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Tuesday Morning Post: Elemental extended maintenance edition
Happy Tuesday morning, everyone. We're barreling headlong into the Cataclysm opening event, including fighting in the cities, so if you've been lax in logging on, now might be a good time to start. After all, there's loot and achievements to be had, and stuff. That said, you won't be able to log on for a bit this morning, as the servers are going down for extended maintenance from 3 a.m. to 11 a.m. PST. Personally, I'm blaming this on the fire elementals. I bet they got into the hardware. Luckily, we got your back with lots of good stuff to read from the past week while we wait for the servers to come back up. Keep it right here with us, and we'll get through the downtime withdrawal together, I promise. We have our usual list of hot topics and useful guides below.
Cataclysm playable at midnight PST Dec. 7, no matter how you buy it
Here's a bit of sad news for all WoW players not lucky enough to live on the west coast: Blizzard CM Bashiok has announced that the official Cataclysm start time for all North American servers will be Dec. 7 at midnight PST. This will include servers on other time zones. So, sorry eastern time people. You may be able to pick up your copies of the game at midnight EST, but you'll have to wait a few hours for the west coast to catch up before you play. The full announcement is as follows: Bashiok Wondering exactly what time you'll be able to begin playing your goblin or worgen or making your way to level 85? On all North American realms, World of Warcraft players who upgrade to Cataclysm will be able to begin experiencing the new content at 12 a.m. Pacific Standard Time (3 a.m. Eastern Standard Time) on December 7, whether they purchase the digital download through Battle.net or buy a physical retail boxed version in stores. Players will not be able to access Cataclysm expansion content prior to 12 a.m. PST, regardless of how they upgrade or what time zone they're located in. source World of Warcraft: Cataclysm will destroy Azeroth as we know it; nothing will be the same! In WoW Insider's Guide to Cataclysm, you can find out everything you need to know about WoW's third expansion (available Dec. 7, 2010), from brand new races to revamped quests and zones. Visit our Cataclysm news category for the most recent posts having to do with the Cataclysm expansion.
Tuesday Morning Post: Elementals everywhere edition
Happy Tuesday morning, everyone. While we're all holding our breaths waiting for Dec. 7, don't think things have slowed down, either. The elemental invasion event is in full swing, with a new phase every week. Before you know it, we'll be seeing Patch 4.0.3 and a whole new world (of Warcraft) laid out before us. Get those last-minute achievements done now, folks, it'll be here before you know it. For now, though, we have a few weeks, and Tuesday morning is as good a time as any to stand back and take stock of what's going in the game we all love. We have the usual roundup of hot news and useful guides straight ahead.
Tuesday Morning Post: Countdown to Cataclysm edition
Happy Tuesday morning, everyone. The big news of the moment actually started up last night: The next phase of the pre-Cataclysm world event has begun. This means we're ever closer to patch 4.0.3 and the release of Cataclysm. It feels like we've really cleared a hurdle here, so better get that old content done while you can. Of course, there's plenty of other news to sift through. We have few articles left from BlizzCon, for example. Also in awesome news is that The Shattering now has a much-deserved slot on the New York Times best-seller list. Downtime for maintenance consists only of a quick set of rolling restarts at 5 a.m., but it can't hurt to take a break and do some reading, right? We have our usual roundup after the break.
Tuesday Morning Post: Jaina Proudmoore is awesome edition
Happy Tuesday morning, everyone, and welcome to the week after BlizzCon 2010. This year was pretty sparse on WoW news, but there was still some cool stuff to see, including the new worgen cinematic. Luckily, the main reason everyone was there went off without a hitch: the WoW Insider reader meetup. Seriously, guys, it seemed like half the BlizzCon was there, including some pretty awesome special guests, and the prizes and alcohol both flowed like water. It was such an amazing party, and we're all looking forward to doing it again next year. Whether you've made it before or not, we'd love to see you there. Now, given the nature of the news this week, I could just throw up a picture of the BlizzCon sign as my header and be done with it. But I'm not going to do that. Instead, have a picture of Jaina Proudmoore. I have to admit, between the state of Dustwallow Marsh and the incidents at Undercity and Dalaran, I lost a lot of faith in Jaina. She just didn't seem to have any dignity or grace anymore. The woman I admired in Warcraft 3 was gone. But Christie Golden changed that. In The Shattering, she let me respect Jaina again, as a strong woman who still loves the Alliance but won't give up on peace, standing up to her King and even, if needed, to Thrall, even as she maintains strong friendships with both of them. Thank you, Christie. Thank you for letting me love Jaina again. Anyhow, with that bit of rampant fanboying out of the way, I should warn you that we do have the usual 5-11 a.m. downtime this morning. Luckily, between BlizzCon and patch 4.0.1, there's plenty of news for you to catch up on. You can start with our usual list, after the break.
