The Great Patch cometh!

[Holyssa]

Notes: http://www.worldofwarcraft.com/patchnotes/test-realm-patchnotes.html

I'm well-aware it's the Test Realm notes, but the PTR was shut down recently and Blizz may be a bit slow in updating their sites.

Mondo-sized FAQ: http://forums.wow-europe.com/thread.html?topicId=6178530502&sid=1. Should hopefully answer many questions. Here's a few common ones to help quell peoples' fears:

2.6Q Will 3.0.2 make certain stuff like Naxxramas, the bear-mount, titles etc. not attainable any more?

2.6A The following items will be removed from WoW in 3.0.2:

* Atiesh chain quest

* Bear-mount from Zul'Aman (will be replaced with new items).

* Onyxia chain-quest

* Naxxramas (L60 version will move to Dragonblight)

* Mount speed increase items.

* T4 and T5 titles.

3.1Q Will I lose my honour/arena-points when 3.0.2 comes?

3.1A No you won't.

3.6Q Will Arena Season four end in 3.0.2?

3.6A No it won't.

3.6S http://blue.mmo-champion.com/1/9336866344-...tent-patch.html

4.3Q Where's the build-in threat-meter?

4.3A The threat is displayed in two ways:

* Threat on the tooltip

* Threat on the target frames

5.10Q Will we be able to do multi-specs? (aka Spec-Swapping)

5.10A No, this is coming after WLK ships in a patch. ETA is unknown

9.2Q Where can I find the barbershop?

9.2A You can find the barbershop in the following places:

* Alliance

o Ironforge

o Stormwind

* Horde

o Orgrimmar

o Undercity

* Neutral

o Dalaran

o Netherstorm

For a list of NPCs see this link: http://wotlk.wowhead.com/?search=barber (Despite what Blizzard's FAQ says, Holy put Wowhead's entry in because Wowdb is missing many map locations)

So what will you do upon patch-day (besides cuss a storm after updating addons and toolbars with all the new crap)? I think I'll pay all the ol' pre-BC dungeons a visit to get the classic achievements off my back (including Stockades - gogo Crusader aura/Bubble!), plus work on that Explorer title.

Oh, before I go, I just wanted to share what could possibly be the coolest Blue post since Tigole's emo-banfest in the Beta forums (some moron deleted the thread, but it involved CM Maaven saying this):

o__o

/#####################################

|#####################################

|#####################################

\#####################################

I'mma chargin' mah laser!

Edited October 14, 2008 by Holyssa

[Remm]

I am crossing my fingers hoping the 6 sec cooldown on CoH is a misprint

After the bars and talents are all fixed up, I am heading to the barber shop for a much needed color treatment

Then off to the stable master to pick up those lost pets from old quest lines that just would not fit in the bank anymore

A whirlwind trip around the world to pick up all the mounts I have wanted and didnt have bank space for....UC first for that horse I want

So many things to do.....Holy if you need some healing (LMAO) or just company on those old instance runs let me know I plan to do those too

[Houli]

Oh'noes! i get an error after tit downloads the patch with the wow updater...as soon as its done downloading i see this!

The file "C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Start Menu\Programs\World of Warcraft" is read only and cannot be overwritten. Please try installing to a different location. (ConflictManager::DeleteFolder)

!

I'm screwed.

[Oriahtundra]

Vista told me something about if i install it in a publice folder I wont have problems, so where I installed it may have bu seems to be working fine. Well stuck at retrieving toon screen otherwise.

[Houli]

how did you choose where it installs?

[Oriahtundra]

It actually gave me the choice first time and as usual Im stubborn and went with the original place, the 2nd time I asked I didnt fight karma

[Kadi]

It actually gave me the choice first time and as usual Im stubborn and went with the original place, the 2nd time I asked I didnt fight karma

I installed it in the public directory where they told me to... then picked up that directory and moved it to the old spot after it was all done. Works fine though!

[Waldonnis]

*interface asplode*

[Holyssa]

*interface asplode*

Oh ya. Mine blew up real good. Only thing that gave me a lot of headaches was my chat window: I could not talk, read anything (including Trade or Guild chat) and anything I said except in /say went poof. It was just a white box with gibberish, and I could not edit the window.

Found out it was CTMod after completely erasing & re-installing the damned thing, but now my bags sometimes "stick" (took multiple clicks to open without using B/Shift+B). Everything else seems okay...*knock wood*

[Zebgora]

I seem to be having trouble currently in game with my chat window not showing me anything. No custom channels, tells, guild but I haven't tested party chat yet, I can't just go up and invite someone to a group if i can't tell them why im doing it..well though on that, I don't know if they are seeing anything I say. it says I'm joined into all the usual channels in the interface but I just can't see them

[Holyssa]

Bump because of a recent hotfix: ret pallies got nerfed!

By Ghostcrawler:

As I stated yesterday, we are happy with Ret's PvE damage and sustained damage in PvP, but were concerned that the burst damage in PvP could be too high. We discussed this for literally hours yesterday, which was certainly not the first time we have discussed the issue. Thus I hope these changes are not perceived as a knee-jerk reaction, but I am sure that will depend a great deal on which class you play.

Divine Storm -- the damage was changed from Holy to Physical. As you know, Holy damage is almost never mitigated and this talent could pack a lot into a very short time. This is a nerf to the ability's damage. This change is now active on Live.

Repentance -- this ability now lasts for only 6 seconds in PvP (down from 10). Obviously this is also a nerf. This change is also active on Live.

Art of War -- now affects all damage done by Judgements, Crusader Strike and Divine Storm (instead of critical strike damage). Net dps should be about the same but less bursty. This change will be made before Nov 13.

Righteous Vengeance -- now applies a dot affect similar to Deep Wounds (instead of critical strike damage). This ends up being a significant buff to the ability to make up for the damage lost to Divine Storm, but is also less bursty. This change will be made before Nov 13. EDIT: The dot will NOT break Repentance.

Glyph of Crusader Strike -- now reduces mana cost (instead of increased damage on stunned targets.) We thought paladins could stack too much damage vs. stunned targets. This change will be made before Nov 13.

We also fixed a bug with Seal and Judgement of Light that could sometimes result in too much healing.

In our tests, Retribution dps remains the same over longer periods of time, but they can't do quite so much damage in the initial few seconds of a PvP encounter.

I know Ret pallies feel a little picked on since we've made this mistake before of having them come out the gate too strong and then had to correct them. For that I do apologize. It's a difficult spec to balance since part of its design is to have large crits and stuns, which have obvious PvP implications. We are pretty confident this will not nerf pallies into the ground as I facetiously promised yesterday, but if we overdid it, we'll be happy to back off some of the changes.

On the other hand, maybe we'll see fewer BGs with 20 paladins on the opposing side and can get some reasonable feedback on all the other classes in the game.

EDIT: To clairfy the new dot will not break Repentance.

For those that hate reading, I highlighted the main changes. Looks like Divine Storm is now a whirlwind clone, and burst damage took quite a bite.

/target Kadi

/gives [Folded Handkerchief]