Cosplay and impersonation competitions aside, it looks like Blizzard's got more goodies in store for World of Warcraft players heading over to tomorrow's BlizzCon event. The convention's site has updated with information on the Event Realm segment of the con, which will enable players to participate in a set of in-game special events, in a specially designed realm.

Aside from offering players a chance to try out one of several pre-made level 70 characters, the Event Realm entitles players to get glimpses of new content that is not available to WoW's public realms. And while we're not too sure what this "special content" is supposed to be, we can only hope that it will have something to do with the "Wrath of the Lich King" rumor that's been under heavy speculation as of late.

The full FAQ should be available in the Read link below. Consider this one of the many surprises that await those fortunate enough to get into this year's BlizzCon event.

Even though Blizzard has said that it has yet to release the details for the rumored World of Warcraft expansion Wrath of the Lich King, rumors about it continue to pour in. According to some players, an FAQ for the expansion appeared last night over at the MMO video game's official site for Europe.

Of course, the said document is no longer hosted, probably pulled out immediately. WoW-dedicated German site WoW-Szene was able to get hold of the FAQ and hosted it on their front page.

Our Read link below will take you there if you want to see the whole document but we also took the liberty to highlight the most interesting parts of it:

• Wrath of the Lich King will introduce the death knight hero class to World of Warcraft. Once certain criteria are met, players will be able to create a new death knight character, which will start at a high level
• Players will be skirmishing with the minions of Arthas from the moment they set foot on Northrend. He will be a constant presence as players progress through the expansion content -- which will culminate in a showdown with the dread Lich King himself.
• As with character advancement up to level 70, players will gain access to an array of potent and exciting new abilities and talents as they make their way from level 70 to level 80
• We'll be offering some fun ways to alter both existing and new characters with regard to dances and hairstyles
• Inscription allows the player to permanently enhance their spells and abilities and to create mysterious items of power to use, trade, and sell

 

Information is always good...so long as it's easily accessible. And while Blizzard's World of Warcraft's The Armory section is chock-full of info bits just waiting to be found, we imagine exploring and understanding this massive database can be quite a daunting task for most newcomers to Blizzard's MMORPG.

With that said, we're letting you chaps know that The Armory has recently updated with the FAQ and Updates pages. The FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions) page will provide first-time visitors with a brief rundown of The Armory's features, such as the "Find an Upgrade" and "Pin a Profile" features. The Updates page, on the other hand, will provide players with fresh information on the latest innovations, changes, and announcements relating to The Armory.

Just head on over to the WoW site (the source link) in case you're interested in reading the full details.

We've covered quite a few details on how the Spam Prevention Tool works in World of Warcraft and how to maximize its use when reporting spammers. Blizzard Poster/ Forum Moderator Nethaera has posted a short FAQ with some details on the new Squelch feature included in the tool.

First and foremost, what happens when you report a player for spamming you? Well, Nethaera basically said that the player you reported is automatically squelched for the rest of your gaming session. This means that he/she will be ignored even when you change characters. A report will be sent to the GMs for review. Appropriate action will then be implemented depending on the situation.

Another feature that was discussed is using this to report mail spammers. Nethaera gave word that reporting these players is similar to the chat reporting. Just click on the"Report Spam" option and you will automatically ignore all mail from the said user. If multiple reports are given by different players, then all mail from the said player become temporarily invisible until the game masters have reviewed the case.

The spam reports are limited to five per player over a 24-hour period. In addition, it is only possible to send reports at a rate of one per minute. I assume this is to prevent the use of this tool as a denial of service weapon on WoW with spammers just flooding the accounts of the GMs with multiple reports. The same reporting restrictions apply, i.e. you will not be able to report any players on your friends, guild list or yourself.

That said, we encourage everyone to actively use this tool and help rid WoW of the common enemy we all face: spammers. After that we can go back to ganking each other. For now though, let's just keep "ganking" these spammers by sending in reports. Be sure to keep checking back here for more updates on World of Warcraft.

