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Tuesday Morning Post: Mooning edition
Happy Tuesday Morning, everyone. Right now, we're sort of hip deep in holidays. Not only is Love Is In The Air winding down, but the Lunar Festival is in full swing. As always, if you need help getting acclimated, we're here for you with an Overachiever guide, which itself includes an elder finding guide. There's been other things going on in and around WoW, of course. The biggest buzz has been from the past few days: Yes, Upper Deck is losing the WoW TCG license, but Blizzard says the game is not going away. Unfortunately, the exact form the new version will take, and who will run and distribute it, are still firmly in the realm of conjecture and rumor as of this writing. If there's one comfort with all this turmoil, it's this: That the World (of Warcraft) is Awesome. Unfortunately, that awesome world will be down for the usual 5 AM to 11 AM pacific time maintenance window this morning, so you'll have plenty of time to catch up on all the news of said world. As usual, we have a list of the some of the most interesting news and other stuff from the past 7 days.
Tuesday Morning Post: In the Air edition
It's been a pretty busy week here in WoW. With Patch 3.3.2 live and the Frostwing Halls open, we quickly saw our first 10-man Lich King kill, followed by our first 25-man Lich King kill, followed shortly by a ban, followed a bit later by the first legitimate 25-man Lich King kill. But if you haven't managed to get him down yet, you're in luck. Blizzard's already making it easier to get to him by removing the limited number of attempts on ICC wing bosses in normal mode. Beyond Icecrown Citadel, we also saw some pretty interesting stuff in and outside the game: Blizzard's planning to offer a premium AH app for the iPhone so you can corner the linen market on the downtown bus. The Love is in the Air holiday is active and completely redesigned, with new achievements, easier existing achievements, and a new boss fight with new holiday loot. Check our Love is In The Air FAQ for information on all the new stuff. Arena season 8 is up and running as well. Unfortunately, even with all this activity, weekly downtime is still upon us. You'll have from 5 AM to 11 AM pacific time to take a break from all this new stuff. As always, I'll suggest that that's an excellent time to read about it instead. Here's a summary of some of our articles from the past 7 days.
Tuesday Morning Post: Ice cold spoilers edition
Happy Tuesday Morning! And yes, it is pretty happy, because it looks like we're getting the long awaited Patch 3.3.2, and with it, season 8, some nice little class changes, and of course, Arthas. We've already seen a leak of the promised final cinematic that occurs after the Lich King battle. Don't click on the link if you don't want to see it, it's a pretty big spoiler. Of course, a new patch means a lot of downtime. So, While you're waiting through the 3 AM to 11 AM Pacific downtime for the servers to come up and the patch to download, have a serving of some of the hottest news and best articles from the past 7 days, and be sure to stay tuned for lots more Patch 3.3.2 news in the coming days.
Tuesday Morning Post: Not the horse edition
Happy Tuesday morning, everyone. With the 5 AM to 11 AM pacific downtime coming our way, it's probably safe to assume we aren't getting Patch 3.3.2 this week. Luckily, that didn't stop Blizzard from releasing the 3.3.2 patch notes over on the Korean WoW site. You'll probably want to give those a look, especially if you're a shaman, warrior, or warlock. On the bright side, the extra week's wait means that means you have at least one more week to master the recently opened Crimson Halls. Be sure to check out our raid boss guide for tips and strats. I'll be honest though, the big story for me this week was the release of the Invincible music. Seriously, this is some amazing music and I can't wait to hear it in game. That said, it better not be about the horse. Seriously, Arthas. I love you and all, but that horse is just dumb. You gotta let it go. It was years ago. No-one liked that horse but you. And seriously, naming it Invincible was just thumbing your nose at fate. No, this had better be a plaintive hymn to the fall of Lordaeron, the loss of innocence, and the beloved prince that you once were, played as the Argent Crusaders and the Ebon Blade carry your body off on a bier while Varian, Jaina, Muradin, Thrall, Saurfang, and Bolvar Fordragon watch solemnly. Yes, I may have put too much thought into this. Anyhow, you didn't come to hear me rant, you came to catch up on your WoW news during the downtime. As such, please find our usual summary of the last 7 days or so below the cut!
