And now we have here the April 2009 Release Notes for Asheron's Call. Turbine's promising a whole lot of changes now that "the snow has all melted away, and Baby Creatures have appeared on the landscape."

Looking for a special event this new year in Tales of Pirates? IGG and MOLL has something great for you. An invasion is about to take place in Shaitan City and the citizens need you to cleanse it of the scourge. Countless monsters will be there for the hunt, and a tough boss will lead them for the finale. A great reward awaits those brave enough to take on this threat. See the full article for more details.

Hardcore MMORPG gamers in Blizzard's World of Warcraft have been working diligently to level their favorite characters in anticipation of the upcoming expansion Wrath of the Lich King.

Seeing as this new expansion will feature a lot of new content, as well as the chance for characters to break the level 70 barrier, we don't blame anyone for all their excitement.

With that said, we proudly deliver to you a couple more screenshots of the cold and desolate areas of Northrend and the lands surrounding it. While a lot of the scenery still looks dark and gloomy, it gives the lands of Northrend a rather appropriate feel considering it is infested by the undead hordes of the Scourge.

However, don't take our word for it - why not take a look at the screenshots we have from the game and soak in this amazing MMORPG experience.

     

Many World of Warcraft players have been asking when the next Scourge Invasion will happen. Last year's invasion's anniversary (June 20) has come and passed without a peep from the scheming Scourge.

So again, the question popped up in the WoW Forums and this time, Blizzard poster Kisirani answered the query. Here's what she (yes, she is a she and a World Event Designer) said, "We haven't forgotten about the Scourge Invasion, but at the moment the world designers are focusing on other events to further add life to the World of Warcraft. We're far from idle."

So guys, you should spend this time practicing as the Necropoli might crop up everywhere in the not-so-distant future. The guys at Blizzard, as Kisirani had said, have other events up their collective sleeves so we best not be caught sleeping under the haystack so to speak. We'll keep a close eye for more updates so stay tuned.

There's an intriguing post over on the World of Warcraft forums that basically asks why certain races can't be certain classes. In the case of the thread we're talking about, Spidget of Proudmoore is wondering why there aren't any human hunters when similarly non-nature attuned races like the Blood Elves have a hunter class for themselves.

Drysc gives the straightforward non-lore answer about diversity, saying that "the reasoning is because we ideally want there to be choices and variety of races. And not just throwing every class on every race." Of course, while that does give a wonderful reason as to why we don't have human hunters, there's no lore to support it.

That is, until Junka of Windrunner noted one important reason why there probably aren't any human hunters anymore, lore-wise: Nathanos Blightcaller. For those who haven't heard of him, Nathanos Marris was the first, and possibly last, human ranger. He was gifted in the art of hunting, but died at the hands of Ramstein the Gorger and eventually became a member of the Forsaken. He now fights alongside the Horde, recruiting Horde players to help out in ridding the Plaguelands of both the Scourge and the Alliance.

Do you think there are important (or funny) lore reasons for why certain races don't have certain classes? Let us know in the comments below.

 

A lot of players in World of Warcraft really enjoyed the Scourge Invasion last year. Now, as it nears its first year anniversary, players have been asking if it is coming back. For those not in the know, this is an in-world event that signaled the opening of Naxxramas.

Anyway Blizzard's forum moderator Nethaera picked up the question and posted, "Currently we're focused on developing future events so the Scourge Invasion is a bit on the backburner though it may very well be back again at some point in the future."

Now, if that's the truth (given all those PTR patches and stuff they're implementing) then it may be some time before we see the Scourge invade again.  However, we must always keep our guard up because the guys at Blizzard may be trying to lull us into a false sense of security.

Consider how shocking it would be to have that very same instance begin suddenly out of nowhere (just like any good invasion). When that happens, don't say we didn't warn you. Be sure to keep checking back here for more updates on World of Warcraft.

Everyone knows Azeroth. Whether you are a World of Warcraft player or a fan of the RTS, this fictional land created by Blizzard has become so popular that any gamer would probably know of it.

It is not known where the word Azeroth came from. A lot of references point to the Christian reference to Astaroth, who is a duke of hell or the demon from Syrian lore which was called Azeroth. Other sources say that it came from C.J. Cherryh "Fires of Azaroth" book, while others conjecture that it came from the Bible itself which refers to places of similar sounding names such as Hazeroth. Regardless of its etymological background, this word has come to mean the lands of Warcraft.

The entire Azeroth can be split into four main locations: Northrend, Kalimdor, and the Eastern Kingdoms. Aside from these, a major feature that scars the territory is the Maelstrom which was caused by the Elves in the days of yore, but that is a story for another time. Each major location is a fountain of knowledge for those who would care to delve into these things. We know that it would be impossible to chronicle all the events in one account alone, this is just to give most players an overview of each land.

