Welcome, We're Open!

Hello there, and welcome to a world of games of the future. As most, if not all, of us know, gaming has become the biggest source of entertainment. It is available almost anywhere, and can keep you busy for hours upon hours. That painstaking wait for that game which you have been waiting for is drawing closer, and the anticipation is palpable. You know you will rush to the store on opening night to ensure a copy is safely within the security of your hands. And yet, what better way for you to know about the game that you're dying to play than doing the research. And here's the exciting part: I do all of the research for you.And of course, what better way to celebrate the birth of a simpler way of garnering information than to appeal to the most popular game still played: World of Warcraft.

Blizzard, the company responsible for World of Warcraft (by far the most successful MMORPG as of 2010) has crafted yet another spectacle. A lore-rich, ground shattering (literally), and overhauling expansion is being added to the World of Warcraft title. Achieving 12 million subscribers within nearly 6 years, this will be World of Warcraft's third expansion. The first expansion known as the Burning Crusade, TBC for short, explored an entire world different from Azeroth. This place dealt with many characters that were pivotal in the history of the world...of Warcraft. The magical tower of Medivh (Karazhan), the trolls of the Amani tribe, the dubious pawns of Illidan (Lady Vashj, and ever so popular Kael'Thas, as well as Illidan himself), and the Eredar master of the Burning Legion (Kil'Jaeden) were all encounters that were available to the dedicated raiders. However, seldom did casual players ever hope to get through the tower of the magus. As a result, the forums were ablaze with players raging about difficulty.

Fast forward a few years. It should be noted that Blizzard has a tendency to do what most other companies don't: they listen to their customers. In 2008, Blizzard released Wrath of the Lich King, complete with appeal to both casual and committed players. The difficulty level decreased dramatically, and players rushed to be the first 80's in the world, in an effort to become the holder of a new feature: Achievements. Throughout the expansion, Blizzard continued to listen to the players. Too difficult, too easy, too overpowered, too weak? No problem. Blizzard handled that. Numerous popular features were added during the ensuing years: dungeon finder, heirlooms, etc. Even a new class, the Death Knight, was released. And in 2010, one of the well-known villains in gaming became available to overcome. The Lich King, the final boss of Icecrown Citadel, was released.

And then, Cataclysm came to light, officially announced to release in December. Just in time for the holidays! As we draw closer to Cataclysm, the news just keeps piling on top of each other. Here are a few pivotal highlights of the upcoming expansion:
-New races for the Alliance and Horde: Worgen and Goblin, respectively.
-The world is torn apart, and many zones have changed. Quests, terrain, and even previous dungeons have been altered to meet the apocalypse...I mean cataclysm.
-Humans can now be hunters, what the hell? That's right, new class combinations.
-The level cap has been raised by 5 this time around, not by 10. For those of you who can't do math, that caps at 85.
-New zones, new dungeons, new raids. The usual with a new expansion.
-Flight in Azeroth. Prepare to get ganked and take forever to finish questing.
-Talent trees have been entirely revamped. No more BS "Arms Specced Tanks." At least, I hope not.
-Reforging, which allows you to change the useless stats of your gear into something that will actually help you. No more feral druids with 20% extra hit chance, instead of 9% (the "cap" in WotLK)
-Other less important, but still relatively significant changes include: badge conversion to justice points, new profession, guild system, and reclaiming of the Gnome city known as Gnomeregan.


Hmm? What's that? Oh right. I forgot. Get ready for Deathwing! Epic fight against the Dragon Aspect, the catalyst for the crumbling of Azeroth. It should be noted Deathwing's story is one of the most enriched lore currently known. Not even the Lich King can best Neltharion when it comes to lore. And he is gargantuan! The above posted picture is of Deathwing himself, ready to smite the races of Azeroth who are no bigger to him than a tenth of one of his legs. Some of the previously mentioned changes have already been released to the world via patch 4.0.1. Reforging, revamped talent trees, and patch download process changes have become available. With all these changes, I think Cataclysm will manage to keep some of its 12 million subscribers or so busy for a while. Can't forget about the Maelstrom either. Here's a picture of the activities at the Maelstrom, taken in the PTR for Cataclysm.

Oh right. Another thing. This makes the entire expansion worth buying, by the way. Heroic Deadmines. It's about time. I've been requesting that for years! And don't forget about heroic Hogger! Anyone else? No? Aww man....

As a final treat, here's the official cinematic trailer for Cataclysm. As icy cold as the cinematic for WotLK was, this one converges around blazing fires. And isn't he mad? Why you mad?



The next shall deal with another popular title: Call of Duty. FPS lovers, get ready for Black Ops!!