Warcraft 3 Patch 1.28.3 / 1.28.4 is LIVE
Link to Patch 1.28.3 / 128.4 battle.net post

The game turn rate being lowered is perhaps the biggest update in this, as it dramatically reduces the lag / delay in battle.net for both melee and custom game players. User MindWorX found this out a little over a month ago, that the 250ms delay would be reduced to 100ms, and it's been confirmed. This was perhaps the most suggested fix in the entire battle.net community, especially in the competitive scene where minimal delay is of extreme importance. And it's finally here!

You can also now switch between The Frozen Throne and Reign of Chaos in game, in addition to what was said in the patch notes about the editor.

Next up, there are more compatibility and quality of life changes which can hopefully both make the patching process and game itself run easier. Perhaps not so exciting, but it's good that this stuff is being prioritized as well.

If there's any new information that arises, before and after the patch is live, we'll make sure to update it!

BattleNet Latency Reduction

UPDATE: Patch 1.28.4 released, hot fixes some things. ~Updating thread.
Addressing Windows XP issue
Windows XP Issue Resolved

UPDATE 2: The import manager in the editor isn't working for some right now, so while we wait for Blizzard's fix, you can use the WEX editor as it works there.

19 June 2017

So if you went out on social media today or browsed some gaming & journalism sites, you may have noticed that a plethora of news sites published news about WC3 remastered today. There's been a lot of commotion about it, and people want to know what's going on and if things were confirmed. Even IGN and Forbes wrote about it. So that's really awesome that these sites are paying attention to Warcraft 3 for the first time in forever.

However, note that the information provided on these sites is outdated. The source they use are Blizzard's classic game job listing descriptions, which some have been up since early 2016, or even late 2015. Perhaps whoever wrote an article about this first out of these sites found those job descriptions for the first time, and passed it off as new news. Or, this could be intentional and information might have been passed by an external source. Whatever it is, know that this isn't new information.

Back2Warcraft tweeted to quite a few of these news outlets, telling them that they're using old sources. They also linked these sites linked Hive's The Future of Warcraft article. So thank you guys over at B2W! In other words, some representatives from news sites could be looking at Hive now, just like Blizzard has already been.

If you're looking for the most recent news on Warcraft 3 remastered, we have it in our State of the Union (Warcraft III) article, which was posted a month ago. It could be passed on as rumors, but there's solid evidence and hints that Warcraft 3 remastered will come in the future.

UPDATE: The original source seems to come from BlizzPlanet
They actually did a good job in updating all of their information keeping it up to date.

UPDATE 2: Thank you PCGamesN for sharing a bunch of Hive Workshop threads on their article here!

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In addition to this, Blizzard recently released a sneak peak regarding Battle.net channels and the custom game list for Starcraft Remastered. Hopefully we can see this in Warcraft 3, as it makes communication, hosting, and finding custom games much easier.

SpasMaster is proud to give you
VERSION 2.3.6

After over 2 months of hard work, version 2.3.6 is finally released! This version comes with many features, some of which will be briefly touched in this post.

• Features
• Discord
• Download & Links

• 
  CLASS-SPECIFIC LEGENDARY ITEMS
  Each hero will now have access to a unique Legendary item designed for that hero's class. This means that, yes, 24 unique legendaries have been added to the map!
  
  NEW CUSTOM STAT: MASTERY
  A new stat has been added to the game! Mastery has different effect for each hero which you can read in the Talents menu and is acquired the same way as other stats are.
  
  CLASS CHANGES
  Reworks for the Druid, Paladin, Sapper and Warrior paired with other balance and bugfix changes for many other heroes!
  
  SHOP CHANGES
  Many new items along with reworked items await you in the shop!
  
  MORE!
  Changes to Glyphs, Difficulties, Balance and Quests along with reworked areas are some of the other changes you can expect to find in the new version!
  
• 
  DISCORD
  You can join our community in Discord where you can find other people to play with, talk about the game, get news and test versions in advance! Hop right in by clicking the button below!
  
  
  
• 
  

  Forum

  Changelog Discord Server Facebook Page

  
  
  

Hello Everyone!

Today we want to introduce our new JASS Class sub forum, which you can find in the Trigger & Scripts forum.
The class is about getting more in touch with JASS scripting, and provides missions and guides to hone your skills.
The already provided missions are just the start, and the idea is that potentially everyone may submit new class content.

We currently also have one crash course, which will ensure your basic knowledge, and will explain some required and very important topics, and one guide, that can be used as primary reference in need of help.

Lastly there's to mention that students who can solve every mission, will receive the JASS Class award.
There's no time restriction, and no sign-up, so you can start and do what ever mission you want at any time.
If you're interested in learning, or want to submit new content, it's definitely worth to check it out.

State of the Union (Warcraft III)
12 May 2017

So, where exactly are we? Things broke, then most of that got fixed, but some of problems still aren't squashed. Okay, let's look at it from another angle: Warcraft III has been getting a flurry of patches for the first time in quite a few years. What's even more outstanding is that Warcraft III: Reign of Chaos is nearing its 15th birthday. Consider that and the fact that this game is not only alive and kicking, but getting attention from big Blizzard himself.

Now the attention given so far hasn't been all and only pretty. It's just blind consumer culture loyalty to deny that. However, with Blizzard's big recent statement, we can rejoice - or at least be content with doubt. It addresses the recent problems 1.28 caused. There's promise for a public test realm (PTR) for players test the patches before release. They reaffirm their priority to make sure things don't break, along with adding improvements and fixes for both the modding / custom games and ladder community. Yes, World Editor features, melee map pool, Battle.net delay, balance, etc are going to be addressed in due time. It's also been said that Battle.net 2.0 integration is on its way. This means Warcraft 3 will be fully included with the BNet launcher, bots won't be needed to easily host and find games, better connection, cross platform communication with players from SC2, OW, etc, and more.

The reality was that in the previous patches, modding tools did break and other bugs arose. This is not to say that Blizzard knew that they would break, but the scale of the 1.28's changes in the background just couldn't mix well with advanced modding tools, with the MPQs and other files being shifted, along with the entire patching system being changed and upgraded. And while the implementation of this new patching system has its quirks right now, it was one of the most absolute essential steps towards updating the game quickly and more efficiently.

The best thing we can all do right now is provide constructive feedback. The Hive Feedback Team and Blizzard are actively reading forum posts on Hive, along with gathering feedback from other sources. I personally want to thank those who've been spending time and dedication to help improve the game. The community has ran the show for a while, and a joint effort between the different WC3 communities and Blizzard is essential to work towards a bigger goal.

What is this bigger goal? We can speculate. Take a look at the hint of Warcraft III Remastered from Pete Stilwell, the Senior Producer of Classic Games. As many of you know, Starcraft: Remastered releases this summer. The original Starcraft and its expansion, Brood War, are also now available for free. It only makes sense to have the same business model of Starcraft. If we follow the trajectory of which Blizzard is shooting for with Starcraft: Warcraft III is going free, and a new total remaster for the game that you can buy releases some time after. While this hasn't been officially confirmed yet, there's enough proof - and hope - to say that this is the future of Warcraft.

Related links:
The Future of Warcraft
Summary In Video Form! Back2Warcraft feat. Hive Workshop
Patch Notes
On Host bots

EDIT: If you want to post this to your blog, another site, or if you're some god from PCgamer or something, please give credit and include a link here. Thanks!