Another attempt to make WoW better!

By: Byron “Messiah” Mudry & Thurston “Ratboy” Hillman

Last week Blizzard rolled out its latest major patch to the World of Warcraft Beta community. Shortly after its release a second smaller patch was issued to correct minor problems. Along with many minor changes to the game there are seven major changes Blizzard has introduced with their new patch, all of which we shall discuss. For a complete list of all of the minor changes implemented in the patch check the Blizzard WoW site.

We at TenTonHammer have decided to take our own look into what this patch has to offer the community, and hope to give those of you who may or may not be involved in the Beta some information regarding what has changed in this new patch.

Major Changes and Issues

• Hunters
• Boats and Zeppelins
• Talent System
• Level Cap Raised
• Item Stats Changed
• Sharing Quests
• New Micro-Dungeon Designs
• Patching Issues

Hunters: First off, they’re available! The main theme of the Hunter is (you guessed it) animals & beasts. Being a Hunter allows you to do a great many things, but the main difference from other classes would be the ability to tame & track animals. Races that can become Hunters are the Night Elfs, Dwarfs, Orcs, Tauren, and Trolls.

One of the cool Hunter features is to set monster traps that can hinder those pesky enemies that are trailing you around so much. Hunters can also tap into “bestial powers” that give them special abilities, such as taking on bestial traits that give them supernatural powers and the ability to control and tame beasts.

The key combat aspect of the Hunter is ranged combat. Hunters are best equipped with ranged weapons and a trusty melee weapon to complement them in close combat.

For most players wishing to try out the Hunter, the neatest aspect of the class will be the ability to possess your own “pet”. The key to keeping your pet around is to pay attention to its happiness. Hunters should always make sure to keep their pet’s happiness in mind and remember to feed the pet to ensure it stays happy. If the pet’s happiness falls then it might simply walk away, or come back and attack you.
A final cool tidbit about the Hunter and its pet is the fact that the Hunter is currently the only class that can opt to name their pets. That bear you always wanted to name Fluffy? Well, now you can!

Blizzard Information: The Hunter can use the following weapons: Axes, Daggers, Guns or Bows, Crossbows (with training), Fist Weapons (with training), Spears (with training), Staves (with training), Swords, (with training), Thrown (with training), Two-Handed Axes (with training), Two-Handed Swords (with training). The Hunter can use the following armor: Cloth, Leather, Shields, and Mail (at level 40, with training).

Boats & Zeppelins: With transportation always being an issue in MMORPG’s, Blizzard provides once again with the addition of some really neat transportation items in the form of Boats and Zeppelins.

Boats are currently available from Booty Bay & Ratchet, while Zeppelins are accessible from Orgrimmar to Tirisfal and Orgrimmar to Grom’gol. Most reports show the Zeppelin & boat rides at somewhere around five minutes with single-minute pauses at any of the stops. If you get disconnected during travel, fear not! For when you log back in you’ll find yourself safe and sound, still on the same transport.

The advent of Boats & Zeppelins has removed the “instant teleport” NPC’s, so keep that in mind. On another note, you are entirely responsible for any silly actions you may perform while on the rides. Jumping off a zeppelin/boat is something you can do at your own risk and if you can’t access your corpse, it’s your own fault!

Those of you who are interested in a more visual representation of WoW transportation can feel free to check out our TTH Boat and Zeppelin Movies (made by our own IRex) that will show you what to expect on your first trip.

Talent System: The big news here is the fact that talents are now accessible to Rogues and Priests, though Talents will be coming soon for the classes that lack them. Also, Mages & Warriors now start earning Talent Points at level ten; Talent points that had previously been earned through levels 2-9 are now gone.

Another key piece of news for all you Beta testers is the ability to “reset” your Talent Paths. You may now visit certain NPC’s who will do this for you. This option is meant to allow Beta Testers to play around with the paths and give input on them. This option WILL NOT be in the full version of the game and is just meant for Beta testing purposes.

