patches
Latest
Breakfast Topic: Patching!
Ah... the patch distribution system. You know it and... er... love it? Well... maybe not on that last part. Blizzard has a unique system of patch distribution that I often find problematic on patch day. If you can jump on and start downloading early in the day (out of prime time), you'll often find the download quick and painless. But if you get off work, drive through traffic, come home, and login? You're much more likely to be met by a screen similar to the above. The workaround to this scenario for many seems to be grabbing patch files from 3rd party sites, but I always wonder why the patching process has to be such a headache. Of course, the background downloader application was introduced to solve some of these problems -- by allowing you to download the bulk of the patch in advance. However, it doesn't always seem to make the experience any better. But that's just my opinion -- what do you think of Blizzard's patching system?
Unlisted 2.0.1 changes
And now it's time for the 2.0.1 changes that didn't quite make it into the patch notes, courtesy of the World of Raids forums. I've listed the interesting ones, but if you're the sort that needs every last detail, hop on over to the complete list at World of Raids. Escape artist is now an instant cast. Blood Fury also increases spell damage depending on your class. Increases ranged and melee damage for hunters. The Looking For Group Channel has been removed. The Quest log has been expanded to hold 25 quests. All hunter pets have been normalized to a 2.0 speed. *unconfirmed* Warlock's Spellstones and Firestones can be equipped in the Wand slot. Many profession that used to require a recipe, plan, etc, to learn are now trainable by the corresponding profession trainer. (No, we don't have any details on which.) Spells automatically update on your action bar when new ranks are purchased. A hunter's Arcane Shot benefits more from ranged attack power. *unconfirmed* Four new bank slots! And an extra bag slot that costs 25g to purchase. New quests have been added throughout the zones. Including various Draenei and Blood Elf camps. Many new items have been added to various vendors, including jewelcrafting plans. All class specific spell books that previously dropped in dungeons are now trainable at level 60. Players can change their title from a drop down menu to show their highest PvP rank next to their name.
PTRs online... well, sorta.
There are obvious downloading issues, so apparently I'll have a more detailed report for you in about 11 hours. However, you can get started downloading your own PTR patch here (though if you could just wait until I've got mine that'd be great). The character copy function (there are apparently no pre-made characters available for copying) is overloaded by traffic and only gives a "server too busy" message.However, lucky reader Mark is further along in the download process -- and managed to snag these screenshots of the patch notes. See page 1, page 2, page 3, page 4, page 5, and page 6 for the full patch notes -- or read on for a transcribed version (via Kyrra on the test realm forums).
Mount changes in 1.12.1
Hot off the test realm forums comes a big change to mounts and the way we ride them:Mounts now require only one, shared riding skill (blue mounts require level 75, epic mounts, level 150). Also costs of learning this skill are now significally increased. Previously, cost of learning riding skill was 20 gold for each kind of mount, without any discount. Now it will be 90 gold for level 75 and 900 for level 150. Level 150 of riding skills is required for epic mounts and will most probably include PvP mounts and all mounts that drop in instances (Tiger, Raptor, Baron mount, bug mount and maybe paladin and warlock mount too). For now I can confirm that it is required to ride Stormpike Battle Charger, rest of mounts require confirmation. In addition to the change of riding skills, the costs of Blue and Epic faction mounts has been significally decreased. Now blue mounts costs 10 gold and epic mounts costs 100 gold. As you can see from this screenshot we took on the European PTR, you'll need exalted to buy a mount (as you do currently), but the items have become bind-on-pickup. We can't tell just by playing on the PTR exactly what will happen to our existing riding skills and mounts, so here's hoping we find out more about this change soon.
Breakfast Topic: What Are You Looking Forward to in Patch 1.12?
With patch 1.12 presumably rolling out today, I've just got to ask - what are you most eager to see coming with the patch? Cross-realm battlegrounds? The changes to the honor system? The new outdoor PvP objectives? The new interface improvements? The many rogue class changes? Or perhaps something else I've neglected to mention? I honestly think my personal favorite is a minor UI change - the ability to have nameplates appear over friendly players as well as hostiles and NPCs. As a healer, I think this will give me a better idea of the health of those around me in a chaotic situation where I may not be near my group (Alterac Valley anyone?). However, the changes to the honor system have also piqued my interest, and I know I'll have to give the world PvP objectives an attempt or two. But what are you looking forward to the most?
