Rumor Control: World of Warcraft: The Burning Crusade
Blizzcon is done, the new World of Warcraft expansion has been officially announced, so … now what? What do all these new changes mean? Since I have unofficial connections at Blizzard and have been playing WOW over the past four years (yes, you read that right) I thought I would put some of the larger rumors and questions to rest. If you have any other questions let me know and I’ll do my best to answer them…
Why is the Horde getting the Blood Elves?
There are many reasons for this decision but first and foremost is that Blizzard needs to do something to bring back balance to the races as the Alliance drastically outnumber the Horde. In the US and Europe approximately 61% of all users play Alliance and 39% play Horde (source: Warcraft Census Plus) and from what I understand is that the servers in Asia are even more unbalanced. Take into account that of all the races in WOW the Elves are by far the most popular race in the world and you have a nice solution for adding players to the Horde side.
But weren’t the Blood Elves/High Elves on the side of the Alliance?
Yep! But Blizzard owns the Warcraft lore and can change it however they wish. In fact, this discrepancy is even pointed out and explained in the Preview Trailer on the World of Warcraft: The Burning Crusade web site. If you watch the trailer they explain how the High Elves were nearly destroyed out when their homeland was crushed by the Undead (as depicted in Warcraft III) and became utterly desperate to survive. During this dire time they learned how to tap into their own ambient magical energies and how to suck the mana from creatures around them for sustenance (the new “Mana Tap” ability). Like magical vampires, the High Elves — renamed the Blood Elves in honor of their fallen dead — learned to survive. However, their constant thirst for magical energy has left them addicted to magic and insane and their experiments with dark magics have made enemies of their former friends. And just as easy as that the Blood Elves are now members of the Horde! Remember, Blizzard owns and controls the Warcraft universe and can manipulate it however they wish.
So what is the new Alliance race going to be?
Unknown at this time, but don’t rule out any race (including the “ugly” Draenei). Well, any race except the Pandaren.
Why not the Pandaren? Why are so many other sites reporting the Pandaren as the new Alliance race?
When the editors of the gaming magazines were brought to Blizzard’s offices to view The Burning Crusade for the first time, there were dozens of posters and artwork depicting the Pandaren as the new Alliance race. At the time Blizzard was 80% certain that the Pandaren were going to be the new Alliance race and it was presented as such. However, due to various complex reasons, there is now a zero percent chance of this happening. At best you might be seeing non-killable Pandaren NPCs in the game.
Could this change at all? Could the Alliance get the Pandaren?
Well, anything is possible, and Blizzard is famous for changing their mind about … well, everything! But considering the charged political reasons surrounding this issue I do not believe that Blizzard will change their mind on this decision.
Why raise the level cap to 70?
By raising the level cap Blizzard has accomplished several things at once. People who quit the game after reaching level 60 will now have a reason to come back and retry the game (and purchase the expansion). People who are still actively playing will now have a new challenges and new areas to explore (and purchase the expansion). And by raising the cap it will give Blizzard a reason to release even more powerful Tier 3 and 4 gear without destroying the game balance. Considering that around a third of all active characters in the game are level 60 (and always growing), Blizzard needs to do something to add more depth to the endgame and keep people continuously interested in playing. By raising the level cap it will allow them to add deep endgame content throughout levels 60-70, more Tiers of equipment, and more instances as opposed the current setup where all the endgame content is focused around just level 60.
But what about my Tier 1 and 2 gear from Onyxia and Ragnaros? Won’t that get nerfed because of level 70?
Well yes and no. No because at levels 61-70 it will be that much easier to kill Onyxia and Ragnaros and pick up Tier 1 and 2 for the first time. Yes because there are going to be a lot new harder dungeons and new loot. Expect to start seeing all new Tier 3 and 4 gear (and higher) with the expansion.
When is expansion coming out?
Expect the expansion to be released around Christmas 2006.
Why so long?
Not only is there still a huge amount of work to be done on the expansion but it needs to be throughly tested. From what is understood the expansion will monstrous in size, larger than some MMORPGs are at launch. This will not be a simple patch but an entire new world for exploration with hundreds of new items and quests, a new city, nearly a dozen new instances, and much much more. So not only does all of this have to be created, which is a monumental effort, but it needs to be extensively tested. And considering that the beta test for WOW was over a year long expect the testing for the expansion to be just as extensive.
So what about those rumors about Starcraft 2 or Diablo 3 being revealed at Blizzcon?
Obviously these rumors were incorrect. However I will tell you that if you ever visit Blizzard’s office there is an entire wing which has higher security than Fort Knox. What are they working on in there? Who knows? Rock N’ Roll Racing 2? Return of The Lost Vikings? One can only hope…
