Month: January 2010

Time is winding down on the Holiday Fan Art Calendar contest, but it’s not over yet! We’re inviting players to create a piece of artwork that helps us set the tone for each month and season, using any major in-game holiday as inspiration. Here’s your chance to get a piece of art in the 2011 World of Warcraft calendar, and one lucky grand prize winner will also receive a Wacom Cintiq 12WX digital input tablet (the same kind used by many of our very own Blizzard Entertainment artists) to take his or her art to the next level.

The contest ends February 8, 2010, so get into the spirit of your favorite in-game holiday and let your cup of creativity flow over! See the contest page for full details.

The World of Warcraft Battlecry Mosaic has reached its half-way point, with 10,000 photos of gamers from all over the world. Be sure to check out the latest additions as well as a piece of epic in-game music that is part of the encounter with Arthas in Icecrown Citadel: ‘Invincible’. It’s not over yet, though. We still need more of your entries showing off your Horde or Alliance pride. Every 1,000 photos you send us will reveal another part of the mosaic and additional Warcraft artwork. When the full mosaic is revealed, your combined efforts will unlock an epic, exclusive piece of World of Warcraft art as a final reward.

Head over to the Battlecry photo mosaic page to view the mosaic in progress, and keep those photos coming!

Check out our updated special Battlecry Gallery.

Taverncraft has just announced the opportunity to pre-order limited-edition signed and numbered Blood of the Horde and Alliance United Legendary Collection World of Warcraft steins. [more] Each fine-grain stoneware stein features bas-relief sculpting, exclusive gold highlights throughout the image and handle, and an 18k gold-plated sculpted pewter lid. These steins will be limited to only 999 of each design, and are available to pre-order exclusively at http://wowsteins.com. Taverncraft’s previous signed, limited-edition stein, Rise of the Lich King, sold out months ago, so don’t delay in placing your pre-order.

Corridors carved within an echo of suffering, the Crimson Hall contains the leaders of the San’layn, undead blood elves who oversee the Scourge’s operations throughout Azeroth. The blood-princes Valanar, Keleseth, and Taldaram were raised into undeath by the Lich King to avenge themselves while protecting their blood-queen, Lana’thel. Skilled followers of the Ashen Verdict are now called to end the misery forged in and flowing outward from this cruel hall of Icecrown Citadel.

Five years, a growing player base and an expanding virtual universe together have led to countless adventures from folks the world over. In this edition of WoW Stories, you’ll read tales of Azeroth discovery — and ultimately self discovery. A good story from a player who has enjoyed this franchise means more to us than mere words can express. We trust you’ll recognize this as you read along.

Read the latest stories here. Have an interesting tale of your game play experiences to share with the community? Submit it today!

Many adventurers have begun a siege upon the Scourge in Northrend, besting the Lich King’s corrupted allies in places like Howling Fjord and Zul’Drak, weakening his stronghold in Icecrown, and ascending through the twisting corridors of his citadel to lay waste to his most vile creatures and top commanders. The bravest of heroes have captured pictures to document the rise and impending fall of the Lich King, from their first steps into Icecrown Citadel’s hidden entrance into the Forge of Souls, to busting directly through the front gates of Icecrown Citadel.

We’ve selected the very best of these screenshots to offer each creator an Epic Edition Rise of the Lich King stein created by Taverncraft. We also congratulate our grand prize winner, James Hessler, who will receive the signed #1 of only 750 Legendary Edition Rise of the Lich King steins! Have a look at all of the winning screenshots here.

Several new features and improvements are now available on the World of Warcraft Armory, the official searchable database of characters, items, Arena teams, and guilds.

• Character Model Viewer: The character model viewer displays a character as he or she appears in-game. You can pan and zoom the camera, play animations, and save a default pose for everyone who visits your profile to see.
• Activity Feeds: See a character’s most recent in-game actions, including achievements, boss kills, loot acquisitions, and more. You can customize your character feed and export it as an RSS feed, too.
• Calendar Feeds: Export in-game player calendar data to online calendars such as Google Calendar, and automatically sync with your characters’ in-game calendars.

For more details on these and other new additions, including the redesigned character profiles, head over to the World of Warcraft Armory now.

Following the response to our first Developer Chat on Twitter, we will be holding the next one on Friday, January 15, at 5:00 p.m. PST with World of Warcraft’s senior game producer and lead systems designer. This chat session will focus on the recently released Fall of the Lich King content.

Questions will be taken live through Twitter, so be sure to sign up for a Twitter account at https://twitter.com/signup and follow account @Warcraft in order to participate! For more information, visit the forum post.