World of Warcraft - Cataclysm

[Falcio]

Its not real its just not.. and if it is real than WoW has turned into something that we really dont want. They have turned into SOE which ruined the fuck out of swg and will ruin the fuck out of WoW. > I can believe the worgen and the goblin being real but why the hell should we pay 30 bucks for no new conent OR classes, when they can just do all this into a patch. Im sorry but you wont be seeing a tauren screaming "For the Light".

There's a difference between "new content" and "old areas, but new looks and new stuff to do in them"?

We're going to have new areas to explore, I assure you of that. However, it's not that hard to think of what they could do with the old world now that they drastically change the look. They've said before that changing the entire world is going to require much more than a single patch. Do you not see how much they have to work with?

The entire world is our new content. That'd be huge.

[Lilscrappy]

I was thinking how Blizzard would implement another class without overlapping the classes the game already has, it would be really hard.

Either MMO-Champions is going to be embarrassed at Blizzcon, or there gonna be right and be praised.

Can't wait to see the results. But I'm DEF not paying 40 for a freakin stream, the last Blizzcon was free to watch and the majority of it was boring and useless.

I just care about the NEW information. Not stuff we already know. I can only hope they say something about their next MMO, I'm done with WoW.

[Lucyon]

I wish I had a device that could stab people in the face through the internet.

Somebody should write down all these people who discredit Boubouille with no justification. Then, when all this info turns out to be true post their names in a new thread so we can all make fun of them.

Couldn't agree more

[FingalMcGowan]

Since when did Boubouille the Wise abandon reason for madness?

[Asdafrak]

dude >< y not a troll lock? that what i really want is a troll lock. and I also feel that NE's should be locks also. There need to be more lock races. At least on ally side. To be honest everyone should be able to be a lock seeing that everyone is able to be a dk.

imho, alliance shouldn't be warlocks, because (quoting the character creation screens description of the alliance) "...bound by a loathing for all things demonic..." and as we all know warlocks are empowered by demonic blood so on and so forth. so, ya, my opinion

[Zardoom]

The old world has been standing still for the past almost 5 years, its about time something happens. This will be so awesome.

[Littleshizz]

On the face of it, Bob's post sounds ridiculous. BUT, when I sit down and think about it, these leaks strike me as reasonable for a number of reasons:

1) It's a business. WoW seems to have hit a subscription plateau of around 11 million. I would surmise that new players are replacing retiring players at about the same rate. Therefore in my mind, i would be looking for ways to entice former and new subscribers alike back into the fold, and addressing a broad level range of content could be a good way to do this.


2) Inflation. The game is already starting to suffer from "expansion inflation." Increasing skills and stats will continue to give diminishing returns. One example: I was pretty excited to go from 300 spell power to 600. But going from 2100 to 2400 was less compelling. In fact, I didn't really notice. Another example: New skills are already starting to overlap old ones. A priest can only heal so many different ways, etc.

3) Technology. 5 years of evolution on the development end has given us things like phasing, achievements, better AI, and richer environments. Therefore I think the developers have reached a point where they have enough tools to make a pass at the old world that would make people excited about it.
We don't get bored with Earth even though God doesn't give us a new planet to explore every year. Real life is interesting because it is dynamic. The game technology may have reached a point that it can make the existing "world" much more dynamic.

So, I'm just going to wait until the weekend to see what's real. But I DO think that the devs can keep the sense of momentum and progression without having to introduce an entirely new continent or world.

[NonMagical]

Frequently Asked Questions
And other crybaby QQ...

Q: Is this list of expansion changes real or fake?
This list is not officially acknowledged by Blizzard. Therefore if you so desire you can pretend none of these changes are going to happen. With that said, however, Boubouille has often in the passed posted leaked information to other Blizzard IPs, including WoW expansions. He has done so with (until proven otherwise) 100% accuracy. It could be believed that he has an inside source feeding him information. In fact, it would be smart to assume he does.

Q: If Boubouille does have a source, then why does he not cite it?
Citing an inside source would be a bad move on his part. Even citing an anonymous source would be a bad move because he is then acknowledging that he has one. This spells bad news for the source, and for the rest of us.

