Convert To Raid Presents: The Podcast For World Of Warcraft And Other Blizzard Games!

This week, Tattva (from LoS Gaming) and Sharku join the crew!   The face of raiding may be changing as Blizzard announced nerfs to 6 encounters on Normal mode Hellfire Citadel this last week. In some cases mechanics were tuned down so that casual guilds didn’t have to worry as much about personal responsibility as much, and on other bosses Blizzard removed mechanics altogether. Is this a case of tuning the encounter so that more people can see it, or could this be telling of what’s to come for normal modes of the future? The Road to Blizzcon divided over the last weekend as we saw tournaments for both the Asia-Pacific region held in Taipei and the EU region hosted in Prague. The crew will give you some of the action and predict how well some of these competitors will stack up against their American counterparts. In the Battlenet News, the guys go over some of the new stuff in Starcraft’s Patch 3.0! A new user interface and Whispers of Oblivion missions are now available on live. In Heroes of the Storm, Lt. Mo

This week, Mick Montgomery (StormCast, The Starting Zone) and Tovo (2 Minute Tips) are back on the CtR crew! We have more information about the split between the raiders of Method and the new guild Serenity from a Manaflask interview this week. While there are no reports of personal drama, team focus and leadership have been discussed by both sides. The guys will give you the details inside! Blizzcon is only 6 weeks away! It’s time to check out what we’ll be getting with our Blizzcon tickets and virtual tickets this year. And why is it that World of Warcraft always gives out the best stuff? Plus, Archimonde changes help teams of all sizes, our Leading the Raid segment looks at guild hopping, plus a listener question on the upcoming class changes for Legion. In the Battlenet News, Diablo’s latest season starts to wane, and we’ll have a bit of a recap on the NA Qualifiers for Heroes of the Storm in Vegas and more!

This week, returning friends Gizmozord (Lords of the Storm Podcast) and Sharku join the CtR crew! Top World of Warcraft raiding guild Method saw some roster changes this week as players left to form a new guild, Serenity. Midwinter also lost a couple of their top players to the new guild as well, including their main tank (and friend of the show) Slootbag. What does this mean for the top raiding scene for Legion, and do these moves say anything about the raiding in Warlords of Draenor or WoW in general? The guys discuss it inside. Also, Gamereactor.eu released their Gamescom interview with Ion Hazzikostas and Tom Chilton, and it brought up several interesting questions for our panel. Should expansions be serialized or self-contained (or as raiders, do we care)? Does the progression path look interesting and fun for Legion? And has Blizzard been successful in making the most of their worlds? In the Battlenet News, StarCraft 2 released a cinematic and announced that their next expansion, Legacy of the Void, wil

This week, Sal from The Converted Podcast joins the crew to talk about the latest happenings in WoW and more! While we were away, patch 6.2.2 took flight on September 1st as promised, and with only 2 hours of downtime on U.S. servers. Not only is the the flight patch for Draenor, but also introduces Mercenary Mode in PvP, has some Timewalking loot changes, class changes, as well as a slight buff to all the horde racial traits. Blizzard’s Senior Game Designer Jonathan LeCraft appeared at DragonCon in Atlanta to give us more insight into what’s coming for WoW’s next expansion — LEGION. Some of the topics he discussed included Demon Hunters, overhauls for other classes, professions, transmog, and even some lore items. The CtR crew digs in to give you their takes on some of the details!   In the Battlenet News: Overwatch Coming Soon™, Diablo Season 4 goes live, Rexxar is released into the Nexus, and Heroes of the Storm’s new silencing mechanic for toxic players. Plus the gang answers your questions and so much mo

This week, the guys welcome friend, recent Heroes of the Storm tournament winner, and former raid team member Sharku to the show! Patch 6.2.2 is currently on the PTR and was announced to be heading to the live servers on September 1! Not only will be an update to include PvP mercenary mode and flying, but a moose mount (finally!), changes to Horde racial, Timewalking dungeon loot changes, and the addition of Legendary Ring catch-up quests. There are a few significant class changes also slated for 6.2.2, including buffs for Monks, Shadow Priests, Feral Druids and Protection Warriors. But since we’re deep into the Hellfire Citadel raid (the last of this expansion), is this a case of too little, too late? The crew discusses inside!   And there are many headlines in the Battlenet News too! Hearthstone releases The Grand Tournament expansion, Diablo patch 2.3.0 is now live, and the monk comes to Heroes of the Storm. The guys give you their thoughts and all of these new things and more in another fun episode!

