Today in WoW: Wednesday, Aug. 17, 2011

The gamescom 2011 convention is underway in Cologne, Germany, and the first day kicked off with a few big patch 4.3-related announcements for World of Warcraft. Here's a quick summary of the features and content that the World of Warcraft developers are talking about at the show:

Transmogrification: The ethereals are setting up shop around Azeroth to offer adventurers their latest astonishing interdimensional service. The upcoming Transmogrification feature will let players customize the appearance of their gear like never before. For the full rundown on how it works, check out our recently posted blog: http://us.battle.net/wow/en/blog/3309048#blog

Void Storage: Now that you've got a good reason to hang onto your old gear, you're going to need somewhere to store it all. With Transmogrification comes Void Storage, a long-term stash where players will be able to keep the items they just can't seem to let go of. Those ethereals think of everything, don't they? Look for an official blog post with screenshots and details tomorrow, August 18.

Death to Deathwing: Alongside all this comes a whole lot of new content. The developers revealed that patch 4.3 will feature three new 5-player dungeons, setting the stage for the ultimate fight in Cataclysm: the final showdown against Deathwing himself. Patch 4.3 will include a whole new tier of raid content culminating in an epic boss encounter unlike anything you've yet experienced in World of Warcraft.

Raid Finder and More: We're also working on a number of other new features, including a Raid Finder — a tool similar to the Dungeon Finder designed to match players looking for PUG-friendly raids — and some cool renovations for Azeroth's traveling Darkmoon Faire.

But don't worry — there's plenty of time to prepare. We're keeping a close eye on players' progress through the Rage of the Firelands content, and lots of folks are still busy working on obtaining the Dragonwrath legendary staff, completing the Molten Front dailies, and rallying to take down Ragnaros. We'll have lots more details on the raid, dungeons, and other content coming in patch 4.3 in the months ahead, so keep an eye on the official World of Warcraft website.

It's Whack-A-Gnoll.

Gnolls.

Honestly, I disagree. I think there will always be players who want to roll in the latest set, and our artists take great pride in their work, so they will always try to make all the art for new gear as awesome as they can.

For players who are between full sets, Transmogrification offers a cool opportunity to sport a 'complete' look, and enjoy favorite gear art from the past. Few players will want to look the same all the time though, so I expect that new art and new tier sets will remain in demand.