Eyonix over at the official World of Warcraft forums has dropped some details about a new patch due to be released "in the coming weeks" that slips in some of the new Wrath of the Lich King content before the release of the eagerly anticipated expansion pack. Included in the patch are nifty new features like barbershops in all capital cities, allowing players to change their look, Stormwind Harbour and new zeppelin towers outside Ogrimmar and Tirisfal to help facilitate transportation to Northrend, two brand new arenas with moving obstacles and terrain hazards, new spells and talents, revamped hunter pet skills, the incredibly nifty guild calendar feature, and a new profession - Inscription. Players who own Burning Crusade will be able to level Inscription up to 375, continuing past that cap once the expansion is released.

Exciting news, but not as exciting as the news it implies. Wrath of the Lich King is coming, perhaps sooner than we've hoped. I for one welcome our new Death Knight overlords.

Content Patch Before Wrath of the Lich King [WoW Forums via Wired - Thanks Wingsoverglory!]

Don't like WoW? Not up to date on the latest expansion, Wrath of the Lich King? Doesn't really matter. Blizzard's cinematic sequences are normally great viewing whether you like the game or not, and this, their latest, is no different. It's really great.

Mike McWhertor and Michael Fahey are jetting their way to German as we speak, so they can cover the antics and news of Games Convention. It was last year at Games Convention that I had my first chance to play a bit of StarCraft II. Unfortunately, this year's Blizzard showcase will not include hands-on with Diablo III.

The good news is that Blizzard plans to unveil the opening cinematic movie for World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King at the big show. They also will be hosting a Q&A session following the airing on Thursday. Blizzard also plans to have more hands on time with StarCraft II and Lich King as well as other Q&A sessions with members of the StarCraft II and Diablo III teams.

Make sure to check back here starting Wednesday for our in-depth and live coverage of the biggest and best public gaming show in Europe (personally, i think the world).

Sony adding Trophies to the PS3 is great for achievement whores. Sucks that you must go back and re-play your old PS3 titles to get those newly added Trophies. Blizzard is likewise adding achievements to the upcoming World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King expansion. But! Blizzard isn't making you go back and re-do a damn thing. Blizzard's new Achievements will be retroactive. So if you played World of Warcraft or The Burning Crusade before, you should be good to go! Explains WoW designer Jeffrey Kaplan:

Blizzard's plan to introduce achievements in the World of Warcraft Wrath of the Lich King expansion is only the tip of the iceberg. The company plans on expanding the system to include upcoming games like Diablo III and StarCraft II, creating a Blizzard Level system tied to a single, universal Blizzard account. WoW designer Jeff Kaplan explains.

"Your 'WoW' score would be just one factor that will go into your Blizzard Level. And rather than call it a 'score,' we just wanted it to be like you're leveling up on Blizzard games... You'll have this Blizzard identity, and you'll be able to see things like 'Oh, this guy was great at Diablo III, but he never played Starcraft and he was mediocre in WoW. That sort of thing."

It's an interesting system from a community standpoint, but simply brilliant from a sales point-of-view. We already know the gamer score thing helps move crappy 360 games. A WoW gamer who isn't a big RTS fan might have skipped out on StarCraft II, but if it were tied into an overall Blizzard level system? Fantastic.

Blizzard Plans To Track Gamer Achievements Across 'WoW,' 'Starcraft' And 'Diablo' [MTV Multiplayer]

Blizzard has loosely dated expansion World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King for sometime between October and December this year. According to Blizzard CEO Mike Morhaime:

We have said that it will be coming out this year. I can tell you it's not coming in the July to September quarter.

Awfully kind of him to narrow it down like that. Mike's nice like that, you know.

WoW: Wrath of the Lich King Releasing Between October and December [Shacknews]

When's Blizzard's Wrath of the Lich King expansion for WoW coming out? When it's done. So how does that jive with previous Blizzard comments by COO Paul Sams that suggest the company plans to release a new expansion every twelve months?

Today, Kotaku spoke to WoW game director Jeffrey Kaplan, who was able to offer some clarification.

"That is our goal, and sometimes it gets taken in a weird direction", he said. "Like you're failing [if] you're not releasing an expansion each year. It's probably going to be a long time before we get to the point where we are releasing an expansion each year".

Kaplan explained what the team would rather focus on:

"Our goal is to make an awesome experience, and obviously we felt that Lich King needed more time to get to where it needed to go", he said.

So while Blizzard is still aiming for annual expansions, "We're never going to slim down the content in order to make an annual date".

Kaplan told us that the developers who work on content and patches are the same team members who work on expansions. Those developers, he said, are "core to the quality of both the patches and expansions, and we aren't going to sacrifice the quality of one or the other just to get an expansion out".

The second expansion to Blizzard's World of Warcraft can't be too far away. The beta's in full swing, the dev is pumping out news on a daily basis and now, it's gone and put up the WotLK talent trees for all ten classes. That's right, none of this dribble-it-out rubbish that came with The Burning Crusade.

So, what can you expect? Protection paladins with an instant attack. Warriors dual-wielding two-handed weapons. Warlocks with a fireball that can penetrate a paladin's bubble. Death knights that can come back as a ghoul.

All this, and more, beyond the link.

Talent Calculators [World of Warcraft]

If grinding reputation with obscure factions wasn't enough to keep you busy, then 500 or so achievements should do it. Blizzard's put together a preview page to show off the new functionality, which will debut with the Wrath of the Lich King expansion. According to the page, achievements can be unlocked by tasks as basic as getting a haircut or, if you're a glutton for punishment, collecting 25 vanity pets.

A new character window will be implemented, allowing you to check out your own glories and those of others. The page mentions that some achievements will come with rewards, but they'll be "purely cosmetic".

Player Achievements Preview [World of Warcraft]

Now's your chance, World of Warcraft players! The Wrath of the Lich King beta opt-in button under account management on the World of Warcraft web page is now eagerly awaiting your forceful mouse button click. Yes, just one click is all it takes to throw your name into the very large hat Blizzard will pick from to determine beta participants. No word on when the beta itself will start, but I doubt they'd make the opt-in button live and get everyone excited if it wasn't happening anytime soon.

What are you waiting for? Head over there and signup! Considering the number of WoW players located in the United States and Europe, you might want to stop by the gas station for some lottery tickets while your at it, just to experience more favourable odds.

Wrath of the Lich King Beta Opt-In Now Open [World of Warcraft via WorldofWar.net]