Now if you must get your hands on Lil’ Deathwing, you have to hold out for the release date because the collector’s edition is not available via digital pre-order. But if the standard edition works just as fine, head on over to Battle.net now and get ahead of the game!

Realms are scheduled to launch at the following times: Americas, Australia, New Zealand, and Southeast Asia – December 7 at 12:01 a.m. PST Europe and Russia – December 7 at 12:01 a.m. CET.

If you want a last-minute ticket to the one of the biggest geekfests this side of the planet, head on over to the BlizzCon Sweepstakes for a chance to win not one, but two tickets and other awesome prizes.

Enter by filling up the short form on the site’s homepage. All entries must be received by 11:59 pm EDT on October 2, 2010.  Hurry and good luck!

When plans to require members to use their real names when posting on the official Blizzard forums came out, it spawned a deluge of negative reactions from members of the community.

The new Real ID policy, created with the intention of significantly cutting down trolling and trash talking and fostering an increased sense of responsibility, posed privacy risks to many members.

Just days after, Blizzard responded to customer feedback and retracted the policy.

Just a friendly reminder to those who’ve already saved the date and an emergency notice to those who haven’t.

The worldwide ticket sale for THE event to be in the Blizzard universe is tomorrow, June 2 at 7PM Pacific Time. Second batch of tickets will be rolling out on June 5, 10AM Pacific Time.

Head on over to the official BlizzCon 2010 ticket sales page to purchase tickets.

Check out these works in progress:

A sneak peek at World of Warcraft’s new dungeon, Halls of Origination, for the upcoming Cataclysm expansion is out!

The five-player level 85 dungeon features seven unique boss fights in Uldum’s titan constructions. It possesses an Egyptian feel with its pyramids, tombs and sandstorms.

Only the bravest of adventurers can withstand the challenges presented in these Halls. If you prove yourself one of them, you get to assist Brann Bronzebeard in discovering the secrets within them.

This, they say, offers a whole new way to connect with your gamer friends. For starters, RL names will appear alongside players’ character names with Real ID. Cross-game, cross-realm and cross-faction chat across all Blizzard games is yet another remarkable feature, making it easier and faster to invite online guildies for raiding activities and the like.

If that’s your cup of tea, you might wanna hop on to the FAQ section for more details.

The only existing 2-seater flying mount, its speed can go up as much as 310% if you already have a mount with the same speed prior to claiming it.

Take note that the Rocket cannot be acquired through any other means. If you’re lusting for this exceptional ride, better rope in some recruits.

Female gaming has certainly gone a long way and nowadays, it’s totally normal to see geeky girls immersed in a long-standing male-dominated arena. But as a female gamer myself, I believe that’s about to change. Maybe not soon, but definitely sooner than you think.

I recently had the chance to interview fellow gamer girl Madison, who is also the forum moderator of an online video game dating site called DateCraft, by phone. Throughout the 10-minute discussion, we covered games, geeks and guys―all in between laughs. Read below for the transcript:

Teresa: Hello Madison. First off, thank you for agreeing to this interview. How are you?
Madison: Oh it’s no problem at all. This was unexpected so thank you for contacting me. Well, right now I just got off work, I’ll pick up a few things from the grocery, finish paperwork, squeeze in some game time, make dinner and then after that, I’ll log on to DateCraft and check up on the site.

Teresa: Seems like you have a lot going on. Is it a challenge to manage and moderate a site like DateCraft?
Madison: On some days when I’m preoccupied with stuff IRL, it can be a challenge. But it’s seriously fun, so at times it doesn’t really feel like one.

Teresa: Any other online dating sites you’ve tried, like match.com?
Madison: Yes, I did in fact try match.com. But that was a long time ago. I ended up deleting my profile.

Teresa: Too many stalkers?
Madison: [laughs] No. I just never really got around to completing my profile, got lazy and then got bored.

Teresa: Do you always go for the geeky, gamer type of guys?
Madison: Oh you mean like scrawny, with glasses, squeaky voice…Well, If you’re talking about the stereotype, I haven’t actually dated guys like that. They can be cute, though. But in terms of gamer, well, all my exes are in one way or the other. But some of them are jocks so that doesn’t exactly fit the geeky description.

Teresa: What makes you proud to be a geek?
Madison: We’re non-conformists. We don’t let pressures from society affect that way we think, how we should act and everything. In a way, we’re like harmless little rebels.

Teresa: Geek culture has exploded all over the place for the last 10 years but the stereotype still remains. What do you think of that?
Madison: Honestly? I’m actually okay with that. At first, it was annoying being pigeonholed. People assume that we all stutter and have low self-esteem or whatever when for some of us, it’s quite the opposite. Then suddenly, geek is the new cool. The stereotypes are funny, rather than insulting. It’s good to poke fun at yourself, you know? Besides, if we do manage to shake off the various cultural stereotypes that still abound, then the entertainment industry won’t be the same because a lot of shows and movies capitalize on these stereotypes.

Teresa: How did you get started on gaming?
Madison: Three words. “Super Mario” on Gameboy. Oh wait, I think that was four [laughs].

Teresa: So what other games do you play aside from WoW?
Madison: Apart from Farmville? Kidding. I tried Aion Online for kicks and loved how I could customize my characters, right down to the smallest freckles. I loved how my toon was so girly. Imagine fighting wearing a tutu skirt! Come on, if that’s not girly enough, then I don’t know what is. The graphics were for the win, talk about major eye candy. I think I’m going to resub, but only after I’ve paid off my maxed out credit card. Haha. I also play Mass Effect 2. Who says chicks like me don’t know their way around the big, bad virtual world?

Teresa: Let’s say you were given a chance to create your own videogame, what would it be like?
Madison: Oh I would make it like WoW with the fun factor kicked up to 10 notches. Yup, a game has to be majorly fun for me in order to sustain my interest.  I’d make the objectives really challenging as you level up but at the end you are well rewarded. Come on, who wants a cheesy prize at the end after all that hard work? While I’m not that hard core a player or raider, I can understand players’ sentiments when they give it all and achieve something, like a world first, only to find loot or a reward that makes them go, “what the heck…that’s it???”

Teresa: Lastly, does a guy have to be a gamer for you to be interested in him?
Madison: Not really. It’d be cool if we both play, especially if we play the same games, but it’s not a requirement or anything.

Teresa: Cool. Thanks again Madison!
Madison: Oh it was my pleasure, thank you.

- Teresa Diaz

Anyone with an active account, provided that it carries both the Burning Crusade and Wrath of the Lich King expansions, is eligible to enter the contest. A $20 USD fee will be required upon registration, to be paid when logging into your account.

Over $200, 000 USD worth of prizes are up for grabs, counting those awarded at the regional finals and the world championship.