Happy Tuesday morning, everyone. It looks like the wheels may finally be in motion, inexorably turning toward the release of Cataclysm. Community Manager Zarhym has confirmed that the family and friends alpha is under way, and signs of the beta have begun to crop up on the official site. Could an actual NDA-free beta be close behind?

Speaking of NDAs and betas, now's a good time to remind people of a few things: First, beta invites have not gone out, so if you get an invite in your in-box, be careful. It's very, very likely a scam. Second, the family and friends alpha is under a Non-Disclosure Agreement, so it's likely we won't get much new information, if any, until that's released.

Beyond that, there was plenty of other news dropping this week. Children's Week is upon us again, the night elf mohawk has returned and Cataclysm news continues to trickle out, among other things. We do have the usual 5 a.m. to 11 a.m. Pacific downtime window this morning, so since you can't log on to WoW, why not read on? Our usual weekly roundup of the news awaits.

Hot news and features

• Cataclysm dungeons will have a few prerequisites before you can enter them with the dungeon finder.
• Blizzard's started posting a daily Cataclysm screenshot.
• The Icecrown Citadel raid buff hit 15% this past week.
• Battle.net integration, and with it the ability to chat with other factions and servers, is coming before Cataclysm.
• Blizzard's offered some official back story to the upcoming Echo Isles story line and the wider Horde story arc coming with Cataclysm.
• The PTR character copy service went active early last week with some very interesting server options.
• See what the WoW.com staff thinks of the recent Cataclysm raid mechanic changes.
• Blizzard offered a slight PvP weapon clarification on the recently announced Cataclysm badge changes.

Class news and guides

• Shifting Perspectives helps new level 80 bears gear up.
• Lichborne offers a class in Blood Tanking 101.
• Arcane Brilliance has a Fire 101 guide.
• The Light And How To Swing It covers healing heroic Deathbringer Saurfang.
• Encrypted Text speculates about Smoke Bomb, one of the new rogue skills coming in Cataclysm.
• Spiritual Guidance reminds shadow priests not to get hung up on GearScore and offers a gearing guide for new level 80 healing priests.
• Scattered Shots covers the basics of gearing and talenting for hunter PvP.
• Totem Talk discusses restoration healing in the Crimson Halls and getting those last 10 levels as enhancement.
• Matthew Rossi is afraid warriors might be undertuned in Cataclysm.
• Blood Pact discusses proper use of warlock self-buffs.

Dungeons, items, professions, PvP and more

• Children's Week is here, and we have an Overachiever guide for the holiday.
• Gold Capped discusses making money with enchanting scrolls.
• WoW Rookie suggests ways for newbies to meet other players.
• Raid Rx discusses the problem of boredom and healing as it relates to Blizzard's Cataclysm healing philosophy.
• The Art of War(craft) discusses fighting warriors in PvP.

Odds and ends

• Our own Rich Maloy's Big Crits web series has begun.
• Chris Metzen had a few words to say about the Warcraft movie recently.
• Is Elune a Naaru? Know Your Lore makes an interesting argument, whether you agree with it or not.
• WoW on your iPad? It's more likely than you think!

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Filed under: Realm Status, News items