Goblin+ Worgen Cinematic trailer. Blizzcon 2010!

Here is the Worgen beginning cinematic. Released this year at Blizzcon 2010

enjoy!

Official Worgen Trailer:



Official Goblin Trailer:


This isn't my video as I was not at blizzcon.. but I did get permission to post from the owner of this video (that is the right thing to do as a member of the press)

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Blizzard Releases World of Warcraft: Cataclysm Trailer

Blizzard has unveiled a cinematic trailer for World of Warcraft: Cataclysm, which is due to hit stores December 7th. Let's just say it speaks for itself.

We'll embed the trailer here, but feel free to click through to YouTube via the logo in the bottom right-hand corner. Be sure to set it to 720p and blow it up to full screen for the full effect. We certainly weren't disappointed.



Last week, Blizzard released the long-awaited patch 4.0.1, which contained dozens of improvements and bug fixes in an effort to set up the game properly for Cataclysm's release.

(via Ars Technica)

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Get your Feat of Strength before it's too late

A long long time ago in the ancient days of Vanilla WoW, there once was a quest line so epic, that only the best of the best could complete it. This was a quest for the Scepter of the Shifting Sands...

Ultimately this was used to open the gates of Ahn'Qiraj and of course award the infamous and now unobtainable Scarab Lord title and mount.

Now, come Cataclysm they are removing this quest chain from the game. Furthermore they are turning it into a Feat of Strength.

Furthermore something I want to add is whilst completing this long chain quest, you will be able to obtain a very rare (and epic quality) cooking recipe called Recipe: Dirge's Kickin' Chimaerok Chops.

These currently sell for about 5,000g each (and you can only obtain one per character of course). With the removal of the chain quest, these will no longer be obtainable and therefore they will become even more rare and sought after. I estimate their prices to rise to about 10,000g (and continue to rise the fewer and fewer there are available) during Cataclysm once people realize that they can't get it anymore and need it for achievements and so on.

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How to get THE MOST honor kills in a AB and EoTS.

With rumors of PvP ranks coming back and more players playing now adays the prize for Grand Marshal or High Warlord will be a big step and EVERYONE will want it, It was always about who had the most kills back in those days and some people really want the "of the *****" title. So imma show you a quicker easier way of getting it,

It used to be a very small area box where you recieved kills, now blizzard has increased that to I dunno 25,000 yards, you could stand at one part of a BG but get SOOO many more.

To utizilize this is common sense but not many people twig on.


Stand in the middle of EoTS and AB (At the flag hole, down the side of the cliff) Or in the BS stealthed by the flag you will get more kills, its nice if you have it in AB weekend because if your team gets BS you get a buttload of honor.

Screen shot, but i joined about 10 minutes late

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Sociologist Parker Benth Publishes WoW Class Case Study

 
NOTE: This post is extremely interesting. I applaud Benth for his perseverance in publishing this case study. The Nov 2010 Vol 18 PAJS is available from online sites such as EBSCOHost for 79.99.

A Sociologist named Parker Benth has published a case study on World of Warcraft players and their classes in the November 2010 issue of the Public Access Journal of Social Science. Paired with articles on the controversies of library censorship and issues with CYWSHCN (Children and Youth with Special Health Care Needs), Benth's article is significantly different than the others published in the journal at the same time.

PAJS articles go through academic scrutiny before the authors are paid and published. Benth's personal blog (Which was on Wordpress.com but has since been taken down to prepare for his new book) described the rigid process of getting his article published in the academic journal of his choice.

Originally Posted by Parker Benth

The task of publishing [your article] is arduous and time-consuming. It's the only thing that you can think about for months, and it's not for the money. You just want to see it get through and get published so people can read and even quote your work.

Benth also expressed a great desire for his article to be re-published and used as a piece of news on MMO news websites. We're happy to announce that MMOwned is the first of any such site to feature Mr. Benth's wonderful case study.

The study, titled "Socioeconomic Mirror Thesis for World of Warcraft", deals with the ethnic, social, and economic backgrounds of World of Warcraft players on all types of servers, and how their real-world conditions affect their class choice. Benth stated that the pool was of a total of 5,000 players. 200 of those players were interviewed face-to-face, while a larger percentage of them filled out a document on Microsoft Word with their economic history, or did a face-to-face interview over Skype.

