We have received a World of Warcraft Community update today from Slorkuz! The update includes important posts from the EU & U.S. forums as well as important developer posts from the past week. There are also several updates from the official World of Warcraft website that are detailed below. Some of the hot developer topics this week include:

Proposed Warrior Rage Changes follow up

Known combat mechanic bug in current PTR build

On Protection warriors (+follow-up)

On Zombie Event and future events (+follow-up)

EU Forums:

Most Recent Poll:

What is your favourite Horde female dance?

Here are some of the most recent blue-posts made on the EU forums:

2009 Regional Finals Coverage
Regional Finals Coverage - Friday
Regional Finals Coverage - Saturday
Regional Finals Coverage - Sunday
2009 Regional Finals: Videos & Gallery

Upcoming Isle of Conquest changes

lass Q&A: Death Knight

On Stonekeeper’s Shards Achievement

Updated 3.2 Engineering Changes

Living Bomb on more than 1 target

On Crusader Strike

Yogg-Saron Hotfixes

Faction-Change Service in the Works

Upcoming Isle of Conquest Changes

01/07 Realms and Migration

 US Forums:

3.2 lore

BlizzCon 2009 Live Stream Orders Open

regarding Pets #1

on Occulus Achievement

Headless Horseman cast #1 #2

 Developer Posts:

About block (continued)

EXP-gain in battlegrounds probably not active yet on PTRs

DK tanking and design goals

Possible Warrior-changes in next PTR-build (+follow-up)

Eclipse Bug

on new FoL Hot

Proposed Warrior Rage Changes follow up

Known combat mechanic bug in current PTR build

On Protection warriors (+follow-up)

On Zombie Event and future events (+follow-up)

Website:

2009 Warcraft Regional Finals: Videos & Gallery - 01/07/09

Last Sunday, the 28th of June, the 2009 Warcraft Regional Finals for Warcraft III:The Frozen Throne and World of Warcraft in Cologne, Germany came to an end. We have prepared for you a video page with an overview of all the matches that were played during the event. We have also updated our Gallery with more photos from the event. Make sure to check it out here!

Please check back frequently over the next few days as we will be updating this site with after-event footage and commentaries on the matches.

New Fan Art: Heavencry! - 01/07/09

We’ve added Heavencry’s latest creation, a self-portrait entitled Heavencry. Dark and foreboding, this self-portrait shows a death knight mounted upon a frightful nightmare of a beast, surveying the dark landscape below him.

We're always looking for new fan art and if you're an artist, you can submit your work to us here. We update the Gallery regularly and encourage you to check regularly to see what new and talented submissions are on display.

WoW TCG: Fields of Honor Released! - 30/06/09

Fields of Honor, the latest expansion to the World of Warcraft Trading Card Game, has been released! With all new loot cards, hero cards, and resource cards based around the World of Warcraft battlegrounds. This expansion also includes weapon and armor cards for the Death Knight hero class. Head over to Upper Deck’s World of Warcraft Trading Card Game site to learn more!

Win A Trip To BlizzCon Costume Contest Winners! - 30/06/09

We are pleased to announce the winning entries to the Win A Trip To BlizzCon Costume Contest. Congratulations to our grand prize winner, S. Quindt, who has won a trip to BlizzCon in August! Congratulations also to A. Oslén, E. Cochuyt, H. Cogan, M. Deconstanzi, and H. Coy who have won great loot from our partners SteelSeries, Panini, and Upper Deck!

Check out the winning entries now!

New Wallpaper: Wood Giant! - 30/06/09

We have just added a new wallpaper to our World of Warcraft Wallpaper Gallery featuring a Wood Giant from Northrend. Take a moment to check it out!

2009 Regional Finals: Day 3 – part 2 - 28/06/09

The 2009 Warcraft Regional Finals have come to an end! We shared exciting moments and thrilling matches with our visitors and viewers here at the venue in Cologne, Germany. Fast matches, breathtaking scenes and top performances shown by the participants of this tournament heated up the air in the halls of the KOMED venue during all three days.

The last day finished with the North American finals for both Warcraft III: The Frozen Throne and World of Warcraft. In the final rounds of Warcraft III, LongWalk defeated SonKiE a second and final time with 2:1, taking back home $5000.00 and a spot at the Grand Finals in Anaheim for his impressive performance during this event.

Set to fight it out in the Lower Bracket finals for World of Warcraft were TSG and EG. The match was played out relatively quickly as each team won every second round, making good use of all five potential rounds. In the fifth round, we found TSG playing very aggressively and cooldowns such as BladeStorm were used straight off the bat in order to put that extra little bit of pressure on EG. The tactic proved successful as they managed to drop Azael after a well-coordinated target-swap, securing their spot in the Grand Finals.

Waiting for TSG in the Grand Finals was SK Gaming US who considered themselves very well-prepared for TSG despite having never faced them in a tournament before. The rounds went by quickly as SK Gaming justified their high level of confidence by winning the match 3-1 in some very fast-paced rounds. Their use of Mass Dispel against Zilea's bubble won them the round as they proved to the world that they are currently the best American team in the world , receiving a reward of $15.000.00 for their title.

Finally we would like to thank all players, visitors, and spectators for their dedication and commitment. We hope that everybody had as much fun as we did on this great event here in Cologne. Make sure to check out our Regional Finals page here. Don’t miss the latest live coverage for this last tournament day on our forum thread for today. Additionally we have updated our gallery with more pictures showing impressions and emotions we were able to catch here for you.

