Well, thanks to SuperNova I'm finally back on WoW. I should be active on Undermine (Taokaka - Orc DK or Millia - Orc Hunter), Baelgun (Mooberus - Tauren DK), and Korielstrasz (Xephyr - UD Lock).

There is no depth of villainy to which SuperNova will not sink :mad:

Anyone who bothers to look at this thread probably already knows, but I'll mention it anyway: Blizzard has just released two pets for sale at their Blizzard Store for World of Warcraft. You have the choice of "Lil KT", a miniature version of the boss Kel'Thuzad, a minion of the Lich King, or the Pandaren Monk, a miniature version of the Pandarens, a race of hard drinking peace loving Panda-man. Link to the site with more details below.

Blizzard Store

Blizzard Store: World of Warcraft® Pet: Lil' K.T.
Blizzard Store: World of Warcraft® Pet: Pandaren Monk

Additionally, a small incentive for purchase is added by Blizzard with the following:

I will never pay real money for in-game crap.

Spoilers obviously, but this is the video that plays when Arthas is defeated. Just incase you wanted to see (or like me and probably won't down Arthas anytime soon)

Video taken down by blizz, however you can access viewing it in the cinematic folder where you installed wow at (if you're still playing currently) if not, it'll probably be viewable on youtube with blizztard going ape after Arthas goes down on live servers, which will probably be soon.

Meh. Starting again when Cata comes out. PC-less at the moment anyhow, and I want the 3x for the addict-a-friend thing.

Patch 3.3.2 just put in the first in a series of buffs that affect raiding in ICC. The first gives a +5% HP/Damage/Healing buff, that over time will eventually stack to +30%. The point of this is to allow more casual guilds to experience content, although not at the rate that the more hardcore raiding guilds.

Maybe we'll finally be able to get through some of the second wing as a result.

I haven't played in a few days. It feels kinda good.

I'll probably sign on tonight for 25m ICC and then go back to ME2 once they give my axe to someone else. Well, maybe I'll stay for other stuff considering we might be able to down Blood Princes... I could use the mace. Hrrrmm...

Man, fuck this game.

I wouldn't say it was just *for* casuals. Considering that no one had gotten heroic Arthas down until Paragon did with this buff (only 10 man. no one has gotten Heroic 25m Arthas down yet. 100 million health for the lulz). They did the same thing with BC right before wrath came out, decreasing all mobs health by 30%.

Although that 5% buff does help alot since we were being face-rolled by Saurfang.

also 3.3.3 will start bringing elements leading up to the Cataclysm of 4.0 with the Gnomes on a quest to take back Gnomereagan and the trolls taking back Echo Isles.

Interesting to note though, that during a tweet Q&A someone asked about heroic versions of other dungeons and Blizz said that they want to work on making heroic versions of all the old world normal dungeons, not just Deadmines and Shadowfang Keep. Heroic Maraudon and Scholomance ftw!

Hm, I thought Paragon said that a major reason they were able to get heroic LK down was because blizz fixed some bug with the spirits (or something to that extent). 5% is a fair amount of damage though.

My guild finally killed normal LK in 10man. It felt so good. ::nerdmode::

All Kingslayers, report in.

I think Maraudon goes against what they want...short linear heroics. Deadmines is relatively short...SFK isn't terribly big either. I can maybe see Scholomance as a heroic...Scarlet Monastery too...but anything else would get ran once or twice before people stopped wasting time in them.

Can you imagine heroic BRD? It would take at least an hour for well geared speed group aoeing everything.

An hour with a group of randoms, possibly composed of people that speak no english whatsoever, is far more time than I want to spend with them.

And leveling running Maraudon was a huge enough pain as-is.

For the few people who actually still play (or those who keep up after quitting) Cataclysm Class changes are beginning to unfold (with the rumor of Beta starting real soon and the gaming media sites already getting beta access)

Condensed this a little bit, just listing main abilities with the link to the blue's thread on each class so people can read up further.

