Pocket Change - Shopping Blog

You know, this really has gotten quite a bit out of hand. There was once a time, back in the day when playing a MMO was for the elite: the segment of society who had evolved beyond the need for grooming and social gatherings. However, times have certainly changed. Now World of Warcraft has 9 million “devoted” subscribers who have sold their soul to Blizzard Entertainment for their shiny “purplz.” Many had thought that after 3 years the World (of Warcraft) would finally be coming to an end. That people would emerge from the dark to once again blink in the warm sunlight. Well, put those thoughts aside as Blizzard announced the newest expansion: The Wrath of the Lich King.

Ok, so lets start with the big stuff. What does a new expansion mean? Well, I will defer to Blizzard Community Manager Drysc for this:

“Sometimes when a video game developer loves a game very much they go into a dark office, and after many months an expansion comes out! While the expansion can be a lot of work for the video game developer to take care of, the expansion allows everyone who loved the original game to continue playing it. They want to continue playing it because it opens up an area for them to progress, to continue a story line, improve their character, fight new monsters, get bigger weapons, and in general continue playing the game they enjoy by having more of it available.”

Basically, we’re talking about some add on content for those that already play the game. For those that do play the game, we’re talking about Northrend. Back before World of Warcraft there was a little game called Warcraft III. Sure this may seem like the lore of old now but before the MMO, Warcraft was a real time strategy game. In that game we follow Prince Arthas Menethil from being the favored paladin of Lorderon (nerd speak translation: he was a good guy), to being the feared death knight in service to the lich king (translation: bad guy). In the process he traveled up to Northrend to grab a sword called Frostmorne which ended up possessing his soul, binding him to the will of the lich king, and leading him to kill his father and take over the throne to the eventual destruction of the entire kingdom. You know that old story. Well, eventually he fused souls with the Lich King and now commands the entire undead army across all of Azeroth. Well, now it’s time for the heroes of Azeroth (that’s you) to go up the Northrend and take care of this little problem once and for all.

But what does this mean for us who play the game? Well…

1. Level cap raised to 80 (yippy!)
2. New Profession: Inscription (permanently enhance you spells and abilities with powerful pieces of paper)
3. Tons of new game space with the addition of the continent of Northrend
4. New PVP dynamics with siege weapons and destroyable buildings
5. New character customization options. You can now change your dance and your hairstyles.
6. New Dungeons
7. And a bunch… bunch…bunch… more.

Oh, yeah… and the somewhat important thing. We will be seeing the induction of a brand new class into the game. The first ever hero class: The Deathknight. It’s like a paladin, only evil. The Deathknight will inscribe runes on its weapon to use in combat (in lieu of a resource system like mana/rage/energy). The Deathknight will start at a high level (sources say in the 50-60 range) and will be unlocked through a very difficult quest obtainable to your main character at level 80.

Things are looking up for the World of Warcraft, and if you haven’t yet joined the ever growing community of people who call Azeroth a second home you should really check it out (the original game is still as accessible and fun as ever for new players). If you do play WoW, then get ready for new challenges and new adventures.

Hit the jump to check out the trailer: and enjoy.

Kris