Rolling restarts for January 23rd, 2010
It looks like we have some quick play disruption coming our way this Saturday morning, as Blizzard has announced rolling restarts for all realms at 5 AM pacific, or Noon pacific for Oceanic Realms. Judging by Ghostcrawler's words in a recent thread, this is likely meant to jump start the resilience hotfix. Either way, if you're one of those folks weird enough to get up early on a Saturday morning, you may as well grab another hour or sleep or so, since you may not be able to jump on WoW for a 15 minute window. There's still no word on Tuesday's downtime, so maybe we were spoiled by the past couple of weeks. Then again, maybe they're just seeing if they can get that minor patch ready for a release this week too. Either way, keep it here, and we'll keep you informed.
Tuesday Morning Post: Vampire morning edition
Happy Tuesday morning, everyone. As of this writing, the big news of the week is probably the latest Twitter developer chat. If you missed it, we have the transcript. Topics included the fate of Crystalsong Forest, pet scaling buffs, new warlock pets, personal guild banks and other storage issues, and more. Be sure to check it out, it's good reading whether you're focused on Patch 3.3 or on Cataclysm. Coming up, we have the opening of the Crimson Halls, the next wing of Icecrown Citadel. That means lots of vampires. They're blood elf vampires, sure, but blood elves are awesome, so it's all good. And hey, if you dislike blood elves, at least take comfort in the fact that these vampires don't sparkle. Finally, it looks like advance notice for downtime may be the name of the game after all, as we've know about today's downtime for a few days now. It's 3 AM to 11 AM pacific time, if you haven't heard, which means you should have plenty of time to catch up on WoW news. Check out a list of some of our content from the last 7 days below the cut.
Tuesday Morning Post: Anticipation edition
Happy Tuesday Morning, everyone. Today, we have another bout of long expected downtime, with the 5 to 11 AM downtime having been announced way back on Saturday. I'm betting it's to get those Cataclysm alpha servers set up, but we'll see. In fact, in addition to rumblings of new Cataclysm news, these past few days have all been about news of the distant future. Some news about the cancellation of Spiderman 4 might just herald things for the Warcraft movie, for example. In more immediate news, the Plaguewerks have opened up, and people have had a chance to face the new bosses. If you haven't delved in yet, or even if you have, you may find some helpful hints for taking them down right here. Regardless, you have around 6 hours to browse WoW news while you wait for the servers to come back up, so I have the usual list of good stuff to read after the break.
Maintenance announced for Tuesday, January 12th, 2010
When Monday night rolls around, I have a ritual that I follow without fail: I check the official server status forums and the launch tool waiting for any word on the maintenance window for Tuesday mornings over and over again. Most weeks, I'm lucky to get it by 10 PM pacific, if not midnight. Every once in a while there's an early announcement, but that's very, very rare. So it was some surprise to me to see a Saturday afternoon announcement from blue poster Enthati. We'll be having some downtime this Tuesday from 5 AM pacific to approximately 11 AM pacific. This is honestly probably the earliest I can recall ever seeing a downtime announcement go up. This, in turn, makes me wonder if something's up. 5-11 is a pretty short window, not enough to expect a patch, I'd think. Of course, I'm all for earlier advanced notice of downtime, so you won't hear me complain if this early announcement is just a new policy. If nothing else, I'll be able to go to bed earlier on Monday nights. And on Tuesday morning, you can head over here for all the latest news on the server downtime and all the other happenings around the world of WoW.
Tuesday Morning Post: Lift up the gates edition
So here we are. It's been a while since Patch 3.3 started, and we've had a suspiciously early downtime announcement to boot. The holidays are winding down, and most of us, including, one would assume, the Blizzard devs, have finished our eggnog and put our noses back to the grindstone. As of this writing, there's no official word either way, but I'm feeling pretty optimistic about waking up to news of a new section of ICC being opened, or at least a nice mini-patch full of some bug fixes -- say, to certain borked class cooldowns. We can't say for sure, though. All we can say for sure is that the realms are down, and will be for a while, until at least 11 AM pacific time. With that in mind, it's a good time to catch up on the news. As usual, we have a roundup of some of the best articles from the past 7 days or so. We're shaking off the holiday drowsiness and getting into full gear to help you get through the next phase of ICC, find out when we'll see more Cataclysm news, and more. Join us in the server downtime vigil and read on.