 

Some Mac players have been looking for a patch mirror to download updates for Blizzard's World of Warcraft. Now while the downloader should handle the patching, there are a few cases where players will still have to look for a copy of the file and manually patch their own games.

For those with that problem, Blizzard Poster/Forum moderator Tigerclaw was nice enough to respond in the WoW forums to dish out some info on where to find the patch and how to install it. There are two places where the file is available, the first would be in macgamefiles.com (this is where he personally  uploaded the file) and on filefront.

Installing it is simple. Simply extract the file, place the patcher in your game directory and run it. That wasn't so hard right? However, before downloading, be warned that some have given word that it takes a good 10 to 15 minutes to download it so be prepared with something to read like an FAQ or a skill guide for your character. A finer choice would be to browse a few WoW articles from QJ.net while waiting for the download to finish.

Alright, now that PC World's Top 4 Web influence announced that BlizzCon 2007 isn't cancelled, you're probably have been curious as to what you're going to get for your US$ 100 entrance fee.

Given that you weren't alone in that matter, Big Blue just went straight ahead and sneaked a FAQ in right before people flooded the World of Warcraft forums with paraphrased versions of that same question.

The FAQ mentions that you can and will be receiving a BlizzCon badge for your 100 smackeroos spent.

These badges, when flashed at the BlizzBouncer mobs, will drop their aggro levels to -1 and leave you to explore the World of BlizzCon to your delight. You will also be getting a goody bag "containing exclusive swag!" And no, it doesn't include the Consortium Gems you've been waiting for.

But what about the other six million WoW-heads who aren't from the U.S. (let alone coming from Anaheim, California)? Well if you zip off to the same BlizzCon ticket sale site like the American attendees-to-be are doing, then you can also purchase a ticket and zip off to BlizzCon smack dab in the middle of QuakeCon season.

While there are nearby hotels who have provided special rooms reserved for BlizzCon attendees, StarCraft, Diablo Series">Blizzard will not be responsible for walking you to the event. But if you've got 5000 gold to spare, you could opt for a flying mount to breeze your way over the heavy traffic below. And no, we're not asking you to get mounted for it.

They will, however, tell you how you could get rooms for cheap and price tags on shuttle rentals on the BlizzCon website very soon. Plus, even the youngest of Blizzard fans can attend the event, starting from four years old onwards. So as long as they can walk, beat a Hard AI opponent as Protoss in 15 minutes, and come with father and mother figures, kids are allowed to attend.

But kids will have to cough up 100 bucks, too, if they wanted to attend, even if they can't bring their trusty Epic mount...stroller with them to navigate the BlizzCon dungeon.

And as a favor to other BlizzFans that won't be making it to the event: don't let Big Blue leave without stating a definite date for Starcraft: Ghost and Starcraft 2. Please? The world really misses Sarah Kerrigan and Nova.

Well, another Devilsaur, err - MVP speaks. This time from the World of Warcraft Europe Forums. Schwick of Shadowsong has posted an rather long thread compiling all the changes that will be made in Patch 2.1 and beyond.

Here's his message for the "Yanks" -

For some odd reason my thread has been madly linked these couple of days. So I've read some of the USA posts and I would like to make a couple of things clear:

• All information I gather come from the CM/CRs or developers. All information I provide is linked to bluetracker (and which is in turn, linked too the original post).
• The grass is always greener on the other side; We get as much info as you guys get.
• Just because I'm a MVP doesn't make my information false. In turn it doesn't always have to be right. I see what I read and that's what I write down. IE: A change is slated for 2.1 and later during development it gets shot down or moved up. This is what I stated in my intro. Information changes constantly.
• Our CM/CRs are better then yours; Not true. Both sides have good forum crews.
• ZOMG information X can't be right; Back track and read the source I included in the FAQ.

