Kind of awesome.

As of 11AM PDT, we can assuredly report that the next BlizzCon convention will not be held in Las Vegas.  A Blizzard source has assured us that the rumor on this subject is just that.  Furthermore:

• Blizzard is not commenting on whether or not the next BlizzCon will be held in 2010.
• Blizzard is not commenting on why their name is associated with the Las Vegas Convention Center calendar.
• Blizzard is not commenting on where the next BlizzCon may be held.

That last point is key.  Wherever the next BlizzCon is held, it will not be in Las Vegas.

World of Warcraft is now a part of the new Battle.net! In preparation for the rollout of Battle.net’s upcoming communication and community features, as of today, all World of Warcraft accounts must be merged with a free Battle.net account in order to log in to the game. To upgrade to a Battle.net account, please go here. For more info, check out the Battle.net site or read the FAQ.

Now is the time, and this is the place.

Talking Pet Store With Tom Chilton

On Wednesday, Blizzard added a new dimension to their online store and the game itself with the release of two new premium in-game pets. At a cost of $10 or 10-Euro each, you can have one of these two new companions following every character you’ve got in game. This marks the first time that Blizzard has done direct pay-for-content microtransactions in World Of Warcraft, and it got a lot of people talking. So much so that we found the only fitting way to get to the bottom of the worry to be – An exclusive interview with Blizzard’s Tom Chilton! Have a listen, and look to this blog for a full transcript coming soon!

Rumors And Scuttlebutt

What’s Going On In China

It could almost be a World of Warcraft game session — two competing titans, plotting against each other, swapping blows, embarked on a quest for a single prize that only the stronger of them will claim.
But this is not virtual reality. The titans are two agencies of the Chinese government. And their quest, during which they have traded a few blows in the past week, is for a potentially rich prize: the power to regulate the real World of Warcraft, among the most popular online games in China. The background: On Monday, the Chinese General Administration of Press and Publication ordered the Shanghai-based operator of World of Warcraft, NetEase, to shut down its servers for World of Warcraft. The agency said that it had rejected the company’s application to become the new host of the game’s four million Chinese players. But by Wednesday, the Ministry of Culture had struck back. “In regards to the World of Warcraft incident, the General Administration of Press and Publication has clearly overstepped its authority,” a ministry official, Li Xiong, was quoted as saying in the Economic Information Daily, a newspaper in Beijing. “They do not have the authority to penalize online gaming.” The ministry said it had that authority. And it said NetEase was perfectly free to offer the game on computers in China. The matter now appears destined for settlement by the State Council, the Chinese government’s cabinet.

So begins an article by Michael Wines in the New York Times this week.

Blizzard Is Now Showing Off What The Tier 10 Priest And Paladin Sets May Look Like

Right here.

Town Cryer

It’s an all-calls Town Cryer this week!

Drop Of The Week

Our New Favorite WoW Blogger

OK – he’s not new at all, and most hardcore WoW-market enthusiasts have been reading his blog for at least a year, but we somehow missed The Greedy Goblin until just this past week, and if you’ve not yet read his writings at Blogspot, well, you’ve got a *lot* of catching up to do. Greedy Goblin writes a J.K. Rowling novel worth of updates every week, and focuses on both in-game and real world economics, in-game politics, and most humorously, making fun of his adversaries by posting screenshots of their reactions to his auction house tactics.

Additional show content provided by Darrell the Tipgiver, Steve “Buxley” Pietrowicz and the outstanding Instance Community.

Special thanks to DogHouse Systems, FigurePrints!, TypeFrag and SquareSpace for sponsoring this episode.

- The RSS Feed
The MP3 File
- The iTunes Subscription
The Zune Feed

Have you hit 80 on your death knight without really knowing what you’re doing, or how to maximize it?  Let’s talk about that.

Today, we’re going to give away a code for a Grunty The Murloc Marine in-game pet from Blizzard and The Instance to one person who participates in this thread on The Instance forums.  Just answer the original question posed by Jinxest there, or ask a new question of your own in that thread, or answer a new question before 6PM PDT today (that’s 9PM EDT).  One poster wins!

And it’s just a matter of time until you can buy your very own Henry.  Not that you could ever “own” Henry, per se.  From the Blizzard announcement:

Today we’re pleased to introduce the Pet Store for World of Warcraft, a new way for players to obtain in-game pets to join them on their adventures in Azeroth. Two brand-new companions are now available for purchase exclusively at the Pet Store in the online Blizzard Store: Lil’ K.T. and the Pandaren Monk.

Important note: If you have not already, you will have to move your account into Battle.Net before you can purchase and activate the new pets.  This and other technical issues are addressed in the Blizzard Pet Store FAQ here.

What do you think of this? Want to win a Grunty The Murloc Marine in-game pet from Blizzard and The Instance? To win today, just answer that question in a comment right here in the blog before 5PM PDT today (that’s 8PM EDT), and tell us what you think. One commenter wins!

Meeting Stones: To use any Meeting Stone, it is only required that the character’s minimum level be 15. There is no maximum character level requirement for any Meeting Stone.

And there was much rejoicing.

Want to win a Grunty The Murloc Marine in-game pet from Blizzard and The Instance? To win today, just answer the question posed in this thread in The Instance forums before 11AM PDT today (that’s 2PM EDT), and tell us what you think Blizzard should do next. One poster wins!

Blizzard is once again giving away pretty cool prizes to random players, and this time the gifts are in celebration of the 5-year-anniversary of World Of Warcraft.  Their announcement is here, but if you dig a little deeper, you can find the full prize list here.  It goes like this:

• If you created your WoW account on or before October 26 of 2008, you could win one of five “Charge of the Great Dragon Flights” steins.  Drawing is tomorrow.
• If you created your WoW account on or before November 2 of 2007, in addition to the above, you could win one of five sets of PPK Gaming Glasses from Gunnar Optiks.  Drawing is Nov. 11.
• If you created your WoW account on or before November 9 of 2006, in addition to the above, you could win one of seven ASUS ENGTS250 DK/DI/1GD3 video cards.  Drawing is Nov. 18.
• If you created your WoW account on or before November 16 of 2005, in addition to the above, you could win one of five prize packages, each consisting of a SteelSeries QcK Limited Edition Mousepad, a SteelSeries World of Warcraft MMO Gaming Mouse and a SteelSeries Siberia V2 Full-Size Headset.  Drawing is November 25.
• If you created your WoW account on or before November 23, 2004, in addition to the above, you could win one of five prize packages that include video cards, game time cards good for one year of free play time in WoW, a couple of laptop computers and some autographed Onyxia prints.  That  drawing will take place on December 2.

How does Onyxia sign autographs, anyway?

Want to win a Grunty The Murloc Marine in-game pet from Blizzard and The Instance? To win today, just post a Twitter update @instanceshow before 4PM PDT today (that’s 7PM EDT), and tell us how long you’ve been playing WoW. One poster wins!

Three more videos, and a Grunty giveaway, after the jump!

Want to win a Grunty The Murloc Marine in-game pet from Blizzard and The Instance? Here’s what you do – just leave a comment on this post in the blog before 9PM PST today (Monday, Nov. 2).  One commenter wins the code!