In the lighter side of news, inquiries to whether commendation NPCs (whose purpose you'd probably have pondered at one time or another) should be removed from the World of Warcraft realms or not were responded to with a resounding no. New Blizzard community manager Bornakk claimed that despite their imposing annoyance to certain players for varied reasons, there were no plans to remove such NPCs from the game:

We made sure that these NPCs were properly trained not to bite anybody passing by or talking to them. No reports have come in to say that they have broken this (so far), so we are fine leaving them in the game for the time being to help anybody they can.

Bornakk's response was followed with a good share of reasons why the NPCs should be removed, such as apparent confusion with newcomers as to the NPCs' actual purpose as well as a decaying provision of commendations to turn in. Players of the original World of Warcraft content, denizens in Azeroth, may continue to find a use with commendation NPCs, however.

But there are a few players in Outlands that have yet to turn in their collection of commendations, so the concern over the NPCs having no use is arguable. In the end, it does play down to cautious approaches for the unforeseen. After all, it's better to have it and not need it, than to need it and not have it.

Suspension of disbelief, no more? Hyperbeam over at the World of Warcraft threads opened up an interesting post regarding the Caverns of Time Instance, specifically about an idea for an Old Felwood area instance. Felwood, prior to being corrupted by the Burning Legion (under the late Archimonde), was a patch of pristine forest that also served to be the first meeting between Illidan and Arthas.

What makes Hyperbeam's suggestion for the area instance is its claimed lack of "lorelol" - the colorful bits of content that makes parts of a story a little harder to swallow, even for the most stalwart of fans.

For the dudes in WoW, it means Blizzard's constant explanation of events in the CoT being caused partly by the Infinite Dragonflight. Another example from WoW's storyline is the Draenei's "spaceship" that crash-landed on Azeroth.

The instance's progression would have players taking on legions of demons as Arthas and Illidan duked it out, followed by the players helping a now-weakened Illidan defeat Tichondrius. In story canon, Illidan eliminates the said dread lord personally. This appears to be the bare-bones basic idea behind Hyperbeam's lorelol-free instance idea. Guys who'd like to check out the idea in full can drop over to the WoW forums (via the source elink)

Sometimes, it's the disheartening bits of news that reaches our doorsteps that really puts a damper on our day. That being said, we're still obliged to report it, perhaps especially because it's news that everyone ought to know, whether they want to or not.

According to a recent comment by Blizzard poster Bornakk, it seems there are still no plans to bring some choice Azerothian destinations, specifically Gilneas, into World of Warcraft any time soon. This was picked up in a post made by Vaslyth of the Sisters of Elune server, who asked if Gilneas would ever see the light of day in the playable game world.

Bornakk's reply was short and bittersweet. "At this time, the nation of Gilneas which stands behind the Greymane Wall remains a secluded mystery," Bornakk writes. "One day we may see the portcullis and the region open to visitors and explorers alike, but we do not know when or if that day will come."

To those uninitiated in WoW lore, Gilneas was once known as one of the most powerful cities in Azeroth. Due to an isolationist political policy, however, it closed its borders off to other kingdoms with its current state still left hanging. In game terms, the physical geography of Gilneas has yet to be established, with only a gate - the remainder of the Greymane Wall - being the only placeholder for the actual area itself.

Those lucky enough to attend this year's Blizzcon were able to pick up a Murloc suit for the their World of Warcraft characters. This item makes a player look like the lovable green aquatic creature we have all grown fond off.

Players have been complaining that the suit doesn't really do anything aside from making their character look good. In addition to this, players are unable to attack or cast spells in this form, further limiting its purpose in the game. Blizzard Poster/ Community Manager Bornakk addressed these issues on the WoW Forums:

We chose not to allow people to fight/cast spells with this on, similar to the Hallow’s End wand transformations, as we don't want the whole game to eventually have nobody that looks like races that are in it.

We also didn't feel like having this suit on while fighting epic battles would fit the feel of the game. The Ogre suit and savory deviate delights are a full transformation into battle worthy characters, so we currently have them work a little differently.

