Warcraft III: Reign of Chaos was released all the way back in 2002, becoming a hit for players due to its multiplayer appeal and intense RTS gameplay, and now it has shown its longevity, as it's received its first ever public test realm (or PTR, for short).
The PTR is available for Windows and Mac, and aims to test changes to the map pools for 1v1, 2v2, 3v3, 4v4, and free for alls. This will work in a similar way to other Blizzard titles like Overwatch, which also has its own PTR, allowing developers to not only test changes but also get feedback as well, and it's not unusual that Warcraft III is getting patches either, as last year the game received one, despite its age.
For more on the changes, including the map pools, check out the official announcement, but we've included the patch notes for you down below. Are you still an avid player?
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
Known Issues
We are aware Warcraft III matchmaking is a bit long in the tusk; we will be improving matchmaker logic for a future patch
Automated Tournaments and Ladder Board are not functional for PTR
Latency was improved with 1.28, but still needs work to meet modern standards