World of Warcraft: A Whole New World

The most notable move in this expansion pack, apart from and entirely new Azeroth and take on leveling is the addition of two new races. If you are like me, you are probably wondering why we are being treated to two new races and no new class. It is very disappointing to see that the new expansion will not release with a new class, it almost seems lazy in that department. I understand that developing all new skills and coming up with the concept of the new class, let alone balancing it with the rest of the game is very time consuming and difficult. Yet honestly I would have rather seen a new class over the new profession and one if not both of the new races. However, the new classes are very welcome additions to the game. On Horde side we will get Goblins with great racials and very cool mounts. On Alliance there will be the Worgen who really give the alliance an interesting mix of races to choose from now.

The Goblin race is treated to a racial where no matter what reputation you have with a given faction, you will automatically get the item for the cheapest possible price. They are also granted the ability to use what is basically an engage as opposed to a disengage where you will literally hurl yourself forward at a given mob. They also have a rocket belt that will be able to deal damage to a given creature, assuming it is off cool down after using the engage. They also have a passive which is a 1% increased attack speed, and a hobgoblin that will be on a 30 minute cool down, but when cast will allow you bank access for one minute. Let's not forget how cool that roadster is looking either. However nothing too shocking in the class department, you will be able to choose from Death Knights, Hunters, Mages, Priests, Rogues, Shamans, Warlocks, or Warrior.

The Worgen is an interesting choice for the Alliance side in my opinion, but seeing them in play while watching the Blizzcon video cast they are beginning to grow on me. Unfortunately for those who play Alliance, the announced racials and such for Worgen are quite a let down. We know they are to have 1% increased damage as opposed to the Goblin's 1% increased attack speed. They also get a three minute cool down that increases movement by 70% for eight seconds (seems overpowered for PvP to me). The Worgen also gets a 15 bonus to skinning, a faster skinning time, and no knife required. However one cool feature about the class is you will be able to switch between human and Worgen form, but be warned when you engage in combat you will transform back to Worgen form. These two races in addition to the "new" Azeroth, make for a great way to encourage everyone to go back an replay the game starting at level one, not just the Deathknight way. Also you will be able to faction change into either of these races, but not right from launch so if you want one of these classes do it the old fashioned way, Blizzard wants you to, and so do I.

Blizzard also announced that the addition to the end game content this time around will be the biggest of all. They are really pushing the fact that on launch there will be more playable end game content then ever before. Not only that, but they are pairing it with a brand new Guild Advancement system that adds reason to your raiding outside of gear farming. By progressing through content and even PvP as a guild and not just a solo player will grant the guild levels, with each of these levels come guild usable abilities. One of these will be a mass resurrection, assuming your guild has earned the ability. Let's say you wipe in a raid... With this new ability, you will be able to resurrect the entire guild if you wipe, as opposed to taking the time to do so individually. If for some reason you are on a server where you just cannot find a guild, you can also run cross server pick up groups. You will be able to LFG across the different servers and make a party, when you zone into a given instance you will be alongside people from those different servers. You can also obtain personal group leading incentives for leading a cross server group through an instance. You will never have to worry about finding a group for the heroic that you want to do.

As always Blizzard has not let PvP fall by the wayside in their coming expansion pack. They are giving us a brand new Wintergrasp-like zone filled with daily quests for you to compete for. They are also adding a Battleground rating system that will essentially work the same way as the arena system. You will obtain a personal rating from your Battleground success or failures, and in turn will be granted the ability to purchase PvP style gear based on your rating. Fingers crossed they will announce at least a few new arenas, and another Battleground as the expansion comes closer to launch.

Of course Blizzard would not make an expansion pack and not include a new profession level cap as well as a new profession altogether either. There has been no confirmed new profession level cap, but bank on it being 75 more than the current. The new profession "Archaeology" will have you wondering the lands in search of artifacts. These artifacts will go into your journal and as you uncover more pieces and put together more artifacts you will begin to earn unique rewards. This will also help you with the brand new "path of the titans" system that will be implemented into the game with Cataclysm. Another small, yet fun feature being added with Cataclysm, something most of us feel should have happened a long time ago I am sure is flying in Azeroth. We have all wished we could and soon we will be able to.