Loading... Lich King Launch Date

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Loading... Will you be reading this on November 13th or playing Wrath of the Lich King?

First, the Ten Ton Pulse, your finger on the beating heart of the MMOG industry.

If the Top 10 isn't enough, we also show the Top 20 and Top 50 lists as well, available to everyone on our homepage. (What is Pulse?)

Warhammer Online - 200 BPM World of Warcraft - 132 BPM Age of Conan - 40 BPM Tabula Rasa - 13 BPM Lord of the Rings Online - 9 BPM EVE Online - 8 BPM Everquest II - 6 BPM Vanguard - 6 BPM Stargate Worlds - 5 BPM Dungeons and Dragons - 4 BPM

It's official, World of Warcraft's second expansion, Wrath of the Lich King will launch on November 13th.

"Blizzard Entertainment, Inc. announced today that World of Warcraft®: Wrath of the Lich King™, the second expansion for its award-winning subscription-based massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG), will arrive in stores on November 13 in North America, Europe, Mexico, Argentina, Chile, and Russia, and November 14 in Australia, New Zealand, Singapore, Malaysia, and Thailand. The expansion will be available in Korea and the regions of Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Macau on November 18. Details regarding the launch of Wrath of the Lich King in mainland China will be announced at a later date.

"We're looking forward to launching Wrath of the Lich King and finally giving World of Warcraft players a chance to take on Arthas and his minions," said Mike Morhaime, CEO and cofounder of Blizzard Entertainment. "Until then, we'll continue to refine and playtest the expansion content to make sure it provides a highly polished and entertaining experience."" [read the full press release]

The collector's edition will be priced at $69.99 and include,

The Art of World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King, a 208-page book featuring never-before-seen images from the game. An exclusive in-game pet: Frosty, the baby frost wyrm. A behind-the-scenes DVD containing over an hour of developer interviews, the Wrath of the Lich King intro cinematic with director's commentary and more. The official soundtrack CD, containing 21 epic tracks from the game, along with exclusive bonus tracks. A mouse pad featuring a map of the newly opened continent of Northrend. Two World of Warcraft Trading Card Game March of the Legion™, starter decks, along with two exclusive cards available only in the Collector's Edition.

November 13th is an interesting date. It falls one month after BlizzCON and sets up nicely for Christmas sales. It is also almost two months to the day after the launch of Warhammer Online. How many players will try Warhammer, resub once and then give Wrath of the Lich King a shot? 60 days should give many players ample time to reach the caps and see if the RvR encounters are enjoyable for them.

With BlizzCON so close to the launch it will be fascinating to see what news comes out of the show.

Will the next expansion take two years to deliver? Are you going to play WotLK? Hit the Loading... forums and have your say.

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13 new MMOG hand-crafted articles today! 153 in September! 2357 in 2008!

New MMOG Articles At Ten Ton Hammer Today [Thanks Phil Comeau for links and Real World News]

Images/Video

World of Warcraft: WotLK Walkthrough Video - Utgarde Keep Atlantica Online: Combat and Rome Screenshots

Launch Blog!

Warhammer Online: Justin Webb and The CE Launch Warhammer Online: Justin Webb and a Feast of Barnett Warhammer Online: Justin Webb and A Study of Sleep Deprivation

Interviews

Star Trek Online: A Few Words with Leonard Nimoy Dolby Axon: Senior Manager Matt Tullis

Previews

World of Warcraft: DarkFact's WotLK Beta Journal Perfect World: International First Impressions

Op/Eds

A Journey Through Community Development in MMOGs

Guides

Warhammer Online: Empire RvR Quests - Tier 1 Age of Conan: Guradian Feat Tree Update Age of Conan: They Hyborian Cavalry - A Guide to Mounts Vanguard: Monster Project - Bloodtail Vanguard: Monster Project - Kyxyt Vanguard: Monster Project - Merlagoon

Hot Content - Or, what I took a fancy to

World of Warcraft: DarkFact's WotLK Beta Journal Warhammer Online: Justin Webb and The CE Launch Warhammer Online: Justin Webb and a Feast of Barnett Warhammer Online: Justin Webb and A Study of Sleep Deprivation Warhammer Online: Justin Webb with ' 7 Days and Counting' Warhammer Online: Justin Webb, "Rudy's Beard" World of Warcraft: The Culling of Stratholme Gallery

Real World News

Pentagon researcher unveils World of Warcraft Terror Plot

No word on how many DKP the White House is worth Student told that her Rosary is a Gang Symbol

Mess with the Vatican crew, and they'll Pope a cap in yo azz Mickey Mouse is a soldier of Satan

His chief lieutenant, Be'elzeGoofy, also targeted

Thanks as always for visiting TenTonHammer.com.

- John "Boomjack" Hoskin and the Ten Ton Hammer Team