Blizzard has won the first round of a legal battle against the maker of software that automates game play in World of Warcraft.

That's right folks, according to the following article , there has been some movement in the MMOGlider war Blizzard is fighting to prevent botting in WoW. Read on!

WOO HOO

Welcome to the World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King Beta Test. The list below contains information on the current available content for testing and general information. This information is subject to change. Alpha testers should note that your characters have been temporarily locked out. In a few weeks time, we will unlock these characters and you will be able to continue to level them. Please visit the Beta forums to submit feedback and discuss the expansion development with others. http://beta.worldofwarcraft.com/forums

General

• The continent of Northrend is now available! To travel there, visit one of four transportation masters in either Orgrimmar, Undercity, Stormwind Harbor,or Menethil Harbor.
  
• The floating magical city of Dalaran is now available!
  
• The Barber Shop has been implemented and you can now visit one of the Barber Shops in the major cities to change your appearance.
  
• The all new Achievement System has been implemented.
  
• Transportation between Howling Fjord and Borean Tundra can be found at the Tuskarr villages in those zones.
  
• The level cap is currently set to 77.
  
• Hit Rating, Critical Strike Rating, and Haste Rating now modify both melee attacks and spells.
  
• Spellpower:
  

• All items and effects which grant bonuses to spell damage and spell healing are being consolidated into a single stat, Spellpower. This stat will appear with the same values found on items which grant “increased spell damage and healing” such as on typical Mage and Warlock itemization.
  
  • For classes which do not heal, they should see no change in the character sheet other than new tooltip wording.
  
  
• Healing characters will see their bonus healing numbers on the character sheet decrease, however, all healing spells have been modified to receive more benefit from spellpower than they received from bonus healing, with a net effect of no change to the amount healed by their spells. Some talents have had to be rebalanced to accommodate this change, but the amount healed will remain roughly the same. In addition, some talents will provide only healing spell power.
  

Read on for the entire patch notes that were included in the post !

Blizzard has announced today that on July 25th, World of Warcraft will be released in Latin America. On that date, players will be able to purchase localized versions of the original game, as well as the Burning Crusade expansion, and 60-day game cards. The initial launch will be in Mexico, Chile, and Argentina, with more countries to come.

The Latin American Spanish version of World of Warcraft is gearing up for release and will be available for purchase starting next Friday, July 25. See the press release and FAQ for further details.

To celebrate the release, we'll be holding a launch event in Plaza Satelite, a mall located in Estado de Mexico, on July 26 and 27. We'll have activities to participate in and prizes to win, and you'll be able to meet members of our Latin American team and other Blizzard Entertainment employees. For more details, please visit the event webpage .

So, it appears that in addition to the new class, zones and talents Blizzard has been teasing us with, they have another trick up their sleeve...Achievements . Yes, you heard me, Blizzard is adding a new feature to WotLK and you can read all about it below.

We have entered a great partnership with DECA Entertainment and Alex Albrecht (of Diggnation and Screen Savers fame) to bring you a new weekly video series -- Project Lore . Alex and his 4 guild mates have set up a full video studio to film their way through the various instances of World of Warcraft. Each week we will be bringing a new 3 part episode, giving you both an in game and out of game view of their WoW experience.  They will be working their way through the dungeons of the Outlands over time.

The videos are both entertaining and educational. If you have never seen the dungeons, they are a great way to get a look at what you are missing. If you have played the instance before, it gives you a great opportunity to either learn from their strategies or laugh at their mistakes.

To check out this week's trip through Hellfire Ramparts, head to this link .