The official World of Warcraft 5th year anniversary photo mosaic is now complete.  It took just under 3 months for them to gather enough photos in color range, to be able to make this complete mosaic.  It’s just under 23mb in compressed jpg format Continue reading »

In a surprising turn of events, it seems that Blizzard Authenticator users are now being targeted to have their accounts hacked.  Long thought to be the safest way to keep your account safe, Authenticators users are now the target of attacks.  The best thing to keep your account safe, is use a great anti-virus program if you want to know my recommendations, read “System Protection, Use it or Lose It“.  Should you be worried? Yes!

If you use anything but my recommendations, then you place your account at risk… but you still might be safe.  However you should immediately scan your system for a file called “emcor.dll”.  If you find it, delete it and then change your password immediately – don’t change your password before deleting it and emptying the recycle bin.

Quote from: Kropacius (Source) After looking into this, it has been escalated, but it is a Man in the Middle attack. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Man-in-the-middle_attack This is still perpetrated by key loggers, and no method is always 100% secure.

This is just a warning….

Today I received my first email spam/scam, where someone was attempting to get me to turn over my Aion account information.  Remember these things, to protect your account/investment. Continue reading »

Zygor claimed that they were doing something for their members, which was to release their guide in either the Tourguide or Zygor format.  Really, I think it was cutting the head off the snake, which is to say that they didn’t want anyone else to have an ingame interactive leveling guide.  For the most part, thats what it appears that they have done, as now other companies which sell leveling guides, based on tourguide can’t do it anymore.  This affects Joana, Spugnort, Brian Kopp (which is now owned by Spugnort), Dugi, and some others.  Continue reading »

We have switched to a new subscription program.  All previous members have access to the new system, just login using the “Member Login”, on the right side of this page.

When you use the new system to purchase a subscription, you will be sent an email with a link to setup your account, after purchase (to your PayPal email account).  This will then allow you to access the VIP content.  Continue reading »

So it seems that Star Trek Online is now open to the public to play.  I got a couple emails announcing the release today.  Here’s the Press Release…

STO AVAILABLE NOW

Greetings Captain!
Star Trek Online is available right now! It’s your chance to seek out new life and civilizations, and embark on a personal Star Trek journey.

You now have the opportunity to visit iconic locations from the popular Star Trek fiction, reach out to unexplored star systems, and make contact with new alien species. With Episode Missions, every moment spent playing Star Trek Online feels like a new Star Trek episode in which you are the star.

Immerse yourself in the future of the Trek universe as it moves into the 25th century.

It looks like this will cost $15 a month, since sub cards are right around $30.  Also, the game itself is about 4.8gb, or if you find a place to download it, about a 3.5 gb installer.

I haven’t really decided if I want to play this one, however my experience with MMO’s when they are first released is buggy as all heck.  It’s for this reason I won’t even consider playing for the first month.  Usually they release games in a beta state and fix the bugs over the next coming weeks.  Or in some cases, as was the case of Darkfall (worst release on the planet), there is a 3-5 hour queue.  I will probably try it after a few weeks, allowing time for bug fixes and server mitigation.

If you are looking for a place to get STO Software or Subscription Cards, I recommend Amazon.com.

A quick round up of what I have seen/heard at the forums

first a useful new option that some called the only good feature SoM has is the option under Chat to stop repeated letters in chat so no more WWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW or ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ

okay the game has been sanitized
the legacy stacking is gone and as I pointed out it was so easy to spot that the users got one week bans but if you got all your rad gear in one night doing SH in hard mode maybe that was good trade off for you…

the skirmish get to boss die and re-set him to get his usual 200 silver per kill is almost 100% nerfed with the addition of chests that spawn only once

the skirmish control point get more marks than intended trick has been nerfed

some classes were occasionally able to ID a legendary weapon and see more than 3 legacies, this was not working as intended and will be fixed in upcoming patch

The 25% exp bonus in skirmishes will be removed in an upcoming patch and trotted out on special weekends

the loot or the reason some people only do THIS skirmish is being addressed the skirmishes that are known to have good lieutenants to loot the loot will be decreased in an upcoming patch so there will be no reason to play THAT skirmish because players think it is a richer instance

http://forums.lotro.com/showthread.php?&postid=4373571#post4373571

quote

There’s a dev diary coming soon about the updates and changes to skirmishes with Book 1. The rewards balance is being adjusted and is in there, so I won’t spoil too much. But, we are increasing the rates that Lieutenants will become sparkly by a very noticeable amount. However, this change does not mean you will be getting more cash and marks out of the spaces. We’ve shifted down the payouts of the bosses to balance this appropriately so at the end you will have the same amount as before, just delivered differently. We always wanted skirmishes to incrementally reward you as you go, and I think with the control points and with skirmish marks we did a good job of this. We didn’t translate that well into the cash drops through the space, so this adjustment will help to take care of that. In addition to the fact that it’s just exciting to see Lieutenants become sparkly.

As a second note, we are adjusting the bonus rates of Skirmish Marks and other mark drops in group sizes and tiers, but I’m not going to go into detail about that here, I’ll leave that for the dev diary. But, to stave off the rampant speculation and pitchforks and torches, the solo tier 1 amount has not been dropped or nerfed to achieve the adjustments we’re making.

end of quote

the new free content book 3 has been announced but even though they have listed changing jewellery icons as a big thing to look forward to things that appear to NOT be coming are:

new land mass
first age 65’s
increased second age 65’s

face it folks you (and I) are not getting anything of value anymore as a “free” update come next oct/dec there will be new land mass and first agers added for a cost

there are some almost howling threads at the main forum like:

When do we get the new skills, traits, virtues and class quests advertised for SoM?

and another has a great quote where is my promised legendary that LEVELS with me?

on a personal note I play all 9 classes and supreme master/kindred guild rep all crafts, and got my ninth guy past the SoM intro so all my crafters have their vineyards recipes and 4/9 (4/8 actually) have their SoM recipes except my cook who wasn’t given any new recipes for that expansion (I do not count the crafted relics a proper cook recipe, they are hard to swallow)

that’s the latest fortnight (or so) look at lotro well guess time to find a good download spot for that STO beta key I got…..:) but those games aren’t really my cup of tea

Hey all, I wanted to let you know about a couple new features we have on this site.

We now have a way for you to submit new content, in order to get access to our VIP section.  The content will then be reposted into the blog and depending on the quality of the content provided, we will give you 1, 3, 6, or 12 months free VIP access to the entire blog.  The content should be new, that you, yourself wrote.  If we repost your content, then you will definitely WILL get access.

See comments for more…

Thanks to the help of the Are_PayPal plugin author, I was able to figure out where the problem was on users not being able to subscribe for access.  This has been fixed now, and new subscribers should be able gain access to both pay for access and to then get access to the posts they pay for.  Sorry for the inconvenience this may have caused.

Additionally, I have been told that there will be an interruption of my internet connection due to some street work.  I do expect my internet to be down for 3-7 days.  If you subscribe for access, you will have access to past posts, as well as future posts if you pay monthly.  Otherwise, you will have access to just the post you pay for.

[edit] Yay! So far the internet hasn’t gone down.  Hopefully they will keep this up, and not affect me.  Here’s hoping for the best!

May all our fortunes grow with this new year upon us.

May your enemies of be stamped out like the scourge that they are, their bones grinding beneath your feet.

Giveaway of the day, is giving away a screen capture tool, which can be used to capture video and recordings of games.  You can then use this to edit and make your very own videos to upload to YouTube and other places.  It’s actually a screen capture addition for your cam, to add more features to it.  I am highlighting it today, as it’s only good for another 15 hours, to download for free, and am sure that many users can find a use for this program.

ScreenCamera is a virtual camera for your desktop and a webcam multiplier. It turns any video/chat application into a screencast solution. It allows you to send video of any selected area on your screen, any selected application window, your entire desktop, or you can even choose to follow your mouse pointer as you move around the screen.If you have a webcam you can connect it through ScreenCamera and use it on multiple applications simultaneously. ScreenCamera works with Skype, UStream, Justin.tv, AIM, MSN Messenger, Yahoo! Messenger, PalTalk, CamFrog, Stickam… You name it.

Get it here – http://www.giveawayoftheday.com/screencamera/

Any other day, they charge $30 for this, so make sure you download and register this today.

EDIT: A lot of people have been having major issues with this patch, even following their advice, I have not been able to yet get in game.  Their servers have been glitchy for others, with people getting stuck.  Others like me can’t get past the patch.  For some of you, it might be the patch is bad you can also get it from here.

3.3 is releasing today to live servers!  Below are the latest patch notes available at the time of this post!  Enjoy!

General

• Icecrown Citadel
  • All three wings of the 5-player dungeon are currently available for testing.
  • Select encounters in the 10- and 25-player raid dungeon are available for limited testing.
  • Additional Icecrown Citadel raid content will be made available in future test builds. For more information and testing schedules please visit our Test Realm forum: http://forums.worldofwarcraft.com/board.html?forumId=11572&sid=1
• Quel’Delar Quest Chain: The Battered Hilt, the item needed to start this quest line, can now be purchased from all glyph vendors on the public test realms.
• Character Creation: The descriptions for races, classes, and race/class combinations have been improved to provide new players with a better idea of the roles and advantages of each class and race.
• Dazed: Creatures attacking a player from behind can no longer cause players level 1-5 to be dazed, and have a reduced chance to cause players level 6-10 to be dazed.
• Knockbacks no longer dismount players. If on a flying mount, you will be knocked back a short distance before being able to resume flying.
• The existing /welcome emote now greets/welcomes targets (character says “hello”), while the new /yw is for saying “you’re welcome.”
• Many of the tail sweeps with knockback effects will no longer hit players’ pets.
• Level 1 characters no longer start with food or water in their inventory.
• Attack is now called Auto Attack. The tooltip has been changed to reflect that the player will continue automatically attacking a target.
• Meeting Stones: To use any Meeting Stone, it is only required that the character’s minimum level be 15. There is no maximum character level requirement for any Meeting Stone.
• Copied Test Realm characters will no longer be copied with their achievement history in order to better facilitate the character copy process.

Classes: General

• Area-of-Effect Damage Caps: We’ve redesigned the way area damage is capped when hitting many targets. Instead of a hard cap on total damage done, the game now caps the total damage done at a value equal to the damage the spell would do if it hit 10 targets. In other words, if a spell does 1000 damage to each target, it would hit up to 10 targets for 1000 each, but with more than 10 targets, each target would take 1000 damage divided by the number of targets. 20 targets would be hit for 500 damage each in that example.
• Attack: Level 1 druids, mages, priests, and warlocks will no longer start with the Attack button placed on their action bars by default.
• Default Equipment: Starting weapons are now more uniform. Rogues now start with a pair of daggers equipped. All other classes except shamans start with a 2-handed weapon equipped and the required skill already known. Shamans start with a 1-handed weapon and a shield, as they benefit more from the shield than they would from a 2-handed weapon.
• Glancing Blows: The mage, warlock, and priest classes no longer have an increased chance for their melee attacks to be glancing blows; and the damage penalty due to their glancing blows is the same as for other classes.
• Health and Mana Regeneration: These regeneration rates have been increased by up to 200% for low level characters. As a player’s level increases, the regeneration rates gradually reduce, returning to normal rates at level 15.
• Pet Resilience: All player pets now get 100% of their master’s resilience.
• Spell Mana Costs: These costs have been reduced for almost all lower level spell ranks. In general, if a spell decreased in cost with a higher level rank in patch 3.2.0, that spell now has the decreased cost at all ranks. In addition, spells learned before level 20 with reduced cast times and/or durations have even further reduced mana costs, proportionate to their reduction in cast time or damage.
• Taunt Diminishing Returns: We’ve revised the system for diminishing returns on Taunt so that creatures do not become immune to Taunt until after 5 Taunts have landed. The duration of the Taunt effect will be reduced by 35% instead of 50% for each taunt landed. In addition, most creatures in the world will not be affected by Taunt diminishing returns at all. Creatures will only have Taunt diminishing returns if they have been specifically flagged for that behavior based on the design of a given encounter.

