n3rfed

NOW BANNED IN 24 COUNTRIES

Another week of an old post staring at you from this attention starved corner of the internets, but this time I've got an excuse - all I had to write about last week were Chinese gold farmers.

In non-insert-Great-Firewall-Of-Chine-pun-here news, one guy on an island wants to sue another guy over middleware, Blizzard goes all out and spares no expense when planning for their first fan gathering in...drumroll...their own carpark, SOE shuts down an EQ emulator resulting in an all-out war against license and intellectual property protection and then proceeds to sell its body anyway,  and one MMO producer releases a battleplan that resembles more of an epeen stroking, whilst another MMO producer releases a letter that actually kind of looks like, you know, a battleplan.

And finally, in clearly the most important news this week based upon how many people across the virtual land searched for items relating to this occurance, gamers got bored with the Fragdolls and found someone new with whom they may have a torrid love/hate relationship.

But who am I to comment? It's clearly working for her. In fact, I might just subscribe to her newsletter of thought:-

Perhaps tomorrow may see some actual writing about MMOs on this site. Wouldn't that be different.

I GUESS THIS IS SOME KIND OF TRADITION

A new WoW patch is on the horizon - somewhere - so what could that mean for players a couple of weeks ahead of it?

Why, the same as every other WoW patch of course, Pinky - supposed leaked patch notes!

--Blackwing Lair Released!
Nefarian's sanctum, Blackwing Lair, can be found at the very height of Blackrock Spire. It is there in the dark recesses of the mountain's peak that Nefarian has begun to unfold the final stages of his plan to destroy Ragnaros once and for all and lead his army to undisputed supremacy over all the races of Azeroth. Blackwing Lair is a max-level, 40-player raid dungeon, with many new encounters and tempting rewards awaiting the intrepid adventurer that dares enter its halls.

--Darkmoon Faire!

A gathering of the exotic from around the world and beyond, Silas Darkmoon has brought together the Darkmoon Faire as a celebration of the wondrous and mysterious found in Azeroth. While the Faire spends most of their time in parts unknown, they do stop from time to time in Mulgore and Elwynn forest. When the faire is on its way barkers will stop by Ogrimmar and Ironforge to announce its arrival.

--Battlemasters!

There is a new way to enter the battleground queues. Battlemasters! Located in some of the cities, right-clicking on a battlemaster will allow your character to enter a battleground queue just like you normally would if you touched that battleground’s entrance portal. The functionality is exactly the same, so when it’s your character’s time to enter the chosen battleground, you will be teleported directly in. Glordrum Steelbeard stands in the Hall of Arms in Ironforge, serving as the Alliance battlemaster for Alterac Valley. Aethalas of the Silverwing Sentinels stands ready in Darnassus, next to the warrior trainers, to send Alliance characters into Warsong Gulch. And in the Hall of the Brave, located in Orgrimmar’s Valley of Honor, Brakgul Deathbringer serves as the Horde’s battlemaster for Warsong Gulch, while Kartra Bloodsnarl will send you to bring glory to the Horde in Alterac Valley. Guards in their respective cities can give you directions on how to find them.

--General

There is a new option upon the login screen. If you click the "Remember Name" checkbox on the left side of the screen, the game will automatically fill in your account name when it starts up.
Will of the Forsaken (Undead Racial) - duration of the lasting immunity effect decreased to 5 seconds.
Cannibalize (Undead Racial) - Regeneration increased to 35% of a character's total health over 10 seconds.
Stoneform (Dwarf Racial) can now be used to cancel self-inflicted poison effects.
Fist Weapons will now have the normal chance to parry that all weapons use.
It will no longer be possible to swap any equipment while stunned.
Pets will now enter passive/follow mode when their masters mount.
The Dazed effect caused by NPCs will now stack with all other movement slowing effects. Note that the movement slowing effects will not stack, but the debuff icons will remain to ensure the full duration of these effects persist.
Damage caused by environmental effects will now cancel stealth (e.g. swimming in lava).
Several creature spells that silenced players are now properly flagged as silence effects, which will allow talents such as Unbreakable Will to provide a higher chance to resist the effects.
Spells that drain mana will now properly report the amount of mana gained in the combat log.
Clarified the error message when no corpses are available for the Cannibalize ability.
Clarified the error message when trying to attack while mounted.
Resurrection spells should now check range properly when used on targets that have released their spirit.
Spell reflection effects have greatly improved visuals and functionality.
Knockback effects are now synchronized with any associated missile impacts.
Special abilities which are parried will correctly activate abilities which are usable after parrying.
Damage shield spells no longer damage you if you use spells that damage both you and your enemies.
Fixed graphical anomalies when using channeled abilities in a group with a grounding totem.
Fixed the duration of Frostbite on pets which are dismissed and then recalled.
Fixed a bug where broken off-hand fist weapons would prevent main-hand dagger abilities from being usable.
Health leech effects no longer give you health while you are a ghost.
You no longer spout profanity when talking about sitting while drunk.

