Two bosses enter... but only one will get to leave in WoW Insider's series of fantasy deathmatches. We've scoured the instances of Azeroth and Outland looking for the most interesting bosses Blizzard has to offer us and picked out a group of 32 to pit against one another until we come out with a single winner in the end. And the best part -- you get to tell us who wins.

[View Remaining 2 Paragraphs]

Non-combat pet fans thought that patch 2.3 was a blessing, bringing us the Tiny Spore Bat, for only 30 glowcaps and exalted reputation with Sporeggar, and the beautiful and rare Azure Whelpling. As it followed on the heels of Brewfest's Wolpertinger and Hallow's End's Sinister Squashling, collectors were feeling pretty peachy.

Now, as patch 2.4 lurks around the corner, two more prizes for mini pet fans loom. As we've mentioned, collectors will now have their long-awaited vanity pet bag, which Breanni of warcraftpets.com theorizes will hold between 20 and 28 mini pets!

[View Remaining 3 Paragraphs]

If you happen to need a copy of our favorite game, perhaps to get started multiboxing, here's a pretty cheap deal from Circuit City: order a copy of the original game online for in-store pickup, pay $10. The game is usually $20. On the other hand, picking up a copy of Burning Crusade to go with it, which one would generally want to do, will run you $30, whether you do it the physical way or as a download. And the Battle Chest is $40. So this is only a good deal if you for some reason need WoW without BC. Anyway, those of you who do need it, get to it.

All the World's a Stage isn't just a column for loony and creative geeks, playing with roles every Sunday evening.

The Lunar Festival has been with us for a few days now, and I can tell you as one living in China, the real life version of this holiday, the Chinese Spring Festival, is quite the treat. Everyone seems to walk around charged with a special happiness, traveling all around the country, glad to be reunited with family after spending months away. Shops are closed, streets have more people walking than driving, and nights ring loud with the sound of fireworks bursting from all around you.

[Expand 1 Paragraphs]

As of 4:00 pm PST today, Blizzard has disabled the character copy function. Because they discovered an error with such copies to the public test realms, they were forced to shut all copies down while they fix the problem.

[View Remaining 2 Paragraphs]

Here's something very new in Patch 2.4: what appears to be a cinematic cut-scene for the 5-man dungeon in Sunwell Plateau. I couldn't quite tell what was going on in it, but it's certainly an interesting idea with some potential. Will we only see it the first time we visit the dungeon? Can we skip it? How is it synchronized? What do we see while someone is watching the cinematic -- does it look like they just take forever to zone in? Will we see cinematics in Wrath, or maybe even retrofitted ones for BC and old-world dungeons? As you can see, I have more questions than facts here. At the moment, as you can see, this is a rather crude cutscene; something more cinematic, with dialog and such, might be nice. But this is cool as a sort of level overview, as seen in many other games (Mario Galaxy, why do you haunt me so?).

[View Remaining 1 Paragraphs]

As you all know by now, patch 2.4, currently up on the PTRs, is going to bring many changes (although not as many class changes as I would have liked, but what can you do). Here's one more: a new animation for fire! As seen in the YouTube video above, it currently seems to apply to outdoor, stand-in-one-place type fires, but we can only hope it will be applied to fire effects from spells as well. Mm, fire...

[View Remaining 1 Paragraphs]

There are a few things that have been desired by the players ever since WoW began. Rideable pets for hunters, player housing, guild banks (now in the game! yay!), and additional classes (one coming in Wrath of the Lich King) are a few examples. Here's one more, close to my heart since I have a Holy priest main: Holyform. The dark side of the Priest talent tree has a form; why not the light side? It would supplement our legendarily bad 21/31/41-point talents with something that was truly compelling for the dedicated healer, and of course it would look awesome.

Well, Wowhead and WOWDB now have entries for a spell called, indeed, Holyform, as shown above right. It's hidden in the data files for the 2.4 patch; note that it is not currently trainable by priests on the PTRs. It could be there for any number of reasons: it could be an NPC spell, it could be an ability usable only during the Kil'Jaeden fight, like the Kael'Thas legendaries, or it could just be a cruel joke. The most compelling explanation I've seen is that Blizzard is distributing some of the Wrath patch files early, to lessen the initial download, and this is going to be the new 51-point Holy talent. Please let that be it.

[Expand 1 Paragraphs]

You've gotten the PTR client downloaded, you've read all about patch 2.4, and you've managed to create a character (because your level 70 uber toon of pwnage isn't copied yet). What do you do?

Why swim over to Sunwell Isle, of course!

