We're currently seeking an experienced quality assurance professional to manage our Irvine, California-based, QA Department. This is a fantastic opportunity for QA Managers, Assistant Managers or Leads from other game companies to head up the team responsible for ensuring that all our games have the famous "Blizzard Polish." Please see the complete Quality Assurance Manager posting for all the details on this exciting new Blizzard job opening!

For more information concerning the job duties and requisites, please check this page here!  Good luck to any applicants!

Our Game Masters can now be reached through the in game tools 7 days a week from 2:00 p.m. - 11:00 p.m. PST.
You can now use in game tools as follows:

Press the “Help request” button.

Choose the “Page a GM” option.

Choose the issue type (Stuck/Harassment/Other Issues).

Enter a description of the issue.

Press the “Submit” button.

~Kat :)

And there you have it!  Seven days a week support for your in-game troubles!

World of Warcraft delivers just what people are expecting: a tight, fun MMOG from a trusted developer. Barring massive problems on rollout, it should come to dominate the MMOG scene this year. That's almost a shame, because people might miss out on games like City of Heroes, which as I said above accomplishes a lot of the same things in an entirely different setting but from an unknown developer. That said, World of Warcraft is a textbook case of doing it right: a solid franchise, an elegant game, incredible execution. They nailed it.

Positive comments all round... worth reading.

Do players find them useful, or would everyone opt the spend their skill points learning how to master new weapons? Are trade skills which produce ingredients for other trade skills actually useful? Which skills still need some tweaking? Find out: 

• World of Warcraft Trade Skills

Read other articles on the WoW Beta in our WoW Beta Journals.

Our new Server Status Forum will be the place to see those important messages regarding the status of the server.

The new forum can be viewed here.

Last week, I asked for Tabard Icon suggestions. At that time, we had about 50 icons already in the game. You all came through with GREAT ideas and just about every suggestion submitted (that met the requirements) is being created to be used as one of the 150+ new Tabard Icons!

Some examples of what we’re adding:

Animal faces (Cat, Rabbit, Lion, Ram, Dragon, Bull, Stag, etc.)

Crossed weapons (Hammers, Axes, Swords, Spears, Arrows, Scythes, etc...)

Multiple 'Skull and Crossbones'

Nature elements (Water Drop, Snowflake, Flames, Sapling, etc...)

Food Items (Chicken Leg, Muffin, Bowl of Soup, etc...)

And many more …

~Kat :)

I'm sure I can speak for most Beta Testers when I say thank you to all who submitted icons, and especially, thank you Blizzard!

It has been said that the warrior and hunter cannot heal themselves (except for the hunter's healing his pet.) How would skills like healing herbs compare to magical healing spells like "Holy Light"?
Non-Healing Classes will have several ways of healing. For healing between battles, they can eat food, or used Bandages. Neither one takes much time, and you are ready to go within a minute. So there's really isn't any disadvantage in terms of downtime for these classes. Though you will need First Aid skill to make bandages, or spend money buying food.

Instant healing, however is limited. You're restricted to Healing Potions, which are quite rare, and have a huge 2 minute cooldown. Where's a priest could heal as much as their spell's casting time allows.

Read the rest here, and post your own questions!

So, what do these skills look like in action? Well, they may not be as spectacular as a big ball of fire, but they're not bad nonetheless.

Find the rest in the World of Warcraft Spell Gallery. Expect screenshots for more skills/spells up soon!

Having a difficult time finding a particular item for sell?

Try out the WoW beta trading post forum.

I had tried to fix a problem this afternoon with how instances are distributed across machines (went live the same time as the GM tickets were enabled). Unfortunately, it started picking some machines it shouldn't have, and as we hit our peak users for the evening, resources ran low and stuff started dying. I tried to fix it twice and it did work slightly better each time, but it still got a few instances running on the same machines that are running Azeroth, which just doesn't work out very well at all.

