Patch 5.4 patch notes
Virtual Realms feature revealed
The Proving Grounds are coming
The latest patch 5.4 newsSurprises may loom in Wrath
by Amanda Miller 
Jan 25th 2008 at 9:00AM
In the near future, World of Warcraft will be facing some hefty competition from the MMO world, from games such as Warhammer Online. Relmstein has asserted that "Lake Wintergrasp, one hero class, and ten more levels...can't hold up the expansion". Compared to what the competition will have to offer, if Blizzard doesn't up their ante, the launch of Wrath of the Lich King could get lost in the mix.
Of course, the expansion will also be including a new profession called inscription, as well as siege weapons, new NPC races, changeable hairstyles, new dances, and other interesting details.
Askander, a commenter, pointed out that pre-BC, Blizzard withheld the announcement about the "Shaman/Paladin faction swap" until late in the game, surprising many players. While some players may remain cautiously skeptical, Tigole has been on the forums hinting of bigger things to come.
What do you think? Does Blizzard have some dynamic plans in the works that they're not sharing for the upcoming expansion, or will they launch with only the announced features? Do you think they have underestimated their competition, or have grown distracted with development of their upcoming MMO and Starcraft 2?
Wrath did make Yahoo!'s list of the most anticipated games of 2008, and was the only expansion listed. Can Wrath live up to our expectations without added features?
Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, Blizzard, News items, Expansions, Death Knight, Wrath of the Lich King
Reader Comments (Page 4 of 4)
Oblivion Jan 25th 2008 12:39PM
A new continent (with more zones that Outland), a new class (which is greater than two new races), and a new profession that will effect EVERY class is more than enough for an expansion. It's going to be great.
Add to that, all of the minor updates that you are sure to see and the rich lore that Northrend has to offer, and we are in for one hell of a great expansion I think. Oh yeah, deeper talent trees. I'd be happy with that alone!
My only complaint based on what has been released so far is the joint Dalaraan city. More than anything I want two separate capital cities so that there is once again some separation between the Horde and Alliance, like there is in vanilla WoW. The alliance should get Dalaraan, and the Horde should get something else, I'm not sure what. I'm sure Blizzard could think of something.
Xeren Jan 25th 2008 2:27PM
I agree, i think i i like what another poster on another topic said- something along the lines of "i want the horde to be some mysterious enemy, i want them to be OUT THERE somewhere, not hanging out dancing right next to me at the mailbox that we both use."
I liked that the horde was mysterious, and you would only see them when you left the safety of a castle.
Zach Jan 25th 2008 1:14PM
Why does Relmstein keep calling it WRAITH of the Lich King? One Undead isn't enough?
Urthona Jan 25th 2008 1:35PM
I don't mind Dalaran being a shared city if there was a distinct line down the middle dividing us from them.
Lagtrath city is horrible on my machine, and things would be so much easier if the north was exclusively Alliance and the South to Horde. A middle area for quests and such, but at least 2 inns, 2 banks, and separate portal trainers for each side.
p-diddy Jan 25th 2008 2:46PM
separate but equal is not equal. ;-)
Jormundgard Jan 25th 2008 2:51PM
I think they should just do one more expansion and call it quits. Combine the Emerald Dream and the Great Sea, connect Azshara to both, and make the central plotline the summoning of Sargeras by Azshara, maybe via the Emerald Dream and Malfurion. Add Furbolgs and Naga as Alliance/Horde races, maybe use Sargeras to justify giving us Demon Hunters (finally), and end this game on top before they get utterly whomped by Warhammer and Conan.
Jaell Jan 25th 2008 3:04PM
I hear people saying "Oh, World of Warcraft has 10 million players, who cares if we lose one itty bitty million?" The fact of the matter is that more than half of those 10 million players are actually Asian. "As of January 22, 2008, World of Warcraft has surpassed 10 million subscribers worldwide, with more than 2 million subscribers in Europe, more than 2.5 million in North America, and about 5.5 million in Asia." -quote Wikipedia on World of Warcraft.
My point here is that, if one million Europeans or North Americans choose to leave World of Warcraft for any of the challengers, WoW will lose half of its playerbase in the region. Servers will be bled dry. Just keep that in mind when you speak of the paltry thousands of players who might jump ship.
Another significant aspect of several people jumping ship is the collateral damage aspect. If Age of Conan or Warhammer online turns out to be way more attracting to the average player than World of Warcraft, there is good chance that they will quit WoW and try out a new game. Furthermore, they will recommend the new game to others, dragging their friends and guildmates with them. So while the initial losses may not be more than the "paltry several thousand", the loss of players will decrease ever so steadily.
Of course, all of this is a moot point if neither Warhammer nor Age of Conan actually manages to do better than World of Warcraft. Still, every couple of thousand players shrinks the playerbase, however much some people would like to keep it at the aforementioned 10 million.
Jaell Jan 25th 2008 3:06PM
"So while the initial losses may not be more than the "paltry several thousand", the loss of players will decrease ever so steadily."