[Expand 5 Paragraphs]

We've recently featured several posts about player discontent with Warsong Gulch and Alterac Valley battle grounds. It looks like Blizzard has been hard at work changing, if not fixing, some of the issues that players have been having in battlegrounds.

[Expand 1 Paragraphs]

More 2.4 news for all of you to consume.

[View Remaining 2 Paragraphs]

Blizzard's cinematic team deserves as many awards as they can get, in this writer's humble opinion. Even back in the Starcraft days, when graphics were 2D and it was all sprites and jumpy animation, the cinematics were exquisite. And now they've been nominated for yet another award-- Blizzard says their team has been nominated to receive honors from the Visual Effects Society's 6th Annual Awards for the Burning Crusade's cinematic seen above. And I don't disagree-- even more than a year (and a few runs through ten levels of Outland) after it's come out, Illidan's growl still rocks.

[View Remaining 1 Paragraphs]

No, they didn't forget the Jewelers in the new crafted gear. Healers, casters and melee DPS all recieve both a ring and a necklace from Jewelcrafting in 2.4, and the recipes are likely drops in the Sunwell raid zone.

[View Remaining 3 Paragraphs]

With the PTR up and running, information is pouring in faster than ever. The Shattered Sun Offensive's reputation vendor is ready for perusal, and World of Raids has already delivered a screenshot of the full loot list. The tabard looks like it's going to be a favorite for a lot of people, looking more elaborate than possibly any current player-wearable tabard.

[View Remaining 3 Paragraphs]

The Sunmotes we've seen cropping up in the new crafting recipes and various other things are confirmed a raid drop in the new Sunwell Plateau 25-man instance.

[View Remaining 3 Paragraphs]

It seems like a small change, but it could be the herald of something larger. It's a change to the way the defense skill is described in-game in patch 2.4, as reported by World of Raids. I'll let them describe it:

* Old value: Higher defense makes you harder to hit and makes monsters less likely to land a crushing blow.

[View Remaining 4 Paragraphs]

What's your main right now?

Windshadow, a Feral-specced Druid on Kael'thas (US)

[Expand 4 Paragraphs]

Continuing our crafting parade for patch 2.4 is Leatherworking. Leatherworkers get a total of four sets, covering a myriad of class/spec combinations. There is a physical DPS set for both Leather and Mail, as well as a healing set for both of those.

The -of the Sun and the Sun-Drenched sets cover healing. The -of the Pheonix set covers the Mail DPS, while the Gloves of Immortal Dark and Carapace of Sun and Shadow handle Leather DPS. A couple of those are quite a mouthful!

[View Remaining 3 Paragraphs]

If you're a human after a saber, troll after a kodo, or any other combination like that, don't let this opportunity pass you by!

[View Remaining 3 Paragraphs]

With the US PTR featuring patch 2.4 up and running, there is some news to report!

• You cannot copy your characters over right now. A message is up saying "The character copy queue is currently full."
• There is an average wait time of 4 days for a copy. In my experience this has been right about 50% of the time.
• If your character was previously copied, there's a chance you can play it now. There are level 70's on the Isle of Quel'Danas.
• The PvE server appears to be buggy. Sometimes it is letting me in, sometimes it isn't. Also, character creation is not always working.


[View Remaining 1 Lists]

The frantic folk at MMO Champion are digging up major loot finds in the upcoming Patch 2.4, including what appears to be new Tier 6 pieces -- boots, bracers, and belts. These pieces can be obtained by exchanging tokens that likely drop from Sunwell Plateau. This marks an unexpected return to eight-piece sets hearkening back to the days of Molten Core, Blackwing Lair, and even Naxxramas (although Tier 3 was officially 9 pieces). Despite the additions, however, the item previews don't appear to show any new bonuses beyond the existing 4-piece bonuses for Tier 6. This comes as a moderate surprise considering Blizzard has said in the past that they liked the 5-piece set format. On the other hand, it's probably a good thing considering there is no official Tier 7, and these pieces cater to set completists as well as giving more flexibility in obtaining (or keeping) the set bonuses.

[View Remaining 1 Paragraphs]

As I've mentioned before, The Darkmoon Faire is currently in Terrokar Forest, just outside Shattrath City, so if you have decks to turn in or need to refill your private stock of Darkmoon Special Reserve, now's the time to get on it. But if you're still a little bit taken aback by the prospect of gathering all those cards, or wondering if the trinket at the end will really be worth it, we'd like to help you out.