The results of Benth's study are absolutely staggering. He was able to discern an observable pattern between real-life conditions and class choice in game. His abstract focused extensively on psychological context as well, stating that players with certain mental disabilities are geared towards different classes than people with totally sound minds. Benth's argument is impressively cogent and valid, and his thesis statement is as follows:

Originally Posted by Parker Benth

It can be said that there are mirrored aspects of the real world (Earth) within the fictional world (Azeroth). While the differences of these two worlds are many, the similarities manifest themselves in ways that are not immediately understood. Since this is true, it follows that it is possible to associate real-world characteristics with in-game choices.

Benth leaves room to expand on his theory, since his document is less than 10,000 words, not including the associated data.

ECONOMIC DATA:

With an average of 5,000 players, Benth organized each class from largest to smallest of real-world net worth. He also based much of his data on professions. Classes near the bottom of the list tend to have more blue-collar and factory jobs than classes at the top of the list, for example.

1.) Warrior (An average of $89,000+ per year)
2.) Hunter
3.) Rogue
4.) Mage
5.) Shaman
6.) Druid
7.) Death Knight
8.) Priest
9.) Warlock
10.) Paladin (An average of <$30,000+ per year)

The question struck Benth, and probably anyone else who read this list. Why do people who have greater incomes pick the Warrior over the Mage, Warlock, Hunter, Shaman, Paladin, or Rogue? Benth makes the following conclusion:

Originally Posted by Parker Benth

...[players] with the highest income playing Warriors as their class is not really that surprising. If one wants to get philosophical, a Warrior is a bare-bones class with no magic ability and single-minded purpose. Since people with higher incomes statistically lead happier and longer lives, the desire for playing a class like a Priest who can do miracles, or a Warlock who can wreak irreversible damage to their enemies is less appealing than your average Joe. They don't need to play a fantastical class because they're in a world much unlike the rest of the world, where money can perform as many miracles as a Priest. Notice that the

Originally Posted by Parker Benth

Rogue and Hunter along with the Warrior are at the top of the list of income. These are the three major physical damage (which means damage that is done by weapons and not by magic) classes in the game World of Warcraft. For those not familiar with the game, there are a variety of different "roles" that players must perform in a group to work together. The three previously mentioned classes are all damage dealers and "tanks", or people who absorb damage using their armor. The theorybreaker seems to be the Mage at first, but when you think about it, the Mage is actually quite a bland spell-caster compared to the Warlock or the Priest. Trivial moves such as conjuring bread or water really paint the Mage to be an ordinary guy with magic powers. Paladin being at the bottom of the list also corresponds to the theory. Paladins are perhaps the most fantastical class of World of Warcraft. Their magic can reverse death, protect others from lethal blows, and smite demonic armies with the wave of a claymore. A person who is oppressed by death and restricted by income corresponds with the Paladin class because the Paladin is the savior, the martyr, the hero. They can do things that [we] would never be able to do in [our lives]...

ETHNIC DATA:

Benth asked the pool of 5,000 players their ethnic background. They were given a standard US Census form answer sheet for the proceedings. Minorities were scaled in equal ratio with Caucasians to account for popular class choices for minority races.

1.) Paladin: Caucasian
2.) Warrior: Caucasian
3.) Hunter: Caucasian
4.) Shaman: Caucasian
5.) Priest: Asian/Pacific Islander
6.) Warlock: Caucasian
7.) Death Knight: Asian/Pacific Islander
8.) Mage: African American/Black
9.) Rogue: Hispanic
10.) Druid: Caucasian

Originally Posted by Parker Benth

It is harder to make a conclusive observation from the ethnic data. Men are the majority players in the game, but only by a small percentage. African American men are statistically taught to be pragmatic problem solvers and are encouraged to hide their emotions and doubts to pursue a goal. (117 Rodgers) Because of this cultural tendency, we can conclude partially that African American [people] might see the Mage as a pragmatic class that [solves problems].

Benth was unable to make any other conclusions based upon the economic data.

GENDER DATA:

The classic theory of women preferring healing classes does not ring true with Benth's report:

1.) Paladin: Male
2.) Warrior: Male
3.) Hunter: Female
4.) Shaman: Female
5.) Priest: Male
6.) Warlock: Female
7.) Death Knight: Male
8.) Mage: Male
9.) Rogue: Male
10.) Druid: Female

Originally Posted by Parker Benth

My research grant both required and compelled me to either validate or disprove previous sociological theories of gender and class choice, which are plentiful. The data is more accessible and the study is more wide-encompassing and marketable; there are many ethnicities and classes in the world, but there are only two genders. Past theories have come to many conclusions, but the most popular of them cite that men prefer damage dealing and hybrid classes, and women statistically prefer healers. This is not the case in my pool, because women prefer the

Originally Posted by Parker Benth

Druid, Warlock, Hunter, and Shaman. Two of those are hybrid classes, only two of them can heal, and all of them do damage.

