RAIJIN MAKOTSU

• SMP Negeri 6 JEMBER

Blizzard recently posted a sneak peak of the new cat and bear forms that will be available for troll and worgen Druids in the upcoming Cataclym expansion, and you can check out the screenshots after the jump. The infamous troll tusks and hair play a prominent role in that race's animal forms, while the worgen forms are distinguished by their teeth and claws.
What do you think of the new designs? Which race are you more likely to pick if you plan on rolling a new druid in the expansion? Let us know in the comments section, or head over to our WoW general forum for more discussion surrounding Cataclysm.
Worgen Cat Form


Worgen Bear Form


Troll Cat Form


Troll Bear Form

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Q. What was the original concept for the zone?
A. The concept for Ashenvale was to show the effects of the Cataclysm while taking the opportunity to streamline the zone's level design. There were areas of Ashenvale that were pretty unfriendly in terms of accessibility and quest flow. The level designers and quest designers worked together to alleviate the problem areas and highlight the big changes.
Q. Who will be using this zone (what levels/factions)?
A.Both Horde and Alliance players, roughly from levels 20–25. We anticipate that this will be a well-traveled zone in terms of general player flow.
Q. Without giving up any spoilers, what's the general storyline for this zone? How has it changed from the original design?
A. Among other catastrophes, an enormous volcano has erupted in central Ashenvale. As the night elves struggle to deal with the chaos caused by the Cataclysm, the Horde is seizing what it perceives to be a golden opportunity. Garrosh Hellscream's forces are now bearing down upon the night elves and have overtaken several key positions that once served as Alliance strongholds. There is a definite feeling that the balance of power in this region now teeters on a goblin tripwire….

These changes also mean that Horde players will have much more to do in Ashenvale.
Q. What do you think is the most exciting new feature of the zone?
A.Visually, it has to be the volcano. It's stunning, and it provides a great landmark in a place otherwise known for its dense forest. Thematically, the tension present in the zone gives it a whole new feel. The Horde is barricaded inside the walls of Splintertree Post under a massive assault by the night elves and their allies. Meanwhile, Astranaar is desperately fighting off waves of Hellscream's forces. Practically everywhere you go in Ashenvale, it's impossible to escape the fact that it has become a warzone.
Q.What goes into redesigning a zone like this?
A.A bit more than meets the eye, we think. Ashenvale is deceptively large, and previously there were many issues in terms of quest flow and Horde/Alliance content balance. Soon after we rolled up our sleeves and broke ground, we realized that our work was cut out for us. There were numerous quests we wanted to keep, but there were also a great many that no longer fit or didn't play out efficiently. We also needed to create a variety of new quests, especially ones "For the Horde"™.
Q. What was the most challenging aspect about implementing these changes?
A. It can actually be a bit tougher to come in and "do surgery" to an existing zone than it is to completely gut it and start from scratch. Given our ambitious time constraints, trying to determine what stays, what goes, and what other changes to make is certainly a challenge.
Q. What should players do or go see first?
A.Horde players should visit the Mor'shan Rampart first. There's a new Horde contingent there who is fighting hard to make sure that no night elves escape Hellscream's onslaught -- not that they'd make it far into the Northern Barrens! Alliance players who come down from Darkshore will want to help defend Maestra's Post and Astranaar as both settlements struggle to keep from falling under Hellscream's control.
Q. Who seems to have the upper hand in the zone: the Horde, the Alliance, or the elementals?
A.The Horde and the Alliance are throwing themselves at each other on many fronts; neither has a clear upper hand here. The elementals in Ashenvale are a minor nuisance in comparison to the faction struggle.
Q. Should we expect any changes within Blackfathom Deeps?
A.There are no significant changes planned for Blackfathom Deeps at this time.
Q.What has happened to Silverwind Refuge?
A.The Horde has happened!
Q. What has changed the most: the storyline or the terrain?
A.The amount of change has been pretty equal between storyline and terrain. The terrain is much less frustrating than before, and the visual results of the Cataclysm tell the story as much as the quests do. Story-wise, the theme hasn't changed so much as its intensity has.

