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.

Are you one of the numerous World of Warcraft players who has noticed that you’ve put a lot of time into your guild, only to see that your server favors the other faction? All too often we get into a guild and level a toon that we’ve gotten close to, only to see that the opposite faction is running the server. This means that the Auction House has better items for them, they run the Battlegrounds, and more than likely there are more of them lying in wait to attack when you least expect it.

Blizzard has a way to remedy this, and now they’re offering guilds to not only transfer across servers, but factions as well. Right now the changes are available to a select few servers, but Blizzard is working on getting this feature to roll across all active servers as soon as possible. In order to request the change, guild leaders will need to gather the cash to make their requests complete. Changing factions will run $40, changing realms will be $35, a guild name change runs $20, and bundling a realm and faction transfer will run $65, saving $10.

Everything that will accompany these changes will be the guild master, bank, level, perks, and achievements. This means that all other guild members will have to pony up their own cash in order to make the move. Once the guild leader moves across faction or server, everyone who has been left in their wake will be in a level one guild with the same name, with nothing to their name. So, if there is a decision made, it would be wise to run it by all members before it’s implemented. If you’re looking for something new, however, this may be your calling card.

It’s been shrouded in mystery for some time now, and has had players all anxious in wait. A new expansion for the World of Warcraft has just been revealed, and it’s packed with tons of new features that will change the game as we know it. Finally a race that has been favored by many, dreamt by some, and wanted by everyone, the Pandaren, will make it into the MMO as playable characters. At this year’s Blizzcon event in California, details of this new expansion were ushered to a crowd struck with awe.

The new expansion is called “Mists of Pandaria,” and it focuses on a new location in the WoW universe. Pandaria has managed to stay in drought from war, but things are looking extremely shaky since the cracking of the planet. This mighty race has come to the front, and with a steady hand they stand at the ready to take up arms to protect their home.

Tons of new features will be added with the new expansion, and here’s a list of what to expect:

• New Playable Race — Pandaren: Adventure through Azeroth as World of Warcraft‘s first neutral race and decide whether to side with the Alliance or the Horde.
• New Playable Class — Monk: Unlock the secrets of pandaren martial arts and do battle as a damage dealer, healer, or tank.
• Level Cap Increased to 90:Learn potent new spells and abilities while exploring uncharted zones and taking on challenging new content.
• New Zones:Explore the lush Jade Forest, treacherous Kun-Lai Summit, and other exotic areas of Pandaria designed for high-level characters, and uncover the mystery of the Wandering Isle.
• Scenarios: Join up with some friends to achieve a common goal, such as mounting a defense against invading monsters, in a flexible new type of PvE challenge.
• Dungeon “Challenge” Modes: Master the ultimate five-player time trial to earn prestige rewards in a new dungeon mode that will put your resolve and coordination to the test.
• Pet Battles: Challenge other players’ companion pets with your own collection in a new tactical mini-game, and find out who’s king or queen of the pint-sized battlefield.
• New Talent System: Customize your character to suit your play style with the newly overhauled and improved talent system.

The Pandaren will be the first race available to both factions. Once players reach level 10, they will select the faction to which they want to pledge their allegiance. Monk classes will apply to the Tauren, Blood Elves, Night Elves, Dwarves, Humans, Orcs, Undead, Gnomes, Trolls, and Draenai. The new talent system will replace the one in current use, and vast changes await the world of Azeroth. No release date has been issued for the expansion, but we’re waiting diligently for word on when we can expect to take part in this amazing addition to the MMO. As soon as new information rolls in, we will be right here at the ready to update.

Taking skills from the Subtlety tree of the rogue class, Blizzard has found a way to allow players to exchange real-world cash for in-game gold in World of Warcraft. If another player is willing to make the exchange, then the trade goes through without a hitch. This is where things get hazy.

The trade is made through the newest in-game pet – the Guardian Cub. Unlike other released pets into the WoW world, this cub can be freely traded between players until it gets “used” and added to a player’s inventory collection. Seems simple, right? This means that the pet can be bought with real cash, and then sold in the game’s Auction House for in-game gold. This move, of course, was totally intentional on Blizzard’s part. Here’s what they had to say:

Since the introduction of the Pet Store, many players have been asking for ways to get the companions we offer there without having to spend real-world cash. By making the Guardian Cub tradable, players interested in the new pet will have fun, alternative in-game ways to get one. In addition to trading the pet, players can give the Guardian Cub as a gift to another character for a special occasion; guild leaders can use them to reward members for a job well done; and so on. We also hope this change will help reduce the number of incidents of scamming via trading for invalid pet codes.

While our goal is to offer players alternative ways to add a Pet Store pet to their collection, we’re ok with it if some players choose to use the Guardian Cub as a safe and secure way to try to acquire a little extra in-game gold without turning to third-party gold-selling services. However, please keep in mind that there’s never any guarantee that someone will purchase what you put up for sale in the auction house, or how much they’ll pay for it. Also, it’s important to note that we take a firm stance against buying gold from outside sources because in most cases, the gold these companies offer has been stolen from compromised accounts. While some players might be able to acquire some extra gold by putting the Guardian Cub in the auction house, that’s preferable to players contributing to the gold-selling “black market” and account theft.

