Blizzard apparently has yet another project in the works, and so their game portfolio is not just limited to the big three we know today. Senior vice president Rob Pardo of Blizzard claimed in a recent interview with German news site OnlineWelten that there was another "unknown" game cooking in their kitchen.

Before the interview, we all heard that Blizzard was looking for new blood to help them on a mystery next-generation MMO project. This project is the same unannounced game that Pardo said existed. No other details on the project were divulged, nor were any hints aggressively milked.

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More beta news for everyone to enjoy tonight. Bornakk has posted what Nethaera promised earlier in the day, a Wrath of the Lich King beta opt-in F.A.Q. The complete F.A.Q. is republished here for your convenience, and is definitely something everyone should read and re-read. Some of the key things to come out of the F.A.Q.:

• You are not guaranteed to get into the WotLK beta if you have a BlizzCon or WWI beta keys. These keys might go to another beta (like Diablo III).
• You can opt-in on multiple accounts, but each account can only opt-in once.
• If you get a key with one account, you can use it on another account of your choosing. However the key can only be used once.
• Opting in early does not necessarily mean you will get a beta slot early. Everything is random (as we previous reported).
• If you get a beta key from another source and are selected via the opt-in process, you can give your key to a friend or family member.
  

Full F.A.Q. after the break.

Q: Who is eligible for the Wrath of the Lich King Beta opt-in?

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WoW Insider sister site Big Download is reporting that the Activision-Blizzard merger is getting closer and closer to reality. They recently won another victory in court today, as a Delaware court struck down an attempt by the Wayne County Employees' Retirement System to gain a preliminary injunction against the deal.

We're now coming up fast the July 8th Activision shareholders' meeting, where they will vote to approve the merger. Activision has already said that they expect the merger to be official on or about July 9th, according to Big Download.

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The judge ruling on a dispute related to the Vivendi-Activision deal has used WoW metaphors for the actions of the litigants. William B. Chandler III, the chief judge of the Delaware Court of Chancery, showed an unusually keen grasp of the dynamics of the game -- way more than either of my parents would understand. His ruling describes, among other things, crafting, questing, battlegrounds, guilds, and even our unique linguistic habits. (My mother, for example, calls them typos.) Continuing his analysis, Judge Chandler says that the world of Mergers & Acquisitions is similar to an MMORPG where "participants take on certain roles, interact in their own community, hone specialized skills, and even develop a unique, somewhat curious vernacular." The judge concluded his denial of the injunction with the words "GAME OVER."

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It looks like today IS the Wrath of the Lich King beta day. We've just learned that the beta opt-in for WotLK is now live in Europe.

You can find the beta opt-in signups by visiting the Account Management menu on your European WoW account. Once there, you should see an added option to sign up for the beta. The screenshot above shows you what to expect once you try to sign up.

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Ok, before you skip to the bottom of this article and post a comment, please read the post since I know that a lot of people who play MMORPGs will immediately have a knee jerk reaction to this rather touchy topic.

Now that that's out of the way, I've always wanted to talk about how depressing the forums can be to a player. For the record, I know that it is pretty much the same in all popular MMORPGs like Age of Conan: Hyborian Adventures or even World of Warcraft, but that doesn't make me or any of the other players who agree with what I have to say happy about it.

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Totem Talk, the column for shamans, was hit right between the eyes with news from the Worldwide this weekend. Matthew Rossi, our intrepid columnist, tries to make sense of it all this week.

Okay, I know we're behind on the Kara gear articles, but this weekend's news from the Worldwide Invitational was too much for me to ignore. Both for all the awesome news for shamans and for what it all doesn't mean. (And yes, I had to steal Mike's image from the roundup post... I even went out and bought that statue I like it so much.) Since we know the Beta Opt-In is live and the Wrath beta can't be far away, I thought we should spend some time discussing what we just found out.

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Scattered Shots is a bit short today, on account of its author currently visiting the Holy Land. Still on time though, and still specially for hunters!

