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New Information About the Magazine
Some of you may remember a while back a
blog
I had posted about the new
World of Warcraft Magazine
that Blizzard was producing. When I and the other customers ordered the magazine, Blizzard had given an estimate of 8 - 10 weeks for delivery. Unfortunately, it has been overdue.
Just a few minutes ago though, I received an email regarding the magazine. If you purchased your magazine but failed to receive an email, then this information is relevant to you! Even if you didn't purchase a magazine there is a surprise!
Dear ,
Thank you for subscribing to the World of Warcraft Official Magazine! We're hard at work putting the finishing touches on our debut issue, and we're excited that we'll soon be able to share all of the cool features and community-centric stories we've put together. In the meantime, we'd like to give you a sneak peek at the wrap-around cover of the first issue, featuring a confrontation in Icecrown Citadel that's been a long time coming — and as a "thank you" for subscribing and for your patience while we wrap things up, you can down
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Joystiq Interview With Blizzard Co-Founder Frank Pearce
Joystiq has an interview running with
Frank Pearce
, who is the Senior Vice President of Blizzard Entertainment, about milestones in Warcraft. They go on to talk about how the company name was chosen to the biggest obstacles they faced with the game and even to questions about a Blizzard Theme Park (kidding)!
It's a really interesting read which you can find here:
http://www.joystiq.com/2009/12/10/interview-blizzards-frank-pearce-on-warcraft-milestones/
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Account Settings Page Revamped!
We've added some new functionality to our
Account Settings
page!
In addition to all of the old functionality (which we've grouped under various tabs) you can now select a default model for our
3D model viewer
, the default comment sorting (by date or by rating), and more—including some new options for
Premium
members, allowing them to enable or disable ads, the Premium logo, the avatar badge and border, etc.
Go play around and enjoy—and feel free to offer feedback on other things you'd like to see listed there!
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3rd Tile In the Warcraft Battlecry Mosaic Unlocked!
As mentioned
several
times
in the last few weeks, the
Warcraft Battlecry Mosaic
picture submissions have once again increased in number, to 3,128 out of the 20,000 image goal to complete the mosaic. Since we've gotten another 1,000 submissions, Blizzard has unlocked another tile and a piece of art on the site to drool over—this time, it's concept art of the ruins of Dalaran in Alterac Mountains!
We've still got
16,872
pictures left to gather, so why don't you take a picture with your faction's emblem and send it in over on the official
Warcraft Battlecry Mosaic
site?
http://www.worldofwarcraft.com/wowanniversary/battlecry/
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Second Gate In Icecrown Citadel Will Unlock In 28 Days
After defeating
Deathbringer Saurfang
in
Icecrown Citadel
it has been discovered that speaking to your faction's NPC (Muradin or Saurfang) will tell you how many days are left until the next gate's unlocking. Right now it is listed as 28 days which would put the unlock date for North American realms on
January 5, 2010
.
If these numbers stay consistent between wings we most likely won't see the Lich King until
March 2, 2010
. I know it sounds like a long time but maybe this will allow them to test and tune the encounters a bit before we hit those dates and allow a lot of people to catch up so everyone has a larger pool of players to work with.
Update 2:
It seems our assumption that the rest of the gates will be on 28 day timers was wrong. Daelo has just corrected us and the extra long wait on the first gate is because of the holidays.
As noted in game, the release of the Plagueworks in Icecrown Citadel occurs 28 days after patch 3.3.0 was released. After the Plagueworks is available, you will then wait less than 28 days for the next
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Icecrown Citadel: The Lower Spire (Feedback Wanted)
Long time no see in the blog, eh Wowhead? I've been working on a few projects on the site (one of which you should see now, and one - soon) and my finals week coinciding with the new epic patch didn't exactly buff my free time. But it's mostly over now, and I should have enough time to post interesting stuff again! However for now you are stuck with the same old boring stuff - bosses :)
With the new patch out, I've made some tweaks to the boss pages. The coolest thing for me are the new tabbed abilities - now each difficulty has its own section, reflecting all the little things that make this difficulty level unique. I think that's pretty cool feature - and it looks really neat too! :)
The boss pages have the basic overview of the fights for the Lower Spire, but I have also included shorter versions of kind of "to go" tips here. And with this we get to the core question of this blog:
Do you think the overviews are sufficient/redundant, and if you could change something about the boss pages design, what would it be?
