Tuesday Morning Post: Daniel mostly talks about patch 4.0.6 and maybe a little bit of RIFT
Happy Tuesday morning, everyone. I heard you were all tired of seeing pictures of Alex's RIFT characters, so I figured I'd break up the monotony by showing you a picture of my RIFT character. But yeah, forget what I said in WRUP. I spent my entire weekend playing RIFT. Specifically, I was playing a ranger/bard/marksman who looks suspiciously like Kevin Sorbo. My opinion of the game is pretty close to Alex's, so I won't say much else except to note that I want Blizzard to steal rifts, and I forgot how much I missed playing a bard.
That said, I'm not too bummed that the beta is over (for now), since we got plenty of juicy new stuff coming after today's extended downtime. Patch 4.0.6 should be dropping today, and you should definitely read over the patch notes. There are long-requested (or unrequested) buffs and dreaded nerfs a-plenty.
In other news, Love is the Air on the live servers as well, along with quite a few bugs related to said holiday. Luckily, most of those bugs should be fixed in this patch, and we'll be able to stop obsessing over Cairne and Magni's deaths again. We also got a surprisingly early announcement for BlizzCon 2011. All these stories and more await you below. With today's extended downtime of 3 a.m. to 11 a.m. Pacific time, you should have plenty of time to read it all.
Hot news and features
BlizzCon 2011 has been announced for Oct. 21 and 22.
Luck of the Draw will be getting a lot luckier in patch 4.0.6.
Blizzard has announced that all future rated battlegrounds will be 10v10.
You still have one more day to enter our guild of the month contest!
CM Nethaera has a guide for using the official forums.
Nethaera also answered some questions about the CM process.
Blizzard's also put out a guide to PvP conquest points.
Mathew McCurley has a few things he wants to see Blizzard crib from other MMOs.
Class news and guides
Scattered Shots covers DPS dancing and what other classes should know about hunters.
Blood Pact begins Bastion of Twilight for warlocks.
Lichborne looks at professions for level 85 death knights.
Totem Talk looks at Vortex Pinnacle for restoration shaman and Blackwing Descent for enhancement shaman.
Shifting Perspectives looks back at 2010 for druids. We also have a guide to patch 4.0.6 feral changes, a guide to gearing your feral cat, and a balance guide to Throne of the Four Winds.
Encrypted Text looks at haste and energy regeneration for rogues.
Spiritual Guidance looks at professions for shadow priests and a guide to healing Bastion of Twilight's early stages.
The Light And How To Swing It looks at retribution in patch 4.0.6.
Arcane Brilliance has a mage survival guide.
The Care And Feeding of Warriors opines on fury talents.
Raid Rx looks at the art of healer feedback.
Items, dungeons, professions, PvP, and more
Gold Capped discusses the ins and outs of selling enchanting scrolls and how to farm Maelstrom Crystals.
Blood Sport talks about successful PvP attitudes.
Addon Spotlight discusses a little of this and a little of that this week.
WoW Rookie gives you a basic rundown on spell interrupts.
Ready Check helps you get your raid off the ground.
Josh Myers believes in gear simulations.
Odds and ends
Check out the latest installment of Safe Passage.
Know Your lore looks at Mathias Shaw and discusses the reason the Titans haven't returned.
Jane McGonigal thinks you're awesome.
J!NX and Blizzard are holding a T-shirt design contest.
The Lawbringer looks at hacking and virtual currency.