Welcome to the first edition of the Blizzard Monthly Mashup. It contains recent news on almost all of Blizzard Entertainment’s game updates and upcoming projects. Lets take a look into the world of Blizzard Entertainment with some updates on World of Warcraft, Diablo II, StarCraft II, and the Worldwide Invitation in Paris 2008, which our very own Becky “Aktrez” Young will be attending this weekend.
New World of Warcraft Public Test Realm Patch 2.4.3
You heard correctly, Blizzard just released a new public test patch for World of Warcraft. Some of the features include: Dispel effects will no longer attempt to remove effects that have 100% dispel resistance. Blood Elf flightmasters outside of Silvermoon City and Tranquillien have traded in their bats for glorious fire-breathing dragonhawks. When a stun wears off, the creature that was stunned will prefer the last target with the highest threat, versus the current target. Mounts at 30?! Yes, it’s true: Apprentice Riding and mounts are now available at level 30. Training costs 35 gold. All these features, bug fixes and more are available to view at WorldofWarcraft.com.
New Diablo II patch lets you play without disk
With rumors buzzing about the idea of a possible Diablo III game, it seems everyone has all but forgotten about Diablo II. Let’s take a step back and look at a new feature for the future of Diablo II. Blizzard has released patch 1.12 for Diablo II, which allows you to run the full game without the disc in the tray, provided you have all the required .MPQ files. According to BlizzPlanet, that either requires a full re-installation or copy-and-pasting the proper files onto the computer. The patch also fixes some compatibility with Intel Macs and resets the online rankings.
New World of Warcraft comic coming soon
This September DC Comic’s Wildstorm label is launching a new WoW-focused 4-issue comic series just in time for the release of the game’s Wrath of the Lich King expansion pack. The series (written by Blizzard creative director Mickey Neilson) tells the story of the legendary Ashbringer sword — an item with a back story more detailed than what is found in most games. World of Warcraft: Ashbringer goes on sale September 10, and should retail for $4 per issue.
Wraith of the Lich King Achievements
If your one of the kajillion people worldwide keeping up with the upcoming release of WoW: Wraith of the Lich King, here are some interesting rumors. It’s been said on numerous gaming sites that the expansion will include a series of “Achievement” like awards similar to that of the Xbox 360 console. Many arn’t sure what to think of the feature and others are just plain confused. Would such a feature make you play more WoW? Imagine logging in on day one of the expansion to discover a list of achievements you’ve almost already finished.
New Starcraft 2 Screen Art
Blizzard just released some new concept art and screen shots of StarCraft II, take a look!
Activision Blizzard - World’s Most Valuable Video Game Company
The official merger of Activision and the Vivendi games unit, including World of Warcraft publisher Blizzard, is set to complete on July 8 and will become the world’s “most profitable” interactive entertainment company, according to Lazard Capital analyst Colin Sebastian.
“We believe the transaction is set to create a formidable new digital media powerhouse and the most valuable interactive entertainment company worldwide, unlocking the value of industry juggernaut World of Warcraft, and possibly also setting a new benchmark for profit margins among publicly traded video game pure-plays”
Along with the rosy outlook, Sebastian is raising the company’s target price (the price at which buyers will purchase the stock) from $33 to $40.
Psychiatrist says that WoW is more embarrassing than porn
It may be the most famous MMORPG in the world, with over 10 million subscribers to the game, but according to a leading psychiatrist in the treatment of online game addiction, some World Of Warcraft users are more ashamed of being addicted to it than online porn.
In a revealing interview printed in Sunday’s Boston Globe, Dr Jerald Block spoke about the rise in internet addiction and some of the cases he has had to 
deal with. In it, he states: “The computer gamers tend to be harder to treat. People feel a lot of shame around computer games. Whereas, it’s socially acceptable to have a porn problem.”
Further on in the interview, Block explains that: “As a society we understand that porn is something people do, and you can see a psychiatrist and get treated for it. But gaming is hard to describe to anyone else.
“So these people can’t explain their situation to friends. In fact, it’s hard to give you an example of what my clients talk about, because gaming is enormously complicated.”
source TechRadar
Retro Blizzard on GEN:
Blizzard Acquires Diablo3.com domain. Promises no announcement soon.
On top of all this our very own Becky “Aktrez” Young will be attending the Blizzard Entertainment Worldwide Invitational in Paris, France this weekend (June 28th/29th). Where she will be reporting live on the Girls Entertainment Network! Keep checking back for exciting first look coverage on all that Blizzard has to offer. Let’s hope for some news on Diablo III, Starcraft II and more World of Warcraft goodies.
And for your enjoyment…
June 21st, 2008 at 8:41 pm
I certainly haven’t forgotten about Diablo 2! Since my system is so old and can’t run newer stuff, and I have no consoles, I’ve been filling in the past month playing that grand out game.
The reason you can always return to D2 is simple- randomness, massive amounts of choices, and a bajillion and one things to find and keep upgrading.
Though, with my “startoveritis” I never seem to get through the darn thing before resetting for one reason or another. I’ve still never even taken a character through the nightmare or hell levels! =P
All that said, I’m looking forward to Diablo 3, which I KNOW will come out someday. It would be criminal not to put it out.