It has now been reverted to the code you all know and love (which also happens to put ALL instances on one machine, but that's been mostly fine for the number of active instances we've seen to date). I'll hold off "fixing" this any more until the next push after it's had some real testing. Sorry for the inconenience, things are back to normal now.

Looks like some of you might have had to take a break for a few hours tonight!  If you'd like, you can read the official thread here.

• World of Warcraft: The Mage
• Comment

Stay tuned for more!

This week, we have a variation of Pyramid Escape. Temple Escape is a multiplayer team scenario designed to test your ability to survive. Players a trapped in a temple, and must traverse 7 devious traps to navigate to the exit... each one is a mini-game in itself, including timeless classics like Pacman. It's fun, refreshing, and well executed!

Download it here.

Got a Warcraft 3 Map? Be sure to submit it!

Out in depth report on the character includes detailed accounts of each and every spell... including statistics on cooldown, damage, and range for every rank of each individual spell. We also detail useful spell combos, trade skills, and unique talents. For example:

Fire Blast: Casting Time: Instant Fireblast is the first instant direct damage spell you'll get. It's great for dealing that extra damage in melee combat, or directly after a fireball for combo damage. It has a great mana/damage ratio, and should thus be used whenever cooldown allows. It is one of the few spells that the mage can cast without fear of diruption when in melee, and is thus, invaluable. Rank Required Level Mana Cooldown Range Damage 1 6 30 10s 20 yrd 23-29 2 14 80 9s 20 yrd 64-80 3 22 125 8s 20 yrd 118-144 4 30 180 8s 20 yrd 190-230

• World of Warcraft Focus: The Mage
• Character Classes Index

We look forward to bringing you such information about every other race!

When the World of Warcraft beta is live, what sort of coverage do you want the most?
Screenshots	42	8%
Quest Info	84	15%
Character Skill Info	288	53%
Don't Care	129	24%
TOTAL	543	100 %

Well, looks like most people want information on characters, so we will deliver just that... wait for about 5 minutes and you'll see! In the meantime, it appears that there's nearly a quater of viewers who don't really care about the beta. Well, you really should, it's certainly as good as any other Blizzard game!

In addition, Blizzard plans to add a new server some time in the beta, which will feature a different set of rules such as open PvP combat, that should be interesting.

So far, we've compiled a good list of Mage and Warlock spells.

• World of Warcraft Spell Gallery

Take a look! The other classes will get their turn soon!

Mage or Warlock, what's the difference?
Mages can cast far more offensive spells than warlocks, and their spells deal greater damage. So as a mage, you can really pummel the enemy to the ground before the reach you. However the mage is extremely weak in melee, and until levels, lacks the capability to deal with more than 1 enemy at the same time. The warlock, on the hand, can summon creatures which help take hits for him. The drawback though, is that he's direct damage spells a weaker. The two classes can be vaguely mapped onto the Sorceress and the Necromancer. Though minions are beef are more useful due to spell disruption.

Be sure to post a question here!

Was this a good decision? Does it make the game more fun? What aspects of the quest system still need to be tweaked? Hear our opinions!

• A Look at Quests

We'll keep you informed.

It should be of great interest both to beta testers and non-beta testers. Featuring a detailed page devoted to every sequence of quests, detailing their rewards, estimated time of completion, and where everything can be found, a player should find it invaluable reference. Meanwhile, reading about what quests are actually like should give you an idea of what World of Warcraft is about!

We launch with a detailed overview of Elwynn Forest, the starting zone for all human players, and also included a detailed report of how to deal the Gnolls at Northshire Abbey. Expect frequent updates, so that by the time of full release, we'll have a almost complete guide!

• Elywynn Forest Overview
• Northshire Gnoll Killing Quest Series

It's well worth reading!

World of Warcraft was delayed to September.
Status: Bogus
You can't delay a game that has never had an official date to begin with. It is next to unlikely that any one knows the real date that retail will begin.

• World of Warcraft Maps

As you may have noticed, a lot of maps are yet unavailable. We'll bring them to you as soon as Blizzard includes them in the beta.

