Those of us waking up today and tomorrow will log into Azeroth and find in our mailboxes a little Baby Blizzard Bear non-combat pet. This pet will also give you a feat of strength achievement celebrating World of Warcraft's four years online.

This is a nice little way for Blizzard to thank all of us for spending years in the game. With over 11 million people playing WoW, and Wrath becoming a hit overnight, there's definitely a lot of celebrating to do over at Blizzard HQ.

The little bear that you get looks a like a small version of the BlizzCon Polar Bear Mount those of us lucky enough to attend BlizzCon this year got. It's a perfect traveling companion for you as you adventure around Northrend.

Edit: The pet is active on US, EU, and Oceanic servers.

Thanks to Mangowire for sending us the pics you see below.

Apparently there have been some mistakes made in the realm-first achievements being given out. You've probably seen these (Blizzard apparently broadcasts them across the realms) -- when someone hits level 80 or finishes a profession first, they attain a feat of strength achievement. They don't get the original titles, but they do get credit for getting their first.

But on a few realms, Blizzard ended up giving some of the awards to multiple players, resulting in the ingame mail you see above. We're not sure if it's because they all hit within a certain time period, or whether Blizzard's servers weren't working correctly, but as you can see, they say the issue is fixed for now. If you did rush to be the first on a server, you can be satisfied that you're the only one.

Thanks, Penny!

Northrend is finally available, and it seems like everyone is out in full force. There are so many new things to do and see that it might be pleasantly overwhelming at the moment.

In order to help you find some direction, I've put together a list of 10 easily attainable achievements that you can earn in the next few days while questing. These are along the way, so you won't have to break your stride. Many can even be achieved today.

1. Train one of your professions! A skill of 350 in any of your professions will open up the ability to train Grand Master, which will award you with the achievement, Professional Grand Master. Check out our guide to finding your profession trainers.

2. Most level 70s will have at least two professions with a minimum skill of 350 by this point, so why not train them both to Grand Master? This will give you the achievement, Working Day and Night.

3. If you have leveled Fishing, First Aid and Cooking to at least 350, and train their Grand Master ranks, you will earn the achievement, Skills to Pay the Bills.

If you haven't, but would like to, then check out our guide to leveling Fishing to 375 as well as Cooking to 375. First Aid should be a breeze, as all you need is cloth! Still, should you find yourself at a loss, check out our Guide to Farming Cloth.

WoW's lead producer J. Allen Brack (who we spoke with back at BlizzCon) is making the rounds -- he was on the radio this morning at Dallas' Live 105.3 (thanks to everyone who sent that in), and earlier, he spoke with the Detroit Free Press about how WoW became so incredibly popular and what Blizzard is doing with the game's second expansion. There are even a few spoilers in there, about how phasing is used in the game, and a few different situations that haven't yet been covered later on in Northrend.

Brack also confirms that Blizzard ripped off Xbox Live's achievements system, which we all knew, but that's what makes it so much fun. He says that achievements will likely be included in the Armory eventually, but all we get is a chuckle and a "stay tuned." And finally, he says Blizzard was amazed by how well players took to vehicle play in the game -- while that was only planned for a few places, when they saw how much players loved it, they really took off with it. The bombing runs, he says, were one of the most popular things in Burning Crusade, so they went for that feel again in quite a few places inside Wrath of the Lich King.

Nice interview -- good to see how excited Blizzard is to get this content out to players. The Free Press also has a review of the expansion (glowing, naturally), and a quick story about how people are taking off work in Michigan just to play it. And of course, all of it just leads to one conclusion: we can't wait.

"You love Rat." "You love Chicken." "You love Rabbit." I have to admit, before the achievements came to the game, I was a critter-killer -- I usually ended the lives of any critters I came across, because this is war and the world is no place for them. But since achievements appeared, I've gone around loving every little animal I could -- I haven't gone at To All the Squirrels I've Loved Before with a plan, just emoted towards everything I found.