This difference is something we consider very carefully anytime a costume is added. We believe players can enjoy the item as it is when putting it on in at anytime they want throughout the world. I know mine gets plenty of attention when I surprise people with it. :)

Some players on the thread have pointed out that this decision by Blizzard is rather inconsistent considering skeletons, pirates, and ninjas have been running around Azeroth unchecked. Judging from Bornakk's response though, it doesn't look like any changes are slated for the suit. That's a bit of a let-down, it would  have been fun to take a 40 Murloc team out for a raid.

For us gamers, playing our favorite games is bliss. What could be more cooler than a day on a comfy chair with a bag of chips sitting on our lap while raiding or PVP'ing in Azeroth in World of Warcraft? Answers to that would be few but we bet working behind the scenes of the world's most popular MMORPG is among them.

Blizzard Entertainment has put up a post in their official site announcing their plans of holding a mini job fair at this year's Games Developers Conference in Austin, Texas. They're giving individuals with enough background on the technicalities involved in creating games the opportunity to be among the backbone of the industry currently populated by more than nine million MMORPG players. Here's Blizzard's exact pitch at the WoW's official site:

Do you have the passion to create great games? We're always looking for skilled individuals willing to challenge themselves to achieve excellence. This year at the Austin Game Developers Conference, members of Blizzard's global recruiting team will be on hand to answer all of your job-related questions. Bring your resume, demo reel, or business card -- our recruiting team will be happy to receive all your materials and talk to you about opportunities at Blizzard.

Among the WoW development team slots Blizzard hopes to fill are the following: Senior Graphics Programmer (Next-Gen MMO), Senior Tools Programmer (Next-Gen MMO), Senior Tools Programmer (Next-Gen MMO), and Lead 3D Environment Artist (Next-Gen MMO). If you're interested and living within that area, brush up those interviewing skills, prep those resumes, and head on to our link below to review each job's description.

 

For those of us who want our digital avatars in Blizzard's legendary MMORPG, World of Warcraft, to have just that extra touch of style and customization, here's some good news: not only will different hairstyles be available soon, but also other details such as tattoos and earrings. Awesome!

The news comes from one of the many threads that have been clamoring and pondering of an in-game feature that lets players tinker around with their characters' looks - after all, you're going to be staring at that particular character for most of your levelling career, might as well make it so that it's appealing to behold, right? Fortunately, the posters didn't have to wait long for a blue reply, as Blizzard poster Salthem delivered the good news:

New Hairstyles will be available to any character and are obtained through an ingame barbershop. There is going to be an option to browse new hairstyles & colours, and there may even be earrings and tattoos. There is a great deal more development to be done, but that is where we're looking at the moment.

An in-game barbershop, eh? Nifty. Here's hoping that it's more of a free service than one you have to pay for - but if it is the former, then we hope that it doesn't pluck our purses too deeply. After all, an adventurer in Azeroth's epic times not only has to look good, but he also has to eat, you know!

 

For those of you who are excited on getting the low-down on World of Warcraft's upcoming expansion, Wrath of the Lich King, it seems that the guys at Blizzard has finally released some detailed information during the recent BlizzCon 2007 and GC 2007 about the various races, geography and famous faces you'll be seeing once the frozen wastes of Northrend finally opens up to players in the game.

According to them, Northrend will be roughly the size of the Burning Crusade's Outland, with more zones, but the exact number hasn't been confirmed just yet. The high-level instance dungeons planned for the expansion will definitely be a challenge for upcoming players as well, with a level 70, level 80 and a 25-man raid instance against the formidable Malygos the Spellweaver.

Of course, players will pit themselves against Arthas during the expansion. Every player will have a hand at the ultimate fate of the world, whether or not the Lich King will conquer Azeroth and all its races.

And for those who are into PvP, they'll also get a treat as there will be a new 15-on-15 battleground, as well as Lake Wintergrasp, the new non-instanced PvP zone, added to the expansion. And the much awaited Siege Weapons will finally joining in the fray.

