Hey everyone!

I had the priviledge of being in beta for months before the release of WotLK, so I was able to have my go at Northrend before most people.  This included tinkering around with the new player class, the Death Knight.  I started a couple of them and put several levels on them, and while I liked the class I knew it was just a novelty for me!  I am a hunter through and through.  So, when the expansion was officially released, there was no question for me which of my characters would be first to level 80.

However, I was in Shatt just the other day and I noticed I was completely surrounded by Death Knights!  They were everywhere!  So, I get that this is a novelty…new class and all, but it got me thinking.  I wonder how many of these players will abandon their old classes and stick with the DK?

So, I thought I’d put it out there to you guys.  Have you tried out the new class? If so, will you play it for a bit and then return to your previous favorite or are you fully converted and destined to be a hardcore DK forever? Or, is it just too soon to tell?

Let me know!

That’s right, folks you heard me.  TwentyFifth November, the UberGuild formed as a result of the merger of two of the worlds BEST raiding guilds (SK Gaming & Nihilum), has downed Malygos!  Malygos is currently the end and supposedly most difficult boss of the current WotLK content.  The next bosses, Icecrown and Arthas, will be made accessible in a future patch.

Ok, so let’s get this straight, this means that within 3 days of WotLK launch a guild has leveled their characters to MAX (although a few members of the raid were not yet 80) and taken down all bosses and therefore defeated all available raid content!?  Now, I know Blizzard has been on a mission as of late to tone down the game and make end game content more accessible even to casual players, but this seems a bit absurd!

I don’t know, I guess we wait ad see how long it takes for another guild to accomplish this task after all these are the Ultra Elite players! 

I know that before the expansion was released Blizzard was getting nothing but love it seemed for toning down BC instances and raids and removing keying requirements.  This seemed to yank everyone right off the beta servers and into BC PvE content some had never had the honor of experiencing before.  I, like many, thought this was a great idea for many players and hey it got people back into the game!  However I know when I reach 80 I WANT my end game content to be difficult, challenging, and (call me selfish) somewhat exclusive!

What we want to know now is what YOU think of all of this!  Do you think Blizzard has “Dumbed down” WoW too much or are you happy to see that more people are able to enjoy game content they had never before experienced?

So, the World First player to reach 80 (Nymh, a Warlock) stated in an interview that he accomplished the task by grinding mobs in Drakil’Jin for 26 hours straight! He was accompanied by a guildmate healer and looted no mob to save time.  By doing this he gave up approximately 5k gold!  Don’t try and follow in his footsteps, though as Blizz hotfixed this area in the blink of an eye when they heard the news.  Oh well, only one player can be first anyways, so congrats to him!

Highlights

• The Heavy Metal event has begun… Fight and adventure for your chance to play the Knight of The Blazing Sun and The Blackguard before anyone else!
• Character collision in RvR has been improved. Players should no longer move sporadically when being blocked by another player.
• Players who go AFK while in Public Quest areas or during keep sieges will no longer receive contribution credit towards those encounters.

General Changes and Bug Fixes

• There were some instances in which the reticule for ground-target-area-effect abilities was allowing these spells to be cast in areas which were not originally intended. This has been adjusted.
• Several issues have been addressed that previously allowed players to get to locations they were not supposed to be able to reach.
• Players will no longer appear mounted when they are not.

Realm vs. Realm

• Fixed several issues that caused the User Interface to display improper Zone Control information. Objectives and Keep icons as well as the Zone Control bar will now properly display the status of contested zones in Tier 4.
• Tier 4 Zones: Based on player feedback, we have reduced the number of Scenario Victory Points required for Zone Control. Also, Battlefield Objectives and Keeps are now worth more Victory Points, and capturing a T4 zone can be accomplished more quickly than before.

