pre-cataclysm
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Time between Cataclysm pre-event phases ramping up
Many people have been concerned or complaining about the time between each phase of the Cataclysm pre-events going on right now in Orgrimmar and Stormwind, and Blizzard has responded with some excellent news. Zarhym recently posted that the time between the start of phase 2 and phase 3 was shorter than the previous phases, and players can expect the time between phase 3 and phase 4 to be even shorter. According to my calculations, there is the potential to see phase 4 at the beginning of the week, probably Monday or Tuesday. We live in exciting times. Re: Phase 3 of the Elemental Invasion Quote: I cant wait till the invasion starts, as right now the quests are over so fast that you get bored again in just a few mins : \ The time between the start of stage 2 and stage 3 was shorter. I can tell you the current plan is to make the time between stage 3 and 4 even shorter. ;) source
One Shots: Calm before the storm
Soon we'll see Cataclysm launch, and Deathwing will rip Azeroth apart in World of Warcraft. While there are spoilers out there as to which bits will stay intact and which will be destroyed, some players are choosing to skip them and are instead taking their last chance to find favorite things and snap screenshots of them, lest they change. In the middle of all this exploration, other players are finding new things they haven't experienced, such as regular One Shots contributor Vendayn (or TheExplorer as he's known in comments here). He writes in to explain today's placid screenshot: "I started up World of Warcraft again to prepare for Cataclysm and made a Night Elf Druid. Usually I play Horde, but I wanted a change of pace. As I was exploring Darnassus, I was met with this amazing view inside the Temple of the Moon. I think I've found my new favorite city in WoW!" We love to see MMOs from small to large, but we need you to send in screenshots of your adventures! Try as we might, we just haven't perfected a time machine so we can play everything we want to. If you'd like to help us out (with the screenshots -- unless you have a functional time machine, in which case we'd gladly take one of those too), send your images to us here at oneshots@massively.com. Be sure to add in your name, the name of the game, and a quick description. We'll post it up here and give you the love. %Gallery-85937%
Live stream of the Elemental Attack
We're streaming the Elemental Attack event live on Zangarmarsh (US-PvE-H). Watch us on the stream above. Live chat is after the break. Note: I don't have in-game sounds on. I'll be narrating as I normally do. Update: The stream is now over. We did all of the quests in Orgrimmar. You can watch the video replay by clicking on the image above.
Guest Post: What will be Patch 4.0.1's legacy?
This article has been brought to you by Seed, the Aol guest writer program that brings your words to WoW Insider's pages. As the dust begins to settle in the wake of the great patch-aclysm of 2010, it's time to look back with a little perspective and see exactly what we've been left with. The most immediately visible effects revolve around the drastic changes to many of our favorite classes, but frankly, a bit too much hubbub has been made over these already. The WoW community is -- to put it delicately -- a rather passionate bunch, so we tend to react strongly to the need to relearn our classes. Realistically, though, it's just a matter of figuring out which playstyles suit us the most, adapting to them and hoping we don't lose any friends and guildies as casualties of evolution. Damage numbers are also relatively meaningless at this stage in the game. While we're sure to see some frustratingly unviable specs in Cataclysm like we have in the past (*cough* PvE subtlety), for the most part, the developers can tweak code through patches and hotfixes to ensure that we all eventually see appropriately-sized numbers flashing before our eyes. Since the order of buttons we press to succeed is in a constant state of flux anyway, we'll eventually forget that X skill or Y talent even existed. But some things will stick with us longer. I believe Patch 4.0.1's legacy depends more on permanent game changes that we'll one day take for granted.
