Blizzard Entertainment’s long-awaited entry into the massively multiplayer online role playing game genre, World of Warcraft, is still in development. But the company recently offered details about its plans to publish a special ” Collector’s Edition ” version of the game which will included items not found in the regular retail release.
In simultaneous development for Mac OS X and Windows, World of Warcraft brings players to the war-torn world of Azeroth, a land populated by several races of inhabitants assembled into two main factions: The Horde and the Alliance. Players create heroic characters from one of eight playable races and nine classes as they go on quests, fight monsters and fight in epic battles.
Since the game is still in beta testing, specific details on pricing and the date of availability have not yet been announced. But the Collector’s Edition will include the game both on CD-ROM and DVD-ROM, and will also include a 1-month subscription. Also included is “The Art of World of Warcraft,” a 200+ page hardcover artbook, a behind-the-scenes DVD, an “exclusive in-game pet,” official soundtrack, cloth map of the continents in which the game takes place, a signed Collector’s Edition game manual, and a 10-day free guest pass you can give to a friend.
In other World of Warcraft-related news, Blizzard announced that the service was restored to the World of Warcraft Beta late on Monday. Service was interrupted several days ago after a tornado struck the data center in Virginia where Blizzard’s World of Warcraft beta test servers are maintained. The company expects there to be “intermittent downtimes” in the next few days as they perform further maintenance.