PvP has something of an overhaul, too, with all players receiving a base 65%

resilience, battle fatigue and increased damage to tank-specced flag carriers to name

just a few. Blizzard hope that, with all of the changes it has made to PvP, player

skill will be of more importance than gear, making the cross over from PvE easier.

With the recent news that World of Warcraft has lost 1.3 million subscribers in the

last 3 months, the imminent patch 5.3 suddenly carries a lot of importance. Bear in

mind that, although the patch brings a lot of changes and fixes as well as some new

content, 5.3 isn’t a major content patch, so will it be enough to keep players

interested? Let’s take a look at why we should stick around for patch 5.3.

One of the major gripes I’ve seen recurring on the official WoW forums is that the

game just isn’t alt-friendly any more, and I agree. Levelling takes time and gearing

takes even longer. Blizzard’s response:

For those who want more content, patch 5.3 adds new and heroic scenarios, a new

battleground and arena and an exciting transformation of The Barrens into a hub of

activity with a series of dynamic events for both Alliance and Horde (and open world

PvP?). This also moves along the lore, furthering the key story of Mists of Pandaria:

the fall of Garrosh Hellscream.

PvP has something of an overhaul, too, with all players receiving a base 65%

resilience, battle fatigue and increased damage to tank-specced flag carriers to name

just a few. Blizzard hope that, with all of the changes it has made to PvP, player

skill will be of more importance than gear, making the cross over from PvE easier.

I said it before and I’ll say it again: Patch 5.3 is not a major content patch, but

it sure is doing its best to make the changes we as players have been asking for.

Unfortunately Blizzard can’t please all of the players, all of the time, only some

of the players, some of the time. 

Also being added are “specialization choices.” In other words, you can highlight

your role so that the gear that drops specific to you (from quests or bonus rolls in

LFR), is tailored to your character so that you are more likely to be able to equip

it.  Item upgrades are also coming back, with new costs and specifics.  The Brawler’

s Guild is also getting some much needed love with new fights, new rewards and a hint

from Blizzard that we might get to fight some of our favorite evil-doers from past

Warcraft encounters.

Many changes and additions happening in patch 5.3
Well that escalated quickly-World of Warcraft’s newest patch, “Escalation” hits

live servers today!  One of the biggest mechanics altering patches of Mists of

Pandaria, 5.3 is adding a ton of new content, and making some big changes to already

existing systems.  For detailed information, you can check out Blizzard’s official

content page for 5.3 here, and for all of your guides, details, and answers to your

questions, heading over to WoWhead’s 5.3 guide is also a must.

This patch includes a lot of major changes that many players have been anticipating

for a while.  Blizzard is fleshing outits ideas and plans that were outlined and

begun at the start of the expansion.  Four new Scenarios are added to the roster,

giving players more avenues to explore the lore of Warcraft in a way that is short

and sweet.

Many of the biggest changes in 5.3 are directed at the PvP community. A new arena

hits the scene, allowing for a little more diversity in the arena roster.

A new 15v15 Battleground, Deepwind Gorge, is also being thrust into the game with a

lot of interesting qualities that separate it from the current Battlegrounds offered

in the game.  Moreover, many changes to the way PvP gear works are happening, most

notably, the vast majority of PvP gear is getting its Resilience removed and players

over level 85 are getting a base 65% Resilience that is innate to their character.

Resilience is still obtainable through gems, but it won’t be the dominant factor in

stat choice as before. 

Moving in to the more Warcraft-focused news, Olivia brings us up to date on the WoW

movie, with a short potted history, before wondering whether it will be a success,

theorizing what route might work best for Blizzard’s box office, and asking whether

it is a good idea at all.

This week on the very first episode of Talk Azeroth, Olivia Grace waxes lyrical on

the departure of her predecessor to the sunny shores of Blizzard Entertainment, and

recounts her own tale of her recent visit to Blizzard EU in Paris, where she got to

play Hearthstone, as well as grilling Blizzard developers Ben Brode and Eric Dodds on

the upcoming CCG.

Moving in to the more Warcraft-focused news, Olivia brings us up to date on the WoW

movie, with a short potted history, before wondering whether it will be a success,

theorizing what route might work best for Blizzard’s box office, and asking whether

it is a good idea at all.

Last up, we take a look at a recently datamined desktop client. It looks like a

complete replacement for the existing launchers, and Olivia takes a look at what we

can glean from the pictures before discussing some hopes and fears for the new

system.

This week on the very first episode of Talk Azeroth, Olivia Grace waxes lyrical on

the departure of her predecessor to the sunny shores of Blizzard Entertainment, and

recounts her own tale of her recent visit to Blizzard EU in Paris, where she got to

play Hearthstone, as well as grilling Blizzard developers Ben Brode and Eric Dodds on

the upcoming CCG. 

It’s almost like the opening to an epic fantasy-horror movie.

A lone adventurer wanders into a city, looking for supplies, a place to sleep. The streets are many and long, lined with stone buildings highlighted by the yellow light of lanterns hanging from their posts in each direction.

As he moves deeper into the city, he notices an increasing number of dead bodies scattered across the stone foundation. Locals and visitors alike begin to suddenly drop; bodies fall from the sky like a rain of dead.

Only one ghostly figure stands unaffected by the sudden death, laughing, approaching with an evil, purple energy.

