PARIS, France — Blizzard Entertainment® today announced that the release date for World of Warcraft®: The Burning Crusadeâ„¢, the highly anticipated expansion for World of Warcraft, will be in January 2007. By adding a few extra weeks to the development cycle beyond its original target date, Blizzard will be able to extend the closed beta test and further refine the new content that will ship with the game.

“We appreciate the enthusiasm surrounding World of Warcraft: The Burning Crusade, and we’re excited about putting the finishing touches on all of the new content,” said Mike Morhaime, president and cofounder of Blizzard Entertainment. “We feel confident that the extra time spent polishing the game will result in the high-quality experience that our players expect and deserve.”

Blizzard began the closed-beta phase of testing on World of Warcraft: The Burning Crusade earlier this month. The January 2007 release window will allow extra time for current beta testers to participate in the final stages of development and continue providing valuable feedback.

Further information on specific worldwide release dates, pricing, and other details will be announced in the near future.

Frostnova and Navarre had the honor to join Lubushka in creating the Legendary Hand of Ragnaros.

Huge congratulations on behalf of everyone in Imperial Fist.

Some images can be found here

With the upcoming release of the Burning Crusade, we thought we would take the time to explain more on a new stat that we are introducing: Combat Ratings. These ratings are being used for any combat stat that previously was percentage-based such as: critical strike chance, hit chance, dodge chance and defense skill. Combat ratings are only used with effects generated by items and do not apply to effects that are generated by spells and talents which will continue to work the same.

The following combat ratings are currently in use: weapon skill, defense, dodge, parry, block, hit chance, spell hit chance, critical strike chance, spell critical strike chance, resilience, haste, and spell haste.

*We may introduce others at a later time.

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Our small-big tank has been travelling the world of Burning Crusade with his loyal Gnome-camera.

He has posted lots of nice and cool pictures in our forums The Burning Crusade section.

Go check them out.

Trick or Treat! Hallow’s End is here again.
Every year during Hallow’s End, adventurers celebrate the time when the Forsaken broke away from the Scourge. Heroes for the Horde and Alliance can speak with any innkeeper and get a Treat Bag with a fun surprise inside! Open it as soon as you get it or else it will fade away. Be wary, though. The innkeepers are just as likely to trick you, changing your perspective on life.

Wth the release of World of Warcraft: The Burning Crusade, many core aspects of the game will be improved, expanding the choices available to players and streamlining some gameplay elements. For example, new raid encounters are being designed for a maximum of 25 players, and the PvP system will change how honor works in the game. Following this general strategy of making gameplay even more rewarding and expanding the playing experience with new, interesting content, the professions of World of Warcraft are also set to receive major updates to ensure that they remain a fun and worthwhile part of your adventures in Azeroth and beyond. Learn more about the specific changes for each profession, and get a sneak peek at some of the cool new recipes in our online preview of the updated professions in World of Warcraft: The Burning Crusade.

Blizzard finally got the last spell and talents available.
All talents and spells

Blizzard has announced the they will release a Collector’s Edition of Burning Crusade.

We’re happy to announce that World of Warcraft: The Burning Crusade will ship in standard as well as Collector’s Edition packages. The Collector’s Edition will come in a special box that contains many exclusive extras to enhance your adventure into Outland.

You can find more information about it here