World of Warcraft

Blizzard bigwig Mike Morhaime gave an interview to GamesIndustry.biz today to coincide with the launch of World of Warcraft's latest expansion. "One of the things people will notice with Mists of Pandaria in comparison to our other expansions is the variety of things there are to do; it will feel like a bigger, meatier expansion compared to Cataclysm," Morhaime said.

He also talks about the ongoing post-launch plans for Diablo III as well as the e-sport community surrounding Blizzard's StarCraft franchise. Morhaime also offers a frank assessment of the reasons for Star Wars: The Old Republic's quick move to a free-to-play model. "Probably if they [BioWare] had to do it over again they might have held the game over and worked on the endgame content a bit more," he said.

World of Warcraft's long-awaited fourth expansion is finally here, and whether you're looking to see through the Mists of Pandaria for yourself or poke fun at your panda-playing friends, WoW Insider has everything you need to know.

Our sister site has been busy interviewing Blizzard devs, testing new five-man dungeons, and parsing the class and mechanical changes and adjusting guides accordingly. Join us after the break for the best expansion coverage on the internet.

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Are you still on the fence about purchasing Mists of Pandaria? Really, the game comes out tomorrow; you should have made up your mind by now. But if you're still conflicted about buying World of Warcraft's fourth expansion, you can take a look at the newest development video that shows off everything players can expect from the update. And it's not just a quick list of updates.

If you have any lingering questions about what the expansion will contain or any features that you've missed hearing about, this video will put all of that to rest. Previews of the new zones, previews of new scenarios, previews of the new Monk class in action -- you can get a full rundown of the expansion's features in seven minutes. So click on past the break to see everything that's in store for players tomorrow, whether or not you've decided to jump in.

[Update: Pandaria is now live in Europe! Check out the parade Blizzard threw for the game in London, and as always, visit WoW Insider for the full scoop on the expansion.]

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The wait for the launch of World of Warcraft: Mists of Pandaria is almost over; eager players will be lining up at stores and taking part in various launch celebrations awaiting tonight's midnight release in stores. One location, Cafe de Paris in London, is sponsoring a Pandaria-themed loot giveaway through PC Gamer to help celebrate the release with players.

The goodies include a Steel Series World of Warcraft Wireless MMO mouse, Deathwing's Stormwind Assault Mega Blocks, a strategy guide, t-shirts, posters, and a Mists of Pandaria Collector's Edition. For a chance at obtaining some of these collectables, check out the giveaway page for complete instructions. But you have to hurry -- the promotion ends tomorrow.

If you're at all interested in MMOs, it's been nigh-impossible not to learn about the upcoming World of Warcraft expansion through osmosis if nothing else. If you're currently playing the game, of course, buying the expansion and logging in is a no-brainer. But if you're like many people with an old account and some mixed memories about the game, buying the expansion isn't a given. It all comes down to the expansion's features and how satisfied you are with your current games.

Maybe the promise of Pandaren, new levels, new systems, and a new talent system has lured you back into the fold. Or perhaps those same changes have turned you off from Mists of Pandaria. Perhaps it's even deeper than that -- perhaps one of the previous expansions killed your interest in the game to the point that this expansion can't revive it. So today we want to know: Are you returning for Mists of Pandaria, or are you staying on the sidelines?

Every morning, the Massively bloggers probe the minds of their readers with deep, thought-provoking questions about that most serious of topics: massively online gaming. We crave your opinions, so grab your caffeinated beverage of choice and chime in on today's Daily Grind!

The lore and backstory of the Warcraft universe is a rich tapestry that's been woven -- and rewoven -- over time, occasionally to make room for space goats with crystal starships. It's OK if you haven't been able to keep it all straight because Blizzard is coming to the rescue with its Story of Warcraft.

The Story of Warcraft is a brand-new feature on the World of Warcraft website that details the history of the game and game world from the very beginning through today. It's broken up into separate chapters, one for each major game release, and is chock-full of art and videos.

The feature is by no means complete; it's an ongoing project by the Blizzard crew. Check it out and see if even you grizzled veterans might learn a thing or two!

