Posts with tag rolling-restart

Happy Tuesday morning, everyone. Patch 5.3 continues to be on the PTR, and the changes keep coming. We still have no actual ETA for when the patch will hit live servers, but it's certainly not slowing down. On the other hand, the live servers are hopping too, with Raid Finder finally opening its doors to all comers, allowing us all to take down the notorious Lei Shen. As always, our intrepid team has been out covering it all.

Downtime today is just a series of rolling restarts at 7 a.m. PDT. The process is expected to take about an hour, which is more than enough time to skim our usual roundup of the last week of news. Read on to see what you may have missed.

Hot news and features

• The World of Warcraft community team will be hosting a live Q&A with the developers on April 25.
• Aiming for a BlizzCon ticket? We have a few tips to help you nab yours.
• Check out the latest patch 5.2 hotfixes for April 16 and April 18.
• The Answers to the recent PvP themed Ask the Devs are now up.
• Throne of Thunder Raid Finder is now completely open. We have a quick 5-second guide to each of the new bosses.
• We preview the new patch 5.3 battleground Deepwind Gorge.
• Engineers will be able to make a Bad Robot pet in a future patch.
• Fs, the original world first level 90 who was later rolled back to 87, has had his world first achievement reinstated.
• As of patch 5.3, carrying a flag in battlegrounds will cause a tank to take more damage.
• Legendary metagems are restricted to Throne of Thunder helms only.
• The Shado-Pan Assault trinkets have been hotfixed to be a bit less effective in PvP.

Happy Tuesday morning, everyone. This week has felt a little quieter than the past few, possibly because everyone's finally digging in and pushing to get those last few Pandaria factions to exalted. That said, there's still been plenty of patch 5.1 coming in from the PTR, and we've been writing lots of excellent guides and short tip posts to give you an edge in whatever you're doing in Mists.

Downtime this morning is limited to rolling restarts at 5 a.m. PDT, so there's no time like the present to arm yourself with knowledge before you plunge back into the game. Read on for our usual roundup.

Hot news and features

• Check out the latest live server hotfixes for October 16.
• Check out the latest updates to the patch 5.1 PTR notes.
• Patch 5.1 will feature a lot of new hunter pet spawns.
• Patch 5.1 will include PvP sound announcements.
• Patch 5.1 allows you to upgrade your battle pets.
• Wowhead has dug up new details on the patch 5.1 Karasang Wilds quests.
• Heading into heroic dungeons? Check our 5 second guide to level 90 heroic bosses.

The big news of the week, of course, is patch 5.0.4, which now on live servers. We, of course, have been offering all the news and guides you'll need to stay informed on how the patch works and how your class has changed. One of the most pleasant changes for me, personally has been the increased leveling speed. Suddenly, it's sort of fun to level again, and I already have a new level 85 warrior as a result, thanks in part to Rossi's excellent warrior guides.

There's non-patch news too, as well. My favorite tidbit is the news that they're working on new Orc and Human models. As someone who plays a human male main, I'm definitely looking forward to possibly not looking like a shaved gorilla, I won't lie.

You can read all this and more in our usual news roundup below. Downtime is limited to rolling restarts at 5 a.m. PDT, but why not take a breather and catch up?

Hot news and features

• We have a roundup of class resources and guides for Mists of Pandaria. If your spec isn't cover yet, check back. Chances are it will be in the days leading up to Mists.
• Check out the official release patch notes for patch 5.0.4.
• Glyphs saw a lot of changes in the patch. We have a class by class breakdown of what changed.
• Confused about the new account-wide pets, mounts, and achievements? We'll let you know what's up.
• Sometimes, it's the pleasant little surprises that get you with each new patch. 5.0.4 was no exception.
• The Queue has been answering a lot of your patch 5.0.4 questions. Check out their back issues and see if yours got answered.

Happy Tuesday morning, everyone. Probably the biggest news this week is that Blizzard's security was breached, and passwords and other information were stolen. On the plus side, much of the information was encrypted. That said, it's probably a good idea for you to change your password and get an authenticator, if you haven't already. In other news, we continue to explore the Mists of Pandaria beta, and almost as exciting, the Curiosity Rover continues to explore Mars. That picture up there? It's a color picture of another planet. How exciting is that, I ask you?

