Humans are replaced with Wood Elves
Undeads are replaced with Chaos
Orcs are replaced with Trolls
Night Elves are replaced with Lizardmen

Pretty cool huh? What's more, being compiled totally into a Warcraft 3 Map, it's trivial to install, just load the map. In addition, it's easy to distribute over Battle.net. (Though, for that, you'd want a broadband).

Interested? Find it in our archive of Warcraft 3 Mods.

Lastly, from the staff here at Infoceptor, have a safe and happy Halloween!

Remember, we'd love to see your map.

The USWest Battle.net, Diablo II and Warcraft III servers will be unavailable for up to 6 hours starting at 1700 on Wednesday, October 30th UTC (1000 Pacific Daylight Time / 0200 Korea Standard Time) for network maintenance.

-The Battle.net Team

6 hours is quite a lot of time but it will be worth it to have faster servers.

"If the snipers didn't have violence in their life, I don't think they'd be as violent as they are. I agree wholeheartedly with Wal-Mart in taking the video games off. And I think they should stay off," said Bobbie Harkey, a Tierrasanta resident and Wal-Mart customer.

Eeek, what's the world turning to. Nevermind the fact that the sniper was an ex-marine, or the fact that those games are actually counter terrorism, and lets blame it all on video games. Yes, I'm sure that this particular ex-marine wouldn't have been exposed to violence if he didn't play Rainbow Six.

Comment

The Ladder Web site now properly displays experience-point loss for players that do not play the minimum amount of games required each week. Prior to the change, the site only updated the amount of XP lost by inactive players after they had returned to play a new game. For the duration that these players were inactive, their ladder position and XP total were not updated. Now, the site refreshes regularly regardless of whether players remain active.

As an operative of the Terran Dominion, you can expect to be on the other side of the galactic fence from both the Zerg and the Protoss. Not all of humanity has the same goals and aspirations as our young heroine, though, so she may also run up against other Terrans as well. Players can expect to see many of their favorite units from StarCraft brought up close and personal in this game, as well as encounter some new foes that have been created specifically for Ghost (and will then become a part of the StarCraft universe).

So, we finally got the time that this game is set in. Read the rest here. Finally Blizzard confirms in the last paragraphs that they're still not working on Starcraft II.

Yet Grator has developed a strategy, that’s ultimately entertaining, and even better, works most of the time against experienced players. Treat rush takes Night Elves to a new level, by allowing them to win with nothing but Wisps and Trees, in fact, no hero is necessary half of the time. And if you don't believe it, there's two very entertaining replays for you to watch, so be sure to check this out:

• Ancient Protector Madness
• Strategy Index
• Comment

If you're an experienced player, we'd love to see your strategy. So be sure to submit it.

Which of the races in Warcraft 3 is most powerful, now that V1.03 is released? Human    58    5%  Orc    145    13%  Night Elf    262    23%  Undead    435    38%  It's Balanced    232    21%  TOTAL 1131 100 % ..

The results are most interesting, since it appears that the general consensus has become more biased than it was back in Warcraft 3 V1.03. When a poll of this exact same topic was conducted back then, the amount of people who voted for each race was lot more even distributed... Yet now, only 1 in 20 people consider humans the most powerful, and the Undead received a far greater proportion of votes...

Did V1.03 really improve race balance? That depends on who you ask.

World of Warcraft is just that, a map that's a spoof of Blizzard's project in the making of the same name. Basically, you and your friends travel through a word of ever regenerating creep's, fighting all the way. While there's no storyline, it does feature a mimicry of the WoW trailer that's quite amusing to watch.

Download it here.

Got a map of your own? Be sure to upload it.

• Steam Powered Rush
• Strategy Index.

Got a strategy for Warcraft 3? We'd love to publish it, so be sure to send it in.

• There will be two cinematic sequences, one at the start, and the other at the end of the game.
• In addition, there will be dozens upon dozens of in game cut scenes.
• Starcraft: Ghost will be released on XBox first, then Playstation 2 and Nintendo Game Cube a short while later.

Find a details scan of the fifth and final page of the Starcraft: Ghost preview here. Included is nice screenshot of a battle in Mar Sara, as well as a Nuclear Blast.

• Players will be able to assume control of anything in the battle, including, but not limited to, Vultures, Goliaths, Siege Tanks and Turrets.
• You will be able to call down nuclear, yomato and siege tank blasts with that laser pointer of yours.
• Nuclear blasts are huge

Again, the scan is well worth reading, including a vivid description of a nuclear strike. Check the scan here.

