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World of Warcraft turns 7 on November 23, and to celebrate, Blizzard is playing on launching a unique commercial campaign. This Sunday, be sure to check CBS for the debut of a new addition to the What's Your Game commercial line. Previous editions have seen stars like William Shatner, Mr. T and Ozzy Osbourne advertising the game's many classes. So who do you think Blizzard got to humiliate themselves this time? On a related note, be sure to log onto WoW between November 20 and December 3...
"There's been a lot of news circulating around the ever-prevalent World of Warcraft over the last few weeks. From the shocking announcement of Mists of Pandaria to the consistent releases of new tier gear, fans of the popular MMORPG sure have had a lot to talk about. In order to keep the chatter flowing, Blizzard has announced a new service today; one which will no doubt make Activision and Blizzard even richer. It involves making cross-realm transfers for guilds a lot easier, allowing you to ..."
"Brazilian gamers have a lot to celebrate about this week. Not only did they gain access to the Playstation Store but now Blizzard is launching World of Warcraft in Brazil. The game has been fully translated into Portuguese and the subscription prices have been converted. Blizzard stated that the game would be available in Brazil later this year."
"Alexander “Ocktra” Rhodes from MMOGlider, the service which provides many World of Warcraft players with an automation bot has spoken out about their company being sued by Blizzard Entertainment."
Blizzard have announced their subscriber figures to have reached the all time high of 12 million.
This is the first announcement in regard to the subscriber base in roughly 2 years! Reasons for the delay are assumed to be associated with a troubled history with the release of the second add-on; Wrath of the Lich King into China.
Blizzard's recent decision to include real names on their forums caused a gigantic uproar all over the internet. Apparently, Blizzard listened to the complaints and has just announced a backtrack on the decision
GameZone has broke news that a 30-year-old high school assistant principal has transmitted nude photos to a 14-year-old boy via World of Warcraft and may end up facing more charges as the police investigate further.
"Soon you'll be able to access the World of Warcraft auction house from any web browser or with the aid of an iPhone or iPod Touch thanks to the new WoW Remote Auction House feature. Players can get notifications on when their auctions sell or expire and even when they are outbid on auctions. The service even allows you to look at your bags, bank, and mailbox."
"BlizzCon 2010 will be held on October 22nd and 23rd in Anaheim, California. Gamers and Blizzard fans will be able to attend panels, play demos, participate in tournaments, and much more in the Anaheim Convention Center."
Blizzard recently detailed their 2010 plans for World of Warcraft, beyond just "we're releasing an expansion". New dungeons, infrastructure updates, zone changes, and more are all laid out in this roadmap.
A new battleground queuing system, the requisite class changes, and more in preparation for the coming Cataclysm, today Blizzard released major patch 3.3.3 for the venerable MMO World of Warcraft.
"The General Adminstration of Press and Publication in China will allow *snip* to launch World of Warcraft: The Burning Crusade, an expansion pack which launched in 2007 in the U.S.
The approval is a victory for Blizzard Entertainment, a division of Activision Blizzard, which has been trying to comply with Chinese regulators — who censor content in online games — so that it can continue to operate in what has become the biggest market for World of Warcraft. Blizzard said this week it has 11..."
Blizzard today announced that their popular match-making service, Battle.net, will be receiving a major face lift sometime in the future, likely corresponding with the Starcraft II release.
Blizzard has recently released the details on their new Facebook app for World of Warcraft: Now everyone that enjoys the MMO can share their online achievements without linking them in trade chat. Let all your friends know when your guild downed that boss, or when you get that sweet purp you've had your eyes on.
Today in an official forum post, Blizzard hinted at an out-of-game Auction House service coming soon, available via the Armory website as well as an iPhone App. Follow the link for more details.
Blizzard released a new version of their popular WoW Armory today, with features including full 3D character rendering and animation, streaming character feeds for RSS readers, and a calendar feed.
Katers17’s video serves as her desperate plee to Blizzard, director Sam Raimi, and a call to arms for her numerous fanboys and fangirls to get her in the WoW film. Katers17 represents the classic, cute girl gamer thrust into internet stardom because...well because she's a cute girl who plays video games. Check it out and see if she’s worthy to play a Tauren lass.
Blizzard Entertainment, long opposed to the exchange of real currency for in-game items, has added World of Warcraft mini-pets to their online store for $10 a piece.
