Blizz Blues: Darnell Interviews Charlie Sheen

In this week's episode of Blizz Blues, Darnell interviews Charlie Sheen. I don't know what else to say besides watch it after the jump. Winning!

Blizzard's 20th Anniversary Retrospective Video

Blizzard just updated its 20th anniversary site with a video that takes a candid look at the history of the company. The mini-documentary clocks in at 48 minutes long and is certainly worth watching for any Blizzard fan.

Check out the video to see how Allen Adham, Mike Morhaime and Frank Pearce met at UCLA and formed Silicon and Synapse, which ultimately became the Blizzard Entertainment that we all know today. The video contains commentary from a number of Blizzard employees and follows the company's rise to become a leader in online gaming.

Patch 4.1 Content Will Include Guild Challenges

A few days ago, Bashiok confirmed that the Firelands raid will not be a part of patch 4.1. So what can players expect to see in the update? Zarhym has posted a list of the featured content:

  • Zul'Gurub revamp
  • Zul'Aman revamp
  • New level-85 Stranglethorn quest line (phased) leading players into the troll dungeons
  • New tier of Heroic dungeon gear (epic item level 353) to give players a slightly bigger boost going into raids for the first time
  • New & updated flavor items, vanity pets, and mounts
  • Guild Challenges (new guild quests)

The guild challenges are a new addition and Blizzard hasn't posted any details yet, although Zarhym did hint over the weekend that Blizzard is currently preparing information on the feature.

Blizzard Hosts Ask the Devs Q&A Event

Blizzard announced today that it is hosting an Ask the Devs Q&A event in which the most popular questions from players will be answered by the developers. Players were supposed to be able to submit questions until around 6 p.m. PST today, but it looks like the thread has already reached the cap of 500 posts.

While it doesn't seem that more questions can be posted, you can still make your voice heard by going through the thread and voting for the questions you want answered by clicking the thumbs up button. Down votes don't count, so focus on the questions you actually want to send to the developers.

Bashiok Confirms: No Firelands Raid for 4.1

Blizzard Community Manager Bashiok has taken to the forums to confirm that their Firelands raid, where players will take on a newly revamped Ragnaros the Firelord, will not be making it into Patch 4.1. By way of explanation, Bashiok looks back to the content they introduced in WotLK, most notably being the Crusader's Coliseum, and how he felt they released it while people were still entirely too busy with Ulduar. As a result, many players did not get to experience as much of Ulduar as Blizzard wanted, and hence the delay now.

So instead of weeping over the fact that you can't take on Ragnaros with his oddly proportioned legs, you can still enjoy tons of new content in World of Warcraft by spelunking through the newly revamped Zul'Aman and Zul'Gurub instances. Learn some patience, everyone!

BFF Report 58: World of Warcraft's Zul'Gurub 2.0

Another week, another BFF report! This time around, Mike B. decided to go check out Blizzard's newly revamped Zul'Gurub instance! For veterans of ZG who hated the dungeon back in vanilla World of Warcraft, you might be in for a surprise! It seems as though while the boss themes remain the same, a lot of new mechanics have been added to give this zone a little breath of fresh air. Do any of you vanilla Feral Druids remember leveling up fishing to 300 just to fish up Gahz'ranka for a chance at Foror's Eyepatch and Nat Pagle's Fish Terminator? Oh happy days...

Either way, check out Episode 58 of the BFF Report after the jump, or click on the link to follow!

Images of Looking for Guild Tool on Patch 4.1 PTR

Near the end of the World of Warcraft PTR Patch 4.1 notes, Blizzard made the following comment: "Work has begun on a new Looking for Guild system. Further details will be provided when we are ready for feedback." Our friends at Wowhead just posted some preliminary screenshots of the tool as it exists on the Public Test Realm, and it looks like it will be quite similar to the Dungeon Finder.

In its current state, the tool allows players to browse through guilds and request membership by filling out the following fields:

  • Guild Playstyle: Casual, Moderate or Hardcore
  • Availability: Weekdays, Weekends
  • Class Roles: Tank, Healer, Damage
  • Comment: Players can add a personal message

You can see a larger image of the Looking for Guild tool below. Keeping in mind that this tool is a work in progress and we don't have many details yet, what are your thoughts on the feature?

Locke Explores Azeroth: Hillsbrad Foothills

In my last article I had my newbie hunter explore Silverpine Forest. The storyline was dark and full of lore, but completely new to me; I had never previously gone through Silverpine so, of course, everything was new and interesting! However, Hillsbrad I've done. I took my Blood Elf through Tarren Mill years ago, and had hit the zone around level 30 on every Alliance character I had leveled since the Burning Crusade (thanks to Jame's Guide suggesting it). Cataclysm brought big changes to the zone, and I was excited to explore them all.

WoW PTR Patch 4.1 Brings Back Zul'Gurub, Zul'Aman

UPDATE: Blizzard just posted an official blog entry regarding PTR Patch 4.1. You can read the full post and patch notes, which are subject to change throughout the testing process, after the jump.

World of Warcraft Patch 4.1 is coming to the Public Test Realm, and it's bringing all sorts of new content to the game. Most notably, Zul'Gurub and Zul'Aman are both being reintroduced as 5-player Cataclysm Heroics! Our friends at Wowhead are keeping track of all the changes in an informative blog post, and here are the highlights:

  • The return of Zul'Gurub and Zul'Aman (that's worth mentioning again)
  • New class skills and spell changes
  • New mounts and companion pets
  • New guild reputation tabards
  • New achievements and statistics

Wowhead has brought back their PTR site so you can keep track of the latest 4.1 additions, including spell changes and new and updated icons. Keep checking back for more information as it is released.

You can also discuss the return of Zul'Gurub an Zul'Aman in this thread in our WoW general forum, or make some new topics to discuss other aspects of the patch. What are your thoughts?

Hunter Aimed Shot, Aspect of Hawk Changes are Live

Blizzard has posted a very short list of World of Warcraft hotfixes, and they include the implementation of the hunter Aimed Shot and Aspect of the Hawk changes that were mentioned last week.

You can read all the details after the jump. So hunters, what are your thoughts on the changes?