World of Warcraft: Cataclysm Message Board

World of MapCraft is an interactive map detailing all of the areas that make up World of Warcraft's Azeroth - think of it as Google Maps for World of Warcraft and its expansions thus far. It's all online right now, the work of Tiny Speck founder Cal Henderson, who extracted textures from the MMO's source files to piece together the interactive map you see above. You may recall Tiny Speck's own MMO, Glitch.

Just don't click on the map above and expect to be able to zoom in on the Isle of Conquest. You have to click the source link below for that. And if you're looking for more background on World of MapCraft's creation, Henderson has a pretty thorough blog post explaining it all.

Many of us involved in long term relationships know there comes a point when things become complacent, too comfortable or dare I say, downright stale. Every so often, something happens to rekindle the freshness and reaffirm why you were meant to be together in the first place. I have had a long term...

If you've built up a thick layer of hatred for Deathwing every time his grim visage appears on the login screen for World of Warcraft, your hour of retribution has come. Or rather, your "Hour of Twilight" has come -- that's the name of WoW Patch 4.3, which launches today.

The update, and last major addition for WoW: Cataclysm, adds three new dungeons and a new raid to the title which see your hero traveling through time in an attempt to gather the tools required to take Deathwing down. There are also new, oft-requested features like Armor Transmogrification and Void Storage. Check out the trailer above for a taste of the action, and turn an eye towards WoW Insider for all the juicy patch notes therein.

You can't actually own a piece of Azeroth, because the virtual World of Warcraft doesn't actually exist -- sorry, ThrallFan6969, it's true. But this is probably your closest chance to the fake thing: Blizzard is auctioning off a group of actual hardware server blades that were used to run the popular MMO in the past, which means that for a price, you can own the circuits and silicon that served up all of those boars, dwarves, and elves.

All of the money raised in the auctions is going to support St. Jude Children's Research Hospital. All in all, about 2,000 server blades will be auctioned off, and you can even aim to buy one from a specific realm -- the actual hardware where your very own characters once resided! Each blade will be mounted in a windowed case adorned with the WoW logo, and the hardware displayed prominently.

The auctions start on October 17 (just a few days before BlizzCon), and are being sold off in four different rounds. If you're going for your very own slice of the closest thing to Azeroth in the world today, good luck.

Blizzard Entertainment has subtly enabled a means for players to exchange real-world money for in-game gold in World of Warcraft, provided another player is willing and able to make the exchange. It's through the latest in-game vanity pet, the Guardian Cub, a winged feline that doesn't bind to your ...

Like Wrath of the Lich King and The Burning Crusade before it, World of Warcraft: Cataclysm's great big bad guy played a major role in the promotion of the expansion, and as such has had his fate sealed since the expansion's conception. But the exact manner in which Deathwing, the massive, partially-mechanical Dragon Aspect of Death would meet his demise has remained unknown. Not for long, though, as Patch 4.3 -- known as Dragon Soul -- is bringing the Deathwing encounter to the public...

Blizzard's ever-popular MMO has been in the news for a few reasons recently. First, because subscriptions have been dropping ever so slightly, though still staying above the 11 million mark. Second, because at Gamescom 2011 Blizzard talked about upcoming changes to World of Warcraft, including the D...

Fresh out of the Beta testing phase, the newly launched WoW Real ID Party system makes it much easier to go gallivanting on dungeon raids with your preferred real-world pals instead of whatever slapdash group of strangers you can cobble together on a minute's notice. The new system lets you invite players of the same faction into 5-player normal or heroic dungeons. Here's the best part: it doesn't matter what realm they're playing on...

When Blizzard patches World of Warcraft to version 4.3, a number of things will change. First, you'll be able to finally take down Deathwing. It's an encounter Blizzard is claiming will be the most extensive in the already gigantic game; a multi-phase battle that may, at one point, involve riding on...

It's easy to forget how popular World of Warcraft is. When it was revealed last week that WoW's number of subscriptions was still in decline, down almost a million players since the launch of World of Warcraft: Cataclysm, I had the same reaction that probably many others had -- I immediately thought...

Blizzard Entertainment CEO Mike Morhaime revealed during yesterday's Activision earnings call that the number of players subscribed to the developer's flagship title World of Warcraft has dropped by approximately 300,000 since the last announced subscriber volume of 11.4 million. This brings the tot...

Blizzard plans to shutter the useful WoW Mobile Armory Facebook app and website next month in favor of a new web API its developing to expand and update the way players interact with their characters and each other outside of the game world. On August 2, the plug will be final pulled on the WoW Armory app and WoWArmory.com. Once they're decommissioned, all news feeds and associated Facebook pages, will be erased and inaccessible...

Along with yesterday's patch which reintroduced Ragnaros as a raid boss, Blizzard Entertainment has added a free-trial mode to World of Warcraft, letting players level characters up to level 20. Previously, free trials had an additional time limit of 10 or 14 days, but this removes that limit. Given the accelerated rate of leveling in World of Warcraft now, that level 20 cap can be reached in just a couple days, but it might let you stay in contact with higher-level friends...

