2009 new years review!

[Glynbeard]

Welcome everyone, to the review of 2009! We'll be looking at the ups the downs the good times and the bad. It's all here!

After my little intro here you will move along a series of pages, each page represents a different month labeled at the top and will include major (and some minor) events in WoW and some news on what MMOwned went through!

Since this is a review though, it should follow the proper format...



2009 looked promising for myself and WoW. A new expansion was just recently released, I had my friends playing again and I was excited for battles to come. I knew that the Lich King would be waiting for me and I used the want to battle him to continue playing on my characters.

Let's take a quick peek at some of the things that happened in WoW and MMOwned this year though.

[BREAK=January]

World of Warcraft:

1-16-09:
The purchasing of Figure Prints became available through the website: FigurePrints - World of Warcraft



1-29-09:
Blizzard announced that they would be teaming up (again) with SteelSeries to bring new World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King peripherals: the new Zboard Limited Edition Gaming Keyboard, Qck Limited Edition Lich King Exclusive Gaming Surface, and 5C Limited Edition Frost Wyrm Exclusive Gaming Surface. If the term badass doesn’t come to mind, I don’t know what does.



MMOwned:

1-01-09:
Today Ket announced the game reviews contest! This encouraged members to write game reviews and submit them so they can be approved and posted. After a couple months of taking in reviews and reading them over, the following 3 stood out from the rest:

1st Place:
Silkroad Online

2nd Place:
Team Fortress 2

3rd Place:
Far Cry 2

The prizes included different amounts of MMOkings gold, HeroicWOW VIP accounts and reputation (each depending on what place you received).
Be sure to check them out if you haven't already!

1-15-09:


Gastricpenguin announces an Emulation Contest prompting users to submit their work in 3 different areas: best C++ script, most creative quest or best Lua script.

Many entries were submitted but the overall winner (of an iPod Shuffle) was Pwntzyou. If you would like to see the results yourself click here

[BREAK=February]

World of Warcraft:

2-10-09:
2009 World of Warcraft Arena Tournament was announced. Blizzard described that in one week, the tournament would begin on their special tournament realms and that players who ended up in the top spots at the end of the season were eligible to win a cash prize of $200,000!



2-11-09:
Blizzard released their Valentine’s Day commercial which can be found: WorldofWarcraft.com Video Player.

“What do you get the blood elf who has everything? This Valentine's Day, make it an epic jewel! Yes, the industrial empires of Azeroth aren't about to let anyone escape the relentless marketing campai– errr, bloom of true love associated with this time of year!”



2-17-09:
Blizzard opened registration for the 2009 Arena Tournament.


“The pot has been sweetened this year with the addition of the exclusive Armored Murloc in-game pet as an earnable reward for all participants. Top players will not only be striving for a shot at competing for cash prizes in the regional and global finals, but the members of the top 1000 teams will also be given an exclusive title for their eligible live characters as well.”




2-17-09:
BlizzCon 2009 was announced! The fourth ever BlizzCon gaming convention will be held in the Anaheim Convention Center in Anaheim, California on Friday, August 21st and Saturday, August 22nd.



2-18-09:
A sneak peek at Ulduar is unveiled by Blizzard, explaining more about the lore of the dungeon, some of the encounters and the layout that was being implemented at the time.



2-24-09:
The Arena Tournament had officially begun. Explaining how top teams can win a cash prize and even in game titles or pets for their official characters.

2-25-09:
The video teaser for Uldaur was released which can be found:
World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King
It touched on environments and denizens that wait within the ancient halls of the Titans.


MMOwned:

2-08-09:
This month was one of my favourites for MMOwned News. On February 8th many news sites posted that both MMOwned and MarkeeDragon had been taken offline due to cheating and exploiting World of Warcraft. They put in many 'lulz' and fake goodbyes only to be surprised when we both came back almost immediately. Neither had been taken offline, MMOwned's datacenter that is was hosted on was undergoing a scheduled maintenance and Markeedragon was down for similar reasons.

For more epic lulz, you can check out an example of what I was talking about by following this link:
Markee Dragon and MMOwned taken offline | World of Warcraft News from around the net

[BREAK=March]

World of Warcraft:

3-05-09:
SteelSeries has released their World of Warcraft Gaming mouse. The mouse had 15 programmable buttons, 16 million illumination options and even advanced macro creation abilities. In other words, it’s pretty badass.