Races: General

• Orc and troll shamans now have their own unique totem art.
• Racial Attribute Bonuses: These bonuses have been recalibrated to even out the amount of starting health on the various races. All races start with a standardized level of stamina, except for orcs, dwarves, and tauren who now start with 1 extra point of stamina. For each class, bonuses and penalties to all attributes have been adjusted so that each race has an equal attribute total.
• Will of the Forsaken now shares a 45-second cooldown with similar effects, including the Medallion of the Horde, Titan-Forged runes, Insignia of the Horde, etc.

PvP

• Arenas
  • All abilities that have base cooldowns of 10 minutes or longer cannot be used in Arenas, down from 15 minutes.
• Battlegrounds
  • Battleground Experience: Battleground experience gained is now based on the level of the player gaining experience, rather than the highest possible player level in that Battleground.
  • All level 71-80 Battleground daily quests will now award 25 Arena points in addition to their current rewards.
• Wintergrasp
  • You must now have the following ranks to build or pilot siege vehicles:
    • Rank 2: Build/pilot Catapults.
    • Rank 3: Build/pilot Demolishers.
    • Rank 3: Build/pilot Siege Engines.

Dungeons & Raids

• Naxxramas
  • Players no longer need to kill the final bosses in all four wings of this dungeon in order to teleport to Sapphiron. Teleportation orbs have been added to allow players access back and forth from Sapphiron’s lair.
• Oculus
  • Azure Ring Guardians agro distance changed from 50 to 40 yards.
  • Many bosses and creatures have had their total health reduced.
  • Several bosses and creatures have had cooldowns on specific abilities increased, effect durations reduced, and damage on some of these abilities reduced.
  • Ring-Lord Conjurers and Sorceresses now hang out in packs of 4 instead of packs of 5.
  • Vehicle scaling on the drakes based on the rider’s item level has been increased to make them more powerful.

Death Knights

• Army of the Dead: The cooldown on this ability has been reduced from 20 minutes to 10 minutes. Army Ghoul damage dropped by 50%. Cannot be used in Arenas.
• Raise Ally: The cooldown on this ability has been reduced from 15 minutes to 10 minutes. Cannot be used in Arenas.
• Rune of the Stoneskin Gargoyle: There is now a 1-handed version of this rune in addition to the current 2-handed rune.
• Rune Strike: Threat generated by this ability increased by approximately 17%.
• Talents
  • Unholy
    • Night of the Dead: Now reduces the damage your pet takes from area-of-effect damage by 45/90%, but no longer applies to area-of-effect damage caused by other players. In addition, this talent now reduces the cooldown of Army of the Dead by 2/4 minutes, down from 5/10 minutes.
    • Scourge Strike: Redesigned. The base ability now deals 50% weapon damage plus an additional amount as physical damage. However, for each disease the death knight has on the target, the target will take additional shadow damage equal to 25% of the physical damage done.
    • Unholy Blight: This talent now deals only 10% of Death Coil damage as a damage-over-time effect on the target.

Druids

• Prowl: This ability no longer has multiple ranks and penalizes movement speed by 30%.
• Rebirth: The cooldown on this spell has been lowered from 20 minutes down to 10 minutes. Cannot be used in Arenas.
• Rejuvenation: The base duration on all ranks of this spell is now 15 seconds.
• Tranquility: The cooldown on this spell has been reduced to 8 minutes, down from 10 minutes.
• Talents
  • Balance
    • Force of Nature: Health on the treants has been increased.
  • Feral Combat
    • Predatory Strikes: The Predatory Swiftness buff from this talent now has an 8-second duration.
  • Restoration
    • Gift of the Earthmother: Redesigned. This talent now increases spell haste by 2/4/6/8/10% and reduces the base global cooldown of Lifebloom by 2/4/6/8/10% instead of its previous effects.
• Pets
  • Avoidance (passive): Now reduces the damage your pets take from area-of-effect damage by 90%, but no longer applies to area-of-effect damage caused by other players.

Hunters

• Call Stabled Pet: Cooldown reduced from 30 minutes to 5 minutes. Cannot be used in Arenas.
• Deterrence: Now also increases the chance for ranged attacks to miss the hunter by 100% while under its effect.
• Misdirection: Redesigned. Instead of having finite charges, it now begins a 4-second timer when the hunter using Misdirection performs a threat-generating attack, during which all threat generated by the hunter goes to the friendly target. In addition, multiple hunters can now misdirect threat to the same friendly target simultaneously.
• Talents
  • Beast Mastery
    • Intimidation: If the hunter’s pet is in melee range of its target, the stun from Intimidation will now be applied immediately instead of on the pet’s next swing or attack.
• Pets
  • Avoidance: This talent has been replaced by Culling the Herd. Hunter pets now innately take 90% less damage from area-of-effect abilities like all other class pets. This does not apply to area-of-effect damage caused by other players.
  • Cower: Redesigned. This ability no longer affects threat, and instead reduces damage taken by the pet by 40% for 6 seconds with a 45-second cooldown. While cowering, the pet’s movement speed is 50% of normal speed. Cower now only has a single rank and is available at pet level 20.
  • Culling the Herd: This pet talent has replaced the Avoidance talent in the pet trees (Hunter pets now gain that benefit automatically without expenditure of talent points). Culling the Herd increases pet and hunter damage by 1/2/3% for 10 seconds each time the pet deals a critical strike with Claw, Bite, or Smack.
  • Demoralizing Screech: The attack power reduction from this ability has been increased by 40%, equaling the maximum possible attack power reduction from the abilities of other classes.
  • Improved Cower: Redesigned. This ability now reduces the movement penalty of Cower by 50%/100%.
  • Pet Leveling: Hunter pets now need only 5% of the experience a player needs to level, down from 10%.
  • Venom Web Spray: Range increased from 20 yards to 30 yards.
  • Web: Range increased from 20 yards to 30 yards.
  • Wolverine Bite: This talent is now enabled when the pet lands a critical strike rather than from the target dodging the pet’s attacks. In addition, this talent no longer has a prerequisite.

Mages

• Talents
  • Arcane
    • Arcane Empowerment: This talent now also grants 1/2/3% increased damage done by the mage’s party or raid for 10 seconds after the mage gets a critical strike with Arcane Explosion, Arcane Missiles, Arcane Barrage, or Arcane Blast. This effect is exclusive with Ferocious Inspiration and Sanctified Retribution.
  • Fire
    • Blast Wave: The mana cost of this talent has been significantly reduced.
    • Burning Determination: The duration of interrupt immunity granted by this talent is now 20 seconds.
    • Dragon’s Breath: The mana cost of this talent has been significantly reduced.
    • Firestarter: When this talent is triggered, it makes the next Flamestrike cost no mana in addition to being instant.
    • Improved Scorch: The debuff from this talent no longer stacks, and instead can apply the full effect from a single cast of Scorch.
  • Frost
    • Deep Freeze: This spell now deals a large amount of damage to targets permanently immune to stuns. In addition, when this ability deals damage it will no longer consume two charges of Fingers of Frost for those mages with the Shatter talent.
    • Fingers of Frost: This talent now triggers immediately on casting a spell rather than being delayed until the spell strikes the target.
    • Frozen Core: This talent now also causes Ice Lance critical strikes to reduce the cast time of the mage’s next Frostbolt or Frostfire Bolt by 0.4/0.7/1 seconds.
• Pets
  • Avoidance (passive): Now reduces the damage your pets take from area-of-effect damage by 90%, but no longer applies to area-of-effect damage caused by other players.
  • Mirror Image: Health on the mirror images has been increased.
  • Water Elemental: Waterbolt mana cost reduced by 80%.

Paladins

• Divine Intervention: This ability now also removes Exhaustion and Sated from the target. In addition, the cooldown on this ability has been reduced from 20 minutes to 10 minutes. Cannot be used in Arenas.
• Flash of Light: This spell no longer causes a heal-over-time effect unless the player has the Infusion of Light talent.
• Lay on Hands: This ability will place Forbearance on the paladin if used on his or herself. It will not place Forbearance on others.
• Talents
  • Holy
    • Infusion of Light: This talent now causes the paladin’s Flash of Light spells to heal the target for 50/100% of the Flash of Light healing amount over 12 seconds.
  • Protection
    • Aura Mastery: This effect of this talent has been reduced in duration to 6 seconds.
    • Divine Guardian: This talent no longer increases the amount of damage transferred to the paladin from Divine Sacrifice. Instead it causes all raid and party members to take 10/20% reduced damage while Divine Sacrifice is active. In addition, the duration has been changed to 6 seconds, however the effect does not terminate when Divine Sacrifice is removed before its full duration.
    • Divine Sacrifice: Redesigned. The effect of Divine Sacrifice is now party-only and the maximum damage which can be transferred is now limited to 40% of the paladin’s health multiplied by the number of party members. In addition, the bug which allowed Divine Sacrifice to sometimes persist despite reaching its maximum damage has been fixed. Divine Sacrifice will now cancel as soon as its maximum damage value is exceeded in all cases. Finally, Damage which reduces the paladin’s health below 20% now cancels the effect early.
  • Retribution
    • Repentance: This crowd control effect will no longer break early from the damage done by Righteous Vengeance.

Priests

• Divine Hymn: The cooldown on this spell has been reduced to 8 minutes, down from 10 minutes.
• Power Word: Shield: This spell can now be cast on non-raid/party friendly targets.
• Talents
  • Shadow
    • Improved Devouring Plague: This spell now deals 10/20/30% of its total periodic effect instantly, up from 5/10/15%.
    • Mind Flay: The range of this ability has been increased to 30 yards, up from 20.
    • Shadowform: This talent also now causes Devouring Plague, Shadow Word: Pain, and Vampiric Touch to benefit from haste. Both the period length and the duration of these spells will be reduced by haste. In addition, the mana cost has been reduced from 32% to 13% of base mana.
    • Vampiric Embrace: This ability is now provides a 30-minute buff that cannot be dispelled, instead of a target debuff and only generates healing for single-target shadow damage spells.
• Pet
  • Avoidance (passive): Now reduces the damage your pet takes from area-of-effect damage by 90%, but no longer applies to area-of-effect damage caused by other players.

Rogues

• Dual Wield: Rogues now know this ability upon logging into the game at level 1.
• Stealth: This ability no longer has multiple ranks. While active, the single rank of this ability (available at level 1) allows rogues to move at 70% movement speed.
• Talents
  • Assassination
    • Murder: This talent now provides a flat damage increase of 2/4% against all targets, instead of only targets which do not appear in Icecrown.
  • Subtlety
    • Preparation: The cooldown on this ability has been reduced to 8 minutes, down from 10 minutes.
    • Filthy Tricks: The cooldown reduction this talent provides for Preparation has been reduced to 1.5/3 minutes, down from 2.5/5 minutes.

