• The new World of Warcraft community site is live! Months in the making, this site will soon become the prime gathering spot for the community. We're very excited to finally open the doors and invite you into our new home. You can read more about the transition from our existing website to the new one in our original announcement.
  
  As we're considering this a live preview, we want your feedback about the look and feel of the new digs. Head to the community site, check out the new forum categories, and follow the Website Feedback links to let your voice be heard. Go ahead. Check it out!

• Looking for the perfect holiday gift? Or perhaps you need a not-so-subtle way to show your World of Warcraft enthusiasm at the office (since shouting "For the Horde!" at the top of your lungs during meetings doesn't always go over too well)? Taverncraft has the solution with today's debut of two new massive stoneware mugs. One mug is devoted to the Horde, featuring a panoramic image of Orgrimmar, with the other showcasing the Alliance stronghold Stormwind. Each full-color mug holds a hefty 18 oz. (.53 ltrs.) of your favorite hot or cold beverage, and costs $19.99 plus shipping/handling. The mugs are available now at www.wowsteins.com, with guaranteed holiday delivery within the contiguous United States, while supplies last, if ordered prior to December 15, 2010.

• Cryptozoic Entertainment, home of the World of Warcraft Trading Card Game, is bringing the Darkmoon Faire to Los Angeles, CA on December 4 and 5. The event offers tournaments with thousands of dollars in prizes, as well as a chance to challenge both Blizzard and Cryptozoic employees. There is also a costume contest on Saturday evening with prizes provided by Cryptozoic, Blizzard Entertainment, and J!NX.
  
  Join the Facebook event page to network with attendees or follow along at home with our live coverage team on Saturday morning.

• We're featuring 5 new pieces of artwork in our Blizzard Fan Art Section today. Have a look at the many different interpretations of the Warcraft universe forged by some very talented artists.
  
  Do you have a unique artistic approach to characters or environments in the Diablo, StarCraft, or Warcraft universes? Submit your fan art now!
  
  

  
  

• There's a tradition at Blizzard Entertainment of creating a very special holiday treat each year to share the warmth of the season, but with a uniquely Blizzard touch. We invite you to help us spread the holiday cheer this year by entering our second annual Blizzard Holiday Card Contest or our Blizzard Holiday Dessert Contest. You can win great prizes from Razer as well as special autographed copies of Blizzard titles by crafting a Blizzard themed holiday card or dessert. Want to learn more? Pack your creativity and visit the contest pages.
  
  Blizzard Holiday Card Contest
  
  Blizzard Holiday Dessert Contest

• BlizzCast 15 is now live! In this episode, we bring you in-depth coverage of the upcoming Cataclysm expansion and discuss everything from world creation to class changes to sound design. [more]
  
  In our first segment, we discuss world-building with World of Warcraft Lead World Designer Alex Afrasiabi and Lead Content Designer Cory Stockton. For our second segment, we delve into music and sound design with Composer and Director of Audio Russell Brower and Senior Composer of Music and Sound Derek Duke. Our third segment focuses on the voice acting in Cataclysm with Producer of Casting and Talent Relations Andrea Toyias. Last, but certainly not least, we sit down with World of Warcraft Lead Systems Designer Greg Street to discuss the class and systems changes in Cataclysm.
  
  Head over to the BlizzCast page to listen now, or download it from iTunes.

• We're pleased to announce that the two recently revealed in-game pets, Lil' Ragnaros and the Moonkin Hatchling, have now made their way to the Pet Store section of the online Blizzard Store at a price of $10 each.
  
  Like last year's Pandaren Monk, the Moonkin Hatchling has a soft spot for helping children. For every Moonkin Hatchling adopted from now through December 31, 2010, Blizzard Entertainment will donate 50% of the $10 purchase price to the Make-A-Wish Foundation®.
  
  Thanks to the support of all the World of Warcraft players out there who purchased the Pandaren Monk last year, we were able to donate more than $1.1 million to the Make-A-Wish Foundation this past February. We're looking forward to making another big contribution to this great cause on behalf of the World of Warcraft community following the close of this year's promotion.
  
  To learn more about the Pet Store, please visit the Pet Store FAQ, and for more information about the Make-A-Wish Foundation in the U.S. visit www.wish.org and outside the U.S. visit www.worldwish.org.

• Act now and get epic savings with $5 World of WarCraft, $5 The Burning Crusade, and $10 Wrath of the Lich King. Gift to a friend or upgrade your account in preparation for the launch of Cataclysm.

