All the World’s a Stage, and all the orcs and humans merely players. They have their stories and their characters; and one player in his time plays many roles. So the Cataclysm expansion has officially been announced at BlizzCon 2009 and while there are many things we knew before (such as the addition of Goblins and Worgen), there are many things we just learned (such as the beginnings of their proper lore), and many things we still don’t know as well — some things even Blizzard still seems undecided about. But there are some indications of things to come which will surely affect roleplayers. The most obvious change involves the changes the whole world will be going through. Each of our existing characters’ will have their own reaction to the cataclysm, of course, as well as the opportunity to go through the game from 1 to 60 with a new character, and maybe not be quite as bored as you were the last 6 times you did it. Your new tauren paladin’s leveling experience will be very different from your tauren shaman’s, and each one will have different things to talk about once they reach the level cap. Another obvious addition is that you can start another character with whichever new race you like

Insider Trader is your inside line on making, selling, buying and using player-made products. Lately, there has been a lot of talk about vanilla WoW and the way things used to be. Now that experience gains can be shut off, players can actually move through some of this content the way it was meant to be experienced. Well, it won’t be exactly the way it was, but it’s as close as we’re getting. Blizzard has also been implementing more elements from the old world. Naxxramas was a vanilla dungeon, and was redone to become the first raid instance of the second expansion, Wrath of the Lich King, set back on Azeroth no less. In fact, soon we’ll all be battling Onyxia once again, deep breaths and all! Professions used to be different too. Of course, most of the changes to the system have been for the better, but there were some elements that could be recycled for the future. Last week, Insider Trader discussed a new, more progressive direction for professions, including some of the ways that this could be implemented. This week I’ll be shedding new light on one particular vanilla element that has been phased out, exploring ways in which it could be reborn. The way we were Professions used to be an

Ready Check is a twice-a-week column focusing on successful raiding for the serious raider. Hardcore or casual, Vault of Archavon or Ulduar, everyone can get in on the action and down some bosses. T Welcome back to Ready Check. We took some time last week to take a look at the changes that patch 3.2 brought to raiding in Azeroth, but now we’re back to burning through Ulduar. Today, we’ll take a look at Mimiron, and then start working on the final portions of the instance with General Vezax. So far, you’ve wrecked the Flame Leviathan. You euthanized Razorscale. You gave a cold shower to Ignis the Furnace Master. You marvelled at Deconstructor. When it came to Kologarn, you damned well shall pass. The Assembly of Iron said court was out of session, and Auriaya and her small legion of adds gave you no pause. You’ve asked Hodir, “Who’s your Daddy?” You’ve entered the mountain, and tackled Thorim.         If you’ve gotten this far into Ulduar, you’re doing pretty good. You’ve had a lot of opportunity to enjoy some fairly fun and interesting fights. You’ll especially remember Flame Leviathan and Deconstructor, of course. Both of these fights are pretty

Every weekend, the WoW.com asks you (and ourselves) a simple question: What are you playing? This week, our bloggers’ answers are compiled by Michael Sacco, directed by Michael Sacco, and starring Michael Sacco. It’s Saturday again! I know this because Friday is the night my guild’s 10-man progression group, uh, progresses. And as of last night, with the defeat of Mimiron on hard mode and Yogg-Saron with one Keeper assisting, we’ve progressed directly onto the backs of Rusted Proto-Drakes. This is the mount that I’ve wanted since I first laid eyes on it, and by gum, now I’ve got it. I’m so happy about it I’m probably going to tell you again in just a moment. So, yeah, Friday’s over! That means it’s time for WRUP. Just what are our contributors up to? Check out the sampling below, replete with Twitter names where applicable, and mosey on past the jump if you’re all about minutiae like the rest of the internet at large. Adam Holisky: (@adamholisky) Loremaster and equipping all my alts with flying skill. Hooray for the mount changes! Alex Ziebart: (@aziebart) Gearing up my Paladin alt a bit more through the new 5-man so I can skip stupid Naxxramas and go straight

Not that anyone should be surprised, but the first round of in-game bug fixes for patch 3.2 are out. These fixes were announced tonight, however they might not be completely active until the servers undergo maintenance tomorrow. There are many, many bugs this patch. Some are more obvious than others, like XT not being doable for most folks. Others are more subtle, like Wintergrasp Commendations being able to be sent to alts, who then were able to take them into Battlegrounds and level like mad. The full list of fixes announced today after the break. We’ll continue to bring you these in-game fixes as Blizzard announces them over the next week (or longer, if things are really bad).   The weapon damage and armor of items dropped in the 5-man Coliseum Heroic version have been updated to match their item level. Using Braxley’s Backyard Moonshine will no longer trigger the regurgitation animation. Wintergrasp Commendation and Commendation of Bravery can no longer be used inside any battlegrounds. Kel’Thuzad should no longer cause some players to disconnect during the encounter. Reginald Arcfire will no longer grant Horde players access to the Alliance auction house. Epic gem recipes are now available from the

People who put way too much energy into watching the flickering messages that scroll past when you log in to WoW, as well as people with slow connections, may be familiar with the message “Submitting non-personal system information.” Basically, Blizzard wants to know things like what kind of CPU and GPU you’re running on and how much RAM and VRAM you have. Aguilar (who?) has made a blue post letting us know that they’re going to start another round of collecting such data “in the very near future.” If you’re not on a Battle.net account yet, you’ll see that message about non-personal information. Battle.net users, however, won’t see the message, but they will be sending info up the line. Yet another in a long line of injustices for us B.net account holders: no flickering message! I demand a free month of WoW in compensation.