There’s currently a 144-page thread on the official World of Warcraft message board discussing this latest earth-shattering news: you’ll soon be able to take your Horde character and transform him to the closet Alliance equivalent, and vice-versa. So, for example, taking your Orc Warrior and changing him into a Human Warrior. And then cats and dogs will break bread with each other.

A bit of World of Warcraftnews for you this Thursday afternoon. If given the chance, how many of you would play the game on your Xbox 360 or PS3? It doesn’t even matter, as Blizzard’s executive vice-president of game design, Rob Pardo, said that producing a console version of the game would run into a whole host of challenges that would need to be overcome. Chief among them: an input device. Do you go create a specially designed WoW controller, or leave it up to people to bring their own mouse and keyboard?

Someone got all the way to level 80 in World of Warcraft without dying. It’s quite the achievement (although not an actual Blizzard Achievement.)

Okay, this is one of the better “gadgets” I’ve yet seen. It’s called the WoWPod, and it’s a self-sufficient tiny room for World of Warcraft players. Easy-to-reach food and water, built-in toilet, no annoying people distracting you, etc. It’s probably the closest thing to Heaven that a certain section of our society will ever encounter.

It’s time for Blizzcon again. Yes, Blizzard’s annual pilgrimage-for-so-so-many returns this August, but tickets for the show itself go on sale on May 16. And this year there’s an Internet stream you can watch! That’s good news for those of you who cannot (or do not want) to travel to Anaheim and dole out the $125 per ticket.

Jesus, Mary, Joseph! We fleetingly mentioned those Tax Day Tea Parties yesterday, but this is too much. That’s right: Tea Parties in Second Life, the game that, um, is still popular? (Not a lot of buzz about it these days, I mean to say.) Anyway, here’s a few photos of the in-game protest about in-real-life issues. Because that’s how minds are changed, in online video games. Or don’t you remember the Republican National Convention in Stormwind last year?

Friday being what it is and all (read: a complete waste of time), here’s something that, while utterly pointless, may put a smile on your face. (It may put a frown on your face, too, depending on your persuasion.) Yes, it’s a proper World of Warcraft mask, made of genuine latex, a wondrous compound that has been bringing man joy for some time now.

Attention Facebook users! SteelSeries is giving away a boss drop sized bunch of loot. And while you might not get a set piece out of it, it’s still some really damn nice stuff. And you won’t have to listen to the hunters whine about how nothing ever drops for them to use.

How I missed this, I have no idea. (Actually, I was at SXSW, that’s how I missed it.) Eurogamer, which is always good for a “think piece” or two, is running an exposé on gold farming, a term used to describe the buying and selling of in-game currencies (and items) in games like World of Warcraft. It’s a four-parter, and part two was just published today. Headline there: there are approximately 1 million gold farmers in China alone. Subhead: conservative estimates put the gold farming industry at $2 billion USD. Yes, that’s billion with a “b.” That’s officially insane.

You’re Blizzard. You develop a little game called Word of Warcraft. You move into a new office building—a sign of your importance—and want to commemorate said action. You hire the dudes responsible for the Lord of the Rings special effects, and tell them, “Make us a big statue of an Orc on his mount, looking sinister.” And they do.

So here’s a weird question for y’all: what happens when you die? More specifically, what happens to the “online version” of you? Will your World of Warcraft guild hold a funeral for you, one that’s promptly invaded by a bunch of rival faction jerks? Will there be a Facebook “We miss you, man” group? Does anyone in your life have the password to you Gmail account, should you need to contact your contacts? “Remember Bill? Yeah, he doesn’t live here anymore.”

From the frivolous lawsuit department: The folks behind Worlds.com are looking to sue the likes of World of Warcraft and Second Life for infringing on one of their longstanding patents that covers “virtual worlds” or somesuch. While that may seem pretty ludicrous, keep in mind that a similar lawsuits, against City of Heroes‘ NCSoft, was filed in a plaintiff-friendly district in Texas. Best case scenario for the Worlds.com folks is that Activision Blizzard and Co. have to license “virtual worlds” as an already-patented concept from them, which would means serious money.

Spend some time in any of the great World of Warcraft capitals—Stormwind City, Ironforge, Orgrimmar, etc.—and you’ll soon see this message flood the Trade Channel: “Need gold fast? You visit somesite.com, we have best gold prices on Internet!” To some players, myself included, it’s nothing more than noisy spam. “Shut up, jerkface, I’m trying to find mats for this enchant I read about on Thottbot.” But while you and I, honest players just looking to whittle away a few hours, may see these unsolicited advertisements as nothing more than mere nuisances, the people behind them—gold farmers—see them as pure profit. Minus the human costs, of course.

“World of Warcraft is the crack cocaine of the computer gaming world. Some people can’t drag themselves away and will play it till they drop.” This chilling warning comes from the Swedish Youth Care Foundation, which swooped into action after a 15-year-old boy “collapsed” (says The Sun, which is quite sensational) after playing the game for 24 hours straight.

What good is that Optimus keyboard without World of Warcraft? None good, I say, which is why it brings me great joy to see this homebrew WoW layout. It was created by one of the blokes at an Optimus Keyboard message board—message boards are the new salons—and is primarily for Warlocks.

Next time your spouse (or other nosy family member) tries to convince you that you’re wasting your time playing World of Warcraft, simply tell them that you’re training to be a better citizen. That’s what a university professor’s research suggests, at least. And if this research is good enough for the University of Wisconsin-Madison, then it’s good enough for us.

Blizzard released one of its infrequent podcasts (or, “blizzcasts”) at the weekend wherein several people involved with the creation of Wrath of the Lich King discussed the game, its development, the reception to it, etc. The podcast is only about 40 minutes long, so it’s not like it’s a huge time commitment.

Blizzard’s World of Warcraft now has 11.5 million subscribers. Assuming each subscriber pays $15 per month, that’s approximately $172.5 million per month in raw revenue. That’s quite a bit of coin.

The thing about reviewing mice is that you’re actually looking at two separate entities. Yes, you’re looking at the mouse itself, the hardware, but you’re also simultaneously taking into account the software that powers it, the drivers. A mouse without adequate drivers might as well not exist.