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What to expect when you're expecting patch 5.4
You might not be completely familiar with all that's coming in WoW's next major content patch, set to be released on September 10th. That's understandable, because there is quite a bit coming; this one is surely a doozy. To make sure that you've got all your mechanical chickens in a row as patch 5.3 draws to its inevitable close, Community Manager Daxxari has posted a nice, comprehensive guide of all the things you can expect from the patch and how to be properly prepared for them. There are class changes, new currency, a new PvP season, the Timeless Isle, some changes to professions, as well the end of the stories of Battlefield Barrens and the current incarnation of the Vale of Eternal Blossoms. With the end of this patch, and all the big changes that the new one is bringing, it makes sense to have perhaps a small bucket list of things to accomplish before the 10th. A few things in particular you might want to do include: Get your "Hordebreaker" or "Darkspear Revolutionary" title before it's gone for good! Make sure to pick up one of the unique items from the Darkspear Rebellion: Gahz'rooki, Griftah's Authentic Troll Shoes, Xan'tish's Flute, and more! The Mantid Artifact Sonic Locator is going to become more difficult to acquire, might want to get it now. Justice and Valor will NOT convert, so feel free to stock up! However, Conquest will be converted to Honor as usual, and Honor will now be 250 per 500 Justice. The post also includes some useful tips on how to make sure the patch update goes smoothly, and where to go for help if it doesn't. Be sure to check out the entire thing over on the WoW official site, and good luck getting ready for patch 5.4!
Blizzard blog explains how to send or receive a Scroll of Resurrection
Since the Scroll of Resurrection was revamped and brought back, it's been a system that has generated a lot of interest in the playerbase. Due to some of the amazing rewards such as a spectral mount for the SoR sender and a boosted level 80 character and a free copy of Cataclysm for the receiver, a lot of players have spent the past month trying to navigate through the confusing system to send a SoR. As an answer to their confusion, Blizzard released two detailed Scroll of Resurrection videos in a blog post yesterday, which thankfully answer some of the common concerns brought up in our post last week. Our updated Scroll of Resurrection campaign is well underway, and many players are taking advantage of this opportunity to bring friends and former guildmates back to the game. We've noticed that many of you have questions about how the program works. We're here to provide answers, and one of the ways that we're doing so is with this pair of quick tutorial videos. The first is for those of you who are sending Scrolls of Resurrection, and the second is for those receiving them. source One video shows you everything you need to do to send a SoR to a friend whose time has lapsed, including instructions for claiming your mount. The other is a guide to accepting a Scroll of Resurrection, showing you how to get back into the game quickly and efficiently. As an added bonus, the voice of the second video has an excellent British accent. It's open warfare between Alliance and Horde in Mists of Pandaria, World of Warcraft's next expansion. Jump into five new levels with new talents and class mechanics, try the new monk class, and create a pandaren character to ally with either Horde or Alliance. Look for expansion basics in our Mists FAQ, or dig into our spring press event coverage for more details!
Blizzard previews Hallow's End in new community post
Hallow's End has a tall order to fill this October. With BlizzCon just three days away and likely to steal the spotlight from the holiday, Blizzard has made some dramatic changes to Hallow's End. These changes are highlighted in the new community blog post This is Hallow's End on Battle.net, where Community Manager Daxxarri assists in setting the mood for this frightening festival. If you're interested in finding out what effect these changes will have on you getting your Hallowed Be Thy Name achievement (and the What a Long, Strange Trip It's Been meta-achievement), be sure to check out Allison Robert's updated Guide to Hallow's End some time over the next few days. For the full text of the blog post, check after the break.
Blizzard finishes courtyard statue
That statue of an Orc on a Wolf (the same one that every Blizzard employee got a copy of when they moved into their new HQ a little while back) is now completed and standing outside of their main building in Irvine, California. The OC (don't call it that) Register took a trip over and got some pictures of it, and you can see the whole amazing thing in their photo slideshow.Cool office decoration or the coolest office decoration? The statue was sculpted by the Weta Workshop in Australia, and shipped all the way into Irvine. No easy task, considering it's bronzed and 12 feet tall. Though from the pictures, it looks like it was installed in two separate pieces -- the wolf mount first, and then the Orc on top. And it also looks like Blizzard had a short unveiling ceremony, but it seems like it may have been just for employees from inside the building.Bet that statue is more awesome than whatever's outside whatever building you're in right now. It's more awesome than what's outside mine, and I'm in Chicago.
Ezra's father thanks the WoW community for their support
The Orange County Register's Blizzard Blog has posted a message from Micah Chatterton, father of Ezra "Epheonix" Chatterton, who, as we reported yesterday, passed away earlier this week. Micah's pain is tangible, but he says that Ezra loved his life, and the greatest tribute that he or anyone else can pay to Ephoenix is by trying to love life as much as he did. He also thanks the WoW community for their outpouring of support. There's no question that we can be a little silly and raucous at times (which is what makes, as Ezra certainly knew, being around this game so much fun), but when it comes down to it, we are a community, and when one member of the community suffers, we all do.Once again, we pay our condolences, along with all of our readers who posted comments yesterday, to Micah and his family in this time of grief. Definitely give his statement a read -- it's extremely sad to hear about the suffering that Ezra went through, but Micah is exactly right: Ezra's life and the smile he had even when facing a tragedy like this should be an example for us all.Micah also forwarded the message along to us, so we've posted it in full after the break.
