Holy Paladin Artifact Weapon Preview, Tweets, Activision Blizzard and MLG, Fan Art

[chaud]

John Yang Tweets, DH Season 5 In-Depth Summary

LOE Arena Card Distribution Changes, Deck Spotlight: Reno Control Warrior, iPad Crash Workaround

Arena Not Coming on Q1 2016 & Lunara Balance, MLG Bought by Activision-Blizzard, Sales

Happy Holidays from Overpwn

Legion - Artifact Weapon Previews
Today we have the Holy Paladin Artifacts The Silver Hand and Tome of the Silver Hand.

Ghostcrawler Tweets
Ghostcrawler still occasionally talks about WoW. Remember that he no longer works for or speaks for Blizzard.

do you think we'll ever get to the point where MMO's could rely less on numbers for combat?
Sure. I don't know what MMOs will look like in the future. Destiny seems to have fewer numbers than WoW. (OccupyGStreet)

Although I'll never forgive you for Chakra. I do miss your thoughts/musings on WoW. The other devs have gone radio silent!
Lol I didn't invent Chakra. I just agreed Holy needed something besides generic healing spells. (OccupyGStreet)
I wish you had have told us earlier. and I now regret all the crabs we tortured and slew in retaliation for Chakra.
I've gone on record as saying I don't think "form swapping" works in any game. (OccupyGStreet)

Wrath of the Lich King Timewalking Event

Through the end of the day on Monday, Timewalking is back. For these six days, take a trip to Northrend and experience these five Heroic dungeons:

• Ahn’kahet: The Old Kingdom
• Gundrak
• Halls of Lightning
• The Nexus
• Utgarde Pinnacle

Don’t forget to pick up the event-only quest “A Frozen Path Through Time” before you queue up for Timewalking, as it rewards a valuable Seal of Inevitable Fate. Also worth noting are the additional rewards that were added in patch 6.2.2 for Timewalking events – be sure to check out the all details in the patch notes.

Which of the dungeons above are you looking forward to the most?

Activision Blizzard Acquires the Business of Major League Gaming

Activision Blizzard, Inc. (Nasdaq: ATVI) today announced the acquisition of the business of Major League Gaming (MLG). MLG is a leader in creating and streaming premium live gaming events, organizing professional competitions and running competitive gaming leagues. The acquisition expands Activision Blizzard's reach across the rapidly-growing esports ecosystem by adding proven live streaming capabilities and technologies to the Activision Blizzard Media Networks division, led by former ESPN CEO Steve Bornstein and MLG Co-founder Mike Sepso.

Bobby Kotick, Chief Executive Officer of Activision Blizzard, said, "Our acquisition of Major League Gaming's business furthers our plans to create the ESPN of esports. MLG's ability to create premium content and its proven broadcast technology platform - including its live streaming capabilities - strengthens our strategic position in competitive gaming. MLG has an incredibly strong and seasoned team and a thriving community. Together, we will create new ways to celebrate players and their unique skills, dedication and commitment to gaming. We are excited to add Sundance and the entire MLG esports team to our competitive gaming initiatives."

Sundance DiGiovanni, Chief Executive Officer and MLG Co-founder, said, "Our mission for over 12 years has been to promote and expand the growth of competitive gaming worldwide, and today the industry is at a key inflection point as its popularity soars and rivals that of many traditional professional sports. This acquisition and Activision Blizzard's commitment to competitive gaming will expand the opportunities for gamers to be recognized and celebrated for their competitive excellence."

Mike Sepso, Senior Vice President of Activision Blizzard Media Networks and MLG Co-founder, said, "Sundance and I founded MLG to highlight the incredible talent of competitive gamers all over the world. Activision Blizzard's esports leadership, incredible intellectual property and long history in competitive gaming create a perfect home for MLG's capabilities. The acquisition of MLG's business is an important step towards Activision Blizzard Media Networks' broader mission to bring esports into the mainstream by creating and broadcasting premium esports content, organizing global league play and expanding distribution with key gaming partners."

