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Facebook is testing a 'breaking news' tag for developing stories
Facebook will set a cookie to keep you logged in, but it won't set one to remember whether you want to stick with a chronological News Feed. That sort of thing makes it hard to tell at a glance how old a story from a media outlet in your Feed might be. To counter that, the social network is giving certain publications access to a "breaking" tag for their posts. The bright red tag sits below a post's image and highlights how long ago it was published. Recode writes that publishers will be able to flag a story for between 15 minutes and six hours, and that it can be used once every 24 hours.
Hotfixes for January 21
A week has passed since the last round of hotfixes, but a new batch has been released tonight. Tonight's round includes bug fixes, class balance changes, and more. The Garrison Campaign fixes include: A Stolen Heart: Azuka Bladefury should no longer be getting stuck in evade mode for Horde characters. Primal Fury: Completing the quest should now correctly award Thisalee Crow (Alliance) or Choluna (Horde) as a Follower. A fix to award the followers for players that have already completed the quest will be made at a later date. Socrethar's Demise: Resolved an issue that could cause the banner used to challenge Socrethar to not work correctly. The full list of hotfixes can be found below.
World of Warcraft 10 Year Anniversary gift arrives
The 10 year anniversary of World of Warcraft decided to wrap up in style with a special gift mailed to players that have been with the game since the very beginning. Players who created an account within 60 days of World of Warcraft's original launch and have maintained their subscription for all ten years have been mailed a very special physical gift -- a miniature recreation of the orc statue that graces the courtyard of Blizzard Entertainment's home in Irvine, CA. If you are eligible for the gift, you should receive an email indicating your gift is on the way at your registered Battle.net email address. This is probably one of the nicer statues I've gotten from Blizzard. It looks very much like cast bronze, but I believe it's the same resin material used for their deluxe line of action figures. And although I say it's a miniature recreation, it's not that small -- the statue measures roughly 9" from base to tip of the taller axe. The base includes a message on the bottom that reads "The orc statue is a constant presence in our life at Blizzard Entertainment. It's where we meet to talk, to eat, to celebrate. As we celebrate ten years of World of Warcraft, we present this token of appreciation to you, stalwart adventurer. Thank you for being a constant presence in our lives as we adventure together." Head to Battle.net for more information regarding eligibility for the gift, and be sure to check out our gallery for shots of both statue and box.
Hotfixes for January 13
After today's long maintenance, another list of hotfixes has been revealed. Some highlights today include: Blackrock Caverns: Rom'ogg Bonecrusher's Skullcracker ability should now correctly deal damage to Angered Earth elementals, allowing the achievement Crushing Bones and Cracking Skulls to be completed. Arathi Basin: Players should now always have a fixed 25-second resurrection timer while in a Rated Battleground match. Many garrison items, such as Salvage Crates, now stack to 20 The full list of hotfixes can be found below.
Patch 6.0.3 Hotfixes for January 9
The weekend brought another small release of hotfixes for Patch 6.0.3. The list may be short, but there are a few different notes in there that players should take note of. On the list are a few PvP battleground changes, an adjustment to Ashran, and a few fixes and changes to various creatures around the world as well. Also, while it's not specifically mentioned in this round of hotfixes, it appears as though a hotfix was applied to allow Big Crates of Salvage to stack. Players camping Poundfist take note: Poundfist is now immune to crowd-control effects. Trapping will now award a caged beast for each nearby party member with an appropriate level barn -- this hotfix requires a realm restart. The northern track switch in Silvershard Mines should now work correctly. Read on for the full list of hotfixes.
Patch 6.1 build headed to the PTR
According to a tweet by Blizzard QAZorbrix, Patch 6.1 is in the process of being released to the PTR servers for testing. In addition, PTR forums will be making a return next week. While we haven't seen patch notes for 6.1 just yet, datamining website MMO-Champion has been busy at work digging through the new build and pulling out interesting material. Among the highlights of what we may be seeing in 6.1: New Battle Pets from Sunwell Plateau, Hyjal Summit and Black Temple Harrison Jones as a new Garrison follower Platinum level for Garrison invasions New game for the Darkmoon Faire: The Real Big Race Collectible music Possible Heirloom Tab Please note that all information is currently being datamined, which means that none of it has been finalized by Blizzard, and it may or may not actually make it to live realms with 6.1. To get the PTR for yourself, simply install it via the Battle.net launcher by selecting PTR: World of Warcraft from the Region/Account dropdown bar.
Hotfixes for January 8
Another day, another batch of hotfixes. Today's round includes various bug fixes and balance changes, but the big highlight might be an additional change to trapping mobs for the Barn. In addition to the previously announced hotfixes, the following has been added: Requires a realm restart] Increased the spawn rate and number of spawn points for Direfang Alpha, Ironhide Bull, and Wetland Trampler. This hotfix will be deployed in combination with the hotfix from January 7 to increase spawn rates slightly. You can find the full list of today's hotfixes below.