New Death Knight Abilities

Outbreak (level 81): Outbreak infects the target with both Frost Fever and Blood Plague at no rune cost. This ability allows death knights to apply diseases quickly when they are switching targets or when their diseases have been dispelled.

Necrotic Strike (level 83): Necrotic Strike is a new attack that deals weapon damage and applies a debuff that absorbs an amount of healing based on the damage done. For context, imagine that the death knight can choose between doing 8,000 damage outright with a certain ability, or dealing 6,000 damage and absorbing 4,000 points in incoming heals with Necrotic Strike -- the burst is smaller, but a larger overall amount of healing would be required to bring the target back to full health.

This ability is meant to bring back some of the old flavor from when death knights could dispel heal-over-time (HoT) effects. It also gives the class a bit more PvP utility without simply replicating a Mortal Strike-style effect.

Dark Simulacrum (level 85): The death knight strikes a target, applying a debuff that allows the death knight to copy the opponent's next spell cast and unleash it. Unlike Spell Reflection, Dark Simulacrum does not cancel the incoming spell. In general, if you can't reflect an ability, you won't be able to copy it either.

http://forums.worldofwarcraft.com/th...62356308&sid=1

New Druid Abilities

Thrash (Level 81): Thrash deals damage and causes all targets within 10 yards to bleed every 2 seconds for 6 seconds. The intent here is to give bears another button to hit while tanking. Talents will affect the bleed, such as causing Swipe to deal more damage to bleeding targets. 5-second cooldown. 25 Rage.

Stampeding Roar (Level 83): The druid roars, increasing the movement of all allies within 10 yards by 40% for 8 seconds. Stampeding Roar can be used in cat or bear form, but bears might have a talent to drop the cooldown. The goal of this ability is to give both bears and cats a little more situational group utility. 3-minute cooldown. No cost.

Wild Mushroom (Level 85): Grows a magical mushroom at the target location. After 4 seconds the mushroom becomes invisible. Enemies who cross the mushroom detonate it, causing it to deal area-of-effect damage, though its damage component will remain very effective against single targets. The druid can also choose to detonate the mushroom ahead of time. This is primarily a tool for the Balance druid, and there will be talents that play off of it. No cooldown. 40-yard range. Instant cast.

http://forums.worldofwarcraft.com/th...62387043&sid=1

New Hunter Abilities

Cobra Shot (level 81): A new shot that deals Nature damage instead of Physical damage. This ability will share a cooldown with Steady Shot. This will give hunters an alternative to Steady Shot on heavily-armored targets, and we will have talent incentives in the Beast Mastery tree to make this a signature shot.

Trap Launcher (level 83): When used, the next trap can be shot to a location within 40 yards. This provides the current Freezing Arrow treatment to all traps and, as a result, we will be removing the current ability Freezing Arrow. 1-minute cooldown. No global cooldown.

Camouflage (level 85): The hunter enters an obscured state that prevents him or her from taking ranged damage. The character would still be subject to melee or area-of-effect attacks, and dealing or taking damage will break the Camouflage effect. The hunter can move and set traps when under Camouflage, and will receive a damage bonus when attacking while under Camouflage (which will then break the effect).

http://forums.worldofwarcraft.com/th...61186675&sid=1


New Mage Spells

Flame Orb (available at level 81): Inspired by Prince Taldaram’s abilities in Ahn'kahet and Icecrown Citadel, this spell allows the mage to cast a flaming orb that travels in front in a straight line, sending beams that cause fire damage to passing targets. Once it’s cast, the mage is free to begin casting other spells as the Flame Orb travels. While the spell will be useful to any spec, Fire mages will have talents that improve it, possibly causing the Flame Orb to explode when it reaches its destination.

Time Warp (level 83): Grants a passive Haste effect much like Bloodlust or Heroism to party or raid members. It also temporarily increases the mage's own movement speed. Time Warp will be exclusive with Bloodlust and Heroism, meaning you can’t benefit from both if you’ve got the Exhaustion debuff, though the movement-speed increase will still work even when under the effects of Exhaustion.