OPINION DATA: POLITICAL ALIGNMENT

Benth studied how the American players identified politically. He was interested in understanding how political opinions determine class choice.

The pool was given three choices:
1.) Democrat
2.) Republican
3.) Independent

1.) Paladin: Republican
2.) Warrior: Democrat
3.) Hunter: Democrat
4.) Shaman: Democrat
5.) Priest: Republican
6.) Warlock: Republican
7.) Death Knight: Democrat
8.) Mage: Republican
9.) Rogue: Independent
10.) Druid: Democrat

Parker Benth plans to conclude his WoW Sociological study with a new blog and book. There is no release date set, but Benth plans to release his book by Q2 2011 at the latest.

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Patch 4.0.1 Release Date Confirmed!

Patch 4.0.1 Release Date Confirmed!+ Patch notes

Quote from Bashiok: (source)

Extended maintenance will begin tonight at midnight, Tuesday, October 12 for the release of patch 4.0.1. Maintenance will begin at 12:01 AM PDT and conclude at approximately 12:01 PM PDT. During this time all realms and many web services will be unavailable. 

Due to the size of the patch we highly recommend you enable your background downloader. If you need assistance doing so please visithttp://us.blizzard.com/support/article.xml?locale=en_US&articleId=35274

Changes for the patch can be found from here: 4.0.1 Patch Notes

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Patch 4.0.1: Cataclysm Systems - recap of what to expect, likely on this 12th

If you are interested in getting into the game, Here is a world of warcraft digital download price comparison tool

In other words, a total lack of class balance, alien stats for everyone, addons which aren't functioning.. MASS HYSTERIA!

http://www.worldofwarcraft.com/patchnotes/test-realm-patchnotes.html

Added custom links for your convenience.

General

* Cataclysm Launcher Update

o The new Cataclysm Launcher allows you to stream game data while you play. This will reduce the time you spend downloading, installing, and patching World of Warcraft. We'd like to get your feedback on the toolset and gameplay experience. Please head to the forums here for additional information.

* Reforging

o Players can now visit special Reforging NPCs in capital cities located near Enchanting trainers. 40% of any one secondary stat on an item can be can be allocated to add a new secondary stat to the item. The stat being added cannot already exist on the item. An item cannot have more than one reforged stat at a time, though the Reforging of an item can be undone and changed.

Dungeons & Raids

Flexible Raid Lock System

o All Wrath of the Lich King raids now use the new Flexible Raid Lock system. This system provides the opportunity for a character to defeat each raid zone's encounters once a week. A character may now complete the encounters during the week with different raids of either 10 or 25 players.

* Icecrown Citadel

o The Chill of the Throne effect has been removed.

• Trial of the Crusader now uses the Dynamic Difficulty system found in Icecrown Citadel and The Ruby Sanctum.

Currency

PvE Currency Changes

o All Emblems of Frost and Emblems of Triumph have been converted to new Justice Points.

o Any dungeon or raid which awarded these emblems will reward Justice Points instead. Anything below Emblems of Triumph, including badges from The Burning Crusade dungeon and raid content, have been converted into gold and sent to players via the in-game mail system.

o Any bosses players defeat that are level-appropriate to them award Justice Points.

o All items that previously cost emblems or badges of any type now cost Justice Points.

o Higher-tier Valor Points will be awarded to players who kill dungeon and raid bosses in the latest tier of PvE content after the launch of Cataclysm.

PvP Currency Changes

o All Arena Points, Honor Points, Battleground Marks of Honor, Stone Keeper's Shards, Venture Coins, and Spirit Shards have been converted into new Honor Points.

o Honor Points will be awarded instead of these currencies, with the exception of Arena Points.

o Higher-tier Conquest Points will be awarded to players competing in each of the latest Arena or Rated Battleground seasons after the launch of Cataclysm.

• For more information on the changes to the currencies and conversion rates for each type, please visit our Cataclysm forum.

