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Blizzard spotlights the growing popularity of WoW papercraft
Now I don't get papercraft myself although I have come across it periodically. Basically it is the art of folding paper, turning 2D images into 3D models. Now this is not new and we've covered it before (check out our papercraft gallery below while you're here) but Blizzard Europe have taken some time out to interview papercrafter and designer Pascal as well as featuring some of his awesome creations. I'm trying (and failing) not to go all fangirl over his papercraft moonkin (Druids FTW, etc., etc.) but it's impressive how intricate these models can be, from a mail box to a dragon. The spotlight also offers some hints on how to get started and while I'm totally useless at any crafty stuff, it makes me want to have a go at one of these beauties.%Gallery-20544%
Blizzard EU & NA comic and lore contest
I enjoy lore, and I enjoy comics. And if you're reading this, you're also probably like me and enjoy the World of Warcraft. So why not combine all those into a nice little contest?Blizzard EU is running a lore contest for their European customers, with the winners receiving a signed action figure. And sorry North American folks, right now this contest appears to be EU only.The quiz is a series of 10 questions, and while I won't give away the answers, the answer to number ten, "Who slays Onyxia?" is clearly "You and 39 friends, or just you." Because my solo warrior skills are just that leet.Head over to check out the rules and enter the contest, after all, you've got nothing to lose!Update: I wrote this article late yesterday evening, and at the time there was no North American version of the contest. However since then, Blizzard has posted a similar contest for North American residents. Enjoy!
Official Wrath talent calculators on EU site
European players have been apparently encountering lag, disconnections, and neglect from Blizzard Europe for the past little while (or so they keep writing into us and saying). Perhaps this is what the European team has been working on: they've just released official Wrath talent calculators, for all ten classes. At a glance, I didn't notice any differences between this and the calculators that have been up on Wowhead (and elsewhere) for a little while - i.e., they both reflect the current beta versions of everything. And I actually find that the Wowhead calculators run better for me (after all, talent calculators were Wowhead's original reason for being). Still, it's exciting to see these made official: a sign that the Lich King draws ever nearer. Can anyone spot a difference between the official calculators and what we already knew? Update: Now up on the US site too (thanks, Darias).
Blizzard announces new fan art contest
Are you that kid who sits in the back of Geometry class, doodling swords and dragons on your 3-subject notebook? Maybe you're a connoisseur of fine replica blades affiliated with a certain wildly-popular MMO? Either way, we've got the contest announcement for you.Blizzard is looking for the best original artwork depicting Arthas wielding the legendary Frostmourne. The rules for this contest are quite simple, and artistic freedom is granted to a point. The artwork must include Arthas and Frostmourne to be eligible, and normal common-sense rules apply as far as a restriction on obscenity or sexually offensive works, but the setting is completely up to you. As for a grand prize, the winner will receive a 47" Frostmourne replica courtesy of Epic Weapons and guaranteed beta access into Wrath of the Lich King. Please be aware that there are different rules and entry forms for the European and North American entries.
World of Warcraft to invade Russia
World of Warcraft is literally taking over the world one country at a time. It turns out Blizzard Entertainment, the Vivendi money-maker see great potential in the Russian market and will be translating and localizing World of Warcraft there next. This will be the sixth official World of Warcraft port to another language that supports official localization. Other localizations include: English, Spanish, French, German, and Korean. I think the next localization should be Barrens chat. Blizzard could build their own country out of money and call it the Barrens, and all the players that don't read quests and like Chuck Norris jokes can live and play WoW there. Translating and localizing the behemoth that is World of Warcraft is no easy undertaking, and Blizzard Europe is looking for new employees based out of their France and Ireland offices. Take your pick of in-game support, offline technical and customer support, localization and quality assurance, community relations and website development. Players will benefit from the same quality of 24/7 native-language support like the other localizations. For further information please see the Blizzard UK employment page. For those in Russia already playing WoW, Blizzard will release language packs to make the transition much more smoothly when the time comes. Which country has the best official World of Warcraft site? If I could actually read and completely load the WoW Korean website I could give you my input. What I can see does look flashy. [via, WoW Insider]
April news from Blizzard Europe
Most of Blizzard Europe's announcements today mirror the main Blizzard announcements, which we've already seen. However, from the European site, we get an extra tidbit of Black Temple information: complete information on the new Priests of Baa'ri faction! What do we know about these priests? Well, they were closely connected with the priesthood of the Temple of Karabor, now known as the Black Temple, and now they seek new allies to help reclaim the Temple of Karabor from Illidan's clutches.And now on to the important stuff: faction rewards. Depending on how friendly you are with them, the Priest of Baa'ri may be willing to sell you patterns to craft holy resistance gear of all armor types, a new type of spellthread with +healing and holy resistance, and an armor kit with holy resistance. Does this mean we're going to have to worry about holy damage in the Black Temple? Well, I suppose I can start getting concerned about collecting resistance gear after I finish the attunement chain...
Blizzard on WoW's success
Greg over at the Guardian Gamesblog has been chatting with Itzik Ben Bassat, VP of Business Development for Blizzard, about WoW's success in Europe and worldwide. He hints at possible console versions:Consoles will become increasingly important to the online world and obviously as a leading company in the online world we would like to use the great tools that the 360 and PS3 offer to bring Blizzard quality to console owners. There is nothing confirmed yet though.Also, more hints on future development:At the moment we are not announcing anything but we have several projects concerning the three worlds (Starcraft, Diablo and Warcraft) that we will announce when we feel comfortable that they match the quality of our previous games.Intriguing stuff.[Fanart by Ralf van der Hoeven of Holland.]
