Tier 11 Valor Point Hotfix

[Boubouille]

Update - Added today's official announcements.

Tier 11 Valor Point Hotfix

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

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

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!

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.

[balatro]

meh - either way players will have to supplement with additional sources to reach their cap.

[endersown]

Good Idea, imo.

[Asur]

Interesting....wonder how much QQ will come of this

[Pannaika]

half vp, are you not merciful?

[Velyndina]

Good change. Inc storm of QQ.

[Tomservo]

would you rather hop in a t11 raid pug with nerfed content or to random za/zg? i think i know which i'd pick.

[Matik]

Will make very little difference, but ok? A full ZG/ZA gives 140 VP still and is way faster.

[Djent]

lol Blizzard

[Deleted]

That's a good thing. Now players that don't have any time to raid can still get some gear faster for some pugs. I think it's fair for them.

[kerwyn]

Boy, do I wish that ToC had awarded frost badges in wotlk. Cry babies.

(I think this is dumb, but I don't care because I don't run them anyway)

[Kelathos]

I'm going to pug tier11 for scraps? No, not really. Doesn't change anything.

[Exure]

inb4 "wherez swifty!?!?!?"nice change anyways.

[Deleted]

Very good change. Due to my guild being on summer break, ive had to do troll heroics to cap the past 2 weeks and I can safely say, even just after two weeks, the thought of doing 7 more next week makes my eyes bleed :<

Edit: Before anyone comments, I did read the part about only getting 35 vp per boss but thats still 420 vp or 3 less troll heroics to run :3

[Kavian]

Terrible decision.

[Traeumerin]

Good Change

[Eon Drache]

420 from old raids for full clear... so that literally cuts 3 ZA/ZG out of the formula. Ok change, but very lackluster still.

[Simca]

Will make very little difference, but ok? A full ZG/ZA gives 140 VP still and is way faster.

Depends. A guild run of BWD would definitely be equal VP/hour compared to trolls.

[Jpeg]

I think its good, seemed pretty retarded that heroics gave VP but raid bosses albiet nerfed raid bosses, gave JP.

[mööh]

LOVE THIS CHANGE!...ZG and ZA is soo boring and when you are on a low horde pop server and with a just started raiding guild we can get some gear going so we can go firelands.