2009 Regional Finals: Day 3 – part 1 - 28/06/09

The second day of the Regional Finals in Cologne, Germany is over with plenty of fast-paced and thrilling games and matches. During the first half of the day, the last four games of the EU Regional Finals took place and we were able to see the champions for both Warcraft III: The Frozen Throne – LucifroN -- as well as for World of Warcraft -- team x6tence from Spain -- who managed to come back from the lower brackets and take the title once again.

The second half of the day, the 2009 US Regional Finals started, bringing us a lot of exciting and fast-paced matches. For Warcraft III: The Frozen Throne SonKiE and LongWalk reached the semi-final of the upper bracket while ShrieK and CrunCher are fighting their way through the lower bracket. The upper bracket of World of Warcraft was dominated by the teams EG and the tournament veterans SK Gaming US while in the lower bracket the teams TSG and eMg managed to beat their opponents.

We also saw several contests down in the free gaming area and signing sessions with Tom Chilton. The venue was crowded with spectators cheering for their favorite players while following the breathtaking fights which took place live on stage.

Today, however, we will be watching the last set of US matches. Expectations are high as we are left with the above-mentioned players and teams to duke it out not only for the title of North American regional champions, but for a chance to visit BlizzCon and participate in the Grand Finals of 2009 in Anaheim, California.

Be sure to check out our Regional Finals page here. Don't miss the live coverage for this last tournament day on our forum thread for today and stay tuned for more exciting coverage and additional images in our Regional Finals gallery.

2009 Regional Finals: Day 2 – part 1 - 27/06/09

The second day of the 2009 Warcraft Regional Finals here in Cologne has already started and we already know the teams and players who won a safe place for the Grand Finals this year in Anaheim, California.

For WarCraft III: The Frozen Throne LucifroN, Nicker, and Grubby won their spots for the Grand Finals, while for World of Warcraft team Woah and x6tence, who just defeated eDawgs in the lower bracket semi-final, earned their tickets to BlizzCon in Anaheim where the Grand Finals will be held.

Today Grubby showed his strength in the EU Warcraft Regional Finals, defeating Nicker, a night elf player, quite quickly in the first game. After a fight between two huge armies in the second game as well, Grubby emerged victorious as well. Later on team x6tence, the winners of last year’s EU Regional Finals, crushed the eDawgs RMP team in three very fast and exiting matches in the lower bracket World of Warcraft Semi-Finals with 3:0, leaving eDawgs in the dust.

The Warcraft III: The Frozen Throne was staged between the two famous players LucifroN, winner of yesterday’s upper bracket, and Grubby, who got his chance for revenge after losing against LucifroN yesterday morning in the first Warcraft III game of the day. Grubby started strong and was able to beat LucifroN on the first map. LucifroN recovered quickly and showed his superior skills, defeating Grubby with 2:1 on the last two maps to become the winner of the Warcraft III: The Frozen Throne 2009 Regional Finals, taking home $5000.00 as a prize.

Spanish domination kept on going when team x6tence was able to defeat team Woah -- led by the famous Inflame -- in two breathtaking rounds, winning both times 3:2. A thrilling moment was the match where Woah lost their druid but still kept on going, finally resulting in the defeat of team x6tence in that round. After two rounds, x6tence won the World of Warcraft Regional Finals and received a $15,000 check from Tom Chilton.

Stay tuned and continue watching the beginning of the 2009 North American Regional Finals which will start in a few minutes with more exciting matches on our website for the Regional Finals and make sure to check out the live coverage on our forum thread.

 2009 Regional Finals Day One - Part 2 - 26/06/09

The first day of the 2009 Regional Finals has seen plenty of action loaded matches for Warcraft III and World of Warcraft. European players Grubby and LucifroN and teams Woah and eDawgs have fought and won their first round matches in this amazing tournament here in Cologne, Germany.

One of the most energetic matches in WCIII’s first round was shown to us by Grubby, losing the first game against Happy (download the replay), struggling in the second, but recovering amazingly to eventually defeat Happy 2:1 thus keeping his title "King of the Orcs".

On the World of Warcraft Arena side, “Rest in many pieces” lost against eDawgs in an awesome second round battle featuring two RMP (Rogue Mage Priest) teams, a popular class composition for the European competitors. In the second game, both spectators and Blizzard staff watched breathlessly while the two surviving mages hunted each other with DaisyD from “Rest in many pieces” finally triumphing over his counterpart, Saori of eDawgs.

Players including Happy, SaSe, VortiX and Nicker as well as teams Rest in many pieces, SK Gaming EU, x6tence and aAa will continue battling each other in the Lower Bracket of this tournament, fighting for a chance to reach the finals.

We’ve updated our photo gallery for the Regional Finals with many awesome pictures. Check out our gallery to get an impression of the tournament location, visitors, shoutcasters and of course the players on stage. Be sure to continue following the exciting action in real-time from our Regional Finals live Internet stream. You can also check out the live coverage on our Forum thread for Day 1.

Stay tuned for further exciting coverage from the 2009 Regional Finals!

  2009 Warcraft Regional Finals Day One - 26/06/09

Today, Friday the 26th of June, the 2009 Regional Finals for World of Warcraft Arena and Warcraft III: The Frozen Throne will open its gates to both pro-gamers and visitors looking forward to the start of the competition. The expectations are high, plenty of well-known players and teams have gathered in Cologne to fight for the European and North American Regional Finals title for 2009.

The first matches are slated to start at 14:00 PM CEST. Be sure to check out our information page for a detailed schedule and also our live updated brackets page for both World of Warcraft and Warcraft III.

Additionally we will provide you with live, up-to-date coverage on the Community Forums. Each day, we will be creating one forum thread and providing coverage, commentary, and perhaps a few responses to questions that come up over the days. See the Day One thread where we’re gathering some initial impressions from our pre-event coverage for your reading pleasure.