238 – The Instance: WoW made me do it

Opening Comments
We have a bit of a conversation about music and sound, and what that has meant to the game of WoW over the years.

Big News of the Week
Norway Terrorist Says World Of Warcraft And Modern Warfare 2 Helped Train Him. “I just bought Modern Warfare 2, the game. It is probably the best military simulator out there and it’s one of the hottest games this year. I see MW2 more as a part of my training-simulation than anything else,”… “Once you decide to strike, it is better to kill too many than not enough, or you risk reducing the desired ideological impact of the strike.” We discuss this thing at length.

Blizzcon community site for this year is OUT! “We’ve just opened up a brand-new BlizzCon community site for you to find all of the latest BlizzCon news, discussions, and more. Make yourself at home on the new community forums, check out the latest BlizzCon updates, and share news items via Twitter, Facebook, and more. As we get closer to the show, the new BlizzCon site will be your headquarters for panel schedules, lists of activities to look for at the convention, tournament updates, and lots more, so be sure to check in often.”

Paragon releases heroic Ragnaros 25-man kill video.

Rumors & Scuttlebut
Battle.net Authenticator Changes. “We understand the concern many players have with the recent Battle.net authenticator changes. To that end, we’re exploring the idea of adding an “Opt Out” option within Battle.net Account Management, which would then force the prompt for an authenticator code whenever you log into World of Warcraft.

To be clear, we have gone to great lengths to ensure Battle.net accounts and authenticators provide players with a high level of security. Maintaining a safe and secure Blizzard gameplay environment remains a top priority for us.

[...] We’ve been discussing the best way to implement new options for this feature since the moment it was announced. We don’t yet have additional details about exactly how we might implement the feature, or whether it’s something you’ll need to opt out of by default, or opt into by default.”

“Diablo 3 Beta coming “soon”. Three reasons to believe that we will have a beta VERY soon: 1. Activision Earning Call – During the latest conference call, Activision announced that the beta would start during Q3 2011, that’s between July 1st and September 30th. 2. Press Tour – A Diablo 3 press tour is scheduled for Diablo fansites on August 1st, this is pretty much what happened with Cataclysm with the Press Tour happening 2 weeks before the start of beta. 3. Box Art.

Drop of the Week
The new “Healbot” iOS app helps healers practice healing when they are NOT in game. This game is based on the mechanics of the Healbot mod in WoW. You keep your dungeon party alive while they attack a boss monster by casting various healing spells. You have several healing spells available in various speeds & sizes.