Q: How do we know Boubouille isn't making all this information up then? No citations = no truth.
You can believe this if you want. Boubouille doesn't really have incentive to make up elaborate stories such as this. While it could be argued he is doing it to spike his traffic, it would be just that: a spike. A spike that would inevitably cause a fallout with his regular viewers should it turn out to be a hoax. In the long term this would hurt him much more than it would help him, so it is a safe assumption this is not the case.

QQ: I heard some of this information came from the Something Awful forums. The Goon Squad is just trolling us all!
Originally this information came from multiple sources. Some of it is actually available on the PTR right now (more on that later), whereas yes, some of it did come from SA. When Boubouille first posted up this information it was divided into two parts: the unconfirmed SA information and Boubouille's own confirmed information.

Note, I said "confirmed". Those are words Boubouille himself used.

It wasn't until later that much of the SA information was added to the rest of Boubouille's notes. At that point Boubouille said the SA information was confirmed, as well. Again, this all points to Boubouille having a source somewhere along the line.

QQ: Blizzard is just getting lazy! They are reusing old content and instances! This sucks!
Not entirely true. While they are reusing some of the zones you are already familiar with, they are recreating them almost entirely (in some cases). The term 'revamp' has been thrown around but that is giving people the wrong impression. As far as anybody knows they are not simply updating the levels of enemies to 80 and calling it good. Expect entire zones (Thousand Needles is now underwater anyone?) to be altered and new quests to be created.

The new zones and the old zones will likely be changed enough that they feel entirely new. Some would argue this is actually better than new zones. It means that what we once knew is changing on what feels like a timeline, and the game has changed from when we once played it to now.

If you do not think this change is for the better then you are entitled to that opinion. Just do not have the misconception about what 'revamping' zones really means.

Q: The list of new class and race combinations seems like it doesn't make much sense. I mean, Troll Druids? Tauren Paladins? This proves the list is fake.
This information was actually datamined out of the current PTR. IE it's already in the game. Blizzard has already taken steps to rationalize some of the more outlandish sounding combinations. For instance, Taurens are beginning to realize that their religion and the religion of the Night Elves are eerily similar, suggesting a shift perhaps in their future beliefs. Also the Highborne are back, leading to the possibility of Night Elves tampering with magic again.

QQ: There is no hero class! If there is no hero class then this list is obviously not real! Blizzard said they would add more!
First off this list of information isn't 100% complete. With that said though there is not likely to be a new hero class in this expansion. Blizzard said they would like to add more, but also have made it very clear that we should not expect a new one each expansion.

Q: Didn't the information on the new races from from Halloween masks of all things? That doesn't seem very convincing...
You'd be a fool to think Boubouille would claim with 100% certainty that the new races are Worgen and Goblin simply based on Halloween models. My opinion? Boubouille has known this information for some time prior to the Halloween masks but needed to wait until he could pin the information on something released in the server. Had he announced earlier the new races it would have created a problem for his source.

QQ: This expansion information does not work correctly with the all powerful list of upcoming expansions! WRONG!
The list is fake. There is no evidence of the list existing prior to something like June of 2007 (pulling that date out of thin air but it is in that general ballpark). People will be more than happy to provide a screenshot of somebody posting the list earlier than 2007, but it is just that: a picture. An easily edited picture.

QQ: This does not follow lore! The Goblins are neutral! The Worgen can't control themselves! Thrall can not be the Guardian of Tirisfal! Orcs can't be mages! <insert another 'this can't happen' claim>!
Do not forget that WoW is still a Warcraft game. And as such it has just as much right to create lore as any past game had, too. WoW (as far as I know) is the present of the Warcraft Universe and there is no official lore that takes place after it. Just because Thrall seems unlikely to be the new Guardian or Orcs in the past haven't been mages it does not mean that it can not be so. Lore, in this case, does not conflict.

QQ: This expansion will be the death of WoW.
Even if Blizzard lost 3/4th's of it's subscribers it would be a better profiting game than its competitors. So no, it won't be.


Feel free to copy this, cut this up, repost it, add in another question / QQ or whatever. Just providing people some general information. Stop crying, thanks.

