World of Warcraft: Cataclysm Message Board older than one year ago

Though past team-ups between PopCap Games and World of Warcraft have resulted in full-on in-game ... games, it seems Bilzzard's taking a different approach with the inclusion of Plants vs. Zombies in upcoming WoW expansion Cataclysm: it pared down and recreated PvZ as an in-game quest! Madness!

Deathwing leaves his mark in another world.

#clips Getting into the World of Warcraft: Cataclysm beta is all about having fun and experiencing new content, right? Wrong! Machinima.com sets Cataclysm beta testers straight in this guide to winning the World of Warcraft: Cataclysm beta test. More »

How the Cataclysm expansion takes the pain out of your first time.

Lil' Deathwing guaranteed to sell hundreds of thousands of copies alone.

#blizzard Maybe we'll find out soon when World of Warcraft: Cataclysm, Blizzard's third paid expansion to World of Warcraft will be released — this year? But at least today we can show you the special edition you can buy of it. More »

Hey, you're already paying $14.99 a month to have access to the expansive, quest-strewn lands of World of Warcraft -- why not shell out a few extra bucks to claim the collector's edition of the MMO's upcoming expansion, Cataclysm? The premium, $79.99 version of the add-on, which will only be available in retail stores, just had its contents revealed by Blizzard.

The bundle includes a 176-page art book, a DVD featuring developer commentary and a quick background of the Warcraft universe, a CD of the expansion's soundtrack, a mouse pad, a starter deck and a few bonus cards for the World of Warcraft TCG, and -- the item which will force die-hard WoW players to spring for the special edition -- a "Lil' Deathwing" in-game pet. The expansion is still sans-release date, but the presser announcing this collector's edition promises that information will be divulged "in the months ahead."

#clips In this first (and yes, very shaky) look at Blizzard's massive Gamescom booth we catch a glimpse of StarCraft II, Word of Warcraft Cataclysm and Diable III. More »

Now you can stare at it whenever you want.

Undead rock-and-roll laser-equipped dinoshark.

#blizzard With more than 1.5 million copies sold within the first 48 hours of release, StarCraft II is the fastest-selling strategy game of all time, and the best-selling PC game of 2010. More »

Blizzard Entertainment took the stage here at Comic-Con in San Diego to talk about World of Warcraft-inspired merchandise, and when the topic of the WoW movie came up during the Q&A, Vice President of Creative Development Chris Metzen confirmed that though the process has slowed recently, the movie is still happening. Director Sam Raimi is still "very, very passionate" about getting the movie made, but Metzen said that a treatment is still being hammered out. If that gets approved, he said, then "hopefully it'll start moving very quickly, very soon."

Metzen and the rest of the panelists also talked about the next lore-based novel to be released -- it's called The Shattering, and will set up a lot of the events leading up to the Cataclysm expansion. Metzen cautioned the game's fans that there are "dark times ahead" for Azeroth with the return of Deathwing and quakes destroying large parts of the game world. "It's going to get rough out there for a while," he admitted. "But there's a plan. The great heroes always rise to the top."

That's the second biggest tree I've ever seen!

A look at some of the changes Azeroth has undergone.

Playing as the Horde's comic relief race.

Starting out as the Alliance's most fearsome race.

Long a source of rampant trolling and epic flamewars, Blizzard's official World of Warcraft forums will soon be a lot less anonymous. The company announced today that it will be using the Real ID system, which was recently implemented into Battle.net, on its forums. Once Real ID is in place, each catty remark and witty comeback on Blizzard's forums will have the poster's real first and last name attached to it. (Previously, posters could hide behind their in-game character names.)

Real ID will be rolled into WoW's forums by the release of the Cataclysm expansion later this year. Additionally, the system will be added to the StarCraft 2 forums before the game's July 27 launch.

Blizzard's eating its own dog food, too -- its community representatives, previously known only by aliases, will also be posting under their real names. Additionally, forum posts will be subject to a new ranking system, replies to forum threads will be grouped, and Blizzard posters will be able to "broadcast" messages out to everyone on the game's forums. Blizzard says its goal with these changes is to form "a new and different kind of online gaming environment -- one that's highly social, and which provides an ideal place for gamers to form long-lasting, meaningful relationships."

