World of Warcraft Patch 2.3 Coming Next Week

Blizzard has officially announced that World of Warcraft Patch 2.3 will be dropped onto live servers next Tuesday. It's a huge update to the behemoth of Massively Mutiplayer games, including elements like a new raid zone called Zul'Aman, significant class changes, new questing content in the Dustwallow Marsh zone, and an increase in leveling speeds between 20-60. The full patch notes are available on the official site. "Elsewhere Guild Banks let you keep track of and organize your stocks much more efficiently, the Auction House has been revamped so it is easier to use, and you will be able to pick up daily quests so you have something to keep you from falling asleep as you go back to the same dungeons or battlegrounds again and again. The old 40-man Alterac Valley battleground has been fiddled with, too, so it should now have extra added fun, and those of you around the mid-level mark should head to Dustwallow Marsh for new quests and speedy leveling."

Comments

I always love that line, players leaving in droves

[Shivetya]

The churn numbers in WOW is probably greater than many games have total. Yet if every troll post I read about WOW losing players in huge numbers were true what does it say about other games who are obviously NOT getting those players? Blizzard doesn't always do the best job at class balance but they do a far better job than other companies, their numbers attest to this. While I am taking a break from WOW I do plan on getting back in, changes in this patch may be enough for me as I can bring up some other classes and see how the game plays out for them.

Part of the magic of WOW is that it really does have separate classes where the differences are enough to grant four to six different ways to play the game. The hybrids blend obviously, but melee, magic, and ranged melee (bow), all work well and in many cases require different play styles. Magic is the most diversified where playing a priest is very different from a mage just as its different from a warlock.

I have a warrior and to claim that only classes the lead design or high placed developers are being buffed is to ignore the fact that many people with these classes have been waiting for their day in the sun. If what you implied were true the largest number of players would have long focused on Warrior - which is not the case. Shaman get some tweaks now to enhance two of their trees. Yeah warriors get some bennies here but each class received buffs as well as some tuning which tones down overpowering areas.

My beef has been that PvP/Arena gets way too much focus but obviously I am not in a majority as it appeals to large number of players. The problem of course is that these are the most competitive players and as such will be the most vocal. If they didn't bitch then Blizzard would have a problem, that would be a more clear indicator that people were leaving.