src="http://www.tentonhammer.com/image/view/92021">
Tuesday
is here and as expected the servers are down for maintenance.
For those who have tried to log in today (myself included) a moment of
excitement may have hit you as your game prompted you to download a
brand new patch. For a brief second your mind might have wondered if
this was the big one, when all of Azeroth would be shattered in
preparation for the release of Cataclysm in just a few short weeks.
Sadly enough, this is not the patch everyone was hoping for, that will
come instead in Patch 4.0.3a.
style="padding: 0pt 0pt 6px; font-size: 14px;">
Blizz
(Link)
style="border: 1px solid rgb(62, 62, 62);">
General
* Much of the data being downloaded in patch 4.0.3 will pave the way
for the shattering of Azeroth shortly before the release of World of
Warcraft: Cataclysm on December 7.
* The leader of Wintergrasp raids can no longer kick players from the
raid (this change will also apply to Tol Barad in Cataclysm).
* When in a Looking For Dungeon group, using an instance portal to that
instance will now take players to the Looking For Dungeon entrance
point instead of the normal destination of that portal. This will make
it easier to return to the instance after dying in an LFD group.
* Honorable Kills are no longer awarded for killing players below level
5.
User Interface
* Added pets to the new raid unit frames when displayed in party.
* The default UI Scale has been altered so it will be set at a 1:1
pixel/texel ratio. This will result in a smaller UI
appearance for
higher resolution monitors.
* Players may now adjust the local "Lag Tolerance" time for better
precision of spell timing. This is an advanced-users-only feature found
in the Interface Options (Combat) panel.
Bug Fixes
* Macros now handle spell variant transitions better. For example, Trap
Launcher causes a different version of Frost Trap to be cast.
Previously the macro system was not handling this transition properly.
* Queuing in Looking For Dungeon for a different wing of the instance a
player is already in now works properly. For example, a party can now
queue for Scarlet Monastery - Library after completing Scarlet
Monastery - Graveyard.
* Killing High Interrogator Gerstahn before killing Emperor Dagran
Thaurissan in a Blackrock Depths - Upper City random Looking For
Dungeon run will now provide the proper reward. This also applies to
Archmage Arugal and the Crown Chemical Company bosses in Shadowfang
Keep during the Love is in the Air holiday event.
* Repeatedly inspecting other players should now function correctly.
* Area heal-over-time effects should no longer cause players to stand
up.
* Male blood elves have received a crash course in dancing and now know
to stop dancing when they run.
* Drake mounts have gotten bored with gliding and will flap their wings
again when flying forward.
* Druid Flight Form now properly appears in the Spellbook before Expert
Riding is learned.
* Sunfire's damage-over-time effect now deals damage at the same rate
as Moonfire's damage- over-time effect.
* GM Ticket messages should now displace buff icons instead of
obscuring them.
This patch (4.0.3) is a smaller patch that could be considered rather
unexciting, however, it does fix many issues and helps pave the way for
the bigger patch that will be release before Cataclysm. What do all
these changes mean for you? Read on to find out:
General Changes
Most of the changes made here are small and deal with the player versus
player aspect of the game world. However, even though the changes are
small they should have a big impact on overall player experience.
No longer will players need to fear missing out on Wintergrasp because
some spiteful raid leader removed them from the raid. This privilege
has been hereby revoked, so once you are in the Wintergrasp raid, you
are there for good, or until you remove yourself. This seems like a
good change, however taking away the power of the raid leader
completely leaves room for players to abuse the fact that they cannot
be removed from the raid.
Also making our lives a little bit easier are the changes made when
using an instance portal while in a Looking for Dungeon group. Yes
that’s right ladies and gentlemen no longer will you take a
portal only to find yourself a world and a half away from where you
really need to be. Now when taking a portal you will be conveniently
taken to the Looking for Dungeon entrance point which should make the
return to the instance a much shorter and supremely less annoying
affair.
And the final change in the general section is one that has me
personally torn. Honorable Kills will no longer be awarded for killing
players below level 5. This means even if a level 5 player or below is
silly enough to PvP flag themselves, it won’t do you any real
good to wipe them out. Except perhaps the personal satisfaction of
wiping out a player, regardless of their low level, in one shot or the
sense of guilty pleasure that usually accompanies such acts.
User Interface Changes
Once again this section of the patch notes is loaded with small
changes, that may in the end make a big difference. For example, pets
have been added to the raid unit frames when displayed in party
allowing the group to know who has a pet out, what that pet is, and
also making it easier for healers to target the pet and possibly keep
it alive. This change is also another step in the right direction as
Blizzard attempts to take the best parts of outside add ons and
implement them in game.
On a more tech related note the default UI Scale has been altered,
giving players with higher resolution monitors a smaller UI appearance.
This means a more clean and less cluttered look, or if you are going
for the cluttered look, more room to jam various things on your screen.
And finally for those perfectionists out there the local “Lag
Tolerance” time can be adjusted to time for better spell
casting precision. This will mean that players will better be able to
gauge when they can start casting a new spell without cutting off the
first without any down time in between. My guess would be this feature
will be mostly used by high end guilds and the like. Casual everyday
players probably need not ever worry about it.
Bug Fixes
The most extensive section of this patch falls here and while they seem
like small things after glancing over and considering the
various changes made here the more I realize how badly they really
needed
to be made. While much needed, the changes found here are mostly
small and self explanatory, however, some of the more exciting fixes
listed here are:
Players are now able to queue for a different wing of the same instance
(think Scarlet Monestary) using Looking for Dungeon.
The ability to repeatedly drool over…I
mean…inspect other players has been fixed.
No one will be subjected to the rather disturbing male Blood Elf dance
more than they have to be, as they will now stop dancing when they run.
And finally dishing out some Boomkin love, Sunfire’s
damage-over-time will now deal damage at the same rate as Moonfire.
To see what other changes have been made, read the full list of Bug
Changes above.
How do you feel about the changes being made in this patch. Do you
think they are deserving of their own patch or should have been
combined with patch 4.0.3a? Join us on our forums to share your
thoughts on Patch 4.0.3 while we wait (rather impatiently) for the
servers to come back online.
To read the latest guides, news, and features you can visit our World of Warcraft Game Page.