This is part of what I meant by humane. Yeah, we made you do sort of a boring quest, but Merry Christmas, here is the Experience Santa with a level for you. You worked to get together all the stuff, you have enough skill to make it, so you can make it without failure. Here's lots of food and drinks everywhere so you can actually play the game and not sit there fucking off for ten minutes or more. Dying in these games sucks already, you have to run back to all the friends you just let down and explain why, in addition to the XP hit or whatever else. In World of Warcraft, you run back to your body as a ghost - invisible to monsters, and running at a greater speed. In addition, you don't bind to a particular point - whatever lifestone equivalent is closest, that's where you spawn in. If you don't want to run back to your corpse - or you haven't been raised by a party member or some polite stranger - then you need to pay some XP. After the kindness they've shown in other areas, that's something I can make my peace with.

Read the rest here.

I clicked duel. A flag post appeared beside us, and he accepted the duel. Then, as he attacked me using his various rogue abilities (which at the time I could not recognize) I quickly casted Holy Smite over and over. Every time he hit me, my spell was set back in its casting progress. In the end, I had won the duel.

All this, and much, much more can be found here!

Starting Monday, March 29, 2004, our North American GM staff will start working during peak play hours from 2:00 p.m. PST to 11:00 p.m. PST - 7 days a week. We are in the process of hiring a morning shift and will eventually gear up to 24/7 support before World of Warcraft is released. Thanks! /kat ;)

Ever wished there had been a GM when you needed one?  Comments on this schedule?  Let us know here on our official forums!

Kudos to Lemiwinks for the information!

The new screenshots start at the bottom of page 3 in our gallery; stop wasting time and check them out! There is definately some eye-candy there that you don't want to miss.

Stay tuned as we continue our WoW coverage! Be sure to keep up to date by visiting our forums; read the beta journals, and keep an eye out for character strategies in the coming weeks.

That's all for now...enjoy! =)

We begin today we a complete archive of maps for the continent of Azeroth, including a dozen beta maps that Blizzard haven't filtered to look like bits of parchment! If your curious on the world your adventuring, be sure to check it out:

• World of Warcraft Maps

When'll have a new continent tomorrow... so stay tuned! And just to give you an idea of how big the world is, throughout all my adventuring, I haven't had to set foot outside Elwynn Forest, a single zone within the continent!

How fun are mages to play as? Is it like Diablo II, where the Sorceress got stuck casting one spell against any and all enemies? How does mage spells work? Find out!

• Mage First Impressions

We'll write up more soon!

I can honestly say that we've all enjoyed playing WoW enough to tentatively agree, amongst ourselves, to buy the game and reform our guild upon public release, which is pretty a strong endorsement. The polish and depth of the game currently bode well for future development. Even in this early stage there is plenty for a character to do either alone or in groups, and there is plenty to look forward too (such as how PvP and Race interactions will be handled)

Read the rest here.

• Blacksmith Recipes
• Engineering Recipes

Go take a look!

Heck, after adventuring for a day, I couldn't even find a Female Dwarf! So, why not create a Player Compendium... where you can see exactly what each race and gender looks like? And that's exactly what we did!

• Player Character Gallery

You can point and stare, they don't mind.

Spider's First Impressions

The nice part about that was the fact that the game spared no time in throwing a good number of quests at you, and all were in close vicinity of eachother. This prevents you from running around the entire forest and getting lost; instead it forces you to learn the area, and as it gives you more and more quests, the ground they cover spreads out gradually. You'll find yourself traveling on familiar ground a lot, but I personally never found this to be tedious, because by the time I learned the area pretty well, a new quest had me running into parts of the forest I hadn't visited yet. [Read More]

2Xtreme's Trip to Ironforge

The Gryphon ride is a really nice scenic overlook, but the lag makes it tough and the minute details aren't really able to be seen (as seen in picture Gryphon 3). It's so awesome though.  Got back to Stormwind, hopped off a cliff into the lake for fun and took a screenshot of me swimming [Read More]

We'll keep you informed!