Wall of Fog (level 85): Creates a line of frost in front of the mage, 30 yards from end to end. Enemies who cross the line are snared and take damage. The mana cost will be designed to make Wall of Fog efficient against groups, not individuals. This spell is intended to give mages a way to help control the battlefield, whether the mage is damaging incoming enemies (Blizzard can be channeled on top of Wall of Fog) or protecting a flag in a Battleground. 10-second duration. 30-second cooldown.

http://forums.worldofwarcraft.com/th...62357286&sid=1

Paladin April 16th



New Priest Spells

Heal (available at level 16): While priests already have a spell called Heal, the existing version becomes obsolete at higher levels, which is something we intend to change in Cataclysm. Introduced at a low level, the "new" Heal spell will functionally work much like a down-ranked Greater Heal did in the past, adding more granularity to your direct-healing arsenal. If you need to heal someone a moderate amount and efficiency is an issue (making Flash Heal the incorrect spell for the job), then Heal is what you want to use. Heal is intended to be the priest's go-to direct-healing spell unless they need something bigger (Greater Heal) or faster (Flash Heal). We will be following a similar philosophy with all the healing classes.

Mind Spike (level 81): Deals Shadowfrost damage and puts a debuff on the target that improves subsequent Mind Spike damage. The intent of Mind Spike is to fill a niche missing in Shadow DPS, though it may be occasionally useful for healers as well. Mind Spike provides a quick nuke to use in situations where the priest doesn't have time to set up the normal rotation, such as when adds are dying too fast or you have to swap targets a lot. Spamming Mind Spike will do about as much damage as casting Mind Flay on a target afflicted with Shadow Word: Pain. The idea behind the debuff is that when you cast Mind Spike, we expect you to cast a lot of them; we don't intend you to fit it into an already full Shadow rotation. It also provides Shadow with a spell to cast when locked out of the Shadow school. (School lockouts will no longer affect both schools for multi-school spells.) 1.5-second cast. 30-yard range. No cooldown.

Inner Will (level 83): Increases movement speed by 12% and reduces the mana cost of instant-cast spells by 10%. This buff will be exclusive with Inner Fire, meaning you can't have both up at once. Inner Fire provides a spell power and Armor buff; Inner Will should be useful on a more situational basis.

Leap of Faith (level 85): Pull a party or raid member to your location. Leap of Faith (or "Life Grip") is intended to give priests a tool to help rescue fellow players who have pulled aggro, are being focused on in PvP, or just can't seem to get out of the fire in time. Instant. 30-yard range. 45-second cooldown.

http://forums.worldofwarcraft.com/th...38432151&sid=1



New Rogue Abilities

Redirect (available at level 81): Rogues will be getting a new ability to help them deal with changing targets. Redirect will transfer any active combo points to the rogue's current target, helping to ensure combo points aren't wasted when swapping targets or when targets die. In addition, self-buff abilities like Slice and Dice will no longer require a target, so rogues can spend extra combo points on those types of abilities (more on this below). Redirect will have a 1-minute cooldown and no other costs.

Combat Readiness (level 83): Combat Readiness is a new ability that we intend rogues to trigger defensively. While this ability is active, whenever the rogue is struck by a melee or ranged attack, he or she will gain a stacking buff called Combat Insight that results in a 10% reduction in damage taken. Combat Insight will stack up to 5 times and the timer will be refreshed whenever a new stack is applied. Our goal is to make rogues better equipped to go toe-to-toe with other melee classes when Evasion or stuns are not in play. This ability lasts 6 seconds and has a 2-minute cooldown.

