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Breakfast Topic: So what do you think of patch 3.2?
It's been an interesting week in Azeroth with Call of the Crusade finally landing on live servers. Patch 3.2 did bring with it another painful bout of maintenance for everyone involved that seemed to go one forever. However its offerings were certainly plentiful! After an age of waiting for the European realms to pop up, I appeared in Dalaran to find most of the server surrounding Matron Aria in an attempt to get the Wolvar/Oracle orphans (I went with Kekek, if you must know), the rest were swarming the Argent Tournament grounds and pushing and shoving to get into the new instance. Top of my list was to try out the new Druid forms and then get my hair colored. The rest of my guild made a beeline for "the new place" (aka the Coliseum) or moaning about the buffing/nerfing of such and such a class. So, constant readers, what did you do first? More importantly, what do you think of the patch? I admit I'm still sitting on the fence, there were some nice additions but I'm still a heck of a lot more interested in patch 3.3. Tell us in the usual fashion by dropping your thoughts in the box below.
The best of WoW.com: July 28 - August 4, 2009
It's Patch Day in the World of Warcraft, and if you've never actually played the game, then we'll tell you: it's a lot like Christmas, except it comes a few times a year. A huge patch of free content has been added into the game, and WoW.com is your HQ for all the information you need about all the new instances, items, and features. Check out our most popular posts below, and if you are a WoW player... then what are you doing here? Go see the Argent Tournament! It's out! News WoW.com's Guide to Patch 3.2Everything you need to know (and then some) about the game's newest patch of content. World of Warcraft 3.2 release patch notesThe official word on all of the changes going into the game today. WoW China hit with more censorship on relaunchChina has made some more changes to the game overseas. Priest Q&A releasedBlizzard answers some questions about the game's biggest healing class. Class Q&A: RogueMore class Q&A, this time about the Rogue class. Features Arcane Brilliance: Six essential Mage addons for PvEHere's a real treat for raiding Mages: six addons you probably should be using. Which class gets invited as what?This number cruncher examines the different roles that classes play in groups. World of Warcrafts: Baby Hordie shirtWait, the Horde gets to be evil and look this cute? Unfair! Drama Mamas: Loot and leaving earlyOur new column about drama and how to prevent it examines what to do with that loot your raid is earning. Friday Night Gin: Your weekly blue roundupHave a glass of gin with Ghostcrawler and the other forum blues on Friday night.
Call of the Crusade Trailer
A lot of people were wondering if there was going to be an official Blizzard trailer for World of Warcraft's Patch 3.2, Call of the Crusade, and lo' and behold, there is! Just not out in its usual promptness. The trailer itself is made up of mostly in-game footage of the various events in the new dungeon, the Argent Tournament. We see some boss fights in the coliseum raid, a few overviews of the tournament grounds, etc... The new Battleground, the Isle of Conquest, is also featured in the trailer, and there are some good shots of PvP going on there.There isn't really any lore or story to it - other than that the Argent Tournament is preparing us for Icecrown Citadel. Nothing we don't already know. You can get a cool desktop background though.You can watch the trailer above on YouTube or head over to the Blizzard site and download it in super high def. WoW's Patch 3.2 ushers in the Crusaders' Coliseum, the Isle of Conquest, flying mounts at 60, and much more. WoW.com has all the patch information your Worgen obsessed mind can handle in WoW.com's Guide to Patch 3.2!
UPDATE: European extended weekly maintenance: 5th August 2009
Well, it's hardly a surprise that tomorrow will see European players getting our grubby hands on patch 3.2. That said, there's something almost magical about seeing the Breaking News box change and contain those magical words. And, of course, the added bonus is that our US compatriots get to be guinea pigs when it comes to implementation. Though we have had our own share of maintenance issues over the last couple of weeks.So tomorrow's maintenance is going to be the extended variety (for obvious reasons). Blizzard have announced all the realms here in Europa will be offline between 3:00am and 11:00am CEST. After that, if the gaming gods are willing, we should be able to go explore all the new content and start counting the days till patch 3.3. Personally I'm going to be scrutinizing my new-look Druid forms and, if needed, visiting the barber for a haircut. Don't forget to check out our comprehensive Call of the Crusade guide and the official patch notes while you're waiting.Update: Given all the US issues yesterday, it's really no surprise that Blizzard is taking a little longer with our maintenance. They've now announced all realms will be offline until 3:00pm CEST. WoW's Patch 3.2 ushers in the Crusaders' Coliseum, the Isle of Conquest, flying mounts at 60, and much more. WoW.com has all the patch information your Worgen obsessed mind can handle in WoW.com's Guide to Patch 3.2!
Breakfast Topic: So when is Patch 3.2 going to hit?
