World of Warcraft: Burning Crusade Confirmed

The official site for the first World of Warcraft expansion: The Burning Crusade has been launched as BlizzCon kicks off. There you'll find screens, movies, and information about the upcoming expansion to one of the most popular MMOGs on the market. The site confirms several of the rumours currently on the internet about the game, including the fact that the Horde will be gaining the Blood Elves as a playable race. The new Alliance race is still up in the air. From the FAQ: "Q: What does the title of the World of Warcraft expansion refer to? A: "The Burning Crusade" refers to the Burning Legion's ongoing efforts to destroy life on Azeroth. To date, the Burning Legion's exploits have been documented in Warcraft III and in our War of the Ancients novel trilogy. As part of World of Warcraft: The Burning Crusade, players will now be able to travel through the Dark Portal to confront the Legion on otherworldly battlefields." ScuttleMonkey is on the ground at Blizzcon, and should have some firsthand info for us this weekend about the happenings in California. Update: 10/28 20:44 GMT by Z : IGN has a rundown on the features and screens. Good stuff.

Comments

Let the B*tching Begin

[dividedsky319]

People are already complaining.

Mostly about the level cap being raised to 70.

Personally, I'm excited about that... I wasn't a fan of the endgame, and leveling was my source of fun. Once I reached the cap, I didn't care about getting uber gear or anything like that. Sure, I'll reach 70 eventually as well, but 10 more levels of content is exciting to me...

People will complain about anything, won't they? (Especially when it comes to MMORPG gamers)

Re:Let the B*tching Begin

[dividedsky319]

I won't complain about being able to gain another 10 levels either.

It seems like the majority of people on the forums are complaining because they've "worked so hard" to get epic items for their level 60 character, and that a green lvl 70 item will be better than their epic item.

But, I mean, come on... gaming is about fun, not about accomplishment. This "I'm l33ter than you becuase I have a purple weapon" has gotten out of control. (Besides, the epic items out now have an "item level" that's >60 anyway... so don't wet yourself, your epic item is still "better")

To the complainer, I say this... you worked so hard to get your items... What, did you think you had to do that once, then you were the coolest person in the game... forever? The game is going to expand, to change, and you're going to have to continue to play... isn't that a good thing?

Really, the source of the complaining is that it kicks their "l33tness" down a notch. Suddenly someone is level 61 and they're only 60, oh noes! The world is over!

A word of advice: Stop taking it so seriously and just have fun

Re:Let the B*tching Begin

[Thorkytel Ant-Head]

Okay, so you get your fun from challenging instances, PvP, and quests. So how does raising the level cap change this at all? Just keeping doing those instances, quests, and PvPing. I assume you've been ignoring the XP bar since level 60; just keep ignoring it. Why does the availability of more experience mean that you have to start grinding? Just have fun. As for the skill trees, it is mentioned that there will be new skills available for those above level 60. I am assuming that the new skills will be over and above the current skill trees, not just an extension to the current ones. Have a little faith in Blizzard.

Re:Let the B*tching Begin

[dividedsky319]

Leveling is something you do to get to the fun, it should be as short as possible (non-existant is preferable).

See, different strokes for different folks. Once I hit the level cap of 60, I didn't really care about playing anymore. What's the point of doing instances, PvP, quests, etc? To have a small percentage chance that you could get a new weapon? That's BORING to me. Leveling gave me a sense of progression. I hit 60, I got bored, I quit. (This was back in March that I quit... played from November to March. However, I joined again last week and started a new character)

Its also going to totally FUBAR the skill trees. 10 more talent points.

I highly doubt they'll just give out 10 more talent points and leave the trees as they are now. Blizzard isn't that stupid, they know how much this would imbalance things. They'll either add more talents, or give no talent points >60.

