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Blinded Iraq war vet raids with a little helpEquipment Manager will not be in 3.1
by Eliah Hecht 
Apr 3rd 2009 at 3:00PM
It looks like Noblegarden started a trend: the Equipment Manager, Blizzard's answer to Outfitter et al., is being delayed and will not be included as part of the upcoming patch 3.1. The cited reason is that "certain issues were encountered...that could not be resolved in time" to be included with the patch, and they would rather delay to "ensure that this feature meets our standard of quality." Does this mean the patch is coming pretty soon? One can only hope.
This is especially disappointing with dual spec coming as a major feature in the patch, and with Outfitter's author pulling the mod from distribution; people will be needing ways to switch sets quickly more than ever. Fortunately, Addon Spotlight has you covered - come on over and read all about some alternatives to Outfitter.
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
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 4)
Virusz Apr 3rd 2009 3:06PM
Standard of quality...
oh, you mean like voice chat?
snowleopard233 Apr 3rd 2009 3:18PM
I don't understand what people's problem is with voicechat. Sure, no one would recommend using it raid-side, but most guilds have vent for raiding anyway. I’ve been using it for pvp and five-mans since it came out and it’s worked great. Communicating with my friends has become much easier since it was released as I don’t need to find a vent server or anything just to fight and talk at the same time.
For causal questers like myself who just want to meet up online with four of their buddies and do a dungeon crawl, free integrated voice chat is a godsend.
Mr Magoo Apr 3rd 2009 3:22PM
Sorry to be cynical but...
How broken ass'd must the equipment manager be for it to be pulled from 3.1?? ;)
Man...
Kakistocracy Apr 3rd 2009 3:24PM
yeah, either I am supremely gifted, or voice chat works fine, because I've never had any trouble with it.
jafari Apr 3rd 2009 3:46PM
Seriously, I don't get it.
The voice chat is great. It's pug-able, and if you take five seconds, you can start your own channel and it works like vent -- you don't have to be grouped or partied, you just start a channel and invite whoever you want.
If you can't manage dealing with simple volume sliders to get the settings right, maybe you [b]should[/b] pay for a third party service... but for me, the built in one is fine.
BillDoor Apr 3rd 2009 3:43PM
@Mr Magoo: I think one of the biggest problems is that it doesn't handle Jewelcrafting Unique(3) gems properly. I've also heard reports of it not handling ammo properly.
Olicon Apr 3rd 2009 4:03PM
Voice chat definitely wasn't as fancy as Vent. But as far as being a voice chat client, it works perfectly well. Maybe it's just my crappy speaker, but I fail to notice the difference in voice quality of the two (at least for gaming purpose).
machoflaco Apr 3rd 2009 4:37PM
I really don't get the problem with voice chat either. Seems to work fine for me. I hate having to get out of fullscreen, open up ventrilo, enter all the information in, connect, and go back to fullscreen (especially in the middle of a lagging computer). But everytime I ask to use voice chat, people laugh at me and don't want to explain why it sucks.
Mr Magoo Apr 3rd 2009 6:54PM
@billdoor
Thanks for the info, I guessed there was a show stoppper.
I mainly meant that of all the buggy things in 3.1, this must have been totally poked beyond all sense for it not to make it.
Also that their tolerance for buggy things is quite high. (the cynical part)
machoflaco Apr 3rd 2009 3:10PM
Omg, wtf... that was the thing i was most looking forward to. Guess I'm going back to using ItemRack.
Reinard Apr 3rd 2009 3:07PM
What exactly isn't "quality" about Naxxramas? Name one thing outright, honestly WRONG with Naxx.
Oh, it's not hard enough for you? Too easy? The introductory raid is too easy? Seriously?
Shulkman Apr 3rd 2009 3:11PM
Blizzard had a policy of "We won't release anything 'until it's ready'"
Now what I'm seeing is, "We will start with many goals for the patch, twist it around for a while, then cut out whatever we don't get done so that we can shove half a patch out."
The dance thing? Equipment manager? Anybody think of anything else that's been chopped out?
Alexander Krizak Apr 3rd 2009 3:25PM
This is ridiculous thinking. 3.1 is already more massive and feature-packed than most other patches have been in the history of WoW. Calling it "half a patch" is sheer ignorance.
This change actually does conform with that "old" ideal of Blizzard: the equipment manager is not ready, so it is not being released yet. It is not enough of a feature to be worth delaying the entire patch, especially when the masses are clamouring for Ulduar. And maybe with this delay, it'll gain some of the functionality that we've seen in armour set add-ons... or perhaps even features they could never have. (I'm thinking a second armour set that works like Diablo II's additional weapon set, so the items do not take up bag space... Yeah, I can dream...)
Charlie Apr 3rd 2009 3:51PM
Alexander is absolutley right. This is the only thing that has been cut from this patch. We already have
Dual Specs
Ulduar
Argent Tournament
and all the other class and profession changes (fishing quests!).
Blizzard has already said that this is their biggest patch to date, and uludar has more items in it then all of BC combined.
I want to know you think a "full patch" is, lol.
P.S. On a semi-related note. This isn't in the same thing as noblegarden at all. Noblegarden wasn't removed or delayed because it wasn't ready, but because the patch isn't ready, and it won't be launched untill 3.1 is launched.
Kaphik Apr 3rd 2009 4:29PM
In case you didn't figure it out, Blizzard is not releasing the equipment manager precisely because it isn't ready. I don't see them doing anything differently here. One feature not being ready doesn't make for a "half finished" patch.
Balius Apr 3rd 2009 5:18PM
Test realms aren't promises of future content. When Blizzard puts things on the PTR it is being tested, not previewed. If things don't make the cut, that's what the PTR is there for.
Virusz Apr 3rd 2009 3:13PM
Free Ammo....and something else I can't put my finger on...
Eternauta Apr 3rd 2009 3:14PM
Naxx quality is very good, imo.
I don't see any problem with it.
You say because it's "too easy"?
Well, I started to raid regularly with this expansion, and it was not easy for me at first.
And remember, Naxx it's not supposed to be "endgame", it's just an entry level raid for gearing up and farming emblems (Remember Karazhan?)
Yeah yeah I know Kara was hard at first, but they realized their mistake and tuned it down for good.
Just FYI: Sunwell was not released at patch 2.0, if you want hard stuff, you'll have to wait (a few weeks, I guess).
Caz Apr 3rd 2009 3:15PM
Eh. No big deal - at least it isn't more content being delayed.
Besides, it doesn't matter how well it works when it is finally released because someone, somewhere will find fault with it.
Candina@WH Apr 3rd 2009 3:33PM
^^This
I read a couple blogs. This is the only gaming blog I read. Are the rest of the gaming blogs this whiney/bitchy/punk ass, or is it limited to WoWinsider?