Tuesday Morning Post: Same Old Auld Lang Syne edition
Happy Tuesday morning, everyone. Winter Veil is winding down, and as we here at the WoW.com offices fight over the last carton of eggnog, we've been taking a lot of time to look over the past year and celebrate. Of course, here in the Tuesday Morning Post, we generally look at the past 7 days or so. So yeah, there's plenty of the navel gazing stuff, but there's a good smattering of news too. Nothing too major, I suppose. Even the dev team likes to see their family over the holidays, I guess. But it's there. And in the meantime, a little bit of a navel gazing never hurt anyone. Our navels are pretty awesome anyway. Join me for the last Tuesday morning of 2009 and catch up on your WoW reading. The usual list is after the break.
Tuesday Morning Post: Best Patch Ever Edition
No, I'm serious. They finally got the LFG tool right, and they got it right in the most epic manner possible. It's easy to use. It gets you groups anywhere from instantly to 15 minutes most of the day, depending on your role. Almost everyone loves it. Even if nothing else was included in this patch, I honestly think it would be worth it. So far, Patch 3.3 is shaping up to make up for the somewhat lackluster performance of Patch 3.2 in spades. I'll be eager to see how the lore and endgame progress as the ICC unlocks (Under a month left until the next wing!). Of course, it's not like the dungeon finder is the only amazing thing about the patch either. There's also the bear rockets. And I guess those new dungeons and raids are alright too. In addition, Winter Veil is here. If you still need the Merrymaker title, we have a Winter Veil guide for your approval. Above that though, I think the main attraction for most of us is running our behinds off through the random dungeons, which is all well and good, but really, don't you need a break? How about taking some time off to catch up on the latest WoW news? You'll need to anyway, since the servers will be down from 3 AM to 11 AM Pacific. As usual, we have a good list of it for you after the break.
Tuesday Morning Post: Patch 3.3 downtime edition
Poor Matt. He was just one week off from keeping his Val'anyr. But seriously, it's finally here. Patch 3.3 is the culmination of the Wrath of the Lich King experience. Informed by everything they've learned so far, in class balance, in mechanics, in lore, this is the crown of the Wrath of the Lich King expansion. This is the epic climax of one of the main stories of the universe (Still, one would do well to remember that it is not the main story, and there is plenty more lore to be had. There were two games before the Lich King even came on the scene, after all). And of course, beyond it all lies the promise of the Cataclysm, and I can hardly wait. But before I go into fanboy mode, we'd best move on. There is, of course, a huge downtime coming up in order to facilitate the patch installation, and because of that, you probably have some time to catch up on your reading. I'd definitely recommend you look through our recently and constantly updated Guide to Patch 3.3, which provides a pretty handy roadmap to what's coming. Beyond that, we have our usual roundup of news from the past few days below the cut. Happy reading and Happy Patch 3.3!
