Man, they are not kidding about getting the content out at a high rate. With only half of Throne of Thunder available in LFR, Blizzard has already announced the first PTR version of 5.3, which will be the second inter-raid patch, akin to 5.1's Landfall.
So far, the new features they have announced are four new scenarios, a new arena, a new battleground, the return of item upgrades (for a whole lot cheaper, which is nice,) and heroic-difficulty scenarios with better rewards (so... scenarios are the new dungeons?)
This is literally the first we've heard about 5.3, and I expect there are other aspects of the patch that have not yet been talked about. We know that 5.3 is supposed to show us how the Pandaren Campaign has affected the Alliance and Horde, so I expect to see new daily factions with a story to work through. While the quests themselves in the Isle of Thunder are not really breaking totally new ground, the island and it's many nooks and crannies are providing some interesting novelties.
Anyway, so far the most interesting stuff we've got are the various descriptions for the Scenarios. There is a battle on the high seas, which I expect will be basically a battle on the high seas (something I've always wanted to see in WoW.) There is one that I would guess is Alliance-specific, where you and Moira Bronzebeard have to stop a Zandalari agent who is rallying the Frostmane Trolls in Dun Morogh (pretty awesome to see Moira get something to do) and another is presumably Horde-specific, where you are attempting to track down a missing person in Durotar (Vol'jin? Thrall? ...Gallywix?) Finally, there is another scenario which I thought at first might be Horde-specific, but might not be - in which you look into the excavations of a Goblin mining team that dug too deep somewhere in Pandaria. Eldritch goodies relating to Y'shaarj?
Blizzard has said that the narrative of this last stretch of Mists is seeing how the Horde begins to crumble while the Alliance pulls itself together. While the "main event" of the Horde underground rising up against Garrosh and the Kor'kron may be saved for 5.4, I expect we'll see at least the initial stages here. Meanwhile, the Alliance needs to get something to do. In truth, the Alliance does not seem to be damaged quite as much as the Horde by the Pandaria campaign. Sure, Jaina's a little more gung-ho, and the purge of Dalaran was a little shocking, but compared to the straight-up massacres the Horde has been behind, I was kind of expecting to see a little more darkness out of the Alliance (I'm a bit like Charlie Brown and the football that way.)
One of the things that they've never really gotten around to doing (other than through a battleground that's a clone of an older battleground) is letting the Alliance try to take back Gilneas. The irony is that actually, after the Horde quests in Silverpine, the Alliance is officially holding it, but it's nothing a Worgen player would see. I'd love to see a daily faction for the Alliance called the Gilneas Liberation Front. Would it fit here? Not sure, but it would provide the Alliance a way of feeling empowered without having daily quests that send us to raid Orgrimmar.
These patch notes seem really incomplete and without focus, which is why I fully expect that a real announcement (probably not too long from now) is going to show us what 5.3's main event is.
Jeez, at this rate, is the next expansion going to come out this winter?
No. No it won't. (Prove me wrong, Blizz.)
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