The top dog of MMORPGS has just revealed its collectors edition contents so if you already had the expansion pre-ordered, you may want to call the store for an upgrade.  That is, if you really are in need of another art book, mouse pad and trading cards for a game you probably will never play.  The box comes complete with a Deathwing mouse pad, an art book that spans 176 pages, a “lil’ Deathwing” in-game pet, some TCG cards, a Cataclysm soundtrack and a behind-the-scenes DVD.

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About a month ago, Blizzard ended Phase 1 of the StarCraft II beta and said that it would return for a second round of testing a few weeks before the game’s release. That time has come and the beta has returned with patch 16, which includes a few Zerg fixes including an Ultralisk buff, an unlock of the other AI difficulties, new maps, and a new batch of achievements. Of course, the return of the beta comes right after the company’s controversial announcement of the proposed change to the official Blizzard forums. The “Real ID” system, Blizzard’s “optional” friend system for StarCraft II and World of Warcraft, would be incorporated into the forums so that instead of usernames appearing, posters’ real names would display instead.

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For nearly six years, the community manager known as “Eyonix” has announced late last week via the World of Warcraft forums that he will no longer be with the company.  His departure was surprisingly short and simple, stating the following:

“For nearly six years, we’ve shared our thoughts with one and other, we’ve laughed, we’ve argued, and we’ve cried — the crying part was just me wasn’t it? Those times, I’m afraid must come to an end as I’ve made the decision to explore opportunities outside of Blizzard.

It has very honestly been a huge pleasure, and I thank you all for allowing ‘Eyonix’ to always remain a very fond memory as I move on.”

His announcement was an unhappy surprise for many people, and the community has been very vocal about his sudden departure.   The thread currently spans 50 pages but he has not issued a statement as to why he is leaving the company.  It’s anyone’s guess as to why he has moved on, whether it is a better job opportunity or another reason entirely.  Judging from the great number of heartfelt responses left from World of Warcraft players on the official forums, it sounds as though Eyonix will surely be missed by the community.

The goodbye post and responses can be read here, which will take you directly to the World of Warcraft forums.

[Source: MMORPG.com]

Yesterday, the most popular MMORPG in the world, World of Warcraft, opened a virtual pet store on their website. For $10 each you can virtually own a ‘Lil KT or Pandaren Monk. With the purchase of the Panderan Monk 50% of the proceeds go to the Make a Wish foundation until December 31, 2009.

These cute little guys first appeared a few months ago data-mined through MMO-Champion, along with a video of the Panderan Monk idle animation. Since the release of these pets it’s rumored that ‘Lil KT frostbolts cats that it sees! If you play World of Warcraft and have been to the Naxxramas raid, you know the deal with Kel’Thuzad and the cat Mr. Bigglesworth.

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Blizzard Poster, Daelo, announced the new set of Icecrown raid testing for this week! Don’t forget to leave your feedback on the official PTR forums if you’re going to be raiding Icecrown this week.

You can read the full post below with all the raid test times!

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Square Enix is about to release a WW2 RTS, Order of War, there’s some details on that inside and a demo available. It’s not a too shabby, either. Valve is about lay down the law to those cheating in Team Fortress 2 to obtain the dropped items, looks like they’re going to be able to kiss all of their ill gotten goods farewell. Lastly but not least, Blizzard has instituted a new service that allows you to change the faction your character belongs to, for a fee.

Check it all out in further detail, after the jump.

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Kalimdor and the Eastern Kingdom are about to be forcefully remixed into a new, darker state, after years of hanging in a state of unchanging stasis, in World of Warcraft: Cataclysm. The Dragon Aspect Deathwing appears to be the primary culprit behind the transformation of the land that 11 million people call home. If you aren’t familiar with the lore, and haven’t checked out any of the books, Deathwing is one of the most compelling antagonists Blizzard could have pulled out of their bag of tricks. In addition to this new villain, and familiar lands decimated are two new races, new class/race combinations, more levels, better graphics, and new areas.

Hit the jump for trailers, screenshots, and more information on the new World of Warcraft: Cataclysm.

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Today brings with it a demo for Call of Juarez: Bound in Blood, to tempt anyone who has been considering the title since it was released earlier this year. ARMA II is heading to Takistan with new expansion ARMA II: Operation Arrowhead. World of Warcraft is making some old content a little more beefy in time for the 5th anniversary, by cranking Onyxia up a few notches for current players. This slow news day is brought to you by me getting to play mechanic all day, so look for some additional PC gaming goodness over the weekend.

Check it all out, after the jump.

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World of Warcraft underwent over a month of downtime as it switched hands from operator The9 to NetEase. Although the game is now live in closed beta form, MMOSite.com has reported that the relaunched World of Warcraft has undergone content changes due an official Chinese government review that required modifications for the game to go live.

Such changes include sandbags replacing piles of bones and black blood. Undead character models have also experienced further model touchups to cover parts of the body that show bone. Blizzard hasn’t officially commented on the matter.

[Source: MMOSite.com via Gamasutra]

People seem to have a difficult time quitting MMORPGs (that’s Massively Multiplayer Online Role Playing Games to those of you living in bomb shelters who are only allowed to resurface to read Spawn Kill articles).  Warcraftrealms.com, a popular statistic site for World of Warcraft, shows that there are approximately 6.3 million people active in WoW between the US and Europe.  That’s about six times the number of any other MMORPG currently on the market, at least in the West.  Of the 6.3 million people, how many do you think have been playing for more than two years?  Three?  Since launch?  Given rerolling and inaccurate data, it’s probably not feasible to gauge something like that, but the numbers would frighten. 

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Wednesday, right smack dab in the middle of the wonderful work week. Well, hopefully you’re on summer break, or your summer classes aren’t too painful, or work has slowed down. While it might be about 100 degrees outside right now and everything has slowed to a crawl, PC gaming news certainly has not. Today in ALT+F4 there’s plenty of fun that doesn’t include sunburn. The Dawn of War II content patch is going into open in beta tomorrow, it looks like it includes quite a bit of awesome. If you’ve been wondering whether or not your computer will be able to huff and puff through Wolfenstein, wonder no more, as the system requirements have been revealed. World of Warcraft gains the controversial feature of allowing players to switch factions, while Street Fighter IV goes up for pre-purchase at Impulse and Steam. Check it all out after the jump.

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This worries me ever so slightly, but this kid needs to be picked up for the next Exorcist sequel’s starring role. Here’s what happens when a mother cancels her little hellion’s World of Warcraft account. Oh dear. Oh my. MolotovCupcake told me she prays that it’s fake, but I can’t say I don’t doubt the ability for this to be real! So real it hurts. You WoW junkies scare me more than any crystal meth addict I have ever met. See the video below the tag.

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Coming soon to the World of Warcraft is the Isle of Conquest, offering players a new place to flex their gear hoarding muscle. The premise this island is based on places two opposing generals at the helm of both factions, Horde and Alliance. What differentiates this from previous battleground additions to the game is that each side is going to war with 40 players; something not seen in World of Warcraft since Alterac Valley was introduced long ago.

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