Good Tuesday Morning, Everyone! While we're still recovering from the server downtime from last night, we have a whole new patch to muddle through as well, including extended downtime. Not only are all servers down from 3 AM to 11 AM Pacific, but some servers are getting the longer treatment, staying down til 1 PM Pacific. Check here for the list.

With that in mind, Tuesday morning is once again the perfect time to catch up on the latest WoW news.

Number one story this week was, of course, BlizzCon. Whether for an excuse to take a trip to a Anaheim, to get Grunty, or to (tsk, tsk) just scalp the tickets, thousands of people jumped in the Queue on the morning of May 16th to try to grab those precious tickets. We can say it did at least go smoother than last year, not that's much comfort to those who didn't manage to grab a ticket. Luckily, there's one more sell date on May 30th, and good luck to everyone lining up.

Of course, while we continue to see quick hot fixes, we're also expecting a patch to drop soon, Patch 3.1.2, to be exact. Some rumors are placing it at today. Either way, stay tuned to WoW Insider for all the latest throughout the maintenance period and beyond, and while you're waiting for new news, check out the old (but still good) stuff from the last week below:

Hot News and Features

• The Mountain Dew Game Fuel site is up, and you can win fabulous prizes.
  
• Check out the winners of WoW Insider's Fanart contest!
• Stealth Detection items saw a nerf due to Arena balancing concerns.
• In a move which has already inspired tons of "World of Casualcraft" grumbling, Blizzard's hired away one of PopCap's top executives.
• Here's yet another (supremely cute) fanmade Murloc plush. We also got wind of a "Cuddle Me Yoggy" Yogg-Saron plush, if you're the type who thinks ancient unspeakable evils are cute.

Class News and Guides

• Elemental Shamans finally got a bit of a hotfix buff. Last week's Totem Talk discussed the craziness surrounding the whole Elemental DPS issue.
• Arcane Brilliance looks at Mage PvP addons.
  
• Shifting Perspectives indulges in a little nostalgia.
  
• Blood Pact discusses getting your Warlock to 80.
• Lichborne discusses the merits of Professions and Dungeons for the leveling Death Knight.
  

Items, Professions, Dungeons, PvP, and More

• Is Wintergrasp just too popular for its own good?
  
• Ulduar 10-manners got some good news as 10-man weapons received a buff.
  
• How popular is your class right now?
• The Overachiever continues to look at Glory of the Hero.
  
• What if Achievements had existed in classic WoW? I know there'd be some pretty intense ones in Blackrock Depths.
• If you're like many people, you're sort of annoyed that you're technically punished for grabbing the Crusader title by losing access to multiple dailies. Apparently, there are plans to deal with that.
• The Argent Hippogryph is a bit lower in price, and there's hints you may have more ways to spend all those seals you saved soon.
• If Grid gives you grief, we have a few tips on configuring it.
• The second Hard Mode Heroic Mimiron kill comes from a former Chinese guild.
• Of course, Ensidia is still in the lead, having now taken out 10-man Algalon.
  
• Yes, even Tanks sometimes have trouble finding a raid.
• Armor Penetration math: is there anyone who doesn't get a headache just from looking at it?
  

Odds and Ends

• New TCG Loot cards are coming, and we have pictures and video.
• What would your WoW holiday look like?
• Moviewatch has 7 movies you should see.
  

Tags: downtime, maintenance, roundup, scheduled-downtime, scheduled-maintenance, server-downtime, server-maintenance, server-status, tuesday, tuesday-morning, tuesday-morning-post

Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, Realm Status, Odds and ends, News items