World of WarCraft’s latest patch, dubbed “Fury of the Sunwell”, is alive and kicking as of right now. Jump on your epic mount and find out what’s new.

The official description of the patch is as follows:

The glorious fount of arcane energy known as the Sunwell empowered the high elves for millennia, until the death knight Arthas laid siege to the elven kingdom and corrupted its sacred energies. Seeing no other alternative, a band of survivors led by Prince Kael’thas destroyed the ancient fount. Over time the surviving elves fell pray to a crippling magical withdrawal.

Now, promising salvation for his people, Kael’thas has returned. Soon the Sunwell will shine once again, but whether the sacred fount will usher in deliverance or destruction remains to be seen.

A full list of the patch notes can be found here (good luck getting it to load within the next 3 days though). In addition to all of the changes (some for the worse depending on your perspective and/or class), Blizzard has dedicated this update in memory of Gary Gygax, one of the creative minds behind the epitome of dorkdom: Dungeons and Dragons.

It’s nice to see that Blizzard still remembers where all their inspiration came from — now they just need to set the record straight on how much they ripped off Warhammer and Warhammer 40,000 (WarCraft and StarCraft, respectively).

A good many of you will be saddened to learn that the Human Illusion from the Noggenfogger Elixir no longer works outside of Old Hillsbrad. This, as you may know, is not the first time Blizzard has removed or changed something that people do just for kicks and has no real impact on the gameplay. Blizzard simply doesn’t like it if you have too much fun.

Ernest Gary Gygax, co-creator of the Dungeons & Dragons table-top RPG, has died today at age 69. Yahoo News reports that he had previously been plagued by miscellaneous health problems, such as an abdominal aneurysm.

In 1974, Dave Arneson and Gygax developed Dungeons & Dragons due to their mutual desire to create a fantasy board game after feeling something was lacking from the war board games they had previously played. Gygax is also known not only as a creator for the famous game, but also as a renowned fantasy author.

Dungeons & Dragons was not only a pioneer for tabletop games; it also helped inspire multiple video games. Some of the notable video games inspired by D&D are Advanced Dungeons and Dragons: Cloudy Mountain (Intellivision), Eye of the Beholder (SNES), Baldur’s Gate (PC), Neverwinter Nights (PC), Forgotten Realms: Demon Stone (PS2, Xbox, PC) and Dungeon & Dragons Tactics (PSP).

Today we bid a fond farewell to an influential figure who brought joy to a lot of people. Our condolences to Mr. Gygax’s family and friends.

Source: Yahoo News