tuesday
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Tuesday Morning Post: Breakfast of Champions edition
It's Tuesday morning, and you know what that means: downtime. On the plus side, we here on the US Servers don't have any more complicated type of down times with various groups of servers getting extra downtime seemingly at random and so on. Then again, that just means we all get to suffer through extended downtime together, from 3 AM to 11 AM Pacific.Luckily, there's tons to read about while you wait out the downtime. In probably the biggest PTR news this week, Coliseum testing is now well underway (despite some hiccups at the start), and we were in the middle of it. We have galleries of some of the 5-man loot we discovered and first hand impressions of the place. Check out more news after the break:
Tuesday Morning Post: Cataclysmic Edition
It's time once again for weekly maintenance, and not only do we have the standard 5 AM - 11 AM Pacific downtime for most US servers, there's also a handful that are down from midnight to noon today. With all that extra time on your hands, you'll have time once again to read up on WoW news.The big news, of course, is the Cataclysm. Blizzard went on a trademark registering spree around this word, which has everyone abuzz with speculation. Are we seeing the name of the new, maelstrom-related expansion? Or is this another secret project, perhaps even that new top secret MMO? Only time will tell, but it's fun to guess anyway. Once you're done being all atwitter over that little bit of gossip, here's some more stuff to read until your server comes up:
Tuesday Morning Post: Racial Roulette edition
So we're swimming in news again this week, what with the patch 3.2 PTR well underway (you can check out the latest patch notes right here) and all, but the biggest piece of news for me, remains the faction changes. If nothing else, this should pave the way for me to be able to switch every single one of my characters to the High Elf race once they're finally implemented. Of course, that's not the only race-related news bouncing around this week. It also looks like the Tauren may be looking to make some waves in lore.But anyhow, we have some nice long maintenance today, so you should have plenty of time to read the above stories and all the awesome news coming out of the PTR while you're at it. Check out a list of some of the highlights of the past 7 days below, and be sure to stick around throughout the day. There's bound to be more patch 3.2 news trickling in.
Tuesday Morning Post: Midsummer Night's Dream edition
Yes, it's that time again, the time for the Midsummer Fire Festival. Unfortunately, a series of mishaps, bugs, and a lack of meaningful upgrades from last year's celebration have soured the festival for a lot of people, but there is at least some comfort, as we'll have a few Midsummer's fixes rolled out tonight. The only problem is that it will reset all progress on most half-finished achievements, so if you're in the middle of working on the Midsummer's stuff already, you may find that all your hard work was no more yielding but a dream, so to speak.Apart from the festival, this week has bought us an information overload on patch 3.2 to say the least. Not that that's a bad thing, per se, but it can be pretty daunting to dig through all this crazy information and get at the meat of the patch. Luckily, we've been breaking it down for you all week. While you wait out the rolling restarts or your work day, you can read all about the patch in nice article-sized chunks here on WoW.com. In addition to the roundup of the past week's news below, you can also always check out our guide to Patch 3.2, which is constantly updated. Keep it bookmarked! Otherwise, read on below.
Tuesday Morning Post: I believe I can fly at level 60 edition
It's been a week of big news altogether around these parts.Mount changes in Patch 3.2 were probably the biggest news. Not only will we be getting most mounts earlier, but normal flying mounts will gain a pretty sizable speed boost. Of course, this also means that class travel abilities will come earlier as well. And while we're on the whole faster transportation thing, we'll also see new portals to the Dark Portal for both sides, and a new Thunder Bluff Zeppelin for the Horde. And as long as we're on the subject, if you're looking to get a new flying mount because of the Patch 3.2 changes, remember that Mei Francis in Dalaran can hook you up.But there were also a few other big stories and interesting happenings going on in the WoW community this week, and since we're coming up on some downtime from 5 AM to 11 AM pacific this morning, you should have plenty of time to read all about it right here on WoW.com. You'll find our usual 7-day roundup below:
Tuesday Morning Post: Kitty cat club edition
As a former player of a Feral Druid main and current player of a Resto/Feral Druid alt, I was looking forward to seeing the new Night Elf Cat Form graphics with bated breath for much of the week. Of course, having now seen them, I have to say that Tauren Cat Form definitely came out on top here. Of course, some people still have their complaints about that, but I think the Night Elf forms are certainly quite a bit sillier. Oh well, at least my hair will get me a set of the slightly cooler looking forms.But Druid fashion concerns weren't the only thing going on this week. While most servers are getting rolling restarts, others are getting some real downtime (check this post for details), and the authentication servers are taking a nap as well. That means you may just have some time to check out some more of our top stories from the past seven days below:
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The Tuesday Morning Post: Later, losers!
