While looking over March 2009, one of the things that immediately jumps at me is that this month had a lot of great news on PvP. My guess? With Tier 7 content growing increasingly stale and Ulduar encounters being doled out sparingly on the PTR, lots of players started to dip their toes back into arena and battlegrounds, and promptly got them chopped off by the howling pack of death knights infesting BG's like a Biblical plague.

The more things change, the more they stay the same.

[Expand 2 Paragraphs]

The comic adaptation of the popular, award-winning web series The Guild is now available for pre-order from Things From Another World (TFAW). Published by Dark Horse, the comic is written by series creator and actress Felicia Day herself and drawn by indie comic artist Jim Rugg, who drew the Plain Janes graphic novel. The first issue will be available in two variant covers done by Cary Nord and Georges Jeanty.

[View Remaining 2 Paragraphs]

We here at WoW.com are on a Daily Quest to bring you interesting, informative and entertaining WoW-related links from around the blogosphere.

• Killing 'em Slowly look at patch 3.3 frost death knight DPS methodology.
• Some thoughts and opinions on the bosses currently available in Icecrown Citadel by Blessing of Kings.
• Big Bear Butt waxes philosophical about his experiences with the new dungeon finder system.
• Enhancement shaman updates in patch 3.3 over at Big Hit Box.


[View Remaining 1 Lists]

15 Minutes of Fame is WoW.com's look at World of Warcraft players of all shapes and sizes -- from the renowned to the relatively anonymous, the remarkable to the player next door. Tip us off to players you'd like to hear more about.

Is there such a thing as retirement guilds for burned-out players? When Sharaya and Boltac of Vanguard of Norrath spotted that innocuous question on the Blackwater Raiders realm forums, they recognized a familiar face: their very own guild. A collection of former hardcore gamers from the EverQuest era, VoN has become home base for a more casual approach. "We've all done the hardcore raiding thing, which comes with wanting to see everything and do everything in a high-content mass online game," explains VoN officer Sharaya. "We all have had our stints with guilds sporting the usual raid schedules, leveling needs, gear requirements and members constantly preening about scores from tertiary web sites with convoluted ranking systems. In the beginning, we all did this as a choice. It let us see everything, and let's face it -- it was fun.

[Expand 6 Paragraphs]

Welcome back to The Queue, WoW.com's daily Q&A column where the WoW.com team answers your questions about the World of Warcraft. Alex Ziebart will be your host today.

Oh ho, what is this? Another edition of The Queue, approximately one day after the one before it? How unexpected! Who knew that daily features could be so... daily? I, for one, am shocked. And perhaps a little appalled.
Tori asked...

[Expand 4 Paragraphs]

Sometimes you'd like to know that there are other MMOs out there, right? Our sister site Massively can provide you with everything you need to know about all those other shiny MMOs! Check out this roundup of the latest news from the wider MMO world.

	Massively's 2009 Winter Holiday Event Guide It's that time of year again -- whatever holiday you are celebrating, the denizens of your favorite MMO are sure to be celebrating it too. Whether it's Festivult in Dungeons and Dragons Online, Wintersday in Guild Wars, or the Starlight Celebration in Final Fantasy XI, the theme is the same. There are presents, some sort of sugary treats, and tons of fun.
	Massively's Guild Wars costume set giveaway With this year's Wintersday in Guild Wars comes quite a few new features to the game. One of the most significant is the costuming system. These costumes allow your character to dress as they like with costumes that fit into special costume slots, not affecting your normal armor stats.
	Free Realms Introduces player-to-player real money transactions Sony Online Entertainment is taking an interesting step to help cut down on fraud and gold farming: beating them at their own game. As of today, if you are a Free Realms player over the age of 18 you have the option to use Live Gamer Exchange (LGX), a RMT service set up to allow players to trade virtual goods in Free Realms for real world cash.
	Too late to start playing Lord of the Rings Online? The trouble with any long-running game is that it gets top-heavy. This is especially a problem in games such as Final Fantasy XI, where you simply have to group to accomplish most things in the game, but it's really a problem even in the most solo-friendly game with an expansion or two. After all, more often than not there's an ever-raising level cap, gear curve, and expected knowledge about the game, not to mention stretches of previously endgame content that's no longer relevant.

