We have recently confirmed that Blizzard has opened up World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King's beta test forums and website up to the public. There are also reports that Europe's gamers are already getting their invitations, which implies that the expansion's next test phase will be upon us soon. Further details are available in the full article.

Blizzard has revealed that a new World of Warcraft fan art competition in Europe has just been opened.The Frostmourne Fan Art contest asks players to submit original artwork depicting Arthas and his legendary sword. The winners will be getting some pretty sweet prizes, so you might want to check out the full article if you're interested.

Just when you thought you've seen it all, Blizzard has recently announced two new exciting features to hit the World of Warcraft scene. The first includes the long-awaited console version of the highly successful MMO title, while the second reveals a second hero class to go live with the Wrath of the Lich King expansion. More details on these amusing fake updates in our full article.

Indeed, we're glad that the rest of the world is finally getting some good old World of Warcraft love, and we're liking Blizzard all the more for it. But it's not only playing World of Warcraft that's in store for Russian-speaking gamers, of course! There's some new message boards...and yes, jobs for those who are well-versed in speaking, reading, and writing Russian. More details in the full article.

The balance tweak by Blizzard in the beta test realms must be tying Warlocks to the stake. In the official WoW forums, a Blizzard rep dropped by to confirm that some Damage over Time (DoT) stats for the Warlock have been toned down.

Just so that everyone knows a bit more the approximate damage reduction is 10% for "Curse of Agony" and "Corruption" for the average Warlock.

To which some Warlocks might reply, "Toned down, my hind quarters!" Obviously, every character class enjoys the PvP advantages they bring, and Warlocks aren't immune from the drama. It seems that it did spark a debate of sorts in the forums, with Warlocks either grudgingly accepting their fate or decrying it, and others (presumably victims of Warlock pwnage) who're just begging to be the ones to light the fire. Eck, what next, Million-Warlock March?

If you like seeing in-game content before everyone else, then you should probably get back onto the World of Warcraft test realms. They've got the 2.0.3 test patch up, and it's got a couple of wrinkles in it that are very new and rather important for the game's future.

As Drysc mentions on the forums, the big wrinkle in Blizzard's latest patch is that it will work in tandem with people who are beta testing on expansion mode and those who aren't. People who were part of the closed beta test will be the expansion owners, while everyone else is limited to non-expansion content.

For WoW fans, you can start calling this the beginning of the end of the pre-expansion era. If everything goes well in the test realms, then you can expect the inner workings of The Burning Crusade expansion to be seamlessly intertwined with the entirety of the game. That means less bugs and less problems getting TBC and non-TBC owners to coexist in each of the realms.

It also means that the first people in the Outland will be putting a big premium on the items that are worth placing on the auction block. Just be careful where you check for your auction prices till the keylogger problems die down.

Beta testers get all the luck. Just for playing the game they love and enduring the pain of crashes, bugs, and other problems. Blizzard's offering a contest to all of the Burning Crusade closed beta testers, and five lucky folks will get free WoW for a year, among other things.

Here's Blizzard's official statement:

From Saturday, November 18, 2006, 9:00 AM Pacific Time (PT) to Monday, November 20, 2006 at 12:01 AM PT, players who log in to The Burning Crusade closed beta test and play for 5 hours will have a chance to win 1 of 5 prize packages that include: World of Warcraft, World of Warcraft: The Burning Crusade, and a 1-year paid subscription to World of Warcraft!

Digging into the contest details, sourced below, we find something interesting. It doesn't necessarily contradict the statement above, but there might just be more than one way to win some free WoW goodies. If you'll look at the "How to Enter" portion of the contest, you can see the following:

To qualify for the Contest, eligible entrants may:

(i) log in to the World of Warcraft The Burning Crusade Closed Beta during the Contest period;

or in the alternative

(ii) send a postcard including your name, address and age to the following address:

The "World of Warcraft: The Burning Crusade" Closed Beta Contest – Mail in entry
c/o Blizzard Entertainment
P.O. Box 18979
Irvine, CA 92623

We think Blizzard's looking for more people to actually use the chance at a beta test they've been given to help in making the game as bug-free as possible, but you never can tell. At the very least, gamers have some options to try out if they want to get a free copy of the game and a year without paying for their game. Still, check the whole page of contest details to make sure you're eligible, alright?

Remember that Burning Crusade delay rumor we just reported to you guys? Well, here’s something official regarding that matter. Blizzard Entertainment has recently announced that the release date for World of Warcraft: the Burning Crusade will be in January 2007. According to Blizzard, this few extra weeks delay is needed so that they can extend the closed beta test thus further refining the game.

Mike Morhaime, president and co-founder of Blizzard Entertainment says that they appreciate the enthusiasm surrounding their product and they are “confident that the extra time spent polishing the game will result in the high-quality experience that our players expect and deserve.”

No info yet on specific worldwide release dates, pricing, and other details. They say thought that they will announce it to the press in the “near future.” We’ll update you when we get word.

 

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