--Macintosh

Some optimizations for terrain loading and rendering were added for the Macintosh build.
Enabled multisample support in the video options.
Fixed an issue where inspecting crafted items on other users could potentially show attributes that those items did not have.
Updated the Mac sound code to use memory more efficiently.

--PvP

Honor System
There is now a progress bar on the Honor tab of your character window that displays how close you are to your next rank.
The honor screen now displays a bar indicating how far along your current rank you are (Scout, Private, etc). This will let you know whether you are moving towards your next rank or falling back towards your previous rank. from week to week.
There is a new "This Week" section of the Honor tab, which will display PvP accomplishments of the current week.
The "This Session" section of the Honor tab has been changed to "Today", and will now display the entirety of your accomplishments for the day instead of the most recent session.
Players rank 11 or higher can now chat in the WorldDefense channel.
The WorldDefense and LocalDefense channels will now display your rank as well as your name when chatting.
Battleground scoreboards now display the time elapsed in a battleground.
Warsong Gulch
Warsong Gulch has new item rewards at the appropriate faction vendor near the entrances to the zone. These are available starting at Honored faction.
Friendly flag carriers are now displayed on the overhead map in Warsong Gulch.
Both the Warsong Outrider Supply Officer and the Silverwing Sentinel Supply Officer of Warsong Gulch now offer distinct tabards for purchase. Those heroes who are of Exalted status with one of these factions may purchase the tabard for 5 gold (discounts not included).
Players now receive a faction bonus for completing the repeatable Warsong Gulch quests.
Alterac Valley
Each team will now gain additional bonus honor if their towers are not destroyed by the end of the map. The more towers that remained intact, the more honor received.
If you manage to keep your faction's Captain alive for the duration of a battle, you will be granted extra points upon victory.
Several Alterac Valley vendor items are now bind on acquire.
The respawn time for tower guards (assuming the tower has not been destroyed) has been greatly increased.
Korrak the Bloodrager has gained immunities to many different spell and ability effects.
The minimum reputation needed to send a cavalry charge has been reduced to Honored.
Players of Revered or higher reputation may now call offensive air strikes if they have managed to rescue their respective Wing Commanders.
Alterac Valley's guard spawn is now controlled via a more intuitive mechanism. Please check the Officer Supply vendors for your faction to read up on the changes.
Fixed a bug that sometimes prevented the Alliance team from receiving honor for destroying towers.
Fixed a bug that was not awarding Horde credit for owning a mine at the end of a game.
Dispel Magic can no longer be used on players participating in a duel unless the caster is in the duel.
You are considered in combat for the entire duration of a duel.
You can’t assist players which are engaged in free-for-all PvP unless you are also in free-for-all PvP.
If you have PvP combat toggled on, it will no longer be cleared when taking a flight.
Hunter traps work properly in duels if the target is flagged for PvP and the hunter is not.
Removing an insignia in PvP no longer marks both players as being in combat.

--Druids

Shapeshifting will now counteract the slowing effects of frost-based spells (Frostbolt, Frost Shock, Cone of Cold, etc.).
Feral Charge - Targets that are immune to immobilizing effects will no longer be affected by Feral Charge's immobilizing effect. The interrupt will still affect the target.
Shadowmeld (Night Elf Racial) - Now reports the correct error message when attempted in shapeshift form.
Druid shapeshift form buttons are no longer dimmed while under the effects of Polymorph.

--Hunters

Counterattack - Will now cause damage to targets immune to immobilizing effects.
Wing Clip - Will now cause damage to targets immune to immobilizing effects.
Explosive Trap - Fixed a bug where the trap's effects suffered inappropriate damage reduction against high level targets. In addition, damage caused by this trap should no longer kill opponents in duels.
Aspect of the Cheetah/Pack - Non-damaging spells and abilities will no longer cause the dazed effect. In addition, when switching between Pack and Cheetah, you should no longer receive the "A more powerful spell is already active" error message.
Beast Lore - Will no longer flag you for PvP or cause guard retaliation when used on an enemy faction target.

--Mages

Frostbolt - Targets that are immune to movement slowing effects will no longer be affected by Frostbolt's movement slowing effect. Damage will still be caused.
Frost Nova - Will now cause damage to targets immune to immobilizing effects.
Blast Wave - Will now cause damage to targets immune to immobilizing effects.
Cone of Cold - Targets that are immune to movement slowing effects will no longer be affected by Cone of Cold's movement slowing effect. Damage will still be caused.
Detect Magic - will no longer cause guard retaliation in Goblin towns.
Ignite - Can now be dispelled by any effect that dispels magic effects.
Frost Armor/Ice Armor - Targets that are immune to movement slowing effects will no longer be affected by the Chill's movement slowing effect. Targets will still have their melee attack speed reduced.
Arcane Instability - Fixed a bug where rank 3 of this talent was not increasing the periodic damage of various spells by the correct amount (was increasing by 2% and should now properly increase by 3%).

