Of course, he hasn't confirmed it, either. Ever since that German CM apparently hinted at a July 3rd start date for the WoTLK Beta at the Worldwide Invitational, people have been searching for further confirmation or denial of the rumor. Bornakk, in true Blizzard style, has been staying mum, saying only that a date for the beta test has yet to be announced.

When someone expressed fear that we'd only hear about the beta at Blizzcon, Bornakk assured them that Blizzcon is not the only place to release information, but reiterated that there's no actual start date for the beta announced yet. On a later thread, when someone said that the WoTLK Beta would start this week, he linked back to that same thread, once again not outright denying it, but saying only that it had not yet been announced.

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Walt Simonson's World of Warcraft comics will be published as a graphic novel by Titan Books who has obtained the rights from DC comics. The rights include publication in the UK and Ireland and is set for release on September 26. The book will be a collectible priced at £16.99 (about $33.82 USD). This volume of the book will include the first seven comics. The story follows a human who washes up on the shores of Kalimdor with no memory and is subsequently enslaved by Orc shaman Rehgar Earthfury.

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Recently the guild hit Supremus again -- or, I should say, Supremus hit us. You'd think this would be a fairly easy fight to master. Supremus has two phases: the first is a lot like Gruul except with no cave-ins, knockback, or Shatter, and during the second phase, he aggros random people and tries to reach them while moving at the approximate pace of a snail. Oh, and he sprouts volcanoes under other players that you have to avoid. These two phases alternate until he's a giant pile of rubble in Black Temple's scenic courtyard.

Yep. Easy.

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Karazhan is getting beat into the ground nightly by almost everyone on the realms -- isn't it about time, asks Heavymetal from Sargeras, that Blizzard lowered the timer? It certainly seems like the time has almost come -- by the time the last expansion released, UBRS, which was basically the precursor to Karazhan, had no timer and was getting raided like crazy. All of the gear is going to be replaced anyway, and the attunement's been lifted -- why not let players go nuts on Medivh's old stomping grounds?

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Blizzard's COO Paul Sams spoke with Gamasutra the other day, and he called out Microsoft, of all companies, for not supporting innovation in PC gaming. He says that Microsoft's loyalties are split with their console business, and that if they put as much work into developing gaming on the PC as they did on the Xbox 360, everyone would benefit.

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Don't forget to join It came from the Blog tonight at 6PM Pacific time for some more Midsummer festivities.

• When: Today! Wednesday, July 2nd at 6PM Pacific (7PM server time, 9PM Eastern)
• Where: Undercity (Ruins of Lordaeron), Zangarmarsh Realm (U.S.)
• Who: Any Horde character, any level
• How: Just send a tell to Robiness or anyone in the guild for an invite to the guild and the raid


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Vaneras is apparently clearing house on cool Burning Crusade artwork before we get to the next expansion -- he's posted a new wallpaper up on the Blizzard site, and it pretty much rocks. Our good friend Illy D is still hanging out with that dusty old skull, literally dripping with demonic power, while a bunch of slimy Naga stand threateningly behind him. Very nice.

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For those of you that have complained about Baron Soosdon's music videos that have no plot and are merely a bunch of color filters, this may be a breath of fresh air. The Scarlet Thorn, one of Baron's entries in Blizzard's Worldwide Invitational machinima contest, centers around Lady Sylvanas. While there is no dialogue in this epic movie about beating the Scarlet Crusaders to a bloody pulp, you can expect plenty of action!

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Were you among the lucky recipients of Blizzard's gift bag over at the Worldwide Invitational (WWI) last weekend? If so, then Bornakk has some important details on the new in-game pet you will receive in World of Warcraft.

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Much has been said and done over at Blizzard's Worldwide Invitational (WWI) last weekend. While Diablo 3 may have been on everybody's mind, don't think for a moment that World of Warcraft didn't have its own share of shining moments.

We'll give you guys a quick rundown of some of WoW's highlights during WWI, which has much to do with its upcoming expansion, Wrath of the Lich King.

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Worldwide Invitational In-Game Pet: Archangel Tyrael
Quote from: Bornakk (Source)

The code for the in-game World of Warcraft pet that was provided in the goodie bag at the 2008 Worldwide Invitational will be usable at our Pet Redemption Webpage after patch 2.4.3 is released in the near future.

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In all of my many arena matches, I've never had the pleasure of running into a multiboxer. I've never even seen them around the battlegrounds. Sure I've seen them around the environment, and they're always impressive. Aelli of Smlterhorn may well be the first to multibox four Elemental Shamans to Gladiator status in arena season three.

