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All of the latest Mists of Pandaria newsNew 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 3 of 3)
sephirah Oct 10th 2008 12:58PM
Hehe, I thinked the same...
Grag Oct 10th 2008 12:02PM
"Doesn't that raise your eyebrow just a bit? Perhaps we'll hear something major in the next few hours..."
Not really. I would never expect them to talk about their next expansion while WoTLK is still in production. People would overreact and assume it is coming six months after WoTLK's release, that is just how this community (the WoW community) is. Unless that remark was more toward the patches, then yeah, I am expecting some news on them.
Medros Oct 10th 2008 12:02PM
I have been predicting the expansion following Wrath for weeks now.
deviationer Oct 10th 2008 12:15PM
jackass
Flint Oct 10th 2008 12:08PM
I know this is a bit off-topic but speaking of 3.x patches, anyone else having problems downloading the latest stage 3 pre-patch-thingy of 3.0.2? Freezes at 95% for me.
dawnseven Oct 10th 2008 12:20PM
I got mine done. 1.11 GBs last week, 1.17GBs this morning.
Eversor Oct 10th 2008 12:25PM
Sane happes to me too, freezes at 95%.
Riley Oct 10th 2008 12:28PM
does it freeze or just stop downloading, becuase it is just the pre-download, it might not downlaod all the way
Alittan Oct 10th 2008 12:10PM
The Ashbringer....
hehe, no but im glad they didn't forget about the dance studio, that'll be a good addition.
vlad Oct 10th 2008 12:27PM
omg, WI credits the source of a story!! gratz
Beli Oct 10th 2008 12:35PM
as others have said, different development teams, different stages of design/development.
For a game like WoW, it's incredibly important that Blizzard stays 1-2 content patches ahead of what's currently in live. As they produce new content and the new gear to go with it, they have to continuously balance the classes and specs - being able to see how classes scale several gear levels above what's current available helps them to apply small buffs/nerfs now instead of huge ones later.
jason Oct 10th 2008 12:43PM
Kind of stupid to have a WOTLK content patch complete but release it as a patch instead of just including that WOTLK content with, you know, WOTLK.
Falcio Oct 10th 2008 1:55PM
Think of it like this: Would the Sunwell have been given a lot of attention by players if it released with The Burning Crusade? No, because no one would be able to do it for a while. First, you had to get to 70. Then, you had to get through Kara, Gruul, Mag, SSC, and TK. Then, MH and BT. Finally, you were there...it would take months of work.
What raids and such we have right now for Wrath is gearing us up for the next content patch. The only time in TBC that Blizzard gave us a raid that anyone could start out with was Zul'Aman, and even then, you needed to be Kara-geared.
I'm assuming that Ulduar will be a harder raid than the raids we have now, and this is a way to get people geared up for it beforehand.
Just because you have something doesn't mean you have to use it right away.
Besides, why release a content patch that is made just for Lv. 80 stuff when you don't have people at Lv. 80?
awa64 Oct 10th 2008 1:44PM
WOTLK was new-content-complete quite a while ago, but it was still in beta for several months. Just because art assets, level designs, quest designs, etc. are done doesn't mean that all the bugs are fixed.
Aldheim Oct 10th 2008 1:57PM
Actually I disagree. For raids in particular I think it's better to stagger their release, so we don't get what happened with BC (2.1 is the Black Temple patch!... So, uh, we're done with new raids this year, pretty much. Check back in April for the Sunwell!)
Which meant the Sunwell had to be tuned for people who had farmed Hyjal and BT to death. Not that I'm complaining about that too much, but still, staggering it like this makes a lot of sense to me.
Jason Oct 10th 2008 4:52PM
We aren't talking the sunwell here, we are talking the FIRST patch. And it's done. There is no reason for it to not be included in the release.
Netherscourge Oct 10th 2008 1:02PM
Hmm raid content? Like a multi-city invasion of Level 10 Undead?
Or floating pyramids in the Plaguelands/Ashzara?
Crament Oct 10th 2008 1:48PM
What about the Battlegrounds revamp?
Probably the biggest news.
supersaint Oct 10th 2008 2:00PM
How about a playable race of Alliance-friendly murlocs discovered on a remote island with their own capital?
Warcloud Oct 10th 2008 2:56PM
I don't think Blizzard would announce their next expansion now, taking attention away from WOTLK which is about to go on sale. That's just bad business.