--Paladins

Blessing of Freedom - Will now counter the movement impairing effects of Frostbolt, Cone of Cold, Frost Shock. It will no longer prevent the damage taken by Frost Nova, Hamstring, Wing Clip, Mind Flay, Counterattack, or Blast Wave or the melee and ranged attack speed slowing effects of Cripple.
Consecration - No longer resets weapon timer when cast.
Improved Seal of Justice - Tooltip updated to be more clear.
Seal of Command - Should now correctly report damage in the overhead display and the combat log.
Summon Charger - New icon.
Fixed a bug where the Paladin did not always die when using the Divine Intervention spell.

--Priests

Mind Flay - Will now cause damage to targets immune to movement slowing effects.
Shadowform - Changed so all spells except Holy can be cast rather than only Shadow and Discipline spells. Tooltip updated. This fixes several bugs that prevented various actions (creating tradeskill items, mining, summoning a mount, using a hearthstone and many more).
Spirit of Redemption - Tooltip updated to be more clear.
Touch of Weakness - Stronger versions of this effect on enemy targets will no longer be replaced by weaker versions.

--Rogues

Riposte - Targets immune to disarm effects will now take damage from Riposte.
Disarming an enemy faction hunter's trap will now flag the rogue for PvP.
Ghostly Strike no longer deals damage to you when you use it.
Premeditation - Fixed a bug where the combo points gained using the ability were not properly removed after the duration expired. Also increased range and duration.
The UI now properly shows that Preparation does not clear a Cold Blood setup.

--Shaman

Frost Shock - Targets that are immune to movement slowing effects will no longer be affected by Frost Shock's movement slowing effect. Damage will still be caused.
Reincarnation will no longer be an option on death when a Soulstone effect is active on the Shaman. The Soulstone will be used as the higher priority effect.
Frostbrand Weapon - Targets that are immune to movement slowing effects will no longer be affected by Frostbrand Weapon's movement slowing effect. Damage will still be caused.
Call of Flame - Fixed a bug where the damage bonus did not always increase various totems.
Chain spells cast on PvP targets by an unflagged Shaman will now properly bounce to other PvP targets.
The tooltip for Fire Nova Totem now correctly reflects the damage the totems deal.

--Warlocks

Due to significant talent changes, Warlocks will have all talent points refunded and can be respent.
Cripple (Doomguard) - Targets that are immune to movement slowing effects will no longer be affected by Cripple's movement slowing effect. Melee and ranged attack speed slowing effects will still affect these targets.
Demon Skin/Demon Armor - Now increases health regeneration at all times, as was always intended. Previously, the health regeneration only occurred out of combat. Tooltips updated.
Demonic Sacrifice - The sacrifice effects for the Voidwalker and Felhunter have changed. The Voidwalker will now regenerate 3% of your total health every 4 seconds. The Felhunter will now regenerate 2% of your total mana every 4 seconds.
Demonic Sacrifice now works properly on banished summons.
Summon Dreadsteed - New icon.
Dark Pact - Fixed a bug where the combat log was reporting an incorrect value of mana gained by the caster when there wasn't enough mana to drain from the pet.
Phase Shift (Imp) - While phase shifted, the imp is now targetable but will remain an invalid target for all spells and attacks except self-cast spells.
Improved Healthstone - The increased effect from this talent should now properly apply to other players that use the Warlock's Healthstones.
Ritual of Summoning - Fixed a bug where players could be summoned from outside the same instance as the warlock in some cases.
Unholy Power - No longer requires the Fel Stamina talent. Is now a tier 4 talent and is a prerequisite for the new Master Demonologist talent.
Master Conjuror - Talent replaced with a new talent called Master Demonlogist.
New Talent (Demonology): Master Demonologist - Grants both the Warlock and the summoned demon an effect as long as that demon is active. The effect granted depends on the type of demon summoned.
Unholy Power - No longer requires the Fel Stamina talent. It now requires the Master Demonologist talent.
Ritual of Doom - Should now display the cooldown.

