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Select pets and mounts 50% off until January 5th
Well, it's Christmas (or Winter Veil if you're Azerothian) and it seems like Blizzard's taking the opportunity to hook into your last minute gift buying impulse with this holiday sale. Selected mounts and pets (you can see which by looking at this page) are available for half price. And worry not, European players, you haven't been left out. So yay for everyone who can finally snag that pet or mount they wanted, whether as a gift or just buying it for yourself. I'm considering finally getting that Enchanted Fey Dragon.
Doomhammer replica about to go away forever
If, like me, you're a fan of things that can smash other things, you probably like the Doomhammer. And if you have the money, honey, we've got your replica of it, but only for a limited time - because once the last remaining Doomhammers sell out, there will be no more forever. It's possibly the finest replica of Orgrim Doomhammer's signature weapon available, so if you want one, you'd better get over to the official store and get your hammer while you still can.
Warforged Nightmare mount now available
A new mount has appeared in the Blizzard Store on live servers. The Warforged Nightmare is available for $30 on US accounts. The Warforged Nightmare is a single player ground and flying mount, a fiery warhorse covered in spikes and chains. However, the smiths that crafted the mount have a surprise in store for you -- not only do you receive the mount, you also receive the Nightmarish Hitching Post with your order. Make a group with your friends, because clicking on this item will give any party member their own 20 minute version of the Warforged Nightmare for themselves. It's a mount and a toy, and both can be yours via the Blizzard Store. For more information and footage of the steed in action, check out Blizzard's official announcement video.
Armored Bloodwing, Blossoming Ancient now 35% off
If you've been wanting to add to your mount or battle pet collections, now might be the perfect time to do so. The Armored Bloodwing and the Blossoming Ancient are on sale for 35% off this week in both US and EU Battle.net shops. The Armored Bloodwing on its own is pretty cool -- it's the only bat mount players have access to. As for the Blossoming Ancient, it's not only a nice addition to any pet battle team, it also changes its appearance according to the seasons. Players looking to purchase the pet or mount should check out either the US Battle.net Shop, or the EU version. For US buyers, the pet is now $6.50 and the mount is $16.25, and for EU buyers, the pet is EUR 6.50, and the mount is EUR 13.00. But if you want to take advantage of the sale, you might want to hurry -- the prices are only good through June 3.
Having trouble pre-ordering Reaper of Souls? You're not alone
If you're trying to pick up your own copy of Diablo 3's soon-to-be-released Reaper of Souls expansion from Blizzard, you may have run head-first into a "500: Internal Server Error" message. The big downside to this error -- beyond your inability to buy the expansion -- is that though you don't get anything, you may still see the charge pending on your credit card. According to Blizzard support, because the charge didn't successfully go through, it should vanish within a few days. However, it doesn't leave us inclined to, as the error suggests, try again later. Fortunately, Blizzard is on the case: We're experiencing difficulties with pre-orders for Reaper of Souls. These issues will be resolved ASAP. Thanks very much for your patience! - BlizzardCS (@BlizzardCS) March 21, 2014 Hopefully we'll see a resolution sooner rather than later -- with Reaper of Souls due out on the 25th, there's not much time left to buy for release-day gameplay. In the meantime, we're holding off on clicking "buy" until @BlizzardCS gives us the all clear.
The surprising importance of visual improvement
Before the introduction of transmogrification, I had no idea why anyone wanted it. Back then, I was a pretty involved raider (still am, but probably a step or so less) and almost all of my effort in-game was dedicated towards improving my gear's stats. I didn't give much thought to how it looked. Occasionally I'd make fun of myself for looks like the one above, when I simply couldn't get a hat or shoulders to drop in the first tier of Cataclysm raiding and had to settle for ones from Zul'Gurub or Zul'Aman. I wore them, because they were the best I could get, and every week I cursed the bosses in Blackwing Descent and Bastion of Twilight for not dropping better. But I always thought it was the stats that were important, not the fact that I looked like some demented tauren clown pretending to be a murloc to scare tauren children. It took me a long time to understand how important a feature that allows you to customize your character's look can be to get you invested in that character. My groaning bank and void storage, filled to bursting with transmog items, can certainly attest that I quickly learned that lesson. But it shouldn't have been so surprising to me, considering I played in vanilla -- and back in vanilla, it was the fact that the tier raiding sets were such stark visual improvements that was half the motivation in pursuing them.
Blizzard store re-opens
After a couple of months on hiatus, the Blizzard online store has re-opened its doors as Blizzard Gear. Not to be confused with the digital-only Battle.net Shop, the Blizzard Gear store is where you'll find the usual assortment of shirts, posters, plushies, and other Blizzard memorabilia. There's also a new section titled Caverns of Time which sells leftover items from past BlizzCons. Perhaps most relevant to WoW players is the ability to get your hands on a physical authenticator once again, which is available in a few different flavors. According to their shipping page, they will ship most of their products to a number of countries outside of the United States. You can visit the Blizzard Gear store here.
