Battle.Net relaunched

With the upcoming release of Blizzard's next games Starcraft II and Diablo III, Battle.Net was relaunched as a central account management for all Blizzard games. Starting with World of Warcraft (by merging WoW account), you can now create a single login for future Blizzard games.

One neat feature of this new Battle.Net is that you can add your games to the account. By storing your cd-keys on your account, you can download the games directly from Blizzard.


Some of the benefits of the Battle.net account include:

• Fewer passwords to remember. One single log-in lets you access World of Warcraft, the online Blizzard store, and more -- including upcoming games such as StarCraft II and Diablo III.
• Opt in to upcoming Blizzard Entertainment beta tests. Put yourself in the running to be invited to test upcoming games.
• Easy access to your classic games. Store your CD keys for classic Blizzard Entertainment titles, and then download the games whenever you wish.
• And more to come... We're planning to add more features in the future, including tools to help friends communicate between games and bring players closer together.

The old Battle.Net can be accessed at http://classic.battle.net/.

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New World of Warcraft Statue at Blizzard HQ

Blizzard's Headquarters in Irvine now has a new statue in its courtyard - a stunning 12-foot Orc riding a wolf mount. The statue was created in New Zealand by Weta Workshop, the same company that made the special effects in the Lord of the Rings movies. While it acts as a decoration of sorts, it also proudly tells the world of the company that WoW made the highly-successful game that Blizzard made: World of Warcraft.

The statue was modeled after a miniature that was given to Blizzard employees as a Christmas gift.

More photos here.

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Rise of the Invoker

Rise of the Invoker is an entertaining Dota video about Kael the Invoker battling it out against 4 enemy Sentinel heroes. The video is well-made; it makes excellent use of camera angles.

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WoW, "the most dangerous game in the market"

Swedish Youth Care Foundation likens the MMORPG giant World of Warcraft to crack cocaine labeling it as the "most dangerous game in the market". The addictive nature of WoW has caught the attention of the organization whose report is backed by Swedish National Institute of Public Health. "The crack cocaine of the computer gaming world." as the org put it. For me, it is simply "World of Warcrack". xD

Sven Rollenhagen, author of the report adds "Some people are literally unable to drag themselves away and will play it till they drop... There is not a single case of game addiction that we have worked with in which World of Warcraft has not played a part."

The case in point is that of a 15-year old who suffered from convulsions after playing the game non-stop for 24 hours. The teenager fully recovered but the father launched a campaign warning parents of the dangers of prolonged gaming sessions.

Source

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Power of the Horde

Power of the Horde is a rock song describing the battles of the Orcish army called the Horde. Storm, Earth and Fire refer to their shamanistic beliefs.

Power of the Horde lyrics

Storm, Earth and Fire, heed my call!

I am the son of the wind and rain,
Thunder beckons and I heed the call.
If I die upon this day,
In battle I will fall.

Hear me brothers gather up the wolves,
To battle, we will ride.
War drums echo the beating heart,
Pounding from inside.

CHORUS:
STORM
Black clouds fill the sky.
EARTH
I hear my battle cry.
FIRE
Thunder we'll bring forth.
DEATH
From the power of the Horde...

Far Seer to the Warsong Clan,
To no man will I kneel.
Feel the power and the energy,
Born of black blood, honor, and steel.

I feel the fire burning in my veins,
Lightning strikes at my command.
By storm and earth, axe and fire,
We come to claim this land.

(CHORUS)

(Instrumental)

Yeeeeaaaahhhh!

Surrounded by the enemy,
The wolf among the hounds.
Thunder turns to silence it,
Took the hundred to bring me down.

Wolf brothers falling at my side,
With honour I will die.
Upon the Altar of the Storms,
I will be reborn.

(CHORUS)
For I have been reborn.

STORM
EARTH
FIRE
DEATH
The power of the Horde...


Power of the Horde was included in the expansion pack The Frozen Throne where it was used as the background music for the Credits section. It was sung by rock band "Tenth Level Tauren Chieftain", consisting of top Blizzard executives with SamWise as the lead singer. The name of the band changes however, reflecting the highest level the hero Tauren Chieftain can attain in the Warcraft Universe. Currently, it is "Level 80 Elite Tauren Chieftian" following the release of the Wrath of the Lich King.

Live performance at Blizzard Worldwide Invitational 2008 in Paris, France
Download Power of the Horde MP3

Trivia: In single-player mode, typing "TenthLevelTaurenChieftain" (without quotes) will play this song. This works only if you have The Frozen Throne installed.

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