--Warriors

Due to significant talent changes, Warriors will have all talent points refunded and can be respent.
Hamstring - Will now cause damage to targets immune to movement slowing effects. Movement slowing effect improved.
Improved Hamstring - Design changed. No longer improves the movement slowing effect. It is now a 3 point talent that gives a 5/10/15% chance to immobilize the target for 5 seconds.
Booming Voice - In addition to increasing duration, this talent will now increase the area of effect of Battle Shout and Demoralizing Shout by 10/20/30/40/50%.
Battle Shout - Tooltip updated to display area of effect (in yards).
Demoralizing Shout - Tooltip updated to display area of effect (in yards).
Improved Berserker Rage - No longer increases the duration of the effect. The talent will now generate 5/10 rage when Berserker Rage is used.
Improved Demoralizing Shout - Effectiveness increase from talent increased to 8/16/24/32/40%.
Piercing Howl - No longer has a prerequisite (Improved Demoralizing Shout).
Deathwish - Is now usable while under a Fear effect, which will also remove the Fear effect.
Bloodthirst - Design changed. Bloodthirst is now an instant melee attack that causes damage equal to 30% of the warrior's attack power. In addition, the next 5 successful melee attacks will restore health.
Concussion Blow - No longer requires purchase of the Improved Revenge talent.
Shield Discipline - Removed and replaced by the new talent Shield Slam.
New Talent: Shield Slam - Slam the target with your shield, causing damage and has a 50% chance to dispel 1 magic effect on the target. Also causes a moderate amount of threat. Requires the purchase of the Concussion Blow talent.
Heroic Strike/Sunder Armor/Revenge/Mocking Blow - Tooltips updated to indicate the additional threat caused by these abilities. There have been no changes to the amount of threat caused.

--Items

Sets
Felheart, Cenarion, Giantstalker's and Earthfury item sets now have updated art. The Felheart Skullcap is now also called something more appropriate to the new art.
Grand Marshal and High Warlord PvP Honor rewards have been updated with improved statistics and new unique art.
The Alliance Mail and Horde Leather and Mail Epic PvP Honor reward armor sets have received art updates.
The stealth detection bonus on the Druid PvP set gloves has been changed to work in all forms, including caster form.
The set bonus for The Champion's Earthshaker has a revised tooltip to more clearly state that all Shock spells have an increased spell critical chance.
The 8 piece set bonus for Dreadmist will now appropriately affect shadow spells.
The tooltip for the improved feint effectiveness set bonus of the Bloodfang armor set has been corrected to show the actual percentage increase.
When worn by female characters, the Beaststalker's Tunic had a missing texture piece last patch. This has been corrected.
Set items which are broken no longer contribute to set bonus listings in the item tooltips.
The Horde and Alliance PvP Battle Standards may now only be used inside PvP Battlegrounds, but the cooldown has been reduced to 10 minutes.
The Rank 3 Stormpike Insignia now has the correct health regeneration effect.
You can now only have one Flask affecting you at a time.
The Seal of the Dawn trinket now counts as though you were also wearing an Argent Dawn Commission trinket.
The Goblin Sapper Charge can now be used while moving.
Dark Iron Bomb tooltip text and stun effect radius has been corrected to be the appropriate 5 yards.
Librams are now considered to be Books when searching for these items in the Auction House.
The Discombobulator Ray's effect has been changed: it now reduces movement speed to 80% of normal and reduces the target's damage with both spells and melee by 40. The range is now 20 yards.
Snowblind Shoes are now properly marked as an Epic item.
Band of Sulfuras is now unique.
Fireguard Shoulders now have a graphic.
Flask of Forest Mojo can now be sold.
The Bloodseeker crossbow's firing animation has been corrected.
The damage from Smokey's Lighter will now show up appropriately in the combat log.
The water breathing ability of the Hydrocane will now continue to work if the player is shapeshifted.
Both helpful and harmful effects from the Deviate Fish will remain after logging out.
Dark Iron Bracers have been changed to Bind on Equip.
Set bonus for Stormshroud armor improved. It should be more compelling for rogues and druids now.
Winter’s Might recipe now displays the correct +7 to spell damage instead of +5.
Fixed a typo in the item tooltip for the Alliance's Rune of Recall.
Several lootable items in Alterac Valley have had their stack limit changed.

--Professions

Thorium Brotherhood now offers several new recipes. Additionally, several of the old recipes now have different faction requirements.
Additional Smithing/Leatherworking/Tailoring/Enchanting Recipes added to Timbermaw at Honored Reputation
Additional Smithing/Leatherworking/Tailoring/Enchanting Recipes added to Argent Dawn at Honored and Revered Reputation. Also new First Aid recipe added to Argent Dawn at Honored.
Lokhtos Darkbargainer in Blackrock Depths now has many additional recipes that can be learned at Honored, Revered and Exalted reputation. Recipes are available for Enchanting, Tailoring, Leatherworking (all three specialty types), Blacksmithing (Armorsmithing, and Weaponsmithing (all three specialty types).
Quest

There is now an access quest to gain entry to Blackwing Lair. Happy Hunting!
Shadow Priest Vandis at the Bulwark should now properly buff players who complete any step of the "Return to the Bulwark" quest in Western Plaguelands.
Fixed a typo in the Horde version of the quest "Reclaimed Treasures".
Imps during the Warlock Mount Ritual in Dire Maul will no longer get stuck at their spawn-in portals.
Using the Collectronic Module on frozen rookery eggs for the quest "Egg Collection" will correctly consume them.
Obtaining a set of Thieves’ Tools in the quest "Tools of the Trade" no longer flags you for PvP.

