Patch 5.4 patch notes
Virtual Realms feature revealed
The Proving Grounds are coming
The latest patch 5.4 newsLove is in the Air event plagued by bugs
by Daniel Whitcomb 
Feb 6th 2011 at 5:00PM
- Quests for the faction leader gifts currently point to faction leaders who died in the Cataclysm, including Cairne and Magni.
- The dailies and main quest chain currently do not function for level 81-85 characters, leaving anyone who has a new 85 or just didn't get around to doing the quests in previous years unable to finish their achievements.
- It's hard or impossible to buy certain special vendor items due to errors that show up when you click on them.
- Apothecary Hummel is sometimes not showing up in the LFD tool for level 81-85 characters.
Nephadne"Apothecary Hummel, survivor of the Royal Apothecary Society purge, has started scheming again and word has it that he's looking for a cunning way to quickly spread his dangerous mind-altering alchemical formulas throughout the populace. Working with those business savvy goblins, he seems to have created the Crown Chemical Corporation to launch in tandem with the annual 'Love is in the Air' celebration taking place across Azeroth.
Suspicious of the upstart company's overnight success, the Steamwheedle Cartel has decided to recruit any interested and foolhardy adventurers to begin investigations into the corporation's strange dealings. Perhaps the chase will eventually lead to a final showdown with Apothecary Hummel and his co-conspirators in their secret lair..."
It's that bewitching time of year again, when NPCs and players alike go to great lengths to attract a better half, and the intoxicating smell of attraction carries on the wind... We've plenty planned to keep you amused this year, single or attached, so without further ado here's a quick rundown of the major attractions;
Decorations and Love Boats
We'll be adding some romantic adornments to all the major cities to set the mood, as well as putting on a private Love Boat service in certain selected romantic destinations for you and your chosen one to enjoy a scenic moment of alone time together.
Crown Chemical Co.
The Crown Chemical Corporation will be setting up shop once again, ready to Peddle their wares and be generous with their quests to all willing to approach these lovely stalls...
For any of you real old timers, don't forget that the format of this holiday has changed somewhat this year and last and that you'll need to pick up your Lovely Charm Collector's Kit from everyone's favourite scantily-clad flying Goblin, Mr Kwee Q. Peddlefeet, in order to begin collecting the Lovely Charms you'll need in order to create Lovely Charm Bracelets and get your hands on those ever elusive Love Tokens!
Apothecary Hummel
Whether you're interested in trying to get to the bottom of the Crown Chemical Co.'s strange doings or not, don't forget to pay Apothecary Hummel a few brief visits nonetheless... he and his Apothecary cronies have holed up in Shadowfang Keep (although the specific NPCs in the major cities should get you there much more quickly) and, if you can sniff them out and rub their noses in some sweet defeat, you should find yourself handsomely rewarded for your troubles!
That's just a small snippet of the hearty array of delightful diversions on offer but, before we love you and leave you, here are the answers to some potential questions you may be having;
Q: How do I get these Lovely Charms then? I'm confused...
A: As long as you have a Lovely Charm Collector's Kit on you, you should be able to start collecting Charms in the course of going about your daily business killing mobs that would normally give you experience or Honor.
Q: I just killed something, but I didn't get one! Why you no love me?!
A: There's only a chance to receive a Lovely Charm with each kill – you didn't think we were going to make it that easy, did you?
Q: So, how does the Apothecary Hummel thing work this year? Like the Brewfest and Hallow's End bosses?
A: That's correct! Apothecary Hummel obviously has some loot himself, but when you complete the associated quest each day you'll be awarded with a very special box... hopefully you'll find your heart's desire inside, as no swapsies of the contents will be possible between friends or party members!
Q: I don't seem to be able to turn in the 'A Gift for the Lord of Ironforge' quest. They took my Magni, but I <3 him...!
A: Unfortunately Mr Peddlefeet has yet to be informed of this regrettable turn of events, but we'll be trying to make sure he's re-educated as soon as possible. In the meantime, please shower your affection on any of your other loyal and devoted faction leaders, and we're sure Muradin will hopefully be stealing your hearts back in no time!
Q: Ditto the 'A Gift for the High Chieftain' quest! RIP Cairne... :'(
A: As with the corresponding miscommunication above, this is something we're working to rectify as soon we're able. Apologies for any disappointment, inconvenience or heartbreak caused in the interim, however.
Q: Why is my Heart-Shaped Box empty? That's taking things to a whole new level of rejection!
