Monday may be just around the corner, but you can still check out all of the exclusive features and noteworthy news articles that have been posted on ZAM this past week. You can find more links after the jump.

ZAM features

The Endless Forest: Oh Deer: Is The Endless Forest a relaxing experience or just lacking content? Sam "azerian" Maxted investigates.

We Dream of Genie: The newest update to Perfect World International includes genies, and we talked with Product Manager Jonathan Belliss to get all the details.

Gunz Online: Fast, Intense and... What Else?: Christopher "Pwyff" Tom checked out this MMORPG/FPS hybrid to see if the game is packed with anything besides adrenaline. Pwyff wasn't too impressed. Find out why in his editorial.

MapleStory: Still Worth Playing?: MapleStory just celebrated its fourth anniversary, so azerian decided to venture into the game's virtual world to see what's changed over the years.

Rub Our Exclusive Media Lamp: We got an exclusive look at the genies introduced in the newest Perfect World International update. Check out the screenshots to see what they look like.

UPDATE: Nethaera has announced the first batch of tickets has already sold out. The post was made at 10:29 a.m. PDT, less than 30 minutes after the tickets went on sale. If you still want to attend, plan to be near a computer on May 30 when the second batch becomes available. Also, the Armory is now up and running.

BlizzCon tickets are officially on sale! The event takes place at the Anaheim Convention Center from Aug. 21-22 and tickets cost $125 each. You can buy tickets here. If you miss out, a second batch will go on sale May 30.

Also, Blizzard has temporarily disabled the Armory to "further alleviate potential load" on the Web site while people buy tickets. There is currently no estimated time on when the Armory will be back up.

Bornakk just posted a quick tidbit about when Blizzcon tickets will go on sale. According to the post here they will be going up at 10AM PST on May 16th.

The list of in-game fixes has once again been updated, and the most recent batch includes the nerf to items with stealth detection we just reported. Here are the fixes straight from Bornakk's post:

• The chance for the Lightning Overload talent to be triggered is being increased from 7/13/20% to 11/22/33%.
• We have decreased or removed the stealth detection from numerous items.
• Wild Growth can no longer proc Revitalize if you don’t have talent points spent in Revitalize.
• In the Yogg Saron encounter, Paladin Judgement spells will no longer cause diminish power from Crusher Tentacles to cease channeling.
• The vehicles in the Flame Leviathon encounter will now respawn faster.
• Hodir will no longer shatter his Rare Cache of Winter if defeated while casting a spell, like Flash Freeze.

Crygil has announced that the cost of the Argent Hippogryph flying mount will be reduced from 250 Champion’s Seals to 150 Champion’s Seals in the next minor content patch. Crygil said the change is being implemented "in order to better balance the cost of new rewards that we would like to add to the Argent Tournament."

If the price still says 250 Champion's Seals once the change has gone live, it's just a glitch and will be corrected in a future patch.

Blizzard has reduced or removed stealth detection on a number of items because the team "felt these items provided a necessary advantage in competitive PVP and forced players to use lower level equipment even when more powerful items were available to them." The changes are already live and the tooltips will be be updated to reflect the changes in the next minor content patch.

Ultra-Spectropic Detection Goggles can no longer be used in the Arena, and all epic engineering goggles have had their stealth detection abilities removed. A full list of items that have had their stealth detection reduced can be found after the jump.

Xoxide, a Web site that sells computer parts, cases and accessories, is currently hosting a World of Warcraft video contest so you can win some PC gaming accessories of your own, including a SteelSeries World of Warcraft Gaming Mouse.

The contest, which runs until June 30, asks you to submit your film in one of three categories. For those of you who would rather act out your scenes than work with in-game clips,  you can use live action roleplaying to tell your story or fight a battle; you can dub the voices of in-game characters in a humorous fashion, much like the "Red vs. Blue" Halo series; or you can make a parody of those WoW celebrity-endorsed commercials, such as the ones featuring William Shatner or Ozzy Osbourne.

All you need to do is upload your video to YouTube and post it on Xoxide's contest page as a response. Three grand prize winners will each earn the WoW gaming mouse and a prize package filled with the "hottest PC gaming accessories."

In an attempt to better reward players who are able to complete hard mode encounters in 10-man Ulduar, the next minor content patch will boost the item level of weapon rewards from these encounters from 226 to 232.

According to a post by Zayhm, "Players already with these items should see an increase in the power of these items to better reflect the new item level."

As for the Herald of the Titans achievement, the patch will also increase the requirement from item level 226 to 232. However, the text for the achievement probably won't be changed in the patch and will still reflect the outdated data.

Blizzard poster Zarhym has addressed Blizzard's upcoming MMO in a thread that was started by a player who doesn't believe such a game is actually in the works. While Zaryhm doesn't provide much information, the statement does emphasize the in-development MMO is definitely not a sequel or spin-off of any of the company's current franchises:

"We have nothing to advertise for the new MMO because it's a shell of a game thus far. We've already stated it'll be a brand new franchise, which means the lore, art, and game play are being developed entirely from scratch. It's an overwhelming process, but a process through which we excel. Our track record supports this."

Zaryhm addresses numerous other points in the post in an attempt to dispel misconceptions about how Blizzard operates. For example, here's Zaryhm's response to the comment that Blizzard has shifted focus away from WoW: "If a position is vacated, it is filled. ... We're never short on talent and our teams are constantly growing. There's absolutely no reason or evidence to support the theory that we've shifted focus away from the Warcraft franchise."

Crygil has announced three new in-games fixes this morning, and here they are straight from the post on the official forums:

• If a pet dies from Overwhelming Power on Steelbreaker in Ulduar, Steelbreaker will gain an Electrical Charge.
• The Doomguard’s ability Cripple now reduces ranged and melee attack speed by 20% instead of 45%. Cripple's slowing effect does not stack with other slowing effects such as Thunderclap and Infected Wounds.
• Thorim's Unbalancing Strike ability will now be used at more consistent intervals.