[Karot]

On the face of it, Bob's post sounds ridiculous. BUT, when I sit down and think about it, these leaks strike me as reasonable for a number of reasons:

1) It's a business. WoW seems to have hit a subscription plateau of around 11 million. I would surmise that new players are replacing retiring players at about the same rate. Therefore in my mind, i would be looking for ways to entice former and new subscribers alike back into the fold, and addressing a broad level range of content could be a good way to do this.


2) Inflation. The game is already starting to suffer from "expansion inflation." Increasing skills and stats will continue to give diminishing returns. One example: I was pretty excited to go from 300 spell power to 600. But going from 2100 to 2400 was less compelling. In fact, I didn't really notice. Another example: New skills are already starting to overlap old ones. A priest can only heal so many different ways, etc.

3) Technology. 5 years of evolution on the development end has given us things like phasing, achievements, better AI, and richer environments. Therefore I think the developers have reached a point where they have enough tools to make a pass at the old world that would make people excited about it.
We don't get bored with Earth even though God doesn't give us a new planet to explore every year. Real life is interesting because it is dynamic. The game technology may have reached a point that it can make the existing "world" much more dynamic.

So, I'm just going to wait until the weekend to see what's real. But I DO think that the devs can keep the sense of momentum and progression without having to introduce an entirely new continent or world.

^This! ;D

[TheLastTankMage]

I don't know why but I feel like adding my 2 cents. First of all I'm highly skeptical of all of this information, I know many of you trust the poster of this but to me he is just some faceless person on the internet so I cant just blindly trust everything he said even if he has a legion of other equally faceless (to me) people who do trust him. I'm not saying he is lying or anything just when its on worldofwarcraft.com I'll believe it.

Anyway I will also say that much of this I hope is not true (which might be adding fuel to my mistrust of it) mainly because much of this expansion would center around the 2 new races and a bunch of new race/class combo's ... sooo if it's true that's basically blizz saying to me "Hey guess what, next expansion you get to roll a bunch of new characters instead of playing the new content, isn't that awesome?" no ... no it isn't.

It really sucks for me because I used to play alliance but 2 years ago I made the switch to horde and now have several characters on horde ... but I have ALWAYS wanted to play worgen ... so awesome now I'm going to be tormented to death over wanting to switch back to Alliance. Whats that you say? Tauren Pallys? AWESOME I currently hate my Belf Pally now .. thanks.

[NonMagical]

Anyway I will also say that much of this I hope is not true (which might be adding fuel to my mistrust of it) mainly because much of this expansion would center around the 2 new races and a bunch of new race/class combo's ... sooo if it's true that's basically blizz saying to me "Hey guess what, next expansion you get to roll a bunch of new characters instead of playing the new content, isn't that awesome?" no ... no it isn't.

How is this any different from BC's new races or WotLK's new class? There is no more emphasis on the new races here than there was in previous expansions.

[Karot]

Frequently Asked Questions
And other crybaby QQ...

Golly, this is quite good. Cheers to you!

[Littleshizz]

Frequently Asked Questions

Nice post!

[darthxs]

if there now finally going to change what classes each race can be them might as well allow any race to roll any class... at this point it won't make much of a difference.

[Hindukel]

I am very excited about this expansion. Instead of the usual "Let's slap on 10 more levels to grind and call it good" they're really expanding on not only content from the original continents, but returning to another element of the game that I absolutely love- DECENT LORE.

Seeing the classic continents being reinvented and the return of a lot of our favorite villains this expansion is going to be a lot of fun. I'm not going anywhere!

[3vyan]

O M G

Really, thats all I can say for now...

Omg...

Ok... after 5 minutes of being knocked down by this information I will now try to tell you how I feel about this post:
... FAIL BLIZZARD!
Lol really, all my high expectations about a new expansion just vanished at this late hour.
I had so many hopes for emerald dream or Kezan, the goblin capital, now they decide to just revamp Azeroth?
Seriously, do they wan't to loose people instead of attracting more?

I mean to begin, there are those new classes...
NIGHT ELF MAGE? WTF!? They refuse to use magic...
Tauren paladin? Yeah right... like the current night elfs they are fierce warriors and elemental beings... I don't see how they suddenly embrace the light...
Dwarf shaman? Cmon... they're stonemen who learned from they're human friends ffs!
Troll druid... Those angry, barbaric creatures are one with nature? I don't see how eating your own kind is being one with nature...
...

