Earlier, we put up a post saying that World of Warcraft's 2.4.3 test patch would be coming soon. Well, the patch isn't quite here yet, but the announced changes for the patch are. Find the 2.4.3 PTR patch notes after the jump!

Members on the World of Warcraft forums have a new wish list item for the developers at Blizzard: better music for the Wrath of the Lich King expansion. This was a question posed when they noted some of the rather lackluster sounds falling short of their expectations for some of the in-game encounters.

For more information on this, check out the full article!

Find yourself a little lost on your first trip to World of Warcraft's Outland maps? On case you're still trying to plot your course in this area's forbidding landscapes, we've picked up word that some of WoW's veteran players have been brainstorming over what the best quest routes are, guaranteed to both level up to 70, and to fill up your coffers mighty quick. Even Blizzard's Eyonix posted a reply to the thread, which should provide for some very helpful hints to the newer players.  Read more on this topic at the full article.

  

New changes have been implemented in Blizzard's World of Warcraft Public Test Realm patch 2.3. The changes include a few updates to Priests, Rogues, Engineering, and the World Environment in general.

Priests will be happy to know that the damage per tick of the Starshards ability no longer changes during its effect. The Rogue's Shadowstep, furthermore, is no longer stealth dependent and can be used any time. It now increases the damage and reduces the threat of the next ability used.

Engineers get a few updates as well with the Engineering potion injectors no longer requiring the engineering skill to use and Jumper Cables XL no longer being considered a trinket. Perhaps the biggest change to the profession is the simplification of the materials needed to create the ever adorable Field Repair Bot 74A.

Regarding the World Environment, the gas clouds in both Nagrand and Zangarmarsh have been changed. Nangrand gas clouds now produce motes of air. In Zangarmarsh, gas clouds now produce motes of water instead of the expected motes of life.

Patch 2.3.0 is shaping up quite well and will probably be welcomed by World of Warcraft players with open arms when it hits the actual servers.

 

Are you one of those people who get depressed when you're in a gloomy room? How about a gloomy zone in the World of Warcraft? Some players are actually affected by the general feel of an area, like Oyster from the WoW Forums.

According to the opening post (OP), Oyster called Zangarmarsh and Ashenvale gloomy and depressing and suggested adding happier zones (so to speak) in Wrath of the Lich King. There were some discussion whether those two zones are indeed depressing and some suggested other zones that might be considered as such, like Darkshore and Shadowmoon. (For this writer, Ashenvale on a rainy day in-game can bring on the depressing thoughts.)

Blizzard poster Bornakk commented:

In general we don't want anybody to walk into a zone and say "oh, another one of these zones". One of the best things the zones in the game are their diversity. Some zones may share similarities, but we want them all to have a unique feeling as well for players to enjoy.

We're sure everyone's excited to see exactly how Northrend will look like live - and feel like. We'll have a lot of waiting ahead of us, so let's just enjoy the other WoW scenery for now, eh?

 

A lot of people have been questioning Blizzard's priorities lately. It seems that in World of Warcraft, every time a problem is brought up, the GMs usually say that it isn't a priority but will be fixed next patch. So what exactly is the company focusing on?

If you don't think that's very important, consider this: there have been quite a few players who decided they aren't going to play anymore since they don't know where the game is heading. While Blizzard has promised continual support for the MMO, many have felt that the problems are being neglected.

A player by the name of Bloodsong posted on the forums a few questions regarding what projects Blizzard is currently prioritizing so that gamers will at least have a general idea on what's happening.

List of Questions:

1. WoW or Starcraft 2?
2. Balancing classes or creating new content?
3. Raiding or PvP?
4. Professions or transportation?
5. Next patch or next expansion?
6. New races or new classes?
7. New zones or new quests?

Want to see Nethaera's answers? Click on the full article.

It seems Nethaera's Magic 8 Ball is pretty darn accurate. World of Warcraft Patch 2.1.2 is now live and available for download. Trouble is, some realms are still down due to maintenance for the opening of Arena Season 2 as well as the new patch.

According to WoW Insider, the Frenzy and Cataclysm battlegroups will also be requiring 24 hours of downtime to complete their merge. The downtime is scheduled to end at 3:00 AM tomorrow. Here's a list of affected servers:

• Azuremyst
• Area 52
• Auchindoun
• Blade's Edge
• Blood Furnace
• Coilfang
• Exodar
• Shattered Halls
• Terokkar
• The Scryers
• The Underbog
• Velen
• Zangarmarsh

Hopefully, all the affected realms will be back up before schedule so everybody can experience 2.1.2.

Blizzard Community Manager Drysc recently announced on the World of Warcraft Forums that Blizzard will be merging the Cataclysm and Frenzy battlegroups sometime in the next month.

This merging means that the Shattered Halls, Azuremyst, The Underbog, Auchindoun, Coilfang, Blood Furnace, Terokkar, Exodar, Blade's Edge, Velen, Area 52, Zangarmarsh, and The Scryers realms will now all be placed into one single battlegroup.

Drysc notes that the merge is occurring in hopes of lowering queue times. He also says that this is to "increase the number and variety of opponents for those participating in cross-realm battlegrounds and arenas."

Drysc also added that more information regarding the merge would be announced as the implementation of this battlegroup joining nears. Rest assured that we'll keep you updated about it as soon as more info is made available.

  

Well it's not really new, but this time it is official. With a complete list of blues that you can grab by helping your own faction hold the grounds of contested Zangarmarsh, Blizzard now adds the World of Warcraft Europe PvP rewards list to their official collection of rewards, along with those tangible gear from the highly competitive PvP Arena section.

So if you're a late or casual gamer who's just hit level 60, you can try a hand at patriotism by heading on over to the swamp-infested fungi forest of Zangarmarsh and visit your respective stronghold. Native Draenei and Night Elves will feel at home in the Alliance Honor Hold, while Thrallmar is the perfect refuge for native Tauren and Trolls.

But don't you all go over there at once. You wouldn't want to cause severe lag or seriously deprave serious grinders of their mobs by killing them off for no reason. So click the "Read" link provided below to check out the Rare items you could get. And remember, it's not the color that counts...

More game fixes await World of Warcraft's players as we move halfway into this week of March 19 to 25. According to Tseric, Blizzard's spokesman over at the WoW official forums, we have two hot fixes for the moment::

Tuesday:
Warbringer O'mrogg's status will now reset, after a wipe during his enraged state.
Monday:
Corrected an issue where Coilfang Ambushers would evade unnecessarily.

Going into detail on these reports, Warbringer O'mrogg - over to your right - is the second boss in the Shattered Halls wing of the Hellfire Citadel instance. Before his hot fix (at least we think it's a "he"), Warbringer had a nasty habit of keeping his enrage status activated even after parties fighting him wiped.

This proved to be a major pain for those re-attempting the instance, as enrage gave this two-headed monstrosity a major damage boost at the start of the fight. Of extra-painful note is his Burning Weapon/Blast Wave, which deals an initial 1k fire damage, followed by two consecutive Blast Waves for 2.5k-3.2k damage each.

The Coilfang Ambusher, on the other hand, is a level 70 humanoid enemy that can found over at the Coilfang Reservoir instance in Zangarmarsh. There had been a reported bug about them in the Steamvault area (also withing Coilfang), though as Tseric reports, they shouldn't be too troublesome to kill post-fix. Stay posted as the week's hot fixes get updated, which may include one for Coilfang's Lady Vashj.