It's official: Valve's new game is Dota 2, which takes its name from the popular "Defense of the Ancients" Warcraft III mod. Gameinformer.com broke all the details, and it looks like the game will be coming to PC and Mac in 2011.

Dota 2 will be instantly familiar to any Dota player because Valve hired IceFrog, the developer behind DotA-Allstars, to act as the creative force behind the upcoming game. However, Valve's Source engine will instantly make Dota 2 stand out from its predecessors while retaining that cartoony feel.

While many players are busy checking out patch 4.0.1, let's not forget that Cataclysm is less than two months away. Wowhead has found what appears to be a new model for the druid's Tree of Life form, which could still be a work in progress. Blizzard decided to make the form a bit more exotic since it will become a temporary shapeshift in the expansion.

So what do you think? Is it an upgrade from the current Tree of Life form, or do you dislike the design? Let us know in the comments section below!

EDIT: As LockeColeMA pointed out, Blizzard will also be offering a minor glyph that will let you keep the older version of the Tree of Life form.

Considering stats are changing so drastically when 4.0.1 goes live today, it should come as no surprise that gems will undergo some changes as well. The major changes to gems involve color switches and stat conversions.

Hit is now blue, Mastery and Dodge are now yellow, and Intellect is now red. If any of your gems change color after the patch goes live, they may no longer match the socket.

As for the stat conversions, here they are: Attack Power to Agility, Spell Power to Intellect, MP5 to Spirit, and Defense to Dodge or Parry.

Blizzard's original post can be found after the jump.

While you're counting down the minutes to patch 4.0.1, Blizzard has posted an in-depth look at the guild UI changes that are going live with the update. Guilds are no longer part of the social window and have been given their own revamped interface.

Players will now be able to view the professions of all guild members and search for recipes by player or by recipe. It is now easier to view guild news and upcoming events, and the guild controls have been streamlined.

As an added bonus, Guild Masters will now be able to restrict some ranks to users who have an authenticator associated with their Battle.net account. This should provide a new level of security for guild banks.

For more details, you can read Blizzard's original post after the jump.

While we're all patiently waiting for patch 4.0.1 to go live today, Blizzard has been busy providing last-minute patch details on the official forums. Bashiok just posted a detailed look at the stat changes that will be implemented in the update, and it's cetainly a helpful list.

Attack Power, Block Rating, Spell Power, Armor Penetration, and Shield Block value have been removed from items. MP5, Defense, Spell Ranks and Weapon Skill have been removed from the game. All spells will scale appropriately with your level, and classes will start with all the weapon skills they need to know and won't need to improve them.

Non-plate wearers should now have more stamina, and Spirit should only be found on healing gear. The Mastery stat will be directly tied to talents and let you become better at your chosen path. More details can be found in Bashiok's post after the jump.

Just in time for the launch of patch 4.0.1, Blizzard has released a preview of the reforging system that is going live today following the extended maintenance. NPCs in all major cities will let players modify an item's stat values, which means gear is now customizable.

Stamina, Intellect, Strength and Agility cannot be altered via reforging. However, the following secondary stats can be changed: Spirit, Hit Rating, Expertise Rating, Critical Strike Rating, Haste Rating, Mastery Rating, Parry Rating, and Dodge Rating. Basically, you can take any secondary stat that's already on the item and allocate roughly 40% of it toward another secondary stat of your choice.

The service costs gold and only works on gear that is item level 200 or higher. You can read an example of how the system works in the full preview after the jump.

UPDATE: The maintenance is complete! Enjoy patch 4.0.1!

As you may have heard, patch 4.0.1 will go live today in World of Warcraft following the extended maintenance, which is scheduled to end at 12:01 p.m. PDT. Blizzard recommends that you turn on your background downloader, and we have to agree. Once you apply the patch, it could take up to an hour to install, and then you'll need to download around 1.2 GB using the new streaming launcher.

Keep reading after the jump for a rundown of the major changes coming in patch 4.0.1, as well as the patch notes. Remember, this update paves the way for the launch of Cataclysm on December 7.

Extended downtime? Check. An announcement regarding the new streaming launcher? Check. A detailed overview of the glyph changes? Check. And now a list of complex class mechanics changes? Check. We definitely have every reason to believe that patch 4.0.1 is going live tomorrow, Oct. 12.

Getting back to the class mechanics changes in 4.0.1, Bashiok has posted a list of of the alterations that are in store for death knights, druids, hunters, paladins, warlocks and warriors. The rest of the classes will also receive updates, but Bashiok just focused on the ones that require further explanation.

For example, hunters will now use focus instead of mana and ammo is a thing of the past. Also, Soul Shards will no longer be items for warlocks. You can read Bashiok's full post after the jump. What are your thoughts on the changes?

Blizzard just outlined the upcoming changes to glyphs in 4.0.1, which helps fuel our suspicions that the patch will go live tomorrow following the extended maintenance. According to Lylirra's post, "this update features a host of changes including the addition of a new glyph tier, the transition of glyphs from consumable items to permanent spells, and a more streamlined user interface."

Glyphs will now be separated into minor, major and prime tiers. Prime glyphs will provide direct increases to damage and healing, while major glyphs will augment spells and abilities to offer additional utility. Minor glyphs are just convenient or cosmetic.

One you learn a glyph, you'll have it forever. Gone are the days of single-use glyphs. However, you will need to use a reagent to overwrite glyphs. To top it off, the glyph UI window has been completely redesigned.

For more details, check out the full post after the jump.

Blizzard just revealed details on the new World of Warcraft launcher that's being introduced with patch 4.0.1, and it will actually let you stream game data while you play. This will reduce the time you spend downloading, installing, and patching the game.

The new launcher will use a color-coded progress bar to show you how much data you've downloaded. If it's red, you can't play. You can play if it's yellow, but it won't be ideal. If it's green, you're good to go!

You can read the FAQ for the new streaming launcher after the jump. It's safe to say patch 4.0.1 is going live tomorrow, so you can expect to see the redesigned launcher soon enough.