Blizzard Europe had a contest as part of their celebration of the Noblegarden in-game holiday. For that contest, participants had to paint eggs with a Warcraft theme. We thought you would like to see the great results of their contest. Check them out!

  

We have just updated our World of Warcraft Wallpapers section with a new wallpaper featuring a human Paladin.

Check out some of the cool fan art created by fan artists from around the globe in the European Fan Art gallery.

GameSpot has conducted an interview with Blizzard, discussing the plan to bring a live-action feature film based on the Warcraft universe to the big screen. Check out the interview at GameSpot's website.

And the comic contest winner for May, 2006, is... Holymcsmite! Congratulations! Remember, this contest will go on all year long, so you will have a new chance to win a Blizzard Edition iPod Nano every month. Keep those comics coming, and you might be next! Stop by each week to see a new comic from the contest.

Have a comic to submit? It's not too late to enter the comic contest. Read the official rules, and submit your comics today!

The creator of the web comic w00tness has begun a highly stylized and urban influenced graphic short story series. The story tells of an epic battle between two forces placed on a backdrop of World of Warcraft settings and themes. Check out 'Sheason v Tuera: 1' by clicking here.

Have you made or seen something that you think deserves to be on the World of Warcraft Community Watch? Send us a link at: wowcommwatch@blizzard.com.

* Links on this news post may expire over time and are created by other companies/individuals that are neither affiliated with nor supported by Blizzard Entertainment.

The Blizzard Fan Art Section has been updated with new pieces of artwork.

We're happy to announce the opening of two new realms: Demon Soul and Jaedenar, two PvP realms. These realms are located on our latest World of Warcraft site, which feature all new hardware. This will provide an opportunity, to new and old players alike, to begin fresh adventures in Azeroth!

The bestiary page for World of Warcraft: The Burning Crusade has been updated with two new creatures from the upcoming expansion. Learn more about two of the new species you'll encounter in Outland, the mystical warp stalkers and the vicious ravagers. Check out the updated bestiary now!

There's never been a better time to invite new allies to join your guild, as we've just launched the Recruit-A-Friend program. Just log in to the account-management section and click the "Recruit-A-Friend" button or go directly to this page to start sending free 10-Day trial keys to your friends. Rest assured that your valiant efforts will be rewarded: for every one of your friends who converts to a full subscription and pays for a month of game time, you will receive 30 days of free game time credited to your account!

Blackrock Spire, Battlegrounds, the coming Naxxramas Necropolis...the world of Warcraft has never been more dangerous, so you'll need all the help you can get if you want your side to prevail in the coming conflict. The time is here to recruit your allies and stand united under one banner. Good luck, and see you soon in Azeroth! Click here to Recruit-A-Friend!

Here is the next honorable mention from this month's comic contest submissions. Remember, the contest will go on all year long, so don't miss your chance to win a Blizzard Edition iPod Nano. Keep those comics coming! Check out today's honorable mention from Vaalderak <Shadow's Edge>.

Have a comic to submit? It's not too late to enter the comic contest. Read the official rules, and submit your comics today!

Three new screenshots from World of Warcraft: The Burning Crusade have been added to the site. Click here to check them out.

We are proud to announce that Blizzard will be part of the Lanwar event taking place in Louisville, KY, from June 15 through June 18. Lanwar is the first stop in the World Series of Video Games, a series of tournaments and events around the world where gamers can get together and compete for glory, honor, and awesome prizes. As part of the Lanwar event, we will be hosting a series of tournaments and contests for Starcraft, Warcraft III and World of Warcraft. For more information, please visit our Lanwar webpage.

We have just updated our World of Warcraft Wallpapers section with a new wallpaper featuring an undead Mage.

In order to address an issue affecting realm stability, we have disabled pre-existing character transfers and templated characters on the public test realms. We have isolated the issue and we are currently working on a solution; however, until the matter is resolved character transfers will not be available.

We've updated the High Level Armor Sets page with the upgraded PvP Armor Sets that will be added in the upcoming content patch! Check out how the class-specific PvP Armor Sets look on any valid race/class/gender combination and get a preview of the new item stats for each piece of equipment. Please note that the Warlord's and Field Marshal's sets will automatically be upgraded but the Champion's and Lieutenant Commander's sets will have to be repurchased to get the improved stats.

The Under Development page has been updated! Learn about some of the major features going into Shadow of the Necropolis: Patch 1.11 such as new mage talents, new shaman talents, the new dungeon Naxxramas, new high level armor sets, new items being added, new flightpaths, and keyrings!

Check out this new Q&A; with lead designer Jeff Kaplan about World of Warcraft: The Burning Crusade on Gamespot.

