World of Warcraft: Burning Crusade Expansion Site Launches

[Heretic Machine]

Several years have passed since the Burning Legion's defeat at Mount Hyjal and the races of Azeroth have continued to rebuild their once shattered lives. With renewed strength, the heroes of the Horde and Alliance have begun to explore new lands and broken through the Dark Portal to investigate the realms beyond the known world. Will these heroes find friends or foes? What dangers and rewards lie in wait beyond the Dark Portal? And what will they do when they discover that the demons they thought vanquished have returned to renew their terrible Burning Crusade?
World of Warcraft: The Burning Crusade (http://www.worldofwarcraft.com/burningcrusade/)

Still no new word on the Alliance race...

Edit - For those who can't download the trailer through the Blizzard downloader, Filefront has put up the file for direct download: The Burning Crusade Trailer (http://files.filefront.com/WoW+The+Burning+Crusade+++BlizzCon+Movie/;4295713;;/fileinfo.html). FileCloud Trailer Mirror (http://www.filecloud.com/files/file.php?file_id=2336).

Staff Note - this was one of several posts about the same news story. Thanks also to CrashCart, Roc Ingersol, Savok and Citizen Philip.

[Dabombpizza]

Blood elves...ouch...dissapointment.

[Heretic Machine]

Anyone else find it odd that they are adding "socketed" weapons to Warcraft? Little too much like Diablo II?

[Abash Alarmist]

Better be Panderan for the Alliance...

[Phanto]

Like i said, it will be interesting how they will incorporate that expansion to the game i mean will they include those new characters and "new areas" withing the realms that people are playing right now??, or did you will have to start from scrath again in another realm to play the expansion?!?

I'll guess..we will have to wait.

[Peacec]

I think that the Draenei seem to be the most likely race for the Alliance. Then again, who knows.

[CrashCart]

Yeah, blood elves.. I sure can't wait to be the 1,235,873,127th person on my server to make one. Because elf boobies are hawt (Aren't they? That's why all the 13 year old boys play Night Elf females, right?) At least there's no mention of a new class at this point. I don't know how hard that would be to balance, but I can't imagine they'd fit in too easily at this point.

[Citizen Philip]

Agreed Peacec, the Draenei. Horde get a pretty, Alliance get an Ugly. Sounds like the warped logic that explains certain "balance" problems the game seems to generally have. But I mean really.. do the Alliance need 2 races that can turn invisible, at will?

I'm on the fence about socketted weapons. Sounds like item farming + more item farming. Ie.: Farm to get your perfect type of socketed weapon, then farm to get the proper gems to socket x # of sockets. If you dual wield, x2 farm.

There is no new classes. Level cap is 70, when you get to 70 you can get a flying mount that works only in the Outlands. New profession, gemcrafter/cutting.

Unofficially Outlands is PvP regardless of server type, but I did not read that from a reputable source, so please take that with a grain of salt.

[Dabombpizza]

I'm sorry, I just can't get over the blood elves. Horde does not need pretty races! We're ugly, that's the way we're supposed to be! Take them back alliance.

edit: not to mention they're reskinned night elves...

[Heretic Machine]

Like i said, it will be interesting how they will incorporate that expansion to the game i mean will they include those new characters and "new areas" withing the realms that people are playing right now??, or did you will have to start from scrath again in another realm to play the expansion?!?


...I'm not sure I understand what you're talking about? The graphics for the new races will be patched in. The new areas will be added in the same way that all new areas are added to WoW, and most of them will likely be new zones all together. This is just a run of the mill expansion like every other expansion to an MMO <.<

[Ajezz]

i mean will they include those new characters and "new areas" withing the realms that people are playing right now??, or did you will have to start from scrath again in another realm to play the expansion?!?


I imagine that there will be a content patch for the main WoW client which basically contains all the art of the expansion released at the same time the expansion itself is. So that people without the expansion will be able to see all the new blood elves running around, but you'll need the expansion to make one yourself or visit any of the new areas

[Xerxes]

Where the fuck is Hero classes bitch. I'm not buying anymore of this bullshit without them. I don't know if I want to play because it's starting to feel too repetitive and clunky.

[Savok]

http://www.worldofwarcraft.com/burningcrusade/townhall/index.html

That's a forest behind that ?

[Dabombpizza]

Ogres man, OGRES! WHERE THE HELL IS THE OGRE CLASS!!! AHHH I HATE BLOOD ELVES!!!
Sorry, it's just really getting to me the more I think about it...

[Roc Ingersol]

There are scans from an expansion article floating around as well.

Those indicate the blood elf racials are energy vampirism (drain life from a target to gain energy/mana/rage) and a pbaoe interrupt/silence.

With those racials, blood elf rogues (and warriors to a lesser extent) are going to be the new black.

[Citizen Philip]

Where the fuck is Hero classes bitch. I'm not buying anymore of this bullshit without them. I don't know if I want to play because it's starting to feel too repetitive and clunky.

WIth that kind of attitude you don't deserve to be a hero: You must be a Night Elf Hunter that can solo AB. No, I will not group with you when you re-roll Blood Elf.

[Peacec]

http://www.worldofwarcraft.com/burningcrusade/townhall/index.html

That's a forest behind that ?

Good find Savok. I hadn't even noticed that.

EDIT: Messed with the brightness so it can be seen easier.

http://img495.imageshack.us/img495/4499/qmark3bm.jpg

[Fractal514]

Blood Elves are cheap, however, they will go a long way to balancing the horde/alliance player stats. I think that's what Horde members fear, not only will they see an influx of teenagers, they will lose the excuse they've used since the begining of the ranking system, they are severley out numbered and therefore can't face us directly.