During the opening ceremony of this years Blizzcon, Blizzard announced World of Warcraft: Cataclysm, the third expansion for their massive MMO which will see the old world expanded and remade.
World of Warcraft player known as 'Athene' has gathered 200 Gnomes to raid Ironforge and Stormwind in a RP server. Their goal is to hump everything in sight and establish their group now known as the 'Midget Humpers from Hell'.
PC gamers are familiar with these kinds of "surveys," and there's often a choice to opt out. However, there's some buzz over Blizzard's upcoming plans to data mine World of Warcraft subscribers, for the usual "non-personal system specifications."
It's only a week long, but not everyone in the community is happy about it -- main complaint is the lack of an opt-out option. Harmless, most likely, but wouldn't you prefer having a choice, at least?
It seems the days of players paying their way to success in MMO's could soon be coming to an end. China has announced that it is banning the sale of virtual goods for money (unless by the issuer of the title). What are the ramifications of this? Well, the days of people paying real life cash in order to get an unfair boost may be coming to an end. Also, it would undoubtedly see the number of people getting scammed or hacked by gold farmers diminish. Overall, a win-win in my opinion.
Two days ago, the BlizzCon 2009 sold out in record time and the only way to get tickets now is off of eBay, but you better be willing to lay down the cash. Some of the tickets for the convention are over $1000!
"An internet computer game has been condemned as being as addictive as cocaine after a teenager who played it 24 hours non-stop had convulsions.
World of Warcraft has been hugely successful in capturing the imagination of players by drawing them into a virtual universe of battles and quests.
However, it is at the centre of a growing problem of computer game addiction. any players will sit alone in their rooms for hours at a time, immersed in the lives of their fantasy character creations..."
World of Warcraft now has 11.5 million active subscribers, continuing to solidify its place as the world's premiere MMORPG. According to the story, Blizzard credits the increase in server populations with the release of Wrath of the Lich King. For those of you living under a rock, World of Warcraft is a massively-multiplayer online role-playing game set in a fantasy world developed by Blizzard Entertainment (now Activision-Blizzard).
"The owner of the restaurant said he created the diner in the hope that people who share his enthusiasm for The World of Warcraft would find a comfortable gathering place.
In addition to the interior decoration, game features dominate the menu selection. Diners choose from dishes named after denizens of the virtual world."
As unbelievable as it may seem, 4 years ago World of Warcraft launched. Now several years, failed relationships, lack of sleep and basic hygine later - Blizzard is offering a cute little baby polar bear familiar to all gamers who login today. For those of you who haven't logged off yet since yesterday, you will need to logoff and logon again to receive your gift.
Also make note - only one character per account can receive the polar bear, so be careful.
"While the concept was ahead of its time and we are extremely proud of what we've accomplished, it became increasingly clear as this ambitious project evolved, that profitability was too far in the future for us to sustain operations in the interim.
Our goal was to be ahead of the curve in the e-sports space, and we conceived of CGS as a true sports league. We invested wholeheartedly in the venture and presented viewers with a top-notch production, but the economics just didn't add up f..."
Blizzard has apparently gone trigger happy with their ban hammers this season. Anyone who has taken Diablo 2 or Starcraft online knows there are a fair few people who cheat. (I myself encountering a another player in Diablo 2 who wouldn't die even when his health was drained five times over) Blizzard is fighting back now however banning over 350000 accounts between the two games. Along with over 7000 World of Warcraft players. I'd love to see their faces when they realize what's happened.
That's right. Your tax dollars are going to the development of AI so sophisticated that you think it's a human being. And how are they going to test it? By throwing it into the proverbial online fire that is World of Warcraft. So next time you yell for a healbot you might actually get one! Oh, and they're also making some other leaps in technology that could possibly change the face of modern warfare as well.
"This is a truly heartwarming story about a developer really showing their dedication to the fans. Sadly, this is where the heartwarming part ends. A few months ago, Ezra suffered a stroke, and on Monday, he passed away, never getting to realize his dream of becoming a tester and developer for Blizzard. Video games can't solve all problems, of course, but it is really nice to hear about a community coming together to care about a little boy who loved this industry so much."
The WoW tournament for the BlizzCon 2008 that was held in the Anaheim Convention Center - located in California - has finally come to a hault, with German-based team "Nihilum Plasma" taking the grand prize of $75,000 and a replica Frostmourne, the blade in Wrath of the Lich King.
