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Know Your Lore: The lore leading into patch 5.4
The World of Warcraft is an expansive universe. You're playing the game, you're fighting the bosses, you know the how -- but do you know the why? Each week, Matthew Rossi and Anne Stickney make sure you Know Your Lore by covering the history of the story behind World of Warcraft. Patch 5.4 is now live on the PTR servers for testing, and it has several ... dramatic changes, both to the world and to the characters in it. While patch 5.3 may seem small on story, there's actually plenty going on -- more than enough to serve as a catalyst heading into the new patch. In fact, plenty of the events in 5.3 directly effect what's going on in patch 5.4. Although we don't know the whole story just yet, considering the PTR is a test realm that may undergo changes as time goes on, we do have enough to tie 5.3 and 5.4 together in a significant way. If you've been following the lore, you may have seen the signs already and know what to expect. But if you haven't been paying much attention to the story, or you're wondering what's going on with those images people have been posting from the patch 5.4 PTR, we'll do our best to get you all caught up. Mists of Pandaria has been an expansion chock full of new story, and patch 5.3 has certainly been no exception to this -- but 5.4 is shaping up to be the biggest hit we've seen so far in Mists. Please note that today's Know Your Lore contains some spoilers for patch 5.4 content. If you're avoiding spoilers, turning away now would be advised!
Patch 5.3 PTR: Heroic and new scenarios available for testing soon
Players that have been participating in the patch 5.3 PTR testing may have noticed that there's not exactly a lot of new content to test out just yet. That's about to change with the next patch update -- according to CM Vaneras over on the EU forums, all new and heroic scenarios should be available for testing with the next PTR update. This includes all new 5.3 lore scenarios -- and if you're wondering whether you'll be able to test both, you can put your mind at ease. Both factions will be able to participate in all new scenarios, and the disguise mechanic introduced when Dagger in the Dark and A Little Patience were released with patch 5.2 will be implemented. As for heroic scenarios, players will be able to participate in that content as well -- there's a new section in the scenario queuing system that will allow players to queue for heroic rather than regular scenario content. EU players can leave feedback on the official forum thread, and presumably US players will have their own thread for doing so as well. If you've been itching to find out more about upcoming 5.3 content, this is your chance to take a peek and give your feedback on the content. If you're interesting in participating, you can download the PTR client via your account management page on Battle.net, as well as copy an existing character over to the PTR. Blizzard seems to be looking specifically for people's reactions to the relative challenge of the scenarios, as well as feedback regarding the new bonus objective system. Keep your eyes peeled, we'll have more information on all of the new scenarios once they are available and open for play.
Patch 5.3 PTR: New scenarios and Lorewalker Cho
Patch 5.3 has some changes coming for scenario content. In addition to the new heroic versions of all existing scenarios, several new scenarios have been added. Unlike patch 5.1's Dagger in the Dark and A Little Patience, all scenarios will apparently be available to both sides upon patch 5.3's release. Much like what we're seeing with these faction-specific scenarios in patch 5.2, players of either faction will be given a disguise so that they may play through the other faction's content without fear of being murdered. But there are a few other developments with scenarios as well. Upon logging into the PTR, both Alliance and Horde players will receive a letter from Lorewalker Cho, asking them to come to the Lorewalkers area in the Vale of Eternal Blossoms. Once there, Lorewalker Cho offers a quest that triggers a story scene briefly explaining the story behind the Blood in the Snow scenario, complete with visions of Varian Wrynn and Moira Bronzebeard, and asking players to complete the scenario so he can know the rest of the story.
