The two most interesting changes recently to me are:
The ability for players to retain a second queue for a Battleground after they’ve already entered one has been removed. Previously, players were able to queue for two Battlegrounds, have one queue pop and retain their second queue while they decided if they wanted to join the one that was ready. This is no longer the case. When a Battleground queue pops players will automatically be removed from all other active queues. To queue for a different Battleground it will be necessary to finish the match and queue again. This solves a design issue in that the old system gave players an opening to abandon their teammates if things weren’t going as well as they’d hoped; and it also solves some queue system inconsistencies that were being caused as a side effect of how the old system functioned.
It will be nice to see (hopefully) fewer people disappearing in the middle of BG’s, particularly while I’m trying to kill them. Also,
The goblin racial Best Deals Anywhere should now only be applying to vendors with associated reputations. It no longer incorrectly applies to vendors with no attached reputations, nor does it apply to flight path costs. (Note: the displayed costs for flight paths require a client-side patch to update and are not currently reflecting this racial change). In addition, it is no longer possible for goblin characters exalted with their guild to receive an extra discount on top of the exalted faction discount from guild vendors.
I hear this means there is no longer a discount for the mats for the Vial of the Sands drake, someone should leave a comment if they can verify that. Death Knights also just got a bit of a frost DPS nerf, fortunately the left blood alone which is my main spec on that guy. It does make me a little sad that my warrior friend can out DPS me now. Full recently 4.1 hotfix notes after the break and a full list of all of their 4.1 hot fixes can be found on Blizzard’s site HERE.
May 20-June 1
* Classes
o Stationary ground effects should no longer move with the casting character if he or she moves (or is moved) from his or her current location.
o Warlocks
+ It is no longer possible under specific circumstances for players to keep the buff from the now-defunct Improved Demonic Tactics talent.
+ Glyph of Imp should not be increasing the spell damage of all warlock pets by 20%.
* Dungeons & Raids
o Blackwing Descent
+ Maloriak now prefers to cast Flash Freeze on caster targets more than 15 yards away. Tank-specialized characters are not targeted, but Flash Freeze can chain onto them. If all the characters in the raid stack up within 15 yards of the boss, they can be hit by Flash Freeze.
o Throne of the Tides
+ Unstable Corruptions now award much less experience when killed on normal difficulty.
o Zul’Gurub
+ Shadows of Hakkar can no longer be reflected or deflected.
* Professions
o Archaeology
+ The Bountiful Bags guild perk should no longer sometimes incorrectly reward Archaeologists with multiple keystones from dig sites.
o Skinning
+ Players can no longer continue gaining Skinning skill points using low-level creatures below the intended skill threshold.
* PvP
o Arenas
+ It should no longer be possible under specific conditions for the Matchmaking Value shown at the end of an Arena match to be incorrect.
o Battlegrounds
+ Several changes have been made to Battleground queuing to improve the flow for those who queue for random Battlegrounds versus those who queue for specific ones.
+ The ability for players to retain a second queue for a Battleground after they’ve already entered one has been removed. Previously, players were able to queue for two Battlegrounds, have one queue pop and retain their second queue while they decided if they wanted to join the one that was ready. This is no longer the case. When a Battleground queue pops players will automatically be removed from all other active queues. To queue for a different Battleground it will be necessary to finish the match and queue again. This solves a design issue in that the old system gave players an opening to abandon their teammates if things weren’t going as well as they’d hoped; and it also solves some queue system inconsistencies that were being caused as a side effect of how the old system functioned.
* Races
o The goblin racial Best Deals Anywhere should now only be applying to vendors with associated reputations. It no longer incorrectly applies to vendors with no attached reputations, nor does it apply to flight path costs. (Note: the displayed costs for flight paths require a client-side patch to update and are not currently reflecting this racial change). In addition, it is no longer possible for goblin characters exalted with their guild to receive an extra discount on top of the exalted faction discount from guild vendors.
* Quests & Creatures
o Gilneas
+ Genn Greymane should now always correctly enter The Battle for Gilneas City, ensuring the event won’t sometimes stall during the final phase.
May 19
* Classes
o Death Knight
+ Howling Blast has been reduced by approximately 8-9%.
+ Necrotic Strike’s AP coefficient has been reduced from 0.75 to 0.7.
+ Obliterate has been reduced from 160% to 150% base weapon damage.
o Shaman
+ Healing Surge has been reduced in power by 20%.
o Warlock
+ Drain Life now deals 25% less damage.
May 5-11
* General
o There were several situations on transports or moving objects where players were receiving Movement Enforcement Error messaging, which should now be corrected.
o Players using Mobile Guild Chat should no longer sometimes receive error messages incorrectly stating they are not in a guild.
o Mail sent from the Auction House should no longer sometimes display incorrect information about the transaction. This also applies to those using the Mobile Auction House.
o Parties will no longer disband immediately after all members log out. There is now a 5-minute grace period before the group is disbanded.
* Classes
o Characters who are resurrected by a player on a moving platform should now be transferred to the caster’s world position, rather than the location they were in when the spell was first cast.
o Select classes are no longer able to aggro and pull a single enemy NPC from a linked group through various measures of sneakiness.
o Druids
+ Stampeding Roar (Cat) should always properly cost 30 energy when used.
o Hunters
+ Hunter pets no longer lose talent points when a Beast Mastery hunter gains a level.
+ The Disorient effect from Scatter Shot should no longer immediately break if Scatter Shot hits the target immediately after a buff on the target fades.
o Warlocks
+ Molten Core now correctly enhances all three Incinerate spells cast while the buff is active.
* Dungeons & Raids
o The Bastion of Twilight
+ The Blood of the Old God aggro radius during the Cho’gall encounter has been dramatically increased.
o Blackwing Descent
+ Fiends should no longer cause any quirky despawning issues during the Atramedes encounter, particularly after Atramedes is defeated.
o Zul’Gurub
+ Kill credit for Kilnara for the Here, Kitty Kitty… achievement can no longer be carried over to the next kill.
* Items
o The Miniature Voodoo Mask dropped in Zul’Aman is now a Greed-only item. No class can roll Need on this item.
o The Voodoo Hexblade and Amani Scepter of Rites are now properly labeled as Main Hand and can only be equipped as such.
* PvP
o Players should no longer sometimes become stuck or crash while in a Battleground or Arena queue.
* Quests & Creatures
o Players should again be able to successfully complete the quest The Firelord in Mount Hyjal. NPC heroes should be functioning correctly.
o The Horde NPC Kadrak is visible for players to turn in the quest Mor’shan Caravan Delivery after completing the quest To the Rescue! in Northern Barrens.