Yesterday we got news that Blizzard would start to preview the class changes coming with WoW: Cataclysm. Good to its word, the changes are up on the official forums. So far it’s just Shamans and Warlocks, but it’s something, right?

The changes seem…good? I don’t know. Honestly, it’s been so long since I’ve played either class that it’s tough to say whether the changes are actually decent or if they’re just changes that will be unqualified until they’ve actually been tested. My guess is the latter. This kind of thing usually takes a while to properly iron out, and even then there are periods of underwhelming results for a lot of classes. Remember the sad state of the elemental shaman?How bout the retadin?

Today also brings word that press-only beta opt-in invites are going out. That points to a very close beta date, but the fact that it’s press only means it’s probably a hype ploy. Why give it only to the press if you want real testing? Because they’ll leak things, that’s why. I’m sure Blizzard is well aware of the fact that people have been losing interest and with Bob Kotick at the helm, you can bet everyone at Activision is anxious to keep profits high.

Yes, the end of that title is “highlander.” That’s the new mode that made its way into the latest Team Fortress 2 update. The update also includes a bunch of bug fixes and some map edits.

For highlander mode each team can consist of up to 9 players. For each team there can only be one of each different class. I really like the idea. Part of the intrigue of the class system is feeling like you have a special role that others can’t quite perform as well. What better way to showcase it than making each player truly the only one.

Among the other changes is cloud support for key bindings and custom spray tags.