Tuesday Morning Post: It's raining again edition
by Daniel Whitcomb 
Feb 23rd 2010 at 5:30AM
Did you think things were getting slow in WoW news? Those might have been famous last words, so to speak. It never rains, but it pours. It started early last week with a stream of previews: Of the new battleground honor changes, of the new Ruby Sanctum raid, and a sneak peek behind the curtain of Wintergrasp's faction balancing mechanics. Then, Friday came, and bam. Here comes Patch 3.3.3, with tons of amazing information for everyone to drown in, both in the patch notes and in the game files.
If you haven't had a chance to dive into all the Patch 3.3.3 news, now is as good a time as any, since the servers will be down from 3 AM to 11 AM Pacific. Before you ask, we have not heard that the patch is going live as of this writing, and I'd sincerely doubt it myself. It's a bit buggy as it is, and the devs have hinted there's more to be implemented and tested. So feel free to sit back, relax, and peruse the best news from the past week, both from Patch 3.3.3 and beyond, just below.
Patch 3.3.3 Hot News and Info
- We have the Patch 3.3.3 patch notes.
- Yes, you can skip the talking and go straight to the culling in Patch 3.3.3.
- Plenty of new models and mounts showed up in the Patch 3.3.3 PTR files, including a new grown up look for Anduin Wrynn.
- The random dungeon system is getting some welcome tweaks and changes in Patch 3.3.3.
- Did you keep rolling on all those Frozen Orbs? Your dedication may just pay off in Patch 3.3.3 thanks to Frozo the Renowned.
- Patch 3.3.3 is bringing some major auction house UI changes.
- There were many major UI changes in this patch, such as to the dungeon finder and battleground queue.
- Patch 3.3.3 brings some slight changes to raid buff durations and functions.
- The way we fight holiday bosses will change significantly in Patch 3.3.3.
- Professions get a few tweaks in the patch, including some interesting crafting cooldown changes.
- New Achievements in the PTR files offer up some major spoilers about pre-Cataclysm in-game events and lore developments.
- Some data-mined doodads speak to more sinister doings by the Twilight's Hammer cult in the pre-Cataclysmevents.
- You may now buy the baby gryphon and baby windrider plushies from the Blizzard Store.
- While it won't be out until Patch 3.3.5, Patch 3.3.3 still came with some extra Ruby Sanctum information.
- Tom Chilton takes a look back at WotLK, and looks forward to things to come.
- Know Your Lore honors one of the greatest Alliance heroes of the WoW era, Bolvar Fordragon.
- Know Your Lore also offers the first part of our Lore 101 guide for all you new aspiring lore geeks.
- Among the Patch 3.3.3 death knight changes were some major buffs to frost DPS.
- Shamans get a supercharged Flame Shock among other things in Patch 3.3.3.
- Check out the Patch 3.3.3 PTR warrior changes.
- Priests got sort of a weird little healing tweak on the Patch 3.3.3 PTR, so we took it for a spin.
- Blood Pact is already playing around with Patch 3.3.3 warlock raiding builds.
- Lichborne offers a class in unholy DPS 101.
- Shifting Perspectives offers a feral tank guide with Bear 101. We also have a balance PvP guide.
- Scattered Shots goes Vampire hunting and discusses hunter trinkets.
- Totem Talk discusses effective usage of Thunderstorm. We also have our restoration 101 guide for shamans.
- Spiritual Guidance has a shadow 101 guide.
- Sorry, beastmastery hunters, Ghostcrawler isn't convinced that buffing your pet damage is the best way to buff you.
- Insider Trader takes an in-depth look at the Patch 3.3.3 Profession changes.
- The drop rate of Frost Lotus has been increased in a recent hotfix.
- Reader UI of the Week offers some help on adjusting your UI's size.
- AddOn Spotlight takes a look at loot addons.
- Unfortunately, Blizzard is still being pretty standoffish about the idea of guild housing.
- Good news everyone! Raid Rx has advice for healing the Professor Putricide encounter.
- Ready Check takes on the blood princes.
- The Overachiever continues looking at dungeon and raid titles.
- WoW Rookie looks at common ground rules and common courtesy for dueling.
- The Art of War(craft) offers advice for fighting paladins.
