May 2 is bound to be an exciting day for World of Warcraft players as the first major content update drops globally, introducing plenty of new content, including new seasons for Mythic+ and PvP. The recently revealed 10.1 Update Patch Notes summarize the most important changes in the biggest Dragonflight update so far.
Embers of Neltharion are set to introduce Zaralek Cavern, which comes with new quests, exploration opportunities, and rewards. There are new world events, including Fyrakk Assaults and a new raid named Aberrus, the Shadowed Crucible, featuring nine bosses and class armor sets. A new faction called Loamm Niffen has been added, which offers quests, Sniffenseeking, and snail racing.
Mythic+ Season 2 brings new dungeons and affixes. It will introduce eight dungeons, including some from previous expansions. The seasonal affix will be retired, and three new affixes will be added: Incorporeal, Afflicted, and Entangling. Keystones will receive affixes at level 7 and level 14, and the Quaking, Grievous, and Explosive affixes will be removed.
While other changes include the introduction of cross-faction guilds, a new gear upgrade system, racial customizations, class changes, dragon riding, PvP Season 2, profession improvements, and UI and accessibility enhancements.
This is one of the most exciting aspects of the new update regarding cross-faction guilds. Players can join guilds across factions now, meaning an Alliance race can join a Horde guild and vice versa. The guild leader determines the faction of the guild, and guild achievements and vendors will still reflect the guild’s faction.
All guild members can benefit from chat, repairs, and other conveniences, but opposite faction members cannot contribute to faction/PvP-oriented achievements. The guild roster will display a faction icon next to members of the other faction, and a tooltip will indicate activities that can and cannot be done together.
Valentina Kraljik is a writer and editor at Game Horizon with a deep love for everything related to video games. With a degree in Information Sciences, she brings a well-informed and unique perspective to her work. Valentina's writing is known for covering a wide range of video game genres, but she truly shines in her expertise in open-world RPGs. From offbeat euro-jank games like "Gothic" to critically acclaimed titles like "The Witcher," Valentina is well-versed in this exciting genre. Her passion for imaginative storytelling is reflected in the topics she writes about, with favorites like "Disco Elysium," "Elder Scrolls: Morrowind," "World of Warcraft," and "Mass Effect" influencing her tastes in games. Even though nothing beats a good high-fantasy setting, she often wanders into the realm of first-person shooters, occasionally even hitting the target. With a commitment to objectivity and insightful analysis, Valentina strives to bring a fresh perspective to the subjects she covers, even when exploring genres that may be unfamiliar to her. Her blend of academic rigor and creative flair sets her apart in the world of media writing.
Diablo IV’s First Big Patch Introduces Class Balance & Buffs for Underperforming Classes
Diablo IV received its first big patch for all platforms, and great emphasis has been put on underperforming classes.
The aim of the patch was to strike a balance between making players feel powerful and maintaining the health and integrity of the game. Devs acknowledged that certain class builds are overly powerful and disrupt the intended combat experience, while some classes were severely underperforming compared to their OP counterparts.
“While we want players to both feel and be truly powerful, some Class builds, and synergies are outside of our bounds for what is reasonable for the health of the game, so we are reducing their effectiveness. As an example, we generally want to avoid creating situations where players can survive unreasonably high amounts of damage for long periods of time because it too greatly warps our vision for how combat should be in Diablo IV. ”
Barbarina was affected by changes with, among other changes, damage reduction from 4 % to 2 %. Druid was affected by similar changes seeing damage reduction across several abilities, including duration reduction for “Grizzly Rage.” Necromancer, in turn, received a damage buff and reduction of cooldowns across several abilities. Rogue has drastic changes in terms of cooldown, which will significantly affect the damage output.
Other minor changes include significantly reduced the spawn rate of Treasure Goblins within PvP zones and several other bug fixes and small improvements.
Valentina Kraljik is a writer and editor at Game Horizon with a deep love for everything related to video games. With a degree in Information Sciences, she brings a well-informed and unique perspective to her work. Valentina's writing is known for covering a wide range of video game genres, but she truly shines in her expertise in open-world RPGs. From offbeat euro-jank games like "Gothic" to critically acclaimed titles like "The Witcher," Valentina is well-versed in this exciting genre. Her passion for imaginative storytelling is reflected in the topics she writes about, with favorites like "Disco Elysium," "Elder Scrolls: Morrowind," "World of Warcraft," and "Mass Effect" influencing her tastes in games. Even though nothing beats a good high-fantasy setting, she often wanders into the realm of first-person shooters, occasionally even hitting the target. With a commitment to objectivity and insightful analysis, Valentina strives to bring a fresh perspective to the subjects she covers, even when exploring genres that may be unfamiliar to her. Her blend of academic rigor and creative flair sets her apart in the world of media writing.