But Random Ravings isn't quite as random -- they've got a terrific list of where to find every single critter you need. Only two are actually in Northrend (I thought there was more), and the rest seem to be in muliple places around the world, so it doesn't seem too bad at all. The hardest might be the wild parrot -- that one seems to be only in Un'Goro, but brave the dinos down there, find the bird, and you're all set.

Nice list. Anyone ready to head up to Borean Tundra and just grab the last two? BBR says they're also working on a list of all the books for the reading achievement -- can't wait to see (and eventually run around and do) that one either.

A lot of WoW folks seem to be collectors: Pets, Mounts, even hats. Collecting titles is the next big thing. It's kind of fun to display some hard earned achievement proudly to other players. Rágnaros of Duskwood asked in general chat. He's interested in knowing which titles are most popular and most rare. It also adds some flavor to the game. Several responders reported having five or six titles.

I'm not much of a title hunter. A friend of mine was running UBRS for the Jenkins title so I was happy to come along. It was relatively easy to get with a handful of 70s and was fun to get. My job was to sprint about and aggro as many dragons as I could, then I dropped a Hurricane to join in quick AOE attack which easily killed at least fifty of them instantly.

Crygil posted early this morning that the Armory will be going down at 6 a.m. PST / 9 a.m. EST to prepare it for Wrath of the Lich King. The Armory will be down for approximately eight hours.

He doesn't go into specifics about what will be updated, but we have some good guesses at what we could see included:

• Achievement listings
• Wrath of the Lich King items
• New reputations
• Faster character data updates

Crygil also mentions that all the character data will be reset. This
means that you have to log into your character to repopulate the Armory information on it. This is important if you have seldom played alts yet still refer to the armory data, or if you are currently applying to a guild that requires armory information.

We'll have more concrete information on what this update brings after it's complete, sometime around 2 p.m. PST.

This week, Keyra of Farstriders has a question about a group that's been a little left out of the expansion excitement so far: midlevel folks. Here's what she is asking you, our readers:

With all of the focus on Wrath, there seems to be a conspicuous absence toward those who are of lower-to-mid level and it's beginning to become irritating. Not everyone is level 65+! Some of us are still below level 40 and many of us are just starting out. So, here's my question: What can we who are mid-level expect to see from the expansion, if anything? Is it even worth the trouble to purchase since we can't benefit from the higher-level quests, items and what-not? And what would you suggest to speed our leveling so that we may enjoy what Wrath has to offer?

Keyra

The fact is that most of the marquee features in the expansion pack are, yes, aimed at the higher levels. And most of the things that will affect lowbies -- Inscription, the faster leveling, and achievements, are already in the game anyway.

So there are two questions here: if you're pre-60, why should you care about Wrath? Or should you at all? And Keyra also sounds like she wants leveling suggestions. My suggestion? Do quests, and lots of them. Do every quest in your log, in order, and then when you're out, go to the next town over and do all of those. The rewards will be good, it'll go as fast as leveling goes (even faster, now that Blizzard has added more XP to the mix all the way to 70), and you'll always have a clear goal: just do the next quest in your log. You might have to skip over group quests, but just keep doing quests and eventually you'll be 70 before you know it.

What say you to Keyra, readers? And if you have a question you'd like to ask the (frankly, rowdy but loveable) readers of WoW Insider, just send it along ot ask AT wowinsider dot com, and you might see it up here next week.

Previously on Ask WoW Insider...

You knew this was coming, but I'm impressed with how it's done over on WoW-Achievements.com. With points to track and players to compare, it was inevitable that we'd have a site show up to track achievements, and here it is. While the Armory itself doesn't show individual achievements (yet), they've apparently come up with a way to figure out a number per player, and there's a worldwide player list (or at least a list of the 53, 901 characters they surveyed somehow). You can also post a pic of your achievement info, and they'll update it on the site. There's no way to see your individual stats yet, but if and when Blizzard adds that functionality to the Armory, we'll probably see a couple of sites show up like this, that allow you to do more with achievements and tracking them than the official UI does.