Re:Let the B*tching Begin

[Thorkytel Ant-Head]

No, you don't have to get them. It's a game. Have fun. Plenty of people enjoy the game even before level 60. Maybe getting "totally owned at PvP" shouldn't be your only concern in the game. Your main concern should be having fun.

But it seems to me that you're so concerned about the game, that you're not enjoying it anymore. Sounds like a self-repairing problem, if you ask me: Either quit playing the game out of frustration, or get over the "need" to level up without enjoying it.

Re:Let the B*tching Begin

[Thorkytel Ant-Head]

And if you're not going to enjoy the process of playing the game, then the entire game is a waste of time. If you didn't have fun until you got to level 60, then I honestly don't know how you got that far. You must have a masochistic streak to spend hundreds of hours not having fun, just so you can get to level 60 and start enjoying the game.

And saying, "I now have to get 10 more levels to do anything" is a complete strawman. How does raising the level cap affect one bit the things you can do now? You will have the exact same access to the exact same instances, quests, and PvP that you have now. The only difference is, you'll have this little XP bar that slowly progresses as you're playing. And eventually, when you level up, you will gain access to new skills and abilities that will make you more powerful, and give you more access to more content. So you're getting more content; you're not getting anything taken away.

And for someone who thinks that WoW is a "casual friendly low grind,"you certainly seem to be obsessed with the need to grind! Maybe you should take your own advice.

Re:Let the B*tching Begin

[Thorkytel Ant-Head]

Great, so you enjoy the PvP. So do I. You may find this hard to believe, but I actually have fun in PvP, even when I'm >gasp
And again, I am puzzled by your repeated claims that this is a casual, low-grind game. It is a casual, low-grind game. It's low-grind because you can do quests and play the game and still make progress in levels and abilities, not because you can hurry up and get to level 60 and then forget about experience altogether. That's not low-grind; that's front-loaded grind. That's you saying, "I hate grinding, and I hate games that force you to grind. Therefore, I am going to grind as much as I can, so I can level up quickly and get to a point where I don't have to worry about grinding anymore." It seems like your logic is hopelessly flawed in that respect.

And your attitude about bait-and-switch tactics is priceless. "Hey Blizzard! I expected the game to stay as it is, with only minor content changes, and preferably none at all! But instead, here you are creating new content, new skills, new talents and abilities, new characters, new realms to explore, new quests, new enemies, and new avenues of enjoyment that will satisfy me for years to come! Of course I'm upset!"

If you want a game that will stay the same forever, go buy a standard RPG. Blizzard always advertised World of Warcraft as a world that would be constantly changing and improving and expanding. People have been complaining for ages that Blizzard isn't introducing enough new content quickly enough...and here you are complaining that they are changing it too much? Like I said...priceless.

Re:Let the B*tching Begin

[ildon]

The reason for the complaint is valid, and it has to do with their existing itemization system.

Currently, the best items in the game are required level 60 epic items. By being epic quality over superior quality, the amount of stats available on the item is increased by a certain amount. Up until 60, the "item level" is usually 5 levels above the "required level" to equip the item. After 60, however, you see item levels as high as 83 on drops from Nefarian, currently the hardest boss in the game. So logically, if you're level 70, Molten Core and Blackwing Lair, currently the hardest dungeons, will actually be extremely easy. Additionally, the rewards from this dungeon will be item level 76-83 epics. Your average blue drop from a level 70 5 man dungeon will be an item level 75 superior item. This means an easier, lower level dungeon, will have vastly more powerful rewards. This is why people like myself were confident that the level cap wouldn't be raised, and are disappointed it was.

Before WoW came out, Blizzard said they wanted to move away from the level grind treadmill. They wanted getting to level 60 to be the start of the game, not the end. Raising the level cap goes against this. It reintroduces the treadmill people thought they were done with. Additionally, it completely breaks the current balance of the talent point system (Presence of mind + Arcane power + Pyroblast anyone? Not to mention Deathwish + Mortal Strike + Flurry. Or for you shaman haters out there, nature's swiftness, improved windfury, clearcasting, and fully buffed shocks).