3-10-09:
Figureprints have officially been released in Europe and can also be bought through FigurePrints - World of Warcraft.

3-10-09:
Arena Tournament Phase 2 commences. In this stage of the game, all matches will be counted towards an end score, unlike, up until now, when they have been worthless wins or losses.



3-12-09:
A new WoW Armory feature known as ‘Arena Records’ has been released by Blizzard. This new tab on the character sheet tracks and measures the performance of each arena match completed in game.



3-16-09:
Blizzard announces that user interfaces will be undergoing severe changes over the next couple weeks.



3-17-09:
Blizzard announces that they have plans to incorporate World of Warcraft characters in a new area of our lives, (the beverage isle) through Mountain Dew!



3-19-09:
The Blizzard’s battle.net account has been announced.

“We're pleased to introduce the Battle.net account -- a brand-new way for players to manage their Blizzard Entertainment games, make online Blizzard store purchases, log in to World of Warcraft, and more using just one set of login information. World of Warcraft players now have the option to create a Battle.net account, merge a World of Warcraft account (or multiple accounts) with it, and begin logging in to the game, the Armory, and the forums using their new Battle.net account login information. “



Not my favorite part of the year but it was a big change at Blizzard for sure.

3-23-09:
The World of Warcraft guild hats have been released by Blizzard. Through the use of SwagDog players can display their guild tabard emblem across the front and have the option to display their guild name, name of the character they play, and faction icon on the back. Cool, but kinda nerdy?



3-31-09:
The Battle-net mobile authenticator is finally available via the App Store. So instead of having that ugly keychain attachment, you can download this app directly onto your mobile phone for added security to your Battle.net account.



MMOwned:

3-12-09:
Although it is not directly related to MMOwned, it was a shock none the less. On the 12th of March, Glider decided to stop selling its product due to a Judges court orders and some advice from their lawyer. It looked as though this was something very temporary and they initially thought that they would be up and running again in a matter of days, sadly this was not the case (as well all know too well).



3-17-09: (aprox. date)
On this day, MMOwned changed their greenfox skin to something a little more snazzy in my opinion. The new skin was created to blend with WoW's current expansion (Wrath of the Lich King) and has done so well.

[BREAK=April]

World of Warcraft:

4-2-09:
April Fools’ Day events recapped:

WoW - WoW -> PvP -> Introducing the Dance Battle System
Starcraft - StarCraft II
Diablo - Diablo III - Archivist



Blizzard’s yearly April Fools’ Day jokes always seem to get my laughing.

4-13-09:
Blizzard cracked down on the spoof email problem that was ever so present. No doubt partially our doing.

“We have recently seen an increase in the number of "spoof" emails players are receiving that are attempting to steal account information. These types of emails often appear authentic and usually request your login name, security question/answer, AND password. Please keep in mind that official Blizzard Entertainment emails will always come from a blizzard.com email address and will NEVER ask for your password.”

4-14-09:
Arena Tournament Phase 4 has begun. After having fought fiercely for weeks, players had 1 final week to prove themselves worthy of making the finals.

4-14-09:
Due to all the hype of the next content patch, Blizzard left a tidbit of information regarding the Argent Tournament. They explained that the Argent Tournament will be found in the Storm Peaks in hopes of preparing Azeroth’s heroes against Arthas and his minions in Icecrown Citadel.



4-15-09:
The long awaited patch 3.1 (Secrets of Ulduar) went live today!

“The gates of the mysterious titan stronghold of Ulduar have swung open, granting players access to an all-new level-80 raid dungeon with normal (10-person) and heroic (25-person) versions and optional hard-mode encounters for those seeking an additional challenge. Secrets of Ulduar also includes the new Argent Tournament in Icecrown Citadel, the dual-talent-specialization feature, multiple user-interface upgrades, and some significant changes to class talents and abilities.”



4-23-09:
The 2009 Arena Tournament has finished its fourth stage. The top 8 teams with the highest overall score in each division will be moved along to the finals where they will compete for cash, prizes and above all else, eternal glory.



4-30-09:
Race specific mount upgrades in the Argent Tournament have been announced. This consisted of some interesting changes in appearance.