--Raids and Dungeons

Several spawns removed from Scholomance. This should make for a more enjoyable 5 player experience.
Several spawns removed from Stratholme. This should make for a more enjoyable 5 player experience. Also, you will now be able to make additional attempts at Ramstein and/or Baron Rivendare should your initial attempt fail.
The trapped chests in Stratholme will now show up for Detect Traps and can be disarmed. In addition, the number of creatures that come out of the trapped chests has been reduced.
Many creatures in Stratholme have gained Detect Invisibility/Stealth.
The loot tables in Molten Core have been revised slightly.
Characters that die and release in the Molten Core will now receive a minimap corpse marker and arrow that will lead them to the window next to Lothos Riftwaker in Blackrock Mountain.
Phase shifted imps are no longer hit by Magmadar’s Lava Bomb.
Damage and resist messages from Magmadar’s Lava Bomb shows up in the combat log.
Fixed a bug that was causing the Cache of the Firelord (Majordomo Loot chest), the Chest of the Seven (Blackrock Depths seven dwarves chest) and the Gordok Tribute Chest (Dire Maul) from despawning too soon.
The chance for an Epic quest item dropping from the Majordomo's chest has been increased to 100%.
The Corrupted Forces of Nature in Maraudon will now pursue correctly.
Dire Maul has had several spawn locations changed and a slight increase in population.
Crystal Fang, the rare spawn in Blackrock Spire, will now potentially appear.

--User Interface

Raid UI has been significantly improved. You can now open the raid UI and drag the name of a class to your gamefield to have a listing of all players of that class be displayed on the game field. Likewise you can drag a group name to your playfield to have the players in that group displayed on your gamefield. In either case the display will show the health, mana and limited buffs or debuffs on each player in the group or class and you can click on a player listed this way to target that player. You can then right-click on the class or group UI element to make some modifications to how the UI displays or to remove the UI element.
If you cycle through targets with the Tab key, manually select a different target using another method, then quickly hit Tab again, your last Tab-selected target will be re-selected and you can continue Tab-selecting where you left off. Clearing your target will restart the Tab selection process.
Items on the action bar now remain there even after they are consumed.
If you shift-click on an item link while you are entering chat text, the item link will now be pasted into your text.
Mail recipient auto-completion will now use names from your guild as well as your friends list.
Hitting Escape will now cancel ranged weapon auto-shots.
The pet UI will now be greyed out while you are mounted to reflect the fact that you can't command your pet.
NPCs which give dishonorable kills have the rank of Civilian and show up with a white title background in the targeting frame.
The effect of damage resistance and vulnerability is now displayed in the combat log.\
Combat abilities which are fully blocked show up correctly in the combat log.
Crushing and glancing blows show more information in the combat log.
Damage from poisons and curses now shows up in the UI after the caster has been killed.
Players now receive an error message if they try to join a meeting stone queue and are in a raid or are not the party leader.
TargetUnitsPet() is obsolete and has been removed from the scripting system.
Added UnitInRaid(), TargetLastTarget() and TargetNearestRaidMember() to the scripting system.
The GetPlayerMapPosition() script function will only work for you, your party and raid.
Fixed an issue where chat window positions may not be restored to the correct positions when re-entering the world.
Fixed occasional crash when speech bubbles are enabled around NPCs that talk a lot.
Fixed occasional crash when listing a chat channel with a large numbers of players.
Fixed temporary lockup experienced by spell casting players when they are kicked.