Of course, the Xbox 360 is the gold standard for achievements at this point -- while other MMOs and WoW have used the mechanic in their own way, Microsoft has built achievements into Xbox 360 profiles available online to anyone, so that's where most of the great web tools are right now. But the one that stands out for me, that I'd love to see replicated in World of Warcraft, is 360voice.com -- it basically creates a blog of what you've been up to on the Xbox that presents your activity in a readable, fun format. With Achievements build into the Armory, something like that could be easily used to power a timeline of your character, and let your friends see from day to day where you've been and what you've done. Lots of very cool ideas to develop here -- hopefully Blizzard will release Achievement info in an API sooner rather than later.

Our podcast was back on the air last Saturday, and we were happy to welcome two very talented bloggers to the mix: both Daniel "BigRedKitty" Howell and John "BigBearButt" Patricelli, authors of our BRK and Shifting Perspectives columns, respectively, were aboard to chat with us about whether the endgame is just too easy lately (or whether it's nice that some people who couldn't before are seeing instances and getting loot), the new boss in Karazhan, and how abruptly the zombie event ended. We also hit on Blizzard's almost-mistake with the class forums, and if we really deserved that three-day credit due to lag and queues lately.

We answered emails as well -- BRK gave some great AH tips for when to get rid of your primals and mats before Wrath, and BBB helped a listener out who was wondering if he should play a Druid or a Warlock to 80 first. And I got some good glyph hints and tips out of the guys in terms of what to put in those glyph slots for Hunters and Feral Druids. If you have a comment or question for the show, feel free to send it along to theshow at wowinsider dot com, and you might even hear it on next week's show.

Perhaps most exciting, we worked a lot last week to make sure the quality of the show was better, and I think for the most part it worked -- we didn't have a single disconnect during the chat, and you should find that the tinny voices in the recording are gone as well. It's not perfect yet, and there's more we want to add into the mix, but we're working on it. The iTunes feed is still on the fritz, but the RSS feed below works just fine for me and it should for you, too. Be sure to tune in next week at 3:30pm Eastern -- we do this live every Saturday, and it is a darn good time.

[Ustream] Listen to the unedited recording in Ustream.
[RSS] Add the WoW Insider Show to your RSS aggregator.
[MP3] Download the MP3 directly.

I know you'll never believe this, but Blizzard has identified a bug in tracking one of the achievements. On the Achievements forum Tigole noted that zoning into a battleground will sometimes cause the counter to reset for "A Simple Re-Quest." For this achievement you must complete five dailies in a row. The known issue will be fixed in the upcoming patch 3.0.3 but Tigole recommends that if you are keen on earning this achievement in the meantime you may want to avoid entering the battlegrounds.

It will be easy to complete 5 dailies after the patch, so it's not a huge deal. I am concerned that Blizzard isn't getting to the heart of the bug, though. There seems to be more to it than battlegrounds. Though I haven't done any battlegrounds since the patch was released and have completed several dailies each day, I have not been awarded this achievement. I've been too busy doing dailies, heroics, and daily heroics.

This was followed by one of many apologies made by Blizzard in recent weeks. When asked the simple request for a 3.0.3 release date, Tigole gave the entirely unexpected answer: Soonish. We'll see it when it's ready.

The Hallow's End event is set to end in a couple of days. During its first years, the event was merely a way to get some moderately useful candy. Last year, the introduction of the Headless Horseman gave away some pretty sweet loot, giving everybody reason to visit the least popular wing of the Scarlet Monastery. Actually, before the Headless Horseman arrived on the scene, quite a lot of players had never even gone into that part of the instance!

So anyway, this year Hallowed's End came along with the introduction of Achievements, and a lot of players have gone after the Meta-Achievement Hallowed Be Thy Name. Some people want it for the title, others merely as a component of the Meta-Meta-Achievement that grants a Violet Proto-Drake flying mount. My wife already has the Hallowed title in the bag for her Warlock, and the Squashling was pet number 45 towards getting herself a skunk. I just used the trick or treating to level up my Hunter -- at over 4,350 xp per bucket and the reduced XP requirement, I actually got lots of bubbles in.