Each of these lands played an important role in the history of Azeroth in general. There are far more things that can be said about each location, but those are stories for another time. Perhaps it would be best to end this here, but be sure to keep checking back for more history on the lands of Azeroth here on QJ.

The full article awaits after the jump!

Galahaad from the World of Warcraft forums raised a pretty interesting question. Why can't Paladins use anti-undead spells against Forsaken (who are basically undead)? Varied opinions surfaced as Blizzard poster Nethaera answered with, "you apparently weren't around for the original beta. Let's just say the abilities against undead were extremely powerful and deemed too much for PvP use."

According to her during beta, the Forsaken were actually classified under Undead. During which time, it was discovered that gameplay issues surfaced since Paladins were somewhat overpowered against them in PvP. Another reason for which would be that the Forsaken would probably massacre the rest of the Alliance. How come, you ask. Undead are immune to mind affecting spells like hibernate, fear, sleep, and mind control but they are particularly weak against the priest's Shackle Undead and the paladin's Turn Undead.

See the paradox? If the Forsaken was classified as Undead, the rest of the players would be vulnerable and the game balance would be lost. Lore-wise, the Forsaken are the free-willed Undead who broke away from the Scourge under Sylvanas Windrunner.

Anyway, it's hard to imagine an Azeroth or Outland without the Forsaken (the undead that are not really undead.)

Tabards display different things about a character - his guild, his PvP rank, his reputation, or his skill at the WoW card game. Somehow, it all boils down to bragging rights.

There are different types of tabards classified by faction - well except for the guild tabards of course. For PvP, Alliance get a Private's Tabard while Horde gets Scout's Tabard. Officers (Knight and Stone Guard) can purchase tabards for four gold where Alliance gets Knight's Colors and Stone Guard's Herald is for Horde.

Battlegrounds have a different set based on reputation and could be acquired from a vendor or through a quest. For Alterac Valley, a friendly reputation is required with Stormpike Guard (Stormpike Battle Tabard) or Frostwolf Clan (Frostwolf Battle Tabard). Arathi Basin tabards (Arathor Battle Tabard or Battle Tabard of the Defilers) become available when players attain exalted reputation and completing the Control of Five Bases quest. Warsong Gulch also requires exalted reputation for Silverwing Battle Tabard or Warsong Battle Tabard.

Other tabards include:

• Contest Winner's Tabard - prize for Honor Contest
• Tabard of Flame - reward from WoW card game
• Tabard of Frost - also a reward from the card game
• Tabard of the Argent Dawn - can be bought with 10 Necrotic Runes from the Argent Outfitter during the Scourge Invasion
• Tabard of the Protector - complete Into the Breach quest
• Tabard of the Scarlet Crusade - loot from Scarlet Trainees in The Scarlet Monastery Armory

Burning Crusade Tabards:

• Blood Knight Tabard - reward from Blood Elf Paladin's epic mount quest chain.
• Tabard of the Hand - reward from the Draenei starting zones' quest chain
• Honor Hold Tabard - Alliance at exalted with Honor Hold
• Thrallmar Tabard - Horde at exalted with Thrallmar
• Cenarion Expedition Tabard - all races at exalted with the Cenarion Expedition
• Kurenai Tabard - Alliance at exalted with the Kurenai
• Mag'har Tabard - Horde at exalted with the Mag'har
• Lower City Tabard - all races at exalted with the Lower City
• Aldor Tabard - all races at exalted with the Aldor
• Scryers Tabard - all races at exalted with the Scryers
• Sha'tar Tabard - all races at exalted with the Sha'tar
• Consortium Tabard - all races at exalted with the Consortium
• Enchanted Illidari Tabard - disguise tabard

I feel it in my fingers, I feel it in my toes
(unless you're Undead, which means you can't feel a doggone thing)
Love is all around me, and so the feeling grows...

More craziness abounds. Blizzard announces to the community that something smells rotten in Denmark Azeroth this season, and stink, thy name is LOVE. The phenom, which happens in major cities in World of Warcraft, is literally called Love is in the Air.

Love is in the Air, hanging around major cities from February 11-15, features a scavenger hunt quest involving the use of perfumes, gifts, and a goblin by the name of Kwee Q. Peddlefeet that you could kiss. The Via Link contains the deets, but we'll mention two important things to remember about Love is in the Air:

• Use Perfumes to attract the boytoys and Cologne to draw in the ladies REMEMBER TO USE THE RIGHT LOVE STINK PEOPLE!!!
• Why would you want to kiss a goblin? Unique Buff, baby, but we don't think it's an aphrodisiac.

(In other news: The Scourge shall be screening the Mandy Moore/Shane West weeper A Walk to Remember on Valentine's Day to see which of the Undead still have a heart. Those found shedding tears at the end of the movie shall be killed, again and again if necessary, until the desired result is achieved. Long Live Arthas! Of course, we're only kidding on this one.)

More scenes from An Instance to Remember after the jump.