The pandaren are a new race being introduced with the upcoming Mists of Pandaria expansion for World of Warcraft. Currently the expansion’s beta is underway, and we’re receiving updated news about the game as the weeks draw on. This week we have gotten word of what the new race’s mount will be, and it’s a bit surprising. The pandaren mount will be a Dragon Turtle.

I know what you’re thinking, “Raine, how in the world will this mount even make sense? Turtles are slow, aren’t they?” You ask the same questions as many others, young grasshopper. There are a lot of players who think this mount simply doesn’t make sense even in the Pandaria setting. Others, however, think the mount just looks cool.

Apparently the pandaren have long been looking for a mount that embodies their core values: patience and strength. The Dragon Turtle has armored hide, stoutness, and a relaxed attitude that welcomes long journeys. This animal is indigenous to Pandaria, thus making treks across the island feel just like another walk in the park. It will be outfitted with maps, cushions, footstools, and even some brew storage for those hardy adventurers.

Now the second question comes into mind: how fast will it be? Though the description on the original post claims that it’s got a “slow, even stride,” I think the mount will work much the same as the Kodo mounts do for the Tauren. It will move to scale with other mounts, but do so with ease. I think the Dragon Turtle is pretty sweet, and I’d love to have one.

Blizzard has announced that they’ve added account-level changes to achievements earned in World of Warcraft: Mists of Pandaria. The beta for WoW’s next expansion is still running strong, and players will see these changes soon within the game. The idea behind this addition is simple: Blizzard doesn’t want WoW players to focus on a single character because of achievements.

Here’s what the developer had to say in the official announcement post:

Overall, we never want you to play Character A instead of Character B because of achievement concerns. If Character A had the Violet Proto-Drake, then you might not play Character B. If Character A was only one holiday away from the Violet Proto-Drake, then you may not play Character B. If Character A had completed most of the raid achievements from Dragon Soul, you may not want to bring Character B for one fight and miss out on the achievement. Having alts is cool and working on achievements is cool, but we don’t want the two systems to work against each other.

This goal is paramount and drives everything else. If we allowed you to earn extra achievement points from completing an achievement on two different characters, then you might only want to play the character with the most points and you’d feel like you had to grind through all the achievements with every alt, thus defeating the purpose of having account-level achievements.

This is a real focal point in bringing the game back for many players. Personally, I suffer from this issue myself. I feel as if my main toon is the only one worth playing because he is the character with the most achievements and rewards. Why play my alts just to run them through the same gauntlet? Why go back and hit all of the achievements again? This new change will help eliminate that feeling and make each character players have feel more valuable and worth playing.

Of course, there are some stipulations that will stick to these new account-level achievements. Some of them are:

• Most achievements are account-wide

The meaning behind this is that you’ll earn the achievement points only once. If you earn an achievement on one toon, then you’ll see it on all toons. Though you will see the pop-up notification if a second character completes the achievement, and this is important. Blizzard still wants to recognize milestones for each character.

• Most criteria isn’t account-wide

If you start an achievement process on one toon, you can’t finish it on another. There are some exceptions, though they aren’t numerous.

• Some achievements will be “meta achievements”

These meta achievements will require you to grab other specific achievements. An example here is “What a long, strange trip it’s been.” These achievements generally are account-wide, allowing different characters to earn the sub-achievements within to gain the overall goal.

• Very few achievements are account-only

Two categories of achievements will be account-only. The first will be achievements that aren’t possible to earn on one toon. For instance, getting every class to the level cap. The second category will be those that are just “brutal” for one character alone, such as 2500 daily quests completed or 250k honorable kills.

• Rewards from achievements should be shared at the account level.

Though it isn’t promised, Blizzard wants for the achievement rewards to be at the account level as well. While the team is working on it, there will be some restrictions set in place. There’s no reason why your level 3 Orc Warrior should be walking around with the title, “Defender of a Shattered World” just because your main achieved it.  You also wouldn’t be able to use a faction-specific mount, title, or pet on the wrong faction.

 This is the type of system that Blizzard wants to develop over time, and I think it will fit really well. I strongly believe that more players will come back to the game, and the ones already playing will find it easier to share their time with different characters. A lot of players have been requesting changes like these, and Blizzard is letting us know they’re listening. More changes and details will come over time, and it looks like they’ll continue to get better.

