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World of Warcraft has been something of a success. Aiming for a modest 500,000 subscribers, Blizzard's epic MMORPG currently sits at something like 12,000,000! It superseded its measly original target in its first week and has continued to grow ever since.
With the release (or, at least, an announcement of a release date) of this new WoW expansion imminent, the content that makes up Cataclysm is gradually being exposed to external testers. The Friends & Family test (open to only a very exclusive group) has finished and the beta has begun, open initially to a very few - mainly members of the press or people that run significant WoW websites, etc. Fortunately, we're included in the few and I, the resident WoW addict, was the lucky one that got to have first crack at it!
Before I get stuck in, I want to first stress that this is just the beginning of our coverage. Not only will there be additional articles (on a regular basis) but we're looking for YOUR input. Got something you want to see? Got a particular skill you want to know more about? Is there something about a zone, a class or an item that you are itching for more info on? Post a comment and I'll see what I can do to get the answers into the next article.
With two expansions already exhausted and a significant portion of Warcraft's bad guys now pushing up daisies, the wizards at Blizzard are going back to where it all started and reinventing the first 60 levels of the game. Sure, there are some end-game additions (with the level cap raised to 85, new content at the end-game was a given) but arguably the most significant alterations are to the lands of Azeroth, where characters first embark on the journey that will lead them to epics and heroic achievements.
So for that reason, this article focuses on the first experiences that a new player (or a new alt!) will see when they fire up the game. The next article will focus primarily on the first 80+ zone - but don't let that stop you asking questions about the starting stuff!
The first thing I did was fire up one of my 80's (A paladin with some pretty decent gear). Camped in Stormwind, there was a lot to notice right away - starting with the fact that my Violet Proto Drake was ready for action. With no new level of flying required to fly in the old world, my Paladin was soon soaring into the sky to check out the massive Alliance city that is Stormwind.
Wow.
There's an awful lot to it and Stormwind looks great from the sky. Sprawling across a remarkably large area, the layout is simultaneously familiar and new, with a host of changes (from the minor, like actual flowing water in the fountain, to the major - like the new Stormwind Keep) to explore. A quick blat around Elwynn Forest and the neighbouring zones (at 330% flying speed, remember!) revealed even more changes. Without detailing every zone, it's fair to say the changes are sweeping. Exactly what impact these changes will have on a player's flow through the zones is not yet clear but if you've levelled Alliance, you're going to want to check them out.
Able to resist no longer, I logged off my Paladin and created my first Worgen (one of two new races; I check out the Horde Goblins shortly) - a Druid, mostly because having a human-form druid amuses me for some reason. The character creation is still incomplete, which means the options are limited - no females, for example. Still, I was able to create a rather fierce looking Worgen. It's already clear that the detail and quality of animation has been dialed up even further than the excellent Blood Elves of the Burning Crusade.
Logging in I was treated to a flyby of the gorgeous Gothic architecture of Gilneas, the home of the people that (spoiler alert!) become Worgen. Despite choosing my Worgen looks, it is a human face that greets me - I had no preview as to what this would look like, although the choices you make when choosing your Worgen appearance directly affect your human appearance. It's currently unknown whether players will ultimately be able to choose the detail of their human form.
Something else I wanted to find out and had been otherwise unable to determine via forums, etc, is whether or not a shape-shifted (i.e. cat form) druid would change into Worgen form when entering combat (like other classes do). They don't. It's a simple thing, sure, but I wanted to find out so hey, maybe someone else out there does too...
Once you are Worgen form, you eventually get the ability to change on demand between Human and Worgen forms. The transformation animation and effects used here are awesome - dark, spooky and reminiscent of the Hulk or Dr. Jekyll and Mr Hyde. Expect some interesting synchronized demonstrations of this ability in a capital city near you come release day!
Without ruining the surprise or going into too much detail, it's fair to say that the utilization of phasing technology (where the actual environment or NPC placement changes based on your actions and position in the story) is even better here than in the excellent Death Knight starting experience. There's obviously still some work to do here but but levelling through the Worgen area is something even hardened anti-alt players need to experience for themselves.
