Allakhazam poster Brisin has shared a good cause with us in our World of Warcraft general forum. Katherine Allen, a Blizzard employee, is going to be running in a marathon to benefit the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society, an organization that provides funding for cancer research and helps cancer patients pay for their treatments.

While this is an important fundraising effort by itself, Allen has sweetened the deal by enticing WoW players with the possibility of receiving one of three 1-year time cards if they donate $25 and leave “For the Alliance!” or “For the Horde!” as a comment on her fundraising page. And one lucky player will get free WoW for life since she broke the $5,500 mark!

Allen’s initial goal was to raise $5,000. She’s already shattered that and currently sits at $15,555. You have until Jan. 5 to donate if you’d like a shot at the free WoW time. You can read her full post here or below.

Oh, Brisin got this information from Ctrl+Alt+Del, a great web comic for gamers. If you’ve never read it before, here’s one about Wrath of the Lich King to get you started.

‘Tis the season for giving…So this year…

Give a cancer patient and their family some hope!

 

From now till January 5th, when you make a donation of $25 to the LLS via this website and leave either “For the Alliance!” or “For the Horde!” as a comment, I will put your name in a hat. On January 8th, 2009 , I will pull three names from the hat to receive one of three (3) 1-year time cards for Blizzard Entertainment’s hit game, World of Warcraft, as a “thank you” gift from me to you! I will mail the card to your home address with an official Blizzard Entertainment 2008 Holiday Greeting Card personally thanking you for your donation.

 

Make sure you use a valid email address when donating, so that I can contact you to verify your address if you’re selected to receive a gift!

 

If I reach $5,500 in donations, I’ll draw one more name… If it’s you, your prize will be having me pay for your WoW subscription for as long as you keep playing!

 

You can donate as many times as you’d like, each $25 donation will earn you one piece of paper with your name placed into the hat.

 

The Leukemia and Lymphoma Society (LLS) not only works to provide funding for cancer research, but also to provide funding for current cancer patients and their family, to help lessen the out-of-pocket expenses. As anyone that’s been around someone that had or has cancer knows, treatment and recovery can be extremely expensive. The LLS provides financial aid where possible from our donations, so even though money’s tight with the current economy, if you have a bit to spare this holiday season, it’s definitely appreciated.

 

Every donation made goes directly to the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society (www.lls.org), I do not make any profit from this at all.

 

If you have any questions, feel free to email me at kallen4tnt@yahoo.com.

 

Thanks again for your support!!

Katherine Allen

Blizzard announced today that World of Warcraft is now played by 11.5 million subscribers worldwide. This should really come as no surprise to anyone since the game surpassed 11 million subscribers in October, but it does continue to demonstrate WoW’s immense popularity when it can gain 500,000 subscribers in about two months.

Also, Wrath of the Lich King has sold more than 4 million copies in its first month, setting a new record for monthly PC-game sales. The expansion sold more than 2.8 million copies in its first 24 hours of availability alone.

You can read the full press release after the jump. For those of you who are curious what exactly being a subscriber entails, here’s the definition: “World of Warcraft subscribers include individuals who have paid a subscription fee or have an active prepaid card to play World of Warcraft, as well as those who have purchased the game and are within their free month of access. Internet Game Room players who have accessed the game over the last thirty days are also counted as subscribers. The above definition excludes all players under free promotional subscriptions, expired or cancelled subscriptions, and expired prepaid cards.”

IRVINE, Calif., Dec 23, 2008: Blizzard Entertainment, Inc. today announced that World of Warcraft®, its award-winning subscription-based massively multiplayer online role-playing game, is now played by more than 11.5 million subscribers worldwide. This new high was reached following the November 13 release of the game’s second expansion, Wrath of the Lich KingTM.

Within its first 24 hours of availability, Wrath of the Lich King sold more than 2.8 million copies, making it the fastest-selling PC game of all time. In addition to winning a number of editor’s choice awards from major gaming publications, the expansion has now gone on to sell more than 4 million copies in its first month, setting a new record for monthly PC-game sales. Both sales records were previously held by World of Warcraft’s first expansion, The Burning Crusade®.*

“We’re pleased to welcome the new and returning players who have helped World of Warcraft reach these new milestones, and we appreciate the enthusiasm and support that the game’s global community has continued to show,” said Mike Morhaime, CEO and cofounder of Blizzard Entertainment®. “We look forward to providing all of them with an excellent entertainment experience for a long time to come.”