Warhammer Online Web Site

• The Realm WAR offers many new features to help you stay in the game even when you can’t login! Check out the changes for yourself and visit realmwar.warhammeronline.com.
• Changed Realm War section of the web site to reflect new navigation options
• Added Realm War selection page with server status and direct links to RvR Racial Pairing pages of each server
• Racial Pairing pages display current status and level of each city, status of the Tier 4 campaign, and victory point sliders for each zone
• Added maps of each zone focusing on RvR lakes with the status of each objective and keep, as well as Guild keep ownership, and when the keep was last taken
• Provided a Campaign status pop-up so players can keep a discrete tab on the progress of the war on their server

Spugnort’s World Gaming Network Members,

We are posting this today to address the recent concerns that many of you have voiced to us. We would first like to say we appreciate your business and always value your feedback, whether positive or negative.

On that note, the first issue we would like to address is the matter of product pricing. Some of you, we know, are very upset about the pricing structure which some network authors have used to list their product(s) which are available for Wrath of the Lich King.  While we do host these products and offer them for resale, each guide author runs their own individual business and as such they are free to set prices as they see fit. While we do not always agree with them, we have no legal standing to force them to sell at a price other than what they have stated. This has always been our policy and is the policy of many other digital marketplaces on the web today.

The second issue we would like to handle is that of guarantees of free updates for products. When you purchase a product from any of our network authors there are free updates offered for THAT product for anywhere from 1 year to a lifetime. This means that any updates the author does to the product as it was when you bought it will be given to you free of charge. An example of items falling under the scope of free updates would be all those related to patches which change the way leveling, PvP, professions, etc. work in the game. However, product upgrades or entirely new products such as those related to an expansion of the game are not typically covered under this guarantee.

As consumers you have choice to buy or not to buy a given product.  If you are truly unhappy with a product or product author, our suggestion to you would be to seek out other products or solutions that suit your needs. Our network provides alternatives for nearly every product offered. Please do some initial research and choose the product you feel will suit you best. After all what we want in the end are satisfied customers who are truly getting the most out of their gaming experience.

~ Spugnort

While questing in the Outland for (I’m ashamed to admit ) the first time I came accross quite a few things that puzzled me, irritated me or frustrated me, however I was always able to figure things out. But I have to say I was at quite a loss when it came to one particular quest in the Area 52 part of Netherstorm…Dr. Boom!  All I wanted to do was kill that annoying little butthead so I could complete the quest, get my XP and move on with my life…huh easier said than done!  I tried a few times to be sneaky and quick but to no avail.  He killed me, not I him.  It was with great reluctance that I asked my hubby for help…I mean I know he’s been around the block a few times so he’s wiser (well, at least when it comes to WoW).  I just like to be able to claim that “I figured it out all by myself!” (oh geesh, I sound like I’m 3)  Anyhow, he was able to set me up with a strategy that truly made the quest as easy as pie for my beastmastry hunter, so I figured I would share it with you in hopes of saving some poor frustrated soul the agony of attempting this task in a conventional way…it won’t work and the repair bill really sucks!

So, here’s what to do:
1. Tell your pet to “Stay”
2. Wait for an opening in the march of his little suicidal bomber minions
3. Step in and throw down a frost trap - this will cause the little minions to explode on contact of the ice so they never get close to you!  Boy…this quest just got a whole lot easier already!
4. While the frost trap is active take a few steps toward Dr. Boom and chuck the “Boom’s Doom” bombs at him (these are the only things that even hurt him…you can shoot him all day and he will just stand there!!)  Just be sure to throw one, walk out of his range and then go back to throw another once the cooldown is up.  If you stay there he will throw things back at you, and they do not tickle!

All you need to do is repeat these steps until the meniacle little goblin dies and voila! 12k XP, nearly 4g and a decent piece of armor.  Whew!  was I glad when that was done.  I decided after that I had to go into town and see Boots (the bartender) and get me a mug of Cherry Grog to wash away the stress.  Ahhh yes….much better now!

Below are the 3.0.3 Patch Notes.  Keep in mind it is possible they could change, but this is what we are anticipating!

General

• Removed “A Mask for All Occasions” as criteria for the “Hallowed Be thy Name” meta achievement.
• Replenishment: Players below level 50 can now benefit from this effect.
• Resilience: The damage reduction component of resilience has been increased from 2 times the critical strike chance reduction to 2.2 times the critical strike chance reduction. In addition, the maximum damage reduction to a critical strike from resilience has been increased from 30% to 33%.

