Filed under: News items

Battle Pet collectors have something to look forward to with Patch 6.1 -- new Battle Pets and a new achievement are being added, according to information Wowhead has datamined from the 6.1 PTR. New Battle Pets have been added to bosses in Sunwell Plateau, Black Temple, and Hyjal Summit, and another tier has been added to the raid-collecting achievement, Raiding With Leashes III: Drinkin' From the Sunwell. A dozen new pets have been added to the raids.

In a new press release, Dark Horse Comics has announced the upcoming release of a multi-volume series detailing the history of the Warcraft universe. Warcraft Chronicles will reveal untold stories about the birth of the cosmos and beyond, presumably filling in the details on all that history we've been missing regarding Azeroth's creation, the wars that took place, and other tantalizing pieces of Warcraft lore. Although it is being produced in conjunction with Dark Horse Comics, the book is not being presented as a graphic novel, but instead a hardcover book with over twenty full page illustrations by World of Warcraft artist Peter Lee.

The first volume of the series is due out on November 4, 2015 in comic shops, and November 17, 2015 in bookstores. For lore fans, this looks like it's shaping up to be the definitive book to pick up this year, and sounds like it may very well be full of brand new lore spanning the length of Warcraft's history, starting with the mysterious beginnings of the cosmos itself -- something that plenty of lore fans have been wanting for a very, very long time. You can pre-order your copy of World of Warcraft: Chronicle Volume 1 today over via Amazon, or check with your local comic book retailers to pre-order a copy as well.

If you have yet to get it done, you might want to hit up Molten Core in the next week or so. The 10th anniversary celebration for World of Warcraft officially ends on January 5, 2015 -- and both Molten Core's 40-man LFR experience, as well as the Southshore vs. Tarren Mill PvP battleground will be taking their leave. Completing Molten Core will earn you an ilvl 640 epic helm as well as the Core Hound Chain that will give you a Corehound of your very own to ride -- but there's also a chance to pick up Hatespark the Tiny, a new Battle Pet, and the Flames of Ragnaros, a special cosmetic item that will give your weapon a fiery glow.

As for the battleground, winning a battle on either Alliance or Horde side will net you an achievement as well as a special account-wide title, Southshore Slayer, or Tarren Mill Terror. To queue for Molten Core, you'll need an ilvl of 615, but that's relatively easy to get at level 100. Once the anniversary event is over, these items and achievements will no longer be available -- so you'll want to get a move on if you want to collect and complete them all before they're gone for good.

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Maybe you forgot someone on your gift-giving list this year -- or maybe you're more interested in potential gifts for yourself. Either way, Blizzard has a potential solution for you -- World of Warcraft is now 50% off in the online store. For $9.99, you'll get classic, Burning Crusade, Wrath of the Lich King, Cataclysm, and Mists of Pandaria all rolled into one, as well as 30 days of free game time in the bargain.

This is the digital download edition, meaning no boxes required, and you can either purchase the gift for yourself, or gift it to a friend or loved one and bring them along on your journeys in Azeroth. But if you'd like to grab this deal, you may want to hurry -- the sale ends on January 5, 2015. Head to the Battle.net shop to take advantage of the savings and pick up a copy.

BlizzCon 2014 may be long gone, but you can relieve the memories -- Blizzard has just updated its BlizzCon 2014 media gallery with over 700 photos from the event. The costume section alone has over three hundred photos of fan created costumes and cosplay, including all of the winners of this year's BlizzCon Costume Contest, the participants in the contest, and plenty of shots of assorted costumes from around the convention center as well.

In addition, there's a gallery selection of images from this year's Esports stages and competitions, including a lot of behind the scenes shots of the gorgeous new Hearthstone tournament area, and shots of the tournaments themselves. And if neither of those things are quite up your alley, there's a large gallery of general images from around the convention center highlighting events, panels, sights and scenery from around the convention hall, and even highlights from the closing ceremony concert as well. Take a look at the full gallery on Blizzard's official site.

Professional e-sports exist and can draw in significant interest - people watch streams on Twitch, top players can earn significant money, and we've seen people come out to watch them at places like BlizzCon and the Worldwide Invitational. But is it really a sport, and should we be seeing it in the Olympics? Rob Pardo, former chief creative officer at Blizzard, argues yes in this interview with the BBC.

In the interview, Pardo discusses the physical and mental ability of some of the best players in the world, how many decisions they made in a short period of time, as well as the draw of the games as a spectator sport. To be fair, he's mostly talking about games like Starcraft, but his other point about games and cultural definition as to what is and isn't a sport seems more likely to hamper gaming at an Olympic level than anything else. It's just not very common for an activity that takes place in front of a computer to be seen as a sport.

For the complete interview, head over to the BBC.