Mists of Pandaria Internal Alpha Started
A lot of people have been asking me when we should expect a MoP beta or more updates on the game, and the answer to that question is simple: soon. All the recent events indicate that the internal alpha testing already started:
- The old WoW2 Battle.net accounts used for the Cataclysm Beta have finally been removed from some players Battle.net pages.
- The recent update of the official talent calculator had multiple spells tagged as "NYI" (Not Yet Implemented). This is what we see in Alpha/Beta stages of the game to indicate that a spell doesn't work in-game yet.
- Community Managers have posted actual screenshots of new spells tooltips in-game. It means they have a server they can easily connect to for that, and it's most likely the biggest proof.
Now what does it mean for players? First, let's be clear, this is the internal alpha and it is different from the Friend & Family Alpha where non-Blizzard employees can play as long as they know someone in the company. This one would be restricted to employees only and Blizzard executives are probably watching anything happening there very closely.
However, it definitely means that if everything goes well we should see a Friend & Family Alpha or a Beta within one or two month, and the Mists of Pandaria press tour on March 19 is most likely a way to prepare fansites to that. For Cataclysm, the press tour happened about 2 weeks before the start of the closed beta.
NAO Invitational Tournament
Curse, Skill-Capped, and Logitech are sponsoring a player run Arena tournament with over $4000 in prizes. You can find the list of prizes on ArenaJunkies. See the structure and rules for more information about how the teams are selected.
This tournament did not allow 4.3 PvE gear and had the final matches this afternoon.
Method vs Dragon Soul
Method made a nice video overview of their journey through Dragon Soul that is different from the normal boss kill videos.
Trading Card Game Art Gallery Update
The Trading Card game art gallery has been updated with ten new pieces.
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