This is what happened in World of Warcraft over the weekend. Cities became washed with a sea of virtual dead bodies – both player-controlled and NPCs. It didn’t happen in just one random location either like some twisted planned event by Blizzard: death came to Stormwind, Orgrimmar, Tarren Mill, Ragnaros, Draenor, Twisting Nether and other servers.

It was a World of Warcraft massacre…. for about four hours.

Videos and personal accounts blamed the virtual apocalypse on hackers. Level 1 characters were reportedly executing a script that invoked a spell called Aura of Gold. This spell had enough punch to kill anyone with one hit no matter their level or armor class.

“This exploit has already been hotfixed, so it should not be repeatable,” Blizzard added. “It’s safe to continue playing and adventuring in major cities and elsewhere in Azeroth.”

Blizzard confirmed that this sudden carnage was caused by a hack, reporting that certain realms were affected by an in-game exploit, “resulting in the deaths of player characters and non-player characters in some of the major cities.”

“This exploit has already been hotfixed, so it should not be repeatable,” Blizzard added. “It’s safe to continue playing and adventuring in major cities and elsewhere in Azeroth.”

Blizzard said it’s taking this insta-kill action seriously and is conducting a thorough investigation. Anyone with information leading to the hackers behind the virtual massacre should contact the company here.

But Blizzard may not have to look far. Someone named “Jadd” is claiming responsibility for the hack over on the Ownedcore forum. “We didn’t do any permanent damage,” he writes. “Some people liked it for a new topic of conversation and a funny stream to watch (sodapoppin), and some people didn’t. The people who didn’t should be blaming Blizzard for not fixing it faster (4 hours of obvious use is sad).”

“It’s not like I added 20000000 gold to everyone’s inventory, and broke the economy; but look at the big Chinese gold seller companies, who are doing this every day. Now ask yourself who is really ruining the game. It’s not us,” Jadd adds. “That’s my justification.” 

World of Warcraft gamers wanting to do their part in helping victims of Superstorm Sandy will soon be able to contribute money through Blizzard’s MMORPG. The company will make this possible by offering a virtual pet later this year in the Blizzard Store. All money generated by the sale will be donated to the Red Cross’s Superstorm Sandy Response.

The virtual pet up for adoption will be a warm and fuzzy Cinder Kitten, offered through the Pet Store, a subsection of the Blizzard Online Store. After gamers purchase the fiery feline, they’ll receive a code that can then be redeemed through the Battle.net Account Management Item Code Redemption page. The kitty will be available to every character on that Battle.net account through the in-game Pets and Mounts Journal.

“Your support will enable the Red Cross to provide shelter, food, emotional support, and other assistance to survivors of disasters like Superstorm Sandy with 100-percent of the $10 USD adoption fee during this charity drive going toward this worthy cause,” Blizzard said on Wednesday.

The virtual pet up for adoption will be a warm and fuzzy Cinder Kitten, offered through the Pet Store, a subsection of the Blizzard Online Store. After gamers purchase the fiery feline, they’ll receive a code that can then be redeemed through the Battle.net Account Management Item Code Redemption page. The kitty will be available to every character on that Battle.net account through the in-game Pets and Mounts Journal.

Currently Blizzard offers fourteen virtual pets and mounts for the popular MMORPG, spanning the Winged Guardian to the Pandaren Monk to the Moonkin Hatchling to the Guardian Cub. Three of the fourteen are actual physical plush toys which come with a code that unlocks its virtual counterpart. These pets and mounts are not part of the Superstorm Sandy effort, only the upcoming Cinder Kitten. 

Garrosh, Warchief of the True Horde hasn’t left the world of Azeroth unnoticed. Garrosh still resides in Orgrimmar, but there have been some fundamental changes made to the Horde capital city. Garrosh now considers himself to be the Warchief of the True Horde, meaning that Trolls, Orcs, Goblins and other “lesser races of the Horde” or those, who do not serve him are no longer welcome in Orgrimmar.

The Kor’Kron have replaced all guards in Orgrimmar. You can see them fighting one another and also frightening troll & goblins that remain in Orgrimmar.

2 – Here you can see Kor’kron Guards and Overseers fighting in front of Garrosh’s Hold.

3 – Garrosh’s “minions” seem to be more than ready, eagerly awaiting an attack on Orgrimmar.

4 – Kor’kron orcs have been added even to the Cleft of Shadows in Orgrimmar (Rogue, Mage trainers, portal to Blasted Lands location)

5 – The Golden Pagoda didn’t make it. You will no longer be able to do Golden Lotus daily quests in this area. The achievement granted from the Golden Lotus reputation, will become a Feat of Strength in 5.4.

6 – The lake were you did the second batch of Golden Lotus quests is now dried out. Infested by the Sha.

7 – This is place where you did your daily quests at the lake.

The third zone that has seen changes is Razor Hill, where most of the orc refugees from Orgrimmar hide along with Vol’jin and Baine Bloodhoof. They have plenty of demolishers at their disposal so they probably plan an assault on Orgrimmar known as the Siege of Orgrimmar.

The second zone that has been vastly affected and ruined is Vale of Eternal Blossoms, which doesn’t blossom at all now. It has been ruined and devastated, drained by the Sha and Garrosh himself.

Vol’jin and Baine Bloodhoof are also present in Razor Hill. It’s still unknown what role will they play in bringing down Garrosh and who will become the new Warchief, seeing them both side-by-side indicates an epic encounter to look forward to!