We are happy to announce the opening of two new realms: Altar of Storms, a PvP realm, and Uldaman, a PvE realm. These realms are located on our latest World of Warcraft site, which feature all new hardware. This will provide an opportunity, to new and old players alike, to begin fresh adventures in Azeroth!

The official World of Warcraft CD Cover Contest sponsored by Emusic has ended, and our jury has chosen the five lucky winners. We received a lot of outstanding submissions; thank you to all of our contestants for your cool CD covers and funny track lists. Check out the winners and honorable mentions here!

The Blizzard Fan Art Section has been updated with new pieces of artwork.

Welcome to the greatest show on Azeroth! Amaze at the wonders that the Darkmoon Faire has uncovered in this vast and mysterious world! Check out this latest gameplay trailer of the Darkmoon Faire, one of the many recurring in-game events of World of Warcraft.

The public test realms are live! Players can now try out all the changes and additions coming in World of Warcraft's latest content patch: Shadow of the Necropolis. The highlights of this patch include Naxxramas, a new world event, mage and shaman talent improvements, and a host of other exciting features. Read the Shadow of the Necropolis test realm patch notes to learn more.

Players who had an active account as of 12:01 AM PDT Tuesday, May 16 can participate in the test realms by creating a character, using a pre-made level 60 character, or copying their characters from existing realms to the test realms. To copy a character, visit our Public Test Realm Page. Pre-made character copies are available anytime during the testing period while personal character transfers to the test realm are available from 3:00 AM to 3:00 PM PST Monday through Friday. The test realm game client, which can be downloaded at the same page, is available for both PC and Mac.

Please be aware that the test realms are designed to allow us to test major content patches before they go public. Therefore, some changes may be introduced to the public test realms during the testing phase, before a patch goes live, and some changes may be introduced to the patch after the test realms have closed. To read more about the test realms, please review the Test Realm FAQ. We truly appreciate our players taking the time to help us test the latest changes to the game; thank you all!

We have just updated the High Level Armor Sets page with the new Tier 3 Raid Armor Sets which are available in the upcoming patch! Get a preview of the item stats for each piece of equipment and see how the class-specific Tier 3 Raid Armor Sets look on any valid race/class/gender combination.

Please note that you will be able to test these new armor sets as soon as the next round of public test realms is released, so keep an eye out for future announcements!

The World of Warcraft Insider recently interviewed the World of Warcraft designers about Thaddius, one of their latest monstrosities (er, creations). This twisted, Frankensteinian boss haunts the halls of the new dungeon Naxxramas - introduced in the upcoming patch 1.11. Read on and find out how Thaddius was created.

This feature was part of WoW Insider #7, sent out earlier this week to subscribers. To sign up for the Insider, click here.

Two new screenshots from World of Warcraft: The Burning Crusade have been added to the site. Click here to check them out.

Our friends at Machinima.com continue their outstanding support of the fan-made World of Warcraft movie community. Due to popular demand they have recently implemented an alert system which, when signed up for, will send you an e-mail any time a new movie is added to their World of Warcraft section. Sign up to be alerted about new World of Warcraft machinima by clicking here, or check out their entire collection by clicking here.

Have you made or seen something that you think deserves to be on the World of Warcraft Community Watch? Send us a link at: wowcommwatch@blizzard.com.

* Links on this news post may expire over time and are created by other companies/individuals that are neither affiliated with nor supported by Blizzard Entertainment.

Check out the recent coverage of World of Warcraft: The Burning Crusade from the floor of E3!

• WoW Vault: Sprawl's Massive E3 Coverage
• Ten Ton Hammer: Two Interviews
• Ten Ton Hammer: Photo Gallery

• WorldofWar.net Video Interview: Tom Chilton Part I
• WorldofWar.net Video Interview: Tom Chilton Part II
• WorldofWar.net Video Interview: Scott Mercer Part I
• WorldofWar.net Video Interview: Scott Mercer Part II
• GameSpot Interview: Jeffrey Kaplan
• WorldofWar.net Day One Notes
• TenTonHammer hits The Burning Crusade
• GameSpot
• Joystiq
• GameSpy
• World of Warcraft: Shadow of the Necropolis

We have just updated our World of Warcraft Wallpapers section with a new wallpaper featuring Tanaris.

Here is the next honorable mention from this month's comic contest submissions. Remember, the contest will go on all year long, so don't miss your chance to win a Blizzard Edition iPod Nano. Keep those comics coming! Check out today's honorable mention from Anarora.

Have a comic to submit? It's not too late to enter the comic contest. Read the official rules, and submit your comics today!

We have just updated our World of Warcraft: The Burning Crusade Wallpapers section with three new wallpapers featuring the Blood Elf vs Draenei, Draenei, and Illidan.