Smoke Bomb (level 85): The rogue drops a Smoke Bomb, creating a cloud that interferes with enemy targeting. Enemies who are outside the cloud will find themselves unable to target units inside the cloud with single-target abilities. Enemies can move inside the cloud to attack, or they can use area-of-effect (AoE) abilities at any time to attack opponents in a cloud. In PvP, this will open up new dimensions of tactical positional gameplay, as the ability offers a variety of offensive and defensive uses. In PvE, Smoke Cloud can serve to shield your group from hostile ranged attacks, while also drawing enemies closer without the need to rely on conventional line-of-sight obstructions. Smoke Cloud lasts 10 seconds and has a 3-minute cooldown.

http://forums.worldofwarcraft.com/th...62386514&sid=1

New Shaman Spells
Primal Strike (available at level 3): Primal Strike is a new weapon-based attack that every shaman will learn very early in the game. Our goal with this ability is to make leveling as Enhancement rather than as Elemental more viable, since many key Enhancement talents become available at fairly high levels.

Healing Wave (level 4): While the shaman already has an ability called Healing Wave, we're adding another spell to the class's direct-healing arsenal and giving it a familiar name. The current Healing Wave will be renamed Greater Healing Wave, and the intent is for the 'new" Healing Wave to be the shaman's go-to heal. Lesser Healing Wave and Greater Healing Wave will be used on a more situational basis.

Unleash Weapon (level 81): Unleashes the power of your weapon enchants for additional effects (see below). A dual-wielding Enhancement shaman will activate the effects of both of their weapon enchants. Instant cast. 30-yard range. 15-second cooldown. Undispellable.

Here are a few examples of effects we're considering for this ability:

* Windfury Weapon – Hurls a spectral version of your weapon at a target, dealing 50% weapon damage and increasing the shaman's Haste for the next five swings.
* Flametongue Weapon – Deals instant Fire damage and buffs the shaman's next Fire attack by 20%.
* Earthliving Weapon – Heals the target slightly and buffs the shaman's next healing spell by 20%.


Healing Rain (level 83): An area-effect heal-over-time (HoT) spell that calls down rain in a selected area, healing all players within it. There is no limit to the number of players who can potentially be affected; however, there are diminishing returns when healing a large number of targets, much like the diminishing returns associated with AoE damage spells. This should give Restoration shaman another healing tool that improves their group-healing and heal-over-time capabilities. 2-second cast time. 30-yard range. 10-second duration. 10-second cooldown.

Spiritwalker's Grace (level 85): When this self-targeted buff is active, your spells are no longer interrupted by movement and possibly even by your own attacks. This will give shaman of all three specs another way to heal or do damage when it’s necessary to move in both PvE and PvP. Instant cast. 10-second duration. 2-minute cooldown

http://forums.worldofwarcraft.com/th...38611737&sid=1

New Warlock Spells

Fel Flame (level 81): Quick-hitting spell dealing Shadowfire damage. This is similar to the mage ability Frostfire Bolt, in that the lower of the two resistances (in this case shadow and fire) on your target will be used for calculating its damage. Additionally, Fel Flame refreshes the duration of Immolate and Unstable Affliction. Our goal for Fel Flame is to provide a spell that's good for mobility and for use by Destruction and Demonology specs. Also, did we mention it uses green fire? Yep. Instant cast.

Dark Intent (level 83): Increases the target's chance for a critical effect with periodic damage or healing spells by 3%. When the target lands a crit, you get a buff to your damage for 10 seconds. This effect stacks up to three times.

Demon Soul (level 85): Fuses the warlock's soul with his or her demon. This provides warlocks with a self-burst cooldown to use. The specific effects granted by Demon Soul depend on the demon chosen. Demon Soul lasts for a certain number of charges or until it expires (around 20 seconds), depending on the demon used. 2-minute cooldown

http://forums.worldofwarcraft.com/th...38461679&sid=1

New Warrior Abilities

Inner Rage (Level 81): Whenever the character reaches a full 100 Rage, he or she will gain a buff that causes attacks to consume 50% more Rage and do 15% more damage for a short amount of time. This is a passive ability so it won't need to be activated by the player. The goal for this ability is to provide a benefit for hitting max Rage instead of it feeling like a penalty. However, we also don't want warriors to feel like they're supposed to pool Rage and do nothing until they hit 100, so we'll be closely monitoring how this plays out during the beta testing, and making adjustments as needed.

