Watching Blizzard: The bad old days...

It's been a while since I've raided Ahn'Qiraj (or done the opening event), so I can look back at it (and its dumb achievements) with nostalgia. But if the event comes back around in WoW Classic, you can bet I will be back on the hate train.

And, yes, this is all to set up an obscure joke that is probably only funny to me. (Also the joke may only work on the actual BW website, because I can't do strikethroughs on Patreon.) I apologize.

So let's get on to the news, shall we?

Because it's free!

• If your subscription has lapsed — or if you've never played at all — World of Warcraft will be free to play this weekend. This has become an ordinary thing for Overwatch, but it's a new concept for WoW. We'll see if it takes off.
• Already have a subscription? You may still appreciate the discounted character services, which are also available through the weekend. Personally, I'm considering a name change for a character that I made before I decided on an appropriate character naming scheme. (Character names: they're important!)

This is what's happening to your Artifacts in Battle for Azeroth

• Farewell, Artifact weapon. I've only known you a short while, but I will miss you dearly.

And speaking of Artifacts...

• Scott wrote an op-ed about how our every fear about Artifacts has come true. It's bonus content especially for our $5+ subscribers, but if you're desperate to read it, it will be available for everyone next Thursday.

We really wanted to like Warfronts...

• Or, I should say, Mitch really wanted to like Warfronts. (I, myself, am indifferent on the feature.) Mitch explains why their current implementation doesn't do much to impress.

Ever wondered what it's like to be an esports pro?

• The documentary Gamechangers: Dreams of BlizzCon shows you just what it takes to make it to the StarCraft 2 World Championships on the BlizzCon stage. Spoiler alert: it's not as easy (or as fun) as it might look.

Surprise! There are yet more research tiers in Battle for Azeroth

• Are you already nostalgic for all of the resources you had to collect to get through all of your class hall research? If yes, then you will be excited to hear the system is making a comeback in BfA.

We heard you wanted a side of angst with your character profile...

• This week, Anne wrote up a character profile for Ouso and I'm not crying you're crying.
• For anyone who wants a profile of their own, all you have to do is support us at $25/mo for one month (or longer if you'd really like) and send us your character information. Though we still have a bit of a backlog of these to get through, your profile request will go on our to-do list and we'll write it whether you're still subscribing or not.
• And, because some of you have asked, if you'd rather not have it published on the site, that's fine too. Just let us know when you submit your info.

The Overwatch League All-Star lineup is here!

• And Geguri's on it so I am pretty dang hype. It will be interesting to see her play with a new team... though I have to wonder if that means we'll see better play or just more of the same communication and coordination issues that have plagued the Dragons. After all, these All-Star teams have way less experience playing together than the Dragons themselves.

That's all for now, everyone. Until next time, this is Liz, signing out.