Minecraft 1.20 Update ‘Trails & Tales’ Has an Official Release Date
Following a lengthy silence, fans of the planetary popular sandbox game Minecraft can rejoice as the release date for the long-awaited ‘Trails & Tales’ update has been revealed.
‘Trails & Tales’ will arrive on June 7, 2023, Mojang revealed on social media.
Your journey is about to begin: The Trails & Tales Update arrives June 7! 🎉
Get ready to bring your stories to life, whether you're hatching a sniffer, exploring a cherry grove, trimming your armor, or much more. Mark your calendars and start planning! pic.twitter.com/jPNe0nyMdb
The ‘Trails & Tales’ Update introduces several new features to Minecraft 1.20. It includes a new biome called the cherry grove, which is rare but beautiful with its pink appearance. Two new wood sets, bamboo and cherry, will be added, allowing players to craft and build with them. The bamboo wood set includes a raft that can be crafted with or without a chest.
A new mob called the camel will be introduced, which can be ridden by one or two players. The camel has long legs that allow it to travel anywhere, providing a safe mode of transportation as melee mobs cannot reach the rider.
The second mob added to the game is the Sniffer. This was decided during Minecraft’s 2022 community mob vote. This gentle giant was once extinct but can now be brought back to the Overworld by finding its eggs, hatching them, and watching the snifflet grow into a full-grown sniffer.
Players will also be able to share their stories through wearable storytelling. Armor trims are being added, which can be found in different dimensions of Minecraft. These trims can be dyed in ten different colors and added to armor using a smithing table, allowing players to showcase their victories and accomplishments to others.
New features also include the ability to hang signs, providing a way to leave notes for friends or deceive enemies. Players can now create playable mob sounds by placing a mob head, including the new piglin mob head, on a note block.
For those who want to document their adventures, a new chiseled bookshelf will be added, where players can safely store books, enchanted books, and even books and quills. Redstone can be added to the bookshelf for added movement, creating a dynamic library experience.
The update also brings calibrated skulk sensors, which are more sensitive and offer exciting possibilities for redstone contraptions.
The ‘Trails & Tales’ update will be available for download on June 7 for Minecraft: Java Edition on Windows, macOS, and Linux; and Minecraft: Bedrock Edition on Xbox, PlayStation, Nintendo Switch, iOS, Android, and Chromebook.
Valentina Kraljik is a writer and editor at Game Horizon with a deep love for everything related to video games. With a degree in Information Sciences, she brings a well-informed and unique perspective to her work. Valentina's writing is known for covering a wide range of video game genres, but she truly shines in her expertise in open-world RPGs. From offbeat euro-jank games like "Gothic" to critically acclaimed titles like "The Witcher," Valentina is well-versed in this exciting genre. Her passion for imaginative storytelling is reflected in the topics she writes about, with favorites like "Disco Elysium," "Elder Scrolls: Morrowind," "World of Warcraft," and "Mass Effect" influencing her tastes in games. Even though nothing beats a good high-fantasy setting, she often wanders into the realm of first-person shooters, occasionally even hitting the target. With a commitment to objectivity and insightful analysis, Valentina strives to bring a fresh perspective to the subjects she covers, even when exploring genres that may be unfamiliar to her. Her blend of academic rigor and creative flair sets her apart in the world of media writing.
What Does Vanilla Mean in World of Warcraft & How Is It Different?
For World of Warcraft players, the term “Vanilla” often comes up in discussions about the game’s history and different versions. Playing “Vanilla” WoW was usually a badge of honor. But what exactly does it mean? Why is the Vanilla version of any game considered a big deal? To answer this question, we’ve decided to write this post, and before we continue analyzing the more complicated meaning behind the word, let’s first answer our primary question. What does Vanilla mean in World of Warcraft, and how it differs from the current version of the game?
Vanilla World of Warcraft refers to the version of the game that was played before the release of The Burning Crusade expansion. The term “Vanilla” refers to the original and unmodified version of the game and the state it was in before further changes were made to the content, story, gameplay, and other mechanics that the players used to interact with the world and play the game. The term “Vanilla wow” shouldn’t be used interchangeably with “WoW Classic” term. Those game versions are not the same, even though WoW Classic tried to recreate the original vanilla experience faithfully.