Shamans

• Earth Elemental Totem: The cooldown for this totem has been reduced from 20 minutes to 10 minutes. Cannot be used in Arenas.
• Fire Elemental Totem: The cooldown for this totem has been reduced from 20 minutes to 10 minutes. Cannot be used in Arenas.
• Fire Nova Totem: This totem has been replaced with a new spell, Fire Nova, which is available at the same ranks as the old Fire Nova Totem. Existing characters will automatically learn this new spell in place of the totem. With a Fire Totem active, shamans will be able to use Fire Nova (fire magic) to emit the same area-of-effect damage as the old Fire Nova Totem from the active Fire Totem, not consuming the totem in the process. Fire Nova will activate a 1.5-second global cooldown when used and has a 10-second spell cooldown. The caster must be within 30 yards of the totem to use this ability, but does not need to be within line of sight of the totem.
• Reincarnation: The cooldown on this spell has been lowered from 60 minutes down to 30 minutes.
• Talents
  • Elemental Combat
    • Improved Fire Nova Totem: Renamed Improved Fire Nova. This talent now provides an additional 10/20% damage to the spell and reduces the cooldown by 2/4 seconds.
  • Enhancement
    • Earth’s Grasp: This talent now also reduces the cooldown of the Stoneclaw and Earthbind totems by 15/30%.
  • Restoration
    • Improved Reincarnation: This talent now reduces the cooldown of Reincarnation by 7/15 minutes, down from 10/20 minutes. Reincarnation cannot be used in Arenas.

Warlocks

• Create Soulstone: The cooldown on this spell and duration of its buff have been lowered from 30 minutes down to 15 minutes. Cannot be used in Arenas.
• Talents
  • Affliction
    • Improved Felhunter: This talent now also reduces the cooldown on the felhunter’s Shadow Bite ability by 2/4 seconds.
    • Shadow Mastery: This talent now also increases the damage done by the felhunter’s Shadow Bite ability by 3/6/9/12/15%.
  • Demonology
    • Decimation: Redesigned. When Shadowbolt, Incinerate or Soul Fire hit a target that is at or below 35% health, the cast time of Soul Fire is reduced by 20/40% for 8 seconds. Soul Fires cast under the effect of Decimation cost no shards.
    • Demonic Pact: This talent now also increases the warlock’s spell damage by 1/2/3/4/5%.
    • Molten Core: Redesigned. This talent now increases the duration of Immolate by 3/6/9 seconds and provides a 4/8/12% chance to gain the Molten Core effect when Corruption deals damage. The Molten Core effect empowers the next 3 Incinerate or Soul Fire spells cast within 15 seconds (Incinerate: increases damage done by 6/12/18% and reduces cast time by 10/20/30%; Soul Fire: increases damage done by 6/12/18% and increases critical strike chance by 5/10/15%). Molten Core now has a new spell effect.
  • Destruction
    • Conflagrate: Redesigned. This talent now consumes an Immolate or Shadowflame effect on the enemy target to instantly deal damage equal to 9 seconds of Immolate or 8 seconds of Shadowflame, and causes additional damage over 3 seconds equal to 3 seconds of Immolate or 2 seconds of Shadowflame. In addition, the periodic damage of Conflagrate is capable of critically striking the afflicted target.
    • Ruin: This talent now also increases the critical strike damage bonus of the imp’s Firebolt spell by 100%.
• Pets
  • Avoidance (passive): Now reduces the damage your pets take from area-of-effect damage by 90%, but no longer applies to area-of-effect damage caused by other players.
  • Doomguard/Infernal: These pets now innately have Avoidance like all other warlock pets.
  • Inferno: The cooldown on this summoning spell has been reduced from 20 minutes to 10 minutes. Cannot be used in Arenas.
  • Shadow Bite: This pet ability now does 15% increased damage for each of the warlock’s damage-over-time effects on the target.
  • Summon Imp: This ability is now available from the trainer for level 1 warlocks and no longer requires a quest to learn.

Warriors

• Victory Rush: This ability is now trainable at level 6.
• Talents
  • Protection
    • Damage Shield: This ability will no longer trigger any chance-on-hit effects from the warrior or the opponent it damages.

User Interface

• Many of the default Interface Options settings have been changed for greater ease of use by new players. Existing players who create new characters may want to review the Interface Options in the event that the default settings feel different.
• Quest Tracking Feature
  • Players can now track quest objectives on the map (‘M’ key).
  • Quest Log
    • A Show Map button has been added to the Quest Log. Selecting a quest and pressing this button will open the map for the zone in which the quest objective is located displaying the associated area of interest. Any other active quests in a player’s Quest Log for that zone will also be displayed.
  • Map
    • The map interface has been separated into four separate panes: a map pane (left), a pane listing active quest names for the zone being viewed (right), a pane listing the full quest text for any highlighted quest (bottom left), and a pane listing the quest rewards for any highlighted quest (bottom right).
    • All active quests listed in the right pane for the zone being viewed on the map will be assigned a number. These numbers will be displayed on the map according to the areas of interest for each quest.
    • Highlighting a quest name in the right pane will highlight the corresponding area of interest on the map in the left pane, show its quest text in the lower left pane, and list the quest rewards in the lower right pane.
    • Given that some quest objectives can be achieved in multiple locations within a given zone, highlighting such a quest will highlight an area of interest closest in proximity to the character’s current location.
    • This feature can be disabled by un-checking the Show Quest Objectives box in the bottom right corner of the new map interface, restoring the map to its standard full-screen display.
    • Clicking on the arrow in the top right corner of the new map interface will hide all but the map pane, bringing the map out of full-screen mode and allowing players to leave it open while navigating a zone or engaging in combat.
  • Objectives Tracking
    • This frame has been improved to offer new functionality and can be used with the new shrunken map option.
    • The Objectives frame is now docked below the mini-map next to the right 2 action bars and will track up to 10 quests for a zone.
    • Numbers have been added next to each quest name and objective corresponding with those areas of interest displayed on the map.
    • If a quest objective has been completed, the number will be replaced with a yellow question mark symbol.
    • The arrow button in the top right corner of the Objectives frame can be used to toggle between minimizing and maximizing the quest objective display.
  • Quest Difficulty Tracking
    • This feature is off by default and can be enabled in the Objectives window from the Interface Options menu. Turning this feature on will color-code all quest names displayed in the map interface according to difficulty (grey, green, yellow, orange, and red).
• Dungeon System
  • This feature has replaced the Looking For Group tool and provides all-new dungeon party creation functionality.
    • Players can join as individuals, as a full group, or a partial group to look for additional party members.
    • Groups using this tool will be able to teleport directly to the selected instance. Upon leaving the instance, players will be returned to their original location. If any party member needs to temporarily leave the instance for reagents or repairs, they will have the option to teleport back to the instance.
    • Players can choose the Random Dungeon option.
      • The Heroic Wrath of the Lich King Daily Random Dungeon option will award two Emblems of Frost no more than once a day.
      • The normal Wrath of the Lich King Daily Random Dungeon option will award two Emblems of Triumph no more than once a day.
      • Continuing to complete Wrath of the Lich King Heroic instances using the Daily Random Dungeon option will award players two additional Emblems of Triumph each time.
      • Daily Heroic and normal dungeon quests have been removed. These quests have been replaced with weekly raid quests (see the “Quests” section for details).
      • Level-appropriate rewards will be offered to players who choose the Random Dungeon option for pre-Wrath of the Lich King dungeons.
      • Players can be placed in a group for a random dungeon no more than once every 15 minutes.
      • Random Dungeon rewards will be placed in each player’s inventory automatically upon completion of the dungeon (final boss killed). A pop-up notification will display any rewards earned through the Dungeon System.
    • Instead of choosing a random dungeon, players can also choose specific dungeons appropriate for their level range. Multiple instances can be selected at one time. The feature no longer limits the choice to look for only 3 dungeon groups at one time.
    • Pick-Up Groups
      • Cross-realm instances are now available and use an improved matchmaking system to assist players in looking for additional party members. As with Battlegrounds, the realms in each Battlegroup are connected.
      • As part of the matchmaking system, some of the more difficult dungeons will have a minimum gear requirement. Players also need to meet the requirements for dungeons that require attunement, such as keys or quests. If a player does not meet the requirements for a particular dungeon, a lock icon will be displayed next to that dungeon. Hovering over this icon will display the requirements which have not been met.
      • Only conjured items and loot dropped in a dungeon for which other party members are eligible can be traded between players from different realms.
      • A Vote Kick feature will be available in the event a member of a party is not performing to the expectations of the other members.
      • Players who leave the group prematurely are subject to a Deserter debuff preventing them from using the Dungeon System tool for 15 minutes.
      • If an existing group loses a member, the leader will be asked if he or she wants to continue the dungeon. Choosing to continue will automatically place the group back into the Dungeon System queue.
      • A Player will not be placed in a group with people on his or her Ignore list.
      • Players who take part in groups who have one or more members who have been matched with them randomly from within the Dungeon System will receive extra rewards, up to and including the coveted Perky Pug non-combat pet. The more random players with whom one groups, the faster the pet can be obtained.
      • The Need Before Greed loot system will be the unalterable default looting system for pick-up groups in the Dungeon System and has been updated.
        • Need Before Greed will now recognize gear appropriate for a class in three ways: the class must be able to equip the item, pure melee will be unable to roll on spell power items, and classes are limited to their dominant armor type (ex. paladins for plate). All items will still be available via Greed rolls as well as the new Disenchant option should no member be able to use the item.
        • Players will be able to roll on items with a required minimum level higher than a player’s current level.
• Looking For Raid
  • There is a new Looking For Raid option available to players that can be accessed via the Raid Information screen in the interface or by typing “/LFR.”
    • Players will be able to browse the system manually for any other players looking for a raid dungeon group.
    • While browsing LFR players may sort the list ascending or descending by left-clicking the following headers: Name, Level, Class, Tank Role, Healer Role, and Damage Role. The crown is the Leader Role (representing a raid group with 2 or more people). Players can left-click on this header to sort the list with groups at the top or at the bottom.
    • Hovering over players listed in LFR will display their name, class, level, roles and comments. Hovering over a raid/group will display the leader’s name, the raid information (number of people in the raid), comments, if there are any bosses dead (and which ones), and if there are any friends from your Friends list or ignored players from your Ignore list in the raid group.
• The Looking For Group chat channel has returned and can be accessed in all major cities (similar to the Trade chat channel) without the use of the Dungeon system interface.
• Players may only be queued or listed in one of the following systems at a time: Dungeons, LFR, Battlegrounds, or Arenas.
• Ignore List: The amount of characters a person can ignore has been increased to 50. In addition, players on other realms can be placed on the Ignore list.
• Buffs and Debuffs: This is a new section added to Interface Options.
  • New option – Castable Debuffs: Enabling this will cause only debuffs you have cast on an enemy target to appear.
  • New option – Consolidate Buffs: Enabling this adds a buff consolidation box near the mini-map. Very short term buffs (e.g. Replenishment) and very long term buffs (e.g. Prayer of Fortitude) are filtered into the buff box. The icons are stacked here, but they can still be seen by moving the mouse cursor over the buff box. Long term buffs will move out of the box when they are about to expire. Buffs such as important procs (e.g. Art of War, Maelstrom Weapon), cooldowns (e.g. Bloodlust / Heroism, Combustion) or limited in range (e.g. totems and paladin auras) are always displayed.
• Tutorial System: The tutorial pop-ups are now larger, contain images, and better try to direct players to the relevant locations or user interface elements on the screen. In addition, several new tips have been added, while some existing tips will now appear at more appropriate times for new players.
• Dungeon & Raid Difficult Display: A group’s dungeon or raid difficulty setting will now be displayed via an icon off of the mini-map.
• Group Disenchanting Option: In addition to rolling Need or Greed on items, players now have the option to elect for an item to be disenchanted if an enchanter of the appropriate skill level is in the group. Disenchant works exactly like Greed except if a player wins the Greed roll, they will receive the disenchanted materials instead. Players who choose Need will always win the item and will always beat those that choose Greed or Disenchant.
• Lag Reports: Players can now report high latency or lag by accessing the Help Request menu.
• Unit Nameplates
  • The range at which players can see unit nameplates has been increased by 40 yards.
  • Unit nameplates are now subject to line-of-sight limitations in certain situations (this does not pertain to objects like Arena pillars or bridges).
  • Players can now adjust select unit nameplate display settings listed below under Interface Options via the Names tab.
    • Friendly/enemy pet nameplates can be toggled.
    • Enemy totem nameplates can be toggled (friendly totem nameplates are never displayed).
    • Players can choose whether or not unit nameplates overlap.
  • Unit nameplates for critters are never displayed.
• Non spell-based tracking now persists through logout.
• Any party member may mark targets (this does not apply to raid groups).
• Players will be warned when their talents are reset due to a new patch.
• “/Settitle” command has been added.
• Instant quest text is on by default.
• Tentative status added for calendar responses.
• Players below level 10 may not join raids.
• Ignore list expanded to 50 to match the friends list.
• Unit frames added for special encounters.
• Interface element added next to the mini-map to show what dungeon you are in (ex: 10- and 25-player Heroic dungeons marked with a skull).
• Experience earned for a quest will display in the Quest Rewards section.
• Confirmation box added when buying stable slots.
• Macro Changes
  • Symbol “@” added as a synonym for “target=”;. For example, “/cast [@focus] Flash Heal”.
  • New macro conditionals: “vehicleui” (if the player has a vehicle UI) and “unithasvehicleui” (if the target of the macro has a vehicle UI).
• Addon Author Changes
  • “registerForClicks” added to xml buttons.
  • “MouseIsOver” has been converted to a “C” function for increased efficiency (e.g. /dump PlayerFrame:IsMouseOver() ).
  • When an addon file is loaded, the addon name and an addon table are passed to the file through ‘…’. The same addon table is passed to every file loaded by a particular TOC file (example at the top of a Lua file: “local addonName, addonTable = …;”.
  • “motionScriptsWhileDisabled” attribute added to buttons. This allows “OnEnter”; and “OnLeave”; to fire while the button is disabled.
  • “GetFileHeight()” and “GetFileWidth()” added to Texture objects. 0 is returned if no texture file is associated with the texture.
  • You can now query for a list of completed quests with “QueryQuestsCompleted()” then wait for the “QUEST_QUERY_COMPLETE” event, and call “GetQuestsCompleted(<luatable>)”.
• For additional notes on Lua and XML changes please visit the UI & Macros Forum: http://forums.worldofwarcraft.com/board.html?sid=1&amp;forumId=11114