A Denial of Service attack is being perpetuated against the Diablo II Realm servers. Users should know that if they are found to be causing Diablo II servers to crash they will be banned from Battle.net, and associated characters and accounts will be deleted.

The Battle.net Team

We hope Blizzard can solve this problem quickly and easily.

• There will be a mana system in Starcraft: Ghost, and all Psi Abilities cost Mana. Your mana slowly regenrates over time and regenrates faster as you progress through the game.
• In addition to Psionic Sight, Psionic Speed, Lockdown and Cloak, Blizzard plans for at least two more Psi Abilities.
• Nova's main weapon will triples up as a Gauss Rifle, a Sniper Rifle and a Grenade Launcher.
• There are plenty of special weapons and ammo, such as heat seeking grenades and the flamethrower.
• In addition, you can go fight enemies hand to hand with a power scythe.

Sounds good, find the scan, with a couple more screenshots, here.

As for the Game Programmer job, you would need C/C++ programming experience, the will to participate in pair programming, and be able to work long hours when necessary among other things.  If you feel you are on par with these requirements, get more information here.

• Nova will be able to use a host of 'Psi Abilities'.
• All of the favorite Ghost abilities from Starcraft are back, including Cloak, Lockdown, and Nuclear Strike.
• When Cloaked, Nova takes the appearance of cloaking in Predator movies. While cloaked, Nova cans till be detected should she make a lot of sound.
• Psionic Sight is a new ability, which not onlys allows Nova to see through walls, but also detect enemy footprints.
• There's also Psionic Speed, which will function just like Max Payne.

Included are also a number of screenshots, so be sure to take a look here.

Do you think Blizzard did a good job in Balancing Warcraft 3 with V1.03?
Totally	233	19%
It's OK	578	47%
It's Worse than Before!	162	13%
Daboo?	248	20%
TOTAL	1221	100 %	..

It appears that the first reponse to V1.03 was not strictly postive, with the vast majority of thsoe who knew what's going on undecided about the balance changes. Though there was a fifth in complete support, a significant number still believe that we've taken a step backwards.

• So far, nova had over 70 animation sequences, including your typical jumps, rolls and crouches as well as more innovative moves, such as sliding down ladders and walking on tight ropes.
• Blizzard plans to add even more animations sequences
• Nova is able to 'Dangle Sniper', a move in which she hangs off some sort of a object and destroy her enemies while upside down.

Interested in knowing more? Thankfully you can, Ckayote has kindly submitted scans of some very cool screenshots that's release along with the preview, find them below:

• Starcraft Ghost: Scan
• Starcraft Ghost Main

We'll keep you informed! And remember, be sure to buy the November issue of Game Informer.

Legacy of Shadow is set decades after the events of Brood War, where the Orcish Horde is again under threat of extinction. In desperate times, heroes from the ancient past are summoned. In the game, you control one of these legends, be it Dentarg, Zul'jin, Khargath, or even me :).

Featuring a duel system, lots of side quests and other general goodness, it's a great scenerio for RPG Fans. Download the map here.

Remember, we want your map. So if you have one that's of high quality, be sure to submit it.

On Sunday, September 22, Battle.net set a new record with 50,000 simultaneous Warcraft III users! We have also reached another milestone with over one million unique Warcraft III users (CD keys) having logged on to Battle.net to play Warcraft III since the game's release.

This just goes to show how popular and fun to play Blizzard games are.

• Warcraft 3 Files

Got a program that you made? We'd love to see it, so be sure to send them in.

Comment

Ryan has written up a nice guide that describes what skills to get for each of the three human heroes in your average game, and which should your primary. It's a good read, and worth a look:

• Human Skill Placement
• Strategy Index
• Comment

Got a strategy? We want it! Be sure to send them in.

Hydra has written up a guide to playing the support role as Orcs on large teams games, using a variety of units, many of which unused prior to V1.03. It's designed for beginners or intermediates, take a look if you fit the bill:

• Hydraforce Support
• Strategy Index
• Comment

Got a strategy? We want it, especially with the new V1.03. Be sure to send it in.

• Rock Golem By Wild 2k
• Female Soldier: By Acolyte of Death

Got Fan Art? If you're got works as talented as those that are being published, be sure to send them in. For other great visuals, check out our Fan Art Gallery.

Comment

Do you think that these changes were justified? Is the game better balanced overall? Or has the Undead become overpowered and the humans become cannon fodder? Vote today.

