Update - Added today's official announcements.

Tier 11 Valor Point Hotfix
Originally Posted by Daxxarri (Blue Tracker / Official Forums)
Due to some recent player feedback we’ve made the decision to implement a hotfix that will put Valor Points back on the bosses in Blackwing Descent, Bastion of Twilight, and Throne of the Four Winds (except Argoloth).

We agreed that players should have some additional options for earning Valor Points beyond Firelands, Zandalari dungeons, and tier 11 Heroic difficulty raids. We don’t want raiding guilds to feel like they have to raid Firelands AND the old raids every week, but we do want players to feel like they have some options besides running ZA/ZG over and over.

Bosses in these raids will award 35 VP on 10-player normal difficulty, and 45 VP on 25-player normal difficulty, to match the rewards currently offered for the Heroic versions of those encounters.

This change should be live within the next few hours. You can stay informed about the latest hotfixes by checking the Patch 4.2 Hotfixes article for updates: http://us.battle.net/wow/en/blog/3019413

Rated Battlegrounds Queuing Times
Originally Posted by Daxxarri (Blue Tracker / Official Forums)
Hey all,

We are aware of the issue regarding extended queue times affecting Rated Battlegrounds. We’re currently investigating the situation and working to resolve it as soon as possible, but there isn’t an ETA for when this process will be complete. We'll provide further updates as the situation develops and we thank you for your patience in the meantime.

World of Warcraft Starter Edition
Originally Posted by Blizzard (Blue Tracker / Official Forums)
With the launch of Rage of the Firelands (patch 4.2), we introduced the World of Warcraft Starter Edition, a replacement for the previously available free trial. The Starter Edition allows anyone to play for free up to level 20 without the time restrictions placed on trial accounts -- all you need is a Battle.net account and Internet connection. The Starter Edition also opens up some new features that weren't available in the old time-limited trial:


  • Players with the WoW Starter Edition can create draenei and blood elf characters, which were previously unavailable with trial accounts.
  • The two starting zones associated with these races are also available to people wishing to try out the game.
  • The gold limit has been raised to 10 gold, allowing Starter Edition players to purchase mounts when they reach the appropriate level.

When you reach level 20, your characters will stop gaining experience. However, you are free to continue playing and exploring Azeroth for as long as you wish -- or you can roll an entirely new character to try out a new race or class. You can also choose to upgrade to a full, paid account at any time and continue your adventures beyond level 20.

With the launch of the Starter Edition, all existing trial accounts, including expired ones, have been reactivated. That means if you've tried WoW in the past, your trial-account characters are now accessible once more.

As you may have already seen, our Recruit-a-Friend program has also been upgraded as a result of the changes introduced with the WoW Starter Edition.

Now's a better time than ever to try out World of Warcraft. If you’re thinking of getting into WoW or know a friend who's been interested in joining you in Azeroth, it's easy to give it a try today.

For more information on this exciting new feature and a full list of restrictions, please visit the Starter Edition FAQ.

BlizzCon 2011 Contests Coming Soon!
Originally Posted by Blizzard (Blue Tracker / Official Forums)
BlizzCon may still be months away, but we’re already getting our contests ready for your invariably impressive submissions. You’ll be able sign up for the online and onstage contests soon with the launch of our upcoming brand-new BlizzCon Contests page. Keep checking in at BlizzCon.com so you don’t miss your chance to sign up for our Costume and Dance contests and submit your masterpieces for our Original Song, Fan Art, and Movie contests.

Trading Card Game Art Gallery Update
The Trading Card game art gallery has been updated with ten new pieces.


This article was originally published in forum thread: Tier 11 Valor Point Hotfix started by Boubouille View original post
Comments 205 Comments
  1. Thallidomaniac's Avatar
    @The WoW TCG art: I didn't know Rebecca Guay also did art for this card game too.
  1. daburton's Avatar
    Quote Originally Posted by Galaddriel View Post
    Can I haz Avenger of Hyjal rep for doing nerfed T11 too? pweez?
    Not yet, but you will be able to get Avenger of Hyjal rep for doing nerfed Firelands once the next raid comes out months down the road.
  1. Maruka's Avatar
    honestly this is a horrible change. you get 35 vp and no jp. it really limits the t11 jp gear you can get in a sense.
  1. mmoc7f082fdd70's Avatar
    Quote Originally Posted by Prag View Post

    What difference does it make if 'casuals' reach their cap from T11's or from heroic 5-mans?

    That logic doesn't even make sense... Who would you accept into your Guild? The guy who is 353 ilvl having never done a raid in WoW or the 359 ilvl guy who came late to the party and, albeit nerfed content, has actually been outside of a 5-man?

    The choice is pretty obvious to me. Not sure how it seems to elude the masses here. They didn't raise the VP cap. They created another option of getting to it. For someone cracking insults at casuals, your logic of raid gear via 5-mans is more "casual friendly" than this change.
    First and for all you can get ilvl 359 gear also without even doing a raid (the 3-4 slots left are quite easily filled with boE items if you ask me)
    Secondly a number of items is/can be replaced by ilvl 365 and 378 BoE.
    The only thing on which you can rely is looking at their achievements, gemming choices and reforging strategy. Gear is not reliable anymore to judge by.

    Secondly you know what logic also doesn't make sense? That it is easier to get Valor points outside of the current raid tier than to do that current raid tier, for which the Valor points are meant in the first place.
    Don't you think that is weird? And agreed it was like that before this change already.

    The system that was in before which was that only doing heroic dungeons could not get you capped, made a lot more sense to me actually.

    And before people flame me for elitism again (or whatever the word is for it) : I will take advantage of it too since we provide T11 runs for our social members and alts. Hell, the people that are struggling with T11 still, will probably need the gear more than I do. So it is not so that I am unhappy with this, or that I don’t want others to get gear too. The system just feels kind of incorrect.

    ---------- Post added 2011-07-20 at 09:37 AM ----------

    Quote Originally Posted by thelordymir View Post
    And ZA/ZG don't drop gear that will be good for you going into Firelands unless you enjoy gimping yourself.
    ilvl 353 is not that much worse than ilvl 359 gear... but at least they give you 140 VP which leads to ilvl 378 gear.
    and those 353 gear items will be replaced fast by ilvl 365 as soon as the molten front vendors unlock.
  1. Bogrim's Avatar
    Quote Originally Posted by brosephbro View Post
    this seems like they're catering to casuals yet again.
    I love these sort of posts. It's like out of the blue, "THEM DAMN CASUALS!" I mean really, what goes through your mind when you post something like that? Oh no, bosses like Chimaeron and Cho'gall are handing out VP again to you damn freeloaders! It's not like any of those fights still remain harder than anything you'll find in the Zandalari instances.

    Blizzard removed VP from tier 11 instances because they nerfed them and made them easier, but that didn't make sense because the heroic 5-man instances still grant VP and they're even easier. If VP should be difficult content only they need to remove them from the heroic rewards as well, but then players would have nothing to grind outside raids.

Site Navigation