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Tuesday Morning Post: It's raining again edition
Did you think things were getting slow in WoW news? Those might have been famous last words, so to speak. It never rains, but it pours. It started early last week with a stream of previews: Of the new battleground honor changes, of the new Ruby Sanctum raid, and a sneak peek behind the curtain of Wintergrasp's faction balancing mechanics. Then, Friday came, and bam. Here comes Patch 3.3.3, with tons of amazing information for everyone to drown in, both in the patch notes and in the game files. If you haven't had a chance to dive into all the Patch 3.3.3 news, now is as good a time as any, since the servers will be down from 3 AM to 11 AM Pacific. Before you ask, we have not heard that the patch is going live as of this writing, and I'd sincerely doubt it myself. It's a bit buggy as it is, and the devs have hinted there's more to be implemented and tested. So feel free to sit back, relax, and peruse the best news from the past week, both from Patch 3.3.3 and beyond, just below.
Tuesday Morning Post: Mooning edition
Happy Tuesday Morning, everyone. Right now, we're sort of hip deep in holidays. Not only is Love Is In The Air winding down, but the Lunar Festival is in full swing. As always, if you need help getting acclimated, we're here for you with an Overachiever guide, which itself includes an elder finding guide. There's been other things going on in and around WoW, of course. The biggest buzz has been from the past few days: Yes, Upper Deck is losing the WoW TCG license, but Blizzard says the game is not going away. Unfortunately, the exact form the new version will take, and who will run and distribute it, are still firmly in the realm of conjecture and rumor as of this writing. If there's one comfort with all this turmoil, it's this: That the World (of Warcraft) is Awesome. Unfortunately, that awesome world will be down for the usual 5 AM to 11 AM pacific time maintenance window this morning, so you'll have plenty of time to catch up on all the news of said world. As usual, we have a list of the some of the most interesting news and other stuff from the past 7 days.
Tuesday Morning Post: In the Air edition
It's been a pretty busy week here in WoW. With Patch 3.3.2 live and the Frostwing Halls open, we quickly saw our first 10-man Lich King kill, followed by our first 25-man Lich King kill, followed shortly by a ban, followed a bit later by the first legitimate 25-man Lich King kill. But if you haven't managed to get him down yet, you're in luck. Blizzard's already making it easier to get to him by removing the limited number of attempts on ICC wing bosses in normal mode. Beyond Icecrown Citadel, we also saw some pretty interesting stuff in and outside the game: Blizzard's planning to offer a premium AH app for the iPhone so you can corner the linen market on the downtown bus. The Love is in the Air holiday is active and completely redesigned, with new achievements, easier existing achievements, and a new boss fight with new holiday loot. Check our Love is In The Air FAQ for information on all the new stuff. Arena season 8 is up and running as well. Unfortunately, even with all this activity, weekly downtime is still upon us. You'll have from 5 AM to 11 AM pacific time to take a break from all this new stuff. As always, I'll suggest that that's an excellent time to read about it instead. Here's a summary of some of our articles from the past 7 days.
Tuesday Morning Post: Ice cold spoilers edition
Happy Tuesday Morning! And yes, it is pretty happy, because it looks like we're getting the long awaited Patch 3.3.2, and with it, season 8, some nice little class changes, and of course, Arthas. We've already seen a leak of the promised final cinematic that occurs after the Lich King battle. Don't click on the link if you don't want to see it, it's a pretty big spoiler. Of course, a new patch means a lot of downtime. So, While you're waiting through the 3 AM to 11 AM Pacific downtime for the servers to come up and the patch to download, have a serving of some of the hottest news and best articles from the past 7 days, and be sure to stay tuned for lots more Patch 3.3.2 news in the coming days.
Tuesday Morning Post: Not the horse edition
Happy Tuesday morning, everyone. With the 5 AM to 11 AM pacific downtime coming our way, it's probably safe to assume we aren't getting Patch 3.3.2 this week. Luckily, that didn't stop Blizzard from releasing the 3.3.2 patch notes over on the Korean WoW site. You'll probably want to give those a look, especially if you're a shaman, warrior, or warlock. On the bright side, the extra week's wait means that means you have at least one more week to master the recently opened Crimson Halls. Be sure to check out our raid boss guide for tips and strats. I'll be honest though, the big story for me this week was the release of the Invincible music. Seriously, this is some amazing music and I can't wait to hear it in game. That said, it better not be about the horse. Seriously, Arthas. I love you and all, but that horse is just dumb. You gotta let it go. It was years ago. No-one liked that horse but you. And seriously, naming it Invincible was just thumbing your nose at fate. No, this had better be a plaintive hymn to the fall of Lordaeron, the loss of innocence, and the beloved prince that you once were, played as the Argent Crusaders and the Ebon Blade carry your body off on a bier while Varian, Jaina, Muradin, Thrall, Saurfang, and Bolvar Fordragon watch solemnly. Yes, I may have put too much thought into this. Anyhow, you didn't come to hear me rant, you came to catch up on your WoW news during the downtime. As such, please find our usual summary of the last 7 days or so below the cut!