The World of Warcraft trading card game not only helps players take their game out of the PC, but it gives them control of the very forces of Azeroth. I’ve been playing the game for a while now, and Cryptozoic has always found ways to keep it interesting. Just recently they’ve added a brand new twist to the game that can really give players a new way to get involved – the Champion Decks.

These new Champion Decks will have players wreaking havok in many new ways. There are five total, each with their own specific set of cards. Players will be able to pick and play as either Sylvanas Windrunner, Jaina Proudmoore, Hogger, Murkdeep, or Elderlimb. There’s one deck for Horde, one for Alliance, and three different Monsters.

Each of the decks comes with a 60-card pre-built deck that’s ready to play out of the box. You’ll also find inside a Crown of the Heavens booster, and a bonus artifact or loot card. Each of these retails for $11.99, which isn’t too much to break the bank. They’re available now in retail, so grab yours and start clashing!

Veterans of the board game Monopoly know that whenever you think about the game, you think of that little man with the top hat and monocle. His name is Uncle Pennybags, and he’s the main mascot for the real estate game. With the upcoming release of World of Warcraft Monopoly, this fabled mascot changes in a most surprising and enjoyable way.

The new mascot will become a lovable murloc, the most favored and recognizable enemy in the entire game. You’ll be able to see him on all of the Chance and Community Chest cards in the game, like the one posted above. Just a couple of weeks ago, we got a sneak-peek look at the new money that will show in the game, and now this news is here to compliment it. Now we know we’ll get to see some of Azeroth’s most influential faces as well as this murloc greeting us when we dive into World of Warcraft Monopoly.

Honestly, this is great news. Many, like myself, imagined that the mascot would just be Uncle Pennybags in some kind of in-game armor. Now don’t get me wrong, that would be cool, but the murloc is way cooler. I like the way the creators are going with the game, and I can’t wait to grab it as soon as it hits shelves. Stay tuned for more World of Warcraft Monopoly info as it arrives!

The time for World of Warcraft players to run through the land of Pandaria is drawing near. Blizzard is gearing up for the new expansion’s beta, and some invites are getting ready to fly across the waves to lucky players and fans alike. The developer is inviting Annual Pass holders, press, fansites, friends, and family along with opt-in beta testers to participate in the fun.

A FAQ posted on the expansion’s official page has all the answers to your burning beta questions, so there’s nothing to fear. If you’ve gotten an Annual Pass, invites will be sent out in droves over the course of the beta. All pass holders will receive an invite, and Blizzard wants to leave no one behind here. There are, however, some factors in selecting just who of these holders will get it the quickest, such as how long your account has been active, and when you signed up for the pass. You can check your email and Battle.net account for your invite when it arrives.

For those who want to opt-in to the beta, you can do so from your Battle.net account page. As long as you have an open account and at least one Blizzard game attached to it, you can opt-in on the Beta Profile page. You need to choose which franchises you’d be interested in helping to test, and run the System Check tool to add your PC’s specs to your profile. After all that, you just need to wait for an invite.

You’ll know you’re in when you get an email from Blizzard saying so. That being said, keep on the lookout for phishing scams and keyloggers. There’s no doubt that some people out there will want to take advantage of this news for malicious intent. You can learn how to properly identify your emails on the Battle.net Security site. So, with all that out in the open, get ready to run through Pandaria very soon!

Blizzard’s smash-hit MMO World of Warcraft allows players to do many things, from creating vast suits of exquisite armor to traversing Azeroth on the wings of enormous beasts. Not to mention, players can tackle awe-inspiring foes as well as collect pockets full of gold. Players come in all ages, but how about the older gamers out there? Can WoW help the world’s senior citizens?

A study conducted by a North Carolina State University says that it, in fact, can. The study shows that there is a significant increase in cognitive ability. Apparently, repeatedly stabbing naga across the seas of Azeroth does have it’s benefits! In reality, however, the study was simple: provide a test to selected subjects that rate their cognitive level. The subjects were tested on areas like attention span, memory, and spatial reasoning. After the first test was administered, an “experimental” group of the participants played the MMO on their home computers, while a “control” group (basically the rest of the participants) didn’t play WoW at all. After two weeks the whole was tested once more. After comparing the results, the experimental group showed a much greater increase in cognitive ability, though the gain varied based on the tester’s original score.

