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Recently the creators of the real world Mana Potions decided to take a real time run from Shadowglen to Darnassus on their homemade treadmills.  By doing some fancy mathematics and calibrating their treadmills to move their level one characters forward the two were able to make it across the map… barely.

Check out their amusing Night Elf costumes as they make their epic journey.

Race Across Azeroth

With Wrath on the Horizon, many of us have turned to PvP to stock up on our shiny purples to give us a leg up as we begin the leveling grind from 70-80.  When Burning Crusade finally went live, many players put aside their blood-lust for the opposing faction and worked together to reach the level cap as quickly as possible.  Will you be putting aside your current path of gnome annihilation in favor of leveling to 80 as quickly as possible or will you make it your sole mission to halt the progression of the Alliance as you explore Northrend’s Icy terrain?

With the release of Wrath of the Lich King approaching, we wanted to provide you with some important information. In preparation for the expansion, we will be issuing a new content patch in the coming weeks. Much like the patch made available shortly before The Burning Crusade’s release, this content patch is designed to bridge current game content with that of the expansion and will contain some exciting changes and additions.

We have outlined some of the larger features scheduled to release with the patch below:

New class spells and talents
Stormwind Harbor
Barbershops in capital cities
Zeppelin towers outside of Orgrimmar and Tirisfal Glades
Two brand-new Arenas featuring challenging new layouts, terrain hazards, and moving obstacles
Guild calendar
Hunter pet skill revamp
New profession: Inscription

As mentioned above, this is not a comprehensive list, just some of the major highlights. We’ll post the full patch notes as soon as they’re available. Regarding Inscription, please note that all Burning Crusade players will be able to select Inscription as one of their two professions and level up to a skill level of 375 with it. Upon the release of Wrath of the Lich King, players who purchase and install the expansion will be able to continue leveling in Inscription and the other professions beyond 375.

Due to developing schedule conflicts regarding the Sunday Kara runs, Kara has been shifted to Saturdays at 4:00 pm est (1:00 pm ServerTime) allowing for marathon bouts in Kara if necessary to accomplish our goals.

With the Olympics happening as we speak, Blizzard has taken it upon themselves to add a little Olympic flair to your gaming experience.  Running August 8th though the 25th, all battleground participants will receive a limited edition tabard (Competitor’s Tabard).  In addition, if you happen to be in a winning battleground you have a 1 in 5 chance of obtaining a Gold Medalllion.  The gold medallion allows players to summon a very special non-combat pet known as the Spirit of Competition. 

Even if you are not into PVP I would recommend trying to snag both of these items before the Olympics ends.

For all those who are interested, there’s a really good set of levelling guides on WoW Pro, and best of all, they’re all free.

• Jame’s Leveling Guide - This one will take a Horde character of any race/class combo from level 21 to Level 70. It assumes you’ve done absolutely nothing in the Barrens as of yet, and tells you what quests to take, and when, as well as where to go and when. The guide also avoids group quests until Outland, and even then, they’re restricted to one or two a level. It’s divided for better reference, and also has nifty images, maps, and is concisely written. Hosho’s Barrens Guide also fits right into this Guide, and will make the first few parts easier. Fair warning, profession skills aren’t taken into account, but that isn’t a big issue, since most areas have plenty for all professions to work on.
• Hosho’s Barrens Guide - This guide will take any Horde character through all the areas of the Barrens quickly, especially Orcs & Tauren, but is good for every Horde Race. Jame recommends starting it @ Level 13 (which should get you to just shy of Level 21 to start Jame’s Levelling Guide).

Well, we all know the new Death Knight race has a very epic looking land mount; however, the flying mount seems to be falling a little short of epic.  What could be  very neat concept, an undead gryphon with skeletal wings, leaves a lot to be desired.  To me the  mount looks more like a half eaten turkey on Thanksgiving.  As always, it is important to remember that models that appear in the beta are often not how they appear in the live game.  In this instance, let us hope that there is still more visual flair to be added to the Death Knight’s flyer.

To get a better look at the Death Knight flying chicken click here.

MMO-Champion has had these talent trees out for a few weeks; however, with the Beta now open, the trees have been tweaked to reflect new information.  Any interest in playing around with new specs?  I for one have already dabbled in some Priestly possibilities.

On a side note: it is important to remember that these talent trees will most likely not remain in this current manifestation and will undergo significant changes before the release of the game.   