Gushing Wound (Level 83): This ability will apply a bleed effect to the target. If the target moves, the bleed gains an extra stack and refreshes its duration, up to a maximum of three stacks. The ability is currently planned to have no cooldown, cost 10 Rage, and have a 9-second duration. Gushing Wound is designed to be weaker than Rend with one stack, but better with three stacks, which will be reached when fighting a moving target.

Heroic Leap (Level 85): This ability makes the character leap at their target and apply the Thunder Clap ability to all enemies in the area when they land. Heroic Leap will be usable in Battle Stance and shares a cooldown with Charge, but the Juggernaut and Warbringer talents will allow Heroic Leap to be used in any stance and possibly while in combat. The cooldown for this ability might be longer than the Charge ability, but it will also apply a stun effect so you can make sure the target will still be there when you land.

http://forums.worldofwarcraft.com/th...38612592&sid=1

So the Friends and Family alpha has started, and of course, those folks have broken NDA and given us a wealth of information.

MMO-Champion - World of Warcraft Guides and Raid Strategies

I wouldn't say they "broke" NDA as I'm pretty sure he wouldn't have posted it if Blizzard didn't give the thumbs up. :3:

Also, since that place is a giant clusterfuck:

MMO-Champion Cataclysm Crawler Index of screens and all that.

Org looks amazing!

I rather like the new maps, they look detailed and refined. 1k needles looks pretty good too. Oh. Don't forget about deathwing.

Hm, mmo-champ is down. hah.

That does look really impressive, though. I just kind of hope character models get the same polishing. They look so dated and lame now, even with the stylized toon look.

It's still up for me.

I might have to take back my "breaking NDA" comment. Apparently the Alpha client got leaked out, which caused the shit to hit the fan. No sense in keeping some of these things under the hat when a good portion of the internets can build sandboxes and sift through it :tpg:

Also:



Reminds me of the car from the Filmation's Ghostbusters cartoon. lol

Yeah, it's working for me now.

The new stuff looks really cool. I just wish I had a character slot for something new. Oh well~

Professions changes and updates for Cataclyms (also Beta starting really soon according to a Blue)

While the Cataclysm updates to many of the professions are still deep in development, we wanted to share some of the work that's been going on, as well as a high-level look at any lessons learned or changes to their underlying philosophies during the design process. Please be aware that not all professions have the same extent of information available right now, but each is receiving the same love and attention as the next.

Take heed of these teasers as you look forward to your new rank of Illustrious Grand Master!

Please enjoy!

General

* Perks will continue to exist across all professions, and will upgraded appropriately.


Blacksmithing, Leatherworking, and Tailoring

* Many of the green (and possibly some blue) items made during the process of leveling these professions will contain random stats. In most examples, two stats on these items will be set, and two will be random. The idea with these items is to mix up the skill leveling items so you're not just, for example, creating 10 pairs of boots that are all exactly the same.
* Superior-quality items that require more materials than other recipes in the same skill range provide multiple skill-ups. For example, if a recipe takes three times the reagents, it will give you three skill-ups.
* We didn't feel like we were getting much flexibility from specializations, so they have been removed for all three of these professions. The intent was to help people diversify their profession to feel different from that of other players, but through other professions we've found systems that work better to this end, such as simply making recipes available that you can earn over time.
* To follow up the previous change, all items that required a specialization are now useable by anyone.
* Tailoring the high-end Cataclysm items will center around a single cloth type that can be crafted through five different recipes -- each with their own material components and a long cooldown.
* All three professions will create their starter sets of PVP gear, which will be upgraded with new recipes every season. In general, these are meant to keep pace as an entry-level PvP set below whatever the current Hero Point set is.