[RainOfTerror]

if you want to check out the teaser trailer, we have it mirrored now (the blizzard thing was extremly slow for me)

http://www.worthplaying.com/article.php?sid=29478

[Citizen Philip]

Blood Elves are cheap, however, they will go a long way to balancing the horde/alliance player stats. I think that's what Horde members fear, not only will they see an influx of teenagers, they will lose the excuse they've used since the begining of the ranking system, they are severley out numbered and therefore can't face us directly.

Please remeber your gimped server does not reflect all the servers. We have to throw candy, gold and whisper sweet nothings to get our Alliance to play.

[jwbxx]

Better be Panderan for the Alliance...I heard a rumor but it is probably bs. That blizzard already had the pandas as being the other race for the alliance. But something to do with the Chinese government not wanting a video game where you kill pandas. So i think it was scrapped.

But adding pandas as a race? That's like adding a whole race of yodas in star wars galaxies. Everyone would quit their old jobs and just switch to pandas.

[Savok]

Good find Savok. I hadn't even noticed that.

EDIT: Messed with the brightness so it can be seen easier.

http://img495.imageshack.us/img495/4499/qmark3bm.jpg
Nice, it's very lush isn't it, doesn't look like what Draeni would live in to me but who knows. Too European for pandas I would think as well.

[Roc Ingersol]

Looks like generic Ellwyn forest. Pretty standard 'alliance' backdrop.
I don't know that you can read anything into that.

[Klade]

Having a pretty race for the horde is without a doubt the smartest thing blizzard could have done. Despite there being a few servers where things are more or less equal. The vast majority of servers have large alliance populations and small horde populations. It gets boring killing the same 20 people over and over again.

Looks like the early rumors of what content was going to be added are correct. Happy to see flying mounts, that should be kinda fun. By necessity they should be combat mounts I suppose.

[Dabombpizza]

I realize that creating a pretty race for the horde is essential in balancing out the servers, but it's not going to balance out that much. Do you really think that one pretty race is going to even out every server? I highly doubt it. All it really does is compromise the "style" that the horde had and invite lots of juveniles to create "Legolas" in Ogrimmar. I'd rather keep the disadvantage and have the mature (relatively) playing community.

[doyama]

I can't remember how EQ managed to segregate the new continents from people. How was that implemented? For the starting areas for new races it would be easy enought just to make them inaccessable except via griff points. But then if you could portal to them wouldnt that be a back door too?

[Citizen Philip]

Looks like the early rumors of what content was going to be added are correct. Happy to see flying mounts, that should be kinda fun. By necessity they should be combat mounts I suppose.

Or maybe not. I wouldn't be surprized if you could only dismount over land (duh), and can not fight while mounted at all. Flying mounts would storngly favour melee classes, as quite a few abilities require you to stop moving.. however the idea of aerial ambushes does bring a new level of entertainment ;)

[CrashCart]

A pretty race will balance things out somewhat? I guess, but at what cost? I don't want "Legolas in Orgrimmar" as Dabombpizza pointed out. And at the same time, what happens if they add pandaren as the Alliance race? Samurai bears? I think people will flock to that much more quickly than they will to a reskinned Night Elf. I know I would like to play one and I like to consider myself one of the mature Horde players.

[Dabombpizza]

Having a pretty race for the horde is without a doubt the smartest thing blizzard could have done. Despite there being a few servers where things are more or less equal. The vast majority of servers have large alliance populations and small horde populations. It gets boring killing the same 20 people over and over again.
Your logic here is totally inverse. From your comment it seems as though you wish to remain alliance while other people join horde so that you can "kill more".
Now if all alliance players are thinking along these lines, then nobody would actually switch over to the horde. So that means you're depending on the incoming new players to balance things out, but I doubt an expansion pack is going to pull in nearly as many players as needed to balance out all the servers, not to mention it's only ONE pretty race. They can't make Aragorn on the Horde side.

Any Horde player will tell you, being the underdog is fun.

[Librum]

I find it rather strange that they would bother to officially launch the site about the expansion without even including the new Alliance race. Maybe they're holding out to reveal 'the big secret' at the end of Blizzcon or something.

[DeadPixel]

So is there a general idea of the release time-frame? This christmas, next year, next summer? I know the FAQ says they have not announced, but I'm just looking for this year, next year type of answer.

[Heretic Machine]

I can't remember how EQ managed to segregate the new continents from people. How was that implemented?

EQ is made out of boxes. They added new boxes. To go to the new boxes you needed the expansion.

For the starting areas for new races it would be easy enought just to make them inaccessable except via griff points. But then if you could portal to them wouldnt that be a back door too?

Just trust me, as someone who has played MMO's for about eight years now, this isn't an issue.

[Heretic Machine]

So is there a general idea of the release time-frame? This christmas, next year, next summer? I know the FAQ says they have not announced, but I'm just looking for this year, next year type of answer

My best guess would be Spring.

[Dabombpizza]

When WoW launched it was apparent that the Alliance recieved much more polish than the Horde, even though I love the Horde. The cities areeasier to access, the missions arecloser together, and all in all it is a more enjoyable/easier experience (aside from all the 1337 little kids).

I was hoping that this expansion pack would be an attempt to rebalance things, as I see the server ratios are not a problem so much with pretty races, but overall city and land design (the run from Orc starting point to Razor to Org? that's freakin' rediculous). I'm extremly dissapointed to see that once again the horde has been left in the cold with a reskinned elf, and the Alliance gets, no matter which race it is, a new model that is going to be infinetly cooler than a freakin' Blood Elf.

It is possible that I'm judging too early though. We still haven't seen all that the expansion offers, but I would really like to see the Horde recieve a little TLC from Blizz.