Now I know there’s a question burning in all of your blazing minds: “Why WoW?” Well Dr. Anne McLaughlin, an assistant professor of psychology at NC State, explains their choice a bit. “We chose World of Warcraft because it has attributes we felt may produce benefits – it is a cognitively challenging game in a socially interactive environment that presents users with novel situations. We found there were improvements, but it depended on each participant’s baseline cognitive functioning level.”

This is pretty cool, to be honest. Using a video game in a study to prove some scientific theory is downright awesome. The study was conducted mostly on adults between the ages of 60-77, but it still has grounds. I’d like to see more studies like this come across the board, using many more of the great games out there. As an avid WoW player already, this news makes me quite proud.

It seems that the overlords at Blizzard are teaming up with Hasbro’s USAopoly to bring forth creations fit for the gods. They will soon be publishing a World of Warcraft Monopoly game along with a Starcraft Risk game. This is perfect, especially considering that when the company urges you to take your adventures outside of Azeroth, you can continue them right on your coffee table.

Starcraft Risk will include all three races from the game, and something Blizzard calls “astute deployment of military might and strategic field tactics.” It will also include three play modes which will offer a bit different style compared the original Risk. As far as the World of Warcraft Monopoly game goes, players will be able to purchase cities and zones from the MMO. The tokens have not yet been decided, and fans can go vote for what they want to see on the game’s Facebook page.

I know I’ll be grabbing both games when they arrive, though we don’t know a set date at this time. There’s something enticing about being able to say “I own Stormwind. NOW I AM GOING TO BLOW IT UP!” Plus, I get to take gold from people, and that’s always fun.

Ask anyone I know and they’ll tell you that it’s no secret I’m a World of Warcraft fan. I play the MMO like clockwork, and I even manage my own guild. When it comes to gaming, though, I’m also a pretty big tabletop kind of guy, and for that reason I’ve taken a liking to the WoW Trading Card Game (TCG). I’ve been playing for a while now, and it’s becoming almost as big of a passion as playing the actual MMO. The TCG for WoW is made by Cryptozoic, and they’ve just announced some details about the new set that’s about to release for the game, called Crown of the Heavens. I decided to take some time and detail it a bit, just so you guys can see what to expect when this new set drops!

Crown of the Heavens is the second set in the Aftermath block, coming right after Throne of the Tides. This set follows the beings of Nordrassi, the World Tree. Continuing with the introduction of Monster Allies and Monster Heroes, brand new creatures enter the fray in Crown of the Heavens, and they’re all a force to be reckoned with. There will also be some new key abilities, or mechanics, that will show up in the new set, and I’ll go over them first.

As seen with Remulos, Son of Cenarius above, one of the new abilities in Crown of the Heavens is called Harmonize. When a card has Harmonize, you pay 1 less resource to play any ally with a printed cost of 4 or more. These Harmonize abilities stack, so if you have four cards on the field with the ability then you can effectively get out 4-cost cards for nothing. Filling your deck with cards that take advantage of Harmonize can make for a very quick and painful match for your opponent.

The next ability that’s coming in Crown of the Heavens is Smash, and I can tell it’s going to be my favorite. When an ally has Smash, if it would deal more than fatal combat damage to another ally, the spilled over damage then gets dealt to that ally’s controller’s hero. For example, let’s say you have an ally that deals 6 damage. That ally is in combat with an opponent’s ally that only has 4 health. Your ally will deal fatal damage to the defender, leaving an excess of 2 damage points. With Smash, these left over damage points spill on to the opposing ally’s controller’s hero. It’s extra damage! Giving your allies Smash and following that up with buffs to their attack power can make for easy and quick skirmishes, all with your opponent’s hero taking damage the whole time!

Smash comes in with a new addition of Ogres in the new set. Cryptozoic really wanted to add more huge allies into the game to make it possible for players to really deliver a beatdown to their opponents. Take this guy for instance:

He is just a brute with chunk enough to take a beating, and he only has a printed cost of 6! Ogres are going to make a big appearance in Crown of the Heavens, and they’ll bring with them plenty of destruction. There will be new Ogre allies, abilities, and even a big nasty Ogre hero for players to take advantage of.

Another focus feature of the new set is yet another race that’s been left in the shadows – Demons. Demons have shown up in the TCG before, but mainly as summons for Warlocks. This time they will be introduced as their own entities – we will see both Demon allies and Demon heroes. Here’s a look at a Demon ally, and on the card you can see a glimpse of just how these guys will play out:

So can you see the strategy behind the Demons? Basically, they all play off of your opponent’s hero having 15 or more damage on them at any given time. As long as this damage is stuck on their hero, your Demons will either gain buffs to their attack power, create more Demon Monster allies per turn, or even cause instant damage. In addition to doing direct abilities, some cards will force opponents to make decisions, and their choices will either give you the upper hand, or force them to take damage.

