Wow. That was some big news there, wasn't it? As excited as we all were for Wrath of the Lich King, I don't think any of us expected the announcement that a pre-Wrath content patch would be unleashed upon the public in -- to quote Eyonix -- "the coming weeks". While this is Blizzard we're talking about, a few weeks isn't quite as nebulous as their traditional "soon". This can also mean that the content patch could be strategically, shrewdly timed to coincide with the launch of another game that also starts with 'W'.

If that's the case, then we can expect to see the pre-Wrath patch in about four weeks! That's nerve-wrackingly close. Anyway, Eyonix ran through a list of stuff that will come with the patch and it's exciting to see that Inscription will be in it. This means that players won't be required to purchase Wrath of the Lich King in order to take it up, unlike Jewelcrafting. There are a bunch of other stuff coming in the patch -- what's the thing that excites you most?

Over the past week we've run a couple of polls asking you all what classes and professions you plan to work on when Wrath hits store shelves this year. (At least we're all hoping it's this year.) And how better to start off a new week than by looking back at the results! For classes, we have: Death Knight (18.7%), Paladin (12.9%), Hunter (11%), Druid (10.2%), Mage (8.8%), Shaman (8.6%), Warrior (8%), Priest (8%), Warlock (7.2%), and Rogue (6.5%). Before you ask if the Paladin changes are really that good, I'm just going to jump right in and say yes, yes, yes. To my Paladin friends in the audience, happy days are here at last! To my Rogue friends in the audience, take heart in the fact that Rogues haven't been fully reviewed (Blizzard seems to be making updates one class at a time), and there are probably changes still to come for the class.

For professions, we have: Inscription (26.6%), Engineering (14.4%), Gathering (10.9%), Blacksmithing (9.7%), Tailoring (9.2%), Alchemy (8.6%), Leatherworking (7.2%), Enchanting (6.8%), and Jewelcrafting (6.7%).

It's no surprise for either of these polls that the latest and greatest Wrath content is at the top of the list, but will it live up to the hype? Are you sticking with the old or diving right into the new?

Most of the news coming up from Blizzard has focused on Wrath of the Lich King. We've been working to cover the most up-to-date information on the expansion while staying on top of current events in the existing game. I am excited for Wrath, but I'm taking my time to enjoy the now until it comes out. There are still plenty of interesting non-Wrath-related things going on.

It can be a tough balance between sharing new mechanics and presenting spoilers. We've added features to the site like Ask a Beta Tester and Lichborne, which can be readily ignored if you're not up for spoilers. We've had some requests to slow down on the Wrath news, but many many more to keep it up. How much information do you want before the xpac is released? Take our little poll and let us know where you stand.

I know. I'm not in Beta, and yet I'm as giddy as a greedy little boy who just got hold of a cookie jar with every bit of Wrath of the Lich King information. We've seen the breathtaking Howling Fjord, bits of the Borean Tundra, and even glimpses into the lush forests of Sholazar Basin. I don't think I could be excited enough for Lake Wintergrasp, even though there's just so little information about it. Elizabeth Harper, who's playing around in the Beta, has said that Dragonblight is her favorite zone.

From what we've seen so far, it really looks like Wrath of the Lich King is going to be one hell of a game. Each of the zones -- as has been the trend throughout World of Warcraft -- has its own personality. Blizzard has said that it won't all be ice and snow, and the diversity that's been revealed up to this point seems to attest to that. What zone are you most excited to see and most eager to explore when you get to Northrend?

With the rumor of Achievements in Wrath of the Lich King finally revealed to be a certainty, there's a bit more excitement in the air about the expansion. When I told my somewhat obsessive-compulsive wife about the new Achievement system, she was filled with both dread and giddiness knowing she would obsess (and lose a lot of sleep) over unlocking them, particularly the whimsical ones. "You're probably not excited about all this, are you?," she asked me, knowing I didn't concern myself too much with some of the game's frills. "Actually," I replied with a smile, "there are PvP Achievements, too."