This week, the guys are joined by Jules Scott from Tauren Think Tank! World of Warcraft PvP developer Brian Holinka made an appearance during the NA Arena Qualifier for Blizzcon to talk about the upcoming changes for PvP in WoW’s next expansion. One of the big reveals was that player stats will be based on the character’s specialization firstly, not their gear. That in conjunction with other changes should allow Blizzard more power to tune PvP than ever before without affecting PvE. The flying patch was NOT released this week, but MMO-Champion.com did parse the numbers for flying achievements on 2 million current players. The numbers don’t reflect a real drive for players to fly in Draenor. Could it be that this patch is coming too late in the expansion, or is there really no need to fly in WoD? Also, Reddit goes crazy over last week’s show, the Blizzcon goodie bag is revealed, Diablo, Heroes and Hearthstone make the Battlenet News, and one news article asks the question: Does Blizzard need World of Warcraft

This week, Rho from Realm Maintenance joins the crew as they go into detail about the announcements on the next expansion for World of Warcraft!   Blizzard was the talk of Gamescom this last week as they unveiled the next expansion — LEGION. Illidan returns, new zones and new raids will be created, and a new class — Demon Hunter — will land on Azeroth in 7.0. The players will guide you through some of what we know about LEGION, including Artifact weapons, class changes, some lore, BIG PvP changes, and what this new expansion may unlock for you. It’s a jam packed show, so strap in!

This week, Blizzard announced a subscription loss of 1.5 million for Q2 this year. Hopefully this week’s expansion announcement at Gamescom will help keep the balance! Mick Montgomery (host of The Starting Zone, StormCast and more) joins the CtR crew as they tackle the recent sub loss and possible reasons behind it. Even though WoW remains the top MMORPG, there seems to be a lot of criticism over Warlords of Draenor. Do the numbers reflect a failure by Blizzard to hold a particular audience, or is it that the MMO genre is losing ground overall? The guys go over viewer reactions, their own, and try to figure out how Blizzard may want to correct for future content.   And if you believe in terrific timing, Blizzard lands on Cologne, Germany for Gamescom 2015 and will announce their next expansion for World of Warcraft! There are a lot of speculations, and the crew will give you those and their own predictions for what this expansion will have in store. It’s a fun show with a lot of meat on it — hope you’re hungr

This week, member of Convert to Mythic raid team and Hereos of the Storm podcaster Gizmozord (Lords of the Storm) joins the CtR crew! Method crosses the finish line first in Race to World First: HFC edition. The guys take a look at the standings overall, the number of wipes some of these teams went through, and the nerd screams after downing mythic Archimond.  Patch 6.2.1 is now up on the test realms, and flying isn’t the only BIG thing in development. Mercenary Mode is in development too, which will be a new option when queuing for Ashran and unrated battlegrounds. When players elect to be a mercenary, they are eligible to play for the opposing faction to shorten queue times. Is this a good fix for Warcraft PVP? The crew discusses how the imbalance of player factions and racials come into play, and whether or not Blizzard should try other avenues. The Warcraft movie footage from San Diego ComicCon was leaked, then suspended, then leaked and suspended again! The guys describe what they saw there and in the Wa

This week, CtR welcomes the guys from Line of Sight Gaming, Tattva and Tovo! In a recent interview, Cory Stockton (Lead Game Designer) announced that there were no more raids planned for Warlords of Draenor. If that’s the case, how long will we have to wait for the next expansion, and is there enough content in 6.2 to bridge the gap between Hellfire Citadel and the next expansion? What can Blizzard do to avoid another long lull between now and the next new content? Guilds are racing to world first in Hellfire, but how do they stack up? Where are some of our favorite top guilds at, and what new players have come along since last time? The crew will also take a look at some of the mythic encounters’ difficulty and give you a good overview, including when we might see a world first kill of Archimonde. Plus, the Warcraft movie is at the San Diego ComicCon! We’ve seen the pictures of all the armor and weapons, a great Legendary VR app that shows a 3D flyover of Stormwind, and heard all of the great news about turn

