Fans of World of Warcraft, StarCraft 2 rejoice for you will get yet another chance to congregate with others who share your same passion. Blizzard has given out information regarding Blizzcon 2008 via press release. To find out more about this event, head on over to the full article.

Curious as to when the next BlizzCon will be held? Well, you are not alone as World of Warcraft players over at the game's official forums keep on pressing blue posters for answers.

Bornakk did provide an answer but sadly, it isn't the one players wanted to hear. Go over to the full article via the "read more" link below to know Blizzard's full response on the matter.

Looks like Europe can't get enough of them darned cute baby Murlocs. Elminister over at Europe's World of Warcraft Forums made an interesting proposition for Blizzard regarding free pets, Wrath of the Lich King, and Murloc suits. Here reads the full request:

So, I got limited edition or collectors edition it is called I think. for burning crusade. I expect a similar package will arrive with the release of the new expansion. Now, after some problems you gave away the pet "lurky" for free with this deal, which was a blizzcon item. Now I want to ask, please, please add the murlock suit or whatever it is called with the new expansion [Wrath of the Lich King] collectors edition for free right of the bat :) Or something else that is neat, unique and fun for us european gamers. Thats all /end transmission

Tharfor dropped by later on, although it was just to clarify that there are several variations of the baby Murloc pet.

Actually the baby murloc non-combat pet comes under a veriety of names. The original BlizzCon freebie was Murky, a blue baby murloc. The one which is available to Burning Crusade Collectors Edition holders is Lurky, the white baby murloc. ..and there is also a reddish/brown version called Gurky. Lurky was given to the CE users in addition to the Netherwhelp Pet after a slight hiccup in the distribution resulted in the Netherwhelp being M.I.A. (missing in action).

A new pet for WotLK? Not exactly something Blizzard mentioned when they started releasing those trickles of information for WoW's latest expansion, although it does sound like a good idea. Or as Elminister stated earlier, how about a free Murloc suit? We're not too sure about the suit (it doesn't do anything in-game), though it'll also keep things interesting for WoW. We'll see if this topic develops further in the near future.

  

The goodie bags handed out at this year's BlizzCon contained a lot of excellent and curious things. One of which is a beta key for an unnamed Blizzard project. Now, World of Warcraft players are currently discussing at the official WoW Forums what exactly these keys are for.

Blizzard forum moderator Nethaera mentioned that it is still undetermined as of now what specific project the beta keys can be used. We should take note that a lot of players used to believe that it is going to be for StarCraft II as it was the only newly announced Blizzard game as of that time.

Now that the Wrath of the Lich King has been revealed, it is also possible and highly probable that the keys are for the new WoW expansion. Regardless if it's for SC II or WoW: WotLK, Nethaera reminded everyone that those who don't have the beta keys shouldn't worry. The blue poster explained:

Please don't forget that the BlizzCon beta keys represent a very small portion of our beta community when it's time for a beta. We take players from various sources when it's time for beta so that as many people as we feel necessary are given the opportunity to help us test.

But guys the question remains: Are the beta keys for StarCraft II or for World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King? Or could it be for an entirely new project that hasn't been announced yet? You can tell us what you think through the comment section below.

Is one's effectivity in battle determined more by the sword they have, or the skill the sword-wielder has in using it? While it's always been a mix of both in the real world, the results of such a debate are harder to determine online, especially since "weapons and armor" all boil down to a bunch of numbers that enhance a player character, covered in a specific skin. That being said though, it's time to take a quick look at the question with a new forum post raised by Iziuto of Steamwheedle Cartel.

The original question being asked by Iziuto was about Season 3 arena ratings. Specifically, he was wondering whether or not a specific rating would be needed to purchase certain weapons from arena vendors.

The thread essentially changed from the base topic after a while, with people griping about the need for an arena rating. From their point of view, they wonder, "How can teams of lower rank compete with teams of higher rank when the higher ranked teams are equipped with better weapons?"

While this does pose a valid point, there were additional factors to consider. From Blizzard's standpoint, the answer is both a matter of skill and also of balancing the overall game mechanic to keep things competitive. As Drysc noted:

A weapon isn't going to keep your 1300 team from competing with the best teams.

The change is being made to help keep the nice PvP rewards for the good PvP players, and the nice PvE rewards for the good PvErs. Having the weapons there is too tempting for PvE players to come in, not care about PvP, their team, or rating, and jump in just long enough to go for the weapons and then leave. It's not exactly in-line with the team and ladder based PvP competition the arenas are there for.

Also, there's been no announcement on a final rating. I remember hearing 1800 at BlizzCon, some people say they heard 1900, in any case it's likely to be around there but there's still no final number announced... or even if it's a definite and final change.

The two-pronged answer certainly explains a lot, though it's unlikely to please proponents of a more open system. We're proponents of skill ourselves, even if we don't have the best rating out there. It keeps us on our toes. How about you? What do you think?

Some of you might remember the videos we hosted before featuring a panel of Blizzard designers for World of Warcraft at BlizzCon 07. Aside from talking about the different tweaks the races will get, the designers also promised to make the behemoth MMO as immersive as possible.

Having heard that, some of the players are now asking Blizzard for the status of these improvements. The questions are explicitly directed to Creative Development VP Chris Metzen (aka Thundergod) and Quest Designer Alex Afrasiabi (aka Furor).

The two were not able to answer the questions but blue poster Kisirani picked up the thread and provided some explanations. According to the forum moderator, while they have already began improving this particular aspect since The Burning Crusade (examples given include the Skyguard and Ogri'la factions), this is still not top priority. Kisirani further discussed:

You have to understand, naturally, that this sort of content, while fantastic and something I adore, is something that ranks lower in priority than, say, ensuring the game mechanics are in place and functional. This is icing on the cake - we have to bake the cake first.

Kisirani also said that currently, Blizzard doesn't have the manpower and time to go back to past content and improve on them. However, a more immersive gameplay experience can be expected in upcoming World of Warcraft content.

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 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.

Among the many World of Warcraft-related news that came out of BlizzCon was that older arena sets would be making their way to the honor system to make way for new arena sets.

On a forum discussion on the official WoW forums, though, blue poster Drysc mentioned something that may concern some players: arena weapons may not be available for sale at honor vendors. Here's Drysc's full post:

It was mentioned at BlizzCon that as arena sets fall off they would make their way to the honor system. So when a season 3 set is released, season 1 would fall off the arena vendors and onto the honor vendors, but this may not include weapons.

The operative word in this statement is still "may", so there's still a possibility that old arena weapons will become purchasable from the honor vendors. Of course, if they don't get included, we could end up seeing some characters decked out in full Gladiator sets but wielding blue weapons.

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.