A: Actually, all the Heart-Shaped Boxes contain 24 Justice Points, so none of these containers of affection can actually be considered to be empty... If you're receiving the message 'There is no loot.', that really only means there's no additional loot this time around.
Keep trying though, as there are some lovely treats available for the luckier amongst you!
Q: Why can't I get to Apothecary Hummel using the LFD Tool? It's not there!
A: If you're level 84 or above, you can now make use of the Steamwheedle Shyster <Dungeonmaster> NPCs located in most of the major cities in order to make your way swiftly (and with the minimum of fuss) to meet the Apothecary in battle!
Q: I'm having issues with the vendors – apparently I can't buy what I want because 'You can't buy the specified quantity of that item'. Help!
A: We're aware that there seem to currently be some issues with attempting to purchase the items bought in stacks already, but in the meantime you should be able to get around the error message by making use of the /run BuyMerchantItem() script.
Here are the appropriate values for all the affected items;
Lovely Rose ► /run BuyMerchantItem(2)
"Bravado" Cologne ► /run BuyMerchantItem(3)
"STARWART" Cologne ► /run BuyMerchantItem(4)
"Wizardry" Cologne ► /run BuyMerchantItem(5)
"VICTORY" Perfume ► /run BuyMerchantItem(6)
"Forever" Perfume ► /run BuyMerchantItem(7)
"Enchantress" Perfume ► /run BuyMerchantItem(8)
Handful of Rose Petals ► /run BuyMerchantItem(11)
Love Rocket ► /run BuyMerchantItem(12)
Silver Shafted Arrow ► /run BuyMerchantItem(13)
Q: I don't seem to be able to obtain the level 81-85 versions of the 'Crushing the Crown' quest! What's going on? And what about my achievement?
A: Please don't worry – we're already aware of this issue and working to get it resolved as soon as possible. You should still have plenty of time to get the achievement completed once the fix has been applied.
Filed under: Bugs, Blizzard, News items
Reader Comments (Page 4 of 4)
Rob Feb 7th 2011 7:19AM
They have a few bugs. Yes the event is borked. But otherwise, how many of the cata quests were bugged? I didn't see a single one, and i did nearly all. Again, the revamp, 1-60. Some 1000 quests (or whatever). How many were bugged? I'm sure some are, but I personally haven't seen any. Take it for the larger context people. Their bug rate is absurdly absurdly low.
shomechely Feb 7th 2011 10:25AM
This is not an acceptable excuse. There should be at least one guy looking at the Holiday event quest text and thinking "Oh hey! Magni and Cairne are dead/unavailable. Somebody should fix that." or "Whoa! This quest directs you to the Park. That's kind of impossible." and then bringing that issue to someone's attention.
I agree with every other poster who has said the standards are slipping and it makes me very sad and frustrated.
SamLowry Feb 7th 2011 3:40PM
I took my brand-new level 80 worgen into Vash and he was REPEATEDLY torn to pieces, requiring at least 7 to 8 corpse runs before I received my first piece of new gear. This proved rather clearly that nobody had thought to test this "noob" zone with an actual noob character. Instead, everyone ran in there wearing purple gear and had no problems at all.
poggg Feb 7th 2011 7:22AM
Well, honestly, it was just a matter of time until we ran into SOME kind of old content that was incredibly broken by Cataclysm. It'll get fixed, no need to worry about it too much.
Sinfulle Feb 7th 2011 7:33AM
Not sure anyone else had this happen but I was on the daily quest to collect charms from killing, and had collected eight of them. I had to log, and when I came back later, the charms had disappeared from my inventory. This was on a level 82 character, with whom I also made the discovery that I could not advance the quest chain.
I realize holidays are not mandatory for leveling or gear progression but when they dress up the entire world so that we take notice of the holidays, and then fail to make them functional, that's poor quality control. Like so many people have said in the past, the ultimate downfall of WoW will probably be due to the companies that run it.
Awn Feb 7th 2011 9:16AM
I can tell none of you have been playing from release and have never experienced bugs when the holiday events are flipped on. And, I can tell none of you work with computers or programs. Bugs happen. You cannot predict which ones will happen. But, I will give on the text quest log thing. Perhaps that was something that slipped their minds. It happens.
Al Feb 7th 2011 10:11AM
You could tell that straight away? So that's why you skipped the posts about how holiday problems have routinely slipped through and been ignored for almost a year now.
