UPDATE: The patch notes have already been updated. You can read the latest patch notes after the jump.
Blizzard has released the PTR patch notes for patch 4.0.6. Check out the full list after the jump to see how your class has been affected, and remember that these notes can change as the patch is tweaked on the test realm.
You can discuss the upcoming patch in this thread in our World of Warcraft general forum. What are your thoughts on the changes?
It looks like that tinkering gnome has been busy lately. Blizzard has implemented a new batch of World of Warcraft hotfixes, and they include fixes related to guild achievements, flasks, and cauldrons. It turns out Blizzard overestimated the number of flasks that guilds would be able to make by the time they reached guild level 10, so they made some changes:
More details on the guild flask and cauldron hotfixes, as well as the entire list of the newest batch of hotfixes, can be found after the jump.
Wowhead has unveiled its newest site feature: a Blue Tracker! You can now use the onsite tracker to view all posts and threads made by Blizzard posters on the official World of Warcraft forums, both US and EU. It also keeps track of the blog posts on the new World of Warcraft community site.
You can sort the list via date or activity, view all the posts made by specific Blizzard posters, filter the posts by subforum and more! Check out all the features after the jump.
A couple weeks ago, Blizzard kicked off its New Players Tips series to given veteran World of Warcraft players the chance to share their wisdom about questing with newbies. The second installment is now live and is called "Time is Money, Friend," which is a fitting name for a column about the Auction House.
So what advice would you give a new player about using the Auction House? Any trade secrets you'd like to share?
Following the announcement that Rift will launch on March 1 and pre-orders are now available, Trion Worlds has released a new TV spot and a pre-order FAQ. As you can see from the above image, the commercial ends on some fighting words for World of Warcraft. You can watch the entire commercial after the jump.
The pre-order FAQ covers all sorts of questions, including how to gain access to the remaining closed beta events. Also, all closed beta characters will be wiped before the Head Start event begins on Feb. 24. Check out the full FAQ below for even more answers. (UPDATE: The pre-order FAQ have been updated to answer more questions.)
Blizzard has announced that a new, free update is now available for the World of Warcraft Mobile Armory App. The new update brings in Cataclysm information including new items, races, and race/class combos.
The app has also been re-skinned to match the new WoW community site. The update also includes various UI improvements such as enhanced readability and streamlined character switching.
The World of Warcraft Mobile Armory App is available from the App Store on iPhone and iPod touch.
The good ol' World of Warcraft hotfix thread has been updated for the first time this year, and this batch includes another Tol Barad Honor change. Tol Barad now awards 360 Honor Points for winning as the attacking faction, down from 1800. Zarhym provides more details in this post on the official forums, where he also mentions that Blizzard is working on a fix for the Tol Barad bridge exploit.
As for the rest of the hotfixes, you can check them out after the jump.
Blizzard has posted a handy guide that outlines the traveling options in World of Warcraft. While it may not be required reading for veteran players, new players will certainly find this information helpful.
The guide covers mounts, Flight Masters, boats, zeppelins, portals and summoning via a meeting stone or warlock. It also mentions the Deeprun Tram and the Rocketway Exchange in Azshara. You can read the guide after the jump.
As 2010 winds to a close and we prepare for 2011, the ZAM news team decided to take a look back at this year's highs and lows, as well as share what we're excited to see in 2011. Our team has changed a bit recently, so we wanted to take the time to properly introduce ourselves and talk about about our favorite topic: gaming.
Over the next few pages, you'll get to meet Editor-in-Chief Darryl "Togikagi" Gangloff (yours truly), Senior Staff Writer Chris "Pwyff" Tom, Reporter Kayla "Reiyami" Smith and Staff Writer Paul "LockeColeMA" Cleveland. Keep reading after the jump for my personal thoughts on 2010 and then flip through the pages to hear from the rest of the team.
We'd love to know what you thought about 2010. Feel free to share your opinions in the comments section below, or contact us at news@zam.com. You can also find our individual contact information on the staff list page.
Researchers at USC's Institute for Creative Technologies are currently working on software that will allow gamers to use the Xbox 360's motion-sensing Kinect controller to play computer games. To demonstrate their Flexible Action and Articulated Skeleton Toolkit (FAAST), they posted a video of a guy playing World of Warcraft on YouTube. Basically, keyboard commands are assigned to various body postures and gestures. Players can swing an arm to use an ability, lean to move, and so on.
According to an article on MSNBC's In-Game blog, the institute hopes to use this new technology as exercise to help rehabilitate patients who have had a stroke or traumatic brain injury. They also hope to help combat childhood obesity and diabetes.
Check out the video after the jump and let us know what you think in this thread in our WoW general forum.
