3.3: The Death to Hogger Raids

I spent a small amount of time on the PTRs this time for 3.3. It was fun to get a sneak peak of some of the stuff coming up. Other than that, I really haven't read too much about ALL the details of the patch that's going live today... until today.

Since it is patch day, I try to read in detail, or at least peruse the lines that would be of some importance to me. (Like I really care about warlock changes. lol) And with 3.3, I read a line that saddened me. It basically ruins a number of the fun things that I always wanted to try but never got around to actually organize or participate in.

From the official 3.3 Patch Notes:

Players below level 10 may not join raids.

So, what does this mean?

• I can no longer suggest my running joke of level 1 Hogger Raids.
• Level 1 bank alts cannot form raids to help 80's farm Old World Raid Content.
• And the naked gnome race from SW to IF that I always wanted to do can no longer be tracked with a raid mod.

Think of it as the end of an era, I guess. I also remember seeing a really cool even where a bunch of level 1's took on a level 70 mage "boss". Looked like a fun time. If I recall correctly, the mage only used low level spells, had certain emotes before major spells, etc. It was really well thought out. But alas, it would have to be a bunch of level 10's against the lvl 80 mage "boss" now.

PTR 3.1 Mages

This isn't a Neft Bat as much as an anti-climatic bat.

So sure... lots of things can change by the time they actually release patch 3.1 on the Live Realms, I understand that. And from everything I've read, it certainly sounds like they're a long way off. Lots of testing will happen on the PTR, and it doesn't even sound like they're done with Uldar, so plenty of time.

But I'm having a hard time with a couple of changes so far. Or rather, the lack thereof. In case you haven't followed: I play a mage. Sure, I have a few alts, but my time /played on my mage far outweighs probably all other toons combined. And I imagine it will continue to be that way.

First off: most people will be very excited about the dual spec thing. As a mage, I could really care less. Sure, it sounded neat. I figured I could have a pvp spec for those rare times when I actually go pvp, but it really wasn't a necessity. I actually figured it would be more beneficial for my wife's priest when we need her to heal something. But for 1000g? Seems a bit much. I know, I know... it's optional, but still. Per Armory, I've respec'ed twice. I'd have to respec 23 more times before it would have been cheaper to simply pay for the dual specs. I know some people will be happy about it, and they'll be able to change more without having to worry about the money, but still... hunters, warlocks, rogues, mages... Is it really that big of a deal for them?

Next, glancing at the changes for all the classes... it's essentially a 14-page document. (See MMO-Champion) Most classes got over 2 and a half pages (paladins got like 4). Mages and Warriors combined got 1. Furthermore, out of our 6 items listed, 3 of them are expected changes increasing talent and Mage Armor mana regen which is to be expected, 1 gives us another useless polymorph, 1 pretty much turns us into Shadow Priests, and Burnout gets nerfed to only be fire spells now (previously all spells). Warriors really aren't all that much better (go click on the link, this isn't a warrior blog).

Now this can really be taken a couple of different ways. One way is that Mages and Warriors have been working as intended, and they really didn't need to tweak things they way they are for other classes. Another is that they simply didn't have time for the Warriors and Mages... at least not yet. And another.... ah, what do I really care about the reasons? They didn't really promise anything for us to begin with, and at least the Warriors now have dual spec.

Frost Mages are more raid viable because they can keep up Replenishment. That's it?!? That's all you got? The new Glyph of Ice Lance gives 4 times the damage against frozen targets (any boss that you know of that isn't immune to being frozen?)

And wasn't there supposed to be something about Spirit being more attractive to Mages?

Well, at least we have a new raid instance to romp around in. On the positive side... the Burnout "nerf" really wasn't that bad at all.

3.0.8 Enchanting Changes, Yeah! Wait... but...

If you follow the good folks over at MMO-Champion at all, you know that there's some changes coming to the Enchants that they've posted about. Overall, I think it's a great thing. Almost every WOTLK enchant has had the mats lowered, making it far more affordable and reasonable to enchant all of your gear. 30 to 40 dust on some of those enchants was just out of control if you ask me. So, yeah for easier gear enchants!

But this is really a fix for the community as a whole. They obviously looked at the profession and thought, "something's not right here", and fixed it. But what about the part of the motivation to hit 450? I've got buddies that are there, so there's even less motivation for me. I hit 400, I can do the ring enchants... now what? Drop a ton of mats to hit 450 for what?

I suppose there's the economy side of it. I can put all my enchants on the AH via vellums. And then I can make a ton of money on all those enchants that require 450 skill. Oh wait... there's none of those. So, still no motivation to hit 450 here. Oh well... I'm sure everything will be "fixed" in 3.1, right? Right? Who's with me? *crickets*

DK's in Beta

So, I had a chance to, umm... "watch" my friend play a Death Knight all the way through the starting area. And while the play style isn't exactly my style, per se, it was fun... umm... for my friend. :) The thing that I noted most was how well carved out the quests are.

Long gone are the days of Northshire of kill lesser npc, kill npc, and then finally kill greater npc. The quests produce an excellent story that's told, not only through the quest text, but also through the actions you're required to do. I've mentioned before how much I enjoy the Dranei and Blood Elf starting areas. And these are along the same high quality... even better in my opinion. So I may play multiple Death Knights just so I can enjoy these great quests.

My only complaint would be that there wasn't a "Go find your trainer" quest. I knew that I should go train at 56 or so, but... umm... my friend didn't know where the trainer was. Good thing for the tracking function, but even then, it wasn't like the trainer was really near anything that I had been to before. The faster running you get in Ebon Hold as a quest reward helped a lot though.

I also noticed the efficiency of quests. I'm a big fan of leveling guides simply because it helps me maximize my xp/hour. I may have to get quests in 3 areas so that I can complete them all in the one place. But if there were multiple quests in one spot, their objective was usually in the same place as well. If the trend continues in Nothrend, we can all be effective... even without using TourGuide.

Increased Travel Time with 2.4

I was able to get Leiandra over to the PTR before the PTR server was even up. Was even able to download the entire patch before the realms were up as well. Of course, when it went up, there was me and about a million other people all checking out the new area. So, I didn't stay long. I figured I'd deal with the crowds once the initial shock wore off or just when it's rolled out for everyone.

So, that said... the whole premise of this post could be based on some false information. I had logged out in Shattrath, so that was obviously my starting point. I know it's been a great place for almost everyone to have their hearthstone these days since it allows you to "easily" travel between the old cities and the new. But when asking directions to Sunwell Isle on the PTR, a kind soul told me to port to Iron Forge and then fly on up to Sunwell (with the flight path already having been discovered somehow).

Now playing a mage, that isn't too big of a deal to me. I'm sure they'll have an Inn there where I can set my home, and then just port all over like I normally do. But this may be one of the first times, that I know of, where the Horde has a clear traveling advantage of Alliance. Port to Silvermoon, and a quick flight to Sunwell Isle is a heck of a lot faster than Iron Forge and flying over 6 zones. Granted, they've had the advantage with Ghostlands and ZA as well, but it seems slightly "unfair" to continue to punish the Alliance like this.

Speculation might say that as the defenses and whatnot continue, that the Aldor and Scyer mages will figure out how to open a portal out there... here's to hoping. If not... well... I guess I'll just have to play more Rock Band while I'm flying out to Sunwell. See? It's not all bad.