WRUP: As a new patch dawns

A new patch is sitting just out of reach. It's like we can see the glory that is flex raids, but like a dog straining for that peanut butter a little too far back on the table, we can't grab it and nom it into oblivion. But that's okay: there's a lot more to the patch than just flex raiding.

When we asked our staff "What are you playing?" this weekend, we also asked their opinions about the upcoming patch 5.4. After all, we're a news and analysis site: let's get a little extra weekend analysis! Read on to see what your intrepid WoW Insider bloggers answered.

Anne Stickney (@Shadesogrey) Going to catch up on some writing this weekend, I think, and maybe play some games if I have the time. As for the patch, I am...oddly excited about the raid. While I've really enjoyed Mists and the pandaren and all that, I'm kind of happy to be going back to smashin orc and dragon faces in. Feels like a homecoming, kinda!

Chase Hasbrouck (@alarondruid, @alaronmonk) First bit of free time in a few weeks, going to pull out my old desktop and repurpose it as a home server. Fun times. I'm cautiously interested in the Timeless Isle things coming up, but that's it until I hear more about the new raid.

Dan Desmond (@Antigen_) I need to find a new game to conquer. I could finally try out Borderlands 2, which I picked up during a Steam sale long ago and quickly forgot about (as is typical for most Steam sale purchases), but I kind of want something... bigger. Not sure what I'm really looking for, but that's par for the course.

The next patch should be interesting, the new raid will likely be a blast, but I'm not giddy by any means. Virtual realms, flex raiding, proving grounds - all things that I probably won't touch. Oh well.

Daniel Whitcomb (@danielwhitcomb) I'll be hoping for a lull in all the people rushing to Silithus to get their Qiraji Guarding so I can get my own. I'm also going to be working on Northrend Mining on my Shaman so I can get my jewelcrafting to Cataclysm levels. Then if I have any time left, I'll run some old raids for pets.

As far as the patch, the Death Knight class changes have some cool points and I'm looking forward to a fresh raid. I'm not completely sold on the lore parts yet, though. All the cool moments revealed so far are Neutral or Horde-focused. I want some good Alliance moments. I also feel like instead of the Celestial island thing, they should have done something Siege-focused.

Dawn Moore (@dawnwow) Aside from raiding, I probably won't play any games this weekend. I want to catch up on some shows I've been missing and visit with some friends who are in town. So I'm having a normal person's weekend, basically. Boring, eh?

Concerning the patch, I'm anticipating it like any other. The new features don't have a huge affect on me (my guild won't take up flex raiding and I already play on a monstrous, high population server) so it's not different than any other new raid patch to me. Still, I am curious to see if Blizzard can keep up this streak with raiding ... The past two raiding tiers have been fantastic and I wonder if they're going to go three in a row without another incident like ToC or Dragonsoul.

Elizabeth Wachowski (@leeatwaterlives) I'm continuing my hiatus from WoW and also working nights, so at most I might mess around with a new Dragon Age play through or keep making my way through Dawnguard in Skyrim.

Joe Perez (@lodurzj) got a lot of projects going on this weekend. Podcast relaunch, alt leveling, writing and more mini painting. Also started a BloodBowl league and match number 3 for my Amazonians is Saturday.

As far as the patch there is a lot of interesting changes for restoration shaman on the horizon so I'm really looking forward to that.

Kristin Marshall (@kristin) Same old weekend playing schedule for me: Perhaps alts or PvP and then raiding on Sunday. I'm looking forward to the patch! It'll (hopefully) be a refreshing change of pace as far as raiding goes, and interesting to head "home" to Orgrimmar.

Lisa Poisso (@lisapoisso) No gaming for me this weekend; we'll be driving around in my husband's truck loading and unloading furniture. It's looking like we may be updating our entire living room via Craigslist, so cross your fingers for us that our deals will all work out!

Matt "Matticus" Low (@matticus) Time to bring up the ret paladin to level 90! Going to see if I can find some other raids for my alts too.

Matthew Rossi (@MatthewWRossi) My new book is out (http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00DHMFE2C) so I'm taking a week or so to decompress before starting work on the fiction collection. Needs a lot of rewrites, edits, etc etc. We're doing some Throne of Thunder this weekend and my shaman is almost 90, so that and some Kingdoms of Amalur are in my gameplay future.

As for patch 5.4, I'm keenly watching the prot warrior stuff.

Matt Walsh (@Rhidach) Nothing fancy this weekend. Some LFR, some more valor grinding and hopefully capping. Maybe some Crusader Kings 2 if I have excess free time. I'm really excited for the patch, mostly because of Proving Grounds. Can't wait to try that out.

Megan O'Neill (@slowpoker) Same old, same old: raid, some Diablo III hardcore mode, and doing some summer work. I'm also working on redoing my UI; I feel like it's gotten cluttered over the last two years. As for the patch...well...so far it's been pretty not-awesome for warlocks. I'm excited for Proving Grounds and Flex raiding, but right now I walk around with a face like >:| whenever someone wants to talk about the PTR.

Michael Gray (@writegray) I've finally started the Avengers Alliance game on Facebook. That's going to go rough for me.

Olivia Grace (@oliviadgrace) mage. Mage mage mage. Pyroblast all the things!

Robin Torres (@cosmiclaurel) We now have felines in our lives again which means we're playing the Nibble Our Toes In the Middle of the Night game as well as the How Many Times Can We Say "Awwwwwwww!" game. Bonus: I can't wait for Virtual Realms. I really hope they make the cut and I look forward to hosting It came from the Blog events for a wider audience. I dream of a massive server, where everyone can participate except for the players who refuse to play Horde for a couple hours a month. What fun that would be.

Sarah Pine (@ilaniel) Either playing WoW or watching Doctor Who all weekend, probably. I've resisted getting started on the reboot for all these years until a couple of weeks ago when my husband suggested we check it out on Netflix and now we're both hooked. I hate/love it when that happens.

I'm not really concerned about the patch right now, it has sort of failed to grab me. But I'll be hitting up the PTR this weekend as well so I'll probably have stronger feelings after I play it a little bit.

The weekend is the perfect time to kick back, relax and enjoy some game time. Are you an achievement junkie? Can't get enough raiding? Rolling a new alt? Considering taking the leap into roleplaying? Whatever your favorite way to play World of Warcraft, let us know in the comments what you're playing this weekend!