MMO Champion's about right-- patch 2.2 is likely not coming for a matter of weeks. Since background downloading started a little while ago, we all figured this Tuesday or next was looking pretty good for a patch update, but Hortus on the forums alludes to new PTR patches "several times in the upcoming weeks," which is a good indication that we've got a while to go on the PTR.It doesn't necessarily mean that we're looking at a November patch-- it could be that the PTR updates are for 2.3, or that 2.2 will drop with hotfixes coming later, or that Hortus just doesn't have the information from the devs right. But take a deep breath-- even if it takes a few more weeks for a new patch, odds are we'd all rather have it "right" than "right now."
And Boubouille says that if it takes this long for 2.2, he doesn't see how they'll release the expansion by next January, which is just plain laughable. Sorry Bou, we love you and all, but WotLK isn't dropping anytime before July 2008, and I wouldn't be surprised at all if we didn't see it until early 2009. It's not that we won't have content until then-- Zul'Aman is coming, and a new arena season will show up before then (maybe even two), as well as guild banks, a new CoT instance, and of course the Sunwell. But if you're still thinking we'll see Arthas as soon as January, time to stop holding your breath.














Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
9-03-2007 @ 1:40PM
Fletch said...
Considering that the feature that's holding this patch up, voice chat, is a feature that most people probably aren't even going to use...
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9-03-2007 @ 1:54PM
Eleanorrigby said...
i thought that WotLK had a definite release date of May 2008?? What is this about it not coming out until 2009??? I think we will definitely see it in 2008.
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9-03-2007 @ 1:59PM
Ryan said...
Yea I like it the way it is now, where I can have Ventrillo use my headphones and wow use my speakers. Not sure I really want to have voice going through my speakers.
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9-03-2007 @ 2:34PM
Melenor said...
@3: If you've played on the PTR and used the voice chat feature, you know it allows you separate inputs for both microphone input and speaker output.
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9-03-2007 @ 2:35PM
Boubouille said...
Wait wait wait ... You love me ?
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9-03-2007 @ 2:48PM
TonyMotorola said...
I still can't get over the number of people that see the background downloader kick on and then assume the patch is coming the next week.
The background downloader merely sends out chunks of the patch that blizzard deems 'finished.' Often it's the case that a part of the patch is finished and fed out on the downloader weeks or months before the entire patch is ready. This is done to minimize the amount of downloading you have to do on the actual patch day.
Downloader active never means you're getting a patch the next week.
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9-03-2007 @ 2:55PM
Ayashi said...
@2: If I have learned anything from playing Blizzard games since the original Warcraft, it is that a "definite" release date from Blizzard is NEVER "definite". I remember hearing information about Warcraft III back in... 7th grade? And then I think it came out when I was in 11th, or maybe even a senior :/
(Obviously not saying that WotLK is going to take 5 years, but still - I'll believe it is coming out on Date X when I see it on the shelves :P)
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9-03-2007 @ 2:59PM
Daveti said...
patch or no patch, i'm at least hoping for a hotfix to all the #132 and nv4_disp.dll errors blizz caused in the last patch. half my guild is down because they had the nerve to use high end video cards that blizz themselves recommend.
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9-03-2007 @ 3:00PM
Passit said...
Can they please just hotfix the orc shoulders...I mean really...
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9-03-2007 @ 3:16PM
Vanterax said...
If we're lucky, it's patch 2.3 that we may see in January 2008. If we're lucky... Blizzard has been aweful with patches since the release of TBC. Looks like two patches in 2007 is all we're gonna get.
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9-03-2007 @ 3:23PM
crazy said...
um I thought the new CoT instance was coming out in WoTLK...
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9-03-2007 @ 3:36PM
Medros said...
Blizz has said there will be one more CoT instance coming before the expansion. As for the 2.2 patch, well, ponder on this: The 48 hour maintenance for Argent Dawn, Earthen Ring, Mannoroth, and the rest... that was to add in the voice chat hardware. The rest of the realms will need this as well. I dislike that 2.2 has been on the PTR nearly 2 months, and could go as much as another full month yet, but it is the reality of the fact that Voice Chat will take a lot to implement. I would say they should have held it back, but then there would have been nothing advertisable in the 2.2 patch, and we all know how they like to advertise.
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9-03-2007 @ 5:04PM
Fletch said...
No, there's no CoT instance coming out before the expansion. There are three confirmed instances that will be released before WotLK: Zul'Aman and the two Sunwell instances (one 25-man one 5-man). None of those are in the CoT.
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9-03-2007 @ 5:38PM
PallySucks said...
Yeah, a delay on Pally nerfs.
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9-03-2007 @ 6:43PM
Avaloner said...
Well they said they were going to release an expansion every year after the release of Burning Crusade. By that calculation is should be out by February 2008. Blizzard just cannot keep a deadline.
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9-03-2007 @ 8:35PM
Vanterax said...
And by calculation, there are 10 more months in 2008 beyond Febuary. Blizzard said they were going to TRY to issue a new expansion pack every year. First, they never said it will be exactly 12 months apart. Second, they said TRY. They never made a commitment.
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9-04-2007 @ 2:26AM
phisquare said...
Just give me my pimped out Spectral Tiger, that's all I ask.
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9-04-2007 @ 2:58AM
my2cents said...
@15 - They said they were going to *aim* for an expansion a year. Blizz never promised to release the next xpac within a year of bc coming out. Also @2, who ever said anything about a may 2008 release date? =P Just wondering where you guys are getting your info from.
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9-04-2007 @ 5:39AM
tdf said...
What happened to 'a patch a month'?
As someone else said, it's frustrating that voice chat is what's holding this one up, a feature most people won't use.
At the moment they seem to keep adding stuff to 2.2 while they try and fix the sound issues. I'd have preferred it if they'd taken the voice stuff out and give it to us a few weeks ago.
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9-04-2007 @ 12:06PM
Green Armadillo said...
Realistically speaking:
2.2 PTR: At least one more week (Sep 11 at the earliest).
2.3 PTR: Suggestion is that it's done with internal dev and ready to go up almost immediately after 2.2 goes live. PTR's tend to go live on a Friday, so that's Sep 14 at the earliest. I'd be shocked if a PTR with a new raid spends less than a month on the PTR, so we're looking no earlier than mid October for 2.3 going live.
2.4 PTR: Perhaps they've been able to get a jump on this one, if they're actually done with 2.3. So perhaps an early Nov PTR and a late December release.
2.5: Not announced, but there's almost assuredly going to be a "hype the expansion" patch the way there was for TBC. Feb at the earliest.
Earliest possible date for the expansion: March.
Earliest reasonable date for the expansion: May.
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