Warlock's Life Tap in Patch 1.12
This afternoon Tseric posted a surprise in the warlock forums - the the functionality of the skill life tap (which converts health into mana) will be changing in the next patch - to be modified by +spell damage gear. Rank 3 and higher of the spell will now benefit from 80% of your spell damage gear (it's unclear as to whether it will benefit only from +spell damage, or whether it will benefit from +shadow damage), meaning it will both give more mana and take more health. As a warlock myself, this will take a bit of getting used to, as a loss of 400-ish health (which is spammable when necessary) becomes a loss nearly twice that - ouch! However, the reaction on the warlock is overwhelmingly positive (aside from the occasional query "But what about Dark Pact?").
Are We All Just Beta Testers?
GameDaily has an interesting article up about how game developers seem to be using players as beta testers. Buggy code is released as a final product to the public with the thought that it can always be fixed with a later patch. And, while the article specifically discusses single player games, the argument is perhaps even more applicable to large MMO's in which regular patches to add content (and fix old bugs) are the norm. While it's understandable to an extent - World of Warcraft is a massive game, and it would be impossible to test every race, class, and talent spec in every situation - some of the bugs are sufficiently obvious that they make one wonder how much testing happens at all. However, perhaps MMO's are so expansive that it's imposible to give them the full quality assurance treatment in the traditional sense - which is why we've ended up with test servers and a regular patch cycle. What do you think - are we beta testing the software we're paying for? And should we be?
Cross-realm battlegrounds on the way
Gaming Steve brings us the long-awaited information that cross-realm battlegrounds, of a form, will be coming to Azeroth. By patch 1.12 or 1.13 "at the latest", battlegrounds will span sixteen realms, allowing for shorter queues and new opponents.There are also some more exciting BG changes planned for the future, turning WoW PvP into a truly competitive sport with tournaments, ladders and worldwide rankings to take part in. It looks like we'll have to wait for the Burning Crusade to see most of the changes, but bringing cross-realm combat in sooner rather than later is something I'm definitely looking forward to.[Via Joystiq]
MLB 2K6 freezing bug drives ballers batty
Just released MLB 2K6 is batting .000 with angry baseball fans due to a freezing bug that literally strikes you out of game. Already tagged by reviewers as an uninspired port of the Xbox version with minor graphical improvements, the title is now being grand slammed in the 2KSports forums for product testing that failed to cover the plate. Here's a typical post minus the expletives:I mean not to be rude, but I paid hard-earned Money for this game ($60) and not to mention the system ($400) just to have it freeze-up. In my version of the freeze happens after striking someone out. It doesn't happen after every strike-out, but when it does my screen goes all black and the only way to get a picture back on my screen is to completely restart my system. Perhaps aware that opening the season with a broken game isn't the best way pitch your newly exclusive Major League Baseball license, 2KSports has issued an official response with the usual mumbled apology and promise of a fix.Folks, we've been Charlie hustled. This problem was not mentioned in any of the reviews that I read. Now we're supposed to sit on the bench and wait for a patch. According to one forum poster, the issue is related to the 360 hard drive and can be worked around by using a memory card. But people paid $60 to hit home runs, not half-assed hardware solutions. (He also says the same bug was present in NBA and NHL 2K6).I loved MLB 2K5 like Barry Bonds loves shrunken nads, but so far 2KSport's Xbox 360 efforts have been one of the console's most disappointing foul balls. No company is more guilty of slapping some polygon paint on a port, rushing it out the door, and calling it next-gen. Now that their quality control has swung and missed, it may be time to send this developer back to the minors until they figure out what we demand out of a next-gen sports game, particularly an exclusive license. Three games, three strikes.On the plus side, freezing time may be the only way to keep the Phillies from sucking this year.[Thanks JB]
Patch 1.10.1 Delayed for EU servers
EU server maintenance is on Wednesday, which I have always guessed provides the EU team with a useful opportunity to observe the US roll-out and possibly make changes. Well, this week they have made a change - because you won't find any European realms running patch 1.10.1. In explaining the issue, CM Vaeras is not clear as to why the patch was not applied (only saying that there were "some issues" that were corrected, but too late to hit this week's maintenance window). Hopefully this means that next week's EU rollout of patch 1.10.1 won't have the same issues that the US rollout did - but who knows, the patch may have been delayed for entirely different reasons.Note: I can't seem to get to the specific post on the forums about this, though the forums themselves seem to be up. The link should be good whenever the forums straighten themselves out.