Level Cap Raised: The max level for WoW is now level 55 allowing for five more levels of play. Blizzard reports that new zones, quests, items, and content have all been added to accommodate those Beta players who reach the level 51+ mark.

Item Stats Changed: Items have undergone a major overhaul in terms of stats. Some items now have different level requirements, so if you had something equipped that you can’t use now, that item will appear in your bag instead of on your character.

Blizzard Information:
· Several axes, swords, and maces were changed from main hand only to either hand for dual-wielding purposes.
· Horned Viking Helmet has been updated with a new effect.
· Cursed Eye of Paleth has had its Shadow requirement removed.
· Eye of Paleth has had its Holy requirement removed.
· Witch Doctor Zum'rah should always drop something good now.
· First Mate's Hat can now drop off any pirate in Stranglethorn instead of just from Pretty Boy Duncan.
· Quivers and ammo pouches have been modified. They now have more slots and will increase attack speed when using a gun or bow.
· Stoneslayer is no longer Warrior only.
· Deathblow is no longer Warrior only.
· Six Demon Bag has been revamped.
· Look for new attributes on items with random properties.
· Wolfshead Helm changed to give AE silence instead of taunt.

Sharing Quests: Players can now “share quests” with their entire party. All members of the party will be presented with the quest you are undertaking as though you were the quest giving NPC.

Blizzard Information:
· You can only share with party members
· Party members must be nearby when you share
· Party members must meet the pre-requisites of the quest itself. For example, if you are on step 2 of a quest and your friend is still on step 1, you could not give him a "short-cut" to step 2.
· Quests generated from items cannot be shared.

New Micro-Dungeon Designs: Blizzard sent level designers into the game and examined the goldmine and mushroom cave micro-dungeons throughout the Alliance and Horde lands.

Blizzard Information:
· Goldmines in Hillsbrad, Mulgore, and Blasted Lands have been redesigned.
· Mushroom Caves in Searing Gorge, Wetlands, Western Plaguelands, Felwood, Hinterlands, Swamp of Sorrows, Arathi Highlands, Ungoro Crater, Deadwind Pass, Stranglethorn, and Redridge have been redesigned.

Patching issues: As any Beta tester will by now know, the patch implementation for 0.90 was not always an easy thing. Many Beta testers experienced issues with this patch that required several re-installs, downloads, etc.

Patch 0.90 also introduced a problem into the update procedure itself and required a stand-alone file to repair it. The stand-alone patch was released on the WoW website instead of through the update program (since it was no longer functioning). While this was a problem it was also probably a very good issue to come up during the Beta testing phase. After all, isn’t it better that Blizzard finds a way to recover from a bad patch in the beta than in production?

The 0.91 file also introduced issues to many Beta testers that tried to patch their systems with less than 3gb of free disk space. This was quickly identified and Beta testers notified on the website and support forum.

While many issues arose during this series of patches, Blizzard has been very good at supporting the Beta testers by offering continual suggestions and helped many testers recover through the use of the WoW technical support forums. For anyone having issues of any type with the Beta or even later on with the release should always check them out at: http://www.worldofwarcraft.com/board.aspx?fn=wow-tech-support.

Conclusions: All of this is just an overview of the major changes and additions; see the Patch Notes for the full details.

This and the previous patches keep adding new features that beta testers are getting a chance to have input on, and from the look of it so far Blizzard has been listening. While in any Beta there will be issues, it appears that things are being learned from even these issues. From the changes made with this latest patch I believe that you can see Blizzard has been hard at work on many aspects of the game and the overall experience continues to evolve, refine and improve.

Anyways thanks for reading, and remember that you can always do your own Beta research by checking out the posts over at the Blizzard WoW Beta Forums.

Also if you’re interested in finding more about WoW or looking to get some specific questions answered feel free to post at wow.tentonhammer.com. We’re always accepting new members to our community!