Hotfixes for January 5
After a long holiday break, we have a brand new round of hotfixes for Warlords of Draenor. Tonight's hotfixes are primarily class balance and quality-of-life changes, along with an extension to the 10th Anniversary event. Some highlights: Dwarven Bunker/War Mill: Players can now accrue as many Iron Horde Scraps as they want. Lumber Mill: Players can now accrue as much Timber as they want. Various Nitrogg Thundertower nerfs in Grimrail Depot Various rogue buffs Those are the ones that interest me most, anyway. It will be nice to spend a night stockpiling Timber rather than needing to venture out every few days to replenish my stack of 250. Nitrogg Thundertower was also leaps and bounds more difficult than anything else found in dungeons if you're in a random group. The full hotfixes can be found below.
Hotfixes for December 18
Another round of hotfixes has been released this evening. Along with a few class balance changes, here are some highlights: [Requires a realm restart.] Socrethar's Demise: Resolved an issue that could cause Socrethar to become unattackable. Primal Spirits should now be dropping more frequently while harvesting mineral and herb nodes outside of the Garrison, from Skinning, and in a satchel obtained by completing the daily Fishing quest from the Garrison Fishing Shack. World Shrinker's effect is now removed when mounting up. You can find the full list below.
World of Warcraft in the new year
Blizzard has just released a preview of some exciting new things we can expect from WoW in 2015. Let's get right down to the highlights: In patch 6.1, the legendary quest will be rewarding you with a legendary follower. They will be testing the ability to send tweets (with screenshots) from inside the game. Better flight paths, with more direct routing. New incentives to invite friends into your garrison with daily tasks (complete with rewards and achievements). New ways to spend Garrison Resources, new follower missions and rewards, new follower modification items, and a new tier of difficulty for garrison invasions. The ability to purchase game time tokens (with real money) that can be traded with other players in game for gold. Account-wide heirloom system, with the ability to upgrade heirlooms to level 100. New blood elf models and tweaks for existing models. Improving Ashran faction balance. Blackrock Foundry will begin opening in February 2015. Check out the full blue post after the break.
Hotfix tweets from December 12
The latest round of hotfixes didn't roll out on the official hotfix blog, but resident Blizzard CM Rygarius made a series of tweets on Twitter that outlined the hotfixes with a note that since there is no update to the hotfix blog, he wanted to get the information out before the weekend. On the list are some PvP adjustments, as well as a fix to the transmog armor acquired from the Dwarven Bunker or War Mill. Hotfixed: Primal Gladiator Conquest trinkets have had their values adjusted proportionally to the Primal Combatant Honor trinkets. - Rygarius CoffeeBird (@Rygarius) December 13, 2014 Read on for more tweets from Rygarius.
Hotfixes for December 11
Another day, another round of major hotfixes. Highlights include: Ghost Wolf modified by Glyph of Ghostly Speed no longer provides a movement speed increase while indoors. Ashran: Fangraal and Kronus no longer scales their health based the number of players they're fighting. Each faction guardian's health now scales based on the number of enemy players active at the time when they're summoned. Based on player feedback, a number of adjustments have been made to Alchemy recipes. Combat potion recipes no longer requires Crescent Oil and meat/fish, and will require herbs instead. Flask recipes now use more herbs, increasing the number of herbs needed from one type of herb to two. Based on player feedback, a number of adjustments have been made to Jewelcrafting recipes. Tier 1 gem recipes now requires more ore and less herbs. Tier 2 gem recipes will no longer requires herbs and instead require a tier 1 gem. The full hotfixes after the break.
Level 55 Death Knight restriction going away
In what seems like part of an antiquated system that's outlived its usefulness, the Death Knight creation restriction of needing a level 55 character or higher previously on the account is going away. This is mildly significant in that now a new player can create an account, load up a Death Knight, and jump right into Burning Crusade content. But obviously with the level 90 boost, there's more incentive for new players to skip even that bit and go right into Draenor. At the end of the day, is this really a big deal? Not so much. But it's interesting, nonetheless. Nethaera With availability of the level 90 character boost, we feel the requirement to have a character level 55 or higher to unlock the Death Knight as a playable class is no longer relevant. The plan right now is to remove the limitation sometime next week, at which point players will be able to start a new Death Knight (which still begins at level 55) without first having to reach level 55 on another character. source
H1Z1 early access available January 15
SOE's H1Z1 zombie sandbox is coming to Steam early access on January 15th. CEO John Smedley posted the news to Reddit a few moments ago, and he was quite specific about who should purchase the title in its current form. "Is it going to be a finished game? Absolutely not. If that's what you're expecting, DO NOT BUY EARLY ACCESS," he wrote. "The goal here is to let you in early and help us mold it into a game you want to be a part of for quite a long time." Smedley went on to mention the entry-level price point ($19.99) and he also addressed comparisons between H1Z1 and Day Z. "Is H1Z1 going to be better than Day Z day one? No it won't. We'll get asked that question a lot and I wanted to be up front about it," Smedley explained. "We're not as feature-rich and they have a lot of really cool stuff we just don't have yet. That being said, we're also a different game. We're an MMO and our goals are to create a large scale world that gives you the incredible feeling of being a survivor in a zombie apocalypse."
