Dear Time Travelers,
We asked you, our community for questions you had leading into the release of Northrend here on Chromiecraft. We thank you all for the questions asked, which we have split into different sections and combined below.
Raids
- Hi, do you plan to buff the raids or they will be like the original ones?
Our aim is to follow the pre-nerf values for raids in Northrend, thus remaining with the spirit of progression as it was back in 2008 to 2010, if possible (given the need to acquire such data). If not then we will be going off the 3.3.5a values but we will clearly communicate this before the raids release. We are moving away from the two-tiered ‘mythic’ system we had in place during earlier raid releases. What we haven’t ruled out however would be the potential for Naxxramas to have some difficulty bump, given the trivial nature of the raid, as they did in the classic re-release. - Any chance we will get the mythic point system in wrath?
The mythic system is being discontinued in Wrath. Whilst we felt it necessary to find a good middle ground due to the power increase players had in Vanilla & TBC, this isn’t the case anymore now we are moving into Northrend. We also found it difficult to really dedicate the time needed to ensure both the ‘regular’ and ‘mythic’ versions of the raids were properly checked. Parking this will enable the team to focus more on the raid release without concerns being raised about tuning values, except potentially in Naxx as mentioned previously. - In the naxx phase, plagued and black proto-drake will be available as achievement reward? What about other raids?
Yes, achievement mounts are available during that bracket only, as it was up to patch 3.1.0 on retail. Once the bracket is passed, you can get the achievement still but not the reward. - Are there considerations to increase the item level of Ulduar gear, commiserate to Wrath Classic, in order to address the irrelevance the raid sees as soon as Trial releases? This was done on classic servers?
No, we are not implementing changes what was brought with the re-release of Wrath Classic, our focus being the original 3.0-3.3.5 release - Which raids will become available at what point? Is it finalised or would we expect more changes?
You can see the list of raid releases on our progression page on the website – https://www.chromiecraft.com/en/progression/. No changes to the release of raids will be made
Development
- Would it be possible to stick with the original mindset of Chromiecraft? Almost bugfree server, there is currently in github issues with 10-19 level range, yet opening more content will bring more issues to fix, more people share the same opinion of postponing this release
The original purpose of Chromiecraft is as it has been from day one, staggered progression of all content in a 3.3.5a server to find and fix each and every bug. With over 10,000 issues reported, we have closed an incredible 8200+ since we started this journey. If we were solely focusing on resolving each and every bug before we release new content, it would be impossible as not all bugs would be reported and our sanity of being in Vanilla still would have lead the team to go even more crazy than we are already. We also would have next to no players to actually report and help us test the fixes we push if we don’t continue to go through progression plans. Those same people with concerns should help us more with fixes, it is impossible to get a 100% bug free experience (it doesn’t even exist on the ones who made the game) and we will need to go through all content again one day to mop up all regressions and missed bugs. Given the volunteer nature of the role, this was always a multi-year to even multi-decade plan to make this work. TL;Dr, our philosophy is identical from day one - Right now I imagine the bulk of the effort is spent on northrend related issues, however the server also has a number of long lived class/spell related bugs. Where in the priority list do these issues stand? (an answer like «below northrend world issues, above ulduar raid issues» is more than enough)
We introduced milestone boards anybody can see on our GitHub (https://github.com/azerothcore/azerothcore-wotlk/milestones), actually our focus over the last few weeks has been on core issues, such as movement flags, leashing, logging capabilities, core modernisations and even updated mmaps. As an open-source volunteer project, anybody can pick up anything they want at anytime, our core team however is working around 60/40 on legacy issues mentioned above and Northrend issues we are aware of - hello! with the introduction of wrath, would you consider applying some fixes that are online on wrath classic, like fire munching (issue #7028) given that fire mage will become super relevant at later stages of the patch, or would you stick to how wrath used to be, even unintended, back in 2008? (see article on Wowhead «Ignite Munching And Why Mages Wanted A Fix – WotLK Classic PTR 3.4.2»)
As answered previously in the raid section, our aim is to have the game as was during the original release of Wrath, not the classic re-release. - Why will there be no pause at 75, i understand there is less development required at the 71-80 bracket but i feel it keeps with the CC spirit to allow unique play though at these mid level
Simply put, the historic focus of Northrend on Azerothcore negated the need to have a sharper focuses on specific levels in Northrend, compared to Vanilla & TBC. This allows a much cleaner progression for our players and a better experience. - How does the team prioritise fixes, who does what and how do you keep motivated throughout all these years to keep on fixing items?
Our core dev team will look at current impacting issues as well as the next release. That was one of the reasons we released Chromiecraft from the Azerothcore team, it allows us to have sharper focus on specific areas rather than having everything open and questions where to start to fix everything. Motivation is always a hard one, many of us have been working tirelessly for the last few years for no reward other than the satisfaction of getting the job done. Not having to be financially dependent on this of course helps (not a single person has this as their job, given the non-profit nature of the server and reinvesting all money back into running the server) but burn out is natural. We have had people come and go then return, hence why we also have a much slower release cadency vs every other server to avoid burnout (our release schedule is fully controlled by the devs and we do what we can, when we can). We are doing this because we simply love the game and we fully believe everyone is entitled to being able to jump into this world for free and have a wonderful, as bug-free as possible open-source experience for life. We of course all have a full time job outside of this, families, kids etc what we prioritise, CC is very much a ‘side hobby’ for everyone but happy we can give back to this community
PvP
- Will Wintergrasp be Horde vs Alliance, and if so, are there any plans on balance buffs for whichever side has fewer players? Secondly, how will the attached dungeon work? If I remember correctly, you need to have control of Wintergrasp to enter the Keep (safely). Will there be inside the raid summons available aside from Warlock?
