Patch 4.0.3a, The Shattering, is up on the PTR
by Mathew McCurley 
Nov 17th 2010 at 2:00PM
It is entirely possible that The Shattering could take place next Tuesday the 23rd, as Blizzard has said that the time between events and phases in the elemental invasion are progressing at a faster pace. Another option is that The Shattering will take place one week before Cataclysm's launch, on the 30th, giving players one full week to experience the new content, race/class combos, and new world.
We can only wait and hope that this day comes sooner than later. My undead hunter and troll druid are itching to be made.
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)
Necromann Nov 17th 2010 2:02PM
I hope it is next tuesday because I want to start a gnome priest and holy cow.
dengarsw Nov 17th 2010 3:10PM
Is this when the Dalaran portals go away?
Ice Nov 17th 2010 3:33PM
Bring it on, I'm making my priest disco cow.
Oh wait I dont have priest yet...darn it.
And yes, portals are bye bye.
Jay Nov 17th 2010 6:59PM
Let's hope later. There is too much for me to do everything right now, the extra week would really help me there.
30th please Blizz!
Zalvi24 Nov 17th 2010 2:02PM
blood elf warrior, here i come
Wild Colors Nov 17th 2010 2:04PM
Will flying in the old world be available after the shattering, or not until Cataclysm actually launches? I'm getting so confused as to what features become available when...
dawnseven Nov 17th 2010 2:10PM
Old World flying comes when Cata launches, but I feel your pain. It's very confusing. At some point in the last couple of weeks someone should have made a handy FAQ chart of some sort that could just be linked to the front page. Old World Flying? Next column. Dec. 7. Existing races but new classes? Next column. 4.0.3a etc.
Relsk Nov 17th 2010 2:13PM
The shattering is Cataclysm basically. You just can't get into the new zones yet. The old zones will be all destroyed and shiny though which is awesome. IIRC the azeroth navigation or whatever azeroth flying is costs like 200 gold or something stupid cheap but is only available if you purchase Cataclysm. So technically flying will be enabled in the old world but if they stick with that way of doing things you won't be able to fly until you actually upgrade to Cataclysm.
Aris Nov 17th 2010 2:24PM
I'm too lazy to look up the original post, someone feel free to link it if you can find it. But here's the rundown and I don't think it's changed too much since it was posted back in mid-September:
Patch 4.0.1 will launch several weeks before Cataclysm ships, similar to 2.0.1 and 3.0.2. It will include:
- New launcher
- Class changes
- Stat changes
- Currency changes
- Talent tree overhaul
- Glyph changes
- Reforging
- Mastery (although it might not be useful until Cataclysm)
- Mount speeds scale up, including 310% flying if you already have one
Patch 4.0.3 will launch shortly before Cataclysm ships. Based on what Tom Chilton and others have said, this will include (without purchase of Cataclysm):
- Cataclysm intro cinematic and login screen
- Revamped classic Eastern Kingdom and Kalimdor zones
- New race/class combinations for existing races
- Graphics improvements (water, etc)
Cataclysm will ship shortly afterward and buying it will unlock:
- Level 85 level cap
- 525 Profession skill caps
- Goblins and Worgen, and their starter zones
- New Level 80+ zones, dungeons, heroics, raids
- New battlegrounds
- Rated battlegrounds
- Flying mounts in Eastern Kingdoms and Kalimdor
- Archaeology
- 310% speed flying skill for purchase
- Guild leveling system
I would read 4.0.3 as 4.0.3a now. Looking it over a few things have been shuffled (purchase of 310% flying speed, lack of loading screen), but the major points remain as stated.
Samutz Nov 17th 2010 2:54PM
@Aris: 310% speed flying skill is already available for purchase.