--World Environment

Flight Paths
Added a Wind Rider Master to Camp Taurajo in The Barrens.
New Horde Flight Paths --
Camp Taurajo in The Barrens <-> Crossroads in The Barrens
Camp Taurajo in The Barrens <-> Thunder Bluff in Mulgore
Camp Taurajo in The Barrens <-> Freewind Post in Thousand Needles
Fixed several problems with the flight path from Undercity to Hammerfall while passing through the Ruins of Andorhal.
Fixed some problems with the Ironforge to Stormwind flight path.
The Darkshire <-> Booty Bay flight paths no longer fly over the Gurubashi Arena in Stranglethorn Vale, and therefore no longer flag fliers as being in Free-for-All PvP. Also, they should no longer fly through the zeppelins coming in and out of the Grom'gol Base Camp.
Graveyards
Feralas, Durotar, Mulgore, Darnassus, Tirisfal Glades (excluding the Bulwark graveyard), Elwynn Forest & the Eastern Plaguelands have now all been converted over to the new graveyard system. The system will place your character's spirit at the closest allowed graveyard in the zone. For example, an Alliance character dying closer to the new Darnassus graveyard, detailed below, will use that graveyard rather than the one located at Dolanaar. Starting area graveyards are still reserved exclusively for characters of similar faction that die within their confines. For example, the spirit of a Horde character dying right outside of Deathknell will not use Deathknell graveyard, but will instead go to the next closest Tirisfal Glades graveyard.
A Horde-only graveyard has been added in the northern section of Durotar, just to the south of Orgrimmar. In addition to serving northern Durotar, Horde characters dying in Orgrimmar, The Hall of Legends and Ragefire Chasm will use this new graveyard. Alliance characters dying in Durotar will continue to only use the Razor Hill graveyard.
A Horde-only graveyard has been placed at the northern base of Thunder Bluff in Mulgore. Horde characters dying in Thunder Bluff will also use this new graveyard. Alliance characters dying in Mulgore will continue to only use the graveyard at Bloodhoof Village.
An Alliance-only graveyard has been added at the eastern end of Darnassus. Alliance characters dying in Darnassus will use this new graveyard. Horde characters dying on Teldrassil will still only be able to use the graveyard at Dolanaar.
An Alliance-only graveyard has been added just outside of Ironforge, around the side of the mountain. It is only for use by Alliance characters that die inside Ironforge and in the Gates of Ironforge sub-area of Dun Morogh. Horde characters dying therein will continue to only use the Kharanos graveyard.
The Ruins of Lordaeron above Undercity now has a Horde-only graveyard. Horde characters dying inside the Undercity will use this new graveyard. Alliance characters will continue to solely use the Faol's Rest graveyard.
A neutral graveyard has been added at the Eastvale Logging Camp in Elwynn Forest. The graveyard at Goldshire is now for use by the Alliance exclusively. Horde characters dying in Elwynn Forest and its sub-areas, as well as in Stormwind, The Stockade and the Deeprun Tram, will have their spirits travel to the new graveyard at the Eastvale Logging Camp.
A neutral graveyard has been added on the island of Caer Darrow in Western Plaguelands. It will serve characters who die on Caer Darrow and in Scholomance.
A neutral graveyard has been added in the Eastern Plaguelands near the northwestern shore of Blackwood Lake. Characters that die in The Fungal Vale will continue to use the Darrowshire graveyard due to the mountains between it and the new graveyard. Additionally, characters dying in Stratholme will now use the new Blackwood Lake graveyard.
A neutral graveyard has been added in Feralas, just to the southwest of Dire Maul. Characters dying in Dire Maul will use this new graveyard.
Darkmoon Cards have been seen dropping from high level Humanoids around the world. Collect a set of them and bring them to the Darkmoon Faire when it is in town!
The "Human, Theramore" faction is now the "Theramore" faction. This faction is allied with the Alliance and is at war with the Horde.
High Elves now have their own distinct faction – "Silvermoon Remnant". This faction is allied with the Alliance and is at war with the Horde. Not all High Elves are a part of this faction.
Several NPCs around the world are now associated with the proper faction.
Dimetradons in Un'Goro Crater should be found more regularly now.
Fire Elementals in Searing Gorge should be easier to find.
The pair of gryphons guarding the entrance to the Hinterlands have finally decided to stop staring at one another and will now wander around the entrance to the pass.
Rashona Straglash was moved to be with other cloth-centric citizens in Orgrimmar.
Several NPCs that were not marked as Civilians are now correctly labeled.
Dark Strand Cultist and Enforcers are now correctly labeled Humanoid.
Morbent Fel’s level was slightly reduced to better fit the level range of Duskwood.
Brinna Valanaar in Azshara now sells higher level arrows.
Hadoken Swiftstrider of Camp Mojache, Feralas and Dinita Stonemantle in Ironforge received promotions; they are now significantly tougher than before.
Certain floating herbs, minerals, and chests should now be more down to earth.
The Barrens should now feel more alive.
Sickly Gazelles now have a sickly look to them.
Jarven Thunderbrew in Kharanos warns players in Common now, and not in Dwarvish.
The Wastewander Scufflaw of Tanaris now spells his own name correctly.
Swift Green Raptor has been renamed to Swift Olive Raptor for clarity.
An icon has been added at the Kalimdor continent map level for Revantusk Village.
Revantusk Village will now have an arrow pointing in its direction on the mini-map when you get close enough to it.
Fixed some typos in Gilnid's text in The Deadmines.
Fixed some typos in Supervisor Raelen's text in Elwynn Forest.

Warlock dream about people speaking to them come more true each day, Protection Warriors may continue to sing "What about me?", but it's Battlemasters for the win. With Guild Wars instant teleporting a current success, and meeting stones (tied to taverns) existing for a while, I'm still scratching my head over why this was not implemented last patch.

THE MATRIX IS DEAD. LONG LIVE BATMAN.