MMOwned:

4-01-09:
KuRIoS announced a new contest here at MMOwned in which the contestants must bake a cake and hold a piece of paper that has their Username on it then take a picture. The rewards were a mystery but told to be extravagant.
Although there was talk of people baking cakes, most assumed it was an April fools day joke. Those people were correct.
On another note, Errage was also saying that he had decided to step down from his position on MMOwned and moderate at D3scene because they will pay him for it. Luckily it was again, just a joke but it makes me wonder what those tricky staff members have up their sleeves for next year! (This year?)

[BREAK=May]

World of Warcraft:

5-8-09:
Blizzard announces more information on the up-and-coming BlizzCon event.



“Ticket Sales Coming Soon - Be prepared to secure your tickets for the festivities so you can begin making travel arrangements right away. A first round of tickets will be available for purchase on Saturday, May 16, with an additional set being released for sale on Saturday, May 30.
New Ticket Queue System - To avoid past issues with our website that resulted from high volumes of players trying to secure tickets at once, we’ve made a few changes to the way tickets can be purchased this time around.
2009 Contests - We’re bringing back the best and most popular contests from previous years for BlizzCon 2009. If you’ve missed out on the festivities of the previous years, you’ll want to see what we have in store this time around. If you’re interested in entering any of our contests, it’s best to get started on your strategy right away.
Developer Panels - If you want to get an inside scoop directly from the mouths of our developers, don’t miss out on the many panels we’ll be hosting this year.
Tournaments - If you’re a fan of watching some of the most competitive players going head-to-head live for all to see, you don’t want to miss the tournaments scheduled for BlizzCon 2009.
Watching From Home - If you’re not able to attend this year, fear not! We’ve partnered again with DIRECTV to bring you over 16 hours of event coverage, broadcast in HD. A special offer will be made for new customers who sign up with DIRECTV to watch BlizzCon 2009. An Internet stream of the coverage will also be offered."

5-11-09:
The first talk about Grunky, the murloc marine, is posted. A side gift to people who purchase the live stream package of BlizzCon through Pay Per View.




5-14-09:
WoW TGC and Minis Realm Championships start. Players experienced in either the Trading Card game of the Miniatures Game compete in hopes of winning prizes like Spectral Tiger Loot cards, $2,500 travel vouchers, electronics (such as iPod Touches and PlayStation 3s) etc.

5-16-09:
Blizzard opens shops for BlizzCon tickets and they are sold out almost immediately, prompting potential customers to try again in 15 days.



5-18-09:
The WoW 2009 Arena Tournament finalists are decided and preparations for the final matches commence.

5-22-09:
In this edition of Blizzards Shop Talk, they take a peek at some of the things that are currently in development.

•“The Argent Tournament Expands: With the help of Azeroth’s heroes, the Argent Crusade will finish the Argent Coliseum just in time to call for all brave citizens to prepare for battle with the Lich King. New dailies, rewards, and more will be available at the Argent Tournament grounds to lure adventurers into the coliseum.
• Crusaders' Coliseum: In order to prepare for a siege on Icecrown Citadel, players will be called by the Argent Crusade to test their mettle in the coliseum. 5-player, 10-player, and 25-player challenges await inside.
• New Battleground: Isle of Conquest, a new large-scale siege Battleground, will be open. The Horde and Alliance will battle head-to-head for control of strategic resources to lay siege to the keeps of their opponents.
• New Arena Season: Season 7 will officially start, paving the way for all-new items and challenges.”



5-29-09:
Blizzard announces the start of a giant giveaway through a partnership with Mountain Dew!



“This summer, we're teaming up with Mtn Dew to offer World of Warcraft-themed Game Fuel in stores across the US. To celebrate, the Game Fuel website is giving away a prize every 15 minutes, beginning today and running until August 20. The prizes include Alienware computers, Razer peripherals, and more. For a chance to win, just visit the site, earn tokens, and then enter them in the sweepstakes of your choice”

5-30-09:
The second batch of BlizzCon tickets had gone out and were sold out even faster than the first batch, selling out within the first couple hours


MMOwned:

5-24-09:
Fault announces that throughout the summer, members are able to submit model edits in return for fabulous prizes! The edits would go to a major MMOwned Model Editing video to help promote the site.

