As you've probably read in our announcement earlier today, the most recent character class for the upcoming Diablo III was revealed at BlizzCon that the Monk. Blizzard's official Diablo III website has now been updated to reflect the announcement, with a full class breakdown, including artwork, screenshots and even in-game video trailers of the Monk in action. Check out the Monk class info page.

Members of the ZAM staff are currently on the floor at the first day of BlizzCon, and we heard some exciting news during the opening ceremony: Cataclysm is indeed the new World of Warcraft expansion, and the monk will be the fourth playable class in Diablo III.

Both of the announcements were made by Vice President of Creative Development Chris Metzen at the end of the ceremony, so for now I'll pass over Lead Artist Gary Platner's introduction and Blizzard CEO and co-founder Mike Morhaime's speech and jump right into the big news. You can read what both of these men had to say after the jump.

Let's actually start at the very end of the ceremony with the Cataclysm announcement. Metzen mentioned the rumors that where circulating about the expansion before BlizzCon (without naming MMO-Champion), and then said the wait is over. He said the expansion is "nothing less than earth-shattering. It will very literally change the face of the world of Azeroth as you know it."

We got the chance to view the Diablo III demo the day before the start of BlizzCon at a fansite summit held at Blizzard Headquarters. Blizzard's Micah Whipple led us through the demo, which contains gorgeous graphics and some noticeable differences from Diablo II.

Whipple decided to show us the male wizard first as he moved the character through the Sundered Pass. The quest log looks similar to Diablo II, and Whipple noted Blizzard is "trying to keep bits and pieces classically styled." However, the quest log does include a section for side missions, which are randomly generated as you play.

Some health globes quickly dropped as Whipple battled Sand Wasps, and they heal you immediately. There will still be health potions available on a cooldown. On an interesting note, Whipple explained the team has removed mana orbs from the game. Instead, skills like Spirit Vessel will allow you to restore some mana by picking up a health globe.

Since 2005, tens of thousands of gamer fans have flocked to southern California each year (with the exception of 2006) to take part in BlizzCon; Blizzard's celebration of its complete IP lineup. The first convention took place on October 28, 2005 at the Anaheim Convention Center in Anaheim, CA, and it's remained there ever since. About 8000 people were in attendance; a fairly substantial turn-out when you consider that no one knew exactly what to expect.

By the end of the weekend though, fans were thrilled with what they had finally found: a convention for gamers, by gamers. Technically, BlizzCon is similar to a trade expo in some functions, but Blizzard knew from the get-go that it wanted to offer its fans something other than the stuffy, industry-only direction in which tradeshows were headed. One weekend out of the year, Blizzard wanted to throw a massive party disguised as an expo, where its fans could gather and celebrate the entire array of the Blizzard franchise—including the Warcraft RTS series, StarCraft, Diablo…and of course, World of Warcraft.

For those of you lucky enough to score tickets to this year's convention (Aug. 21 and 22), ZAM has you covered, in this preview guide to BlizzCon 2009. You'll find a round-up of this year's highlights, along with some sage advice gleaned from attendees of years past. And if you weren't able to purchase tickets this year (along with seemingly everyone else who tried), don't worry! We'll give you all the info you need to consider the live "virtual pay-per-view" service being offered this year—which also entitles you to receive the same "Grunty the Murloc Marine" in-game vanity pet in this year's swag bags.

Have you ever wondered what Blizzard Headquarters looks like? The team over at MMOsite has posted 64 photos from a tour of the main building and two development buildings, and the pictures range from exterior shots to images of Blizzard's museum and library. There's even photos of the gym, which is available 24 hours a day, and the cafeteria to show what employees can do when they're not working on World of Warcraft, StarCraft II, Diablo III or other projects.

MMOsite even took photos inside the office of Blizzard CEO Mike Morhaime and caught a glimpse of the StarCraft II development room. Check out their article to view 16 pages of pictures from the tour.

If you're an anxious fan waiting for the release of Diablo III, you might be interested to know that "Overthrown," the first premium statue in the game's collectible series, is now available for pre-order from Sideshow Collectibles. The polystone diorama depicts a barbarian wielding dual axes as he stands atop the defeated Diablo.

The prototype of the statue was unveiled at San Diego Comic-Con 2008, so the fact that's it's now available for pre-order after a year and a half in development is big news for collectible fans. Each piece stands 18 inches tall, weighs 15 pounds and is individually painted and numbered. The statue will be available in the fall and costs $299.

While you wait for the release of the diorama, you can download a wallpaper of the barbarian in action. So are you the type of collector who drops $300 on this unique type or memorabilia, or does it cost too much?

Now that BlizzCon is officially sold out, thousands of BlizzCon hopefuls continue to look for ways to get into one of the biggest gaming events of the year. Fortunately, ZAM Network and Blizzard Entertainment have teamed up to give you another chance! Badges? We don't need no stinking badges!

From now, until 4:00 PM PT on Wednesday, June 17, 2009, we're asking our users who have an active account created prior to today, to post in THIS THREAD in our World of Warcraft General forum. Users may only enter once by posting in the designated thread. Multiple entries will be deleted and may disqualify you from the drawing. Posts in other threads, forums or user specific journals and wikis do not count as entries into the Sweepstakes.

So what about the prizes you ask? Three First Place winners will each receive First Place Prize: Three (3) First Prize Winners will each receive one (1) entry badge to Blizzcon 2009. Additionally, three runner ups will be receiving Premium Membership Packages (see rules for more details). So what are you waiting for? Head on over to our forums and enter your chance to win a BlizzCon badge!

For full contest rules and regulations, click here. For discussion about this contest, click here.

Good luck to everyone who enters!

Here's our regular list of ZAM features and noteworthy news articles for the week. Keep reading below and after the jump for links to all the stories you may have missed.

ZAM features

Our Top 5 MMO Complaints: Y'know what really grinds Christopher "Pywff" Tom's gears? Keep reading to find out. Here's a hint: he's not a fan of slaying rats.

Warhammer Online: On Trial: Sam "azerian" Maxted gave the Warhammer online free trial a try to see what impression it could give to people thinking about buying the game.

Introducing Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Online: This may have been our April Fools joke, but we still love the thought of running through the sewers in a TMNT MMO.

UI Policy Change? We're Calling a Lawyer!: We sat down with lawyer Connie Mableson to discuss Blizzard's decision to formalize the design and distribution guidelines for add-ons in World of Warcraft.

The official Diablo III Web site has slowly, but surely, been supplying fans with little tastes of what they can expect to see in the game.  Blizzard recently released three new pieces of artwork and nine new screenshots for your viewing pleasure, and even updated the bestiary with information on the unburied, a new creature from the realm of Sanctuary.

As always, the entry is written by Abd al-Hazir. The information he provides on the unburied is disturbing, to say the least: "Being born out of pits of human misery, these beings feed on human suffering. Wherever bodies are dumped together unceremoniously, the unburied may rise."

This has been the first bestiary update since the scavenger in October 2008. There are all sorts of various creatures to browse, so head over the official site's world of Sanctuary page for more information.

The European Blizzard store now has a new, wicked demonic T-Shirt available. For those of you so inclined, you can pick out your shirts. That is, if you live in Europe. Small through 2XL are available through the site, although currently the only color is black. What else would/could you even want, though; other than a release date for the game, perhaps? Hopefully, these will hit the Americas soon!

Source: World of Warcraft Europe Official Site