Let's not forget the thousands of level 60 characters who have killed million of mobs and done a hundred or so quests (with XP rewards as high as 10k) without getting even a nudge on their XP bar.

I'm not saying it won't work out, because if anyone can make it work it's probably Blizzard. It's just from where I'm standing now, raising the level cap goes against what they've implied in the past and looks like a mistake.

Re:Let the B*tching Begin

[Thorkytel Ant-Head]

Your average blue drop from a level 70 5 man dungeon will be an item level 75 superior item.

Could you provide an example of this? Just name the level 70 dungeon, and one of the level 75 superior drops.

...

What? You can't name one? Oh, you mean there actually aren't any level 70 dungeons yet? So basically, you're making complete speculation, and then using that as the basis for criticism. Hey, maybe a level 70 dungeon will drop level 95 Legendary items. Maybe they'll only drop greens. Maybe each creature will drop 50 runecloth. It's a little too early to be guessing, and then passing judgment based on that guess.

Let me address a few more points while I'm here...

Yes, Blizzard wanted World of Warcraft to be different from your typical level-grind treadmill. However, contrary to popular belief, they did not do this by making everyone grind to level 60, and then declaring that the end of the grind. They did it by making it possible to have fun and progress in the game without being forced to grind. There is a marked difference between "grinding" and "gaining levels." Grinding is repeating the same tedious actions over and over again, for the sole purpose of gaining experience (typically through killing monsters). World of Warcraft alleviates this by providing numerous quests which, although they may have killing monsters as one element, provide the sense of actually working towards the completion of a quest line and the associated rewards. They make it fun to get to level 60, and they have plenty of content so it's fun once you get to level 60.

So what will change when the level cap is raised? Nothing. It will still be fun at level 60, it will be fun working up to level 70, and it will be fun at level 70. I really don't see what the problem is. If you think that when Blizzard said "no grinding,"they meant "no grinding once you reach level 60,"then you are mistaken.

As for the talent points, am I the only one who read the press release? "...every new level will offer meaningful spell, ability, and talent upgrades for each character class." Did it say, "...every new level will offer another talent point to be added to the previous talent tree"? No. Given Blizzard's love for talent trees, and the work they have done to balance them, it seems reasonable to assume that they aren't going to piss that away by allowing 31/0/30 builds. I would presume a completely new talent tree from 60-70. But then again, I don't know. However, I am reserving judgment until we get all the facts.

As for the people who completed quests as level 60 without getting a nudge in their XP bar...so? The level cap was 60 at that point. If I run headfirst into a brick wall, I'm not going to complain if someone puts a doorway there six months later. And besides, isn't having no XP bar part of your vaunted "getting rid of the grind"?

From where I'm standing, your complaints about Blizzard come from a mistaken interpretation of their previous intentions.

Re:Let the B*tching Begin

[dividedsky319]

I personally have always played Horde and think BElves are an unimaginative addition. Really just a god awful idea.

For what reason?

IMO, I think it's a good move to give the Horde a "pretty" race. Before, people were complaining becuase so many more people played Alliance than Horde. This made PvP somewhat imbalanced. Alliance vs Horde isn't necessarily "pretty/good" vs "ugly/bad" as it's made out to be. This may balance out the numbers a bit.

They have spent a lot of time getting epic items which would not be considered good to a 70.

This is a game. They played to have fun. If they didn't have fun while doing it, they shouldn't be playing. WoW isn't a chore. There's no true "end". If it stayed at 60 and they got all of an epic set, then what? Maybe a 10 level jump is too big a jump too fast, but it had to happen eventually.

Re:Let the B*tching Begin

[Teh Suq]

For you, the game starts at 60. For me, the game ends at 60. Getting there is the game. Being there sucks. Adding 10 more levels of content is awesome and highly anticipated. I don't like PvP, there is nothing about it that is fun. Grouping up with friends and questing is the fun part. Playing rock/paper/scissors over and over again isn't fun, and that is what PvP is to me.

