So one of the most exciting announcements from the recent flurry of news about WoTLK, at least from my point of view, is the that there will be 10-man and 25-man versions of every raid. Think about that for a moment. Yeah, that's right. That means that you and 9 other friends will be able to scale the heights of Icecrown Glacier and topple Arthas himself from his frigid throne.

This has more than a few people worried.

The worries are many. Will this mean people won't want to do the the 25-mans when they can have the same experience in a 10-man? Mike pointed out in one of our conversations in WoW Insider's secret lair that we were originally told that even 40 level 80s wouldn't be able to take down Arthas. Some are concerned that we really shouldn't be able to take down one of the most powerful entities in Azeroth, and possibly in the Universe, with only 10 people. I think all of these worries are addressable.

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Lately, there's been a flood of information regarding the upcoming Wrath of the Lich King expansion for Blizzard's World of Warcraft. Lead Producer J. Allen Brack recently shared some of his thoughts on the new expansion and how its contents will supplement the already massive gameplay elements in the main game.

Many players were actually thankful with stepping back into the boots of the more traditional high fantasy setting of WotLK. Brack then mentioned that even the cosmetic looks of weapons will be reverted back to its more realistic versions, doing away with the more shiny and glowy effects seen from previous patches.

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Every week, Arcane Brilliance works its way into your spell-rotation, right between Fireball two and Fireball three. It has a zero second cast time, doesn't trigger the global cooldown, costs no mana, does ridiculous amounts of damage, creates no threat, and is entirely unresistable. Yes, I'm aware that's not a word. Yes, I understand that "irresistible" is the grammatically correct alternative. Yes, I like to make up words. Also, apparently Arcane Brilliance is the greatest spell ever, and should probably make up your entire spell rotation, and not just a part of it. The good news? I just saved you space on your action bars.

If forced, at gunpoint, to identify the most daunting aspect of the World of Warcraft experience, I know exactly what I'd say. It wouldn't be starting the game, as Blizzard has done a wonderful job of making entry into the game itself incredibly user-friendly. It wouldn't be beginning to raid, as hopefully when you go into your first raid, your guild will be fully aware that it is your first raid and won't expect too much of you, so you can participate without pressure.

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Like the Dragonblight, we've learned a little more about the Grizzly Hills in the last few days. A few old friends make a comeback in this zone, and I'm willing to say here and now that it's going to be awesome. Read on to see what we know!

• The Grizzly Hills will be a low to mid 70s zone. The setting is very much like a redwood forest, Warcraftified.
• Home of the Grizzlemaw Furbolgs, one of the largest furbolg tribes in Azeroth. The furbolgs seem to be under attack on a few fronts. The first front being...
• The Venture Co. This organization, founded by a bunch of jerk goblins, is working endlessly to clearcut the great Grizzly Hills forest. Second, the furbolgs are also having trouble with...
• Corruption from the Old Gods. Or maybe just one Old God, we're not sure. I would be willing to guess this is the Old God in Azjol-Nerub.


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We've discussed RP descriptions in the past, both their usefulness as well as their potential hilarity. Our David Bowers has given an overview of two of the big description mods, so you have all you need to get started.

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I've examined the Dragonblight before when Blizzard first gave us the preview of the zone, but some other news about the region has come into the spotlight in the last few days. I'm sure you've noticed, the Wrath news is everywhere, especially here on WoW Insider. Below I have a little breakdown of what we know so far.

• The Dragonblight is both the beginning and the end of the dragon life cycle. The Titans granted the Dragonflights their powers here, and this is also where dragons go to die.
• This zone contains a shrine for each of the Flights which surround Wyrmrest Temple. These shrines are under siege by the Scourge.
• Alexstrasza herself is lending a hand in recruiting for the war effort in the Dragonblight.
• The Scourge has been twisting the remains of fallen dragons into Frost Wyrms and potentially other monstrosities.
• The Scarlet Crusade returns in this zone, renamed the Scarlet Onslaught.


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Remember, tomorrow will be the last day you can attend the Darkmoon Faire this month. If you haven't had an opportunity to turn in your decks or acquire your tickets yet, you should hurry! Even if you don't want any material rewards, at least shoot yourself out of a cannon before it's all over.

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Oftentimes when raiding or applying to a raid/guild is mentioned, many people get up in arms about the fact that games shouldn't require commitment on that level. That kind of opinion is understandable, I suppose, but I certainly can't say I agree with it.

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Baron Soosdon has been threatening to make a plotline machinima for quite some time, so it's good to see that he followed through with it! Kake Buk Island: Episode 1 - "You Damn Beach" is about an orc, Thok, that wakes up on a strange island. While exploring the island, he befriends two girls, Noki and Jiki, that need his help rescuing their pig from the sinister gnome, Sergei Gnum. All is not as it seems on Kake Buk Island, but I guess we'll have to wait for Episode 2 to find out!

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"The more, the merrier," so they say. World of Warcraft player Guges, however, does not agree. The player is concerned about the possible supersaturation of Death Knights in Wrath of the Lich King. It's different, the player maintained, from the days when you had to contend with paladins and shamans in The Burning Crusade.

Fortunately, Blizzard blue posters Bornakk and Drysc took the time to reassure the WoW forum populace. Bornakk reminded players off the level gap between Death Knights and other character classes:

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Sean is diving, sunning himself and trying to drink all the cervezas in Cozumel this week, so don't feel bad if he doesn't respond to emails and comments. He'll be back in action next week, fresh and ready to get the Macro train rollin' again!

For this week's Macro Anatomy, I thought I'd share a fun little fishing macro I found in the forums. Tomza wrote a great macro for those of us wanting to react quickly to enemy players while fishing. I've altered it a bit, as I prefer to use the SHIFT modifier rather than the ALT, but other than that it's pretty much verbatim.

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When you've lost your Parachute Cloak, you can get kind of desperate. Actually, this situation isn't nearly as dire as it appears; tankadin Atharey of Black Dragonflight was merely having a ball on the trampoline used for the "Bring Me The Egg" quest in Nagrand. Since she was already flying through the air, she figured Avenging Wrath would add a nice touch. Plus, is a paladin ever really in danger? That bubble is pretty much impenetrable, even when it comes to landing on rocks/trees/angry devilsaurs.

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Yes, addictions need to be dealt with, but it's important to first understand exactly what it is you're dealing with. That's why writer and researcher Neils Clark addressed the subject of video game addiction at the 2008 Games for Health Conference. His talk centered on the problem, its elements, real world relationships and its solutions.

Clark noted is that it has no differentiation between children and adults with regard to game addiction, though pathologies may differ. He also admitted that health professionals are still "in the interim" in their understanding of the addiction.

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We've got a deluge of the World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King news from GameSpy's inside look at the upcoming expansion and well, we've got more. This time another player question about the expansion has cropped up from the WoW Forums and it's all about the updated talent trees.

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