Say Goodbye to the Keyring in Patch 4.2

So long, Keyring! Blizzard just announced that the Keyring will be disappearing in World of Warcraft patch 4.2 "in order to free up that space for new features." Keys that no longer serve a purpose in the game will automatically be removed from your inventory, while keys that still serve a purpose will be transferred into your regular inventory.

Bashiok also hinted that this change could "potentially allow us to play around with the amount of default storage space you’re allotted down the road." You can read more about the logistics behind the removal of the Keyring in his full post after the jump.

UPDATE: Bashiok has posted a tentative list of keys that will likely remain in the game and be moved to your inventory. He also clarified the purpose of the Keyring removal: "by removing the Keyring we can clear up some literal UI space for a Dungeon Journal button, and Raid button, and we also get some storage room back to use for upcoming features."


We Bid Thy Keyring Adieu

World of Warcraft has evolved quite a bit since the day the Keyring bag slot was added in patch 1.11. When implemented, the Keyring provided players with a convenient way of storing dungeon, quest, and other keys automatically. Back when the largest bag was a mind bottling 18 slots -- rumored to be bottomless -- the Keyring helped save precious bag space. But as things tend to do, time went on, bags got bigger, and designs for (literally and figuratively) gating content evolved through the years. In today’s Azeroth, keys don’t really serve much of a purpose except to take up physical storage space from the game (which could be used for other awesome stuff), and visual interface space from you. Because of this, we’ve decided to get rid of the Keyring in order to free up that space for new features. This change could also potentially allow us to play around with the amount of default storage space you’re allotted down the road. So, what does this mean for you and the keys you might not have looked at in the last couple expansions or so?

We’re currently working on the implementation of a system in patch 4.2 which will handle the removal of the Keyring, while causing you as little hassle with keys as possible. Some keys which no longer serve a purpose in the game will automatically be removed from your inventory. In return, you’ll be compensated for them with their respective vendor sell prices in gold. You might also have random leftover quest keys from outdated quests, or quests which were removed in Cataclysm. Keys that fall into this category have no use and no sell price, as they are labeled as quest items, and will be automatically removed from your inventory. Any remaining keys that might still potentially serve some use in the game will be transferred into your regular inventory. If there is not enough space in your inventory to hold any leftover keys once patch 4.2 hits live realms, the keys will be placed in a backlogged storage system. Once space is made for a backlogged key, the key will take that space after you log out or switch to a new zone (i.e. changing continents, entering a dungeon or Battleground, etc.).

We are continuing to work on new ways of allowing you to better manage the storage of various items in the game, and it is our goal to make sure the removal of the Keyring causes as little inconvenience to you as possible.

Comments

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key, tabards, oh my...
# May 26 2011 at 6:48 AM Rating: Decent
personally I agree with what has been said already... move the keys and tabards into the same thing they have mounts and such in... that will save space... and some folks depending on how many toons they have tend to need to doublecheck their keys to see what they have access to for some of the dungeons...
/facenuke
# May 24 2011 at 3:45 PM Rating: Good
24 posts
Honestly, I'm actually starting to believe they have even their B team on another project and we're currently sitting in the hands of a collective of retarded chimps on acid known as the C team. The latest changes are among the most moronic things I've seen in ages. Rivalled only by SE's decision to put level 90 mobs in low level areas, thus ******** up questing and missions in FFXI even harder for non capped players.

Seriously, the rumors that they're trying to kill WoW so Titan can have a chance must be true at this rate. (What they fail to realize is that people will ditch the company, not just the game.)

Edited, May 24th 2011 9:57pm by Sirfailalot
/facenuke
# May 28 2011 at 11:47 AM Rating: Decent
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267 posts
Sirfailalot wrote:
(What they fail to realize is that people will ditch the company, not just the game.)

Edited, May 24th 2011 9:57pm by Sirfailalot


Very true. I started goign off wow right around the time starcraft 2 came out. hence I never bothered with starcraft 2 despite having played the first one (and all previous warcraft 7 diable games). Recent changes in wow annoyed me enough one after another until I finally quit when cat came out. And it's bliz I'm annoyed at. Not just wow developers.

As for the key - may as well get rid of keys all together and just let everyone open any door. That would be consistent with so many other changes in the game that seem to make everything available with minimal effort. Heck - levelling and gearing up has become such a joke - might as well just let everyone roll level 85s with entry level raid/heroic gear right from the start.
/facenuke
# May 28 2011 at 6:15 PM Rating: Good
24 posts
I really did love WoW until recently. I'm hoping the new Spriest I've got in Outland will convince me to stay. But with the recent rash of idiocy in their decisions I'm sure they will soon kill that plan too. The devs in general have lost their minds. The current stupidity actually has me playing FFXI lately. I used to curse quite loud every time I thought of that game.
Mind-bottling
# May 24 2011 at 8:59 AM Rating: Excellent
*****
12,049 posts
Quote:
Back when the largest bag was a mind bottling 18 slots

Smiley: lol

... did you say mind bottling?
... yeah, when things are crazy and it is like your mind is trapped in a bottle ...

-Blades of Glory
idiotic
# May 23 2011 at 10:58 PM Rating: Good
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1,882 posts
Blizzard just keeps rolling out with the amazing news this month... first premium in-game features now they are doing away with a very convenient feature... all in the name of progress...

I really wish I could be made hundreds of thousands of dollars a year to come up with idiotic decisions... these guys are in the same league as politicians.
I'm with you guys
# May 23 2011 at 8:25 PM Rating: Good
I'm with you guys.

How much space do they really take? Move the keys to a tab on the Character menu. Or the spells/professions/mounts/pets windows.

How much real estate does that little icon take up on the screen? It's so tiny I hardly even notice it's there.

Or just get rid of the keys altogether. The dungeon keys, they can make an achievement, and when you get it, you can always enter the instance. For skeleton keys & such, just have them stack to 500 or something.

If they want to start saving storage space, let the more common stuff stack more than 20 like cloths and bandages and food. Let it stack to 100. Maybe keep the max at 20 for the AH, but let them stack at 100 in the bags. An 80% storage savings.
I'm with you guys
# May 24 2011 at 2:04 PM Rating: Good
*****
19,369 posts
bgredsox wrote:

How much space do they really take? Move the keys to a tab on the Character menu. Or the spells/professions/mounts/pets windows.

How much real estate does that little icon take up on the screen? It's so tiny I hardly even notice it's there.

Or just get rid of the keys altogether. The dungeon keys, they can make an achievement, and when you get it, you can always enter the instance. For skeleton keys & such, just have them stack to 500 or something.

If they want to start saving storage space, let the more common stuff stack more than 20 like cloths and bandages and food. Let it stack to 100. Maybe keep the max at 20 for the AH, but let them stack at 100 in the bags. An 80% storage savings.



I think everyone is looking at this the wrong way. I don't think it's a real estate issue but a database one. By opening the database slots to other things there's more potential. If it is just a real estate issue then I agree it is stupid.
doesnt even make sense
# May 23 2011 at 7:01 PM Rating: Decent
currently if i wanted too, i could equip 4 engineering bags, with 32 slots each, and have all my keys in my keyring, so its a load of rubbish, this new change. saying it is needed to free up slots is obviously not true, this is a bad change.



Edited, May 23rd 2011 9:05pm by eqvalbarr
Laaaaaaame
# May 23 2011 at 2:47 PM Rating: Good
***
3,441 posts
Lame.

Just Lame.

Seems the BC Heroics Keys will stay, and suddenly be dumped in your bag, as well Blacksmith Skeleton Keys.

*rolls eyes*

I read a post by one dude on the PTR who has 19 keys in his bags now. Oi.

My blacksmith alt has like 12 stacks of Skeleton Keys so there goes a huge chunk of his bankspace... arrrgh.

Dumb move Blizz, just.... dumb move.
If its not...
# May 23 2011 at 11:59 AM Rating: Good
...broken don't fix it.
"not all keys are going"...which means more stuff I have to make room for in the bank. This is a step back not forward.
If its not...
# May 23 2011 at 1:15 PM Rating: Good
I am not happy about this. I spent a good deal of time and effort crafting myself all 26 slot bags. That was a lot of valuable dreamcloth. This makes me feel like Blizzard is stealing those extra slots I worked so hard for.
If its not...
# May 23 2011 at 12:33 PM Rating: Good
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57 posts
I agree..it is a step backward.
While I applaud the idea of getting rid of outdated keys, it still means all those keys which were nicely hidden now need to go in a bag or bank slot.
Of course, removing the keyring also introduces the potential for things going wrong...not that things will blow up, but, murphy has a way of showing up.
If its not...
# May 23 2011 at 11:05 PM Rating: Good
This could also introduce the very real possibility of keys being left in the bank while everyone is waiting at the instance. I think its a bad move unless they find another way to store them like in the tab screen like mounts and pets. What they also should be looking at is some form of storage for tabards in a similar way. They take up bank and bag space.
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