This is the April 17th edition of Blue Watch, covering posts by Blizzard employees in the General, Profession, Raids & Dungeons, Test Realm, and UI & Macros forums.

Additionally, there is a Blue Watch Wiki page, with a Table of Contents for easy-access to the topics that interest you, as well as a "Go to thread" link to go directly to the post on the official forums.

You can also view everything involved in the Blue Watch, including Blue Watch Archives, by clicking on the Blue Watch link on the menu to the left.

General Forum Information

Hotfixes for the Week of April 9- 13 Go to thread

In this thread, Nethaera lists all of the hot fixes that have been applied to the live servers recently.

Graveyards, Flight Paths and Trinkets! Go to thread

In this thread, Nethaera shares information on additional flight paths, graveyards, and even new Darkmoon Faire trinkets coming with the 2.1 patch.

Can Blizzard ban ingame gold spammers? Go to thread

In this thread, Tseric talks about the topic of banning gold spammers who send tells to players ingame.

We've been dealing with gold sellers, botters and hackers since before this game was ever released. It is an ongoing process, with each side always developing new tactics to outwit the other side.

Unfortunately, it does not appear there is a "magic bullet" that makes this all disappear. We continue to strongly address this particular area, as we always have.

We're in the works of developing more tools to address the problem of gold selling spammers and we expect to add more tools for our hacks team to use, as time goes on.

It is still an important part of the process for players to inform us of this type of action, so that we can document and build a case for removing account status from spammers.

He goes on to add more:

That someone who plays a trial account is so inhibited by restrictions that they have a negative experience. Then, what is the point of a trial at all?

I realize it may be simple to say "everybody under level 10 shouldn't be able to whisper anybody", but that seems like you simply forgot what it was like to be new to the game. The first fifteen minutes of a game are probably the most crucial moments of a gamers life. That is when people decide to play or not.

We've already placed large restrictions on trial accounts and may continue to add more. However, there is a point at which you are demoing a broken game, because you deliberately broke it to prevent this.

Also, don't assume that trial accounts are the sole source of this problem. The issue wouldn't go away even if we discontinued tiral accounts completely. I'm hard pressed to say how much that would actually do to the problem. In the end, I think Blizzard would have more to lose than the gold sellers.

Desolace: Farmers outside of Shadowsprey Go to thread

In this thread, Tseric talks about upcoming changes to the process of reporting gold farmers, making it easier to do so.

This is actually something we are already working on. Streamlining the process of reporting hackers and botters, and thereby making it easier for individual players to report offenders, can greatly assist in creating a paper trail for anyone involved in such behavior.

Armored Netherdrake Go to thread

In this thread, Tseric responds to a question of whether or not players who get the Arena reward will have to pay for the epic flying mount skill(5,000 gold).

Everyone has a cost to pay for epic riding skill, even the Druids with their epic flight form.

NEW "HACK" to dispel dots Go to thread

In this thread, Tseric dispels the rumor of a hack that allows a person to choose which debuffs they want to remove.

Probability allows this to happen quite naturally. I assure you that if there was some new hack that did what you said, we might know something about it. As it stands, the reasonable explanation is that some "bad luck" is involved.

"There are Holy Priest changes in the works" Go to thread

In this thread, Eyonix comments on an upcoming 2.1 change to the Priest spell Binding Heal.

In addition to being cheaper to cast than two flash heals, generating noticeably less threat, Binding Heal will now also be fully uninterruptible with the first Hallowed Raiment set bonus and talents in focused healing.

Arena Season 2 is gonna suck bad Go to thread

In this thread, Drysc shares some information on whether or not new items will be added at the start of an Arena season. He also mentions arena team ratings as well.

New items may be added at the start of a new season, depending on progression on the PvE front as well as what PvE content is available. The end/start of a season is only guaranteed to mark the point where the title and armored nether drake rewards are given out. New items being added is dependant upon PvE factors.

To clarify a previous bit of information that we've given out that was incorrect; arena team ratings do not reset at the end of a season. Teams won't have to go through a 'reset period' where they're struggling to regain where they were.

Not all teams are going to have all of the rewards by the second season, in fact the large majority won't. Also, your arena points don't degrade and aren't removed at the end of the season, so you're building points as you go. Even if there are no rewards you want the prospect of new items in the future which you're saving up for, and of course the end of season rewards (title and mount). It wouldn't be very smart to quit playing just because there's nothing to buy, you're still making 'arena money".

Profession Forum Information

Alchemy: Elixirs Change 04/11/07 Go to thread

In this thread, Nethaera shares information about upcoming changes to the way Elixirs and Flasks work.

Upcoming Flask Changes Go to thread

In this thread, Eyonix shares more in-depths information on the changes to Flasks and how they work, as well as the materials required to make them under the re-designed system.

Alchemy Mastery Go to thread

While not related to the specific question, in this thread, Eyonix gives a bit of information left out of the 2.1 patch notes, particularly for the Black Lotus herb.

I'm personally excited about the flask changes, and to be honest, I think that at the very least those who are in opposition should wait until after it's been implemented on production realms before passing judgment.

Also, what's not in the patch notes (at least as of yet) is that in patch 2.1, all herb skinable creatures will have a chance to drop a black lotus, making elixirs even easier to farm.

Raids & Dungeons Forum Information

Gems: Unique vs Unique-equipped Go to thread

In this thread, Tseric shares information on some changes to socketable gems.

The upcoming patch does touch on this particular topic. You'll be seeing more unique-equipped gems in the near future.

Test Realm Forum Information

PTR Patch 2.1.0 Notes Go to thread

In this thread, Drysc posts a list of all of the 2.1.0 patch notes thus far.

PTR 2.1 UI Lua and XML Changes Go to thread

In this thread, Drysc lists the changes to UI Lua and XML for the 2.1 patch.

UI & Macros Forum

Will we ever get longer macros? Go to thread

In this thread, Slouken details some cool new functionality coming for macros in 2.1.

As to whether macros will ever be more than 255 characters, I can't say.

However in 2.1 (on the test realm) you can do this: /cast [modifier:alt] Divine Shield; [target=mouseover,help] [target=target,help] [target=player] Holy Light

See how easy that is? :)

Not only that, but in 2.1 when you hold down the alt key, you'll see the icon for Divine Shield if you use the '?' icon.