Blizzard has just released a new patch for World of Warcraft, the most important since the launch of the second expansion, Wrath of the Lich King, in the autumn of 2008. The patch can be downloaded from Softpedia and there are versions for all important languages, so look around for the one you need. The patch has some pretty important changes, so be sure to apply it as quickly as you can.

The most important change in patch 3.08 is that anyone can now create a Death Knight character in any realm as long as they are level 55. Expect to see a lot of players trying on the fresh character class, the first to be introduced to the game since its official launch, and many more hardcore players might get a little annoyed by the omnipresence of the Death Knights.

All the racial restrictions have been lifted as far as the use of mounts is concerned, so players of the Blizzard-made MMO might see Night Elves on the mechanostrider and Tauren players riding on a raptor. No, it's not a hallucination.

All the Silence effect spells have now been weakened a bit, with those affected being: Arcane Torrent, Garrote silence effect, Improved Counterspell effect, Improved Kick effect, Silence, Gag Order, Silencing Shot, Spell Lock, and Strangulate. All racial resistances can also be mitigated by additional chances to hit.

As always, Blizzard is implementing a lot of changes to the various character classes, nerfing some of them and making some more powerful. Without extensive play time with the new changes we can only take Blizzard's word that all of them will make World of Warcraft more balanced and the overall gaming experience more enjoyable. Of course, the next patch will bring other changes to characters, because the natural complexity of the MMO does not allow an equilibrium to be found. You can find a full and very long list of changes here.