Racial

• Blood Fury: No longer triggers global cooldown.
• Shadowmeld: The cooldown will now start on use instead of on break.

Druids

• Druid talents points have been refunded. Players will need to visit a class trainer to relearn spells and abilities.
• The Swift Flight Form is now available on the trainer at level 71, requiring 300 riding skill, and Flight Form learned.
• Bash: The interrupt from this ability will now work on targets that are immune to the stun.
• Berserk: Now clears the cooldown on Mangle Bear.
• Earth and Moon and Moonfury (Balance) reduced from 5 ranks each to 3 ranks each.
• Eclipse: Buff duration extended to 15 sec and bonuses doubled. The cooldown has been increased to 40 seconds.
• Growl: Cooldown changed to 8 sec.
• Insect Swarm: Tooltip corrected to indicate it does not affect hit chance with spells.
• Moonkin: Only single target spell critical strikes can trigger the mana gain from this talent.
• Nature’s Swiftness: This ability will no longer give chances to trigger Omen of Clarity.
• Omen of Clarity: Will no longer be triggered by the Honorless Target buff gained when entering the world.
• Survival Instincts will no longer be on the Global Cooldown.
• Swiftmend: now benefits correctly from Genesis talent.
• Tiger’s Fury: Ranks 5 and 6 have had their damage bonus decreased.

continue reading "WoW 3.0.3 Patch Notes"

Content

• Fixed an issue that would in some rare cases cause Skiv Redwarp, a boss NPC in the Warpblade Tunnels dungeon to become unattackable.
• The NPC Zarbog One-toe in the Badlands will no longer fall under the world.
• Adjusted the levels of some Withered Crone and Restless Spirit NPCs to a more appropriate range for their locations in the world.
• Made some adjustments to the Sigmar’s Crypts dungeon bosses Zakarai and Verrimus to bring them in line with the intended level of difficulty.
• Fixed an issue that was preventing players from re-entering the Inevitable City dungeon Bilerot Burrow after being defeated by the boss NPC Bartholomew the Sickly.
• Fixed an issue that was causing some of the Withered Crones associated with the Witching Night live event to run around in circles.

Items

• Disciples of Khaine will now be able to purchase the appropriate armor pieces from Tier 3 renown merchants.
• Corrected an issue in which the Elite-level Magus rewards offered in Chaos Chapter 16 included two erroneous items.

Quests & Public Quests

• Out of Favor: Conquering the Raven: Fixed an incorrect waypoint in this quest.
• Control: Fixed an issue that was causing Falathin Soulbreaker to become unattackable, which was preventing players from completing this quest.
• Gud Memory: Fixed an incorrect waypoint in this quest.
• The Wind of Change: The NPC Tomas Schurmann will now spawn properly for this quest.
• The Witching Hour: Zealots will now receive the proper rewards from all loot bags offered by this Public Quest.
• The Witching Hour: Instances of this Public Quest will no longer reset instantly following a successful completion.
• The Witching Hour: The loot chest that appears when players complete this Live Event Public Quest will now appear in the victors’ warcamp, and will remain there for ten minutes. This ensures that all victorious players who have a right to claim loot from the chest will be able to do so.