Graphics

• A new feature has been added to the D3D graphics engine to improve texture management (particularly for Windows XP users). This is currently enabled by default on the public test realms. For more information please visit our Test Realm forum: http://forums.worldofwarcraft.com/board.html?forumId=11572&sid=1

Professions

• Enchanting
  • Enchant Weapon – Black Magic: This enchantment now sometimes increases haste rating for the caster rather than inflicting the caster’s target with a damage-over-time effect. It is also now triggered by landing any harmful spell rather than inflicting damage with a spell.Enchant Weapon – Unholy: This enchantment now inflicts Shadow damage in addition to its original effect.
• First Aid
  • The training costs for most bandages have been reduced.
• Fishing
  • The all-new Kalu’ak Fishing Derby, a test of fishing skill with a healthy dash of luck, has come to Northrend! Every Wednesday beginning at 8 PM players can try to catch the elusive Blacktip Shark. Elder Clearwater sits in Dalaran for one hour awaiting the return of the quickest, most experienced fisher to bring him this shark. This champion fisher will be rewarded in-kind for returning with the first catch. Those who aren’t able to return with the first catch will still receive just reward for getting the Blacktip Shark to Elder Clearwater before he takes his leave. It is said that these sharks’ favorite meal are the bite-sized Pygmy Suckerfish. Perhaps a hook in their waters will do the trick.
• Mining
  • Enchanted Thorium: This ability now uses the Mining skill and is learned from trainers at a skill level of 250.

Quests

• Weekly raid quests are now available from Archmage Lan’dalock in Dalaran. Every Tuesday at 3 AM the Council of Six will choose a different strategic target that must die from either: The Obsidian Sanctum, Naxxramas, The Eye of Eternity, Ulduar, Trial of the Crusader, or Icecrown Citadel.
• For the various Icecrown Bomber quests at Aldur’thar: The Desolation Gate, players can now choose to eject from their bomber seats mid-run. If you do so, a rescue vehicle will transport your character back to the safety of your infra-green platform.
• Azure Drakes and Dragons will now attack back when attacked by characters not riding Wyrmrest Defenders.
• Brittle Revenants, quest creatures fought for the Sons of Hodir daily quest “Hot and Cold,” no longer cast Shield Slam.

Achievements

• The Achievements to get exalted with the Warsong Gulch, Arathi Basin, and Alterac Valley factions have been removed from their respective “Master of” Meta-Achievements. Special titles will be offered to those who reach exalted with these factions.
• “The Party’s Over” has been removed from Achievements and is no longer a part of the “Glory of the Hero” Meta-Achievement.
• “Master Angler of Stranglethorn” has been changed to “Master Angler of Azeroth” and can be achieved by winning either the Kalu’ak Fishing Derby or the Stranglethorn Fishing Extravaganza.

Reputation

• Commendation Badges which award reputation with various Wrath of the Lich King factions can be purchased with Emblems of Triumph in Dalaran.
• Gaining reputation with the Ashen Verdict in Icecrown Citadel will grant players access to upgradeable rings from Ormus the Penitent. Players can switch between the type of ring (melee/caster/tank/healer) at any point in the upgrade path for 200g.
• The following reputations have been sped up by roughly 30%:
  • Argent Crusade
  • Alliance Vanguard
  • Horde Expedition
  • Kirin Tor
  • Knights of the Ebon Blade
  • Sons of Hodir
  • Wyrmrest Accord
• Sons of Hodir quests now give more reputation overall.
• Top-level helm and shoulder faction-related enchants are now available as Bind-on-Account items that do not require any faction to use once purchased (they still require the appropriate faction level to purchase).
• Reputation commendations can now be purchased for 1 Emblem of Triumph each.

Items

• Arena Set Bonuses: The two-piece set bonus for all Wrath of the Lich King Arena sets now provides 100 resilience and 29 spell power or 50 attack power. The current four-piece bonus will remain, however it also now provides 88 spell power or 150 attack power.
• Death Knight Tier-9 4-Piece Bonus (Damage-Dealing): This set bonus no longer grants Frost Fever a chance to be a critical strike. It still grants that possibility to Blood Plague.
• Glyphs
  • Death Knights
    • Glyph of Icy Touch: Instead of granting additional runic power, this glyph now causes Frost Fever to deal 20% additional damage.
  • Druids
    • Glyph of Rapid Rejuvenation: This glyph allows for the druid’s haste to reduce the time between the periodic healing effects of Rejuvenation.
  • Mages
    • Glyph of Improved Scorch: Renamed Glyph of Scorch. This glyph now increases the damage of Scorch by 20%.
    • Glyph of Eternal Water: This glyph allows for a summoned Water Elemental to last indefinitely, but it can no longer cast Freeze.
  • Priests
    • Glyph of Mind Flay: This glyph now increases the damage done by Mind Flay by 10% when the target is afflicted with Shadow Word: Pain.
    • Glyph of Shadow Word: Pain: The periodic damage ticks of Shadow Word: Pain now restore 1% of the priest’s base mana with this glyph.
    • Glyph of Shadow: While in Shadowform, this glyph causes non-periodic spell critical strikes to increase spell power by 30%, up from 10%, of the priest’s total spirit for 10 seconds.
  • Shamans
    • Glyph of Fire Nova Totem: Renamed Glyph of Fire Nova. This glyph now reduces the cooldown of Fire Nova by 3 seconds.
  • Warlocks
    • Glyph of Life Tap: The effect of this glyph now has a chance of activating when Dark Pact is used.
    • Glyph of Quick Decay: This glyph allows for the warlock’s haste to reduce the time between periodic damage effects of Corruption.
  • Warriors
    • Glyph of Victory Rush: This glyph now increases the critical strike chance of Victory Rush by 30%, regardless of the percentage of the target’s remaining health.
• Haris Pilton now sells a new 24-slot bag! She has stubbornly decided to remain in Shattrath City, so those interested should seek her out there.
• Hatchlings: Leaping, Darting, Razormaw, and Ravasaur Hatchlings no longer drop from their associated rare creatures. Instead, there are now rare nests that spawn which contain these hatchlings. For example, the Leaping Hatchling can now be found in Takk’s Nest rather than as a drop from Takk the Leaper.
• Sceptor of Celebras: Since this item is no longer needed as a key, Celebras will no longer give one out to a player who loses it. The item can now be sold or disenchanted as normal.
• Shaman Tier-9 4-Piece Set Bonus (Elemental): This set bonus now places a damage-over-time effect on the target when Lava Burst deals damage instead of increasing the size of the Lava Burst.