Tuesday Morning Post: No pre-BlizzCon lull edition
Happy Tuesday morning, everyone. BlizzCon may be just around the corner, but don't make the mistake of thinking that everything's fallen into a lull because of that. There's a lot of pretty awesome stuff that's gone down in the last few days. Patch 4.0.1 is out, and it's changed the world (of Warcraft) forever. We also got to see the Cataclysm opening cinematic. I, personally, was underwhelmed, but I seem to be one of about three people who feel that way, so I'm sure you'll like it if you haven't seen it yet. In addition, Hallow's End is now on live servers, so you have a few more weeks to grab that elusive horse mount or pet, assuming you don't crash. Of course, my personal choice for the best news of Patch 4.0.1 is the fact that Anzu is up all the time. Don't get me wrong, I had a druid in Burning Crusade, and the epic flight form quest was amazing, but I want a giant frickin technicolored bird on my death knight now, and I'm pretty happy I won't have to drag around a druid for that. There's plenty of more patch 4.0.1 news to peruse and guidance to absorb, and since it's maintenance Tuesday, you should have some time to absorb it all. Check out our usual roundup after the break!
Tuesday Morning Post: The greatest post in the world tribute edition
Happy Tuesday Morning, everyone! All right, I know that there's that silly little patch 4.0.1 going live today, but honestly, that doesn't even faze me. Do you know why? That's because Tenacious D is performing at BlizzCon. Step aside, Ozzy. The true kings of rock are rocking the closing ceremonies. Consider me moved, gentlemen. Consider me moved. But seriously, with patch 4.0.1 going live today, there's a lot of stuff you're going to need to know, and WoW Insider has you covered. With this whole 12-hour downtime thing we got going on right now, it's the perfect time to read up on all the latest WoW news, including a lot of hints and tips to help you get used to the new patch. We have the usual roundup after the break, and you can stay tuned all day for more news you can use.
Tuesday Morning Post: I'm dreaming of a Cataclysmic Christmas edition
Happy Tuesday morning, everyone. The past few days saw a lot of Cataclysm release date rumors flying around. It seemed like Amazon was constantly waffling between January, December and November, and everyone was reading secret codes on Blizzard's websites and game data. Luckily, however, we do not need to guess anymore. Blizzard has officially announced that the Cataclysm expansion will release on Dec. 7, just in time for both Matthew Rossi's birthday and the feast of St. Nicholas, which is a traditional day of gift-giving in many cultures around the world. Yes, these are hints. Of course, before Cataclysm, we have patch 4.0.1 to contend with, but the exact date it's going live is still up in the air. Still, with the current arena season ending as early as Oct. 12, it's probably soon. Of course, for those of you who are still sort of confused as to what Cataclysm is and what all the hubbub is about, well, we can help with that too. Of course, all this stuff is off in the future. In the here and now, we have the usual scheduled maintenance window of 5-11 a.m. Pacific time. That means you have plenty of time to catch up on all the news from the past few days, and we have it all right here on WoW Insider.
Tuesday Morning Post: A farewell to portals edition
The most staggering news to come out of the Cataclysm beta has hit: There are no more portals in the neutral hubs. That's right, camping out in Dalaran or Shattrath won't get you anywhere anymore. You're going to be moving to Stormwind or Orgrimmar whether you like it or not. There have also been a bunch of wild rumors flying around about Cataclysm's release date. First, Amazon.com started sending out bunches of emails about release date changes which put the release at late November, and now there are rumors of a December release. Of course, they're all rumors; only Blizzard knows for sure, and it isn't talking. Still, 4.0.1 is on the PTR, and the background downloader is chugging away, so it feels like we're on the home stretch, regardless. Maintenance this week consists of rolling restarts at 5 a.m. Pacific time, although a small handful of servers will get the normal 5-11 a.m. downtime. No matter which server you're on, there was a whole lot of interesting news from the live servers, from the beta servers and from the PTR in the past 7 days -- so how about catching up on it right now?
