Meanwhile Back in Azeroth: Holidays and Updates

World of Warcraft made news recently with it's new commercial and plans for the next expansion at least one year away. But what's been going on in Azeroth right now? Plenty. Even if you have little to no interest in Player vs Player battlegrounds, there's still things to do from Holiday events, one having been changed a bit, a new amusement park island, and the quests for killing the big villain of the latest expansion have finally arrived.

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The “Cataclysm” Continues in Azeroth

Recently, "World of Warcraft" went through it's third expansion, "Cataclysm." Following the coverage of the wolf-like Worgen, yours truly took a look at other aspects of the game, as well as what a few people are saying about the online game and it's future.

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Azeroth Gets Thrown to the Wolves With "Cataclysm"

If Second Life has been minus a few people these days, the reason is likely to be World of Warcraft.

With the latest expansion on the shelves of stores, "Cataclysm," players have been buying them up, including yours truly. There's a new profession, able to fly in the "classic" areas, new zones, and of course two new player races. One are the goblins, and the other the Worgen, wolf-like beings.

Checking out the Worgen starting area, Gilneas, the place was packed with large numbers of other players as the expansion had only recently been available for sale. The players went through the story of the characters' country under seige from attacks by the cursed beings, only to get bitten while defending the place and eventually transform as well. Fortunetly a serum is developed to allow the Worgen to regain self-control, but it isn't long before a new threat moves in.

Worgen can be any character class, except paladins and shamans. This includes druids, unavailable to normal humans, and hunters, which can be an amusing sight as Worgen hunters fight not so much with claws but with guns and their pet dogs. They can boost their speed temporarily, and are a bit more likely to score critical hits, as well as more resistant to natural and shadow damage.

And the dark Victorian/Steampunk looks and the Cockeny accents add to the atmosphere (and sometimes the humor).

I'll be checking out other features soon, but for now, me and other WoWers are having fun running with the wolves, and enjoying every moment of it.

(Runs off with a huge bone as an Undead calls out "Come back with my leg!")

Bixyl Shuftan

Meanwhile, Back in Azeroth

With the "Cataclysm" expansion not far away, World of Warcraft was recently given a major update. Looking around, many familiar sights are changed. Ogrimmar, and presumably the other capitals, have new looks. Many areas have been changed, such as the Barrens which was split in two and the southern part becoming a whole new zone. And there are a number of new quests. New classes are available for some races, druid trolls being one.

The old WoW as we knew it is gone.

The "Cataclysm" expansion promises more with two new player races, the werewolf-like Worgen and Goblins, two new skills, new areas, flying mounts now flyable in the classic areas, and more. It appears in stores begining December 7.

A few questions come to mind. With higher-ranked players able to fly in the classic areas, will the PvP servers become hell for "lowbies?" Will the population of Second Life drop a bit for the next few weeks as some Wowers leave for a bit. Will Woodbury set up shop in WoW in order to harrass the wolf characters?

Bixyl Shuftan