Now that pets are finally getting the attention they deserve, they will, in their own way, become even more like a second class all their own. Big Red Kitty was only partially joking today when he told you that these pets would be able to replace certain other classes. The new and improved Wrath-of-the-Lich-King pet talents will make hunters feel quite literally like a class and half, the closest thing in the game you can get to multiboxing with only one account.

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Recruiting isn't what I'd call a fun past time. Ever since server transfers exploded on the scene, it's not unusual for our guild's officers to spend 30 min to an hour per day scanning the WoW Guild Recruitment forums (Alliance and Horde flavors). With summer hitting, no major content in the immediate future, and what I'd like to call the 3rd Year Burnout affecting players, recruitment is more important than ever to keep a guild's progress going.

There are a lot of options out there to find people LFG, but the WoW Guild Recruitment forums continue to be the largest source of potential class replacements. They're not perfect, though. For one, you'll spend more time trying to find the class you're looking for than actually posting replies to viable recruits. And with the speed at which new posts are made (20 minutes after you post, you're on page 5), it can be extremely daunting trying to keep up with them all.

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There comes a point where you move past content. There's no reason to go back to it other than nostalgia, or for the off chance on a slow night that the one really awesome drop that particular boss has might finally drop. It's a fact of the endgame... you work, you put in the wipes, you stock up on food, buff pots, elixirs, flasks, and other consumables, you go in over and over again and struggle and finally get the boss down... and then in a month or two it's trivial and you're sick to death of the sight of him or her. Another month and you're saying "Does anyone really need any Vashj drops anymore?" and a month after that, you're done with the instance.

This is fine, and it's part of the moving on process with content: if you're regularly farming M'uru you probably don't need anything off of Mother Shahraz anymore except for maybe bad luck on shoulders. Some guilds were fortunate (or unfortunate) enough to be completely done with Black Temple and Hyjal well in advance of Sunwell Plateau. Others are just now finishing up with Gruul and Magtheridon and preparing to move into SSC and Tempest Keep, while still others are just now done with those.

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Popehippo on WoW Ladies LJ was kind enough to post these 59 icons, directly from the World of Warcraft comic. They actually come from all over the place, including the comic itself, as well as from cover and concept art. And there's all kinds of different stuff in here, from Orcs to dragons to Druids to Naga.

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Nethaera has just come out and said that the beta selection process will be random. This is important for all of us to know: there will be no precedence or order associated with the opt-in. What does this mean? It means even if you sign up tomorrow you have a chance to get in, and that all of us who rushed to sign up when it just opened get no real benefit.

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var digg_url = 'http://digg.com/pc_games/WoW_Wrath_of_the_Lich_King_beta_registration_opens'; US accounts are now able to access the beta registration from https://www.worldofwarcraft.com/account/beta-opt-in.html and opt-in for the Wrath of the Lich King beta. EU accounts saw this feature implemented a short time ago. It looks like the leak from the German Community Manager Gnorog is holding up to be true.

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When I started playing World of Warcraft, I decided to start off by making a Tauren Hunter. Mostly because every single game I've ever played, I am usually a healer-type character. I decided that I did not want to be the healer this time around, but I was far from ready for the tank job, so I went halfway into what I figured would be a decent solo and damage support class. I was so unprepared for what playing a Hunter would be.

One of my major obsessions, however, was to find a pet that was an uncommon sight. I did not realize at the time that Echeyakee was a Horde side quest, and was really excited at having gotten a "rare pet" when a friend offered to help me tame him.

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This afternoon a new option appeared on the EU account page titled "Wrath of the Lich King Beta Opt-In", which allow you to sign up with your account(s). As i am writing these lines, you can only reach the EU registration page, US one should come up "super soon". Thanks Fusion.

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If you were thinking of picking up that shiny new thingamajig called the Blizzard Authenticator, you'll have a bit more time to ruminate over your decision. Blizzard's officially sent out word that the Blizzard Authenticator has been sold out.

Over on the General Discussion forums for World of Warcraft, Tyren announced the news to the public, noting that "it will be several weeks before they're available again."

