Blizzard representative slouken has posted an update on improvements that will be made in the upcoming content patch that will make the custom user interface upgrade process easier.  Today, there was much panic on the general chat channels as players shouted, "Cosmos is broken!" and how "Blizzard deleted my Cosmos!"  Currently when Blizzard issues a patch, the new client refuses to load any old custom UI files for fear that those outdated UI files will break the game.  The upcoming content patch will add some improvements so that will allow the user to choose  to load the old UI files anyway or even pick and choose which UI files to load and which ones not to load.

(Note: The notes on the changes that will be introduced in the content patch are coming fast and furious now.  It looks like a sign that the long awaited content patch is going to come soon.  At this point, I'd put my money on less than two weeks.  Hmm... maybe we should make a betting pool on this).

The next content patch (whenever that will be) will contain some changes to Scholomance that will make the dungeon somewhat easier and definitely easier for wipe recoveries, according to Tigole.  Tigole also mentions that Blizzard is looking at the loot tables of the mobs in Stratholme and Scholomance to bring those dungeons up to the loot happiness of Blackrock Spire, although he didn't promise that these changes would make the next content patch.

Discuss these upcoming changes in this Lurker thread.

Tyren has recently summarized the hotfix changes (emergency patches) that have recently occured to the servers.  First, the Paladin spell, Blessing of Light, has been changed so that is properly scales according to the rank of the healing spell being cast.  Second, Baron Geddon's spell, Living Bomb, has been changed so that it only works on players and only works in the Molten Core.  This is to prevent a funny-the-first-time-but-maybe-not-funny-the-hundredth-time situation.  Finally, there was a fix to the problem of going link-dead while in a Raid group.

Discuss these changes in this Lurker thread.

Blizzard as officially announced a release date of February 11th, 2005 for the European version of World of Warcraft.  A Lurker forum thread has already been created to discuss the upcoming event.

There are certain classes and skills that are overpowered in World of Warcraft and could use some adjustment, but instead Blizzard chose to nerf priests and the useful but not overpowered Mind Soothe in a stealth nerf introduced during the maintenance today.

The change was reportedly put into place because "Players were using these spells to bypass content."  Shocking!  The last I checked, the whole purpose of Mind Soothe was to let people bypass mobs.  Watch out rogues, because Blizzard might realize that Stealth lets you bypass content, too!  Anyway, if you want to discuss the latest changes, check out the forum thread on the subject.

Over the past ten days, there has been a lot of discussion on the forum regarding what the administration and recruitment processes should look like for the in-game Lurker guilds.  Taking into consideration all of the discussion and feedback given in this thread, I've spend the past week writing, editing, proofing, and reworking an official statement on the subject that I am calling The Lurker Lounge Chat Channel and In-Game "Guilds" Official Guide and Policy Statement.  If you wish to provide feedback on this guide and policy statement, please do so in the original discussion thread.

Despite all of this discussion about the in-game Lurker "guilds," please keep in mind that the Lurker Lounge is not a guild.  The in-game "guilds" are merely designed to help Lurkers who do not have a guild affiliation to find one another on-line.  Players who want something more structured should look into joining the Amazon Basin or another one of many other quality guilds that are available.

Daelo, a Blizzard game designer, has posted a brief overview of how +damage and +healing items work.  This subject seems ripe for a full experimental treatment by an ambitious Lurker reading this sentence right now.

It turns out that Treesh discovered the problem with +healing items not affecting heal-over-time spells before this post was made by Blizzard.

Skandranon pointed out today something that yours truly and possibly other Lurkers may have missed over the holidays.  That is that the /bug and /suggest reports in game are no longer read by Blizzard. So if you are a trained beta tester who has been faithfully submitting bug reports and providing suggestions via the in-game feedback mechanism, you can take comfort in knowing that no one has been reading them.  But if you actually want your bug reports read, don't worry, you can still submit your bug reports to grossly overworked and understaffed game masters.

(In all seriousness, I suggest that you submit your bug reports to the official Blizzard Suggestions forum, which is supposedly read by someone at Blizzard).

MongoJerry has edited his Advanced Topics in Priest Play: Group Healing Tactics guide to include the often overlooked use of first aid bandages to heal one's group in difficult battles.  Take a look!

(And yes, I'm referring to myself in the third person. *shrug*)

Skandranon has posted a preliminary draft of his excellent guide for mages.  This is not some theoretical treatment of the class.  This is a no nonsense guide to playing a mage based on Skandranon's real in-game experience.  Skandranon writes that there is one rule: Things Go Wrong.  His guide will help you deal with those times when things inevitably go wrong.

Skandranon asks that feedback on this preliminary draft be provided in a seperate comment thread from the main guide thread.