If you're interested in taking a look at the detailed features given by Salthem, a Blizzard poster, check out the forums through the via link below.

Apparently, this is among the things that are not coming with World of Warcraft's Wrath of the Lich King expansion (as much as we want it). Pigziggy dropped by the WoW forums to inquire on what sort of races Blizzard planned to put into the game come WotLK.

And while we were pretty sure that the previous BlizzCon already hinted on this as not being a possibility, Blizzard rep Bornakk dropped by the forums to put the finishing blow to this old speculation:

We have no plans at this time to implement any new playable races in Wrath of the Lich King. But I assure you we are working on a lot of brand new and exciting content for it and you can check out the website where we will post more details as we get closer to release.

Dang. There goes my hopes of seeing the Pandaren as a playable. While Bornakk's post pretty much reiterated that no new races were coming to Azeroth (as playables, at least), a lively discussion picked up regarding just what sort of playable races the game could use:

Nukke: alliance are getting buffalo-men to counter tauren horde are getting goblins to counter gnomes ...and ogres because of their dance.

Pigziggy: What about Worgens everyone loves a worgen and Ethereals for the alliance they need a race with different morals

Guys who'd like to see the other funny remarks may want to drop by the WoW forums (the source link) to see the full discussion thread.

We all know that Blizzard has its hand pretty much full these days especially now that updates are constantly being done on the Public Test Realm of World of Warcraft. The whole Azeroth is also preparing for the arrival of the next expansion Wrath of the Lich King, so imagine their (Blizzard) workload.

Having said that, we can't demand the developers to give the past in-game content a second look and give it a makeover. We brought the topic up because one interesting inquiry was posted over at the official WoW Forums.

One player asked if it's possible to convert pre-60 level instances into heroic ones. As much as that idea sounds great and exciting, it seems that Blizzard doesn't have the time to deal with that as of the moment. This was echoed by blue poster Bornakk as the question was answered:

Currently we are okay with letting old content stay as it is so old and new players can still experience them just the way they are if they choose to do so. But we are focused on releasing brand new dungeons that can bring new challenges and new experiences to the game.

So there you have it, no heroic instances below level 60 in World of Warcraft. Actually, this was "semi-confirmed" back at BlizzCon 07 as the developers mentioned that they are currently focusing on upcoming content.

 

*Article originally posted on August 27, 2007 at 02:56PM.

Some bit of bad news for players eager to resume their romp on World of Warcraft for more quality online gaming: a recently-discovered exploit that has the ability to crash servers, including the main worlds and all the instances associated with them, is currently being used to wreak havoc all over Azeroth.

We're not too sure how the exploit itself was unearthed, or how one goes about performing it - but suffice to say, this could be the first time that Blizzard's World of Warcraft has ever experienced anything like this. The Tichondrius server alone seems to have been made to crash over ten times after the discovery had been made - and it's safe to say that the players aren't feeling too happy about their game sessions being rudely interrupted by a server crash.

In what seems like an effort to keep the how-to of the exploit spilled out in the open to do more damage, the official World of Warcraft forums appear to be controlling the comments in this issue's thread. They have, however, already posted a response to the overwhelming number of server crashes, by way of Blizzard poster Eyonix. The official statement, verbatim:

We're aware of stability issues affecting select realms and are investigating. We'll provide an update on the situation as soon as additional information becomes available.

We certainly hope that Blizzard takes care of this issue as soon as possible, as it seems that the exploit itself has been spread to EU servers as well. We'll be sure to look into this further to bring  you more updates. In the meantime, sit tight... er... click on the TV.

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Update: Blizzard CM Palantia has just posted an announcement in the WoW Forums:

Rolling Restarts - All Realms - 8/27/07

All realms will being undergoing rolling restarts to resolve an issue that resulted in realms going down. These restarts will begin at 5am. Each realm's downtime is expected to be minimal.

We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause and appreciate your patience as we work to resolve this matter.

The rolling restarts today for all the realms may just be part of WoW's regular maintenance, or it may very well be Blizzard's response to the server-crashing exploit we've reported.