So, it's been confirmed.

You know, as soon as I read about the rumors of SOE taking control of MxO I immediately fired off an email to General Smed. I mean, it literally burned up my email application. However, over the course of the next day and after rebooting that damned application, I checked back to see if I had been acknowledged with anything resembling "Hello Cosmik. Yes. Now fuck off. Love, Smed".

I was not so lucky. My blank inbox jeered at me. The General was too busy still taking over virtual worlds, I guess. Or perhaps it is because my middle name is not "Yahoo".

But now utterances of glee now reach my lips, for it turns out I have now finally been granted an interview with A_John_Smedley in regards to SOE taking over MxO. A journalistic tour de force.

Or at least something like that.

For you see, after seeing DC Comics referred to in greater quantity than MxO in the first Yahoo article, and after reading this subsequent Yahoo article (gotta remember to change my middle name), it appears SOE gave a date to MxO just so it could get to the real Prom Queen - DC Comics.

Sorry Matrix fans, all three of you, but let's do the lowdown.

The Matrix franchise is turning purple in the water. The last two movies were universally panned (except by you three), and although Enter the Matrix did fairly well sales-wise (based upon a release directly tied to one of the movies), the quality of both Enter the Matrix and MxO has more and more punters looking at MxO and future Matrix games from the corner of their eyes as they warily edge away.

As for MxO itself, the days since its release have seen no significant game improvements or additions save some bug fixing and the reportedly well executed and received live events do little to hide that fact.

Although Yahoo states that all 25 employees currently working on MxO have been offered roles with the game at SOE, it is likely SOE will remain content with keeping the staff on MxO doing what they are doing right now - just keeping the game alive and going through the motions. Essentially MxO looks to become resigned to sitting next to Planetside - filling up a spot on the SOE Station Pass and offering some form of entertainment to a few thousand hard-core fans and those players from other SOE MMOs that just want to try it out for a little while to see what its like.

Then, on the other hand, we have the DC Comics license.

Both news articles from Yahoo show just how horny Smed and SOE are about obtaining this new rare spawn (but sorry, Smed. X-Men kick Superman's alien butt). And the success of City of Heroes - a superhero MMO based on no license whatsoever - has not gone unnoticed by the Smed. A rare look into the brain inside the man behind the desk staring at half naked elves will reveal that:

Superhero MMO        +              DC Comics            =           OMFGLOLHI2U!!!
(150,000 subs                     (Multibillion dollar
with no license)                          brand)

You can expect that while MxO sides idle in the corner, being poked once in a while by a pointy stick to check that it's still breathing, DC Online will be touted by SOE as the Next Big Thing after Everquest II is made to give up that title. It might even be a direct ripoff of CoH for all the punter cares - you won't even get to play as The Green Lantern, or alternatively The Gr33n Lantirn - but you can bet your bottom copper that its the license that'll draw people in.

I honestly would love to be proven wrong about the situation. Really. Smed can feed me my hat. It is a shame to see online games - someone's invested time, money and memories - roll over and sigh. But hey, this is business people are trying to run. At some point things just get put into caretaker mode.

Feed me my hat collection here.

HONORLESS KILL

Not only has SOE passed over (grudgingly) the title of "Best Selling North American MMO" to Blizzard, it seems they've also gleefully thrown at Blizzard's head the much-dropped "MMO Linked To Deadbeat Parents Who Don't Know How The Fuck To Look After Their Children" baton.

Jack Thompson has already bought his plane ticket.

(Seen at Gamerifts)

WHAT THE CONSOLE WARS ARE REALLY ALL ABOUT

Or something like that anyway.

I'm still waiting for SOE to jump on the bandwagon - at least while its still relatively new. I mean, there is that whole Sony parent company thing. Surely something can be worked out there.

And no, EQOA still does not count.

DAMN THOSE GOLD FARMERS AND THEIR EXPLOITING WHEELCHAIRS. THEY ALSO CAMP CERTAIN CAR PARKING SPOTS.

Technogeek places a "to go" order in my inbox:

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Blizzard's ban policy really needs some work. Apparently they're banning people for having cerebral palsy.

No, really.

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Character xxxxxxxx was observed being unresponsive and having mechanical pathing.

Well, going on that, I can only gather the next batch of bannings involves those pre-pubescent 12-year-olds with the attention span the length of a flea's dick that currently populate the Ironforge AH and bank. Um, yay?

UPDATE: As mentioned below, Blizzard says "Oops". Plans to also stop killing kittens.

INSERT TOPIC CONTAINING REFERENCE TO SOE TAKING RED AND BLUE PILLS HERE

Corpnews started the latest buzz currently hovering around the MMO classroom, and Sir Bruce has done nothing to try to stop it. All MxO jobs advertised on the Monolith website now finding themselves removed just keeps the tongues wagging.