[Heretic Machine]

It is possible that I'm judging too early though. We still haven't seen all that the expansion offers, but I would really like to see the Horde recieve a little TLC from Blizz.

...Ya, I mean it's not like the Horde gets the best class in the whole damn game.

[Roc Ingersol]

I'm extremly dissapointed to see that once again the horde has been left in the cold with a reskinned elf, and the Alliance gets, no matter which race it is, a new model that is going to be infinetly cooler than a freakin' Blood Elf.
Seeing as the most probable alliance race is the draenei, I don't know about that.

Those rubbery little homeless bastards are far from cool.

[Ajezz]

Personally I was hoping for some intermixing of existing stuff - I wanted to be able to play an undead Tauren... :(

[Wyrm]

Am I the only person who liked the blood elves in the campaign? I was hoping they'd be playable upon release.

[Dabombpizza]

Seeing as the most probable alliance race is the draenei, I don't know about that.

Those rubbery little homeless bastards are far from cool.
Either way, Alliance gets a new model. The horde didn't even get an altered night elf model. It looks just like the Night Elfs, only white with new shields. It radiates an extreme lack of effort.

[Peacec]

I don't know if it would fit in the lore or not but maybe Blizz will find a way to make the Draenei go back to what they used to look like before they were transformed/mutated into what they are now and that'll be the new race.

*shrugs*

http://www.wowwiki.com/Draenei

[Heretic Machine]

Gonna try to amend my news post to include a link to the movie from filefront, since the Blizzard downloader is so damn worthless: http://files.filefront.com/WoW+The+Burning+Crusade+++BlizzCon+Movie/;4295713;;/fileinfo.html

[Chimpbot]

...Ya, I mean it's not like the Horde gets the best class in the whole damn game.

Don't go there.
It's an argument I've encountered far too much...it's old and tired, Perigon. Shaman's aren't the best class in the game; their power spikes faster than the others, that's all. Things start evening out at arond 35-45, where the other classes really begin to come into their own and can actually surpass the "overpowered" Shaman.


As for the "reskinned" Night Elf issue...
It looks like they actually redid the model, somewhat. The male Blood Elf's facial structure looks to be quire different from the NE's. Their build is smaller, too.
It's looking like, at the very least, a modified model. It's not much, but it's more than just a reskin.

[midrael]

Looks pretty much like the same model they use for the current blood elves in the game over in the Blasted Lands.

Now, if that trailer is to be believed.. then it would seem to imply that you can participate in the final battle of Warcraft III against Archimonde as a battleground or something. If that's the case, I'm so sold. Of course.. that's if the trailer is to believed since that hasn't been specifically announced on the site.

[Dabombpizza]

As for the "reskinned" Night Elf issue...
It looks like they actually redid the model, somewhat. The male Blood Elf's facial structure looks to be quire different from the NE's. Their build is smaller, too.
It's looking like, at the very least, a modified model. It's not much, but it's more than just a reskin.
I still feel let down as a horde player. I don't want an elf in the horde. I suppose I will only be satisfied if the Alliance gets a race crappier than the Blood Elves :D

Hopefully the other aspects of the expansion will be better. Flying mount sounds cool, but expensive as hell I'm sure. However, I'm always intrested in new land. maybe my char could get a new hairstyle? I would like that.

[Heretic Machine]

Wow... I didn't realize that we will be able to go back in time to pre-Warcraft III stuff. That's going to be fucking awesome! Just saw it in the trailer.

[GrinR]

"rediculous" is the new "loose"

Had to be said.

[Dabombpizza]

"rediculous" is the new "loose"

Had to be said.
Your grammar fascism is "ridiculous". Some of us just prefer phonetic spellings!

[sickfallout]

oh noes, teh reactivated account!

seriously though, an MMORPG that's as polished as WoW will be able to pull me back in anytime.

[Dabombpizza]

oh noes, teh reactivated account!

seriously though, an MMORPG that's as polished as WoW will be able to pull me back in anytime.
as much as I bitch, I agree. I have already unsubscribed and resubscribed (specifically for halloween). Nice bonus: They never delete your character after you unsubscribe. How delightful.

[Crabby]

Grr, forum seems to have really screwed up the quote I posted from. My comments reference someone on page 2 commenting on the possible BE racials.


Basically, if those racials actually make it into the game it will mean the ultimate and absolute destruction of the last remnants of the paladin.

Thus fulfilling a dark destiny spun into being by Blizzard executives years ago in a cave...a damp cave...

[pablious]

Nice bonus: They never delete your character after you unsubscribe. How delightful.

Yeah, I just found that out and was quite relieved because I'm not going to be able to renew my account for a couple months for lack of cash. Thats alright though, havnt had much time to play lately because of school and all.

As far as the exp goes, not really any surprises there, all of this had been leaked or speculated already. I guess I dont mind the blood elves being a part of the horde, its not anymore ridiculous than the forsaken. As a big time undead fan since wc3, I was quite disappointed that they were part of the horde, but theres just not really any other way they could have done it in WoW. It could help balance out the ratio, depending on the new ally race, but yes, the horde will have an influx of immature, sucky players and thats not very cool. Outland sounds pretty cool though, and the caverns of time sound freakin sweet.

[Voodoo]

I'm having a very hard time taking the Draeni as the new Alliance race. In the Wiki link they are stated as being current allies of the Naga and Blood Elves.

Looking at the symbol they provided next to the ? mark, it looks like something with horns or antlers on the head.

http://diablo.sytes.net/ccannon/newalliance.jpg

[GrinR]

Your grammar fascism is "ridiculous". Some of us just prefer phonetic spellings!

LOL speling!

Hey, I never begrudge stupids their prerogative to be such. What's remarkable is the pride some have in it.

