eToychest
EuroGamer.net
GamePro
GamingTrend
GamesRadar
Play.tm
GameZone
Pro-G
Game Revolution
PC.IGN
Voodoo Extreme
Yahoo Games
GameSpy
Firing Squad
BoomTown

I will keep the list updated as more reviews appear.

For the first time in the history of World of Warcraft, players will be able to engage in cross realm PVP in the Battlegrounds. PvP Battlegrounds link Alterac Valley, Warsong Gulch, and Arathi Basin so that players from several World of Warcraft realms will be joined into one huge matchmaking pool.

Here’s a list of download mirrors for the 1.12.0 patch:
3D Gamers
Gamers Hell
FileShack
Worth Downloading
File Planet

For the World of Warcraft Patch 1.12.0 change notes, read more below…

Changes in v1.12.0:

World of Warcraft: Drums of War

Cross-Realm Battlegrounds
* For the first time in the history of World of Warcraft, you will be able to face off against players from other realms in the Battlegrounds. PvP Battlegrounds link Alterac Valley, Warsong Gulch, and Arathi Basin so that players from several realms will be combined into one huge matchmaking pool. Replenish your mana, sharpen your blades, and get ready for some brand-new challengers!

World PvP
* The stage is set for intense, objective-based land battles as Horde and Alliance vie for control over important strategic positions and resources around Azeroth. Head out for Silithus and Eastern Plaguelands to engage the enemy on the field!

General
* Threat Reduction Effects - This system has been redesigned to eliminate inconsistency in how the effects work. Previously, some were additive (for example: 30% reduction + 20% reduction = 50% reduction) while others were multiplicative (30% reduction and 20% reduction made 44% reduction, from 0.7*0.8). They are now all multiplicative. This also prevents unpredictable behavior when the total reduction percentage was equal to or greater than 100%. Please note that in almost all cases, when stacking multiple threat reduction effects you will experience less threat reduction than previously.

* Haste and Slow effects - Previously Haste and Slow effects worked inconsistently, with spells working differently from weapons, and hastes and slows not acting as inverses of each other. We have revised the system so that all haste and slow effects work the same way, and haste and slow percentages of the same magnitude perfectly cancel each other out (30% haste and 30% slow combine to no change). As a result, we had to change the tooltip numbers on all spell haste effects, and on all melee and range slow effects. The numbers in the tooltips are different, but the game functionality is unchanged (other than slight rounding errors). Those tooltips that changed will now display larger numbers than they used to display. Conceptually, haste values indicate how much more of that activity you can perform in a given time. 30% melee haste means 30% more swings in a given time. Slow values indicate how much longer an activity takes to complete. 30% slow means an action takes 30% longer to finish.

* The deserter debuff will now continue to expire even while you are offline.

* Honorable Kills now diminish at a rate 10% per kill rather than 25% per kill.

* Temporary item buffs (e.g. poisons, sharpening stones and shaman weapon buffs) will no longer persist through zoning or logging out due to technical issues. This feature is anticipated to be activated once more with the expansion.

Druids
* Barkskin: The tooltip has been changed to 25% due to the haste effect change.

* Cat Form: This form now has an innate threat reduction component.

* Ferocious Bite: Book of Ferocious Bite (Rank 5) now drops off The Beast in Black Rock Spire. In addition, Ferocious Bite now increases in potency with greater attack power.

* Furor: This talent now works correctly with Cat Form again.

* Improved Shred: The discounted cost for Shred will now be displayed correctly even when you are not in Cat Form.

* Rip: Lesser potency Rips will no longer overwrite greater potency ones.

* Fixed a bug where the incorrect sound was being played by the Claw attack.

Hunters
* Spirit Bond: This ability will now be correctly reapplied when you resurrect in a battleground and your pet is polymorphed or otherwise unable to act normally.

* Improved Concussive Shot: The effect of this talent will now still be placed on the victim if the hunter is killed before their shot reaches the target.

* Growl now correctly initiates combat when used by a pet in passive mode.

* The Ferocity talent now correctly applies to non-physical hunter pet abilities such as Lightning Breath and Thunderstomp.

* If a hunter has tamed one of the following creature types, they will no longer potentially change colors if resummoned:
Son of Hakkar - Red
Frenzied Bloodseeker Bat - Brown
Deep Stinger - Red
Dark Screecher - Gray
Cave Creeper - Brown
Bloodaxe Worg - Black
Scarshield Worg -Brown

Mages
* Arcane Missiles: It is no longer possible to cast this spell on an evading mob. In addition, the animation will now stop when the target is dead.

* Arcane Power: It is no longer possible to gain the benefit of this spell and Power Infusion at the same time by careful timing.

