Today's 1-Year Anniversary Giveaway winner is Djitb from Aggramar. Click here to see all the past winners.

Today's 1-Year Anniversary Giveaway winner is Tydrin from Illidan. Click here to see all the past winners.

We have just updated our World of Warcraft Wallpapers section with a new wallpaper featuring the 1000 Needles.

 

New World of Warcraft Fan Art

The Blizzard Fan Art Section has been updated with three new pieces of artwork.

The following realm-to-realm transfers will become available Monday, December 12, at 3:00 AM PST:

Skullcrusher > Spirestone
Hellscream > Staghelm

These transfers will be available at the normal time, 3:00AM-3:00PM PST, until December 16, at 3:00PM.

Realm-to-realm character transfers are offered in order to alleviate queue times and overpopulation. If you're not satisfied with your realm's performance, moving to a realm with a lower population can make your play experience more enjoyable. Please plan accordingly and take advantage of this opportunity!

We are extending the realm transfers from Illidan to Ursin until December 13, at 3:00 PM PST. We hope this will allow opportunity for players to take advantage of this option that may not have done so before.

Today's 1-Year Anniversary Giveaway winner is Tydrin from Illidan. Click here to see all the past winners.

Take a moment to check out the latest Warcraft Weekly, which provides direct links to threads created and responded to by the World of Warcraft community team. This weekly news archive is a great source of information and a wonderful alternative for those who wish to stay current on all the latest and greatest topics but don't have time to sift through the forums each day. Check it out here.

Take a moment and read the many adventures of Equinox the Nifty, a Brave Tauren who has dubbed himself Defender of the Horde!

• Equinox the Nifty

Have you made or seen something that you think deserves to be on the World of Warcraft Community Watch? Send us a link at: wowcommwatch@blizzard.com.

*Links on this news post may expire over time and are created by other companies/individuals that are neither affiliated with nor supported by Blizzard Entertainment.

Bring your epic adventures in Azeroth from the computer screen to life on pen and paper with World of Warcraft: The Roleplaying Game and its accompanying sourcebook, World of Warcraft: More Magic & Mayhem, which are now both available in the Blizzard Online Store. Gamers interested in the sourcebooks for Warcraft: The Roleplaying Game can also pick up Warcraft: Lands of Conflict and Warcraft: Shadows & Light in the Blizzard Online Store. The World of Warcraft Official Strategy Guide from BradyGames, an excellent resource for new and veteran World of Warcraft players alike is also now available in the Blizzard Online Store.

Today's 1-Year Anniversary Giveaway winner is Trentlane from the realm Gilneas! Click here to see all the past winners.

Today's regularly scheduled maintenance was extended approximately 2 hours in order to apply a minor patch. This patch adds content for the upcoming holiday festivities in Azeroth! You can review all of the changes contained in patch 1.8.4 here.

Please note: this patch is not The Gates of Ahn'Qiraj, the content patch currently running on the public test realms. To read more on The Gates of Ahn'Qiraj, view the 1.9 patch notes located here.

All realms are expected to be back up at 11:00 AM PST. We greatly appreciate your patience and understanding in this matter.

To learn more about our patching methods, please read the information contained on our Patch FAQ.

Have you been curious about the changes concerning Paladin talents in the upcoming content patch? Wonder no longer! In this interactive preview of the changes, you can view the progression, read up on the new abilities and enhancements within the various trees, and experiment with new builds!

We have just updated our World of Warcraft Wallpapers section with a new wallpaper featuring the Tauren Racial Shield.

 

New World of Warcraft Fan Art

The Blizzard Fan Art Section has been updated with three new pieces of artwork.