Time-line for Burning Crusade Release?
There's been a lot of speculation as to when The Burning Crusade expansion will be released - different retailers list different release dates, and Blizzard has not made anything public yet. However, CM Eyonix dropped a little tidbit in the forums today which may provide a clue as to when we can expect to see the expansion hit store shelves, telling us that they plan to do a talent review for all classes before the release. With three un-reviewed classes, and predicting six to eight weeks between patches, this pushes the expansion out four and a half to six months. September or October, anyone?
Tuesday: Patch Day!
The wait for patch 1.10 is over - Eyonix has confirmed that it will be released during maintenance tomorrow. While I'm pretty excited about seeing some of the changes go live, there's still a long wait while the servers are patched. And it will be a longer wait for those playing on the new servers, which will be down until 2:00 PM PST instead of the usual 11:00 AM PST. Up for a little fishing, anyone?
CoD2.1: The Big Red Whatever
Reports from the western front confirm that the long-awaited Call of Duty 2 multi-player patch has finally been released—just in time for war-weary fans to not give a flying frag. The saga of this patch is as long and ugly as any WWII slog, including delays, fired forum moderators and pissed off PC gamers. Booting the game on your 360 now results in an auto-update that supposedly fixes CoD2's multiple issues. Initial testing by the Xboxic staff discovered the following improvements: Can actively host a game now. Lobbies fully implemented including game options and pre-game smack talk. Hoster can kick players. Private matches are allowed. You can select any map of choice. Score and time limits configurable. Post-game lobby after the game is over. Can invite players to game. You can see enemy names in-game. No noticeable lag continously disrupting games. Unfortunately, the patch fails to address the one gameplay issue that will continue to haunt CoD2's field-dressed XBL experience, namely, Ghost Recon: Advanced Warfighter. Old games never die, they just fade away. Are you finally hearing Infinity Ward's call to multiplayer duty? Who else thinks this patch is a day late and a dollar short? [Thanks to multiple tipsters]
Delayed 360 CoD2 patch screws PC gamers
An Infinite Waiting—excuse me— Infinity Ward Nation staff member calling himself Tally has posted an unofficial update on the anxiously awaited Call of Duty 2 multiplayer patch:I am at pains to point out that this is NOT AN OFFICIAL ANNOUNCMENT Im sure everyone is wondering why the patch is taking so long, so I thought Id share a little of what I know about the situation. For those that dont know me, I also work at Infinity Ward Nation, as a staff member. I have spoken to some of the Developers at IW (makers of COD2), and have even spoken to Grant Collier, CEO for IW. So, as such, I am pretty close to whats going on. As both Activision and IW have a HDA (Non Disclosure Agreement) with MS, they cannot divulge too much about the causes of the hold up. This explains why IW remains tight-liped about the whole deal. But, with a little detective work, I have pieced things together, and this is my estimate of the situation: Activison and IW have an agreement with MS to roll out any patches for COD2 together - for both the 360 and the PC. As the 360 was shipped without an adequate update system in place, this has held things up - until an adequate update system for the 360 was implimented. As most 360 users will tell you, as of this week, there is finally an Update patch available to all 360 users with a Live account. This is mandatory, so every 360 user has to download it. It will fit on either a mem card or a hd. As the 360 has now been readied for any updates, rumor has it that the COD2 patch will be released this week. Im not totally confident that this rumor is accurate, but I do know that the patch is now very close. the PC patch has been ready for some time now, and now that the 360 is ready for updates, I think it safe to say it will probable be sometime this month.This thread would seem to confirm both Tally's authenticity and the fact that PC gamers are pissed their game has to suffer because of the Xbox version.[Via Xboxic]
Quake 4 patch 1.1 beta available
A new patch for Quake 4 has been released in beta form, allowing keen Quake gamers to get their hands on a whole slew of updates. The focus of the patch? In id Software's words, "multiplayer is fixed", with the addition of voice chat and a lot of multiplayer tweaks from a forcemodel option to a one-minute tournament warning.When this patch leaves beta, it will become a required update, bringing with it four new maps.
