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  • Tuesday Morning Post: Burning for you edition

    by 
    Daniel Whitcomb
    Daniel Whitcomb
    06.22.2010

    Happy Tuesday Morning, everyone! Rumor has it that Patch 3.3.5 may drop this morning, and with a 3 AM to 11 AM pacific downtime coming our way, the points are racking up in favor of such a conclusion. Either way, you'll probably know by the time you read this, and either way, the downtime's coming, so either way, you'll probably want to settle in and join me on catching up with the latest WoW news. It's been a relatively slow news week the past 7 days, but the Midsummer Fire Festival is in full swing, complete with a level 80 Frost Lord Ahune bearing new ilevel 232 loot -- and lacking his scorchling pet, sadly enough. There's more news to peruse as well, and you'll want to keep an on eye on the site throughout the day and coming weeks for more news and guides on the coming Patch 3.3.5 content.

  • Tuesday Morning Post: The press gang edition

    by 
    Daniel Whitcomb
    Daniel Whitcomb
    06.15.2010

    Happy Tuesday Morning, everyone! The past few days have been pretty busy as far as shiny new Cataclysm news goes. First we saw the first few class talent previews go up for druids, rogues, priests, and shamans. We, of course, have analysis of all the ins and outs of the new trees, as you'd expect. But the big news of the week was, of course, the Cataclysm press event. We got a massive info dump of juicy information, including interviews with Ghostcrawler. Among some of the other highlights: New juicy lore tidbits, including information on the Archeology skill. New raid lockout mechanisms. A complete overhaul of the guild leveling mechanic. The complete scrapping of the Path of the Titans system, and some adjustments to glyphs to compensate. Video previews of the new Orgrimmar and Stormwind. Confirmation of a War of the Ancients raid. In addition to that, there's plenty of other awesome news tidbits to catch up on this morning. You'll have the usual 5 AM to 11 AM pacific downtime, so you'll have the time to do some reading. Read on for a list of the latest stuff.

  • Tuesday Morning Post: The long downtime of the soul edition

    by 
    Daniel Whitcomb
    Daniel Whitcomb
    06.08.2010

    Happy Tuesday Morning, everyone! If you were part of the massive rush to get BlizzCon tickets this past week, I hope your luck was good, because they are now officially sold out. If you didn't get one, there's probably nothing left to do but hope you win one as a contest prize! Whether you were successful or whether your hopes were dashed, you will, alas, have quite some time to brood or celebrate if your characters are on a list of servers slated for a 24 hour downtime today. Of course, even if you dodged the bullet, we still have the normal 5 AM to 11 AM Pacific time maintenance period coming for all servers. Luckily, there's plenty of news to catch up on, including a good selection of official news on patch 3.3.5 and some of the new features of the Cataclysm expansion. Read on for all the latest, and keep coming back all day for the latest news, tips, and guides. Whether your server is down for the morning or down all day, we'll be here for you.

  • Tuesday Morning Post: Gnomeregan rising edition

    by 
    Daniel Whitcomb
    Daniel Whitcomb
    06.01.2010

    Good Tuesday morning, everyone! It's been a surprisingly slow news week as far as new Cataclysm stuff goes, but luckily, we have the PTR to keep us busy anyway. With Operation: Gnomeregan and Zalazane's Fall active for testing on the PTR, now's the perfect time to go test out some fun new world events and show your own patriotism for your favorite refugee race. If you'd rather stay on the live servers, we do have a nice picture gallery of the Zalazane's event for your perusal. The PTR is also being used to test the new Real ID functionality, which makes it an excellent time to caution you: Be careful who you trust with your Real ID. Perhaps the most "surprising" news this week may be the fact that there is absolutely no downtime anticipated for today. That's right, early morning pacific coast Tuesday players, you can keep right on trucking. But just in case you need a break, or you're stuck at work or school and can't play, we've got the usual roundup of all the good news from the past 7 days or so after the break.

