Just two bits today, but they are both pretty huge.

Eyonix announces that there will be a Content Patch before WotLK launches. The 'problem' is in the wording. He says "in a few weeks". Now, knowing Blizzard's sense of time, that could jive with the November-ish date most folks have come to expect. Or it really could mean in a few weeks...in which case I'm not sure the Live servers are ready for the changes, or that the changes are even well tested at this point.

Blizzard also takes things to the next step, introducing "Phasing". In which the world is kind of 'instanced' to a single players experience. Blew that house up in a quest? For you, i'ts blown up. For the guy standing beside you who's not done the quest? It's perfectly fine. It's certainly an interesting step

Groups of Words' anonyomous blogger has made a list of some of the changes from Pre-TBC WoW to what you would find today in WoW, suggesting that they aren't so much as expansions as they are sequels. It's an interesting thought, to be sure, and any player who's been around since the start may enjoy the trip down memory lane. 

DC has released the Series 4 Collection of WoW statues. The deluxe version is a stunning statue of Lady Vashj. There is a Warlock's best friend, a Succubus. We are introduced to the brand new race, Tuskarr, and what collection of NPC's would be complete without a pair of Murlocs?

Mike Schramm asks that age old question: How do you tell an alt from a main? It's something every guild that does 10mans and up struggles with. I've heard an interesting term coined, a "malt" as well. Someone who has two (or more) toons they play enough to rate a 'main' designation. It's an interesting question, and one that the answer is changes with every person asked.

Another good question here is, What Tabard do you wear? See, I don't like tabards. I got one when I joined my first guild a long, long time ago, I wore it for the Goldshire party I was attending...and it's taken up a bank slot ever since. I've won tabards, been awarded tabards, earned them with rep grinds...and I don't wear a single one. None of them catch my eye like the armor does. So, what Tabard is your personal favorite, or not?

This seems to be a nice change from the "Discovery" method used in TBC. 

Adding to the list of classes that can solo old world raid content, Klingo, a lvl 77 Hunter, has soloed Onyxia.

Well, hunters have gotten some pretty serious love this push, and next it would seem.

However, casters of every sort have just taken a major hit. 

The new Recruit-A-Friend feature is really kicking up some flurries of feeling. You hear about folks going from level 30 to 59 in a minute, as well as a lot of other things. Seems like it's easier than ever to get to 60, but is that better? If the folks using this system really are folks who haven't played before, is one really doing them any favors by blasting their first toon up to 60 in a matter of a few days?

There are some neat Engineering goodies posted about the web. It looks like there will finally be Eng. things that can be made and applied to existing items, along the lines of enchants. This could give Engineering a much needed boost. 

Zeida of Tichonderous posts a pretty amusing list of the folks you don't want in your raiding guild. Looking over the list though, it's pretty easy folks to fall into these categories, and....you can't raid by yourself.  

Sadly, as quickly as it was in, Potion Sickness is gone. It's a shame, and I hope that it comes back. I realize that it'd be quite hard to rebalance the current encounters around Potion Sickness (if Blizz would even bother doing it in the first place) but I liked the idea of encounters balanced around one potion, and having to choose that potion carefully (not to mention the farming time it would slice out of the game) 

Lythrdskynrd starts a post on the WOW Europe forums about how the new Achievement system, and how it may promote bullying. There is also some great discussion over here, too about it. It is an interesting question. It's already 'bad enough' that folks can't be taken about their word about gear or skill or talent levels. It's quite common on the main WoW Blizzard forums to see someone say "You don't have a 2000Arena 2v2, you can't talk about 2v2" and things along that line. Is the Achievement system, if it's viewable by others than yourself, going to cause more problems than good?

Arena matches between lvl 71 to 79 will be Skirmish only, it turns out, and not count for points. This is already polarizing folks, who are either saying that it'll be a great return to skill based PvP for the duration, or those who think the only measure of a toon is their Arena Rating.

Eluminite has a nifty video up showing the new pet and mount interfaces, and then showing that non-combat pets will have a new trick to entertain us.

From the "Ask a Beta Tester" column, comes a question I had been wondering about, too.  Are the current crop of Daily quests going to be useful in levelling your toons? The answer is pretty much "no". You get around 3.5g and 9500xp/turnin for a daily. Why bother when you can be charging around Northrend getting around 4-5g and 20,000xp or so per quest. I think there might be a place for Dailies, but I'm a voracious content devourer, so you know where I'll be. 

We start this week off with a great post by Artega. In it he gives us some of the macros he uses in both PvE and PvP, and asks for others. It's already got some great ones in there, so head over, check it out, and add your own. 

