Patch 4.1 PTR: The story moves forward
by Matthew Rossi 
Feb 24th 2011 at 1:00PM
In addition to various clues about the new instances and what they might contain, we're also treated to a list of various phased events. Someone named Tarecgosa will be involved in events at Coldarra (we have some sort of intro hinted at twice), which could mean the Blue Flight is finally getting ready to pick a new leader. Meanwhile, the Firelands opens up with new dailies, and Anachronos finally decides it is his time to return to the Caverns of Time, perhaps opening up the War of the Ancients raid we've been teased about.
It definitely looks like the Cataclysm is kicking it up a notch in patch 4.1, but much remains to be answered. Why are ZG and ZA making a return now? Are we finally going to find out what Hakkar the Soulflayer has to do with Hakkar the Houndmaster? (I ask this because if ZG is back at the same time that we're being sent back to the War of the Ancients; that's a big coincidence.) Will we finally get to see Neltharion's fall into madness and transformation into Deathwing? This should all be very interesting.
World of Warcraft: Cataclysm has destroyed Azeroth as we know it; nothing is the same! In WoW Insider's Guide to Cataclysm, you can find out everything you need to know about WoW's third expansion, from leveling up a new goblin or worgen to breaking news and strategies on endgame play.Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, News items, Lore, Cataclysm
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 5)
GeekyGR Feb 24th 2011 1:04PM
Like I asked on the live podcast, are we going to be visiting the Island of Zandalar by the end of Cataclysm? Having some emphasis on the Trolls in 4.1 might mean something more than a few new five mans.
Marvelous Feb 24th 2011 1:08PM
I'll be honest. After I finish up my "long strange trip" achievement with the easter egg event I was about ready to hang up my hat with WoW, but dang it anyhow, bringing ZG back will get me to make sure to at least play through that!
Elmouth Feb 25th 2011 3:15PM
Because running ZG every week for tha past 5 years wasn't enough...
higherlvlinteractive Feb 24th 2011 1:12PM
You can't possibly be supportive of the same god damn rehashed / reskinned / retooled / reitemized raids and bosses that we CONTINOUSLY keep getting stuck with?
353 epics? We already out-gear that shit.
New mount? Fantastic, I have to run a useless, reused dungoen / raid for a 0.02% chance at getting a "new" reskinned mount.
Priests - Why fucking nerf your already scarcely populated class even further, for no reason whatsoever.
Firelands - Can we get new people to kill instead of the same old shit OVER AND OVER AND OVER AND FUCKING OVER AGAIN?
Absolutely pathetic bullshit from Blizzard.
Aitron Feb 24th 2011 1:15PM
Very constructive commentary, higher. Please enlighten us as to how you really feel.
Alt-f4, uninstall. Give it a try.
GeekyGR Feb 24th 2011 1:19PM
The epics from ToC5 weren't anything better than what you could get in Ulduar, and the epics in the Frozen Halls weren't anything better than you could get in ToC10/25, so out gearing new epics from 5 mans with stuff from the last raid tier isn't exactly a new phenomenon.
Eric J Feb 24th 2011 1:20PM
Goodness... Angry much?
DuceWild Feb 24th 2011 1:28PM
"Priests - Why fucking nerf your already scarcely populated class even further, for no reason whatsoever."
As a Disc Priest.....I am praying those changes do not go live.
Roguesan Feb 24th 2011 1:28PM
@higherlvlinteractive
You can't possibly be supportive of the same god damn rehashed / reskinned / retooled / reitemized raids and bosses that we CONTINOUSLY keep getting stuck with?
Sure I can.
353 epics? We already out-gear that shit.
You might, but there are scores and scores of people who don't. If you're lucky enough to have them already, good for you, but don't disregard Blizzard giving those who dont an additional opportunity to earn some decent gear.
New mount? Fantastic, I have to run a useless, reused dungoen / raid for a 0.02% chance at getting a "new" reskinned mount.
You don't HAVE to do anything.
Firelands - Can we get new people to kill instead of the same old shit OVER AND OVER AND OVER AND FUCKING OVER AGAIN?
It's a little something called story continuity. Ragnaros was a highly notable lore figure and the bane of Vanilla players in his original raid. This is a fantastic opportunity to introduce what you might call 'younger' players to him and give veterans a chance to do battle with their old nemesis once more in level-appropriate content.
Grumpy Wow Guy Feb 24th 2011 1:32PM
@ higher:
Waaaaah! Shut your friggin' QQ hole! What the hell is wrong with you?
Readmanz Feb 24th 2011 1:41PM
You mad bro?
Caz Feb 24th 2011 1:36PM
I think some people are overreacting to the ZA and ZG revival, especially on the forums.