Danny Whit is usually the one sitting here writing this thing up for your maintenance day entertainment, but he's out of the office today. Where is he? I wish I knew. Last time I saw him he put on a pair of shades, gave me a thumbs up, then jumped out of our office window and landed on a sweet hog three stories down. He yelled something in Greek, then rode off into the sunset. So... here I am. The craziest part of it all? The window was closed. He didn't even have the decency to open it and now there's a draft. Thanks a lot, Danny.Servers are down, and will remain down for a number of hours as patch 3.1.3 rolls out and many servers receive significant hardware upgrades. As long as you're here, you might as well make the most of it. In case you've missed it, here's the best of WoW.com from the past 7(ish) days.Hot News and Features Blizzard revealed a few big details regarding the upcoming Patch 3.2, entitled Call of the Crusade. Speaking of Patch 3.2, it's going to bring us one of the most anticipated updates to the game in the last year or two. New Druid forms! Okay, okay, so only some people were looking forward to those, but still. Totally anticipated. First they revealed the Tauren bear forms, and then the Night Elf bear forms. New cat models still TBA. WoW Europe now has the option to merge their World of Warcraft accounts with a Battle.net account! Speaking of our European friends, some of them are now experiencing cross-language battlegroups.
Tuesday Morning Post: Three days' grace
The one little problem with having a nice 3-day weekend is that getting back into gear after it's over can be a bit tough. But here we are, back on the chain gang, nose back on the grindstone, and all that good stuff. Anyway, there are rolling restarts, as well as some minor maintenance on a handful of servers. If you're reading this from work though, it probably doesn't matter as much, since you can't play WoW regardless. Unless you're one of those lucky dogs that has a job that lets you play WoW. In which case you may have trouble doing that this morning. Okay, anyway, if you're on those servers or can't play for some other reason, you'll want something to pass the time until you can play, which is where we come in. Here's a roundup of some of the best and most interesting stuff from the past 7 days or so:
Tuesday Morning Post: Failoc Dodging Edition
Good Tuesday Morning, Everyone! While we're still recovering from the server downtime from last night, we have a whole new patch to muddle through as well, including extended downtime. Not only are all servers down from 3 AM to 11 AM Pacific, but some servers are getting the longer treatment, staying down til 1 PM Pacific. Check here for the list.With that in mind, Tuesday morning is once again the perfect time to catch up on the latest WoW news.Number one story this week was, of course, BlizzCon. Whether for an excuse to take a trip to a Anaheim, to get Grunty, or to (tsk, tsk) just scalp the tickets, thousands of people jumped in the Queue on the morning of May 16th to try to grab those precious tickets. We can say it did at least go smoother than last year, not that's much comfort to those who didn't manage to grab a ticket. Luckily, there's one more sell date on May 30th, and good luck to everyone lining up.Of course, while we continue to see quick hot fixes, we're also expecting a patch to drop soon, Patch 3.1.2, to be exact. Some rumors are placing it at today. Either way, stay tuned to WoW Insider for all the latest throughout the maintenance period and beyond, and while you're waiting for new news, check out the old (but still good) stuff from the last week below:
Tuesday Morning Post: Pod Person edition
So the Holiday Rush is finally over, with both Children's Week and Noblegarden out of the way, it's a bit quieter in Azeroth. In fact, some of us are starting to think they may be a problem: It's just too damn quiet. Northrend just doesn't have that much ambiance after a while.Still, even if the landscape of Northrend is starting to look somewhat sterile, there's still buzzing going on in the background, at least. Patch 3.1.2 remains on the PTR and even has some updated notes, There's a Murloc Marine on the loose, the first round of tickets for BlizzCon will be released in scant days, and we have a plethora of interesting pets and mounts showing up in the game files. Downtime today is 3 AM to 11 AM Pacific, and some servers will be down even longer, so you'll have plenty time to read up on all this and more. Curl up in your WoW Pod and check our usual tuesday morning roundup after the break.
