Blizzard has named James Hessler as the grand prize winner in its Lich King screenshot contest. He is soon to be the proud owner of the signed #1 of only 750 Legendary Edition Rise of the Lich King steins by Taverncraft.
You can look at the rest of the winners on the contest page. Have you taken any good screenshots since the launch of patch 3.3?
In order to assist with population balancing, Blizzard is currently offering free character transfers from eight source realms to four destination servers. Here's some details on the destination realms:
"Auchindoun is an Eastern time zone realm in the Retaliation battlegroup, Anetheron is an Eastern time zone realm in the Stormstrike battlegroup, Agamaggan is a Central time zone realm in the Shadowburn battlegroup, and Farstriders is a Central time zone realm in the Emberstone battlegroup."
The free transfer window is scheduled to last until Jan. 28 at 2 p.m. PST, but they could be disabled early if the goals are met. Check out the full server list below to see if any of your characters are eligible for a free move.
With BioWare's sad announcement that their coveted Star Wars: The Old Republic won't be released until the spring of 2011, fans around the world are lamenting the fact that they'll have to "do something else" until this ultra anticipated MMORPG lands at their feet. For some, this information doesn't really change anything; it just means that they'll be romping around Coruscant in Jedi Robes at a later-than-anticipated time. For others, however, SW:TOR may have been the one shining beacon that would save them from the boredom of their current gaming diet.
As well, for the budget minded gamer, this ambitious Star Wars MMO may very well be the one MMORPG purchase that they would have liked to make over the next few years. Perhaps they are playing World of Warcraft and have no real desire to purchase the Cataclysmic events that are to occur after the Wrath of the Lich King. Either way, the end point here is that the SW:TOR release date so far in the future is no good, especially when most fans were making plans to migrate to this game en masse the moment BioWare opened their pearly gates.
So what's a gamer to do in the meantime? Well, since MMORPGs are what we do here at ZAM, we have some tips for both the bored MMO player and the gamer on a budget that may just help tide you over until SW:TOR comes out in a year.
Blizzard hosted its first developer chat on Twitter in October 2009, and it looks like it was enough of a success to warrant another one. The second dev chat will be held on Friday, Jan. 15, at 5 p.m. PST with World of Warcraft's senior game producer and lead systems designer. The discussion will focus mainly on Patch 3.3: Fall of the Lich King.
To participate, you must submit your questions via Twitter using the #BlizzChat tag on Jan. 15 between 5-6 p.m. You can follow along on the official WoW Twitter page or wait for the full transcript to be posted on the official forums.
Blizzard has updated the Armory with a bunch of new features, including a 3D model viewer and a feed of your characters' activities. The model viewer allows you to see your characters as they appear in-game and cycle through numerous animations. You can play around with your toons in fullscreen mode and even embed the model viewer on compatible sites.
The character activity feeds list your most recent in-game actions, including achievements and item acquisitions. You can export this information as an RSS feed. The updates also include player calendar feeds that let you export the data to online calendars.
More details on the Armory updates can be found after the jump. You can discuss the changes in this thread in our WoW general forum. What are your thoughts on the model viewer and character/calendar feeds?
Our friends over at TankSpot.com keyed us in to an interesting little movie project that's attempting to capture the essence of what it means to be a World of Warcraft raider. In our modern day society, it's often difficult for raiders to balance the real world with the virtual one, and this concept, along with other pertinent issues, will be at the forefront of the film, which is appropriately titled "The Raid."
Here's an excerpt from the filmmaker's description of the production:
“The Raid” will be a film about raiding and what it means to be a raider. We will capture the numerous hours invested by a diverse group of gamers in a complicated and choreographed digital environment, where every contribution weighs on their success or failure. We will watch, in person and virtually, as members strategize, fail, re-strategize, and inevitably find victory in their pursuits. We will sit with them in their homes and seek to understand the value this kind of commitment has in their daily lives, amidst their work, and within their families. We will question them about virtual achievements and their value. We will sit with social experts concerned about the growing issue of internet addiction and seek their opinions. We will question the future of the MMO experience and its place in the global landscape of culture, education, and business. Most of all, we will demonstrate and feel the excitement and energy of this kind of experience, which is so often criticized and misunderstood.
However, the developers of the film need your help. They're looking to raise $12,000 by early April to produce a ten minute short film to help them generate more fundraising for the final production movie. To donate, all you need to do is head over to their website and follow the instructions found there. Check it out and then let us know what you think of the project!
Blizzard has unveiled the ninth tile in the World of Warcraft Battlecry Mosaic, which unlocked an early crashed zeppelin sketch shown at World of Warcraft's E3 reveal.
Blizzard has almost reached the halfway mark for photo submissions to the mosaic. Have you sent in your picture yet?
In case you missed yesterday's startling movie news, Spider-Man 4 has been scrapped and the series is being rebooted. As ZAM user Capzien pointed out in our WoW general forum, Deadline Hollywood reported that director Sam Raimi pulled out of the movie "because he felt he couldn't make its summer release date and keep the film's creative integrity."
So what does that mean for WoW fans? According to a post today on Ain't It Cool News, "someone that knows" says Raimi's next project will be the World of Warcraft movie. While this is just a rumor right now, it looks like the demise of Spider-Man 4 means we'll be seeing WoW on the big screen sooner rather than later.
A couple of hotfixes have been implemented in World of Warcraft regarding the Professor Putricide encounter. Here they are straight from Bornakk's post:
Blizzard may begin alpha testing World of Warcraft's upcoming expansion, Cataclysm, as early as Jan. 12, according to BigDownload.com (via WoW.com). The article claims that the earliest stage of Blizzard's alpha testing, which is only available to friends and family of its employees, will begin this week. Considering that the majority of fan communities and media are predicting Cataclysm's official release in 2010, the timing does seem valid, especially for a late-autumn or holiday launch.
For more information about the world-changing expansion, check out our Cataclysm wiki for all the details confirmed so far. You can also browse through ZAM's live coverage of BlizzCon 2009 from last summer, including developer panel notes and other news. Lastly, check out Blizzard's official Cataclysm site to view a bunch of media, including screenshots, videos, concept art and more.
[UPDATE} Apparently the disc mentioned in the original WoW.com article was a fake.
