Update: Our friends over at GuildWars2Guru were able to take part in the press event for Guild Wars 2 and get PvE, PvP, cities, character creation, and other videos. If you are interested in the game be sure to have a look!

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.



This article was originally published in forum thread: Mists of Pandaria Internal Alpha, NAO Invitational, Method vs Dragon Soul started by Boubouille View original post
Comments 148 Comments
  1. Venteus's Avatar
    I'll take faith on what they said and showed at Blizzcon. They want to release this soon - i'll say August release.
  1. Tygor's Avatar
    Honestly for all we know the F&F alpha is about over, with the closed alpha starting starting soon. March press tour saying that closed beta starts in a few weeks. Beta starting early-mid April. I'm guessing 3-4 months and there you have your July/August release. It won't release later than that I'm guessing due to the sales call in August.
  1. tilgare's Avatar
    Quote Originally Posted by thebdc View Post
    BC beta: 3 months
    WOTLK beta: 4 months
    Cataclysm beta: 5 months
    Yep, I did the math and came up with that as well. I think the Cataclysm beta was just longer because it was such a massive overhaul of the game... so let's assume a 4 month beta for MoP instead of 6 months. I don't think we'll see a 3 month beta again like we did in BC, but anything is possible - depends entirely on the amount of internal testing they've gotten done.

    If we get F&F Alpha in the next 2-4 weeks, and Closed Beta about 2-4 weeks after that (ie, 2 weeks after the press event), we could conceivably see release EARLY Q3 which would stick pretty closely to their 6 month content cycles. We got Dragon Soul in early December, so if you estimated with only that in mind, you'd guess approximately June for release. July isn't much further off and we would get our systems update in May-June anyways to tide us over.
  1. Mehrunes Dagon's Avatar
    Still the best raid video:
  1. Nexsa's Avatar
    Ah, looking good. Can't wait, feeling like a kid before x-mas.
  1. Valedus's Avatar
    I'd say that the beta will end up starting late March/early April, after the press event. Probably going to see July/August release. As people above said, they've scrapped too much content to push the release back. I would think two months of all of the Annual Passers beta testing would be enough. Either way - much hype in my world, pretty excited for this expansion. Wish it was coming out like next week. =)
  1. Loooolz.looolz's Avatar
    With beta starting end of march/april, we might get MoP around July/August that means pre-expansion patch with new mechanics/talents and pre-exp events would be around may/june. that would fit what they said on blizzcon about releasing expansions earlier!
  1. mmoc49efe580e8's Avatar
    loved the movie, spell effects are far too sparkley though in wow
  1. landyn's Avatar
    Ooooh Alpha! Can't wait!
  1. The Ogdru Jahad's Avatar
    Quote Originally Posted by Llunai View Post
    April or May??? Are you NUTS? If the INTERNAL alpha is underway mid-February, that probably means we (won't) see the F&F alpha around the timeframe you mentioned, perhaps a tad sooner. That means Beta testing underway mid-late summer, if we're lucky. Which probably means a 2013 release.

    Best case scenario would involve everything happening a month or so earlier than I predicted above, which would have to include Blizzard somehow finishing a game promptly for a change. If this were the case, that would put us at a late late 2012 release (ie: holiday release).
    There is no way its a 2013 release lmfao. Do you honestly think blizz can keep people playing for another 10 months?
  1. Sabence's Avatar
    I. Love. That. Video.
  1. Malcho's Avatar
    This is a whole lot of nothing new.
  1. ContentsMayVary's Avatar
    I don't think they'll want Diablo 3 and MOP to come out too close together. I also think (with no evidence to show you ) that Diablo 3 will come out first, probably around May. I'm guessing there will be a gap of about 2-3 months between D3 and MOP.

    Therefore my prediction is that the earliest that MOP will come out is August, and the latest is October.

    My money is on it coming out in August.
  1. Ryme's Avatar
    Quote Originally Posted by Mehrunes Dagon View Post
    Still the best raid video:
    Nah,

    Ulduar: The Movie is the best
  1. Vook's Avatar
    >15,000 manaSo the item level squish hasn't gone through yet, I see.
  1. Reserk's Avatar
    That movie is the best. So epic especially with the music. Great job.
  1. Draxz's Avatar
    LoL we won't see beta till april then "BIG" maybe release at nov/December of MoP. Remember they want to capitalize the corporate greed of Annual Pass subscribers.
  1. Teriz's Avatar
    Didn't the press tour for Cataclysm happen in June of 2010? MoP's press tour is happening in March.
  1. Bongomadness's Avatar
    Quote Originally Posted by Draxz View Post
    LoL we won't see beta till april then "BIG" maybe release at nov/December of MoP. Remember they want to capitalize the corporate greed of Annual Pass subscribers.
    ye i agree, ive said all along to people i bet it wont be out untill the annual pass is up, for me i hope it isnt at least that way i can try the beta and if i dont like it i dont have to buy the expansion and be bothered about still having to pay for something i wont be logging into.
  1. steveyboy's Avatar
    http://www.mmo-champion.com/threads/...Press-TourThis is when Cata press tour was. Mop is in march.Therefore mop will come before december...... Most likely in september.

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