This is more or less a heads-up for people who haven’t checked their client or tried to log on today, but Patch 4.1 has indeed gone live! The files for the update round out to about 325 MBs, so it shouldn’t take long to download at all. If you’d like a more comprehensive look at everything this content patch has to offer, you can either click here or just scroll down the page a bit.

To those who have been living under a rock or just re-entered society from their decades-long hermitage and are still getting the hang of this whole “internet” business, Patch 4.1 does not include a new raid instance, PvP season, or tier of gear. While this is atypical for what we’ve come to expect from a content patch, we should see Patch 4.2 much sooner after this one than normal, and it should contain all of these things. In fact, I’d expect to see it in testing on the PTR within the next week or two.

For the time being, let’s all do our best to enjoy both “new,” arguably more challenging 5-man Level 85 Heroics, and handy UI features. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I need to log in and make sure that my guild still exists. And if it doesn’t, it looks like I’ll be giving an extensive report on just how well the Guild Finder works!

[Update 1] Patch day blues. Anecdotally, I experienced a lot of problems trying to enter one of the new instances through the Dungeon Finder and I know some friends had similar troubles. Officially, the first round of hotfixes has been applied. They certainly won’t resolve all current issues, but you can find the list of changes here.

[Update 2 -- April 27] Second round of hotfixes have been applied.

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.

Put away those Sparkle Ponies and get ready for the next mount you’ll be tired of seeing two days later! Blizzard posted a picture of their next $2 million+ payday to the official WarCraft Facebook page just a short time ago. The flying feline you see below comes complete with voluminous glowing wings, light-bathed footpads, and a mane made of cresting flames behind the head.

Judging by the background, I imagine this premium mount should hit the Blizzard Store around the time that 4.1 is released (5-man Troll-themed content), though no clues as to what it may cost or whether or not it has any cool, custom animations (I’m going to guess no, based on previous experience).

And assuming that the subject is still in our hearts and minds when it arrives, I eagerly await the controversial threads asking why Blizzard isn’t donating some (or all) of the proceeds to the natural disaster victims in Japan. As well as the counter-arguments that “you don’t have to pay for it if you don’t want to!”  Both of which are already showing up in the comments on Facebook.

I don’t think they’ll ever live the Pandaren Monk debacle down.

Yes, yes, I know. We’re a few days late on this news, but if you’ve just come off a weekend-long bender like the Lore Hound crew (or… just myself), then you too can revel in the glorious word: Trolls are making a comeback! Truly the best news for fighting off that killer hangover, two new Heroic Level-85 dungeons will be introduced with the content — Zul’Gurub and Zul’Aman. If both of those names sound familiar, they should; the former was a 20-man raid removed as the Cataclysm swept over Azeroth, the latter a late-term Burning Crusade dungeon best known for its time-limit reward mechanic and badass Amani War Bear mounts. Consequently, as of the new patch’s release, Zul’Aman will also cease to be a raid.

Zul’Gurub will feature the bulk of the changes with brand new encounters and its lore/design tweaked in accordance with everything that has occurred post-apocalypse, but perhaps the most interesting thing about the pair is that they will be classified as a different tier of Heroic than those already in the game, reflective of their increased difficulty and 353 ilevel loot. As with the initial tier of Heroic content, you’ll need to meet a minimum ilevel again, that target being 346. As a bit of a reward for your patience, Tier 2 Heroic Randoms will reward you with 140 Valor Points, as opposed to the 70 offered with Tier 1. No word on whether or not you’ll be able to earn both bonuses every day.

And for the collectors out there wondering what will happen to their precious mounts and pets, here’s what Blizzard has to say on the matter:

New versions of the rare raptor, tiger, and bear mounts will be available, while the old versions of these mounts will remain unique to those who already have them. We’ll reveal more about how these updated mounts can be obtained in the future.

In addition, Patch 4.1 will bring the usual bevy of class and balance changes, though you may be wondering what’s up with the Firelands raid. Certainly this couldn’t be the first major content patch in a long time without a raid attached? Well, Blizz is playing coy with details at the moment, and despite the early testing, Patch 4.1 may still be weeks or months off from final release. On top of that, MMO-Champion has uncovered models likely used in the Firelands (notably, Ragnaros with legs), plus some indication of new dailies found in the earliest set of files.

While we’ll have to wait on the big raid reveal, both Zul’Gurub and Zul’aman are available on the PTR right now.