Grommash HellscreamIssue 105: The world lost a wonderful and extraordinary soul this past week with the passing of comedian Robin Williams. His television shows and movies have been a part of my life since I was a kid and I feel utterly heartbroken by his passing, and even Blizzard responded to his death. RIP Oh Captain, My Captain! On a lighter note, Gamescom is happening this week in Germany. If anything noteworthy to the MMO community comes out of it, you should see something about it below.

Blizzard has finally released the official cinematic for Warlords of Draenor as well as the release date for the expansion. Bioware has some new things to show regarding the Dragon Age franchise and more about the Star Trek Online expansion that was announced last week. I’ll be honest, there is a lot about World of Warcraft in this issue because there are quite a few new details coming out about the upcoming expansion. There seems to be a lot more pomp and circumstance around the fifth expansion (probably because Blizzard has been bleeding subscribers). In any event, there are other things below that are not related to World of Warcraft. Enjoy!

Blizzard to Memorialize Robin Williams

Posted 8.12.14 – Following the tragic death of Robin Williams, WoW player Jacob Holgate started a petition to ask Blizzard to create an NPC dedicated to Robin Williams memory. Robin was an avid WoW player on the Mannoroth server where he would often troll people (shocker). Robin was really into video games in general (in fact he named his daughter Zelda after his favorite game). The world is a little darker after his passing, but I’m glad Blizzard responded in less than 24 hours.
Massively post

More About STO: Delta Rising

Posted 8.12.14 – If you are familiar with any of the Star Trek television series, then perhaps you already know that Delta Quadrant was the section of space where Voyager took place. In the last MMO Times post Cryptic revealed the next Star Trek Online expansion which will be taking place in the Delta Quadrant (although I don’t think you will be running into Captain Janeway). The post that I provided the link to discusses this expansion more from the STO universe perspective and has little to do with the features. It’s purely for the Trekkie lore-nerd. Engage!
Massively post

Gameplay Video of Dragon Age: Inquisition

Posted 8.13.14 – At Gamescom Bioware unveiled some game play footage up their next installment of the Dragon Age franchise, Dragon Age: Inquisition. I have not played Dragon Age or Dragon Age 2, but I know a few people really enjoyed the games. The video shows some details about the level-up process as well as the new villain. It’s a 7 minute video because its a recording of the live stream.
Kotaku post

ESO Update Coming In September

Posted 8.13.14 – Elder Scrolls Online will be getting Update 4 next month (which is just a couple weeks away, believe it or not).  This is going to be a major content patch that will include new adventure zones, new trials and challenges and new bad guys. There is a trailer to watch if you’re interested. I’ve heard mixed reviews about ESO so I don’t know if this update will help or hurt the game. Are any of you playing ESO? What are some of your thoughts?
Massively post

Warlords of Draenor Cinematic

Posted 8.14.14 – As promised Blizzard unveiled the Warlords of Draenor cinematic as well as the release date of the fifth expansion. If you haven’t seen it yet (which would be totally surprising) then you definitely need to check out the link to watch the video). There are also details about the animated lore mini-series Lords of War, which looks like its going to be pretty amazing. Click on the MMO Champion link to see all the videos from the reveal (the cinematic, features trailer, Lords of War mini-series).
WoW Insider post | MMO-Champion post

New Group Finder Tool in WoD

Posted 8.14.14 – Blizzard is adding a new tool for players to use in Warlords of Draenor; a Group Finder tool. This is different than the dungeon and raid finder tools, this is for those group/party quests or even perhaps rep grinding quests (such as the ones I see on the Timeless Isle all the time – btw, what is with the “frog groups” on the Timeless Isle, am I missing something there?). At any rate, I can see how this might be a useful tool, hopefully it will reduce the number of people that suddenly decide to send you a random group invite when I’m up there killing mobs for Emperor Shaohao rep (sorry dudes, I’m a loner and a loner has to be alone).
Massively post

World of Warcraft 2 a Possiblity

Posted 8.15.14 – I bet you weren’t expecting to read that headline, but during an interview with Tom Chilton at Gamescom he was asked if there would ever be a “World of Warcraft 2” and his answer was very surprising. He alleges that a sequel has been something Blizzard has been discussing for 10 years (which is the entire lifespan of the World of Warcraft). I guess its not outside the realm of possibilities that there could be a sequel. How do you follow up a game like WoW that would become equally as successful? I think it would definitely be a challenge because I imagine lots of the people that have left the game don’t really want to do the same thing again in a sequel unless they actually develop something that is beyond everyone expectations.
Kotaku post
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