New Lich King Patch Solves Longtime Adversities

New beta patch fixes some long-standing problems.

The new World of Warcraft patch that hit the Lich King beta servers today fixes some long standing problems and should make life a little better for everyone (almost everyone). Among them, quests can be shared from any distance and can be shared through chat. I think I have a tear, that is so beautiful. No wait, that's not all, here are the rest:

User Interface
* New Calendar feature: Players will be able to access the new Calendar feature by clicking on the new icon located in the top right corner of their mini map. The calendar will track in game events, allow raid scheduling, and more.
* New Vanity Pet and Mount changes: Players will now be able to access their non-combat pets and mounts by clicking on the pets tab in the Character Info panel. These pets and mounts will be now learnable much like spells or abilities. Once a vanity pet or mount is learned, the icon will disappear from within a player’s inventory and reappear in the appropriate tab under the pet tab under Character Info. Say goodbye to your vanity pets and mounts taking up bag and bank slots!
* Error messages should play less frequently
* Tradeskills can now be linked by shift-clicking the tradeskill icon
* ]Quests can be shared with party members at any distance
* Quests can be shared with party members by linking the quest into party chat
* Quests can be shared in raids but not battlegrounds
* A 5 minute timer will appear over the player’s unit frame showing the countdown until your PvP flag is cleared
* The /cower emote now has an animation.
* Macros and key bindings are now saved server-side so there is no longer a need to reconfigure them when logging in using another computer.
* Shift-clicking to loot mail: You can now hold Shift and click on mail in your inbox to automatically loot any items and gold without opening the mail. This default behavior can be changed via Auto Loot Mail in the Interface Options (Controls).
* Combat Log Changes:
o The combat log now differentiates between a spell failure due to resistance and spell failure due to missing the target. Where once both events reported as a resist; a spell missing the target is now reported as a miss.
o Overhealing is now reported in the combat log.
o When a source of damage is entirely prevented (by a shield block, a full resist, or a damage shield like Power Word:Shield, the prevented amount will now be displayed.

Items:
* Druids and Shaman can now use items while shapeshifted.
* The Abyss Shard has been changed to grant a passive 15 stamina bonus, but no longer removes the soul shard requirement from casting a voidwalker.
* Devilsaur Eye now increases your pet’s attack power for a short duration instead of increasing its critical strike chance. It also provides a small amount of passive Agility.

World Environment:
* You can no longer gain weapon or defense skill while fighting the following creatures: Servant of Allistarj, Servant of Grol, Servant of Razelikh, and Servant of Sevine.
* Stormwind now has a harbor and dock with a ship that grants passage to Northrend.

Druids able to use items while shapeshifted and the PvP countdown timer are all awesome and well overdue. It's nice to see the developer's continued rehashing of "accepted" ways of their game mechanics and then changing/improving them when they can.

You can always keep up to date with the latest Lich King guides at Ten Ton Hammer, like the comparison between the Wrath of the Lich King and the Burning Crusade.