Tuesday Morning Post: Your cheating armory will tell on you edition
Happy Tuesday Morning, everyone. We're expecting a short downtime this morning, 5 AM - 11 AM Pacific. Patch 3.1.2 probably won't go live quite yet what with the new build on the PTR, so hopefully this will be a relatively smooth downtime. As always, the downtimes is great time to catch up on the news from the past week, and there were a few good stories that broke over the past 7 days.The biggest news was the epic tale of Karatechop. From Armory sleuthing, we discovered that he'd been one-shotting Ulduar thanks to a GM Item. Blizzard shut down his account and the accounts of most of his guild, and he talked to us about it. The debate on what he should have done rages on. Of course, if you've had your fill of Martin Fury, we have more for you to browse:
Tuesday Morning Post: 3rd patch is the charm edition
We've had a week of Patch 3.1.1, and all seems... well, more or less well. There's been hotfixes nearly every day, and scattered reports that talents are still being wonky for some people, but the major bugs seem to be squelched. Maybe. We have an extended maintenance again this week which will herald patch 3.1.1a. This means you have plenty of time to read WoW Insider. Here's the usual roundup of the past week's hot news.
Tuesday Morning Post: It's Patching Again edition
Welcome to Patch Day! Seems like we were just here, doesn't it? But anyway, it looks like we're headed for 3.1.1 today, which is mostly be bugs fixes that were a bit too involved to be applied via hotfix. That, of course, means we get an extended downtime again, from 3 AM to 11 AM Pacific time. When it rains, it seems it pours! This time, hopefully there won't be any free-playtime-worthy unexpected downtime.While you're waiting for the servers come up so you can continue work on that second champion title or de-arm Kologarn or get started on Season 6, I suggest one of two things: First thing you can do go out and buy Arthas. Unless you won it from us or something. Otherwise, I'd say it's a good morning for catching up WoW Insider. Here's a few suggestions to get you started:
Tuesday Morning Post: Varian Wrynn is my copilot in Patch 3.1 edition
People never believe me when I say the Horde is my favorite of the two factions and that most of my characters are only Alliance because that is the faction my friends play. Of course, this evening, it's easy to see why I sometimes have a hard time convincing them of this fact, as I have spent the last few hours gushing about King Varian Wrynn to anyone who will listen and even a few people who won't. Seriously, if you are in a place that allows the streaming of video and sound, you should watch the new Ulduar trailer. Varian is so amazing, I almost needed a change of pants after I finished watching. But hey, only some of us are lore nerds, and I'm sure a lot of you are here looking for some prime patch 3.1 gameplay and feature information, what with extended maintenance and said patch 3.1 going live today. Luckily, you're in luck. You lucky person you. Expect loads of patch 3.1 information articles and roundups as the day progresses, including dual spec information and galleries showcasing the new sights and sounds of the new patch. In the meantime, you can start your reading with our official constantly updated Guide to Patch 3.1 and this roundup of some of the hottest news from the past week:
Tuesday Morning Post: Seriously, You should read this book edition
If I may be allowed to indulge in a little self-aggrandizing on this fine Tuesday morning, I'd like to posit that the best article written this past week was posted on Sunday and written by me. This article is the review of Christie Golden's new Warcraft novel, Arthas. Now, before you accuse me of the sin of Pride, I should say that Alex totally agrees with me, so it's all good. Besides, I had some awesome inspiration courtesy of the book. But my point is, you should go read the review, then go pre-order your copy. It's a pretty good book. If you're a lore or fantasy fan, there's a pretty excellent chance you will not be disappointed. That said, the release date is still a couple weeks off. This means that, in the meantime, you have no Arthas book, so you'll probably want to do the next best thing and read some WoW Insider, like during that 15 minute window while your server's down from rolling restarts this morning. Or longer if you're on one of the servers that may or may not get extra downtime. Here's a few reading suggestions:
Tuesday Morning Post: Expedient & Emotional Edition
Here we are, my old friend. You and I, waiting for downtime again. Yeah, we got a little spot of downtime coming our way again. I'd recommend you go check out Vin Diesel in the latest installation of the greastest series of cinematic triumph of our time, Fast & Furious, but that isn't coming out until Friday. Also, I am a little hurt that it was not named 4 Fast 4 Furious, as would only be proper. Also, I stumbled across a pretty heinous spoiler on IMDB that may have ruined the movie for me. Get this. Are you ready? Here's the big reveal: It has an ampersand in the title. Yeah. But anyway, it doesn't come out til Friday, so I suppose you'll have to satisfy yourself with WoW news. As usual, you can get your WoW information fix here while you can't play. We got a new build fresh up on the PTR, so expect news from that and a wide variety of other good stuff. In addition, you'll probably want to check out what's been happening in the last few days. As usual, I got a few things you might want to take a look at after the break.
