5 person dungeons in Wrath of the Lich King

We are currently planning to keep the 5 person dungeons in Wrath of the Lich King fairly short in length, but with a boost to their overall epicness - the preview we have of The Nexus is a great example of this.

The more vast and sprawling dungeons will be found in the raid dungeons which more players will be able to experience with the changes to the setup.

[Source]

Death Knight creation

This is correct, if a server is not yet open to transfers, then you need a level 55 on that server to create a Death Knight . At this point in time, we don't have any further limitations on the creation. As always, I like to give a caveat that this could change if we feel it's necessary.

[Source]

The boat and zeppelin crews are still not back

There were issues with the boat and zeppelin crews that were adversely affecting their functionality. While we'd like to add them back in at some point in time, it won't happen until we feel that issue will no longer affect their functionality. We'd like to see the crews back at their stations though in the future if we can.

[Source]

About Arena Exploits

We're keeping an eye on the new queue mechanics for exploits, but there is some critical information missing from this example. If the two players in question had not been exploiting, what rating would they be capable of maintaining? The Elo system doesn't actually rely on same-rating matchups to work, meaning if you're only skilled enough to maintain a 1800 rating, but you play 1600 rated opponents all day and night, you'll still hang around the 1800 rating mark regardless.

So, in the example, the exploit should only work if the players in question were 1850 quality players anyways, in which case their exploit didn't actually change their chances to get 1850 (or reduce on average the number of games they'd have to play to get there), it only changed who they played against to get there.

The exploit would only work if you were able to consistently play against opponents that were actually worse than their rating said they were. So, for example, if players at 1500 rating on average were actually worse than 1500, than it might work. However, if anything I think players feel that playing 1500 rated matchups is just as likely (if not more likely), to put you up against a team that is actually much better than 1500, in which case this exploit is hurting your chances more than helping. This only becomes more true the more players attempt to use this tactic (since more high-rated players would actually be queuing at lower ratings).

[Source]

Arena Tournament First Qualification Round Concludes

After several weeks of fierce competition, the 2008 World of Warcraft Arena Tournament's first qualification round has come to an end. Registration for the second qualification round is now open, and you can check out the phase schedule for it. To register for the tournament or for more information, please visit our Arena Tournament information page. Thank you to all of the participants and good luck to everyone in the second qualifier!

[Source]

US - Forum Reorganization

Thanks everyone for your patience as we shifted things around a bit. Just a quick run-down of changes we made:

Aside from the "crucial" forums such as Customer Service and Tech Support, everything that isn't in a sub-category has been alphabetized. "Non-critical" forums such as SCII and WotLK forums are left at the bottom.

The Guild Recruitment forum has been split into an Alliance and Horde variation, I would fully expect traffic to increase substantially for a bit while people rush to get their ads up, but it should slow back down after a while.

There's a new "Gameplay Discussion" subsection which now houses the Dungeon & Raid, PvP, Professions, and Quest forums. Possibilities exist for other forums to be added to this subsection in the future, but for now we think its pretty solid.

The drop down menu (the thing in the upper left of every forum) reflects all of these changes, and should hopefully provide a clearer and more logical separation.

In addition, the "WoW" prefix has been removed from all forums as everyone should already be aware they're looking through forums related to World of Warcraft.

[Source]

22/05 The New and Improved Gadgetzan Times

While the opening of the Dark Portal and the scandalous return of Kael’thas to the Sunwell Plateau might have been good for adventurers all over Azeroth, they haven’t been good for the goblins at the Gadgetzan Times. Known for their interest in all things explosive, there has been a significant shortage of reliable, sensible goblins to report on the events and news for this illustrious newspaper. When crisis looms, goblins get creative, and when the first ‘all-purpose automated author’ self-destructed, there was only one solution - call in the experts.

We are proud to present the new and improved Gadgetzan Times, containing fan fiction written about the World of Warcraft by the people who know it intimately – the players. Featuring a selection of stories in different languages, it’s the perfect place to share your stories with the world. You can find out how to submit your own story to the editors here. The Gadgetzan Times – now with 100% more adventurer!

[Source]

21/05 WWI Costume Contest Announced!

Along with our Machinima and Fan Art contests, we are holding a Worldwide Invitational Costume contest! To enter, simply send us a picture of your costume beforehand and come to the Worldwide Invitational to be judged! You need to own a Worldwide Invitational ticket to enter the competition. You can read more information and guidelines here!

We will be announcing more details for the Worldwide Invitational dance contest during the next few days, so make sure to check back soon!

[Source]