Bug Fixes

• Items
  • Ancient Pickled Egg: This item can no longer be triggered by Life Tap.
  • Brutal Hauberk: The tooltip on this item no longer references granting energy (as energy-based classes cannot equip it).
  • Costumes: Various costumes from holidays, items, and quests that previously were cancelled by getting on a mount will now cause an error message when the player attempts to mount instead of cancelling the costume.
  • Carapace of the Old God: Now tradable using the Bind-on-Pickup trade system.
  • Crystalforged Trinket: Can now be refunded at its vendor.
  • Dragonslayer Set: No longer displays a duration on the Nature’s Ally buff.
  • Drums of the Forgotten Kings: The buff from this item will no longer be cancelled when the player who used the item swaps talent specializations.
  • Drums of the Wild: The buff from this item will no longer be cancelled when the player who used the item swaps talent specializations.
  • Eating and Drinking: Eating and drinking are now cancelled and prevented while in a vehicle as a passenger.
  • Figurine: Emerald Owl: Now grants mana properly to druids in Bear Form, Cat Form, and Dire Bear Form.
  • Figurine: Talasite Owl: Now grants mana properly to druids in Bear Form, Cat Form, and Dire Bear Form.
  • Fire Hardened Hauberk: The tooltip on this item no longer references granting energy (as energy-based classes cannot equip it).
  • Giantstalker Set: No longer displays a duration on the Nature’s Ally buff.Glyph of Immolation Trap: Now properly increases damage by 100%.
  • Gul’dan’s Regalia Set: Tooltip corrected to indicate increased damage for all pet attacks, not just abilities.
  • Husk of the Old God: Now tradable using the Bind-on-Pickup trade system.
  • Idol of Flaring Growth: Now has a detailed combat log tooltip.
  • Idol of Lunar Fury: Now has a detailed Combat log tooltip.
  • Idol of The Corruptor: Now has a detailed Combat log tooltip.
  • Insignia of the Alliance: Item level changed to 60.
  • Insignia of the Horde: Item level changed to 60.
  • Level 58 PvP Items: A variety of PvP items with a minimum level of 58 were not being translated properly when a player used the Paid Faction Change service. That has been corrected. Paladin- and shaman-specific items still will not be translated, as there is no opposite version to translate them into.
  • Liadrin’s Plate Set: No longer incorrectly reduces the cooldown on Divine Shield.
  • Lightning Capacitor: Combat log tooltip for Electrical Charge updated to include more detailed information.
  • Nightsong Regalia Set: The bonus to Rejuvenation from this set will now work properly with the Idol of Rejuvenation equipped. In addition, the instant heal provided now has a correct combat log tooltip.
  • Noggenfogger Elixir: Players shrunk while under the effects of this item will now be able to mount.
  • Quel’dorei Channeling Rod: Spelling error corrected.
  • Quel’dorei Sash: Spelling error corrected.
  • Quel’dorei Guard: Spelling error corrected.
  • Qiraji Bindings of Command: Now tradable using the Bind-on-Pickup trade system.
  • Qiraji Bindings of Dominance: Now tradable using the Bind-on-Pickup trade system.
  • Reclaimed Shadowstrike: No longer has a cooldown to create Reclaimed Thunderstrike.
  • Reinforced Shadowstrike: No longer has a cooldown to create Reinforced Thunderstrike.
  • Reins of the Swift Frostsaber: The mount learned from this item no longer triggers a global cooldown.
  • Runescroll of Fortitude: The buff from this item will no longer be cancelled when the player who used the item swaps talent specializations.
  • Seaspray Albatross: Now grants mana properly to druids in Bear Form, Cat Form, and Dire Bear Form.
  • Sigil of Virulence: Now has a detailed combat log tooltip.
  • Solace of the Defeated: Can no longer be triggered by spells with a base cost of 0.
  • Solace of the Fallen: Can no longer be triggered by spells with a base cost of 0.
  • Spirit of Eskhandar Set: This set no longer requires Eskhandar’s Collar to complete (that item can no longer be acquired).
  • Swift Horde Wolf: The mount learned from this item no longer triggers a global cooldown.
  • The Egg of Mortal Essence: This item can no longer be triggered by Life Tap.
  • Tier 2 Helmets: Looting these items from Nefarion in Blackwing Lair will no longer trigger the Onyxia’s Lair (level 60) Feat of Strength achievement.
  • Totem of Quaking Earth: This totem will no longer sometimes grant unintended bonus healing.
  • Turalyon’s Plate Set: No longer incorrectly reduces the cooldown on Divine Shield.
  • Veklor’;s Diadem: Now tradable using the Bind-on-Pickup trade system.
  • Warmth of Forgiveness: Now grants mana properly to druids in Bear Form, Cat Form, and Dire Bear Form.
  • Windrunner Set: The set bonus which grants Greatness to the hunter’s pet will no longer spuriously show the hunter also gaining that buff.
  • Worldbreaker Garb Set: The Electrified effect caused by this set now has detailed combat log tooltips.
• Racial Abilities
  • Arcane Torrent: Updated tooltip to include the functionality that this ability also interrupts spellcasting on NPCs.
  • Every Man for Himself: Disconnecting while rooted will no longer sometimes trigger this ability.
• Classes
  • Death Knights
    • Bloody Strikes: Now properly increases the damage displayed in the tooltips of Blood Strike and Heart Strike.
    • Bone Shield: Tooltip corrected to indicate the player has the correct number of bones.
    • Chains of Ice: This ability will no longer appear to land on targets which are immune.
    • Desecration: The debuff from this ability will no longer sometimes appear as if it were cast by someone else. In addition, the visual and snare from this ability will now both dissipate at the same time. Further, this talent will now respect snare immunities, and no longer sometimes snare immune targets.
    • Frost Presence: The animation for activating this presence will no longer also have the animation for Blood Presence played at the same time.
    • Glyph of Bone Shield: Now updates the number of charges in the Bone Shield tooltip.
    • Glyph of Dark Death: Now updates the tooltip on Death Coil. In addition, its own tooltip has been clarified to indicate it also applies to healing from Death Coil.
    • Glyph of Death’s Embrace: Now updates the tooltip on Death Coil to indicate runic power is refunded.
    • Glyph of Heart Strike: Now updates the tooltip on Heart Strike to indicate Heart Strike applies a movement snare.
    • Glyph of Icebound Fortitude: Now updates the tooltip on Icebound Fortitude to show increased damage reduction.
    • Glyph of Plague Strike: Now updates the damage shown in Plague Strike’s tooltip.
    • Glyph of Unbreakable Armor: Now updates the tooltip on Unbreakable Armor. Tooltip on glyph modified to make its effect more clear as well.
    • Master of Ghouls: Tooltip typo corrected.
    • Night of the Dead: Tooltip typo corrected.
    • Obliterate: This ability will no longer sometimes fail to do additional damage based on diseases on the target.
    • Raise Ally: While this spell is active on a target, they will not be sent to the graveyard, prematurely ending the spell.
    • Strangulate: Updated tooltip to include the functionality that this ability also interrupts spellcasting on NPCs.
    • Taste of Blood: Corrected inaccurate information in combat log tooltip.
    • Unholy Presence: The animation for activating this presence will no longer also have the animation for Blood Presence played at the same time.
  • Druids
    • Glyph of Hurricane: Now modifies the spell tooltip on Hurricane to indicate the spell also applies a movement slowing effect.
    • Hurricane: When cast from Bear Form, Cat Form, or Dire Bear Form, this spell will now channel properly instead of stopping the channel as soon as the shapeshift is cancelled.
    • Infected Wounds: This ability is no longer considered to be in the magical defense category; therefore spell hit no longer applies to its activation. Tooltip error corrected.
    • Nature’s Grace: The tooltip now correctly indicates that it will not be activated from periodic spell critical strikes.
    • Swipe (Bear): Tooltip corrected to display 8 yard range.
  • Hunters
    • Concussive Barrage: This ability is no longer subject to spell reflects.
    • Explosive Trap: The damage from this trap will now scale properly with the hunter’s attack power.
    • Glyph of Immolation Trap: Now properly increases damage by 100%. In addition, this glyph will now modify the tooltip of Immolation Trap correctly.
    • Glyph of Mending: This glyph will now modify the amount healed in the tooltip on Mend Pet.
    • Point of No Escape: This ability no longer stacks and now only functions for the hunter.
    • Roar of Sacrifice: Corrected tooltip error.
    • Silencing Shot: Updated tooltip to include the functionality that this ability also interrupts spellcasting on NPCs.
    • Volley: The tooltip for this ability will now update properly from haste.
  • Mages
    • Arcane Concentration: The interaction of this talent with Arcane Missiles has been restructured. Instead of an Arcane Missiles cast triggering the talent, each missile has an independent (but reduced) chance to trigger this talent. In addition, the talent will no longer sometimes be triggered from misses by Arcane Missiles, Arcane Blast, and Blizzard.
    • Blast Wave: Tooltip typo corrected.
    • Blizzard: The tooltip on this ability will now update properly from all talents which increase its damage by a percentage. Also fixed a bug where some trinkets were not triggered by this spell.
    • Cone of Cold: The tooltip on this ability will now update properly from all talents which increase its damage by a percentage.
    • Dalaran Intellect: Mages will now be properly blocked from casting this spell when the target has a more powerful version of the buff.
    • Flame Strike: Some ranks of this spell had an incorrect cast time of 3 seconds. All ranks now share a 2-second cast time.
    • Frost Nova: The tooltip on this ability will now update properly from all talents which increase its damage by a percentage.
    • Frostbolt: The tooltip on this ability will now update properly from all talents which increase its damage by a percentage.
    • Glyph of Mirror Image: Now updates the tooltip on Mirror Image to show 4 images are summoned.
    • Ignite: Now correctly benefits from the dispel resistance granted by the Arcane Subtlety talent.
    • Ice Lance: The tooltip on this ability will now update properly from all talents which increase its damage by a percentage.
    • Improved Scorch: This talent no longer causes a bug that removes all resilience from pets.
    • Mirror Image: The mirror images summoned will no longer sometimes appear as shades before taking on the appearance of the casting mage.
    • Prismatic Cloak: Rank three of this talent will now properly modify the tooltip on Invisibility to indicate the effect is instant.
    • Slow Fall: This spell can now activate trinkets that can trigger from casting a helpful spell.
    • Winter’;s Chill: This talent no longer causes a bug that removes all resilience from pets.
  • Paladins
    • Aura Mastery: The animation for this ability will no longer be extra bright when used with Concentration Aura active.
    • Beacon of Light: The effect of this ability will no longer sometimes continue past the duration of its buff. In addition, the duration when used with the Glyph of Beacon of light will now correctly be 1.5 minutes. Finally, the tooltip was corrected to indicate benefitting targets must be in the paladin’s party or raid.
    • Blessing of Kings: It is no longer possible to have multiple buff icons from this spell.
    • Blessing of Sacrifice: Damage transferred via this ability can now be prevented by damage absorption effects.
    • Blessing of Sanctuary: It is no longer possible to have multiple buff icons from this spell. In addition, the tooltip has been corrected to include 10% increased strength.
    • Devotion Aura: When in a party with another paladin using a different rank of this ability, it is no longer possible to see two different Devotion Aura icons displayed as buffs.
    • Divine Sacrifice: This ability now properly counts all damage transferred against its limit, instead of not counting some damage.
    • Greater Blessing of Kings: It is no longer possible to have multiple buff icons from this spell.
    • Greater Blessing of Sanctuary: It is no longer possible to have multiple buff icons from this spell. In addition, the tooltip has been corrected to include 10% increased strength.
    • Guardian’s Favor: Corrected a tooltip error in rank 1 of this ability.
    • Hand of Freedom: It is no longer possible to use this ability while under the effects of the druid spell Cyclone. In addition, disconnecting while rooted will no longer sometimes trigger casting this on oneself.
    • Hand of Reckoning: Tooltip clarified to indicate taunt immune targets will not take damage from this ability.
    • Hand of Sacrifice: Damage transferred via this ability can now be prevented by damage absorption effects.
    • Heart of the Crusader: The effect of this talent is now always removed when the target no longer has an active Judgement debuff.
    • Judgements of the Just: The effect of this talent is now always removed when the target no longer has an active Judgement debuff.
    • Judgement of Righteousness: The damage from this ability will no longer sometimes increase when the paladin’s agility increases (only occurred with low strength and high agility).
    • Judgement of Wisdom: Corrected incorrect information in the combat log tooltip.
    • Seal of Corruption: Tooltip corrected to list the actual amount of damage done instead of a higher number.
  • Priests
    • Glyph of Power Word: Shield: The heal caused by this glyph will now correctly use the casting priest’s critical strike chance instead of the target’s.
    • Inspiration: The tooltip now correctly indicates that it also functions with Prayer of Mending.
    • Levitate: This spell can now activate trinkets that can trigger from casting a helpful spell.
    • Mind Flay: The rank 1 tooltip has been corrected to indicate the accurate damage and snare effect. In addition, this ability will now work correctly with [target=focus] and [target=mouseover] macros.
    • Prayer of Mending: Inspiration and Divine Aegis can no longer be incorrectly triggered by this spell for priests who do not have those talents.
    • Silence: Updated tooltip to include the functionality that this ability also interrupts spellcasting on NPCs.
    • Spirit Tap: This talent can no longer be triggered by the death of the priest’s Jewelcrafter Stone Statues.
  • Rogues
    • Ambush: The tooltip on this ability will now update properly from talents which increase its damage by a percentage.
    • Backstab: The tooltip on this ability will now update properly from talents which increase its damage by a percentage.
    • Deadly Poison: Another rogue using a higher rank of this poison will no longer prevent the lower rank Deadly Poison from being applied to the target.
    • Eviscerate: The tooltip on this ability will now update properly from talents which increase its damage by a percentage.
    • Glyph of Rupture: Now updates the duration on Rupture’s tooltip.
    • Killing Spree: Entering a vehicle will now cause this ability to halt, and attempting to use it while on a vehicle will result in an error message.
    • Mutilate: The tooltip on this ability will now update properly from talents which increase its damage by a percentage. In addition, the damage from this ability can now be blocked.
    • Sinister Strike: The tooltip on this ability will now update properly from talents which increase its damage by a percentage.
    • Slice and Dice: Improved Slice and Dice and Glyph of Slice and Dice now update the duration of this ability.
    • Throwing Specialization: Deadly Throw will no longer cause multiple spell interruption combat log entries when used with this talent.
  • Shamans
    • Glyph of Earthliving Weapon: Now updates the tooltip for Earthliving Weapon.
    • Mana Tide Totem: The tooltip on this spell will now be modified properly by the Glyph of Mana Tide Totem.
    • Thunderstorm: It is no longer possible to use this ability while under the effects of the Druid spell Cyclone.
  • Warlocks
    • Curse of the Elements: Rank 4 has been increased to 11%, up from 10%.
    • Drain Soul: This spell now deals 4 times the normal damage for all ranks. Previously it was only ranks 6 and above.
    • Glyph of Conflagrate: Now updates the tooltip of Conflagrate to remove reference to Conflagrate removing an Immolate or Shadowflame effect on the target.
    • Glyph of Siphon Life: This glyph will now modify the tooltip on Siphon Life correctly.
    • Glyph of Unending Breath: Now updates the tooltip on Unending Breath to indicate it increases swim speed.
    • Hellfire: Dealing damage to another player with this ability will now put the Warlock in combat.
    • Improved Shadow Bolt: This talent no longer causes a bug that removes all resilience from pets.
    • Soul Link: Damage transferred via this ability can now be prevented by damage absorption effects.
    • Suffering (Voidwalker): Ranks 5-8 had the incorrect taunt radius of 5 yards and have all been adjusted to a 10-yard radius.
  • Warriors
    • Blood Frenzy: This debuff is no longer considered a Bleed effect that can be removed separately from the actual Bleed effect which caused it.
    • Bloodrage: Tooltip now adjusts to show effect of Anger Management on this ability.
    • Glyph of Cleaving: Now updates the tooltip of Cleave to show that more targets are struck by the ability.
    • Glyph of Hamstring: Now updates the tooltip of Hamstring to indicate it has a chance to immobilize.
    • Glyph of Vigilance: Now updates the tooltip on Vigilance to show that more threat is transferred.
    • Mocking Blow: Tooltip clarified to indicate taunt immune targets will not take damage from this ability.
    • Rampage: Rampage now behaves correctly as an Enrage effect when interacting with the Enraged Regeneration ability.
    • Recklessness: Heroic Throw and Shattering Throw will now benefit from this ability and consume charges of this ability. In addition, Recklessness now behaves correctly as an Enrage effect when interacting with the Enraged Regeneration ability.
    • Sudden Death: Corrected inaccurate information in combat log tooltip.
    • Sweeping Strikes: Corrected inaccurate information in combat log tooltip.
    • Vigilance: The threat transfer granted by this ability will now reactivate when Tricks of the Trade or Misdirection cast by the Vigilance target expires.
    • Warbringer: Tooltip typo corrected.
• Game Systems
  • Target Effects: When this UI feature is activated, Fear, Silence, Frostbolt, and Hamstring will all now display text over the target’s head indicating what type of effect has been applied.