It's not like Blizz is just reducing the requirement to 5 people and adjusting health pools/mob damage for level 85 players
These will be new fights, new mechanics, new loot - and terrain updates as well.
It's like WWII - yes we had to back to Germany, but it wasn't "rehashed content". It was a new fight, in the same geographical location. Yes, we defeated Hakkar and Zul'Jin, but we did not exterminate the two tribes completely. Time has passed and the threat of the Gurubashi and Amani trolls needs to be kept in check.
MattKrotzer Feb 24th 2011 1:44PM
Batman only ever fought the Joker one time. True story.
You DO realize you can use the same villains to tell interesting stories more than once, right?
Yalina Feb 24th 2011 1:46PM
@Caz Lovely comparison between updating ZG for level 85 to World War II. New bosses, new mechanics, new weapons, same location. Excuse me while I go giggle at Hitler being "rehased content."
Sunaseni Feb 24th 2011 1:47PM
I know it's pointless replying to you, but I must rebut your last point about Firelands being rehashed content.
We haven't killed Ragnaros, yet, so this IS new things to kill. Ragnaros was the weakened invader when we faced him in the Molten Core, OUR plane. While he's outside of his plane, he is immortal, but weakened. This time, the gloves come off. He's in his place of power and we're the invaders now. The only boss that's guaranteed to be the same is Ragnaros. We're invading a completely different dimension with a completely different army. It won't be Molten Core 2: Electric Boogaloo.
wow Feb 24th 2011 2:00PM
@higher
Do you want a little cheese with that Wine?
I'm actually looking forward to the new 5-man's. Since I was never able to run the old Zul'Gurub, I have a chance to run it as a new style instance. Plus, I missed out on the old mount and I want the new one. Just call me a Mount Collection Whore. hehe.
Shinanji
Caz Feb 24th 2011 2:03PM
@ Yalina
Yes, I know - WWII might have been a bad choice for a comparison, but it was the first thing that came to mind. My point was that throughout history, the same enemies have clashed again and again for many reasons, often in the same places. How many times did Greece and Persia wage war? Or Egypt and the Hittites, Assyrians, Lybians and Hyksos?
I just don't think it's that big of a deal to advance the storyline and put new content in old locations; it happens in our real world all the time. It just makes sense that it should happen in a video game world as well.
radda Feb 24th 2011 2:10PM
1) These are only preliminary patch notes; going off of what's been datamined it's entirely possible that Firelands will not be the only raid and that ZG/ZA will not be the only 5-mans (there's supposed to be another Abyssal Maw instance, remember?)
2) Firelands is only 'rehashed' in that a character is being reused as a boss due to the last go at him being nothing more than a setback. Everything else about the raid is completely new, as far as we know, and there's no reason to assume otherwise.
3) ZG and ZA making a comeback should not be a cause for concern, as SFK and DM being retooled for Heroic play set a precedent for early story dungeons being completely retooled for this expansion. Nobody seemed to have a problem with it then, so I don't see what the problem is now. You also do not know if the new instances are in fact just retooled a la SFK and DM or if they've been significantly overhauled in other ways due to their size compared with other 5-mans. Basically, you're bitching up a storm with little to no details whatsoever.
4) The other possible raid for this patch, the CoT War of the Ancients instance, will be completely 100% new. As the area in which the event occurred is currently underneath the Maelstrom there is little chance for existing terrain being reused for it, and nobody knows if Archimonde will actually be the final boss or not (although I'd assume he would be).
tl;dr: you're whining about things you don't have complete information on. Shut up.
Bapo Feb 24th 2011 2:32PM
I like that it means Maelstrom Crystals will finally begin to circulate, so people like me who haven't been raiding, can get better enchants for a lower cost now (and I can get my magic lamp pet).
I like the idea of ZG 5 heroic. It means that the story can finally continue, and I get my friggin baby raptor back god dammit! I miss the little guy :( (Yes, I know it's a girl, but still)
The Dewd Feb 24th 2011 3:21PM
Frankly, higher, you're an idiot.
There are tons of us who didn't have the luxury of a guild full of 85s in full heroic gear 3 days after Cata released. Some of us could use more epics so we can finally get enough folks geared up enough to do some raiding. Sure, we'll be a tier behind but we're here for the content and the fun, not "elitist," "hardcore," iLevel epeening.
I, for one, never managed to even see, much less win, a Raptor or Tiger mount in ZG. And I ran it enough to get a bunch of guildmates up to exalted, some on more than one toon. And ZA will be nice to see again - it was an interesting raid and the only thing available for small guilds that didn't want to just run Kara and Heroic 5-mans over and over.
If you don't want to play WoW, go to Rift.