Blizzard poster Bashiok has just posted an in-depth explanation of the PvE/PvP currency system changes that are coming in Cataclysm, and it's an informative read. The lengthy post can be found in its entirety after the jump, but I'll attempt to summarize the important parts.
The upcoming 4.0 patch will convert Emblems of Triumph and Frost into Justice Points (PvE), and Arena Points, Honor Points, Battleground Marks of Honor, Stone Keeper's Shards, Venture Coins, and Spirit Shards into Honor Points (PvP). Simple, right? All PvE badges below Frost and Triumph will be converted into gold.
There will be a limit to the amount of new currencies you can hold, but Blizzard's providing a grace period in the form of a soft cap. This means your conversion can go over the hard cap, but you can't earn more until you go below the hard cap. Here's an example: the conversion gives you 4,200 Justice Points, but the hard cap is 4,000. You'll have to spend some points to dip under 4,000 before you can earn more. Another patch before Cataclysm will actually enforce the hard cap, and your excess points will be turned into gold.
Keep reading below for more details. Bashiok said that all conversion math should be posted tomorrow afternoon if you're curious how many Justice and Honor Points you're going to earn in patch 4.0.

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From Bashiok's post:

As we discussed in our previous announcement (http://forums.worldofwarcraft.com/thread.html?topicId=24401796793), we're refining the currency systems used for purchasing PvE and PvP items in World of Warcraft: Cataclysm, and the transition to this new system will take place in two stages. Today, we're going into more detail on how these changes will be rolled out, so if you haven't yet, make sure to check out the prior article to get up to speed on the currency names.

One change of note since that original announcement is that we've changed the name of the low-tier PvE currency from Hero Points to Justice Points. The original announcement post has been updated to reflect this.

Out With the Old

In the upcoming 4.0 patch we'll begin the first stage of the conversion to the new currencies. Emblems of Triumph and Emblems of Frost will be converted into Justice Points. For this initial conversion there will be a soft cap of points you can have, with a hard cap enforced later as detailed below. All PvE emblems and badges below Frost and Triumph will be converted into gold. This even includes legacy badges, like Badges of Justice. If any of these older currencies are converted into gold, the player will receive it through an in-game letter.

At this time any bosses a player defeats that are level-appropriate to them (and previously awarded badges or emblems upon defeat) will award them with the new Justice Points. Similarly, any items that previously cost emblems or badges of any type will now cost Justice Points instead.

On the PvP side, Season 8 will end with the release of patch 4.0, and all Arena Points, Honor Points, any leftover Battleground Marks of Honor, Stone Keeper's Shards, Venture Coins, and Spirit Shards will be converted into the new Honor Points. The new Honor Point pool will also have a soft cap for these conversions, but a hard cap will be enforced later. At the time of conversion, items that previously cost Honor or Arena Points will be sold in exchange for the new Honor Points. Rated Arenas and Rated Battlegrounds won't be available again until Season 9 (shortly after the release of Cataclysm), when they can be entered to win the higher-tier PvP Conquest Points.

In addition, purchasing any item with these secondary currencies (Honor Points and Justice Points) will now require that the purchaser meet the item's minimum level requirement.

It's important to note that these conversions are not 1:1, but are indicative of the level and relative worth of each before the conversion to the new point systems. For example, Stone Keeper's Shards will convert into more Honor Points than Spirit Shards.

Tip of the Cap

While we previously announced that there's a limit to the amount of these new currencies you can stockpile, we're providing a grace period in the form of a soft cap. This soft cap will allow the initial conversion to push the amount owned over the cap, but will not allow any further points to be earned (or returned through item refunds) until enough points are spent to put you below the hard cap.

For instance, a player has 3000 Emblems of Triumph, and 1200 Emblems of Frost; at the time of conversion they'll be given 4200 Justice Points. The hard cap for Justice Points is 4000, so that player won't be able to earn any more Justice Points until he or she spends enough points to reduce the total to under 4000. This also applies to the new PvP Honor Points, which also have a cap of 4000.

