4.0MG!.1
Posted: Tue Oct 12, 2010 5:30 am
I have something like 50 GB of WoW on my computer right now: regular, PTR and Beta. And since I keep running into problems with patches, I'm downloading 16 GB or so about every week.
When 4.0.1 drops on WotLK in the not too distant future (maybe next week!), WoW as we know it is going to change, change massively, more so than between any other WoW editions. So here are a few things to think about.
1) Portals are going to be gone from Shat and Dal, look for them to become ghost towns that are visited by using Argent Tournament cloaks and the like. Personally, I'm going to park myself in an Alliance capital city every Monday until the patch drops: the reforging people will be in the Old World, and looks like lots of the new "build up" content will be there as well. I have seen events on the PTR, but haven't figure out how to get involved in them (I've only just finished setting up what can laughably be called a "UI" without addons).
2) The patch could be very large, you might want to check in and start the download overnight if you want to play the next day.
3) Your addons are probably going to go "Ka-BLOOEY!" Expect some UI frustration until the volunteers that write your free game aids catch up to the changes. If you're like me, with lots of UI customization, expect LOTS of frustrations.
4) Your gear will be changing. There's an entirely new stat and some stats are being completely removed. My tanking armor trinket, for example, is losing all of its armor. Some of the gear in your bank may be a better bet, especially since you'll be able to change some stats into other stats through reforging. And stat weights for your class are probably changing, so you'll want to put some thought into your gear.
5) All the years of muscle memory and knowledge about your rotations and abilities are not so important now. With new talent trees and new mechanics, new rotations are going to be essential. And if you go into instances, the "go! go! go!" guy is now almost certainly insta-dead. Places like ElitistJerks and pwnwear and mmo-champion and wow.joystiq.com are working up articles for the 4.0.1 and Beta changes, so right now isn't too early to start researching and maybe downloading the PTR for some time on the practice dummies.
6) Blizzard is calling the time between 4.0.1 and 7 December the "lame duck" stage, where re-done abilities may or may not be balanced or viable or overpowered in "old" content, and Blizz doesn't care. They're a little more concerned about what happens while you level in Cata (with abilities that aren't available in 4.0.1), and they're LOTS more concerned about what happens at level 85. So whatever happens at 4.0.1, you're going to have to just deal with it, which could be bad news for those of us still working through WotLK raid content.
7) Whether the new content and mechanics cause frustration or excitement, don't forget that having fun with guildies and friends isn't going to change.
When 4.0.1 drops on WotLK in the not too distant future (maybe next week!), WoW as we know it is going to change, change massively, more so than between any other WoW editions. So here are a few things to think about.
1) Portals are going to be gone from Shat and Dal, look for them to become ghost towns that are visited by using Argent Tournament cloaks and the like. Personally, I'm going to park myself in an Alliance capital city every Monday until the patch drops: the reforging people will be in the Old World, and looks like lots of the new "build up" content will be there as well. I have seen events on the PTR, but haven't figure out how to get involved in them (I've only just finished setting up what can laughably be called a "UI" without addons).
2) The patch could be very large, you might want to check in and start the download overnight if you want to play the next day.
3) Your addons are probably going to go "Ka-BLOOEY!" Expect some UI frustration until the volunteers that write your free game aids catch up to the changes. If you're like me, with lots of UI customization, expect LOTS of frustrations.
4) Your gear will be changing. There's an entirely new stat and some stats are being completely removed. My tanking armor trinket, for example, is losing all of its armor. Some of the gear in your bank may be a better bet, especially since you'll be able to change some stats into other stats through reforging. And stat weights for your class are probably changing, so you'll want to put some thought into your gear.
5) All the years of muscle memory and knowledge about your rotations and abilities are not so important now. With new talent trees and new mechanics, new rotations are going to be essential. And if you go into instances, the "go! go! go!" guy is now almost certainly insta-dead. Places like ElitistJerks and pwnwear and mmo-champion and wow.joystiq.com are working up articles for the 4.0.1 and Beta changes, so right now isn't too early to start researching and maybe downloading the PTR for some time on the practice dummies.
6) Blizzard is calling the time between 4.0.1 and 7 December the "lame duck" stage, where re-done abilities may or may not be balanced or viable or overpowered in "old" content, and Blizz doesn't care. They're a little more concerned about what happens while you level in Cata (with abilities that aren't available in 4.0.1), and they're LOTS more concerned about what happens at level 85. So whatever happens at 4.0.1, you're going to have to just deal with it, which could be bad news for those of us still working through WotLK raid content.
7) Whether the new content and mechanics cause frustration or excitement, don't forget that having fun with guildies and friends isn't going to change.
