wow-patch-day
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Breakfast Topic: What are you most looking forward to in 5.4?
Patch day is finally upon us! Soon enough, patch 5.4 will be here to bring a world of exciting new content on our virtual doorsteps. So the question of the day, as we wait out the downtime, is just what are you looking forward to in this patch? There's plenty to chose from, with the Siege of Orgrimmar (and potentially a new leader of the horde), the new flex raiding system, connected realms, and the mysterious Timeless Isle. So tell us, readers -- what are you most looking forward to? What are you going to jump into as soon as the servers come back online? %Poll-84474%
What new players need to know about WoW patches
If World of Warcraft had but one holiday, it would be Patch Day: the glorious Tuesday (or Wednesday) in which the WoW servers go down for maintenance but come back online brimming with new, unexplored content. If you're new to World of Warcraft, or MMOs in general, you may not entirely understand all the fuss the community makes over patches. So just what is a patch? Why are they so important? And how can you get your hands on one? We'll do our best to explain. What is a WoW patch? Did you know we're playing version 5 of World of Warcraft right now? It's true: Version 1.1 was World of Warcraft's launch client and every expansion since has bumped the version number up a full number, while each patch release is a decimal place. The original game went up to patch 1.12 (the 1.1 launch client and 11 patches after), Burning Crusade (2.0) had a scant 4 patches, Wrath of the Lich King (3.0) had 3, Cataclysm (4.0) had 3, and Mists of Pandaria (5.0) is about to see the release of its 3rd patch, patch 5.3. These days, patches are coming more quickly than ever and we have no idea how many patches to expect before the next expansion arrives.
Breakfast Topic: What's your patch day philosophy?
If you follow WoW Insider, I'm sure you've noticed me going on about patch 5.2's dinosaur additions. (And, umm, if you haven't, well, let's just say I like dinosaurs and leave it at that, shall we?) But as to actually playing on the Isle of Giants? I'm content to wait a while, which is in part because I haven't had a lot of time this week and in part because dealing with crowded zones isn't always fun. (It's also why I didn't log on to Diablo 3 on launch day and why I've yet to pick up SimCity -- both of which I think have proven to be good calls!) I'm pretty sure there's no right answer here, but what about you, fellow WoW-ers? When a new expansion drops or a new patch appears, do you have to be the first one there, racing to the level cap? Or do you prefer to take it easy and get there when you get there? But whatever you all are doing, I'm going to sit here with my Romantic Picnic Basket and a good book and catch up with you later!
Five reasons patch 5.2 will pull you back into WoW
So you quit playing WoW. That's okay: we understand. All of us here at WoW Insider have been playing the game an awfully long time, and we know it can get old sometimes. Once you've played through all the content and there's nothing but the same dailies and the same raids over and over again... well, there's only so many times you can go through the same content before it starts to lose its shine. We don't judge. However, even if you've moved on to new games, Blizzard's latest content bonanza might be enough to come back to WoW (at least for a little while). So let's talk about why patch 5.2 is worth coming back for. A huge array of new content with Isle of Thunder and Throne of Thunder We'll start with the obvious: patch 5.2 introduces a brand new zone to explore. The Isle of Thunder will unlock in stages as players on your realm complete daily quests (not unlike the Isle of Quel'Danas in The Burning Crusade). Would-be heroes join forces with one of two new factions, The Kirin-Tor Offensive (Alliance), led by Jaina Proudmoore, and Sunreaver Onslaught (Horde), led by led by Lor'themar Theron. And though we know new factions and their associated dailies sound like yet another grind, the new faction quests will at least be fun the first time. And, as with all factions, with reputation comes reward, and we're pretty sure everyone enjoys new loot.
