Battle.net conversion

Hey guys, just making sure everyone has seen the news about merging your account with a Battle.net account! The deadline is currently November 11. If you go ahead and merge your accounts, you'll also get a special in-game pet.. a penguin! So go ahead and do what you'll have to do if you haven't done it already and get your pet!

From the World of Warcraft website:

A few months ago, we unveiled the Battle.net account, our new way for players to log in to World of Warcraft and future Blizzard games, sign up for upcoming beta tests, shop the online Blizzard Store, and more with just one username and password. This was just the first step in the rollout of the brand-new Battle.net; in the future, players will be able to use Battle.net to participate in cross-realm chat in World of Warcraft, create real-life friends lists, communicate across different games, and awhole lot more.

In preparation for the launch of these new features, on November 11, 2009, all current World of Warcraft players will be required to merge their World of Warcraft accounts with a Battle.net account in order to log in to the game. As our way to say "thanks" for taking a moment to go through the process, existing World of Warcraft accounts that upgrade to Battle.net (including those that have already switched over) will receive a brand-new penguin in-game pet -- check for him in your in-game mailbox later this week. Starting on November 11, all World of Warcraft players will need to log in to the game using a Battle.net username and password, and anyone who wishes to create a new World of Warcraft account will need to start with a Battle.net account.

Creating a Battle.net account is simple and free. To merge your existing account with a Battle.net account, go here. For more info, check out theBattle.net site or read the FAQ.

Tier 10 preview

Looks like the folks at Blizzard have decided to unveil a first look at some new Tier 10 armor sets. Check it out here! So far only the Death Knight, Druid, Hunter, and Warrior sets are up.



From the World of Warcraft website:

As the threats within Icecrown Citadel continue to take shape, so do the rewards for the brave souls who seek to face them. We’ve just released a first look at some of the new tier-10 armor sets that will be available to intrepid adventurers upon the release of the Icecrown Citadel raid dungeon. The preview contains all of the sets that we’ve completed so far, and you can click an image to see each set from different angles. We’ll add more classes’ sets as we continue to develop and polish them, so be sure to check back for updates.

Icecrown Citadel: The Frozen Throne

Blizzard recently published some new information about the new dungeon, Icecrown Citadel, in their "under development" page:

This dungeon reveals the culminating story events and battles of the Wrath of the Lich King expansion pack. Join the legendary heroes Highlord Tirion Fordring, High Overlord Saurfang, Muradin Bronzebeard, Highlord Darion Mograine, and King Varian Wrynn in an epic battle against the Scourge and their master. Icecrown Citadel features 10- and 25-player versions of the raid dungeon, and each version has 12 encounters. Each encounter can be fought in either normal or Heroic mode, and players can use a new user interface feature to toggle easily between difficulties. The rewards in the raid dungeon start at item level 251 in the normal mode with 10-player encounters, increase to item level 264 in the Heroic mode with 10 players and the normal mode with 25-player encounters, and then finally reach item level 277 in the Heroic mode with 25 players.

This should offer quite the challenge to even hardcore players. Let the race to finish Icecrown Citadel begin!

Patch 3.2.2 - Onyxia returns!

From the World of Warcraft website:

After years of lurking in her lair, battling brave adventurers who travelled from afar, Onyxia has been reborn -- and she’s stronger than ever before. To commemorate the upcoming fifth anniversary of World of Warcraft, the classic Onyxia raid encounter has been updated in the newly released patch 3.2.2.

• Onyxia has been retuned to offer new challenges to level-80 players (in both 10- and 25-player modes) while keeping the fundamental experience of fighting her intact. Beware the Deep Breaths!
• Onyxia will now drop new level-80 gear featuring the aesthetics of loot from the original encounter.
• The luckiest adventurers will have a chance to receive the Brood of Onyxia, a very rare 310%-speed mount modeled after the Brood Mother herself.

You can check out all of the other changes in patch 3.2.2 by reading the full patch notes.

Faction Change Service

From the World of Warcraft website

The new World of Warcraft Faction Change service is now live. As we mentioned previously, we've been in the process of developing a new service for World of Warcraft that will allow players to change their faction from Alliance to Horde or Horde to Alliance for a fee. After purchasing a Faction Change for a character, a player can choose any race of the opposite faction that is compatible with the character’s class. For more information on the Faction Change service, please read the FAQ, or visit theFaction Change page to get started.

Based on further community feedback, we have also decided to offer a race change service in the future. Players who choose to switch races will be able to change their race within their same faction and class. Additional details will be released at a future date.

Patch 3.2.0!

So, as you all know, patch 3.2 has been released! New PvP, less strict mount requirements, and tons of other improvements and changes makes this a HUGE update. There has been some debate on whether some of these changes are for the better or worse. With lower levels able to use mounts and the ability to get experience during PvP do you think that more changes are going to come to make the gap between casual and hardcore gamers smaller? Do you think that a smaller gap between the two would be a good thing or a bad thing?

Check out some of the other changes: http://www.worldofwarcraft.com/patchnotes/

Cell phone authentication

The Battle.net Mobile Authenticator, an optional security tool to help prevent unauthorized Battle.net account access, is now available for a wide range of mobile phones and carriers in the United States and Europe. Previously available only for the Apple iPhone, the Battle.net Mobile Authenticator is a mobile application that generates a one-time password to use in addition to your regular account ID and password when logging in to a Battle.net account or any merged World of Warcraft accounts.

Sounds pretty neat if you ask me. I know some of you are (understandably) ultra protective of all the time you put into your toons!