Meanwhile Back in Azeroth: Third Expansion Planned for WoW, and Other Changes

It’s been several months since I got World of Warcraft’s third Expansion, “Wrath of the Lich King.” It took a while to get to the top. A couple months ago, I got a character, my bloodelf hunter, to Level 80. Besides that, there was a particularly memorable quest chain, "The Battle for Undercity,” helping to retake it after a sinister plot resulted in a coup. So the hunter ended up fighting alongside two of the most powerful NPCs of the game, Warchief Thrall and the Banshee Queen, the group slowly making it’s way to the royal quarter and beating the powerful demon that had taken over.

After that, still finding things to do, friends to chat with and hang around. Like Second Life, WoW looses a lot of it’s charm if there’s no one to talk to (at least for me). Blizzard recently added the Argent Tournament, throwing in some new action for my Lvl 80 character. Gameplay has also changed slightly. The spices I once needed to cook food are no longer needed. While using one alt, the special quest once required to get a higher cooking level wasn’t there and the alt was freely able to progress. Easier, though I miss having to go through the fancy cookery a little. My Rouge alt’s Poison-making skill is now gone, buying them instead of making them through ingredients. He also no longer needs flash powder to use Vanish to make a quick ninja-like exit from a iffy fight. It’s been a little while since I used him, so not sure how long ago those changes were made. Druids can now have the looks of their bear and cat forms changed for a more unique appearance. The level requirements for riding mounts, once at Lvl 40 for basic and Lvl 60 for fast mounts, are now Lvl 20 and Lvl 40 respectively. Basic flying mounts and druid flight forms can also fly faster.

It’s also possible to change a character’s race, or even faction, after paying Blizzard a fee of course. Considering the names some give their characters, there may be a few paying an additional fee for a name change.

Recently, Blizzard announced something big, plans for a Third Expansion: Cataclysm. The plot, the “corrupted Dragon Aspect Deathwing” returns to Azeroth, and quite literally tears the place apart. Areas long familiar to seasoned players will be greatly changed, the Barrens for instance is described as being torn in two. Two races will be available as player characters, Goblins for the Horde, and the werewolf-like Worgen for the Alliance. There will be a new skill available: Archeology. The top level will be raised to 85. Flying Mounts will now be able to be used in Kalmindor and the Easter Kingdoms, which have been unusable to them since their introduction. There will also be new race/class combinations available (video available HERE).

Reaction has been mostly favorable. The announcement was made just in time for Blizcon, and the few people I chatted with who went loved what they saw. Of the complaints, a few worried that in the PVP servers lower ranked characters would never be safe alone outside the cities as higher-ranked players could supposedly easily swoop down and clobber them. Others wondered about plotholes as Goblins were in charge or a big presence of many neutral towns. But the big talk I noticed was around the two races introduced. Of the Goblins, reaction was split, “Sweeeet! The best engineers in Azeroth!” “Bah! Who needs a Horde version of a gnome?!” The Worgen, the Alliance were happy to get them, a number of Horde were disappointed, “Werewolves in the Alliance? What the hell? I thought they hated Horde because they were too far from human?” A few Horde commented they would be creating an Alliance character for the first time just to try out the wolves.

Blizzard explained that they felt the Horde could use a short race, like the Gnomes for the Alliance, and there had been requests for Goblins as PCs. Of the Worgen, they wanted to bring in a more beastlike race into the Alliance, and one that the players were somewhat familiar with.

And already the jokes are starting, “Let loose the dogs of war!” “Who let the wolves out?” “The mailboxes are going to smell funky.” “Will flea collars be now part of the armory?”

And of course jokes that for the first time, a troll will be able to beat a “furry” in a fair fight, and now it wouldn’t be just in Second Life where humans and furs would be dancing with each other. ;-)

Bixyl Shuftan