[Heretic Machine]

Yeah, I just found that out and was quite relieved because I'm not going to be able to renew my account for a couple months for lack of cash. Thats alright though, havnt had much time to play lately because of school and all.


I know a lot of MMO's say they delete your characters after six months of innactivity, but it's bullshit. No MMO has ever deleted my characters, and sometimes I go years without resubscribing. It's just something they say in case they do, for some dumbass reason, decide to delete characters. There really is no reason to, since they take up so little space.

[Alexious]

Any Horde player will tell you, being the underdog is fun.
Um... you're kidding, right?

Have you EVER been in a battleground? The Horde always wins. :(

[11thfinger]

Either way, Alliance gets a new model. The horde didn't even get an altered night elf model. It looks just like the Night Elfs, only white with new shields. It radiates an extreme lack of effort.

Yeah, because the art is all that's involved in creating a new race...

[Roc Ingersol]

Looking at the symbol they provided next to the ? mark, it looks like something with horns or antlers on the head.
hm... looks kinda like a chinese dragon.

EDIT:
Though the wiki says they're allied with the Blood Elves, I've never heard that bit before. But even the wiki points out they absolutely hate orcs. So if they did side up, only Alliance is plausible. It's not as if the Tauren and Night Elves were particularly at odds prior to WoW's forcing them to pick sides, but they wound up on opposite sides of the fence.

And what other race could they pull out for the Alliance?
Sons of Cenarion? Furbolgs? Pandaren would not only be retarded, it would also counter the effect of giving blood elves to the Horde in the first place.

[Alexious]

I'm having a very hard time taking the Draeni as the new Alliance race. In the Wiki link they are stated as being current allies of the Naga and Blood Elves.
The lore surrounding this is reported to be that Illidan will order them to join the Alliance as part of his plan for returning to Azeroth. And that is supposedly also the real reason the Blood Elves are joining the Horde... at Illidan's behest. Sort of the "keep your friends close and your enemies closer" logic.

<EDIT>
"A few Draenei were led through the portal by a few unknown leaders with the hopes of finding a new life, and have settled in the Swamp of Sorrows. Unfortunately, most of them were driven mad due to homesickness, and attack all on sight. There are a few, led by Magtoor, that remember their noble roots and survive on in the swamp seperate of their mad brothers. The mad Draenei are called "The Lost Ones" in memory of their old homeworld." -WOWWiki

So, if the Alliance race is the Draenei, one could assume that this Magtoor would be their racial leader. And that you would start out in the Swamp of Sorrows? Interesting. The newbie quests would probably involve hunting down "The Lost Ones." Could be fun.

[Kefkataran]

Wow... I didn't realize that we will be able to go back in time to pre-Warcraft III stuff. That's going to be fucking awesome! Just saw it in the trailer.

This is definitely the biggest draw for me. The potential for cool shit from Warcraft history and pure storytelling is just startling. I'm very excited to see what they do with this. I just hope they make a lot of it playable for solo or small groups.

[Stormwatcher]

All this illidan stuff is fan fic at best.
and bullshit at worst.

Well, some of you guys bitch SO much. Whatever races and classes and new caps Blizzard made, you people would bitch, bitch, bitch. If you hate Blizzard and WoW so much, go play Everquest, or FFXI, or Meridian 59. Of course you can disagree with stuff, but some people act like this is all a matter of life and death. Sheesh.

I think Blood Elves are great, by the way.

[Heretic Machine]

Pandaren would not only be retarded, it would also counter the effect of giving blood elves to the Horde in the first place.

...How? Beastial race for the Alliance, pretty race for the Horde. And what is "retarded" about it, the fact that you don't like pandarens, or do you have something more substantial to back that up with?

Don't even fucking bring up backstory, Blizzard will do whatever they want, backstory has absolutely no bareing on the decision.

[Dabombpizza]

Yeah, because the art is all that's involved in creating a new race...
Gee, I wouldn't want them to put some effort into an expansion pack...
Have you EVER been in a battleground? The Horde always wins.
Right, and we're absurdly outnumbered. That's why we enjoy being underdogs :D

[Dabombpizza]

...How? Beastial race for the Alliance, pretty race for the Horde. And what is "retarded" about it, the fact that you don't like pandarens, or do you have something more substantial to back that up with?

Simply because everyone would want to be a Panda with a sword, thus negating the "pretty" race of the blood elves. Hell, I would quit horde and play Alliance just to be a freakin' panda that beat people up. And while it may be bestial, it's still cute.

[Heretic Machine]

So? PANDAS PWN YOUR ASS! We don't need any other races, they could take them all out and have it be World of Pandas, and it would be even better.

I think I just came up with an MMO concept! I'm entering it in the friggin Sony contest!

[Dabombpizza]

All this illidan stuff is fan fic at best.
and bullshit at worst.

Well, some of you guys bitch SO much. Whatever races and classes and new caps Blizzard made, you people would bitch, bitch, bitch. If you hate Blizzard and WoW so much, go play Everquest, or FFXI, or Meridian 59. Of course you can disagree with stuff, but some people act like this is all a matter of life and death. Sheesh.

I think Blood Elves are great, by the way.

Try reading some arguments before shoving your foot so squarely in your mouth. I don't think anyone on this board has "bitched bitched bitched" or acted like "this is all a matter of life and death."

EDIT: Except me, I bitched alot. But now I've reached inner peace. I still don't like blood elves.

[Dabombpizza]

So? PANDAS PWN YOUR ASS! We don't need any other races, they could take them all out and have it be World of Pandas, and it would be even better.

I think I just came up with an MMO concept! I'm entering it in the friggin Sony contest!