Patch 6.0.3 hotfixes for December 5
Just in time for the weekend, a new round of hotfixes for patch 6.0.3 have been released to the official blog. There's a little bit of everything in this round of hotfixes, from PvP adjustments to garrison building tweaks, and even a few adjustments to professions as well. Please note that there are a few hotfixes that do require a realm restart to take effect. Players leveling First Aid should note that Antiseptic Bandages no longer require Sea Scorpion Segments to craft. In Ashran, Fangraal, Kronus, and faction Captains now continuously push towards the enemy faction's base. Consuming a Draenor potion, elixir or flask should no longer cause players to break out of stealth. Read on for the full list of hotfixes.
Hotfixes for December 4
Another day, another round of hotfixes. Today's highlights include: Player pets should now correctly rejoin the player after taking a flight path or using a vehicle. Battleground Flag Carriers should now correctly have a 45-second delay before their location is revealed to the enemy team (was incorrectly revealing their location immediately). Recruit-a-Friend characters should now be correctly receiving a 300% bonus to the experience awarded for completing a Dungeon (was incorrectly awarding 900% instead). The full hotfixes can be found below. There are a few class balance hotfixes there, so don't miss them!
Maintenance extended until 1 p.m. PST [UPDATE: 3 p.m.]
The launch of a new expansion is fraught with extended maintenance -- Warlords of Draenor being no exception. Today's maintenance, which was already a rather large window, has been extended until 1 p.m. PST. We'll keep you posted on any developments. Update: Blizzard's Customer Service team now states realms will be down for an additional two hours. The new ETA is 3 p.m. PST. [NA] #WoW maintenance has been extended an additional 2 hours, until 3pm PST. #SC2, #D3, #Hearthstone & #Heroes are live. - BlizzardCS (@BlizzardCS) December 2, 2014
Numerous Inscription hotfixes now live
The latest round of Warlords of Draenor hotfixes is directed at solving a number of issues with Inscription. The following glyphs were unable to be crafted and have now been added to vendors: Glyph of the Solstice (Druid) Glyph of Purification (Priest) Glyph of Purify Spirit (Shaman) Glyph of Flying Fists (Monk) Glyph of Cleanse (Paladin) The glyphs are currently unique and soulbound -- you cannot buy them en masse to list on the auction house. Glyph of Frostbrand Weapon does not currently have an associated item and could not be added to vendors. For now, shaman will learn the spell automatically instead. If you're a shaman and have not automatically learned the spell, relogging should fix it. Glyph of Blackout Kick, a glyph monks have been digging to find, is not currently in the game at all -- monks will need to wait until the next minor patch to acquire it. In addition, ink traders -- which were briefly nonfunctional -- should now be fixed.
Patch 6.0.3 hotfixes for November 21
Another lengthy round of hotfixes for patch 6.0.3 hit the servers yesterday, including one to revert the LFG dungeon loot system back to personal loot. This round also includes a host of dungeon changes and adjustments, quest adjustments, and some welcome changes to Garrison Missions. In addition, the anniversary LFR edition of Molten Core has been tweaked, as well as Tarren Mill vs. Southshore. Player characters are now guaranteed to have appropriate level Garrison Missons available for their followers according to their level range -- level 90-94, and level 95-99. Ashran has been temporarily disabled as a daily quest choice while issues with some of the daily quests are being troubleshooted. Players should no longer be incorrectly placed into a Molten Core run in which Ragnaros has already been defeated. Personal loot has returned, and in addition, each player in the group will now always receive an item from the final dungeon boss. Read on for the full list of hotfixes.
TERA's Fate of Arun expansion is coming December 16th
TERA fans, mark December 16th on your calendars, as that's the launch date for the fantasy MMO's first proper expansion. Fate of Arun features a mysterious new continent, a level cap bump (65), new class skills, new dungeons, and a new battleground based around competitive PvE. The game's enchanting mechanics will also be simplified, and a new quest UI will "streamline 60 to 65 leveling, allowing players to teleport right to the action, find groups, or turn in quests from any location." Finally, you'll want to log into TERA prior to December 16th and pick up your free Northern Initiative Pack. It includes rare potions, campfires, buff charms, a white tiger mount, and more. TERA's Fate of Arun expansion will be a free content update via Steam and the game's official website. [Source: En Masse press release]