Shortly before Cataclysm is released, another patch will enforce the hard cap, marking the second stage of the currency conversion. Any Justice or Honor Points above the hard cap will be converted to gold, and just like in the first stage of the conversion, the player will receive an in-game letter explaining that some of their currencies were converted into gold as well as delivering the gold itself.
Let us know what you think and if you have any questions. We're planning to post all of the conversion math tomorrow afternoon for those that want to know how many of each they'll be getting.

Blizzard posted an informative look at the upcoming PvE/PvP currency changes yesterday, and they've fulfilled their promise of posting the conversion math today. It can get a little confusing, but here's the main idea straight from Nethaera: "Just know that our intent is to appropriately value each mark and provide a conversion we feel is fair."
As a reminder from yesterday's post, the upcoming 4.0 patch will convert Emblems of Triumph and Frost into Justice Points (PvE), and Arena Points, Honor Points, Battleground Marks of Honor, Stone Keeper's Shards, Venture Coins, and Spirit Shards into Honor Points (PvP). All PvE badges below Frost and Triumph will be converted into gold.
According to the math post, your Emblems of Heroism, Valor and Conquest will be converted to 5.5 gold each. Badges of Justice will be turned into 1.833 gold each. I'll leave it to Nethaera to explain exactly how many Justice Points and Honor Points you can expect to have once this change goes live. All the details can be found after the jump.

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From Nethaera's post:

Here's some information on how each of the currencies will be converted in the next content patch. Keep in mind these values may change, and they can get a bit math heavy. Just know that our intent is to appropriately value each mark and provide a conversion we feel is fair.

The following items are immediately converted to gold:

• Emblem of Heroism = 5.5 gold each
• Emblem of Valor = 5.5 gold each
• Emblem of Conquest = 5.5 gold each
• Badge of Justice = 1.833 gold each

Your New Honor Points total will be the sum of the following amounts:

• Old Honor * 0.024
• Old Arena Points * 0.85
• Battleground Mark of Honor * 2.976
• Wintergrasp Mark of Honor * 19.08
• Stone Keeper Shard * 1.6
• Venture Coin * 3
• Spirit Shard * 1

Your Justice Points total will be equal to (Emblems of Triumph + Emblems of Frost ) * 2.75

Again, the softcap for both Honor and Justice conversions is 4000 points. This means that if a character converts to above 4,000 points, it will not be possible for them to earn more until they fall below the 4,000 cap.

A hardcap will be implemented in a following patch before Cataclysm's release. At that time, any excess points above 4,000 will be converted as follows:

• Honor points above 4,000 are converted to gold at a rate of 35 silver per point of Honor.

Justice points above 4,000 are converted to gold at a rate of 2 gold per point of Justice.

Blizzard poster Slorkuz has posted a friendly reminder on the official World of Warcraft European forums that today marks the start of the Harvest Festival! The event runs until Sept. 23 and commemorates those who have sacrificed their lives to help their allies with feasts outside Orgrimmar and Ironforge.
September is actually a big month for in-game holidays. Pirates' Day will be held on Sept. 19 in honor of International Talk Like A Pirate Day, and the Brewfest party kicks off the next day on Sept. 20 and runs through Oct. 6. And don't forget to mark Hallow's End on your calendars (even though Blizzard already did it for you). The Halloween event begins Oct. 18 and ends Oct. 31.

One of the new additions in the Cataclysm expansion will be a new secondary profession: Archaeology.  Blizzard has recently posted some details about the new profession.  Even more exciting is the fact that they have decided to ask players to suggest artifacts that they would like to see in the game.
Lore is a great part of the game and takes what can otherwise become very repetitious and makes it interesting.  This gives players the opportunity to exercise their creativity, which I know ZAM has lots of.  User emmitsvenson has started a thread in the wow general forum, so drop by and share your thoughts.