We all saw this coming. The next step in Blizzards’ plot to take over the world, or at least your salary. Blizzard micro-transactions using their new Battle.net platform.  Today Blizzard has added 2 new items to their online store for World of Warcraft players.  Two new in-game pets.  A mini Kel’Thuzad and Pandaren Monk for $10 each.

Some people are acting like this micro-transaction thing is new to WoW when in fact, it’s not.  It’s just presented in a different way.  Instead of going through the official World of Warcraft site, it goes through Battle.net.  Blizzard already has a bunch of paid for services like server transfer, name changing, sex changes, race changes and faction changes.

Are any of our readers planning on buying one or both of these new in-game pets? Or are you one of those than can resist these two new cute vanity items.

Either Amazon.com is making fun of you WoW players, or you WoW players must be really bored while “grinding.” But, either way, its both hilarious.

Go past the break to see the full screenshot, which is NSFW.

Wanna bet that is a toilet, as well?

Arthas approaches… Well, more like we approach him, I guess.  With a goodly portion of the Icecrown bosses either having already been tested or about to be tested on the PTR, it is fairly safe to say patch 3.3 is not too far off in the distance.

Couldn’t come too soon, in my opinion, after the disaster that is 3.2, a patch so egregiously bad that it nearly made me, a steadfast Blizzard supporter and raider of four years stop raiding completely.  Lazy?  That comes to mind.  Five uninspired encounters, in an arena half the size of Ulduar’s preparation room?  Lazy on the encounters, lazy on the environment design and perhaps worst of all, lazy on the tiered armor design, something we have all come to expect great things from Blizzard on. I can find good in most things Blizzard does, or at least come up with a good reason why, but I truly feel that anyone who would defend patch 3.2 is nothing but a flaming fanboy.

But, my hatred for patch 3.2 is another article all to itself, so I digress.  Patch 3.3 looks to be a massive cornucopia of delicious awesome.  Much needed class changes, new 5-Mans, new raids, new items, new quests, new factions… You name it, 3.3 has it.  Now, I could, by my lonesome self, spend a few days trying to compile all of the changes and what they mean, or I could give you one catch-all link.  This is via WoW.com and it is so very well done and updated continuously as new information is released and new bosses are tested.  So again, than you to WoW.com for providing us all with this fantastic resource.  Click Here.

As always, I’ll leave you with some foresight into the new Cataclysm expansion.  Behold!  I have found a screenshot of a Worgen newbie with a piece of their starting gear ready to be equipped.

LOL WAT SLOT DIS GO IN???

So patch 3.3 approaches. Icecrown awaits. It is more than likely the final content patch of Wrath of the Lich King, if history holds true.  While this expansion was the best content Blizzard has released to date and probably the best expansion any MMORPG has ever seen, I can’t help but get the same, predictable end-of-expansion blues I’ve not yet managed to dodge in all of my years in this genre.  EverQuest, DAoC, WoW… When each of these games approaches an expansion, I am at once thrilled by the promise of new, amazing content and yet standing in one spot, sporting my now outdated Tier 8.5 set going “So wait, WTF am I doing this for, now?”  I have an answer, I think.

That answer being that I keep playing for love of the game itself, not the cheesy “I PLAY TO LOVE MY FRIENDZ” answer every asshat in the game gives.  No, I don’t play WoW to make friends.  Yes, I do play WoW WITH my friends and we have a damn good time doing it.  But they aren’t what ties me to this game, to this world.  The game itself is.  The mechanics, the UI, the classes and their interactions are all what keeps me coming back for more.  Pride in what I’ve built.  I know there are 10,000 other Mages in WoW who are “better” geared than I, but I take pride in my Mage.  I’ve built him from some rag wearing bear parts peddler in Eversong to being a well oiled machine of fashionable fiery death.

But as predictable as taxes, death and post movie theater popcorn bowel movements, the late expansion blues have hit me square in the gut.  You’d think I’d have learned to move, by now.  The dread feeling of “Now everything I do, all the hours I raid are for nothing” sets in.  And so I slack.  I slack hardcore, I spend more time in other games.  But I pine for my home on the interwebz always.  Any game I play, be it MMO or not, I am constantly comparing their features, classes and shortcomings to my beloved World of WarCraft.  It is only temporary, as it always is and always has been.  More a product of my own mind than anything the game is sending my way, I’d suppose.  Perhaps a little burn out, as well?

There are some things that can be done to combat this type of burn out, because that is exactly what it is.  You can do a number of things, all of which I am currently doing to keep my passion for WoW in some sort of mental cryostasis.

