Piquing the interest of many a PvPer I'm sure is a new map that appeared in build 18633 of the Warlords beta. The map depicts Hillsbrad Foothills as it was before Cataclysm, when it became a purely Horde leveling zone and also integrated Alterac Mountains (which was particularly annoying, as the very little content that was in Alterac to begin with got snuffed out.)
Anyway, this predates even my time in WoW, but Hillsbrad Foothills was once the destination for anyone who wanted to participate in PvP. In early vanilla, the original three battlegrounds - Warsong Gulch, Arathi Basin, and Alterac Valley - had not yet been implemented. So the only place for PvP was to do outdoor PvP. You'd turn on your flag and start attacking members of the other faction (or if you were on a PvP server, you'd be auto-flagged.)
One of the popular pastimes (and this lasted through Wrath) for many players was to do little raids on towns of the opposite faction. Crossroads in the Barrens (now Northern Barrens) was a favorite target for Alliance players, as they could reach it with relative ease by taking the boat to Ratchet from Booty Bay.
But nowhere was there a grander, more epic struggle, than that between Tarren Mill and Southshore. The zone was basically a really bad idea for anyone at the appropriate level if they were on a PvP server, because both major quest hubs would often be "conquered" by the other faction.
Since Cataclysm, after Southshore was transformed into an irradiated ruin, it obviously has not been the hub of PvP activity it used to be.
But this map could suggest that they may implement the grand old battlefield of days gone by as an actual Battleground, where Alliance and Horde can clash from here on out. I don't know how it would work, and frankly I think the more free-form they keep it, the better (maybe just have something like a ticking honor bonus the longer you occupy an enemy building.)
And actually, it now occurs to me that this may be the first expansion to launch without a Battleground. While I know that they're putting a lot of effort into Ashran to establish a new PvP dynamic, and that Arena seems to be the focus of the super-hardcore PvP, it is nonetheless odd that there doesn't seem to be a Battleground. Perhaps there will be one!
Moving on!
The Everbloom, one of the new dungeons, has now been implemented. I haven't looked at it, except for maps posted on data mining sites. I actually still don't know quite where it's meant to be set, but it appears that the final boss steps through a portal and... and this is the weird part: you apparently fight it in Stormwind, just southwest of the Mage District. Definitely going to be checking out Youtube for a look at it (I'm not running dungeons during the Beta, but I am watching videos. I have a weird spoiler policy.)
The next most exciting thing is that those with an enchanting building in their garrison will be able to purchase special enchant illusions. This is, essentially, transmog for weapon enchants. While I don't believe they are quite implemented yet, it appears that you will simply buy a scroll from your vendor and then use it on the weapon. And then presto: your 580 sword now looks like it has Mongoose on it.
Actually, a lot of the profession buildings started to show off some of their bonuses. Those with the Tannery (the leather working shop) will be able to purchase (so far for free) up to five tents, which you can then set up anywhere in Draenor. The tent will let you log off and gain rested experience, and if you stay in for at least ten seconds, you get a buff that increases all stats by 10%. This should be fantastic for leveling, and you get a lot of options for tents (they all seem to be established models, but you get a very nice variety.)
Everyone's favorite Warlock, Gul'dan now has a new model with wonderfully sinister spikes and skulls. Likewise Nhallish, who I believe is a boss in Shadowmoon Burial Grounds (could be wrong, don't quote me on that) got a cool new model as well.
Another thing that is a bit exciting is that we've seen some of the building models get touched up a bit. While they all still sport the Orcish "wooden pillars and spikes" structure, the Horde Enchanting building, Tannery, and Alchemy Lab are now far more distinctly Trollish, Tauren, and Forsaken in appearance (though I'd have gone with Blood Elves for the Enchanting building.) I expect this will be an ongoing process. Currently, with the exception of the Dwarven Bunker and Gnomish Gearworks, the Alliance buildings are still all pretty human-themed. But this is definitely a step in the right direction to representing the factions on whole. (Somehow I feel like the Alliance tannery ought to be Worgen themed.)
And speaking of buildings being fleshed out - it's still definitely a work in progress, but the interaction with the various buildings is growing a lot more fleshed out. The Sparring Arena is now called the Gladiator's Arena, and has a quest (or possibly quests) that encourage your to go out and PvP (each version has an NPC quest giver who really doesn't like the other faction.)
While I still don't think it really fits as a "personal expression" game mechanic, I do think that the garrisons are starting to reveal their potential. And we have yet to see tier 3 buildings of any kind, so I'm not sure exactly how that's going to affect things.
As usual, there have been a few tweaks to various abilities. Arms Warriors still don't make any sense. I get the impression that we're going to be seeing more numbers tuning and less mechanical overhaul from here on out.
And in a little over a week, we'll get our release date and our cinematic. I'll say, for my part, that there's still definitely some stuff that needs work. They need to fix Draenei shoulder pads (and this is one of those things where I really hope Blizzard agrees with me that they are broken.) The garrisons are feeling closer to working as intended, but there's still a long road ahead (for instance, there's no way to get gear for your followers yet.) There will still be one more dungeon to implement, and raid testing is still ongoing.
I'm hesitant to make a prediction, because that's an invitation to look foolish in the future. I will say that it's definitely going to be at least another month. I personally don't think we're going to see it in September. I could possibly imagine late October, but to play it safe I'm thinking late November or early December. Really, I think it all depends on how much of the endgame is implemented in the next few weeks. There's definitely some level cap stuff now, but I suspect there's a lot more coming. We also have yet to see the professions all implemented, and of course, we're still missing a few racial models (in-game, we have yet to see Male Humans, Male Night Elves, Male and Female Trolls, and Female Tauren. And of course no Blood Elves, but those are probably coming in 6.1.)
Ask again in a week and I'll see if I've updated by guess. Ask again in two weeks and I'll tell you exactly!
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