On November 29th, a great secret was revealed… or at least, it certainly looked like it. It seemed as Blizzard China had allowed the internet to get a hold of a list of all of Blizzard Entertainment‘s proposed product releases for the next five years, and which yearly quarter they were expected to be released in. This included heretofore unknown projects like the fourth and fifth expansions to World of Warcraft, three different additions to StarCraft II, two expansions for the unreleased Diablo III, the World of Warcraft movie, and a project going by the name Titan that is likely a codename for Blizzard’s long-secret second MMO.

Well, that weeks old leak is starting to receive some legitimate, if indirect, confirmation in the form of the resignation (or firing, depending on who you ask) of the general manager of Blizzard China.

Here’s a World of Warcraft parody of the Little Mermaid song “Part of Your World,” released over at World of Filkcraft. The singer of the video, Aquilae, pretty much sums up the MMO experience when she sings the line, “Lookin’ for group, you don’t get too far.” Amen, sister.

(World of FilkCraft via BuzzFeed)

World of Warcraft: Cataclysm launched at midnight last night. It’s probably fruitless to blog about today, in that despite busy servers, the devout will likely be playing it fullscreen for the next 36 hours or so, but it’s worth mentioning. So: If you haven’t already seen it, check out the above “world’s first World of Warcraft Lib Dub: We Didn’t Start the Fire by Billy Joel.”

Also check out Sean Malstrom’s thoughts on the subject: He praises the new expansion for keeping the focus on Azeroth, but striking a good balance between sticking with what works and “creative destruction.”

The right thing is to keep the focus on Azeroth. It seems as if now that Burning Crusade and Wrath of the Lich King are over with, WoW is shedding off its Warcraft 3 shell and directing its content to its own direction. Surprisingly, this is refreshing.

The rule is that if something works, you do not mess with it. But creative destruction says that you must constantly destroy what works to make it better. Using the Cataclysm to revamp many parts of original WoW had many people saying, “Now Blizzard is destroying that last good thing about WoW.” But these changes have been for the better. The land is more interesting. The quests are better done. And more important, it shows a change within the world as if the ‘great war’ between the Horde and Alliance is evolving.

…

WoW players are enthusiastically thanking Deathwing for destroying the world. Azeroth is now a better place.

If you’re chomping at the bit waiting for World of Warcraft: Cataclysm‘s release five days from now, check out this newly released fly-through video exploring the transformed Azeroth, which was the final reward unlocked in the “Your Fortune Awaits” promo. Some of these new environments are already available to players, and some won’t open up until the Cataclysm expansion drops on December 7th.

(MMO Champion via bit.ly news)

If you don’t play World of Warcraft, the phrase “Patch 4.03a” probably doesn’t do much for you, but if you do, it most likely makes you gooey with delight and anticipation. For Patch 4.03a marks The Shattering, the most portentous in-game change until Cataclysm drops on December 7th.

This is a huge update to the world of WoW, and will affect players whether or not they buy Cataclysm. Blizzard’s servers are currently down in anticipation of the change, but here’s some of what players can expect, once a dragon messes some stuff up in Azeroth.

Update, 3:56pm EST: While the servers were initially scheduled to go back up around 4pm EST (1pm PST), a tipster tells us that upon trying to log in, he received a message that Blizzard has delayed this by an hour; at present, The Shattering is set to officially go into effect at 5pm EST / 2pm PST, although there’s no guarantee that that too won’t be pushed back. (Thanks, Luis!)

Update, 5:53pm EST: The Warcraft folks just tweeted out that “Patch 4.0.3a: The Shattering of Azeroth is now live on North American realms. Welcome to a world forever changed.” [Blizzard's comprehensive rundown of the changes]

A word to the wise: in the real world, climate change means severe weather patterns, drought, floods, and other nasty stuff. In an MMO, it just means new content!  Woo!

(via WoW Insider.)

With the release of World of Warcraft: Cataclysm only a few weeks away, Blizzard has begun rolling out the different phases of a world event that will culminate in what they’re calling the Shattering: In character, the dragon Deathwing will rend the world asunder, and out of character, they’ll change the game world to reflect the changes coming in the new expansion.

One of the characteristics of this world event is the appearance of a insidious doomsday cult in response to the strange natural phenomenon going on elsewhere. Last night a new phase of quests went live, revealing that the cult situation has gotten so bad that leaders in two major cities (one Alliance and one Horde) have decided that anyone looking to get through the gates must be searched for cultist propaganda.

If you’re like us and have been watching certain online communities grow more agitated about rights to privacy, or if you’ve simply been following (with or without trepidation) the reaction to the implementation of backscatter X-ray scanners in US Airports and a pat down designed to discourage people from opting out through humiliation… well, this seems awfully apropo.

(If you’re a WoW player and you haven’t done the quest yet, you might want to skip the rest until you’ve done it, if you don’t want to know how it goes.)

The Internet hero known as Red Shirt Guy schooled the creators of World of Warcraft with an obscure continuity question at this year’s BlizzCon, shut down his online haters with a ballsy YouTube response video, and attained in-game immortality when Blizzard created an NPC in his honor named “Wildhammer Fact Checker.” Now, he’s been Auto-Tuned, and the result is surprisingly catchy. Falstad Wildhammer lives!

(via Topless Robot)

Between World of Warcraft: Cataclysm‘s launch on December 7th and now the just-announced launch of Bejeweled 3 on the same date, the gaming gods seem to have conspired that hardcore gamers and casual gamers alike won’t be getting anything done this holiday season.

Coming six years after Bejeweled 2‘s initial release, Bejeweled 3 will cost $20 on PopCap.com, and will boast new features that are apparently exciting to Bejeweled players:

You’ll have to forgive us for one last indulgence in the epic story of Red Shirt Guy, the kid who stood up at Blizzcon and pointed out that Blizzard loremasters had left a secondary NPC out of the expansion, and then, when video of his nervous demeanor went viral, responded calmly, reasonably, and in the same shirt to all the haters.

Don’t worry, it’s a happy ending. In reward for his dedication to the story behind the biggest MMORPG in history, Blizzard has not only fixed the omission of Falstad Wildhammer from World of Warcraft: Cataclysm, but given the dwarven chieftain an addition to his retinue.

The Wildhammer Fact Checker currently stands proudly next to his leader in the Cataclysm Beta, and, as Blizzard confirmed, he will remain there when the game ships.

And yes, he’s wearing a red shirt.