• Level an alt.  Not in the typical fashion, either.  Make it a class, race or even faction you’ve never tried for whatever reason.  Try a new server type for the alt.  I’m currently leveling an Alliance Priest.  Swore I never would, which makes it almost taboo exciting!
• Stop raiding.  I’m just about there.  Four nights a week in a time zone that is not my own for what feels like, to me, very little return is, well, not fun.  So I’ve been slowing my raiding to a slow trickle.  To a point where I feel I’m only putting in what I get out.
• Try some other games.  I mean of all varieties.  Try another MMO, like WarHammer or Aion.  You’ll find your love for WoW rejuvenated as you realize WHY it is as big as it is.  Try other genres to fill your time.  I’ve recently given my soul to League of Legends and I love it.  32 – 1 – 9 with Evelynn, yeah baby! =D
• Dust off some old games.  Fallout 3 and L4D have been getting extra attention from me lately.  Good times with good friends.

All that aside, WarCraft patch 3.3 is looking to be an insane new level of fun.  After watching the preview videos for Icecrown Citadel at Blizzcon, I have to say, I cannot wait to step in there and start kicking ass.  Arthas, to me, is perhaps the most compelling villain in the history of gaming.  His story arc is the most human I have seen gaming produce in a long time, and to see this particular story come to an end… No, not just come to an end, but to do so at MY hands?  I feel that situation will truly be worthy of the word “Epic”.

The class and cosmetic changes in the patch look meaningful as well as just plain fun.  You can find the patch notes here, and they will be updated throughout the PTR process.  Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have a dirty bastard named Ryze I need to go beat the ever living snot out of, damned overpowered ultimates….

I leave you with a visual reminder of why Worgen Druid Aquatic forms are going to fail.

LOL AQUA LYCANZ GONNA NEED A BIGGAR BOAT!!11!

This video was what most people at WoWcon– erm.. Blizzcon were waiting for.  The confirmation of all the rampant rumors about the word “Cataclysm.”  At Blizzcon, everyone was treated to the debut trailer by Blizzard’s cinematics team.

If you’re a WoW fan and not drooling over this, well. Then you’re not really a WoW fan. Enjoy the video. And clean yourself up when you’re done watching it.

• No more spell power
• Spell power is included into INT
• no more attack power, it’s in Agility
• Hunters now use focus. No more mana. No more INT.
• Armor Penetration is Gone too
• All new class combination are confirmed
• Goblin racials! Rocket Jump – Activate your rocket belt to jump 20 yards, every 2 min
• Pack Hobgoblin: Calls in your personal servant, allowing you to bank access every 30 min
• Better Living Through Chemistry – Alchemy +15, your own potions give you more health/mana
• Worgen Racials: Darkflight is a sprint. Aberration: Reduced duration against curses and diseases. Flayer: Skinning bonus, no need for a skinning knife.
• Worgen form: Cosmetic only, no bonuses. Out of combat, you choose human or worgen. In combat you’re always a worgen.
• Goblins can be DKs, rogues… Ghostcrawler flipped that way too fast. No Paladins or Druids.
• Worgen: No Paladins or Shaman, but can do everything else.
• WARLOCKS! Soul shards: Dont take up bag space!
• Soul shards will show up on your UI. Looks like you can have up to three.

All the things that were leaked in the past, were all confirmed.  With one thing extra that we didn’t hear about before Blizzcon.  The new professional, Archeology.

Things that were confirmed:

• Level cap raised to 85
• Goblins join the Horde
• Worgens join the Alliance.
• Worgens can change from Human to Worgen and back.
• Both old continents, Kalimdor and the Eastern Kingdoms, have been completely changed.
• You can fly around in the old continents
• New profession: Archeology
• More raids, quests and weapons, of course.
• 7 new zones.
• Maelstrom in the center of the world is now a sunken city

Contrary to what WoW.com is spectulating, SoundBlaster.com has released a press release that they will be demoing their first World of Warcraft headset.  They will have both an Alliance version and a Horde version.  SoundBlaster isn’t confirming anything about a Catclysm expansion.  Just their headsets.  That is all.

Full press release after the break.

SINGAPORE – 18 August 2009 – Creative Technology Ltd. today announced it will unveil the new Creative Sound Blaster^® World of Warcraft^® Wireless Headset at Blizzard Entertainment’s BlizzCon^® gaming festival, taking place from 21-22 August 2009 at the Anaheim Convention Center in California, USA.

Creative drew from its legacy of gaming innovation and the themes and visual style of Blizzard Entertainment’s award-winning massively multi-player online role-playing game to design the Creative Sound Blaster World of Warcraft Wireless Headset with state-of-the art audio technology and advanced features including uncompressed wireless technology. Creative will also be introducing a wired version of the headset with the same audio technology and design as the wireless version. From the customisable ear cup “Glyphs” featuring Horde and Alliance artwork illuminated by programmable colour LEDs, to the huge emphasis on comfort for extended wear, both headsets offer exceptional technology and design.