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It looks like today IS the Wrath of the Lich King beta day. We've just learned that the beta opt-in for WotLK is now live in Europe.

You can find the beta opt-in signups by visiting the Account Management menu on your European WoW account. Once there, you should see an added option to sign up for the beta. The screenshot above shows you what to expect once you try to sign up.

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MMO Champion (and a few of our tipsters -- thanks!) is reporting that the European WoW site has opened up registration for the Wrath of the Lich King beta. I wasn't able to sign in with my trial account (created for the Dingstravaganza a while back), but there's no question that the page is up (inside EU players' Account Management menu) and accepting signups. Of course, this still doesn't mean that anyone is playing the beta, only that signups are taking place. We're also being told that it's an open sign-up, so it could be a long time before these signups are actually allowed to play, especially if one of the beta keys from BlizzCon or WWI are used to run a closed beta first.

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One thing that your average WoW player probably doesn't think about much is the sheer processing power that's needed to play the game. I don't mean your gaming rig personally. WoW's actually pretty forgiving on that front. I mean the server hardware over on Blizzard's end, the stuff that makes us miss some gaming every other Tuesday or so. Do we really stop to think about how powerful it is?

It turns out that it's powerful enough to dominate a list of China's top 100 supercomputers. The Register reports that 5 of the top 10 supercomputers in China are owned by The9, WoW's China distributor. Not only that, it also owns at least 12 of the top 100 overall, and perhaps more. That means that more than 10% of China's best supercomputing power is directed toward MMORPGs such as World of Warcraft.

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Arena Junkies picked up an interesting tidbit by comparing two different interviews. Rob Pardo, Blizzard's EVP of Game Design, gave an interview to Onlinewelten in which he talks about the next-gen MMO. That interview isn't exactly news on its own. We knew since Diablo III was announced at the WWI that it probably isn't the new MMO, and Pardo confirms that in the interview. "..Diablo 3 isn't an MMO," Pardo says, "So we have another development team."

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Registrations for WotLK Beta open
The registrations for the Wrath of the Lich King Beta are now available ! For the moment you can only reach the page on the European Account Management Page and the "Beta Opt-in" link that was on the american account page vanished today. That's probably temporary and we'll warn you as soon as it's available.

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I think a lot of old school WoW players will agree with me that the Scourge Invasion event that kicked off the Naxxramas patch (and coincided with that year's Midsummer Fire Festival) was a whole lot of fun. There was something incredibly epic about fighting a massive hulking abomination on the steps of the Stormwind Cathedral that not even most boss fights have been able to capture for me. it was also nice to have all those extra bosses in the dungeons for a bit of variety, especially since some of them dropped some very nice loot. Beyond all that, it finally gave us a chance at getting the much coveted tabard of the greatest faction in the game.

Still, despite Blizzard's hints that we'd get a chance to experience the Scourge Invasion again, it's been over a year and a half since the citadels ceased to hang over our capital cities with no sign of a return -- I've even saved a space in my bank for my spare Necrotic Runes, just in case!

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With the premiere of Azerothian Super Villians - Episode 6 set for tomorrow, we wanted to start you off with some epic weekend viewing. By epic, we mean Veil of Corruption, a 115-minute machinima that neglects the hero-based storylines you're used to. Instead, they focus on what they refer to as politics and connivery.

VoC is about the struggle for control in Azeroth. In an attempt to receive the answer he has been praying for, the Alliance Grand Marshal, Paladin Valerius, goes on a soul-searching mission that leads him to the tomb of Uther Lightbringer. When peace seems to be within reach, he begins to wonder if it will last ...

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Shadowmoon Valley is a dreary, depressing place, and Illidan's front yard is no exception. While waiting outside the Black Temple for raid time, our unnamed submitter ran into Doomwalker (upper left) and an unfortunately incinerated man (lower right). See, this is why your raid leader yelled at you to spread out and avoid the chain lightning.

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Every Thursday, Shelbi Roach of The Bronze Kettle guides you in creating WoW-inspired crafts using real world mats with World of WarCrafts.

