On October 14, 2008, Blizzard released the pre-patch for Wrath of the Lich King. This was a small patch that introduced changes to the game before it officially launched on November 13th. The patch was so small that it only took up about 2 MB of space on your hard drive and didn’t require you to download anything else. In 2014, Warlords of Draenor also released with a pre-patch which contained very few changes compared to its release date.
On October 14, 2008, the Pre-Patch for Wrath of the Lich King and Warlords of Draenor was released. The patch was released on October 14th in order to fix bugs and tweaks some aspects of the game before its release. On October 14, 2014, Blizzard released a new expansion for World of Warcraft called Warlords of Draenor. Read more in detail here: wow expansions in order.
The 14th of October is a lucky day in World of Warcraft. On this day, two noteworthy things were released. Echoes of Doom, the pre-patch for Wrath of the Lich King, was published 13 years ago in 2008, while The Iron Tide, the pre-patch for Warlords of Draenor, was released 7 years ago in 2014.
Patch 3.0.2: Doom’s Echoes
14th of October, 2008
The pre-patch for the Wrath of the Lich King expansion was patch 3.0.2: Echoes of Doom. As with previous pre-patches, this one included a slew of new features to prepare for the expansion.
The magical city of Dalaran rose from the Alterac Mountains, leaving a huge crater in its wake. Dalaran was relocated to the Crystalsong Forest in Northrend, where it became the focal point of the war against the Lich King.
Stormwind Harbor has opened its doors.
New towers were built outside of Orgrimmar and Undercity, from which the Zeppelin transport system will extend to Northrend.
Systems
Achievements Achievements, a new in-game collecting system, was added. For some, it’s turned into a full-fledged game. Inscription is a new profession. Players may use this new profession to make Darkmoon Cards, Glyphs, and Runes.
Tab “Mounts and Pets” Rather of wasting inventory spaces, mounts and pets could now be learnt and stored in an individual tab that could be easily organized. Collectors of mounts and pets were overjoyed!
— Images courtesy of WoW Misadventures
Barbershops are places where men have their hair cut. Barbershops are now available in major cities! Finally, for a nominal price, you could personalize your character’s hair and accessories. Visiting a barber shop and personalizing your character will get you the new accomplishment Shave and a Haircut.
The Iron Tide (Patch 6.0.2)
14th of October, 2014
Patch 6.0.2: The Iron Tide was the Warlords of Draenor expansion’s pre-patch. Several systems were implemented that are still in use today or were forerunners to current systems.
Event Leading Up to the Expansion
Dangerous New Developments
The Blasted Lands’ Dark Portal has become blood crimson. Hundreds of strange-looking orcs are rushing into Azeroth, slaughtering everything in their path. Nethergarde and Okril’lon had already fallen, and although the Horde and Alliance tried to send reinforcements to their people as soon as they could, it was too late. The invasion of the Iron Horde has started.
In this perilous hour, King Wrynn and Warchief Vol’jin have summoned his finest warriors to the front lines in the Blasted Lands, where they will do all they can to halt the Iron Horde… before the whole of Azeroth falls to them. — Notes about the Patch: 6.0.2 (patch)
With new objectives and encounters, the Blasted Lands became the location of the Iron Horde assault. Mobs have a chance to drop Battle Pets like the Bronze Whelpling and Iron Starlette.
Blackrock Spire’s Infiltration
Iron Horde troops have stormed out of the Blasted Lands, charging all the way to Blackrock Mountain, where they found shelter and supplies in Upper Blackrock Spire. Only one reaction is possible: the Alliance and Horde of Azeroth must confront this iron invasion front on. — Notes on the Patch: 6.0.2 (patch)
For a short period, a redesigned 5-player version of Upper Blackrock Spire was available for level 90 characters only. Orebender Gor’ashan, Kyrak, and Commander Tharbek were the three bosses of this dungeon, which was eventually expanded into the complete experience we enjoy today.
Models of New Characters
All of the vanilla WoW races (Humans, Gnomes, Dwarves, Night Elves, Orcs, Trolls, Tauren, and Undead) underwent a model makeover, which increased model textures while keeping the races’ original feel. Later in World of Warcraft, the Draenei and Blood Elves would be overhauled as well.
Systems
Squish the Stats
Every piece of gear in the game has had its stats lowered in order to make stat gains more linear across all levels. To ensure that soloing previous raids remained simple, players inflicted considerably more damage to monsters at least 10 levels below them.
Your Bags and the Bank
Whether you like them or not, these inventory system modifications are still in effect today.
- In most instances, tradeskill materials may now stack up to 200 items, up from 20 before.
- A Sort button has been added to your Bag.
- The Toy Box: You may now learn and add interesting things you’ve gathered on your travels to your Toy Box. You may sort them here and see how many you have and which ones you still need to locate. They’re no longer taking up room in your luggage!
- The Reagent Bank is a new bank tab dedicated to professional reagents alone.
Find a Group
The Group Finder now includes premade groups.
Undelete Character
You no longer have to beg Customer Support to recover a character if you, uh, pressed the incorrect button and permanently destroyed a cherished virtual you.
Here’s a link to our old survival guide from back in the day:
Survival Guides for Patch 6.0.2
Related Tags
- warlords of draenor
- wrath of the lich king
- lich king