  • Tuesday Morning Post: Ferengi are cooler than Goblins edition

    by 
    Daniel Whitcomb
    Daniel Whitcomb
    05.25.2010

    Happy Tuesday morning, everyone! This week has actually been pretty good for news that is not directly game related. BlizzCon ticket frenzy is nearly upon us. They'll go on sale June 2nd and June 5th, which means you only have around a week to get ready to click madly to get into that queue and get another chance to see Jay Mohr. In possibly even cooler news, Aron Eisenberg, better known to geeks like us as Deep Space 9's Nog, was the subject of this week's 15 Minutes of Fame and our special guest co-host on the podcast. The usual 5 AM to 11 AM pacific downtime is go, so you'll have plenty of time to join us in geeking out with Nog, or read the rest of the latest news. We have the usual roundup after the break.

  • Tuesday Morning Post: Sanctum's closed edition

    by 
    Daniel Whitcomb
    Daniel Whitcomb
    05.18.2010

    Happy Tuesday Morning everyone! It's mostly business as usual here in WoW land. The Cataclysm friends and family testing is trucking right along, as is the patch 3.3.5 PTR. Although there was supposed to be Ruby Sanctum testing happening, bad lag prevented testers in the US from doing much of anything, and the European testing was canceled altogether. Luckily, even without the sanctum, there's plenty of news and other things to look at. There's the usual downtime this morning, from 5 AM to 11 AM pacific, so you'll have time. Check out usual roundup after the break. The Cataclysm leaks and spoilers are in their own section, so you can skip those if you're trying to stay pure.

  • Tuesday Morning Post: We dislike NDAs edition

    by 
    Daniel Whitcomb
    Daniel Whitcomb
    05.04.2010

    Happy Tuesday morning, everyone. It looks like the wheels may finally be in motion, inexorably turning toward the release of Cataclysm. Community Manager Zarhym has confirmed that the family and friends alpha is under way, and signs of the beta have begun to crop up on the official site. Could an actual NDA-free beta be close behind? Speaking of NDAs and betas, now's a good time to remind people of a few things: First, beta invites have not gone out, so if you get an invite in your in-box, be careful. It's very, very likely a scam. Second, the family and friends alpha is under a Non-Disclosure Agreement, so it's likely we won't get much new information, if any, until that's released. Beyond that, there was plenty of other news dropping this week. Children's Week is upon us again, the night elf mohawk has returned and Cataclysm news continues to trickle out, among other things. We do have the usual 5 a.m. to 11 a.m. Pacific downtime window this morning, so since you can't log on to WoW, why not read on? Our usual weekly roundup of the news awaits.

  • Tuesday Morning Post: Raiding reshuffling redux edition

    by 
    Daniel Whitcomb
    Daniel Whitcomb
    04.27.2010

    The big news this week came only yesterday in the form of some basic raid changes coming to Cataclysm. Depending on your perspective, they may or may not be as absolutely earth shattering as the changes to raid sizes at the start of Wrath, but they're still big. The discussion and debate over these changes will continue for many days, and you know we'll be in the thick of it. If raid size debates aren't your cup of tea, there's plenty of other news to peruse. For example, we also got a small sneak peak at Cataclysm's world with some Cataclysm concept art uncovered by Scrolls of Lore. For a roundup of the rest of the week's happenings, you can check below, as usual. You'll have plenty of time to do so, as we will have downtime this morning from 5 AM to 11 AM pacific.

  • Tuesday Morning Post: And live in harmony harmony oh love edition

    by 
    Daniel Whitcomb
    Daniel Whitcomb
    04.20.2010

    Happy Tuesday Morning, everyone! By now, I'm sure you're all aware of the big news: The Sparklepony is here! The Celestial Steed went up for sale on the Blizzard store, causing massive queues and earning Blizzard hundreds of thousands of dollars in the first day alone. You either loved it or you hated it, but either way, it seems to have been a coup for Blizzard. While the pony talk refuses to die down, some people just want it to go away, and luckily for them, there have been other things of note to report. For example, there was also a bit of Cataclysm news this past week. Paladins got their day in the sun with their Cataclysm class preview (along with some extra blue clarification, of course), and we, of course, have analysis for all three talent trees. We also saw the release of a preview of Mount Hyjal, as well as a preview of Vashj'ir, a sunken city of the Naga. There was also a twitter developer chat, where we learned that we'll be able to learn 310% flight for all our current flying mounts in Cataclysm. No matter what type of news you prefer, you'll have some time to get caught up on it thanks to a 5 AM to 11 AM pacific downtime window. You can check after the break for a list of some of the other odds and ends from the past seven days as well, and, as always, keep it here for WoW news as it happens throughout the day.

