WoW Cataclysm: Is Classic Coming? a review
As various fan sites have already reported, Activision Blizzard is currently sending numerous surveys to World of Warcraft players that suggest that they have a Classic version of World of Warcraft Cataclysm want to bring out. In the survey, they get the opinion of the fans on certain features, such as transmogrification, reforging or the raid finder. It is not yet official that Cataclysm will be the next Classic expansion, but the very specific questions indicate that the first concepts for implementation may already be in the works. In the following special we take a look back at the third expansion.
An ancient evil slumbers within Deepholm, home of earth on the elemental plane. Hidden in a secluded sanctuary, the corrupted Dragon Aspect Deathwing has recovered from the wounds he sustained in the final battle against Azeroth and awaited the right moment to once again blanket the world in molten fire.
Soon, Deathwing the Destroyer will return to Azeroth, and his eruption from Deepholm will rip the world apart, leaving a seething wound across the continents.
As the Horde and Alliance race to the epicenter of destruction, the kingdoms of Azeroth witness seismic shifts in the power structure of the spark that ignites the war of the elements and the rise of unexpected heroes who seek to save their scarred and broken world from utter devastation.
World of Warcraft Cataclysm (buy now )(often abbreviated to “Cata”) is the third expansion for World of Warcraft. The expansion mainly takes place in a dramatically changed Kalimdor and the Eastern Kingdoms on the world of Azeroth (see gallery and video below). The main theme is the return of the evil Dragon Aspect Deathwing the Destroyer – formerly known as Neltharion the Earth Warden – who causes a new division by his cataclystic re-entry into the world of Deepholm, the elemental plane of Earth.
WoW Cataclysm: Screenshots of the official press kit from 2010 (1) [Quelle: Blizzard]
After years in Outland and Northrend, Cataclysm returns players to the two continents of Azeroth for most of their campaigns, opening up new zones like the Mount Hyjalthe lost world of Vashj’ir, deephome, Uldum and the Twilight Highlands. The extension leads two new playable races a: The worgen from the legendary kingdom of Gilneas for the Alliance and the goblins of the Bilgewater Cartel from Kezan Isle for the Horde. Among the many new features in the expansion are the increase in the Level cap at 85the possibility, flying mounts in Kalimdor and the Eastern Kingdoms to use, the introduction of the secondary profession archeology and the debut of reforging as well as updates to all playable classes, new race-class combinations, and a dramatic reorganization of the world itself with major overhauls of existing content from the original version of the game.
Features at a glance
Two new playable races
Adventure as a member of one of two new races – the cursed worgen in the Alliance or the resourceful goblins in the Horde.
Level cap increased to 85
Learn new skills and harness new talents to customize your characters to your individual desires.
The areas of the Classic version are redesigned
Familiar areas of the original continents of Kalimdor and the Eastern Kingdoms are forever changed and filled with new content – from the devastated wasteland to the shattered Barrens that have been ripped in two.
New high level areas
Explore newly opened parts of the world, including Uldum, Grim Batol and the magnificent sunken city of Vashj’ir beneath the sea.
More raid content than ever before
Enjoy more high-level raid content than previous expansions, with optional, more challenging versions for all boss fights.
New race and class combinations
Explore Azeroth as a gnome priest, blood elf warrior, or any of the other race and class combinations available for the first time.
guild development
Progress as a guild to level up the guild and earn guild achievements.
New PvP Zone & Rated Battlegrounds
Pursue PvP objectives and accept daily quests on the island of Tol Barad, the new Wintergrasp-like zone, and fight battles on entirely new battlefields.
archeology
Master a new secondary skill to salvage valuable artifacts and earn unique rewards.
Flying mounts in Azeroth
Explore Kalimdor and the Eastern Kingdoms like never before.
And much, much more…
Patch 4.1: Rise of the Zandalari
- Reopening of Zul’Aman and Zul’Gurub
- Class design changes
- Added profession trainers in capital cities
Patch 4.2: Assault on the Firelands
- New raid on the Firelands
- New daily quest zone in Molten Front
- New Avengers from Hyjal faction
- dungeon journal
Patch 4.3: Hour of Twilight
- Three new 5-player Caverns of Time dungeons (End Times, Well of Eternity, and Hour of Twilight)
- New Raid “Dragon Soul”
- Raidfinder
- transmogrification
- Void Storage
- Isle of the Darkmoon Faire
- Tier 13 sets
World of Warcraft Cataclysm received critical acclaim. at Metacriticwhich assigns a normalized rating of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the game has received an average score of 90 – based on 53 reviews, indicating “universal acclaim”. IGN gave the game a 9/10, writing “Cataclysm is by far the most impressive expansion for an MMO ever made” with “better content than Wrath”. GameSpot gave the game an 8.5/10 rating and a critics’ rating of 9.1/10, and stated that World of Warcraft is “in the best shape of its life,” although noting that some of the new content is “boring and that it’s there aren’t enough new zones”. GamePro gave the expansion 4/5 stars, calling the game “another solid release” with “lots of improvements in terms of its overall design”, but also stating that Cataclysm is “not quite as impressive as previous expansions”. In addition, awarded GameSpy Cataclysm wins MMO Game of the Year at the 2010 Game of the Year Awards. — (source)
Despite the success of Cataclysm, World of Warcraft saw a gradual decline in subscriber numbers through 2011. Subscriptions peaked at 12 million subscribers after the release of Cataclysm, but soon dropped to pre-Cataclysm levels of 11.4 million by the end of March 2011. In early November 2011, subscriptions dropped even further to 10.3 million users . In 2012, subscription numbers stabilized at around 10.2 million users and remained constant for two consecutive quarters. On August 2, 2012, it was announced that subscription numbers had continued to decline, reaching approximately 9.1 million subscribers. — (source)
World of Warcraft Cataclysm is far better than its reputation! As IGN writes in its review (see above), you have to factor in the massive changes to the core game with this expansion to get a fair rating. In addition, from now on you can fly anywhere in Azeroth, which involves considerable effort, because before that a lot was just a backdrop – similar to a film city. The storytelling is also more compelling than in Wrath Classic thanks to refinement of the phasing technology. Anyone new to WoW Classic will – if Cataclysm Classic comes – have a much better start and also two very popular new races, the goblins and the worgen, to choose from. We are very curious when there will be news about the plans of the Classic developers!
Reference-www.buffed.de