If they build it for you, they lose me. If they build it for me, they lose you. I have a feeling that they will do as they planned to do all along, and that is to continue to expand the game, adding content and levels.

It sounds like you would be better served by Guild Wars.

Re:Let the B*tching Begin

[snuf23]

Seeing as the release date hasn't even been announced... don't you think you might be a bit bored of running BWL, ZG and MC by then? Maybe looking for some fresh new dungeons? New content? High end 60+ quests in the new zone? Not to mention that it will get easier to get everyone in your guild their 60 level epic gear with a team of 61+ in the high end raids.
I don't know about you but I'm kind of getting bored of running the same dungeons over and over again. I mean yeah it's great to make progression through them at the high end, but sometimes it just seems pointless and repetitive.

Re:Let the B*tching Begin

[buffer-overflowed]

It's as if thousands of e-peens cried out and were suddenly silenced. It's just gear, it's deprecated every time a new raid instance comes out. BWL and ZG loot negates MC loot. The upcoming Silithus dungeon loot will negate the BWL/ZG loot. Another dungeon will negate that. And the expansion will negate all of it. Typical MMO progression. No real shocker.

And it's not like people are somehow better just because they can get 40 people together to do the high end content every week. That attitude blizz has of catering to the EQ bluebie crowd is really grating on the casual/small FPS crossover guild people that make up the vast majority of WoW's playerbase. If you wanted EQ, you should've stuck to EQ.

There's never been any doubt that the level cap was going to be raised. We've been expecting it sometime this year or early next year. They were hinting at it being likely as far back as beta.

Re:Let the B*tching Begin

[Thorkytel Ant-Head]

Leveling does not give a sense of accomplishment. Why not? Because leveling in and of itself is not worth accomplishing. It's as "worth accomplishing"as anything else in the game. What's your purpose in playing the game? Getting loot? Exploring interesting lands? Defeating epic monsters? Raiding fantastic monsters? All of those are made easier by leveling. Leveling allows you to access more of the higher-end content of the game, and in that sense, it is definitely worth accomplishing. It was never in doubt that I could do it, if I had the patience. You don't get a sense of accomplishment from achieving a goal? I have no doubt that I could become a concert pianist, given enough patience. That doesn't minimize the accomplishment at all. There is a difference between knowing that you could do something, and actually doing it. In real life, if a friend buys you dinner does it taste bad? I mean, you didn't earn it. You don't understand the concept that you appreciate something that is earned more than something that is given? Do you feel like you failed at Quake when you use a railgun to kill someone- I mean, you didn't ear a railgun, you just picked it up. Of course not, a kill is a kill. If you get a railgun in Quake, then no, you don't get the same sense of accomplishment as, say, getting an Arcanite Reaper in World of Warcraft. Why? Because you didn't earn it. You just ran over and picked it up. But then again, the two games take completely different routes to get to the goal. In Quake, the goal is to kill as many opponents as possible, using the equipment that is freely available. In World of Warcraft, you have to earn levels and skills and equipment in order complete quests and defeat opponents. So, in World of Warcraft, the levels and equipment are means to an end, because they enable you to do more to progress in the game. But here, let's follow your Quake example: The goal in Quake is to kill as many opponents as possible. So then, shouldn't id put a button in the game that says, "Kill all opponents"? I mean, if you have fun killing opponents, then wouldn't it be more fun if it were easier to kill more opponents? Of course not, because the challenge is gone. Same thing with World of Warcraft: If everyone started out with a level 60 character (or level 70, or whatever), there would be no sense of accomplishment. "Hey, look at this great weapon I got!" "Oh yeah, everyone gets that for free." People brag about the number of kills in Quake, but they don't go around saying, "Hey, look at this cool railgun I got!" I didn't pay for a leveling service, but I have paid for gold. Did I feel like I missed out? Nope. I'm sure you would feel more of a sense of accomplishment if you had actually earned your mount. And hey, why stop there? Why not just pay for someone to level your character to 60? Or 70, for that matter? Because you know that I'm right: Earning it is better than just getting it for free. You may play to achieve arbitrary goals. I don't. I don't play to achieve arbitrary goals. If the level indicator was just a number, and didn't have any bearing on gameplay, then I wouldn't care about it. But the level represents improved skills, abilities, equipment...it's not an arbitrary goal. That's like saying the guy who got the gold medal in the Olympics just picked "gold"as an arbitrary color that he wanted. It's not an arbitrary goal: It represents something worth achieving. Its only the ex-EQ group who thinks like that. Never played EQ in my life. It sounds like you're the ex-EQ player, though: You just have to keep grinding away to achieve the maximum level. It sounds like you're the one playing to achieve "arbitrary goals."

