Update 28.10.2008:
Couple of other important notes:

• The scourge invasion will continue for a few more days.
• The prologue event is not over! More to come!!
• The Karazhan boss will be up for approximately another week still
• We increased the respawn rate of the Necropoli
• Zombie cure should kick in by around noon PST

Update 27.10.2008: (Phase 5-5.)
The infection is still 1 minute. New npcs have arrived with quest in Shattrath

Update 27.10.2008: (Phase 5.)
The infection is now reduced to 1 minutes. Most Argent Dawn healers have left.

Update 26.10.2008: (Phase 4.)
The infection is now reduced to 2 minutes. There are necropolis all over Azeroth and a new boss in Karazhan.

According to reports from around Azeroth, infected crates can now be found in some major cities. Other reports inform us of Infected Roaches spreading the disease if you kill them. Looking at the 3.02 patch notes and the main header image we can only imagen what will happen at a later stage.

Found in the rotting diary of Eric Farrington in the dead city of Andorhal…

Wednesday
My beloved home, Andorhal, has fallen victim to an evil plague. I have witnessed the horrors of the Scourge firsthand, and seen unimaginable things. Death was not granted to my loved ones. Instead, everyone I’ve ever known has turned into monsters. Monsters of unfathomable, relentless viciousness!

I thought naught of a few illnesses, a few fevers. We continued to ship out crates of grain to Lordaeron, and we weren’t fearful of this new sickness — we were confident our healers could handle it. I know now that was foolish, blind.

The denizens of Andorhal turned into vile zombies of the Scourge. These monstrosities no longer held any thoughts or abilities from their mortal lives. Most certain of all, they readily used new powers we had never seen before to further spread the disease and hasten the destruction of the city.

I have been hiding for two days in the sewers, but I must venture out soon to find supplies or possibly a way out of the city to the forests.

Friday
Help me, I’ve been bitten!

I cannot believe I was foolish enough to think I could sneak past all of them on the streets. The zombies are everywhere now, and Andorhal is only a shell of its former glory, a sad and twisted remnant of my beautiful home.

I can already feel the disease taking me. May the light bless me as I go to be with my family and friends once again. I’m not sure how much longer I can keep my sanity. I am weak. I hunger, and must eat…

Eat…

Brains…

The Scourge Invasion is upon us! Prepare yourself for the deadly onslaught of the Scourge, unleashed upon Azeroth and all its denizens.

Source

All players will have their talent points reimbursed and will have access to new talents throughout their trees; this includes the 51-point talents. Several new spells and abilities have been added for all classes. Players will need to visit their class trainer to learn new spells

Source

Cold Weather Flying was indeed a part of a quest line, but we changed it because we felt that it wasn’t clear enough where to get it.

This ability will now be purchasable instead, and the 1000 gold cost has been tuned around the amount of gold people will usually have gathered around level 77. At that level we expect you will have more than enough gold to afford getting the Cold Weather Flying ability.

We had hoped that the introduction of some new Honor rewards in the upcoming patch would give players a great opportunity to spend any of their remaining Honor. However, many players would still be surprised by an Honor and token reset as it isn’t something we’ve done in the past. As such, we’ve decided to not reset Honor or tokens upon the release of Wrath of the Lich King. Players who save their Honor will be able to spend it on level 80 rewards, although those rewards will be significantly more expensive than their level 70 counterparts.

Source

As many of you know we will be featuring a new Battleground, a dedicated world PvP zone and all new PvP items in Wrath of the Lich King. In order to make the transition from The Burning Crusade to Wrath of the Lich King flow as smoothly as possible, all accrued honor points will be reset at the launch of the expansion. We do this to ensure select players do not have an unfair advantage at level 80 from stockpiling honor to instantly purchase the newest Wrath of the Lich King PvP rewards. For those with unspent honor points prior to the release of the expansion, we will be offering a few upgrades and special rewards in next content patch solely for purchase via the honor system.

Wrath of the Lich King will be available in both a standard edition and a special Collector’s Edition (in select areas). The Collector’s Edition will contain an art book, behind-the-scenes DVD, exclusive in-game pet, and more.

Tigole Blizzard Poster
You guys have discovered our Heirloom items. These (as you know) are Bound to account, which means you can mail them to any character on the same realm. They also scale with level. So you can mail these to a level one character and it will have appropriate stats (although slightly uber) for about 10 levels and then the item scales in power again, all the way up to how you’re seeing it now.

We’re also going to add some Bind on Account non-scaling items for higher level alts. in the future.
source

(more…)

With the release of Wrath of the Lich King approaching, we wanted to provide you with some important information. In preparation for the expansion, we will be issuing a new content patch in the coming weeks. Much like the patch made available shortly before The Burning Crusade’s release, this content patch is designed to bridge current game content with that of the expansion and will contain some exciting changes and additions.

We have outlined some of the larger features scheduled to release with the patch below:

• New class spells and talents.
• Barbershops in capital cities.
• Zeppelin towers outside of Orgrimmar and Tirisfal Glades.
• Stormwind Harbour.
• In-game guild calendar.
• Hunter pet skill revamp.
• New profession: Inscription.
• Two brand-new Arenas featuring challenging new layouts, terrain hazards, and moving obstacles:
  • Orgrimmar Arena.
  • Dalaran Arena.

As mentioned above, this is not a comprehensive list, just some of the major highlights. We’ll post the full patch notes as soon as they’re available.
Regarding Inscription, please note that all Burning Crusade players will be able to select Inscription as one of their two professions and level up to a skill level of 375 with it. Upon the release of Wrath of the Lich King, players who purchase and install the expansion will be able to continue leveling in Inscription and the other professions beyond 375.

Source

Five years have passed since Arthas released Ner’zhul from his icy prison and merged with him, claiming the Frozen Throne of Icecrown. Now the heir of Lordaeron has risen again, and soon the world will learn what it means to incur the wrath of its one true king….

The opening cinematic for World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King is now available for download or streaming from the official Wrath of the Lich King website. Check it out now!