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| 2 New Wow Public Test servers soon |
Blizzard has plans to open two Public Test servers that will allow players to test the patches before they go live. This is a feature many MMO veterans wished from Blizzard, since some of MMOs out there offer this feature. The bad news is that some lvl 56-60 players will be chosen at random to allow them access to this Public Test servers. Make sure to check your email often and make sure to check your Junk mail in case your provider has filters. Read the full announcement Here. To read the long patch notes for the new Public test servers go Here
Blizzard:
Two new public test realms will be going live soon! These realms will give select players the chance to experience new content before it is patched to public realms. More importantly, it gives us a place to test new features and systems in a live environment without impacting the public realms. This will allow us to provide players with more frequent content patches in the future.
Moving forward, all players who have an active World of Warcraft account will be eligible to participate in testing on the test realms. However, this initial testing phase requires characters between the levels of 55 and 60 in order to properly test the content and functionality for the next patch. Email invitations have been sent out to a random set of players who meet these qualifications. Their level 55 to 60 characters have been copied to the test realm and will be waiting for them when they log in for the first time.
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Saturday 19th 2005f March 2005 |
Posted by Medievaldragon |
| Blizzard: Dire Maul Preview |
Blizzard released few minutes ago the preview to Dire Maul. An ancient vault of arcane secrets once built by the High Elves under the orders of Queen Azshara. For thousands of years, after the destruction of the Well of Eternity, Dire Maul has been a place where few adventurers have gone out alive, and none have unveiled the secret arcane items hidden in the depths of the vaults. The complex has 3 sections varing from lvl 56 to lvl 60 content.
Features:
- Dire Maul consists of three separate wings ranging in difficulty from level 56 to 60.
- There are many ways to complete the quests located in Dire Maul, and the decisions a party makes along the way will directly influence the potential rewards.
- In recent years, rumors have surfaced of an ancient arena within Dire Maul's courtyard where unique creatures were once fought for sport.
- Adventurers will find that the occupants of Dire Maul possess many rare and epic weapons, armors, and profession recipes never before seen on Azeroth.
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Saturday 19th 2005f March 2005 |
Posted by Medievaldragon |
| Blizzard: Dire Maul Preview |
Blizzard released few minutes ago the preview to Dire Maul. An ancient vault of arcane secrets once built by the High Elves under the orders of Queen Azshara. For thousands of years, after the destruction of the Well of Eternity, Dire Maul has been a place where few adventurers have gone out alive, and none have unveiled the secret arcane items hidden in the depths of the vaults. The complex has 3 sections varing from lvl 56 to lvl 60 content.
Features:
- Dire Maul consists of three separate wings ranging in difficulty from level 56 to 60.
- There are many ways to complete the quests located in Dire Maul, and the decisions a party makes along the way will directly influence the potential rewards.
- In recent years, rumors have surfaced of an ancient arena within Dire Maul's courtyard where unique creatures were once fought for sport.
- Adventurers will find that the occupants of Dire Maul possess many rare and epic weapons, armors, and profession recipes never before seen on Azeroth.
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Saturday 19th 2005f March 2005 |
Posted by Medievaldragon |
| NY Times interviews Blizzard |
NY Times wrote a 3-pages article highlighting the great success of World of Warcraft, anecdotes while playing different areas of the game, anecdotes of Paul Sams when he saw the 5,000 football-looking wait-line at Fry's Game store, and a view into Chris Metzen's meeting discussions with the developers taking decisions on the 3D looks that the Tower of Medivh should have to match the storyline offered in the Warcraft: The Last Guardian novel. NY Times articles get archived after a while, so read it very fast while it lasts. For now it is free. You can read the article Here
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Saturday 19th 2005f March 2005 |
Posted by Medievaldragon |
| Starcraft 2 on the Horizon? |
Dustin Browder, game design director for EA's Battle for Middle-earth announced his leave in a few days from EA, and his new position as a Blizzard Employee to be effective on March 14th. Browder will be under the direct work with Rob Pardo on an unveiled game. Browder doesn't know at this point what game he will be working on, but his great expertise in RTS games, rises few eyebrows in the community. Speculations are starting to arise since the only RTS people can think of is Starcraft 2 or Warcraft IV -- which is unlikely. Another speculation heard from fans in many forums is that Blizzard could get Diablo series into an RTS. Browder will be a Senior Designer in Irvine, not in San Francisco.
Blizzard North was known to be working on 2 games until the executives resigned back in June 31, 2003 and later the new vice-president announced that one of the games were shelved after 30 employees resigned a month later. Most of the remaining team was merged with the second game project which is kept in secrecy. Although seeing a Diablo RTS is improbable, we have also to consider that Starcraft-- a traditional RTS is now being developed as a Console Shooter gamer and Warcraft RTS game is now a MMORPG-- terrain that Blizzard is stepping into for first time. Therefore, with Blizzard you can never know. They are innovative and have no fear to explore new grounds. We will find out soon enough. Dustin Browder was credited for:
- The Lord of the Rings: The Battle For Middle-Earth (2004)
- Command & Conquer: Generals (2003)
- Command & Conquer: Generals: Zero Hour (2003)
- Star Trek: Deep Space Nine: Dominion Wars (2001)
- Command & Conquer: Red Alert 2 (2000)
- Battlezone (1998)
- Vigilante 8 (1998)
- Heavy Gear (1997)
- MechWarrior 2: Mercenaries (1996)
- MechWarrior 2: Ghost Bear's Legacy (1995)
Read the full article at Gamespy. We submitted this news to SCLegacy as we consider this is a big news of interest to the Starcraft fans. We will try to dig more details after Browder starts his duties at Blizzard. Stay tuned!
