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.
Before your held to that, know that several features on the ptr are still Massively buggy.
However, this post seems to state “Were done with announcing new features”. With that in mind, we should only see another few 2-3 weeks of testing before the patch finally hits.
Unless this new patch brings with it a new continent that is made to challenge level 85 toons AND finally offer new environments AND give a coherent new chunk of lore I will want to be a part of my account subscription will stay canceled.
I’m guessing the new leader leading these wise trolls to war is a black dragon, and with it we will have our next dragon raid! With the tried and true avoid the tail swipes, stay outta the fire and the ever annoying whelps. What I never get about these things is why doesn’t the dragon just stay in the air and firebomb the hell outta everyone. As much as everyone hated downing Malygos, I loved it. It was fresh and hard and damnit if he didn’t make you earn the kill. And after doing OCC so many times when I was thrown on the red dragon I knew what to do.
I really hope this leads to a whole new chapter in Cat instead of another raid. If they hit us with more endgame (non raiding) challenging content, I’d be glad to hand blizzard back my credit card info. Is anyone else hoping for something more than just another raid? Being able to visit this wise nation of trolls I’m expecting some very new play areas, with some slight tinges of familiarity. I mean these are supposed to be geniuses left to their own devices for thousands of years, but with a touch of magic. Im expecting something like Esthar in FF8, except with full of Jamaican accented trolls and more magic mon.
There’s not even a raid in this patch, guy. It’s two old raid dungeons remade into two new Level 85 5-man Heroics, plus a handful of new UI features.
The next raid is already planned, for patch 4.2 and it’s going to be set in the Firelands with Ragnaros as the big bad.
That said, I do share your desire for more trolls and it will be a real trip whenever we get to go to their home island.