#wow The Worgen - the "Wolverines of the Alliance" - are a new race available in World of Warcraft's expansion Cataclysm. And they're a saucy lot. More »

#blizzard The next big expansion to Blizzard's massively popular massively multiplayer online game World of Warcraft is, officially, in beta and ready to be tested by you. Did you get an invitation for the Cataclysm beta? Better check your Battle.net account. More »

Blizzard has just announced that the closed beta test for the next World of Warcraft expansion has begun. Invites are going out now to players around the world who've signed up on Blizzard's Battle.net service, although there's no indication yet of just how many invites are out or how big the beta will be. If past tests are any indication, Blizzard will likely start it small and expand over time -- that's how the StarCraft 2 beta played out.

This also means that information about the new expansion will start appearing online -- rumor has it that there is no NDA for the closed beta experience, so players who see the new content will be able to tell us all about it. Cataclysm will completely revamp the old World of Warcraft world, in addition to adding five more levels of content at endgame. The Wrath of the Lich King beta also begin in early July, and showed up in stores in November a few years ago, so it's reasonable to assume the same timeline for Cataclysm.

In the meantime, if you want to play, make sure your Battle.net account is set to opt-in and keep an eye out for a beta key in your inbox. Good luck!

Check your e-mail.

Last night, Blizzard opened up the NDA floodgates of a recent press event, where attendees (including our sister site WoW.com) learned of a few more changes the upcoming Cataclysm expansion will visit upon World of Warcraft. The game's big dungeons and raids? Those are changing. The classic zones which were ruined by the titular Cataclysm? Those are getting changed. Even some of the big changes which were announced last year are changing. It's a lot to take in.

We suggest checking out WoW.com's write-up on the new content, such as the Guild Leveling system and the new secondary Archaeology profession. We'd also suggest listening to some appropriate tunes while you do so, but that part's entirely up to you.

Six years after launch, Azeroth is still evolving.

#blizzard When World of Warcraft expansion Cataclysm launches, it'll bring not only new environments, but new characters as well. Like this female Worgen! More »

#clips YouTube user Supereuropaa has posted a pair of videos taking us through World of Warcraft's Cataclysm alpha test, from character creation and beyond. Catch them while the catching is good! More »

Despite what we presume are Blizzard's best efforts (they lasted pretty long this time!), the Friends and Family Alpha client of the upcoming World of Warcraft: Cataclysm expansion has leaked out into the world, and the forum denizens over at MMO Champion are busy digging through it for all kinds of spoilers. They've uncovered maps and screenshots for both revamped Old Azeroth zones and the new high-level dungeons, as well as pictures of the new Goblin and Worgen starting areas. Additionally, they've got information on new achievements and abilities, and the completely revamped class talent calculator now active in the alpha.

Keep in mind that, as closed alpha information, none of this is official, and most of the stats are likely to change before the expansion actually releases later this year. All of this information would have come out soon anyway, as Blizzard is planning an open beta on this expansion soon (things are a little busy right now with some other testing), and is slowly releasing information officially as well. But if you want to gorge yourself on spoilers before dinner starts, head on over and feast, my children, feast!

[via WoW.com]

#wow With real humans stationed outside Blizzard HQ playtesting World of Warcraft's latest expansion, Cataclysm, it was only a matter of time until some decent footage made its way into the public eye. More »

#blizzard Say hello to Deathwing the Destroyer, the dragon whose escape from the plane of earth causes devastating changes to the world of Azeroth. It's just one of hundreds of screens in MMO Champion's massive World of Warcraft: Cataclysm alpha update. More »

Blizzard recently announced a cadre of class-specific additions coming to its upcoming ruinous expansion pack, World of Warcraft: Cataclysm. If you're currently rolling through Azeroth, owning fools while playing as a Death Knight, Hunter, Priest, Rogue, Shaman, Warlock or Warrior, you can get an early glimpse at some of the new powers and revamped mechanics the expansion will bring your way.

If you're having a hard time understanding what all these changes really mean, we suggest checking out our loot-obsessed sister site, WoW.com, for a detailed analysis of these changes. For instance, we just learned that the Rogue's new "Smoke Bomb" ability will change them from merchants of death into invisible merchants of death. How fun!

Gushing wounds and smoke bombs? Sounds like my kind of party.