In Your Opinion, which of the Heavy Melee Units in Warcraft 3 is the best all rounder?
Knight	196	15%
Tauren	376	29%
Abomination	187	14%
Druid of the Claw	345	26%
Daboo?	199	15%
TOTAL	1303	100

The results are interesting, and seem to be quite disagreeable to theoretically results. Though the Taurens have the most hit points, they actually deal nearly the least damage per hit due to their slow attack rate. The Abomination was least popular, though this could be because of his looks. For his comparatively low cost, the Abomination is a great unit, and deadly when supported with Unholy Frenzy and Frost Armor.

In Vampire Hunters, players are split into two teams, the Vampires, who seek destruction by slaughtering innocent villagers, and the hunters, who attempt to defend the village. In this enhanced version by FM_TertiaryEye, there are 6 classes to choose from, new gameplay elements and a lot of other great stuff.

Interested? Download it here.

If you've got a map, remember to submit it instantly. Check out our complete archive here.

A man has died after an 86-hour gaming marathon. The incident occurred at an Internet café in a town 160 miles southwest of Seoul, where the man, who was unemployed, had been "virtually glued" to a computer since Friday, skipping sleep and meals. The man collapsed near the café's counter and was later found dead in the restroom. Many Internet cafés in South Korea are open 24 hours a day.

While no word was said about which game he played, South Korea has always been well know for its addiction to Blizzard Games, particularly Starcraft, in which live games are broadcasted over TV. So errm kids, when you're playing Warcraft 3, remember that though your troops do not need to eat, you probably do. And even Ogre Mauler's go to sleep at night. (And no, we're not Golems).

We have changed how Battle.net selects maps for Anonymous Matchmaking games. Previously, if players did not have any preferred maps (thumbs up next to the map name) in common, Battle.net would choose randomly among all maps, including ones which all players had marked as being not preferred (thumbs down next to the map name). Now, a map has to be marked "thumbs up" by at least one player to be selected by Battle.net, and maps that all players mark thumbs up have a greatly increased chance of being chosen by Battle.net. Maps marked "thumbs down" by all players will not be selected at all.

We have also changed how the results of team games are recorded. When players are disconnected from team games and their team goes on to win the game, the disconnected players will now receive a win instead of a loss.

Interesting, now putting thumbs up on maps might actually do something.

• Night Elf: Demon Hunter Mana Burn cooldown to 9 sec from 6 sec.
• Night Elf: Huntress Sentinel now requires teir 2 to research.
• Orc: Witch Doctor Healing Wards now have 5 hitpoints, down from 200.
• Infernals can no longer be damaged by Dispel Magic

Interesting, so the Demon Hunter did get nerfed slightly. In addition, the Witch Doctor is all powerful like before, since Healing Wards are now really only useful when out of battle. And now all three Undead heroes have got improvements.

We have deleted the Warcraft III ladder records of players who used a "disconnect hack" while playing on Battle.net. Such actions violate Battle.net’s Terms of Use Agreement. Repeated use of hacks in Blizzard multiplayer games can result in permanent removal from Battle.net, without warning.

We appreciate the understanding and cooperation of the Warcraft III community in this matter. Your assistance has helped us take great strides in keeping play over Battle.net fair and secure. Please continue to report additional instances of hacking or cheating to hacks@blizzard.com.

--Blizzard Entertainment

Nice to see Blizzard taking some good hard steps with these hackers.  We hope to see the same in the future to prevent these kind of hacks.

In contrast, the undead has a huge boost. The Lich, already popular in the hands of top players, has now become an ultimate hero. Autocast Frost Armor, increased hit points...  Who could ask for more? In addition, there's a good chance that Gargoyles can now be used like Mutalisks in Starcraft...

Nightmare has written up some interesting predictions about the matter, read them here. Finally, if there's general things you want to discuss, why not read the original thread.

All Warcraft III game servers will be shut down at 1900 UTC for routine maintenance. This outage should last no longer than 30 minutes. Any Warcraft III ladder games played at the time of this shutdown will not be recorded.

-The Battle.net Team

Looks like a pretty quick maintenance.  Warcraft III players shouldn't be inconvienenced too much.

Targetted to counter Orcs, with their Tower Rush and Shaman Tech, 'Containment Siege' is a perfected tactic against the build order that the vast majority of Orc Ladder Players use. It even includes a reply, so go take a look:

• Containment Siege
• Strategy Index
• Comment

Remeber, if you got a cool tactic, we'd love to see it. So be sure to send them over.