It's that time of year again, and everyone's getting into the holiday spirit. In the world of Azeroth, celebrations are the light in the darkness of a world torn by war. This time, the Royal Photographic Society of Azeroth is looking for your best depictions of holiday celebrations in the World of Warcraft. Snap a screenshot of your celebrants as they revel in the festivities of the holiday! The finest shots will receive Nintendo DS and a copy of The Lost Vikings Game Boy Advance cartridge, so polish your Super Snapper FX lenses and find those parties! Click here to find out more

Pull out the flour, bring out the mixers, and preheat the oven -- now is the time for our bakers to shine! We want to see our worlds come alive... in cookie form! Any recognizable bit of the Warcraft, Starcraft, or Diablo universes will do, but the important part is its existence as a cookie. Snap a photograph of your baked goods and send it in. The best cookies will be awarded Nintendo DS and a copy of The Lost Vikings Game Boy Advance cartridge for their baking prowess! Get out the mixer; now's the time to level your real life cooking skill to 300! Click here to find out more

World of Warcraft has hit its first-year anniversary in North America, and celebrations are well underway. In the spirit of the holiday season, we're giving away one ASUS PCI-E GeForce 7800 GTX 256mb video card to a random World of Warcraft account holder each day during the month of December! That makes a total of 31 top-of-the-line video cards for 31 lucky players - one of whom could be you! Note that certain restrictions apply - see official rules for details.

Click here for more info.

Take a moment to check out the latest Warcraft Weekly, which provides direct links to threads created and responded to by the World of Warcraft Community Team. This weekly news archive is a great source of information and a wonderful alternative for those who wish to stay current on all the latest and greatest topics but don't have time to sift through the forums each day. Check it out here.

We're constantly updating our Reputation Reward pages and wanted to provide you with a special preview of what's in store next patch for players friendly through exalted with the Timbermaw Hold Faction. Check it out here.

We're glad to announce the opening of four new realms! If you're just beginning your adventures in Azeroth, or a veteran looking for a fresh start, these realms are the place for you! Come forge a new community on the following realms:

Aegwynn PVP
Akama PVP
Chromaggus PVP
Draka PVE

Join these realms and enjoy your adventures in the yet-untamed lands of Azeroth!

The following realm-to-realm transfers will become available Wednesday November 30, at 3:00 AM PST:

Tichondrius > Kalecgos
Illidan > Ursin
Sargeras > Detheroc

These transfers will be available at the normal time, 3:00AM-3:00PM PST, until December 7, at 3:00PM.

Realm-to-realm character transfers are offered in order to alleviate queue times and overpopulation. If you're not satisfied with your realm's performance, moving to a realm with a lower population can make your play experience more enjoyable. Please plan accordingly and take advantage of this opportunity!

Blizzard Entertainment is looking for experienced customer service representatives to serve as Game Masters (GMs) for World of Warcraft. The ideal candidate is an experienced customer service representative who is very organized, with excellent communication and customer service skills. MMORPG experience is a plus! Check out the Customer Service Representative position for more information.

One year ago today, World of Warcraft was released in North America, Australia, and New Zealand. The traditional thing to do for a one-year anniversary might be to take a look back at the content we've patched into the game over the past year, but for this first anniversary we'd instead like to focus on you -- the main reason that Azeroth is such a vibrant and exciting place to adventure. [Read More]

Public test realms are now live! Players can now transfer characters over to the test realms and try out all the changes and additions coming in the next content patch, The Gates of Ahn'Qiraj. The highlights of this patch include new 20- and 40- player raid dungeons, linked Auction Houses in major cities, improved Battleground queues, Paladin class improvements, and a host of other exciting features. Click here to view the 1.9 test realm patch notes to learn more!

Players can participate in the test realms by creating a character or by copying their characters from existing realms to the test realms. Those who have previously copied their characters to the test realms will need to do so again, as all previous characters have been removed from the previous test realms. To copy your character, visit our Test Realm Character Copy page. The test build is available to download for the PC and Mac. During the first week of testing, only players who created their accounts before November 8 will be able to login to the public test realms. Also, players will not be able to log in to the public test realms if they have changed their password since November 8. All players will be able to access the test realms after next week's maintenance.

Please be aware that the test realms are there to allow us to test major content patches before the patch goes public. Therefore, some changes may be introduced to the public test realms before a patch goes live, and some changes may be introduced to the patch after the test realms have closed. To read more about the test realms, please review the Test Realm FAQ. We truly appreciate our players taking the time to help us test the latest changes to the game; thank you all!

Due to increased traffic from character copies it may take some time for you to complete the character copy process. Your patience is appreciated in this matter.