Yes patch 6.2 dropped this week, but it’s time to celebrate 4 years of CtR (and Koltrane’s last show)! You’ll laugh, you’ll cry and you’ll groan at all of the bad jokes the guys have in store for you. And they’ll play back a TON of incredible audio bits created since the show began.  Visit Koltrane “In his robe,” Head to Blizzcon in a panda suit, join the guys as they make fun of raid bosses before they down them in epic fashion, sing along with Pat Krane, and finish it off with a very special legendary tribute to the Funky Monk himself. And there are plenty of laughs, feels, and fortune cookies along the way! Don’t worry, WoW players, they’ll also give you their impressions of patch 6.2, the recent developer interviews, the Hellfire Citadel raid instance and much more. A little something for everyone in this very special, SUPER show.

The crew returns for another CtR this week, and this time they bring along world class raider, Treckie! Blizzard didn’t give much warning on the actual date, but patch 6.2 is set to launch Tuesday (June 23)! It’s time to get your characters ready for all of the great new content — the Hellfire Citadel raid, Tanaan Jungle, flying (to be released in a future patch), and much more. But what are some of the things you can do to make sure you’re on top of your game? Another large part of this release is the final chapter of the Legendary Ring quest line. The guy will give you some the basic idea of what you’ll need to do — all while trying not to give you too many spoilers along the way. Ion Hazzikostas, lead game designer for WoW, followed up last week’s Q&A with more on the forums this week. Included are more insights to some of his answers on the stream, and he also fields various new questions, ranging from class questions to encounter design and more. Also the Battlenet News returns as Blizzard lands at t

This week the CtR crew is back to talk all about the busy week in WoW! Blizzard posted a few announcements and other articles this week, the first being that Warlords Season 1 will be ending soon. This means patch 6.2 is around the corner, and we may even be able to make a good guess as to the exact date! The rage/debate for flying in Draenor has come to a definitive position from Blizzard. Players WILL be able to fly in Draenor after one character earns the achievement of Draenor Pathfinder. There are a number of different parts to this achievement (which the guys will tell you about), and once you get it all of your other characters will benefit! Lead Game Designer Ion Hazzikostas and Community Manager Lore (Josh Allen) held the long awaited Q&A for game development, and covered a wide range of topics: Flying, Garrisons, Professions, Dungeons, Classes, and of course Raiding! The crew will take you through their highlights and give you the good, the bad, and the hilarious. Plus, the 6.2 Armor Preview, th

This week, the guys are back for all the latest WoW news… and beyond! Players got a preview of Hellfire Citadel in the form of a new post on the World of Warcraft website. Inside, it gives a broad overview of the characters and encounters raiders will face along with some very green pictures. Designers also gave some of their notes and insights on how they approached the encounters from a design perspective, which is a very cool twist! MMO-Champion released the latest raiding statistics for Blackrock Foundry. And while the health of raiding overall looks great, is there too large of a gap between heroic difficulty and mythic? The guys will give you the breakdown inside this episode. The Q&A with Lead Game Designer Ion Hazzikostas was pushed back a week to make room for a Heroes of the Storm lifestream event, and players erupted online. The CtR crew takes a look at some of the issues Warcraft players are facing right now, including the fact that WoW has to share the spotlight with some of the new Blizzard

This week, the gang is back for another romping ride through the latest news and opinion in World of Warcraft! Blizzard’s Lead Game Designer Ion Hazzikostas is making headlines again, this time in a recent Polygon article. Hazzokostas announced that Draenor will not see flight at all, and this direction includes future expansions. Does flying matter if the developers can create meaningful flight points? When does staying on the ground mount become more of a hassle? And what about all the new flying mounts Blizz is releasing? Also, in the latest Dev Watercolor article, itemization will be changing in patch 6.2. There are plans to change personal loot so that it’s more competitive to the group loot system, bringing more rewards and making announcements to the raid. Also, the further players progress into Hellfire Citadel, the more they will be rewarded with higher item level loot. Will these changes make a huge difference in how raids are viewed, or is this just a refinement of systems?   Also inside: how to ge

