Azeroth will never be the same again.  Blizzard kicked their BlizzCon 09 keynote off with a bang by announcing their third expansion for the most popular MMO in history.  World of Warcraft: Cataclysm will not simply add a new continent but instead will drastically change the landscape of the existing continents Kalimdor and Eastern Kingdoms.  Lava has spilled across the two continents, thus destroying some zones, changing others and revealing new areas for players to explore.

Also, as we reported before the Goblins and the Worgen will join the Horde and Alliance respectfully and on top of all that new race/class combos have been added such as Human Hunter and Tauren Paladin.

All in all new content is never a bad thing for this gaming juggernaut so we expect it to be as epic as always.  We’ll definitely be keeping our eyes on this for the 11 million users out there.  Also in true Blizzard fashion there is no release date for this expansion so expect it to be soon.

Hit the jump for a full list of goodies.

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Future, the special-interest media group and games media publisher, has announced an international partnership with Blizzard to publish World of Warcraft: The Magazine, the official magazine of the record-breaking MMORPG.

Debuting this weekend at the BlizzCon 2009 event in Anaheim, Calif., World of Warcraft: The Magazine is a new quarterly publication that covers all aspects of the industry-leading MMORPG, from game content to the players themselves. Launching simultaneously in English, French, German, and Spanish editions, the new magazine will be available via subscription only, sold through World of Warcraft Account Management or direct from www.worldofwarcraftthemagazine.com (which launches at 9.00PST/17.00GMT on Friday, 21st August) The magazine is available as a one or two-year subscription, pricing for one year is $39.95 in the US and 34.95 EUR or 29.95 GBP in Europe – two year subscription packages cost $69.95 in the US, 61.25 EUR or 52.50 GBP.
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With BlizzCon just around the corner, it was inevitable that rumors would begin flying around about what is in store for the world dominating World of Warcraft, and today the usually reliable WoW.com has apparently confirmed a juicy rumor relating to new races in the game.

Wow.com has “learned through multiple sources close to the situation” that World of Warcraft: Cataclysm, the speculated title of the new expansion, will include the Worgens (Warcraft’s werewolves) and the usually neutral Goblins as the new playable races for the Alliance and Horde respectfully.

Rumours of the Goblins and Worgens joining the cast of playable characters began after in game Halloween masks (usually reserved for playable races only) were revealed on a test server. Also, to add fuel to the fire, last month Blizzard trademarked the named “Cataclysm”, thus beginning speculation of that being the title for the expansion in which these races will be featured.

These rumors do sound feasible as lead designer Tom Chilton has previously stated that any new playable races would have to be already in the game…unlike the Draenei in Burning Crusade, which literally dropped out of the sky.

The Worgens are enemies in the earlier levels in Warcraft and also featured in the newest expansion Wrath of the Lich King while Goblins are all over Azeroth as enemies, allies and merchants. Of course, today’s “news” isn’t official, so Warcraft junkies will have to anxiously await news from BlizzCon (August 21 and 22) to find out the real details behind what’s next for the world of Azeroth.

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Backs to the pillars and swords to the gates, its time for another edition of EpicBattleCry! This week, we discuss the new Grand Theft Auto 4 DLC pack, The Ballad of Gay Tony, face front on the news that Stan Lee will be a playable character in Marvel Ultimate Alliance 2, take a look at the Wii/DS exclusive Need for Speed: Nitro, and raise a glass to Double Fine for showing us all how to wield the axe as they counter-sue Activision over the attempt to cancel the release of Brutal Legend.

Battlefield 1943 has already sold over 600,000 copies on XBL and PSN. We take a look at the emerging download-only games market and ponder if these cas-core titles will rival on-disc releases in the not-too-distant future. Next up, we run down the movie/game crossover announcements coming out of the San Diego Comic Con including the Warcraft film and the Halo Legends anime.

The Battle Cry of the Week goes to Daigo Umehara, the reigning EVO 2009 Street Fighter IV champion, the Chicago Transit Authority for having its head shoved someplace dark, Warner Bros. for packaging coupons for the special-special edition of Watchmen with the plain old special edition, and Game devs and publishers who complain about Gamestop’s aftermarket profits but still send people into their stores with exclusive DLC.

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It’s official, Blizzard has posted a press release regarding the onscreen adaptation of the Warcraft Universe. Warcraft, as the movie is now being referred to as in the press release, now has a director to bring the popular fantasy universe to life on the big screen….none other than Spider-Man and Evil Dead Director, Mr. Sam Raimi. Blizzard Entertainment and Legendary Pictures have publicly announced that Raimi has taken the position and is “proud and honored” to be able to direct the film.

“At its core, Warcraft is a fantastic, action-packed story,” said Raimi. “I am thrilled to work with such a dynamite production team to bring this project to the big screen.”

Producing the movie will be the producer of “The Dark Knight”, Charles Roven, along with his partners and producers from Legendary Pictures. Raimi’s partner, Robert Tapert, will be an Executive Producer while Blizzard Entertainment’s Senior Vice President of Creative Development, Chris Metzen, will take on the role of Co-Producer. Chris Metzen is of course the genius assigned to creating and maintaining the lore behind Warcraft.

Thomas Tull, Legendary Pictures CEO and producer for the movie had this to say about Raimi,

“Sam’s passion for ‘Warcraft’ is undeniable and we know that he will create an incredible film worthy of Blizzard’s phenomenal franchise. We look forward to collaborating with our partners at Warner Bros. and continuing our successful relationship with Chuck in bringing this rich new world to the screen.”