MLG will continue to operate MLG.tv, MLG Pro Circuit and GameBattles platforms, and will continue to work with its partners and other publishers across the industry. MLG.tv is a premium online broadcast network for professional-level esports and the MLG Pro Circuit is the longest-running esports league in North America. GameBattles is the largest online gaming tournament system across consoles, PC and mobile platforms.

With over 100 million unique viewers, the esports audience is estimated to be bigger than audiences for many professional sports leagues. Creating premium content for these audiences will provide significant opportunities in ticket sales, advertising, sponsorships, licensing and merchandising. By 2017, esports is projected to have over 300 million viewers1. For the past 12 years, MLG has helped bring esports into the mainstream with broadcasts of professional gaming competitions that rival traditional sports fan engagement.

Fan Art
A nice piece of Garrosh fan art was posted on Reddit today.

[siccora]

that silver hand is a little bit too big isn't it? seated on your hip will look stupid.

[Venziir]

that silver hand is a little bit too big isn't it? seated on your hip will look stupid.

Well it used to belong to a titanic watcher, and it's based upon the Warcraft 3 paladins who used 2h maces and a tome.

[Juther]

Agree. Any chance to have new cast animations with unseated weapon? Btw scale seems a bit too big anyways...

[thilicen]

Very much doubt that's the final size tbh, would probably clip the ground at some point.

[cuafpr]

wow that hammer is huge for holy.... i'd like that for prot vs a sword ><

[Deleted]

that silver hand is a little bit too big isn't it? seated on your hip will look stupid.

well it could be on the back easily we have seen many one-handed weapons do that

[Adamas102]

I highly doubt that will hang from the waist.

[Palmtree]

Blizzard forgetting Pit of Saron ?
I was just there, beware that people are getting kicked that don't get up the hill fast enough (before the add packs are there)

[Flamez2]

Blizzard forgetting Pit of Saron ?
I was just there, beware that people are getting kicked that don't get up the hill fast enough (before the add packs are there)

most likely the hardest of all those timewalking dungeons, was great fun seeing that place again.

[Palmtree]

most likely the hardest of all those timewalking dungeons, was great fun seeing that place again.

tbh it was really easy, only problem was people being to slow up the hill to avoid the packs of adds, died because of it, released and getting kicked because it takes too long to wait.

[mykro9]

As others have mentioned, I bet fury warriors are jealous of the one-handed mace that DWARFS their two-handed swords.

[pitfireX]

As others have mentioned, I bet fury warriors are jealous of the one-handed mace that DWARFS their two-handed swords.

Sadly its WAY too common these days. Like 60% of the PVP 2 handed weapons in the last 5 years have been so short, yet 1 handers just get bigger and bigger.

[Super Kami Dende]

I have a feeling that size will be toned down a bit.

[Shorteh]

Really digging the Holy Paladin mace and book designs.
The size of the Holy Paladin weapon is just right. The idea of wielding a 2handed weapon and a book is common in Warcraft Paladin lore.
I hope they don't scale it down, and that it sits on the back when seathed.

I wonder if they'll let us transmog the book individually, and if the mace will be considered a 2H or 1H (e.g. for transmog/wardrobe).

[Deleted]

The thing appears to clip through the floor as part of the blood elf idle animation, judging by wowhead's model viewer. I think it needs to be reduced in size slightly.

[Tuesdays]

That hammer size is ridiculous as an unsheathed weapon, tad jealous as a fury warrior.

[Deleted]

How can people complain about big weapens lol

[leothar]

that silver hand is a little bit too big isn't it? seated on your hip will look stupid.

It sheathes on your back!

[Thrif]

Even if they reduce it, it'll still be really large for a 1-hander. Pretty neat that they are bringing back the war3 paladin feeling, just hoping they make them use the book reading animation from that game as well.