You can check out all our official screenshots here. Be sure to check back often, as I'll try to put up new shots every few days.

Be sure to check it out : 2xtreme21's Album

So, if you're not quite so diligent reading the news... especially with the dozen or so posts a day, go check that out to make sure you haven't missed anything major!

• World of Warcraft Beta Coverage

We will have more on character classes very soon! Stay tuned!

In the meantime, I'd liek to thank Burt and Freya for providing these:

Yes, these are character selection screens... but we've see in game screenshot so much that these should offer something refreshing. More screenshots are waiting in our Gallery.

Now that the Beta has being released, the legal document has ceased, those testers have reappeared in the real world... and do they have a tale to tell!

Whizbang Dustyboots was one such tester, and he has compiled a complete report on every aspect of the game he touched. This covers everything from initial impressions, to Character Classes, Quests, Race Abilities, Trade Skills... Travelm, you name it. It's got more information than the official site!

No... we ain't kidding, this reports over 12,000 words in length, around 30 pages in Microsoft Word. Ration it, but read it!

• World of Warcraft Alpha Report

We'd like to thank Whizbang Dustyboots once again, he'll have our eternal respect for typing this up!

Estimated Time of Completion: 123 hours

Well... you're not probably not the only one. We have written up an article about how you can increase your download speed. Read it, in our WoW Player Journals:

• Download the WoW Beta

There's a chance you'll be able to quadruple your current speed, be surprised! 

Gamespot has published their first impressions of the World of Warcraft beta. Here's what they say:

Let's just say our findings are very positive so far. The game gives a great first impression. Those familiar with Blizzard's Warcraft III will instantly feel at home using the game's streamlined, intuitive interface, and those familiar with other massively multiplayer online role-playing games would likely be flabbergasted at how quickly the game loads up.

Sounds great. Read the rest here, and see the new screenshots as well. Kudos to Ian Winters for the news!

The 'Page a GM' function under the Help Request icon is currently disabled. If you need to contact a GM, please type "/who GM" into the chat window. You will then be presented with a list of all characters with 'GM' in their character name or guild name. All members of the guild <GM Staff> are official World of Warcraft Game Masters, and employees of Blizzard Entertainment. You can send a message to these people with your issues and questions. The response time can vary depending on how many issues they are dealing with, but you will receive a response as soon as possible.

Hope that helps!

This is mostly like a hoax, a scam for some cash... but don't bother betting. The deal has already been made! Find out more here!

Update: EBay has closed the sale!

• Blizzard Forbids the publication of in Game Movies
• Currently only the Alliance is available for play.
• The Beta only one person to create only one account. Therefore Blizzard does not wish you to share the beta with anyone.
• The Beta is a 2Gb Download on Bit-Torrent... it may take a while!
• Notebook users rejoice, you can play the beta from different IP Addresses.

Hope that helps!

*grins*

Oh, and be sure to nab the new bonus map Blizzard released called Shamrock Reef.

Yup! Just got my beta e-mail! *grooves* See you in Azeroth!

• Starcraft Comic: Phantoms Shadow

Got art in any shape of form? Be sure to send it in!

We are currently moving the Alpha Testers onto the Beta Server. This helps test the Account Creation process as well as the server in general.

We’re moving one step closer but Beta emails have not been sent. Nor will they be sent out today.

Oh so soon as we continue getting everything ready.

We cannot wait!

TFT brought several major changes to the game that WC3 was before - from neutral heroes to new units to new creeps, maps, and items, among others, TFT is almost incomparable to WC3 classic. Whereas other expansions are generally minor tweaks to the main game, adding a few units and maybe a few new abilities, TFT is almost a complete overhaul.

However, not everyone would agree all these changes were for the better. Some people simply don't like change, whereas others don't like the increased complexity that comes about when new units and heroes are introduced. Others simply don't like the new dynamics about the game.