Check out the seeds and videos of the matches in the source.
In the past, players have been frustrated with falling from their Mount when trying to cross over water on WoW. At the BlizzCon 2008, it was revealed that after Wrath of the Lich King comes out on November 13th, a patch will fix that problem.
World of Warcraft Developer Blizzard has been awarded $6 million due to the sales of the controversial MMO Glider software. In July, it was ruled that the bot author had violated WoW's licence agreement.
""WoW Subscribers were previously unable to move their characters from a server that pitted them against AI opponents realm to one that also allowed player vs. player combat, though paid transfers have been around for a while.
'As the state of the game has matured substantially since the inception of Paid Character Transfers, we will now be allowing PvE-to-PvP transfers on a full-time basis to provide players with more mobility and freedom to easily play with their friends,' the company sta..."
From last week World of Warcraft: Battle Chest has moved up 2 to get the top spot, and the Sims 2 Double Deluxe moved down to second place. Blizzard (maker of World of Warcraft) made the games of half of the list.
Here are the top ten selling PC games of the week of August third.
1. World of Warcraft: Battle Chest
2. The Sims 2 Double Deluxe
3. World of Warcraft
4. Nancy Drew: The Phantom of Venice
5. Spore Creature Creator
6. Diablo Battle Chest
7. Warcraft III Battle Chest
8. ...
""Looks like after a barrage of folks whacking Blizzard servers, taking them offline several times, all the tickets for the upcoming BlizzCon expo have been sold. Blizzard is holding the event on October 10th and 11th at the Anaheim Convention Center (in Anaheim, CA). Tickets were $100 dollars a piece and there is no word on how many were sold.
What we do know for sure is that we have been offered two press passes for the event and will bring you the latest coverage from the expo as it unfo..."
Craig Sherman, who blogs for EDGE Online, has noticed how the video game industry has taken great strides in incorporating the trends on the Internet. He notes that no matter what it is, a social network or a browser-based game, they are both always trying to create more user interaction. Sherman goes on to explain how video games are taking a page out of the web's book and creating better gaming experiences.
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"Eventually, our plans are for the Achievement system to become an account-based system, [lead World of Warcraft designer Jeff Kaplan] explained.
When the new Blizzard Accounts are active, a players WoW points can be added to an overall score dubbed an account holders Blizzard Level. Its basically a gamerscore, Kaplan said, when I made reference to Xbox Lives Achievement system. For now the points are just a WoW character score. As we graduate to that Blizzard Account syste..."
"Have you been considering free-to-play for World of Warcraft, and if you did, what would the Blizzard way of free-to-play look like?
PS: I dont envision us changing the business model for World of Warcraft. Its been working really well in each of the markets.
The game has been designed in such a way to where we determined the business model to wrap that around what the game experience was. Given that were not looking to significantly modify the overall gameplay experience, which is I..."
"An Australian man was arrested recently after he convinced a 15-year-old girl he met while playing World of WarCraft to run away from home to be with him. He even paid for the trip. How sweet.
The 31-year-old Anthony Taylor formed a relationship with the less-than-half-his-age girl, which eventually led to sexual messages and phone calls. The girls father found out about the relationship and threatened to kill Anthony, so Anthony did what any self-respecting pedophile would do he sent ..."
Direct downloads from providers such as Steam can now provide direct content to the gamer without him or her ever having to leave their respective houses. There are many PC only games that have brought PC gaming back to the forefront, instead of the projected lingering behind consoles and dying out. Online PC gaming is also responsible for helping this growing trend.
In a move of startling originally Blizzard are apparently going to introduce a point system for doing particular tasks much like the current Achievement system for the Xbox 360. Which will be implemented in the next expansion Wrath of the Lich King.
This rumor posted on Deathnkight.info has not been confirmed by Blizzard yet and is only in the Alpha stages even if it is real but it certainly is a interesting move the massive MMO.
Dan Loton, a graduate of Psychology from Victoria University, made a research project to find out if game addictions are related to social life and your self esteem for his honors class. Loton's study found that only one percent of gaming addicts effected how shy they are, but none of the problems could be directly tied to video games.
