127 – The Instance: The Zombie Invasion

Blizzard Gives Out Tricks And Treats
Difficulties with the Echoes Of Doom patch marked the first week after it went live, and Blizzard seemed to be in a poor position with only three weeks to go until the 2nd expansion to the game, when suddenly this last weekend, they pulled a world event that either vastly improved or injured the image of the game, depending upon your opinion. What will forever be known as The Zombie Invasion started about a week ago, and unbeknownst to players, it came in stages that just got progressively… zombier… as the weekend went on.

Blizzard announced passing the 11-million subscriber count yesterday.

Just this afternoon, Blizzard came around with an appropriate and well-timed response to the chorus of complaints about the lag, connection issues and unavailability of instances just after the launch of the new patch: Three days free for subscribers!

Will You Stay Up Past Midnight?
All of Azeroth will feel the Wrath of the Lich King in just a couple of weeks, when the second World of Warcraft expansion officially launches. If you want to be among the first to get your hands on the game, thousands of retailers around the world are hosting special midnight store openings to celebrate the release, and will start selling the game at 12:00 a.m. (local time) on November 13. In addition, Blizzard Entertainment developers and executives will be on hand to sign copies and meet players at four locations throughout the United States: Fry’s Electronics in Anaheim, CA; Best Buy in New York City; and GameStop in San Francisco, CA and Austin, TX.

Don’t Be Frightened By Strangers
On this Saturday, Nov. 1, Randy is having the 2nd Annual Central Texas Deluxe Meet-up at Plucker’s Wing Factory in Round Rock Texas. Randy is going to have some special guests, prizes for a lucky few; Official start time is 7PM, if you’re coming and you haven’t yet e-mailed Randy to RSVP, you need to do so, and you can find more in the thread on this subject here in our forums.

Slash-massage Makes Me Slash-nervous
Did you notice? The introduction of patch 3.0.2, aka Echoes Of Doom, brought a host of new emotes to the game.

The Drums Are Scary
The new TCG expansion called Drums Of War went on sale Tuesday, October 28. We know what you want to know…
 * Slashdance, the Drums of War super common Loot card, gives players a stack of Party G.R.E.N.A.D.Es. Everyone in the target circle will receive a one minute buff that causes them to dance and enjoy some streamers and confetti.
 * The uncommon Loot card in Drums of War, Owned!, offers the newest in victory flaunting. Used in-game, this card gives you The Flag of Ownership, and will tell everyone that you just bested your opponent. In addition to a special emote, you will literally plant a flag in the corpse of your fallen enemy. As if that wasn’t enough, the flag flies a giant thumbs down, the ultimate in humiliation.
 * The rare card is The Red Bearon: an epic mount. This Battle Bear is the fourth exclusive mount from the World of Warcraft TCG.