* Frost Armor Chilled effect: Due to the haste effect change, the tooltip has been changed to 25%.

* Ice Armor Chilled effect: Due to the haste effect change, the tooltip has been changed to 25%.

* Ignite: The effect of this talent will now still be placed on the victim if the caster is killed before their spell reaches the target.

* Impact: The effect of this talent will now still be placed on the victim if the caster is killed before their spell reaches the target.

* Frostbite: The effect of this talent will now still be placed on the victim if the caster is killed before their spell reaches the target.

* Polymorph: This spell will now be removed when a player leaves a battleground. This prevents some bugs involving polymorph from occurring.

* Evocation will no longer be usable while silenced.

* Reduced the number of messages that appear in the combat log when using Combustion.

* Winter’s Chill: The effect of this talent will now still be placed on the victim if the caster is killed before their spell reaches the target.

Paladins
* Divine Shield: Due to the haste effect change, the tooltip has been changed to 100%.

Priests
* Mind Control: Due to the haste effect change, the tooltip has been changed to 25%.

* Psychic Scream: This spell now uses the same resistance checks as the Warlock spell Fear.

* Spirit of Redemption: Fixed an issue preventing Twisting Nether from retriggering when the Spirit of Redemption effect runs out.

Rogues
* Due to significant talent changes, Rogues will have all talent points refunded and can be re-spent. Training costs for all talent spell replacements have been significantly reduced.

* Vanish now removes effects that allow the caster to always remain aware of their target (currently Hunter’s Mark and Mind Vision).

* Pickpocket can now be used on targets that are in combat, as long as the rogue remains stealthed.

* All manner of rogue reagents can be found in locked junkboxes (obtained from pickpocketing).

* Fixed a bug where the Slice and Dice ability wasn’t playing an animation.

* Lethargy Root has been removed from poison vendors and is now a gray item.

* Reduced the number of messages in the combat log when using the Vanish ability.

* Fixed a bug that made Combo Points disappear from your target when using Vanish.

* Eviscerate: Manual of Eviscerate (Rank 9) now drops off Blackhand Assassins in Black Rock Spire. In addition, Eviscerate now increases in potency with greater attack power.

* Garrote: The damage from this ability has been increased. In addition, Garrote now increases in potency with greater attack power.

* Relentless Strikes: This ability will no longer trigger when your finishing move does not hit your target.

* Rupture: Rupture now increases in potency with greater attack power.

* Sap: Enemy rogues will now always lose stealth when you Sap them.

Shaman
* Reincarnation should now display the cooldown timer when used.

* Chain Heal - After the initial target is healed, the healing effect will jump to the most damaged target (by absolute health) within range. In addition, if a raid member is the initial target it will look for valid raid targets to jump to rather than non-raid targets as a priority, making it consistent with group targeted Chain Heals.

* Lightning Shield: Air Bubble pockets in underwater regions will no longer consume a charge from this spell.

Warlocks
* Cripple (Doomguard): Due to haste effect change, the tooltip has been changed to 45%.

* Curse of Tongues: This spell will no longer debuff the target if they are immune to the spellcast slowing effect

* Enslave Demon: Due to haste effect change, the tooltip has been changed to 40%.

* Health Funnel: This spell will now work correctly on low-level enslaved demons.

* Howl of Terror: This spell now uses the same resistance checks as the Warlock spell Fear.

* Siphon Life will now properly gain a benefit from Shadow Mastery.

* A soul shard will be refunded to the caster any time a summoned pet despawns rather than dies.

* Aftermath: The effect of this talent will now still be placed on the victim if the caster is killed before their spell reaches the target.

* Improved Shadowbolt: The effect of this talent will now still be placed on the victim if the caster is killed before their spell reaches the target.

* Life Tap: This spell now benefits from effects which increase your spell damage. At rank 3 and above, the base amount of health lost and mana gained will increase by 80% of your bonus spell damage effects. Talents and items can further modify those values. Rank 1 and 2 receive reduced effect.

Warriors
* Bloodthirst: This ability will now correctly benefit from attack power bonuses versus specific creature types.

* Flurry: The text on the tooltip has been corrected to indicate it triggers on all types of attacks.

* Shield Slam: This ability will sometimes no longer remove more than one beneficial effect from the target.

* Thunderclap: This ability was left at 10% despite the haste effect changes. This means its potency has been reduced slightly.

Items
* +30 Spell Damage Enchantment: Fixed a bug with this enchantment which was preventing it from benefiting healing spells.

* Blade of Eternal Darkness: The triggered effect from this weapon will no longer occur when the spell being cast has its effect broken by causing damage.

