122 – The Instance: "Give back my honor!"

Blizzcon Is Upon Us
It’s only one week until Blizzcon kicks off in sunny Anaheim, CA, and The Instance will be there in as much capacity as possible. The news has really poured in these last few days about Blizzcon, and we run down the highlights.

The Azeroth Advisor Is Upon Us
This is something we’ve talked with Curt about for almost six months now, but our buddy Mike Schramm over at WoWInsider reported today that 38 Studios has bought Mentor Media and their product The Azeroth Advisor. We’re trying to figure out what the new angle is on this, and Mike’s take is that it’s a “strange little story” and asks “why 38 Studios, a company working on its own MMO, has chosen to pick up a company that produces an unofficial newsletter about World of Warcraft? It’s like Bioware buying World of Matticus.”

Patch 3.0.2 And The Great Dungeon Nerf Is Upon Us
For the first time in several patches, Blizzard appears to have announced a firm date for the release of 3.0.2, which is the big setup for Wrath Of The Lich King, as going live on October 14, the Tuesday after Blizzcon. The patch got a name – “Echos Of Doom” – and an ‘under development’ page here.

The Return of The Honor Is Upon Us
Last week, or five days ago, or last episode… however you count it… we talked right here in Rumors And Scuttlebutt about the announcement by Blizzard that honor and BG marks and arena points would all be reset for everyone in the game in advance of the Wrath Of The Lich King expansion. Well, that’s over with now. Bornakk announced on the official forums “We had hoped that the introduction of some new Honor rewards in the upcoming patch would give players a great opportunity to spend any of their remaining Honor. However, many players would still be surprised by an Honor and token reset as it isn’t something we’ve done in the past. As such, we’ve decided to not reset Honor or tokens upon the release of Wrath of the Lich King. Players who save their Honor will be able to spend it on level 80 rewards, although those rewards will be significantly more expensive than their level 70 counterparts.”

Town Cryer
Pridey writes:

I am a taruen hunter on the Crushridge server and I have just turned 40. I just trained for the mail ability and I was wondering how do I know if I should keep leather, switch to mail, or keep a combo. I asked around in trade chat and they said since I am a hunter I am depended on stats not on amour. They also said that it is best to get mail with good stats. I know that hunters mainly need agi and stam, but any extra info on this subject would be awesome.

Ceibo The Hunter Is Upon Us
It’s Steve Hamakers new WoW comic, proof that if you make a creative person play WoW long enough, it will invade their dreams and start oozing out on their Wacom.