Wolfheart, the latest World of Warcraft novel by Richard A. Knaak, is now available in hardcover, audiobook, and eBook formats from retailers such as Amazon.com and Barnes & Noble. Here's an overview:

"New York Times bestselling author Richard A. Knaak's latest book chronicles a series of pivotal events in the aftermath of the Cataclysm, as conflict engulfs every corner of Azeroth. Hungering for more resources amid the turmoil, the Horde have pressed into Ashenvale to feed their burgeoning war machine. There, acting warchief Garrosh Hellscream has employed a brutal new tactic to conquer the region and crush its night elf defenders. Unless the Alliance can overcome its own political strife, the new warchief might succeed in seizing Ashenvale.

Wolfheart is the story of King Varian Wrynn's struggle to accept the worgen of Gilneas into the Alliance and come to terms with the wolf within himself. As the Horde threat emerges in Ashenvale, Varian's ability to triumph over his own failings will determine the fate of the entire Alliance."

Blizzard has released a couple Wolfheart excerpts to help you decide if you'd like to add this novel to your collection.

Our sister site Wowhead is co-hosting a BlizzCon 2011 party with WoW Insider, and GameBreaker.TV will be broadcasting the whole thing! The festivities will begin on Oct. 20 at 5 p.m. PDT at the patio and the poolside of the Tangerine Grill & Patio at the Anabella hotel.

Along with Wowhead and WoW Insider crews, you can expect other ZAM Network familiar faces such as TankSpot and WoW Interface members to show up as well.

And hey, if you can't make it, don't worry! We're not leaving you out in the cold. You'll be able to watch the entire party from your computer. GameBreaker.TV decided to come to the rescue by broadcasting and hosting the whole shindig. Mike Sacco and Anne Stickney will be your epic hosts, along with special guests Josh Allen (Lore from "Legendary" and TankSpot), GameBreaker's Gary Gannon and Mike B. aka Fony, the host of our BFF Report. Meanwhile, Mat McCurley and Fox Van Allen will be serving as the MCs for the night while passing out awesome swag.

We have a long list of VIP guests, special giveaways, and a lot more we can't wait to tell you about. Those details will follow in the next few weeks. Come join us and kick off BlizzCon with your friends at Wowhead and WoW Insider.

If you plan on attending, let us know on our Facebook event page!

Blizzard has released a preview of the Druid Tier 13 armor set that will be available in World of Warcraft Patch 4.3. You can click on the above image to view a larger version. Here's their description of the Deep Earth Vestments:

"The design called for "phosphorescent mushrooms, reminiscent of Zangarmarsh," so our main concern was avoiding making a helm that looked like a giant toadstool sombrero. We’re always looking to incorporate interesting light sources within a raid set, and bioluminescent vegetable growth certainly provides that. Twisting, organic shapes are often key elements of a druid set, and this tier is no exception, with writhing plant roots providing a frame for the glowing clusters of fungi."

In addition to the Tier 13 reveal, Blizzard has posted a visual guide to druid Tiers 1-12 for Transmogrification purposes. You can view the druid's armor history after the jump, and check out Wowhead's guide to find all your old tier gear. Also, be sure to browse through all of the currently released Tier 13 previews.

Firelands raid content will be getting nerfed beginning the week of September 19 in order to help more players experience the content before patch 4.3 is released. Here are the details:

"With the final showdown against Deathwing approaching, we’ve been keeping a close eye on players' progress through the current Firelands raid content. Before patch 4.3 is released, we want groups who are working on Heroic-difficulty content to be able to get as close to Ragnaros as possible, and we want players who are tackling normal progression to be able to experience as many of the encounters as they can. To achieve these goals, we’ll be toning down the difficulty of both normal and Heroic raids through hotfixes in the coming weeks. In general, we plan to reduce health and damage of all raid bosses in both normal and Heroic Firelands by around the same percentage we brought difficulty down for the original Cataclysm raids when Rage of the Firelands (patch 4.2) was released.

We're looking forward to seeing more groups of players face off against the firelord in the weeks ahead. However, before we make these changes, we want to give everyone a final shot at the bosses at their current difficulty level -- so this is a heads up that we’re planning to apply the difficulty hotfixes beginning the week of September 19."

What are your thoughts on Blizzard's decision to nerf the Firelands content? Join in on the discussion in our World of Warcraft general forum.