Tuesday Morning Post: Vampire morning edition
Happy Tuesday morning, everyone. As of this writing, the big news of the week is probably the latest Twitter developer chat. If you missed it, we have the transcript. Topics included the fate of Crystalsong Forest, pet scaling buffs, new warlock pets, personal guild banks and other storage issues, and more. Be sure to check it out, it's good reading whether you're focused on Patch 3.3 or on Cataclysm. Coming up, we have the opening of the Crimson Halls, the next wing of Icecrown Citadel. That means lots of vampires. They're blood elf vampires, sure, but blood elves are awesome, so it's all good. And hey, if you dislike blood elves, at least take comfort in the fact that these vampires don't sparkle. Finally, it looks like advance notice for downtime may be the name of the game after all, as we've know about today's downtime for a few days now. It's 3 AM to 11 AM pacific time, if you haven't heard, which means you should have plenty of time to catch up on WoW news. Check out a list of some of our content from the last 7 days below the cut.
Tuesday Morning Post: Anticipation edition
Happy Tuesday Morning, everyone. Today, we have another bout of long expected downtime, with the 5 to 11 AM downtime having been announced way back on Saturday. I'm betting it's to get those Cataclysm alpha servers set up, but we'll see. In fact, in addition to rumblings of new Cataclysm news, these past few days have all been about news of the distant future. Some news about the cancellation of Spiderman 4 might just herald things for the Warcraft movie, for example. In more immediate news, the Plaguewerks have opened up, and people have had a chance to face the new bosses. If you haven't delved in yet, or even if you have, you may find some helpful hints for taking them down right here. Regardless, you have around 6 hours to browse WoW news while you wait for the servers to come back up, so I have the usual list of good stuff to read after the break.
Tuesday Morning Post: Lift up the gates edition
So here we are. It's been a while since Patch 3.3 started, and we've had a suspiciously early downtime announcement to boot. The holidays are winding down, and most of us, including, one would assume, the Blizzard devs, have finished our eggnog and put our noses back to the grindstone. As of this writing, there's no official word either way, but I'm feeling pretty optimistic about waking up to news of a new section of ICC being opened, or at least a nice mini-patch full of some bug fixes -- say, to certain borked class cooldowns. We can't say for sure, though. All we can say for sure is that the realms are down, and will be for a while, until at least 11 AM pacific time. With that in mind, it's a good time to catch up on the news. As usual, we have a roundup of some of the best articles from the past 7 days or so. We're shaking off the holiday drowsiness and getting into full gear to help you get through the next phase of ICC, find out when we'll see more Cataclysm news, and more. Join us in the server downtime vigil and read on.
Tuesday Morning Post: Same Old Auld Lang Syne edition
Happy Tuesday morning, everyone. Winter Veil is winding down, and as we here at the WoW.com offices fight over the last carton of eggnog, we've been taking a lot of time to look over the past year and celebrate. Of course, here in the Tuesday Morning Post, we generally look at the past 7 days or so. So yeah, there's plenty of the navel gazing stuff, but there's a good smattering of news too. Nothing too major, I suppose. Even the dev team likes to see their family over the holidays, I guess. But it's there. And in the meantime, a little bit of a navel gazing never hurt anyone. Our navels are pretty awesome anyway. Join me for the last Tuesday morning of 2009 and catch up on your WoW reading. The usual list is after the break.
Tuesday Morning Post: Twas the night before Winter Veil
Happy Tuesday Morning to all good little boys and girls. Ok, and the naughty ones too. Patch 3.3 seems to be coming along relatively smoothly, but with weeks before we see the next section of the Icecrown Citadel open up, we're sort of coasting along. Not that that's a bad place to be, what with the whole holidays thing. Speaking of which, Winter Veil is in full swing, and if you can catch a few moments to log on WoW on the 25th, be sure to pick up your gifts in game. Of course, even if the game itself is settling in to a patch 3.3 routine, we're still hopping in the WoW.com news room. We've got advice on the new raid bosses, advice on the new dungeon finder, and more. And of course, the new year's just around the corner, so we've started looking back at the year both on the site and in the game. As usual, I have a list of some of the best stories from the past 7 days after the break.