	The dangers of PvP-focused games The trouble with PvP is... well, there are several problems with PvP. The problems of balance are always there, of course, as they are in every aspect of the game. There are the problems of making PvP both accessible to new players and rewarding for veterans, their are issues with keeping people engaged in the game without being gimmicky, there are issues with even such little things as how players get equipment.
	More on The Secret World's Templar and Illuminati Looking for further information on The Secret World's equally secret Illuminati and Templar societies? We're going to go ahead and assume that you are, as they're quite interesting aspects of Funcom's upcoming third MMO. Actually, considering much of the game's story and conflict revolves around the three warring secret societies, we'd say these two Illuminati and Templar interviews are required reading for anyone who considers themselves interested in the game.
	Star Wars: The Old Republic gives an official reveal of Tatooine Despite being an obscure planet on the outer rim in Star Wars: The Old Republic, everyone knew that the desert planet Tatooine was going to be in the game. No, really, everyone. It's like Hoth, it shows up all the time, probably because the first movie in the franchise started on it. BioWare has thrown us a few curveballs, but to think they wouldn't send us to a well-known and iconic planet in the franchise would be silly.
	Cryptic: We didn't want to delete your Batman clone, we had to One of the most talked about features of Champions Online is the outstanding character creator, practically a game in itself. It's a great part of the game, but there's a downside. It's so versatile, and you can do so much, that you can easily make the perfect Gollum or G.I. Joe clone. That's not as awesome as it sounds, because your character will get downgraded to a plain old shirt-and-jeans-wearing guy sooner or later.
	Anti-Aliased: Rogue rage There's always a rogue. Doesn't matter what setting you're really dealing with either. Medieval times? Rogues. Renaissance? Professional rogues. Great Depression? Organized crime. Modern day? Thieves. Sci-fi? Assassins. It's the one job that follows you no matter where you go.
	Sony launching MMO for PlayStation Home Sony is adding an MMO to the ranks of games currently offered on PlayStation Home. Sodium One launches today and is a sci-fi themed game involving a variety of games and community events. Players will begin their experience in Sodium One with VICKIE, an NPC who is responsible for assigning quests.
	Final Fantasy XIV beta applications now open There's something to shout about if you're looking forward to Final Fantasy XIV -- the game is now accepting applicants for its beta testing. We've heard that the game is slated for release some time next year, but this is one of the obvious indicators that it's closer than we might have thought. So if you're as excited about the prospect of getting to play the game as some of us, you probably clicked that link before you read any further.

The fine folks from El's Extreme Anglin' were able to fish up this new enchant from the depths of patch 3.3. If you want to have a better chance at winning the Kalu'ak Fishing Derby, you'll want to get your hands (or gloves) on this Formula: Enchant Gloves - Angler. The recipe is a bind-on-pickup item that drops off the Indu'le Fishermen, Mystics, and Warriors who wander around Lake Indu'le in Dragonblight, so enchanters angling to get this might want to put some restless souls to rest. The formula requires 375 Enchanting skill in order to learn.

[View Remaining 2 Paragraphs]

Occasionally, you come across a WoW music video parody so perfect in its conception, so ideal in its creation, and so pure in its execution, that after seeing it for the first time, you can only think, "Why did it take this long for it to happen?" In my opinion, Ninja Raiders is one such video.

I first learned of the song Single Ladies via one of my recent obsessions, Glee. So I will admit that some of my undying devotion to Kurt probably warmed me to the song. But I had not yet connected Single Ladies to WoW. So, when I watched Ninja Raiders, it seems like the most perfect, beautiful example of a WoW parody song ever. The creators did a fantastic job, and their interpretation of the tune has been stuck in my head ever since.

[View Remaining 4 Paragraphs]

The World of Warcraft has always had amazing fan art. Looking through the fan art gallery, it's hard not to get blown away by the talent the community has and their passion for drawing Blizzard properties. This year, the folks in Irvine decided to celebrate all that talent and passion by holding a contest for the artistically-inclined. Zarhym invites artists over at the official forums to contribute to the Holiday Fan Art Calendar Contest.

[View Remaining 2 Paragraphs]

Child labor laws have no standing in Azeroth, so Louis of <Dragons Teeth> on Wyrmrest Accord saw no problem with having his squire do all of his fetching, lifting, and trudging through swamps looking for rare herbs for him. Until the squires formed a union, that is. "One part Baby Spice, three parts Papa Hummel's Old-Fashioned Pet Biscuits, three angry Argent Squires, one frightened warr... <squashed under the biggest boot you've ever seen>," wrote Louis.

[View Remaining 2 Paragraphs]

Welcome to another edition of the WoW.com Weekly Comic -- Byron the Tauren Rogue!