Content

• The Final March: The “Gharvin’s Brace Badge” will now correctly step this quest.
• Blood for the Blood God: This quest now correctly states that players must kill Jinnivul Blisswhisper.
• Cronrel Grimstar will no longer spawn faster than intended.
• Clearing the Way: Fixed an issue that was preventing players from obtaining this quest again after abandoning it.
• Testing the Waters: The test vials will no longer be removed from the player’s quest inventory until all of the quest objectives are completed.
• The Devil Inside: The Crazy Peasant will once again spawn properly, allowing players to complete this quest.
• A Claim to Power: Fixed an issue that was preventing players from getting the 15th Heart of the Pure and preventing players from completing the quest.
• Heads Will Roll: The Uthorin Raidlord who is part of the Griffon Gate Public Quest will no longer kill the named NPCs that are the target objective of this quest.
• Big Feathers: Featherscale Eagles will now properly give credit for this quest.
• Riding to War: Fixed an issue that was preventing players from obtaining this quest again after abandoning it.
• Griffon Gate: Fixed an issue that could sometimes cause the Griffon Defenders to spawn at the wrong time while this Public Quest was resetting.
• Fixed an issue that was causing some Magma Crawlers in Thunder Mountain to respawn too quickly after dying.
• Adjusted the level of the lair boss Karerg the Reaver to make him a more appropriate level of challenge for players.
• Fixed an issue that would cause NPCs at the Cloudbreaker Estate not to react when attacked by players.
• Fixed an issue that was sometimes causing the monster Belfarus to despawn in the midst of combat.
• Juggernauts in the Bastion Stair dungeon will no longer spam erroneous chat messages.
• Lord Yldrian in the Ruins of Anlec once again offers Basic influence rewards.

Lost Vale

• Sarthain the World Bearer: Nature’s Wrath will no longer persist on players after death.
• The Ethereal Sprites will now correctly attack players that do not have the “Worldbearer Branch.”
• It is no longer possible to remove the “Whitefire Web Bolt” debuff without the Torch of Lileath.
• The door to the Keeper of Secrets room will now open after she is defeated.
• The Darkpromise Beast’s “Infectious Poison” will now correctly affect one player at a time.

Combat & Careers

Chosen:

• Discordant Turbulance: This ability will now correctly debuff enemies.

White Lion:

• Pounce: This ability has been adjusted so that it no longer targets objects. This includes quest and public quest object targets and keep doors.

Disciple of Khaine:

• Convenant of Clerity: This ability will now correctly appear as a debuff on enemy players.

Magus:

• Chaotic Rift: This ability will no longer effect an unlimited number of players, and follows the same target restrictions shared by all other Area of Effect spells

Sorcerer:

• Triumphant Blasting: This ability will now correctly grant knock-back immunity to enemy players.

Items

• Vanguard Spanner: This item now appears correctly as a wrench.

Realm vs. Realm

• Phoenix Gate Scenario: Resolved an issue in which players could sometimes reach the Destruction Spawn location.

Here are some virus free mirror sites to help out with the millions of people downloading WotLK content:

Patch File Part 1
2.4.3 to 3.0.1Place the downloaded file in the directory C:\Program Files\World of Warcraft\Updates\WoW-2.4.3-to-3.0.1-TBC-USMX-Update\

PC version:

FileFront.com RapidShare.com MegaUpload.com Allvatar.com
Mac version: FileFront.com RapidShare.com MegaUpload.com Allvatar.com
EU PC version: FileFront.com
EU Mac version: FileFront.com

Patch File Part 2
3.0.1 to 3.0.2Place the download file in the directory C:\Program Files\World of Warcraft\Updates\WoW-3.0.1-to-3.0.2-Update\

PC version:

RapidShare.com Arakkoa.com Allvatar.com
Mac version: RapidShare.com Arakkoa.com Allvatar.com
EU PC version: RapidShare.com
EU Mac version: RapidShare.com

Patch File Part 3
3.0.1 to 3.0.2Place the download file in the directory C:\Program Files\World of Warcraft\Updates\WoW-3.0.1-to-3.0.2-Update\

PC version:

RapidShare.com Arakkoa.com Allvatar.com
Mac version: RapidShare.com Arakkkoa.com Allvatar.com
EU PC version: RapidShare.com
EU Mac version: RapidShare.com

Vista users should download the patches to the following folder(s):C:\Users\Public\Documents\World of Warcraft\Updates\
or
C:\Users\Public\Documents\Blizzard Entertainment\World of Warcraft\Updates

The World of Warcraft folder will already be created from previous patches, so just find the correct path, and create 2 folders inside the Updates folder with the names
WoW-2.4.3-to-3.0.1-TBC-USMX-Update
and
WoW-3.0.1-to-3.0.2-Update

Save the 1st patch into the folder with the first name, and save the other 3 patch pieces into the 2nd folder.