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Saturday 19th 2005f March 2005 |
Posted by Medievaldragon |
| Wow Beta in China in 2 weeks |
According to Gamespot, a chinese source has confirmed that over 100,000 accounts have been created in advance to the expected release of World of Warcraft Beta in China to take place in two weeks.
Gamespot
After breaking records in North America and Europe, World of Warcraft is storming China, and it isn't even available yet. According to the Chinese game-industry newsletter Pacific Epoch, in the first hour that registration was open, 100,000 gamers signed up for accounts hoping to participate in the game's closed beta test. Beta testing is slated to begin in about two weeks, according to the game's local operator in China, the9.com
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Saturday 19th 2005f March 2005 |
Posted by Medievaldragon |
| Jason Hayes Interview |
Jason Hayes answered few questions about his current whereabouts. He is launching his own music company and is planning to release a music album CD soon. His company website will be updated in a few weeks to offer fans an interactive site where his music fans may communicate and download music. Make sure to join his forums. Jason Hayes told us of his interest to support the Modding Community and Voice actors guilds. Here is the interview, enjoy!
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Saturday 19th 2005f March 2005 |
Posted by Medievaldragon |
| WCRadio: Richard A. Knaak interview |
Athalus from WCRadio.com invites you to listen to the community radio show this saturday at 7pm est. Richard A. Knaak was interviewed on the phone by Athalus, and you may listen to the interview today Saturday. The interview is about his latest Blizzard book War of the Ancients: Demon Soul, available at bookstores. Visit the site here and launch your Winamp or iTunes to listen to the interview.
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Saturday 19th 2005f March 2005 |
Posted by Medievaldragon |
| Open Beta ends today |
Blizzard released a new patch which removes reagents for Mark of the Wild, Fortitude and Arcane Intellect. Using spirit healer now deals 25% loss of your armor instead of 100%. You may read the patch notes Here. Blizzard also announced that all Closed and Open Beta characters will be regretably wiped. Everyone will start with a clean tab, creating a fresh new character. Open Beta ends today Wednesday, November 18th. Congratulations to all beta testers that helped Blizzard developers iron out and polish the game. We had a lot of fun, and thank Blizzard for their long dedication to develop this awesome game. See ya in Retail on November 23 in the World of Warcraft.
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Saturday 19th 2005f March 2005 |
Posted by Medievaldragon |
| World of Warcraft Open Beta |
All Blizzard fans are invited to sign-up to World of Warcraft Open Beta on November 8th. We will keep you updated. Additionally, the official release date was announced. The game will be on sale on November 23 at your favorite Game Store. The official Press Release by Blizzard President Morhaime can be read Here. Additionally, the Blizzard Insider# 20 is available Here. The Insider talks about Open Beta and the interview to Jeff Kaplan about Raiding. Find out more about Deathwing's offspring Onyxia the dragon.
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Saturday 19th 2005f March 2005 |
Posted by Medievaldragon |
| Wow/Ghost Fan Art Contest Closes today |
We gave fans an extended time to submit their submissions for the Wow/Ghost Fan Art Contest. We want to thank all participants for their submissions and patience. Due to security breaches, the site was inactive from August-October. Additionally, the email account had reached its limit and many fans weren't able to submit. We extended the deadline to October 31st, and today it reaches its last day of submissions. We apologize for the inconvenience, and invite you to stay tuned in the upcoming days for the 2 winners. The winner will get a pre-ordered game of choice: World of Warcraft Collector's Edition w/ pocketbook War of the Ancients: Well of Eternity-- written by Richard A. Knaak. Or a pre-ordered Starcraft: Ghost game.
Good luck to the contest participants. You can view the submissions here. 10 judges will be hand-picked and invited to choose the best fan arts. We want to invite you to read our Richard A. Knaak Q&A transcript. This interview was published at the Official WOW Website worldofwarcraft.com on October 26th.
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Saturday 19th 2005f March 2005 |
Posted by Medievaldragon |
| Wow Open Beta Soon ! |
Blizzard announced proudly to launch World of Warcraft Open Beta very soon. Although not all expected features may be included in the commercial version, Blizzard promises to keep working on their past announced features and to keep adding content. Open Beta will start in USA in a few weeks or days. There is no date specified, but knowing Blizzard's past experiences, they do not make such announcements unless they are convinced they are ready. Blizzard cares to not make the same mistakes of the past when giving deadlines. The past months, concerning World of Warcraft, has been hectic when giving out dates; but when something is announced it doesn't take long before the announcement is carried out. Expect an open beta sooner than you may think:
Blizzard:
"We are happy to announce that we will soon be accepting applicants for the World of Warcraft? Open Beta Test for North America. The open phase of beta will give people a chance to enter Azeroth and play World of Warcraft before the game is released. More details will become available in the days ahead, so stay tuned."
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Saturday 19th 2005f March 2005 |
Posted by Medievaldragon |
| About BlizzPlanet's Status |
 Should take us about to the end of the month to finish up.
Starcraft Campaign Contest is experiencing communication difficulties.
Fanart Contest is on hold untill we have all the images upload the fanforce email is being read through.
The forum is going to be post-poned untill the CMS is fine-tuned. However I do accept sugestions from their the sugestion thread in the forums or that nifty little script in the side bar called message programmer (thet's me!). You can also contact me, contact info rmation is in the temporary forums.
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Saturday 19th 2005f March 2005 |
Posted by Medievaldragon |
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