Also, they just add 2 races who barely have any bussines with azshara and deathwing...
(oh no the goblins are enslaved by deathwing and they meet thrall and help him.. YR!?)
Worgen are suddenly coming from behind a wall... after all this time they could have built a boat and used it -_-'.
Adding no new continent is just fail.
This looks more like a stupid content patch then an expansion....

And how stupid it is that they remove thrall as leader of the horde.
Just because he wants an alliane with the alliance makes him not propriate for leading the horde?
FFS, are they stupid? The horde and alliance always team up to survive, so why should they destroy all the efforts and remove thrall as leader. I can't imagine Thrall doing something like that out of his own will.

Well I just can't make my distaste clear enough.

As I already said...

FAIL BLIZZARD...fail...

[NonMagical]

same person

Littleshizz posted 10 seconds after Morlin. Don't call shennagins when you don't have suitable proof.

[Karot]

The Guardian of Tirisfal
Malfurion Stormrage will be returning to Azeroth to aid in the creation of the new Guardian of Tirisfal - Thrall! Med'an's role in these events is currently unknown.

This could also tie into orcs becoming mages, since the Guardian of Tirisfal is an archmage. Read more about the Guardian of Tirisfal here. There hasn't been one since the death of Medivh.

[McGnarlz]

Dwarf Shammy makes sense, partly, thy are kind of norse/titan/lightning peeps. But wolf is odd for dwarves. Moar rock totems!

I think remaking old areas into new content in wow is a fairly solid idea, really lets all the wotlk dk 80's actually experience older areas (including me )

Worgen is dope, but i think mebbe they shouldnt be druids cuz already 2 kinds of mammal (wolf/cat/bear/other bear/boomkin/tree/seal/crow/fastercrow is a SHYZAload of forms). Gobbies is cool, anyone ever read the tinker hero class post (prewotlk fanmade class some absolutly epic ideas).

I know TC said no more classes this expansion, but id really like to see another semi-pet melee class. Necro poison melee and bound-spirits/ghosts that possess things to debuff, Nature tree sprites that buff and help you heal, fire and ice forms that tank or pvp.

Gnome priest is good, biggest mana pool deserves a healer. New here, kno nuffink bout ppls rep FOR F**KS SAKE LET THIS BE TRUTH! I dont understand why ppl get so upset bout new expansion, lvling 5 times isnt any worse than grinding naxx to get into uld and toc. Gear jumpin is a drag, but necessary. I would love to see lvling time reduc, dont care if getting to 80(85) is less of an achievement, i actually want to be able to get myself to lvl a nw char, :P

[Polimera]

O M G

Really, thats all I can say for now...

Omg...

Ok... after 5 minutes of being knocked down by this information I will now try to tell you how I feel about this post:
... FAIL BLIZZARD!
Lol really, all my high expectations about a new expansion just vanished at this late hour.
I had so many hopes for emerald dream or Kezan, the goblin capital, now they decide to just revamp Azeroth?
Seriously, do they wan't to loose people instead of attracting more?

I mean to begin, there are those new classes...
NIGHT ELF MAGE? WTF!? They refuse to use magic...
Tauren paladin? Yeah right... like the current night elfs they are fierce warriors and elemental beings... I don't see how they suddenly embrace the light...
Dwarf shaman? Cmon... they're stonemen who learned from they're human friends ffs!
Troll druid... Those angry, barbaric creatures are one with nature? I don't see how eating your own kind is being one with nature...
...

Also, they just add 2 races who barely have any bussines with azshara and deathwing...
(oh no the goblins are enslaved by deathwing and they meet thrall and help him.. YR!?)
Worgen are suddenly coming from behind a wall... after all this time they could have built a boat and used it -_-'.
Adding no new continent is just fail.
This looks more like a stupid content patch then an expansion....

And how stupid it is that they remove thrall as leader of the horde.
Just because he wants an alliane with the alliance makes him not propriate for leading the horde?
FFS, are they stupid? The horde and alliance always team up to survive, so why should they destroy all the efforts and remove thrall as leader. I can't imagine Thrall doing something like that out of his own will.

Well I just can't make my distaste clear enough.

As I already said...

FAIL BLIZZARD...fail...

Then quit, we won't miss you