Cataclysm will be the golden age of WoW.

#0 - April 7, 2010, 12:13 a.m.

Cataclysm is going to be the best thing that ever happened to WoW. Here is why:

Blizzard promises higher HP pools and lower healing. This will make PvP vs PvE balancing a cinch. Burst damage wont matter; sustained damage will be what matters, just like in PvE. Talent trees such as frost, subtlety, balance, fire and beast mastery will be good at not one but two aspects of the game. They can all be tuned for sustained dps without being OP in pvp.

Blizzard is streamlining clunky mechanics and replacing them with other things to keep the complexity the same. Several stats are being removed and classes are being revamped. Cata is almost like the windows 7 of WoW.

Mastery allows for fine tuning of dps, allowing for better balance.

Blizzard isn't afraid to get things done. The recent blood tanking announcement only reaffirmed this. Clases will be completely changed and things that don't work will be trashed. Hunters even get to drop mana in favor of focus.

The game will be improved for lower level players and at the same time refresh the world for veterans.

Phasing will improve storytelling hugely. Blizzard has yet to show what they will be able to do, but I expect them to come up with some great stuff.

Blizzard was building the game on a broken foundation, creating hundreds of problems. Just like a foundation to a building, everything is being fixed from the ground up.

What are you looking forward to in Cataclysm?

Zarhym

#71 - April 7, 2010, 2:47 a.m.

Speaking as someone who's worked closely behind the scenes with our development team on the last two expansions, I can say I've never been more excited for an expansion than I am for Cataclysm. I've greatly enjoyed The Burning Crusade and Wrath of the Lich King, but I'm looking forward to the many ways in which Cataclysm will really shake things up.

Zarhym

#85 - April 7, 2010, 2:56 a.m.

Q u o t e:

Bookmarking this. When The Emerald Dream is announced this time next year, you will say the same about it.

Should another expansion follow, I will gladly say the same if it's the way I feel. I would have said the same about The Burning Crusade and Wrath of the Lich King before they were released. Part of this is simply because we learn more as we go, so each expansion has an extra dimension of polish and complexity.

In the case of Cataclysm though, I'm greatly looking forward to jumping back to the roots of World of Warcraft and experiencing the early game all over again, yet somehow for the first time!

Q u o t e:
With a different pun at the end, though!

The next expansion will be absolutely dreamy.*

*Warning: this was simply to play off the joke at-hand. We have no plans yet to confirm an expansion will follow Cataclysm, let alone what that expansion would be.

Edit: Beaten to the pun by Ecaiki!

Zarhym

#89 - April 7, 2010, 3:01 a.m.

Q u o t e:
THe golden age is Wow is now....

Shark being jumped as we speak.

LFD is the high high high point wow will ever hit.

honestly most of cata is feeling like a nerfest of epic proportions.

We've given you a few bread crumbs. Stop trying to make me a lovely BLT out of them.

Zarhym

#97 - April 7, 2010, 3:09 a.m.

Q u o t e:

So skull, BC introduced Heroics and more, and Wrath introduced Phasing and more. What will be one of the big new things Cata introduces?

And no, flying in the old world isnt one of them.

I definitely wouldn't underestimate the many system changes we have planned, whether it be stat and class changes, the Mastery system, the guild talent system, etc. You're going to see a lot of very polished new game systems in Cataclysm with some great user interface improvements to accompany them.