Show the world where your loyalties lie with this horde-riffic signage. The bold red backdrop is guaranteed to garner attention while the blood spatter technique would make even Thrall proud.

Here is what you will need:

• Wooden Frame (I used a Make Me Frameous frame from Michaels)
• Wooden Letters (I used Provo Craft Carved Letters from Michaels)
• Acrylic Paint (deep red, black)
  
• Fine Red Glitter
  
• Krylon Crystal Clear Acrylic Spray
  
• Paint Brush
  


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When Naxxramas was introduced in World of Warcraft on June 20, 2006, Blizzard marked its debut with The Scourge Invasion world event. With Naxx migrating to Northrend in the Wrath of the Lich King expansion however, old speculations of a second Scourge Invasion have apparently been revived among the players.

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The Midsummer Fire Festival officially ends on July 5th, just a few scant days away. That means no more Lord Ahune, no more chances to get the Deathfrost enchant, no more desecration, no more turning into a crab, no more Torch Tossing... Yeah, I'm a little bummed too.

Still, we have a couple days left to make the best of it. Of course, the question is -- what exactly do we do with it? Myself, I'm torn. My enchanter still needs the Deathfrost enchant, so I may want to get a group together and go slay Ahune a few more times. Then again, I still haven't gotten some of the Midsummer loot on a couple of my 70s, so maybe I want to make a push to get the last few blossoms for those.

But I'm also thinking that it would be nice to get my shaman to level 30 before Patch 2.4.3, and thus I'm tempted to just go out and slog through the last few levels with her, bolstered by the all the various Fire Festival buffs and the Ribbon Dance buff.

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Seska of Ysondre has posed the challenge of twinking to players who hate this style of play. She stated that the joy of playing a twink is in planning how to get gear for the effort. To her twinking proves that gear is more important than skill. To do it right, twinking requires considerable time and effort (not to mention cash from higher level characters), but is a valuable experience. Seska is currently a level 16 Shaman, and plans to keep that character as a twink.

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Blizzard Authenticator Currently Sold Out
Quote from: Tyren (Source)

Our U.S. online store is currently sold out of the Blizzard Authenticators, and we're working on obtaining additional stock. Please note that due to the nature of the technology in the device and the related manufacturing procedures, it will be several weeks before they're available again. We're working hard to expedite this process as much as possible.
We're also aware that non-U.S.-based players on our North American realms were unable to purchase the Blizzard Authenticator from the online store when it was available. This was due to shipping-related issues with our store for this device that could not be resolved by the time it first went on sale. Rather than delay the launch, we felt it was important to make the Authenticator available to as many people as possible as quickly as we could. We're continuing to work on a solution for these players and will provide an update as further progress is made.
The Authenticator helps safeguard account access against third-party programs, such as keyloggers, Trojans, and viruses, that are designed to steal players’ login information. This type of malicious code is often hidden in add-ons/mods and web pages and goes undetected until an account has been compromised and a thief has sold off the valuable items from the characters on that account for gold, which is then sold back to players by the third-party companies benefitting from this practice.

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New PTR Build - Tyrael Mini Pet
The PTRs have been updated with a new build and the Tyrael Pet was added to the game files ! It seems that the pet also had a few unique sounds added.


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.

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The PTR realms have been updated to the latest patch build, which one added the model for the Archangel Tyrael Mini Pet (see below) to game files.

Quote from: Bornakk (Source)

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Remember last year's big news about Activision and Vivendi forming a merger? While the proposal sounds a financially enticing at US 27.50 per share offer, there are some shareholders who certainly aren't buying into the whole deal and even filed an injunction request in an attempt to halt the merger.

The injunction suit was filed in the Delaware Court of Chancery last February by the Wayne County Employee's Retirement System. For those who aren't too familiar with law parlance (we don't blame you), an injunction is a court order that...yes, blocks a party from doing certain acts. In this case, from Activision merging with Vivendi.

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The rumor mill has been flying lately that on July 3rd we'll see the first invites go out for the closed beta. Well, it's 12:01 a.m. on July 3rd now, and that means Beta Watch 2008 can begin.

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