Quote:

Patch 4.0.1 will launch several weeks before Cataclysm ships, similar to 2.0.1 and 3.0.2. It will include:

- New launcher
- Class changes
- Stat changes
- Talent tree overhaul
- Glyph changes
- Reforging?
- Mastery? (although it might not be useful until Cataclysm)

Patch 4.0.3 will launch shortly before Cataclysm ships. Based on what Tom Chilton and others have said, this will include (without purchase of Cataclysm):

- Cataclysm intro cinematic and login screen
- Revamped classic Eastern Kingdom and Kalimdor zones
- New race/class combinations for existing races
- Graphics improvements (water, etc)
- Guild leveling system?

Cataclysm will ship shortly afterwards and buying it will unlock:

- Level 85 level cap
- 525 Profession skill caps
- Goblins and Worgen, and their starter zones
- New Level 80+ zones, dungeons, heroics, raids
- New battlegrounds
- Rated battlegrounds
- Flying mounts in Eastern Kingdoms and Kalimdor
- Archaeology
- 310% speed flying mounts?

Please correct anything I got wrong or missed

That looks almost right. Guild Advancement/Achievements should go under Cataclysm launch though and mount speed changes should be moved up to 4.0.1.

Hmmmm....seems like Cata is just around the corner. Operation Gnomeregan (Alliance) and Zalazane's Fall (Horde) are now live. They are cute little quest chains which explain how the 2 new starting areas were reclaimed.

They take about 30 minutes and you get a Feat of Strength for it. If you have a 75-80 toon, take a few minutes and participate in WoW history.

Thus far, Blizzard has been characteristically tight-lipped regarding the release date of Cataclysm the third expansion for its mega-MMOG World of Warcraft. It'll be out when it's done, of course, and not a moment sooner.

We may now have some idea just when, exactly, that moment will be: December 7th.

This is an unofficial date and has not yet been confirmed by Blizzard, of course. Still, there's a fair bit of evidence supporting the theory: Two WoW fan sites (MMO Champion and WoWHead) both independently noticed that the latest patch notes contained the following information:

"Arena battles and Rated Battlegrounds are only available during an active player versus player combat season. Season nine will begin on December 14th, so be prepared at that time to take your shot at glory!"

Some of you may be saying, so the new arena season begins on December 14th? That doesn't really tell us anything unless we're fans of PvP combat, right? Maybe, maybe not - but then we have this post from official Blizzard representative Zarhym, which says that the new arena season will begin "approximately one week after the official launch of World of Warcraft: Cataclysm." Not only is December 7th a week before the planned new arena season, it's also a Tuesday - the day on which Blizzard (and indeed, most major developers) releases all of its games.

If that wasn't enough, a WoWInsider poster also spotted a throwaway line in one of the fluff pieces surrounding the retaking of Gnomeregan event: "[With] the fall of the Lich King, the last great threat to the citizens of Azeroth, the chance of any cataclysmic event taking place in the foreseeable future is 'less than 12.7%,' Mekkatorque's leading combat medical advisor Doc Cogspin purported."

12.7%, hm? Cheeky, Blizzard. Very cheeky.

As always, this is a rumor and shouldn't be taken as the gospel truth until we hear something official from Blizzard - but if you wanted to start booking your days off in advance right now, I don't think we'd blame you.

Incidentally, this means that the expansion will have been in a beta testing stage for six months at launch, half again as long as either of the previous two. I guess there's just more to test this time around.