Things are changing more than Deathwing could have wrought here in the World of Warcraft. The changes are being forced upon our world by an outside source. Star Wars: The Old Republic.

Starting with the trademarking of the name ‘Mists of Pandaria,’ Blizz has slowly started to stir up a buzz of anticipation. They need this buzz because a huge grudge match for subscriptions is on the horizon.

Blizzard just released some Quality of Life and Nerfs in Firelands and they teased us earlier in the week with this picture, that caused a lot of speculation. They confirmed the speculation today with the news that in patch 4.3 we will be able to customize the look of armor and gain access to extended armor storage. This addition to the game is aimed squarely at long term players, and it’s asking them “Please don’t cancel your subscriptions when you start playing SW:TOR.”

As well as the cosmetic stuff the are dropping on us, 4.3 will bring in a Lich King type patch drop the includes three new 5 mans and the Deathwing raid. Much like the final patch in Wrath this is going to be a big gear up and dungeon fest before you start raiding down Deathwing.

This patch is going to have to be three things. First it’s going to have to be fun, and continue to be fun for 3 months or more. Second its going to have to be accessible to all end game level players. Third, its going to have to look awesome. In my opinion if they don’t nail those three things, the subscription base will drop because of TOR releasing.

Star Wars is in no way going to kill WoW. It will take a bite out of subscriptions and the ‘man’ doesn’t want the montly take to drop. This means we will be getting a lot of content in a short amount of time. So let’s enjoy the content coming down the line.

/salute

Serawk, Guild Hawkman