Pleasant patch surprises
by John Himes 
Nov 13th 2007 at 11:30PM
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Like many WoW players, I was really looking forward to this patch, and by "really", I mean that I was scouring the 'net every day looking for new tidbits of information regarding the upcoming content. Disregarding the new holiday content, we haven't had a decent content update in several months. It seems like ages ago that I was eagerly delving into the, at that time, new Netherwing repuation grind. Now that I've had my drake for nearly six months, it was high time for some new content.Even with all the pre-patch research I did, I need to learn to read the patch notes more carefully, because there were a few things that nonetheless caught me off guard. First of all, I was pleased to discover that my little mistake the other day was reversed, since the cooldown on Nexus transformations has been removed. I was also surprised by other little things, like the new log in the guild pane that records promotions/demotions and players joining/leaving the guild. And, of course, as always on patch day, people see things that they never noticed before and wonder if they were added in the update. I saw what I thought were some new planets in the sky above Nagrand this evening (pictured above), but my guildies assure me that they were always there. There were lots of other little interesting things that took me by surprise, and that's one of the things that I love best about new content -- the simple joy of discovery in a game I've been playing non-stop for three years.
How about you? Anything catch you by surprise today?
Filed under: Patches, Odds and ends
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 4)
mike Nov 13th 2007 11:47PM
Shadow Priests seem to benefit from the druid form shifting addition. I can cast a holy spell in shadowform and automagically be brought out to cast it. No more de-form cooldown!
cggrubb Nov 13th 2007 11:50PM
My framerate tripled, don't know how or why but god bless them.
TeragX Nov 13th 2007 11:51PM
Those planets had always been there, but i first noticed them about a week ago, and i actually think the blue one might be argus, because it kinda looks like argus in every picture we've ever seen, but blizz would never say :(
Rez Nov 13th 2007 11:53PM
Apparently Shadowform appears a bit broken:
- Arcane Shot is said to be dispelling Shadowform (which isn't a magic buff).
- Once you're in or out of Shadowform you can't switch to the other.
http://forums.worldofwarcraft.com/thread.html?topicId=2855963710&sid=1
- Shadowform smoke is bugged (vanishing every now and then).
http://forums.worldofwarcraft.com/thread.html?topicId=2856024168&sid=1
Oh, and for a litle Holy breakage:
- Cannot overwrite your own PoM.
http://forums.worldofwarcraft.com/thread.html?topicId=2856203728&sid=1
No, not QQ. Just informing my fellow Shadow Priests to flee in terror.
WTS [Shiny New QA Department] for Blizz.
Lucky I have a Hunter to dispell Shadowform with, horrah! :S
benroed Nov 13th 2007 11:57PM
This may not be new, but I certainly didn't notice before: the boats, at least the BB > Ratchet one rocks side to side. It's neat!
Doomkin Nov 14th 2007 12:00AM
Boomkin weapon scale has been fixed back to the normal, larger size!
Haalfdane Nov 14th 2007 12:02AM
Ah yes.. pleasant surprises.. like every time I mine a node or get off or on my new engineer mount.. i disconnect. Like clockwork. Isn't that fun? I hope the 'new software' for tomorrow is going to fix that because as it is I can't get anything done.
Grevling Nov 14th 2007 12:06AM
Biggest surprise? The retadin update. Even after knowing all the changes, I didn't expect it to help this much. Whenever I wasn't lagging, I was practically eating people alive.
Also, the update to the zeppelins was pretty unexpected too. I wandered downstairs to find a bunch of curious levers, a goblin, and a seemingly useless vending machine.
Pakket Nov 14th 2007 12:29AM
My favorite thing I didnt notice before this patch?
The blacksmith hammer can finally go into the engineering toolbox!
Aong with any and all motes/primals.
Kate Nov 14th 2007 12:43AM
Music in Kara (and creepy music at that). I always thought it was too quiet in there. The new music sets a great atmosphere!
And...I can cast arcane brilliance more than once without having to sit down and drink! I knew this one was coming, but it was still a lovely surpirse to still have mana left after buffing my groups.
Runstadrey Nov 14th 2007 12:47AM
I was surprised to find a crew on the boat from Menethil to Auberdine. The trip took considerably less time, too. Less time in sailing mode and less time in map mode.
I did some old quests in Silithus and was amazed at the gear & XP. I knew it would go up, but that was a lot. It seemed Azeroth mobs were dropping more gold in general.
Misaochankun Nov 14th 2007 12:47AM
It may be my imagination, but I don't recall my Mantle of Three Terrors having large flaming dragon skulls before the patch.
hos Nov 14th 2007 12:48AM
@5 totally noticed that too. so awesome!
this patch has revitalised wow for me.
Rich Nov 14th 2007 12:51AM
The time between FP's have been decreased. The flights are taking alot less time. I did a flight from TB to XR and according to the timer on Quartz it should have taken 2 min 38 secs, the flight now only took 1 min 30.
Heraclea Nov 14th 2007 12:57AM
While walking from Deeprun Tram towards the bird roost of Stormwind, I discovered a yellow ! on my map. Seemed to be in the keep.
I figured, "this is where the battlemaster is that gives the daily battleground quest. Better go check it out." Turns out it's a child, who has a simple quest: deliver a rather morbid poem to a woman on Aldor Ridge in Shattrath.
That's it. I figured this might be a hook to some new content; if it is, that content is not yet in the game, just this quest. If you talk to the night elf woman on Aldor Ridge, she will recite the poem to you again.
Not sure whether there is a different quest you get if you have the misfortune of being a Scryer.
Kylie Nov 14th 2007 1:09AM
I'm loving all the pretty new icons. Also, I swear that my frame rate was doing better. I also noticed they changed things around in the video menu, and it might just be me, but it seems like there was at least one new option. Nonetheless, if my FPS can keep up at the levels it did upon login, I'll be super happy! ♥♥♥
I'll probably find other new things as I play some more. Hopefully they'll be good things, rather than bad.
david.mcdaniel Nov 14th 2007 1:14AM
Tiger mounts now roar when you press spacebar. It only took them three years. Silly, but it's always bugged me that they didn't.
Chris Anthony Nov 14th 2007 1:19AM
@14/Rich: I noticed that too, although I didn't have any objective method of timing it. What a pleasant surprise!
Recession Nov 14th 2007 1:28AM
Nightsaber mounts now roar when you hit space bar and stand still. FINALLY.
pdorgan Nov 14th 2007 1:31AM
the water graphic. it is far more beautiful now. i just took my hunter alt for a nice swim around booty bay. how delightful! the new druid stuff it making me love my druid again. i believe this patch was a great boost.