Unfortunately the entire quest chain is not yet complete - the quests that I did manage to complete (84, in case you were wondering) were a combination of the tried & true (kill x of y) Lich King's vehicle quests and even some that are new to Cataclysm. Almost without exception they were fun to play and the flow from one to another was super smooth, leading you by the nose around the vast amount of content as the very land changed beneath your feet. It would be nice if there were more mailboxes around - the one that is there is gets phased out, cutting you off from your higher level toons should you be looking to twink your Worgen.
Levelling itself has received some fairly significant improvements, making it even clearer what is going on and what exactly happened when you dinged. Now you get combat text that explains anything you unlocked, middle-of-the-screen alerts to new abilities or talent points that are available and a spell book that shows abilities that are now available at your trainer. Multiple levels of skills are gone too, with each of your learned abilities improving automatically as you level. Even more significant changes are being hinted at too, with a wholesale revamp of the talent system (locking you in to a single tree until you've filled it, etc) being talked about.
After completing the Worgen area, the natural next-step was to roll a Goblin.
Wow. That word comes up a lot, I apologise. It really is the only epithet that's appropriate, however!
Goblins look awesome. If you're thinking of the annoying little buggers that hang around Booty Bay, think again. The detailed character these little fellas (or lassies - females are available) exude is just unreal.
Choosing a hunter, the first thing I noticed was that I start with a pet! No more level ten learning how to catch your first pet quest required. Sure, you can't actually control it until level ten but it's pretty smart, does loads of damage and holds agro incredibly well. It also behaves like a "defensive" mode hunter pet from live WoW, so you don't need to worry about it running around agro-ing things.
Something else that's new is that my weapon of choice (in this case, the heirloom bow) no longer needs ammunition! No more wasted bag space, no more embarrassing situations in heroics where you're suddenly meleeing the boss due to lack of preparation.
Probably the biggest change, though, is the removal of mana from the Hunter's toolkit. Now, like a pet, the Hunter uses focus (very similar to a Rogue or Cat-Druid's energy) to power their various attacks. Arcane shot, for example, uses 50 focus. At the early levels focus takes a loooong time to come back (about 2 per second) resulting in very careful selection of mobs to actually use any focus-powered shots on. Presumably this will change as talent points or other skills are learned throughout the levelling process because, as it is, it seems underpowered.
My little Goblin is now level 11 and has already completed some 99 quests in the Goblin starting area. As many as that may sound (and there are plenty left, it seems) the time absolutely flew by thanks to the incredibly innovative and fun experience that the Goblin starting zones represent. I'm not going to detail every quest (having certain things happen right in front of you for the first time is a thrill I don't wish to deny you) but I am telling you right now - you simply MUST experience it. I don't care if you're anti-alt or are "on a break". When you get the chance, play through the Goblin starting area.
There are loads of awesome new experiences and the integration of Goblin "culture" (read: stuff blowing up) is damn near genius in its implementation. The level of polish here will blow your mind and it only underlines just how much is likely to still be coming to the Worgen experience, which is positively pedestrian in comparison.
The Goblin environments are also a wonderful demonstration of the powerful new effects engine, in particular the "Lost"-like "Lost Isles" environment. This island is surrounded by, predictably perhaps, water - if your computer can handle it (and likely it can, my PC is rubbish by today's standards but was able to cope just fine), dial the water up to maximum. The new soft, reflective water is truly something to behold when reflecting this gorgeous, colour-rich environment - particularly at sunrise or sunset.
The environments are also plush with terrain detail, with fields of plants never seen in Azeroth before and positively teeming with miscellaneous detail that brings the entire world to life in a way never seen in World of Warcraft before. That you're running around strapping rockets to ducks just adds to the experience.
So, that about wraps things up for this first article. When covering an MMO it's obviously tough to look at everything, arguably even more so when that MMO is the most successful of all time. So there's loads of things I've yet to talk about. What would you like to hear about next? I hear Orgrimmar has had a massive overhaul, perhaps the Horde capital cities? Maybe levelling as one of the new race / class combinations (i.e. Human Hunter) is worth reviewing?
Post a comment and get into discussion below and I'll do my very best to answer your questions (all except for "Can I borrow your account") with successive articles.