Taken from the live servers (US) just minutes ago

Patch 3.3.5+ is upon us!  ”Proof?” you say?  We’ve two bits of anecdotal evidence for you: the servers going down for maintenance and the screenshot to the right.  Good enough?

Yes, the Pre-Cataclysm events coming. As I type this, I’m highly anticipating the engagement known as the Fight for Gnomeregan!

For those that have had their head in the sand, the Pre-Cataclysm events include Zalazane’s Fall, and Operation: Gnomeregan. These were included in the 3.3.5 Patch files and could be activated by an “on switch”. These retaking of gnomish and troll lands will lead up to the release of Patch 4.0 — events that promise to change Azeroth forever.

For those too lazy to use their own powers of deduction, this means that Cataclysm should only be 6-8 weeks away. Perhaps Blizzard will make their Pre-BlizzCon release as intended. Things can still change, but I highly doubt it.  Blizzard rarely does things shotgun, and the roadmap following Zalazane and Operation: Gnomeregan was already made public.

Remember: ZG, as a raid, is gone in Cataclysm, and Loremaster will still be in, just changed to accommodate the Cataclysm changes.  This means that you better get a move on for those coveted achievements and mounts before Cataclysm’s release!

If you need a reminder of what the quest chains are like, hit the “Continue Reading” Button for our videos; courtesy of Amatera and Juggynaut.

[Update]

Fixed the patch version.  It seems that Blizzard didn’t update the version with the release of these events.

Continue Reading

A few weeks ago, Blizzard released a nice bit of RP behind Operation: Gnomeregan in which High Tinker Mekkatorque called for the retaking of the Gnomish capital city. Now the similarly displaced Troll leader Vol’jin has begun calling for an assault on the Echo Isles, homeland of the Horde’s Darkspear trolls. The events, both of which have been covered from the PTR here on Lore Hound, are part of the pre-Cataclysm launch festivities, and explain how each of the two races get its own starting area once the expansion comes out.

Both events have been previewed in Azeroth Bulletins released by Blizzard that add some flavorful RP to the announcements. Each event announcement has included a beautiful poster, suitable for hanging right above your shrine to all things WoW. Experiencing the events is sure to be a memorable part of gearing up for Cataclysm.

The only thing that might make them better is if the announcements were actually done through in-game means. Receiving in-game Azeroth Bulletins teasing the beginnings of the event would be great. Finding these posters around each faction’s cities (or even in Dalaran) and seeing the leaders actually begin planning the assaults would be spectacular. It’s one thing to have an RP-style announcement on the website. It would be even cooler to know that players could expect NPC behavior to actually coincide with those announcements.