Everybody was expecting it

Aug 24, 2009 07:45 GMT  ·  By

As you all know, last Friday and Saturday BlizzCon was in full swing and all things related to Blizzard were celebrated. There were a lot of announcements made but one of the most highly anticipated ones was regarding a new expansion for the hugely successful World of Warcraft MMORPG.

The new add-on, dubbed World of Warcraft: Cataclysm, has generated a lot of speculation around it, as a few sources from the company leaked quite a few details about it to specialty websites. Now, the company has revealed all of the concrete evidence surrounding the new release and how it will completely change the experience of every WoW player in the world.

First and foremost, the two new playable races will indeed be the Worgen, which will be on the Alliance side, and the Goblins, which will be fighting for the Horde. New and seasoned players will have plenty of work ahead of them, as the level cap will be bumped to 85 and will bring more epic quests with it. Also, as expected, players will be offered new class combos, so we'll be able to see characters like Tauren Paladins or Human Hunters.

Of course the title comes from the Maelstrom in the middle of Azeroth, which has now devastated the whole territory, changing the face of the land forever. What was once lush and green is now scorched and barren, while other territories are filled with life after the cataclysm.

Here are some of the details straight from Blizzard regarding WoW: Cataclysm.

* Two New Playable Races: Adventure as one of two new races—the cursed worgen with the Alliance or the resourceful goblins with the Horde. * Level Cap Increased to 85: Earn new abilities, tap into new talents, and progress through the path system, a new way for players to improve characters. * Classic Zones Remade: Familiar zones across the original continents of Kalimdor and the Eastern Kingdoms have been altered forever and updated with new content, from the devastated Badlands to the broken Barrens, which has been sundered in two. * New High-Level Zones: Explore newly opened parts of the world, including Uldum, Grim Batol, and the great 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 of all encounters. * New Race and Class Combinations: Explore Azeroth as a gnome priest, blood elf warrior, or one of the other never-before-available race and class combinations. * Guild Advancement: Progress as a guild to earn guild levels and guild achievements. * New PvP Zone & Rated Battlegrounds: Take on PvP objectives and daily quests on Tol Barad Island, a new Wintergrasp-like zone, and wage war in all-new rated Battlegrounds. * Archaeology: Master a new secondary profession to unearth valuable artifacts and earn unique rewards. * Flying Mounts in Azeroth: Explore Kalimdor and the Eastern Kingdoms like never before.

The new add-on is set to be shipped in 2010, meaning that Diablo III most probably won't be making an appearance until 2011. Until then, marvel in this debut trailer for the highly anticipated add-on.

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The Cataclysm will arrive
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