BlizzCon on hold until 2013

Blizzard has decided to skip this year's BlizzCon in favor of "getting Diablo III, Mists of Pandaria, and Heart of the Swarm into players’ hands as soon as possible." 

The 2012 Battle.net World Championship is still on for late in 2012 in Asia and will feature the StarCraft II and World of Warcraft Arena World Championship tournaments. 

Its near impossible to predict the moves of Blizzard but I think it is safe to say that no new Blizzard titles will launch in 2012 and none until after BlizzCon 2013. I guess the rumors of Diablo III launching in early 2012 were a bit too good to be true.

Blizzard

Pandaren come to Azeroth, get Diablo III for free and more news from BlizzCon

Like all great things, the Pandaren started as an April Fools joke. The ancient ale-loving pandas are now playable characters in the new World of Warcraft expansion: Mists of Pandaria. Pandaren haven't exactly chose a side so you can roll a Pandaren on either the horde or the alliance. In addition to hunters, mages, priests, rogues, shaman, and warriors the Pandaren can also be the new class for the expansion, the monk.

Monks are melee combat focused and while they can use swords and staves their power can shine just using punches and kicks. There are entirely new animations for these attacks so fighting a monk should look like no other class.

Blizzard is also moving the level cap up from 85 to level 90. Scenarios are also a new addition and sound like something made for the loner, casual player like myself. They entail short instances with a full story arc and assumingly some sweet loot.

Many people have said this next new feature is basically Pokemon, and I can't disagree. All those faithful little pets you've collected throughout the years can now be put to some actual use. You can level up these little critters and fight other trainers players. I may return to the game just for this.

Blizzard is also kinda sorta giving Diablo III away for free. Assuming you are someone who pays for WoW all year that is. If you make a one-year commitment subscription to WoW you get a download copy of Diablo III for free. You also get a WoW mount, and access to the next WoW beta. Thankfully you don't have to pay all at once. You can pay $14.99 a month but you are locked in for a full 12 months. That works out to around $180. If you're some one who is paying for WoW anyway you just got yourself a free game, if not you might want to look into the economics of your play cycle before you commit. Of course there are more features and many new tid-bits of info, learn up on them all on Blizzard's expansion page.

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Watch: First trailer for Valve's Dota 2

Feast your eyes upon Valve's first trailer for Dota 2. Before you get too excited there is no gameplay to be seen, only some pretty CG. The CG trailer is curiously similar to the way Blizzard operates. I admit, I don't know much about Dota or its origins but I do know it was originally a mod for Blizzard's Warcraft III.

Being that Valve's title looks very similar to Blizzard's character designs and the game is straight up called Dota 2, has caused some concern. No official legal action has happened yet but I wouldn't be surprised if some lawsuits pop up around the game's launch.

Valve has planned to capture the hearts and minds of competitive gamers by holding the first Dota 2 tournament before the game is even released. Later this week at Gamescom in Germany pro gamers will get a shot at 1 million dollars. It will cost you significantly less to start playing Dota 2 as the game is widely believed to launch as a free-to-play title later this year. Watch the trailer after the break.

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World of Warcraft is free-to-play through level 20

You've hear of World of Warcraft right? The mega-popular, life stealing, money machine? Well, if you haven't you can check it out now for free. The first hit is always free. Previously Blizzard offered a mere 14-day free trail to WoW but now they are dipping their toe into the free-to-play market. Blizzard has no problems keeping a large subscriber base but as WoW ages and new MMOs chip away at Blizzard's cash cow they may need to plan ahead. This free period of play and their online store which sells mounts and in game pets is a step in that direction.

There are quite a few restrictions during this period but unless you're a gold farmer they shouldn't hinder your experience all too much. You can sign up for free and enjoy WoW right now here. I don't think WoW will be going completely free-to-play any time soon but Blizzard has a new secret MMO project still in the works, could this be some experimenting for that new franchise? It wouldn't only make sense, you wouldn't want to cannibalize sales of your own game after all.

Blizzard via: WoW Insider