, you get early
1:09:54
access to all of our podcast, this
1:09:57
podcast, Blizzard Watch, and Lorewatch
1:10:00
about World of Warcraft lore and other
1:10:02
video game lore. And
1:10:05
podcast, yes, Tavern Watch podcast about
1:10:07
tabletop gaming with uh actual plays.
1:10:11
And uh, that is a really fun one. We
1:10:14
just did a really fun Fallout game.
1:10:16
We're about to do a really fun pirate
1:10:18
board game. So stay tuned for that. On
1:10:21
Tavern Watch, you get early adsree
1:10:23
access to all of our podcasts. If you
1:10:25
subscribe at $5 a month, you also get
1:10:28
adsree access to our website at
1:10:30
blizzardwatch.com.
1:10:31
And if you if you mainly listen to our
1:10:33
podcast, we do also have a website and
1:10:36
uh articles about the things that we
1:10:38
discuss here if you want more
1:10:39
information.
1:10:41
So again, if you can support us,
1:10:43
patreon.com/blizzardwatch.
1:10:45
If you can't, tune in and listen every
1:10:47
week. that helps out. Or you can like,
1:10:51
share, subscribe to our content. Help us
1:10:54
feed the algorithm and help other people
1:10:57
find out about our shows. You can follow
1:11:00
us on social media. We are Blizzardwatch
1:11:03
on Instagram, Facebook, and Mastadon at
1:11:05
gamepad.club, or blizzardwatch.com on
1:11:08
Blue Sky, Blizzardwatch podcasts on
1:11:11
YouTube, Blizzard.watch watch on Tik
1:11:14
Tok. And we also record the podcast live
1:11:17
every Tuesday at 8:00 PM Eastern on
1:11:19
Twitch, as well as an indie game stream
1:11:22
every Thursday at 8:00 p.m. on Twitch,
1:11:24
8:00 p.m. Eastern. And you can follow us
1:11:26
there, twitchtv/blizzardwatch.
1:11:29
Sign up to get notification of our
1:11:31
streams and uh keep an eye out when
1:11:34
we're when we're playing games for you.
1:11:37
And if you have a question for this or
1:11:39
any of our other podcasts, be sure to
1:11:41
send them in to podcastardwatch.com.
1:11:44
Specify the show in the subject line and
1:11:46
any special pron pronunciation of your
1:11:49
name. See, I can't I can't even get out
1:11:52
pronunciation. So, we need some help
1:11:54
sometimes. Uh, you can also contact us
1:11:57
on Discord and if you are a Patreon
1:11:59
subscriber, you can do so through the
1:12:00
patron Q and podcast question channel as
1:12:03
our little little extra way of saying
1:12:05
thanks. So, thank you so much for
1:12:06
listening. Thank you for being here and
1:12:08
I appreciate you guys. I appreciate all
1:12:10
of you listening right now.
1:12:15
>> Thank you Liz and thank you Corey for
1:12:18
joining us. We're going to talk about
1:12:19
one more brief little section of a
1:12:21
couple things that are a little
1:12:23
newsworthy uh as of today and then
1:12:25
before we call it an evening. First, uh,
1:12:28
the Zelda Direct was actually live, uh,
1:12:31
and showcased a lot of different things.
1:12:34
Uh, most importantly,
1:12:36
actually showing the Ocarina of Time
1:12:39
remaster. Uh, and it is I am torn. I
1:12:46
don't know if you guys looked at this.
1:12:48
It is gorgeous, but almost uncanny
1:12:51
valley for me.
1:12:54
>> I don't know if you guys looked at this
1:12:56
at all.
1:12:57
I'm afraid I'm kind of indifferent. I'm
1:12:59
kind of indifferent to Zelda games. I am
1:13:02
I am happy if everyone else is happy.
1:13:05
>> Fair enough.
1:13:06
>> It looks gorgeous. Uh until you look at
1:13:08
Zelda
1:13:09
>> or Link. I mean, I know I know who's
1:13:12
who.
1:13:12
>> He very shiny. He very very shiny.
1:13:17
>> Yeah, it um it's something. I'm I'm
1:13:21
curious to see closer to release if they
1:13:23
fix it because it struck me and I know
1:13:25
Liz will get this. Uh Dragon Age
1:13:27
Inquisition shiny hair syndrome, the
1:13:29
plastic hair. [laughter] That's what
1:13:31
this feels like a little bit like it.
1:13:34
But that said, it is a like a full HD re
1:13:39
like remaster of this game for the
