And the comic contest winner for June, 2006, is... Banjulhu <Cult of the Pink Octopus>! 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. Also, check out all of the June comics.

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 invite everyone to take a moment and relax by reading through the latest edition of Warcraft Weekly, as it provides direct links to threads created and responded to by the World of Warcraft community team. This weekly news archive is a great source of information and a wonderful alternative for those who wish to stay current on all the latest and greatest topics but don't necessarily have time to sift through the forums each day. Check it out here!

Eight more realms are eligible for the Paid Character Transfer. You can now transfer characters off of these realms:

Burning Blade Durotan Earthen Ring Elune

Laughing Skull Lothar Medivh Shadow Moon

For a full list of eligible realms, please click here. We will continue to scale up the list of realms to accommodate more players as quickly as possible.

To learn more about Paid Character Transfer, please visit the Paid Character Transfer FAQ.

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

We'd like to thank the many Blizzard gamers who made the trip to Louisville, Kentucky for the WSVG event last week. It was an exciting weekend of tournaments and events involving StarCraft, Warcraft III, and World of Warcraft. The attending Blizzard team had a great time hanging out with fellow players and hosting the unofficial tournaments in the Blizzard BYOC sections of the event. Congratulations to the winners of those tournaments, listed below:

World of Warcraft Leveling Race
Winner: Obs, who leveled a Human Rogue to level 10 and change in exactly two hours.

World of Warcraft Warsong Gulch Meatgrinder
Winner: Clan Ænigma of Burning Legion

World of Warcraft Stratholme Race
Winner: Clan Ænigma of Burning Legion, who killed the Baron in just over 40 minutes with template characters wearing Dungeon Set 1 Armor.

StarCraft: Brood War 1v1 Tournament
Winner: verGe.Wizard

Warcraft III: 2v2 Tournament
Winner: u5.NilknarfLP and u5.Inclnerator

DotA All-Stars Tournament
Winner: Clan r3 (Junkey, ShaDe, daveyoo, BusCH-TiMe, Covey)

A photo slideshow of WSVG: Louisville can be found here. We'd also like to invite Blizzard gamers in the Dallas, Texas area to come join us from July 5-9 at the CPL Summer Championship. For more information, and a special offer for the venue at which the event will take place, please check out our WSVG: Dallas page.

We've just updated the troll compendium with some brand-new information. Check it out now to learn more about the jungle troll tribes and their history.

One of our long standing fansites, BlizzPlanet, has compiled a list of player interpreted pop-culture references within World of Warcraft. From the Six Demon Bag, to the Hanzo Sword, check them all out 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.

We're pleased to announce the opening of four new realms: Onyxia and Blackwing Lair, both PvP realms, and Gnomeregan and Anvilmar, both PvE realms. These new realms will provide a great place for new and old players alike to begin fresh adventures in Azeroth. Enjoy!

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

We are happy to announce the availability of the Paid Character Transfer service for World of Warcraft. You can find this feature in the account-management section of the official World of Warcraft website. This new functionality will allow you to transfer characters to other realms (within certain restrictions) in order to join friends and family or make new friends and allies. Learn more about this new feature in our Paid Character Transfer FAQ.

The initial launch of the Paid Character Transfer service will only allow transfers between a limited set of realms. You can now transfer characters off of these realms:

• Altar of Storms
• Argent Dawn
• Demon Soul
• Illidan
• Warsong

We'll gradually scale up the list of realms to accommodate more players as quickly as possible. To start transferring your characters, just log in to the account-management section and click the Paid Character Transfer button. Good luck in your continued adventures in Azeroth, and have fun on your new realm!

Please note that because it is tied into the account-management section, the Paid Character Transfer service may be unavailable during the regularly scheduled weekly maintenance.

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 Holymcsmite.

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 next stop for the World Series of Video Games^© (WSVG) is the Cyberathlete Professional League^® (CPL) Summer Championships 2006. This event will take place in Grapevine, Texas and runs from July 5th through July 9th. The WSVG is a worldwide series of events that combine eSports and E3-like sponsor booths for an exciting experience. Blizzard will be hosting World of Warcraft contests at the CPL event for some really grand prizes.

As a special offer, the World Series of Video Games^© will refund* the admission price to the event to the first 100 World of Warcraft contestants that signed up at the Blizzard section and who are registered guests** of the Gaylord Texan Hotel.

You can book your room at a discounted rate*** using this link: WSVG hotel offer. The password is "CPL" (without the quotation marks). Alternatively, you may call the Gaylord Texan Resort toll-free at (866) 782-7897 to arrange room reservations. Use the group name "CPL" to receive the discounted rate.***

For more information please visit our WSVG: Dallas webpage.

*Refund on admission received upon event check-in. Verification of room registration is required.
**This offer is good for one (1) registered guest per room.
***$125 per night for single, double, triple or quadruple occupancy

An amazing fan made machinima for World of Warcraft entitled "Eternal Legend", produced by a member of our Taiwanese community, has recently made its way onto our monitors. With amazing production value and quick paced action it quickly spread through our forums as a benchmark for future World of Warcraft in-game film making. Click here to watch Eternal Legend!