5-27-09:
KuRIoS posted a thread updating users on the current status of the emulation environment here at MMOwned. The post contained many interesting reads by members 2dgreengiant, Gastricpenguin, StoneHarry and Hellgawd. Sounds interesting? Check it out.


[BREAK=June]

World of Warcraft:

6-4-09:
The Bosstiary is announced. This gave players a virtual map of the Titan City Ulduar and information regarding boss encounters.



6-8-09:
Through blizzards partnership with J!nx, a new line of World of Warcraft clothing has been unveiled. And I must say, it is pretty sweet looking.



6-12-09:
Blizzard gives players a preview of the new Battleground known as The Isle of Conquest.



“Located north of Icecrown, the Isle of Conquest bristles with activity as the Horde and Alliance go head-to-head in a bid to control the resources that could mean their victory against the forces of the Lich King and his Scourge.The upcoming content patch, Call of the Crusade, will introduce the new Isle of Conquest Battleground, where players will be able to battle forty-versus-forty to control this critical location.”

6-16-09
Blizzard explains that in the upcoming content patch, Call of the Crusade, the Argent Tournament expands into two new points of interest, adding new dailies, new rewards, and new challenges for the heroes of Azeroth.



6-17-09
Finally, Blizzard decides to release to the public who the participants will be in the North American and European 2009 World of Warcraft Arena Tournament Regional Finals which took place on June 26th to 28th in Cologne, Germany. The participants were as follows:

US:
TSG (well then)
a wild rogmonkey appears
Team Pandemic
GET MONEY GET PAYCE
EG
Holyplay
SK Gaming
Complexity Gaming

EU:
Woah
Ensidia Habaneros
eDawgs
aAa RAT
aAa
SK Gaming EU
Rest in many pieces
x6tence

6-17-09:
More information on the infamous Cursader’s Coliseum is revealed.



“Within the Crusader's Coliseum only the greatest champions of the Argent Tournament are given entrance. Here they will face new challenges, new foes, and achieve new glory. The coliseum includes new gameplay options for the most hardened of veterans in ten and 25-player Heroic modes as well as a five-player dungeon.”

6-25-09:
The first ever Mountain Dew + World of Warcraft commercial is aired [ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XRwNr9gp1jo]YouTube - World Of Warcraft Mountain Dew Game Fuel Commercial[/ame] and sales of the exotic drinks went nationwide on this day.

6-26-09:
Coverage of the first day in the Regional Finals was posted today with battles between many tough competitors in 3 different games. In WoW…

“On the World of Warcraft Arena side, “Rest in many pieces” lost against eDawgs in an awesome second round battle featuring two RMP (Rogue Mage Priest) teams, a popular class composition for the European competitors. In the second game, both spectators and Blizzard staff watched breathlessly while the two surviving mages hunted each other with DaisyD from "Rest in many pieces" finally triumphing over his counterpart, Saori of eDawgs.”


MMOwned:

6-17-09:
Cheers went out when another rumor that we had been hacked, DDos'd or taken down by Blizzard was in full swing today when MMOwned was inaccessible for quite some time. But it was never something maniacal, merely a server crash that was fixed up soon afterwards. Some people really do not like us I guess. :/


[BREAK=July]

World of Warcraft:

7-8-09:
Blizzard announces their release of Peggle: World of Warcraft Edition. Featuring the iconic work of blizzard and improved graphics and effects.



7-15-09:
World of Warcraft mobile armory is announced! Now allowing people to check their raid schedule, look up a piece of their favourite gear or concoct a new talent spec while on the go!

Some of its new features included:
• Search for and view any character, item, guild, or Arena team in World of Warcraft.
• Seamlessly import your own character, guild, and Arena team profiles.
• Access your in-game calendar of events.
• View achievement-point leaderboards.
• Plan out talent specs using the fully functional talent calculator.

7-16-09:
Blizzard Entertainment presented music at the 2009 MusiCON event located in Houston Texas. The festival also included a Q&A session with some of Blizzards finest sic composers and an on-stage costume concert.

7-22-09:
Our friends over at Blizzard Entertainment announced that Sam Raimi (director of the blockbuster Spider-man series) signed a contract to direct a movie based on the World of Warcraft universe! The date and story of the film are still unknown, but I do know it will be an epic event when finished.




MMOwned:

7-23-09:
MMOwned experienced a little bit of downtime today, it was a result from more server problems.

