24H Maintenance, Korean Beta Contests, Comics

Extended (24H) Maintenance 06/08/10 – Select Realms
WoW will be down for 24 hours on some servers and we're all going to die. (Gnomes first.)

Quote from: Laetzin (Source)
We will be performing extended maintenance on the realms listed below on Tuesday, June 8th, beginning at 12:01 AM PDT. The maintenance is scheduled for 24 hours as we prepare for the upcoming expansion. These realms will be playable again at approximately 12:01 AM PDT on Wednesday, June 9th.

All realms not listed below will undergo scheduled maintenance beginning at 5:00am PDT and will be available for play at approximately 11:00 AM PDT.

Aegwynn, Akama, Aman'Thul, Arathor, Azjol-Nerub, Barthilas, Blackrock, Bloodscalp, Bonechewer, Boulderfist, Bronzebeard, Caelestrasz, Chromaggus, Crushridge, Daggerspine, Darkspear, Dath'Remar, Draenor, Dragonblight, Dragonmaw, Drak'thul, Draka, Dreadmaul, Dunemaul, Eitrigg, Eldre'Thalas, Feathermoon, Firetree, Frostmane, Frostmourne, Frostwolf, Garithos, Gundrak, Gurubashi, Hakkar, Jubei'Thos, Khaz Modan, Khaz'goroth, Kil'jaeden, Kilrogg, Korgath, Kul Tiras, Malorne, Mug'thol, Muradin, Nagrand, Nathrezim, Ner'zhul, Perenolde, Proudmoore, Rexxar, Runetotem, Saurfang, Scarlet Crusade, Sen'jin, Shadow Council, Shadowsong, Silver Hand, Silvermoon, Skywall, Smolderthorn Spirestone, Stonemaul, Stormscale, Suramar, Terenas, Thaurissan, Thorium Brotherhood, Tichondrius, Uldum, Vek'nilash, Windrunner

Thank you for your patience

Korean World of Warcraft Beta Contest
There is an ongoing contest on the official korean website.

After poking around on Twitter I finally found someone willing to translate the important part (thanks Kyiran!).

World of Warcraft: Cataclysm Beta Test Invitation Event (basically, contest)
Period :  3 June 2010 ~ 12 June 2010 until 11:59 PM
Whom: World of Warcraft Members (like, subscribers)

How to Participate

  • 월드 오브 워크래프트 공식 홈페이지의 모험가협회 토론장에 방문하셔서 이벤트 글타래인 ‘대격변에서 고블린과 늑대인간의 캐릭터명으로 만들어 주고 싶은 이름은?’ 글타래에 답변을 남겨주시면 됩니다.
  • Visit the Warcraft Official Homepage's Adventurer Association Forums and leave a message in a thread "What will you name your Cataclysm Goblin and Worgen characters?"
  • 참여 하신 분들 중 총 1000명에게 추첨을 통해 대격변 비공개 베타 테스트에 참여하실 수 있는 초대권을 선물로 드립니다.
  • As a gift we will select 1000 people who participate and send them an invitation to participate in the World of Warcraft Closed Beta Test.

Announcement and Confirmation of the Winners Method

  • 당첨자 발표 일정 : 6월 15일 오후
  • Winners will be announced on the 15th of June in the afternoon
  • 초대권  발송 일정 및 확인 방법 : 당첨되신 초대권은 한국 비공개 베타 테스트의 일정에 맞추어, 월드 오브 워크래프트 공식 홈페이지의 [계정 관리] > [우편함]을 통해 개별적으로 발송될 예정입니다.
  • This part is a bit more difficult but it's basically about confirming participation at the official website via your mailbox (forum inbox?) (where you recieve the invitation) in the "Korean" closed beta test.  It specificies the beta test as "korean" here where it doesn't elsewhere.

This could be a fairly interesting information, especially because of the timing.

  • There is a beta contest, and winners will supposedly be announced on June 15th.
  • As far as I know, there is a WoW Press Tour @ Blizzard HQ this week for official fansites.
  • 5 Screenshots on the Day have been uploaded on Blizzard's site before the week-end. (= until Tuesday)

Don't get your hopes too high, especially since the korean page also clearly states that it doesn't mean that the beta will start on June 15th but the timing is definitely interesting and I will live in the hope of a beta/NDA lift for the rest of the week.

Comics
This week we have Dark Legacy Comic #241, Teh Gladiators #138 + #139 and a follow-up of last week's comic with Questionable Content #1680.


Приглашение в бету Катаклизма будет происходить как в StarCraft II


Бета-тестирование дополнения World Of Warcraft: Cataclysm будет проходить по той же схеме, что и тест стратегии в реальном времени StarCraft II, заявила сотрудница Blizzard Entertainment на американских официальных форумах игры. По ее словам, разработчики совершенно недвусмысленно проинформируют игроков о том, что бета началась. Так, тестеры StarCraft II получили письма по электронной почте, ставящие их в известность о том, что они выбраны для участия и им необходимо войти в учетную запись Battle.net, чтобы приступить к скачиванию клиента.