Tuesday Morning Post: Best Patch Ever Edition
No, I'm serious. They finally got the LFG tool right, and they got it right in the most epic manner possible. It's easy to use. It gets you groups anywhere from instantly to 15 minutes most of the day, depending on your role. Almost everyone loves it. Even if nothing else was included in this patch, I honestly think it would be worth it. So far, Patch 3.3 is shaping up to make up for the somewhat lackluster performance of Patch 3.2 in spades. I'll be eager to see how the lore and endgame progress as the ICC unlocks (Under a month left until the next wing!). Of course, it's not like the dungeon finder is the only amazing thing about the patch either. There's also the bear rockets. And I guess those new dungeons and raids are alright too. In addition, Winter Veil is here. If you still need the Merrymaker title, we have a Winter Veil guide for your approval. Above that though, I think the main attraction for most of us is running our behinds off through the random dungeons, which is all well and good, but really, don't you need a break? How about taking some time off to catch up on the latest WoW news? You'll need to anyway, since the servers will be down from 3 AM to 11 AM Pacific. As usual, we have a good list of it for you after the break.
Tuesday Morning Post: Patch 3.3 downtime edition
Poor Matt. He was just one week off from keeping his Val'anyr. But seriously, it's finally here. Patch 3.3 is the culmination of the Wrath of the Lich King experience. Informed by everything they've learned so far, in class balance, in mechanics, in lore, this is the crown of the Wrath of the Lich King expansion. This is the epic climax of one of the main stories of the universe (Still, one would do well to remember that it is not the main story, and there is plenty more lore to be had. There were two games before the Lich King even came on the scene, after all). And of course, beyond it all lies the promise of the Cataclysm, and I can hardly wait. But before I go into fanboy mode, we'd best move on. There is, of course, a huge downtime coming up in order to facilitate the patch installation, and because of that, you probably have some time to catch up on your reading. I'd definitely recommend you look through our recently and constantly updated Guide to Patch 3.3, which provides a pretty handy roadmap to what's coming. Beyond that, we have our usual roundup of news from the past few days below the cut. Happy reading and Happy Patch 3.3!
Tuesday Morning Post: Stuffed edition
So, Zarhym has more or less confirmed that we aren't getting Patch 3.3 today (unless he's lying, in which case I'm going to look like a fool when you read this), which means the biggest story of the week is probably that whole thing with the Pilgrims and stuff. Of course, it's over now, and if you're like me, you had to comfort yourself with a plain old real turkey and stuffing and spending time with family instead of a new title, which I think is a pretty fair trade. Of course, that doesn't mean I'm not a little bit bummed that I broke my personal holiday completion streak, but hey, at least I still have my drake, right? Anyway, Thanksgiving aside, there's still plenty of other news to be had from around the WoW-o-sphere. As of this writing, there's still no word on a downtime, but chances are it's coming, and even if not, hey, Tuesday's as good a time as any to catch up on the latest news, right? If anything, you're probably still taking it slow at work while you finish recovering from all that turkey. Here's our usual roundup of the past 7 days or so:
Tuesday Morning Post: Fear and Loathing edition
It was a fleeting dream, but a marvelous one, wasn't it? Attend BlizzCon all day, gamble all night, sleep never. The thought of a Las Vegas BlizzCon pretty much sent us here at the WoW.com into immediate spasms of joy. Unfortunately, they were quickly supplanted by howls of pain and anguish as we discovered that it just the Las Vegas Convention Center jumping the gun, and that we'll probably still be headed to Anaheim for the next BlizzCon. Don't me wrong, Anaheim's pretty cool and all, but it isn't Las Vegas, that's for sure. So unfortunately, I've had to cancel my plans to get a gonzo lawyer and rent an Impala, but what you gonna do? At least we still have the TCG. Maybe one of these years Blizzard will see the light. In the meantime, we'll just continue toiling away in the WoW.com salt mines here as we dream of the big city. This week, there's plenty of news to work through, and with a 3 AM to 11 AM Pacific downtime, you'll have time. Check out the latest gems we've unearthed for you after the break.
