Wryxian just announced a new Patch 3.2 PTR build is on the burner for tonight as the PTRs go down for maintenance this afternoon.

This will bring Patch 3.2 up to build #10083 for those of you keeping track.

Now, it’s interesting that Wryxian notes that fansites often don’t credit the EU folks appropriately. However I’d like to take a moment to reassure him that yes, when we can we do give the EU as much love and credit as possible.

You all are across the pond! You’re like the big brother to all the chaps here in the States. Whenever we can, we give you guys transatlantic high fives and milk and cookies (or is it tea and crumpets?). Either way, dear Wryxian, this one is for you.

With love,

The Colonies.

Filed under: Patches, News items

New Patch 3.2 PTR build #10083 tonight originally appeared on WoW.com on Fri, 10 Jul 2009 14:20:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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We’ve talked about wowtwitter here on the site before — they’re the ones who created a whole other Twitter-like service just for your WoW characters (and that featured verification of your toons, so that no one else could claim or tweet as them). The site is definitely growing, but they wanted to give it that extra oomph, and so they’re giving away a free FigurePrint to someone who joins up and posts a special screenshot. If you want a chance at the prize, what you’ve got to do is log in to the site and verify your character (as we said last time, it requires that you remove a piece of gear and then log out so the Armory can see the change), and then use their new screenshot uploading tool to post a screenshot with “wowtwitter” somewhere in the picture. Then they’ll take the screenshots with the top three “like” totals (other users on the site can approve of your uploads), and the one they choose will win a real-life 3D sculpture of their character from FigurePrints.

Seem like a lot of work? It does to us, too, but FigurePrints are still $130, so if you want a representation of your character but don’t want to cough up the cash, this is probably easier. So good luck to everyone who enters — the contest runs through July 31st, so you’ve got a little bit of time to get your picture in and get it voted up somehow.

Filed under: Fan stuff, Virtual selves, Odds and ends, Contests, Screenshots, Fan art

wowtwitter giving away a FigurePrint for a screenshot contest originally appeared on WoW.com on Fri, 10 Jul 2009 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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I was never one for these tabletop strategy games or D&D but thanks to WoW I have become quite a tactician. Tactics are so integrated in the game that they come into play figuring out how to down Hogger without aggroing too many of his numerous minions, to sneaking through hostile territory and avoiding NPCs who want to kill you all the way to confronting KT in Naxx or Ignis in Ulduar. The latter is especially true, Ignis is a nightmare where a knowledge of tactics is life or death. When your raid leader asks if everyone knows the tactics and you all nod heads and mutter yes, it’s not actually courtesy, he or she is trying to figure out how many people will survive long enough to down the giant er … giant.

Once upon a time all you had to do to learn the tactics was play. Wiping on bosses and the depression of death, failure and repair bills can be a great motivator. At the same time, there are few unique boss fights in WoW. They all follow some kind of pattern and sometimes phases are even borrowed from other mobs. Others, such as Shade of Aran‘s Flame Wreath go down in lore and legend, even getting their own ever-so-catchy (nay beautiful) theme tune. I challenge anyone to move after having heard that (I even have that in iTunes and would play it just in case my raid forgot. No one ever did.).

So I wonder, constant readers, how do you learn tactics? I can read WoWwiki, for example, until I’m blue in the face but because of the weird way my brain is wired (don’t ask), the only was I can truly learn tactics is in the fight itself. Yes, there’s YouTube, there’s the pre-boss-fight sit down where the raid leader does a run though the fight because no one bothered to take ten minutes to do some reading up. What methods do you use?

Filed under: Guilds, Breakfast topics, Instances, Raiding, Bosses, Wrath of the Lich King

Breakfast topic: How do you learn tactics? originally appeared on WoW.com on Fri, 10 Jul 2009 08:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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BlizzCon approaches! Preparing for BlizzCon is your regular source for tips on how best to prepare for Blizzard’s gaming extravaganza. These helpful hints are particularly suited for convention rookies. But if you are a con veteran, we’d love to hear your advice and wisdom in the comments as well.

In almost every one of this series, someone has requested in the comments that we all practice good grooming before attending BlizzCon this year. But it doesn’t matter if we post odor preventing techniques here, broadcast them on The WoW Insider Show and it gets picked up by international news — there is still going to be funk at the con. Not even Anna Torv being photographed wearing a “Well-groomed Geeks are HOT” t-shirt is going to prevent the offending smells coming from some of the attendees. In the interest of promoting tolerance, I’m going to give explanations for some of the odors you will be smelling.

Continue reading Preparing for BlizzCon: There will be funk

Filed under: Events, Fan stuff, BlizzCon

Preparing for BlizzCon: There will be funk originally appeared on WoW.com on Fri, 10 Jul 2009 09:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Would this be considered a still unlife? Onet of <Tainted> on Daggerspine-EU has decided that it’s time to update his portrait to reflect his current appearance. After all, he’s lost so much weight since he died. And he’s got a nifty new hat. The bright colors really distract the eye from his rotting, gray, maggot-infested flesh. With this as his Facebook picture, he’s sure to get all the undead ladies.

Do you have any unusual, beautiful or interesting World of Warcraft images that are just collecting dust in your screenshots folder? We’d love to see them on Around Azeroth! Sharing your screenshot is as simple as e-mailing aroundazeroth@gmail.com with a copy of your shot and a brief explanation of the scene. You could be featured here next!

Remember to include your player name, server and/or guild if you want it mentioned. Please include the word “Azeroth” in your post so it does not get swept into the spam bin. We strongly prefer full screen shots without the UI showing — use alt-Z to remove it. Please, no more battleground scoreboards, gold seller ads, or pictures of the Ninja Turtles in Dalaran.

Filed under: Screenshots, Around Azeroth, Galleries

Around Azeroth: Framed! originally appeared on WoW.com on Fri, 10 Jul 2009 10:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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