So it’s official, Metblogs is saved! Thanks to the generous donations of readers like you and people who love the Metblogs network and don’t want it to go away, the network will stay with us for a while yet.

In my last post on the matter, I noted that the network was in trouble and we could use your support. Now, word is in that the network will be with us for a while yet, and we’ll even see some improvements and upgrades in the future to make the entire Metblogs network more sustainable.

That all being said, the Azeroth Metblogs can still use your support! We’re here, we’re still part of the World of Warcraft community, and we want to continue to bring you WoW related news, opinion, updates, hilarious videos and more – but to do so we need your participation!

If you’re interested in writing for the Azeroth Metblogs, get in touch with me or leave a comment! Even if you’re not interested in writing, we can always use your feedback in the form of comments on the posts here, links, and e-mails! If you’ve found something you want to see featured on the blog, or if you have any other feedback, leave us a comment or email me at phoenix -at- novawerks -dot- net, and thanks for your support! Without you, we wouldn’t have a community.

This is fabulous. I adore Pulp Fiction, and the trailer brings back amazing memories, but one of the best things about this machinima parody trailer that I love is how well timed and well put together the entire video is. And how much it makes me want the actual movie done just like this.

Want to blow this up? Head over to YouTube to see it in all its glory.

Over at Wow.com, the news came down that Operation Gnomeregan and Zalazane’s Fall are both live on the PTR.

If you’re interested in seeing what the fate of Gnomeregan is, or if you’re interested in the beginnings of the quest to retake the Echo Isles in the name of the Trolls, you can find out if you copy your character over to the PTRs now.

As many of you may know, over the weekend I heard that the Metblogs network was shutting down. I’m happy to say that now, as of this post, the team behind the Metblogs network who birthed, grew, and fostered its growth over the past six years, has been working dilligently and non-stop to make sure the lights in here stay on and the sites stay online.

I mulled over this post over the weekend, thinking about a potential migration – which may still be something we’ll have to do if the lights do have to go down – thinking that this may be a sad and somber affair, but as of today I’m a bit more hopeful that we’ll be able to stick around a bit longer. If you haven’t clicked the link above, please do to find out the current status of the situation and the future of Metblogs overall.

If you appreciate the coverage that Metblogs provides, not just for your city or not just for Azeroth specifically, please chip in, it’ll be more than appreciated, and I can personally vouch for the fact that every cent of every dollar goes to keeping the servers online – the authors for the entire Metblogs network are all volunteers, myself included, and we don’t see anything but the love from our readers – which for me is enough to keep me going.

If you’ve been around a while, you’ll know the Azeroth Metblogs has its own special story in the Metblogs network. The Azeroth Metblogs started off to fanfare and praise from sites far and wide: even the esteemed BoingBoing wrote about us several years ago and Wil Wheaton mentioned us in an interview. Unfortunately, not soon after the spotlight faded from us did the site start to wane. Authors left because they – like many people – stopped playing World of Warcraft, and stopped wanting to write about it.

Eventually, the site was stagnant, and by the time I showed up in 2008 to help bolster the waning roster of authors we were down to few, if any, new posts on a regular basis. Since then, the Azeroth Metblogs has grown more popular than it has been in years, we have regular new posts and content at least weekly, and we’re carving out a niche for ourselves in the World of Warcraft blogging and Web community. Much like my namesake, I wanted desperately to restore the Azeroth Metblogs to its former glory, and with your help I think we’re more than on the way.

Now, with that aside, all I can do is put my hopes (and a donation of my own) into the hands of the founders of the Metblogs network and hope they’re able to make ends meet and keep us alive on the back end. I sincerely hope you will too, and that you’ll stick with us, no matter what happens.

If you’ve been thinking about rolling a female Worgen but you’ve wondered up until now exactly what they’d look like, then look no further. Blizzard sent The Escapist a number of screenshots of what the character models will look like, and while they currently admittedly look like re-skinned Draenei, some of their stances and animations are definitely unique.

The screenshots at The Escapist show off a specific female Worgen model wearing cloth armor, then wearing leather, then wearing mail, and then again wearing plate. As we know, Worgen will be able to be any class in Cataclysm except Paladins and Shaman, so at least one of their classes will be able to wear any type of armor. The other screenshots are fantastic, head over to take a look!

Have an iPhone or an iPod Touch? Looking for a way to keep tabs on your auctions and things when you’re away from your computer or you’re not logged in to WoW? Well Blizzard will have you covered…soon.

There’s been talk and discussion about a mobile app that would allow you to interact with the game and keep track of your auctions from your phone, but they’ve all been some measure of speculation and rumor up until now. Blizzard officially announced and opened the page for their Remote Auction House iPhone and iPod Touch app (and by proxy, likely the iPad although there may not be an higher-resolution version for it yet), and also announced that the app was already in beta. When it’s released, for the price of $2.99 you’ll be able to obsessively check your auctions from anywhere using items in your bank, bags, or mailbox, collect the gold from those auctions, bid on and buy out auctions up in the auction house.

I imagine the first groups of people to latch on to this app are the ones who make heavy use of the auction house, but I’ll bet the price point and availability of the app will encourage other, more casual auctioneers to use it as well – especially after a long night of raiding and killing trash, it’ll be a great way to head to the office in the morning, put all of your stuff up for auction, and not have to make yourself late in the morning by logging in “just to check the AH.”

I’m being completely selfish here, but here’s hoping for an Android app soon as well! Many thanks to Wow.com for the tipoff, and they have an amazing gallery full of images from the mobile app as well!

The venerable Jeph Jacques, author and artist of the Webcomic Questionable Content penned this masterpiece above (click to go see the strip in all of its glory) yesterday – I read it from bed (because he announces new comics at Twitter the moment they go up) and giggled my way to sleep. You’ll love it too.

Although I love me some Marigold (the female character) I gotta admit, my main is alliance too. Guess that shows you – you wanna pick up Warcraft-playing ladies, you’d better be rollin’ Horde-side.

Last night Blizzard announced that Blizzcon tickets would officially go on sale on Wednesday June 2nd and Saturday June 5th, for $150 per person.

Tickets will likely go fast, so make sure you’re up and at ’em when it comes time to buy your ticket., and they’ll be sold through the Blizzard Store, the same as last year. If you can’t come, you’ll be able to buy the same DirecTV streaming package as last year as well.

Thanks to WoW.com for the scoop!

In a blue post today, Blizzard announced that they were opening the door to their Cataclysm opt-in program. This means that essentially if you want to participate in the beta, you’ll have to download the opt-in client, provide some feedback to Blizzard on your system configuration, and you’ll automatically be added to the pool of eligible users willing to give the beta a whirl when it leaves friends-and-family alpha and enters closed beta.

Interested? You’ll find the beta opt-in page on your Battle.net account management page under Beta Profile Settings! Sign up now, and good luck!

So last week I posted the video “Replace GearScore with TRH,” and as hilarious as it was, there’s another side to this story as well – the side that’s willing to make hilarious fun of the overreaction of elitists and PvP jerks who look at the Celestial Steed and anyone who bought one with disdain – and that parody of the parody is in this video. And yes, it is fantastic.

Too small? Watch the original at YouTube here!