It’s time again for Arcane Brilliance , the weekly mage column that today brings you the above fan-submitted picture of an apparent gnome explosion. Incidentally, Gnome Explosion

Join in the Gurubashi Beatdown today with It came from the Blog ! When: Saturday, March 20th at 5:30pm EDT (2:30pm PDT, 3:30pm realm time) and the mixer will be at 5pm EDT.

Heya guys!! So I recently made a post illustrating the core concepts and decisions you need to approach when leveling a DK. And that in turn has generated some interest in the Power Leveling aspect of DK’s

The very first time I made a character in World of Warcraft was way back during the original beta — I made a night elf. And then I logged in for the first time, and was immediately assaulted with visual eye-candy that has kept me entertained for over five years. But on top of the graphics, there was the music — something about the soundtrack just gelled the whole thing into a game I really, really wanted to continue playing

One of the most interesting changes coming in Cataclysm is the new Parry mechanic. Currently, a Parry prevents 100% of the damage on the current swing and speeds up your next swing

Oh where has the time gone?

“Jason! Jaaaason! JASON!” The scene quickly became an internet meme and a rallying cry for Heavy Rain’s detractors. Now, in a brilliant and bizarre turn of events, that ridicule has been transformed into its own game: the Flash-based Press X to Jason. This isn’t the first time, however, that we’ve watched – and played – as a major, multi-million selling title was lampooned by a quick, browser-based creation

First an apology: I’m really sorry we didn’t have an It came from the Blog Lunar Festival event. I and my family came down with a series of non-serious, but very symptom-heavy plagues that knocked me out of WoW for a few weeks

Following a recommendation from Cuppycake , I reactivated my dormant Facebook account and started playing My Tribe . As I said in my previous discussion of Facebook games , I recognize the power of the social engineering tools used for games like Farmville, but didn’t like that these games were so lacking in actual gameplay. There isn’t really much gameplay involved in apps like Farmville or Mafia Wars, it is just clicking to get rewards, plus incentives to give money to the game company and to invite your friends into the game.

There have been many Addon stories that will live through World of Warcraft’s history and beyond, as cautionary tales, expressions of visions or the refinement of a segment of the MMO genre that, rapidly, is becoming the norm in most games.

So Ferrel wants to bring back the grind and make leveling slower again, while Chris thinks leveling should be slowed down by giving less xp for quests . Both talk about how much better life was in Everquest, where most players never even reached the level cap (I didn’t), and how MMORPGs should be about the journey, not about the destination.

In this installment of WoW.com’s guest writer program, we welcome a handful of authors to share their thoughts on what is a rumored BlizzCon 2010 this October . BlizzCon has become one of the premier gaming events each year, attracting folks of every different walk of life from every corner of the globe.

The Shadow of Dawn was the entry to Alienware’s Rise to Power from Blackhand Pictures. The story is essentially about a human Alliance member who gets sucked into the Lich King’s web of tyranny, only to eventually be freed by Tirion Fordring at the Battle of Light’s Hope Chapel. The video is absolutely gorgeous

Hey North American players, want to PvP with Blizzard’s QA staff? They sure seem to have been doing a lot of these lately .

H ey Gang! So if you’re like me, you’re probably so burned out from running the Daily heroics that your brain has exploded all over your keyboard. Spontaneous Combustion! BAM! The situation that most everyone’s still in is a couple of different things: A) You still need Frost Emblems for gear B) You still need Triumph Badges for gear C) You have absolutely nothing else to do with your time D) You are a masochistic person and enjoy the pain that it brings because it makes you feel alive Well, what ever combination you’re situation is right now, you still need to force yourself to run them. Most of the time, if you bring a buddy, it makes it 10x better

Stormrage by Richard A. Knaak has made USA Today’s Top 150 Best Selling Books list, coming in at #126 of the best selling books based on sales through February 28, 2010. Apparently the ebook community is embracing the new story as well: Stormrage hit #8 on the best seller list for ebooks from BooksOnBoard

Huge upset victory in the biggest WoW Arena tournament of 2010 thusfar… One of the biggest events in competitive World of Warcraft Arena play has come to an end, as the ESL Season IV World Championships came to a close.

WARNING : This post is chock full of spoilers. Spoilers like you would not believe. If you’d like to be surprised about anything involving the Echo Isles and what is contained within, I wouldn’t recommend continuing onward

The World of Warcraft is an expansive universe.

WARNING : This post is chock full of spoilers. Spoilers like you would not believe.