Classes: General

• Many class talents, spells, and abilities have been overhauled, added, or removed.
• All spell and ability tooltips will now display damage averages rather than minimum and maximum damage potential. This feature is on by default but can be changed via the Display settings under User Interface options.
• Ammo has been removed from the game.
• The character levels at which classes gain new spells and abilities have changed.
• Many item and class stats have been changed or removed.
• Mastery rating has been added as a new stat which provides unique benefits for characters based on class and talent specialization. Mastery rating does not currently exist on items in the game, however, Reforging can be used to add Mastery rating as a secondary stat to existing items.
• Rage has been normalized.
• Spells and abilities no longer have multiple ranks and now scale with character level.
• Talent trees have been altered. All player talent specializations have been reset, allowing for free re-specialization.

o Each specialization has been reduced to a 31-point talent tree.

o Players will now get a total of 41 talent points to spend.

o Players will be asked to choose a specialization at level 10. Doing so will result in the unlocking of a spell or ability unique to that specialization, as well as one or more passive bonuses.

o Once a talent specialization has been chosen, players may only place points in the primary tree until at least 31 points have been spent there.

o The initial announcement regarding these talent tree changes can be found on our Cataclysm forum.

Death Knights

• A dedicated tanking tree (Blood) has been implemented.
• The effects of Blood Presence and Frost Presence have been exchanged.
• The way in which runes recharge has changed.

Druids

• A new Eclipse mechanic has been added for druids.

Hunters

• Five pets can now be stored with the hunter at all times. Any one of these five pets can be summoned via the Call Pet ability.
• Focus has replaced mana as a new resource.
• Hunters now start with a pet at level 1.
• The Stable will now store 20 pets. If a pet is moved into the Stable, its talents are wiped.

Mages

• There is now a new spell fly-out UI feature for mage portals. Clicking on the Teleport or Portal buttons will expand the list of choices available.

Paladins

• Paladins now have a new resource bar.

Warlocks

• There is now a new spell fly-out UI feature for warlock pets. Clicking on this single button will open up the list of available pets to summon.
• Soul Shards have been removed from the game as items. Instead, they now exist as a resource system necessary for using, or altering the mechanics of certain spells.

Items

• Resilience no longer reduces the chance a player will be critically hit by an opponent.
• Durability: cloth, leather, and mail now have as many points of durability as plate, making the repair cost on death much closer to equal for all classes.

Professions

• The glyph system has been updated to now feature three different types of glyphs. Many class glyphs have been added, altered, or moved to different glyph types.

User Interface

• Spell Alerts have been added to notify players when procs on select spells and abilities occur. A visual notification will display around the character and the activated ability will be highlighted on the action bar.
• The Arena Teams pane has been improved.
• The Character pane has been redesigned. Character stats can now be shown or hidden via the Show All Details/Hide All Details button on the bottom left. When shown, all character stats will be visible in a window to the right of the pane. Stat sections can be reorganized by clicking and dragging them up or down the pane.
• The Professions panes now have more filtering and search functionality, as well as buttons to easily link recipes in the chat frame.
• A Professions screen has been added to the Spellbook to better display the details of a character's primary and secondary professions.
• Many of the yellow System Messages that would display in the chat frame when leveling up have been removed.
• New text animations now alert players as they level up, also providing information on when new talents, spells and abilities are available.
• Professions and Class Trainers windows have been altered to more clearly display available and upcoming purchases.
• New Raid frames are now. They can also be used in place of the standard 5-player party interface via the User Interface options.
• The Spellbook interface has been improved for greater ease-of-use and visual appeal.
• For additional notes on Lua and XML changes please visit the UI & Macros forum.

Graphics

• Improved water and lava rendering system (Video Options - Liquid Detail on the Graphics Panel)
• Dynamic Sunshafts effect (Video Options - Sunshafts on the Graphics Panel)
• Multi-monitor support (Video Options - Monitor on the Graphics Panel)
• OpenGL Hardware Cursor support for Windows (Video Options - Hardware Cursor on the Advanced Panel)
• Experimental support for DX11 (enabled by passing '-d3d11' on the command line or adding SET gxApi *d3d11" to the Config.WTF file)

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Brewfest Quest Ram forever (Even after Brewfest)

Brewfest:

You get a quest to ride a ram, [Bark for Drohn's Distillery] may be different for alliance. But anyways when you get on the ram use this macro.
/run AcceptBattlefieldPort(1,1);
Then If the ram's 4 minute duration goes away, relog and you will be on the ram for another 4 minutes.. Keep repeating to use the macro and im assuming you can have this ram even After the Brewfest event!

1. Get on Ram
2. Use /run AcceptBattlefieldPort(1,1);
3. Logout whenever you want a new 4 minute duration
4. Ram forever?

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