В данный момент Blizzard еще не рассылала никаких приглашений в бету Катаклизма, поэтому ее сотрудники предостерегают о возможности рассылки злоумышленниками различных фальшивых писем.

Published
Categorized as wow news

Новые скриншоты из дополнения Cataclysm

Продолжается публикация скриншотов из дополнения к онлайн-игре World Of Warcraft: Cataclysm в рамках акции «Каждый день – по скриншоту из Катаклизма», объявленной компанией Blizzard Entertainment. Сегодня было опубликовано 5 новых изображений, демонстрирующих посвежевшие локации Тысяча игл, банк Штормграда, Пустоши, Когтистые горы и Мулгор, некоторые из которых изменились кардинально, а некоторые – лишь чуть-чуть.

Published
Categorized as wow news

TCG Loot Giveaway, MLG Columbus Day 3

Reminder – Blizzard released a Preview of the Twin Peaks Battleground in Cataclysm on Friday. Apparently it went down the front page a little too fast and a couple of people missed it.

Facebook/Twitter TCG Loot Code Giveaway
It's time for another TCG Loot giveaway, courtesy of WoWTCGLoot.com once again.

How does it work?
It's easy, just become a Fan of MMO-Champion on Facebook and/or Follow me on Twitter! Winners will be picked randomly at 08:00PM PST and the code will be sent to the winning Twitter/Facebook account shortly after.

I had some time to learn how all that stuff works and you can probably expect more interesting loot super-soon (… and surprise tweets if I'm in the mood!)

Thanks to WoWTCGLoot.com for the shiny loot codes.

MLG Columbus WoW 3v3 Arena Tournament – Day 3!
Today is the final day of the tournament!

Scoreboard
Check the Saturday Scoreboards on Gotfrag.com

Live Stream
The live stream is available on MLGPro.com.

Day 3 Schedule
Sunday (All times are EST
8:00 AM – 10:00 AM – Warm-Up
10:00 AM – 10:35 AM – Pool Play
10:35 AM – 11:10 AM – Pool Play
11:10 AM – 11:45 AM – Pool Play
11:45 AM – 12:20 PM – Pool Play      
12:20 PM – 12:55 PM – Pool Play
12:55 PM – 1:30 PM – Pool Play
1:30 PM – 2:00 PM – Break
2:00 PM – 2:35 PM – Championship Bracket: Winners Round 1A
2:35 PM – 3:10 PM – Championship Bracket: Winners Round 1B
3:10 PM – 3:45 PM – Championship Bracket: Losers Round 1A
3:45 PM – 4:20 PM – Championship Bracket: Winners Finals
4:20 PM – 5:05 PM – Championship Bracket: Losers Finals
5:05 PM – 5:20 PM – Break
5:20 PM – 6:05 PM – Championship Bracket: Finals

MLG Day 2, Cataclysm Screenshot, Blizzcon Tickets

Update – And Blizzcon tickets are all gone.

MLG Columbus WoW 3v3 Arena Tournament
The 2nd day of the tournament has just started!

Live Stream
The live stream is available on MLGPro.com.

Day 2 Schedule
Saturday
8:00 AM – 10:00 AM – Warm-Up
10:00 AM – 10:35 AM – Pool Play
10:35 AM – 11:10 AM – Pool Play
11:10 AM – 11:45 AM – Pool Play    
11:45 AM – 12:20 PM – Pool Play
12:20 PM – 1:00 PM – Break
1:00 PM – 1:35 PM – Pool Play
1:35 PM – 2:10 PM – Pool Play
2:10 PM – 2:45 PM – Pool Play
2:45 PM – 3:20 PM – Pool Play
3:20 PM – 3:55 PM – Pool Play
3:55 PM – 4:30 PM – Pool Play
4:30 PM – 5:05 PM – Pool Play
5:05 PM – 6:00 PM – Break
6:00 PM – 6:35 PM – Pool Play
6:35 PM – 7:10 PM – Pool Play
7:10 PM – 7:45 PM – Pool Play
7:45 PM – 8:20 PM – Pool Play
8:20 PM – 8:55 PM – Pool Play
8:55 PM – 9:30 PM – Pool Play
9:30 PM – 10:05 PM – Pool Play

Cataclysm Screenshots of the Day
The Screenshot of the Day Gallery has been updated and 5 more screenshots have been added. That's enough screenshots until Tuesday… I want to believe.


The Thousand Needles

Stormwind Bank

Desolace

Stonetalon Mountains

Mulgore

BlizzCon Tickets on Sale 6/5/10 at 10 AM PDT

Quote from: Zarhym (Source)
If you were unable to purchase BlizzCon tickets during the first round of ticket sales, we just wanted to remind you that our second batch of BlizzCon 2010 tickets will be going on sale Saturday, June 5 at 10 a.m. Pacific Time. Visit the ticket sales page then for a chance to get yours.