EA has said today that they have acquired the company ThreeSF and its video game network Rupture. ThreeSF and Rupture used to belong to Shaun Fanning, you might know him as the founder of Napster. A person close to the deal said that EA bought them for $30 million. This was also reported by TechCrunch, but both companies have just confirmed it now.
"Police say Jones drove to Boise from Birmingham, Alabama, and picked the teen around 7 a.m. on May 28th.
The pair was found at 9:30 a.m. Pacific Time today and are in the custody of the Franklin County Sheriff's Office in Washington state.
Authorities say Julian appears to be in good physical condition.
Boise Police detectives have contacted the teen's family who are relieved to know she's been found and is unharmed."
""That's actually something we talk about every expansion," Brack admitted when asked about top-end visuals. "I'm positive we'll talk about it next expansion."
"A lot of people continued to play with the original client, because it was faster, or they preferred it, or were just used to it or whatever," the producer said, adding a note of caution. "And so for me as a game developer, the idea that we would spend so much time and energy on something and have people go, 'meh, that's not really ..."
"The videogame industry has been one of the hardest hit, with over ten million World of Warcraft addicts alone. That's ten million people chasing the dragon, in the hopes they can kill it and score some epic loot. To peer inside the mind of an addict is to peer into the void, where all the concerns that you and I take for granted having shelter, food, clothes, and a steady supply of money from our whores no longer matters. All that matters is the drug. All that matters is the next fix.
..."
Do you think Uwe Boll is finally getting the message that his movies are bad? He has ignored the gamers' pleas for him to stop making movies and he even believes that he has more talent than Micheal Bay, George Clooney and Steven Spielberg!
But when Boll asked Blizzard if he was allowed to make a World of Warcraft movie, the answer was a resounding "Hell No!"
According to Charles Blair, deputy director for the CTIS, World of Warcraft's infamous "Corrupted Blood" epidemic of 2005 is a good source of study for terrorist behaviour. Apparently the deliberate spread of the disease offers unique insight that can't be simulated by computer models. For the parents who have kids keen on infecting their Pokemon with the Pokerus, beware: this is where terrorism starts!
"Bioshock
This atmospheric first-person shooter game drew players in to a unique dystopian setting and broke ground with a storyline that forced players to make moral decisions.
Portal
One of the most original (and funny) games in recent history requires players to solve puzzles using a teleporting "Portal Gun." It also features a hugely compelling character in the computerized guide GLaDOS.
Rock Band
The studio that created toy-guitar game phenomenon "Guitar Hero" cranked the volume ..."
"Blizzard has announced that the most popular MMORPG in the world, World of Warcraft, has reached yet another landmark - 10 million subscribers. The game now has 2 million subscribers in Europe, over 2.5 million in North America, and approximately 5.5 million in Asia."
"World of Warcraft commercials are highlighted by the likes of William Shatner, Mr. T, Jean-Claude Van Damme, and now Verne Troyer, who are keen to convey their chosen avatar to the viewer while waxing lyrical about their respective strengths."
"The unsuspecting moose immediately obeyed its territorial instincts and focused its attack toward the boys frightened sister. Immediately obeying his own gaming instincts, young Hans recalled that taunting was always a good way to successfully draw a monster away from a weak in-game ally in World of Warcraft."
""1/10 MMORPG Players Develop Physical Relationships With Others"
And no, I dont mean other people period, I mean with their actual in-game friends, although that would be hilariously pathetic =D . The thought of a Tauren and Orc getting it on though is absolutely disgusting. Sure, Ive gotten a lap dance in Goldshire before, but we were both human and she needed the gold for college or a mount or something
Anyways, Nottingham Trent University has done a research study which reveals ..."
"Comedy Central has revealed that those who purchase the tenth series of South Park on DVD will also receive a 14-day trial to the World of Warcraft.
The link between Blizzard's monster of a game and the crappily-brilliant animated show that centres on a group of troublesome pre-pubescent kids is the Emmy-nominated episode, "Make Love, Not Warcraft," which aired last October. It features Cartman and the gang ridding the MMORPG of a hugely powerful Warcraft obsessive intent on ruining the g..."
"If rumours are to be believed, World of Warcraft developer Blizzard is to use next month's BlizzCon event as a platform to announce the second expansion to its hugely popular Massively Multiplayer Online game - an opening up of the continent of Northrend.
The speculation is based on a leaked music sheet with scores named Northrend 1, 2, and 3, which are to be played by the Video Games Live orchestra at BlizzCon this year."