As I'm sure you all know, the Patch 3.2 background downloader has appeared, that fabled herald, signaling that a new patch will finally be appearing on live servers. The PTR has been heaving, bosses have been tested, Druids are rejoicing at their fresh new forms and even more Druid lore has been revealed. Can you feel the electricity in the air yet? The crackle of an-ti-ci-pation (Rocky Horror anyone?) as the patch drip-feeds into your computer? Exciting, huh?Except it's never as easy as that, there's usually a gap between the appearance of the downloader and the patch actually going live. It's normally a couple of weeks but, well, when do you think it's going to be? We've guesstimated when it might drop in terms of months but the downloader is a sure sign that Patch 3.2 will be hitting Soon (TM). As usual we're probably not going to know for sure until the patch actually hits or we get confirmation from a Blue in the wee small hours of a Tuesday morning, but that doesn't stop a little healthy speculation now, does it? Patch 3.2 will bring about a new 5, 10, and 25 man instance to WoW, and usher in a new 40-man battleground called the Isle of Conquest. WoW.com will have you covered every step of the way, from extensive PTR coverage through the official live release. Check out WoW.com's Guide to Patch 3.2 for all the latest!
Patch 3.2: Enter Trag Highmountain
When I'm not playing WoW, I'm usually found indulging in manga and have been devouring the Warcraft series ever since the Sunwell Trilogy came out. Of all the characters introduced through comics and manga, the most tragic next to Anveena has to be Trag Highmountain. I've watched over the last year as more characters from the print franchises began to appear in-game, and there's something about seeing them translated into the game which gives me an amazing thrill.We've met Anveena and her soul mate Kalec, Tyri and Jorad as well as Broll and that Blood Elf chick whose always hanging around Varian, so I've often wondered when Trag would turn up. It's inevitable given how his quest to Icecrown is in keeping with Wrath of the Lich King. Imagine my surprise when I logged on to the PTR for the first time this morning to find one Tauren Death Knight standing guard over one of the incapacitated forms of one of the Coliseum bosses.Yes, it's our old friend Trag, now a level 80 NPC. While seeming hostile, he makes no move to attack the Alliance or speak, he just seems to stand near Gormok the Impaler. I'm sure he'll get some lines by the time Patch 3.2 goes live though. Having not yet read Warcraft: Legends' final volume, I'm curious to find out what happened to him but it's nice to know he's finally free of the Lich King's thrall.
Breakfast topic: When Blizzard listens
For years it has been a running joke that the level 11 elite Hogger should be a high level raid boss. Every server will have heard talk of a 40-man Hogger run or re-rolling a bunch of level 1's just to tackle this insurmountable foe. He is surely the scourge of Alliance toons everywhere simply because he is the first elite we encounter as we explore Elwynn. Well, it seems Blizzard have listened, Boubouille over at MMO Champion has been datamining the 3.2 patch files and has discovered tidbits about some of the bosses we'll be fighting. Indeed the most interesting part involves memories of past encounters -- including Hogger. Yes, you can also fight Algalon, Onyxia, Illidan and Edwin VanCleef but Hogger is the most important. What confuses me though is whose memories are you fighting? Those of your own past encounters or those of one of the Argent Crusade? If it's the former, what happens if you've not fought said boss? What if you're Horde? But I digress. While you can bet Hogger won't be a level 11 anymore, it's a shocking revelation. While we know Blizzard pays attention to what WoW players are saying, it's nice to be reminded of that. So I want to know your reactions? Is it a good thing for Blizzard to pander to player's whims? Do you think reminding players where they came from and their past triumphs is a good thing? Not so keen? Is it just an excuse to be lazy and rehash old content? Tell us, constant readers, and drop your thoughts in the box below.
Patch 3.2 PTR now live
The wait for the new content patch may have just gotten a little shorter! The files for Patch 3.2, Call of the Crusade, are now available for download from the official site (or any number of other mirrors, at this point), and the PTR realms are up.MMO-Champion and a number of other sites have datamined information from the files, including new achievements, holidays, and names of the Coliseum bosses, which we've compiled for you. We'll keep you updated with any new information we get regarding 3.2, including the current status of the PTR, as events warrant. Get psyched! Patch 3.2 will bring about a new 5, 10, and 25 man instance to WoW, and usher in a new 40-man battleground called the Isle of Conquest. WoW.com will have you covered every step of the way, from extensive PTR coverage through the official live release. Check out WoW.com's Guide to Patch 3.2 for all the latest!
