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World of Warcraft 'Mists of Pandaria' Beta Test is Live

Fri Mar 23, 2012 at 10:30 AM ET
Tags: World of Warcraft, Beta Tests, Mists of Pandaria (all tags)

If you're an Annual Pass holder, keep your eye on your email.

It's finally time for regular folks to get their hands on the 'Mists of Pandaria' beta. Those invited into the beta test – all Annual Pass holders included – will be getting emails over the next few weeks or so and will then be instructed to download the expansion from Battle.net.

The current beta only covers the levels 1-10 starting zone, but you can still copy your high-level characters over so you can check out the new talent system. And of course, since this is a real Beta instead of a promotional tool, the game will be changed and tweaked often.

Be careful with those emails and don't click any of the links in them. 'Warcraft' in particular is a phishing target, so if you're selected, head over to Battle.net to confirm.

Source: World of Warcraft

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World of Warcraft 'Mists of Pandaria' Beta Test is Live

Fri Mar 23, 2012 at 10:30 AM ET
Tags: World of Warcraft, Beta Tests, Mists of Pandaria (all tags)

If you're an Annual Pass holder, keep your eye on your email.

It's finally time for regular folks to get their hands on the 'Mists of Pandaria' beta. Those invited into the beta test – all Annual Pass holders included – will be getting emails over the next few weeks or so and will then be instructed to download the expansion from Battle.net.

The current beta only covers the levels 1-10 starting zone, but you can still copy your high-level characters over so you can check out the new talent system. And of course, since this is a real Beta instead of a promotional tool, the game will be changed and tweaked often.

Be careful with those emails and don't click any of the links in them. 'Warcraft' in particular is a phishing target, so if you're selected, head over to Battle.net to confirm.

Source: World of Warcraft

See what people are saying about this story in our forums area, or check out other recent discussions.


Blizzard Reveals New 'Mists of Pandaria' Info and Trailers

Tue Mar 20, 2012 at 10:30 AM ET
Tags: World of Warcraft, Mists of Pandaria, Blizzard, MMORPGs (all tags)

There's info on the Monk, pet battles, farms and plenty more.

Finally the nondisclosure agreement between the press and Blizzard has been lifted and sites are free to delve deep with the information and screenshots. Specialist site Wowhead went into great detail about Mists of Pandaria its latest update, including an 11 minute long video all about the changes you'll see in the new update.

If you're into achievements, both personal and in-game, new challenge mode instances will be right up your alley. In challenge mode, you have a set amount of time to beat an instance to earn special rewards and "realm first" achievements for being the first to do it.

One sour note is that the Defense of the Ancients style battleground idea is no more. There will still be world PvP in Pandaria, but those looking to mix some DoTA in with their WoW will be disappointed.

Check out the video and screenshots over at Wowhead

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Former 'World of Warcraft' Players Can Get Boosted to Level 80 Upon Return

Wed Mar 07, 2012 at 10:30 AM ET
Tags: World of Warcraft, Scroll of Resurrection, Blizzard, PC, Cataclysm, Burning Crusade, Wrath of the Lich King (all tags)

They'll also get a free upgrade to 'Cataclysm,' realm changes, faction changes and more.

Former 'World of Warcraft' players that want to come back to the game often face a frustrating problem. Their friends and former guild mates are all at level 85 while their character is at the old cap of 60. Blizzard solves that one with their new Scroll of Resurrection program.

The program is simple. One person who is currently playing the game sends an invitation to start again to a lapsed player. The lapsed player gets a free upgrade to 'Cataclysm,' a free character move to your realm and faction and the ability to boost one of their characters up to level 80. Once that person signs up for a month of game time the person who sent the invite gets a fancy new mount.

Keep in mind, if you've been lapsed for a while, you may need to pick up former expansions like 'The Burning Crusade,' and 'Wrath of the Lich King' as well.

Source: Battle.net

See what people are saying about this story in our forums area, or check out other recent discussions.


Former 'World of Warcraft' Players Can Get Boosted to Level 80 Upon Return

Wed Mar 07, 2012 at 10:30 AM ET
Tags: World of Warcraft, Scroll of Resurrection, Blizzard, PC, Cataclysm, Burning Crusade, Wrath of the Lich King (all tags)

They'll also get a free upgrade to 'Cataclysm,' realm changes, faction changes and more.

Former 'World of Warcraft' players that want to come back to the game often face a frustrating problem. Their friends and former guild mates are all at level 85 while their character is at the old cap of 60. Blizzard solves that one with their new Scroll of Resurrection program.

The program is simple. One person who is currently playing the game sends an invitation to start again to a lapsed player. The lapsed player gets a free upgrade to 'Cataclysm,' a free character move to your realm and faction and the ability to boost one of their characters up to level 80. Once that person signs up for a month of game time the person who sent the invite gets a fancy new mount.

Keep in mind, if you've been lapsed for a while, you may need to pick up former expansions like 'The Burning Crusade,' and 'Wrath of the Lich King' as well.

Source: Battle.net

See what people are saying about this story in our forums area, or check out other recent discussions.


Blizzard is Cutting 600 Staff Members

Thu Mar 01, 2012 at 01:30 PM ET
Tags: Blizzard, Industry Trends, Layoffs, World of Warcraft (all tags)

According to GamesIndustry.biz, only 60 of those jobs are in any way related to gave development.

That's a scary headline, especially considering that the seemingly unstoppable gaming company has been showing signs of slowing. Warcraft subscribers are down since last year and BlizzCon has been cancelled, so it's easy to see doom if you're looking for it.

