October, 2008

The latest update to WoWTalent [iTunes link] is available for download on the App Store. The release is version 1.2 and addresses a serious known bug in the previous version, 1.1. If you have version 1.1 or an earlier version, it is highly recommended you update the application as soon as possible.

Other improvements in this version also include:

• Improved Stability
• Modified summary formatting
• Hold durations for talent button functions adjusted
• Save/Load improvements
• Tabbing added to info pages, tap left or right edges to move

The last feature is actually pretty nice as you don't have to back out to the talent tree to select another talent description. I wonder why they decided to use tapping of the edges to move from page to page instead of the built in feature many iPhone users are accustomed to when tabbing multiple pages, the nifty "finger slide" across the screen. They already have this feature applied to switch between talent tree branches, so why not in this part as well?

I suppose while I'm commenting on the talent tree feature I think it would be nice to perhaps have some kind of "split screen" mode where I could see both the talent tree as well as the talent information. Perhaps rotating the screen while in the talent tree will put it into this "spit screen" mode? A split screen mode would require more screen space so rotating it into landscape mode seems reasonable. I think I'll suggest this to Robert and Peter. They've been very responsive to bug fixes, updates, and emails before, perhaps they'll be just as responsive to a feature request.

Speaking of features, it looks like they have a feature planned that would allow uploading, emailing, or Bonjour transfers of your talent builds to other WoWTalent users. They also promise speed improvements which I have no doubt they will deliver on. So stay tuned for more to come, but in the meantime, go download the latest version now.

Guess what I just received from a Treat Bag that I got from the innkeeper at the Stormspire in Netherstorm? A Sinister Squashling!

This is funny because I was just reading over at WoW Insider that a thread over at WoW Ladies have confirmed this possibility, and now I personally can confirm this to be true. I don't know what the drop rate is from the Treat Bags, but when I first read this I thought to myself that I was going to try to hit up an innkeeper whenever I could for a Treat Bag. My luck on this dropping from the Headless Horseman hasn't been that great (both this year and last), so I was more than pleased from this serendipitous Treat Bag.

Now all I have to do is get the Hallowed Helm for the Hallowed Be Thy Name achievement and hereby can be known as "Ziv The Hallowed".

[Update:] I can also confirm that the Hallowed Helm is also dropping out of the Treat Bags. I'm not "Ziv The Hallowed" yet but the helm dropped for one of my alts. So maybe the drop rates on these things aren't so bad? Or I'm just lucky today.

[Update:] Apparently the drop rates for both the Sinister Squashling and the Hallowed Helm have been greatly increased throughout the game due to these Treat Bags. Across three of my characters I've already received four Squashlings and three Helms. Even my level one bank alt got a Hallowed Helm!

Everyone knows that the Recruit-A-Friend program awards triple experience for both quests and killing of mobs.  It's because of this that many people have delved into the world of dual- or multiboxing so they could quickly level alts to 70 before Wrath is released.  I've gone and called it Recruit-A-Multiboxer because it really has encouraged people to open more than one account so they can level alts quickly.  The triple experience is truly incredible and the speed at which people are leveling multiple characters is simply ludicrous.

Now that Hallow's End is upon us, anyone in the RAF program should realize that leveling has just gone from ludicrous to pure insanity!  If you're still in the dark, allow me to elaborate.

The program awards triple experience for quests turn-ins and yes that means all the quests from Hallow's End.  What I'm talking about here are the quests that are part of the three achievements obtained during Hallow's End, Tricks and Treats of: Kalimdor, Eastern Kindoms, and Outland.  Both the Horde and Alliance havve their respective requirements for these achievements, but the tasks are the same.

To obtain these achiements you are asked to visit the Candy Buckets in various Inns throughout the three continents.  Each time you visit a Candy Bucket it's like turning in a quest, and each quest gives experience!  Normally you get 2600 experience with each Candy Bucket visited.  However if you are doing these are part of the RAF program you get triple experience, . . . that's 7800 experience per Candy Bucket.    [Update/Edit: It seems that the amount of experience is dependent on the level your character is. The previous numbers were based on a level 44 character, but when that character dinged to level 45, the amount of experience wet up to 8250. I'm still investigating if this continues as one levels and whether it levels off or not, but as of right now it seems to scale with level. This makes sense as each new level brings a higher amount of experience needed to gain the next level.]