Alchemy

* New elixirs will be about 75% as strong as flasks. So you can get more total stat points with two elixirs, but flasks will still be the best at giving you a single offensive or defensive stat.
* New unique material used by nearly all high-level recipes will be created by alchemists on a one-day cooldown.
* New Mysterious Potion created with common materials restores health and mana in a massively random range, as well as sometimes granting the benefit of another potion. The health and mana range is from 1-20,000 and is able to crit. The minimum amount restored, however, is scaled upwards by the Alchemy skill, making it a great choice for alchemists to keep for themselves.
* All potions and elixirs now use the same basic vial type. Flasks still use a fancy vial.
* New Alchemist Stone.


Enchanting
In general, material component costs for most recipes are more moderate in how much they require, while the highest-end recipes will still require large quantities. The goal of this change is to make the leveling recipes more consistent and not create unintended roadblocks in getting to the higher skill levels.
An enchanter vanity pet is being added.

New Cataclysm weapon enchantment preview:

* Avalanche -- Chance to deal Nature damage on melee hit/spell hit.
* Elemental Slayer -- As expected, this enchantment helps players deal devastating damage to elemental creatures.
* Hurricane -- A stacking haste proc.
* Heartsong -- Mana regeneration through increased Spirit when chain-casting spells.
* Many more maximum-level enchantments are still in progress.


Engineering

* Engineering is still being designed, but expect new unpredictable gadgets to use on yourself or enemies. Toys, explosives, and even a new vanity pet or two. Oh, and powerful mechanical bows and crossbows in addition to guns.
* In general, we want Engineering to remain a tradeskill mainly focused on creating fun or useful gadgets for the engineer, but we are exploring options for items that can be sold to other players for profit.


Inscription

* With the large number of class changes coming with Cataclysm, many existing glyphs will see new functionality.
* Minor glyphs are woefully uneven from one class to the next right now, so they're a focus for us to clean them up and try to ensure that everyone has minor glyphs they're excited about.
* New Darkmoon Cards will be added, with hopes they'll all be as awesome as the Greatness card.
* We'll be adding more major glyphs as well, but in the hopes of making them as balanced as possible, we'll likely wait until after the expansion ships to add any for the new abilities in Cataclysm.
* New and more desirable off-hand and relic recipes will be added.


Jewelcrafting

* Some gem colors have changed! Hit is now blue. Mastery and Dodge are yellow. Intellect is now red. These simple changes have created a much more diverse matrix of gem cuts.
* New Jewelcrafting dailies will be introduced.
* Many cuts are being added to support the new Mastery stat.
* Some new Cataclysm jewelry recipes have completely random properties, and can sometimes create superior and epic versions.
* Jewelcrafters will have some fun new (and potentially lucrative) vanity items, including fist weapons, rhinestone sunglasses, monocles, and stardust (sprinkle on players for entertainment).


Herbalism, Skinning, and Mining

* All Cataclysm herbs have the chance of containing Volatile Life.
* There won't be a new Lotus equivalent in Cataclysm. Alchemists will use the more reliably-found Volatile Life to create the new high level flasks.


Herb Example:

* "Heartblossom -- Named for its deep red color, this delicate flower grows close to the ground, and always in pairs. If one blossom is taken, the other flower begins to wilt immediately and dies soon after. It is considered very unlucky to disturb a Heartblossom without blessing it first."
* Savage Leather, the basic Cataclysm leather, can be gathered from most creatures found in the expansion areas and can be converted to Heavy Savage Leather at a 6:1 rate.
* Pristine Hide, the rare Cataclysm hide, can be found when skinning creatures in the expansion areas, or be converted from Heavy Savage Leather.
* Obsidian is the new common mineral found when mining in Cataclysm, and can contain gems, Volatile Fire, and Volatile Shadow.
* Elementium is the new uncommon mineral found when mining in Cataclysm, and can contain gems, Volatile Fire, Volatile Water, or Volatile Earth.
* Pyrite is the new rare mineral found when mining in Cataclysm, and can contain gems and Volatile Fire.
* Previous Elementium Ore and Bar used for classic quests will be renamed to Elementium Ingot and Hardened Elementium Bar.
* We like the gathering perks as they are; not a game-changing bonus but something themed and fun. But as all tradeskills are in the design stages these are still being discussed to a degree.