Aris Nov 17th 2010 3:04PM
Yea, I that's what I was saying at the bottom about some minor shuffling. The post is just a copy paste from one back on Sep 14 (I posted it on my guild site. Zharym confirmed the sequence of events at that time).
curiousreader Nov 17th 2010 3:40PM
One thing I'd like to know is, will we be able to fly in the Blood Elf and Draenei starting zones? These are technically located in the Burning Crusade world maps. Will these be the only non-flyable zones in all of WoW?
Triceratops Nov 17th 2010 2:05PM
I don't think they'd launch in the middle of a world event...
slartibart Nov 17th 2010 2:14PM
I don't think you're right.
Furthermore Pilgrim's Bounty is a small event, and isn't required for the holiday meta, so I'm not sure that really factors too heavily in that decision.
Cephas Nov 17th 2010 2:50PM
I wouldn't be so sure that Pilgrim's Bounty will be starting this Monday. I can't imagine eating a feast at a table set up next to the Twilight Hammer's camp while Orgrimmar is on fire.
Siaperas Nov 17th 2010 2:59PM
If they launch 4.0.3a next Tuesday, that gives them one week at the current phase of the elemental invasion, it launches a major change to Azeroth in the middle of a holiday, (which they did with Lich King, but annoyed several people working on Hallow chieves), and they launch a major content patch with potential for clitching before a holiday weekend.
Reasons why I could think they would release it next Tuesday:
-Gives them two weeks to work out bug issues with 4.0.3a before Cata ships
-They feel that 4.0.3a is polished enough for release before Thanksgiving without worrying if it would effect employee workload Thanksgiving weekend
-They don't plan to have a lot of staff outages over that weekend/don't care about potential problems that weekend (knowing Blizz, I think it's unlikely they wouldn't care about employees)
-It could build up excitement for Cata more, prompting more people to want to buy it when it ships
-Player outcray for 4.0.3a is so loud that they release it
Out of the reasons I can think of why they would release it next week versus the week after, it makes more sense to me that they would wait until after Thanksgiving to drop a major content patch. While it's well within Blizz's power to release it next week, with the major reasons being that 4.0.3a is as ready as it will ever need to be by its release or giving Blizz two weeks to work out bugs on live before Cata's release and player outcry, I still think Blizz would look at their employees, appreciate that many would not like to work over the holiday, and play it safe on their workload by waiting until the following Tuesday. Still, I would play it safe and get any "going away" things done before Tuesday.
Darkke Nov 17th 2010 3:06PM
I'm going to be really bummed if Pilgrim's Bounty is canceled, but I suspect that may be the case. So many alts that were hoping for the quick cooking leveling.
I could see it going either way, really. If you look at the elemental bosses as a way to gear up 80 alts for cataclysm, 1 week looks like a pretty short time for that.
Also, it makes very little sense for a feast based on the real life holiday of Thanksgiving to occur while the very future of Azeroth is in question.
Maribel Nov 17th 2010 4:43PM
They might *move* Pilgrim's Bounty. I dunno. I can see it as a valid time for a Thanksgiving equivalent - "Let's give thanks that we personally survived!" That was pretty much the gist of the original Thanksgiving, after all. I can also see them wanting to stop the invasions after a week. I was already seeing people QQing about it yesterday, and the number of defenders has already dropped dramatically.
Enishikaze Nov 18th 2010 10:42PM
@Darkke "If you look at the elemental bosses as a way to gear up 80 alts for cataclysm, 1 week looks like a pretty short time for that."
The whole invasion will still be happening after "the shattering", I spent some time on the PTR yesterday where the shattering has been implemented & the pre-cata events were still going strong; rifts across the lands, cultists running around, elemental city invasions, etc. So people will still have time to fight the bosses, likely all the way up to Dec. 7th.
On a side note, The Park is gone in Stormwind, but the elementals & guards were still spawning in midair & dropping, kinda funny, but I also hope the fix that before they go live as it would be none to easy to close a rift in a section that no longer exists.
Trx45 Nov 23rd 2010 9:08AM
Deathwing doesn't care about your world event.