Now Blizzard is cutting a significant portion of its staff. Before you get too worked up about the future of the company's popular franchises, it should be noted that 90% of those employees are unrelated to internal development. There are a lot of people working at Blizzard, from tech support to cafeteria staff, and while no one is happy about people being laid off it does say something far different if most of the layoffs come from non-development staff. The 'World of Warcraft' team will be completely spared from these layoffs.

"Over the last several years, we've grown our organisation tremendously and made large investments in our infrastructure in order to better serve our global community," says CEO Mike Morhaime. " However, as Blizzard and the industry have evolved we've also had to make some difficult decisions in order to address the changing needs of our company."

Source: GamesIndustry.biz

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Blizzard is Cutting 600 Staff Members

Thu Mar 01, 2012 at 01:30 PM ET
Tags: Blizzard, Industry Trends, Layoffs, World of Warcraft (all tags)

According to GamesIndustry.biz, only 60 of those jobs are in any way related to gave development.

That's a scary headline, especially considering that the seemingly unstoppable gaming company has been showing signs of slowing. Warcraft subscribers are down since last year and BlizzCon has been cancelled, so it's easy to see doom if you're looking for it.

Now Blizzard is cutting a significant portion of its staff. Before you get too worked up about the future of the company's popular franchises, it should be noted that 90% of those employees are unrelated to internal development. There are a lot of people working at Blizzard, from tech support to cafeteria staff, and while no one is happy about people being laid off it does say something far different if most of the layoffs come from non-development staff. The 'World of Warcraft' team will be completely spared from these layoffs.

"Over the last several years, we've grown our organisation tremendously and made large investments in our infrastructure in order to better serve our global community," says CEO Mike Morhaime. " However, as Blizzard and the industry have evolved we've also had to make some difficult decisions in order to address the changing needs of our company."

Source: GamesIndustry.biz

See what people are saying about this story in our forums area, or check out other recent discussions.


Activision Blizzard Says 'Diablo III' Coming This Spring - New 'Call of Duty' Out This Year

Fri Feb 10, 2012 at 10:30 AM ET
Tags: Mists of Pandaria, Heart of the Swarm, StarCraft 2, World of Warcraft, Call of Duty, Activision Blizzard, Diablo III (all tags)

The 'StarCraft' and 'Warcraft' expansions will likely not be out until 2013.

Activision's quarterly report yesterday brought us some new information on upcoming games, though most of it isn't surprising and the stuff that is interesting won't put a smile on your face. Certainly not in the way a $4.76 billion revenue in 2011 made Activision Blizzard happy.

CEO Bobby Kotick announced that there will indeed be a new 'Call of Duty' game coming this year. In other news, publishers and developers really like money and will continue to cash in 'Tony Hawk' style until the 'Call of Duty' franchise is dead and gone. They're also working on a new version of Call of Duty Elite, which could prove to be interesting.

On the Blizzard side of things, 'Diablo III' will launch this year. It was expected in the first quarter of 2012 but the current estimate is Spring 2012. Blizzard will be talking more about the 'Warcraft' expansion 'Mists of Pandaria' at a press event in March and there's no indicator that the 'StarCraft' expansion 'Heart of the Swarm' will hit this year. Blizzard has said that they'll be more involved with eSports moving forward though, which is a welcome change.

Source: Joystiq

See what people are saying about this story in our forums area, or check out other recent discussions.


Activision Blizzard Says 'Diablo III' Coming This Spring - New 'Call of Duty' Out This Year

Fri Feb 10, 2012 at 10:30 AM ET
Tags: Mists of Pandaria, Heart of the Swarm, StarCraft 2, World of Warcraft, Call of Duty, Activision Blizzard, Diablo III (all tags)

The 'StarCraft' and 'Warcraft' expansions will likely not be out until 2013.

Activision's quarterly report yesterday brought us some new information on upcoming games, though most of it isn't surprising and the stuff that is interesting won't put a smile on your face. Certainly not in the way a $4.76 billion revenue in 2011 made Activision Blizzard happy.

CEO Bobby Kotick announced that there will indeed be a new 'Call of Duty' game coming this year. In other news, publishers and developers really like money and will continue to cash in 'Tony Hawk' style until the 'Call of Duty' franchise is dead and gone. They're also working on a new version of Call of Duty Elite, which could prove to be interesting.

On the Blizzard side of things, 'Diablo III' will launch this year. It was expected in the first quarter of 2012 but the current estimate is Spring 2012. Blizzard will be talking more about the 'Warcraft' expansion 'Mists of Pandaria' at a press event in March and there's no indicator that the 'StarCraft' expansion 'Heart of the Swarm' will hit this year. Blizzard has said that they'll be more involved with eSports moving forward though, which is a welcome change.

Source: Joystiq

See what people are saying about this story in our forums area, or check out other recent discussions.


'World of Warcraft' Being Recreated in Minecraft

Thu Feb 09, 2012 at 11:30 AM ET
Tags: World of Warcraft, Minecraft (all tags)

The project uses special user created software and mods to map out the entire world of Azeroth - dungeons and all.

Minecraft has been used to create some impressive sights, from the humble beginnings of 8-bit character recreation to more recent undertakings like set pieces from 'The Lord of the Rings'. The project undertaken by a user named Rumsey makes those look tiny by comparison.

Rumesy is recreating 'World of Warcrfaft' in 'Minecraft'. Not just some of it - all of it. Every continent, every city, and every dungeon. Rumsey has developed special software that takes architecture from 'Warcraft' and puts turns it into data for 'Minecraft.'

The continent of Kalimdor is nearly finished and Rumsey is working on the rest. Check out Rumsey's Imgur set to get a feel for how he's doing.

Source: Joystiq

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