“The film will fall under Legendary Pictures’ co-production and co-financing deal with Warner Bros.” No official dates have been announced for the start of filming. The movie itself has been in development since it’s announcement in May, 2006.  No cast members for the film have been signed on or announced as of yet. There’s a good chance we will be hearing more about the movie during the Blizzcon event happening towards the end of August. It’s likely that Blizzard will set up a panel to present Raimi to the public as the director and give us some feedback about the movie but no official word has been said.

We will keep you posted on more news about this film as it becomes available. To read the full press release from Blizzard, click here.

Remember the days when it took forever to get a new tier set developed and you actually wore your latest tier set for months? Well if your still playing World of Warcraft, then you know those days don’t exist anymore. Blizzard is ready to unleash a new dungeon and a new tier set on the World— of Warcraft.

Blizzard has released screenshots of the new tier 9 set, on 5 of the 10 classes.

If you would like to check out the screenshots for yourself, hit up the official website.

At the signal, prepare to unleash hell; its time for another edition of EpicBattleCry! In this week’s skirmish we discuss Alpha Protocol (now that its been officially dated), Brutal Legend being cancelled for the Wii, the rumors that Uncharted is headed for the PSP, and the news that World of Warcraft players will soon be able to switch factions.

In today’s main course, we talk about the state of affairs in stealth gaming. With core franchises moving in a more action oriented direction, what’s become of the beloved sneaking genre. Next up, we open Pandora’s box and diss on whether or not gamers are getting pumped at retail by higher prices and exclusive DLC.

The Battle Cry of the Week goes to the ScrewAttack Gaming Convention, the Metroid Prime triology art book, the Gamestop pre-order exclusive demo for Uncharted 2 multiplayer, and InstantAction.com for serving up fun, browser-based gaming.

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Who said your life inside World of Warcraft wasn’t interesting enough to broadcast to the real world?

Introducing TweetCraft, developed by coding4fun Productions and in association with Channel 9, a new mod that finally delivers a way to twitter your virtual life to the rest of the world while inside the World of Warcraft. The mod works amazingly well with Twitter and the game, letting you sign in and out, post/read status updates, and even link in-game pictures and achievement straight to your twitter account from within the game world.

I’m already seeing a flood of achievements spam my twitter log from all sorts of people. Some of which I didn’t even know they played WoW. I wouldn’t be surprised if a big name celebrity will have the mod running soon and get some recognition as a WoW player. (Imagine Obama as an Orc Death Knight…)

There’s even a sweet video to showoff the mod.

To find out more about the TweetCraft mod and to download it for yourself, head on over to its official website.

Blizzard Entertainment is known around the world for a lot of things…Creating World of Warcraft, introducing the awesomeness of Diablo, and setting the RTS world on fire with StarCraft just to name a few…but, beyond its core franchises, Blizzard is also known to have some of the best artists and creative team members in the business.

In fact, the art and work that comes from Blizzard has influenced countless artists and people around the world, particularly in the case of WOW, and The Laguna Art Museum in Cali wants to showcase some of the best pieces for your viewing pleasure this summer.

From the Museum’s official website:

This summer, Laguna Art Museum and Blizzard Entertainment are proud to present WoW: Emergent Media Phenomenon. This exhibit features art created by professional artists from around the world who have been influenced by World of Warcraft, as well as works generated by Blizzard Entertainment and by members of our community.

There will also be a silent auction featuring works from renowned Blizzard artists running until October 4.

Awesome…I only wish I lived closer to California to experience the Exhibit for myself…

For more info, hit up the event’s official website.

It seems that fear of the unknown drives a lot of debates, in and out of the gaming realm, but ESPECIALLY in the MMO space – After all, if you plan on investing countless hours within a particular game world, you’d have a pretty strong feeling towards any changes that might impact your experience. Will my class get nerfed? Will they add this type of weapon? Will they add the ability to dual wield? What about PVP balance?? It’s an exhaustive process and one that often takes a toll on the minds of MMO players.

Well, this trend is no different in BioWare’s upcoming MMO Star Wars: The Old Republic, as one of the most heavily debated features right now is Economics. With almost 400 PAGES of official SW:TOR forum traffic, it’s one of the most touch button subjects for fan hopefuls of a truly well rounded MMO. Crafters vs. Loots? Credits vs. Gameplay? Should you get better gear because you are a better player, or because you have more ‘virtual money’? WTF? What makes you a ‘better player anyway??! A player driven economy, or a loot driven economy? One fan has gone so far as to create his own crafting system that you can check out right HERE! On a side note, it’s interesting to see the difference in the fanbase, where a majority of Star Wars Galaxies players refer to it as “Crafting” while some of the other MMO community figures often refer to it as “class gear”….

So, if you’ve ever played an MMO and particularly if you’re pumped about SW:TOR, here’s the big question: How do you feel economics in SW:TOR should be handled to provide balance within the game?

As someone who has invested a considerable amount of time in both SWG and WoW, I’m curious what our AxeHead community feels about the subject. At any rate, don’t give in to the fear of the unknown..because we all know where that leads..fear leads to anger, anger leads to hate…and hate..leads to twinkies…

Hit up the EBA forums or comment below to offer up your opinion!