14 DAY TRIAL // Blizzard has just confirmed that it will be releasing the 3.3 patch for World of Warcraft today at a later hour, which was not specified. Meanwhile, all those interested can check out the official patch notes in order to make sure that they are prepared when the patch goes live and the changes are implemented in the Blizzard made MMO. Players should probably expect some downtime as the patch goes live and the game might be a little slow immediately after the update is applied.
The studio is making the Icecrown Citadel available in the 3.3 patch, marking the end of the Wrath of the Lich King content as far as it is concerned and it seems that only small maintenance patches will then be created and offered to the player base as most of the team is set to move to the development of the next expansion, Cataclysm.
With the release of Wrath of the Lich King happening about one year ago, it's truly amazing to see that Blizzard managed to continue keeping its MMO fresh and growing for so long.
The 3.3 patch is bringing with it the usual laundry list of bug fixes, most of them reported by the community and quickly solved by the developers, and of balance changes designed to make the experience more streamlined and interesting. There are also some changes to the character creation process said to better show new comers how the specific choices they make will affect their experience in World of Warcraft.
WoW continues to be the most played subscription-based MMO in the world and there are no signs that other games are eating into its market share. The biggest threat it will face is probably The Old Republic, developed by BioWare and published by Electronic Arts, which is probably coming in late 2010, bearing a Star Wars theme.