World of Warcraft Cataclysm announced

Brian Ambrozy 21 Aug, 2009 at 3:19pm ET Article published in Gaming

Today at Blizzcon, Blizzard announced the new World of Warcraft expansion, called “Cataclysm”.

First, the brief bullet list:

New playable races are Goblins for the Horde and Worgen for the Alliance
Level cap has been raised to 85
The obligatory new raids, dungeons, and quests
A new skill called Archaeology
Revamped old-world instances
Azshara will become a low-level starting zone
You will be able to fly in parts of the old world
Tons of new race/class combinations, such as Tauren Paladin, Undead Hunter, etc.
The Barrens will be split into two zones
The Greymane wall has been breached (This is where the Worgen come from)
Hyjal will be a new instance
Thrall will be handing over leadership of the Horde

More details will be posted when we get the official press release from Blizzard.

UPDATE: The trailer:

Comments

21 Aug 2009 ~ 3:25pm fatcat The Horde refuses to have short Goblins, leave the shorties to the alliance damnit.
21 Aug 2009 ~ 3:28pm MAGIC Heroic DM!
21 Aug 2009 ~ 3:28pm Thrax Ogres made more sense.
21 Aug 2009 ~ 3:36pm primesuspect DAMMIT no Murlocs.

GLLBLRLRLWRLLBLLWRRBLLLL
21 Aug 2009 ~ 3:36pm Snarkasm As if you played.
21 Aug 2009 ~ 3:48pm QCH Looks awesome... nice to see WoW going strong with new content.

If only WoW was cheaper... say $5.99 a month. $15 for the amount of time I usually put into games is REALLY expensive. Say $5.99 for 20 hours then bump it up to $10.99 for 50 hours and $14.99 for unlimited.
22 Aug 2009 ~ 1:00pm MAGIC http://www.worldofwarcraft.com/cataclysm/media/?autoplay=true#video
22 Aug 2009 ~ 1:15pm lordbean Hoo boy. That's gonna be an interesting expansion. First time in the game's history that Blizzard is significantly changing old content as part of the story.

I hope Gnome Hunter is a new combination. I want to play a toon that uses a pet 5x his size.
22 Aug 2009 ~ 4:53pm primesuspect That video makes it look like Tanaris becomes fertile...
22 Aug 2009 ~ 5:34pm lordbean That video makes a lot of zones look rather different.

Makes me wonder how it's going to affect the leveling process of new characters.
22 Aug 2009 ~ 6:53pm Nemikan In my mind... it seems cool yet slightly annoys me at the same time. While I've played the old classic stuff a ton, its nice to talk to new players and explain the cool special spots and fun quests those original zones have. With this new expansion... those will be unaccessable.

The two huge draws for me in possibly returning to the game are the new team battlegroup rankings with pvp & the guild ranking systems. These should add a new element for ranks and stroking one's ego and giving a system for and competing against others much better than the existing arena system that is fairly heavily based on class make up.
22 Aug 2009 ~ 7:54pm GnomeWizardd F blizzard THIS is why SC II was delayed, F Blizzard!!!!!!!!!!
23 Aug 2009 ~ 12:48am Thrax Starcraft, Diablo, live WoW and WoW expansions all have their own dev teams.
23 Aug 2009 ~ 2:29am Dare Im still fairly new to WoW. Im good with my lock, and cleared most content, but I'm far from the greatest player. WoW is fun off and on, and makes a perfect counterpoint to EVE on occasion when I get downtime.

Im honestly just not happy thinking about blowing another 40-50 bucks for more dang WoW. Yay EVE Free Expacs! >.>
23 Aug 2009 ~ 9:39am Koreish I really wish that they'd go back to Warcraft proper and maybe skip an expansion for WoW.
23 Aug 2009 ~ 1:36pm ardichoke

Thrax wrote:

Starcraft, Diablo, live WoW and WoW expansions all have their own dev teams.

That didn't stop Blizzard from pulling the Starcraft design team off of SC2 to work on WoW

Just sayin'.
24 Aug 2009 ~ 12:40pm Rexxar So many people are going to quit WoW now lol. I think blizzard is getting scared ^^ or there just trying to get more money. Altho a Undead paladin will be very cool 0.o
24 Aug 2009 ~ 12:52pm Thrax I can almost guarantee you that Blizzard will add several million additional subscriptions.
24 Aug 2009 ~ 1:10pm pigflipper

Thrax wrote:

I can almost guarantee you that Blizzard will add several million additional subscriptions.

I don't see how they won't add subscriptions between old players coming back because of the proposed "fresh" look and new people who will have a chance to start in a game world that really hasn't been touched. A few might leave, but I highly doubt there will be an overall drop in subscription numbers with the case more likely being as Thrax stated: a HUGE surge in new accounts. Blizzard doesn't do this to please a small number, they do this to make money and they are very good at making money.

ardichoke wrote:

That didn't stop Blizzard from pulling the Starcraft design team off of SC2 to work on WoW

Just sayin'.

Did you even fully read the article? It was YEARS ago that they worked on WoW and from the article, it was while WoW was still in development. Don't get pissy because your game isn't out, Blizzard will release it when it is ready.
24 Aug 2009 ~ 2:20pm ardichoke Yes I read the article, I'm still of the opinion that pulling staff that's supposed to work on one thing to work on something else is BS and a waste of resources (trying to familiarize them with a new product, new team, etc. then having them have to go back to the previous team). Regardless, I won't be playing either game at this point. WoW is just digital crack and I like what little life I have at this point. I'm not going to squander it on some pay-per-month game where I feel ripped off if I don't put in enough hours each month.