New World of Warcraft Fan Art
The Blizzard Fan Art Section has been updated with new pieces of artwork.

It's official - the Draenei will be joining forces with the Alliance in World of Warcraft: The Burning Crusade! We've prepared a massive update of our Burning Crusade mini-site, including a detailed history of the Draenei and a brand-new expansion gameplay trailer. You should definitely check it out if you want to learn more about the history of the new race and their connection to the insidious Eredar, the evil masterminds leading the Burning Crusade.

Our E3 update also includes news about Naxxramas, the new raid dungeon that will be opened with the next content patch for World of Warcraft. Check out our Naxxramas E3 gameplay trailer to get a first glimpse of the cursed necropolis! And last but not least, there are new expansion screenshots on the Burning Crusade website and new wallpapers available for download in our media section.

The New York Times' website features some new information and a brand-new gameplay trailer of World of Warcraft: The Burning Crusade. Head over to their site and check out the new material now!

Blizzard Entertainment and Legendary Pictures today announced that they will develop a live-action film set in the Warcraft universe. Legendary Pictures has acquired the movie rights for the game universe, and both companies are now focused on translating the Warcraft experience to the big screen. Read more about it in this press release.

The Under Developement page has been updated with interactive mage and shaman talent previews!

Here is the next honorable mention from this month's comic contest submissions. Remember, the contest will go on all year long, so don't miss your chance to win a Blizzard Edition iPod Nano. Keep those comics coming! Check out today's honorable mention from Adriel.

Have a comic to submit? It's not too late to enter the comic contest. Read the official rules, and submit your comics today!

Children's Week is celebrated once a year in Orgrimmar and Stormwind City in May and lasts for a week. It is a time to give back to the innocents of war: the orphans! Learn more about this special in-game event and its rewards on our new Children's Week information page.

The hilarious WorldofWar.net hosted comic "Heroes of WoW" continues as the characters Shakes and Fidget explore the lands of Azeroth. In the most recent comic we see Shakes and Fidget downing Ragnaros, as well as a peek at what happens after everyone leaves. Read the latest installment by clicking here, or catch up by reading the entire series here.

Have you made or seen something that you think deserves to be on the World of Warcraft Community Watch? Send us a link at: wowcommwatch@blizzard.com.

* Links on this news post may expire over time and are created by other companies/individuals that are neither affiliated with nor supported by Blizzard Entertainment.

Rufus Cubed Productions has recently released a theatrical trailer for "Return: Episode 2" the widely anticipated sequel to the original World of Warcraft machinima "Return:. The final version is currently planned to be released in June, with a running time of nearly 30 minutes. Join in the excitement and view the trailer by clicking here.

Have you made or seen something that you think deserves to be on the World of Warcraft Community Watch? Send us a link at: wowcommwatch@blizzard.com.

* Links on this news post may expire over time and are created by other companies/individuals that are neither affiliated with nor supported by Blizzard Entertainment.

The plague of undeath, a product of the Lich King's morbid experiments, quickly made its presence felt after it was unleashed upon Azeroth. Its first victims were humans from a village that was unluckily situated near Icecrown Glacier. As the horrifying plague spread, it converted humans into undeath, but left the other denizens of Azeroth alive, though diseased and decaying. Was this an unintended aspect of Ner'zhul's diabolical plan, or was humanity the plague's only intended target? Read the latest page of our World of Warcraft History Library.

The Blizzard Fan Art Section has been updated with new pieces of artwork.

We are happy to announce the new Customer Service Forum! This forum is managed by Game Master department staff who assist players every day with various in-game issues via the petition system. This new forum will help players

• Identify common in-game issues and provide solutions where available
• Inform players of the most recent issues and give status updates as we work to resolve them
• Grant insight into the functionality of the Game Master department to provide our players with more transparency of how we operate
• Provide a regularly updated and comprehensive list of the most common issues at any given time, based on the reports we receive in-game

The goal of the new forum is to broaden the lines of communication between the Game Master department and the rest of the World of Warcraft community, so that issues new and old alike may be addressed accordingly. Head over to the Customer Service Forum now and check out this latest addition to the official World of Warcraft forums.

We have just updated our World of Warcraft Wallpapers section with a new wallpaper featuring the Scarlet Monastery.

The first wave of comic submissions has been reviewed by the jury, and the results for May are in! Starting today, we will publish one honorable mention each Monday, followed by the lucky winner of a Blizzard Edition iPod nano at the end of this month. Check out today's honorable mention from Keydar.

Have a comic to submit? It's not too late to enter the comic contest. Read the official rules, and submit your comics today!

Make sure that you keep up to date on all the latest in the World of Warcraft April, 2006 News Archive.