BlizzCon 2010 will take place October 22 and 23 at the Anaheim Convention Center, and tickets cost $150 USD each. For those unable to attend the show, in-depth coverage of BlizzCon will also be offered by DIRECTV as a Pay Per View event, available both via satellite and multi-channel Internet stream — keep an eye on http://BlizzCon.com for more information in the near future.

Click here to go to the BlizzCon 2010 ticket-sales page: http://us.blizzard.com/store/blizzcon-tickets.xml

Blue posts

Quote from Blizzard staff
Cataclysm Beta
We'll make it very clear when the time comes that the beta has started and what to expect if you are selected. Currently, with the StarCraft II beta, players who were selected were sent an email and were asked to log into their Battle.net account to access the beta download. Cataclysm beta should work similarly. We'll do our best to be as clear in the process as we can so that everyone can hopefully avoid the more unscrupulous schemers who attempt to phish for accounts.

Just to be clear now, we have not started any beta invites at this time. Please be cautious of any emails you may receive until we say otherwise. (Source)

MLG Columbus WoW 3v3 Arena Tournament

MLG Columbus WoW 3v3 Arena Tournament
From June 4-6 in Columbus, Ohio, 16 of the top World of Warcraft 3v3 Arena teams from around the world will compete for over $15,000. Teams will compete in two groups of eight teams each, in a round robin format, with the top two teams from each group advancing to a double-elimination Championship Bracket. The competition will be fierce, and only the best will remain standing in the end.

Stream
The live stream is available on MLGPro.com.

Competition Format
See the rules on MLGPro.com

Rules & Settings
See the rules on MLGPro.com

Teams
For more details on each team don't miss the team preview on Gotfrag.com.

1. Nerdstomper.com (Hoodrych, Velsuz, Nadagast)
2. Fnatic (Yog, Douja, Woundman)
3. Complexity Red (Snutz, Venruki, Reckful, Sodah)
4. Complexity Black (Toez, Flexx, Twixz)
5. PK Cards (Zilea, Valrath, Veex)
6. Team EG (Azael, Pookz, Cdew)
7. Loaded Blue (Didy, Deltons, Brogo)
8. Loaded Black (Orangemarmalade, Numberone, Satz)
9. Team Fierce (Kekki, Bubler, Deceased)
10. Skill-Capped.net Central (Filovirus, Nevershock, Zyz)
11. Skill-Capped.net East (Enforcer, Verty, Jigslol)
12. Skill-Capped.net West (Vidra, Pollee, Diziet, Bothi)
13. ArenaPwnage.com (Talbadar, Nuvos, Drmayonaise)
14. SK Gaming U.S. (Realz, Glickz, Kollektiv)

Schedule
All times are EST Time.

Friday
10:30 AM – 1:30 PM – Early Check-In
1:30 PM – 6:30 PM – Check-In / Warm-Up / Account Setup    
6:30 PM – 7:00 PM – Welcome
7:00 PM – 7:35 PM – Pool Play  
7:35 PM – 8:10 PM – Pool Play  
8:10 PM – 8:45 PM – Pool Play  
8:45 PM – 9:20 PM – Pool Play  

Saturday
8:00 AM – 10:00 AM – Warm-Up
10:00 AM – 10:35 AM – Pool Play
10:35 AM – 11:10 AM – Pool Play
11:10 AM – 11:45 AM – Pool Play
11:45 AM – 12:20 PM – Pool Play
12:20 PM – 1:00 PM – Break
1:00 PM – 1:35 PM – Pool Play
1:35 PM – 2:10 PM – Pool Play
2:10 PM – 2:45 PM – Pool Play
2:45 PM – 3:20 PM – Pool Play
3:20 PM – 3:55 PM – Pool Play
3:55 PM – 4:30 PM – Pool Play
4:30 PM – 5:05 PM – Pool Play
5:05 PM – 6:00 PM – Break
6:00 PM – 6:35 PM – Pool Play
6:35 PM – 7:10 PM – Pool Play
7:10 PM – 7:45 PM – Pool Play
7:45 PM – 8:20 PM – Pool Play
8:20 PM – 8:55 PM – Pool Play
8:55 PM – 9:30 PM – Pool Play
9:30 PM – 10:05 PM – Pool Play

Sunday
8:00 AM – 10:00 AM – Warm-Up
10:00 AM – 10:35 AM – Pool Play
10:35 AM – 11:10 AM – Pool Play
11:10 AM – 11:45 AM – Pool Play
11:45 AM – 12:20 PM – Pool Play
12:20 PM – 12:55 PM – Pool Play
12:55 PM – 1:30 PM – Pool Play
1:30 PM – 2:00 PM – Break
2:00 PM – 2:35 PM – Championship Bracket: Winners Round 1A
2:35 PM – 3:10 PM – Championship Bracket: Winners Round 1B
3:10 PM – 3:45 PM – Championship Bracket: Losers Round 1A
3:45 PM – 4:20 PM – Championship Bracket: Winners Finals
4:20 PM – 5:05 PM – Championship Bracket: Losers Finals
5:05 PM – 5:20 PM – Break
5:20 PM – 6:05 PM – Championship Bracket: Finals