“Some of my first memories of PC gaming were with the original Warcraft^®, which came in my multi-media PC kit from Creative. As the series has grown and expanded over the years, I’ve remained incredibly passionate about it, to the point of becoming a World of Warcraft Guild Master myself. So really, being able to work on this project is a dream come true for me. We’ve taken our vast experience to design the Sound Blaster World of Warcraft Wireless Headset to live up to exacting quality standards. The customisable design combined with Creative’s legacy for making the best PC audio solutions means this is going to be an excellent headset for any gamer,” said Ryan Schlieper, Product Marketing for Gaming at Creative Labs, Inc.

The Creative Sound Blaster World of Warcraft Wireless Headset is both PC and Mac compatible and is the first Creative product to include Creative’s new THX TruStudio PC^™ audio technology. The result of years of collective experience and research by Creative and THX – THX TruStudio PC provides groundbreaking technologies that deliver the fullest audio experience for games, movies and music.

For more information about the Creative Sound Blaster World of Warcraft Wireless Headset, please visit www.soundblaster.com.

About Creative
Creative is a worldwide leader in digital entertainment products. Famous for its Sound Blaster^® sound cards and for launching the multimedia revolution, Creative is now driving digital entertainment on the PC platform with products like its highly acclaimed ZEN^® MP3 and portable media players. Creative’s innovative hardware, proprietary technology, applications and services leverage the Internet, enabling consumers to experience high-quality digital entertainment – anytime, anywhere.

About Blizzard Entertainment, Inc.
Best known for blockbuster hits including World of Warcraft^® and the Warcraft^®, StarCraft^®, and Diablo^® series, Blizzard Entertainment, Inc. (www.blizzard.com), a division of Activision Blizzard (NASDAQ: ATVI), is a premier developer and publisher of entertainment software renowned for creating some of the industry’s most critically acclaimed games. Blizzard Entertainment’s track record includes eleven #1-selling games and multiple Game of the Year awards. The company’s online-gaming service, Battle.net^®, is one of the largest in the world, with millions of active users.

# # #

This announcement relates to products launched in the Asia Pacific. Availability is subject to change without notice and may differ elsewhere in the world according to local factors and requirements. Sound Blaster, THX TruStudio PC and ZEN are trademarks or registered trademarks of Creative Technology Ltd in the United States and/or other countries. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.

While browsing our site to make sure all links are and things are looking good, I noticed a gold farming banner at the top of site form Google’s Adsense.  Now, I usually don’t click on ads, but this one got my attention.

Earn up to 600+ gold and hour legally and without cheats.

The “legally and without cheats” part caught my eye.  After clicking the banner, I watched a video that is supposedly proving that the site is legit. Well, after scrolling down and seeing this:

I knew the site was another lame, get rich quick scheme.

Thanks to the wonderful people at MMO-Champion, we might have new and leaked info on the heavily rumored World of Warcraft expansion called Cataclysm.  Now these are labeled leaked rumors for now.  But we’ll be at Blizzcon next week to give you the definite news.

New Races and Class Combinations:

• Goblins
• Worgens
• Human Hunter
• Orc Mage
• Night Elf Mage
• Dwarf Mage
• Blood Elf Warrior
• Dwarf Shaman
• Undead Hunter
• Tauren Paladin
• Tauren Priest
• Gnome Priest
• Troll Druid

Leveling Experience

• Level Cap raised to 85
• Azshara becomes a low level starting zone
• Barrens split up into two separate zones

Other Updates

• Azeroth will be entirely revamped.
• Flying is allowed in parts of old Azeroth.
• Unreleased zones and dungeons, including Hyjal, Gilneas, and Uldum will become part of WoW.
• Deathwing and Azshara will be playing a major role in the Cataclysm that will happen.

For the full post, go past the break.

World of Warcraft: Cataclysm is the next expansion for World of Warcraft. Dark and forgotten threats that have long stayed out of sight have finally arrived on our shores, unleashing a cataclysmic event upon Azeroth and now preparing more nefarius plans to take it back.

New Classes
The expansion doesn’t have any new class. Instead, Blizzard will offer more race and classes combinations to players, some of them have been datamined on the 3.2.2 Test Realms.

• Human Hunter
• Orc Mage
• Night Elf Mage
• Dwarf Mage
• Blood Elf Warrior
• Dwarf Shaman
• Undead Hunter
• Tauren Paladin
• Tauren Priest
• Gnome Priest
• Troll Druid

Level Cap
The level cap in the next expansion will be slightly lower than expected this time around; 85.