* Blazefury Medallion: The triggered effect from this item will no longer break Gouge.

* Bonescythe Armor: The Eviscerate bonus will no longer trigger when your Eviscerate does not hit your target.

* Darkmoon Card- Twisting Nether: The dialog for this resurrection will now always reappear after the Spirit of Redemption effect has completed.

* Earthfury Set: The mana refund effect can now only occur once per Healing Wave spell cast.

* Earthshatter Set: The Lightning Shield bonus will now be removed if you lose the set bonus.

* Eye of the Dead: Holy Shock now interacts properly with this item.

* Ranged Elemental Damage: Our ranged combat system does not allow a ranged weapon to do a mix of Elemental (Fire, Frost, Arcane, etc.) and Physical damage. Many ranged weapons existed which were listed as doing Elemental damage and did not function properly (the damage was dealt, but was treated as Physical). All of those weapons have been changed to deliver the Elemental damage as a chance on hit effect. Hurricane was previously changed this way in 1.11. The following ranged weapons are also fixed in 1.12: Bow of Searing Arrows, Dwarven Hand Cannon, Heartseeking Crossbow, Dark Iron Rifle, Galgann’s Fireblaster, Quillshooter, Shell Launcher Shotgun, Venomstrike, and Verdant Keeper’s Aim.

* Talisman of Ascendance: This item will no longer trigger from physical damage effects. In addition, if either of the buffs from the item are canceled, they will both be canceled.

* Talisman of Ascendance: Holy Shock heals will now trigger the effect from this trinket.

* Zandalarian Hero Charm: Item tooltip corrected to match the effect tooltip.

* The Items that summon mounts have been changed in their color/quality. Items that summon normal mounts are now blue (superior)items and items that summon swift mounts are now purple (epic) items.

* Fixed a bug that allowed you to use items which restored health or mana while you were already full health or mana.

* Fixed a bug with the Jom Gabbar trinket which was causing it to trigger a category cooldown for a duration longer than intended.

* Wrath of Cenarius: This item will now trigger from Arcane Missiles.

* Clarified the tooltips for the Stormshroud armor and Kalimdor’s Revenge to explain that they deal Nature damage.

* Fixed a bug that caused the Blooddrenched Mask to hide a character’s hair.

* Warbear leather now stacks to 20.

* Thunderfury, Blessed Blade of the Windseeker may now be equipped in either hand.

* Argent Shoulders no longer require a righteous orb to make.

* The cooldown timer on transforming Anathema and Benediction may no longer be circumvented by zoning or logging out.

Professions
* Engineering: The damage from sapper charges can now be resisted. The overall DPS of the charges should not be significantly altered from what it currently is.

* Engineering: Explosive sheep do fire damage instead of physical damage.

* Goblin Land Mines and Compact Harvest Reapers will no longer lock out using other engineering devices until the land mine/reaper dies. Harvest Reaper was given a 10 min self cooldown to prevent too many reapers from being summoned at once.

Raids and Dungeons

Uldaman:
*Reduced the number of Shadowforge Ambushers that attack after looting the quest chest.

*Shadowforge Ambushers are no longer elite.

*The respawn of the Stone Stewards has been changed to 2 hours (from 30 minutes).

Zul’Farrak:
*The respawn of the 2 Troll/1 Basilisk patrollers should now be 2 hours.

*Reduced the damage dealt by the Sul’lithuz Abomination and Sul’lithuz Sandcrawler.

*Zul’Farrak Dead Heroes are no longer elites.

*Theka the Martyr will now only remain immune to physical damage for 30 seconds before reverting to normal.

*Antu’sul’s Sul’lithuz Broodlings now only hatch 4 at a time and are significantly weaker.

*Witch Doctor Zum’rah will no longer call as many Zul’Farrak Zombies to his aid when aggroed.

*Weegli Blastfuse now has slightly more hit points.

*Antu’sul’s Warden no longer attempts to knock adventurers into Antu’sul’s lair.

*Sandfury Cretins who engage the party during the pyramid event are no longer able to cast shadow bolt.

Maraudon:
*Noxxious Scions will no longer spawn when you cleanse Celebrian Vines.

Ahn’Qiraj:
*Lieutenant General Andronov’s Aura of Command should no longer generate threat. This will hopefully prevent him from pulling aggro on the entire wave, leading to his untimely death.

*Hive’Zara Hatchlings can now swim.

*Egg Explosion will no longer burn charges from spells such as Lightning Shield.

*It should no longer be possible for Emperor Vek’lor and Vek’nilash to Unbalancing Strike or Arcane Burst immediately after a teleport.

