Blizzcon 2009

It was one of the best weekends I've had in a long time.

So much excitement, fun and relaxation.

Blizzcon 2009 - Blizzcon is a two day event, held yearly in Anaheim California dedicated to all things Blizzard. My main interest in it...World of Warcraft of course. Since Matt and I couldn't actually afford to attend in person this year, we decided to purchase the 16+ hours of live internet feed. Mainly because I get the GRUNTY, the Murloc Marine pet. But am I so glad that we did. Even without the pet, this years Blizzcon proved to be nothing short of Cataclysmic. Hehe, yeah I went there.

Within the opening ceremonies of the 2 day event, Blizzard popped their first big announcement on WoW fans. The name of the next expansion pack set to hit Azeroth sometime late 2010. (That's an estimated date, as always so no one hold me to it). I'll admit, I'm even more excited about the release of Cataclysm then I ever was about Wrath of the Litch King.

The story basically pans out that Deathwing, who has been existing in the elemental plain deep within the core of the earth has broken free, set to wreak havoc on the world of Azeroth. In the process of this, many natural disasters defile the face of existence as we know it. The look and feel of our homeland (virtually of course) is forever changed. Things that were once lush and beautiful places are now scorched beyond recognition. Places that once could house very little life, regrow anew. Thus changing everything about the game.

Don't get me wrong, I'm always excited to see any new content...but this one blows me away.

So on to some of the key points that I'm most interested in:

New Races!!! That's right; WoW is going to receive two new races in this expansion. The Goblins, being my personal favorite, even though they will be Horde. And the Alliance will proudly welcome Worgen to their ranks. This did come as a pretty big shock to me. Not that these are the races but that they are factioned the way they are. Goblins are more..cute, so naturally I assumed they would be the Alliance. Where Worgen are dark and sinister so of course seem like Horde races. But regardless, I am very excited to play both. There aren't going to be any new classes introduced in this expansion so the goblins and the worgens will have to fit into the existing structure. Filling such roles as mage, warlocks, warriors and priest, among others. There will also be new race/class configurations...a couple mentioned: gnome priests, human hunters, tauren paladins, troll druids. It will be fun to see the new story line associated with this.

New Profession!! A new secondary profession is being added, that all players will be allowed to learn. Archaeology will allow us to uncover and discover new artifices that give unique rewards and benefits. One of those mentioned in the panel discussion was an instant teleport to specific dungeons. As if we had discovered and underground passage that we could use. There wasn't much said, in detail about this profession, except that it will be a secondary one, such as cooking and fishing. They are planning a new quest line that will tie in with it, open to all max level characters, called "Path of the Titans". This is supposed to allow us to choose how we can uniquely customize our characters. Such as allowing us to receive a lower durability lose, etc, based on the paths we choose. Finally something new to play towards even after max level gain, other then just raiding. It was also hinted at that it would lead to things such as special pets and mounts. That is enough to get me interested!

Level Cap: The new level cap for this expansion is only going to 85, down from the normal 10 level increase per expansion. This was a shocker. Though I am sure they will lower the amount of xp given from 80 - 85, thus making it about equal to the normal 10 level grind.

Sunken City of Vashj'ir!! A zone totally under water! I know, I know, everyone hates games where you have to try to maneuver in a swimming style. But Blizzard promises this is not a normal swimmer style zone. While on the bottom you will walk and function normally, just having the ability to swim up as well. Also they have announced there will be new underwater mounts, which is totally exciting by itself. The screen shots of the dungeons are beautiful. This is one of the places I can't wait to see. There will be 7 new zones in all. Including the new starting area for the Worgen and Goblins. The most exciting part is that all the original zones in the game are being redesigned. Nothing will be as we know it now. The only area's void of this change will be Outlands and Northrend, who feel little to no effect from the cataclysm.

FLYING IN AZEROTH!! Yep you hear it right, we will be able to fly everywhere. All zones will be open to our flying mounts. No statement was made if people will be able to fly earlier then the already lowered level 60 standard. The only thing mentioned was that they want to keep it so that flying feels like a reward and not a "give me". I do hope this means we won't see level 20s flying around Azeroth with those of us that pounded our way to 70 before getting to fly.

Guild Advancement! This is a totally crazy concept. But basically, guilds will level up, just like characters. The guild will progress with its members, gaining its own type of "talent tree" that allows the guild to purchase special benefits such as mass resurrection and lower durability lose, etc. Some of this sounds totally awesome. They are adding a new ability that will allow guilds to make money for their bank. By having a full guild raid/instance, you can get an additional 5% gold drop that goes straight to the guild bank. Thus allowing the guild to make money without relying on its members to give to the bank. There is so much going on for guilds in this expansion that it almost makes me want to revive my lost guild and have a go at it again, just to have a new toy to play with.

Cross Server LFG: So this is actually supposed to come in patch 3.3.0. It will allow you to find members for your PUG from servers based on your battleground grouping. This is probably one of the better ideas Blizzard has shown. For those servers who population for the most part doesn't put, this is awesome. My horde toons on Brozebeard will appreciate this.

Ony Remade: My favorite in game dragon is being brought back. Onyxia will be revamped and raised to level 80 for Blizzards 5 year anniversary. This is another change coming pre expansion. We should see this sometime in November. And just as we got the baby blizzard bear, we can now get a baby ony as our anniversary gift! So very excited.

Well I think I could go on and on about the stuff I learned from Blizzcon, but I'll leave it here for now and update as I learn more.