Ever since it was reported that in 2.4.2, threat generated by Growl would no longer scale with pet attack power, Hunters have been trying to figure out what that means. Will it only scale with Hunter attack power? Is there any way to get Growl's threat up? Just what is the relationship between the threat generated by Growl and the stats listed on both Hunter and pet? The Mystic Hunter has been working to try and figure things out, but the stats he's found have actually been more confusing than clarifying -- he did a series of tests on the Live server and then on the Test server... and found them to be the same.
Say wha? Mystic found that threat is clearly scaling with Pet AP, and not with Ranged AP (he shot RAP way high using the Core of Ar'kelos and a few other gear pieces, and had no noticeable affect on threat generated by Growl).
So not so fast on that Growl change -- if it is going to be implemented in 2.4.2, it hasn't been put out there yet (which, considering that the 2.4.2 testing is supposed to be almost over, makes us think it won't happen this patch at all). Of course, if the fix doesn't come out, then the original problem is still there. These Growl issues are turning out to be a huge headache for both Hunters and Blizzard.
Take a look after the break for a mirrored copy of the live version of the 2.4 patch notes. This comes directly from the downloader, which is now working. The normal patch note site located at http://www.worldofwarcraft.com/patchnotes/ is not updated yet. However, I'm sure it will be soon.
One of the big changes from the PTR to the live realms is that CC non-breaking effects have been removed. You cannot Multi-shot with CC targets up and get a way with it (or a number of other abilities). This has been confirmed by Hortus, and thanks to reader Meph for pointing this out. However it should be noted that in the patch notes, Avenger's Shield will still not break CC. This is interesting and will be explored more once the game comes up.
You should be seeing the downloader finish about 10 megs worth of content, and then update the game. Everything went smoothly for me on both my Mac and PC clients.
Blizzard is at it again and so are we! We'll be live blogging the stress test event part deux tonight, on the scene with both Alliance and Horde characters. Be sure to give a /wave to any "Insider" you see walking around. We'll be trying to stay where the action is – be it in arena's attempting to best our own 8-1 record, or watching the GMs hand out more 'phat lewts'.
Right now the server is up and running, quite smoothly actually. Keep an eye out here and we'll keep you updated with the latest!
We've been preparing for the stress test, are mostly gemmed and enchanted up, and are looking to fight! I'll be updating this post as things happen, hopefully with riveting tales of victory and triumph over Alliance Care Bears. (Kidding of course, my main is an Human warrior.)
Read on after the break for the updates! We'll keep this front page only for things that are affecting everyone.
Updated 5:23 p.m. PST: Live blogging wrapped up for the day. Many many thanks to all the fans and GMs out there! It was a great day with lots of cool stuff happening. More analysis over the next couple days!
The WoW Insider Show, our podcast is back live again on WoW Radio tomorrow afternoon at its usual time of 3:30pm EST. This week, myself (Mike Schramm), Turpster, and John Patricelli (our Druid blogger) will sit down and chat about all the craziness that has happened in the last Week of Warcraft. From how to be an Azerothian pacifist to the changes going down in Alterac Valley, it's sure to be a rousing listen. Join us, won't you?
And don't forget to jump in and say something on the show yourself-- we'll also be live at irc.mmoirc.com in the #wowradio channel, so you can talk to us directly and give live input on the show, and we'll be reading emails from the email address: theshow@wowinsider.com. If you've got a question or an insight to share, we're all ears.
So make a note: tomorrow afternoon, Saturday, January 12th, starting at 3:30pm EST. It's the WoW Insider Show's 20th episode, live on the air!
The holidays are pretty much in full effect (have you gotten one of those stupid carols stuck in your head yet?), but don't worry-- our podcast will still be live tomorrow to give you a WoW-related discussion break from those holiday blahs. Both I and Chris Jahosky will be on there, and that means we'll finally have to talk about Paladins, as Chris is more or less our Paladin rep here on the site. He's also working on that great graphic novel that we're posting, so we'll talk with him about that as well.
And of course we'll also chat about all of WoW Insider's most popular posts of the last week. Join us tomorrow afternoon at 3:30pm EST (and on IRC at irc.mmoirc.org) on WoW Radio for the latest episode of the WoW Insider Show.
The realms may not be back up for another few hours, but at least we have the official, live notes for patch 2.3 to pore over! These are the ones shipping with the patch itself. Check back later for analysis and dissection; for now, I just want to get these notes out there as quickly as possible. I really wish I wasn't going to be in class all day today, so I could sink my teeth into some of this new stuff. On first glance, these don't appear to be too different from the latest PTR notes, but expect a full report of any changes in the very near future.
The stronghold of Zul'Aman has stood for millennia as the Amani trolls' seat of power and bastion of the fearless, cunning warlord Zul'jin.
Zul'jin has spent several years plotting behind Zul'Aman's walls. Furious at the Horde for allowing his hated enemies, the blood elves, to join its ranks, he eagerly embraced a scheme that the witch doctor Malacrass recently proposed: to seal the power of the animal gods within the bodies of the Amani's strongest warriors.
Now Zul'Aman's army grows more powerful by the day, hungry to exact vengeance in the name of its fearless leader, Zul'jin.
Well, here it is, official word that patch 2.3 is scheduled to go live in North America on November 13th, one week from today. Season 3 is set to start on November 20th, so here's your two-week notice. That means 2.3 will be live for a week before S3 is. The PTR was just updated tonight with a new build containing unknown changes; I guess it must not have required very much testing. Just posted in the official forums by Drysc:
While testing continues and a delay could possibly change these dates, we are currently planning to start Season 3 on November 20 once the realms come back up from their weekly maintenance. This means that Season 2 will come to a close when the realms come down for maintenance on November 20. During that maintenance the final standings are taken and the end of season rewards are distributed.