[BREAK=August]

World of Warcraft:

8-4-09:
Blizzard released the long awaited patch 3.2 (Call of the Crusade) on the official realms.



8-12-09:
The brood mother returns and this time she's feeling angry! In honour of the World of Warcraft 5 year anniversary, the Onyxia fight was redone and made an appearance in the next content patch (3.2.2).




8-21/22-09:
BLIZZCON!
These few days amazed everyone who attended the event, with appearances from Ozzy Osbourne and frontpage news on topics like Cataclysm. Here is a little recap on what happened on day #1:

• “During the opening ceremony, thousands of players gathered round for a first-ever look at the new World of Warcraft expansion, Cataclysm. Once they learned the details of Azeroth's impending disaster, players got to try out the worgen and goblin starting areas for themselves on the show floor.
• Attendees met Diablo III's fourth playable class, the monk, in a brutal and bloody introductory movie played during the opening ceremony. At the conclusion, players flocked to the show floor to try their hand at taking on the hordes of Hell as the holy martial artist.
• Flanked by giant tournament screens in Hall A and Hall B of the Anaheim Convention Center, pro gamers wowed the crowd with their playing prowess on the first day of the StarCraft, Warcraft III, and World of Warcraft Arena tournaments. You can check out the results of day one on the tournament brackets page.
• BlizzCon showgoers got to learn new details about all three Blizzard game universes at developer panels throughout the show. Check out some of the highlights from these panels.
• At the Battle.net panel, Blizzard Executive Vice President of Game Design Rob Pardo revealed tons of new details about the reenvisioned and redesigned Battle.net, launching with the upcoming StarCraft II.
• The evening wrapped up with style and silliness as Jay Mohr hosted the costume, dance, and sound-alike contests. Attendees imitating Kel'Thuzads, Mistresses of Pain, Sartharions, Raynors, and even meeting stones took the stage at this year's show -- look for photos and a list of all the winners soon!"

Day #2 did not disappoint either! It had finals for the Warcraft 3, StarCraft and World of Warcraft arena tournaments; more developer panels, Diablo 3 Art and StarCraft 2 lore panels. It ended with a concert including Level 80 Elite Tauren Chieftain and OZZY OSBOURNE!

This was an amazing event and I have to make sure not to miss the next one!

For images, please check out the official page here.


MMOwned:

8-26/31-09:
This was definitely an interesting week here at MMOwned. KuRIoS posted a thread which let members know what has been happening with the website recently. It started off with a Database error at our old host 'TheNyNOC' which took over 20 hours to get fixed.

Then a man known as Steven Burn who had a fancy title deemed our scamming section as ‘unworthy of the internet’ and reported it to TheNyNOC who immediately shut us down without warning or even allowing us to remove the 'bad' content.

They eventually allowed us to access our server and we received our database, sadly it was from a 4 day old backup so many members lost recently gained reputation or improved post count.

On the other hand we switched to a new host and updated some forum software.

[BREAK=September]

World of Warcraft:

9-3-09:
Today, Blizzard brought forth a LONG awaited feature known as the Faction Change Service. By paying a small fee you would be able to change the faction of your World of Warcraft character. They also announced that a race change service was deemed worthy of the WoW public and that subscribers could expect something along those lines in the coming weeks.



9-18-09:
Blizzard created a new world event known as Pirates' Day! Located in Booty Bay, this is the place for your inner swashbuckler to dance, talk, eat, drink, laugh and shoot fireworks!



9-22-09:
Patch 3.2.2 is live! Blizzard released this new mini-content patch which will allow players to experience the Onyxia fight like never before. The fight is geared towards level-80 players and will therefore drop gear that is useful for them (it also resembles loot from the original encounter!).

9-29-09:
Blizzard announced it's newly redesigned Blizzard.com website today. A brand new design has been implemented and will now be the focal point for all official Blizzard Entertainment news, press releases etc. The website houses features like a games section, company section and community section. All in all it's a great place to read up on the latest buzz in Blizzards going ons.



9-30-09:
Blizzard gave players a glimpse of the future that looms over them, with a preview of Icecrown Citadel: The Frozen Halls. Allowing us to wait in wonder about the battles that are soon to come.



MMOwned:

Not really any news?

