Happy Tuesday morning, everyone. By the time you read this, the Mists of Pandaria expansion should be up and running. Blizzard hasn't scheduled any downtime today, so hopefully, if you're home and free of obligations, you're having a grand old time leveling your favorite character or your new panda.

If you're not, or if you're just taking a break, don't worry, we have plenty of news to keep you sated. Read on for our usual roundup, and stay with us in the coming hours, days, and weeks for everything you need to know about the expansion.

Hot news and features

• WoW Insider interviewed Dave Kosak, WoW's lead quest designer, about Mists of Pandaria.
• Blizzard offers an official preview of Karasang Wilds, one of the new Mists zones.
• Blizzard has an official preview of the new tier 14 raid gear class sets.
• We escort you through Gate of the Setting Sun, one of the new dungeons in Mists of Pandaria.
• Check out our unboxing of the Mists of Pandaria Collector's Edition.
• We have highlights from the Best Buy Developer Q&A.
• Blizzard's released their own internal briefing video previewing everything Mists of Pandaria has to offer.

• "Appear Offline" will soon be an option for Battle.net accounts.
• Check out the latest patch 5.0.5 hotfixes for September 20.
• Wowcrendor recently interviewed Ghostcrawler, and the Convert to Raid podcast scored an interview with lead encounter designer Ion Hazzikostas.
• Trying to tough it out for a realm first? We have some tips for you.
• Alcaz Island is deserted following the Theramore scenario. Could this point to further content there?
• GuildOx has introduced Alt Detection, which uses achievement date stamps to sniff out peoples' alts. We'll let you know to get out of it.
• You still have a few days to enter to win a SpiritHood.
• Transmogrify yourself to look like Jaina Proudmoore with our guide.
• Blizzard has released The Story of Warcraft, a nice, quick summary of the story thus far for the game, starting all the way back with the first RTS game.
• Blizzard's short story The Quest for Pandaria, which covers some of the further adventures of Li Li Stormstout, is now available.
• From now until October 6th, you can get a Horde or Alliance shirt for your Xbox live avatar, absolutely free.

Class news and guides

• Encrypted Text offers a Mists rogue leveling guide.
• Scattered Shots helps you level your hunter from 85 to 90.
• We have a guide to playing a brewmaster tanking monk in Mists.
• The Light And How To Swing It offers a Mists leveling guide for tank paladins.
• The Care And Feeding of Warriors has a gear guide for Mists warriors.
• Spiritual Guidance offers a guide to discipline priests in Mists of Pandaria.
• Lichborne recommends enchants and gems for death knights in Mists.
• Arcane Brilliance offers a guide to mage addons for Mists of Pandaria.

Professions, Items, dungeons, PvP, and more

• Addon Spotlight helps you get your addons ready for the expansion.
• Fishing Tournaments have been temporarily disabled due to cross realm issues.
• Is 25 man raiding dead? Our own Matthew Rossi and Elitist Jerks poster Hamlet have some things to say about that.
• WoW Archivist looks back at the chaos surrounding the launch of World of Warcraft.

Odds and ends

• Know Your Lore describes the tragic history of the Shady Rest Inn. We also fill in some of the missing gaps in the lore from the Theramore's Fall scenario.
• Looking to pick up a second account? You're in luck. The WoW Battle Chest digital edition now includes Wrath of the Lich King.
• 15 Minutes of Fame interviews Malukah, a WoW player who's most famous for her amazing vocal and guitar cover of the main Skyrim theme.

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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, tuesday-morning-post

Filed under: News items, Realm Status