Blizzard gives preview of the Isle of Conquest battleground
Blizzard community manager Nethaera has announced some more details of the new battleground coming to World of Warcraft with Patch 3.2, Call of the Crusade.The "Isle of Conquest" will be a new place for Horde and Alliance to face off in forty-vs.-forty PvP across different locations offering their own unique challenges and rewards. Blizzard has put together a preview site for the Isle of Conquest explaining about the battleground and its objectives and resources that the Horde and Alliance will struggle over. Each location will have a certain advantage, ranging from Glaive Throwers and Catapults to an airship that allows players to parachute into the enemy keep. Have a look at the Isle of Conquest preview site for more on what to expect from Call of the Crusade's battleground. One of Azeroth's millions of citizens? Check out our ongoing coverage of the World of Warcraft, and be sure to touch base with our sister site WoW Insider for all your Lich King needs!
Isle of Conquest details released
Vaneras has just released the details for the Isle of Conquest, the new battleground that will be appearing in Patch 3.2, Call of the Crusade.You can read the complete details over on the official forums or check 'em out after the break. There are some key things that everyone should be aware of: IoC will be a 40-man battleground. Yes, you read that right. This is the first 40-man content released since Naxx 1.0. That is going to make some old school players very, very happy. I know I'm already giddy with excitement. There will be significant use of siege and vehicle combat. This includes going on The Airship Hanger and using parachutes to drop teams onto the enemy keep from above. You will need to kill a general held up in the enemy keep, much like Alterac Valley. Reinforcements will be used. Capture resources to boost your strength. This looks like an amazing new battleground, and one that I'm sure many of us cannot wait to try out on the PTR. There has been a ton of new information about Patch 3.2 released in the last few days, so it looks like PTR might be soonish. Keep your fingers crossed.The complete statement on the new Isle of Conquest after the break!
New Tauren druid kitty forms revealed
We mentioned last week that new bear forms for Tauren and Night Elf druids were rocking the World of Warcraft. Well now Blizzard have revealed the new Tauren kitty forms with the updated Night Elf forms following later in the week. The somewhat naff and ugly lionesque melee form finally gets a makeover, becoming more realistic and doubtless millions of Tauren druids are crapping their pants right nowOur sister site WoW.com have been discussing the new forms and the consensus seems to be positive but, lets be honest, anything is better than the old cat form. At least these new skins look realistic, even if the horns remain seriously pointy. Remember these forms will hit in the upcoming patch 3.2 (also known as Call of the Crusade) and you'll be able to switch skin tones by visiting your friendly barber in any one of the capital cities. We'll bring you more on the Night Elf forms as soon as they are revealed.
Updated druid forms coming with next WoW patch
Druids all over the planet (including my night elf Serisa and WoW.com's Allison Robert) are currently squeeing with delight. Blizzard have just announced that the long awaited, much talked about druid forms will be dropping with the next major content patch 3.2 (aka Call of the Crusade). Blue Zahrym made the announcement a short time ago on the forums and Blizzard also updated their development pages, revealing the first look at the six choices tauren will have for their bears. A peek are the night elf forms is incoming 'soon' and Druids will also be able to get new cat forms as well.The development page also explains how the new forms will work: "In our next major content patch, druids will find a host of new textures for two major forms, cat and bear. There will be five different designs for each of these forms for the Horde and Alliance. Night elves can choose to change their cat and bear look at any time by visiting the barber shop and changing their character's hair color, while tauren will be able to change which look they use by switching skin tones in the barber shop -- a new feature for tauren in the next major content patch. Given that there are more hair colors and skin tones than unique form looks, some colors and tones will overlap with these new textures. The hair and skin colors chosen will, in most cases, correspond with the color seen in the look of each form. Some similar colors that may share a particular cat texture will not necessarily share the same bear texture."
Next World of Warcraft patch announced: Call of the Crusade
Blizzard has announced that the next major content patch in the works for World of Warcraft is Patch 3.2: Call of the Crusade. Patch 3.2 will expand upon the features of Wrath of the Lich King, and Blizzard lists a few highlights: The Argent Tournament expands: With the help of Azeroth's heroes, the Argent Crusade will finish the Argent Coliseum just in time to call for all brave citizens to prepare for battle with the Lich King. New dailies, rewards, and more will be available at the Argent Tournament grounds to lure adventurers into the coliseum. Crusader's Coliseum: In order to prepare for a siege on Icecrown Citadel, players will be called by the Argent Crusade to test their mettle in the Coliseum. 5-player, 10-player, and 25-player challenges await inside. New Battleground: Isle of Conquest, a new large-scale siege Battleground, will be open. The Horde and Alliance will battle head-to-head for control of strategic resources to lay siege to the keeps of their opponents. New Arena Season: Season 7 will officially start, paving the way for all-new items and challenges. The full details of Call of the Crusade, as they stand right now, can be found in the public test realm patch notes. We'll keep you informed when more details of World of Warcraft's Patch 3.2 are released. [Via VG247] One of Azeroth's millions of citizens? Check out our ongoing coverage of the World of Warcraft, and be sure to touch base with our sister site WoW Insider for all your Lich King needs!
