If you pre-purchased Warcraft 3: Reforged, Blizzard’s remaster of the classic RTS, then there’s some good news. The classic version of the game is now available to play, along with its expansion The Frozen Throne. A new patch has been released that also brings a number of different changes and improvements, along with hero balance changes to the classic version of the game.

Patch 1.30.2 brings filters for lobby name and map name, while also having maps be uploaded and downloaded from the cloud. Players no longer need port forwarding to host maps for custom games, and network traffic has been made encrypted. Region filter has also been added to the custom games filter.

You can check out some of the patch notes below, with more detailed notes provided here. Warcraft 3: Reforged is slated to release in 2019 for PC. However, Blizzard will have a beta (though it’s more akin to a pre-alpha) early next year. More information on the same – and how those who pre-ordered can get in – has yet to be revealed.

SPECIFIC CHANGES AND IMPROVEMENTS

• Installation now supports verification of Reforged pre-purchase or legacy keys
• Added a filter for lobby name
• Added a filter for map name (prefix with @)
• Maps will now be uploaded and downloaded from the cloud
• All custom games from all gateways are now visible in the lobby browser
• Port forwarding is no longer required to host your favorite map for custom games
• Network traffic encrypted
• Updated custom game listing to have all games (for filtering) but list still shows the first 100 games
• Added region filter to custom game filter
• Added auto refresh of game information if less than 100 games on list
• Custom games that are full or cannot be joined are grayed out on games list (refresh to remove)
• Added kick and ban to player menu
• Limited color menu to selectable colors
• For arranged forces, changing player color will change player slot in game list
• Hosts have * next to their name
• Latency is shown on the right side of player list
• Improved peer-to-peer map transfer to increase download speed
• Game lobby is hosted in the cloud in closest supported data center to host
• Host leaving will not end game

HOST COMMANDS

• !ban [name|slot]
• !unban [name|slot]
• !closeall
• !openall
• !hold [name]
• !holds [name] [slot]
• !swap [x] [y]
• !abort
• !kick [name|slot]

PLAYER COMMANDS

• !mute [name|slot]
• !unmute [name|slot]

BUG FIXES

• Desyncs with certain custom maps resolved
• Observer API outputting accurate information
• Custom sound files with meta data play again
• Breath of Fire translated in Italian
• JASS Mouse Event IDs reverted to pre-1.30.0 order

KNOWN ISSUES

• A host leaving a LAN game sometimes removes other players
• Custom Hero Survival has a desync with random ability related to legacy code
• !ban command is not functioning when typed but does function from the drop down menu
• Instantly joining a custom game after it is created will cause errors and prevent the game from being listed for a period of time
• If the host leaves a LAN game all remaining players will instantly be taken to the score screen
• Leaving and rejoining a lobby with full observers can cause a crash if at least one player is on a Mac
• Players may become desynchronized when a custom game starts using The Third War Reborn

If you pre-ordered Blizzard Entertainment’s Warcraft 3: Reforged but didn’t receive its pre-order bonuses, don’t worry. Blizzard’s senior producer Pete Stilwell has confirmed that the bonuses, which include classic versions of Warcraft 3: Reign of Chaos and The Frozen Throne, will become available on December 1st. You’ll have to wait till patch 1.30.2 is live though.

It’s worth noting that purchasing classic Warcraft 3 isn’t possible. Only Warcraft 3: Reforged is available for pre-purchase. While current owners won’t have any trouble playing the game, new customers are effectively locked off. That is, unless they pre-purchase the remaster and wait until December 1st.

Warcraft 3: Reforged otherwise includes the base campaign and The Frozen Throne, remastered and revamped to an extensive degree. Along with several storyline changes, campaign maps have seen significant revamps. Voiceovers have also been re-recorded, while numerous cutscenes have been redone. It’s out sometime in 2019 for PC, with a beta due early next year.

Before it was a world conquering MMORPG behemoth, Warcraft was a real time strategy game, and one of the best ones at that, a paradigm shifting, genre defining one. The series reached its absolute zenith with Warcraft 3, the final ‘real’ game launched in it before Blizzard launched World of Warcraft, and shifted focus to it. Players, at least fans of the classic games, have often longed for a return to the Warcraft RTS days, and while this is not Warcraft 4, it may be the next best thing: Blizzard may be planning a re-release of Warcraft 3 some time soon.

This comes to us directly because of Battle.net, Blizzard’s own client for its library of games- the newest update seems to have launched icons for multiple games to it, including Warcraft 3: The Frozen Throne. Given that Blizzard has expressed an interest in modernizing its classic strategy games for more modern systems, this may be pointing to a full on re-launch, in the vein of Age of Empires II HD Edition, Age of Mythology: Extended Edition, and Rise of Nations: Extended Edition by Microsoft on Steam.

Then again, it’s entirely possible that Blizzard just made the Battle.net launched compatible with existing copies of the game.

We don’t know yet, but we’ll keep you posted, so stay tuned.