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The long awaited expansion to World of Warcraft, Wrath of the Lich King, is here. We pre-ordered, we swore at the websites that didn’t deliver it on time, we stood in line for hours to buy it, we suffered through the 500-people long server queues… and still we love it.

To celebrate this, we looked for the five coolest World of Warcraft t-shirts around and, while it was quite difficult to decide… here they are.

1. For many months Shattrath has been our home. Our sanctuary. We paid mages to teleport us and warlocks to summon our baby alts in the magical place with a lot of portals. And now we’re moving on… We might feel abandoned for a while, but in a few short levels we’ll find our place in Dalaran. Wear the Home Is Where the Hearthstone Is t-shirt and remember that you never need to feel alone, there’s a friendly innkeeper somewhere awaiting your return.

2. If you don’t know the motto on the Less QQ More Pew Pew t-shirt, you’re a lucky person. It means: a) you’ve never met one of those annoying people who can only talk in WoW-sp33k; b) you’ve never been in a group where people are too busy moaning at the tank/healer/DPS to actually play. But don’t worry; one of them is bound to happen soon. Then again, you might be the annoying player, and then it’s a perfect match.

3. My personal favorite has got to be the Custom World of Warcraft Tabard t-shirt. If you’ve ever wondered how your guild’s tabard would look on you, this is the chance to find out. This t-shirt is fully customizable with your realm, guild, character name, race and class, making it the best for game conventions. As long as you’re not an obnoxious ganker, in which case perhaps you won’t want people to know who you are…

4. Though The Burning Crusade is officially over, the toughest boss needs to be remembered. (The Sunwell Plateau came later and robbed him of the distinction, but do we care?) The Illidan t-shirt features awesome artwork of an awesome character. For TBC lovers!

5. And something for the WotLK fans, of course. The Epic T-shirt of Ganking is an item for the new level 80 cap and comes with awesome stats: 1337 armor (for cloth!), increases in all stats, great socket bonuses and an interesting equip ability… The eternal dilemma: girl or game? It increases chances to evade work by 25%, but also reduces your chances to get laid by 99%.

Bonus: This would’ve made the final five, but it’s outdated. The Locked Chest t-shirt had a very cool concept, back when the maximum lockpicking skill was 375. Requiring 376 points made it impossible to open, but not anymore. All those frustrated rogues are jumping up and down with joy about now. Give us the new version!

Did you manage to down Illidan before the 3.0.2 patch? Were you one of those people who equipped the Twin Blades of Azzinoth and hung around in front of the bank just so you could enjoy the frantic whispers of “OMG where did you get those?”

Well then you’re the most deserving person to wear a World of Warcraft Illidan t-shirt. Black Temple might not be the hardest raid now, and in a couple of days we’ll get new places to invest time and frustration in, but no one can deny Illidan was the boss to aim for in The Burning Crusade.

Of course, all of us who only saw Illidan in cinematics, YouTube raid videos and maybe the occassional post-nerf raid can get one. Unlike T6 loot, you don’t need DKP for this one, and it’s a nice way to mark the end of an era.

How much under $29.99?
Some: $17.99 on Jinx.com.

The new World of warcraft expansion, Wrath of the Lich King, will be in stores and in the grubby hands of players next week, so I figured it’s the perfect time for more WoW swag.

The Epic T-shirt of Ganking is obviously a Lich King item - it requires level 80 and no life. It’s cloth (100% cotton to be precise), so you mages, locks and priests can stop complaining that you can’t wear the loot that drops. And the stats are impressive: +1337 armor, Duelling, Aggro, Ninja Looting and Farming increases, not to mention the socket bonus of +25 Tea Bagging.

The Equip tooltip might point out a problem, though: it increases chances to evade work by 25%, but also reduces your chances to get laid by 99%.

However, what many people don’t know is that the 1% is so worth it. It means a WoW player of the female persuasion, and a girlfriend who is a real girl OMG and can also kick your ass in a duel is something to hold on to.

How much under $29.99?
Some: $18.95 on SplitReason.com.

World of Warcraft players are currently facing new challenges with the release of a new patch, just one month before the long-awaited expansion, Wrath of the Lich King. Servers are unstable, the changes can be confusing… a trip to the real world won’t hurt. Especially when the real world lets you express your love of the game in a highly personalized way.

The Custom World of Warcraft Tabard t-shirt is genius. You get to choose your tabard style (using the same icons as the game), your realm, guild, character name, race and class, and finally print it on the t-shirt you like.

This ranks very high on my “coolest WoW apparel” list and it would be one of the best presents a dedicated player could get.
(*hint hint*)

How much under $29.99?
A little: $24.99 on SwagDog.com.