As part of the 5th year anniversary for WoW, Blizzard has decided to make a mosaic from  both alliance and horde players, and I am not talking about their toon’s, but rather about their counterparts, like you and me.  To be a part of this, all you need to do, is goto this site – World of Warcraft 5 Year Anniversary: BattleCry download and print out either the horde or alliance insignia, print it out, and take a picture of yourself and the insignia.  You can also do it with your friends, and I would assume if you wanted to mess with the images a bit, then thats possible too.

Each time a piece of the mosaic is released, then an easter egg will also be revealed, such as the recent release of the early conceptual art of the Dark Portal.

Do you need to be a WoW player? Nope.  In fact I would assume that if you were a LOTRO or EVE player, made a screenshot of your character/ship and shot it with the Horde or Alliance insignia, then Blizz would probably put that up as well.  I say this, because I have known about this mosaic deal for about 2-3 weeks, and so far, only 1k people submitted AND they had to reuse some of the photos. I assume that they will do more reusing as well, as time goes on.

Am wondering if I could slip in an rpg-exploiters logo in the batch, lol.  Probably not but worth a try.

Once in a while a site comes along offering something you think is going to be stupendous and right up your alley, right? As you probably already know, I have been asking for people to come here and write articles to get paid for them.  But maybe you decided you have a better chance elsewhere, or you just want to write for “legit” sites, that is sites that offer news, reviews, and guides only.  Today, I got an email from Alltern8.com, describing just that.  They are looking for people to write articles for them.  At first, you don’t get paid.  But if you get a following, you will make money with them.  Sounds pretty good, right?

Writers for Alltern8.com not only entertain, but also provide information, news, expertise, and advice! A cosplay writer may cover the recent winners of an international cosplay contest, whereas a gaming writer may blog about the latest patch notes for a popular MMORPG. The job of an ongoing Alltern8.com contributing writer is to cover the events and news that the community is excited to learn more about! While opinion pieces and reviews are welcome, Alltern8.com strongly encourages its writers to go the extra mile and do research, interviews, and investigative articles.

•     Level 1 (Highest): Regular Correspondent – paid cents OR pence per word rate for a regular column/features
•     Level 2 (Middle Rank) – Paid Blogger, paid $5 (or £2.50) for each day that the blogger posts (minimum 300 words in each post); plus $2.00 (or £1.00) per thousand unique page views
•     Level 3 (No compensation) – Unpaid bloggers, get ranked by traffic, with the top traffic blogger each month being promoted to Paid Blogger (Level 2) status.

Personally, I am not impressed.  Until you get popular, it’s no pay.  When you do get popular, it’s $150 a month.  And assuming you become really really popular, thats when they pay per word.  Maybe it goes up to $250 a month? If you are that popular a writer, then the pittance they offer is nothing.  Even our plan is better then that.

If however you like the idea of what they are offering, you can follow this link to get more information.

First off, this isn’t just a plug for my site, UberGold.com, you can use this anywhere you like to buy gold.  The important thing is that if you buy gold, that you buy it now and not later.  Here’s why… A few years back, gold farmers learned that if they scammed accounts, they could take all the gold, farm a little more with hacks, and then not worry if the accounts were banned.  An account might last 3-7 days on hack farming, and at level 70, they were reaping in 2k a day (non-hackers were doing 1k a day).  I have no idea how much they can make at level 80.  However, now that Blizzard added the Battle.net accounts, scammed account supplies are running out quick!  This means that soon, the only gold farmers will be legit farmers, who either level their own accounts, or buy them.  What this all means, is that the gold price, is about to spike and go higher then it’s been in the last few years.  I would not doubt that we see the rate jump to at least $15 – $30 per 1000 soon.  Now that gold farmers are going to have to buy keys and accounts, once they factor that into gold prices, they are going to zoom!

Yah, I know, you won’t believe me when I tell you that UberGold.com is not a hack farming gold company.  The only way I can offer my proof, is that our prices are slightly higher then the competition.  The guys you normally buy gold from, that sell it for super cheap, get it super cheap.  When a company pays more for it, they are getting it from non-hack farmers.

Anyways, back to the point at hand… buy gold now.  Buy is from UberGold.com or buy it from whoever is your regular supplier.  Don’t wait till prices start going up.

Tip: Want to know who’s a legit company, when it comes to gold and leveling? Check out Complaintsboard.com.  People can tell their horror stories there.  Want to see one of the worst? Look up “powerlevelings” and find the site with that name.  Cheapest doesn’t always mean it’s the best :p

In a bid to offer something that no one else has, I am extending an offer to you.  If you can write programs, figure out new exploits, write guides, make macros, or anything else which is MMO related, we are allowing users to pay for access to posts, and YOU get paid.

Here’s how it works… You write content, and hide it for other users to pay for access, using special tags I’ll give you.  Someone comes to the site, and decides they want access to the site or post.  They pay for access… after 30 days, you get paid.  You will be paid 33% of the rate.  So if you have 25 people purchase a post, and we set the amount for $2.99, you will make $25 for just one post.

Use the contact form below, if you are interested in becoming a writer here.

Surprisingly, China has cracked down on piracy.  In fact they cracked down on private servers that were hosting Aion servers. You can read more about it by clicking the link below.

Chinese Ministry Releases New Notice on Illegal Game Content

Really the thing that amazes me, is the fact that Aion actually has had private servers developed so fast.  It means that the game was highly popular.

Simple as the title.. below is some news that one of the blizzard employees has to say about the 3rd expansion to WoW …. Cataclysm

Quote from: Aratil (Source)Cataclysm
Q: Will Path of the Titans be as time consuming as obtaining Sons of Hodir reputation?
A: Sons of Hodir was easy, we’re thinking more along the lines of Argent Dawn rep actually. JK! As a matter of fact, we don’t want the paths of the titans to feel grindy at all so we’re trying to make sure that each step along the way feels more like a great quest, or a key achievement (like killing all the bosses in a new raid zone). So, it should be more oriented around accomplishing something that feels important rather than grinding.

Q: What’s Deathwing’s current relationship with the Old Gods?
A: In facebook terms, I’d list it as “It’s Complicated”. “Single” or “Married” are probably too extreme in this case.

Q: Will there be Wintergrasp-like capturable zones in Cataclysm?
A: Yes, there is an island off the coast of the Eastern Kingdoms named Tol Barad. Players will fight for control of the island and its famous prison. However, while the battle for Tol Barad is not in progress, players will find that it will remind them much more of the Isle of Quel’Danas, in that it’ll be a major daily quest hub with quite a bit of random world pvp (presumably).

Q: Thousand Needles is getting a big change in levels; how has the Cataclysm affected it?
A: As a result of the Cataclysm, Thousand Needles has been completely flooded with water!

