World of Warcraft Twitter Sweepstakes (Source World of Warcraft Twitter Sweepstakes)
In our continuing celebration of World of Warcraft’s five-year anniversary, we’re in the mood to give away some fantastic prizes to a lucky selection of those following us on Twitter. Our offices are brimming with spare World of Warcraft loot codes and we feel it’s time to give back to those who have made this gaming community so great. Are you a pet collector who has yet to get your hands on a Robotic Homing Chicken, Baby Hippogryph, Ethereal Plunderer, or Baby Monkey pet? Have you ever wanted to cruise Northrend on an Area 51 Rocket, a Riding Turtle, Spectral Tiger, or Rooster mount? Well here’s your chance to win these and other extremely rare loot codes!

All you have to do is join the tens of thousands of people already following us at www.twitter.com/warcraft; and hey, if you’re already a follower, you may already have a chance to win. Between November 30 and December 11, 2009 we’ll be selecting random winners daily from our growing list of followers, so start following our feed today!

Official Warcraft Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/warcraft
Official contest rules coming soon 

Druid
Balance Changes in 3.3 (Source Re: Rogues get a buff. Moonkins get a nerf?)
Our intent was not to nerf Balance druid dps with this change. Our intent was to make a macro or addon that was quickly becoming mandatory at competitive levels not mandatory. It would be one thing if cancelling Eclipse auras was a fun or interesting choice, but since everything was so automated, the only thing I can really imagine anyone getting upset about was the dps loss, which we plan on offsetting.

We're not going to apologize at all for nerfing an old set bonus. Upgrading your gear is a -- if not the -- major motivation for most players to raid. We typically don't nerf set bonuses that turn out to be overly generous while they are still the highest available tier, but once new content is available it is time to make sure they don't remain overly attractive. There will always be some players who ask "Why can't you just buff the new stuff instead of nerfing the old stuff?" They would probably also ask why they couldn't have a 3000 dps increase from their T10 set bonus in order to make them upgrade from a T9 set bonus granted 2500 dps.  When the increased stats alone aren't enough to encourage you want to upgrade, then the older bonuses are probably too good.

On the topic of Eclipse, we still consider it to be a major linchpin of the Balance talent tree and we have no intention of getting rid of it. Swapping from Wrath to Starfire is something we want to encourage and in a greater sense, fits the theme of the spec (finding a balance) really well. We're more sympathetic to the argument that it might provide too much of a dps increase relative to other talents, but at the same time given what I said above, we aren't really trying to promote an Eclipse-less Balance spec.

Back when I started playing WoW, there was a lot of theorycrafting for how players could overcome or even minimize the impact of random numbers on their gameplay, which totally makes sense. Over the years though that has sort of morphed into: all RNG is bad, and any mechanic that has an RNG element is also bad. We don't think Balance is saddled with an over dependence on RNG more so than other specs, and if you feel that way, you might want to talk to some Fire mage friends.  Adapting to changing environments is one of the major ways players have to demonstrate mastery of the game. We don't think WoW was more enjoyable when all Balance druids just spammed Starfire (or Wrath if that happened to do more damage). Likewise, we don't think it was good for warlocks to just use Shadowbolt or mages to just use Fireball. Furthermore, we don't think a 1,2,3,4 rotation is a whole lot better. If your class mechanics invite you to be able to macro everything you do, then you as a player aren't really making decisions; you aren't playing a character so much as babysitting a bot. That's not what we're going for. (I wouldn't recommend turning this thread into "My Arcane mage / Ret paladin / Subtlety rogue doesn't have enough doing on.)  

Blizzard Entertainment wishes everyone a Happy Thanksgiving! Due to this national holiday, our Technical Support and Account and Billing Services departments will be available from 8am-5pm PST on Thursday, 11/26, and 8am-8pm PST on Friday, 11/27. Both departments will be closed over the weekend, but will be available again on Monday, 11/30 for our normal business hours from 8am-8pm PST.

In-game Support: (available 24 hrs, 7 days a week)
If you have an in-game issue, contact information for our Game Master Department can be found at: http://us.blizzard.com/support/article/19775

Billing and Account Services: (available 11/26, 8am-5pm and 11/27, 8am-8pm)
General Billing and Account related information can also be found on our support site at: http://us.blizzard.com/support/index.xml?locale=en_US&gameId=11&rootCategoryId=2317

Technical Support: (available 11/26, 8am-5pm and 11/27, 8am-8pm)
For Technical issues, please visit our support site for the latest solutions available at: http://us.blizzard.com/support/index.xml?locale=en_US&gameId=11&rootCategoryId=2316

Please note that our normal email reply time may increase during the holiday weekend.

World of Warcraft Magazine (Source Re: World of Warcraft Magazine)
The World of Warcraft Official Magazine should be coming hot off the presses in December. We hope to have them shipped out shortly thereafter. We'll be sending an email out to all subscribers in the near future with additional details.

PvP Titles in Cataclysm (Source Re: Confirm this Rumor Blue)
In Cataclysm, we plan to make the old PvP titles available based on your performance in our upcoming rated Battleground system, similar to the current Arena titles which are based on your performance in the Arenas. Keep in mind, however, that Cataclysm is still relatively early in the development stages and this information is subject to change. We'll have more on the rated Battleground system and associated rewards in the months ahead.

[...] I'm going to clarify my original post, as I don't believe it's been decided yet whether they'll be purchased with Arena points or Honor points, or if a specific Battleground rating is the only requirement to unlock them. There are no plans to make these titles available for real-world money.

[...] We feel they're going to fit well with the new rated Battleground system. The titles were previously earned through a very cumbersome experience that didn't necessarily measure a player's PvP skill. With a new system for measuring performance in the Battlegrounds, we feel it's a good fit to award the honor titles to those who excel. We do not intend for the top titles to be earned in a trivial manner. It's going to be quite hard to get High Warlord or Grand Marshal; and not because it's going to require that someone plays in the Battlegrounds more than everyone else on their realm each week, but because it's going to require a very impressive win/loss ratio.

Rated Battlegrounds and Arena Points in Cataclysm (Source Re: Confirm this Rumor Blue)
The current plan is still for rated Battlegrounds to grant Arena points, though some rewards will require a certain rating from this system just as with the current Arena system.

Over the past 15 years, a lot has changed in Azeroth. Valiant heroes have travelled the length and breadth of Kalimdor and the Eastern Kingdoms, taken wing in Outland to free the Black Temple from Illidan's clutches, and set sail for Northrend to battle the mighty Lich King. Whether you've been part of the adventure from the beginning or are just getting started now, we're glad to have you with us for the five-year anniversary of World of Warcraft and the 15-year anniversary of the Warcraft series.

To commemorate these milestones, we've just launched the Warcraft anniversary website. There you’ll find video interviews featuring personal anecdotes from some of the shapers of Warcraft, as well as the Battlecry Mosaic where you can show off your faction pride. Visit the anniversary site now!

Warcraft Anniversary Website: http://www.worldofwarcraft.com/wowanniversary/

We’re pleased to announce that Blizzard Entertainment will be attending Dreamhack Winter 2009, the world’s largest computer festival, which is taking place from 26th to 29th November in Jönköping, Sweden.

Dreamhack attendees will be able to visit the Blizzard booth to take part in various competitions and contests, and also to play both StarCraft II and World of Warcraft: Cataclysm.

You can find out more about Dreamhack Winter 2009 at http://www.dreamhack.se/dhw09 .

We look forward to seeing you there!