World of Warcraft's PTR 3.0.3 is now up and ready for testing, sporting some tweaks to several classes. The Druid class in particular, will have their talent points refunded. Check out the patch notes in the full article.

While using mods or addons for World of Warcraft is always a welcome way to make gameplay easier, there will always be risk that some of these mods violate Blizzard's Terms and Conditions (as was the case with WoWGlider). This was the topic of an inquiry made by Orinakarr over at the WoW Europe Forums, regarding the Gatherer mod.

For the guys haven't heard of it, Gatherer is a tracking tool for herbalists, miners and treasure hunters. Quoting the wowui site, here's a full explanation of what it does:

The Addon does not track like a tracking ability does, rather it 'remembers' where you have found various items in the past. It does this whenever you gather (perform herbalism, mining or opening) on an item, and records the specific map location in it's history. From then on, whenever the item comes into range of being one of the closest 1-25 (configurable) items to your present location, it will pop up on you minimap.

Getting back to the subject matter, Orinakarr wasn't sure of this mod would give players an unfair advantage during the game - as this counts for a clear violation of Blizz's conditions. Spokesman Aeus dropped by a little later to explain that the addon was clean:

Gatherer just sees where you are when a skill is triggered and adds an icon to the map. As far as I know it consists only of the "standard" Addon files like .lua, .toc and .xml. No executable files are involved. So knock yourself out.

So there you have it. We hope guys also using this addon will breathe a little easier, knowing they don't risk getting banned for using it in gathering resources.

Another patch was released on the World of Warcraft Public Test Realm (PTR) yesterday. The title of the patch on the official pages has been changed from PTR Patch 2.1.0 to "World of Warcraft Client Patch 2.1.0". Some people take the change to signal that the patch will go live this Tuesday, though there's no word as of yet from Blizzard (they're probably busy with something else).

The changes are quite lengthy, and it's a good thing Curse Gaming got all the changes from the last PTR patch. Here's the rundown:

General

• Taunts: The taunt system has been adjusted so that Warrior Taunt, Druid Growl, and Paladin Righteous Defense will now grant the player the correct amount of threat even when the creature or its target is crowd controlled.
• Dodge Rating: Low level players now calculate dodge from dodge rating at the same rate as level 34 players.
• The negative effect of the orc racial ability Blood Fury no longer stacks with other effects that reduce healing (Mortal Strike, Wounding Poison, etc.)
• Characters can now speak with Orphan Matron Mercy in Shattrath City during Children’s Week to mentor a draenei (Alliance) or blood elf (Horde) orphan. Shattrath orphans have a whole new line of sight-seeing requests across both Outland and Azeroth and three new pets to offer to their mentors.

Druids

• Force of Nature: The Treants summoned by this spell will now correctly attack your target even if it is neutral or non-aggressive.
• Swiftmend: The button for this ability will now be greyed out when your current target does not have Rejuvenation or Regrowth.

The rest of the changes after the jump!

  

As much as we like World of Warcraft's Addons, there's that recurring problem of having to hunt down all the individual mods we fancy. And while it's an adventure all to its own, it still kills time better spent questing to level 70. With that in mind, we introduce you to GrimStonemaul's latest update to his GrimPack AddOn.

This bundle should answer the needs of any of the game's character classes, being something of a one-stop shop for your modding needs. Just make sure to double check the AddOn descriptions in case some of the included mods conflict with your character's specs. The bundle is over at WoW UI (behind the "Via" link below), and features the works of some their more famous authors - make sure to check out whatever they've got brewing aside from the mods in this bundle.

The second AddOn is probably something hunters and other standoff fighters may want to check out. It's Drool's ImprovedCamera 2.0.1 mod, which allows you to set your game to its maximum distance setting of 50. For those who remember seeing this mod before, Drool mentions this is actually a continuation of Rewad's ImprovedCamera mod for WoW patch v1.12. ImprovedCamera 2.0.1 is set as a post-2.0 patch and thus will also work with Burning Crusade. Enjoy the downloads.

Improved Camera 2 Patch Notes
v2.0.1
Updated TOC version number
Fix for lua 5.1 code changes

Download:[ImprovedCamera 2]

So it was 2.0.4. Blizzard's latest patch for World of Warcraft addresses a few issues, as opposed to the much larger v2.0.3 patch, also known as the Dark Portal patch. Among the things that this patch is expected to work its wonders on would be:

• Fixed a bug where flags in Arathi Basin could be captured at extremely long distances.
• Fixed a bug where players who had set dungeons to Heroic difficulty level previous to patch 2.0.3 could no longer enter instances.
• Fixed a bug that was causing multiple LUA errors in the German and French battlegrounds.

Yeah, it's not a lot, and it doesn't cover all the quibbles and complaints from users still on patch 2.0.3. On the other hand, there is Blizzard's caveat that "While we make every effort to include all upcoming changes in our patch notes, please be aware that occasionally some changes are unintentionally omitted." So perhaps 2.0.4 fixes some things from 2.0.3, too. Or not - only player time and player toil will tell.

Before the Storm for the World of Warcraft's coming up with this December 5, but before you download the 2.0.1 patch that's coming out that day, take heed: This new patch will render all your past Addons useless.

And while this seems normal with every patch that's been launched, the 2.0.1 patch that's coming out will be an exceptional handful, as Blizzard states:

WoW 2.0 represents a major change in the UI code, and as such ALL AddOns will need to be updated before they will work, if for no other reason than the Lua 5.0 to Lua 5.1 changes. Some AddOns will be more seriously affected, and a few will have to be redesigned.