Cooking

* Cooking is still in the early stages, but we plan on continuing with daily quests, feasts, and some fun new recipes.
* We liked the cooking dailies that had players picking up items that spawned in the world near the quest giver, so most if not all new cooking dailies will work similarly.


First Aid

* Bandages will have a short cast time and put a heal over time effect on the target for 8 seconds. This effect is broken by damage.
* Three new bandages! That's right: THREE!


Bandage preview:

* "Dense Embersilk Bandage" Heals for 34,800 over 8 seconds. Requires 3 Embersilk to create.


Fishing

* Lots of new fish and other fun items to catch! Fish are still used to make premium food.
* New fishing dailies.

Ah man, I will miss 5 yard increase on pick pocket!!

It is shit like this that I quit so long ago. going from 5800 to 34k? how much more casual are they going to make this game ffs. on top of that it is now a heal over time, yes it will still be removed when you get hit, but you dont have to do the math to see the overpowered use that can have in arena if you are a rogue or standing out of line of sight.

The developers have been making so many stupid decisions since the end of TBC it is unfucking believable. Badge of triumph from heroics? Tier 9 from heroics? and I read the thing about next expansion 10 man and 25 man having the same loot table, wow thats just ridiculous. They arent even hiding the fact that they are catering to the casuals who play this game 3 hours a week anymore. It can make me so angry!

Makes me wonder how well it acutally goes for Blizzard when speaking of WoW. Are they loosing players?

It is hit or miss with me. On one hand I'm glad I don't have to be in some uber top end guild to see the end stuff, on the other it opened the floodgates for retarded "mandatory" addons like Gearscore and assholes who think because they die one time or there is just one wipe, the entire group sucks and they drop.

But you can blame a huge chunk of these changes on Activision, since it's about the time when they swallowed up Blizzard, all these "casual" changes are being made.

I for one like the loot change for 10 man. Now me and my closest friends wont feel obligated to run a 25 man guild(Drama, constant quitters, new recruits all the time, gearing new people, teaching new people)to get all the best loot and achievements. Just have our drunken 10 man challenge/fun without worrying about the other 15 people we don't know as well.

The health has doubled every expansion hasn't it? I don't know if it makes it more casual since it's all relative. What I do know is it makes soloing old content very possible and fun. The new bandages seem perfect for raiding since they are currently nearly pointless. But definitely overpowered for pvp. 34,800 healed probably means 70k - 100k health pool.

Oh, I have no doubt that it is Activision that is pulling the strings, they have been for at least very start of WotLK. I also agree that it probably means they lost quite a few players over the years, but of course they would never announce such things.

Gearscore is one of the examples yes. Maybe im nostalgic here, but 25 man raids should never have been puggable with a bunch of retards, and man I have seen some retards in those pugs before I quit. There have been so many gamebreaking changes over the years that made the game so easy, that I finally just quit because of it. I got tired of walking in Dalaran and seeing everyone with the same gear. Hell, the hunter I made out of boredom had full epics 245 level gear in 2 weeks after dinging 80. I rest my case.

Dont get me wrong I can see the appeal for a small bunch of friends with the 10 man change, but thats not why they did it. They did it because according to them, the 25 man raiders were double dipping in 10 mans too, THAT is a load of crap.
Seeing as how fucking patheticly easy the 25 mans are these days they could have EASILY pugged the 25 mans themselfs. I mean I dont know how puggable Icecrown is, but I pugged up to Trial of the Crusader on one of my alts, and managed to clear it with the biggest bunch of idiots you ever saw, so I dont think that was a valid excuse to put this change in.

More importantly, this change is even worse then when they changed 40 man raids to 25 mans, because lets face it, why would you want to do 25 man raids when you can just do 10 man raids? I dont see the benefits of 25 mans with this change.

My friends keep nagging me to come back to WoW, but honestly, I quit like 5 times now, but this time its final. I just dont like what WoW has turned into. Remember Star Wars Galaxies? That is what's happening.