So while my wife is looking forward to doing all the, ahem, frivolous things like getting a haircut -- she'll probably unlock that one in the first hour of the expansion's release -- or giving out ten hugs (!), I'll be grinding away at the PvP-oriented Achievements. Hot Streak is certainly doable; I've been an Alterac Valley All-Star more than a few times; but getting City Defender looks like it'll take a little bit more work. How about you? What category of Achievements are you most interested in? Are you a professions freak, a quest addict, or maybe an explorer? It looks like there's something for every type of player. What kind of Achievements do you think you'll be unlocking often?

Some of the best and worst times I've had in WoW have come from playing with people who were not anywhere near my own age. My very first WoW friend was 20 years younger than me and we had a blast. In fact, I ended up playing with her sister and her parents too. But just yesterday I was reminded that sometimes age does matter when I pugged with a bunch of, well, real doofuses (doofii?) whose every other comment was a poop joke. I have never before logged in mid-air while between flight paths, but that's how much they annoyed me. I'm sure that some of my comments that start with "Dude..." or contain the phrase "teh awesome" are just as annoying to other people. So, anyway, it got me to wondering about the game's age ranges. I think everyone assumes that most people who play the game fall into their own age group so I thought it might be fun to find out how the ranges really do break down -- at least for folks who read WoW Insider. So spill it! No one will know what you answered, but it should be interesting to see the results.

Drew sent us a question he wanted us to ask, and I'd like to know the answer to it as well: How many level 70 characters do you have? Blizzard has made changes to the leveling curve to make it easier to get alts up the ladder, but how many players are actually taking multiple characters all the way to 70?

I'd also like to know, in the comments below, whether they're different classes or the same class -- I suspect that of the people who have multiple 70s, there are more folks who take the same class all the way up than we expect. And the other question is whether you're going to take all these 70s to level 80 or not -- will the Death Knight take up most of your time, or do you plan to get everyone at 70 up ten more levels in the future?

Let's take a poll for a future article I'm working on about daily quests. I want to know (and I'm sure some of you will be interested too): on average, how many daily quests do you complete each day?

For me the number is nine. I do six out in the Isle of Quel Danas, and then three in Outland (the mining, fishing, and cooking daily). I have a couple of friends who do 25 every day, and I have other friends who only do one or two. I was surprised yeterday in my article about making money through the AH that there were several of you who mentioned that doing all 25 was the norm.

So vote away and lets us know how many daily quests you do every day.

Just a week and a half or so ago, we wanted to know what you were most looking forward to in Wrath of the Lich King, and then last Friday we heard about umpteen million new things about Wrath. So we should probably ask again: considering what we learned last week, now what are you most excited about for the next expansion?

New talents solidly won the poll last time around (and unfortunately, it one of the thing we haven't heard much about yet -- besides the Warlock hints, Blizzard hasn't said much about what classes will be able to do in the next ten levels), but surely the 10/25 man news (that we've been talking about all weekend) will get some more folks excited about the raids. And personally, I'm much more excited about siege engines than I was before Friday -- I previously thought it would only be a few quests in Lake Wintergrasp, but from what we heard, siege engines and multi-person mounts are going to become a big part of life all over Azeroth.

So how's your outlook on Wrath of the Lich King looking now? Are you still waiting to hear about those new talents, or did all that news on Friday pique your interest in something else? What are you most excited about for the next expansion?

Bornakk posted a poll on the forums the other day asking what everyone's favorite April Fool's joke from Blizzard was, and surprisingly (to me, anyway -- I thought Tauren Marines would win for sure), the Molten Core Atari game is winning. There's no question that the bears joke was great (it does make sense), but I thought the game looked a little boring. Blizzard fans disagree, however -- people like the pixelated versions of the old MC bosses.

Which brings us to the question of whether Blizzard could actually do this. Boffo says he'd shell out $10 to play this game, while other people say they'd spend as much as $30 to actually see it on retail shelves (or, more likely, as a download). The game looks like a version of Asteroids more than anything, and the trailer (on purpose, probably) don't really make it clear what the rules are. But it looks simple enough to put together -- maybe a weekend's work by a dedicated coder with some MC runs under his or her belt.