This suggests Blizzard wants more room for expansions before hitting the level 100 cap. With less leveling to do (along with the revamped leveling listed below likely to increase the speed and ease of leveling), leveling a new race remains appealing for new and existing players alike.

New Races
The events of the cataclysm has caused two new races to seek new allies. The Goblins for the Horde and the Worgen for the Alliance.

Goblins
The Goblins have found themselves washed upon an island off the coast of The Barrens, their islands devastated by the cataclysm. As they strive to recover, they come across an Orc captured on an Alliance ship and rescue him. The Orc turns out to be none other than Thrall himself, and in return offers the Goblins a place within the Horde. These events are carried out in a quest line, allowing players to experience first-hand the reasons behind the Goblins’ shift from neutrality.

It is unclear if the old Goblin locations such as Kezan and Undermine will be included in Cataclysm with the revelation of the Goblins’ displacement.

Worgen
The cataclysm has cracked open the Greymane Wall, finally revealing what has happened to the kingdom of Gilneas and its citizens. The Worgen have ventured forth from Gilneas and sought help from the Alliance, deciding to join them to combat the new threats of Cataclysm.

Gilneas will make extensive use of the phasing system (much like the Death Knight starting area), to show what happened while the kingdom was cut off from the rest of the world and lead up to present day.

Last but not least, Worgens will have two forms and will be able to morph between a human form and a worgen one. Players should be able to pick both appearances when they create their character.

New Content
Cataclysm will be the first expansion not to introduce a new continent, instead making use of previously unreleased zones and revamping existing ones.

Classic Azeroth Revamp
A cataclysmic event caused by Deathwing and Azshara will change the face of Azeroth as we know it. Most of the new content for Cataclysm will take the form of a revamped Azeroth, taking advantage of newer additions to WoW such as phasing and daily quests. Most of the quests and mobs in the classic zones will also be redesigned to make leveling less painful. Some zones will change drastically to fit this, e.g.,

• The Barrens will be split into two separate zones of two different level bands.
• Azshara will become a low level (~10-20) zone.

Flying in Azeroth
Part of the redesign of the Eastern Kingdoms and Kalimdor is the introduction of flying to the two continents, allowing access to many new areas and quicker travelling across the large continents.

Unreleased Zones & Dungeons
With the addition of flying mounts to Kalimdor and the Eastern Kingdoms and the redesign of many zones, most of the previously unreachable or incomplete zones will now be made available to players. This is where most of the new content from 80 to 85 will take place. Some of these are,

• Hyjal (present)
• Gilneas – The Worgen starting Zone.
• Uldum (Most likely as a dungeon)

Classic Dungeon Revamp
Redesigning Onyxia’s Lair in Patch 3.2.2 was just the first step. As most of the leveling will take place in revamped areas of Azeroth, so too will the dungeons, allowing players to use them to level from 80 to 85.

As far as I know, Ragnaros will also be back in this expansion.

Deathwing
Deathwing the Destroyer / Neltharion the Earth-Warder will play a major role in Cataclysm. Having been driven mad by Old God whisperings and turning against his own kind only to be fail in his attempts, Deathwing has sunk into the shadows. While the Horde and the Alliance were busy fighting back the Burning Legion only to then be beset with the Scourge, he has been lurking and moving things into place. After Lady Sinestra’s failed attempts to create a Twilight Dragonflight, he again retreated to Grim Batol and succeeded where she failed. With his results seen in the Obsidian Sanctum, he has finally created the supreme Dragonflight he sought and plans to unleash it upon the world. But what of the Old Gods’ sway over him?

Azshara
Queen Azshara will also play a major part in Cataclysm. Unknown to many mortal races, long forgotten by others, and believe to be dead by her own kind, she has not been dormant in depths of the Maelstrom. Having those around her transformed by the Old Gods into Naga after her failure in the War of the Ancients, she has become far more powerful and a greater threat than she once was. Not content with just Nazjatar and the depths of the sea, Azshara seeks to reclaim power and reign once again. With the true plan behind Lady Vashj’s support of Illidan remaining a mystery we do not know what hand Azshara has yet played. The big question remains, is she now serving her “saviors”, the Old Gods?

The Cataclysm
I’m still not sure who is the true end boss of Cataclysm is, but the cataclysm appears to have been caused by attempts to incantation to summon extremely powerful beings using an ancient incantation by Deathwing and Azshara. They’re both very powerful, but the cataclysm itself suggests something more powerful is behind it, perhaps their shared past of Old God influence?