Re:How are MMORPG expansions handled?

[Surye]

Q: Do you need to own the expansion to play with friends who have it?
A: There will be many aspects of the expansion that are available to all players. However, in order to experience certain content, such as the Outlands, or be able to play as one of the new races, players will have to purchase the expansion.

RTFA?

Memoirs of an ex-WOW-addict

[bradbeattie]

I remember when I first started playing World of Warcraft. Everything was brand new and exciting. There was a sense of adventure and exploration that justified the hours I put into that game. Some friends and I even started up our own guild and we had a blast. The game was fun. Problem was, that sense of novelty eventually wore off. All that was left was repetative questing and grinding for XP to reach the ultimate goal of level 60. After weeks of sleepless nights, I finally made it. I stood on top of the XP mountain and felt accomplished, but it's cold at the top and I wondered what was left for me. In the following weeks, I got bored enough to walk away from WoW and cancel my subscription. I didn't much want to play when I first started and somewhat hated myself in that long stretch from 30 to 60. So that freedom was relieving. Now that I'm free, do I really want to start that process over again? Knowing what I know now, why would I subject myself to such a time-sink that ultimately provided me with little entertainment? I think I'm going to steer clear of this expansion. Besides, City of Villains is coming out soon. (I kid, I kid)

Re:Memoirs of an ex-WOW-addict

[Thorkytel Ant-Head]

You know, I used to be like you. I went through a period of time when I was just grinding away, staying up late to complete one more quest, then running back to turn it in, then heading to the capital city to buy more spells and abilities...and yeah, I eventually got burnt out. But then, you know what I realized?

I realized that I can stop playing for a while, then come back later, and the quests and the world will still be there.

Personally, I've had much more fun logging on less frequently, feeling like I've accomplished something, and then logging off. I have no desire to get burned out on the game, and I realized that reaching level 60 isn't the goal. Ultimately, the goal is to have fun playing the game. If your only goal is to get to 60, then you're sure to be disappointed when you get there, because it feels a lot like 59. But if you take your time and have fun playing, then level 60 will just be another opportunity to find some new dungeons, new quests, and new items. Moderation in all things. The journey is its own reward.

Re:Memoirs of an ex-WOW-addict

[Gulthek]

Why was level 60 the goal? Was the fun of the game not merit enough?

Is the point of a piece of music to reach the finale?

When you dance is it to arrive at a particular spot on the floor at the end?

Re:Memoirs of an ex-WOW-addict

[Chi Hsuan Men]

This is perhaps the most eloquent post I have ever read in regards to describing what is wrong with the MMORPG mentality.

I love playing WoW; however, I have balance my play time my real life. I have a job that requires my attention and I'm a rather athletic person, so I need time away from the office and away from my home PC to exercise at the gym or find a pickup game of one sport or another. On top of this, I have recently started taking advanced technical courses in order to educate myself further and hopefully advance my career in IT / IS. As a result, my time to play games has seriously dwindled and I am forced to make decisions on a regular basis as to when to study, when to exercise, and when to play games.

