It seems there is a growing number of unhappy Blizzcon/WWI/Dell Beta Club members who were promised beta keys for the WotLK beta in the first wave, and have still not received them. From that information we have been told, a wave of invites went out on the 22nd of July, which included the majority of all the people that had registered their Blizzcon keys (but not all of them).

As if there were not enough players in the juggernaut World of Warcraft, Blizzard has now begun a "Recruit a Friend" campaign. If a player can successfully convince a friend to sign up and play, they will be rewarded with a free mount, faster XP accumulation, and other rewards. Another benefit of the RaF program is that buddies will be able to summon each other from anywhere in the world, and you can grant your friend one free level as well. Blizzard is getting greedy, it seems -- they not only want the sons and daughters playing, but it sounds like they want the parents and grandparents playing too!

Jeff Kaplan, lead designer of Blizzard Entertainment’s World of Warcraft, revealed that the MMORPG’s forthcoming achievement system will eventually contribute to an account holder’s “Blizzard Level,” a Gamerscore-like system which collects points from the developer’s other titles. All three of the highly anticipated upcoming Blizzard games will be part of this cross-game point tracking.

Not only has Blizzard sent us a reminder that BlizzCon tickets will be on sale August 11, 2008, but they also have released information regarding a special DirecTV coverage arrangement. For those who wish to pay, there will be a special HD Pay-Per-View event for BlizzCon, only on the DirecTV service. Tickets to the event will cost $100USD, and DirecTV will be running a promotion for new subscribers, offering the coverage free for those who sign up. No word on the PPV price for regular subscribers.

PRESS RELEASE

IRVINE, Calif., Jul 29, 2008 - Blizzard Entertainment, Inc. today announced that tickets for its third BlizzConTM gaming convention will go on sale August 11 and that live coverage of the event will be available as an exclusive DIRECTV pay per view event. BlizzCon is a celebration of the global player communities surrounding Blizzard Entertainment®'s Warcraft®, Diablo®, and StarCraft® game universes. The event will take place at the Anaheim Convention Center in Anaheim, California on October 10 and 11.

Blizzard is apparently fed up with dealing with WoW account thefts. They are now offering a Keychain Token style device which generates a unique code to help prevent unauthorized access. The device generates a six-digit code which links to your account, and is needed to login. It then becomes invalid after a short time. Great idea! Click the link for the official site, click read more for the official info and image. Pretty cool, we say!

PRESS RELEASE

IRVINE, Calif.—(BUSINESS WIRE)—Blizzard Entertainment, Inc. today introduced an optional extra layer of security for World of Warcraft®, its award-winning massively multiplayer online role-playing game. Designed to attach to a keychain, the lightweight and waterproof Blizzard® Authenticator is an electronic device that generates a six-digit security code at the press of a button. This code is unique, valid only once, and active for a limited time; it must be provided along with the account name and password when signing in to the World of Warcraft account linked to it.

This year's Blizzcon has been officially announced. The event will take place at the Anaheim Convention Center on October 10 and 11. Click read more for the full info.

PRESS RELEASE

MARLOW, UK – 12th May, 2008 – Blizzard Entertainment, Inc. today announced plans for its third BlizzCon™ gaming convention, to be held at the Anaheim Convention Center in Anaheim, California on 10 and 11 October. BlizzCon is a celebration of the global player communities surrounding Blizzard Entertainment®’s Warcraft®, StarCraft®, and Diablo® franchises. In response to the demand to accommodate more attendees, this year’s event has expanded from two convention halls to three.

John Smedley, president of SOE, revealed that the PS3 will someday soon have an MMO that will rival the popularity of the phenomenon called World of Warcraft. This statement comes after SOE's move into the SCE facilities during Sony's massive restructuring plan. A bold claim, for sure, but can Sony deliver?

Blizzard has revealed some details about the storyline for the upcoming WoW expansion, The Lich King. In the latest Blizzard Podcast, it is revealed that the storyline takes players back into Azeroth proper, the realm of Gnolls and Kobolds. Check the link for the full scoop.

Activision CEO Bobby Kotick, speaking at an investor meeting, has stated that MMOs could be "an insurmountable product category" for publishers at the moment, with the juggernaut World of Warcraft on the loose. This is something we here at GR have been touting for a while now. Kotick went further to claim that at least a 1 billion dollar investment would be required to even have a shot at taking on WoW, and even then it is no guarantee. The simple fact is that until World of Warcraft's day is done, there will be no other leader in the MMO world, and on top of that WoW has changed the MMO model forever.

"We don't think that even if we made the USD 500 million or billion-dollar investment to get a product out [to compete with WOW] that we would even be successful doing it," he said.

Blizzard has announced that it will put online a new set of WoW realms that will allow players to enter world-wide team-based tournaments. You can even win real cash prizes, up to $200,000 USD! Check it out.