In this post, we'll be looking at both the old and new decks and listing some pros and cons of each deck so you can figure out if you want to spend the next month tracking down cards before the Faire shows up in Elwynn Forest in March, or even if you just want to blow your epic flying mount fund on getting a deck before it leaves for the month.

[View Remaining 6 Paragraphs]

It seems like a strange question, but think about it. Is your main your favorite character?

[View Remaining 4 Paragraphs]

Yesterday's Moviewatch focused on too much of a good thing, but today's post is about not enough! Kangarooster posted an epic trailer for I is Legendary, the World of Warcraft version of I am Legend. If this is indeed his first machinima, then I'm impressed.

[View Remaining 3 Paragraphs]

Blacksmiths aren't being left out of the crafting spree and receive some new recipes of their own. Additionally, Miners get a new type of metal! Sort of.

Hardened Khorium can be made by Miners as of patch 2.4, and is used in the new Smithing plans. Hardened Khorium isn't as frightening as it sounds, it doesn't require 10 bars like its Adamantite counterpart. The bad news is, Hardened Khorium Bars require Hardened Adamantite Bars. 3 Khorium Bars and 1 Hardened Adamantite Bar will net you a Hardened Khorium Bar. Who knew smelting was such a confusing process?

[View Remaining 4 Paragraphs]

Tailors rejoice! All of that Spellcloth and Primal Mooncloth you've been sitting on isn't going to go to waste! Well, maybe. Shadowcloth, nobody likes you and you smell. Please go away. ...Just kidding!

Tailors are going to get two different sets, Sunfire and Eternal Light, each consisting of a robe and a pair of gloves. The former is a DPS set, and the latter is a healing set, naturally. They're loaded up with red sockets, and the socket bonuses are a pretty clear cut boost with no need to dance around to get them. The gloves of both sets require Sunmotes, so keep in mind that you probably won't be able to make these right away. The Sunmotes are likely drops inside of the Sunwell instances, potentially the raid zone. We can hope otherwise though, right? Luckily, the Sunmotes seem to be the only especially rare material required. The rest is just fairly mundane primals and cloth.

[View Remaining 3 Paragraphs]

For those of you who like Spell Haste, I have good news! Patch 2.4 is bringing you a few new Jewelcrafting recipes to reduce your Global Cooldown. Noble Topaz, Dawnstones, and our good friends the Talasites all recieve a new cut.

• Quick Dawnstone - +8 Spell Haste Rating
• Reckless Noble Topaz - +4 Spell Haste Rating and +5 Spell Damage
• Forceful Talasite - +4 Spell Haste Rating and +6 Stamina

While the effectiveness of Spell Haste is still up for debate, new options for gems are always good. I have a feeling this won't do much to help the Talasite market, the +Stam/Resil cut didn't even help much, but at least it's another use for the things. I'm pretty sure everyone who plays WoW has a stack of them sitting in the bank.

[View Remaining 2 Paragraphs]

There are a ton of goodies out there in patch 2.4. We've compiled some of our favorite items from poking around the patch files for you, and you can check them out in our Patch 2.4 Finds gallery. Just about everything was retrieved using a few tricks with the patch files and WoW Model Viewer.

A few other sites, such as MMO-Champion and World of Raids are covering the latest 2.4 finds as well.

[View Remaining 4 Paragraphs]

This week you'll have a chance to meet Fred, meet a gold farmer, consider hiring one, and enjoy a healthy discussion about language.

[View Remaining 2 Paragraphs]

Redgroth of the Balnazzar server was on a Karazhan run with this Horde Guild Ruination when he snapped this pic. The guild's Paladin, Tinalee, was laying down the heals while the rest of the raid was smacking around Nightbane until he dropped purples like the loot pinata he is. Undead dragons get no respect from those wielding the light of righteousness.

[View Remaining 2 Paragraphs]

[View Remaining 2 Paragraphs]

  

Over on the World of Warcraft Livejournal community, bigredpimp has put up some interesting information for everyone to drool over, and it comes in the form of new maps. Specifically, he's used the files from Blizzard's WoW 2.4 patch to piece together a map of Sunwell Isle and the updated form of the Eastern Kingdoms map. If you want to check them out, just see the top of this post.

[View Remaining 3 Paragraphs]

The EU PTRs are up, and people are slowly starting to trickle in, with screenshots popping up on MMO-Champion and World of Raids. Unfortunately, very few of us here in the US have managed to be able to bring up the PTR in our test clients, despite Bornakk's earlier words. Hopefully Blizzard will get the bugs worked out soon enough and we'll all be checking out the Magister's Terrace.

[View Remaining 1 Paragraphs]