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Last night the webmasters and administrators of the web sites included in the Blizzard Fan Site Program had the opportunity to chat with Blizzard representatives on Battle.net. The developers had some very interesting things to say about new quests, raid content and much more. You can read the full transcript here. Some of the topics were:

A new instance in Desolace called "Maraudon", planned for the next patch
Linked auction houses for each capital city
More quests for existing zones, including more class-specific quests
Battlegrounds are being tested internally right now and will include the capture of graveyards and watch towers
It will take months to reach the highest rank in the planned PvP-System

What are you still waiting for? Head over here and read the full transcript.

We're delighted to announce the arrival of a Community Manager for the English-speaking players who joins the Blizzard Europe team. The new Community Manager has several years of experience from a similar position with another company, and together with the other Community Managers, Aguilar and Gungdil, he will work to keep the European players and fan sites up to date on everything World of Warcraft.

Players will get to know him under the name "Thundgot" on the forums very soon. We'd also like to take this opportunity to thank Caswallawn for all his efforts in keeping the English-speaking players up to date before Thundgot's arrival.

Recently, 30 courageous fighters embarked on an epic quest to defeat the mighty dragon Onyxia. Their objective was brave, but she didn't agree and did her best to let them know...
Thanks to one of our official Swedish fan sites, www.warcraft.nu, you can now watch how the raid party got on, and see this great first video of Onyxia! (Just right-click and choose "Save as..." on this link, or on this mirror.)

Fan sites are an important part of the Blizzard Community. We appreciate their hard work and are always happy to hear from new candidates for our Fan Site Program. Members of the program receive regular updates and access to exclusive news and chat sessions with Blizzard representatives.

There are fan sites all over the world, in many different languages, which are already in touch with Blizzard US, Korea and Europe through a global Fan Site Program. We are now launching a dedicated Fan Site Program for Europe, and your site can become a part of it! If you run a Fan Site and would like to apply to our program, just read our information page and find out how you can join!

All European websites which are already members of the global FSP will receive an email within the next few days, explaining in more detail about the new program. The European Community Managers are looking forward to hearing from you!

The European Closed Beta Test of World of Warcraft starts today and European gamers will be able to test the very latest version of the game, which includes the latest content and updates, following the push yesterday in North America and Korea. Moving forward, Beta Testers in Europe, North American and Korea will have access to the same content as future pushes will occur simultaneously in all territories.

The European Beta Test will initially offer the English language version, and in due course the French and German language versions will be introduced to the testing process.

The game will be tested in multiple phases and the first phase of Beta Testers is currently being notified by e-mail. This notification process will continue daily over the next few days. Thereafter, additional testers will be included each time a new phase begins and they will be notified by e-mail accordingly at the time. We intend to do our utmost to include as many players as possible from the pool of those who signed up to join the European Closed Beta Test.

We would like to thank again everyone who has signed up and wish you all the very best of luck in being selected.

May our paths cross in World of Warcraft!

The World of Warcraft official European forums in English, French and German open at the start of the European Closed Beta Test. Here you'll be able to keep up with the latest news and meet your local Community Manager for French and German speaking territories. For the time being, English-speaking players will receive news in the official European forums from a member of our gamemaster team while we finalise the recruitment of a permanent Community Manager, English.

Selected Testers to the European Closed Beta Test will be able to post in the official European forums once they've received their authentication key and created their own account. However, the forums will be open for all to read. There are guidelines to follow when posting in the World of Warcraft official European forums.

Our Community Managers are looking forward to meeting you in the forums!

Last week, US producer Chris Sigaty and Blizzard Europe's PR and Community Managers were on a pan-European press tour presenting World of Warcraft. They travelled through London, Frankfurt, Paris, Copenhagen and Stockholm. We are all extremely happy about the enormous interest of the press for the game. You can find some interesting articles about the UK, Nordic, German and French press events here:
- EuroGamer.net
- WorldOfWar.net
- ClubSkill.com
- Stratics.com
- Krawall.de
- 4players.de
- T-Online.de
- WorldofWar.de
- MondesPersistants
- JeuxOnline
- JudgeHype
- Le Grimoire

Thanks a ton, and see you soon in Azeroth!

World of Warcraft was presented at the Game Stars Live event in London last week where UK gamers got their first chance for a hands-on experience of the game. The event, which not only attracted the public but also a large number of trade and journalists, saw an impressive number of visitors pass through its doors.