Instead of a release, though, it'd be more fun to see this implemented as a minigame somewhere. We already know that Blizzard is planning to do some mobile work, so maybe they could release this as a fun distraction for the iPhone while planning something bigger. Incorporating it into the main WoW game somewhere would be a fun possibility as well. I can't think of any other time when a Blizzard 4/1 joke actually made it into real life (Two-headed ogres aren't actually playable yet), but they might as well start here, right?

Many of us will be forgoing our Azeroth adventures in favor of spending time with the objects of our affections. Some couples will share special in-game moments with their significant others. May I suggest a Bouquet of Red Roses and some Delicious Chocolate Cake for your sweetheart? We would love to hear your stories of love and romance in WoW.

Friday afternoon, Blizzard employee Bornakk posted a poll on the General boards to find our favorite 5-man dungeon of the Burning Crusade. As you can see in the above image, the Caverns of Time is rocking the charts.

I can't say I disagree with the numbers there, they're pretty close to my opinions as well. Old Hillsbrad and the Black Morass offer something that most of the other instances don't: Fast pacing, minimal trash pulls, and a story element. The instances aren't very long, either. Black Morass is what, thirty minutes? These dungeons on Heroic remain difficult and dangerous, adding some new elements to the instance, such as a necessity for speed and stealth when it comes to the patrols in Old Hillsbrad. Some of the other Heroics do this as well, but most of them coast along on 'ow this mob hurts a lot'.

The first poll on the official WoW forums was mentioned on WoW Insider when it was posted a few weeks ago, but since then a few more polls have been created. While one of them is obviously just for fun, the other two are more interesting.

When asked "What is your favorite arena?" the Ring of Trials in Nagrand won out as everyone's favorite with 46.3% of the votes. The Ruins of Lordaeron received second place with a tally of 25.14% of the votes. While I didn't vote in this particular poll, my choices would have matched these results.

Admittedly, I'm pretty much a noob to the arena. Like many other players, I mostly just get my ten matches a week to scrape up enough points for some welfare epics. Probably due to this fact, I dislike the Blade's Edge arena. The ramps, pillars, ropes and bridge create a lot of variables during an already hectic fight which can lead to panic, confusion and ultimately an inglorious defeat. Even more inglorious than normal, that is. Also, this arena in particular makes it more difficult for stealthy types (my 2v2 team is composed of a rogue and druid) to get the drop on their foes because the narrow catwalk makes a convenient place for an opposing team to make a stand with their AoE and stealth detection. What are your thoughts on the poll? Do they match the results?

I saw this poll over at the worldofwarcraft LiveJournal community, and immediately wondered how you loyal WoW Insider readers would vote, and whether it would be different from the LJers.

The original question was: "Of all the classes available in WoW, what one do you have the least interest in playing?"

Now I know Death Knight is not technically available in WoW yet, but I'm sure some people are already violently disinterested in playing them, so I put them on the poll as well.

Forum-goers have been requesting polls for a while now, with posts such as, "It's time to start POLLING your playerbase," which actually argued that Blizzard should set up in-game polling stations to ask about whether or not players really want various new features in the game. Nethaera responded to this particular post right away; her basic point was to say that "Polls can be incredibly inaccurate" -- they're fun, but there are actually a wide variety of methods that need to be used in order to get proper feedback. Furthermore, just because the popular voice thinks that the game should move in one direction, that doesn't actually mean that would be the best direction for the game to move in. The developers need to make decisions with feedback in mind, but also balanced against the hard, cold core of the reality they're facing, not the dreamland that players may have in mind. That said, apparently there are lots of player suggestions that have been put into the game, including even flight path changes and new graveyards.

But Blizzard wants to give us polls anyway! As Drysc tells the American forum-goers:

Welcome to our first test of the World of Warcraft polling system! With this new poll system we'll be able to pick the collective brains of the forum goers, and encourage discussion based on the questions they pose. While we're pretty sure that they won't always be accurate, it will hopefully still be a lot of fun. With our first poll we're asking you, the poster, the controversial and highly debated, discussed, and argued question:

Does .999~ = 1?

While we already have some great poll questions all lined up, we need more! Offer us your best questions for future polls. These can be yes/no or multiple choice, and if we like it, you may just find your poll up here in the weeks and months ahead.