How about you? Have you been enjoying Hallow's End? The zombie invasion caused a bit of havoc for some people, and I'm sure it led to more than a few aborted Horseman visits, but now that its over, we can all go back to enjoying the Seasonal event in relative peace. What last minute tasks have you yet to accomplish? I know a lot of folks still need those elusive Tooth Picks, while others got really lucky with their treat bags and got the pet and helm. Daniel asked this a few days back, so I'm gonna see how everyone's done so far. With only a couple of days to go, I hope everyone's gotten what they want or need!

Here's episode number 61 of the WoW Insider Show, recorded last Saturday over on our Ustream page. On the show last week, we welcomed WoW Insider's Matthew Rossi back to the virtual airwaves, along with blogger Amanda Dean and our good friend Duncor of WoW Radio. And we talked a little more about achievements and which ones we liked the most, what was going on with all the zombie action, and of course since Rossi was around, we churned up some good discussion about what's up with Warriors, other tanks, and Shamans since the big Wrath patch.

Lots of people have been asking questions about how to get the show, so after the break, I've included an exhaustive guide to how you can get our show nowadays. I apologize to everyone who's had problems so far -- obviously, with the switch from WoW Radio, we've had to deal with some tech roadblocks, but if you check after the break, you should find a way to listen to the show that fits what you want to do.

Thanks for listening -- we'll be back as always next week!

[Ustream] Listen to the unedited recording in Ustream.
[RSS] Add the WoW Insider Show to your RSS aggregator.
[MP3] Download the MP3 directly.

Or listen to Episode 61 right here:

For those of you who group, raid, and otherwise hang out with your guild, here's some pretty cool news for you. Tigole has said over on the Beta Suggestion Forms that the dev team is very interested in the idea of guild achievements, and does plan to visit them in the future.

It's a small tidbit, but it's enough to get the old wheels turning. The most obvious achievements will probably revolve around dungeons and raids. Get X% of your guild through a certain dungeon, perhaps, or finish the dungeon in an all-guild group. We might also see accomplishments for getting a certain amount of guild members their tier sets or legendary weapons.

I have to admit. Achievements were a pretty bright idea. Holiday achievements, even more so. Now I have something to keep me focused through the holiday seasons, keep my eyes on the prize so to speak. For example, with Hallow's End fully underway, I've been racking up the achievements on my Hunter, looking to get that title. It's a nice goal to strive for.

It's a good thing that the A Mask for All Occasions requirement will be off Hallowed Be Thy Name in 3.0.3, or I'd be in trouble. Collecting one of each different mask? Please. Actually, I haven't even managed to collect one single mask, leaving The Mask Task woefully undone. I'm not sure what it is, but even doing 3-5 Trick or Treats a day, I have not managed to get one of those flimsy things on my Hunter. In past Hallow's Ends, I seemed to be destroying masks constantly, saying not nice things under my breath. This year, I pray for one, and instead have to deal with Penny Pouches and Candy Corn and costumes and no sign of a Mask.

The random number generator just hasn't been kind to me. As it is, I was afraid that the toothpicks would do me in. I didn't even get a set of Tooth Picks on my Hunter until yesterday.

The other item I need to finish out my Hallowed Title is the Hallowed Helm, which comes both from the Headless Horseman and Trick or Treating. I've seen it drop from the Horseman a few times, but I've always lost the rolls. But it's a rare drop, a low drop rate and a bit of luck should be expected to be needed for this stuff. But here's the funny thing: I have actually found Hallowed Helms while Trick or Treating. The problem is, I got them on 2 of my alts, my Paladin and my Warlock. Not exactly useful for my Hunter. But I keep trick or treating, praying my Hallowed Helm luck will strike one more time, and in the meantime admire how badass my Warlock looks with a pumpkin head.

How goes your achievement hunt? Do you have one or two Hallow's End Achievements that just keep eluding you? For that matter, how's your luck on the Headless Horseman? I know that despite having done a run a day on him, I have yet to see a sword, a horse, or a flying broom, so I'm interested to find if anyone is seeing those in abundance.