Patch 5.4 patch notes
Virtual Realms feature revealed
The Proving Grounds are coming
The latest patch 5.4 newsRitual of Summoning is actually still broken [Updated]
by Adam Holisky 
Jan 27th 2009 at 2:34PM
Ghostcrawler posted last night that Ritual of Summoning would be fixed today. Nethaera posted small, but important, patch notes saying that it had been fixed. "Ritual of Summoning no longer has a 2 minute cooldown and will now function as intended."
However people are reporting that it still isn't working correctly.
Ghostcrawler now comes out and says that it'll be fixed sometime later today. "We are still on target to get this fixed today (Tue, Jan 27). I did not mean to imply that it would be fixed when the servers came back up."
Left hand, let me introduce you to right hand. Right hand says things like "We'll fix this today." Left hand says things like "These are the patch notes for this patch, which is now live." Right hand should tell left hand that not everything is live just yet, and update the patch notes accordingly.
Now that I got my tenses all screwed up, we'll update when Ritual of Summoning actually is fixed.
Update: It is now fixed, for real this time.
Filed under: Warlock, Patches, News items
Reader Comments (Page 2 of 4)
Todd Jan 27th 2009 2:46PM
Ghostcrawler... what a tool. Trying to save face by saying that "technically" the day isn't over with is just a bullsh!t answer. He knows it. We know it. Why not come clean?
Adam Holisky Jan 27th 2009 2:47PM
I really don't think this is his fault. I'm sure this was known ahead of time, and a simple note in the patch notes saying this particular change would go live later today would have cleared this all up.
Antonia Jan 27th 2009 2:52PM
Cause he's to much of a smug bastard to ever do that.. he'd much rather make a wise ass remark then say what he really means..
Todd Jan 27th 2009 2:57PM
He does seem smug, doesn't he? I don't see the servers coming back up if there was still "fixes" to be made. This is really the result of poor QA and sloppy communication. I'm sure Ghostcrawler wasn't aware, but his response in trying to be coy rather than honest reflects a real negative view of him, and the incident.
Sathom Feb 11th 2009 2:13PM
How about the Howling Blast - is it fixed? or ... not until later today.
ClamBeard Jan 27th 2009 2:47PM
I hope they never fix it. "Can you summon me?" Nope, on cooldown.
Todd Jan 27th 2009 2:47PM
Blizzard has been showing an awful level of QA lately. What the hell is going on in that sweatshop?
Shulkman Jan 27th 2009 2:49PM
Give a business enough money and eventually QA gets replaced with hookers and truckloads of blow...
Todd Jan 27th 2009 2:55PM
Hah hah.
Jizzle Jan 27th 2009 2:56PM
I just submitted my application to their new QA department ...
Dustin Jan 27th 2009 2:50PM
These comments are great.
"I'm considering re-rolling." -- please do, and notify us so I can let out a hearty laugh at the guy who rerolled a new character because he had to wait an additional ~10 hours for a summon cooldown to be lifted.
Cyanea Jan 27th 2009 3:01PM
I don't think it's the summoning thing in particular that's doing it. There's so many things that are broken about Warlocks right now (in PvE, I don't PvP) that this just strikes me as the "straw that broke the camel's back" etc.
I love my class and am not rerolling, but I can feel these other locks' pain.
Rob Jan 27th 2009 3:30PM
I leveled my lock b/c my wife had a blast doing it, and once i got rolling i found it hard to stop. I should have though. Now she's stuck at 71 and i'll be danged if i am going to level her through northend. Locks...are just so boring. To me. Just personal opinion. Sadly she is my enchanter, cook, tailor, raid leader, so i can't just ignore her. I dust her off every saturday for retro-raids and shelf her after that.
Dustin Jan 27th 2009 4:16PM
@Cyanea I'm with you there, just think everyone is overreacting. Not even sure how this qualifies as an article.
Toclafane Jan 27th 2009 2:49PM
Why doesn't Ghostcrawler just admit that, quite frankly, he has no idea what's going on?
Cyanea Jan 27th 2009 2:57PM
If they would come out and TELL us what this supposed exploit that they put the 2min CD in to prevent was, I'd be alright with it.
But really? I'm not surprised. I've been a Warlock for a year now. I'm used to getting screwed over.
Kate Jan 27th 2009 3:50PM
Wait, what?
All throughout BC locks were incredible. Insane in PVP, absolutely dominant in endgame caster DPS.
Yes, they could probably use some love, though I'm honestly convinced it's just the baddies that are used to spamming shadowbolt and pwning the meters that are complaining about the low DPS. We have a couple amazing aff locks that consistently fight with our FFB mages on the meters.
Jess Q. Jan 27th 2009 4:16PM
This is in response to Kate... Unfortunately, I started my Warlock when BC came out. By the time I got to 70 (I leveled slowly at the time), BC was basically over with, and I certainly was not good enough to get into any raids or even instances (never did a single one in Outland at proper level). So, some of us missed out on Warlocks pwning the crap out of everything during BC. I was busy leveling. Now that I've got an 80, Warlocks are like the worst class to play. It's pretty damn lame.
Also, I'm Affliction and I still suck. I admit I'm new to being full Aff and might not have the rotation down yet, and my gear is not really the best. But it kinda hurts when my Mage friend has literally half the hit rating I do and owns the crap out of me on the damage meters. I know a Mage is not a Warlock but we have a ton of the same gear, and in many cases my gear is better. It's kind of disheartening to work so hard and still not be very good.
I hate to join the brigade of people abandoning their Lock mains for DKs, but after leveling my DK from 55 to 60 in like three or four hours, I'm starting to understand how you could abandon a main just like that.
I'd really prefer Warlocks to just stop sucking already, though, so I can get back to ENJOYING my main who I put so much work into. I shouldn't really feel more satisfied playing a level 38 Shadow Priest than my 80 Warlock with 345 hit rating, should I? Blah.
Yes, I'm bitter about Ritual of Summoning. It's such a pain in the ass to summon people now when I'm the only Lock in the raid group. You basically have to say, "If you want to play this century, you gotta get here on your own." :\
Kate Jan 28th 2009 9:47AM
Jess Q -
Bummer that you missed BC. As for Aff lock DPS, I'd suggest finding a veteran Aff lock and picking their brain on their rotation. It's complicated, but when done correctly is huge DPS. You should have no problem competing with an equally geared FFB mage on a boss fight. Trash is always another story (and you shouldn't be worried about trash DPS anyway) - Aff locks really shine when the fight is long enough for all of your DoTs to get rolling.
Don't get discouraged.
uncaringbear Jan 27th 2009 2:58PM
This is actually mind boggling. Did Blizzard dump their bug or issue tracking system? Did they decide it was no longer necessary to use any sort of release or change management system? Or is Ghost Crawler simply so full of himself that he feels that it's ok to shoot his mouth off whenever he feels like it, and doesn't care if it makes his dev team look like absolute morons?
Would this kind of foolishness happen in the old days of Blizzard? Not likely.