I still remember when cross-realm PVP was a huge thing to hit World of Warcraft, and here's another landmark that Blizzard is pioneering in their flagship MMO - cross-realm zones. Entire areas that can be explored and interacted with outside of the conventional server barrier. 

There's an entire FAQ explaining any thoughts you might have, but seriously - this is huge. 

It's here, at long last - the 4.3.4 patch for World of Warcraft. For a full list of changes, check out Wowhead, where the full notes are listed. Blizzard's main site seems to be having some issues. 

World of Warcraft has always had some pretty incredible scenery, but the draw distance has been kept relatively low - until, thanks to redditor lurker_becomes_lurkd, just now. 

It's just outright incredible looking at some of these screencaps. The game was never truly intended to be seen at this distance, but it ends up looking fantastic anyway. The sharp contrast between multiple zones in this shot, for example, almost looks like a  map drawn by a highly talented artist. Even if you don't play WoW, this is beautiful, almost Dead End Thrills level work. 

Mike B. is back again with another fully featured BFF Report! In this week’s edition (Episode #104), Mike B aka fony takes an extended look at the beta for Mists of Pandaria, the next expansion for World of Warcraft. Highlights include an overview of the new Pandaren starting zone and the early parts of Pandaria itself.

Go watch the video now and find out what Mike B thinks of Blizzard’s latest creation, as well as a roundup of the most amusing bugs found in beta so far!

Check out this week’s BFF Report here!

I'm just gonna let Wowhead's own Ashelia speak for me here:

"In short, Ragefire Chasm is redone. Trogg corpses litter the molten floors of the instance--they aren't the enemies anymore. Instead it's a new cult, former members of the Horde called the Dark Shaman. Garrosh has ordered you to clear out Ragefire before they can become another Twilight's Hammer and it's a pretty obvious lore point calling to Garrosh's eventual overthrow."

Completely new bosses and trash mobs and a much more trimmed overall Chasm? Count me in. 

It's getting closer! The juggernaut World of Warcraft's newest expansion, Mists of Pandaria, is inching closer, and Blizzard is now nudging the door open for people who want to get in just a bit further. 

I don't know how much more I need to say beyond "Beta test Mists of Pandaria," but in case you need further prompting, there's no non-disclosure agreement, Annual Pass owners don't need to even enter, and those without only need to sign up on Battle.net. More after the jump to Blizzard's site. Go go go! 

By now you’ve probably seen the deluge of information emerging about Mists of Pandaria (MoP), the next expansion to World of Warcraft. If you’re still in the dark about the latest episode in Blizzard’s magnum opus then head over to Wowhead, where you’ll find detail on almost every known element. We’ve also managed to grab some exclusive video interviews to extract even more information from the development team!

Since the initial flurry, we’ve had a chance to go through all the juicy morsels of information and work out what the expansion actually means to the players on the ground. Are we looking at a brief burst of activity followed by months of inactivity, or will this be a content update that’ll have us deeply engrossed for months if not years? Will Mists of Pandaria be met with acclaim from all corners of the player base, or will there be groups feeling neglected by Blizzard? Can the veteran game still be fresh and innovative, or is this an expansion of borrowed ideas?

Blizzard’s also going into what could be its most challenging year so far. Star Wars: The Old Republic emerged late last year swinging lightsabers in both hands and aiming for the MMO Story crown. Guild Wars 2 is looking to revamp many of the MMO staples we currently take for granted. The Secret World looks to tempt us from the shadows with a new and interesting setting, and WildStar remains the punk-kid with attitude. A poor expansion at this point in Warcraft’s life and the challengers would pounce on it like wolves on a sickly gazelle. 

Has the Mists of Pandaria Press Event changed that perception? Undoubtedly yes – Blizzard has clearly shown that there’s plenty of vigor left in the game that celebrated its seventh birthday last November. This is an All Inclusive Expansion, with new content for every single style of play. PvPers, raiders and even casual players have something to smile about with what’s been announced. There’s also a collection of quality-of-life enhancements to keep the game evolving in response to player feedback.