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While looking at this picture, it occurs to me that I have no memory of any of this game's dragon bosses besides close-ups of their rear legs. Ah, the joy of being a rogue. Anyway, Callandra of <Ancestors of Exodus> on Mannoroth took this picture of an angry Onyxia two years ago, while he was lying dead at tank Kilsythe's feet. This is definitely Phase 3 -- you can see the confuddled raid members running in fear in the distant background, probably directly into the whelp caves. I miss the 40-mans. You just don't get this kind of mass frustration from the BC raids. Thanks to Callandra for the pic (and the correction on the credit!)

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Were you among the lucky recipients of Blizzard's gift bag over at the Worldwide Invitational (WWI) last weekend? If so, then Bornakk has some important details on the new in-game pet you will receive in World of Warcraft.

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Every time a new game comes out, we have a decision to make. Do we try the new game while still playing World of Warcraft most of the time? Do we take a break from WoW to give the new game all of our attention? Or do we continue to play our favorite MMO? My guild had an attendance problem when GTA IV was released and I know a few people have given Age of Conan a good try. With Warhammer Online probably coming out in the fall, we will have to make another choice then.

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The identity of the free pet that Worldwide Invitational Paris attendees received with a code in their goodie bag has been a closely guarded secret, with the identity not known even at the WWI itself. Yesterday, Bornakk broke the silence on the pet and announced that after patch 2.4.3 goes live, WWI attendees will be able to turn in their pet codes for their own miniature version of Diablo's Archangel Tyrael!

Tyrael, as may remember, is an angel that assists the Horadrim -- and later the heroes of Diablo 2 -- in fighting back the Prime Evils as they attempt to assault and take over the world of Sanctuary. He is one of the few angels who will directly assist humanity in fighting Hell, even when he is specifically forbidden from interfering by Heaven itself. He eventually destroys the Worldstone after Baal corrupts it at the end of the Lord of Destruction expansion.


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Rob Pardo in an interview with Onlinewelten.com confirmed they have a fourth unannounced project, a next-gen MMO which obviously was not Diablo 3. Also in a recent interview published yesterday by Gamasutra, Paul Sams (Blizzard chief operating officer) is hinting at a new franchise. Hopefully we might learn more about it this year at the BlizzCon 2008.

Interview with Rob Pardo (Onlinewelten) Quote from: Blizzard (Source)

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Now that's a good looking website. There aren't many around, and while, sure, you don't really need a great looking website as a guild (it's probably better to actually be downing bosses ingame than building resources outside of it), a good-looking website doesn't hurt when getting your guildies excited about being a part of the group.

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WWI Code : Archangel Tyrael Mini-Pet in 2.4.3
People who attended the Worldwide Invitational last week end received a code for a mini-pet but couldn't redeem it in game ... Bornakk finally posted about this issue and revealed that the WWI pet will be a mini-pet of Archangel Tyrael available after the deployment of Patch 2.4.3 !
Quote from: Bornakk (Source)The code for the in-game World of Warcraft pet that was provided in the goodie bag at the 2008 Worldwide Invitational will be usable at our Pet Redemption Webpage (http://www.worldofwarcraft.com/misc/promotion.html) after patch 2.4.3 is released in the near future.

After you have received the in-game code from this webpage, the Alliance will travel to Stormwind and the Horde to Undercity to visit a new NPC where you will be able to claim the in-game pet.

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Ftoomsh of Aman'Thul is hopping mad that Shamans will be getting Hex in Wrath of the Lich King. Green with envy, she feels that Mages are already being rendered obsolete in PvE. Polymorph as a unique ability should not be added to a pool of skill for more classes to draw from. The original poster jumped to the conclusion that giving this ability to Shamans make Mages completely useless.

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Blizzard's Paul Sams, chief of operations, said in an interview with GamesIndustry that the Activision Blizzard merger was their choice, and that the game company wasn't dragged into the deal between Activision and Vivendi. In fact, Vivendi approached Blizzard and talked about the idea for a while, and it was Blizzard who picked Activision as their choice ally.

"I think maybe people believe that Activision and Vivendi got together and sat in a room, and thought it would be great, and then informed us," said Sams.

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Here's some good Wrath of the Lich King rumor-juice for you tonight. Pictured to the right is what has shown up on the internet as a Wrath of the Lich King Collector's Edition box. I for one think it looks real. It was posted on the Paladin Schmaladin blog two months ago, although reader Allen just tipped us to it this evening.

The poster over there notes that the box comes from her friend Gene, who supposedly works at a printing facility. Gene couldn't get one out of the printing factory, so instead he snapped an image of the box with his cellphone.

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