The start date for Season 3 is purposefully planned to be one week later than the release of patch 2.3, which is currently scheduled for November 13. We will be closely monitoring the testing of the 2.3 patch, and if it looks like it won't make the November 13 date, we will announce a delay.
A big thanks to everyone that tuned into the very first episode of the WoW Insider Show-- lots of good times were had as WoW Radio's Turpster, and Dan O'Halloran and I discussed everything from whether it's OK for a guild leader to ninja a mount to whether we'll fly in Northrend before level 78 or not, all the way back to why gold farming might be OK. Actually, Dan stands alone on that last one-- you can listen to the show, right now, over on WoW Radio's homepage for it to find out exactly what happened. And it's also in iTunes-- here's the link for the iTunes Store if you've got iTunes installed.
Congratulations to listener Chris S for randomly winning the Murloc suit giveaway! Stay tuned for many more giveaways on the show. And if you have comments or suggestions for the show, our email address is theshow@wowinsider.com.
And the WoW Insider Show rolls on-- this coming Saturday, September 8th, at 3:30 pm EST, we'll have our second episode, and you'll be able to listen live over at WoW Radio just like last week. We'll cover everything that's happened in the World of Warcraft over the past week, as well as keep you entertained and give you exclusive insight on everything we write about here at WoW Insider.
So thanks everyone who listened in this week, and be sure to check us out on every Saturday, kicking off at 3:30pm EST.
Oh Illidan and Kael'thas, you two are so silly. The folks behind Azerothian Supervillians put together a fun little trailer for Xfire featuring two of Azeroth's most heinous masterminds.
But what they're planning is what we're doing-- covering every single second of BlizzCon. WoW Insider has teamed up with Xfire (yes, the use of "teamed up" was intentional there) to cover Blizzard's big event like it's never been covered before. If you haven't checked out Xfire's main BlizzCon page yet, here it is. And if you haven't gotten an Xfire account yet, do that too (it's easy and free), because on Thursday (tomorrow) at 4pm Pacific, WoW Insider bloggers (including myself) will be chatting live on Xfire. You'll have the chance to ask us about our official predictions for the show, check in with what we think of Anaheim so far, and tell us exactly, in chat-room person, what you think should be covered at BlizzCon.
Get on Xfire and get online (put the account "blizzcon2007" on your friends list) tomorrow, Thursday August 2nd at 4pm Pacific to chat live with WoW Insider from Anaheim. And of course, stay tuned all weekend for great BlizzCon open-to-close coverage, courtesty of Xfire and WoW Insider.
As promised, I'll be reporting on anything and everything going on in the Stratics chat. I'm hopeful that the devs will pick some of the truly tasty questions that have been offered up to answer.
For those who want to join us on IRC for this, you can get all the pertinent information here. For those of you who are unable to get on IRC but still wanting to keep up with the action, just refresh this post periodically. I'll add my running commentary here via edits as the chat progresses.
(Please note that all timestamps are EST.)
Pre-show: Had a lovely chat with TotalBiscuit from WoWRadio and caught some of his Devchat pre-show while waiting. Great guy -- and a great site. If you haven't checked them out, be sure to do so!
5:45 pm: Drink? Check. Snack? Oh man. I knew I forgot something...
5:50 pm: Wow, this channel is packed. There are easily several hundred in here. Of course, considering the guests of honor, that's really no surprise.
6:00 pm: Brannoc has said they'll begin shortly. So far, so good. Eyonix, Drysc, Neth are here as well as Kalgan and Tigole. More official people seem to be joining.
6:07 pm: They're going through the introductions now. -- Ah, first question. Wants to know when Azeroth will begin getting a significant revamp as it's a ghost town now.
6:09 pm: Tigole says that they're looking at revamping some older zones at some point. Also planning future expansions, mentions Karazhan and CoT as examples of future content plans.
Just a reminder that tomorrow night, Wednesday the 31st at 7PM EST, I'll be involved in the very first Xfire Debate Club, all about World of Warcraft and the Burning Crusade. To see the chat happen live, and discuss the topics yourself, you can download Xfire here for free (I did it the other day-- the setup process is easy and fast), and then login tomorrow night at 7PM. In fact, my username is mikeschramm, so if you're on Xfire, drop me a friend request and I'll see you there.
If you can make it, please come, as I'd love to hear from some WoW Insider readers (represent!). Plus, with Curse, WoR, and Taverncast all attending, I'm sure we'll hear some really good discussion on player reaction and thoughts about the expansion, PvP, and what's next for Blizzard. So download Xfire, mark your calendars, and I'll see you at the chat tomorrow night.
Ever since it was reported that in 2.4.2, threat generated by Growl would no longer scale with pet attack power, Hunters have been trying to figure out what that means. Will it only scale with Hunter attack power? Is there any way to get Growl's threat up? Just what is the relationship between the threat generated by Growl and the stats listed on both Hunter and pet? The Mystic Hunter has been working to try and figure things out, but the stats he's found have actually been more confusing than clarifying -- he did a series of tests on the Live server and then on the Test server... and found them to be the same.
Blizzard is at it again and so are we! We'll be live blogging the 
We've been preparing for the stress test, are mostly gemmed and enchanted up, and are looking to fight! I'll be updating this post as things happen, hopefully with riveting tales of victory and triumph over Alliance Care Bears. (Kidding of course, my main is an Human warrior.)
The realms may not be back up for another few hours, but at least we have the official, live notes for 
A big thanks to everyone that tuned into the very first episode of 
As promised, 
Subscribe
