Man, is it just me, or does Blizzard always know how to make amazing wallpapers.

This may get me back into the game. Now if I had friends that played horde...

@hop3less: Indeed, their art has always been pretty good.

Will this make things harder for me??? I havn't played the game yet and thought about getting into it recently. Hmm..

This patch is great. I have two weeks to dabble with this until cancellation. Next stop, Lich King!

@evslin: Its been phenomenal since day one.

i hope killjaeden doesnt actually DIE :'(

@Bearskopff: The release of this new content/patch won't make anything harder for you...in fact, they keep making the game easier for new people to latch onto. I suggest taking a friend with you, or finding someone who plays to show you the ropes. Makes it easier, IMO.

@Bearskopff: Don't start now unless you want it to consume your life. And I am completely serious when I say that.

I have my two years of non-social interaction and ALMOST-failed relationship to prove it.

Glad to see Blizzard hasn't stopped swinging the nerf bat.
I probably won't play again till next expansion. I thought that the 25 man raids would make things better, but it just destroyed all the guilds on my server...

@Bearskopff: Unless you have friends that can run you through Kara/heroics at 70 on a very consistent basis, stay away.

Gearing for the end game sucks. Everything up until that point is fun, but the end just completely sucks.

@Callidux: Now that I think about it I hope WoW is the only MMO Blizzard makes, because a Diablo MMO would probably take my soul.

www.wowdetox.com

See what this game does to people.

Cheers for the help folks. It has been taken on board :)

This is why I left the game after opening AQ.

I have never looked back once and don't plan to. I've had the best MMO time with 39 other people on a daily basis and while reminiscent; time does not seem to expand 24+ hours.

@kirk4ever: Oh he will, he was only a small fry compared to Illidan (in terms of populatirty) and they killed him off.... They have killed to many big players off so far, it is kind of sad but still neat.

I hope this is the last major content patch for Burning Crusade. I want blizzard to fix the item imbalance they have created with Burning Crusade and make an attempt to fix the economy. That and their "more time = greater rewards" formula is skewed way too far in the PvP side right now.

5 people + 2 hours a day / 5 weeks = Free Tier 6 Equivilent Epics

@Soroks: some people actually play to experience the content.

Finally, they get 2.4 out of the door. Next the Lich King.....

Expected January 2009?????

Big things this patch does:
1. Fix AV
2. Nerf druids
3. Nerf Mana burn
4. Nerf drinking in Arena
5. Semi Fix fear through walls
6. Semi Fix point selling
7. Add BG mark for honor daily quest
8. Buff Shaman / Mage

@tetracycloide: ever got the feeling people are so eager to level up, that they actually lost the fun in playing altogther? They are too worried about equip that they don't even notice the beauty of the game. Sad.

@Soroks: Yah, pve gaming is now nerfed. It's all about progression and who can down the big Illdan before the next grind to 80 and your final rankings in pvp.

It's a nightmare for the 24/7 addicts who will be bored with his game fast as they can clear the last epic raid. But with nearly 10 million gamers, the vast majority of them very casual, you can afford to piss off a few dozen.

@tetracycloide:
Or to dress up their character. I keep hoping they'll re-use the T3 (Naxx) armor set graphics. Those were awesome (for some classes).

What is Blizzard doing with my soul? Why can't they give it back?

@tetracycloide: I understand that completely. Blizz wants to make sure that everyone can play every last morsel of content. It isn't a bad business model. I just disagree with the fact that Arena content, which has about as much depth as Halo, has rewards on par with the raid content.

God, I miss this game. It...it calls me...

Stop it, Kotaku!!! Stop it!!!

The voices... they call. They beckon! They tell me to return... AAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!

cool just took them what a year and a half to finnaly complete the expansion

@huginn - thank you xbla for vgcat pictures!:

PvE really isn't nerfed now... more like better tested. Besides a few particularly gruesome encounters (4Hmen, KT) most of the reason WoW raiding went so slowly was either because people weren't too good, or an encounter was broken.

People flew through AQ40, a fact people forget because they were stuck on the bugged/broken/unkillable last couple bosses for MONTHS until they were fixed a then killed very quickly. The fact even casual players now seem to have more knowhow than the average raider when MC was new, which were generally huge noobs and thought things like +heal and +damage were bad.

As someone who raids the endgame very competitively, I can sympathize where there isn't that great race like in Naxx (But then Naxx was far bigger in scale than any instance, ever.), but I think the whole raiding game is better now. Extensive testing means you won't wipe on live for weeks on a broken boss before it's fixed and quickly killed, smaller raids are far more manageable and actually make the encounters more based on individual skill over the "MORE DPS MORE HEALS STAND STILL" mentality for most of old raiding. Also, it's a lot easier to find 25 good people who know whats going on than 40.

So really, they haven't "nerfed" the endgame as a whole, they made it more enjoyable. Ask any of 24/7 addicts if they liked Azeroth raiding over BC raiding, with the exception of a few Naxx bosses, I'm sure most would prefer the new, bug-free style.

The only real issue is that there is so much time in between, but I personally think Blizzard released BT too quickly (No one had even cleared TK yet.) and could've spread BT out a bit more to make the wait for sunwell less. The whole timed event in sunwell assures Kiljaden at least has a few months before someone kills him, which is nice.

My guild is very psyched about this. They had just gotten up to Kael'thas, and now they can skip him, move on to Hyjal, and come back to cream him with Hyjal gear, thanks to the removed attunement.

Me, I'm excited to try the new 5-man instance! Woot!

(And yes Fahey, mages FTW!)

Consider it added content at no extra cost.

