Have you seen the worgen cinematic yet? In addition to that reveal, Blizzard also unveiled the new Cataclysm login screen at BlizzCon. The roaring Sindragosa from the current Wrath of the Lich King screen will be replaced with a roaring Deathwing.
You can view the Cataclysm login screen after the jump. You're going to be seeing this screen a lot once the expansion goes live, so enjoy it while it's fresh and new. What are your thoughts?
Blizzard had something special hidden up its sleeve today during the Cataclysm cinematics panel: the premiere of the worgen cinematic. You can watch the cutscene after the jump. Let us know what you think in the comments below.
For more details from BlizzCon's cinematics panel, you can read fewyn's live blog over at Wowhead. For example, it turns out that the the flames on Deathwing's flight in the opening cinematic are over 40 GB in size. Also, all the assets in in-game cinematics are from elsewhere in the game.
The Dungeons & Raids Panel was held at BlizzCon today, and it was full of interesting information on Blizzard's design goals for Cataclysm and beyond. For images and tweets from the panel, check out Wowhead's live blog. For details straight from Blizzard, read the blue post after the jump. Here are some highlights:
Keep reading after the jump for more details, and keep an eye on Wowhead's live BlizzCon blog for news as it happens at the convention.
UPDATE: Blizzard just updated the Diablo III site with more information on the Demon Hunter, as well as details on the PvP system.
The BlizzCon 2010 Opening Ceremony just ended, and the biggest announcements were for Diablo III fans. Senior VP of Creative Development Chris Metzen unveiled the Demon Hunter as the fifth and final class and announced that PvP battle arenas will be a part of the game. There's still no word on a release date, so we'll just have to wait and see when Diablo III will actually hit the shelves.
As far as World of Wacraft is concerned, President and CEO Mike Morhaime announced that players will soon be able to pre-order Cataclysm directly through Blizzard and download the expansion in advance of the launch. Cataclysm is set to go live on Dec. 7 at midnight PST, and Morhaime said that players who download Cataclysm will be able to jump right in and play at that time. Of course, we all know to expect downtime and server issues on launch day.
BlizzCon officially kicks off today, and our friends at Wowhead are already at the Anaheim Convention Center with their smartphones and laptops at hand to tweet and live blog news during the entire convention. Members of the Wowhead staff will be providing real-time updates of the panels as they attend them on Wowhead's live BlizzCon blog, and you can also follow all of the Wowhead staff members on Twitter.
TankSpot is also live-blogging the WoW panels, and ZAM's own Mike B. aka Fony is streaming video from BlizzCon and posting updates on his Twitter page. Fans of the BFF Report should definitely check out his coverage.
According to the BlizzCon schedule of events, the opening ceremony begins today at 11 a.m. PDT. Blizzard will be streaming the ceremony for free, so be sure to watch it to see what announcements the company will be making this year. (UPDATE: The ceremony has ended, and Blizzard unveiled the Demon Hunter class in Diablo III).
This year's BlizzCon goody bag includes an exclusive Dethling statue, a Deathy WoW in-game pet and an exclusive set of murlocalyptic in-game items for StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty. Also, attendees will have the chance to see Tenacious D live in concert.
This week’s featured blog comes to us in the form of Haz Mace Will Raid. It looks at raiding from the point of view of a Retribution Paladin. Many of the recent posts chronicle his guild’s struggles with Sindragosa Hard Mode, and its eventual victory over her!
The blog also contains a bit of Paladin theory. Not so many numbers, though there is a bit of that, but also insight from someone who’s played the class for a while.
Of course there’s something for everyone. The most recent article is about 4.0.1 changes on the PTR, and is sprinkled with an ample number of screenshots and surprise as he comes back from an alt-tab break to find elementals destroying the city (apparently he missed the memo…). Anyway, it’s an entertaining read that’s certainly worth a look. Feel free to check it out!
As always, if you know of a blog you’d like to have featured in this space please let us know. You can e-mail us at zamfeaturedblogs@gmail.com or send a PM to someproteinguy on the forums.
As we all know, Cataclysm will completely change the face of Azeroth. Many old quests are going to disappear, which means that players will no longer be able to complete some class specific quests. Nethaera has confirmed on the official forums that class mounts and abilities will remain available via class trainers even if the associated quests are removed from the game.
Nethaera also mentions that Blizzard plans to implement a level 20 dungeon-based quest in the expansion that will offer a weapon reward for all classes. A similar level 50 dungeon quest will give players a headpiece reward. You can read all the details after the jump.
To assist in population balancing, Blizzard is currently offering free character transfers from select realms to the Dentarg PvE server, which is a Eastern time zone realm in the Stormstrike battlegroup. The transfers start today and will end on Nov. 2 at 1 a.m. PST. Characters on the following PvE realms are eligible for the transfer:
- Alleria - Alliance Only
- Area 52 - Horde Only
- Shandris
- Stormrage - Alliance Only
- Thrall - Horde Only
- Velen
- Zul'jin
These transfers tend to fill up quick, so don't wait too long if you'd like to move your character to the Dentarg server. Once Blizzard meets its transfer goals, the opportunity will come to an end before the Nov. 2 deadline.
We all know Azeroth will change completely in the wake of Cataclysm, but it looks like the expansion may have some real-world ramifications on your computer. In preparation for the launch of Cataclysm, Blizzard has updated the recommended minimum system requirements for World of Warcraft.
The new requirements correspond with the release of patch 4.0.1, so you may want to look them over if your performance is suddenly less than ideal. You can check out the new minimum system requirements after the jump. Have you noticed any changes in your performance since the update went live?
If you're looking for a new World of Wacraft video podcast, GameBreaker TV's got you covered. ZAM's Mike B. aka Fony and TankSpot's Josh "Lore" Allen have joined forces with Gary Gannon to host Legendary, a podcast that focuses on all sorts of WoW-related topics.
In the premiere episode, the guys discuss Cataclysm, patch 4.0.1, BlizzCon, and more. Check it out after the jump, and keep an eye on GameBreaker TV for future episodes.