• Wallpaper's Archive

As always, if you have an attractive piece of work, don't hesitate to send it in. For other great eye candy, check out our Fan Fiction Archive.

Comment

In celebration of the game’s 10th anniversary, Blizzard Entertainment announced today plans to bring The Lost Vikings™ to the Game Boy® Advance under its newly created Blizzard Classic Arcade label. Click here for more information.

It'll be fun to relive the memories with Blizzard's newest console release.

If you consider yourself good at microing, then this strategy could give you the upper hand:

• Raiders on Parade
• Strategy Index
• Comment

Consider yourself a good Warcraft 3 Player, we'd love to see your tactics. If you have an effective builder order, analysis or tactic, be sure to submit it.

War of the ‘Crafts, now that you've had adequate time to play both... Which game, Starcraft or Warcraft 3, do you consider to be the best game for its time?
Starcraft	773	50%
Warcraft 3	467	31%
They're Equal	291	19%
TOTAL	1531	100 %

Strong opinions this time, but in the end, it seems like a lot more people considered Starcraft a much better game for its time than Warcraft 3. Indeed, there has been some talk in the forums that the storyline of Warcraft 3 is but a recycled version of the one for Starcraft...

It is interesting to note that what started out as 'Orcs in Space' turned out to be the most popular project that Blizzard has ever created.

In Forgotten Lands, players start off as if it were a melee match, however powerful heroes can be found along the way. As players progress through the massive map, they have chances to control legendary heroes like Archimonde and Chaos HellScream. It's ideal for a Lan Party, where 6 players can take on the other 6 in the ultimate mayhem.

Interested? Download it here.

Got a scenario, map, or simply a level that is cool? You can go upload it instantly! For other great scenarios, check out our extensive Map Archive.

On another note, Gamespot has put up a poll asking if people were surprised by the announcement of Starcraft: Ghost.  Be sure to cast your vote or see the results.

• Wallpaper's Archive

Remember, if you've got any form of art, be it sketches, renders or more wallpaper's, be sure to send it in.

Recent events have caused Internet network issues for customers of UU.net and customers of ISPs who use UU.net's network. As a result, certain players on US West and US East may not be able to access Battle.net. If you are experiencing poor Battle.net performance on these servers or have further questions related to connectivity, please contact your local ISP. As always, we appreciate your patience as this situation is resolved.

- Blizzard Entertainment

We hope Blizzard can get this problem resolved soon.

• Starcraft Ghost: Main

As you would expect from a main section at Infoceptor. We will aim to keep this up to date as new information is released. For now

We are aware of the farm bug that has recently surfaced in Warcraft III multiplayer games. The upcoming patch 1.03, which we expect to complete soon, will address this bug, in addition to making a variety of other adjustments to the game. As always, we appreciate the efforts of our community in spreading the word and helping to raise customer awareness as it relates to this issue. Thanks to our customers as well for your patience and understanding while we complete the patch.

-Blizzard Entertainment

Patch 1.03 will be a welcome change since it will fix some annoying little problems that Warcraft III suffers from.

Please note: We are aware of the Diablo II Battle.net item hack that has recently surfaced and are working to nullify this hack now. The hack program works by allowing a player to create an image of an item, not the item itself, in the trade window and initiate a sale with the merchants in town.

With this hack program, an unscrupulous player can attempt to sell an item that is not truly in their inventory. This is causing intermittent server delays for the Diablo II community as a whole.

In keeping with our aggressive stance against hacks and cheats, we are devoting our full attention to eliminating the interference caused by the item hack program. We will issue an update as soon as more information is available.

As always, we appreciate the efforts of our fansites and community in spreading the word and helping to raise customer awareness with such issues. Thanks to our customers as well for your patience and understanding during this time. Please continue reporting hacks to hacks@blizzard.com.

-Blizzard Entertainment

Nice to see Blizzard respond so quickly to a serious problem such as this.

• Night Elf Hero Skill Selections
• Strategy Index
• Submit Your Strategies!
• Comments

We're pleased to announce that we've entered into a relationship with Toycom, a leading distributor of anime, manga, and game-related action figures. Under this agreement, Toycom will manufacture a variety of collectible products based on popular characters from the Warcraft, StarCraft, and Diablo worlds. Further details will be made available in the coming months.

This will mean that Blizzard will be coming out with a lot more action figures and maybe some comics.  Not a bad idea by Blizzard to make this partnership.