[BREAK=October]

World of Warcraft:

10-12-09:
Blizzard announced that a mandatory account switch from a regular World of Warcraft account to a Battle.net account was closing in today. This was done in hopes of simplifying a players gaming experience by making a 1 spot stop and cutting down on multiple user names/passwords.



10-27-09:
Blizzard finally told us that character race swaps are good to go today!



"After purchasing a Race Change for a character, a player can choose any race of their same faction that is compatible with the character's current class."

10-29-09:
MLG World of Warcraft 3v3 in Anaheim has been announced to take place on November 6-8 in where else but Anaheim, California.



"The very best 3v3 Arena teams in the world, including SK (Europe), SK (U.S.), Complexity (U.S.), Button Bashers (Korea), Check-6 (U.S.), Fnatic (U.S.), EG (U.S.) and more will be competing for over $15,000 cash and a chance to compete in the MLG Championship in January 2010."

10-30-09:
Another glimpse into the coming content patch reveals Quel'Delar: The Sister Blade will be obtainable by players.



"In ages past the great Dragon Aspects worked alongside the night elves to forge powerful prismatic blades that could be used to thwart any evil that came into the world. One of these weapons, Quel'Serrar, was recently unearthed. Another will soon be found…"


MMOwned:

10-03-09:
Today Ket announced that if you have bought from MMOkings in the past you can get added to the new MMOwned ID Verified group for free! The ID Verified group allows you to post new threads in the new PUBLIC trade forums where you will get more exposure for buying or selling your World of Warcraft gold, accounts and services as well as other general items. All you have to do is send a PM Ket's way to take part in this awesome offer.



10-07-09:
MMOwned went through some changes in staff around this date. Members Apoc and DragonShadow were promoted to Super Moderator status and Xel was promoted to MMOwned Moderator around this time too!

10-17-09:
Ket announced a new nomination contest today called Topic of the Week. Here is the basic rundown of how it works:

What is Topic Of The Week?
Topic of the Week is a contest that selects posts on which we would like the community to commit to as a group and then comment/discuss on them during the course of the selected week. Any listed topic (thread) is eligible for the Topic of the Week selection.

What determines a Topic Of The Week?
Topic Of The Week is based on a simple nomination system. Throughout the selected forums, members with adequate permissions can nominate their favorite topic by clicking on the award nomination button below the post.

The topics with the most nominations during the course of the week are displayed on this thread using the poll feature. At the end of the week, the first three topics with the most nominations are the award winners of the contest.

How can I nominate a topic for Topic of the Week?
Every topic contains a button. Simply click this button, and your nomination is added! It's that simple.

How many topics can I nominate per week?
You may only nominate 3 topics per week. This is to keep things fair, and not have an incredible amount of 'nomination trading'.

Can I nominate my own topics?
Nope!

How many of my topics can be nominated per week?
There is no limit! If you're lucky enough to have all your recent topics nominated, then they will be nominated! This may change in the future however.

What happens when the week is over, and the Topics of the Week are chosen?
The top 3 topic creators will receive reputation, based on their standing.

1st place: 15 reputation
2nd place: 10 reputation
3rd place: 5 reputation

Winners included:
Hyperion by Stoneharry -> link
LuaNinja by Cypher -> link
Model Edit in Seconds by Avoidlol -> link


[BREAK=November]

World of Warcraft:

11-04-09:
The Blizzard Pet Store goes live! Today Blizzard introduced the Pet Store for WoW, a new way for players to obtain in-game pets to join them on their adventures in Azeroth! These two new pets are: Lil' K.T. and the Pandaren Monk.

"Make a Difference: Pandaren Monk Charity Pet
Enter the Pandaren Monk, a martial-arts expert who’s here to help celebrate the upcoming fifth anniversary of World of Warcraft. He may be cute, but he’s proof that even the softest of critters can overcome the hardest of circumstances. For every Pandaren Monk that finds its way to a player’s side between now and the end of the year (December 31, 2009 at 11:59 PDT), we’ll donate 50 percent of the $10 purchasing price to the Make-a-Wish Foundation in an effort to brew up a little hope, strength, and joy in a child’s life.



Lil' K.T., the Littlest Lich
Lil' K.T. is a miniature lich who bears a striking resemblance to the legendary lord of Naxxramas, Kel’Thuzad. But don’t let his diminutive stature fool you: Lil' K.T. has a diabolical laugh and wields true power at his bony fingertips, randomly wreaking icy havoc on critters who dare to cross his path."



