Tuesday Morning Post: On the first day of Winter Veil edition

Happy Tuesday morning, everybody, and a very merry Winter Veil. Hopefully you've been celebrating, either by entering our 12 Days of Winter Veil contests or by going for in-game achievements. Then again, maybe you just don't care for that stuff and want to keep doing what you normally do -- and hey, that's cool too.

No matter how you celebrate, you'll have to take a short break this morning as Blizzard applies rolling restarts to the servers starting at 10 a.m. PST. Don't worry though, we got lots of stuff for you to read while you wait. Read on after the break for our usual roundup of the last week's content, including some awesome Warcraft gift ideas for you last-minute shoppers.

Hot news and features

• Have a WoW player on your holiday shopping list? Try these five great holiday gift ideas.

• Blizzard's announced BattleTags, a new way to friend people on Battle.net without giving up your personal information.

• It's the holidays, when even some of the most hardcore players abandon their computers for their family. How do you handle raiding in the face of the holidays?

• The Raid Finder has had some items made class-restrictive.

• Star Wars: The Old Republic officially launches today, and we have some ideas for what WoW could steal from it.

• Are common items the new rare items?

• Haven't played since Wrath? We'll help you get back into things.

Class news and guides

• Blood Pact looks at warlock leveling in the Cataclysm era, as well as Dark Intent and tier 13 itemization.

• Shifting Perspectives helps you level your druid.

• Arcane Brilliance has a guide to mage leveling.

• Encrypted Text helps you get through Fall of Deathwing on the Raid Finder as a rogue.

• Lichborne offers some Hour of Twilight tips for death knights.

• Totem Talk helps you heal Mor'chok and Zon'ozz and gear your enhancement shaman for the Raid Finder.

• Spiritual Guidance helps you get your shadow priest through End Time.

• Scattered Shots takes a look at hunter trinkets in patch 4.3.

• Raid Rx helps you heal Ultraxion and Warmaster Blackhorn.

• The Light And How To Swing It tanks the first three bosses of Dragon Soul. We also have advice on healing through Yor'sahj's oozes.

• The Care And Feeding of Warriors opines on weapon proc itemization.

Dungeons, items, professions, PvP, and more

• We offer a guide to taking down Yor'sahj the Unsleeping.

• Addon Spotlight looks at more loot addons.

• The Raid Finder has shaped up to be pretty awesome, but we have five ways to improve it.

• Gold Capped looks at making money using valor point gear and Winter Veil stuff.

• Looking for a Kalimdor getaway? We have a few vacation spot ideas.

Odds and ends

• Blizzard's released its third-party API usage policy.

• Know Your Lore discusses the paladin tradition and the story of Wrathion, last of the black dragons.

• The family that cosplays together makes some pretty awesome costumes.

• Can you get two legendary staves in one week? This player did it.

• The Lawbringer looks at Blizzard's relationship with law enforcement agencies.

• Blizzard's announced the winners of the 2011 Global Writing Contest.