Bornakk lets us know that Blizz is still working out the kinks in the "2 specs per toon" rumblings that have gone around recently. 

ExplorerPeppy gives us a look at the new Motorcycles in action. I don't know about this one, personally.  For some reason, I have no problems with the Steampunk nature of the dwarves and gnomes. But on the other hand, motorcycles just seem a bit...much? for me. Even as an Eng, I don't intend on making one (no, I don't have a helicopter, either) unless there is some other pressing reason.

Zach Yonzon takes a quick look at Runeforging, the new mechanic of Death Knights.

Space concerns are also being addressed in interesting manners. A Token Page was found in the Beta, which shows/holds all manner of things along the line of Badges of Justice.  

Additionally, Vanity Pets and Mounts will be turned into items that, when clicked, let you learn them as a "spell", so that they no longer take up any room in your inventory as well.  

Something else of note is that Blizzard is also addressing a rather interesting concern. Folks, when they are levelling, are used to looking like clowns due to mismatched, miscoloured armor.  That is being addressed, and some of the Green Items/Quest Rewards that have been found look amazing.

As well, there is extended maintenance this week, and my beta invite is still lost in the mail.  

Well, since the NDA has been lifted, WotLK info has been coming fast and furious. Tons of great stuff, so it's hard to keep up with it all. My beta invite seems to be delayed in the mail, so I'll have to make do watching other folks go at it

First off, the Official Talent Calculators are up and working. 

Pets have finally come into their own, with each Family Tree having it's own special skill. Snatch, Pin, and Nether Shock all seem like very interesting abilities. 

Blizzard has also announced it's Achievements system that will go live in WotLK. Some are looking at it as all the sudden having up to 500 or so "new mini quests" to do. It does look interesting, and reminds folks that Blizzard is/can tracking a LOT of info about your toon. 

One of the neat additions is that Gathering Professions will now have benefits. A nice little perk for being a gatherer. 

Finally, Nitefox spots some Custom Mounts that will be available in Northrend. I didn't know that they'd moved Orange County up there... 

Todays extended maintenance brings us Patch 2.4.3. This one has caused some controversy ever since hitting the PTR, with cheap, lower level mount, a Cheat Death nerf, and the ability to use Arena Points to buy epic gems, among other things. Personally, as I'm now running alts through the high 20's, low 30's recently, I'd forgotten just how annoying most of those zones are. There is some help with a couple new quest hubs and flight points, but for the most part, it's a LOT of back and forth running that just isn't fun. 

Oh, and... Happy 9th Birthday, Lurker Lounge! 

Manaprincess starts us off today, offering interesting handcrafted WoW related knicknacks.\

Bornakk pipes up to help either quelch or fan the fires of flying mounts in Northrend. He says that there will be some process involved, but that it won't be an expensive one. I'm pretty interested in seeing what kind of questline Blizz can cook up to allow our flyable mounts freedom of the air again. This is of course just speculation, but there is also an instance around lvl 77 that is supposed to require a flying mount to get around in. Perhaps you have to quest in there to get the ability to fly again? A great many possiblities here.

Zach Yonzan opens up a can of worms with an article wondering about Season 4 in arena. He says that a 2000 rated team is nothing now, and is quite a large proponent of the new ranking system to "weed out the chafe". This leads to several interesting questions. One of the larger ones is "If folks can't get at least some wins, will they keep playing?" Arena PvP is getting to be like raiding was, pre-TBC. Anyone in Naxx gear (Season 3/4) will blow someone in MC gear (Season 1) out of the water. Sure, fun for the S3/4 level folks, not so much fun for the S1 (or less) level folks. If new blood stops coming in to the arena...what's going to happen to it? Will it truely sift down into a contest of skill, or will it just wither and die?

As ever, the Ask A Lore Nerd column provides some great insight into the story behind the game. 

The Casuals, the "forgotten majority" when it comes to WoW...what do they have to look forward to in WotLK? Robin Torres answers that for you. 

In a fun nod to the announcement of DIII, there will be a Tyrael mini/non combat "pet" added to WoW.

Finally...you have signed up for the WotLK Beta Test, right? It's now open, and you can head over and sign up for your chance to be a beta tester.

No, it's not World War I, but the World Wide Invitational. A huge party by Blizzard, and a news extravaganza, with Diablo III announced and a ton of WotLK information to dig through. The easiers way to do this is to head over to WoW Insider's WWI Roundup. There is a lot of very good writeups from folks who were able to attend the festivities, and what they saw there.

Nyhm is back, and this time, he's giving Eminem a run for his money.