Please look at the list of bosses after the break and post your thoughts!
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BlizzCast Episode 12 Released -- Anniversary Edition
BlizzCast Episode #12 has been released for streaming or downloading on the official site -- 1 hour of interesting discussion for you to enjoy!
Welcome to BlizzCast 12! In this special edition of BlizzCast we'll be celebrating the 5-year anniversary of World of Warcraft's retail release, as well as the 15-year anniversary of Warcraft: Orcs and Humans by reflecting upon the past, discussing the present, and looking toward the future with some of the masterminds behind the Warcraft franchise. We also take time to focus on World of Warcraft's history, development, and continual evolution.
http://us.blizzard.com/en-us/community/blizzcast/archive/episode12.html
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Official Patch 3.3 Trailer
Blizzard has just posted the
official trailer
for Patch 3.3: Fall of the Lich King!
Watch the trailer for Fall of the Lich King now,
http://bit.ly/5jPyqp
or check out our Fall of the Lich King page.
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Add an Authenticator, Adopt a Core Hound
A nice treat for players able to login after 3.3 launched—some of them just might find, sitting in their mailbox a vicious little
Core Hound Pup
to call their very own. According to Nethaera on the official forums it is a reward for any player who has an
authenticator
(mobile or physical) attached to their Battle.Net account.
Edit:
Blizzard has posted an official FAQ on their site! Come read it after the break.
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Realms Are Slowly Coming Up?
Looks like Blizzard is slowly turning on most realms after the release of Patch 3.3, as of right now 63 out of the 241 North American realms have come up (including my own.) Hopefully the rest will begin to come up rather Soon™.
You can check out the realm status page
here
or view the actual login alert screen
here
(only when there is an alert will this page show anything.)
Edit:
Or not? Still a lot of people getting locked out of their realms. We'll see.
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Patch 3.3: Fall of the Lich King Being Deployed On US Realms
Update (1 PM PST)
We have resolved the issues that came up during maintenance. We are in the process of making all realms playable and we expect this to be complete within the next hour.
The final Wrath of the Lich King patch is upon us. Blizzard has just started deploying
Patch 3.3: Fall of the Lich King
. Realms will be back up after the 10-hour long (or more) maintenance.
While you're waiting for the realms to be back up, please use the links below to learn more about the patch. Enjoy the new instanced content and the plethora of new features!
Useful Links
Patch Notes
Wowhead Client
-- We need your dataz!
Patch 3.3 Guide
Icecrown Citadel
Tier 10 Armor Sets
The Ashen Verdict
[url=/?guide=3.3
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WoW Anniversary Interview: Former Lead Producer Shane Dabiri
The
World of Warcraft Anniversary Mini-Site
has just released the first of several exclusive interviews with prominent Blizzard employees.
The first of which is with the former World of Warcraft Lead Producer
Shane Dabiri
. He talks about the conception, creation, and early reception of World of Warcraft, and how building a successful MMORPG has shaped Blizzard Entertainment.
You can read the
very
interesting interview after the jump.
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Warcraft Battlecry Mosaic Unlocks Second Tile
Mentioned last week
here
, the
Warcraft Battlecry Mosaic
has reached 2,068 images out of the 20,000 image goal to complete the mosaic. Since we've gone over the 2,000 mark Blizzard has seen it fit unlock another piece of the mosaic and also released another piece of art for us all to salivate over (this time it is artwork of a tauren hunter).
We've got a long way to go so if you haven't already done so head over to the official
Warcraft Battlecry Mosaic
site and show off your Horde or Alliance pride in a photo!
http://www.worldofwarcraft.com/wowanniversary/battlecry/
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Item Comparison Enhancements!
We've made some long-awaited enhancements to our
Item Comparison
tool!
You can now add
enchantments
,
gems
and
random enchantments
to your items! Just right-click on the item icon at the top to add a gem or enchantment, and the stats will automatically update—including the set bonuses.