Q: With Cataclysm revisiting the old world, any plan to make the old reputations worthwhile again?
A: With each expansion, we introduce new reputations with new rewards. Sometimes we introduce reputations that are obviously related, such as Argent Dawn/Argent Crusade and Cenarion Circle/Cenarion Expedition. We don’t update the rewards for existing reps, as we don’t want to put new characters at such a significant disadvantage.

Q: With the removal of defense in Cataclysm, will plate gear still have avoidance stats or will tanks and dps be sharing?
A: Tanking gear will still have avoidance stats, they just won’t have the defense stat anymore. So to answer your question, tanking and dps gear will not be the same.

Q: Any plans of doing anything with Grim Batol in the Wetlands?
A: Yes, we currently plan for Grim Batol to be one of the raid zones in Cataclysm. =]

Q: What are the plans for the current Goblin-run towns after Cataclysm is out?
A: Most Goblin-run towns will continue to operate as normal. In general, the existing Goblin cartels tend to be self-serving, and therefore aren’t taking sides.

Q: Will leveling from 80-85 be like leveling from 70-80?
A: It’s too early to say. We base our leveling more around how much quest content we have and how good the reward pacing feels. If we have as many quests as we did from 70-80 and if it feels like your character is getting a reasonable amount of new stuff for the time invested, then it could end up being similar.

Q: Will players be able to do ‘old world’ quests after Cataclysm is released?
A: Only “old world” quests that we don’t change. However, once the Cataclysm happens, it happens for everyone and there’s no going back.

Q: How will you handle beginning characters and higher level friends after Cataclysm? WIll they be out of phase?
Players will not be out of phase. The Cataclysm changes the world for everyone.

Q: Are Worgen going to have mounts?
A: Both Worgen and Goblins will have new, racial specific mounts.

Q: Will there be events where ally + horde players have to work together to kill a boss?
A: Generally speaking we don’t do this because we prefer that the horde and alliance feel like enemies rather than a big happy family working together to defeat a common foe. If anything, we want tension between the sides to rise.

Q: Will Hyjal be made for exploration in Cataclysm?
A: Yes.

Raids & Dungeons
Q: Love the steps taken to making high-end content accessible to casual players. How committed are you to continuing this?
A: This is something we talk about on a regular basis. There isn’t a line in the sand we have made, it’s much more on a per piece of content basis. We do like the way the regular modes are shaping up to be more casual friendly, while the hardmodes are a way to reward very hardcore play.

Q: Ulduar had one kind of hard mode(triggered).. ToC had another (ToC vs TOGC).. Ony has none. What will ICC have?”
A: ICC’s hard modes will be triggered, but via in-game UI (much like how you toggle between normal and heroic modes today) rather than triggered by game mechanics (like not killing the three drakes before you attack Sartharion).

Q: For Cross-realm LFG if the group is composed by members of other realms do they have to go on foot or will they be teleported?
A: The current plan is for players using the LFG system to be automatically teleported into the instance, similar to how battleground queuing works today. This is active on the PTR now, and we plan to host a community event around this feature soon!

Q: Any chance to have LFG menu to show classes you’re looking for I.E just showing all tanks or healers currently qued in LFG.
A: The plan right now is to allow players to register for roles they are capable of filling, then have the queue system make the best decision possible for the player. This is to give all classes an equal chance at participation. We also have plans to diversify the class makeup in a future PTR update.

Q: With T10, are we going to see tokens like in Ulduar? or like CC? CC style had every class and spec rolling on same thing.
A: With t10 we’re going to see a hybrid. The tier 10 items (the ones with item levels you’d find in the 10-player raid) will be purchased with Emblems of Frost.

The tier 10.5 items (the ones with item levels you’d find in the 25-player raid) will be obtained by getting a token (one that is specific to 3 or 4 classes, much like the ulduar tokens) and using it to upgrade the tier 10 item that was purchased with emblems of frost.

Q: Will there be anymore epic storylines with cinematics like the wrathgate questline?
A: We have big plans for additional in game cinematics! We are happy with how the Wrathgate questline worked out, and want to do more lines like this.

Q: May I create a group with 4 friends and then use the LFG interface to gain the random dungeon reward?
A: Yes. In fact, you can join it with a full group of 5 and still get the random dungeon reward. The reward is for doing a random dungeon, not necessarily for having random members.

Q: Crowd control is all but dead in raids. Is that something you plan on bringing back?
A: Like say… with the Faction Champions encounter in ToC? ;]

Q: Are there any plans to open the other “sanctums” in Wyrmrest (i.e. Obsidian Sanctum, Azure Sanctum, Emerald Sanctum)?
A: Possibly. =]

Q: Are hardmodes going to get anything to make them feel like a different fight visually or auditory
A: I find the hard modes very different visually. Much more black and white imo.

Q: Any chance that the hybrid system that is going to be implemented for T10, could be retro fitted to all WotLK raids?
A: I’ll take that as a good reaction to the t10 system. =] However, it unfortunately won’t be retroactively applied.

Q: Will 10-man raiding guilds see Legendary quality weapons (items) drop in their raids anytime soon? Or in Cataclysm?
A: Our current plan is to reserve Legendary weapons for the 25 person encounters, I wouldn’t rule it out in the future though.

Q: Any plans for a gated system in IIC like in Colliseum that prevents us from doing hardmodes from day 1?
A: We do have a system that unlocks bosses similar to how we handled TOC and Sunwell. We are restricting hard modes to raid leaders that have defeated Arthas in regular mode.

Q: In the future will hard modes have greater fidelity like Sarth, Sarth+1, Sarth+2, Sarth+3 rather than the Binary Normal/Hard?
A: Generally we have learned that hard modes should be more binary, but that doesn’t mean we will never do something like Sarth 3 drakes again.

Q: Any chance the Legendary items will grow stronger as players level up as heirlooms? Its too much work, just to ditch after a patch.
A: This is something we have talked about a great deal. One of the concerns about making a weapon “best in the game” that scales up, is that players will continue to do old, outdated content in order to obtain the weapon. This ends up being not very fun for the other participants. While obtaining a legendary weapon is an incredible accomplishment, it is important cycle out weapons on a somewhat regular basis to make sure players are always playing new content.

Q: Any chance of being able to link more then one authenticator on one account? (in case I lose or break one)
A: We are talking about the authenticator and how to make it a better experience. Your suggestion is one we are talking about.

Q: Do you have plans to have achievement points redeemable?
A: Achievement points are a prestige reward only. There are no plans to turn them into some kind of currency.

Q: Any plans on adding bonuses to certain titles your character obtains? Like “…of the alliance” gives +5 to all stats
A: We have no plans to introduce combat advantages to titles. Titles in World of Warcraft are very specifically set up as prestige rewards only.

Q: Can locks have a summonable flying mount now please
A: Now? As in right this second? No.

Q: Will Alliance ever get an ingame band like the Hordes L80ETC?
A: Sure, if somebody knows of an awesome Alliance band…

Q: When do hunters get to tame druids?
A: Right after druids get a hunter form.

Q: What will happen to Mankrik’s Wife? Please don’t tell me she’s gobbled up by the lava?
A: You’ll have to wait and see. =]

Last question!
Q: Who are the two developers answering these questions?
A: Game Director Tom Chilton and Director of Production J. Allen Brack.

Hi folks, just updating you on some MMO news, and things what have been happening lately.  I want to draw special attention to the WoW 5th anniversary sweepstakes and the book for WoW, which leads us on to pre-Cataclysm.  Some very interesting stuff going on.

World of Warcraft News

• New Non-Combat Pets For Sale – The Blizzard Store received a new addition this week in the form of non-combat pets for sale. That’s right, folks Blizzard is now selling in game items for real world money. Now this, as you can imagine, has produced every reaction possible from the community from members jumping on the proverbial bandwagon to those who say WoW is “ruined”.
• WoW Fifth Anniversary Sweepstakes – WoW’s fifth anniversary falls on the 23rd of this month and as a way to thank their loyal customers they are running a different sweepstakes style giveaway every week this month. Last week’s winner received a limited edition World of Warcraft Charge of the Great Dragonflights Stein courtesy of sponsor Taverncraft. This weeks winners will receive a pair of gaming glasses from Gunnar optiks. The best thing…you don’t have to lift a finger, all WoW subscribers are automatically entered to win (rules are here)! So, sit back, relax and cross your fingers…you could be the next lucky one!
• Curse Client v4 in Open Beta – Curse recently released version 4 of their addon client to open beta. The new version is a pretty major overhaul from the current client both in looks and functionality. Version 4 brings users desired features like change logs, addon package creation and added security. Some features will still be reserved only for premium users, but the client itself will pester users a lot less about upgrading. There is also a bug reporting system built right in to the client so devs will have an easier time tracking and fixing user’s issues. The new client is available for download here and comes in both PC and Mac versions.
• Updated Patch 3.3 Notes – The 3.3 PTR received a couple of updates over the past week. Some of the items effected by the recent changes were the map interface, quest log and meeting stones.
• WoW TCG Realm Championships – The WoW TCG has had a busy year and has just finished up with their World Championships. Still, they announced this week that they will be holding their Realm Championships November 14-15th in cities around the world including San Diego, Helsinki, Singapore and Melbourne just to name a few. Although the tournament play is by invite only, the events will have plenty of fun open to the public. To see a full list of cities, check out their website. If you’ve never been to a TCG event, they are a lot of fun and definitely worth checking out, so if one is coming to your city make sure you grab the chance!
• WoW Cataclysm Novel Releasing in August 2010 – A listing showed up this week on Amazon that pegged the release of the hardcover version of the novel entitled World of Warcraft. The Shattering: Prelude to Cataclysm for August 31, 2010. This is really exciting news for all you lore nerds out there and it has also caused some speculation in the WoW community over the possible indication of the expansion release date. See, some will say that since the book is a “prelude”, the expansion will not release until after the book comes out. I think Blizzard has their own schedule in mind and that the two releases have nothing to do with one another. Only time will tell. Anyhow, the book is available for pre-order now for $26 on WoW: The Shattering: Prelude to Cataclysm via Amazon.com.
• Comic Corner – This weeks comic corner will start off with the latest commandment from NoObz! and I have to say this one made me gasp…then laugh! Guess all you devoted WoW players might want to go check what’s going on in the next room after reading this one! Ok, on to the next one which is from Experience Points and it shows Vincent all excited over his brand new gaming blog and his new readers…but only for a moment. Now the next two comics had me really rolling with laughter, I mean they are the ones that make me glad there is no one else in my office! First the one from The Adventures of Disgraph T. Dwarf which shows sometimes it pays to be frugal (or not)…LMAO! Then there is the latest from Dungeons and Draenai. It is two simple frames of absolute hilarity…perfection! LOL
• Stone Keeper’s Shards Post 3.3 - Blizzard poster, Zarhym cleared something up in a forum post this week regarding Stone Keeper’s Shards and the new Cross-Realm LFG System. The burning question from players was, what happens when you’re in a PUG that takes advantage of the cross-server system? Answer, the system will check to see if your home realm’s Wintergrasp is captured by your faction, if so you will get shard drops from bosses; if not you will not. The system will perform this check for each player in the PUG and those who are not supposed to get shards won’t even see them show up as a loot option on the bosses, so no “Hey! Where are MY shards!?” loot drama…thanks Blizz!
• Create Merchandise Based on In-Game Characters – Blizzard has again expanded it’s offering of customizable merchandise with the opening of the Print Warcraft site. This site will allow you to create art like posters and prints based on your in-game characters. There are a ton of customization options once you have selected your character, realm and print size you will be able to choose from a number of different backgrounds, borders, poses, pets and more! The prints start at $17.99 and go up to about $30. This seems like it would make a pretty cool Christmas gift for your favorite WoW player…or for yourself!
• Haris Pilton’s New Bag – Well we were pretty sure that Blizzard couldn’t resist giving us yet another pre-expansion gold sink and we were right. This week Haris Pilton, Shattrath socialite extraordinaire, began to peddle her limited edition accessories on the 3.3 PTR. And we noticed something…she has an all new item called the Portable Hole which is a BOE 24 slot bag retailing for a mere 3,000 Gold! Hey…style does NOT come cheap!
• Movie of the Week – This week’s featured movie is called Mankrik’s Wife: The Story and for anyone who has done the quest or even heard about the quest to find Mankrik’s Wife, this one will strike a funny bone. I think the amnesia is hysterical…it reminds me of Dory from the Disney movie “Finding Nemo”. It’s pretty good!
• New Buff Applied to PuG’s – Blizzard’s new Dungeon System, now on the PTR, is pretty cool and I honestly cannot see why anyone would NOT want to use it! But, in case you needed a little more incentive (aside from the extra gold and badges we already told you about)…here it is, groups who utilize the new dungeon system to PUG at least one member of their group will receive the “Luck of the Draw” buff while fighting in the dungeon. This buff increases the group’s damage, healing and base health all by 5%! Now, if for some reason this still isn’t enough incentive…how about a cool little non-combat pet as a reward for Pugging? Take a look at this little guy and tell me you don’t want to use the new system all the time! Adorable!
• Instance Teleporting in 3.3/Meeting Stone Changes – In the most recent patch notes, I know I had a question of mine answered about the new “summon from anywhere” deal that is present in the new dungeon LFG system. Now, as we have pointed out before, the system will teleport you from wherever you are when your group has formed and your dungeon is ready. But, what happens when the dungeon is cleared and you leave? Well it seems you will go right back to wherever you were before being teleported. Makes sense and that will keep people from signing up for a Violet Hold just to get a free hearth to Dalaran, too! Another related change is that meeting stones will only require that a player be level 15 to use them and there is no maximum level restriction on any of them anymore.
• Charity Drives For the Holidays – Now that Halloween is over and Thanksgiving is just around the corner many people get in the giving spirit. There are a couple of WoW related charity drives going on that we thought were worth a mention. Azeroth United is running a charity drive for Child’s Play and a donation of as little as $10 will get you entered into a drawing for gift baskets full of awesome wow-related prizes, so make sure you check it out at azerothunited.com. Next we have a very special in game event to tell you about called Raid for the Cure taking place this Saturday on the Kael’Thas (US) server at 2pm Central time. This is an event organized by the Sidhe Devils guild on that server in support of one of their own recently diagnosed with breast cancer where players will participate in an in-game version of the “walk for a cure” fundraiser. All details are available on bigbearbutt.com including donation details, raffles and start and end times/places. This is a great idea to show support and make a difference! We will be there…will you?
• Product Spotlight – Spugnort’s Warcraft PvP Guide has been touted for years as the absolute BEST on the market! This guide is now updated fully to include the Death Knight strategy section and all class and PvP changes which were pushed live with the arrival of patch 3.2. This guide is undoubtedly the best on the market and an essential part of any gamer’s library! Get your copy today and start stockpiling the honor, arena points and Battleground victories you deserve!