In World of Warcraft, Carrot on a Stick is a trinket you can get at a relatively low level, that makes you ride faster and can be a real time saver (especially when you still have the slow level 35 mount). Blizzard have left us with some unanswered questions, like why a tiger would even want a carrot, but hey, it’s a speed boost, who cares?

In real life, the Carrot on a Stick Keychain is the coolest thing I’ve seen all week - but, sadly, it doesn’t make you go any faster. Why do I love it so much then? Well, you’d have to be a player to get it. The keychain reproduces both the icon (front) and the tooltip (back) - 3% speed increase, yay! - and it’s exactly the type of thing that can express your love of WoW without going too much over the top (or over budget).

I wonder… Will they make a keychain with the Riding Crop next?

How much under $29.99?
A lot: $7.99 on Jinx.com.

I can’t resist the pull of yet another World of Warcraft/MMORPG t-shirt. Especially when it conveys a message my guild really should listen to these days: less whining, more action.

The Less QQ More Pew Pew t-shirt bears a phrase well-known to gamers and uttered countless time at complainers. Yes, everyone is against you; yes, everything is going bad and we’re all going to wipe; indeed, life sucks. The notion that things might improve if people would just concentrate on the game desn’t seem to pass through some heads…

(Oh yeah, and in case you’re curious: QQ is crying, it represents two eyes and tears, and “pew pew” is the make-believe sound of a weapon.)

How much under $29.99?
Some: $17.99 on Amazon.com.

I never thought of World of Warcraft gold sellers as more than a nuisance in trade chat. Ok, they sell gold, it’s illegal, but what do I care really? I have enough money and you get the best gear from raids, not with gold. But when the gold sellers are after my gold…

Two people in my guild had their accounts hacked within a day of each other, probably through keyloggers, and all their gold was stolen and gear sold. A few days later, the Blizzard Authenticator was released and I think it’s a brilliant idea. It works just like those things some banks have for internet banking: it generates a random code tied to your account, and you’re supposed to input it in addition to the password.

All right, some of us know how to protect their computers, why this? Well… I wouldn’t need one now, but if I played on a shared computer I wouldn’t want to risk it. Hell, I thought my brother knew enough to be safe since he’s had a computer for the past 10 years, and guess who called me last week with a computer full of worms…

The one problem with this: it doesn’t appear to be available in Europe yet. Seriously, there’s more on this Earth than the States, could we please be included?

How much under $29.99?
A lot: $6.50 on Blizzard.com.

World of Warcraft is not a simple game, but it’s not that complex either. If you want to learn about something, you will find an answer online, no question about it. But if you’re lazy, get the book.

Hacking World of Warcraft won’t teach you anything forbidden by the game rules; instead it will give you some of the basic (or more advanced) things you need to know to have a nice stay in Azeroth and the Outlands. From add-on suggestions and how to make a macro to creating your own add-ons, you can be sure there’s something you didn’t know before. And author Dan Gilbert should know what he’s talking about, since he’s the guy who wrote one of the most popular add-ons, Atlas.

But, while the book does look interesting, I really don’t see the point of paying almost $30 for it. All the information is available online, you only have to look for it. With the help of google, a couple of add-on websites and your guildies, there’s nothing you can’t find out.

How much under $29.99?
A little: $27.99 on ThinkGeek.com.

I haven’t featured a World of Warcraft product in a while and, seeing as I spend many hours a day in Azeroth, it feels a bit wrong.

This time it’s one for the ladies. The Locked Chest t-shirt is probably perfect for a Warcraft convention. (The Blizzard Entertainment Worldwide Invitational is sold out, alas…) If you’re a real life girl and you play World of Warcraft, the first reaction of the male attendants will be disbelief. Once they realize you’re actually there, you might have to fend off drooling teenage boys (or men). This t-shirt lets them know there’s no chance anything is going to happen: your “locked chest” requires 376 lockpicking and, like every true player knows, 375 is the maximum skill level you can reach. Oh well, too bad for them.

Also, this picture is too cool not to include:

How much under $29.99?
Some: $19.99 on Amazon.com.

I’ve spoken about my World of Warcraft passion around here (but I do not claim I am very good at it and I don’t want to debate whether WoW is killing gaming or whatever). Yesterday I was browsing and I ran into this very cool t-shirt which I’m sure every WoW player will love.

Home. That place where it’s warm and cozy. Where the inn, and the mailbox, and (probably) the Auction House is. And the oh so useful portals, if you’re reached the level needed to get into Shattrah. We all know that Home is Where the Hearthstone is. And we know the woe of the one hour cooldown… it’s the online-equivalent of being stranded in the rain, waiting for the express bus you just missed and having to take the slowest bus you ever saw. Then a boat. Then another bus.

You know what I mean. This one also has a women’s version, so it’s going on my wishlist.

How much under $29.99?
Some: $17.99 on Jinx.com.