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.

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 Unique <Etherium Guard>.

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 invite everyone to take a moment and relax by reading through the latest edition of Warcraft Weekly, as it provides direct links to threads created and responded to by the World of Warcraft community team. This weekly news archive is a great source of information and a wonderful alternative for those who wish to stay current on all the latest and greatest topics but don't necessarily have time to sift through the forums each day. Check it out here!

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

The bestiary page for World of Warcraft: The Burning Crusade has been updated with a new creature from the upcoming expansion. Learn more about the cunning eredar. Check out the updated bestiary now!

We've just updated the troll compendium with some brand-new information. Check it out now to learn more about the forest troll tribes and their history.

Stratics World of Warcraft site has recently posted their monthly developer interview with our very own lead designers Tom Chilton, and Jeff Kaplan. They cover topics such as current dungeon viability post-expansion, player housing, and Battlegrounds. After reading the interview you can submit your very own questions to World of Warcraft Stratics for their next developer interview at the bottom of the page. Read the interview 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 World of Warcraft team is happy to announce the release of "Shadow of the Necropolis", the new 1.11 content patch!

Highlights of Shadow of the Necropolis - Patch 1.11:

• New Raid Dungeon - Naxxramas
• Tier 3 Raid Armor Sets
• Updated Mage and Shaman Talents
• New Argent Dawn and Cenarion Circle Faction Rewards
• Upgraded PvP Armor Sets
• New Feature: Keyrings
• And much more!

You can read the entire patch notes here.

The Midsummer Fire Festival is here, signaling a time of merriment and a chance to revel in the hottest season of the year by lighting celebratory bonfires across the land and sharing in what the elemental spirits have to offer. Learn more about the new Midsummer Fire Festival events and rewards here!

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 Corpuscle <Ad Infinitum>.

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 released an extensive source of information on the trolls, one of Azeroth's most ancient civilizations. The Troll Compendium features a lot of interesting background material about early troll history, the trolls' role in the Horde, and also some new insights about trollish customs and society. You can check out the new Troll Compendium here.

If you have ever wanted to know what recipes are available for your profession, Warcry's World of Warcraft fansite now has a complete list of recipes, including what reagents they require, and what they create, all able to be arranged by profession type. Click here to start window shopping!

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.

We're pleased to announce the opening of two new realms: Aerie Peak, a PvE realm, and Lethon, a PvP realm. These new realms will provide a great place for new and old players alike to begin fresh adventures in Azeroth.

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 Lillyraeanne <Order Of the Open Eye>.

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're in the final stages of development for our new World of Warcraft forums, and we need your help to make sure everything is bolted on tight. The new forums will offer the same great place for World of Warcraft players to congregate and discuss the game, but with a new look and some new features. Go check them out, and while you're there, please provide us with bug reports and any other comments you have. Please note that all of our current forums will remain live while we beta test these new forums.

The bestiary page for World of Warcraft: The Burning Crusade has been updated with a new creature from the upcoming expansion. Learn more about the savage fel orcs of Outland. Check out the updated bestiary now!

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

The World Series of Video Games' Lanwar event is upon us and is set to kick off at 10:00 AM in Louisville, KY on Thursday, June 15, so we'd like to release some helpful info for those planning to attend the show and participate in the Blizzard tournaments and contests. Please visit our World of Warcraft Lanwar page for the following information:

• World of Warcraft Tournament FAQs
• StarCraft, Warcraft III, and Defense of the Ancients FAQs
• World of Warcraft: Undead Stratholme race - gear list
• World of Warcraft: Warsong Gulch - gear list
• Blizzard event schedule

Have you already seen all our screenshots of the day? Then check out the European World of Warcraft Screenshots archive for a completely new collection of screenshots, such as this gem...

The Argent Dawn reputations page has been updated with more rewards of superior and epic quality! Check out the new reputation rewards and new recipes in store for those who have proven their dedication to the Argent Dawn's fight against the Scourge. Click here to see what new items await you!

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

Set two of the World of Warcraft limited edition bronze figurines is now available! Made from ink-washed bronze with a very high level of detail, these sixteen collectibles depicting every race and class available in World of Warcraft can be used as playing pieces, bragging rights, or as a cool decoration for your desk. Check them out at the Fantasy Flight Games website.

The new World of Warcraft World Map from BradyGames is a perfect blend of form and function. Whether you put the detailed artwork on display or use it to make your way through Azeroth, this two-sided poster makes a great addition to your game room or World of Warcraft collection.

Side 1 shows a map of Azeroth, unfettered - with a clear view of the topography of the continents. Side 2 includes all flight paths, as well as labeled cities, dungeons, and regions. The full-color, large-format design fits standard 36" x 48" poster frames, and it ships rolled in a tube to prevent fold marks. This exclusive map is only available at BradyGames.com.

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 Yohen <The Guild>.