As it stands, it will be launched ‘as is’, (aka horde vs alliance), we are looking into ways to have the crossfaction in play or potentially a balance system if one faction greatly outnumbers the other if possible. VoA will continue to be a cross-faction raid as with other raids. - Will arena teams start at 1000-1500 rate? ( whole season passed and not 1 team could’ve bought items with 200+ games….)
1500 rating is looking like it will be the starting point, we are also looking into the rate rating is gained and lost as well . This will be finalised before the release of Arena Season 5. - Do you have any plans addressing the unavailability of current season arena gear comes wrath (eg removing rating requirements) or will it remain «blizzlike» for the lvl80 bracket?
If we would have the arena population then ideally we would like it to remain Blizzlike, however if that isn’t the case then adjustments will be made to items to ensure they can be earnt. That ties in with the point made above regarding start rates as well as rate rating calculations. - Given the amount of custom stuff done for PvP in TBC and the crowd not really enjoying PvP on Chromiecraft, can we just have PvP as it should be with nothing custom going forward?
We need to be realistic regarding PvP here on Chromiecraft, it is a small (yet very passionate) group of people who still deserve some love to make PvP more accessible to all, thus allowing them to partake more in their chosen activity on the server. Hence the changes made to bring in the custom Season 1-4 in TBC, arena gear for gold / honor / marks, increased ratings, 3vs3SoloQ / 1s and lowered reward levels rather than what would only be Battlegrounds in TBC given arenas are level 80 endeavours in a 3.3.5a server. In an ideal world we would have left the game systems as is but the changes we felt were necessary, however now we are moving into a ‘Wrath’ server now, we will be reviewing the systems introduced if they are required still going forward when we start to look at Arena Season 5.
Gameplay on Chromiecraft
- Hi! I’d like to know when there will be more events organized by GMs. I remember there were some back in vanilla brackets during world bosses bracket. It was fun finding hidden objects or fighting against custom bosses for prizes, I’d like them to return!
Whilst we cannot promise custom bosses again, we have been running quite a few events over the last few weeks in game which hopefully you were able to catch and will continue to do so when we have the time on our hands to run these. - What exactly will be available with the launch of Northrend? Will we have immediate access to Heroic dungeons? What is the ETA for Naxx availability after that?
You can see our progression plans on the website – https://www.chromiecraft.com/en/progression/. Re ETA for Naxx, we answered that in more detail on another question below. - Are we able to get release dates for future releases?
Unfortunately, no. Chromiecraft operates completely differently compared to any other private server out there, as in we exist to fix content rather than just release it and be done with it. As our whole mission is to fix Azerothcore to the best of our abilities, we need to do as much raid polishing as we can before we release it to our playerbase who can enjoy it and report any issues not picked up by the team. Definitely when we complete our progression plans with this version of Chromiecraft and the need being there to re-run all content again to pick up on any regressions or issues on a new realm, then yes we would be in a position to place fixed dates in place. For now however, that isn’t something we can support but will always give a good months notice in advance of raid releases. - Can the Joyous Journeys buff be disabled if players wish to continue levelling without it?
Of course – the same.weekendxp rate 1applies here. The same for the Scroll of Resurrection for returning players, that can be disabled using.rscroll restedxp off. - Will there be Server First achievements?
You bet! Don’t worry, these haven’t been taken up by the GM team as well (I think I’ve earnt (Construct) realm first level 80 priest a good 7 times or so now given the checks we need to make before raid releases on the live server with the GM status turned off on our characters). - With WotLK being released the server gets into it’s final content phases. Though WotLK will probably go on for 2 years, are there already plans, for what happens after WotLK? Will the server just stay in the final WotLK phase or will it reset to Vanilla and restart again? Or are there maybe some plans to make something like AzerothCore for Cata aswell, so CC could maybe even progress further?
We alluded to it earlier, that it was always going to be a multi-year project this to perfect Azerothcore. Regressions happen and bugs get missed, despite the fact we have closed off over 8000 issues to date, we have a lot still to do even in the first brackets we went through so we can see value in creating a new realm once we complete our progression plans here. We have no plans however to continue into Cataclysm, with the codebase of Azerothcore firmly rooted in being a Wrath of the Lich King core. - How will the Challenges change when Northrend opens?
These will remain up to level 70, with potential to look at these later on in the future (not something currently in plan however).
One final question
- I chopped some peppers before writing this. In order to see the monitor better, I just rubbed my eyes with the same hands. Now my question changed. All I want to ask is, how are you folks? I wish you the best in life.
We hope you are having a brilliant day as well, all the best right back at you! That goes for everybody who makes Chromiecraft the most amazing community and project out there. Alive and kicking here as always, bring on Northrend!