Whether you need a refresher or just haven’t been keeping up with it, Blizzard has put up a full post detailing every nook and cranny of the upcoming content patch. Despite my current disappointment with the state of World of Warcraft, I can’t deny the fact that packing 4.1 with new features at least partially redeems the lack of a new raid dungeon (it certainly shows they’ve been working on something). Here’s a quick summary of what to expect, with the full notes on Blizzard’s site:

Rise of the Zandalari

The days when great troll empires stretched across ancient Kalimdor are long past. Millennia of war and internal strife have stripped these nations of their power, lands, and glory. As Azeroth recovers from the destruction of the Cataclysm, the world’s divided troll populations face a bleak future. These dark times have spurred the trolls of the Zandalar, the historically wise and scholarly tribe from which all trolls originated, to take drastic action. They have embarked on a bold crusade to save their race by uniting trolls into a single mighty empire. With the Zandalari’s aid, the fallen capitals of the Gurubashi and Amani nations—Zul’Gurub and Zul’Aman—are already rebuilding, replenishing their forces for a bloody campaign to expand their territories.

Yet Vol’jin and his Darkspear trolls are not aligned with the Zandalari. They have sworn to stand with their Horde comrades—and even work with the Alliance—should the trolls ignite a new war on Azeroth. Soon, Vol’jin might be forced to act on his promise, for if the Gurubashi and Amani are left to their own devices, the world will know the legendary strength and savagery of the ancient troll empires once again.

Guild Challenges

Built into the Info panel of the guild user interface, Guild Challenges are weekly tasks guild groups can tackle for additional guild experience, achievements, and gold. At the top of the guild user interface Info pane, a new Guild Challenges section is displayed and broken into three categories: Dungeons, Raids, and Rated Battlegrounds. Any guild group will qualify for Guild Challenges credit and there is a set number of times each challenge can be completed per week.

Guild Finder

Guild Finder is a new system designed to enable easier and faster guild recruitment. Guild leaders and players who are looking for a guild to call home will use the Guild Finder to meet one another and begin communications that can lead to a prosperous membership. Whether you’re a guild leader looking to fill your ranks or a player looking for a guild that meets your strictest requirements, the Guild Finder provides an easy way to make new friends!

Dungeon Finder: Call to Arms

A new system intended to lower queue times, Dungeon Finder: Call to Arms offers additional rewards for queuing as the currently least represented role. To be eligible for the additional rewards you must solo queue for a random level-85 Heroic in the role that is currently being Called to Arms, and complete the dungeon by killing the final boss. Every time you hit these requirements (there is no daily limit) you’ll receive a goodie bag that will contain some gold, a chance at a rare gem, a chance at a flask/potion, a good chance of receiving a non-combat pet (including cross faction pets), and a very rare chance at receiving a mount

Clearly the most important thing, though, is that this is a good indication Blizzard is ready to release the patch itself. There is a high chance we will see “Rise of the Zandalari” this coming Tuesday.

This is the transcript of iTZKooPA’s liveblog coverage of the WoW Dungeons and Raids panel at Blizzcon 2010.

1:34 And we’re off for the Dungeons and Raids panel.

1:35 We’re seeing some of the beta content for the SFK and Deadmines, including the bosses.

1:35 “A few things might have changed in Deadmines.” Such as new quest lines!

1:35 Classic Dungeon revamp goals:

1:35 Make less confusing, more compact rather than long for the sake of being long.

1:36 Shorter, BRD, Maradon.

1:36 Main goal, more fun. Methods of doing so…

1:37 Making more of the classic dungeons winged, which started with the classic dungeon Scarlet Monastery.

1:37 Same style, but different dungeons that can be done in chunks.

1:37 Uldaman classic map is shown. Very long and mazey.

1:38 Now showing the revamp, far more straightforward (too straightforward?) with obvious wings.

1:38 Still has the same content. Old back entrance is now the beginning of the second wing.

1:39 Maraudon now, the incredibly confusing green, orange, purple mess is shown.

1:39 New winged version is easier to see where you are.

1:40 They expect a lot of new people to role new races, duh, so revamping these old dungeons is very important.

1:40 The second method is cutting content :sadface:

1:40 Nip and tucking parts of dungeons that are pointless, too much trash, walking.

1:41 Sunken Temple map is shown, crowd cheers. Continue Reading