Say Goodbye to the old Azeroth (maybe)

Benggal · August 20, 2009, 06:27:16 PM

Skuttlebutt has it that the next expansion is going to be "Cataclysm", in which two great powers have called upon something which has wrecked the face of Azeroth (Eastern Kingdoms and Kalimdor). Some places have been destroyed or flooded (such as Durotan and Thousand Needles respectively) while others have been turned from desert into tropical jungle. New places to explore rise from the seas...and lie under them. Azeroth will be made over...and you'll be able to fly over it all (finally).

This is still speculation, but the people speculating seem pretty sure of their sources. It'll all be confirmed (or refuted) in a day or two as Blizzcon opens up, but just in case you may want to go to any favorite "old world" zones and say your goodbyes.

I was a total sucker and I bought the pay-per-view this year, so in case some of you don't read any sites having to do with WoW, I'll update this post with what I've learned about WoW's future.

EDIT: "They" also say that phasing and daily quests will be used extensively in the new Azeroth (more so than in Northrend) to help immerse the player in the story of, well, basically wtf is going on.

papalovebear · August 21, 2009, 10:39:30 AM

Ben that's sweet. I don't know how much of hte BlizzCon you're planning on watching but that's be really awesome if you could post up here with cool things that are coming out or whatever seems realyl neat.

Mel/Slap · August 21, 2009, 11:17:13 AM

thanks Ben for keeping us upto date please keep it up as I will not be attending Blizzcon or anything and Currently so busy its not even funny.

Benggal · August 21, 2009, 12:01:39 PM

Well half of the Live coverage is during my bedtime over here, but I'll post about whatever I'm able to see.

MMO Champion will have up-to-the-minute reports, I'm sure.

Benggal · August 21, 2009, 03:32:01 PM

Okay, I just watched the opening ceremony and it looks like everything I posted initially is confirmed:

The next expansion pack will be "Cataclysm".

Deathwing has come back to the fore in Azeroth, and his coming has brought a huge amount of destruction. Many, many old-world zones have been radically changed by the cataclysm. Rivers of lava cutting through well-known towns and countrysides, once-fertile lands ripped asunder and some barren areas (like Desolace) becoming a tropical jungle of sorts.

Two new playable races:

The Goblins have allied with the Horde. The Worgen of Gilneas (yes, the gate has fallen) have allied with the Alliance.

New class/race combinations:

Tauren paladin? Sure. Undead hunter? Go for it.

Flying in old-world.

Since the entirety of old-world Azeroth is being redesigned with the cataclysm changing the face of the world, it will naturally be a bit more difficult to traverse "on foot" in many places.

New level cap

Only level 85 this time...they're trying to keep us from hitting 100 too soon, I think. Not to mention every 10 levels is another 10 levels an alt will have to work through.

Guild achievements and levels

Haven't heard too much about it right now but it's something else for everyone to look forward to.

I'll try to remember more of the stuff that'll be forthcoming later. The WoW panel is about to start and I want to catch it. Also I'm sure the trailer will be online soon and when it is I'll get a link for you.

Benggal · August 21, 2009, 04:38:04 PM

Well shit, a couple other sites are doing enough that I don't have to say anymore. :P Just go here:

The official site: http://www.worldofwarcraft.com/cataclysm/ The trailer is here too. WATCH IT.

More in-depth info from Blizzcon can be found at: http://www.mmo-champion.com/

LOTS of changes coming to Azeroth.

Also: Sam Raimi is directing the movie. Fuggin epic.

Benggal · August 21, 2009, 06:30:10 PM

Also a couple of extra tidbits previously not mentioned:

Cross-faction transfers will be made possible. If you have an Alliance char but want to be Horde instead, you can change that char's race to a Horde race (that's compatible with your class). I know this may mean something to a few of our members who started off life with the Alliance before seeing the error of their ways. ;)

There will not be 56-point talents. You'll just get 5 extra skill points (one each from 81-85) to spend.

Thrall will be handing the reigns of the Horde over to Garrosh...who has a VERY different way of handling things, to say the least. Thrall will become the new Guardian of Tirisfal (this is more significant to those of us who care about the Lore behind the game).

Zanzier · August 21, 2009, 07:32:13 PM

As wierd as this might sound, I'm all for new content, but I hope it takes a year for them to complete all of this so we can all be done and over with Northrend (as well as a little back-peddling)

papalovebear · August 21, 2009, 08:17:32 PM

nice update ben, thanks

Benggal · August 22, 2009, 02:30:29 PM

In other news, watching Jay Mohr host the costume, dance and sound-alike competitions was just downright uncomfortable.

Beorngar · August 22, 2009, 07:48:49 PM

The changes to the Warlock Soul Shard system sound very interesting. They are completely changing the mechanic.

http://www.wow.com/2009/08/22/blizzcon-2009-class-discussion-panel-warlock/

Benggal · August 23, 2009, 05:58:19 AM

With the upcoming expansion (NOT to be released this year, they said) it's easy to forget there's still content coming for Wrath. That in mind, head on over to http://www.mmo-champion.com and check out the write-up on the raids & dungeons panel about Icecrown citadel.

Most of you know that I'm no raider, but even I'm excited about it. There'll even be a 5-person version (in addition to epic 10 and 25-man versions) where you fight alongside heroes of the Horde (or Alliance if you're a wuss).

Zanzier · August 23, 2009, 07:33:56 AM

Checked out the costume contest, because I was an avid DragonCon go'er since 1987 and it was my favorite part of the con. I'd say that about 2/3rds of the costumes were bland or things that should have never been considered worth walking up on stage with. A double handful I found 'intresting' while maybe a handful were 'striking' or 'applaudible'.

The blonde draenei female was the most impressive as far as the 'half nekkid chicks' go, but the spider queen won my respect for time and effort put into it along with the fact it must have been a !@#$% to lug around. Was glad to see there was at least one attempt at a tauren, although it could have had some more detail put into it. The rendition of K'T was also impressive, but the puppeteer under the costume should have used gloves to conceal his/her hands better.

Benggal · August 23, 2009, 03:31:07 PM

Yah, Zan, but that's how the costume contest is every year it seems. Most of them are just chicks in bikinis that only vaguely resemble the in-game regalia and a lot of the rest are 3 minutes' worth of thought and 5$ worth of material.

I was really happy that the Mistress of Pain won. That was definitely one of the more amazing costumes. Jay Mohr was either high or drunk out of his skull, though.

papalovebear · August 24, 2009, 03:24:10 PM

I was reading somewhere about battle.net today that they are making it so starcraft 2, diable 3, and WoW will have a new chat function between the platforms. It said somethign about a "real ID" which basically they are going to eventually force everyone to have a battle.net account and not just a WoW accoutn you will have ot merge it and when you do that you get an ID name. From what i saw from screen shots it was your Real name but that doesn't seem like it will last long it might have been an example. But on your friend list you will see something like <My real name> (Papalovebear) - WoW Durotan when you're in SC2 or D3 and if I'm in SC2 it would show up on your friend list for WoW as <My real name> - SC2. Because of this I'm trying to do a little more research because if that's the case then it wouldn't get hard for guilds to go cross platform too. Anyone know anything more about this?