He was good enough to add questions and answers and linked them to the subsequent blue posts. For the entire list - trust us when we say that the posts (Yes, more than one) are LONG, click the Read link below.

 Being a party's tank in World of Warcraft is not easy. Irregardless if you're a druid, warrior, paladin, or any other wall of choice, there is a lot to communicate to your mates on what they should and should not do - like when the priest should heal so as to minimize their aggro levels, hence preventing them from becoming your party's impromptu meat shield.

Now, in case you find yourself a wandering neophyte in the massive world that WoW's Burning Crusade expansion carries and are in dire need of a loyal tanker for your quest, Ziloxus over at the WoW boards has posted an interesting FAQ (of sorts). It's a list of the basic tenets that every non-tank should know, if the non-tanker intends to keep a relatively healthy relationship with their portable wall (that goes for 'locks too - those demon summons have a limit). Here are some of the more interesting pointers:

The sheep

We pull 3 mobs on accident. You can sheep or seduce or scattershot or whatever. That’s a fabulous idea. Don’t sheep the thing I am beating on! You know what will happen? It will break and I will already have another move queued up behind the move that broke the sheep which will break the next sheep you are trying to do since you didn’t change targets. You might not be familiar with the “F” key. Click me, then click “F”, now you are targeted on my target, so target something else, anything else and sheep that.

Multi mob pull

Ok so we just got more than we can handle and I am tanking 3 mobs with no offtank. Attack my target would you? I only have so much rage to spread around. If you start shooting something that I am not concentrating on your going to pull aggro, then I have to decide whether I let you die, or whether I go pull it off of you and risk letting the rest of the party die while they keep attacking the thing I was attacking. The “F” key works great for this too.

Be sure to brush up on your basic WoW lore while you're learning the ropes, which includes an understanding of the local dialects and areas, if you will. It will save your life.

  

Listen up World of Warcraft Europe: Arena season is here, and it's time for you feisty competitors to show your stuff. Those who have been endlessly planning out their bloody race up the ranks this time around might want to make it to the Arena qualification round to watch all the enemies you're gonna face.

Aside from the usual Arena games you can play, Blizzard is hosting live events dedicated to this tourney. The tournament is the place to be: players can win prizes and ultimately be revered worldwide as the best World of Warcraft PvP players. Remember, the system has been revamped to reward skill, not time spent in the Arena bouts. The latest client patch also solves some display issues with the scoreboards.

Click the "Read" link below to view the FAQ for the Arena tournament.

 

Aside from the floating isles of the Outlands, one other feature quickly picking up speed in World of Warcraft  Burning Crusade are the reward-laden Arenas. Now, aside from the step-by-step guide available over at the WoW main site, it seem that WoW Europe has taken Blizzard's services up a notch with a quick FAQ covering details for first-time Arena users. As Blizzard's Ommra dictates:

Players: Can you add a team member after the season started and will he get ranked according to the teams accomplishments?
Blizzard: Yes. The rating is tied to the team, not each individual member. As such, if a person leaves a team, he/she will lose his/her rating, but will not lose any arena points that have already been accumulated.

Players: Is there an Arena Team Master (like Guild Master) who can kick other members at will?
Blizzard: Yes. The player that creates the team is the team leader.

Players: If you are within the top 0,5% in several brackets (e.g. 2v2 and 5v5), do you receive 2 different titles and 2 mounts?
Blizzard: It is the same title regardless of the bracket, so the player would only have 1 new title. However, they should get 2 mounts in the mail.

Players: Do you have to learn the riding skill for the armoured Netherdrake or will you receive it with the mount?
Blizzard: The mount requires 300 riding skill in order to use.

Players: Are there different rewards for the second season?
Blizzard: This hasn’t been decided yet, we will let you know in due time if there are any changes for the second season.

Of course, we make mention of the other FAQs for beginners, and these should give you guys some foundation pointers for your upcoming adventure(s).