Tuesday Morning Post: Brewfest begins edition
Happy Tuesday Morning, everyone, and welcome to the new WoW Insider! It's time once again for everyone's favorite WoW holiday, Brewfest. Yes, everyone's favorite holiday. If you think it's not yours, you are wrong. It has beer, kodos, and if you're Horde, the ability to see everyone as a hot orc lady. You cannot top that. In addition to the beginning of Brewfest, we've seen some interesting news drop as well, including information on major currency changes coming with patch 4.0.1, new background download data for patch 4.0.1 and a new beta build. The biggest news from the latest beta build seems to the be the fact that worgen get to be their own mounts, but there's tons of other amazing stuff too. We have a list of it, and all the other WoW news, after the break. Don't worry, you have time to read, since we have the usual 5-11 a.m. Pacific downtime today.
Lost Pages of Taborea: What's in a server?
Welcome back to another week of Lost Pages of Taborea. I'm switching gears and answering some reader mail. I'll answer the question to the best of my abilities, and then I want to expand the topic to cover server density and personality. Roger Ringo has returned to Reni from a hiatus which prompted the following question. Roger Ringo asks: I was wondering if you could give me a rundown on the population and community of the servers you have played on. I would really appreciate it. This is a great question about server populations. How populated are the Runes of Magic servers? For that matter, how do we go about finding the number of people on any MMO's server? It never seems to be a cut-and-dried answer with one almighty server-status site to feed us the numbers. A lot of our own perceptions can sway answers to these questions too. What days and times a person logs in, his playstyle, and what he pays more attention to in-game can all affect an opinion of whether a server is a ghost town or a small but happy community. Do my conclusions match with yours? Find out after the break!
Tuesday Morning Post: Gnome power edition
Happy Tuesday morning, everyone! In some news that is both Cataclysm related and non-Cataclysm related at the same time, it looks like live servers are finally getting something to cheer about. Not only are the gnome and troll events now live, but patch 4.0.1, which features the Cataclysm class and talent tree changes (but not the geographical changes to the old world), is on the PTR. Could this be a sign that Cataclysm is closer than we think, or will we just have a lot of time to play around with our new talents and content? It's hard to say either way, so be sure to get those events done if you want them. There's no telling how long they'll be on the live servers, and anyway, rumors are placing Cataclysm's release on Nov. 2, closer than you think. You'll have plenty of time to read up on all the news and rumors during the usual downtime this morning, from 5-11 a.m. Pacific time. Whether you're interested in live servers, in the 4.0.1 PTR, or the Cataclysm beta, we got plenty of news to keep you reading, so read on.
Tuesday Morning Post: Mad science edition
Happy Tuesday morning, everyone! We got a new patch in the beta this past week, which has led to much rejoicing, as goblins are playable again. Of course, as one bug is squished, a few thousand more pop up -- but the bug in the screenshot above? I rather like it. My worgen is not only a ferocious werewolf, but also a twisted Victorian mad scientist, his visage forever corrupted by his own experiments, dooming him to stalk the night bereft of love and companionship forever. Never fear, though, the latest patch blitz from the beta servers has bought also brought the good stuff. There's a veritable cornucopia of new goodies to pore over, including new racial character introductions, new guild achievements and updates to archaeology and inscription. There's much more, of course, and you can read all about it here on WoW.com. You'll have plenty of time do so, too, as realm maintenance is scheduled for the usual 5-11 a.m. Pacific time today. And thus, dear reader, read on, for the tragic cautionary tale of Dr. Worgenstein -- I mean, more WoW news.
Tuesday Morning Post: Kawaii edition
This past week was not the most exciting week ever. It was a week without a major patch on beta realms and a week without a lot of announcements in general! We still have plenty of great content that you may have missed over the course of the week, such our class columns, our worgen starting zone walkthrough and an assortment of other Cataclysm content. Head behind the cut below for links to all of our top content from the last week. If you find yourselves especially bored today even after going through the backlog of posts you've missed this week, we have a fun little activity for you! Take the header image of this post, erase Deathy from the love-bubble, and insert other humorous things and link it in the comments below. Please, please keep it clean. You don't want to get banned, and I don't want to see your genitals. Really. I don't. I promise.
