Not quite next week it seems.

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World of Warcraft PTR Patch 2.4.0

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PTR Next week, sit tight, enjoy the week end.
Quote from: Drysc (Source) "Hey, are you the kind of kid who reads the last page of a mystery first? Who pesters the magician to tell you his tricks? Who sneaks downstairs to peek at his Christmas presents? Noooo, of course you're not.

That's whhyyy Iiiii'm noooot gooonnnnna teeeeell youuuuuu."

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World of Warcraft PTR Patch 2.4.0

The latest test realm patch notes can always be found at http://www.worldofwarcraft.com...patchnotes.html

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Maybe you thought because it was Friday night that you could avoid new WoW news? Think again-- Tigole has posted on the forums that the PTR is coming up "soon," and the PTR forums have been reset in anticipation (unfortunately the forums have gone down due to all the chaos). We're not expecting the patch until Tuesday, so throwing it up tonight would be a very Blizzard thing for Blizzard to do. As Eliah said before, too, character transfers are up and running, so all signs point to Blizzard springing this on us very soon.

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Two players with five characters each, that is! Suvega, the man who brought us quite a nice DKP system a while back, appears to be running out of challenges, so he and his girlfriend decided to see if they could multibox their way through Karazhan. So far, they've beaten Attumen, Moroes, the Maiden, and the Wizard of Oz Opera event, which is pretty darn impressive if you ask me. Check out a trailer above (or in higher quality at Stage6), follow their progress on their blog, or check this thread for pictures of their hardware setups (drool-worthy, if you ask me). Their class breakdown: Suvega controlled a Holy priest, a Prot warrior, and three Fire/Arc mages, while Vyndree helmed a Resto shaman, a Prot pally, and three Elemental shamans. What do you all think of this accomplishment?

Insider Trader is your inside line on making, selling, buying and using player-made products.

If you're a clothie, you've probably already figured out that you are going to need to take up tailoring at some point, if you're really serious about your gear. In fact, many players would argue that tailoring is mandatory for the serious cloth caster. There's no denying that the BoP tailored sets – Frozen Shadoweave, Primal Mooncloth and Spellfire – are some of the best items you can get ... And of course, since they are BoP, you must be a tailor who is specialized in that cloth type in order to use them.

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Are you looking around your WoWspace and thinking, "gee, I could really use more World of Warcraft action figures" then you may just be in luck. As we announced recently, coming this fall, from Upper Deck Entertainment, is the World of Warcraft Miniatures Game.

You will be able to acquire miniatures that will serve as both game pieces and collectibles, as each one "will be mounted on a uniquely engineered removable base". Each miniature will reportedly be a highly detailed 3-D rendering of characters in the game, including not only each race and class, but bigwigs like Thrall and, evidently, Leeroy Jenkins, who has already appeared in the Trading Card Game.

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Tigole posting something about the PTR being online "very soon" on friday could mean something very good, I suggest that you stay online a few more minutes/hours just in case. ^^
Quote from: Tigole (Source)There are some changes coming to WSG in patch 2.4. The patch will be on the PTR very soon. Please be sure to check out Warsong once the PTR is up.

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Update: Tigole is now saying 2.4 will be on the PTR "very soon."

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var digg_url = 'http://digg.com/playable_web_games/WoW_is_in_the_Guinness_Book_of_World_Records_for_alcohol'; I'd like to propose a toast to WoW for setting a new world record. Yahoo News Canada has announced the first Gamer's Edition of the Guinness Book of World Records is due out on March 11, 2008. World of Warcraft's distinction? The world's largest virtual beerfest.

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Ready Check is a weekly column focusing on successful raiding for the serious raider. Hardcore or casual, Kara or BT, everyone can get in on the action and down them some bosses. Sometimes I forget that WoW is set in a Medieval time period, so here's a little of that flavor...

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I have to say, I am super excited about tomorrow's podcast (live on WoW Radio at 3:30pm EST), not only because Turpster is back from being away last week, and not only because our raid writer extraordinare Marcie Knox is going to be on, but also because we're going to have our first guests ever-- Johnny and Rob from Unforgotten Realms (and the Legendary Heroes podcast, that spawned this Legendary Sisters guild). And they're talented machinimakers, too-- Johnny made the great Unidentified, and Rob made one of my favorite machinima ever-- Jimmy, seen above. Can't wait to talk to both guys.

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Some players have reported that they are having problems obtaining the World of Warcraft Lunar Festival tailoring quests from NPCs. This quest is the only way to receive two particular patterns making it a must have for anyone who wants to be able to make any piece of clothing.

