A New World (of Warcraft)

Ah, Blizzcon, you seem so far off. But soon, World of Warcraft afficianados shall know when Azeroth will change...forever. That's right folks, World of Warcraft: Cataclysm will soon be upon us. Now I had pretty much gone off WoW for a few reasons, but after viewing many a beta video, I'm coming back to it very, very impressed. Here's a rundown of some of the major stuff. Caution: SPOILERS AHEAD!!!!

First off, the absolute awesome lore behind this expansion. More lore people know it, but for those who don't, Deathwing, the giant dragon that adorns the Cataclysm cover, has emerged from his sanctuary to reclaim Azeroth. How powerful is he? Well, his return has basically destroyed the world. Yeah. It's gonna be a great story, and Blizzard has promised that leveling from 80 to 85 will take about as long as leveling from 70-80 did, so no one will feel cheated that Deathwing doesn't hold as much sway or familiarity as the Lich King. Not to mention it will feed into the aftermath of the Lich King's demise. With Arthas slain, the uneasy truce that stayed the hand of war has been broken, and it's gonna be a smackdown. Slyvanas has engaged the Worgen, Thrall has stepped down as Warchief, and Vol'Jin has all but left the Horde. For those who don't understand what I'm talking about, just know this: It's on.

As mentioned, the world of Warcraft has changed and I mean dramatically. While entire zones have been created, many previous zones have been altered in some way. Some are subtle, like adding new enemies and replacing the grasp a faction has on an area, to huge massive changes like say, The Thousand Needles flooding with water, Stonetalon Mountains becoming a deforested warzone, and the once Scourge-infested Western Plaguelands now teeming with life. It's these massive changes that will incorporate new questing models that Bilzzard hopes will pour new interest in the number one MMO, but more on that later.

In addition to presentation, gameplay will also receive an overhaul in content. Earlier quests, as early as say, the starting zone, will get new types of quests, as apposed to the dull drop, destroy, discover formula that vanilla wow has come to love. Now players will be introduced to raid bosses, vehicle mechanics, special item quests and phasing (the function in which the entire world changes around the player) as early as the first few levels. You can see a ton of each of these things in both the Worgen and Goblin starting zones. Talents are also being remodeled, much to my liking. The "Path of the Titans" has been removed (whatever it was) in lieu of giving the player a specific ability at certain levels if the spec in a general tree, in addition to the talents themselves. For example, Combat rogues recieve bladestorm, an aoe attack, at level 10, while Subtlety rogues would get a damage boost to stealth attacks. This makes the player feel both powerful and unique when it comes to that specific character.

So the question is, why remodel the world and the action within it? Well, Blizzard has altered it's philosophy on how to get players hooked on the game. Even though 12 million people play the game, Blizzard said it's greatest challenge is attracting new players and retaining them past level 20 with the current system. And they have a point. Anyone who has level past 40 knows all the cool stuff starts way later (I didn't start raiding until level 50), and you won't use siege weapons or pvp world battles until expansion content. The Burning Crusade and Wrath of the Lich King introduced us to new gameplay mechanics and questing, Cataclysm is bringing the rest of Azeroth up to speed.

While Cataclysm faces opposition as more companies try their hand at the MMO market, Blizzard is confident that the latest expansion will keep World of Warcraft atop its high and seemingly indestructible throne. We'll find out come Blizzcon when the world (of Warcraft) as we know it, will change.