Blizzard rolls out WoW prepatch in preparation for expansion

14.10.2008
Blizzard Tuesday rolled out the latest update to its hugely popular World of Warcraft multiplayer online game. The update is a "prepatch" for the upcoming "Wrath of the Lich King" expansion pack, which will be available November 14th for US$30. The patch doesn't include all the changes that went live on the "test" realms, but that was intentional, according to a "blue" post on the World of Warcraft forums that was . He notes that although the game is somewhat off balance at the moment, it will "start feeling a little more normal again when Lich King ships" and asks users to be "a little patient and understanding" while game designers finish adjusting the game.

The patch, titled "Echoes of Doom", bumps the software to version 3.0.2, and that were originally advertised as part of "Wrath", including new spells and talents for players, a new "profession" and the end of Season 4 of the player-vs-player gladiatorial Arena tournament series. Also included is an "achievements" system for players which provides scores of "goals" for players to meet, similar to Xbox Live's achievement system.

Users will get minor rewards for earning a certain amounts of gold, exploring the entire "world", killing a certain number of enemies and many, many others. Nearby players and fellow guild members also get notified of user achievements. The system doesn't actually help players in battle or give them anything particularly useful -- these achievements are primarily for bragging rights. However, many of them are very time intensive, requiring users to spend many hours to accomplish them.

That Blizzard is releasing features that were originally going to cost $30 in Wrath suggests the company is assuming that the vast majority of users will purchase the expansion. The add-ons in this patch are relatively minor enhancements. The major upgrades built into Wrath will allow users to make their characters significantly more powerful, and campaign on a brand new continent with lots of new content. A huge majority of players bought the Burning Crusade expansion last year -- so much so that the expansion is a must-buy for users who are paying $15 a month per account anyway.

Expect "Wrath of the Lich King" to be a huge success next month. There may be some user grumbling about forking over more money to support their WoW habits, but this will be drowned out by the loyal cheers of users thrilled over brand-new content. Because for Blizzard's customers, content is truly king.