Aion News

• 1.5.1 Patch Additions - NCSoft has announced a group of changes that are scheduled to be implemented this month on live servers, although there is no official release date yet. The changes include improvements/additions to many aspects of the game including characters, quests and User Interface changes. To see the full list, head on over to the Aion official news site.
• Aion Fan Art on Facebook – NCSoft recently added a fan art section to it’s Official Aion Facebook Page which will allow fans of the game to share their artwork with others. Right now there are only two entries on the page, but I am looking forward to seeing what gets posted there in the future. To share your Aion-based artwork, drop them an e-mail at aion_community@ncsoft.com and they will upload it!
• One Month Post-Release and Going Strong – Many Aion players have probably already noticed that the population in the game has continued to rise in the rather short time since launch, but now there are some statistics to back up this observation. Both Steam and Direct2Drive have posted their top ten lists for the week of October 25-31 and Aion (although near or at the bottom) still appears on both lists. Congrats to NCSoft on the game’s success!
• Product Spotlight – We are proud to announce that FTW Guides has created an incredible new product line to help you through the amazing new MMO that Aion is! The all new Aion Leveling Guides were developed by professional gamers who have been playing in both the open and closed betas for nearly a year now.The guides include complete coverage of both factions, detailed numbered maps, online accessibility, frequent updates and impeccable customer support! All of these features plus a 30 day unconditional money back guarantee means you have nothing to lose! Beat the learning curve and get on to enjoying this visually stunning, amazing game faster than you ever thought possible. Order you copy today!

EVE Online News

• Ryan Dancey on EVE’s Longevity - In a recent interview on Gamasutra Ryan Dancey, CCP Games Chief Marketing Officer, talks about the state of EVE and what makes it unique from it’s player governance and virtual economy to it’s slow, yet continual growth in subscription numbers. Mr. Dancey also talks about the developer’s focus on keeping the game interesting for long time subscribers while making sure it is compelling enough to continue to draw in new players. To read the full interview head over to Gamasutra.
• EVE’s New Dominion Dev Blog – This month’s dev blog releases details on the two parts of the new sovereignty system in Dominion. There is information on the upgrade system which is used to unlock resources and the upkeep system along with information on how upgrading your space will work with the new expansion. You can read all the details here.
• Website Downtime Tomorrow – CCP has announced that during scheduled downtime on Wednesday they will be taking the EVE Online forums as well as the Account Management and payment features on their website offline. This is presumably for an upgrade to these systems of some kind, but no specifics were provided in the announcement.
• CCP Game’s “Get a Clone” Program – CCP Games has taken a different approach to promoting their game with a new website from Duvolle Laboratories (an in-game NPC corporation) called getaclone.com. On this site potential players can answer a few simple questions and based on the answers given it will tell you what type of EVE player you would most likely be and enjoy playing. Pretty neat. If you want to give it a try head over to the new site and check i out.

Warhammer Online News

• Endless Trial Now Available – We told you about this before when it was announced as “coming soon” and now it is live! Warhammer Online trial accounts now never expire! This means new players or even those returning will be able to experience the entire first tier of play in the game without the pressure of a time limit. Players can feel free to try out new classes, starting experiences and group play at their own pace. For restrictions and more information, check out the FAQ.
• Interim City Siege Fixes - The recent changes which removed fortresses from the RvR campaign equation resulted in cities being constantly sieged (something the game was not dealing with very well) so devs had to come up with a temporary solution to the problems players were facing as a result of this change. This interim solution was put into place this week and includes fixes like stages 1 and 2 of the city siege being cut in half and city rank changes. To get the full rundown, you can read the post on the Official Forums.
• John Cox on Hackers and Warhammer – This week Mythic posted a developer’s diary with John Cox, Development Manager, about their efforts to combat in-game hackers. The type of hacking this post deals with is that of third party programs which allow players to do things in the game world with their characters that should not even be possible and is certainly not allowed. He goes into everything from what they do to prevent these hacks, how they find the hackers and what they do to them once they have been caught to how devs identify and respond to reports of players using hacks. I thought this dev diary was informative. Good read.
• Product Spotlight – Everyone knows that FTW MMO strategy guides has one of the best, most comprehensive WAR Leveling and Strategy Guides available on the market today! This guide has just received some major updates to keep it in line with the changes to the game. The guides now include all new quests, new flight paths, detailed numbered maps, RvR quests and detailed public Quest information! The WAR Combo Pack from FTW is a definite must have for every Warhammer fan! Get your copy today for just $44.99, or buy one side for just $29.99.

Alganon News

• Open Beta Now Available – When Quest Online announced that it would not be releasing Alganon until December 1st, there were some disappointed fans! Well, this should help to ease the pain, Alganon’s Open Beta begins Wednesday, November 11th and will provide anxious fans with the opportunity to check out the game prior to launch. Quest Online has made a pretty significant round of improvements recently that should make for a better overall gaming experience. Players interested in participating in the open beta need to create an account on the MyAlganon site and download the game client straight from there or from Fileplanet, Direct2Drive or Curse.

Star Trek Online News

• Official Release Date Announced! – This week Cryptic confirmed that it’s new MMO, Star Trek Online, will officially release on February 2nd, 2009 in the US followed by a February 5th, 2010 release date in Europe. This announcement comes just on the heels of the start of the game’s closed beta testing phase. This is, of course, super exciting news for trekkies everywhere! We will be sure to keep everyone updated on beta status and release date changes if and when it is necessary.
• “Episode Missions” Explained in New Dev Blog – Cryptic has released a new dev blog for STO detailing the strive toward a different type of “questing” experience in the game where players will have the opportunity to live out the television shows they love. These will be called “Episode Missions” and are all based around episodes of the ever popular Star Trek tv series, they will last anywhere from 45-90 minutes and will serve an important role in player progression. The game is set to launch with three seasons each containing 14 individual episodes. To read the entire dev blog on the subject, click here.

Other Noteworthy MMO News

• Lord of the Rings Online Extends Special Pricing – With the Siege of Mirkwood expansion less than a month away from launch, Turbine has decided to extend their current special pricing offers through November 18th. Current subscribers have 3 different plans to choose from, all of which include getting the expansion for free when it releases. To check out what Turbine has to offer, click here.
• Star Wars: The Old Republic Imperial Agent Class – BioWare announced this week that the sixth class to join the ranks in the Star Wars-themed MMO will be the Imperial Agent. Imperial Agents are a rogue class of characters since they do their work for the Empire with high tech tools that help them to infiltrate the republic and assassinate enemies of the Sith Empire. The Holonet will soon be updated to include the new class and they already have their own forum on the official site.
• Champions Online Scavenger Hunt – This Sunday (Nov. 15th) community member, Mr. Funsocks will be kicking off an awesome scavenger hunt called “Where in the World is Carmel Santiago?”. The object of the hunt is to be the first to find Carmel somewhere in the CO world and offer to trade with her. There is a small entry fee, but a pretty big payoff if you win. For all the details, look over the forum thread about the contest and good luck!

It seems like only 6 months ago, that the big talk in Darkfall, was going to be the transfers.  People were leveling their characters, getting those skills up, waiting for that transfer to go online… and boom! they were going to be the champions of the NA1 servers.  Of course now that all this time has passed, and the NA1 servers have been online for quite some time, the fact that these transfers are free till the end of the year, makes me wonder if anyone will transfer now.  By now, those people who wanted to transfer are either no longer playing or have already made new characters on the NA1 servers, or they are even happy on the EU1 servers, because those months have passed, and they are in really nice alliances.

I wonder if the free transfer is now live, so that the devs, can get more players playing the NA servers.  One reason to throw in free transfers isto balance our servers, the other is to keep dead servers more alive – cause no one who plays mmo’s wants to play by themselves.

If you are interested in the free transfers, the info is available here.  Just remember the deal expires on 31 Dec 2009.