An Assault on Two Fronts - Patch 3.9

[George Costanza]

Am I the only one who is thinking it will be 3.3.9? Seeing that they're not upping to 3.4 to release a new raid zone, they could release this event before going to 3.4. Just as a reminder, in TBC it went all the way to 2.0.12, just saying.

If you have been reading all the replies there are loads of us who don't think its going to be a 3.9 patch.

[Xini]

If you have been reading all the replies there are loads of us who don't think its going to be a 3.9 patch.

Obviously I have not.

On a side note, has it ever been possible to "predict" the patch name from looking at a link in the past? If yes, was it correct?

[ExarKun]

I did not read all the pages but here's some info about how the patches went in TBC:

The Burning Crusade has thus far received four major content patches. The patch release schedule is radically different from the original World of Warcraft - content is introduced in large chunks, and balancing fixes are often added as separate minor patches between the content patches.

* Patch 2.1 introduced daily quests (and the relevant Netherwing/Ogri'la /Skyguard zones such as Skettis) and the Black Temple 25-man raid content. It can also be argued that this patch unlocked the Hyjal wing of the Caverns of Time, since prior to 2.1, Kael'Thas and Lady Vashj would only drop a limited number of attunement vials to Hyjal per kill, requiring several months of farming prior to fielding a 25-man raid into Hyjal.

* Patch 2.2 introduces voice communications software built into the game client (as well as video recording for Mac clients).

* Patch 2.3 introduces the Zul'Aman 10-man raid instance and leveling improvements for levels 20-60.

* Patch 2.4 introduces the Isle of Quel'Danas, a new outdoor zone which includes the Magisters' Terrace, a 5-man instance, and the Sunwell Plateau, a 25-man raid. Also included are Combat Log improvements and the introduction of a global Arena Tournament realm.

(shameless copypaste from Wowwiki)

It goes just like it did in TBC and the 3.9 is the right patch number

[Klasis]

Yeah Blizzard still knows where to cop be... inspired. Just like in the old days when this whole merchandise was created. When in doubt - look elsewhere for input.

In other news, the whole redoing of old stuff is starting to wear my motivation to keep on playing down severely.

When Naxx II was announced I thought - oh well, given that we were the only raid on our server to have set foot in there its ok to make it accessible to others now, the encounters and all were quite cool.

Then we got Ony II.

And the blood princes...

Ragnaros II announced for Cata

DM II possibly including van Cleef II

Now this stuff?

This is not madness.... THIS IS WORLD OF SETBACKS!

Deadmines shadowfang and ony did not come back lorewise.

[Klasis]

Personally I just pugged it at 70. Surprisingly easy to find raids of 40 people who were exalted with the argent dawn and only 3-8 people had done it at 60.

Also, it's fair to assume that we'll be getting AQ40 II as well (depending on what happens in the comic).

It already happened... chogall failed at rezzing c'thun

[ItachiZaku]

Mekgineer Sicco Thermaplugg is a hero.

[manoman]

i guess it will be patch 3.3.9 and not 3.9

[Nyriad]

so this is the jest of it.

the gnomes are like a "genius" roommate (Gelbin) that was only supposed to crash for a couple days and as they moved more and more of their shit and a couple buddies in (more gnomes). That turned into weeks, months, then years.
They got kicked out of their apartment (Gnomer), in the same building as you (Dun Morogh), by a homeless toddler (troggs). To get their apartment back they essentially flea-bombed the the homeless kid And their kids they left behind giving them all leprosy. Turns out, the gnome's wife (Sicco) was the one that invited that kid over to stay in the first place and bought the flea-bombs.
So now, they plan on rounding up everyone in the building (and probably everyone in the entire complex (Alliance)) to go kick the shit out of some rampant toddlers?
....
someone mentioned that it'd be cool for there to be an event to take back Gnomer and the troll island and it's probably faction exclusive... problem is, I don't think anyone but gnomes give a shit about the gnomes or their homeland. I can see people wanting to help out to get them the fuck outta IF and then RE-Raiding Gnomer if they don't wanna pay for 5 years of back-rent (Fucking free-loaders.) At least the trolls were Trying to take their island back. The gnomes couldn't boot down the door and wail on a few 4 year olds, they stuck around in IF for HALF A DECADE.
While several lowbies and one 80 would mow through that place for a couple things and split, the gnomes are finally deciding to form A RAID on this place....

