3.1 Launch Prediction

[Souca]

Okay, so I have a guess on when I think 3.1 will get rolled out. I'm curious if others have any, so I'll put mine in spoiler.

April 21st.

My reasoning is based on a couple things. The first is the 2009 arena tournament finishes on the 6th. There is a one week ladder with the top 1000 teams that follows that. I don't see Blizzard wanting to support more than one version of of servers during this period, and given the class changes I don't see them changing during the season as there would be way too much outcry. For WoW to stay viable as an ESport they need this to go smoothly.

The second reason for the release date has to do with how Blizzard has seemed to handle holidays and patches in the past. The 3.1 patch has new models for Children's Week. Children's Week is set to launch on May 3rd. In previous patches they have always launched before the holiday. The hoilday is almost like an unlisted launch date. Things that aren't ready are more likely to be pulled than to delay the launch. Additionally there is a new pet for the people that have competed in the 2009 Arena tournament, and while I can see them not rolling the pets out the week after, claiming they need time to validate who should get them, I don't see them taking more than a week. While they could just tell people the pets will be released with 3.1, I don't think they will delay much later.

Given Children's Week they could push as late as the 28th or as early as the 14th, but I'm betting on the 21st.

- Souca -

[Multibocks]

I hope you are wrong, lol. I want it to be sooner so 3.2 will come faster and maybe I will get a new 5man dungeon and new emblem epix.

[Tombs]

Someone was telling me April 5th for Noble Garden (I don't know what this is). I just smiled, nodded, and prayed for at least June. The OP's prediction is probably the best I've heard.

[Tombs]

I hope you are wrong, lol. I want it to be sooner so 3.2 will come faster and maybe I will get a new 5man dungeon and new emblem epix.I hear that Emblems of Valor are going to be the currency for 10-man Ulduar. Maybe they'll add a Heroism -> Valor conversion to keep heroics alive.

[Souca]

I hear that Emblems of Valor are going to be the currency for 10-man Ulduar. Maybe they'll add a Heroism -> Valor conversion to keep heroics alive.

that would be awesome.I've heard the same thing. Valor for Ulduar 10 man, Conquest for 25 man. It would follow that 3.2 would introduce a new emblem and move conquest to the 10 man. I back this plan as it provides a gear path for 10 man raiders that advances, though I do wonder how they will handle the tier 7.5 from badges versus tier 8 from 10 mans conflict.

Noble garden *is* a holiday, but its not in the achievements. Even though I've looked for it every year, I've never actually found it.

- Souca -

[elsegundo]

im going to guess about a month. early to mid april.

[Souca]

but its not in the achievements.

3.1 is supposed to add NEW achievements for this event.Ugg. I hope they don't add achievements for Noble Garden. I especially hope they don't make them part of the meta. If they are doing this, then it would adjust the launch date. Where did you see the stuff for the new achievements?

- Souca -

[Souca]

Hmm, looks like they are adding some for the Argent Crusade and Darkmoon Faire as well, but so far they aren't part of the meta and don't have titles. I do like this one though:

Shake Your Bunny-Maker ('http://www.wowhead.com/?achievement=2422') - Use Spring Flowers to place rabbit ears upon females of at least 18th level.

I can see it now, "To [GM Bannor]: I swear I didn't know she was level 15. My UI said she was 30!".

The holiday is on the 12th of April, but aside from the achievements, I'm not sure if there is anything in 3.1 that it requires. If it does, it would bump to the 7th of April; feasible but a tight squeeze.

Another thing to note is that it's a one day holiday, so doubtful it will make or break anything since they have zero time to hotfix issues in the achievements. http://www.worldofwarcraft.com/community/ingameevents.html#noblegarden

- Souca -

[Kaelika]

I hear that Emblems of Valor are going to be the currency for 10-man Ulduar. Maybe they'll add a Heroism -> Valor conversion to keep heroics alive.

that would be awesome.I've heard the same thing. Valor for Ulduar 10 man, Conquest for 25 man. It would follow that 3.2 would introduce a new emblem and move conquest to the 10 man. I back this plan as it provides a gear path for 10 man raiders that advances, though I do wonder how they will handle the tier 7.5 from badges versus tier 8 from 10 mans conflict.

Noble garden *is* a holiday, but its not in the achievements. Even though I've looked for it every year, I've never actually found it.

- Souca -Hate to burst your bubble, but I came across this post ('http://forums.worldofwarcraft.com/thread.html?topicId=14990758982&postId=149889103831&sid=1#245') from Bornakk (a blue) regarding a possible conversion a few days ago:


It's always possible that more items will be added, but we have nothing specific planned at this time. We also don't plan to offer any kind of trade up, like Emblems of Heroism for Emblems of Valor, as that would defeat the purpose of a multi-tier badge system. A shame, really. I hope this changes, but I'm not counting on it.