Extended realm maintenance for Tuesday, October 12th; Patch 4.0.1 likely
I shook my Imp in a Ball and asked if the pre-Cataclysm patch 4.0.1 would be dropping on Tuesday and he said, "Yes, but if anyone asks ... It wasn't me who told you." Then Blizzard representative Rishgur announced on the forums that we would be having extended maintenance from midnight until noon on Tuesday, Oct. 12. Coincidence? I think not. It's so blatant that even Kaylee Switchgear, our maintenance graphic gnome, thinks we're having a patch. Could some random bug crop up between now and then to crush the hopes and dreams of those of us preparing for a 4.0.1 Tuesday? Sure, but that could happen with just about any patch. What we do know is that realms will be down for 12 hours and Cataclysm is only a month and a half away. Be sure to tune into WoW Insider during the downtime to brush up on your 4.0.1 patch information and all of the class-revamping, reforging, prime-glyphing, guild-member-capping, Azeroth-shattering information. Rishgur We will be performing extended maintenance on Tuesday, October 12th. Maintenance will begin at 12:00 AM PDT and conclude at approximately 12:00 PM PDT. During this time, all realms and many web services will be unavailable. Thank you for your patience. source
One Shots: Durotar sun
When you've seen it all in your favorite MMO, what's a geek to do? Well, if you're one of the myriad World of Warcraft players, you could always roll an alt on your side -- or perhaps on the opposing side! With Azeroth set to explode sometime soon, there's definitely never been a better time to run those old-school quests. Today's image comes to us from Zack, who has headed back for the familiar landscape of Durotar with a friend and sent this in. "With the launching of Cataclysm drawing ever closer, a buddy and I decided to roll new alts just to try to regain the feel of Azeroth. This One Shot seemed very fitting, considering the major changes that the new lore is bringing to Azeroth. The sun is setting on one story and a bloody infernal will be rising in it's place as the world is torn to bits by Cataclysm. Also it's nice just to take a second and breathe while playing so you don't get caught up in the mega grind. Hope you guys enjoy!" We love to see what players are doing in their favorite MMOs, but it takes readers sending in screenshots to make that happen. If you'd like to show off your latest adventures, then grab a screenshot and send it in to us here at oneshots@massively.com along with your name, the name of the game, and a description of what we're seeing. We'll post it out here on Massively and give you the credit! %Gallery-85937%
The Queue: Hard mode is hard
Welcome back to The Queue, WoW Insider's daily Q&A column in which the WoW Insider team answers your questions about the World of Warcraft. Mat McCurley will be your host today. Ow. Ow, ow, ow. The pain, oh, the pain of it all. Heroics, my friends, are hard. Trash is hard, the bosses are hard, and my spirit was jostled from its happy Wrath of the Lich King foundations. Images of Shadow Labs darted through my mind. Heroic Mechanar called to me. Remember me, it spoke, remember me and weep the tears of a thousand failed runs. You are mine, it would proclaim. You have returned to the unhappy peninsula of the soul. No, really, heroics are hard. I expect some tuning, but on the whole, there are challenges ahead for us in Cataclysm. On the one hand, I'm excited. I like challenge! On the other hand, I will never use the dungeon finder tool again. No offense.
Pre-Cataclysm event image gallery
As we mentioned earlier, the next pre-Cataclysm event is currently being tested on the PTR. We've now gone through the Horde version of the event ourselves (it's still a little buggy) and nabbed some screenshots to share with you. We'll do a full writeup later today, so stick around and we'll fill you in on all the details soon. Be warned: The gallery includes spoilers for events coming up in the next patch, so if you'd like to be surprised, move along. Might I suggest to the priest section? %Gallery-102854%
Pre-Cataclysm event testing on PTR
A blue post earlier this evening announced that the beginnings of the pre-Cataclysm events are currently being tested on the PTR. Daeleht - Pre-Cataclysm World Event Thread Greetings, The early stages of the pre-Cataclysm events have begun on the PTR's. If you're encountering any problems with the events themselves or have any feedback please post them in this thread. Enjoy! source The first of the pre-Cataclysm events started earlier this month with Operation: Gnomeregan and Zalazane's Fall, which are still available on live realms right now. We'll get you more information on what is happening on the PTR as soon as possible.