Have you ever wanted to wander Azeroth in virtual seclusion, flying completely under the radar of folks who may have you on their friends list? If so, Blizzard's new "appear offline" functionality will likely put a smile on your face.

"All of your Real ID friends, BattleTag friends, and character-level friends will see you as offline in their friends list whenever you're logged into the game," Blizzard says on its Battle.net website. This is assuming you don't set your social status option to available, busy, or away, of course. The new functionality is slated for World of Warcraft as well as StarCraft II and Diablo III. WoW's version of the feature should surface sometime after Mists of Pandaria.

"The question isn't why we fight," a wizened voice says, "but what's worth fighting for."

Thus goes the third TV commercial for World of Warcraft: Mists of Pandaria. Blizzard continues to storm the airwaves in preparation for Pandaria's September 25th release. The commercial is just cobbled together from the opening cinematic, but it's still cool to see an MMO get airtime on television these days.

Give it your full and undivided attention after the jump.

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Like Transformers, there may be more to a World of Warcraft screenshot than meets the eye. Our sister site WoW Insider is reporting that players have discovered hidden watermarks in every in-game screenshot that contains several pieces of information.

The watermark is made up of several strips of custom bar codes, which can be decoded to reveal information from the game. While the revealed information isn't extremely personal, it does contain the server IP, player account numbers, and a time stamp. The account number is publically accessable through Blizzard's Armory site and cannot be used to hack accounts.

WoW Insider says that this information is most likely used by Blizzard to take down private servers, rogue employees, and cheaters.

Recently I cleaned out my closet and discovered, tucked away with several older storage mediums (i.e., CDs), my World of Warcraft collector's edition soundtrack. Honestly, I had completely forgotten it was there. Within minutes, I dusted it off and had it playing on my computer.

Non-ironic wow, I thought. That takes me back.

If you were one of the players who spent any amount of time in what's now referred to as "vanilla" World of Warcraft -- before the Burning Crusade released in 2007 -- then it's just about impossible to hear these tunes and not be transported back to those first couple of years of discovery and conquest.

WoW's original soundtrack was composed by Jason Hayes, Tracy W. Bush, Glenn Stafford, and Derek Duke, each of whom brought his own take on this MMO version of Warcraft. I had a blast re-listening to all of these old tracks and wanted to share with you a few of my personal favorites.

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It's hard to escape the long arm of Blizzard's Mists of Pandaria marketing campaign these days. World of Warcraft's newest expansion is making its way to your television set via a couple of new ad spots.

The clips are composed of footage from MoP's opening cinematic, which features a kung-fu panda named Chen Stormstout. Both clips are viewable after the cut. Mists of Pandaria launches on September 25th.

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If you're a fan of World of Warcraft, you're buying Mists of Pandaria. We all know that. But are you just going to buy the game, or do you want to be part of an entire event surrounding the launch? If it's the latter, you'll be happy to know that the official launch event for the game's fourth expansion release has been confirmed for the 24th near the Blizzard Entertainment offices in Irvine, California.

The event starts at 9:00 p.m. PDT and will include stage presentations, special guests, and giveaways for fans in attendance. As with previous launches, even if you can't get out to California for the launch event, several retailers are opening at midnight for retail release of the game as soon as it's possible. It's all heady stuff for the new expansion, and fans will definitely want to take a look at what's going on and attend if possible.

Kabam, maker of MMORTS titles like Thirst of Night and Dragons of Atlantis, is back with a portable title that can be found only on the Google Play market. I stumbled upon one night, installed it for free, and soon found myself recognizing those old Kabam earmarks. It's hard to find high-quality MMOs for mobile devices. They're out there, and there are more coming into the market every day, but I wonder exactly how Kabam intended on spreading the word about Arcane Empires without featuring it on the official homepage. The MMORTS publisher has always seemed pretty savvy about the genre's formulas and how to make a successful game, so I have a feeling it must know what it's doing with the first mobile-only title in the lineup.

When I check out mobile titles, I keep in mind that I might be mistaking convenience for fun. How many of us log into a game every day or every week only because the shortcut is sitting right there on our desktop or because the game rests on our phone or tablet just waiting to be touched?

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