Warcraft Experience

In patch 1.11 we’re implementing a non-consumable version of the Aqual Quintessence, available to players once they become revered with the Hydraxian Waterlords. This item will be available from Duke Hydraxis, and should allow the weekly Molten Core runs for many players to be slightly more convenient. ~ Eyonix

Raiders will be very happy and excited about this news! It seems that Blizzard is doing their best to ease the transfer from WOW now, to WOW with the expansion!

All I have to say about this is a resounding WOOOOOOOT!

Apparently everyone!

Blizzard has issued a quick note concerning the increased Deep Breaths by Onyxia and a fix will be incoming.

After reviewing the concerns posted since the patch went live, and through internal investigation, an unintentional change was discovered in the Onyxia encounter concerning increased frequency of her Deep Breath ability. We are currently working on a fix to reduce the frequency of the Deep Breath ability and will be implementing it as soon as possible.

You read that right. At 12:00 PM PST there will be four more new realms opening for those of you interested in making a new start in the world. So let’s all give Ysera (PVE), Dentarg (PVP), Andorhal (PVP), and Executus (PVP) a warm welcome to the server list.

Also worth noting that these, and all of the other recently opened realms, are running on gleaming new hardware. Hopefully this means improved performance and reduced lag.

In an article on WorldofWarcraft.com on the upcoming expansion the Burning Crusade they are now touting the Wisp as a new race. I don’t know about you but I am unable to comprehend how this race would be fun for more than 10 minutes. Now if it could be a pet for NE druids and NE priests that would be awesome.

The introduction of Wisps allows a new and exciting game
mechanic: permanent death. The ability that destroyed Archimonde is
available to all Wisps as a racial ability. This power, Detonate,
destroys the Wisp in an explosion of energy, sapping the mana of all
surrounding adventurers, friend and foe alike. This should provide an
extremely interesting addition to the many adventures of Warcraft,
particularly when pitted against other players!

Racial Traits:

• Detonate: Destroys the wisp, dispelling all magical buffs and draining 50 mana from each unit in an area around the wisp.
• Gatherer: Skill to herbalism, mining, and skinning increased by 10.
• Permanent Death
• Treeform: Turns the wisp into a tree for 30 seconds.
  During this time, spirit is increased by 300. However, the wisp’s
  chance to dodge or parry axes is reduced by 50%.

  Intriqued? Read the rest. Thanks Smokinjoe for this little tidbit!

Sure we have all heard about Aeroplan, GM points and many more credit card bonus deals. Well here is a new one, apparently in the foreseeable future there could be credit cards that reward you with virtual currency in games such as WoW for your real world spending!

Very soon, credit card companies and game makers will reward their customers who spend money in the real world using private label “rewards” credit cards. They will use gifts of virtual currency such as Blizzard’s World of Warcraft gold and Second Life’s Linden dollars.

A special “News from the Future” from MAKE:Virtual.

We’re a nation obsessed with credit cards. Seriously. Credit card companies and retailers all offer some form of loyalty program to commit to and encourage us to spend more of our hard earned dollars. Airlines pioneered these loyalty programs, convincing us to stick to a single carrier, and then rewarding with upgrades and travel. A company will do whatever it can to keep the churn down and spending high. Top brains at these organizations will obsess over how to keep you spending more and “join” their brand or bolt on to one you’re already in. Like Nascar? Visa has a credit card for you, complete with a reward points program that can earn you clothing and chance to ride in a pace car, or so I’m told, I don’t have the Nascar Visa card. But one group has been ignored, at least for now, the juiciest demographic of all, online gamers & “in world makers”…

Read the rest of the article

Drysc of Blizzard wanted to get this word out…

An issue occurred while applying the 1.10 content patch yesterday that prevented the realms from going live at the end of our scheduled maintenance window. To compensate players for any inconvenience caused by this extended downtime, we will be issuing a 24-hour time extension to all players with an active account. Thank you for your patience during today’s maintenance; we hope you enjoy all the new content in patch 1.10!

It’s too bad that most of us will never notice a 24-hour time extension since we pay our accounts thru our checking accounts and just see the money go out the window. When I do finally decide to quit playing WoW I seriously doubt they will even recollect that they owe me a collective week of downtime or if they do, it will have a caveat noting “sorry you had to use it in a specific period of time and you just missed it.” Cynical? Yea a little.

For those who have a wired Xbox 360 control can now play World of Warcraft with it! Check out this tool.

* WoW-360 Router - add-on that will allow you to use your Xbox 360 (wired) controller with WoW! Although WoW was never meant to be played on a joypad, I’m sure you can find a way to manage with that very comfortable controller, while leaning back in your chair.

This just in from Drysc:

As preparations for the realm transfers to Thrall and Norgannon progressed we have regretfully decided to postpone the transfer availability until further notice. We apologize again to those awaiting these transfer opportunities; we have made this decision to ensure the transfer period is carried out as smoothly as possible for you. We will provide updated information as soon as we have a firm date for these transfers to take place. Thank you for your continued patience, we hope to see you transferred successfully and happily to these realms as soon as possible.