Otherwise. great. They finish when its done, which can't be said for alot of companies

@BigWeather: they are retuning naxx to be a level 80 25 man dungeon in WotLK with the idea that it will be the first 25 man instance a raid would progress through. i heard they were going to be reusing the skins from naxx weapons and armor in the drops as well.

@tetracycloide: so in the expansion one of the major dungoens is going to be one that was in before the first expansion pack? thats just lazy

Yay, something to draw me back into WoW again. :P

Looks like Diablo to me :)

It's not mentioned in the patch notes, but is there any word on whether this fixes the video recording bug that happens when you try to record video on Mac OS X 10.5.2 with the Leopard Graphics Update?

'I'm sure this affects other casters as well, but they don't count.'

Cos Casters are the only ones that learn skills arent they? Dumb ass, the respec thing effects everyone.

And the new Naxx is going to be totally re-worked. If you know anything about the games Lore, it's pretty important for the whole Arthas situation we're gonna be faced with in Northrend.

hardcores are pretty pissed about the attunement drop but I guess if you already got tuned for hyjal and BT than you get some special title.

not to mention the fact that you can get Hyjal/BT quality items with badges now. don't know why that pisses some people off though because LK will render your accomplishments worthless anyway.

@Jamie_W: Right, and that was a problem when they didn't go back and make heroic versions of the 40 mans.

BWL, Ony,MC, AQ and Nax all had some important lore behind them, and were the final steps of many high end quests/storylines.

I've always felt sorry fr the dev's who poured so much time and effort into those places only to see them wholely abadoned post BC. Not to mention the players who will never see those places, as no one goes there anymore.

I've always enjoyed the lore in the game. As much as fun as it is to be tweaked out with uber gear, I've enjoyed the story and really fun quests along the way. Fighting Kil'Jaedan was something i've been looking forward to since the beginning of the game! My guild isn't at the point to consistently do 25-man raids but I hope that one day I'll get to experience some of this content :)

Kil'Jaeden's new model looks constipated.

Reason they are bringing back Naxx is because what 5 guilds worldwide cleared it? (an exaggeration but come on) It was an extremely hard instance and required a lot of grinding to get all the stuff you needed to get in/advance. I am glad they are bringing it back because I got attuned for it on one character but never set foot inside the instance, which is what most people will say.

But, just started on a new server with a bunch of RL friends (5, so be perfect for Arena) so hopefully I'll see this place before WOTLK comes out.

Considering 70% of WoWers never make it to end-games...it's a smart thing to keep the masses happy with PvP.

Who in the world has time to get level 7-tier gear these days? other then if your out of work...

@kirk4ever: From what Ive read of the encounter, you dont actually kill Kil'jaden. You Stop him from completely making it into Azeroth throught the Sun Well with the help of a magic essence that has taken the form of a female. I think. Lol.

And so WoW takes another step toward ezmode. :/

(Not that ezmode is inherently *bad*, but you don't exactly have pre-k kids doing calculus either, and you don't take steps to make calculus easier just so they can; lower the difficulty enough and it becomes even harder to weed out the players who can't/don't/won't learn from the ones who really put the effort into their characters.)

REMEMBER THE SUNWELL!

@R3load: Well that explains things... I mean Kil'Jaden as he is portraid in he official lore could pretty much wipe the universe on his own and 25 people are supposed to kill him, and blizz putting him up for retirement before Arthas seems stupid aswell.

Updating addons = PAIN IN THE ASS.

Oh well. Using honour the day I get it = win.

@DefDealer: wow has pvp?

Bah! I'm sick of Warcraft. Bring out the Starcraft MMO and I might play it :)

@clintonskneecap: Yeah :( Assessment has yet to be updated for 2.4 that's my biggest worry, I love assessment, best meters by far. Having to switch to a 2.4 compatable addon for the time being. lame.

No doubt everything else will break. So much for a progress on Vashj guild week.. we'll be sorting addons for days :P

But multi shot not breaking CC/improved hunters mark not getting over written by un improved, ftw! xD

As I suffer strange crashes with my EVE trial (anyone with experience of actual bluescreens caused by EVE could they drop me a note?) the lure of WoW dances in my mind, especially as to reactivate my account and mark it for WotLK beta-ness. Still, I'll be back once again as the next expansion comes out, not to grind away at the Arena or raids (I've never actually set foot in a raid, even as someone who's played from Day 1) but to experience the story and how it's continuing to unfold for everyone.
Will Arthas be redeemed and freed from his darkness? Will the Horde and Alliance be able to put their differences aside once again in order to fight the greater evil or will pathetic bickering threaten the stability of the world? What happened to Malfurion and will we venture into the Emerald Dream to bring him back? And who is left of the Old Gods and will they be back again to wreak havoc on the world of Azeroth? And what of Magatha Grimtotem and her mysterious connections to odd beasts? And Varimathas' loyalty to the Dark Lady? I have to know and it's the rich world full of people that will bring me back again.

A GREAT BIG BUSHY BEARD!

Whoa, I didn't know Dio was still together.

WoW sucks.

@mowh:

Oooh way to go, you uttered an opinion as a 2 word statement. Your parents must be so proud of you, especially since your opinion directly contradicts a vast majority of people.

As for the article itself, you're right. Mages are the best class. We rock!

Meh, as someone who's been farming Illidan for about 7 months now with basically nothing to do since then, you're damn right that's my opinion.

In any case, my parents are proud of me. :)

@Jamie_W: Im going to take a wild guess that he implies he plays a mage and as a joke states the others dont matter.

@Codexx: true but popularity does not mean something is good. Remember about 70% of the population is stupid I mean how else can you explain how the Scarey/Epic/Meet the spartans is so popular?

@clintonskneecap: Heh. Don't forget that Britney Spears is rich - or was. Millions CAN be wrong.