Seasonal: November 2008 Archives

Hallow's End is long in the past.
The Wrath Day glow just didn't last.
We travel North to continue our tale.
As closer comes the feast of Winter'Veil!

With all that has happened in this game in the last few weeks, it can be forgiven that we might have lost track, forgotten the upcoming holiday. While Winter's Veil has lost some luster as compared to the events with seasonal bosses like Hallow's End, Midsummer, and Brewfest, I still think that Winter's Veil is one of the most exciting times. The cities of Orgrimmar and Ironforge get decked out in lights, and Greatfather Winter sets up in his rightful place on his seat. Holly is passed around and gifts are given. I still recall fondly my first Winter's Veil, when people were desperately trying to figure out where to get their Greench's from, how you became a helper gnome elf, or how you learned to make your very own Snowmaster.

While a part of me hopes Blizzard adds a bit more to this year's event, I chuckle a bit to myself as I notice that a number of my alts still have unopened presents in their bags at this late date, and I know Blizz has more in store for us. We know the Clockwork Rocket Bot was available last year, while a new Achievement this year, Crashin' Thrashin' Racer tells us that we likely have Crashin' Thrashin' Racer Controller coming to us this year. Arita already has one due to an unopened present from '07, and I have to say it looks awesome! What are you looking forward to most from this year's Festival?

The air has grown chilled, the waters stilled. The signs point to the event that has been anticipated with bated breath. Prepare yourselves, for... 3.0.3 is nearly upon us. The downtime is extended right about the same length of a usual patch maintenance, and people are preparing. While it is hard to know what the patch will actually hold, since even WoW Insider is only quoting the PTR notes, which could have changed in the 3 week or so run that the PTRs had.

We know that many Ret changes were hot fixed, which Siha points out were done without PTR testing, and other changes are so small, like the Hallowed Be Thy Name change, that they are unlikely to not make the patch. The Druid talent reset is pretty much a given, along with many of the changes to their talents. Other than that? Well, anything could happen. WoW Insider got something right, though, that Patch 3.0.3 is most likely going to happen, even if we haven't seen the typical 'thanks for testing' message on the PTR forums. 

Note: WoW Insider is using guesses and labeling Test Realm info as confirmed patch info. This should be noted, but isn't. PTR notes at launch can differ wildly from live patch notes.