Tuesday Morning Post: Stuffed edition
So, Zarhym has more or less confirmed that we aren't getting Patch 3.3 today (unless he's lying, in which case I'm going to look like a fool when you read this), which means the biggest story of the week is probably that whole thing with the Pilgrims and stuff. Of course, it's over now, and if you're like me, you had to comfort yourself with a plain old real turkey and stuffing and spending time with family instead of a new title, which I think is a pretty fair trade. Of course, that doesn't mean I'm not a little bit bummed that I broke my personal holiday completion streak, but hey, at least I still have my drake, right? Anyway, Thanksgiving aside, there's still plenty of other news to be had from around the WoW-o-sphere. As of this writing, there's still no word on a downtime, but chances are it's coming, and even if not, hey, Tuesday's as good a time as any to catch up on the latest news, right? If anything, you're probably still taking it slow at work while you finish recovering from all that turkey. Here's our usual roundup of the past 7 days or so:
Tuesday Morning Post: A long expected downtime edition
Yeah, weirdly enough, we've been expecting this a while. They've announce this week's downtime pretty early, and it's extended: 3 AM to 11 AM Pacific. We still can't say for sure why they announced it that early. As of this writing, we haven't heard any peep on whether or not Patch 3.2.2 will go live today (and despite my gut feeling, there is that whole november thing that keeps going around). You'll know by the time you read this, most likely, but either way, it can't hurt to read up on the new patch while the servers are down, right? Of course, even if Patch 3.2.2 doesn't drop, there's plenty of other things going on. For example, Brewfest is in full swing. If you still haven't gotten in the spirit, check out our Achievement guide and Coren Direbrew loot list for inspiration. Plus, as always, we have even more news and views to get you through the downtime after the break:
Tuesday Morning Post: Cataclysmic Edition
It's time once again for weekly maintenance, and not only do we have the standard 5 AM - 11 AM Pacific downtime for most US servers, there's also a handful that are down from midnight to noon today. With all that extra time on your hands, you'll have time once again to read up on WoW news.The big news, of course, is the Cataclysm. Blizzard went on a trademark registering spree around this word, which has everyone abuzz with speculation. Are we seeing the name of the new, maelstrom-related expansion? Or is this another secret project, perhaps even that new top secret MMO? Only time will tell, but it's fun to guess anyway. Once you're done being all atwitter over that little bit of gossip, here's some more stuff to read until your server comes up:
Realm maintenance for Tuesday June 9th
There is a set of server maintenance announcements tonight from the login screen.First and foremost, the authentication systems will be undergoing maintenance from 3:00 a.m. PDT until 5:00 a.m. PDT. While Blizzard's announcement on the issue seems rather optimistic that you'll be able to login during that time, don't count on it.Secondly, all realms not listed after the break will be undergoing rolling restarts beginning at 5:00 a.m. PDT, with Oceanic realms being restarted at 10:00 a.m. PDT.Finally, the realms listed after the break will be going under maintenance from 3:00 a.m. PDT until 9:00 a.m. PDT.
Realm maintenance for March 10th
We've had clean and easy rolling restarts on Tuesday mornings more often lately, but this week we won't be so lucky.. The servers will be going down for maintenance at 5:00 AM PDT and are estimated to be back online at 11:00am PDT. Will servers be back up on time this week? Maybe, maybe not! We can certainly hope so.As usual, if anything unexpected unfolds throughout the maintenance period tomorrow, we'll be here to let you know what we know, which might not be much more than you know but you never know, you know?
Surprise! Extended maintenance extended
All US realms will now be down until 1pm PST / 4pm EST.I really don't know why Blizzard doesn't just change their times for extended maintenance to make it last until 1pm PST every time, or just push it back to 3pm PST and be done with it. That way there are no failed expectations when the servers don't come up.It's a relatively contradictory thing for them to say they'll wait push a patch to live until it's ready and never give a time estimate, and then turn around and give a time estimate whenever the severs are down. Don't you think? Perhaps they should just say the severs will be back up "soon."Of course, I'm probably just QQing because this afternoon my lazy butt is finally going to hit exalted with the Kalu'ak. I'm going to go get that sweet fishing pole first thing. I'm going to dance with it too, a pole dance if you will. But alas that'll have to wait until I can log on.We'll put up a post when servers are back up, or some other debacle happens. Stay tuned.
Server restarts for Friday October 24th
While the connectivity and general lag seems to have gotten better in the last day or so, there are still some lingering issues here and there. All servers will be undergoing rolling restarts on the morning of the 24th from 5:00 a.m. PDT to 6:00 a.m. PDT. Each realm is expected to be down only 15 minutes.Ideally this will solve all the issues we've had since patch 3.0.2 hit last week, but more likely we'll just see things be better for a short time.If this temporary down time turns into anything extended, we'll update this post.Of course, this restart might have something to do with Zombies hungry for brains.