And just like at the Games Convention in Leipzig, Germany a couple of weeks ago, the World of Warcraft booth drew a lot of attention. Our team from Blizzard Europe was delighted to meet the gamers and was very happy to introduce visitors to World of Warcraft both out-of and in-game, as they hosted live group presentations and gave individual guided tours.

Here are some pictures from the booth:

A Community Manager who will be supporting French-speaking players has recently joined the Blizzard Europe team! Players will get to meet him soon via our official European forums during the World of Warcraft Closed Beta test, under the forum name "Aguilar". His previous experience as Community Manager included several communities of gamers in Europe.

Our team of Community Managers will soon be complete, when the English-speaking Community Manager finally joins Gungdil and Aguilar, to make sure the European community stays always up-to-date with the latest developments.

Welcome aboard, Aguilar!

In the coming weeks, there will be a few sightings of World of Warcraft in Europe, most notably at the Game Stars Live event in London (Wednesday 1st to Sunday 5th of September) and at the Games Convention in Leipzig, Germany (Thursday 19th to Sunday 22nd of August).

Visitors to Game Stars Live, which takes place from 1st to 5th September at London's ExCeL centre, will have the opportunity to play the US closed-beta version of the game and experience the vibrant world of Azeroth firsthand. World of Warcraft will be presented on stand no. F11/F12 in the Main Hall N1-N5.

If you are in London early September, be sure to make some room in your schedule so you can stop by and check out what's waiting for you in the not at all distant future.

A Community Manager who will be supporting German-speaking players has recently joined the Blizzard Europe team, and Community Managers for the English and French-speaking communities will not be far behind.

Working under the forum name "Gungdil", our new Community Manager joined the Blizzard Europe team at the beginning of August, having previously spent several years managing some of the largest Blizzard fan sites in Germany. Gungdil, along with his soon-to-be colleagues on the European community team, will be dedicated to making sure the community and fan sites are fully supported with all the latest news about World of Warcraft. You'll hear from them shortly via the official European World of Warcraft beta-tester forums, which are due to go live in the next few weeks.

Check out these 42 new screenshots from the Horde vs. Alliance Race War Server. The screenshots show a large group of Alliance players raiding Horde territory in Orgrimmar, Crossroads, and Thunder Bluff.

Yesterday, the Blizzard Fan Art Section received an update with five new pieces of art.

On Monday, Block posted a Q&A on the US forums which addressed some interesting questions which beta testers had asked the development team. A transcript of this Q&A for convenient reading can be found here.
This Q&A answers questions about how players will be able to change or influence the World of Warcraft, and how the development team plans to balance player crafted items to be able to compete with quest rewards.

Members of Blizzard recently met with Blizzard Fan Sites on Battle.net to discuss World of Warcraft. The chat was attended by Blizzard Reps. These pages contain some interesting information about the way the Beta Test is used to balance the game.
Read more on the English, French and German transcripts of this Fan Site Chat!

The European World of Warcraft team is recruiting in the Game Masters, Community and Customer Support departments!
Interested? You can visit our jobs page on Blizzard-Europe.com to get more information.

All pages about Professions have now been updated!
You can discover which gathering skill goes best with your favourite production skill; then, learn how the trade skills will help you make your own character different from the other Horde grunts :)

Site Updates - Four new trade skills pages are online:
* Mining
* Engineering
* Tailoring
* Enchanting

The sign-up period for the European Beta Test is over and thanks to you, it has been an overwhelming success. While we are in the process of selecting the first group of testers, why don't you check out the European World of Warcraft website? At the moment, these pages contain a selection of information aimed at giving you a general idea of the most important aspects of the game. For example, we explain how grouping works, what trade skills are, the classes you can play and their strengths, plus much more.

During the next weeks and throughout the Beta, we will continue to expand and update this site on a regular basis. Here, players will find useful resources for playing World of Warcraft, and our future forums will give the community a means to keep up with the latest developments.

So, have fun and keep checking back; remember, you'll be needing everything you read here very, very soon - the Closed Beta Test is right around the corner!

Please note that we're unable to comment on the status of any applications to join the Beta Test. The first group of testers will be notified by email in the coming weeks, and we will be adding additional testers in phases throughout the Beta Test. We'll be sure to post an announcement here when every new phase of testing has begun so you'll know when to check your inboxes!

This gameplay trailer contains all-new footage for your viewing pleasure!
Download it now for an insider's look at World of Warcraft.