214w ago - The testing is finally over; Blizzard has announced that World of Warcraft's patch 3.1 is going live today, and to kick off this latest content patch, another cinematic has been released.

The film shows off a lot of the inside of Ulduar, some of the bosses in action and progresses the story. Blizzard has said that it intends to release a short movie with each 'chapter' of the Lich King expansion.

Download: World of Warcraft Patch 3.1

Patch 3.1 introduces many new features to WoW; Dual talent specs, which allow players to swap between two different roles. Many new UI improvements are being introduced, including a re-vamped 'Looking For Group' system.

Players can also take part in the Argent Tournament, a new jousting contest with rich rewards, a new system which Blizzard promises will bring more to the game at a later date.

Another massive improvement to the WoW, one which fans have been crying out for almost since the game launched, is dungeon maps. It's only for Wrath of the Lich King maps so far, but it will be a great help to traversing some of the more complicated dungeons.

US...

245w ago - In a move that has stunned many people in the World of Warcraft community, Blizzard has reversed their earlier stance on no PvE to PvP server transfers.

Per Bornakk on the official World of Warcraft forums, Blizzard has decided to open up transfers from PvE servers to PvP servers because "World of Warcraft has matured significantly since the inception of Paid Character Transfers, [they] don't feel that PvE-to-PvP transfers will have the negative impact on the game that [they] initially wanted to avoid when [they] started the service in 2006.

This change will provide more mobility and freedom for players to experience the game with friends or play in the type of environment they're looking for."

Considering the furor that is now starting up on the official forums regarding this major change in dynamics, we can only wonder why after so many years Blizzard has reversed their decision. Previously, Blizz maintained that they wouldn't allow transfers from PvE to PvP because it would be unfair to players who leveled characters up in a PvP environment. They wanted to avoid PvPers having to deal with people who transferred into the harsher...

253w ago - Here are the full patch notes:

General
- Dispel effects will no longer attempt to remove effects that have 100% dispel resistance.
- Parry Rating, Defense Rating, and Block Rating: Low-level players will now convert these ratings into their corresponding defensive stats at the same rate as level 34 players.
- Haris Pilton has launched a new line of bags and jewelry. Check her out in the World's End Tavern!
- Mounts at 30?! Yes, it's true: Apprentice Riding and mounts are now available at level 30. Training costs 35 gold.
- Blood Elf flightmasters outside of Silvermoon City and Tranquillien have traded their bats in for glorious fire-breathing dragonhawks.
- Alcohol cooldowns have been rolled into Drinks: All 10-second cooldowns have been removed and replaced with the 1-second Drink cooldown.
- Numerous flying non-combat pets have had their flight height modified to no longer skim along the ground: captured firefly, dragonhawk hatchlings, moths, owls, parrots, phoenix hatchling, spirit of summer, sprite darter, and tiny sporebat.
- Nether Ray Fry (a non-combat pet) is now available from the Skyguard Quartermaster
- Equipping an item will now cancel any spell cast currently in progress.
- Placing an item in your bank will now cancel any spell cast...

255w ago - Out of the ten million WoW players, less than five percent are interested or even aware of end-game content. Most players know that level 70 is the highest level that you can achieve; however, many of them don't know that level 70 is where the most interesting part of WoW begins.

Instead of gaining more experience to level, players work extremely hard to acquire better gear and items. This requires hours of dedication inside dungeons and on raids (a.k.a., much larger dungeons). Raids must be run well by leaders; otherwise, they fail.

Many people just think that end-game content takes too long to get; the end-game is just too hard, takes too much effort.

On top of that, the gear that drops comes in small amounts, meaning only a few members of the party will get anything for all the effort expended in any particular raid. Party members must show up on assigned raid times and follow organized, detailed instructions.

A single mess up from any member of the party can kill the entire group and force everyone to start over. This is just too frustrating for a lot of players, and is even frustrating for existing, hardcore players. Those existing players often call WoW more a job than a game.

Blizzard is toying with the idea of making the end-game easier through The Wrath of...

255w ago - A man who convinced a 15-year-old girl he met on the Internet to fly to Melbourne and meet him has been convicted of child stealing. Anthony Taylor, 31, of Horsham, sent sexual messages to the Tasmanian girl while they engaged in the multi-player online game World of Warcraft.

As the relationship grew the pair also spoke on the telephone. When the girl's father found out about the relationship he confronted Taylor on the game telling him he would kill him if he touched the girl.

In spite of this Taylor bought the girl a flight to Melbourne and deposited money in her bank account so she could get a taxi to the airport. He was arrested as he waited for the girl to arrive at Melbourne Airport.

When confronted by police he admitted buying the girl's airline ticket and said he "thought the age could be a problem''. Taylor pleaded guilty to one count of child stealing.

The court was told Taylor has previously been found guilty of having a relationship with a girl under 16 whose child he fathered. He is currently in a relationship with a 27-year-old woman from the US whom he met online.

In sentencing Taylor Judge Susan Pullen said it was "troubling'' Taylor had again become involved with a girl under 16. "The facts in this case are disturbing,'' Judge Pullen said....