Tuesday Morning Post: Soon edition
Happy Tuesday morning, everyone. We have new news about the release date of Cataclysm: It needs a few more months. OK, so it's not a solid date, but since I have been doing a lot of beta testing lately, it's sort of nice to know I might still have time to get back to live servers and finish Loremaster before the expansion drops. Okay, that's a lie. I want Cataclysm now. Well, not now, because it's obviously still sort of buggy and needs testing. But you get the picture. Of course, what we want and what we get are generally two different things. That said, this morning may be relatively unique in that there is, as of this writing, no anticipated downtime. That said, if you still need a little break from WoW, we have a lot of news for you to catch up on. You can catch up on the latest from both the live servers and the Cataclysm beta after the break.
Tuesday Morning Post: Revenge of the 24-hour downtime
Happy Tuesday morning, everyone! It's another 24-hour downtime for a new list of servers, including mine. The other servers will be getting a standard maintenance window of 5-11 a.m. Pacific. Luckily, with all this downtime, we just got a new beta patch with a decent amount of content, including new loading screens (though I do hope they consider replacing the worgen and goblin models with something more fitting), a new character model for Thrall, and a bunch of pretty epic new music. Also included were class changes, including masteries and a new Holy Power bar for paladins, as well as guild vendors for new guild-only purchased rewards. There's plenty of other news to peruse as well, so whether your server is down for six hours or 24 hours, why not follow me behind the break to see what else you may have missed over the past few days while you wait for the server maintenance party to start?
Tuesday Morning Post: Adventures in beta patching edition
Happy Tuesday morning, everyone. The big news this week has the been the beta test of the new patch process and launcher, which allows you to play even when your patch is only partially done. I've tried it out myself, and I must say, it's quite a feeling logging into Acherus to see nothing but the Eastern Plaguelands spread out below you for miles as the hold itself shifts into being around you. It's sort of crazy. Still, I imagine most of the time I'll just wait for the download to finish. There is, of course, plenty of other news to catch up on. If you're waiting out this morning's rolling restarts, why not check and see if you missed anything from the past few days? Our usual roundup awaits after the break.
Tuesday Morning Post: We make our own news edition
Happy Tuesday morning, everyone. It's been a surprisingly sluggish week for WoW news. This may be because the dev team is recovering from the San Diego Comic Con, or because they're playing too much Starcraft II. Myself, I'm thinking that they may have spent all their mojo making the Maelstrom as epic as possible. Whatever it is, they're giving a pass on server maintenance this week as well, so if you play in the early morning hours (or rather, what is early morning on the west coast of the USA), you're in the clear to keep on playing. Of course, not everyone can play right now. Some of us are stuck at work or school. For all of you, we bring the usual round up of news from the past week, and there's some pretty good stuff in there, including screenshots of some never before seen Cataclysm zones! Check it out after the break.
Tuesday Morning Post: Suspect timing edition
Happy Tuesday Morning, everyone! In what may or may not be a mea culpa for the massive amount of downtime, both expected and unexpected, last week, Blizzard's announced that there will be no downtime this morning. That's right, we won't even get rolling restarts. Now, usually I'd be pretty grateful for this. It's always nice to know the server's going to be up and ready for you when you get a chance to play. But today, of all days, is the day they chose? Honestly, I wouldn't even be phased if they put my server on the 24-hour downtime list for today, because I'm just going to spend all my free time playing Starcraft 2. Actually, never mind. It's pretty clear to me now why they're keeping the servers up. Obviously, the server maintenance team would rather take the day off and play Starcraft II too. If you're still agonizing over whether to play Starcraft or log on and do your dailies, maybe you should stop by WoW.com while you think. We have a lot of juicy Cataclysm news for you to catch up on, and more coming throughout the day.
Tuesday Morning Post: Never tear us apart edition
Happy Tuesday morning, everyone! You know, I feel like I really should say something. Blizzard, despite all the rockiness, be it the Real ID fiasco or the huge 31-point talent tree changes, I still love you. I don't think anything can tear us apart. You know, except a 24-hour downtime. Luckily, my server's not in today's batch of downed servers, but Zangarmarsh, home of <It Came From The Blog>, is; yours may be as well, so be sure to check the list. If your realm is listed, that just means you'll have plenty of time to look back all the big news from the past seven days, such as the new 31-point talent trees or the massive Twitter developer chat. And anyway, we do have normal downtime at the somewhat early time of 1-7 a.m. Pacific, so you may still have a bit of a time to read up regardless. With all that in mind, we have the usual roundup of news, opinions and guides from the past seven days ready for your perusal. Once you're done reading those, you can prepare to join all the 24-hour downtime refugees on Shadow Council.
