The Funeral of WoW Gold

E3 might be bigger and more visitor-friendly this year, but one of the most important video-game creators in the world, Blizzard, has chosen not to return to the show, probably still remembering the rather lackluster 2007 and 2008 editions of E3.

Talking to gaming magazine, Edge Bob Colayco, who is the public relations manager for Blizzard, said that “Blizzard Entertainment will not be attending or participating in E3 2009.” The company will probably organize a press conference at the same time in order to take advantage of the media attention that is garnered by the largest trade show of the video-gaming industry. Such a press conference necessitates less preparation and less involvement than a full participation in E3.

Blizzard’s decision makes a lot of sense. In all likelihood, the company doesn’t have a big announcement to make this year. In 2009, we are set to receive Starcraft II: Wings of Liberty, the first installment of the three-part, real-time strategy sequel, and developers are also working on Diablo III, which will probably only arrive in 2010. At the same time, World of Warcraft , the most played
Western MMO, has already received a new expansion, in the form of Wrath of the Lich King, and Blizzard probably doesn’t plan to announce another one until 2010.

The company is also creating its own shows, where most of the attendance is made up of fans, and where it has begun to launch its biggest public statements. Starcraft II was initially unveiled in South Korea in 2007 at the Blizzard Worldwide Invitational, while Diablo III was presented in 2008 in Paris. Blizzon has also grown year after year, even if big announcements have not normally been made there. So keep an eye out on these two in order to see what Blizzard has planned for the near future (I’m betting it intends to finally release Ghost).

Blizzard Entertainment updated World of Warcraft ( Currrency: wow gold ) to version
3.0.9 Tuesday, an update that includes multiple tweaks and changes to most of the character classes. The update can be downloaded by logging into the WoW client.

The patch notes in full:

World of Warcraft Client Patch 3.0.9

Druids

Ferocious Bite: This ability now only uses up to 30 energy in addition to its base cost.

Hunters

Kindred Spirits (Beast Mastery): This talent now grants 20% pet damage at max rank.

Serpent’s Swiftness (Beast Mastery): This talent now grants 20% pet attack speed at max rank.

Pets

Lava Breath now reduces the target’s casting speed by 25%, down from 50%.

Poison Spit now reduces the target’s casting speed by 25%, down from 50%.

Mages

Arcane Power now increases damage and mana cost by 20%, cooldown reduced to 2 minutes.

Arcane Power and Presence of Mind now share a category cooldown. Arcane Power causes a 15 second cooldown. Presence of Mind, once consumed, causes a 1.5 second cooldown.

Arcane Flows now reduces the cooldown of Presence of Mind, Arcane Power and Invisibility by 15/30%.

Presence of Mind: The cooldown has been reduced to 2 minutes, (down from 3.)

Slow (Arcane): now increases cast time by 30%, down from 60%.

Paladins

The duration on all Seals has been increased to 30 minutes and can no longer be dispelled.

Divine Plea: The amount healed by your spells is reduced by 50% (up from 20%), but the effect can no longer be dispelled.

Sanctified Seals: This talent no longer affects dispel resistance, but continues to affect crit chance.

Priests

Inner Fire duration has been increased to 30 minutes and can no longer dispelled.

Rogues

Hunger for Blood (Assassination): Now increases damage 5% per stack, (up from 3%.)

Mind Numbing Poison now reduces cast time by 30%, down from 60%.

Mutilate damage will now do 20% increased damage against poisoned targets, down from 50%.

Slice and Dice (Rank 2): This ability now increases melee attack speed by 40%, up from 30%.

Warlocks

Curse of Tongues: Now increases the casting time of all spells by 25% (Rank 1) and 30% (Rank 2), down from 50% and 60%.

Dungeons and Raids

The Obsidian Sanctum

Changed the color of the fissure in the Obsidian Sanctum to be more visually distinct.

User Interface

The “GM wishes to speak with you ” alert/button, at the top of the screen, has been changed so that addons do not obscure it.

A clickable chat message has been added that duplicates the GM alert/button.

When a GM wishes to speak with you the Help Request minibar button will glow.

For additional notes on Lua and XML changes please visit the UI & Macros forum .

Bug Fixes

Fixed an issue where players using Nvidia 3D glasses were unable to see spell cooldowns.

Fixed a software mouse cursor bug that was causing the mouse curser to disappear from view when over certain UI elements.

Fixed a player movement error in which other players were appearing to move erratically when traveling beside them.

23-year-old man in trouble, minor lied about age

About a week ago, we posted a news story about a 27-year-old man crossing numerous states just to have sex with a 15-year-old girl he’d met on Xbox LIVE.  Seems like this sort of thing has been happening a little more often than it ought to, as we hear about another young man awaiting trial for maintaining a sexual relationship with a minor. 

However, this tale comes with a twist that muddies the waters and spreads the blame.

Daniel Joseph Czelusniak, 23, was arraigned on Friday, February 6, by a judge on charges of involuntary deviate sexual intercourse, statutory sexual assault, aggravated indecent assault, indecent assault, unlawful contact with a minor, and corruption of a minor.  He’s now making new friends in the Bedford County Jail on $125,000 bail.  Quite a list, but how did all this happen?

Apparently, Czelusniak met a girl on World of Warcraft four years ago.  The girl claimed to be 14 at the time, and our perpetrator would’ve been only 19.  In March 2008, he traveled from
North Royalton, Ohio to Bedford County, Pennsylvania to meet the girl, who would’ve been 18 by then.  Much to Czelusniak’s surprise, the girl had lied about her initial age and was actually 14 at the time of their meeting — meaning she was 10 when they first made contact online.  Regardless, the two carried on a physical relationship for two months, meeting several times at a motel and the girl’s home.

In September, the girl’s mother confronted her daughter after finding a cell phone given to her by Czelusniak.  After questioning the girl, the angry mother confronted him and notified police.  Czelusniak surrendered to Pennsylvania State Police soon after.