The Stonecore was recently made accessible to level 82 players and with our questing success which was shown on the live stream, we have been able to enter Deepholm and the Stonecore. The level 82-85 dungeon has caused some controversy on the Blizzard forums with some beta testers complaining that the dungeon is “over tuned”, whilst others such as myself have embraced the challenge and welcome the revival of mechanics such as crowd control(CC) and kiting.

GodisaGeek.com is proud to bring you a live stream of the World of Warcraft Cataclysm Beta from a protection paladin point of view. You can also check out HD videos over on our dedicated Cataclysm page.

You can access the live stream and full schedule after the jump.

In the latest Beta build (12604) the underwater mount found in Vashj’ir got a new model. The 280% speed mount which used to look like a Nether Ray was always a place-holder and has now been changed to resemble a Seahorse. The mount is obtained from the starting area of Vashj’ir known as the “Kelp Forest”, the Abyssal Seahorse mount can only be used underwater.

Today we are taking a look at yet another improved World of Warcraft zone, this time it is the Forsaken starting area of the Tirisfal Glades. The zone has some nice updated architecture including an interesting statue of the Banshee Queen, Lady Sylvanas in the renovated town of Brill.

God is Geek’s World of Warcraft Podcast is back with episode 8 of The Buff Up Show. Aryel and Twisted host the show as usual and are joined by special guest Louise. The controversial yet useful Real ID system is discussed, Louise gives us a female perspective, whilst Aryel tells us all about the Cataclysm Beta and the new God is a Geek Guild.

Topics discussed:

• Blizzards Real ID
• Cataclysm Beta Talents
• Cataclysm Beta Zones
• God is a Geek Guild

-

We have yet another Cataclysm Beta video for you here at GodisaGeek.com. Today we are looking at a Lore event which takes place in the level 10-20 zone of Darkshore. The zone has changed quite a bit after the Cataclysmic event which has torn Azeroth asunder.The event in question features none other than Queen Azshara, the ex-Nightelf Queen who has not been seen for quite some time.

As always the video is after the jump. Wan’t to see more 720p Cataclysm videos? Head over to our dedicated Cataclysm page here.

Another day, another World of Warcraft Cataclysm video. This time we are looking at the impressively re-worked Silverpine Forest, the level 10-20 zone has had a make over with Forsaken structures upgraded to match their Northrend counterparts. There seems to be a lot going on in Silverpine these days with the presence of Banshee Queen Lady Sylvanas and her new friends the Valk’yrs.

There seems to be some action towards the south with newly found Gilneas on the doorstep. check out the fully narrated video is after the jump.

There has been an overwhelming amount of negative response from fans of Blizzard games concerning plans to use the Real ID system on future Blizzard forums. Blizzard did tell us they were listening to feedback and now it seems they are acting on that feedback in a drastic way. Blizzard Poster Vaneras posted a letter from CEO Mike Morhaime that states the following  - “we’ve decided at this time that real names will not be required for posting on official Blizzard forums.” check out the full post after the jump.

Mike Morhaime:

Hello everyone,

I’d like to take some time to speak with all of you regarding our desire to make the Blizzard forums a better place for players to discuss our games. We’ve been constantly monitoring the feedback you’ve given us, as well as internally discussing your concerns about the use of real names on our forums. As a result of those discussions, we’ve decided at this time that real names will not be required for posting on official Blizzard forums.

It’s important to note that we still remain committed to improving our forums. Our efforts are driven 100% by the desire to find ways to make our community areas more welcoming for players and encourage more constructive conversations about our games. We will still move forward with new forum features such as conversation threading, the ability to rate posts up or down, improved search functionality, and more. However, when we launch the new StarCraft II forums that include these new features, you will be posting by your StarCraft II Battle.net character name + character code, not your real name. The upgraded World of Warcraft forums with these new features will launch close to the release of Cataclysm, and also will not require your real name.

I want to make sure it’s clear that our plans for the forums are completely separate from our plans for the optional in-game Real ID system now live with World of Warcraft and launching soon with StarCraft II. We believe that the powerful communications functionality enabled by Real ID, such as cross-game and cross-realm chat, make Battle.net a great place for players to stay connected to real-life friends and family while playing Blizzard games. And of course, you’ll still be able to keep your relationships at the anonymous, character level if you so choose when you communicate with other players in game. Over time, we will continue to evolve Real ID on Battle.net to add new and exciting functionality within our games for players who decide to use the feature.

Blizzard have taken a huge U-turn, its a shame in one sense, real names gave hope for a better forum atmosphere with posters taking responsibility for their actions but it seems the negatives outweighed the positives this time. The Real ID system is still very much in place across Blizzard games allowing friends to cross communicate.

Bioware will today officially announce Dragon Age 2. Yesterday @Biofeed and @DragonAge teased us with this tweet “2morrow will be a great day for BioWare fans. Just sayin’.” It would appear that a Dragon Age 2 announcement is more than likely with EA releasing the press release below, the release reveals  information on other titles too.

“Currently announced projects at BioWare include the development of ongoing downloadable content for Mass Effect 2, one of the highest rated video games of all time, Dragon Age 2, the highly anticipated sequel to 2009′s “RPG of the Year” Dragon Age: Origins, and the story-driven massively multiplayer online game, Star Wars: The Old Republic.”

Perhaps Bioware are biggiing up the announcement a little too much, after all we have known that Dragon Age 2 has been on the cards for some time, BioWare even gave away a possible release date of February 1, 2011 with a none-too-subtle teaser included in the retail release of the Dragon Age: Origins – Awakening expansion. What can I say?

If they announce anything other than Dragon Age 2 we will shocked. Expect lots of lovely new info on everything Dragon Age 2 later today.

You can check out our Awakening review here

EA Makes Dragon Age 2 Official, BioWare Teases Reveal Tomorrow[Kotaku]

The Throne of Tides is the second new dungeon in the World of Warcraft Cataclysm expansion, as the name suggests the dungeon takes place under water with a portal entrance found in the Sunken City of Vash’jir. TotalBiscuit is once again on hand to take you through the dungeon with his dry British humour. Hit the jump to see the video.