New WoW Patch Paves Way for Cataclysm

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Yesterday, Blizzard launched its last major patch, 4.0.3 in preparation for the release of Cataclysm.

Along with the new patch, Blizzard began one of the final stages of the pre-cataclysm event. Both Horde and Alliance players will have to help defend their capital cities from the elemental invasion.

After defending their capital cities, players will be able to counterattack the elemental invasion by entering four portals which each feature revamped versions of some classic World of Warcraft bosses.

Since a majority of the current players of World of Warcraft have never experienced the original content of the classic game, 4.0.3 and Cataclysm will allow players to experience new and updated versions of some great boss encounters that were forgotten with the introduction of the previous two expansions.

4.0.3 should be the final patch before the shattering of Azeroth that will come with the release of Cataclysm. 4.0.3a which will come when Cataclysm is released on December 7, will introduce a plethora of brand new quests, zones, and dungeons to the original world of Azeroth that players experienced prior to the two expansions.

Tuan Mai
Tuan Mai
Tuan Mai is a Los Angeles based writer and marketing manager working within the PC Hardware industry. He has written for Tom's Guide since 2010, with a special interest in the weird and quirky.
25 Comments Comment from the forums
  • Parrdacc
    While I have not played it in years. Still amazes me that WoW is still going. Wonder when it will finally breathes its last? Any bets on that?
    Reply
  • kingnoobe
    Um not for a long long time. It's a great mmo.. And even if you hate you can't deny how succesful it is.
    Reply
  • dgingeri
    Someone at Blizzard has been quoted as saying that this will be the last WoW expansion. They aren't going to let this peter out and get to be a "has been" game. If this is their last expansion, I predict 2 years and they'll shut down the servers. That's about when interest in the latest content runs out.

    Being a player since open beta, I hope it goes on longer. However, they can certainly retain their player base by going with the next generation of MMO. Their next title is certain to draw new crowds.

    I just applied for a job with them. I've been so impressed with the company. they actually do fully communicate with their customers. They go to the point of pain for customer service. (If you doubt the "pain" part, go read the WoW forums. their CM's certainly do go through pain in the name of customer service.) I hope against all hope that I get that job. It would be my dream job.
    Reply
  • g00fysmiley
    i say it'll be like the origional everquest.. people will play it a decade after most people have stopped they'll mrge some servers and have only a few and likely go free to play ... but by then there will probabyl be a world of warcraft 2 ... unless they kee what they did with 4.01 where they upgrade game engines then there would be no need for differnt vertions... if this is the case expect it to be around at least another 20 years
    Reply
  • Fokissed
    The elemental invasion started in 4.0.1, 4.0.3 is a 1GB patch that currently adds nothing to the gameplay, its content for pre-cata events that will take place in the coming weeks.

    Patch notes here.
    Reply
  • 4.03a is before Cataclysm. Likely next week, and includes the re-done zones. The Cataclysm release on Dec. 7 will include new higher level content.
    Reply
  • dauthus
    WoW has been a complete mess since patch 4.0 went live. Aside from numerous game breaking glitches which blizzard should be ashamed of, class balance has been completely out of whack. Oh yeah, no arena for 2+ months is also ridiculous. At this point, everyone is just dying for cataclysm to go live.

    The most depressing aspect of the new expansion? Shadowmourne (legendary weapon) will be replaced by a measly req lvl 83 green =(

    Also, WoW is not going to die anytime soon (10+ million subscribers or so, they'd be insane to turn off the servers). Everquest is on it's like 17th expansion and still making money with only like 15 servers left, so do the math.
    Reply
  • @ ~$15 (USD) per month and 8M subscribers ($120M/mth), worldwide...I can't imagine why Blizz would ever consider "shutting down" WoW. They've invested sooo much in Battlenet...and while I know that Diablo 3 is upcoming, they'll still have all that bandwidth. And since D3 isn't going to be an MMO, it seems like Blizz would milk the WoW cash cow til it runs dry.
    Reply
  • kelemvor4
    ParrdaccWhile I have not played it in years. Still amazes me that WoW is still going. Wonder when it will finally breathes its last? Any bets on that?Many years from now. There's still millions of players last I heard, and even MMO's that should have been dead years ago (starwars galaxies) are still around. I bet it will still exist in 2020.
    Reply
  • rpgplayer
    i've played many mmo games, never played wow though. buddy of mine plays it and i've seen alot of the endgame content. the pvp content of the end game is sorely lacking imo.

    tbh about the best pvp i've seen in an mmo has got to be Dark Age of Camelot, their pve content is what killed that game though.
    Reply