Iron Skyreaver now available on Battle.net store
The Iron Skyreaver mount that was released last week was available in the in-game store only. Unfortunately, this meant meant that players looking to give the mount as a gift to friends were unable to do so. Good news for those with giving spirits -- the mount has now been added to the Battle.net store, which means you can indulge your close friends with the latest ridiculously cool mount for their collections. Purchasing mounts through the Battle.net store will give you an option to either use the mount on your own account, or give the gift to a friend. Selecting the gift option will generate a code, which you can then toss at the recipient to use at their leisure. All they have to do is log into their Battle.net account and redeem the code by going to the Games & Codes dropdown and selecting Code Redemption. While it's nice to see the Skyreaver added to the Battle.net shop, it does make one wonder if the in-game store will see gift-giving functionality eventually added. With how easy it is to use the shop interface, it would be nice if it generated codes as well. Hopefully we'll see that at some point in the future.
Iron Skyreaver mount makes an early appearance on several realms
The question of where the previously datamined Iron Skyreaver mount comes from has now been answered. Last night, several realms experienced problems and were taken offline for several hours. When these realms came back online, there was a surprise waiting on the in-game shop in the form of a new mount, the Iron Skyreaver. Some people were able to purchase the mount before the store started giving an error message which now pops up when you try to purchase it. It's likely this was not intended to be released yet because it only appeared on realms which were affected by the downtime. Now that the cat's out of the bag, perhaps Blizzard will bump up the original release date and make it available on all realms. If not, the select few who managed to snag one during the short window will have somewhat of an exclusive mount on their hands until it's officially released. Did you or any of your friends manage to buy one in time? Will you buy one when it is released to the store officially? Updated: The mount has now been officially released. Hit the break for the official video from Blizzard.
Patch 5.4.2: In-game store is now live, mounts and pets discounted by 50%
The in-game store is now live with patch 5.4.2. Most of the existing pets and mounts are available for purchase (sorry, no Iron Skyreaver yet) but there is no sign of the transmogrification helmets yet. As a bonus, almost everything there is 50% off with the exception of the Alterac Brew Pup, Blossoming Ancient, and Enchanted Fey Dragon. You can find the in-game store right beside the dungeon journal and game menu buttons. I tested out the purchasing process myself and it was extremely easy (almost too easy -- my poor wallet). When I clicked to buy something a confirmation prompt appeared and let me know that it would be charged to the credit card I have on file with Blizzard. After confirming I wanted to buy, I had to enter my password to confirm, and not 5 seconds later the Cinder Kitten was sitting in my bags. The only pets not available in the in-game store are the Guardian Cub and Moonkin Hatchling. This may have something to do with the unique nature of these pets (the Guardian Cub being BoE, and the Moonkin having different Horde and Alliance versions). This 50% off sale is also available on the web store and will end on January 1, 2014.
Blizzard store now offering full Halloween costumes
Halloween is fast approaching -- are you prepared? If not, the Blizzard Store might just be your ticket if you're looking for a quick solution and simultaneously wanting to show off your gamer pride. Three new costumes by Rubies have been added to the Blizzard Store, and unlike previous mask offerings, these are full-body outfits that will dress you up from head to toe. Along with the standard green orc, Illidan and Arthas are both available -- keep in mind, however, that if you're looking for a pair of Warglaives or Frostmourne, those don't come with the outfits. They may not be the height of cosplay perfection, but they're good enough for a Halloween party or three. The characters are pretty much instantly recognizable to anyone familiar with Warcraft, and really isn't that all anyone hopes for out of a Halloween costume? Head to the Blizzard store to check them out and perhaps pick up a costume of your own.
World of Warcraft's base package now includes Cataclysm
The game package formerly known as the World of Warcraft Battle Chest is now simply called World of Warcraft and has added Cataclysm to its base offering. All current players who do not already own Cataclysm will be automatically upgraded. The new box as seen above will be available in retail stores soon, with the digital download version already available on the US store. This change should coincide quite nicely with the upcoming Recruit-A-Friend revamp and make the cost of entry more manageable for new players or those wanting to set up a secondary account.
BlizzCon Online Sale is now live
If you're a BlizzCon attendee or Virtual Ticket holder, you can now start buying all the Blizzard goodies at the 2013 BlizzCon Sale. If you don't have a ticket, you will have to wait until November 9th for access to new merchandise such as the adorable Lil' Chen Plush (pictured above), or the $250 limited edition World of Warcraft Mahjong Set. Unlike previous BlizzCon sales, all orders are shipped upon receipt. You won't be picking up your merchandise at BlizzCon. Blizzard promises additional surprises as the sale continues.
BlizzCon Online Sale starts on October 11
BlizzCon attendees and Virtual Ticket holders will be getting first dibs on the new WoW merchandise at this year's BlizzCon online sale beginning October 11 at 10 a.m. PDT. Supplies will be limited, and everyone else will have to wait until BlizzCon ends on November 9 for the chance to purchase. One of my favorite pieces of merchandise from past BlizzCons was the 1:4 scale Arthas helm. It makes a fine desk ornament. Hopefully they will have more of them for sale this year. To access the sale you will need to log in to the store with the Battle.net account associated with your ticket purchase. Head on over to the official BlizzCon site to see the full sale preview.
