http://www.zam.com/ ZAM gaming news rss feed http://www.zam.com/story.html?story=20639 <p>A blue post in the official technical support forum seems to suggest that patch 3.3 isn't scheduled to launch for at least another month. In response to a player complaining about how long it takes to complete the 448MB background download, <a href="http://forums.worldofwarcraft.com/thread.html?topicId=21034438977&amp;pageNo=1&amp;sid=1#2" target="_blank">Datth said</a>, "<span class="blue">We only provide mirror links for full client patches. Background downloads do not count. You have around 1+ month to download this file so we're not really worried about your speed."</span></p> <p><span class="blue">This comment certainly shouldn't be taken as any sort of official confirmation of the 3.3 launch window. After all, Datth could have just been talking about the timetable for background downloads in general. Regardless, it's just something to think about while we all wait for 3.3 to hit the live servers on one of these upcoming Tuesdays.<br /></span></p> http://www.zam.com/story.html?story=20621 <p>Blizzard posted its <a href="http://www.zam.com/story.html?story=20587" target="_blank">official preview</a> of the lore surrounding the legendary weapon Shadowmourne a couple days ago, but our friends over at Wowhead have <a href="http://www.wowhead.com/?blog=131196" target="_blank">posted</a> something even better: <a href="http://ptr.wowhead.com/?item=49623" target="_blank">the stats</a>. The two-handed axe can be used by warriors, paladins and death knights and deals 344.1 damage per second at a speed of 3.70. It has +233 Strength, +198 Stamina and three red sockets for a bonus of +8 Strength.</p> <p>Players who are lucky enough to equip this weapon will also have their critical strike and armor penetration ratings increased by 114. Oh, and "your weapon swings have a chance to drain a Soul Fragment granting you 40 strength. When you have acquired 10 Soul Fragments you will unleash Chaos Bane, dealing 1900 to 2100 shadow damage split between all enemies within 8 yards."</p> <p>Do you want to get your hands on Shadowmourne? Wowhead has posted the details of the <a href="http://www.wowhead.com/?guide=3.3&amp;quests#shadowmourne" target="_blank">quest chain</a> in their <a href="http://www.wowhead.com/?guide=3.3" target="_blank">Patch 3.3 guide</a>. You can also discuss the weapon in <a href="http://wow.allakhazam.com/forum.html?forum=21&amp;mid=125859721436395691&amp;num=7&amp;page=1" target="_blank">this thread</a> in our WoW general forum.</p> http://www.zam.com/story.html?story=20616 <p><img style="float: right; border: 2px solid black; margin: 5px;" src="http://www.zam.com/Im/Image/width=200/145115.jpg" alt="" />Look out World of Warcraft PTR players - Fony is on the loose! The <a href="http://www.zam.com/bffreport.html?bffreport=06" target="_self">second episode</a> of The BFF Report's sneak peek of WoW's Patch 3.3 is now live, and the hilarity only continues as Fony chronicles his escapades through Icecrown Citadel.</p> <p>So what's in store for viewers in <a href="http://www.zam.com/bffreport.html?bffreport=06" target="_self">this episode</a>?</p> <p>Three words: Pit of Saron. Delving into the next five-player dungeon on his tour, Fony takes a crack at Forgemaster Garfrost, Krick and Ick, and Scourgelord Tyrannus. Last but not least, Fony takes a crack at a gunship battle... but things don't go quite as planned.</p> <p><a href="http://www.zam.com/bffreport.html?bffreport=06" target="_self">Check out all of Episode Six - WoW Patch 3.3 Part Two by clicking here!</a></p> http://www.zam.com/story.html?story=20612 <p>The new LFG system is already being vetted on the public test realm, set to roll out to the public in the upcoming <a href="http://wow.allakhazam.com/wiki/Patch_3.3_-_PTR" target="_blank">patch 3.3</a>. Blizzard designed the system with incentives in mind, offering higher rewards to players that group with more randomly-chosen teammates. Many players already support the idea of the new system, especially casual players who don't get the opportunity to run through as many dungeons as regular, "connected" players. Others have their doubts, anticipating even more failed dungeon runs from the inherent pick-up group (<a href="http://wow.allakhazam.com/wiki/PUG" target="_blank">PUG</a>) design of the system.</p><br/><a href="http://www.zam.com/story.html?story=20612">View in full...</a> http://www.zam.com/story.html?story=20604 <p>More details on the Icecrown Citadel access progression can be found in the full post after the jump.</p><br/><a href="http://www.zam.com/story.html?story=20604">View in full...</a> http://www.zam.com/story.html?story=20587 <p>You can read the full preview below!</p><br/><a href="http://www.zam.com/story.html?story=20587">View in full...</a> http://www.zam.com/story.html?story=20579 <p>It looks like players are going to get a <a href="http://forums.worldofwarcraft.com/thread.html?topicId=20861005661&amp;sid=1" target="_blank">third chance</a> to PUG with the blues on the PTR realms. Members of the Blizzard development, QA and community teams will be playing on the test realms on Wednesday, Nov. 18, at 4 p.m. PST to test out the new dungeon system, and they want to group with players.</p> <p>To get the chance to group with a blue poster, all you need to do is <span class="blue">queue up for a random heroic through the Dungeon tool. The Blizzard employees will be playing as both Horde and Alliance, so it doesn't matter which side you choose.<br /></span></p> <p><span class="blue">Did any of you get the chance to group with a Blizzard employee during the first two events? Are you going to participate in the event tomorrow?<br /></span></p> http://www.zam.com/story.html?story=20571 <p>If you have any other questions, check out the <a href="http://www.worldofwarcraft.com/info/faq/mohawkgrenade.xml" target="_blank">Mohawk Grenade FAQ</a> after the jump. Now quit your jibber-jabber and get in the game!</p><br/><a href="http://www.zam.com/story.html?story=20571">View in full...</a> http://www.zam.com/story.html?story=20565 <p>Blizzard is currently hosting its <a href="http://us.blizzard.com/en-us/community/contests/holidaycard/index.html?rhtml=y" target="_blank">inaugural Holiday Card Contest</a>, which means creative players have the opportunity to win a Razer gaming package and this year's official holiday card signed by Samwise Didier for submitting their festive design. All you need to do is <a href="http://us.media.blizzard.com/blizzard/_downloads/holidaycard-template.zip" target="_blank">download the template</a> and submit a card based on the Diablo, StarCraft, or Warcraft universes by Dec. 7.</p> <p>In addition to receiving all those prizes, Blizzard will make the designs of the three winners available to players for use as their own cards this holiday season. Will you be entering the contest?</p> http://www.zam.com/story.html?story=20564 <p>Blizzard recently sent out a video from its archives to all of the World of Warcraft fansites, and our friends over at Wowhead have posted it in their blog. <a href="http://www.wowhead.com/?blog=130459" target="_blank">The video</a> is an interview <a href="http://jacehall.tv/" target="_blank">Jace Hall</a> conducted with Blizzard staff members that originally aired on Dec. 15, 2008, which was about a month after the launch of Wrath of the Lich King.</p> <p>The interview was conducted completely for fun and shows that the Blizzard team has a good sense of humor about its work. <a href="http://www.wowhead.com/?blog=130459" target="_blank">Head over to Wowhead</a> to watch <span class="description">Jeff Kaplan, Tom Chilton, and J. Allen Brack explain why gnomes are the best race in the game and see the development of the epic pink unicorn mount. Jace even asks the team for some help in settling an old rivalry with Felicia Day.<br /></span></p> <p>While we're on the topic of Wrath's one-year anniversary, ZAM user ArexLovesPie has started <a href="http://wow.allakhazam.com/forum.html?forum=21&amp;mid=1258382870178512379&amp;num=3&amp;page=1" target="_blank">a thread </a>in our general forum asking for your honest opinion on the expansion. What are your thoughts on Wrath of the Lich King one year after its launch?</p>