Coming in March, WoW patch 10.2.6 is a complete mystery and Blizzard wants to keep it that way, as it won’t be on the PTR.
What's in the patch? WHAT IS IN THE PAAAAAAAAATCH? Blizzard made it clear in a blog today about the mysterious and upcoming WoW patch 10.2.6. They ain't talking. A curious addition to the WoW 2024 roadmap from the beginning, this unknown piece of content merely has a skull and crossbones as its icon. What does it mean? Well, we still don't know, but we know it's coming in March.
However, it appears to be a piece of content available for one and all. "For the 10.2.6 patch for Dragonflight," said game producer Holly Longdale, "We created what we think is a unique event inspired by past musings from the community and can say that it is open to anyone with a WoW subscription if they want to participate."
Okay, cool. Neat. Rad. Gnarly. But... What's in the patch? We don't know, but Blizzard definitely has a chip on its shoulder about 'data miners' if the rest of their comments are any indicator.
WoW patch 10.2.6 - Data miners not welcome
We're going to get real with you a moment. When Blizzard refers to data miners, they mean WoWHead. This isn't a slight or knock against the gigantically influential WoW information site. They're the biggest and been around the longest for a reason. They're also often the source of data mining leaks once a patch hits the PTR. Considering Blizzard has mentioned data mining now in multiple posts already this year, it is clearly on their minds with WoW patch 10.2.6.
According to Blizzard, there will be no expected and traditional PTR for this upcoming patch. Why? To keep it secret for one and all.
"Why are we doing this? We like the idea of releasing content that has some surprises and isn’t datamined or revealed in advance. We also like to see the joy the community gets out of uncovering it all together as they all jump in to play."
The move to not have a PTR for patch 10.2.6 is a rarity. Part of the reason WoW patches tend to always feel so polished is due to months of player feedback and multiple PTR updates. However, if Blizzard is looking to keep this one secret then it must be a big darned deal.
We'll have more info as we get closer to the suggested release window of March for WoW patch 10.2.6.
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