The Orange County Register has made the decision to switch their gaming blog from general coverage of games to strictly Blizzard news all the time (being in close proximity to Blizzard's HQ in Anaheim will help), and for their first feature, they've got a big writeup (and lots of pictures) from that Laguna College Art Show we mentioned the other day.

Turns out it's an all-Blizzard art show, and there's art in there not just from Blizzard's past titles, but also from upcoming titles like Diablo III, Starcraft II, and our own Wrath of the Lich King. It all looks awesome, and the show lasts through the end of the month, so while that unfortunately means that these pieces won't be at BlizzCon (though there likely will be plenty of game art displays there anyway), it also means that if you can find the time to visit Laguna during the convention, you'll be able to check it out.

The Register also has a couple of quick profiles of some student artists at the show, including a few samples of their work and why they enjoy Blizzard's art so much. It's very cool that Blizzard is giving back to their local community like this -- hopefully we'll get a chance to see even some student work at BlizzCon.

Hooray! After months of speculation, we finally have a release date for Wrath of the Lich King. The World (of Warcraft) will soon be chock full of Death Knights and Inscriptionists. There are so many things to look forward to. I can't decide which character to level first. I'll have some time.

As promised, I put in my Paid Time Off request for a few days after the release. I'm very surprised at Thursday release date, but I'm not complaining. I'm taking the twelfth through the sixteenth of November off work. I beat the release-request rush at work, so my time is approved. See you in Northrend.

Are you rearranging your schedule for the coming of Wrath?

We've heard before about how different activities in World of Warcraft can actually help you be better at your job, but now the BBC has posted an article examining how game mechanics from games like WoW can actually help your company help you work better. According to the ESRB, the average gamer isn't a teen after school any more-- he's 33 and has been gaming for 10 years. And because so many more professionals nowadays know the basics of gaming, employers are starting to apply those rules to the workplace to make everyone more productive.

One mechanic used is a form of "virtual currency" in terms of emails and meeting time-- send an email or hold a 15 minute meeting, and it costs you a token, while tokens can be earned in all kinds of ways. Not only does it keep employees on task, but it adds an extra layer of strategy and thought to the normal workday. Another game mechanic used by employers, says the BBC, is the idea of guilds and leveling rewards. "Guilds" in the workplace are tracked along a point system, and the best guilds get the best projects and rewards.

Very interesting stuff. While it sounds like good news for employers, I'm not sure how successful ideas like this would actually be among non-gamer employees-- at some point, how good you are at your job would be determined not by your industry ability, but by your game-playing ability, and that doesn't seem like a good outcome. But if employers find employees are willing to use these mechanics to make themselves more productive, everyone could benefit.

Thanks, Lienn!

This would actually make a good Breakfast Topic, but I figured it'd be more appropriate if I asked it right in the middle of the workday: do you play WoW at work?

I've heard people do it, but personally I couldn't imagine how I'd pull it off. Most of my workday (when I'm not slaving away for the Weblogs, Inc. overlords here) is spent in an open office, and so even if I did find the time to squeeze a little adventuring in between my actual work, I have so many people looking over my shoulder that I'd get caught before long. Of course, when I am supposed to be writing for this site, I'm usually playing WoW anyway, so that evens out, I suppose.

It seems, though, that if British cops can get away with playing on the PSP at work, WoW is just a sneaky laptop away. So some of you out there must be playing WoW at work right now (don't worry, we won't tell your boss), but how are you possibly pulling it off? Are you just letting it run while you do actual work? Or finding some time on your lunch break to level a little? Or are you all out hacking and slashing your way through Azeroth while a conference call goes on in the background? There is always the argument that playing WoW makes you more productive, but somehow I don't think my boss would buy that.

Playing WoW as your day job is a pipe dream for most, but instead of fitting your WoW habit around your job, why not get a new job that accommodates WoW?

It may sound impossible, but there are plenty of occupations which allow for a little MMO indulgence on the side:

• Student. Juggle the rigours of academic life with the endless PvP grind! Flexible (and optional) class schedules mean you will never have to miss a queue again. But be warned: student parties can interfere with your raiding!
• Monarch. Being the King or Queen of your own country is a sure-fire way to make sure your lackeys can do all the real work, leaving you plenty of time to level that alt.
• Milkman or postman. Sure, you have early hours, but think of all that time left in the day to raid!
• Blogger. The ultimate work-from-home occupation; blog in queues, on gryphons, even while raidhealing if you're a good multitasker.
• Millionaire. See Monarch.
• Professional gamer. If you're really good, your elite gaming skills can lead people to prostrate themselves at your feet with money. Good luck with that one, and don't forget to throw some our way when you're done with that glittering career.

So there you have it. Whichever grind you want to fit into your life, there are ways and means -- enjoy your new life with WoW!

This Newsweek article -- yet another mainstream look at this strange concept called World of Warcraft -- unexpectedly asks a very interesting question. Is WoW a game? Sadly, the article devotes most of its time to explaining the concept of WoW to an outside audience, rather than getting stuck into a discussion of virtual worlds, their categorisation, and their future.

It's often been said that WoW can be more like a job than a hobby; the regular hours, the repetitive tasks, the camaraderie, the rewards. The question asked by the Newsweek piece, however, has a different angle from the old "work vs play" debate. Instead, it asks -- is this the future? Are WoW's immersiveness, its ability to sneak into lives, its vast popularity all indicators of what virtual worlds in the future will hold? I think so.

'Serious' virtual worlds could easily take lessons from WoW on how to be fun, but while WoW may be exemplary with regards to current MMO design, it's still very much rooted in the 'entertainment' sphere -- future developments away from gaming and towards everyday pervasive virtual worlds have to cater for the seven million WoW-heads, and will be more easily received as a result.

The most important question of all, though, is: when we live and work in the Matrix, will there still be night elves called Légolass?

[Thanks, Dave]

A topic of contention, which neatly fits in with yesterday's topic of spouses who don't play WoW, is the value of WoW when compared to "real" hobbies. The argument is one that many gamers are familiar with: why spend time achieving greatness in a virtual world, when at the end of the day you will have nothing tangible to show for it?

Of course, as the recent story of Stephen Gillett shows, many of the things we learn in WoW carry on into the real world. Leadership and dealing with people are two of the most transferable skills around, and WoW also teaches many things from multitasking to hand-eye co-ordination. However, after putting in hours of work, a few skills seem to pale in comparison to the physical rewards other hobbies produce -- a work of art is something people can relate to, even if they didn't create it themselves, whereas "level 60" or "rank 14" mean very little outside of a specific circle.

The circle, however, is widening. As MMOs like WoW become more and more popular, more people will understand the lure of achievement in a digital dimension. Have you had trouble convincing people your hobby is worthwhile and important? Or have you found a killer argument to win sceptics over?

[Thanks to Mike for the suggestion.]