[View Remaining 3 Paragraphs]

In yesterday's breakfast topic we talked about what dungeons you've had to relearn -- how to deal with people in them and how to deal with all the pulls. Right in hand with that is the various ways people play their class. Prior to patch 3.3 WoW players could be rather insulated in their groups and techniques. For example, on my server the hunter would always misdirect to the tank. It was a standard thing, and if the hunter didn't do it, he'd be griped at right away by the entire group. Tanks on my server also generally marked the first kill target, regardless if the tank was a pally tank or a warrior (or death knight or druid or shield-wielding shaman).

Enter patch 3.3 and cross-server grouping via the dungeon finder. Each person from each server now brings with them sometimes extremely divergent styles of play and ways they handle their class. I've found the number of hunters that don't have Feign Death on their toolbar to be astounding. On my server that kind of behavior would be shouted down in a big way. In cross-server groups, it almost seems acceptable.

[View Remaining 4 Paragraphs]

Most everyone was a bit perturbed when we discovered that it would be 28 whole days before the new wing of Icecrown opens up (though we've since learned it's just going to open whenever Blizzard flips the switch.) Even the explanation from Blizzard that only the first gate will be this long of a wait due to the holidays didn't calm everyone down. Raiders have been waiting a long time for this! We weathered Trial of the (Grand) Crusader for long enough, right? And this showdown has been a decade in the making! You can't just give us the first wing and cut us off like that. You're a tease of the worst sort, Blizzard!

[View Remaining 3 Paragraphs]

We kicked off our Twelve Days of Winter Veil contests earlier today with two in-game pets as prizes. Every day from now until January 2nd. 2010 we will have new prizes to giveaway along with new loot codes. The great thing about the loot codes is there are no geographical or age restriction to enter. To get this party started, we are giving away 5 Path of Cenarius codes courtesy of WoWTCGLoot.com. Every where you go in-game, flowers will spring up behind you. Perfect for that stinky gnome warlock in your life.

[View Remaining 2 Paragraphs]

Happy Tuesday Morning to all good little boys and girls. Ok, and the naughty ones too. Patch 3.3 seems to be coming along relatively smoothly, but with weeks before we see the next section of the Icecrown Citadel open up, we're sort of coasting along. Not that that's a bad place to be, what with the whole holidays thing. Speaking of which, Winter Veil is in full swing, and if you can catch a few moments to log on WoW on the 25th, be sure to pick up your gifts in game.

Of course, even if the game itself is settling in to a patch 3.3 routine, we're still hopping in the WoW.com news room. We've got advice on the new raid bosses, advice on the new dungeon finder, and more. And of course, the new year's just around the corner, so we've started looking back at the year both on the site and in the game. As usual, I have a list of some of the best stories from the past 7 days after the break.
Hot News and Features

• With the year almost done, we're looking back. Check out our top 10 most popular news stories from 2009.
• We're also looking the news stories we liked best from the past year. Check out our lists for January and February, and look for the rest of the months every day here on the site!
• Know Your Lore is back, and this week we discussed the story of Saronite.
• Authenticators are now even cheaper, as shipping costs have been removed.
• Blizzard continues to offer in game tweaks and fixes in the wake of the patch, including reigning in some 5-man bosses.


[Expand 1 Lists]

WoW.com is celebrating Winter Veil in the best way we can think of -- by giving away great holiday gifts! For the next twelve days we will be giving away a wide assortment of phat loot to you, the loyal readers of our site. And to kick off our countdown of the Twelve Days of Winter Veil contests, we are giving away a World of Warcraft in-game pet to two lucky winners. Yes, you can have your own Lil K.T. or Panderan Monk to follow you on your travels in Azeroth.

[View Remaining 2 Paragraphs]

WoW TCG - "New" UDE Points Rewards
The UDE Store was updated a couple of days ago and now offers a new Loot Code for 2000 UDE Points. UDE Points are points acquired when buying WoW TCG booster packs, each booster pack gives you 100 UDE Points that you can spend on http://www.ude.com/points.
Quote from: UDE (Source)Landro's Pet Box Loot Code
Get the exclusive Landro's Pet Box Loot Code!  This World of Warcraft in-game loot item will randomly give you one of the following Loot items:

• Papa Hummel's Pet Biscuit (WoWWiki)
• Path of Cenarius (WoWWiki)
• Sandbox Tiger (WoWWiki)
• Ethereal Trader (WoWWiki)
• Dragon Kite (WoWWiki)
• Bananas the Monkey pet (WoWWiki)

Most of the time, you'll crack a Papa Hummel's Pet Biscuit, Path of Cenarius, or Sandbox Tiger. Sweet, right? UDE Points for loot codes! But remember, there's a little gamble here. Once in a while, your MMO character will pop the box and find a Ethereal Trader, Dragon Kite, or Bananas the Monkey pet!

[Expand 5 Paragraphs]