That’s not to say that it’s had a completely smooth entrance. Until recently, MoP was an expansion without an arch-nemesis waiting in its traditional lair. Instead we were presented, at Blizzcon, with this abstract concept of ‘war’ being the eventual foe we would face, with slender references to the Sha and similar creatures of negative emotions. Since then a forum post revealed that the final foe will likely be Garrosh Hellscream, as both factions take part in a Siege of Orgrimmar. Compared to the grand enemies of Illidan, Arthas and Deathwing, Garrosh feels a little anticlimactic. And although Metzen has yet to reveal the story arc that will make a traitor of the warchief, the out-of-context reveal did spoil some of the intrigue around the expansion.

Don’t let the ending drag on you too much, because Mists of Pandaria is bursting at the seams with things that have us desperately anticipating that elusive beta. Chief among them are the new and revamped dungeons we have to look forward to as we work our way to the new level cap. It’s great to see old favorites Scholomance and Scarlet Monastery join Deadmines in getting that heroic mode treatment.

The more significant addition to our 5-man routine is Challenge Mode, providing an alternative to the Dungeon Finder heroic mode zerg-fest. This is a huge boon to raiding guilds looking for something to do on off-days, as well as providing smaller guilds something they can work toward. There are also likely to be much sharper tests of PvE skill, with achievements, transmogrification armor and unique mounts up for grabs. By adding leaderboards to the mix, this will create an interesting alternative to the raiding “server first”.

On the subject of raiding, we’re being welcomed to level 90 with three new raids. While it’s likely that one of these will be the loot piñata style boss we’ve come to expect in an expansion, it’s reassuring that we’ll have 14 new bosses to beat into the dirt. Raiding Guild Masters know that one of the keys to battling raider burnout is keeping things varied, so we should hopefully see a healthy mix of encounters and environments in the first tier of raiding. We might even see an end to tiers completely, with Blizzard debating the role of tier tokens and valor points as a way of awarding loot.

The success of Looking for Raid caught many of us by surprise, particularly with players being able to form ad-hoc cross-realm groups. It’s also been a constant source of loot drama, with forum flamewars and vendettas started on a dice roll. The new LFR looting system introduced in MoP has everyone in the raid rolling to see who gets loot, with the highest three to six being awarded an item from the loot table that’s suitable for their class and current role. Gone are off-spec rolls, loot theft and the drama. Without it, realm forums are destined to become places of Zen-like tranquility.

Up next: Mini-games and Mechanics ->

It’s not just the raiders and dungeoneers getting all the attention. PvP players are also getting some love with a couple of new game modes and some very welcome world objectives. Both of the two new battlegrounds of Temple of Mogu (“kill the dude with the thing”) and Silver Shard Mine (“we push cart for great honor!”) provide a unique Blizzard perspective on two popular game types. 

World objectives have been resurrected from The Burning Crusade, but although capturing these raise your personal Conquest point cap it’s not clear if there’s an incentive to persuade non PvPers to join in the fun. While World Objectives are a great idea, work needs to be done to ensure they don’t become a deserted sideshow.

Even if you’re not a hardcore raider or bloodthirsty PvPer, Mists of Pandaria is still brimming with new content. Aside from the new race (Panderans) and the new class (Monk), progression through Pandaria will keep you busy for a long while. The linear questing of Cataclysm has been dropped in favor of seven zones of multi-path goodness. Couple this with the revamped reputation mechanism and replacements for daily quests and you’re left feeling that the content will stand up to repeated play through.

It’s these new more casual features that make all the difference. The farm you can build with the Tillers and Anglers, the Cloud Serpent you can raise from an egg, and the Lorewalkers showing hidden stories of Azeroth all point to one thing – Blizzard understands that MMOs are not just one game, but several games working together. It’s this mesh of several different games as one cohesive package that will keep us playing the expansion long after we’ve hit level cap.

Under the hood we’ve seen the same refinement of game mechanics that we’ve come to expect over the years. Along with the Talent revamp, Prime glyphs have been rounded up and wiped out. Major Glyphs will still be there to provide some degree of character specialization, but it’s in the minor bracket that we’re seeing the real glypsplosion. Almost every single cosmetic change and spell effect ever conceived has been stamped on a minor glyph, with the only notable exception being the Warlock demand for Green Fire. It’s an interesting change to see customization switch focus from function to aesthetics, but it should mean that characters act in visually distinct ways.