You can now set your level using a dropdown in the top right, and all your ratings calculations and heirloom item statistics will update.
You can also click on the Rating levels in the columns to change the display to percentages instead!
Combat ratings will now be displayed in the "Gains" row as percentages.
Go start adding things to your
Item Comparison
and see for yourself!
Tools >
Item Comparison
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The Story of the Ashbringer
If there is one thing that really defines me as a WoW player, it's my admiration for the paladins and forces of the Light. This being said, I can't go away without mentioning one very special name: Alexandros Mograine, the
Ashbringer
. I should probably toss Tirion Fordring in there too, but Mograine is the one I wanted to talk about today.
If you browse online WoW comics, there is one particular comic you might have noticed lately -
Daily Quests
. It's a relatively new comic that I really enjoy - it's very entertaining, and the quality of the art is better than what you normally see in online comics. It's not updated as much as I would want, but I think it's normal to keep you wanting more and more of something you enjoy a lot. After all,
Looking for Group
is merely updated twice a week, and I think that's not often enough either ;)
Now, you're probably wondering how I am going to tie the Ashbringer and a young WoW comic. Rather simply: I am going to forward to you a blog entry fro
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Dynamic Heirloom Tooltips!
I know, the time we've taken implementing this is pretty inexcusable. But that doesn't mean we can't make a big fuss about it when it gets here!
You can now adjust the level of an heirloom item in the tooltip, and the stats will automatically update. You can do this with
heirloom items
just like you could with items like
Cryptfiend Silk Cloak
, which have combat ratings. Heirlooms default to level 80, but you can see them at any level with just a click!
Also, if you're messing with the
Profiler
, your heirloom stats will automatically adjust to match the level of the character you're editing. This is especially awesome if you're editing a
custom profile
, as you can change your level around at will and watch your stats update in real time.
Enjoy!
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Exclusive: Want To Be in the Official WoW Magazine?
Have you ever wanted to be featured in a magazine? Now's your chance!
World of Warcraft: The Magazine
has asked us for help in creating an article for them! We need to get some thoughts and opinions from you guys about your favorite old world instances, areas, and encounters, so they can be published in an article!
Check back after the jump to find out how you can be a part of it!
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Arena Season 8: Wrathful Gladiator
With 3.3 approaching at an alarming pace it is about time to talk about the Future... Of Arenas. As some of you may know the next season is going to be called
Wrathful Gladiator
.
Now many of you may be asking the $25,000 question: When is Arena Season 8 going to be coming out? Well I might have an answer for you, but it isn't confirmed by Blizzard in the slightest. From my calculations I am guessing that the current arena season is going to end around the end of the year, which would put it around December 29th or January 5th. The last 3 arena seasons ended after 17, 17, and 18 weeks respectively which would put those two dates in the same time frame from when the season started (Season 7 started September 1, 2009.)
Along with this we also know what the reward for season 8 is for the select few who make it into the top ranks: the legendary
Wrathful Gladiator's Frost Wyrm
!
Note: Model on the right may or may not be the official model.
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BFF Report Episode 8—Recap and Viewer Feedback!
Episode eight of the
BFF Report
is now available for viewing!
In this episode, our friendly neighborhood Fony does a recap of his earlier coverage, as well as answering some...unusual viewer feedback—even an accusation or two!
Come check out the video here, or you can view it on
ZAM
.
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Warcraft Battlecry Mosaic
For those of you who don't already know, as part of the World of Warcraft 5 year anniversary, Blizzard is collecting
20,000
images of players from around the world showing pride in their respective faction. Once they have reached certain thresholds they will release exclusive art for this monumental occasion. All you have to do is take a picture of yourself with one of the faction symbols (or both!) on the site and upload them.
What you may not know is that there's a special, personal appeal to this particular event for us, since the
Battlecry Mosaic page
was actually designed and built originally by our own
Skosiris
, during an internship with Blizzard's web team. :)
http://www.worldofwarcraft.com/wowanniversary/battlecry/
So go and do your part! I've already done mine, and we would consider it a
personal
favor is you were to go over to the official site
here
, and show your Warcraft pride!
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