When I first started my course, I realized that I wouldn't be able to keep up with my guild and I started stressing out. I was worried that my guild would kick me out (they didn't) and was worried that I would not get all of my epic set pieces in x amount of time so I could spend time leveling my alt, getting it to a point where I could then get the alt's epic set pieces...

...so begins the vicious cycle.

I took a step back and re-thought why I was playing the game. I was playing the game because I liked to escape into the world of Azeroth and play the part of the hero, all the while having a few laughs with my friends and guildmates either on in-game chat or on teamspeak. So, that's what I did. I calmed down and didn't worry that I was missing a raid so I could go play basketball or study some more. I realized that the next epic set piece was going to be there when I had time to go get it, when I actually wanted to go get it.

Gaming should never be a chore or an agonizing frustration. The second a game becomes either, it's time to unplug and do something else. I promise, the game will be there when you get back.

Re:Memoirs of an ex-WOW-addict

[snuf23]

Considering the cost of a movie for 2 hours of entertainment is $9 here (I won't include food or drinks, just talking the price of the entertainment itself) - if you get 4 hours of enjoyment a month out of playing it, you are at a better cost for fun than seeing a movie.
Or take for example, DVDS. They usually cost around $20, yet most DVDs are probably not watched more than a couple times. I have my classic DVDs I've watched maybe 10 times at most, but I have many that I have only watched a couple times. There aren't that many movies worth watching over and over.
So no I don't really feel like I HAVE to play to get my moneys worth. If I'm not playing it enough for the cost, well then it's time to cancel the subscription and play something else.

Re:Wait what?

[GravelordBocephus]

Personally, I think it'd kill even more of the Warcraft flavor if you could play as the Burning Legion. I mean, it's bad enough that you have proud orc warriors going "cna u spair sum gold plx???", I don't want to see newbie demons running away from level 2 scorpions.

And curse them for giving the Horde blood elves. It's the lack of a pretty horde race that keeps most of the twelve year olds on the Alliance.

You might be more annoyed when you realize

[DJ Wipeout]

...that all the experience you could have gotten after hitting 60 (especially doing high end quests and whatnot) might be able to put you at level 62 or 63 at this point (depending on how long you've been 60) instead of being wasted. It would be really cool though, if Blizzard had kept track of all the XP players got beyond 60 and awarded it. I doubt that will happen though.

Artwork dates back to 2003

[ChaseTec]

Notice the date on this sketch of a female blood elf. Yeah, I know it could have been part of some back story for the original game but it makes me wonder if things were removed from the original game to provide content for an expansion pack.

Detailed reviews from IGN and some other mag.

[JavaLord]

IGN preview

Pretty interesting stuff, yey for linked AH's. No mention of the paladin revamp in 1.9, sounds like ..they haven't started fixing the class they revamped two weeks before launch yet. The 'scripted world event' in 1.9 sounds cool though.

PC mag pages:
Page one
Page two
Page three
Page four
Page five

I'm a bit disapointed, with all this info I see nothing that makes me happy as a pvp player. I'd like to hear about a FFA pvp server type, but I don't think we are getting it.

Re:Blizzard likes your money?

[joshsisk]

They add new content and patches to WoW all the time. They recently added new instances, a PvP arena system and competitive ranking system for PvP, for example.

No way I'll be playing World of Spycraft...

[stinkbomb]

After Bruce Schneier's revelations regarding Blizzard's new "the innocent have nothing to fear from our spyware" policies, I've completely hopped off the World of Warcraft bandwagon. I realize that Blizzard is just trying to help legitimate players avoid the hassles of dealing with cheats and farmers, but I'd rather worry about the cheats in a virtual world than worry that some company is scanning my computer for things it doesn't want me running. Blizzard can take their Burning Legion and cram it up their bums.