  • Tuesday Morning Post: Need more rage edition

    by 
    Daniel Whitcomb
    Daniel Whitcomb
    04.06.2010

    Just when it looked like it was going to be a slow news week, here comes Blizzard to the rescue with a few nice little chunks of Cataclysm news. Now I'm not implying anything really, but isn't it sort of funny that only days after Rossi talked rage normalization, we get a nice new writeup on the future of rage in Cataclysm and good old Heroic Strike and Maul? Luckily, Rossi came right back with a quick and dirty guide to the new rage stuff. Of course, if you're not a feral druid or a warrior, you might be more interested in the new information on dispel mechanics in Cataclysm. Of course, As awesome as WoW is and as much as we're eating up this new Cataclysm info with a spoon, everyone needs a break now and then, and on April Fools, we took a few stabs at some new blog concepts. I was very pleased that even my fellow Bloggers are on Team Jacob, that we are willing to publish an awesome guide to the best Mass Effect class ever, and that we were able to use the phrase "Love Glue Gunnin" on the site in a completely legitimate manner. I'm not as pleased about the zombies on my lawn, or that creepy muscle building bear now haunting my dreams, but what can you do? If our little bit of fun didn't satisfy you, you can check out our roundup of some of the other WoW-related April Fool's shenanigans around the web as well, or marvel over the existence of a real version of the EPEEN meter. Whatever strikes your fancy in WoW news, you have plenty of time to read it thanks to today's 5 AM to 11 AM pacific downtime. Continue on for a list of some the best and most interesting news and guides from the past 7 days or so.

  • Tuesday Morning Post: It's not Las Vegas edition

    by 
    Daniel Whitcomb
    Daniel Whitcomb
    03.30.2010

    Welcome everyone, to another news filled Tuesday morning. The big news, of course, is the official announcement of the next BlizzCon. It's happening, but unfortunately, not in Vegas. But hey, it's a blast wherever it's held, even if wherever remains Blizzard's backyard in sunny Anaheim. It's late October this year, which of course has set off tons of speculation about the Cataclysm release date, among other things. Whatever else comes with BlizzCon though, it should be fun and informative. Check out last year's coverage if you forgot just how crazy that whole thing gets. Go ahead, you have time. We'll be down from 5 AM to 11 AM pacific time this morning. Of course, beyond the BlizzCon thing, there's plenty of other news to speak of, especially with Patch 3.3.3 still relatively fresh and requiring hot fixes and even a minor patch. Read on for all the latest WoW Scuttlebutt , and hey, if all else fails, tune into NPR. Our intrepid Editor-in-Chief is on On Point today.

  • Tuesday Morning Post: Just the patch, ma'am edition

    by 
    Daniel Whitcomb
    Daniel Whitcomb
    03.23.2010

    Happy Tuesday morning, everyone. It's a beautiful near-spring morning here on the west coast, especially since, as of this writing, it looks like we'll finally be getting Patch 3.3.3. That means many things, including changes to raid buffs, new found usefulness for Frozen Orbs, abolition of battleground marks, and some pretty cool stuff data mined out of the patch files. It also means we're just a little bit closer to Patch 3.3.5, which promises a new raid dungeon among other things, and maybe even some gnome and troll love. Of course, we have an extended 3 AM to 11 AM pacific downtime to get this patch into place, which means you have time to read up on all this stuff. In addition to our Patch 3.3.3 information page, we'll have additional coverage throughout the morning, and you can read our usual roundup of the news from the past 7 days below:

