Blizzard poster Zarhym has announced they're hotfixing Replenishment in Arenas so it will only affect the character and not the whole team. Replenishment is a buff that regens mana for party and raid members, and Zarhym said they didn't feel it was balanced for smaller teams. Since it works well in large groups, the buff will continue to function as it does now outside of Arenas.

It seems this hotfix wasn't undertaken lightly, but Zarhym said they didn't want to nerf the amount returned by the buff or make it not work at all in Arenas. "Making the rules work differently in PvP and PvE isn’t a solution we like to use often, but in this case we think it fixes the issue cleanly, while still making the talents in question useful to the character who takes them," Zarhym said.

In addition, Bornakk has once again listed the newest in-game fixes that have been implemented. You can read them all after the jump. For example, the trash before XT-002 Deconstructor and Mimiron should be easier to get through now.

Everywhere we look in MMOs, Humans are the good guys. They stand united under a single banner and represent all that is good and right in the world. Standing shoulder to shoulder with their allies (or, in the case of dwarves, shoulder to crotch), they fight valiantly - and successfully - against the forces of evil. However, as I'm sure you're aware, this often isn't the case in the real world. It's at this point that I'd like to ask how accurate Human's portrayal is in MMOs and whether the "evil" races are just victims of propaganda.

Truth be told, we know that Humans are far from noble. Jails are full to bursting, children are bullied at school and bankers have all our money (or at least they did, until they lost it down the back of the sofa or bought another corporate jet). All this points towards one thing: as a species, if we think we can get away with something, we'll probably give it a go. How else can you explain doping in sports events, or kids cheating on their tests? This attitude permeates all levels of our society, from convenience store robberies to political scandals at the highest levels of government.

Blizzard poster Bornakk has continued adding to the list of recent in-game fixes. Here's the newest batch:

• General Vezax’s Shadow Crash ability will no longer benefit non-caster classes.
• Mother Shahraz’s Fatal Attraction ability will once again hit only 3 people at a time.
• Players can no longer use the Fetch Ball or Rope Leash on the Argent Gruntling.
• Players who are exalted with the Argent Crusade will no longer be able to complete the quest “Contributin' To The Cause” in the Argent Pavillion.
• The level requirement for the following quests has been appropriately set to level 65: Shipment: Wicked Sun Brooch, Infused Mushroom Meatloaf, Mustard Dogs!, and Cheese for Glowergold. 

You can read the rest of the most recent fixes after the jump.

Blizzard poster Slorkuz announced today that we can expect to see minor bug fix patch 3.1.1a implemented in the next few days to fix the tooltip for the Paladin ability Exorcism, which can no longer be used on players. It will also fix an error message that is currently seen when Paladins try to use it against other players. The changes can't be hotfixed, so the small patch is needed.

Ghostcrawler explained the team's reasoning behind the Exorcism change in a lengthy post on the official forums. Basically, he said Exorcism had become a severe balance issue that needed to be addressed. He said the ability will be redesigned in a future patch since the "not on players" solution is not ideal. Also, the team is planning in that same future patch to "change the way paladins do damage so that their normal combat moves have more depth to them instead of just using abilities every time they finish their cooldown."

So what do you think about the Exorcism change? You can discuss it in our Paladin forum here. You can read Ghostcrawler's full post after the jump.

For all you machinima fans out there, Stanford Law School is hosting an interesting seminar this Friday and Saturday on the legalities of creating movies using online games. According to the event's Web site, topics for discussion will include "game art, game hacking, open source and 'modding,' player/consumer-driven innovation, cultural/technology studies, fan culture, legal and business issues, transgressive play, game preservation, and notions of collaborative co-creation drawn from virtual worlds and online games."

Of course, films will be shown throughout the conference, including Joshua Diltz's "Mercy of the Sea" from World of Warcraft and Ian Chisholm's "Clear Skies" from EVE Online and Half-Life 2. You can even watch an original WoW machinima announcing the conference here.

Visit the school's event page to register or for more information, including a full agenda and list of speakers.

Our friends over at Blizzard have pointed us toward an auction for a worthwhile cause that just happens to have a basket full of World of Warcraft items up for auction. The event is being held to support the Peninsula Education Foundation in order to help all schools in the Palos Verdes Peninsula Unified School District. This is not an official Blizzard event and is not supported by the company, but WoW fans may be interested in the wealth of game-related items up for bid.

This WoW basket contains autographed collector's editions of the game and its expansions; a Spectral Tiger mount loot card; one free year of gameplay; an Arthas helm; a cinematic art of Wrath of the Lich King book; the music of Blizzard 2-CD set; the 2008 BlizzCon comic collection; a deluxe edition of the WoW Miniatures core set; a talking murloc plush toy; and a Vindicator Maraad action figure.

The estimated value of all that is $3,500. The current bid is $1,100 and the auction closes on April 27 at 5 p.m. PDT.

With today's maintenance, Blizzard released patch 3.1.1, right on the heels of patch 3.1. The patch is a minor one, including many fixes to bugs that have escaped Blizzard on the PTR.

3.1.1 will come with a talent reset for everyone, since one of the bug fix is aimed at the new dual spec system. This won't remove your glyphs, but you have to be careful when re-talenting to make sure you match the proper talent pane with the proper glyph. Just a friendly heads up.

The latest patch notes can always be found at http://www.worldofwarcraft.com/patchnotes/
The latest test realm patch notes can always be found at http://www.worldofwarcraft.com/patchnotes/test-realm-patchnotes.html

Would you like to win a signed World of Warcraft action figure? We would, even though we haven't got a clue who's doing the signing. If you want to get hold of one of these figures, you might want to enter WoW's Comic Quiz Contest. A total of 10 figures are being given away, with five going to Europe and five to North America.

North American players can go here to enter the contest, while European players should click here.

The Darkmoon Faire will be setting up camp in Charlotte, N.C. this weekend from April 24-26 at the Charlotte Convention Center. Whether you're a fan of the World of Warcraft MMO, miniatures game or trading card game (or all of the above), you'll most likely be able to find something to enjoy at the event.

There will be a miniatures tournament at the faire, and the top 8 finishers will get a Spectral Tiger loot card. The grand prize winner will earn either a new computer, a home theater or travel to any Darkmoon Faire event in the world. Those same top prizes will be available to the winner of the faire's trading card game tournament.

Also, PvP fans will be able to take control of premade, fully geared level 80 characters and compete in 2v2 Arena tournaments and treasure hunts. There will also be a leveling contest; start at level 1 and see how much experience you can accumulate within the time limit for a prize.

More information on the events at the Charlotte Darkmoon Faire can be found here. The next event will be held in Singapore May 22-24. The next U.S. event will be held in Boston July 17-19.

We mentioned at the end of March that Christie Golden's new World of Warcraft novel, "Arthas: Rise of the Lich King," was available for preorder. Well, the wait is just about over since the book, which focuses on Arthas Menethil's dark journey toward the Frozen Throne, arrives in stores tomorrow.

In preparation and celebration, the ninth BlizzCast episode provides a sneak preview of the novel. Senior Vice President of Creative Development Chris Metzen reads an excerpt from the prologue and explains that Golden's story gives readers a look at Arthas' origin, which has never really been fully explored before.

You can listen to the 10-minute episode or read the full transcript here.