Patch 4.0.3 released, no patch notes, no game changes yet
by Mathew McCurley 
Nov 16th 2010 at 11:00AM
- Patch 4.0.3 is available for download.
- The patch is about 700MB.
- Zones and the world are not changing with this patch.
- No new race/class combos become active with this patch.
- This patch is preparing for patch 4.0.3a, The Shattering, which still does not have a release date, but is expected soon.
- Deathy, the BlizzCon 2010 exclusive pet, will have his correct animations and emotes.
World of Warcraft: Cataclysm will destroy Azeroth as we know it; nothing will be the same! In WoW Insider's Guide to Cataclysm, you can find out everything you need to know about WoW's third expansion (available Dec. 7, 2010), from brand new races to revamped quests and zones. Visit our Cataclysm news category for the most recent posts having to do with the Cataclysm expansion.Filed under: News items, Cataclysm
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 7)
Shre Nov 16th 2010 11:04AM
And I was so excited when I saw the patch downloading this morning :(
Yomamma Nov 16th 2010 11:20AM
What did you expect from the patch that's making you disappointed? New races and class combos? If that is the case, I don't see why Blizzard would release that before the release of Cataclysm.
Saeadame Nov 16th 2010 12:03PM
@Yoma - Uh... they are releasing the new race/class combos before the actual Cataclysm release... in patch 4.0.3a, which is the Shattering.
Eruntalon Nov 16th 2010 12:31PM
Yes, they're releasing 4.0.3a before Cataclysm but everything they've said has said "shortly before" the release date. I see no reason they would do this much more than a day or so before the release. Not weeks.
Paul Nov 16th 2010 12:51PM
To answer Yomamma, the reason Blizzard would release the new Class/Race combos is because you wont need to own Cataclysm in order to play them.
This is why people keep thinking that we'll get the new combinations everytime a new patch drops.
But yeah, the new combinations will not happen until after Deathwing reemerges. It's one of those times where the lore actually dictates gameplay.
My opinion? 4.0.3a will happen on the 30th Nov/1st Dec, and we'll be subjected to Excessive Deathwing razing for that week. This is when they'll flip that switch and the new terrain data that was in 4.0.1 and 4.0.3 will be switched on, as too will the new race/class combos.
I doubt it'll happen next week because two weeks of the final stage of the event would just seem a bit much to me, but hey, I could be proven wrong in seven days.
Chris Nov 16th 2010 1:05PM
there still may be reason to be excited... here is my take on things:
My opinion (or at least my wish) was that the world would not get destroyed over night. I am not expecting to log in one day and see everything changed. I was more under the impression that the destruction would be gradual. A zone here, a zone there. Hence the name of the current patch 'the shattering'. Blizz has been making events, they are getting more numerous and closer together. What if one of these future events brings on the flooding of zone X, and another the fracturing of zone Y, and so on until the world is shattered.... then they will apply the last patch 4.0.3a to seal the whole thing.
It may be wishful thinking but if it were the case, it would be epic.
Aedilhild Nov 16th 2010 1:14PM
One reason, Eruntalon: momentum.
Blizzard has been managing a particularly jaded player base over the last few months, directing attention to its game at regular intervals with the release of 4.0.1, BlizzCon, and now the Invasion. Excitement is now approaching a peak as many players participate in Cataclysm's world events — online numbers likely not seen for at least a year, possibly two. Judging by Zarhym's comment on timing, acceleration is important; Phase 4's novelty will not last for three weeks. Now, Blizzard may decide that Pilgrim's Bounty can keep players occupied for another seven days. But I'd be surprised if the Shattering took place after December 1st.
kymali Nov 16th 2010 1:39PM
The Under development page says new class/race combos come with 4.03 which is why people were expecting them. It looks like since that statement was made 4.03 got split into two and it's 4.03a we need to wait for, but I can understand why reading the development page could lead to confusion
http://www.wow-europe.com/en/info/underdev/index.html
Kerby Nov 16th 2010 4:03PM
No change to Deathy yet -- I'm assuming all changes will come with 4.0.3a.
We have no idea what Blizzard means by shortly before Dec 7th. They had said at Blizzcon that the world change will come shortly before Cata release, they also said to look for 4.0.3 and that you would only have a couple more days left once you see that. I have a feeling they want to keep the change a surprise. There is no Deathwing flying around before -- we are on the last phase of the event now. For a surprise, this doesn't have to happen on a Tuesday. I'm thinking that sometime in the next week (so it's done before people leave for the holiday) we're going to get a server reset at just some random time and when they come back up it'll be 4.0.3a - activated.
Kurtis Nov 17th 2010 7:53AM
@Chris - the problem with the "gradual" process of change is that it is not entirely realistic. Some changes will definitely occur after Deathwing personally visits a zone, such as the tops of the towers in Stormwind being sheared off, or after events initiated by others, such as the Alliance takeover of the southern Barrens. Other changes, such as zones switching from barren to lush, would obviously take more time but apparently are initiated by Deathwing's emergence.
However, the major terrain changes will be caused by the earthquakes and tidal waves that result from the sheer force of Deathwing's emergence. So, for example, the flooding of Thousand Needles and the physical sundering of the Barrens will happen in close proximity to one another. Earthquake waves travel very fast - on the order of kilometers per second - so there would first be a massive, world-wide earthquake that, among other things, splits the Barrens. A tidal wave travels at about 500 mph (800 kph) so the tidal wave would hit Thousand Needles several minutes later. This obviously depends on where the wave starts, but Azeroth really isn't all that big. The same tidal forces would take out all of the other coastal regions (Wetlands, Darkshore, etc.) in turn.
Marshal Nov 16th 2010 11:05AM
"Deathy, the BlizzCon 2010 exclusive pet, will have his correct animations and emotes."
Yay!
Maybe now people will stop whispering me asking me why he sounds weird...
Natsumi Nov 16th 2010 11:47AM
I shall miss Deathy making machine gun noises at everyone :(
Wulf Nov 16th 2010 11:50AM
'Exclusive' really isn't a term that should be applied to any in-game BlizzCon item post '09.
Donhorn Nov 16th 2010 2:06PM
Unless I'm missing something my Deathy is still doing the Grunty stuff. o_O
Kerby Nov 16th 2010 4:00PM
No change to Deathy at all -- maybe the patch was just a download and we have to wait until 4.0.3a for changes to be activated.
EdiBomb Nov 16th 2010 11:00PM
Same here, Deathy still makes marine sounds...
Shaann Nov 16th 2010 11:07AM
Funny AVG detected the new patch as malware
Donegan Nov 16th 2010 11:26AM
It's not the patch, it's the launcher. Every time they release a new version of it, it raises AVG's hackles.
Just be sure to click "Leave program as is" (or something similar) and you should be good. Until the next major patch. :)
Drakkenfyre Nov 16th 2010 1:28PM
Dump AVG, seriously.
It's a piece of crap. It has gotten progressively worse over time. I dumped it years ago. It's become bloatware. The company is a royal pain in the ass to deal with (I saw someone ask on their message board how to disable it temporarily, and an employee responded "You can't disable it. If you did, your computer wouldn't be protected") and it picks up way too much stuff as a false positive.
Go with MSE. It's free, it's from Microsoft, and it's a hell of alot better than AVG, and doesn't require near the amount of resources AVG does.
http://www.microsoft.com/security_essentials/
Chairman Kaga Nov 16th 2010 1:30PM
Or you could, I dunno, maybe get a good anti-virus program.
Even Microsoft's anti-virus is better than AVG. Hell, it's better than a few commercial offerings *cough*mcafee*cough*