  • Tuesday Morning Post: Time change edition

    by 
    Daniel Whitcomb
    Daniel Whitcomb
    03.16.2010

    Happy Tuesday Morning, everyone. This morning, we're coming to you earlier than we would have been last week. Or is later? Honestly, this whole time change thing is just making me confused. And sleepy. There's a reason I was never a math major. Luckily, there's nothing like an invigorating round of WoW news to get the blood pumping in the morning. Okay, so technically a cup of coffee would also work, but the machine isn't done percolating yet. Regardless, there's plenty of news to catch up on. There's been some interesting news trickling out of the Game Developer's Conference over in San Francisco, as well as the usual round of Patch 3.3.3 PTR news. Luckily, you'll have time to read it all while the servers are down. With realm maintenance clocking in at only 6 hours today (from 5 AM to 11 AM Pacific), though, I wouldn't expect to see Patch 3.3.3 actually dropping this week, so you'll have to console yourself with the news and wait at least one more week to cash in all those Frozen Orbs. Check out our usual roundup after the break.

  • Tuesday Morning Post: Beginning of the end edition

    by 
    Daniel Whitcomb
    Daniel Whitcomb
    03.09.2010

    Happy Tuesday morning, everyone! I name this week's post not in a negative sense, but in a sense that it does seem like we've officially started winding down Wrath. Specifically, we recently saw the addition of the first edition of the Icecrown Citadel raid buff. It has started at 5%, but will eventually rise to 30%, allowing more and more people to power through the dungeon and see Arthas fall at their feet. It's the end of an era, but I feel the start of a much better one. Of course, that's not to say we're completely out of Wrath yet. We have at least 2 more patches to go, and Patch 3.3.3 PTR news keeps rolling in, as does tons of other news. You'll have the usual maintenance break from WoW this morning, 5 AM to 11 AM pacific, so you have time to get caught up. As usual, here's our list of some of the major stuff from the past 7 days or so:

  • Tuesday Morning Post: Cataclysmic content edition

    by 
    Daniel Whitcomb
    Daniel Whitcomb
    03.02.2010

    Happy Tuesday Morning, everyone. While it was not perhaps a deluge, we did get a few tidbits of Cataclysm news this past week, beginning with the latest Twitter Developer Chat, where the devs dropped hints on such sundry topics as the purification of the plaguelands, cross-realm mail and raids, submarines, a new caverns of time instance, the new class/race combos, and the dance studio. Then we got a very nice info-dump with an informative post on the way statistics will work in Cataclysm. We've already started breaking down what the stat changes mean to various classes and specs, and if your class hasn't been analyzed yet, chances are it will be today or tomorrow. Combine that with some new info from the Patch 3.3.3 PTR, and Blizzard's really packed on the news this cycle. It's only rolling restarts this morning, but don't you deserve a break anyway? Check out our roundup of all the news after the break while you wait for your server to restart and for Ghostcrawler to deliver your moose.

  • Tuesday Morning Post: It's raining again edition

    by 
    Daniel Whitcomb
    Daniel Whitcomb
    02.23.2010

    Did you think things were getting slow in WoW news? Those might have been famous last words, so to speak. It never rains, but it pours. It started early last week with a stream of previews: Of the new battleground honor changes, of the new Ruby Sanctum raid, and a sneak peek behind the curtain of Wintergrasp's faction balancing mechanics. Then, Friday came, and bam. Here comes Patch 3.3.3, with tons of amazing information for everyone to drown in, both in the patch notes and in the game files. If you haven't had a chance to dive into all the Patch 3.3.3 news, now is as good a time as any, since the servers will be down from 3 AM to 11 AM Pacific. Before you ask, we have not heard that the patch is going live as of this writing, and I'd sincerely doubt it myself. It's a bit buggy as it is, and the devs have hinted there's more to be implemented and tested. So feel free to sit back, relax, and peruse the best news from the past week, both from Patch 3.3.3 and beyond, just below.

