Rufus on Livejournal reminds us that one year ago as of November 13th, Wrath of the Lich King first came into our lives. That means it's been one full year since we had our launch events, since death knights first became free of the Lich King's control, and since we first stepped foot in Dalaran. It's the one year anniversary of our arrival at Borean Tundra and Howling Fjord, the addition of Inscription to the game, and the first fights in Strand of the Ancients and Wintergrasp. If you add in the pre-Wrath patch 3.0.2, you can add in achievements, barbershops, and a whole bunch of other changes.

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And so we find ourselves at the threshold of another Arcane Brilliance, the weekly mage column that conjures the very best the world of magic and mystery has to offer, then sets it on fire and hurls it at a warlock.

Something I wanted to throw out there before we begin:

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Zach loves the Battlegrounds. He could probably play World of Warcraft entirely though the Battlegrounds, because he's kind of lame like that. If he could have the word 'Battlegrounds' tattooed on his rump, he totally wouldn't... because dude, that's just wrong.

A couple of weeks ago, I wrote up a basic look at the Battlegrounds for all the new players who don't know anything about it. From the looks of it, Blizzard expects an influx of new players, too, so newbies will always be on the lookout for 'For Dummies'-type information. Because we're such awesome folks over here at WoW.com, we're ready to oblige. Last week we answered some basic questions about the game's first Battleground, Warsong Gulch. This week, we'll answer some beginner's questions about Arathi Basin, the next Battleground leveling players are eligible to enter. Hit the Read More button to, you know, read more.

ARATHI BASIN

What is Arathi Basin?
Arathi Basin is a resource accumulation Battleground with 15 players on each side. The goal is to gather 1600 resource points (2,000 points prior to Patch 3.2), with the first team to reach that number winning the match and ending the game. There are five resource nodeswhich can be controlled by capturing the associated, nearby flag -- an 8-second channel (formerly 10 seconds) action similar to opening a chest (you'll see a progress bar). Once a flag is tagged, teams must protect it for one minute until it comes under their control. The one minute window allows opposing teams to recapture a tagged flag.

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Ah, Quel'delar -- the Patch 3.3 questline with rewards for everybody. Well, everybody except tanks. And elemental shamans. And shadow priests, and moonkin, and mutilate rogues, and you get the idea. While the caster sword is itemized very well for DPS casters -- and can be used by two of them -- the mace version is loaded with MP5, which is patently useless for them. A lot of healers don't even really need it on their weapon.

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In the vein of Phaelia's Vestments of the Sprouting Seed and the BRK-1000, Blizzard honored several community members with items named after them in Patch 3.3.

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Looks like the newly-renamed Dungeon Finder isn't the only new UI feature we have to look forward to in Patch 3.3 -- Blizzard just released an official preview of its new Quest Tracking feature, and it looks great. It seems to have a number of the features that ZorbaTHut's great QuestHelper addon does, which follows Blizzard's pattern of poaching the best third-party UIs for use in the stock UI.

Our UI whiz Gregg Reece covered the feature briefly last week, based on what was active on the PTR. For those who haven't fiddled with it, new additions to the UI include:

• Enhanced World Map: The large world map is now separated into four active panes. Quests are automatically tracked on the map and listed to its side. The quest log entry for the selected quest is located below the map.
• Areas of Interest: Shows what area on the map your quest's points of interest can be found, represented with a blue polygon. If mobs populate a large area, the map will indicate it. If you need to find one specific doodad, that'll be on there too. If there are multiple spawn areas for a mob or doodad, the map will automatically locate the one closest to you.
• Pop-out Map: Players can utilize a smaller zone map outside of the normal full-screen map to track progress and get their bearings.
• Better Tracking: Tracked quests outside the map will now indicate your progress with a number for items found or mobs killed and will indicate whether you've already completed it.

And more! The main thing I notice is missing (so far) is the arrow that indicates where you should head next on the World Map, like QuestHelper or Carbonite, but who knows if that'll even make it in.

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Zarhym has shared a little more insight into Blizzard's latest thinking about the dungeon group system going into the game and how they're using it to monitor 5-man action. When a player suggests that they buff Oculus' loot rather than tweak the mechanics of the dungeon, Zarhym replies that that's not the way it's done -- they provide more rewards for higher challenges, not just to direct players around. But he does say that Blizzard noticed Oculus was being singled out as a dungeon that players on the PTR didn't want to run, and that's why they went in and took a look at how it all worked.

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Last week, it seemed that our dearly beloved World of Warcraft had sprouted some strange, new zone called Dragon Age. I've been nagging Alexstrasza to tell me what's up with that, since I figured that Wyrmrest Temple was a natural place to unlock that zone. But, oddly, she's got nothing. Still, she's pleasant company, and I don't mind lurking around her boots. They're all stylish and kicky.

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Lord Marrowgar EU PTR Testing
Lord Marrowgar will be tested on EU PTRs tonight, followed by Sindrgosa on US servers.

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Bored on a Fall afternoon? Wondering what to do with your time until Icecrown comes out? Worry not -- our podcast will cure all ails!* We're back on the virtual airwaves this afternoon at 3:30pm Eastern as usual, talking about the most popular stories in the last week of Warcraft, from the new guild leveling details in Cataclysm, to the Las Vegas Convention Center's BlizzCon listing, stopping somewhere along the way at what's new on the patch 3.3 PTR. Eddie "Brigwyn" Carrington, Adam Holisky, Turpster, and I will be your hosts for the combination of nonsense, news, and insight we call the WoW Insider Show.

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Outsiders who know little about gnomish culture might be surprised to find that the little devils have a pretty strict eugenics policy. Gnomes who are exposed to excessive radiation, such as Timidger of <The Mafia Inc> on Dath'Remar, are given a mount, a sack of gems, and a strongly warded warning never to return to Ironforge. They generally don't prosper on their own. This picture was taken shortly before Timidger was eaten by his own horse.

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Full disclosure here: The main thing that makes me want to play a particular race is their choice in hairstyles. Especially the females. Sometimes when I go to Stormwind and enter the barber shop I say, out loud, "All right, designers, let's send our models to the L'Oreal Paris hair salon! Make it work!"

Okay, that last part isn't entirely accurate. Or is it?

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Icecrown Citadel Loot Table Update
Another update of items found in the Icecrown Citadel! For the moment you'll have to go through the past day's news posts to check everything but a compilation should be available shortly. (Probably before the end of the week if everything goes well)

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