More Alliance and Horde cards make an appearance, along with a special location card to mark the set:

Let’s see, with nothing better to do off the first turn, or with an extra resource to use, you can certainly benefit from this card. Use it to heal your wounded allies, or start milling through your deck to get to exactly what you need. No matter what you need, the World Tree has you covered until the end.

Crown of the Heavens is set to release on February 7th, which isn’t too far away. It will have 64 Commons, 60 Uncommons, 24 Heroes, 60 Rares, and 10 Epics in its vault. If you’re looking to jump into the World of Warcraft TCG, or if you’ve been waiting to get some new features thrown at you, this new set will deliver what you’re seeking. I know I’ll be working on a new Monster deck, and going against my better judgement, I may even play Alliance. Get ready for Crown of the Heavens next month!

World of Warcraft’s latest patch, 4.3 The Hour of Twilight, has already released, and now there are some hotfixes that have rolled out for it. When patches come out for games, especially PC games, they often need some tweaking of their own to help balance the game out. With the tampering and addition of features to the game, there’s a lot of room for mishaps.

Here’s a snippet of what was hammered out with the new hotfix update:

• Killing bosses while using the Heroic Dungeon Finder should now award guild reputation and experience
• Players should now be able to complete the quests “The Captured Journal” and “The Enemy’s Insignia” at the Darkmoon Faire after having completed them in a previous month
• Pelturas Whitemoon should no longer becomes unresponsive after a player completes the quest “All’s Well”

Tons of class updates have been rolled out, including improved Serpent Sting spread for Hunters, Bladestorm will now always trigger invincibility for the Warrior, and Paladins’ Holy Radiance should now stack properly with the spells cast by other Paladins. To see the full list of hotfixes (it’s a pretty big one), head on over to the World of Warcraft hotfix post. Hopefully these fixes will help get the game back to normal and straighten out a lot of the bugs and glitches players were facing.

It’s finally time, and the long wait is over. The new patch 4.3 is now live for World of Warcraft. This patch has been called “Hour of Twilight,” and it includes plenty of fixes and features to keep players full of interest. The official World of Warcraft site has a list of what to expect with the patch, and here are some details from their post.

In patch 4.3, Thrall and the noble Aspects will call upon the Horde and the Alliance to help them retrieve the artifact–no longer in existence–from the distant past. Those brave enough to face the challenge will embark on a perilous journey from Azeroth’s apocalyptic End Time to the Dragon Soul’s point of origin during the catastrophic War of the Ancients. If the heroes succeed, an even more harrowing battle awaits them in the present….

Added in the patch are new dungeons and raids:

• New Dungeon: End Time

This new 5-player Heroic dungeon begins the quest to save all with a look at the desolate future of Azeroth, should its defenders fail to stop Deathwing.

• New Dungeon: Well of Eternity

In this new 5-player Heroic dungeon, adventurers travel back 10,000 years in a brazen attempt to retrieve the Dragon Soul.

• New Dungeon: Hour of Twilight

This new 5-player Heroic dungeon sets the final stage by bringing players face-to-face with the Twilight’s Hammer in present-day Dragonblight, where Thrall and the Dragon Soul must be safely escorted to Wyrmrest Temple so that the assault on Deathwing can commence.

• New Raid: Dragon Soul

Players have the opportunity to take the fight to Wyrmrest Temple and beyond, assisting Thrall and the Dragon Aspects as they seek to bring an end to the Black Dragonflight once and for all. 10- and 25-person raids will get to take on Deathwing himself, with three levels of difficulty to consider and epic gear to claim.

The patch adds a Raid Finder, which functions much like the Dungeon Finder that already exists within the game. It’s a new grouping feature allows players to quickly and easily form a pick-up raid for a specially tuned version of the current tier of endgame content. Transmogrification also appears in the patch, which allows players to customize their gear like never before: copying the appearance of one magical item onto another. Reforging has also changed and been compiled with Void Storage. With all of these new features in the game, players will finally get the playability they’ve been asking for. For more notes on the patch, head to the World of Warcraft post. You can also check out the patch’s trailer below.