Sounds interesting? Read the rest and post your opinions

Strength - Improved chance to block, improved chance to critical hit
Agility - Improved chance to dodge
Stamina - Increases health points
Intellect - Increases mana points
Spirit - Increases health and mana regeneration

Well, the first four are all standard RPG stuff... but Spirit? That's new!

Blizzard confirms that the beta is just around the corner; sit tight, we're almost there! *rubs his hands together whilst grinning evilly* >=D

How will the World of Warcraft Warrior differ from your standard game? How does the Rage Bar work, and most importantly, what skills do they have? We have a complete compilation based on the all the latest knowledge released online:

• The Warrior
• World of Warcraft Classes Main

Be sure to give it a look! We'll have coverage of the other classes up soon... so stay tuned!

We not that for many people, the Domain DNS hasn't been updated yet, that's why we've put up the IP Adress link above. Discuss here!

Also got a copy? We'd absolutely love it if you could send us some scans!

What Sort of Download Speed to you usually achieve on the internet (In Kbytes/s)?
0 - 5.0	71	10%
5.0 - 10.0	33	5%
10.0 - 20.0	39	6%
20.0 - 50.0	46	7%
20.0 - 50.0	63	9%
50.0 - 100	138	20%
100 - 500	228	33%
500 - 1000	36	5%
1000+	38	5%
TOTAL	692	100 %

Well, it doesn't seem like many people are going to have connection problems. The vast majority of our viewers download at well over 0.05mb/s.... well into the broadband range. That's by far over the requirements for a smooth World of Warcraft game.

There is however, 1 in 10 people who're not only on dial-up, but on the lower side of dial-up as well. If you're one of them, you may wish to consider upgrading your connection, if possible. Though for some, such as those on a farm in the middle of the Pacific Ocean somewhere in New Zealand...  well, we solute you!

In Star Wars: Aeon of Strife, the Light and the Dark side face each other in a showdown of epic proportions. Players may choose from up to 20 different heroes, including Jedis, Hutts and Fighter Pilots. The scenerio features custom music, custom sounds, and custom music, as well as a unique ability for players to mount and fire from Ion Cannons.

Great for a LAN, be sure to download it.

After some investigation, we wish to confirm that this rumour is false. Sorry to get your hopes up! But there's a lot of fake GFraizer's running around right now! So here's the official word from the real one:

There are some "interviews" and comments being posted with me around town on various fan sites, forums, etc. These are fake! My communication is via these forums with an official Blizzard Icon. I read interviews with myself today for the first time wondering what they had me say. I'm busy working with our team on beta issues super late everynight. If I get any extra time I'm going to "test" World of Warcraft OR SLEEP! I'm not going to go out there and do interviews.

Please let anyone who know who asks, that info was not real. If you want to tell them to remove them or post a warning to their readers that they posted FAKE interviews, that would be great too.

So if you read something somewhere that's not official... beware! We can be sure that important information like the Beta Release will be announced in public, and not in a random chat.

Be sure to check out the rest at:

• World of Warcraft Screenshot Gallery

This game is looking great!

While you're here, swing by our WoW forums; with the beta due to be released sometime soon, we're ready to go. We'll be looking for people to play with, so if you're one of the lucky ones with the beta, tag along in our travels through Azeroth.

Can players visit the Outland?
Players can visit the Outland once it becomes available. The Outland will become available through players summoning the Dark Portal. This will be a server-wide, world altering event. Once the portal is opened .. it will remain opened for good, allowing all players’ access to the Outland.

Sounds great! Read the rest here.

Check out the progress and partcipate here.

Andjust in cased you missed out, be sure to check Warcraft 3 Done Quick, where the entire game was completely in just over 4 hours!

In MDX and BLP format, it can be readily used for a variety of purposes. If you're one who wants to see something new. Give it a try:

• Sephiroth (410 kb)
• Warcraft 3 Mod Archive

Got a custom model, a custom skin, or anything else? Be sure to send it in!

• Katricia has sent word there the Beta won't be released this week. Sorry! But she hints that it'll arrive, 'very, very soon.'
• Dueling will be complete consensual. Both players must agree to the duel to fight.