Cosmetic helms now available in Blizzard Store
The first round of transmog gear for purchase has appeared in the Blizzard store. The Crown of Eternal Winter, Jewel of the Firelord, and Hood of Hungering Darkness are all head slot items with zero stats, functional only for cosmetic reasons. All three of these items are unique models with animations, and I do have to say, they are rather visually arresting. Of the three, I think the Jewel of the Firelord (pictured above) is my favorite, but I'm quite sure the Crown of Eternal Winter will be a popular choice thanks to its skull face look. Spooky! Something notable about these helms is that they don't seem to have an armor type. The description tells us that they work across all races and classes, and are available on all current and future WoW characters. So for those of us playing classes that might not have a whole lot of variety available to us (ahem, mail-wearers) this could be a nice way to expand the wardrobe. All three of these helms are available for purchase in the US Blizzard Store under the Collectibles tab for $15.00 apiece and in the EU Blizzard Store under the Pets & Mounts tab, for 12,00 euros each.
Weekly news roundup with Panser of TradeChat
TradeChat's Panser returns with this week's WoW Insider news recap, where we look back at the hottest news from the past week and whatever other kickin' rad things may have come our way. This week's topics include: Blizzard debuts new Battleground Guides Patch 5.4: In-game store announced Transmog helms, TCG-style items coming to the Blizzard store Free transfers for select realms Discussion Topic: Potential virtual realm headaches If you enjoyed the show, make sure to subscribe to TradeChat, leave a comment, and come back next week for the next episode!
Breakfast Topic: Do you buy in-game items at the Blizzard store?
Blizzard recently released the Armored Bloodwing mount in the Blizzard store. I don't know about you, but I've seen quite a few out in the wild, with some of them just hanging around big cities, showing off. This mount is not quite to my taste -- I'm a huge sparkle pony fan -- but I like its aesthetic and I see the appeal. Other than the Celestial Steed, I also bought the Wind Rider Cub plushy and in-game pet set. And the Spousal Unit has the Winged Guardian mount. (I think he's eyeing the Armored Bloodwing too. Hmmm. Father's Day is coming up ...) In addition, we each have the collector's editions for several years and all the pets included there.
New Armored Bloodwing mount now available
Hot off the Blizzard store is a new in-game WoW mount for purchase: the Armored Bloodwing. As the name implies, it's a giant armored bat for your characters to ride around on, and I have to say, it looks pretty cool! I can certainly see my undead priest and warlock hopping onto this thing, but my night elf mage? Not so much! (That's what my sparkle pony is for.) What do you think of the addition of the Armored Bloodwing? Part of me feels like it's nigh about time for the Blizzard store to gain a creepy-looking sinister sort of mount, because there hasn't really been one before. I'm sure tons of folks are going to be all over this thing. Are you?
Swift Windsteed now available in the Blizzard Store
Back in October, Blizzard teased the Swift Windsteed mount on their Facebook page. Further information on the mount trickled out via datamining patch 5.1 -- and as of this morning, it's available for purchase on the Blizzard Store for $25, though there is only one color available as opposed to the many that were datamined. Swift Windsteed – Exclusive Mount Now Available Take the reins of one of Pandaria's most majestic and rare beasts, the Swift Windsteed, and it is said that good fortune will follow. Dart across the heavens on a silver cloud as fast as your riding skill allows. Once purchased from the Blizzard Store, the mount will be available to all present and future characters for a single Battle.net® account. source
WoW Archivist: WoW's zaniest merchandise
WoW Archivist explores the secrets of World of Warcraft's past. What did the game look like years ago? Who is etched into WoW's history? What secrets does the game still hold? With only five shopping days left until the Feast of Winter Veil, it is officially holiday crunch time. To inspire you in your shopping goals or maybe point out the perfect gift for that special raider in your life, WoW Archivist presents the zaniest WoW-themed real-world merchandise of all time. Strange swag Every BlizzCon has its swag bag, but 2008's edition, celebrating the Wrath of the Lich King expansion, has to be the zaniest ever. In addition to Diablo III "sinamints," a can of "zerg creep" goop, and a pandaren beer cozy, the bag included an inflatable Frostmourne or an inflatable "Bubble Hearth Beach Ball." The latter is a Divinely Shielded dwarf using an uninterruptable hearthstone -- in beach ball form. The bag also included a package of tissues labeled "QQ noob," masks of Azeroth's races (reminiscent of the Hallow's End in-game versions), and a Frostmourne keychain. The keychain is notable for its several outward-facing spikes. It takes falling on your keys to a whole new level of pain. The full-size Frostmourne replica is more dangerous, but you're also not carrying it around in your pocket mere centimeters from your genitals. Or are you?
