I’m writing this post in a hurry as the next expansion pack to World of Warcraft was announced today on Blizzcon.

More info and trailer here:

www.wow-europe.com/wrath

I think it looks awesome.

What do YOU think?

This is embarrassing. I forgot to wish you a merry Christmas on my blog. Newsletter subscribers got the holiday greeting, though. That’s what you miss if you’re not subscribed to the WoW Strategy Newsletter. Hehe!

I hope the past year has been good for you, both IRL and in-game.

Just wanted to remind you of a couple of things about WoW that are kind of time sensitive. First off, if you have some time to log on before December 29th you should definitely open your free gifts under the Christmas tree in the major cities. There are five total, make sure you get them all. I think there’s a level requirement to prevent people from rolling a bunch of lvl 1 toons to exploit the goblins’ generosity.

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Blizzard recently announced that they closed 105 000 WoW account and removed 12 000 000 gold from the game just during the month of November. The affected accounts were in USA, Europe and Korea.

The 12 million gold isn’t really that much… Considering there are 7-8 million WoW accounts, that’s like 1.5 gold per account. Nevertheless, some gold buyers won’t be doing that again.

As for the closed accounts, 105 000 seems like a pretty significant number during one month. Let’s say 10% (yes, it may be that much, or even more) are cheating in WoW, then there are 800 000 that should be banned from the game. Banning 105 000 of those in one single month is actually GJ Blizzard!

This shows that there’s a huge risk involved in cheating. I’d hate to have an account with even 1 level 60 banned. Imagine the pain to restore that, by purchasing a new account and start leveling again etc. 

You can rest assured that the guides featured on this site don’t advocate exploits or cheats and everything is within the game mechanics, so you don’t risk getting banned.

Blizzard revealed today that they are planning to implement the next major content patch entitled "Before The Storm" on December 5 in the US and December 6 in Europe.

That patch will include changes to the honor system and additions to spells and talents for all classes.

More information here:

worldofwarcraft.com forums 
wow-europe.com forums

What it means is that there’s no point in doing any more PvP if you are in it for any PvP rewards. I stopped PvPing weeks ago because I realized I’d never get a significant rank before the patch. I can only feel sorry for those who didn’t reach their intended rank and "wasted" the time getting close to it.

The last major WoW patch to be released before The Burning Crusade expansion pack comes out on January 16 will be called "Before The Storm". Blizzard has now published the public test realm patch notes for this patch.

Here are the most important changes you should now about at the moment. Of course, the patch is subject to change until it’s released.

Looking For Group Interface Tool 
Through a new interface you will be able to specify which instances, battlegrounds, quests and zones you are looking for a group in. You will also be able to autojoin groups that meet your criteria. And if you are Looking For More players for an existing party, you will be able to do that, too.

General changes

• All classes will have access to new talents and abilities, including 41-point talents.
• Crowd Control effects in PvP will last no longer than 12 seconds instead of the full duration, with a chance of a heartbeat resist.

PvP The honor system will be totally revamped:

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The reason I haven’t been writing much here recently is I’ve been busy redesigning the site. It’s a lot better now, to be honest.

I’m also working on a special bonus guide to the subscribers of the wow-strategy.com newsletter. Let me just say it’s gonna enhance your gaming experience with WoW in many ways… including making more gold, saving you time, and, frankly, giving you an unfair advantage over anyone who isn’t using the tips in it.

I will send a download link free to my subscribers. Stay tuned.

I’ve written a new article. Click here to read it.

I suggest you check it out. Hopefully you’ll get some useful ideas you can put to use. Feedback welcome.

There are like 14 quests you have to do to gain entrance to Onyxia’s Lair if you are horde. It can get confusing, even if you’ve done it before. Many end-game guilds won’t even consider your application if you’ve not done the quests. To help you do this, I’ve written a short but detailed guide. I hope you like it.

Read it here: How To Do The Horde Pre-Quests For Onyxia

I’ve posted a review of Killer Guides’ Professional Guild Management Guide.

Go here to read it: Killer Guides’ Professional Guild Management Guide Reviewed.

Blizzard banned 76 000 wow accounts and removed 11 million gold from the game in Europe, Korea and the US in the month of September.

According to Blizzard, "The closed accounts were associated with activities that violate World of Warcraft’s Terms of Use, such as using third-party programs that allow cheating, and farming gold and items. These types of activities can severely impact the economy of a realm and the overall game enjoyment for all players."

My guess is most of these accounts are autoplayed high-level characters farming lucrative areas. I see them from time to time and I always report them, repeatedly if necessary. I hate when they steal my mobs and disrupt the server economy by dumping huge loads of specific items on the market, depressing AH prices. Besides, it’s just plain wrong and I detest cheaters.

So I take pride in thinking that some of those accounts were banned thanks to me. I hope you do the same. If you’ve never seen a bot, here are some telltale signs to look for:

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