LOL, that's precisely the point! Pandas pwn too hard for WoW. If blood elves are meant as a balancing mechanic then pandas would offset it.

[Sykus]

Your grammar fascism is "ridiculous". Some of us just prefer phonetic spellings!

Please tell me that was sarcasm. Otherwise, it was the stupidest excuse for ignorance I have ever seen in my life. "Rediculous" is not even phonetically correct.

[XenonCJ]

Here's some balance logic for you:

Blood Elves = Paladins for Horde
Dranei = Shamens for Alliance

[Dabombpizza]

Please tell me that was sarcasm. Otherwise, it was the stupidest excuse for ignorance I have ever seen in my life. "Rediculous" is not even phoenetically correct.
no, I troolee feel that all werds shood be spelld fonetiklee. wat is this sarkazm?

[Sykus]

I'm apparently the only one who feels this way, but I was really hoping for a new class or two. That was the main draw in the Diablo expansion for me. New areas are great, new races are fine, but the real exploration in the game, for me, involves discovering the new skills that come with a character class and trying out the various permutations of them.

I would have loved to have seen a monk class, for example, with a Unarmed Combat talent tree.

I'm hoping the whole Hero class thing will kind of sate me in that regard... though, does anyone else find it odd that they didn't even *mention* Hero classes?

[DeadPixel]

Here's some balance logic for you:

Blood Elves = Paladins for Horde
Dranei = Shamens for Alliance

LOL

It sure feels this way, good post.

[Heretic Machine]

though, does anyone else find it odd that they didn't even *mention* Hero classes?

Not really, since that's not a feature of the expansion... o.o

[Mason]

Damn, I was wrong about the fundamental nuttiness about raising the level cap.

Mason--;

Still think it is a dumb idea though. Unless the expansion provides enough content to make up for the stuff they're invalidating. I mean, simply giving priests 10 more talent points will make current instances ridiculously easy, to say nothing of the new spells, levels, and equipment.

Why wouldn't they have the alliance race to announce? Either they haven't decided or haven't worked up any media, I suppose. Still, seems weird. Perhaps the accurate leak forced their hand.

[CrashCart]

Still think it is a dumb idea though. Unless the expansion provides enough content to make up for the stuff they're invalidating. I mean, simply giving priests 10 more talent points will make current instances ridiculously easy, to say nothing of the new spells, levels, and equipment.

Well, it helps that they will be using an alternate advancement type system, giving each class a new tree to put those last 10 points in. Giving everyone 61 points into their standard trees would be a terrible idea. The trees are balanced pretty well, not allowing people to get certain talent combinations. For instance, just one extra talent point granted (by accident) to warriors after the recent patch gave them the ability to have both Deathwish and Mortal Strike, a combo they certainly made impossible for a reason (Deathwish requiring 21 points in Fury, and Mortal Strike 31 in Arms).

Taken from the FAQ on the expansion site:

Q: Will the level cap be raised?
A: Yes, the level cap will be raised to 70 from the current maximum level of 60. In addition to the level increase, every class will gain access to additional talents and abilities or spells as they level up from level 60 to level 70.

Granted, there are other things to consider like whether weapon and defense skills will be raised to a 350 max, among others. However, whatever the decision, it can decrease the difficulty of current end-game instances but there will be new end-game content created for xpack users. Though it's not as extreme as another 10 levels, perhaps, doesn't adding even better epic items from BWL make MC easier?

[Oblivion]

10 more talents?

Presence of Mind+Combustion+Pyroblast= one shot wonder.

How are you going to balance that?

[CrashCart]

10 more talents?

Presence of Mind+Combustion+Pyroblast= one shot wonder.

How are you going to balance that?
See my above post. Blizzard isn't that dumb.

[Kefkataran]

All this illidan stuff is fan fic at best.
and bullshit at worst.

Well, some of you guys bitch SO much.

Uh... irony?

So? PANDAS PWN YOUR ASS! We don't need any other races, they could take them all out and have it be World of Pandas, and it would be even better.

Whoa. You just blew my mind.

I think I just came up with an MMO concept! I'm entering it in the friggin Sony contest!

I didn't know Sony had a contest and I don't really know what this contest is about, but if you don't win, I'll boycott them.


no, I troolee feel that all werds shood be spelld fonetiklee. wat is this sarkazm?

dude, you suck at spelling stuff fonetiklee.

I'm apparently the only one who feels this way, but I was really hoping for a new class or two

I wouldn't be surprised if they still announce a new class. I'd also be pleased.

I mean, simply giving priests 10 more talent points will make current instances ridiculously easy, to say nothing of the new spells, levels, and equipment.

I think the implication was that there will be specific level 60+ talents you'll be able to get, not that you'll just get another 10 talent points for the same trees you've been using. At least, that's what I thought when I read it. Here's hoping.

[T-Dub]

Well, I certainly feel like the odd man out here. I'm a mature horde player (27 years old) but I'm looking forward to the Blood Elves. I'll admit that I'm a little disappointed in what is basically a red night elf but I figured ogres where too much to hope for on the first expansion pack. At some point we will probably have an ogre & treant (sp? giant trees) expansion but not the first round.

I do like elves though, and will roll a BE toon as soon as the expansion is out. I also agree that it will help balance out the numbers which in turn will help with the stupid long wait time for BG's >_<

Edit: plz plz plz make BG's cross server!!!!!!

[Mason]

Well, it helps that they will be using an alternate advancement type system, giving each class a new tree to put those last 10 points in. Giving everyone 61 points into their standard trees would be a terrible idea. The trees are balanced pretty well, not allowing people to get certain talent combinations. For instance, just one extra talent point granted (by accident) to warriors after the recent patch gave them the ability to have both Deathwish and Mortal Strike, a combo they certainly made impossible for a reason (Deathwish requiring 21 points in Fury, and Mortal Strike 31 in Arms).