Tuesday Morning Post: Premature Patching edition
I honestly did not think there would be any story this week bigger than the microtransactional action of the Blizzard Pet Store (and it's totally going to ruin the game you guys, seriously), but apparently I thought too soon. This very night, as I write this, the servers are in chaotic disarray at the premature issuance of what appears to be a minor patch (sorry, it's not Patch 3.3), causing many people to be completely unable to log into the game. It has been sorted out as of this writing, or should be by the time the servers are back up this morning. Still, I know it soured a lot of people's gaming plans for the night. Oh well, that's what Dragon Age is for, I say. In the meantime, if you're stuck waiting for the servers to come back up and you don't have access to Dragon Age, might I suggest catching up on your WoW news reading? Here's a selection of stuff from the past 7 days or so:
Tuesday Morning Post: Identity Crisis Edition
So race changes are finally live, and with that, you can change your characters in just about every way possible short of class. Different faction? Go for it. Different gender? Change your face? Change your name? It's all good. Heck, you can do it every three days now. It's suddenly like we're all these crazy mutable nameless faceless blobs changing at will and at random, until we're practically a sea of shapeless shapeshifters. Or not. After all, there's still the whole money charge and stuff. Of course, that's not the only big news this week. Chill of the Throne, Icecrown's version of Sunwell Radiance, has been evoking a lot of discussion and a lot of unrest. Did Blizzard make the right choice in adding this much maligned dungeon-specific nerf back into the game? There's plenty of other issues as well, and as we have a nice 3 AM to 11 AM Pacific downtime, you'll have plenty of time to catch up with it all. You can start with some of the links below:
Tuesday Morning Post: The long and short of it edition
I have to say, this is sort of interesting. Downtime today is only 7 AM to 9 AM pacific. 2 hours is slightly worse than plain old rolling restarts, to be sure, but it's better than normal maintenance, if a bit unusual. Of course, those of you who are still after those dumb toothpicks will have a few more hours to curse at Innkeepers for turning you into a ninja instead of giving you a dang sliver of wood so you can get a big purple dragon, so that's always a plus. And of course, for that 2 hour period, you'll need some reading material, which is where we come in. Here's a list of some of the latest and greatest WoW.com news from the Patch 3.3 PTR and beyond:
Tuesday Morning Post: Icecrown and Hallow's End edition
Happy Tuesday morning and happy Hallow's End, everyone. That's right, WoW's coolest holiday's in full swing. Or is when the servers are up. If you're going after the Hallowed title, we have a Hallow's End achievement guide for you. If you're thinking of going after everyone's favorite cackling headless holiday boss, we have a guide to the new Headless Horseman loot. Of course, maybe you just want to do some good old fashioned trick or treating. We have something for that too. Of course, while the revelry continues on live servers, the testing continues on the test servers, and there's been quite a bit of activity.
Tuesday Morning Post: Animal magnetism edition
So. Big news guys: The Three Worgen Moon Shirt is here. Seriously. The Shirt that will change your life, I kid you not. I ordered mine, and I have already sensed the presence of beautiful women gravitating toward the aura of self-assurance and wildness created around me by the very decision made to purchase the shirt.Nah, but seriously. There's been stuff going on this weekend. Mostly, Patch 3.3's been going on, and we've had crack teams poring over the data files and running through the dungeons getting all the latest for you. For example, here's some video footage of some of the team running The Pit of Saron. Also, you're going to need to convert your account to Battle.net pretty soon now.There's much more to peruse of course, so let's get to it. Here's a list of some of our best news and features from the past few days.
Tuesday Morning Post: The Icecrown Cometh edition
What a week for WoW news, eh? Not only did we get a very intriguing sneak preview of the Icecrown Citadel 5-mans, but we also got a fresh new PTR Patch. From there, the patch notes and game files revealed a lot of pretty juicy stuff. Newbies get it ever easier. There's craftable nature resist gear (resist boss fight, anyone?). There looks to be a pretty epic 5-man quest line for the Quel'Delar (Here's a picture of the blade, for the record. Yeah, it's sweet). There's new racial shaman totem graphics. It looks like a Valentine's Day holiday event boss may be in the works. In what may be my favorite development, there's new weekly raiding quests coming. Even the names of datamined NPCs offer their own intrigue.Yeah, anyway, there's a lot of stuff to digest, and with this 5 AM - 11 AM pacific downtime, hopefully you have time to do so. Follow the break for even more news:
