As a final salvo to greet 2011 with more cheer and less QQ, Blizzard implemented a host of Cataclysm expansion hotfixes to World of Warcraft, three of which gained the most whining among players.

First, druid bears saw a major nerf to Frenzied Regeneration with healing amount down 50%. Frenzied Regeneration has been an amazing rock for bear tank survivability, but Blizzard deemed it too powerful in dungeon and raid encounters. Another possible cause for its nerf is the potential for abuse in PvP, as shapeshifting druids can easily climb back to the pink of health given a full rage bar, a related glyph, activated Survival Instincts and access to this spell. Bear druids aren’t too happy about the change that might gimp them in both competitive raiding and rated PvP.

Second to ruffle feathers among the WoW playerbase is the change of Graveyard Rats from “critter” to “beast,” making it harder for guilds to get the Critter Kill Squad achievement. Crafty guilds sought out the low-level Graveyard Rats in Gilneas City and killed the numerous fast-spawning Graveyard Rats for a fast climb to 50,000 critters killed, an achievement that unlocks the popular Armadillo Pup. Now it’s back to farming bunnies and Deeprun Rats.

The third change to bring on a torrent of QQ is the Tol Barad reward fix, upping the prize for successful attacks to 1800 Honor Points from 180. Defenders who have had an easier time in the battleground due to game mechanics that favor their side are now forced to choose: Lock out the attackers from the Baradin Hold raid or lose the game on purpose to reap the generous Honor Point rewards. PvP players are complaining that the change has fixed the match so that both sides are conspiring to trade wins, making fights boring and moot on top of being utterly biased to defenders.

Athene (right) who has been crowned “The Greatest Paladin in the World” by his cult-like followers is at it again with his tag-mobbing ways, which helped him level the first 85 character in the Cataclysm expansion of World of Warcraft, at least according to WoW Progress records.

Using a new character named Forscience of Neptulon (EU) instead of his famous Paladin toon, Athene used the controversial method of mob-tagging to level up, which involves him engaging enemies but leaving the actual killing to his dozen or so fans. He did this up to level 85, which proved the fastest method for leveling compared to running dungeons or questing due to the high spawn rates of his grinding area.

Forscience also had an xp boost from heirlooms and a cache of finished quests which he turned in once he logged into the new expansion. The heirlooms stopped working at level 81 and above. (Blizzard has since hotfixed the heirlooms to stop working at level 80.)

Detractors said that even if the mob-tagging was a legitimate way of leveling, Forscience should not be considered the first 85. The honor should be given to players who had no help whatsoever. Fans though defended the achievement as legitimate, citing as reasons an informal consultation of a Blizzard GM on the matter.

No actual in-game prize or distinction will be awarded to Athene aside from bragging rights, but whichever side you might take in this debate, it’s clear that mob-tagging worked like a charm. Forscience leveled to 85 faster had a solid 2-hour lead against the second placer, Owld of Xavius (EU).

Want to know how he did it? Watch the video below:

While talent trees are still quite rough around the edges, at least the brand-new druid forms in World of Warcraft: Cataclysm seem to be coming along nicely.

For the WoW Gold Alliance-aligned worgen, the eyes are a focal point, glowing in eerie colors. Studded leather straps also cling to the arms and feet, often a complimenting shade to their thick furs.

Meanwhile, the WoW Gold Horde trolls bring rad colors to their bear Mohawks and cat manes. Their trademark troll tusks also carry over to the druid animal models, lending a more savage presence to their appearance. WoW Gold Stripes are also prominent, whether through tribal paint marks or hair patterns.

Fantastic as these preview models are, the bigger question though is how their moonkin and tree of life forms will look like. The tree of life form will no longer be a permanent form, so what little time druids spend on that healing spec, we hope that it’s prettier to look at than some gnarly Halloween trunk.

WoW Gold: Cataclysm “on track”

Speculation has been building on whether or not Cataclysm, the anticipated World of Warcraft expansion, will be released in 2010 owing to the lack of a confirmed launch date.

But Blizzard CEO Mike Morhaime told investors the expansion is expected to go live this year and will come in the heels of the smash summer hit StarCraft II, saying:

StarCraft is one of the highest quality, and it’s further confirmation of the unique talent that is embedded in Blizzard. This will again become clear with the launch of Cataclysm later this year… Although an exact release date has not yet been announced, we are on track to launch the expansion by the end of the year. As with all Blizzard games though, we won’t release until it’s ready.

The reassurance came during the Activision Blizzard second quarter earnings call where the company highlighted their performance expectations for the second half of 2010. But note the caveat inserted at the end in case the expansion hits a rough patch and gets delayed to 2011.

Luckily for us, WoW Gold Cataclysm seems to be hitting its development stride. Mr. Morhaime expressed satisfaction at the progress of WoW Gold Cataclysm beta testing, which began last June, and is set to blow up as it participates in high-profile gaming conventions:

There are currently tens of thousands of players participating in the beta test, and we’re planning to add more in the coming months. Additionally, more than 200,000 gamers and media will have the opportunity to play Cataclysm later this month at GamesCom’s in Germany.

Now if we can only get our hands on those elusive beta keys & WoW Gold, we can see first-hand how ready Cataclysm is for public consumption.

WoW Gold | Self-Promote Your Way to the Cataclysm Beta

Want to be one of the first World of Warcraft players to test the upcoming Cataclysm expansion? Well, channel your inner scribe now! Blizzard is giving away 5,000 Cataclysm beta test keys starting this week, and all you have to do to grab one is write a convincing essay why you and nine of your guild members deserve it more than everybody else.

That’s right, 500 guilds will win in the Cataclysm Beta-Guild Contest so make sure your short essay (50-250 words) is memorable enough to avoid the junk pile. Use the small word count wisely. Get straight to the point and highlight how quirky your guild is. Essays with a personality also make a good impression so be funny, cocky, or even cheeky when you need to be.

You should also spend a paragraph or two explaining what your guild can bring to the beta test experience. Highlight your reputation as a fun role-playing guild or a world-ranked raiding team, because in the words of Blizzard:

“If it’s a World of Warcraft beta test, you can bet that we’ll be searching for a large and diverse crowd of enthusiastic players to help us develop the best gameplay experience possible.”

Once you’ve crafted this short masterpiece, just send it via email to blizzardcontest@blizzard.com before the five-week contest ends on July 12. Soon after, you just might find yourself with a new worgen or goblin toon and roaming a revamped Azeroth with nine of your closest buddies and cap the wow gold as many as you can. Now that’s an experience well worth slaving a few paragraphs for. So start writing today!

Female gaming has certainly gone a long way and nowadays, it’s totally normal to see geeky girls immersed in a long-standing male-dominated arena. But as a female gamer myself, I believe that’s about to change. Maybe not soon, but definitely sooner than you think.

I recently had the chance to interview fellow gamer girl Madison, who is also the forum moderator of an online video game dating site called DateCraft, by phone. Throughout the 10-minute discussion, we covered games, geeks and guys―all in between laughs. Read below for the transcript:

Teresa: Hello Madison. First off, thank you for agreeing to this interview. How are you?
Madison: Oh it’s no problem at all. This was unexpected so thank you for contacting me. Well, right now I just got off work, I’ll pick up a few things from the grocery, finish paperwork, squeeze in some game time, make dinner and then after that, I’ll log on to DateCraft and check up on the site.

Teresa: Seems like you have a lot going on. Is it a challenge to manage and moderate a site like DateCraft?
Madison: On some days when I’m preoccupied with stuff IRL, it can be a challenge. But it’s seriously fun, so at times it doesn’t really feel like one.

Teresa: Any other online dating sites you’ve tried, like match.com?
Madison: Yes, I did in fact try match.com. But that was a long time ago. I ended up deleting my profile.

Teresa: Too many stalkers?
Madison: [laughs] No. I just never really got around to completing my profile, got lazy and then got bored.

Teresa: Do you always go for the geeky, gamer type of guys?
Madison: Oh you mean like scrawny, with glasses, squeaky voice…Well, If you’re talking about the stereotype, I haven’t actually dated guys like that. They can be cute, though. But in terms of gamer, well, all my exes are in one way or the other. But some of them are jocks so that doesn’t exactly fit the geeky description.

Teresa: What makes you proud to be a geek?
Madison: We’re non-conformists. We don’t let pressures from society affect that way we think, how we should act and everything. In a way, we’re like harmless little rebels.

Teresa: Geek culture has exploded all over the place for the last 10 years but the stereotype still remains. What do you think of that?
Madison: Honestly? I’m actually okay with that. At first, it was annoying being pigeonholed. People assume that we all stutter and have low self-esteem or whatever when for some of us, it’s quite the opposite. Then suddenly, geek is the new cool. The stereotypes are funny, rather than insulting. It’s good to poke fun at yourself, you know? Besides, if we do manage to shake off the various cultural stereotypes that still abound, then the entertainment industry won’t be the same because a lot of shows and movies capitalize on these stereotypes.

Teresa: How did you get started on gaming?
Madison: Three words. “Super Mario” on Gameboy. Oh wait, I think that was four [laughs].

Teresa: So what other games do you play aside from WoW?
Madison: Apart from Farmville? Kidding. I tried Aion Online for kicks and loved how I could customize my characters, right down to the smallest freckles. I loved how my toon was so girly. Imagine fighting wearing a tutu skirt! Come on, if that’s not girly enough, then I don’t know what is. The graphics were for the win, talk about major eye candy. I think I’m going to resub, but only after I’ve paid off my maxed out credit card. Haha. I also play Mass Effect 2. Who says chicks like me don’t know their way around the big, bad virtual world?

Teresa: Let’s say you were given a chance to create your own videogame, what would it be like?
Madison: Oh I would make it like WoW with the fun factor kicked up to 10 notches. Yup, a game has to be majorly fun for me in order to sustain my interest.  I’d make the objectives really challenging as you level up but at the end you are well rewarded. Come on, who wants a cheesy prize at the end after all that hard work? While I’m not that hard core a player or raider, I can understand players’ sentiments when they give it all and achieve something, like a world first, only to find loot or a reward that makes them go, “what the heck…that’s it???”

Teresa: Lastly, does a guy have to be a gamer for you to be interested in him?
Madison: Not really. It’d be cool if we both play, especially if we play the same games, but it’s not a requirement or anything.

Teresa: Cool. Thanks again Madison!
Madison: Oh it was my pleasure, thank you.

- Teresa Diaz

WoW Gold Operation: Gnomeregan Bares Battle Plan

In the World of Warcraft, the gnome race has been displaced for five whole years ever since their beloved capital fell to radiation bombings from the evil Mekgineer Thermaplugg. Now, the exiled gnomes led by High Tinker Gelbin Mekkatorque are striking back with WoW Gold Operation: Gnomeregan, a coordinated retaking of their capital with their Alliance buddies providing some wow gold back-up.

The latest Azeroth Bulletin posted at the Blizzard website revealed just how the gnomes plan to flush out Mekgineer Thermaplugg from his noxious hide-out:

“With fresh new recruits at your side, Mekkatorque will send you to Steelgrill’s Depot, the staging grounds for the Gnomeregan offensive, where you’ll meet Captain Sparknozzle. Do as he commands by completing Drill Sergeant Steamcrank’s training and testing the operative capabilities of the brand new Mechano-Tanks before they’re shipped to the front lines.”

“Seizing Gnomeregan is more important than your fear of heights, which will be put to the test as you’re summoned by Pilot Muzzlesprock to neutralize the irradiation vents bruising the Gnomeregan horizon in a critical Radiageigatron bombing run.”

Even lowbies can participate in the war preparations, such as killing boars for wow gold and assist master wordsmith Toby Zeigear compose Mekkatorque’s battle cry. But the actual siege of Operation: Gnomeregan will be limited to level 75-80 heroes who must cleanse Gnomeregan of irradiation and nasty troggs and get the wow gold as fast as they can.

The date for mobilization hasn’t been announced yet, though, so there’s still time to level up and join the ranks storming the lost capital of the gnomes. Or if you’re a Hordie waiting instead for the Echo Isles campaign, which sees the troll tribe retaking their own capital from the wow gold necromancer Zalazane, just wait for Vol’jin to release his own “We ‘da want ya” announcement soon.

The latest Patch 3.3.3 which is now live on the public test realms reveal two new flying mounts will be arriving in Northrend, while two Engineering pets will become available outside the profession.

The Celestial Steed (seen left) will be an all-around mount that adapts to whichever area the player is currently on, functioning as a ground mount in vanilla Azeroth and as a flying mount in Outland and Northrend. The Frosty Flying Carpet, meanwhile, requires at least 425 tailoring skill to use and will be a 280% speed upgrade to the existing flying carpet.

For changes to engineering pets, the popular Pet Bombling and Lil’ Smoky companions will no longer be bind-on-pickup so non-engineers will be able to purchase with your wow gold both for their collection. Every pet counts in earning pet achievements like Shop Smart, Shop Pet… Smart. But if you’re not an avid pets and wow gold collector, the pets are still too darn cute to pass up, especially when they come flooding the auction house soon and ready to buy with your wow gold.