Zarhym The new Cataclysm Launcher allows you to stream game data while you play. This will reduce the time you spend downloading, installing, and patching World of Warcraft. We will be releasing this new Launcher into the Cataclysm beta soon, and wed like to get your feedback on the toolset and gameplay experience.
To continue playing in the Cataclysm beta after the next patch, you will need to do the following:
- Uninstall your current Cataclysm beta client
- Windows
- From your Start Menu, click Control Panel, then Add/Remove Programs
- Mac
- Select your World of Warcraft Beta folder and drag it to the Trash icon on the dock
- Right-click on the Trash icon and select Empty Trash
- Windows
- Download the latest version of the Cataclysm beta client
- Visit http://battle.net/
- Login to your Battle.net account
- Select Account at the top of the page, and then select World of Warcraft: Cataclysm Beta from the Game Accounts list.
- From the Download Game Client box, select Windows or Mac to begin downloading the installer.
Whats changed:
Launcher
We've redesigned the Launcher to explain your installation progress. You will see a new progress bar with sections (Red, Yellow, Green) that represent the amount of data you currently have installed.
There are three stages of download progress:
- SETUP (RED): Core game content is being prepared. You cannot enter the game at this time.
- AVAILABLE (YELLOW): Major game content is not completely applied. You can play, but your game experience will not be ideal.
- PLAYABLE (GREEN): Final game content is almost complete. You may experience a few game issues with playing at this stage.
Updater and Downloader
The Updater and Downloader have been integrated closely into the Launcher, resulting in less application switching when patching and installing.
Notes:
All World of Warcraft data will continue to download and apply whether you wait in the Launcher or are playing in-game. If you find the play experience undesirable, you may exit the game and allow the Launcher to continue the download. This may improve the play experience for users with low bandwidth.
Let us know about your experience with the new Launcher. When sending feedback, let us know what your connection speed is and what stage (Red/Yellow/Green) your progress bar is showing. This will help us optimize the Launcher and get you in the game faster.
Beta Launcher FAQ
For more information, please refer to our FAQ: http://forums.worldofwarcraft.com/thread.html?topicId=26399149660&sid=2000
After reading this over I'm not really sure what to think about this. I've got an internet connection that would be considered 'fast' by most objective standards and haven't been particularly inconvenienced by the large patches of the Beta client (or the live one for that matter).
This change seems to be aimed at allowing players with slower connections to get into the action in a reasonable time frame on huge patch days, which is a laudable goal. The first thing I thought of though was that I hope it won't be a buggy disaster that ends up being worse than the current incarnation until it is reworked several times.
According to the Beta Launcher FAQ about 5% of the data is "Red," 70% is Yellow" and 25% is "Green" which means that players will be able to play shortly into the patch, but won't have an ideal experience until around 75% into patching. Sounds helpful, and it should be a nice improvement if it works as advertised!
To read the latest guides, news, and features you can visit our World of Warcraft Game Page.