Good morning!  The patch notes for Wrath of the Lich King have now been officially announced!

The Beta keys will begin to roll out soon.  If you have not yet signed up to be included in the Beta, check out the Beta Opt-In Page here. 

Also, if you have not had a chance to check out the new opening video for the Death Knight starting area click here.  This video is pure win for those of us interested in rolling a Death Knight!

Today Blizzard released information regarding the newest objective in Wrath - Achievements. 

(Source : Blizzard)

World of Warcraft’s achievements system will launch with more than 500 individual achievements covering every aspect of gameplay, including world exploration, PvE, PvP, professions, and character development; from the purely whimsical to the truly epic, there will be something for everyone. Some achievements come with in-game rewards such as tabards, vanity pets, and titles. All of these rewards are purely cosmetic and just for fun, but you’ll certainly stand out when you proudly display them.

And don’t fret about running out of achievements anytime soon. The list is easily expandable, so you can expect additional achievements with each new World of Warcraft content update.

The Achievements Window
Upon starting your journey in Wrath of the Lich King, you’ll see a new button on your main action bar. Click that button to bring up the achievements window.

The top of the window displays the total number of points you’ve received for completing achievements. Below, each achievement appears with its name, description, point value, the completion date, and a progress bar (if applicable). Some achievements expand to display a list of individual components, highlighted to show which parts you’ve finished. You can also designate which achievements to track as you play, similar to the existing quest tracker. An important design goal is to provide players with everything they need to know to unlock an achievement.

It’s great to be able to see your own achievements — but it’s even better to let the world know what you’ve accomplished. By right-clicking other players and selecting the appropriate option, you can compare your achievements to theirs. Every time you earn a new achievement, your accomplishment is announced to your guild and everyone in your immediate vicinity — and the custom achievement animation and sound effect are unmistakable. Also, your achievements will be viewable on the Armory, allowing you to track and show off your accomplishments via the web.

Feats of Strength
Feats of Strength represent the past glories of Azeroth, and as such, players will find them very difficult — if not impossible — to earn. They’re worth no points, and unlike normal achievements, unearned Feats are not displayed in the achievements interface. Feats include old-world player-vs.-player ranks, obtaining rare mounts, special titles, and more. Feats of Strength will be awarded retroactively (that is, they’ll be immediately granted to your character if you qualify) since many of them will be impossible to earn in Wrath of the Lich King.

Types and Categories of Achievements
World of Warcraft’s achievements come in several varieties. Some simply require specific actions to unlock, such as getting a haircut or defeating a member of each race in your opposing faction in PvP. Others involve a progress bar and require you to do something several times — such as give out 10 hugs. Some achievements are progressive; for example, once you complete an achievement to collect 10 vanity pets, you might next be asked to collect 25. Finally, meta achievements unlock when you complete other achievements — unlocking all World Exploration achievements (see below) unlocks a World Explorer meta achievement. Some achievements, including those that involve quests, honorable kills, items currently in your possession, skills (including professions), exploration, and reputations, will be applied to your character retroactively.

To help keep track of all the different achievements you can unlock, you’ll find the following categories in the achievements window:

Player-vs.-Player
This includes arena, battlegrounds, and world player-vs.-player objectives. A few examples:

• Hot Streak: Win 10 ranked arena matches in a row.
• Alterac Valley All-Star: Capture graveyards, towers, and kill the enemy leader all in one game.
• City Defender: Kill 50 enemy players in your faction’s capital cities.

Dungeons and Raids
Every end boss of every raid and dungeon in the game grants its own achievement. Future achievements in this category may include ones for completing a run without any player deaths, with fewer than the maximum number of players, or within a certain time limit.

Professions
Advancing to each tier of mastery in a profession earns you an achievement, and there are specific achievements for secondary skills (with major professions to follow).

Quests
Quest-based achievements include completing a certain number of quests and completing specific quest lines. This category contains zone-specific subcategories.

Events
Seasonal events such as the Midsummer Festival, the Lunar Festival, and Hallows’ End have specific achievements of their own.

World Exploration
You’ll earn achievement by exploring each zone in the game — and get meta-achievements when you fully explore a continent.

Reputations
This set of achievements includes attaining exalted reputation with each faction in the game.

General
These achievements tend toward the whimsical, including getting a shave and a hair-cut (a new feature of Wrath of the Lich King), obtaining a certain number of tabards and vanity pets, falling from a great height, and more.