I agree with your reasoning, but simply because we're given access to new talents doesn't necessarily preclude the points going into the old talents. I'd agree that that would be the most sensible solution though.

If they give you 10 more levels of grinding without actually increasing your weapon/spell skills I could understand fans being a little unenthused. Depends on how worthwhile the new talents and abilities are, I suppose.

[Kefkataran]

Well, I certainly feel like the odd man out here. I'm a mature horde player (27 years old) but I'm looking forward to the Blood Elves. I'll admit that I'm a little disappointed in what is basically a red night elf but I figured ogres where too much to hope for on the first expansion pack. At some point we will probably have an ogre & treant (sp? giant trees) expansion but not the first round.

I'm with you, personally. I'm cool with Blood Elves. Ground-breaking? No. Sensible, though, no doubt.

Edit: plz plz plz make BG's cross server!!!!!!

Last I heard they were looking into how to do this as a pretty likely thing, right?

[Heretic Machine]

I didn't know Sony had a contest and I don't really know what this contest is about, but if you don't win, I'll boycott them.

Sony is running a contest where you make a proposal for your own game. If you win, you get your own dev team and a budget to make the game.

[Stormwatcher]

Try reading some arguments before shoving your foot so squarely in your mouth. I don't think anyone on this board has "bitched bitched bitched" or acted like "this is all a matter of life and death."

EDIT: Except me, I bitched alot. But now I've reached inner peace. I still don't like blood elves.

That didn't even make any sense. I read all the posts, and there were lots of OMG b100d e7f is teH suxx posts (albeit with better use of english). Even if some of us dislike the BEs, is it sucha big deal?

[Oblivion]

hmm, making new talents that require lvl60+ would instantly solve the problem. after lvl 60, you can spend talent points only on them.

btw, from IGN preview, in the 1.9 patch there are now linked auction houses in every capitol. and check this out But that's not all, kids. We also got a peek at the 1.9 patch, which will introduce no fewer than two raid dungeons in Silithus, one for about 20 people and another for 40. This patch will trigger a dynamic world event, where everyone can contribute resources to the war effort that will unlock Ahn'Qiraj, which has been closed for thousands of years. And from what I saw, it's definitely worth the effort, if only to gape at the scenery. I was already impressed with WoW's existing art direction, but this is truly some sweet stuff. The team has done some great things with scaling. You'll fight against some gigantic monsters in gigantic areas full of gigantic objects. Apparently, the mandate was "Make it bigger," and make it bigger they did. You'll get to see some all-new character models as well, including the towering Anubisath Guardian and the Qiraji Gladiator, both 60+ elites. Both of the new dungeons look like they'll take quite a while to go through -- I saw quite a few clusters and patrols of mixed mobs that won't be taken down easily.

[51|RandoM]

Do people who don't like 3 hour raids keep playing wow more than a month after they hit 60th?

Call me crazy, but I've been thinking about going back to daoc(classic servers in new expansion=no more ToA PvE grind bullshit and hopefully better PvP/RvR balance) or FF:XI(I miss my 55-60 taru sam/war). I stuck with WoW till they added battlegrounds, realized I was never really going to like their PvP system, and just haven't found a compelling reason to go back.

Great PvE game, though, as you level up a character, worth taking that trip at least once as alliance and once as horde.

[Kefkataran]

Sony is running a contest where you make a proposal for your own game. If you win, you get your own dev team and a budget to make the game.

I'll pay for it if Sony won't.

I read all the posts, and there were lots of OMG b100d e7f is teH suxx posts (albeit with better use of english). Even if some of us dislike the BEs, is it sucha big deal?

Uh, but they're just giving their opinion. That Blood Elves suck. You said it's okay to give opinions, you just think it's annoying when they act like it's the end of the world. No one really has. Just a lot of people think Blood Elves suck. Personally, I'm cool with them. Whatevs.

[Dabombpizza]

That didn't even make any sense. I read all the posts, and there were lots of OMG b100d e7f is teH suxx posts (albeit with better use of english). Even if some of us dislike the BEs, is it sucha big deal?

I actually read my own post and realized it didn't make sense, I was caught up in the moment (now I know what a troll feels like). I do think for the hardcore Horde BE change the image of the Horde. And I still don't like them. But of course, I haven't played them nor do I know their racial abilities.

[Murmillo]

must.not.get.sucked.in.to.a.$15.month.MMO. must.hooooold.out.until.Oblivion!!!

God.. I feel so week.. Wow is so pretty.. and a sexy elf class for the horde.... ggtnnnrrrffff

[Savok]

Simply because everyone would want to be a Panda with a sword, thus negating the "pretty" race of the blood elves. Hell, I would quit horde and play Alliance just to be a freakin' panda that beat people up. And while it may be bestial, it's still cute.
Bullshit, my panda is gonna use polearms. Always liked that aspect of Chinese combat stuff, more then the swords at any rate.

Cross server BGs is a bad idea, not only is there a name problem but you lose the sense of world. Just how are the Knights of Arcadia gonna get at Panda Attack with cross server stuff? I want to find Kurtz and stick my dagger in him dammit.

[Suicidal ShiZuru]

I find it rather strange that they would bother to officially launch the site about the expansion without even including the new Alliance race. Maybe they're holding out to reveal 'the big secret' at the end of Blizzcon or something.


I hope so.

One main thing I want is a major graphical update. Either patched in or in the expansion, hopefully as an option for those who have performance problems currently.

[Sykus]

Not really, since that's not a feature of the expansion... o.o

Where are you getting your info, Perigon? Everything I'd been hearing was that they were coming as part of the Expansion.