The Alliance should re-gas the place with the proper toxicity (pfft. "in all his genius" did you read that shit??) as soon as the remaining gnomes are in there and seal it off, or at least tip off the Horde they're all gonna be in there, while we help them get their island back

[Dazzler]

i guess it will be patch 3.3.9 and not 3.9

That does make a lot more sense. The jump from 3.3.x where are now, to 3.9 is pretty huge, unless they are churning out constant major content patches, in a fairly short amount of time. 3.3 - 3.9 does imply six major patches, which I think it unlikely.

I would've expected 3.4 (maybe 3.5) to kick of the prologue in ernest, and then they could jump to 4.0 when they were ready. As people have said they do skip numbers and thats all well and good, but do they frequently skip 6 places? (from 3.3-3.9) thats just weird.

Do we think that 3.9 is the start of the bulk of the prologue event, or do we think it will have already started before that? I say 'bulk' of, because technically its already begun.

[Saluna]

Guys, I have a terrible news for you.

In patch 5.0 we will learn that during all those times we were in the Emerald Dream fighting the nightmare, so in fact when we will wake up all the old boss we killed (
-C'Thun,
-Kael'thas Sunstrider version 1 and version 2,
-Lady Vash,
-Illidan,
-Kil'jaeden,

-Kel'Thuzad, Yogg-Saron and Arthas...etc)

They weren't killed. It was in the nightmare. So... it's a setback once again. And yes, you are still level 1, only in the nightmare you were level 85 with gold cap.

[DrgnDancer]

http://www.worldofwarcraft.com/info/underdev/3p9/gnomeregan.xml

That is all.

PS: Considering that the event is already on the PTR build files (music, voices and all) AND Blizz doesn't make lore pages for far reaching patches, it's easy to predict that will come in 3.3.3.

You are saying that Blizz will ignore and abandon their 15 years old patch system? After 3.3 is 4.0.

Well I read several of your follow-on posts too, but w/e. You're getting into the weeds and missing the point of my post. Versioning is arbitrary. They can call this patch 3.9 or 3.3.9 or 3.9.14159265... It doesn't matter. The number is arbitrary. You cannot make reasonable predictions of release time based on version numbers other than to say that 3.3.x is likely to come before 3.y for values of y > 3. Even then companies have been known to break sequences. As for your contention that this will come before Ruby Sanctum... that seems unlikely. We already have details of Ruby Sanctum, this just has some quests and models in the PTR.

[Chelor]

Will a non-troll Hordie (Orc, Tauren, Undead, BE) be able to do the Echo Isle event?

[blizzquote="Blizzard;http://www.worldofwarcraft.com/info/underdev/3p9/echoisles.xml"]
Yet Vol'jin's trolls are short on forces, and the enslaved Darkspears on the Echo Isles outnumber them. The Darkspears are well-known for being among Azeroth's bravest combatants, however, and fortunately many non-trolls have expressed interest in assisting Vol'jin, perhaps hoping that restoring the Echo Isles will eventually bolster the Horde's strength.

[Deleted]

this just has some quests and models in the PTR.

Quests, models, spells, NPCs and music/voices. All the files needed for the events.

And again, numbering is not arbitrary. It's (Game Version).(Major Content Version).(Minor Content Version).(Bugfix). This is the model used since Vanilla WoW, the one that finished on 1.12.

[Ffamran]

Damn, these retcons are so bad. At least with Kael'Thas, he said he was still alive right after handing in the Orb he drops (forgot the name) in Shattrath. With this, it's just like 'oh we'll just pretend Thermaplugg was actually a robot, and the real Thermaplugg is still alive'. Awful, awful retcons.