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Elphaba from the Devierum guild has released a new machinima video based on Blizzard's World of Warcraft. Entitled "Adventures in Exploiting", you can expect the general theme of the video to be a little less than scrupulous.

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Hype is building up for World of Warcraft's Patch 2.4 with the release of Blizzard's "concise list" of changes to the UI. Among these were changes to visual settings, inventory management, events, combat logging and more.

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Every week, V'Ming - who thinks that gnome warlocks are travesties of nature and need to be KOSed - shares thoughts and ideas on becoming deadlier at the Arenas. He also dabbles in the dark arts in Blood Pact.

The year of the Rat is upon us and while this column usually relies on cold hard numbers and shies away from wild speculation and baseless assertions, I shall indulge my Lunar New Year festive mood to venture into some strictly amateur crystal ball gazing for the classes. As with any prediction - astrology, fortune cookies or otherwise - read this with a large pinch of deeprock salt, and understand that a positive attitude is always a good way to overcome defeats and disappointments.

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The Care and Feeding of Warriors is our weekly foray into warriors. This week, we discuss good things about a class in World of Warcraft. I know, I was as shocked as you are, but it's apparently possible. Matthew Rossi seems to enjoy them a great deal.

I was planning to talk about Warrior DPS specs this week, but then I saw yesterday's moviewatch and started thinking about class balance. Specifically, warriors and how they balance against other classes. The issues mentioned there... static threat vs rising DPS, shout duration, better tanking gear actually hurting your threat generation....pretty much work for me as issues. It would be nice if those got fixed. There are a few others that bug me, but watching the various lists of class woes made me realize that, basically, I love my warriors.

What's so great about a warrior? Is it the thematic unity of a class that's all about the heavy armor and weapons, that doesn't use mana at all, that wades into the thick of combat and turns loose untrammeled martial expertise and inner fury? Is it the thrill of a 1k shield slam crit turning a mob back to face you? Is it managing to get that last big MS hit off on a warlock to drop him before dying yourself, knowing that you're not playing an escape class? When warriors use our fear we're doing it to buy a few more seconds to kill someone, not to run away. Warriors don't run away. We'll take the beating and come back for more. Is that what's so great about us?

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It seems that players have become rather confused about the presence of greenery in Wrath of the Lich King, the upcoming expansion for Blizzard's World of Warcraft.

Since Northrend is supposed to be a frozen desolate wasteland, it just seems weird that creatures such as Shovel Tusks are running around in areas with grass and trees.

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David Bowers wrote an excellent, thoroughly analyzed article about the map imbalance in Alterac Valley. His point is relatively simple: under the new Reinforcement mechanics, the map favors the Horde. He posits that, should the Horde play their best game, the Alliance will not be able to win in Alterac Valley. In fact, according to reports, Alliance in some Battlegroups have boycotted AV altogether. When I first read David's article -- a great read I highly recommend to anyone, by the way -- my initial response was a slight befuddlement. You see, in my Battlegroup, the Alliance win their fair share of Alterac Valley.

In fact, if we go over to Warcraft Realms, we'll see that the Alliance win quite a good number of AV games, too. Furthermore, in some Battlegroups, they completely dominate Alterac Valley. Maybe the Horde of those Battlegroups should read David's article. In it, David outlines how the new Reinforcement mechanic favors the Horde because the map design allows Horde players to reach Stonehearth Bunker, a key objective that awards +63 Honor when burned and eliminates 75 Reinforcements, before the Alliance can reach Iceblood Tower. The new Reinforcement mechanic also makes Iceblood Graveyard a critical defensive bastion that, if defended fully, supposedly prevents the Alliance from getting any Honor from Alterac Valley.

What QQ Can Get You
The situation became so bad for some Battlegroups such as Stormstrike and Bloodlust (the vaunted BG9) that Alliance stopped queuing for Alterac Valley altogether. With so much Alliance QQ, Blizzard quickly hotfixed Balinda and Vanndar and went to work on more fixes for Alterac Valley. It's a considerably rapid response by Blizzard's standards. This bothers me on several levels. First of all, Alterac Valley has geographically favored the Alliance ever since its inception. This is just a fact. Stormpike Graveyard is the most fortified objective in the game as it is uphill and flanked by ridges from which Alliance can situate themselves to snipe assaulting Horde. It is followed by the Dun Baldar bridge, which is a true bottleneck as opposed to the Iceblood pass because it's a bridge. You can't go around it. You will fall. In fact, it's such a notorious imbalance that Wing Commander Ichman references it in the quest he gives out in Shadowmoon Valley. He states, "War isn't fair! To hell with 'em all!"