Are they supposed to be included in a regular patch?

[Heretic Machine]

Where are you getting your info, Perigon? Everything I'd been hearing was that they were coming as part of the Expansion.

Dude, those are RUMORS, and mostly wishful thinking. If they do ever put in Hero Classes, it's a long, long way off.

[Citizen Philip]

Damn, I was wrong about the fundamental nuttiness about raising the level cap.

Mason--;

Still think it is a dumb idea though. Unless the expansion provides enough content to make up for the stuff they're invalidating. I mean, simply giving priests 10 more talent points will make current instances ridiculously easy, to say nothing of the new spells, levels, and equipment.

Why wouldn't they have the alliance race to announce? Either they haven't decided or haven't worked up any media, I suppose. Still, seems weird. Perhaps the accurate leak forced their hand.

I imagine the 10 talent points will go into your Hero tree, thus you can either be a really good Shaman, or you can be the Shaman that has Bloodlust and a new hero totem, either way - no one will like you if you are giving up a sweet buff.

[Kefkataran]

Cross server BGs is a bad idea, not only is there a name problem but you lose the sense of world. Just how are the Knights of Arcadia gonna get at Panda Attack with cross server stuff? I want to find Kurtz and stick my dagger in him dammit.

Yeah, but then BGs would be, you know, happening more often.

Everything I'd been hearing was that they were coming as part of the Expansion.

Are they supposed to be included in a regular patch?

Originally, hero classes were on the Update page in the "We'll put this in eventually we promise" section, which implied they'd be patched in. Recently they disappeared from that, which led to lots of rumors that they'll be in this expansion. Nothing solid announced either way, so I wouldn't venture to guess at this point.

If they do ever put in Hero Classes, it's a long, long way off.

I don't see why they wouldn't. In fact, now that I think about it a little more, I do VERY distinctly recall hearing that we were supposed to get the first solid info at Blizcon about hero classes. This was posted by CR on the WoW forums. Hmm.

[holycrapper]

Someone said that pandarens should be the new alliance race, but the mythos says no. You pretty people get to look froward to dranai, hahahahahah!!! Because Dranai hate the orcs and because Pandarens love them, that and the pandarens hate the Night elves, I really wanted the Panda's on the old horde side. I know that would attract alot of people to the horde, especially if the pandarens had a brewmaster class, i would be sold, but then again, I'm horde anyway...

[Savok]

BGs are basically honor farms anyway. I've been around a few games where no one actually does anything except farm honor off each other, game itself be damned. The genius of honor of course is that you have to keep farming it, keeps them coming back.

[BigJonno]

What's with all this "blood elves are just reskinned night elves" crap? For starters the blood elves are descended from a night elf offshoot, so they're going to look similar. They're not as heavily built, they have finer, more refined faces and their ears point straight up as opposed to being swept back. The males don't appear to have facial hair, either. So far they're looking exactly how blood elves are supposed to look. Hopefully when we see them next to night elves they'll be a little shorter too.

That's why Warcraft is the only setting where I particularly like elves. They had the typical blonde, magic-using prettyboy high elves that I generally despise. Then the night elves come along, all muscular, hairy and a bit more savage than we're used to. Pretty much the coolest elf race I've ever come across, barring grunge elves from Hackmaster. Plus the high elves have all gone totally batshit. Fantastic.

Still hoping for pandaren...

[Heretic Machine]

Someone said that pandarens should be the new alliance race, but the mythos says no. You pretty people get to look froward to dranai, hahahahahah!!! Because Dranai hate the orcs and because Pandarens love them, that and the pandarens hate the Night elves, I really wanted the Panda's on the old horde side. I know that would attract alot of people to the horde, especially if the pandarens had a brewmaster class, i would be sold, but then again, I'm horde anyway...

My mythos says that you need to mature a lot more before I'll bother reading more than one or two sentences from you.

[Savok]

I've been thinking, if the Blood Elves are bolstering Horde presence on Azeroth, wouldn't that mean to counter balance it the new Alliance race needs to be on Kalimdor? To my knowledge, the Draeni haven't left Azeroth.

Now here's an awesome I use for maps

http://www.worldofwar.net/cartography/

As you can see on the Azeroth map, the Blood Elves have plenty of room up around their home area for a zone, though how you get out of it I'm unsure, zeppelin to Durotar I'd guess. Pandarens apparntly come from around Stonetalon, and as we can see there's room to put a something in there (once you knock down the mountains blocking people from getting in anyway).

However there is also room for a zone just north of the Swamp of Sorrows, where the Draeni of Azeroth currently reside, there's loads of room up there for something, but then you're making Azeroth a bit crowded with six races to Kalimdor's four.

Basically, I've not a god damn idea what the new race is :p

[BigJonno]

The continent balance thing had occurred to me too. If they are keeping an equal number of races on each side, then it would make pandaren more likely than draenai as Pandaria could be plonked down anywhere and is most probably off the west coast of Kalimdor.

[Xerxes]

I would of rather a Burning Scourge factions with four new races.

[Kefkataran]

I would of rather a Burning Scourge factions with four new races.

A whole new *faction*? That would require a lot more work and balancing and totally redesigning Battlegrounds. I wouldn't be surprised to see something like this eventually in a later expansion, but it seems early.

[Savok]

You won't need to touch BGs, I can never understand that logic. The BGs are Horde vs Alliance, what you'll see happen is the addition of Horde vs Scrourge and Alliance vs Scourge BGs. Or hell, Alliance AND Horde vs Scourge.

[Kefkataran]

You won't need to touch BGs, I can never understand that logic. The BGs are Horde vs Alliance, what you'll see happen is the addition of Horde vs Scrourge and Alliance vs Scourge BGs. Or hell, Alliance AND Horde vs Scourge.

