ZAM offers a brief guide to the most important changes that yesterday's patch 3.3.3 introduced to WoW

Update: The patch broke Wintergrasp all day on Tuesday and caused a few other minor issues, which isn't unusual during patch days. The Vault of Archavon was out of commission as the WG timer showed 00:00:00 all day. The instance, thinking WG was about to start, basically shut down all the bosses, so no free loot for anyone.

A rolling restart on Wednesday fixed the issue, but a few others popped up, including a curious one with one of the cooking dailies. Getting a jug of wine from the Wine & Cheese shop in Dalaran proved nearly impossible as the respawn timer on the jugs somehow was increased exponentially.

Another rolling restart was scheduled for Thursday. We'll see if that fixes any remainig issues.

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As content updates go, yesterday's World of Warcraft patch 3.3.3 was fairly substantial. After a few hours of not-so-unusual extended downtime, the recent patch 3.3.3 hit live servers yesterday afternoon, introducing a few radical changes to PvP and Battleground mechanics, a handful of auction house enhancements, a few profession changes and more. In addition to the new Frozen Orb-trading Frozo the Renowned NPC, character classes, items and the game client UI also received a slew of tweaks and fixes.

Yesterday we offered a succinct overview of the patch changes in our release-day announcement, but casual players—or those who haven't been keeping tabs on the updated release notes—might appreciate a brief refresher course about the new features, especially regarding the specific changes to Battleground/Honor mechanics. After the jump, ZAM explains the most important things you need to know about patch 3.3.3. From the new profession changes to the various dungeon and class tweaks, we break it down in a quick-and-easy read.

PVP HONOR, BATTLEGROUNDS AND TOKENS

In Blizzard's ongoing effort to simplify WoW's underlying game mechanics by the time Cataclysm hits store shelves, patch 3.3.3 introduces several dramatic changes to PvP and Battlegrounds. The amount of Honor awarded to players for "honorable kills" in both world-PvP and Battlegrounds was raised by 100 percent; from now on, players will earn twice as much Honor for PvP kills, as well as Battleground and Wintergrasp objectives (capturing a flag or a tower, for example).

According to Blizzard poster Zarhym, the increased Honor gains are expected to bring PvP rewards "more in-line with the rate at which players obtain PvE rewards via the Dungeon Finder." However, the experience provided by Battleground objectives remains the same, as well as the Honor awarded for the weekly Wintergrasp quests. Still, regular PvP players should notice an overall increase in their cumulative Honor points from now on. The new changes still benefit infrequent PvP players, but Battleground and Wintergrasp regulars will see the most gain.

Another important change is the complete removal of "Marks of Honor" from the currency system. Blizzard removed the Battleground tokens from the PvP rewards system to simplify the buying process. "Any items which require these marks as currency will have their costs adjusted appropriately, to remove this requirement," Zarhym explained. "The quest NPCs will still be available to award players Honor for turning in leftover marks, including individual Marks of Honor if a player has more marks from one Battleground than another, but this is only to help players clear this expired currency."

Finally, patch 3.3.3 brings a new function to the Dungeon Finder tool; players now have the ability to queue for a "Random Battleground," similar to the Random Dungeon daily quests (this new system also replaces the previous Battleground dailies offered by Warbringers). Instead, the Random Battleground feature will award updated bonuses; winning a random Battleground for the first time in one day will award players "30 Honorable Kills worth of additional Honor currency and 25 Arena Points," according to the patch notes. Subsequent wins throughout the same day will provide 15 HK's worth of Honor, while losing players receive 5 HK's worth of Honor.

Overall, the new PvP and Battleground mechanics should simplify the rewards system and give players more versatility when buying PvP gear. If you still have dozens of old Marks of Honor, don't worry; you can always trade them in to Warbringers in exchange for Honor points. To learn about the few remaining changes to Battlegrounds, like the new "Call to Arms" system that replaced the Battleground holiday weekends, read the full patch 3.3.3 notes here, or check out Wowhead's related blog post.

TRADING FROZEN ORBS FOR CRAFTING GOODS

Without a doubt, the most popular NPC in all of Azeroth yesterday was Frozo the Renowned; at long last, players can finally swap all those Frozen Orbs for something useful. Introduced in patch 3.3.3, Frozo is a "Frozen Orb Trader" located in the Magus Commerce Exchange in Dalaran. Players can trade one Frozen Orb for one elemental Eternal (Eternal Fire, for example) or a Frost Lotus. He also offers Crusader Orbs in exchange for six Frozen Orbs, Runed Orbs for four Frozen Orbs and the new Pattern: Frosty Flying Carpet for six Frozen Orbs (tailors only).

Frozo was—and still is—a hot topic of debate among players who claim the new Frozen Orb trading system will wreak havoc on server economies. Throughout the past couple months, the after-market price of Frozen Orbs reached an absolute low of just a few silver more than vendor value (5 gold). Thus, the price of Eternals and Frost Lotuses would effectively drop to the same amount, screwing over crafters like Alchemists, opponents claimed.

Meanwhile, others point out the fact that a recent hotfix increased the drop rate for Frost Lotuses by 50 percent, and predict the market will stabilize after the initial rush of Frozen Orbs that players have stockpiled are depleted. In addition, the after-market price of Frozen Orbs is expected to rise now that they have an equivalent value of Eternals, Frost Lotuses and other crafting Orbs.