Now let's do the math real quick on what you'll get by just visiting all the Candy Buckets alone.  The total number of buckets per faction are as follows:
Tricks and Treats of Kalimdor:  16 (Alliance), 17 (Horde)
Tricks and Treats of Eastern Kingdoms:  13 (Alliance), 16 (Horde)
Tricks and Treats of Outland:  15 (Alliance), 14 (Horde)

That's a total of 44 (Alliance) and 47 (Horde) Candy Buckets at 7800 experience each, for a total of 343,200 (Alliance) and 366,600 (Horde) experience!   [Update/Edit:Again these numbers were based on the experience gained from a level 44 character and it appears to scale with level. So the total amount will naturally vary depending on level].  The amount of levels gained from this amount of experience will depend on the levels your characters are currently at, but regardless of that it's still a lot of experience.

It's a lot of running around if you don't have all the flight paths, but remember if you're in the RAF program you have one other benefit to make this easier, . . . summons.  You have the ability to summon characters in linked accounts anywhere in the World of Warcraft.  So with a high level main character it's easy to get your alts to places where they can't quite get to yet with a series of summons.  Sure there's a one hour time limit in between summons, but carefully planned over the course of Hallow's End and over all your characters, it's completely doable to get them everywhere they have to go.

So yes, Recruit-A-Friend + Hallow's End = Insane Leveling, but you don't have to be part of the RAF to still get a huge amount of experience.  Remember that each Candy Bucket normally yields 2600 experience, so even if you aren't in the program you could still benefit from the 114,400 (Alliance) or 122,200 (Horde) experience to be gained.  [Update/Edit: See previous updates/edits as to why this number will depend on your characters level].   This doesn't even include completion of the other quests available during Hallow's End, so with those included it's a lot of easy experience.

What are you waiting for?  Go visit those Candy Buckets!

[Update/Edit:]Added updates/edits above as I found out that the amount of experience gained seems to be dependent on the level of your characters..

Over the past couple of days there's been a lot of activity over on the official European Forums regarding Patch 3.0.2 and the granting of levels via the Recruit-A-Friend program. Apparently it's a Known Issue for this patch:

"Recruit A Friend - Levels collected and stored prior to patch 3.0.2 cannot be granted
Gaining new levels will allow you to grant those, just not the ones you had stored pre 3.0.2."

GM Issuntril had this to say in response to the original post and poster, Zhadro.

1. Re: Recruit A Friend - Granting Levels 16/10/2008 14:43:35 PDT
Hi Zhadro,

Unfortunately it seems like any levels which were saved up by players before the patch are now lost. It is not possible for the Game Master team to retrieve these levels I'm afraid, but any levels which you earn post-patch should be spendable as normal.

We apologise for any inconvenience caused by this problem.

Issuntril

A follow up post from Thulljos backed off a little and said that it wasn't definitive but they were looking into it:

51. Re: Recruit A Friend - Granting Levels 17/10/2008 05:05:40 PDT
Hey guys,

Regarding this issue, we are waiting for further information on what will be done to resolve it. I do not have concrete information for you all just yet, but we hope to have something tonight. This is not definite, but it is what we're aiming for.

I want to stress, however, that our development team are aware of this problem and are looking into a good resolution for it. While I can understand the frustration and concern that you are experiencing, I ask that everyone remain calm and level-headed. We are looking into the matter and trying to find the best and fastest way to fix it.

Thuiljos

I'm upset about this. Not because I lost any levels I had saved and had not granted, but the fact that this was part of the incentive for people to actively "recruit-a-friend" into the game. Many people (myself included) saw this as "Recruit-A-Multiboxer" and recruited ourselves but there are actually people out that that brought in (or back) people into the game with the promise that the recruited person would be able to grant levels back to them.

There was no indication that this was going happen before the patch was released, nor was there was a change in the RAF program that states this either. It's actually still the same program they implemented when the RAF was released. So personally I don't think this is acceptable and should give back those levels to those that had them saved up.

I would like to believe that Blizzard will treat this with an appropriate and fair action. If not then they may actually "Lose-A-Friend" or a few friends because of it.

[Update:] They are going to return those "lost" levels. See new post here.