First Look – World of Warcraft: Mists of Pandaria

Yesterday I had the chance to get hands on with World of Warcraft: Mists of Pandaria and played a Pandaren Monk. The announcement of the the expansion was not surprising to me, but I was not expecting a new class this expansion as well. The buzz around the convention has been mixed with regards to this expansion, but I have to say that so far I’m not worried at all for what is coming. The thing to remember is that what is on display now gameplay wise can very well change come the final release. This was seen with Wrath as well as Cataclysm. I feel that Blizzard has a good base started for what’s to come. You start off in the starting zone and move through quests that follow a very martial arts feel to them. You have to fight training dummies, apprentices, and then a master before being

Read more →

New World of Warcraft Talent Trees Details

Yes, talent trees will be getting a new revamp coming in the next expansion that players are already calling MoP. The changes were made in order to help make it easier when building your class and enabling players to make more hybrid builds again. You will be able to choose your primary focus for your spec (for example: Arcane for a mage) and then every few levels you will be able to choose a new talent in any of the specs that you feel would be best for you. Now this was definitely some information overload, but thanks to our partners over at GKick, they put together a detailed list with screencaps of each of the new trees. You can read up in detail over here on Gkick.net! Gkick.net is part of the Gaming Angels network and have been helping with our coverage of Blizzcon 2011.

Read more →

World of Warcraft Preview Panel

So much information came out yesterday for WoW fans, the biggest being the news of the next expansion World of Warcraft: Mists of Pandaria. Thanks to our friends over at Gkick.net we have a fantastic breakdown of all of the features that will appear in the next expansion. You can check out the full list of features here! I did have a chance to play as a Pandarian Monk yesterday, and overall I did enjoy the experience. My full write up will be up on Gaming Angels soon! Gkick.net is part of the Gaming Angels network and have been helping with our coverage of Blizzcon 2011.

Read more →

Want ‘Diablo III’ for free? Commit to a year of ‘World of Warcraft’

Blizzard’s new World of Warcraft “Annual Pass” comes with a neat addition. Nay, an awesome one. When you sign up for the 12-month Annual Pass plan (and you can do that right here), you not only get a free copy of Diablo III, but you also get an awesome mount based on Diablo III‘s Tyrael’s Charger as well as guaranteed access to the beta of Mists of Pandaria, the fifth expansion of World of Warcraft. The mount features some pretty awesome wings, right? And I can’t even pretend that it’s the big deal anymore. The free copy of Diablo III is. And it’s apparently a limited-time deal, probably only because the new game is launching early next year. We still don’t have timing for Diablo III‘s release, or even that of the Pandaria beta, but…it’s Blizzard Time. “Soon” is sufficient, right? The Annual Pass can either be billed at $14.99

Read more →

World of Warcraft: Mists of Pandaria announced at Blizzcon 2011

The rumors have proven true! Today at Blizzcon, Chris Metzen announced the upcomming expansion World of Warcraft: Mists of Pandaria. And of course with this expansion we will be given the new race to play: Pandaren. Plus we will also be getting a new class: the Monk. Alliance warships prowl the seas. Horde armies thunder across Kalimdor. Tensions between these factions edge closer to erupting in a savage war that threatens to consume all of Azeroth. Against this backdrop of impending conflict, an uncharted island mysteriously appears… Shrouded in fog since the world was sundered more than ten thousand years ago, the ancient realm of Pandaria has remained unspoiled by war. Its lush forests and cloud-ringed mountains are home to a complex ecosystem of indigenous races and exotic creatures. Will the mists of Pandaria part to reveal the world’s salvation… or will the battle to control this breathtaking new land

Read more →

Blizzard is auctioning off old servers, with proceeds going to charity

You know, if you play World of Warcraft, Blizzard’s been upgrading the infrastructure over time. Honestly, there’s really no better memento of your play time than one of the BladeSystem servers that Blizzard housed your realm on. These “honorably discharged” servers are getting to serve their true purpose in life starting October 17, when Blizzard will begin auctioning them off on eBay with all proceeds to benefit St. Jude’s Children’s Research Hospital. “World of Warcraft realms are like the virtual neighborhoods of the game’s community — they contain the spaces where millions of players have made friendships, forged friendly rivalries, and created lasting memories,” said Mike Morhaime, CEO and cofounder of Blizzard Entertainment. “Each winner in this auction will own a small monument to those collective experiences. The best part is that this auction benefits a great charity doing tremendous work in helping children from the U.S. and around the

Read more →

Blizzcon 2011 schedule

For lucky Android and iPhone owners, you can now download an official Blizzcon 2011 app that has the map of the convention as well as the schedule for both days. The app itself is actually designed quite nicely and you can sort the schedule based on game, stage and day to find exactly what you’re looking for. Also like other convention apps, there is a map of the floor which you can zoom in and out of, plus the ability to make your own schedule. As someone who first got into convention apps with PAX and PAX-East, I’m glad Blizzard has made an app. But you all are more interested in the schedule, so check out both days below! Do keep in mind that this is subject to change (especially since there hasn’t been an official press release yet). Friday, Oct. 21 Opening Ceremony 11am -12pm, Main Stage Artists Stage

Read more →

Foo Fighters closing out this year’s BlizzCon

Blizzard announced today that the Foo Fighters are headlining BlizzCon’s closing concert on October 22. (The convention itself is October 21-22.) This will be Dave Grohl’s second BlizzCon appearance in two years — last year, he served as drummer to Tenacious D. “We’re pretty sure that in the future, music historians will look back at BlizzCon 2011 as the unquestionable pinnacle of Foo Fighters’ long and illustrious career,” said Dave Grohl, Foo Fighters founder and frontman. “We look forward to living up to that prediction by bringing the Horde and Alliance together to rock the hell out of Anaheim next month.” Grohl & Co. aren’t the only performers at the event — The concert will open with a performance from The Artist Formerly Known as Level 80 Elite Tauren Chieftain, followed by Blizzard’s own in-house metal band. (Wait, Blizzard has an in-house band? Why is that ridiculous, awesome and not

Read more →

Talking WoW lore with Richard Knaak

I was recently given the chance to pose some questions to Richard Knaak, one of the lucky authors who has had the pleasure to write several novels set in the World of Warcraft universe. His latest novel, Wolfheart was recently released just this past week. In it we learn more about what has happened with the Night Elves, how the Worgen came to be part of the Alliance and even some deeper story with Varian Wrynn. I’ve wanted to ask Mr. Knaak some questions about his involvement with the WoW universe, and I had a couple more after reading Wolfheart, which he was gracious enough to answer! @stealthyslyth: What first attracted you to write for the Warcraft universe? Knaak: Blizzard had created a world so rich in character and history that one could not help be drawn into it. It had many of the features that I’ve always enjoyed in

Read more →

New RealID feature not going to be premium says Blizzard

I’ve enjoyed following what Blizzard has been doing with the RealID functionality. I like the community aspect, and it’s great to keep in touch with friends on other World of Warcraft realms as well as some friends who just play Starcraft II. What I haven’t liked is that some of the more interesting features like the mobile auction house and guild chat for WoW come at an extra cost. Thankfully their latest feature for WoW players who have RealID activated is that you can invite your friends on other realms of the same factions to a party. And as stated today this feature will remain free! We’re happy to announce that the testing period for World of Warcraft’s new Real ID Party system is now complete, and the feature is now officially live! We received a lot of great feedback from the community throughout the course of our testing, and

Read more →