[Nekosom]

You people do realize that the numbered patches are an inside joke by Blizzard that they play on fans who think they can predict what Blizzard will release next, right? They may have at one time had some significance, but they are now nothing more than numbers designed to misdirect people; a red herring, if you will. I would think most people would have realized that when we jumped from 2.4 to 3.0 with no stops in between.

So please...don't over-analyze. You only play right into Blizzard's hands.

[Xini]

Well I read several of your follow-on posts too, but w/e. You're getting into the weeds and missing the point of my post. Versioning is arbitrary. They can call this patch 3.9 or 3.3.9 or 3.9.14159265... It doesn't matter. The number is arbitrary. You cannot make reasonable predictions of release time based on version numbers other than to say that 3.3.x is likely to come before 3.y for values of y > 3. Even then companies have been known to break sequences. As for your contention that this will come before Ruby Sanctum... that seems unlikely. We already have details of Ruby Sanctum, this just has some quests and models in the PTR.

Either it's 3.3.9 or they use 3.9 to launch it. There is no way they're going to launch 5 other patches after the main-boss of WotLK has been defeated.

Come to think of it, kicking off the event in patch 3.9 seems logical, as it would make sense that 4.0 would launch next. This doesn't fit with previous patch numbering though, but as they aren't going to get close to 10 major patches in an expansion anyways, this could possibly be how they're going to roll in the future.

[Wyrmking]

so this is the jest of it.

the gnomes are like a "genius" roommate (Gelbin) that was only supposed to crash for a couple days and as they moved more and more of their shit and a couple buddies in (more gnomes). That turned into weeks, months, then years.
They got kicked out of their apartment (Gnomer), in the same building as you (Dun Morogh), by a homeless toddler (troggs). To get their apartment back they essentially flea-bombed the the homeless kid And their kids they left behind giving them all leprosy. Turns out, the gnome's wife (Sicco) was the one that invited that kid over to stay in the first place and bought the flea-bombs.
So now, they plan on rounding up everyone in the building (and probably everyone in the entire complex (Alliance)) to go kick the shit out of some rampant toddlers?
....
someone mentioned that it'd be cool for there to be an event to take back Gnomer and the troll island and it's probably faction exclusive... problem is, I don't think anyone but gnomes give a shit about the gnomes or their homeland. I can see people wanting to help out to get them the fuck outta IF and then RE-Raiding Gnomer if they don't wanna pay for 5 years of back-rent (Fucking free-loaders.) At least the trolls were Trying to take their island back. The gnomes couldn't boot down the door and wail on a few 4 year olds, they stuck around in IF for HALF A DECADE.
While several lowbies and one 80 would mow through that place for a couple things and split, the gnomes are finally deciding to form A RAID on this place....

The Alliance should re-gas the place with the proper toxicity (pfft. "in all his genius" did you read that shit??) as soon as the remaining gnomes are in there and seal it off, or at least tip off the Horde they're all gonna be in there, while we help them get their island back

What? You're a Horde moron. The Trolls are even worse since they can't even clear out a bunch of level 7s off their islands.

[Doctadrew]

Not one, but TWO setbacks!

[Riltia]

This. I always thought that the seemingly commonly held idea that 4.0 with all the azeroth cataclysm change would be released one month before the actual xpack didn't make sense. A 3.9 patch with the game mechanic changes but not the content change makes lotsof sense.
So basically 3.9 will be to cataclysm what 3.0 was to WotLK and what 2.0 was to TBC.

But that makes less sense than 3.3.5 > 3.9, and I'll explain.
Archaeology, for a start, will be heavily tied to the remake of Azeroth, so why would they implement it if it won't be usable?
Yes, the guild changes might come before 4.0 but I would honestly just expect everything to come in a big 3.0-esque patch, just like what happened with WotLK. Look at the notes for 3.0.2 - Barber shops, Stormwind harbor, talent trees, calendar, achievements, removal of Dalaran. It all came in one big patch.

[nWoMATT125]

Mekgineer Sicco Thermaplugg is a hero.

Thermaplugg will die and Mekkatorque will lead gnomes to glory!!!!!!!!!