"When a human is found unconscious on the shores of Kalimdor, with no memory of who he is or how he arrived there, how will he survive? Enslaved by an Orc Shaman, he must fight for survival against members of both the Alliance and the Horde. Will he strike the uneasy balance with the other races he'll need to find the secrets of his past?
Now the best part of this new info is that you can already subscribe to get your paws on this new World of Warcraft Comic Book series by Wildstorm / DC C..."
For all your Post-E3 Blizzard information, here's the re-cap on what they offered. From details on World of Warcraft's expansion to some eye-candy from Starcraft II, there's no dull moment with this developing company.
Starcraft II features full online supposrt, a brand-new 3D engine, huge army to control, and chaotic battles. Not too much we didn't already know in this department, though.
The Burning Crusade will soon get a patch that includes a built-in voice-chat. We'll also get the...
"Talking to Gamasutra, Frank Pearce, founding member and senior vice president of product development for Blizzard revealed that the company has a third team hard at work on a new title, separate from World of Warcraft and StarCraft II.
The comment came amid discussion of the company's current workforce. "Our global headcount is 2,700," said Pearce, "And most of that is customer service for World of Warcraft! In terms of development staff its probably around 350. World of Warcraft is about..."
"While many game developers don't throw a lot of love in the direction of Mac users, Blizzard isn't one of them. In fact, they declare their love for Apple users in many ways. The release their games on CDs that'll run both the Mac and PC version of the game (since Diablo II: Lord of Destruction), have Mac-specific patch notes and bug fixes, and built-in iTunes support. Now, in the upcoming patch for World of Warcraft, 2.2.0, they've added in-game video-capturing utility for Macs."
"AN AUSTRALIAN woman has been arrested in the US for trying to lure her young internet boyfriend to Australia.
It is believed Tamara Broome, 31, might have been set up by the boy's parents.
Ms Broome told her housemate they paid for her to travel to the US this week so "they could sort it all out".
Instead, Ms Broome was met by three detectives as she tried to board a train near the teenager's home town in North Carolina.
She was charged with attempting to abduct a child after a..."
Blizzard is surely trying to make this week their week with all the news they have in store for us. First the huge news on the 19th in regards to their latest game and now they have released information in regards to their latest upcoming patch 2.1.0 Black Temple.
Included so far is a flash video trailer which introduces a familiar character to the Worldcraft series, Illidan the Betrayer.
Listed on the WoW patch notes page can be found on the 2.1.0 changes which will take place once imp...
"In our continued efforts to combat cheating in World of Warcraft, more than 114,000 accounts have been closed across Europe in the month of April for the use of bot programs. The banned accounts were taking part in activities that violate the World of Warcraft Terms of Use, specifically, using unauthorised third party programs to automate game-play. Such behaviour not only negatively impacts the games economy, it diminishes the achievements of those who play legitimately.
It is our goal..."
Blizzards hit MMORPG, World of Warcraft and Visa have teamed up to bring to you 13, yes 13 different WoW styled credit cards for your spending needs.
The offer an introductory APR rate of 0% and then 9.99% after that. Also, with your first purchase on your new World of Warcraft Visa you will get a free month of game time. So, signup for a credit card, buy a bag of chips with your visa, get a free month of WoW. Cancel said credit card and not only do you have a nice looking WoW credit card ...
""The robust performance we're seeing in PC game sales can be tied to several key titles across several genres," NPD analyst Anita Frazer told the Times. "But we'd be remiss not to address the continued success of World of Warcraft."
To underline WOW's success, the Times cites NPD figures showing a 43 percent increase in MMORPG sales. However, nowhere does the article mention the main reason for the genre's 2007 spike--the release of World of Warcraft: The Burning Crusade."
Test Realms for all World of Warcraft players are now live and you can check out the new patch incoming for yourself. For full patch notes go
http://www.wow-europe.com/en/info/underdev/testrealm.html
![Box shot of World of WarCraft: The Burning Crusade [North America]](http://i.neoseeker.com/boxshots/R2FtZXMvUEMvUm9sZS1QbGF5aW5nL01hc3NpdmVseV9NdWx0aXBsYXllcg==/world_of_warcraft_the_burning_crusade_frontcover_small_QUhY5Do2VakrtVI.jpg)