World of Warcraft's latest patch, Rage of the Firelands, is now live. This patch marks the return of the infamous Ragnaros, and will pit players against the full force of the Firelands. New stuff includes a questing hub, a brand new raid, and the addition of a caster Legendary item with an associated quest chain and several upgrades. For a full rundown of what's in the patch you can check out our patch 4.2 preview. You can also check out the trailer below for a look at the Firelord himself...

Around the release of World of Warcraft: Cataclysm, Activision Blizzard repeatedly touted its 12 million subscribers. During yesterday's investor conference call, however, Blizzard president Mike Morhaime revealed that as of the end of March, the subscriber base had fallen from a stratospheric 12 million all the way to a humiliating 11.4 million, a decline of 5%.

Morhaime explained the tiny mass exodus by saying that players were completing the new content in Cataclysm more quickly than previous expansions, and then leaving the game. However, Rift also launched in March, which may have lured away part of those 600,000 ex-WoWers.

Still, if we're talking about part of 5% of your userbase maybe leaving for another game, things are still going well for you.

#bythenumbers Six months after buzz for the Cataclysm expansion drove World of Warcraft numbers to an all-time high, Blizzard reports the lowest subscription figures for the massively multiplayer game since December of 2008. More »

World of Warcraft's subscriber base seems to be slowly dropping off, as revealed in today's Activision Blizzard investor call. The number of current World of Warcraft subscribers as reported by Blizzard President Mike Morhaime stands at 11.4 million, notably less than the 12 million subscriber milestone achieved by the game last October...

The distinct scent of glorious online combat is in the air now that registration is open for the 2011 WoW Arena Pass. Structured around eight weeks of arena-only battles on special Arena Pass realms dedicated to gladiatorial warfare, this annual tournament lets you craft and customize a new level 85...

While most World of Warcraft: Cataclysm players are eagerly adventuring through Patch 4.1 which just hit Blizzard Entertainment's servers, Blizzard is hard at work making sure that there is always plenty more content in the pipe. We caught up with the developer to talk about what comes next -- patch 4.2...

Poor old Trolls – Azeroth hasn’t treated them too kindly over the years. They’ve either been comedy Jamaicans or murderous sword-fodder, so often denied the prestige and glory of Warcraft’s major races. And don’t even get me started on the raw deal the gnomes get… Anyway, the Trolls are getting their day in the sun for the latest WoW patch, 4.1, which sees the angrier arms of the family uniting and deciding to raise merry hell for everyone else. Essentially, it means a fun/bloody time for level 85 players, and it looks a little something like this. Warning: includes boulders. I say that in case anyone reading has a phobia of boulders. We’re a kinder, more considerate RPS these days.(more…)

The best part about real-world holidays? Their virtual world counterparts, of course. The pastel apocalypse that is Easter may have already come and gone in the real world, but spring holiday festivities are still hopping in the realm of Azeroth. The feast of Noblegarden runs through May 1, which me...

Look for more trolls than you can shake a voodoo doll at in Cataclysm's first major content patch.

I know people who have single-handedly racked up entire years of played time in World of Warcraft. In its six and a half years, few aspects of Blizzard's MMO have been talked about more than its addictiveness. But addictiveness is hardly a measure of fun, as anyone who has succumbed one of life's ma...

Set to join the paid name changes, server transfers, race changes, faction changes and appearance changes come two more pay-to-undo-your-terrible-decision services for World of Warcraft: the ability to transfer your guild to a new server, and the ability to rename your guild...

#awards Earlier this month, the Visual Effects Society honoured the winners of the 9th annual VES Awards, meant to recognise the best achievements in special effects and visuals for movies, commercials, TV, animation and, yes, video games. More »

What kind of feelings do you want to inspire in people who are lucky enough to spend time in your commode? A sense of wonder? Or maybe you just want some badass World of Warcraft stuff hanging in there, proudly declaring your Horde affiliation. If you're in the latter camp, we may have found your next potential BFFs.

Pictured above is the bathroom of couple Paul and Gloria, who did all of the work themselves, documented from beginning to end in this Photobucket gallery. They've got dragon heads for the light fixtures, a full potion cabinet and, of course, an assortment of themed weaponry.

Life in Azeroth is many things, but is it good?

Having sold 3.3 million copies of World of Warcraft: Cataclysm on the first day, it was easy to guess that the MMO expansion would have little trouble going on to record-breaking sales in its first month on the market. And that's exactly what it's done, according to Activision Blizzard, who reports that the title sold through over 4.7 million copies since its December 7 release. And unlike the usual retail sales numbers, that includes both packaged copies and digital distribution.

According to Activision, that sets a new record for monthly PC sales -- again, it's not a huge surprise to believe WoW has the power to break sales records. Here's what is surprising, though: Activision said that the WoW community is currently over 12 million players strong. Who are the 7-plus million people who play WoW, but didn't buy Cataclysm yet?

Blizzard sets a new monthly PC-game sales record.

#blizzard Selling more than 4.7 million copies sold since its December 7 release and 3.3 million on day-one, World of Warcraft: Cataclysm is now the fastest-selling PC game of all time. Want to guess what game it beat? More »