1:13:41
Switch 2. And if you are a Zelda fan,
1:13:44
for many of you out there, uh this is
1:13:47
potentially like a remake or remaster of
1:13:50
your absolute favorite Zelda game. Uh
1:13:52
Ocarina of Time was a formative game for
1:13:55
a lot of people in our age bracket. So,
1:13:59
I have heard nothing but excitement from
1:14:01
everybody that I know that that is a
1:14:04
Zelda fan. Uh, including my friend at uh
1:14:07
partner at the shop, Justin, who uh I
1:14:10
think potentially likes Legend of Zelda
1:14:12
more than I do. And that is scary
1:14:16
because I go on a year, like every year
1:14:18
I go on a pilgrimage to play every
1:14:21
single mainline Zelda game from start to
1:14:23
finish. Uh, and this gets increasingly
1:14:27
long. I'm I'm up to Tears of the Kingdom
1:14:29
right now. Uh so I I He's more into this
1:14:34
than I am and he's super excited. So
1:14:37
good on them. Uh the last thing I did
1:14:40
want to mention too, and we haven't had
1:14:42
a whole lot of Overwatch news lately, uh
1:14:44
a little bit, but not much. Uh but I
1:14:46
wanted to talk about my favorite child,
1:14:48
Marvel Rivals, just a little bit. Uh
1:14:50
season 10 goes live on September 11th.
1:14:53
Uh, and with it comes uh a new map, but
1:14:56
also more importantly a new champion,
1:14:58
hero, in this case a villain. Uh, Gore
1:15:02
the butcher uh which is the uh the
1:15:05
godkiller, the one that in the comic
1:15:07
books, if you are familiar with it, uh
1:15:09
wielded the uh necro sword, the all
1:15:11
black sword, which was uh the originally
1:15:14
wielded by Null, the lord of all
1:15:16
symbiots, uh which now opens up that for
1:15:18
more symbiate shenanigans. uh who went
1:15:20
on a spree of trying to kill all the
1:15:22
gods in the Marvel universe because the
1:15:24
god he worshiped decided to let his
1:15:26
family die. Uh so this very dark tragic
1:15:29
villain uh being thrown into Marvel
1:15:32
rivals. And looking at it, it is it's as
1:15:35
if they give if you to compare this to
1:15:38
Overwatch, if you are familiar with
1:15:40
Tracer, it's like they gave Tracer a
1:15:42
gigantic living sword.
1:15:46
[laughter] like that level of mobility
1:15:48
and like it is absolutely bonkers. Uh
1:15:51
but it's just the beginning of the
1:15:53
season. There will be more stuff coming
1:15:55
as the season unfolds. Usually they
1:15:57
release two champions or two heroes per
1:15:59
season. So we're waiting to see who the
1:16:01
second one will be. Uh but we're going
1:16:04
to guess that it is something to do with
1:16:06
uh Gore the Butcher's history because
1:16:08
they tend to they tend to work in pairs
1:16:10
in that regard. Uh and we're kind of
1:16:13
taking bets right now to see who it is.
1:16:14
My bets on Odin. We'll see if I'm
1:16:16
correct.
1:16:18
But I think that's it for us today,
1:16:20
friends. I do want to thank you for
1:16:22
joining us on this our weekly podcast
1:16:24
adventure, and we will see you next
1:16:28
week.

Countdown to BlizzCon

blizzardwatch.com

The episode where Cory says I told you so

The never-ending faction war in World of Warcraft: Forever

Gods (and patrons), Paizo in PDF, big stompy mechs, and more TTRPG news

How the Arathi might appear in The Last Titan (if they're in The Last Titan)

The BlizzCon schedule has been released. Start the wild speculation!

Xal'atath's true goals, and more light reading

WoW's real end game (and boring end game)

The Coiled Isle has too many snakes

Anima, Mana, and the forces of Azeroth

Tavern Watch Plays Kids on Bikes, Episode 2: A trip down memory lane

Our favorites in WoW patch 12.1 (so far)

The Lore of Doom: A deep dive (into hell)

Tavern Watch Plays Kids on Bikes, Episode 1: Welcome to New Novemberwood

Player Housing makes us want to dye

Dwelling on the Shadowlands in World of Warcraft

Up next in 10

Countdown to BlizzCon

blizzardwatch.com