Happy Tuesday morning, everyone. After this week's news, I think we can safely say that we all hate July. I don't mean we hate it because it's too hot or because fireworks are too loud or whatever. I just mean that August is so much more awesome. Apparently, all the really cool stuff is happening in August. Whether it's a new cinematic or a new novel, we're getting lots of cool new stuff in August. Who knows? We might even get a new expansion in August, at this rate. Basically, what I am saying is that July is horrible and needs to be over with soon.

Speaking of being over soon, today's maintenance starts at 5 a.m. PDT and lasts only six hours. Still, that's a decent chunk of time, so why not read on? There's a lot of cool news from the past week to catch up on, even if it's all about stuff that won't happen until August.

Hot news and features

• The Mists of Pandaria opening cinematic will be debuting at Gamescom 2012 on Aug. 16.
• Tides of War, the new novel about Jaina Proudmoore, will be released in late August. You can now read an excerpt online.
• Check out this official preview of the new Mists of Pandaria Collector's Edition pet and mount.
• Check out our Mists of Pandaria zone preview galleries for Townlong Steppes, The Dread Wastes, and Kun-Lai Summit.
• Wowhead has a preview of the Vale of Eternal Blossoms.
• Brann Bronzebeard offers some cool toys and bonuses for archaelogists in Mists of Pandaria.

• Check out the names, stats, and set bonuses for tier 14 raid gear.
• The latest Mists of Pandaria beta patch offers some new mounts.
• Ghostcrawler recently had a few things to say about the new PvP stats.
• The Grand Expedition Yak now costs 120,000 gold.
• Rossi explains why Mists doesn't need an end boss.
• Will Mists of Pandaria end dungeon queues?
• You can now use Addons in the Mists of Pandaria beta.
• We offer a different take on the Orgrimmar Guard transmogrification.

Class news and guides

• Lichborne discusses the new DPS presences changes in Mists of Pandaria.
• Scattered Shots discusses the endangered crow and the reality of aspect macros.
• Encrypted Text looks at the increasingly crowded rogue niche.
• The Care And Feeding of Warriors takes another plunge into warriors on the beta.
• Shifting Perspectives looks at the increasing complexity of the balance druid damage rotation.
• Blood Pact takes a look at warlock AoE in Mists of Pandaria.
• Spiritual Guidance takes a look at the level 45 talents for healing priests.

Dungeons, items, professions, PvP, and more

• Addon Spotlight looks at four UI replacement packages.
• The Overachiever highlights the difficulty of killing Garrosh.
• WoW Archivist explores the depths of Blackrock Depths.
• Gold Capped discusses the new Spirit of Harmony crafting material.
• Guild Ox is showing a marked decline in raiding activity.

Odds and ends

• Check out the latest Diablo III patch notes.
• Know Your Lore salutes the magnificent bastards of World of Warcraft. In addition, Anne offers some speculation on future lore and story threads.
• 15 Minutes of Fame interviews everyone's favorite hunter, Frostheim.

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Tags: downtime, last-week-in-wow, maintenance, realm-downtime, realm-maintenance, roundup, roundups, scheduled-downtime, scheduled-maintenance, server-downtime, server-maintenance, server-status, tuesday, tuesday-downtime, tuesday-maintenance, tuesday-morning

Filed under: Realm Status, News items