Ahem. I meant increase, ever so steadily.
Ras Gonzo Jan 25th 2008 3:45PM
Two words: Heroic Gnomeregan
peaglemancer Jan 25th 2008 4:21PM
Epic remote control.
Joe P Jan 25th 2008 5:27PM
Whatever it is I hope they announce it soon. I'm getting antsy
Sloegin Jan 25th 2008 5:44PM
Hopefully Bliz avoids making WotLK just a wash: rinse: repeat of TBC.
Some of my wishlist?
Put plenty of 70-80 content into Azeroth (besides just adding something like Kara) so it isn't a ghost town.
Also put loads of 70-80 content into Outlands (including rep rewards for current factions) so Outlands doesn't become a ghost town (and it becomes impossible to get rep on new alts).
Keep new rep grinds and instance unlock requirements limited. Ya, it's a MMO grindfest, I know, I know...
Oh and while I'm on a roll here...
Flying in Azeroth, *and* Flying in Northrend from day one (the more I hear about the 'disabling of flying till lvl 78 or so', the more idiotic it sounds.)
Magic de-icing fluid, geeze.
theRaptor Jan 25th 2008 6:23PM
Flying in Azeroth isn't going to happen. The zones would require a major re-design to cover up the "seams". No flying in Northrend is not stupid, content becomes far to trivial with a flying mount, especially an epic. Blizzard either have to prevent us flying for a while, or stick fel-cannons and monstrous kaliri every where. I would rather have eight levels with no flying then months of annoying flying.
Brill Jan 25th 2008 7:17PM
When it comes to an expansion I see Blizzard keeping to the tried-and-true formual.
Gear Reset: face it, the ends justify the means. If you dont get better gear than your T5/T6 epics you wont do the massive timesink that is questing, rep grind, instance grind etc. You do the quest to get better gear, you get better gear so you can do the next quest/instance/raid.
New zones to explore: Blizzard made great strides in BC with very distinguishable zones. All had separate themes and feel They were organized, well populated with mobs and a ton of quests to make sure you explored every inch if you wanted.
Ten new levels worth of spells and tallents: Do you know how many new specs will be made because of spells and 10 talent points?! How many times have you said "If I could only get that 21 point tallent and this 41 pnt tallent?"
Big spender items: they gave us epic flying mounts so we'd have a reason to save gold, I'd expect something similar, while it wont be a mount, but it will be something to distinguish players.
Intances/Raids/BGs/Arenas....no explinations necessary but I think they need to retool the rewards somehow.
Now, what I'd love to see:
Instanced Player Housing: Someplace to call your own and decorate with say your old T6 set that you worked sooo hard to get and just dont want to vendor because of that sentimental attatchment. (as far as server space why not make the house client side??)
Epic world PVP: make PvP something you'd want to do instead of something that you feel obligated to do (BG's just for epics for example)...they've got 10 lvls to retool the classes so fights can be more about skill than debated IWIN buttons.
MiniGames: for the love of Pete give me minigames that I wouldn't mind playing other than BG's...Barrens (Texas) Hold'em anyone?
Improve Character to World Interaction: Cog wheel mouse over/ Mining Pick mouseover/drag this item to your action bar or click to use....sometimes the world feels so static to me. Oh, and while we are at it...how about some quest speech, I dont even read the book the quests logs sometimes become.
I could go on an on....
My last thoughts on this is WoW will fade over time, it's inevitable, you can only stretch the lore so far without adding things that just make people scratch their heads in puzzlemet. Remember, Blizzard has two other big hit names on their resume (Diablo and Starcraft).
The question is: will Bliz's next game be as big of a hit as WoW?
ikono Jan 25th 2008 7:51PM
You all seem to be forgetting one major thing -- The Arthas - Players interactions. We don't know what that would entail, and how the eventual face-off will happen.
Kamileon Jan 25th 2008 9:55PM
It is inevitable that there is more to announce than we know now. We can expect new announcements, like a bread crumb trail of enticement to keep us going until a non-NDAed external test comes out, and all the info is broken loose.
Villanimm Jan 26th 2008 12:37AM
My two main wishes:
1. Clouds. Ones in the sky that we can actually FLY inside of. That'd be super tight, and it'd amplify the feeling that you're in the sky by a massive amount.
2. Mounted Combat. I don't care if we have to buy a new mount training tier, this would be AWESOME.
matt lacey Feb 22nd 2008 10:15PM
i think that blizzard must be holding something back because yes has the passage says we have not heard any new ideas for wotlk so i hope blizz has something lined up and the whole thing about the other games coming out is that yea warhammer should be a good game but warcraft is an awesome game compared being what i have seen of war so far and the beta wasnnt that good either so warcraft should have no problem and starcraft 2 has nothing on warcraft being warcraft is better so warcrafty should have no problems with any of those games but i do hope blizz have made something good for this expansion not just the deatth knight