11-11-09:
Players must now merge their World of Warcraft accounts with a Battle.net account in order to log into the game. Blizzard decided that the quickest way to get people to do this would be to offer them a free in-game pet! Who wouldn't bite on that one?



11-17-09:
A new legendary? Oh yes!



"As the Lich King continues his dark work inside the halls of Icecrown Citadel, the warriors and smiths of the Ashen Verdict scramble to forge a weapon capable of defeating the Scourge. To aid the Verdict in its cause, you'll need to follow in Arthas's footsteps, gambling with your very soul to gather the materials that will create the legendary axe Shadowmourne."

11-20-09:
A new holiday was announced today by blizzard: Pilgram's Bounty. It's based off of Thanksgiving judging by when it occurs and that it is made up of eating lots of food and telling stories to fellow travelers.

11-24-09:
Wow's 5 year anniversary has officially begun. If you logged in from this date to december 6th, you automatically received a Onyxian Whelpling non-combat pet along with a special message from the dev team over at Blizz HQ. It was also noted that more events were to take place in the coming weeks.



11-24-09:
Today Blizzard announced the release of a new T.V. commercial which contained Mr. T and some special grenades.



11-29-09:
Battle.net account is now 100% mandatory for logging into the game client and playing. No more putting it off you lazy people!


MMOwned:

11-17-09:
An Aion Online section was added to the forums today.

11-18-09:
Not really big news but the News Team obtained some new members around this time (myself and forgiving).

[BREAK=December]

World of Warcraft:

12-08-09:
Today blizzard released a slightly different version of the authenticator (It looks red instead of blue!). But it does come with something special this time, upon purchasing, you receive a unique non-combat pet for in-game use (A baby core-hound pup).



12-08-09:
Probably the most anticipated content patch to date in this expansion has finally arrived today! Fall of the Lich King has gone live on official realms!



"The heroes of the Horde and the Alliance have faced unimaginable horrors and suffered terrible losses in their desperate struggle against the Scourge. Now the time has come to break through the fortified gates of Icecrown Citadel and confront the Lich King in the frozen heart of his domain. Follow Jaina Proudmoore or Sylvanas Windrunner through the Forge of Souls, Pit of Saron, and Halls of Reflection in an attempt to subvert the Lich King's army in a new multi-wing 5-player dungeon. Join the Ashen Verdict as they charge through the citadel's main gate to take on the Scourge's most powerful leaders and fearsome monstrosities in a new 10- and 25-player raid. Fall of the Lich King also introduces the cross-realm Dungeon Finder interface, new quest-tracking features designed to make it easier to find objectives, and much more."

12-09-09:
Blizzard reminded players to check out the Intel Extreme Masters Continental Finals to see the top 8 WoW arena teams duke it out for #1! Some of the teams that will be competing are: compLexity, Fnatic.WoW, CheckSix Gaming, SK Gaming USA, Evil Geniuses, Loaded.Wow, and 2 that have not been determined yet.



12-15-09:
Blizzard and SteelSeries put their heads together and decided to offer in-game set-up for using your mouse if you are playing on a Mac. Mac players will now be able to customize their MMO Gaming Mouse directly from within their WoW interface, making it more convenient and responsive.

12-16-09:
A new app has been released by Blizzard today which allows users to quickly and easily check the WoW Armory. It is known as the Mobile Armory and includes several new features including: easily searching for equipment upgrades in each slot, saving and loading custom talent builds, and checking reputation standings while you are on the go! Now this really is gaming simplified.



MMOwned:

12-26-09:
Gastricpenguin steps down from official moderator position.


[BREAK=MMOwned Speaks]

I thought it would be appropriate to here what some of the members here at MMOwned thought of WoW this year too.



Maclone:
WoW is getting too easy... even all mobs in the starting zones are neutral now and zomfg questhelper - accept a quest, open the map and move your ass to the big dot.

Hayboy1213:
What can I say, one of my favorite years in WoW, Many new experiences. From Lich King, All the way to 3.3.0 And ICC It's all been amazing. By far the best they've ever done. Can't wait to see what Blizzard has in store.

lol626465:
World of Warcraft has became a more user friendly game for newer players. As a example in the starting areas there are no hostile creatures or humanoids.