Now that we’ve covered the answer to our main question, we can move to the analysis of more complicated questions. Was Vanilla WoW harder? Is it the same as Classic WoW? If you’re interested in answers to these questions, stay with us and keep reading!
What is Vanilla World of Warcraft?
Vanilla World of Warcraft was a version of WoW before The Burning Crusade was released. The term Vanilla often refers to something boring and plain and without flavor, and it’s a pretty common term to describe just about anything. The term is widely used in gaming as well. It often refers to the “pre-modified” versions of the game if modding is available.
Vanilla WoW was a cruel and rugged place, and it was anything but boring, however. Most people look back to the original version of the game with rose-tinted glasses claiming that almost every aspect of the game was better than it is today. But it is far from the truth. The game was difficult, at times confusing, and extremely gritty. It was hard to get into due to balancing issues, and the world was much smaller than it is today.
Vanilla WoW Map
World of Warcraft will turn 19 this year, and nine major expansions have been released over the course of its history. Most of those expansions added something new. New races, classes, content, mechanics, overhauls, and the game is pretty much unrecognizable these days. Sure some things stuck from the beginning, such as the unique art style and the core of what made classes unique, as well as some questing systems, but overall the game improved greatly over time. It’s much more noob-friendly these days and welcoming for players that never had the privilege to play it “from the beginning.”
The game is objectively easier than it was before, but not for the reasons you might think. I’ve mentioned before that the players are looking at the game’s Vanilla version through rose-tinted glasses. It’s true for the most part. Veterans were complaining that the current version of the game was too easy and that the game was straight-up ruined. They demanded an authentic experience, and eventually, Blizzard gave in and decided to recreate the Vanilla experience.
In 2019, World of Warcraft Classic was released, recreating the game as it was in 2006 after patch 1.12, before the launch of the first expansion. This means that the maximum level for player characters is 60, and none of the content from later expansions is available. The gameplay mechanics are exactly the same as the original version, but with some modern enhancements and bug fixes from later expansions integrated in. Currently, Classic WoW is on Wrath of the Lich King expansion, as some progress had to be made in order for players to feel like they have some kind of sense of progressing through the game.
What are the differences between Classic WoW and Vanilla WoW?
Regarding content and other related mechanics, Classic WoW and Vanilla WoW are exactly the same game. The things that changed are the community and the way through which we interact with the game.
Most people didn’t miss the horrible PvP of the Vanilla WoW or terribly unbalanced classes. It was the socializing and the sense of newness and excitement that, unfortunately, cannot be recreated. Grouping up and raiding in Vanilla WoW was impossible without forming some kind of bond with your fellow group members. You have to actively participate in WoW’s social network to progress through the game, and that’s the part that people missed the most and the part that got ruined over the years through various implemented systems that made looking for other players easier and instant.
Besides this, even though the Vanilla version was hard, we’re more knowledgeable about the game nowadays. There are plenty of resources online and tools at our disposal to make that experience easier. The addon community is massive when compared to Vanilla WoW too.
Vanilla WoW had only 8 races to choose from
But in a technical sense, the only differences between WoW Classic and Vanilla WoW are related to the WoW client and the newly-introduced layering. Besides that, most modern functions of the game have been removed, and most modern features that made grouping up easier were removed as well. The game was an almost perfect recreation of the Vanilla. WoW, at least regarding the game’s difficulty, content, mobs, mechanics, and other significant aspects.
Overall, WoW classic was nice and successfully attempted to recreate the game’s original version, and players were into it for a time. It eventually lost its appeal, and most players reverted to the current version of the game.
Valentina Kraljik is a writer and editor at Game Horizon with a deep love for everything related to video games. With a degree in Information Sciences, she brings a well-informed and unique perspective to her work. Valentina's writing is known for covering a wide range of video game genres, but she truly shines in her expertise in open-world RPGs. From offbeat euro-jank games like "Gothic" to critically acclaimed titles like "The Witcher," Valentina is well-versed in this exciting genre. Her passion for imaginative storytelling is reflected in the topics she writes about, with favorites like "Disco Elysium," "Elder Scrolls: Morrowind," "World of Warcraft," and "Mass Effect" influencing her tastes in games. Even though nothing beats a good high-fantasy setting, she often wanders into the realm of first-person shooters, occasionally even hitting the target. With a commitment to objectivity and insightful analysis, Valentina strives to bring a fresh perspective to the subjects she covers, even when exploring genres that may be unfamiliar to her. Her blend of academic rigor and creative flair sets her apart in the world of media writing.