  • Buy As A Gift
  • Buy For Myself

• We have some tasty leftovers from our community comic contest to share. This comic was submitted by Geuna. Check out the full gallery here.
  
  

  

• The curious continue to flock to the Darkmoon Faire, hoping to catch a glimpse of their fate from the wise and (some say) frighteningly insightful Sayge. The combined efforts of the Horde and Alliance have brought them to the halfway point of the 'Your Fortune Awaits' campaign, unlocking a truly rare treasure. Sit back, relax, and enjoy, "The Making of Cataclysm."
  
  We look forward to sharing even more treasures with you!

• The Blizzard Art gallery has been updated with 5 pieces representing the Warcraft universe. These pieces offer an inside look at the creative process behind building this virtual world.
  
  

  
  

• An island off the coast of the Eastern Kingdoms, Tol Barad is a historic land now sought-after by the leaders of the Horde and the Alliance. Its strategic, isolated location makes it an ideal stronghold from which to conduct military strikes. In World of Warcraft: Cataclysm, a battle will be waged to seize control of this prized territory. Should you triumph, unique rewards await you. Read more about this all-new world PvP and questing zone here.

• We have just updated our World of Warcraft Fan Wallpapers section with a new wallpaper titled "Ancient of Lore" by UnidColor.
  
  

• Want to get a mouthful of murlocs? Straight from its appearance at BlizzCon 2010, Taverncraft is now announcing the immediately availability of RAWGRLRLRLRRLGLRL!!!, the latest addition to their renowned World of Warcraft Epic Collection Stein series. [more]Available at http://www.taverncraft.com, this impressive stein showcases Azeroth’s most famous denizens of the deep. Illustrated by premier fantasy artist Matt Cavotto, the fine-grain stoneware stein spotlights numerous murlocs throughout its panoramic, bas-relief image, including Winterfin Oracle, Bluefin Murloc, and Murloc Tidehunter, and is topped with an exclusive murloc-themed solid pewter lid.

• The Blizzard Art gallery has been updated with 5 pieces representing the Warcraft universe. These pieces offer an inside look at the creative process behind building this virtual world.
  
  

  
  

• Over the years, Blizzard has provided players with various tools and resources, such as the Battle.net Authenticator and Account Security Awareness pages, to help you keep your account information safe, secure, and in the right hands. As part of our ongoing commitment to account security, we're happy to announce the release of a new account security feature, the Battle.net Dial-in Authenticator.

• If you attended BlizzCon 2010 and brought a camera along, we want to see your pictures. Send your best photos of the event, particularly from Friday's contests, to blizzconweb@blizzard.com.

• Issue 3 of the Official World of Warcraft magazine is on its way to mailboxes everywhere, featuring interviews with Blizzard Entertainment's creative guru Chris Metzen and the item design team. Don't have your issue yet? Go to the Official World of Warcraft Magazine website for a sneak preview of the latest issue and to learn how to subscribe.

• The comic contest is back! If you’ve ever read the Sunday morning funny pages, then you already know what to do. Make a comic that will split our sides (a little artistic skill doesn't hurt either...) and you may be among one of three winners chosen every other month. We'll display the winners proudly on our websites and send their creators a good-as-cash gift card. We’re opening the contest up to all Blizzard Entertainment franchises, so you can now create a fun, silly, or interesting comic based on the themes and characters from the Warcraft, Diablo, or StarCraft universes to enter. For details, or to submit your entry, hit up the official Blizzard Comic Contest page.

• World of Warcraft: Cataclysm looms on the horizon, and with it come unimaginable calamities that will shatter the very surface of Azeroth. To prove that it's not all doom and gloom, we're proud to announce a couple of contests that are sure to brighten things up. If video is your weapon of choice or you're a talented machinima artist, then our Cataclysm YouTube Video Contest might be your path to glory. If those newfangled moving pictures aren't your thing, you can still dazzle, inform, and amuse by entering a memorable image in the Cataclysm Print Ad Contest. Good luck!

• The Cataclysm looms near, and you can be ready to play the minute the servers go live by pre-purchasing the expansion digitally on Battle.net now. Simply complete the digital pre-sale process on Battle.net, and your account will be flagged for automatic access to Cataclysm when it launches at 12:01 a.m. PST on December 7.
  
  Once you’ve completed the digital upgrade, be sure to log in to World of Warcraft at least once prior to December 7 to begin the background-downloading process and prepare for Deathwing’s return. Until then, keep watching the skies....