The Maffyx:
Beginning of the year sucked, wouldn't expect it to be much better in the end. lol soon the quests will come to you and then complete themselves!

Kiev:
2009 was a very strong year on both parts for Blizzard. The game had moved forward several steps, while also taking a massive leap backwards.

With the release of WoTLK (200, it turned the game into a game that was far different from what was use too, which had later effects on 2009. While 2009 had brought some very well planned and thought out structure to the game, it also brought it tumbling down, for those more hardcore players.

In the start of the year, most instances were being cleared without a problem, Naxx for example, was being completed every night from different groups in a guild, proving them bored and un interested. Another front that took over was the fact that PvP Gear was equal or if not better at times to PvE gear, causing those that are for PvE to slowly lean out of the game due to there hard work going to nothing.

Slowly the game became more and more boring for most people i have spoke too on the subject of WoW. The fact that most people now only play for the sake of the AH and actually having WoW Gold. This is simply because the game is too time consuming, or it does not put out like it use to in the previous years. Many people are starting to find there mind drifting back to Pre-TBC days and wishing thats how it was now, however, the changes suit some people very strongly...

For the more casual gamers it allows them to receive benfits for a short amount of play time, for example, someone that has a high workload, and then wants to relax and be able to profit from short play time, will be able too. Attracting the more relaxing kind of player to WoW.

With the year progressing Blizzard slowly brought WoW back up to the standard of how it was presented, via the new patchs, keeping the instances at a arms reach distance this whole time slowly releasing more was a plan to make people follow them more religously, i.e, too ensure they were fully ready for what was ahead.

One of the biggest leaps was the new use of the "zoning" feature introduced with WoTLK, this allowed for players to move to a new space, while being in the same space in a sense of words. A great leap in creativity.

The biggest downfall on my part was how the gameplay was ruined for those... that had fonder memories of when it was more hardcore, intense, and loot wasn't handed out simply.

[BREAK=Conclusion]

Well, if you are still reading I'm impressed, I know that was a lot of information. As for myself, I think this is what I would rate this year in WoW:




I guess I enjoyed this year with WoW. As a casual player, the patches and ideas Blizzard has gone through in the game made my experience a slight bit more entertaining.

I'd like to end this article with a New Years related topic! What is your New Years resolution for 2010?! Post it as a comment below

Mine would have to be.. No more Dr. Pepper! I think this stuff is slowly starting to kill me.. o.0

I hoped you enjoyed my review of 2009!



Qhan

Sources:
Worldofwarcraft.com
MMOwned.com

[Glynbeard]

Sorry for being abrupt at the end of the article, I had to cut it down due to 50,000 char limit. I hope everyone enjoys it tho! (Also don't forget to post your New Years resolution for 2010!)

[stoneharry]

Interesting read, the year seems to have gone by extreamly fast for me.

My new years resolution for 2010 would be:
-Actually revise for school exams instead of slacking.

[Sonic Waffle]

Nice post, pretty informative since I skipped out on half of the year.
But as stoneharry said, the year has gone pretty fast.
Also my 2010 resolutions are: @To be more outgoing and have a lot more fun with my friends!"

Happy New Year Qhan and MMOwned and everyone!

[Kiev]

What a epic read Read all of it, and was surpised at how well written. Amazing Qhan.

My new years resolution? Start running and to try hard in school.

[JD]

Mhm mhm, where have I seen this before?

I joke I joke

Great article as always my man, you've done some excellent work! You may now have your elbow back!

[Reflection]

Very well done! Wonderful content, outstanding information, well written. Sweet work!

[Obama]

Cool dude, fun read you made here.

[ViND_]

Nice read for me, keep goin'...

[x Royal x]

Very fun read! Thanks Qhan and happy new year MMOwned ^_^

[Glynbeard]

Mhm mhm, where have I seen this before?

I joke I joke

Aha, damn you figured out my copypasta! Haha

For those who didn't read till the end, my new years eve resolution is less Doctor Pepper. (It's starting to give me the chills)

[Exacute]

Can't say anything but a great article, personally i agree about the 3.3 ruined the gameplay of wow...

oh well.. Mine is: get my lazy ass off and try to obtain emu expert xD...
yah no life...