Downtime today is a series of rolling restarts starting at 5 a.m. PDT, with a handful of servers staying down until 1 p.m. PDT. Check the link to see if your server's on the list. Whether your server's down for 15 minutes or eight hours, we're here to keep you busy. Read on for a roundup of the latest news.

Hot news and features

• Planning to level a monk? We have a guide for you.
• The background downloader is active, heralding the arrival of patch 5.0.4.
• Ghostcrawler recently commented about the rate of valor point gain in Mists of Pandaria.
• Ghostcrawler also confirmed and explained the lack of reputation gaining tabards in Mists.
• With Theramore about to fall on hard times, we take a look back at its history.
• Alas, the new Theramore scenario will not be tested on the PTR.
• Blizzard will be hosting a series of community round tables at gamescom 2012.

Happy Tuesday morning, everyone. The patch 5.0.4 PTR is live now, complete with patch notes. While it's not Mists itself, it's another milestone on the road and another sign that a release date might just be coming our way soon. The big news for me this week though is the possibility of a Digital Deluxe version of the expansion. As someone who makes almost all of his media purchases in digital form these days, including his computer games, I love that I may finally have that choice in Mists. On the other hand, I've been buying those big old Collector's Edition boxes for years now. Do I really want to break that tradition?

While I sit here and agonize over my answer, why don't you check out our usual roundup of the past seven days' news? Downtime this week is just another set of rolling restarts -- but hey, why not give the servers a few more minutes to calm down?

Hot news and features

• The Mists of Pandaria opening cinematic will debut at 8:00 a.m. EDT on Aug. 16. In the meantime, you can watch the pandaren introduction video instead.
• Do you like daily quests? There will be 48 per day available in Mists of Pandaria. Olivia's not too sure she'll be doing them.
• Still, you may want to get used to doing dailies if you want reputation. Mists faction tabards won't grant reputation in dungeons.
• In order to promote pet hunting, wild battle pets will not be tradable.

Happy Tuesday Morning, everyone. As the week gets in full gear, we here at WoW insider are mostly still basking in the post-PAX afterglow. Alas, I was not among the attendees, but my coworkers who did make the trip to Boston had a blast, and the panel went well. If you missed it, why not use this week's downtime as an excuse to listen to the panel? We even have footage of the first 10 minutes.

If you can't make time to listen right now, don't worry. We still have plenty of news for you to catch up on. In addition to all the juicy stuff from the Mists of Pandaria beta, we have some pretty big site news. Yes, that is a new comment system you're seeing. Luckily, the world hasn't ended, as some were predicting, so you should still be able to use it. Downtime today is limited to a series of rolling restarts at 5 a.m. PDT, but with all this good stuff to read or listen to, you may want to stick around anyway. Read on for more.

Mists of Pandaria news and features

• We have a spoiler-free overview of the Mists of Pandaria beta.
• We take a first look at monk leveling in the beta.
• Raid Rx has a basic guide to the mistweaver healing monk.

I'm sure by now, everyone's heard the biggest news of the week. With the NDA expired on the press tour, we've been hit with a glut of information the new Mists of Pandaria expansion. I'm not sure what my favorite part is. Is it the identity of Mists of Pandaria's final boss? Is it the fact that I'll get to play some Team Fortress? It's hard to choose, really.

But don't let me decide for you. After the break, we'll have our usual roundup, including a section devoted to all the new expansion news you can handle. You'll only have to deal with rolling restarts this morning at 5:00 a.m. PDT, but expansion news is worth a few extra minutes, right? Keep on reading for the full rundown.

Happy Tuesday morning, everyone. The big news of this week is probably patch 4.3.2, which is on the PTR. For the most part, it's bringing us minor balance changes and bug fixes, but there are a few big things in there, including a 64-bit client and the advent of raiding with your cross-realm friends. You still can't raid Dragon Soul with your friends from that PvP server you refuse to roll on, but you can at least do Raid Finder runs, as well as any classic raid your heart desires. Now you can sucker even more people into those legendary farming runs!

With a new patch on test the servers and the last of the post-holiday doldrums more or less shaken off, you better believe there's plenty of good news and interesting stuff to read from the past week. Downtime this week is a series of rolling restarts at 10 a.m. PST, which of course gives you time for a nice mid-morning or early afternoon break to catch up on the news. Read on for the usual run-down.