User Interface
* V key functionality has been improved in several ways:
V key now shows summoned monsters (such as the gargoyles in Stratholme.)
V key now shows both monsters and player enemies.
V now shows enemies only (no longer shows friendly targets.)
Shift-V now shows friendly targets only, not enemies (with a new bindable hotkey.)
Control-V shows both friendly targets and enemy targets (with a new bindable hotkey.)

* New floating combat text has been added to the game with a number of options. You can see when you take damage, when you are healed and how much, when you acquire and lose auras and much more. You can turn on the new options in the newly revised options screen.

* There is now an option to turn on the display of your own name above your head. You can find the option in the interface options screen.

* The Need Before Greed and Group Loot countdown timers will now have a 3 minute countdown when there is a bind on acquire item on the corpse. This should allow a bit more time in making a decision to roll for an item.

* Automatic Quest Tracking has been added to the game and is turned on by default. Any time you advance a quest by advancing one of the requirements, the quest information will appear on your screen for 5 minutes before fading. You can turn this option off from the options screen.

* The options screen has be redone and expanded due to space required for additional options. Also the location of various options has been changed in the options screen. They should make more sense now, though they will not be in quite the place you remember them being.

* There is now a confirmation dialogue when you attempt to disband your guild.

* When you destroy a superior quality (blue) or better item, you will get a dialogue that has you confirm deletion of that item.

* Raid Pullout frames are now created on demand and will not take up any memory if you are not using them.

* The player inspect range has been increased to 10 yards.

* New API Functions - Add-ons can send hidden chat messages to players in the party, raid or guild, using SendAddonMessage(”prefix”, “message”, “PARTY”|”RAID” |”GUILD”|”BATTLEGROUND”). When players receive these messages, a new event “CHAT_MSG_ADDON” is sent, with arg1-arg3 being the parameters to SendAddonMessage(), and arg4 being the name of the player that sent it. The combined length of “prefix” and “message” must be less than or equal to 254 bytes.

* Added UnitPlayerOrPetInParty() and UnitPlayerOrPetInRaid().

Bug Fixes:
* Fixed a bug that caused some non-combat pets to be referred to as Minions instead of Pets. Mini Diablo however has escaped this fate and will continue to be referred to as a Minion.

* Fixed a bug that was causing Ice Block to trigger a 5 minute cooldown on the Gnomish Cloaking Device.

* Summon Dreadsteed no longer briefly puts you into combat.

* Chain-targeted abilities cast by creatures no longer hit stealthed or invisible players.

* Will of the Forsaken is no longer gray on the action bar while you are charmed.

* Fixed a bug where large amounts of damage could go negative.

* Non-combat pets are no longer affected by environmental damage.

* The dressing room window will remain open and functional while zoning.

* Fixed a bug allowing linked combat groups to be split when pathing fails.

* Soul Link will persist across instance boundaries.

* Item bonuses, buffs, and enchants will no longer be lost when swapping an equipped item with another equipped item.

* Stats will no longer fluctuate when putting points into stat improving talents.

* Devouring Plague will continue to heal the caster after the target is Mind Controlled.

* Using /assist on a Mind Controlled target works properly now.

* Recasting Feed Pet while using Feed Pet will reset the duration of the cast.

* Activating passive pet abilities while targeting an opposite faction player will no longer aggro neutral town guards.

* If a Hunter is unflagged for PvP, an enemy faction rogue won’t be able to disarm his trap.

* Fixed a bug causing the floating combat text from a killing blow to be delayed until another unit is attacked.

* Text with a scroll bar should no longer get clipped while in windowed mode.

* Heals from spells such as Frenzied Regeneration will no longer close the loot window.

* Casting a spell while a loot window containing a disenchantment is open will autoloot the item.

* Pet spells can now be toggled in the pet spell book.

* Grand Widow Faerlina’s Rain of Fire no longer damages players outside the area of effect.

* Players can no longer drop from combat by repeatedly placing their pet into passive mode.

World Environment:
* Cities - Neutral guards are now able to see through the rogue Vanish ability.

* Silithus - Tortured Druids and Sentinels will now call only one Hive’Ashi drone on death.

Mac:
* Added support for controlling iTunes from within World of Warcraft. You can bind a set of keys for play/pause, next track, back track and volume up and down.

Stonecutting Glaive, Plans: Sageblade

07.23.2006
New/Updated Items:

Warleader’s Bracers, Mixologist’s Tunic, Recipe: Greater Arcane Elixir, Band of Servitude, Mar’li’s Touch

New NPCs/Monsters:

Bronn Fitzwrench

07.22.2006
New/Updated Items:

Dragon’s Call, Signet Ring of the Bronze Dragonflight, Devilsaur Barb, Unidentified Ore

ActionTrip Comic Strip.