Tuesday Morning Post: Vin Diesel is better edition
So here we are. 5 AM Pacific is almost upon us, then we'll have downtime until 11 AM Pacific (Unless they extend it again). That means it's closing time. One last call for exp, so finish your grinding or quest, and whatnot. As usual, I'm going to suggest that you fill that WoW-less void in your life with some browsing of WoW Insider. But first, I have something to get off my chest. It's something I have felt needs saying for a long time, and I'm now I'm going to say it, so listen up: Vin Diesel could beat Chuck Norris any day.I've been saying it for years, seriously. Vin Diesel is so much better than Chuck Norris. Whoever first replaced Chuck Norris with Vin Diesel in all those Barrens Chat jokes, you and I need to have some words, I swear. And now I have even more evidence that Vin Diesel is the true master of badassedness: He actually plays WoW.But anyway, back on topic. That wasn't the biggest piece of news this week, as weird as it may seen. We just got solid confirmation of a new Battleground, not to mention the new gamer fuel and a bunch of UI and Addon news that everyone's still buzzing about. Since we're all stuck not playing WoW for a bit, why not check all that out now? As always, I have a list of the best and hottest news under the cut.
Tuesday Morning Post: Zie Bart Zie edition
Yes, today's title is a horrible pun. To be fair, I blame Rossi. But it was just too awesome NOT to use. Maybe the Argent Tournament will have a circus with a sideshow, then it will even be on topic, in a sort of prophetic off topic sort of way.It's extended maintenance today, from 3 AM to 11 AM Pacific, so we're facing another rather long WoW drought. No, I wouldn't bet on 3.1 going live. I'd say we have at least a few more builds to go for that. Maybe even one later today with all this maintenance stuff going on. But for now, let me do my usual and suggest that you browse WoW Insider in lieu of playing. We have tons of nice juicy 3.1 information for you to dig through. I've compiled some of the best stuff from the past 7 days or so past the break.
Tuesday Morning Post: And the PTR goes on
Good Morning, and welcome to another week of 3.1 PTR shenanigans. In the past week we've had a couple new builds, some rather heinous nerfs to certain tanking classes, and some pretty awesome new achievements and quests. We're expecting more of the same this week, although I can't help but pray for a few fewer nerfs, if possible.One thing we are also expecting this morning is some downtime, from 5 AM to 11 AM Pacific time. Since you'll be bereft of WoW, we'll do our usual and suggest you do some reading of WoW Insider. For example, you may want to check out back issues of The Queue or The Daily Quest and see if a question or link catches your eye. You can also read on after the break for our usual roundup of the best news and features from the past week.
Tuesday is upon us: new Apple hardware
It's been busy in the dwarven mines of Cupertino, we can tell: much new iron has arrived today, and the store is back up (though getting hammered at the moment)! We'll go into detail on each of the announcements in the next hour or so, but here's the basic scoop:All of Apple's consumer desktops have been updated, with new iMacs and new minis. The iMacs offer 'twice the memory, twice the storage' in the new $1499 base 24" model, and all have been updated with the GeForce 9400M graphics subsystem. BTO options on the 24" iMac include up to a 3.06 GHz Core 2 Duo, 4GB RAM, a 640GB or 1TB HD, and a rogues' gallery of graphics upgrade options: the NVIDIA GeForce GT 130 or the ATI Radeon HD 4850 instead of the 9400M. Gamers, start your engines. The mini... well, Dave and I have to eat our words on the mini, because the new models do indeed come with five frickin' USB ports, FW800 and both DVI and DisplayPort video-out, as well as the 9400M integrated graphics. The spy shots, the video and the box picture appear to have been spot-on (despite the 'scientific' scoffing analysis of Photoshop artifacts in the original shot). $599US gets you the base model with a 2GHz C2D and 120GB hard drive/1GB of RAM (really? 1GB?), $799 doubles the RAM to 2GB and bumps the HD to 320GB. The new mini also uses less power than before, only 13 watts at idle. For all of you that had 'five USB ports' in the pool, instead of 'sharks with lasers on their heads' -- congratulations. Who knew that Gillette was collaborating with the Onion and Apple on product design?The pro desktop has been revved with new Mac Pro hardware: shipping next week, the new models start $300US cheaper than before and now feature Intel's Nehalem chip, along with a redesigned interior, DisplayPort + DVI standard and more spec upgrades -- but no 16-core model.The Airport Extreme and Time Capsule were also updated with dual-band support (allowing Apple TV and iPhones to use the older 2.4GHz band without dragging other devices down) and 'Guest Network' capability for your no-account friends who come over and mooch your wireless. Yes, you know who you are.Macworld also notes that there was apparently a 'stealth' update to the MacBook Pro today, bumping the top processor speed to 2.66GHz.Our complete coverage:Mac ProMac miniTime CapsuleiMacMacBook ProFull press releases in the 2nd half of the post.
