Warcraft III first made its debut back in 2002 and the game has finally gotten its own Public Test Realm (PTR). The real-time strategy game let players traverse the war-torn world of Azeroth prior to the events seen in World of Warcraft and now, as seen in an official Blizzard post, the Public Test Realm will allow those very same players experience Reign of Chaos with updated map clarity, balance changes, item diversity, and more.

Here is what’s currently going on in PTR for Warcraft III, as per the original post:

General Improvements & Gameplay Objectives

• Balanced creep camp difficulty progression from early to late game
• Balanced creep drop tables for better item progression from early game to late game
• Item diversity: Varied Level 1 though 6 charged items and Level 1 through 6 permanent items
• Balanced all start locations: total amount and starting distance from lumber, equal amount of spacing, equal size choke points, et cetera
• Balanced expansion distance from start locations
• Decluttered points of interest to reduce visual competition during gameplay
• Retextured map surfaces for better visual clarity – both on screen and mini-map
• Minimized the size of trees and doodads that obstructed player view of points of interest
• Added cliff lines or deep water to edges of the map – removing hard edges (aesthetic choice for immersion)
• Properly placed trees and doodads on the pathing grid: full-cell Medium Grid to half-cell Medium Grid alternate
• Removed the rolling shoreline waves from rolling hills to remove the noise the waves created – remains for cliff shores

You can also see the new map pools seen in PTR right here. The team also acknowledges that there are a few issues reported so far, such as matchmaking time and Ladder Board issues, and assures fans that they are actively working to correct all known hiccups.

With StarCraft having received the remaster treatment, and job postings on the Blizzard site hinting a possible Warcraft III remaster, the future of Blizzard looks like its got a few treats for veterans of the gaming giant. What are your favourite Blizzard memories? Would you like to see a full-blown remaster of Warcraft III? Sound off with your thoughts in the comment section below, and don’t forget to check out DFTG on Twitter for gaming and entertainment news live 24/7!