Note: “all classes are staying well within the ever-expanding Warcraft lore.”

Thanks, Twolions!

As we draw closer to the release of World of Warcraft: The Burning Crusade, more of the secrets shrouding the draenei and blood elves are being revealed. In the upcoming expansion, players will finally be able to play classes that were previously unavailable to their faction: the blood elves have harnessed the power of the Light for their own needs, supporting the Horde with renegade blood elf paladins. Meanwhile, the draenei have been granted the wisdom and strength of the elements, and some among the newest members of the Alliance now follow the path of the shaman. Read on to learn more about the new class combinations available to players of World of Warcraft: The Burning Crusade.

Read the complete story at World of Warcraft.com

Tightly Sealed Trunk, White Wolf Gloves, Formidable Legguards, Alanna’s Embrace, Sealed Field Testing Kit, Ingenious Toy, Onyx Embedded Leggings

The original post: http://forums-en.wow-europe.com/thread.aspx?fn=wow-general-en&t=1141585&p=1&tmp=1#post1141585

As we draw closer to the release of World of Warcraft: The Burning Crusade, more of the secrets shrouding the Draenei and Blood Elves are being revealed. One legend involves the noble leader of the Draenei, Velen, and his vision. Velen’s vision was given substance in the form of Nobundo, a one-time Draenei priest who had devolved while the orcs decimated his race and tore the planet apart. Like his fellow Broken, Nobundo had lost contact with the Light, and so he ventured far into the deserts of Outland to meditate and pray for guidance.

After decades of silence, an unfamiliar voice finally answered his prayers. It was not the Light that whispered to him, but the wind. The breeze spoke to him of lost truths, of the might of the elements–of the delicate balance of power embraced by the shaman. Nobundo listened eagerly and learned all he could. When he judged the time was right, he departed the desert determined to use this knowledge to help the Draenei race.

Meanwhile, the Blood Elves busied themselves by establishing the fearsome Blood Knights. Their founding was made possible through the capture of a naaru from Tempest Keep by Prince Kael’thas Sunstrider. Kael’thas delivered the naaru to Silvermoon, where Magister Astalor Bloodsworn began months of study and experimentation on the naaru. Eventually, Astalor and his fellow wizards learned how to manipulate and corrupt the naaru’s luminous energies. In the end the wizards devised a process by which the powers of the Light could be transferred to recipients who had not earned such abilities. Instead of feeding upon the naaru’s magic, the blood elves would wield the naaru’s Light-given powers themselves.

Lady Liadrin, formerly a priestess, had recently renounced her vows, for she felt the Light had abandoned her people. She learned of the wizards’ achievement and volunteered to be the first to bend the stolen powers to her will. With her decision a new order was born: the Blood Knights. These renegade paladins are able to harness the sacred powers of the Alliance’s noblest heroes.

These new developments with the Draenei and Blood Elves mean that World of Warcraft: The Burning Crusade will allow Alliance players to create shamans, and Horde players to play as paladins, using the newly uncovered races. The ability for players of both factions to use any class opens up exciting new gameplay opportunities, with fresh group-play dynamics. Those who have faithfully pledged their allegiance with one faction or the other will finally have the opportunity to try out a class that was once unavailable to them. While Alliance shamans and Horde paladins mostly share the same talents as their counterparts across the battlefield, they will also enjoy some unique abilities to themselves, similar to the priest class’ racial specialties. Stay tuned to wow-europe.com for more information.

Read more here: http://www.wow-europe.com/en/burningcrusade/townhall/classcombo.html

In terms of game design, one of the options it opens up is for specific classes in dungeon encounters. We already have several encounters that highlight the abilities of a single class or make use of a classes specific abilities. Shaman and Paladins in the previous design could not participate in such encounters. If killing a creature required a Shaman, the Alliance could never beat the encounter and vice versa. This change allows the two classes to bring their own abilities into a situation which may highlight their class as an integral part of the encounter.

As more information is posted, I will update this thread and bump it to the top of the news so keep checking back with us!

Blizzard’s popular MMO World of Warcraft climbed up from its previous number three spot to claim the top spot on the chart, followed by the retail SKU of the EA-published newcomer Half-Life 2: Episode 1 in the second position.

The mighty Tempest Keep was created by the enigmatic naaru: sentient beings of pure energy and the sworn enemies of the Burning Legion. In addition to serving as a base of operations for the naaru, the structure itself possesses the technology to teleport through alternate dimensions, traveling from one location to another in the blink of an eye.

A special thank you to Blizzard for this exclusive.