As promised I have been undertaking strenuous research in order to discuss the new features of World of Warcraft: Cataclysm. I have left no stone unturned and left no feature unprodded.
First and foremost in many casual player's minds are the new races; are they just tired re-skins of existing races with a few naff racial abilities? No. Not even close. Each race gets its own brand new and unique starter quest chain, a little like the Death Knight area in Wrath of the Lich King, but a whole lot better thought out. These serve as training areas for new players to test out their classes as well as tying the newcomer races into the existing Lore.
On top of that each race has some truly unique abilities that go beyond the new character models. The Worgen do not require ground mounts, they simply hunker down on all fours and belt around the place, something akin to the Druid travel form. They also have a distinct advantage in melee combat due to a slight critical hit bonus and an ability that lets them skin animals in a split second using their bare paws. Goblins have numerous tricks that compliment their racial background, like rocket boots, rocket barrages and a Hobgoblin they can summon to access their bank anywhere they choose!
Blizzard have also lifted some of the race to class restrictions now; if you ever fancied being a Gnomish Priest (who wouldn't?), a Human Hunter or a Dwarfish Shaman, now is your chance, although this is largely a matter of personal taste, maxmin freaks will like having more options for racial traits.
The shattering has brought on many changes, building on the popular overhaul seen in WOTLK. Firstly, as you might expect after a giant dragon nuts its way out of the planet's crust, some familiar areas have been changed. Many places have been swallowed by the tidal waves unleashed by Deathwing's reappearance, drowning some starter areas almost entirely. Others are scarred by magma and deep fissures while some of the more barren areas have been strangely renewed and sport new wildlife and plant growth.
Along with these cosmetic changes come renovations in game play- quest chains are much less bitty and rambling on Azeroth, there are fewer frustrating drop quest slogathons to find and one zone tapers more naturally into the next. Essentially this means a lot less aimless wandering and a lot more action. Some people see this as a loss of depth, but I'd argue that the "depth" consisted of largely empty and redundant space, so its better off this way. Exploring is still very possible though- and some of the new zones will repay your curiosity in spades with Vash'yr being probably the best example of this.
Classic instances have also been overhauled; some of the least popular have been hugely truncated, making for a smoother and less stressful clear. Quest givers now helpfully live at the entrance to dungeons (Not Outland ones though for some unknown reason), making reaping XP for your character that much easier.
Others have been completely lore-rolled- new story lines run through The Deadmines and Shadowfang Keep for instance; both of these also have heroic modes for intrepid level 85 types to take on. Other new dungeons are a mixed bag, some harking back to the bad old days of TBC as being dull uni-themed corridors, packs and bosses, little more than loot bags waiting to be plundered. Heroic modes are a little different and will present an actual challenge to most, at least until they out gear the encounters.
The new PVP area, Tol Barad, is worth a brief mention, if only for it's infamy. Upon Cataclysm's release Tol Barad was horribly unbalanced in favour of the first faction who won. Once the faction was in control, the mechanics of the battle meant that it was child's play for them to retain control in each successive battle, essentially denying the the other side the chance to access new content through no lack of skill or tactics.
In any case, TB is also the new destination for daily quests; a little bit like a blend of Quel' Danas, Wintergrasp and Alterac Valley. Victory in the PVP aspect allows a raid boss to be attempted and bonus dailies to be unlocked, but as you might imagine its often a frustrating campfest despite Blizzard kindly allowing anyone who causes damage to a quest target to gain credit once it is dead or loot the requisite item. This only works on named quest NPCs however, you'll still need to queue to kill X number of X for X reason.
The stand out addition has to be the new guild system- a guild now levels up like a character, with each member's victories counting towards a daily maximum. Once certain levels are achieved, useful guild-wide rewards are unlocked along with extra special items for those members who prove their loyalty by earning guild rep- those lucky souls can win the right to purchase roaming bank chests and mounts like the Dark Phoenix!
One thing that doesn’t really add much to the game is the new “profession” namely Archaeology. Ill call it how I see it; its a very well thought out time sink within a time sink. To get anything out of it you must move from dig site to dig site accumulating fragments of McGuffin according to the directions of a magical traffic light theodolite. Once you have enough pieces of eight or shards of Gnome tooth or whatever you can “complete” an item. You may then randomly get something nice, or a hunk of garbage worth a few coins. You just have to keep on endlessly grinding the same areas until your luck turns. Honestly, I wouldn’t have cared if this idea was lost at sea during whatever brainstorms Blizzard had to generate ideas for Cataclysm.
All in all it's an expansion that was worth waiting for. Many terrible mistakes that haunted the game since The Burning Crusade have been excised and many excellent features (and one or two stand-out duffers) have made it in. Blizzard have worked hard to retain a balance between the casual players who help pay for their platinum toilet paper and the increasingly irrelevant raiding hardcore. If TBC or WOTLK drove you away, give Cataclysm a chance to make it up to you.
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