Posted 11/05/09 at 02:34:15 AM by Nathan Grayson

Wow. Just wow. We already fork over $15 per month to play World of Warcraft, and Blizzard seriously expects us to drop more of our hard-earned cash on a couple of… Good Lord. They’re adorable. Here’s all our money, as well as a winning lottery ticket and our collection of first edition Charizards.

Lucky for our credit histories, though, only two pets are on sale at the moment. First up, there’s the Pandaren Monk, which – in addition to warming the cockles of our hearts – brightens the days of sick children. From now until December 31, half the proceeds from each $10 Pandaren purchase will go to the Make-a-Wish-Foundation.

Lil’ K.T., the Littlest Lich, on the other hand, isn’t so charitable. Perhaps that’s because he’s the spitting image of his pop, the evil Kel’Thuzad. Apparently, he’s even been known to “randomly wreak icy havoc on critters who dare to cross his path.” But look at that face. Omnipotence and iron-fisted dominion over all existence notwithstanding, all Lil’ K.T. really wants is love.

So, readers, Pandaren Monk or Lil’ K.T. – which is it gonna be? 

Read More

Posted 10/13/09 at 10:24:18 PM by Nathan Grayson

Are we in the midst of a videogame movie that might just be – dare we say it – worth looking forward to? Well, let’s see: first, the Dark Knight’s producer signed on, then Spiderman director Sam Raimi swung onto the set, and now, “Saving Private Ryan”/"The Patriot" screenwriter Robert Rodat’s attempting to prove to us that “WarCraft” won’t turn out to be a superhero movie, among other things.

"I've never made a video game movie, but my approach would be to work with the best character writer I can find, which in this case is Robert Rodat, and tell a great character story within the fantastic environment of the world of WarCraft, while staying true to their mythology,” said director Sam Raimi.

Wait. You mean, in order to craft a quality videogame movie, you need to hire talented people? Doh! We knew everyone else was doing something wrong. 

Read More

Posted 09/02/09 at 12:35:49 AM by Nathan Grayson

In what’s starting to look like an annual occurrence, it’s time for another tiny morsel of info on Blizzard’s next massively multiplayer magnum opus. Blizzard’s Paul Sams spoke with Wired about the <insert adjective describing the game here once we actually know something about it> MMO, explaining that the game is unique enough to avoid stepping on WoW’s toes.

“I think the (new MMO) is going to be significantly differentiated enough,” Sams said. “Such that, you’re not going to feel like they’re one and the same resulting in that you have to pick or choose.”

“If the bad thing that happens to us is that they leave WoW and go to this other thing of Blizzard’s, then we’ll work through that pain,” he added.   

Shockingly, we’d actually be pretty alright with knowing the “pain” of having one of our multi-million dollar MMOs cannibalize subscribers from our other multi-million dollar MMO. But then, that’s just us. 

Read More

Posted 08/21/09 at 03:24:44 AM by Nathan Grayson

In this day and age -- where print’s allegedly on the verge of casting off its mortal coil -- the announcement of a new magazine is a bit of an oddity. But then, we’re talking about World of Warcraft here, the brand that once had us a friend eying a bottle of Mtn Dew with something akin to legitimate interest. It’s with that rationale, then, that Future Publishing’s launching a World of Warcraft magazine.

 The quarterly publication will “cover all aspects” of WoW, and will be stitched together by an all-star editorial team comprised of people like former Official Xbox Magazine Senior Editor Dan Amrich and industry vet Julian Rignall.

Interested yet? If so, a subscription will run you $39.95 per year, or you can strap in for the long haul and drop $69.95 on two years. But hey, the magazine’s nice and glossy, and ad-free to boot! Gotta pay a little extra for class.

And remember, don’t be too rough on the new publication. It was born and bred under Future’s roof, so that makes it MPC’s big, green, chainmail-clad sister or something. Go easy on the gal, or we might have to rough you up a bit.   

Read More

Posted 08/11/09 at 03:57:22 AM by Nathan Grayson

You’ve seen the commercials. You know what’s up. According to television – which never lies – Ozzy Osbourne is a level 80 undead warlock who managed to solo his way up until a fateful -- and lopsided -- showdown with Arthas. The metal legend has every reason to be at BlizzCon. So when a DirectTV listing for BlizzCon popped up with Ozzy’s name front-and-center, we weren’t too surprised.