Just wait, this'll get hit with "Meh, we'll fix it next year" as well.
Forreststump Feb 7th 2011 10:55AM
...as I smile and run the gamut of test questions for a software integration test. No, none of us have ANY idea about software development processes or configuration management.
SpankyTwo Feb 7th 2011 11:38AM
I WILL NOT ACCEPT "IT HAPPENS" AS A REASONABLE RESPONSE FROM A COMPANY THAT MAKES 120 MILLION A MONTH ON ONE GAME!
120 Million is conservative. 8 Million Players * 15 Dollars a month =120 Million Dollars and if they all buy a six month subscription at $12 that is still 96 Millions a month.
They claim they have 12 Million Subscribers, that is 180 Million dollars a month from Wow Subscriptions a month alone.
"IT HAPPENS" IS NOT A RESPONSE I WILL ACCEPT!
And yes I am SCREAMING that.
SpankyTwo Feb 7th 2011 11:11AM
The fact that the park elder wasn't near the ? was minor in comparison to the non-sense that has enveloped "love is in the air". On a slightly different note, the elder of stormwind being on the outside of the city was irratating to me. None of the elders of the horde were outside of their cities. Although they were extremely easy to get to with flying was much better that if I had been horde. Getting to the elder in ironforge must of been a pain in the proverbial backside.
I REALLY hope they extend the event a couple of days so that us casual players have time to complete everything.
SpankyTwo Feb 7th 2011 11:36AM
I WILL NOT ACCEPT "IT HAPPENS" AS A REASONABLE RESPONSE FROM A COMPANY THAT MAKES 120 MILLION A MONTH ON ONE GAME!
120 Million is conservative. 8 Million Players * 15 Dollars a month =120 Million Dollars and if they all buy a six month subscription at $12 that is still 96 Millions a month.
They claim they have 12 Million Subscribers, that is 180 Million dollars a month from Wow Subscriptions a month alone.
"IT HAPPENS" IS NOT A RESPONSE I CAN ACCEPT!
And YES I am screaming that.
Cad Feb 8th 2011 10:40AM
They didn't mention the achievement Flirting with Disaster. Doesn't work with cologne again, only perfume. Just FYI.
Rob Feb 7th 2011 4:02PM
@Sam This isn't a bug per se but a game play issue. In cata the difficulty is increased across the board. Just like the jump from 58 to outlands was hard, and 68 to northrend was hard. My warrior just went through all of that. In each case the entry level stuff was really challenging; mobs hit like a truck and so forth. One thing to think about is that you can level professions first and get a few pieces of gear (or buy some off the AH), its a massive upgrade from mid 70s greens to a 80 cata green (which is about T9/T10 equiv).
SamLowry Feb 7th 2011 10:39PM
The devs specifically stated they didn't want 78s questing in the new zones because it would be wayyy too hard for them and they'd be constantly ganked...which is exactly what happened to my level 80 worgen anyway. They didn't want to make it too easy for 80s--meaning 80s in ICC gear--so they made it insanely difficult for anyone who wasn't decked out in purples.
Eventually, after a dozen or so corpse runs, I started to get enough i272 gear so I could finally survive the encounters and start to fight back.
My point was that the devs either forgot or ignored the possibility that not everyone going into these new zones would be able to withstand the onslaught--the 90% xp penalty kept us from even bothering with Wrath heroics, so we went right in wearing Wrath blues and got our butts handed to us.
Sounds like failure by design, if you ask me.
Omegan01 Feb 7th 2011 5:34PM
On the other hand, can you imagine the look on Muradin's face when you show up with a card for Magni?
"YE CHEESE-EATIN' SURRENDER MONKEY!" *whack* *whack* *whack* "YE'RE ABOUT A YEAR TOO LATE!" *whack* *whack* "S'A MATTER, MURADIN BRONZEBEARD AIN'T GOOD ENOUGH FER YER FANCY-PANTS LIL' PAPER CARDS?" *whack* *whack*
Yeah, your face would pretty much look like a Deeprun Tram accident.
Polledra Feb 8th 2011 5:14AM
Heres the thing. This was tested on the PTR and they were informed that Ironforge and Ogrimmar were buggy, but they released it anyway. Sounds to me like they just didn't give a crap.
EvilGrin Feb 8th 2011 5:22AM
You can use the following command to select the Holiday Event in the LFD tool, even if you can't 'see' it in the interface.
/run LFDQueueFrame_SetType(288)