We'll have our own WoW Infobase up very.. very soon!

Once again, it goes to show you that hacking isn't worth the risk when it comes to Blizzard. It's a pity no one learns their lesson...

• Phantom's Shadow

Got art or any form? We want it! Be sure to send it in.

While the game is suppose to support dial-ups, we all know that lag is a matter of life and death, and seeing a monster 2 seconds after it sees you could be disastrous .  So, what proportion of people will be plagued by lag? Let's see in this week's poll!

If there was a Player vs Player Server in WoW, where anyone can attack anyone, would you play on it?
Yes, Always	86	15%
Yes, Sometimes	297	51%
No, Never	203	35%
TOTAL	586	100 %	..

Well, looks like Blizzard would be wise to include a player vs player server.... A lot of people love the excitement of competing against a fellow human being, in fact, the great majority, it would seem!

If you haven't seen the movie, you shouldn't miss out on the greatest fantasy models since Lord of the Rings... including the Night Elf that everyone's seems to drool over.

Check out the rest here.

Smash TV Arcade 2004 is all about survival, as you battle countless minions at increasing higher difficulty levels. Features include power-ups that give you random abilities, random summons, and lots of unique spells. There's action unlimited.. great for LAN.

Download it here.

Got a scenario? Be sure to send it in to our Warcraft 3 Map Archive. There's also hundreds of maps for you to browse through.

In the meantime, post in our WoW forums and give us suggestions as to what you'd like to see! We'll take screenshots of whatever you like once we get our hands on the beta, so don't hesitate to ask!

Blizzard

• World of Warcraft Screenshots

The 8 other screenshots should be somewhere on the second page.

Ever wonder what a Blizzard cinematic movie looks like at the different stages of development? On March 5th, we will be releasing a brand new movie featuring a behind-the-scenes glimpse of World of Warcraft’s opening cinematic. This rare look at a Blizzard movie in progress will be available for download at Blizzard.com starting at 6pm PST this Friday. We hope you’ll stop by to check it out.

We simply can't wait. In the meantime, discuss it here.

You saw it coming in SC, with the huge amount of new modes and the incredible campaign editor that was included. from the ever-evolving customization tools that blizzard provides with the community, and the various different built-in modes that come with the game, most of blizzards games sport quite a bit of customizability. But WC3 stands apart from nearly any other RTS in its huge diversity of different things you can do.

From solo 1v1 ladder matches, full of micro and macro on both sides and plenty of tension, to blazing 2v2, 3v3, and 4v4 matchups with plenty of fireworks, to backstabbing and hilarious tactics in FFA's, to the relaxed pace of Hero Arenas, Tower Defense, DoTA-type maps, and even some very unique ideas including an FPS(!) mod for WC3, WC3/TFT have plenty of different things you can do.

The question is, where to find time to do it all, and what to choose above the others?

Sounds interesting? Read and discuss it here.

...Or at least, I wish I could say that. A recent post at GoneGold claimed that Blizzard was going to release StarCraft 2 at the end of this year, and that it would sport a price tag of $100. Blizzard has since replied saying it was just a rumor. Pity really...it would have been nice to know SC2 was really in development. We can only hope...

Thanks to PCGAMER for the interesting tidbit.

• World of Warcraft Screenshot Gallery

We strive to keep it updated.

• Starcraft Comic: Phantom's Shadow

We'll keep you updated with future installments.

• Your bank storage space is protected
• Horde Players and Alliance Players use different sets of banks.
• A character can carry an infinte amount of gold, no need to use banks for gold.
• Banks offer extra inventory slots for purchase.
• Items can be accessed at any bank.

Interesting! Kudos to Fiyaz for the news.

• Arthas: The Lich King: -Drawn By R. Galati
• Orc Grunt: -Drawn By Scott
• Druid of the Claw: -Drawn By Scott

Take the time, have a look, and leave some comments! Got art? be sure to send it in!