So, SOE buying the rights to Matrix Online and laying off the staff currently residing on the project?

Plausible. Very plausible. And honestly, I'm not the least bit surprised.

Based upon where it currently sits, and drawing a projected line to where its going to end up, purchasing MxO would be as cheap as chips. Let's face it - it's not exactly setting the virtual world (double meaning there. Badoom-tish) alight. And with the resources at SOE's beck and call, placing new bodies on the title or doubling up on the workload for others isn't a big ask. Current MxO patches seem to be aiming at, on the grand scale of things, trivial fixes, so that's no skin of SOE's nose.

The real question most people will ask is whether SOE, once known for its dodgy events in EQ but now garnering some repect from their events in EQII, will keep up with MxO's high profile and much-loved event arcs.

More news/official confirmation as soon as I find myself some of those them thar fancy sources. Either that or some made-up stories about the new "The One" Sensitive Character Slot.

VANGUARD BECOMES KENDRICKLESS. ROGUES TO BE HEARD CRYING FROM THEIR SHADOWY CORNERS.

Krones drops the news regarding John "Kendrick" Capozzi no longer working at Sigil. Good historical outline of Kendrick's achievements and commentary on what this could mean for Vanguard, so go there to read all about it.

Instead, I'll stick with the wild accusations.

ZOMG! HE WAS FIRED AFTER CREATING HIS OWN FIERY SWORD!

ATLANTIS SUNK ONCE AGAIN

It sounds like a cliche, I know. I've seen it used on a few game commentary websites when referring to changes a MMO is planning on going through (Hey, look. Even FOH is doing it now with EQ). But for lack of a better phrase, I will say it myself.

Damn you, Mythic. Just when I thought I had gotten away, you dance seductively and try to draw me back.

The new dance is this. A new rule-set. A new rule-set that does away with an entire expansion (ouch, Mr. Designer). An entire expansion much loathed by those that have quit in disgust over the tedious PvE needed to have a slim chance of competing with others.

So, no TOA. Yay. But I also seem to remember something about "No Buffbots" being paired with the "No TOA".

Oh, yes. That's right.

Unfortunately the ruleset proposed instead states, rather tauntingly;

Ranged Buffs: All concentration buffs will have a range limit of 5000 units, and will be available only to the buffer and his groupmates. Anyone outside of the group cannot receive concentration buffs.

This, of course, will not see the extinction of the Buffus Bottius. Instead it will only cause groups and individuals to run around with the bot /stick'ed to someone. Players that have specced in buffs to the high 30s will still face some aversion when trying to convince pick-up groups that them being alive and being able to heal is better than using the bot in the corner that has the higher level buffs and is two-boxed by the main tank.

So yes, it's not perfect. But I welcome the chance to resub and try something a little different. It's exactly the reaction Mythic is after, so I'm happy to indulge them.

Plus, I can't help but grin when I think of the botless stealthers. Bastids. Now I'll just have to put up with everyone making a Vampiir - the FOTM class designed to function without buffs while up against buffed opponents. And that damned "no /level" decision.

WTB buffbot for powirlevel, plz.

OVER 2 MILLION ZERGED

Blizzard proves that you don't need photo-realistic boobies (of pornstar proportions either, mind you), you don't have to fill a niche sub-market or sub-genre, you don't need to steer clear of PvP for fear it will have a detrimental effect, and you don't need to make quests/levelling/grouping/game mechanics in general so convoluted for fear players will become bored quickly.

Then again, Blizzard also proves that you don't need a Community Team that's on the ball, you don't need to follow any regular patching schedule, you don't need to fix game bugs or server issues ASAP, and you can easily hold off on adding things that you promised months ago - showing the carrot and promising to feed it soon will suffice.

The key? Apart from taking advantage of a well-known and well-loved license in gaming circles for all it's worth (I would. Wouldn't you?), I'd say it rests squarely at the feet of the levelling and quest system. A big call, I know, distilling it down to just a two things - but that's kinda the whole point. WoW, like no other MMO before it, allows the casual player to pick up a quest and finish it in an evening's play while at the same time offering an expanded raid and PvP system for the l33test amongst us. EQ didn't reach these heights because it doesn't talk to the casual gamer. Guild Wars won't reach these heights because it lacks the raid and loot-centric aspect hardcore peeps crave. While WoW isn't perfect in these respects, it's closer to it than any other member of the competition.

And really, when you've got all that at launch you can sit back, put your development on slow mode, and print your own money in preparation to roll it for your next project. Look. That's exactly what Blizzard is doing right now.

On a side note, what with WoW opening up in other lands to the East, I'll throw my hat into the ring and state for the record that WoW will usurp the crown from Lineage and break through that 3,250,000 mark. Yes, that's even if you and your friends are quitting next week.

Tell me below how I'm wrong because you hate WoW.