Tier 13 Armor Sets Model Preview, LFR PTR Testing, Blue Posts

The first half of Dragon Soul is now testable through LFR. If you're level 85 and have an average item level above 365, you will be able to queue for the Siege of Wyrmrest Temple. The second LFR entry for the later half of the raid is not yet available.

This is VERY much a work in progress, the UI is in an unpolished state right now. Give it a try though!

The following four bosses are available for testing in 10 and 25 player Normal Difficulties:

• Morchok
• Warlord Zon'ozz
• Yor'sahj the Unsleeping
• Hagara

Note that Jacob McWeaksauce is at this instant turned off, so you will have to progress through the raid normally to test each boss.

HEROIC testing begins this afternoon, and will continue on throughout tomorrow.

10/26 14:30 PDT - Morchok 10 Player Heroic
10/26 16:30 PDT - Yor'sahj the Unsleeping 10 Player Heroic

10/27 10:30 PDT - Hagara 10 Player Heroic
10/27 14:30 PDT - Ultraxion 10 Player Heroic
10/27 16:30 PDT - Spine of Deathwing 10 Player Heroic

As usual, this schedule is highly fluid and might change at a moment's notice due to build status, bugs, or other factors. I'll try to keep everyone up to speed as much as possible, but check back to this thread often.

Update! We've opened up guild services to two additional battlegroups, Whirlwind and Emberstorm, which include the following realms:

Antonidas, Anub'arak, Blackwater Raiders, Bladefist, Borean Tundra, Cairne, Cenarion Circle, Cenarius, Darrowmere, Drak'Tharon, Drenden, Echo Isles, Farstriders, Fenris, Garrosh, Hydraxis, Hyjal, Korialstrasz, Lightbringer, Maiev, Misha, Mok'Nathal, Moon Guard, Nazgrel, Nesingwary, Nordrassil, Quel'dorei, Ravenholdt, Rivendare, Shandris, Shu'halo, Sisters of Elune, The Forgotten Coast, Tortheldrin, Uther, Vashj, Winterhoof, Wyrmrest Accord

Pandas? Why??
Blizzard has given the Panderan a rich culture and a specific way of thinking. A history that goes back beyond the sundering with their own struggles and accomplishments. They have an identity beyond "Look, its Pandas."
This is something I want to touch on a bit more. People seem to think that Pandaren were a joke, a throw away easter egg that we never fully intended as a playable race.

I will direct you to recall the Warcraft RPG (pen and paper) manuals released in 2003. While much of it hasn't been canon for quite some time, the Pandaren occupy a greater amount of pages and space within the manuals to establish their lore and story than pretty much every other creature on Azeroth. To give it some context, they occupy the same number of pages as Trolls in the Monster Manual, and share the same amount space in the Alliance and Horde Compendium with Orcs or Humans, and just like them ... you guessed it... Pandaren were a playable race.

(there's also an awesome sketch Metzen did of a Pandaren, Dwarf, Furbolg, and Gnome hanging out all friendly-like)

As I said a lot of this was pre-World of Warcraft, and by whatever stroke of fate, Trolls and Forsaken became playable races and Pandaren, Naga, and Furbolgs did not. Some other mix could have just as easily been true, and no one would have questioned it. Worgen didn't even exist back then, of course, they were a new creation for World of Warcraft.

It would simply be inaccurate to state that Pandaren were a throw away. Our intent, going back to Warcraft III, when the vast majority of the world lore and story was established for the franchise, was always to have a deep and rich history for a race known as the Pandaren.

http://www.wowpedia.org/File:Heroraces.jpg?c=1 There's the pic.
Haha, yup, that's the one. Thank you. And this is actually a great resource covering the contents of the manuals, just please keep in mind that much of it is now highly inaccurate and the visual style of the Pandaren have changed quite a bit since then.

http://www.wowpedia.org/Pandaren (Blue Tracker / Official Forums)