Blizzard is asking players to provide feedback on every World of Warcraft class in an attempt to gain information that will be used "for more long term changes in the future." Here are the specific questions they're asking:

• What type of content do you focus on? [PvE/PvP/Both]
• If PvE, what type of PvE? [Heroics/Raids/Other]
• If PvP, what type of PvP? [Arenas, BGs, Rated BGs]
• What are your biggest quality-of-life issues? For instance, no longer requiring ammo could be considered a quality-of-life improvement for hunters.
• What makes playing your class more fun?
• What makes playing your class less fun?
• How do you feel about your “rotation”? (Rotation is the accepted order in which abilities are used to maximum efficiency.)
• What’s on your wish list for your class?
• What spells do you use the least?

Here are the threads where you can submit your answers: Death Knight, Druid, Hunter, Mage, Paladin, Priest, Rogue, Shaman, Warlock, Warrior.

Want to discuss this entire topic? Then head over to our WoW general forum!

We still have more than a month to wait for BlizzCon 2011 to open its doors, but players attending in person or from the comfort of their own home will soon get the chance to purchase their swag. Blizzard will be hosting BlizzCon Store pre-sales on the following dates:

• September 16 – 20: Pre-sale for BlizzCon 2011 ticket holders who are attending the convention in person.
• September 23 – 27: Pre-sale for BlizzCon 2011 Virtual Ticket buyers.
• September 27 through October 22: Pre-sale for those who purchase the Virtual Ticket after September 27 or DIRECTV customers who order the BlizzCon 2011 Pay Per View event. It will be a smaller selection of merchandise.
• November 4: Post-BlizzCon sale for attendees, Virtual Ticket holders and DIRECTV customers.

Every time you pick up an item in Diablo III, you'll have all sorts of options at your disposal. Do you keep it? Sell it? Salvage it? Auction it off? Give it away? Blizzard's latest dev blog entry on the new community site outlines all of your choices. Here's the rundown:

• You can turn unwanted items to gold using the Cauldron of Jordan.
• You can salvage crafting materials from unwated items using the Nephalem Cube.
• You can craft items by interacting with the Blacksmith, Jeweler and Mystic.
• You can sell items on the Auction House, trade them with friends or give them to one of your other characters via the shared stash.

The friends and family beta test is under way, with the public closed beta scheduled to start very soon. There isn't a non-disclosure agreement associated with the beta, so feel free to share your thoughts if you actually get your hands on Diablo III!

Blizzard has released a preview of the Warlock Tier 13 armor set that will be available in World of Warcraft Patch 4.3. Here's their description of the Faceless Shroud armor:

"A set with the flavor of the Old Gods about it - General Vezax from the Ulduar raid was a reference point. Any warlock tier is a great opportunity to bring a dark and warped aesthetic to player gear and this set was especially ripe for the treatment.

Replacing the caster’s face with writhing tentacles was the ‘hook’ I started the concept with and built out from there. We always try to include numerous points of illumination into a tier set as it helps to tie the various armour pieces together – whether that be glowing gemstones, fiery runes or, as in this case, bulging otherworldly eyes!"

In addition to the Tier 13 reveal, Blizzard has posted a visual guide to warlock Tiers 1-12 for Transmogrification purposes. You can view the warlock's armor history after the jump, and check out Wowhead's guide to find all your old tier gear.

Blizzard has released a preview of the Warrior Tier 13 armor set that will be available in World of Warcraft Patch 4.3. Here's their description of the Colossal Dragonplate armor:

"A simple concept – let’s make a Warrior Tier that looks like Deathwing! Gnarled dragon horn and angular elementium plating with burning fire behind it were the key ingredients.

The shoulder pads and helmets are uniquely modeled for each set, and that gives us great opportunities to create eye-catching silhouettes. In this instance, the sweeping horn shapes ensure a powerfully brutal-looking set for warriors."

So what are your thoughts on the set? Do you like the Deathwing theme? Join in on the discussion in our WoW general forum!

In addition to the Tier 13 reveal, Blizzard has posted a visual guide to warrior Tiers 1-12 for Transmogrification purposes. Take a trip down memory lane after the jump, and check out Wowhead's guide to find all your old tier gear.

If you're a fan of the music from Blizzard's games, you may want to check out the new Music Section on the official Blizzard site. You can browse through a variety of albums from the Warcraft, StarCraft and Diablo universes and listen to samples from all of the songs. If you'd like permanent copies, you can purchase the albums and individual tracks through iTunes. Every album costs $9.99, while songs cost $0.99 each.

So which album is your favorite? Do you enjoy listening to music from a game when you're not playing it, or do you hear it enough while in-game?