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Machinimators have quickly learned that if they want special 3D animations or sets done, Pinkhair is the man for the job. Previously known for his Warcraftmovies Christmas Spirit Contest entry that narrowly missed being in the top three, he has helped artists such as BaronSoosdon and Ian Beckman in his spare time.

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Last year we profiled what the inside of a manaforge in Netherstorm looked like. Reader Hellghast, Horde player of Kagarth, got higher up, right into the funnel of energies being collected by Manaforge Ara. And he brought back this shot that reminds us of the raw power of these strange structures currently under the control of the Blood Elves loyal to Kael'thas Sunstrider. Who knows what purpose they serve harvesting the Twisting Nether?

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Player Tychlona of Kul Tiras made a fair point in a forum post when she noted that it sometimes gets a little annoying doing "collection" quests where it seems to take hours to collect what you need, Be it Gray Bear Tongues or Helboar Meat. I'd say that most of us can likely feel her pain on that measure. Drysc answered her later in the thread with some of his own insight into the process of questing and dealing with various types of quests. His point that sometimes seeing that "5/30 Windroc" notice in your quest log can make a quest feel like a bit of grind is very understandable, but I have to counter that seeing that "8/10 Monstrous Crawler Leg" in your quest log and knowing you've already killed 30 mobs without those last 2 legs appearing can feel just as grinding.

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While it may be nice to send in a World of Warcraft screenshots with the hopes of being featured in Blizzard's official WoW guide, it's also nice to just chill and record a Kodak WoW moment for fun and posterity's sake.

Chilling is what Saldemor's character did -literally - with the World of Warcraft screenshot you see above. The context behind Saldemor's screenshot is simple: it's that of an undead mage casting the Cone of Cold spell by the gates of Orgrimmar.

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If you've noticed, Blizzard has been asking players for World of Warcraft screenshots for the over the course of several months in line with the production of the WoW guide. The requests usually asked for screenshots of one kind of instanced dungeon or another, but this time around, Blizzard needs screenshots of a different kind: that of the Lunar Festival special event.

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Does it take a certain level of maturity to play World of Warcraft? In the past we have asked for opinions on how comfortable people are gaming with players of all ages. The general consensus seemed to be that behavior is more important than numerical age.

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Here's one of the things that has happened in DICE Summit 08: Blizzard big wig Mike Morhaime, and VPs Rob Pardo and Frank Pearce were able to share some detailed information regarding the company's early history and their secret to success.

From games such as Warcraft, StarCraft and Diablo, Blizzard has achieved much success due to the way they handle their operations - without corporate interference.

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You won't necessarily have to play the MMORPG and the Trading Card Game just to experience Blizzard's World of Warcraft  - thanks to Upper Deck Entertainment which will be releasing WoW miniatures this Fall.

The World of Warcraft Miniatures Game will be UDE's debut in the collectible miniatures market, featuring iconic characters from Warchief Thrall to fan-favorite Leeroy Jenkins.

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There's so much more from DICE Summit 08, they held 11th Annual Interactive Achievement Awards which celebrates nothing but the best games of the year 2007.

The three big winners in the event were Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare, The Orange Box, and BioShock. These games were able to win four awards each.

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It's been awhile since Blizzard's World of Warcraft's bestiary section has been updated. It even got to the point wherein concerned players were already showing signs of agitation from all the waiting they were doing.

Finally, a new monster has been introduced into the roster list: the Shovel Tusk. Although it may look like a mammoth, they're actually closer to being moose as indicated by their massive curved antlers.

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Character copies reset ... Blue poster activity down to almost nothing ... I sense a great disturbance in the force.

[Patch 2.4] Character copy up ?
It seems that yesterday the character count on the character copy page got a reset, maybe it's just a test, maybe it means we can expect the 2.4 patch on PTRs today. You should probably copy a character or two just to be sure.

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As you all probably know, Season 3 of the Arena PvP system for Blizzard's behemoth MMORPG World of Warcraft is currently on-going. Despite these, players can't wait for Season 4 and have been asking Blizzard for a schedule.

The same was asked again recently over at the official WoW Forums. The question raised was whether the Season 2 items will finally be purchasable via honor points when Season 4 finally begins.

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Our PTRmeter is telling us that today will be the good one :).

PTR: Character Copy up, Patch 2.4 on background downloader

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