Though it may seem on the outside that Blizzard is turning an eye to gold-selling, there is more to see here. First, no actual cash is being traded between players, and new gold doesn’t magically appear in the game’s world. Also, this interaction completely depends on another player in the game wanting a good, for which someone else paid for. In this sense, it’s almost like a gift or a barter. No illegal tampering has been done on either part. Still, at its core this is a way to use real-world cash to gain some in-game currency. Are you on board?

The newest patch in the World of Warcraft saga, 4.3, introduces a few new features, as well as bring an end to Deathwing’s reign of terror. Deathwing’s empire isn’t the only thing to end either. With the new patch comes the end to casual players not being able to access raid content.

The core of the new patch brings about the conclusion of the Cataclysm expansion. This comes in the introduction of three new five-man dungeons which lead to the epic final battle against the dreadful dragon that started the entire world-crushing to begin with. Players will find themselves searching throughout these dungeons, looking for an ancient artifact called the Demon Soul, which fans will notice was the item Deathwing used to deceive the forces of good, ripping his body apart in the process. Players can experience these three new dungeons in order, telling the story of the final moments of Deathwing, and the Dragonblight. They will travel to the future to show the dragon aspect of time just how dangerous Deathwing is, then travel to the past to recover the Demon Soul, and finally escort Thrall to Wyrmrest Temple where the ending battle will ensue.

The introduction of the new Raid Finder will allow casual players to hop into raids just as easy as they can jump into dungeon groups. This will make acquiring gear and gaining rep a lot easier, which players have been looking forward to for a while. There will be premium rewards for normal and heroic raid completion, which will come to players in tiers. Higher-level raids will earn higher-level gear, and so on.

This is a great integration into the game, and I think a lot of the casual players will become more hardcore as time goes on. For more information about the 4.3 patch, head to the Insider here. Are you ready to jump into WoW once again and confront Deathwing once and for all? I think it’s time to pick up that epic gear once again, and head into the bowels of the Dragonblight.

After a five-issue run, the Official World of Warcraft Magazine is throwing in the towel. On their official website, Future US posted a notice announcing the end of the run, and stating that all subscribers can either process a refund for any issues they didn’t receive, or get a voucher for six different in-game pets. The company says that fans can still subscribe to their PC Gamer publication for upcoming news about the MMO, though there’s a chance that Blizzard might publish something themselves. Of course, this isn’t confirmed.

This magazine was the top source for information about the game, though the inner workings of the publication was falling apart. The company was torn between keeping the magazine an official outlet for news about the MMO and a breathing piece of press. There was a lot of talk about Blizzard’s involvement with the magazine, and their control with its course.

This is an upsetting piece of news to receive, but it makes sense. With the coming age of things, players much prefer digital to analog versions of publications like these. When you look at it from that angle, it seems like the idea of the magazine was a failed venture to begin. What do you think?

The Real ID system that was implemented by Blizzard allows friends in World of Warcraft to speak to each other, regardless of what faction or server they are on. While this is a great system, it does get a bit upsetting when you find out that you can’t run through dungeons with them or even invite them to a party. That was, of course, until now.

The new Real ID Party System introduced by the company now allows players to add their friends to a party across realms, that will allow them to enter dungeon queues together, as well as speak through party chat. With so many different servers running on different time zones, this is a great tool to keep all of your friends together and experience the game with one another.

The new system is still in its testing stages, so some bugs can be expected. Players can invite up to four Real ID friends to form parties with one another. This party can then attack 5-man dungeons or raids at the party leader’s leisure. The catch is that only Real ID friends on each others’ lists can be invited, so no friends of friends can come. Also, only the party leader can send out invites, no one else. This is a great system addition, and I can’t wait to try it out.

At this year’s Gamescom BLizzard is prepared to finally dish out some long-awaited details on fans’ most anticipated games. They claim to release more information on Diablo III, Starcraft II: Heart of the Swarm, and World of Warcraft. The event takes place in Germany between August 18th and 21st.

At the event Blizzard plans to allow fans the opportunity to gain play time with each game, as well as earn some sweet prizes, and compete against the best players of each title. There will be a special WoW competition where players will compete with each other in the large arena, with prizes going to the big winners. Starcraft II: Heart of the Swarm will be explored, and Blizzard states that the expansion will include 20 missions, which is a lot of content, though it will still only cost the same as normal DLC, so it won’t break the bank.

Finally, Diablo III’s release date is promised to come from Blizzard, which will definitely set fans off. The public beta for the game is set for sometime in September, so it’s unlikely that the game will arrive before the end of the year. Make sure you tune in for more coverage of this year’s Gamescom event, and we’ll have all the details.