What this means is that patch 2.0.1 will change the LUA code that all current addons run on. The bad news is that some of the game's mod dudes will probably abandon their current addons, as writing a new code will be too time-consuming.

Now, for those who don't have an idea of what to do, Lady Harper suggests one of the following:

1. Give up using addons altogether, play "naked" (Not like that, you hideous trolls!)
2. Take a sabbatical from the game, maybe a week, to cool down.
3. Check your current list of addons, and see if they already have a patch 2.0 version available. The CurseGaming and  WoWInterface sites should have info on these compatible addons.

Shandrai has update his World of Warcraft AV (Absolute Vikings) mod pack for PvE, PvP, good for all classes + more for all you AV guild members out there. This addon pack can give you some advantage in battle plus a lot of info about fights, flights, timers for different things or adding some features.

Addons, says Shandrai, can make playing WoW more "laggy" especially if you have an old or slow computer so he says don't add too many add too many addons. He recommends that you use only the addons that you think are the best ones. But if you a powerful PC Shandrai strongly recommends you to use all addons in this pack.

The easiest way to update to this addon pack is to delete all addons in your addons folder and drag all addons from the 'other addons' folder and the ones you want from the 'class addons' folder into you addons folder. It should be located here: C:ProgramWorld of WarcraftInterfaceAddons. If you haven't got a addons folder then create a folder and name it addons. place it in your interface folder. Got that?

Shandrai included a very long and very useful explanation about this addon pack which is a must-read if you're thinking of using it.

Full details of the AV Mod addon pack after the jump.

Download: [AV Mod Pack Update]

Cabdriver has put together an addon package for Repent members which contains the latest versions of:

• CT_Raidassist
• Decursive
• Guild Event Manager 2
• KLHThreatMeter
  
• La_Vendetta_Boss_Mods

These addons are used as a base for raids in Repent on The Maelstrom. The new features of some of the mods included in this addon package are as follows:

Guild Event Manager (GEM) v2.152 :
by Kiki from European Cho'gall (Alliance)

• Fixed some other Lua errors
• Guild channel init fixed

Decursive v1.9.8.3
by Archarodim

• Fixed the the "nothing Cleaned" bug
• "Sead zone" beneath the "Decursive" bar when the live-list is displayed has been removed
• Fixed The Shaman 'Purge' spell
• Added new feature when Decursive is asked to clean, it cancels any spell in progress (except for warlocks and channeled spells).
• New PDF doc is available in the Archive

KLHThreatMeter v17.20
by Kenco@Perenolde

• Added 1.25 threat multiplier for execute. This should go a long way to fixing the problems on Vael

Download: [Addon pack for Repent Members]

We have yet another one to add to your growing list of World of Warcraft mods! Pimpace (Pexorn) has just posted CombatSound Unattached, a mod which enables sound notifications whenever you perform certain actions.

CombatSound Unattached is based on CombatSound v1.4 from Ikarus and modified by VincentGdG, and makes it easier for WoW users to know whether they have already performed certain actions such as dodging and parrying.

Here's a list of actions that'll activate the sound notifications: target dodge, you hit (spell melee) and got hit critically, you heal and got critical heal by self or other, enter and leave combat, health drops below 20%, random kill praise, score combo points (rogue class only), use windfury weapon (shaman class only), and of course, when you die.

This version also features special abilities by class but it's still in the experimental phase, so you will not hear any sounds just yet, but you will be notified via text. This applies to the warriors 'bloodrage' and 'battle shout' abilities, where you will be sent a message five seconds before cooling down.
You can also watch your ability's buff cooldown and you will be notified by sound before it cools down completely (you can set the time in seconds).

Now, for cautions, installation instructions, and other notes:
Bugs: If you have the old 1.4 version installed, you must delete the whole directory first and uninstall the addon before you can download this pack and unzip it into the correct directory.

Installation: As usual, unzip the file into '...InterfaceAddOns' directory, also, you can use /coms or /combatsound to invoke the option window. This option panel allows you to turn effects on or off. The soundconfig.lua file in the pack can be used to exchange sound effects but you need to replace or copy the new sound into the 'Sounds' directory first.

Download: [CombatSound Unattached 1.3]

So, you're exploring the happy woods, happily chasing little happy squirrels and frolicking with the happy butterflies. You're about to go meet up with your friends to go on some happy raid, but then... BOOOOM! The clouds go dark, and you stumble down a creepy little graveyard... What should you do? You've already installed the GuildEventManager, and all this time you've thought that planning was the most important thing. You're right. But what is planning if your team can't communicate? How can you contact the guild if you're in your little detour?

Here's a mod that helps people communicate better. CleanChat from wbb filters out [Guild], [Party], [Raid] and [Officer] prefix from the chat and abbreviates [Raid Leader] and [Raid Warning]. As the name of the mod states, it makes your chatting cleaner and easier to scan.

Other Functions

• Removes channel names 'General', 'Trade', 'LookingForGroup', 'XXXDefense' or replaces with a short prefix.
• Removes custom channel names.
• Colorize chat names.
• Option to activate cursor keys while typing a message (instead of ALT+Cursor keys).
• Option to hide scroll buttons.
• Option to use the mouse wheel to scroll. Hold Shift while scroll up or down and it scrolls immediately to the top or bottom of the chat.
• Option to collect class and level information from random chat people (people not in party / raid / guild / friend list).
• Option to save this information between sessions.
• Option to popup message if it contains your name
• Highlight custom text in chat message (requires to edit a textfile, advanced users only).

For more info, click on the "Full Article" link below!

Download: [CleanChat mod]