It's that time of year again -- the trees and lights are up in Azeroth, and Winter's Veil is upon us. Father Greatwinter is giving out gifts in Ironforge and Orgrimmar, and Blizzard devs are busy giving players the gift that keeps on giving: nerfs and more nerfs. Follow all of the wintry action at Joystiq's sister site WoW Insider -- if there's something under your tree that you need to know about, it'll be there, along with the usual cookies and milk.

News

• World of Warcraft PTR 3.0.8 patch notes
  The first post-expansion patch is queuing up on the test servers, and here's the notes.
• Mount race restrictions lifted, Tauren rejoice
  Now you can mount up on all of the faction mounts, no matter what race you are.
• Character re-customization added for a small fee
  Blizzard makes it possible to re-customize your character's look or gender, for a price.
• FCC Commissioner: World of Warcraft causes college dropouts
  The same woman who blamed television for child obesity blames WoW for people dropping out of college.
  
• Warcraft restaurant opens in Beijing
  T.G.I. Frost Mages? We would also have accepted T.G.I. Fordragon's. Or Arthusbee's, though that last one is bad.
  

Features

• The great Hunter nerf of 2008
  BM Hunters get smacked with the nerf bat.
• The achievements of Winter's Veil
  The Winter holiday has begun on the realms, and here's how to get your holiday title this time around.
• Patch 3.0.8: Analysis of Death Knight changes
  Changes to the dead man class in the new patch.
• Working at Blizzard: Sunshine, rainbows, claymores, backrubs
  A look inside the doors of one of the best game companies in the world, both from an interview with the COO and our own blogger's experience.
• Addon Spotlight: Achievements
  A few good addons for tracking down all of those new achievement points.