Obviously, Ozzy’s purported “special appearance” at BlizzCon would seem to suggest a performance of some sort – hopefully of both the rock and roll varieties, and not some tearful unveiling of Ozzy’s secret affair with WoW cosplay.

Guess we’ll find out for sure next week, when BlizzCon blows through Anaheim. So, who’s going? And who wishes they were going now that Ozzy’s thrown his tier six hat into the ring?

Read More

Posted 07/22/09 at 03:24:24 AM by Nathan Grayson

The number of decent videogame movies can scarcely be counted on two hands (and even then, it only works if you count Metal Gear Solid 4 as a movie), but World of Warcraft’s cinematic debut is looking to turn that trend around. First, the film snagged The Dark Knight’s producer, and now Spiderman director Sam Raimi is lending his significant skills in the field of not being Uwe Boll to the project.

“Blizzard Entertainment and Legendary Pictures have a shared vision for this film and we searched at length to find the very best director to bring that vision to life,” said Paul Sams, chief operating officer of Blizzard.

“From our first conversation with Sam, we could tell he was the perfect choice. Sam knows how to simultaneously satisfy the enthusiasts and the mainstream audience that might be experiencing that content for the first time. We’re looking forward to working with him to achieve that here.”

In addition to the Spiderman films, Raimi has also directed “Evil Dead” and the recent “Drag Me to Hell,” among others. Honestly though, while we’re sure Raimi‘s got something special planned for the WoW movie, we’d love to see Blizzard’s cinematic team branch its talent tree into the realm of movie magic. If WoW looked as mind-blowing as they make it out to be, well, even the four people who aren’t currently addicted to Blizzard's potent substance might give it a shot.

Read More

Posted 07/02/09 at 12:23:44 AM by Nathan Grayson

Earlier this week, we (along with every other tech/gaming site on the Internet) reported that the Chinese government had put the kibosh on gold farming once and for all – something that, to many, sounded like a dream come true. Well wake up, because reality has decided to toss a cold bucket of water on your spam-free fantasy land. Richard Heeks of the University of Manchester explained:

“This is a government restriction on the use of the quasi-Paypal-like currencies (mainly QQ coins) that are used extensively in China to pay for virtual game stuff.  As announced they can now only be used to pay for virtual stuff, and you can’t buy real things with them as game companies were allowing to happen, nor can you gamble.”

“This therefore is not about what gold farming clients do: use real money to buy these virtual currencies; it’s the mirror image.  And it’s not about the major trade in gold farming such as World of Warcraft, which relates to other types of virtual currency.”

So there you have it. Rumors of gold farming’s death were greatly exaggerated. Shame, too because BUY GOLD BUY GOLD BUY GOLD AT WWW.AREYOUBUYINGGOLDYET.COM, YOUR SOURCE FOR GOLD THAT YOU CAN BUY.

Read More

Posted 06/30/09 at 03:27:29 AM by Nathan Grayson

Tired of seeing dingy ol’ Orgrimmar day in and day out? Unable to play nice with your buddies in the Alliance? Recently perform the biggest guild heist in recorded history and need to flee the country and start a new life to get The Law off your tail? Well, looks like the planets have aligned in your favor, because faction changes are no longer just a pipe dream (or, in some cases, nightmare) for WoW players.

"The basic idea is that players will be able to use the service to transform an existing character into a roughly equivalent character of the opposing faction on the same realm," Blizzard wrote. "There's still much work to do and many details to iron out."

“As with all of the features and services we offer, we intend to incorporate the faction-change service in a way that won’t disrupt the gameplay experience on the realms, and there will be some rules involved with when and how the service can be used.”

Perhaps, then, this service will finally dispel the thick, foggy stereotypes that cling to both factions, uniting players by allowing them to take a stroll in one another’s chainmail greaves. Horde and Alliance will meet in grocery stores, eye each other’s respective Mtn Dew bottles, and – instead of engaging in low-budget CG combat – meet with a warm embrace. The CG budget will then be spent on one of those studio audiences that goes “D’aaaaaawwww.”  

Or, if the service is badly implemented, Horde and Alliance will unite in one giant, 12-million-strong wail of disdain for Blizzard. So either way, the two supposedly disparate sides are about to get a lot closer together.   

Read More