Happy Tuesday morning, everyone. This week has had its share of silence, for sure. I'm not sure if the folks at Blizzard's just enjoying the last bit of the holidays or secretly playing that other game, but either way, they didn't have much to say this week. That's not say there wasn't activity and stuff to discuss, not at all. The Darkmoon Faire's back in town, for one, and we've all been looking back at some of the best and worst stuff to come out of 2011. This is also the week we had to say goodbye to that freaking sweet corgi in the picture above. We can only pray Blizzard gives him back to us a pet some time in the future. If they do not, it shall surely go down in the annals of history as one of the greatest MMO tragedies of all time.

Downtime this morning is a series of rolling restarts starting at 10 a.m. PST, so you should have time to dig in to all the retrospectives and guides we have ready for you. Read on for the usual roundup.

Happy Tuesday morning, everybody, and a very merry Winter Veil. Hopefully you've been celebrating, either by entering our 12 Days of Winter Veil contests or by going for in-game achievements. Then again, maybe you just don't care for that stuff and want to keep doing what you normally do -- and hey, that's cool too.

No matter how you celebrate, you'll have to take a short break this morning as Blizzard applies rolling restarts to the servers starting at 10 a.m. PST. Don't worry though, we got lots of stuff for you to read while you wait. Read on after the break for our usual roundup of the last week's content, including some awesome Warcraft gift ideas for you last-minute shoppers.

Happy Tuesday morning, everyone. I hope no one overindulged too much in candy or alcoholic beverages last night -- or if you did, I hope you're not too bad off. Myself, I'm finding that while I avoided getting the con crud, I seem to have picked up the Halloween party pestilence instead.

Downtime this morning consists of a series of rolling restarts starting at 10 a.m. PDT. So whether you're fighting off a fall cold, a hangover, or a tummy ache -- or if you're feeling fine, you lucky bum -- you should have some time to read up on the week's news with us. There's a good mix of patch 4.3 and BlizzCon 2011 stuff to review, so you'll probably want to read on.

Happy Tuesday morning, everyone. BlizzCon is over, and we're all recovering here, more or less. However, the news cycle marches on, and we've already received our post-BlizzCon bombshell: In a future content patch, Theramore will be destroyed by the Horde.

I'm not going to lie. As a die-hard Alliance player, I'm more than a little crestfallen. Jaina Proudmoore means a lot to me, and so does the city she built. But I have found one surefire way to cure these doldrums. To all my Alliance brothers and sisters, I invite you: Watch that video up there, and remember. This is what we Alliance can do. We didn't need the Horde, and we didn't need the Argent Crusade or the Cenarion Circle or any other neutral organizations. Glory to the Alliance.

While you bask in the power of the Alliance, I should also tell you that we have no reported downtime yet for this morning as of this writing. If it comes, though, have no fear. After the break, you'll find a roundup of all the BlizzCon news you may have missed over this crazy weekend, as well as everything else worth knowing about from the past seven days. Read on.

Happy Tuesday morning, everyone. While we're all waiting with bated breath for the PTR to drop, there's at least a trickle of patch 4.3 info coming our way. We learned that rogues get to look like Batman, and that the tier 13 set bonuses are sort of weird. It was a pretty slow Monday, however, and as of this writing, we've heard nothing new about when the PTR will open.Hope springs eternal. I'm just hoping the new dungeons are up ASAP, because I can't wait to take out that lady up there, even if it's just as an echo from the future.

Downtime this morning is just a quick series of rolling restarts at 5 a.m. PDT, but whether you're waiting out that quick server restart or waiting for news of the PTR, keep it here with us. We'll have all the news as soon as it breaks. In the meantime, you can catch our usual roundup of the past seven days' news, after the break.

Happy Tuesday morning, everyone! I've been playing the original KOTOR lately, after having it sit in my Steam games library for way too long, and it's strangely awesome. I haven't played an old RPG that's held up this well in a long time. Of course, it's also made me really want to try SWTOR, so there's the downside.

Anyway, I have Star Wars on my mind, so when those upcoming Firelands nerfs came up, it got me thinking. Could we call Blizzard developers nerfherders now? And if so, does that mean they are all awesome, roguish smugglers who totally shot first? Because I think I am OK with this.

Downtime today is just a quick set of rolling restarts, starting at 5 a.m. PDT. While you wait for those to finish up, there's plenty of juicy news to catch up beyond the break, from new patch 4.3 sneak peaks to patch 4.2 hotfix hijinks. Read on to check it all out.