  • Tuesday Morning Post: Mooning edition

    by 
    Daniel Whitcomb
    Daniel Whitcomb
    02.16.2010

    Happy Tuesday Morning, everyone. Right now, we're sort of hip deep in holidays. Not only is Love Is In The Air winding down, but the Lunar Festival is in full swing. As always, if you need help getting acclimated, we're here for you with an Overachiever guide, which itself includes an elder finding guide. There's been other things going on in and around WoW, of course. The biggest buzz has been from the past few days: Yes, Upper Deck is losing the WoW TCG license, but Blizzard says the game is not going away. Unfortunately, the exact form the new version will take, and who will run and distribute it, are still firmly in the realm of conjecture and rumor as of this writing. If there's one comfort with all this turmoil, it's this: That the World (of Warcraft) is Awesome. Unfortunately, that awesome world will be down for the usual 5 AM to 11 AM pacific time maintenance window this morning, so you'll have plenty of time to catch up on all the news of said world. As usual, we have a list of the some of the most interesting news and other stuff from the past 7 days.

  • Tuesday Morning Post: In the Air edition

    by 
    Daniel Whitcomb
    Daniel Whitcomb
    02.09.2010

    It's been a pretty busy week here in WoW. With Patch 3.3.2 live and the Frostwing Halls open, we quickly saw our first 10-man Lich King kill, followed by our first 25-man Lich King kill, followed shortly by a ban, followed a bit later by the first legitimate 25-man Lich King kill. But if you haven't managed to get him down yet, you're in luck. Blizzard's already making it easier to get to him by removing the limited number of attempts on ICC wing bosses in normal mode. Beyond Icecrown Citadel, we also saw some pretty interesting stuff in and outside the game: Blizzard's planning to offer a premium AH app for the iPhone so you can corner the linen market on the downtown bus. The Love is in the Air holiday is active and completely redesigned, with new achievements, easier existing achievements, and a new boss fight with new holiday loot. Check our Love is In The Air FAQ for information on all the new stuff. Arena season 8 is up and running as well. Unfortunately, even with all this activity, weekly downtime is still upon us. You'll have from 5 AM to 11 AM pacific time to take a break from all this new stuff. As always, I'll suggest that that's an excellent time to read about it instead. Here's a summary of some of our articles from the past 7 days.

  • Tuesday Morning Post: Ice cold spoilers edition

    by 
    Daniel Whitcomb
    Daniel Whitcomb
    02.02.2010

    Happy Tuesday Morning! And yes, it is pretty happy, because it looks like we're getting the long awaited Patch 3.3.2, and with it, season 8, some nice little class changes, and of course, Arthas. We've already seen a leak of the promised final cinematic that occurs after the Lich King battle. Don't click on the link if you don't want to see it, it's a pretty big spoiler. Of course, a new patch means a lot of downtime. So, While you're waiting through the 3 AM to 11 AM Pacific downtime for the servers to come up and the patch to download, have a serving of some of the hottest news and best articles from the past 7 days, and be sure to stay tuned for lots more Patch 3.3.2 news in the coming days.

  • Tuesday Morning Post: Not the horse edition

    by 
    Daniel Whitcomb
    Daniel Whitcomb
    01.26.2010

    Happy Tuesday morning, everyone. With the 5 AM to 11 AM pacific downtime coming our way, it's probably safe to assume we aren't getting Patch 3.3.2 this week. Luckily, that didn't stop Blizzard from releasing the 3.3.2 patch notes over on the Korean WoW site. You'll probably want to give those a look, especially if you're a shaman, warrior, or warlock. On the bright side, the extra week's wait means that means you have at least one more week to master the recently opened Crimson Halls. Be sure to check out our raid boss guide for tips and strats. I'll be honest though, the big story for me this week was the release of the Invincible music. Seriously, this is some amazing music and I can't wait to hear it in game. That said, it better not be about the horse. Seriously, Arthas. I love you and all, but that horse is just dumb. You gotta let it go. It was years ago. No-one liked that horse but you. And seriously, naming it Invincible was just thumbing your nose at fate. No, this had better be a plaintive hymn to the fall of Lordaeron, the loss of innocence, and the beloved prince that you once were, played as the Argent Crusaders and the Ebon Blade carry your body off on a bier while Varian, Jaina, Muradin, Thrall, Saurfang, and Bolvar Fordragon watch solemnly. Yes, I may have put too much thought into this. Anyhow, you didn't come to hear me rant, you came to catch up on your WoW news during the downtime. As such, please find our usual summary of the last 7 days or so below the cut!