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 will be opening realm-to-realm character transfers from select PvP realms to Cho'gall and Korgath on Monday, June 12 at 3:00 AM PDT. The destination realms currently have lower population than the chosen transfer realms, and should make a good home for those seeking to build a name for themselves on Azeroth.

PvP realm Cho'gall - Deadline: Thursday, June 15 at 3:00 PM PDT
Players on these 3 realms will have the opportunity to transfer to the PvP realm Cho'gall:

Bleeding Hollow	–>	Cho'gall
Mannoroth	–>	Cho'gall
Skullcrusher	–>	Cho'gall

PvP realm Korgath - Deadline: Thursday, June 15 at 3:00 PM PDT
Players on these 3 realms will have the opportunity to transfer to the PvP realm Korgath:

Shattered Hand	–>	Korgath
Stormreaver	–>	Korgath
Warsong	–>	Korgath

The transfers are scheduled to close at 3:00 PM PDT on June 15. However, we urge any players who wish to transfer to do so at their earliest possible convenience, as transfers may be closed earlier than expected depending on volume. Please note that standard character creation will be disabled on the two destination realms until the transfer process has completed.

Also, as a reminder, our normal schedule for conducting character transfers between eligible realms is from 3:00 AM PDT to 3:00 PM PDT, Monday through Friday. That schedule will be in effect for as long as this upcoming transfer period remains active.

If you're interested in transferring your characters from the realms listed above to the new realms, please click here.

In keeping with Blizzard's aggressive stance against cheating in World of Warcraft, we banned over 30,000 accounts in the month of May, and with that removed well over 30 million gold from the economy across all realms. The banned accounts were taking part in activities that violate the game's Terms of Use, including using third-party programs to farm gold and items, which severely impacts the economy of a realm and the overall game enjoyment for all players.

We will continue to aggressively monitor all World of Warcraft realms in order to protect the service and its players from the harmful effects of cheating. Please note that selling World of Warcraft content, such as gold, items, and characters, can result in a permanent ban of the involved accounts from World of Warcraft.

Many account closures come as the direct result of tips reported to our GMs in game or emailed to our Hacks Team by legitimate World of Warcraft players. If you suspect that a World of Warcraft player is using an illegal third-party program to farm gold or items, or is otherwise violating our Terms of Use, please report the suspected infraction via one of the means listed above. All reports will be investigated, and those that prove false will not result in corrective action.

Thank you for your continued support, and good luck with your adventures in Azeroth!

We're happy to announce the opening of two new Oceanic realms: Aman'Thul a PvE realm, and Barthilas, a PvP realm. These realms will go live tonight at 11:59 PM PDT, June 8th, placing these realms live at approximately 4:59 PM GMT+10, June 9th. This will allow our Oceanic players to begin creating characters at a time comfortable for them. These two new realms will offer our Oceanic players, new and old alike, fresh beginnings in Azeroth!

We have just released an improved version of our popular talent calculators. You will now see all three trees for each class on the same page, and the click responsiveness has been greatly improved under Internet Explorer. Talents that unlock new class abilities will now also display all trainable ranks of the associated ability. We hope you enjoy our new talent calculators!

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

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 mighty fungal giants and the ferocious ogre lords. Check out the updated bestiary now!

Have you missed a previous issue of the Community Spotlight? No problem, just visit the Community Spotlight Archive, where we've collected many of the Community Spotlights from 2005 and 2006. You'll find links to a lot of cool and useful web content about World of Warcraft there, so be sure to check it out.

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

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 Jupei <Good Fellas>.

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

Xfire has posted some of their E3 video coverage, focusing on World of Warcraft: The Burning Crusade. This video features an exclusive interview with World of Warcraft lead designer Jeff Kaplan.

WoWBreak.com is now running a contest until June 30, offering Set One of Fantasy Flight Games Limited Edition World of Warcraft bronze cast figurines. To enter just sign up at WoWBreak.com and begin contributing to their community run site by submitting news and comments. Get all the details and rules 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.

Those who have registered for WSVG Lanwar in Kentucky can now register for the unofficial tournaments the Blizzard team will be running at the event.

• To save your BYOC seat at Lanwar, register first at the official website here. There are still spaces open in both Blizzard BYOC areas.
• Once you've signed up for the event, sign-ups for all the Blizzard tournaments can be found here.

Note that the WSVG website includes some cool features for those wanting to participate in the tournaments. If your friends and guildmates can't make the event, you can sign up as a free agent so teams missing players can pick you up. Likewise, if you have an incomplete team, you can sign up with open spots listed.

We're also happy to report that the folks at WSVG have sent over the specs of the high-end gaming PCs that will be given away in the main event of the unofficial Blizzard tournaments: the Strathholme Race on June 17th.

Case:
  Zalman Fatal1ty Champion Series case
CPU:
  Intel D 3.46Ghz
Motherboard:
  Abit Fatal1ty Series
Power Supply:
  Zalman 400watt
Videocard:
  512MB PCI-Express Radeon X1900 Series
Memory:
  Crucial 1 GB