The CtR crew is back for some great discussions, so get ready! Since our last show, Blizzard announced a 2.9 million subscriber loss in Q1 as a part of their quarterly investor update. What does this very large drop in players mean, and is there any way to curb the dramatic shifts? This last week, Blizzard blasted more players out of the game in a giant ban wave that has reportedly kicked over 100,000 players for botting. The guys take a look at some of the specifics that could be behind Blizzard’s motives and how some players get mistakenly put into the crossfire. Gamesbeat interviewed Lead Game Designer Ion Hazzikostas recently, and inside the article he takes on a lot of different topics including raiding! The guys discuss some of the things he says, as well as voice some of their own frustrations about trying to defeat the highest difficulty encounters with a limited schedule. Is it even possible to be a “casual hardcore” player in Warlords?   Plus, Leeroy Jenkins turns 10, updates on the Warcraft movie,

This week, the guys bring in a very special guest — Sloot, main tank and raid leader for Midwinter, the US 1st, World 3rd guild! First, how has the Blackrock Foundry raid instance compared with other tiers for Midwinter, and how did they manage to pull so far ahead of everyone else this time? Can they do it again for Hellfire Citadel, and do they have any new plans for patch 6.2? The guys also go in depth into the encounters for the next raid now being tested on the PTR. What has been seen on the PTR, and what is there to look forward to? Also, will these fights be just as reliant on personal responsibility as we’ve seen in Warlords of Draenor so far, and is that a good thing? The guys will even talk about some crazy mechanics that raiders will need to understand before heading in!   Plus, a preview of the Tanaan Jungle, more on Timewalking and what it’s meant to be, a recap of the Heroes of the Dorm tournament, your questions, and much more!

This week, the CtR crew sets their sights on patch 6.2, as more raid bosses get tested on the PTR! Four of the new bosses for Hellfire Citadel were put up for testing, including Kilrogg and Gorefiend, which have some unusual mechanics. And while the mechanics are interesting, there may be something more interesting happening in the background! The Warcraft movie release was moved back to June 2016. Does this mean that the film is able to contend with other summer blockbusters, and what are the pros and cons of such a move? More information was released and revised for patch 6.2, including some cool new pets, profession updates, and yes… costumes for Pepe. Even the legendary ring was updated to reveal the new group proc and how it may upgrade over time. And we’ll give you the details!   Plus, the WoW Token hits the EU, more on the new Timewalking feature and what it means for 5 man content, your questions and so much more!

This week Blizzard put patch 6.2 on the test realms, and if you’ve been looking for more content, here it is! The Tanaan Jungle will open, and includes a brand new raid tier with Hellfire Citadel. Archimonde will be the last boss of the instance, which brings up a couple of different questions. Will this tier bring in a storyline involving the Burning Legion? Will we see Sargeras? And on the other hand, what does this mean for the real world timeline of Warlords of Draenor? Opening the Tanaan Jungle is only the beginning of new content. Players will be adding to their garrison with the new Shipyard, which will not only be the initial way to get to Tanaan, but will lead to naval missions as well. A new Mythic dungeon difficulty was announced for 6.2, where players can tackle tough team content for item level 680 loot on a weekly lockout. But is reworking of current content a great catch up tool, or something that will be set aside rather quickly? The Timewalking feature will also be coming to 6.2, where old sc

This week, the CtR crew is joined by streamer and mythic raider Brutall! The WoW Token hit North American realms, and after just a few days the market price is down considerably from the original 30,000 gold price set by Blizzard. Were players surprised by the movement, and is the WoW Token a “win” for all parties involved? Blizzcon general admission tickets go on sale this week. Are you prepared? The guys break down the information and get you ready to hit your F5 buttons! Also, a group is managing to 5-man flexible Blackrock Foundry difficulties, and are now 10/10 normal and getting into heroics. What does it take for groups like this to succeed? Plus, Forging Gorehowl, building your own Shadowmourne, our deepest apologies, your questions and much much more!