And that would require reworking of the system at least insofar as third entrances to all the BGs for the new facts and reworked maps that have starting areas for the new factions (or allow the starting areas to look differently depending on who is playing who. And having Alliance and Horde together v. Scourge would require some obvious tweaking of how the group system works.

[Savok]

Argh, no, Scourge would never go to WSG is what I'm saying, why would they? You'd have Northrend BGs for the Scourge. And teaming Alliance with Horde code would have to be in place anyway for the Arthas raid. Though honestly I never see the Scourge being playable, what's the point? Alliance and Horde have a sense of civilization, towns, quests, all that, Scourge are mostly mindless and simply out to destroy.

[Xerxes]

They Scourage aren't so big and bad and what not... Atleast in the realm of Azeroth. I figure you could work them into a weaker amount. Any more model for the races we do have? And where the fuck is Arthas.

[Kefkataran]

hough honestly I never see the Scourge being playable, what's the point? Alliance and Horde have a sense of civilization, towns, quests, all that, Scourge are mostly mindless and simply out to destroy.

Possibly a good point, although I still wouldn't be surprised to see them added at some point.

And where the fuck is Arthas.

Northrend. Although, according to Illidan's fears, possibly hunting him in the Outlands.

[Xerxes]

Were the fuck is Illidan? Why would Illidan be affraid of Arthas, doesn't Illidan have the biggest following of all?

Forgive me I didn't get to finish my WC3?

[Oblivion]

Arhtas is currently freezing his ass off in Northrend, posing.

[Crabby]

Were the fuck is Illidan? Why would Illidan be affraid of Arthas, doesn't Illidan have the biggest following of all?

Forgive me I didn't get to finish my WC3?


The Black Temple; waiting for elite raid guilds to take him down in the expansion.

[Kefkataran]

Were the fuck is Illidan? Why would Illidan be affraid of Arthas, doesn't Illidan have the biggest following of all?

He's in the Outlands. According to the lore released for the expansion so far, he ran away there after Arthas defeated him and has been building up forces for fear that his enemies (Especially Arthas) are after him.

[Chiron]

Just what WoW needs, another fruity Elf race.

Dude, those are RUMORS, and mostly wishful thinking. If they do ever put in Hero Classes, it's a long, long way off.

There was an official post in the General WoW forums by Caydiem confirming that Hero classes are still in the conceptual stage.

[Chiron]

This just in: for all the Pandaren lovers out there, links (http://forums.worldofwarcraft.com/thread.aspx?FN=wow-general&T=5509616) to concept art for the Pandaren race!

[Sykus]

Dude, those are RUMORS, and mostly wishful thinking. If they do ever put in Hero Classes, it's a long, long way off.

So in other words, you don't have a source? You're just guessing?

Not saying anyone else isn't, just want to be clear.

[Savok]

Just what WoW needs, another fruity Elf race.
In typical Blizzard fashion, no. Blood Elves aren't noble, they aren't the all knowing ancient race of pretty boys they once were (and always are in fantasy), they're junkies in desperate need of their next fix, and they'll do anything to get it.

[Xerxes]

Savok that's a perfect desciption... Give me the smack Horde, I need to get high of majic dammit.

[Kefkataran]

they're junkies in desperate need of their next fix, and they'll do anything to get it.

They're WoW-players?

[Savok]

Exactly why they'll be so popular :p

[jwbxx]

The problem with hero class is that it loses its touch when everyone has hero class. The problem with mmos is that everyone wants to be a hero, no one wants to be average joey joey joe shabadu.

[Kefkataran]

The problem with mmos is that everyone wants to be a hero, no one wants to be average joey joey joe shabadu.

Actually, I think if you were playing a videogame and wanted to be an average Joe, there would be a fundamental problem.

[Wyrm]

Again, I'm all for the Blood Elves. I just hope the Alliance race is cool as well. I've always been interested in playing as a blood elf though, ever since the campaign from the original game. I LOVE the downfall of the High Elves and the fact that they take up a new name. Very cool back story.

I actually wouldnt be surprised if Blizz made a completely new race for Alliance. One we havent even seen in the lore. They can explain it by saying they came from the Outlands or something along those lines.

[Savok]

Actually, I think if you were playing a videogame and wanted to be an average Joe, there would be a fundamental problem.
Don't talk about my dream games that way. Sometimes it's just fun to travel around a country side looking for work in games like Morrowind.

[Kefkataran]

Don't talk about my dream games that way. Sometimes it's just fun to travel around a country side looking for work in games like Morrowind.

Hey, I totally agree with that, I just think games tend to be less interesting if that's all there is to it. Of course this isn't *always* the case, and I'm very interested in seeing new ways of innovating gameplay.

[T-Dub]

Cross server BGs is a bad idea, not only is there a name problem but you lose the sense of world. Just how are the Knights of Arcadia gonna get at Panda Attack with cross server stuff? I want to find Kurtz and stick my dagger in him dammit.

There are only 20 people to a game, making sure two people with the same char/guild name don't join won't be hard. Besides I'm sure they would put a heavy server bias on it. So if your server has 40 people that wan't to play it becomes and server only match. This would help with both of your issues and let those of us who spend hours in a queue to play when we want to.

[Crabby]

Although if they *somehow* devised some genius code that allowed for custom game matching *when a completely full raid* joins the queue together...that would be unsurpassed, even by Guild Wars' relatively painless guild matching.

[Savok]

Now there's an idea... but still, how does Knights of Arcadia get to go up against Panda Attack without it being pure luck?

[Crabby]

Labels of some type, whether it be of the raid leader, or the game in some way.