Blizzard has revealed that a new ping system will be added to World of Warcraft in Patch 10.1.7 later this year. Blizzard also explained the inspirations behind this new system, and how it could be applied to World of Warcraft. However, some players expressed their concerns over how the ping system could be abused by griefers and toxic players in general.
While the ping system is slated for Patch 10.1.7, next week's World of Warcraft update will be Patch 10.1.5, Fractures in Time. With a bevy of new content such as the Dawn of the Infinite megadungeon, the Augmentation Evoker specialization, updates to class balance, and some quality-of-life changes to the game's systems, Fractures in Time can hardly be considered a minor patch for World of Warcraft. As the development team looks toward the launch of Fractures in Time, they are looking to improve the way World of Warcraft players can play the game.
In an interview with Maximum from Team Liquid, who was a member of the World First Mythic Abberus raid team, World of Warcraft associate game director Morgan Day revealed that the contextual ping system coming in Patch 10.1.7 would be a way for guilds and raid groups to have on-the-fly methods of alerting team members where to stand and where to avoid going in the middle of a fight. This system would be different from the minimap pings already in the game. Day also said the contextual pings could be placed on friendly and enemy players, as well as the world itself, with different options available for players to use. Day cited the ping systems of League of Legends, Dota 2, and Apex Legends as the technical inspirations behind the upcoming ping system.
While Blizzard has experience with the contextual ping system of Overwatch 2, some World of Warcraft players were concerned that the contextual ping system could be spammed and abused by toxic players. However, a few players remained hopeful that there will be options to turn off the contextual ping system or to limit its use to raid or group leaders in instanced content. Patch 10.1.7 will be available for testing on the public test realm (PTR) shortly after Fractures in Time goes live, where players can offer their feedback on the contextual ping system.
According to the roadmap for World of Warcraft: Dragonflight, Patch 10.1.7 is slated for a fall release window. It remains to be seen if Blizzard will continue to listen to player feedback to address any concerns they have with the upcoming ping system.
World of Warcraft is available now for PC.
Source: Wowhead