- Why not get a little culture from your WoW screenshots?
- Check out some interesting shots of some of the new WoW action figures.
- Blizzard has raised $1.1 Million for Make-A-Wish through the sale of Pandaren Monks.
- Our favorite WoW DJ, MrVoletron, continues to mix it up.
Filed under: News items
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
RogerLaMaird Feb 23rd 2010 5:35AM
Some good changes incoming as Blizz wraps up the Ex-pac.
Banic Rhys Feb 23rd 2010 6:14AM
Don't forget to look at the last update on MMO-Champion. One word...
*puts on best Japanese Ryuk voice*
Juicy.
Beruza Feb 23rd 2010 6:24AM
Does it even rain in the game anymore? I honestly can't remember the last time I saw it raining. I remember the weather in-game used to reflect the real life weather at the moment...or at least it seemed like it.
Maybe I have just spent too much time in Northrend...
Possum Feb 23rd 2010 6:48AM
It was raining in Tirisfal the other day. But I agree, it really doesn't seem to rain much at all. I'm not sure if this is just my perception or if they really changed something. I remember I was in Stranglethorn one day and it absolutely poured! It was mental. I was like. Haha, awesome! Is there any weather in Northrend? Was there any in BC?
Darky Feb 23rd 2010 7:12AM
there is only rain in the old world and it is still just as frequent as it used to be (from the day it was first patched in) northrend has >slight< weather patterns but not enough to give the right ambiance for the freaken north pole, i mean why did /blizzard/ take blizzards out of the game? -_- Outland i understand though its in the middle of the netherstorm not much could happen except maybe nether rain *budump schh*
Beruza Feb 23rd 2010 7:25AM
Blizzards would have been pretty cool in Northrend.
Imagine:
There is so much snow and wind that you can't see 5 feet in front of you. You are running through Dragonblight looking for baby wolvar to steal, even though you don't understand why you would even do such a horrific thing. You start to wonder why you even ventured out today in this blizzard when suddenly you run into a giant elite magnataur! You try to run but he picks you up and eats you in one bite!
There could be some pretty fun times in a blizzard...
Fletcher Feb 23rd 2010 7:58AM
That's probably why they don't. I do once recall having to leave off questing in Dustwallow once because it was overcast and raining and I couldn't find Tabetha's hut (it turned out I was looking in the wrong place, though).
I'd make a nifty boss mechanic, perhaps. Curse of Blindness?
theamandula Feb 23rd 2010 10:48AM
It obviously does! Look at that poor taruen. :(
That picture makes me sad ;.;
Ravenac Feb 23rd 2010 11:47AM
In PoS it's snowing, rain's colder brother. And might I add, I wish there was snow mechanic's like that in other Northrend areas. :(
cendrekai Feb 23rd 2010 12:24PM
I actually got excited when I saw the title. I thought we were going to have a post about weather coming back to WoW. I for one love the rain in places like Silverpine or the awesome dust storms in Tanaris.
I miss them :(
Flipside Feb 23rd 2010 7:19AM
Yes, yes it is.
Nandini Feb 23rd 2010 8:38AM
How exciting. The fact that there is news has become the news.
Erzfiend Feb 23rd 2010 9:57AM
Speaking of rain, Heavy Rain came out today, I believe. I guess I won't care so much about the downtime today.
Webwolf Feb 23rd 2010 10:19AM
It's raining again....
taijathehuntress Feb 23rd 2010 1:06PM
Yeah a lot has still to be implemented as only about 1/8th of what is listed in the notes is even there so far.
Anye Feb 23rd 2010 1:45PM
"It's raining again."
Nice Fatal Frame reference. (I think?)
Urza Feb 23rd 2010 2:35PM
That's an awesome header pic.
Arackattack Feb 23rd 2010 5:46PM
honestly, when I saw "It's raining again" and "Famous Last Words" my mind immediately went to the amazing band Supertramp. As they are, respectively, a song title, and album name. I'm probably wrong though.
Arackattack Feb 23rd 2010 5:47PM
okay, nevermind. I'm totally proven wrong/right. I checked this site from my phone earlier and couldnt actually open up the video to the supertramp song. Way to go Wow.com! I'm entirely blown away and impressed!