“Not only is Wrath of the Lich King still doing well, the base World of Warcraft game and the World of Warcraft Battle Chest® are performing better than last year,” said Bob McKenzie, senior vice president of merchandising at GameStop. “That type of traction is very impressive for a game that is going into its fifth holiday season and speaks to the enthusiastic player base Blizzard Entertainment products have.”

To keep pace with the continued growth of World of Warcraft as well as development on other Blizzard Entertainment games, the company is currently hiring for numerous open positions. More information on available career opportunities can be found at www.blizzard.com/jobs. More information about the latest World of Warcraft expansion is available at the official Wrath of the Lich King website: www.worldofwarcraft.com/wrath.

World of Warcraft’s Subscriber Definition

World of Warcraft subscribers include individuals who have paid a subscription fee or have an active prepaid card to play World of Warcraft, as well as those who have purchased the game and are within their free month of access. Internet Game Room players who have accessed the game over the last thirty days are also counted as subscribers. The above definition excludes all players under free promotional subscriptions, expired or cancelled subscriptions, and expired prepaid cards. Subscribers in licensees’ territories are defined along the same rules.

About Blizzard Entertainment, Inc.

Best known for blockbuster hits including World of Warcraft® and the Warcraft®, StarCraft®, and Diablo® series, Blizzard Entertainment, Inc. (www.blizzard.com ), a division of Activision Blizzard (NASDAQ:ATVI), is a premier developer and publisher of entertainment software renowned for creating some of the industry’s most critically acclaimed games. Blizzard Entertainment’s track record includes eleven #1-selling games and multiple Game of the Year awards. The company’s online-gaming service, Battle.net®, is one of the largest in the world, with millions of active users.

*Based on internal company records and reports from key distribution partners.

We’re fans of the Child’s Play charity at Allakhazam, but it’s also great to see other gamers donating their time and money to other good causes, such as Toys for Tots.

Edward Fear, owner of Millennium Games in Rochester, N.Y., ran a World of Warcraft Miniatures tournament at his store over the weekend and plans to donate about $2,000 raised between fees and donations to Toys for Tots.

Blizzard even sent some extra loot to the store, including Arthas helmets previously only available at BlizzCon. World of Warcraft Trading Card Game World Champion Jim Fleckenstein was also in attendance.

Since the launch of Wrath of the Lich King last month, millions of players around the
world have stormed the shores of Borean Tundra and Howling Fjord. In fact, more than
4 million copies of the new expansion were sold in the first month of release –a new record for
PC-game sales. To go along with that record, World of Warcraft’s global community has now grown to
more than 11.5 million subscribers. Read more about these latest achievements in the official ,
and from all of us at Blizzard Entertainment, happy holidays, thank you for taking World of Warcraft to new heights,
and enjoy your time in Northrend!

Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, Events, Breakfast topics

Today is the last day of 2008 and, consequently, the last Breakfast Topic of the year. The biggest thing to happen to World of Warcraft players this year is Wrath of the Lich King. Captain Obvious golfclaps. There were also some monumental patches and WWI and BlizzCon were pretty cool, too. But these were Blizzard’s accomplishments. For the last day of the year, let’s talk about what we, as players, accomplished and also what we didn’t do this year, but wish we had… perhaps to prepare our in-game goals for the next year.

My biggest accomplishment in WoW was discovering the class in which I am having the most fun ever since playing the game in open beta: the Mage. I only wish I had discovered how much I love playing her much sooner, so that I could be farther along in the content on what is my new favorite character. Instead, I am 2 years behind, hanging out in the Outland with all the Death Knights.

Continue reading Breakfast Topic: The end of 2008

Breakfast Topic: The end of 2008 originally appeared on WoW Insider on Wed, 31 Dec 2008 08:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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