The surprise omission for game mechanics is the Great Number Squish and trying to normalize damage output across character levels. In TankSpot’s interview with Greg Street, Lore challenged him on this exact issue. It’s worth checking out the full interview, but to summarize: the game didn’t feel right. With all the other changes being made to mechanics in MoP, Greg and the team felt that it was too risky to try and convince us. For now we’re left with the Mega Damage solution, but it’s likely we’ll see this revisited in a future expansion. 

The big question remains: when will beta start? Although invites are starting to trickle out, it’s going to take some time before all Annual Pass members manage to get in. During an interview, production director J. Allen Brack agreed that they’re battling with the problem of how to handle the “largest beta of any Warcraft expansion.” At the moment it seems likely that invites will be in waves, with veteran subscribers that signed up earlier to the Annual pass getting in sooner than their newer or tardier brethren.

Although the announcement of the Siege of Orgrimmar may have removed some of the mystery surrounding Mists of Pandaria, Blizzard is still on course to deliver an exciting, interesting and involving expansion later this year. Greg Street’s relentless assault on game mechanics and Cory Stockton’s war on the grind should ensure that this expansion feels as new and as fresh as ever. But can Warcraft survive a battle against War itself? Only time will tell.

Gareth "Gazimoff" Harmer, Staff Writer

Last week, members of the press were invited to attend a huge Mists of Pandaria information session, and with the NDA dropping today, you'll probably be spending most of your day reading up on all of the previously unrevealed changes coming. The biggest topics covered include the reveal of Female Pandarens, the fact that Garrosh Hellscream will be the final boss of the expansion, players will be able to have their own in-game farms, and much more.

All of the above and more can be read in Wowhead's extensive coverage piece! Not only do they have pages and pages of new information for you to devour in point format, but there are also exclusive videos detailing the new MoP zones, dozens of screenshots to see, and four exclusive interviews with Blizzard devs Cory Stockton, Tom Chilton, J Allen Brack, and Greg Street.

• Blizzard's Official Event FAQ.

• An overview of Pandaria, including factions, zones, a bestiary, and lore.

• New content in Mists of Pandaria, including professions, PvP, challenge modes, scenarios, pet battles, and questing.

• An in-depth look at the Monk class and its unique specializations.

• Dungeons and Raids in Mists of Pandaria, including Scholomance, Stormstout Brewery, and Temple of the Jade Serpent.

• All of Wowhead & Tankspot's exclusive interviews with Cory Stockton, Tom Chilton, J Allen Brack, and Greg Street (with transcriptions!).

Some big news from Blizzard yesterday, as they've revealed a revamped Scroll of Ressurection. Upon accepting the scroll, players will receive a single character boosted to level 80, a free character move and faction change, seven days of free game time, and a free upgrade to Cataclysm. For the referrers themselves, they'll be able to get a free Spectral Gryphon (Alliance) or Spectral Wind Rider (Horde) should their friend subscribe for 30 days after their free seven days are up.

Do realize that this is a limited time offer, so if it sounds like something worth checking out (who doesn't want a free level 80 character?), why not check out Wowhead's Scroll of Resurrection Request Thread?

In a letter from Mike Morhaime, we learned that Blizzard is in the process of cutting a number of active positions throughout the company. The reason stated for this mass amount of job loss was to better maintain the health of the company. As a result of certain departments becoming overstaffed, they have decided to scale down these departments to allow for larger growth in others.

These job cuts come about a year after Activision eliminated 500 jobs when they shut down the studios responsible for the "Guitar Hero" franchise. While no developers that work on World of Warcraft will be affected, this job loss could in part be due to the near 1 million subscriber decline in World of Warcraft this past year.

Morhaime did emphasize that Blizzard is still committed to shipping multiple games this year. There is exciting news to be had in the coming weeks with Diablo III's release date as well as the Mists of Pandaria press tour. It's always sad to hear news of people losing their jobs and our hearts go out to those who are affected.