It's changing out there. There's a cataclysm coming...
It been a while since I posted as I was on a much needed holiday. I spent some time off work, along with my wife-to-be, by the seaside of southern Greece. I am sure those few of you that read my blog can excuse my absence. Yet, when I returned I was patient enough (or lazy enough) not to post anything as I expected this year's Blizzcon. My reasons where simple...
I met the Warcraft universe in WCIII. Naturaly, for a while I though Arthas was the ultimate Warcraft villan - up to the point I started catching up on Warcraft lore. Nonetheless, although there are more powerfull beings in this universe than Arthas, I always though an encounter with him would be the pinacle of my WoW life. Naturaly, when WotLK was announced I was sceptical. How will Blizzard top this? How will they come up with something with a punch that would keep us hooked, in a good way, with their next expansion?
At the time I believed it would be very hard and that the next expansion would not make such an impact.
And it seems I was wrong, very wrong...
Cataclysm seems to bring back the gloomy, dark environments even more than WotLK does. Deathwing is back and I must admit the icon of the dark dragon bursting with flame returning to Azeroth looks pretty daunting. The master of deception is back. And hopefuly Turalyon and Alleria will return to continue his hunt...
Nonetheless, there are two aspects of Cataclysm that add another dimension to the game. One is the revamp of the old world. Granted, some will be mad that the path to memory lane is going to be shattered. But I am one of those that feel that 'Vanilla' is sort of outdated in terms of environment detail and quality and the only thing that keeps me returning is those memories. But those will always be there. I want the feeling of immersion in the game to increase. And the change in the old world makes the environment feel alive. Gone will be the static areas, the never changing places. Deathwing comes, shatters the world and everything changes. As we see our real world change from the enviromental disaster our own 'existance' causes... As we see our towns and cities change. The environment becomes more organic - even if that is semi-permanent. Naturaly, the interest of going back to those places and 'mourn' for the disasters adds more depth to the visual. We are going to appreciate areas that were forgoten, simply because we will loose them. And that has impact. Thats proper immersion.
The other aspect I am sure I will enjoy a lot is Guild Talent trees and overal Guild related rewards. I always felt the concenpt of the guild in wow was left a bit 'uncultivated'. I always felt the devs could bring depth to the function of the guild. They started with Guild Banks. Now with Guild Talents trees (however they implement this). Now, you can have a definitive contribution to your guild apart from participating in raids and general farming and housekeeping. You can now work for the team. Your team becomes more organic itself.
Couple that with some nice lore involving Gilneas, maybe the guardians of Tirisfal, the tension between Horde and Alliance growing bigger, underwater worlds, flying all over... oh this is gonna be fun. The only thing that I regret is not being able to make a goblin rogue in my guild (we're alliance, doh!)... they look like they are gonna be the scum of scums! And how good that can be!
I bet someone will roll a Goblin...
I met the Warcraft universe in WCIII. Naturaly, for a while I though Arthas was the ultimate Warcraft villan - up to the point I started catching up on Warcraft lore. Nonetheless, although there are more powerfull beings in this universe than Arthas, I always though an encounter with him would be the pinacle of my WoW life. Naturaly, when WotLK was announced I was sceptical. How will Blizzard top this? How will they come up with something with a punch that would keep us hooked, in a good way, with their next expansion?
At the time I believed it would be very hard and that the next expansion would not make such an impact.
And it seems I was wrong, very wrong...
Cataclysm seems to bring back the gloomy, dark environments even more than WotLK does. Deathwing is back and I must admit the icon of the dark dragon bursting with flame returning to Azeroth looks pretty daunting. The master of deception is back. And hopefuly Turalyon and Alleria will return to continue his hunt...
Nonetheless, there are two aspects of Cataclysm that add another dimension to the game. One is the revamp of the old world. Granted, some will be mad that the path to memory lane is going to be shattered. But I am one of those that feel that 'Vanilla' is sort of outdated in terms of environment detail and quality and the only thing that keeps me returning is those memories. But those will always be there. I want the feeling of immersion in the game to increase. And the change in the old world makes the environment feel alive. Gone will be the static areas, the never changing places. Deathwing comes, shatters the world and everything changes. As we see our real world change from the enviromental disaster our own 'existance' causes... As we see our towns and cities change. The environment becomes more organic - even if that is semi-permanent. Naturaly, the interest of going back to those places and 'mourn' for the disasters adds more depth to the visual. We are going to appreciate areas that were forgoten, simply because we will loose them. And that has impact. Thats proper immersion.
The other aspect I am sure I will enjoy a lot is Guild Talent trees and overal Guild related rewards. I always felt the concenpt of the guild in wow was left a bit 'uncultivated'. I always felt the devs could bring depth to the function of the guild. They started with Guild Banks. Now with Guild Talents trees (however they implement this). Now, you can have a definitive contribution to your guild apart from participating in raids and general farming and housekeeping. You can now work for the team. Your team becomes more organic itself.
Couple that with some nice lore involving Gilneas, maybe the guardians of Tirisfal, the tension between Horde and Alliance growing bigger, underwater worlds, flying all over... oh this is gonna be fun. The only thing that I regret is not being able to make a goblin rogue in my guild (we're alliance, doh!)... they look like they are gonna be the scum of scums! And how good that can be!
I bet someone will roll a Goblin...
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