New details on upcoming 3.x patches
by Adam Holisky 
Oct 10th 2008 at 11:30AM
Curse is running an excellent story about their time spent last evening with Blizzard developers Jeff Kaplan and Tom Chilton. There's a few things we didn't know before that are in the article. The major ones are:- Patch 3.1 is already done (says Kaplan). Will release Ulduar 10-man and 25-man raids.
- Patch 3.2 will contain a yet to be announced raid instance. Hopefully more on this over the next two day. Release date / timeframe is unknown.
- Patch 3.3 will continue the Ashbringer storyline. Release date / timeframe is unknown.
- Dance studio to be released after WotLK.
- Guild ratings, where guilds get a rating based on PvE/PvP achievements. The idea is being "tossed around."
Patch 3.1 brings us Ulduar, dual specs, significant changes to all the classes, and more! We've got you covered from top to bottom with our Guide to Patch 3.1.Filed under: Patches, News items, BlizzCon
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 3)
Zoidberg Oct 10th 2008 11:37AM
There aren't any plans for new 5-mans in the patches? That's too bad. MrT has been a lot of fun...
The Artist formally known as Jesus Oct 10th 2008 11:37AM
The Ashbringer!
theBizMachine Oct 10th 2008 11:38AM
I fear what Activision is doing to Blizzard. I'm sorry, this doesn't sound like the Blizzard of old. Then at the same time, seeing the content in WotLK and Diablo III sets me at ease. But from now on out I will always have that, "if they waited one more month, what could have been..." attitude.
G Oct 10th 2008 12:05PM
WoW is live and ongoing. "If they waited one more month" just means we'll download it in 4 weeks, no? It's not like we won't have anything to do or see in the mean time, or that this hasn't happened before. They just didn't talk about it openly before.
MikeMachine Oct 10th 2008 12:14PM
Not talking about that, they seem to be trying to get things out the door much faster now. They were always more of a its ready when its ready kind of dev. But now we are seeing a bit of urgency in them.
Like I said though, its not completely bad, they are delivering quality still even though it seems more rushed. What I meant by the one more month statement is... When we do get new content, I will always wonder if it could have been just a little bit better if they held it for a slight bit of time.
Patches of course are the answer to this.
Not overly worried or putting them down, but it occasionally sits in the back of my mind.
PS: Blizz give us playable Goblin race in the new expansion! I want to see a class built on using machines, like the Goblin (Buzz Saws I think they are called) in Stranglethorn or Dead Mines.
Riley Oct 10th 2008 12:25PM
I don't think they should make goblins playable, first of all, they're neutral, and they've got enough races as it is
Oneiroi Oct 10th 2008 12:47PM
I agree, playable race goblins.
First, there are some non-neutral goblins.
Second, there are always different tribes/groups of races that take different stances than the rest of the race (which is why there are "bad" humans, taurens, goblins, dwarves, etc).
Third, Horde needs a tiny race to fight those damned gnomes.
Fourth, you can never have enough races.
zlickrick Oct 10th 2008 12:47PM
Yoou need to realize that WoW is nearing the end of it's lifecycle. Now before I get flammed to high hell, let me explain.
WoW was released November 23, 2004 so when WotLK hits, itll be approx. 4 years old. By the time the next expansion hits, it'll be a 5 year old game. MMOs typically drop off drastically after that point. Sure, some people will stick around until the bitter end. But the majority will move on to bigger and better things.
Dont believe me? Look at Warhammer. That game is mediocre at best, but it still managed to make a rift in the MMO space because people were so starved for something different. There a number of MMOs that are set to be released next year and you can bet your bottom dollar at least one of them will have the polish WoW has (Check out Curt Schilling's 38 Studios). Blizzard knows this, and that is why they started developing their next MMO already, and Im sure by next year we'll at least have a name to go along with it.
The point is, they doint have time to sit on WoW anymore. They need to get expansions out on a regular basis to ensure people stick around to see the content. Otherwise, by the time you DING 80 in Northrend and are sitting around for a year and a half doing nothing, you'll be tempted to quit.
Suzaku Oct 10th 2008 6:32PM
How's this really any different from when Burning Crusade came out? They had all the major patches planned out from the start: Burning Temple, Zul'Aman, and the Sunwell Plateau. Those were all announced well before the game even came out.
Also, pretty sure that Activision is leaving the Blizzard development studios untouched, or at least that's what they've been saying constantly for the last few years. You're as bad as the people who blame Enix for the percieved drop in quality of Squaresoft games, even though they still operate completely seperated development studios.
Naix Oct 10th 2008 11:38AM
"working on the next expansion"
Finish this one already! Your doing it wrong.
naixdra Oct 10th 2008 12:08PM
Well that is a much bigger project than any patch, besides the beta is still buggy in places (especially for horde in the new BG) give it time. Besides it gives us more time to talk about every thing that comes out of a Blizz employee's mouth :p
SINisterWyvern Oct 10th 2008 12:16PM
Naix how many times are you gonna post about this current expansion not being done. You're a moron with a very small mind.
It's called different dev teams. The work on the next expansion is probably only in the art and concept department which has nothing to do with bug fixing wotlk.
Think a little god damn bit before you set your fingers to the keys.
BitterCupOJoe Oct 10th 2008 12:34PM
Spoken like someone who's never worked in professional software development. There's always (or there should be, if you're managing development correctly) at least a few people working 2 or three major patches ahead of release. There are very rare exceptions to this, as in companies where you only work on spec, but there is no major videogame developer in the world that works like that, to my knowledge, nor should there be. You know, unless you like things to come out even less polished than they already are.
Naix Oct 10th 2008 12:44PM
@ SINisterWyvern
Angry much?
Suzaku Oct 10th 2008 6:32PM
They've been working on this one since well before BC was released. Do you realize how big the development team is at Blizzard? If they weren't already working on the next expansion, they'd have a lot of designers and concept artists just sitting on their hands.
adrianp Oct 10th 2008 11:39AM
guild achievements! now that's something very nice :D
Dotixi Oct 10th 2008 11:57AM
Blizzard is doing this to compete with Warhammer. In WAR even guilds have Exp bars. I just found that out myself...kind of a cool idea.
adrianp Oct 10th 2008 11:59AM
what does guild xp get you?
NeSuKuN Oct 10th 2008 12:02PM
to compete with what? Guild exp has been present in many mmorpgs before Warhammer.
PeeWee Oct 10th 2008 12:40PM
*waves goodbye to guild alliances*