We recently reported that World of Warcraft’s annual “Midsummer Fire Festival” is now officially upon us, and there’s no doubt many players will want to hit the ground running. If you’ve been trying to complete all the holiday achievements with the hopes of completing the “What a Long, Strange Trip it’s Been” meta-achievement so you can score that coveted Violet Proto-Drake, you might be interested in checking out the 2009 Midsummer Fire Festival Guide just released by our sister site, Wowhead.

Having a tough time juggling those fire torches? Don’t know what to do with those Burning Blossoms? Wondering how to most efficiently extinguish all those braziers? (Or maybe you’re just confused and wondering what ladies’ undergarments could possibly have to do with the holiday?) Don’t worry; you’ve got all the way until July 5 to get it all done, and Wowhead’s got you covered every step of the way.

According to a post by Bornakk on the official forums, the rusted and ironbound proto-drake rewards for the Glory of the Ulduar Raider meta achievements will be removed in the future, possibly with the release of patch 3.2. Whenever the team decides to remove the mounts, they will provide about one month of warning so players can try to complete the achievements one last time.

So why are the proto-drake rewards disappearing? Well, Bornakk said the mounts are meant to be rewards for the top tier of raiders, and the introduction of new and more powerful equipment into the game will make the completion of the meta achievements “easier than intended.”

Bornakk also said the team plans to continue removing similar rewards in the future. So basically, once a high-end reward becomes too easy to get, it can no longer be obtained. You can read the full announcement below.

The rusted and ironbound proto-drake rewards for the normal and heroic Glory of the Ulduar Raider meta achievements will be removed at a future date. We currently do not have an exact date they will be taken out, but it is possible they will be removed when patch 3.2 comes out or at some point after that. When we do decide to remove these mounts we will provide about 1 month of warning so players will have time to make some final attempts.

These mounts are designed similar to the Arena Gladiator mounts as rewards for the top tier of raiders and we will remove the rewards once we have introduced enough new and more powerful equipment to make the completion of these achievements easier than originally intended. Since these rewards are designed for such high-end game play, we currently plan to continue removing any similar rewards we make available in the future.

The official European World of Warcraft Web site has been updated with a new under development page for the Crusaders’ Coliseum. While information on this upcoming raid was released on the official U.S. forums last week, the European page does includes some new details, including confirmation its setup is similar to the Ring of Blood quest line. You’ll have to keep defeating bosses to move onto the next one.

To try out the Heroic mode, you’re going to need to beat either the 10-man or 25-man normal modes first. You’ll only have a limited number of attempts in hard mode for each raid lockout period, so wipes will be more costly. “After you have dealt the killing blow to the coliseum’s final heroic mode boss will you be able to collect the Crusaders’ Tribute, and the fewer attempts you needed to complete the Trial of the Grand Crusader, the better your reward will be.”

According to the under development page, you’ll face a magnataur and two jormungar wyrms for your first challenge. You’ll also have to fight members of the Scourge.

Horde and Alliance flavors of Mtn Dew Game Fuel are now in stores across the US. You many have seen the TV commercial featuring some epic grocery store PvP action, and it’s now available for online viewing as a Web-exclusive version.
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This year, for the first time, you’ll have the opportunity to enjoy a live Internet stream of BlizzCon coverage from the comfort of your own home. The stream includes the same content as the DIRECTV pay-per-view event, but you do not have to be a DIRECTV subscriber to purchase it. It consists of over 16 hours of video, including interviews and commentary, main stage presentations, and tournament coverage. It’s now available to order for $39.95, and purchasers will also receive the BlizzCon 2009-exclusive in-game pet, Grunty the Murloc Marine (not available in all regions). Head over to the to get more information, to test video playback on your system, or to place an order.