All of you World of Warcraft and Lord of the Rings fans may want to check out Taverncraft's Black Friday deals. Both of these offers expire on Nov. 29, so act fast:

• World of Wacraft: Buy any Warcraft stein and save $50 on the Charge of the Great Dragonflights stein. That's the same stein Jack Black used on-stage at BlizzCon 2010.
• Lord of the Rings: Buy any Smaug the Magnificent stein and receive a free set of Prancing Pony pint glasses.

Between these deals, the WoW expansion sale and Turbine's double points offer for Lord of the Rings Online and Dungeons & Dragons Online, players have a lot to add to their wishlist this weekend.

In preparation for Cataclysm, Blizzard is offering a major sale on vanilla WoW and the current expansions. You can currently buy World of Warcraft for $5, The Burning Crusade for $5, or Wrath of the Lich King for $10. The promotion ends on Nov. 30, so act fast!

For $20, this is the perfect time to get a friend or loved one into WoW to see the new Azeroth and get them ready for Cataclysm. It's also a good excuse to use the Recruit-A-Friend perks, such as triple experience. Are you going to take advantage of the sale?

Patch 4.0.3a has changed Azeroth forever, but what lies beyond the level cap once Cataclysm launches on Dec. 7? Mike B. aka Fony decided to answer that question in BFF Report episode 47 by exploring the underwater zone of Vashj'ir from levels 80-82. Check it out after the jump and start planning your post-80 leveling experience!

This is only part 1 of Fony's epic journey to the new level cap. Be sure to tune in next week for more of Fony's adventures in Cataclysm.

While we're all waiting for the servers to come back up and completely change Azeroth with patch 4.0.3a, you can check out the first issue of the World of Warcraft: Curse of the Worgen comic miniseries. Here's the description:

"A series of grisly, animalistic murders have rocked the walled town of Gilneas. A famous detective sets out to discover the perpetrators, and finds far more than he bargained for. To discover the truth, he must delve through years of twisted history -- that of his family and Gilneas itself. This pivotal 5-issue miniseries explores the in-depth lore of the Worgen."

Head over to your local comic retailer to buy a physical copy of the first issue, or purchase it digitally through DCComics.com or PlaystationComics.com.

With all signs indicating that the world-changing patch 4.0.3a will hit the live servers this week, we thought it was the perfect time to sit down with Lead Content Designer Cory Stockton to discuss The Shattering patch, the upcoming Cataclysm launch, the sixth anniversary of World of Warcraft, and more.

Stockton reflects on the design process behind the massive expansion and explains why he feels everything should run smoothly when Cataclysm is turned on at the stroke of midnight PST on Dec. 7. He also speaks at length about dynamic events like the Elemental Invasion and hints that similar world events could start appearing in WoW on a regular basis, including an expanded Darkmoon Faire. Keep reading after the jump for all of his answers!

Blizzard just announced that it will be celebrating the launch of Cataclysm on the night of Dec. 6 with special events at select retail stores worldwide.  The festivities will feature members of the development team and include dance contests, so it's a safe bet that the events will be entertaining. The North American parties will be held at Fry's Electronics in Fountain Valley, CA and GameStop in Toronto, Ontario. Will you be attending any of the events?

Speaking of parties, the hosts of the Legendary WoW video podcast will be celebrating the midnight release of Cataclysm beginning on Dec. 6 at 8 p.m. PST. ZAM's own Mike B. aka Fony will be at GameStop in San Francisco, CA and TankSpot's Josh "Lore" Allen will be at Best Buy in Grand Rapids, MI. GameBreaker TV's Gary Gannon will be in Los Angeles, CA manning the controls in the studio.

While you patiently wait for the end of the world in patch 4.0.3a, you can check out some of the new content that has been unlocked on the promotional Darkmoon Faire site. The first two unlockables are video interviews with Lead Environment Artist Gary Platner and Lead Level Designer Jesse McCree, which were quickly followed by a pair of new Alliance and Horde wallpapers. You can view the videos and wallpapers after the jump.

More never-before-seen content will be unlocked on the Darkmoon Faire site as players continue to to share and like its content on Facebook. The Horde is currently in the lead with 26%, but the Alliance is in a very close second with 25%.

Our friends over at Wowhead have pointed out that a new patch will be hitting the live servers this week, and all signs point to it being patch 4.0.3a: The Shattering. This is the patch that will completely change Azeroth for all players and pave the way for the launch of Cataclysm on Dec. 7. You can check out which features will and won't be included in 4.0.3a after the jump.

Now would definitely be the time to explore your favorite zones one last time or finish up the last-minute quests that may soon disappear from your quest log. What's the first thing you plan on doing once patch 4.0.3a is live?

You can discuss The Shattering in our WoW general forum.

It may be a troubling time for Azeroth, but Blizzard is once again giving players the opportunity to give thanks and reflect on the good times through the Pilgrim's Bounty in-game event. The festivities kick off today and run through Nov. 27, so you can spend the next week enjoying food at Bountiful Tables and learning seasonal recipes.

If you want more details on the event's quests and achievements, be sure to check out Wowhead's Pilgrim's Bounty guide. As Miyari mentions, this is the holiday that makes leveling cooking drastically easier, so this is the perfect time to raise your character's cooking skill. Also, complete all the achievements for "the Pilgrim" title and a Plump Turkey pet!

You can read Blizzard's summary of the festival after the jump. Enjoy the Pilgrim's Bounty celebration before Deathwing changes the face of Azeroth forever!

For the inaugural World of Warcraft developer blog, Lead Systems Designer Greg "Ghostcrawler" Street decided to tackle the question, "Why Does Blizzard Hate Healers?" It turns out Blizzard doesn't actually hate healers, but Ghostcrawler admits that they mistakenly gave healers too much mana regeneration in Wrath of the Lich King. He outlines the main consequences of having infinite mana:

• Expensive, fast heals were never a difficult choice. Healers would use the same handful of spells over and over.
• Since healers weren't running out of mana, they made raid encounters more challenging through very high tank or raid damage. This made healing stressful without the reward of making good decisions.
• Talents and stats involving mana regeneration became undesirable and players overhealed too much.
• PvP balance suffered because nobody stayed in a wounded state for long.

In Cataclysm, healers won't have infinite mana. Ghostcrawler hopes players consider this less of a nerf and more of a fun challenge. You can read his comments regarding the change after the jump.