Happy Tuesday morning, everyone. The biggest news we're likely to see in a while, is, of course, not coming this week. Patch 4.3 will remain on the test servers for at least one more week, as Nov. 29 marks the projected end of the latest PvP season.

That said, there's plenty of new to be had this week, from Black Friday sales to more ways to earn conquest points. We have the usual roundup after the break -- but hey, if reading bulleted lists isn't your thing (or even if it is), why not try it in video form? Right up there, our own Mat McCurley delivers the big headlines of the past week, and he looks and sounds prettier than I do while doing it. You can catch him every Friday right here on the site.

With that, we pretty much have a way to deliver the news to whichever sense you like. Want to watch it? We have video. Want to hear it? We have a podcast. Want to read it? That goes without saying. We're still working on tasting it, but give us a few years. Whatever way you take your news, downtime today is a quick set of rolling restarts starting at 10 a.m. Pacific, so you'll have at least a little time to get caught up.

Hot news and features

• WoW is celebrating its seventh anniversary, complete with a nice surprise for those who log on and check their mail.
• Pilgrim's Bounty is in progress, and we have a guide to the achievements.
• Check out the new UI improvements coming to patch 4.3.
• We have the latest on the new conquest and valor point changes in patch 4.3.
• We find out how many guilds have defeated heroic Ragnaros.
• Anne has five reasons to love Wrath of the Lich King. She also has five reasons you should love Cataclysm.
• Rossi wants to kill the global cooldown.
• You can preorder Tides of War, the upcoming Jaina Proudmoore novel, on Amazon.
• World of Wardrobe digs out more Black Temple transmogrification options.
• And the latest WoW celebrity spokesperson is... Chuck Norris!

Class news and guides

• Lichborne analyzes the patch 5.0 death knight talent preview.
• Raid Rx opines on the new balance of intellect and spirit in Pandaria.
• Scattered Shots looks at the latest patch 4.3 hunter changes.
• Totem Talk takes a look at the patch 4.3 5-man dungeons for resto shaman. We also have a look at patch 4.3 enhancement gear.
• In this week's Shifting Perspectives, Alison makes a prediction for bears and ferals. We also more discussion of balance talents in patch 5.0 and offer four tips for intermediate ferals.
• Encrypted Text has a rogue's Pandaria wish list.
• Spiritual Guidance dips a toe into the waters of the Raid Finder and looks at patch 4.3 healing priest raid gear.
• The Light And How To Swing It continues the history of the paladin tank. We also have a guide to patch 4.3 paladin healing.
• The Care And Feeding of Warriors talks up the arms tree.
• Blood Pact discusses the cost of talent consolidation for warlocks.

Dungeons, items, professions, PvP, and more

• WoW Rookie tells you why non-raiders should care about patch 4.3.
• Addon Spotlight offers another addon grab bag.
• Gold Capped offers some gold making resources and a guide to making money with Mysterious Fortune Cards.
• Ready Check looks at more Raid Finder issues.

Odds and ends

• Blizzard has announced a 2011 holiday card contest.
• Know Your Lore has some theories about Murozond and an opinion on Theramore's impending doom.
• Check out the latest installment of Safe Passage.
• 15 Minutes of Fame talks to a Movember mental health blogger.
• The Lawbringer discusses some lessons learned from the WoW Annual Pass.
• Despite the subscriber drop, WoW profits are on the rise in China.

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

Filed under: Realm Status, News items