Coming Soon! World of Warcaft: the Burning Crusade!

[lonewolf23k]

Ok, just got the news straight off the website.. The upcoming expansion for World of Warcraft, the Burning Crusade (http://www.worldofwarcraft.com/burningcrusade/), sounds like it's going to make the game even more of a kickass experience then it already is..

-An increase in the level cap to 70
-Two new playable races, including the magical Blood Elves
-New starting zones in Quel'Thalas and beyond
-The entire new continent of Outland, reachable through the Dark Portal
-Many new high-level dungeons to explore in Azeroth, Outland, and elsewhere
-New flying mounts in Outland
-Many new and dangerous monsters, including epic world bosses
-Hundreds of new quests
-Hundreds of new items
-A new profession: Jewelcrafting
-Socketed items
-And much, much more...

Amongst the Much, Much More hinted at in the trailer, it seems that Time Travel to periods of history from the whole Warcraft series is going to happen..

But I'm really looking forward to playing a Blood Elf.. Now they're with the Horde, too!

[Xero Kaiser]

Ugh...Blood Elves, how incredibly lame is that? They could've put in something far more interesting and horde-like like the Naga or the Werewolves that live near Shadowfang keep. Instead we just get more damned Elves. Like there aren't enough of them running around

Everything else sounds good, but I've been mad about Blood Elves ever since I heard about them

[lonewolf23k]

Ugh...Blood Elves, how incredibly lame is that? They could've put in something far more interesting and horde-like like the Naga or the Werewolves that live near Shadowfang keep. Instead we just get more damned Elves. Like there aren't enough of them running around

Everything else sounds good, but I've been mad about Blood Elves ever since I heard about them

Well, you're entitled to your opinion, but I love the Blood Elves.

[Xero Kaiser]

It's not that I hate Blood Elves. I hate the idea of the "new" race just being a shorter, skinnier version of one that's already in the game when there's so many more interesting choices lying around. Seems like a wasted opportunity to me

[Headhunter]

2 to 1 odds, the new Alliance race will be Pandas. As if the Alliance edge in numbers wasn't big enough...

It's not that I hate Blood Elves. I hate the idea of the "new" race just being a shorter, skinnier version of one that's already in the game when there's so many more interesting choices lying around. Seems like a wasted opportunity to me
Exactly, well said.

[lonewolf23k]

It's not that I hate Blood Elves. I hate the idea of the "new" race just being a shorter, skinnier version of one that's already in the game when there's so many more interesting choices lying around. Seems like a wasted opportunity to me

The Blood Elves are far from just being a "shorter, skinnier" version of the Night Elves. They have a culture that's completly different from the Night Elves, with a focus on Arcane magic rather then Nature magic. And they will have a completly different set of racial traits.

If you're going to complain about Blood Elves being too similar to Night Elves, I might say that Trolls are too similar to Orcs to count as a distinct race as well..

[lonewolf23k]

2 to 1 odds, the new Alliance race will be Pandas. As if the Alliance edge in numbers wasn't big enough...

I'm betting on the Pandaren myself as well. Their race is based somewhere near Kalimdor, right? Because then it would maintain the racial location balance: before it was "three races on one continent, the fourth on the other", and now it will be "three races on one continent, the two others on the other".

...That, and I just prefer the Pandaren over the Draeni.

[Xero Kaiser]

The Blood Elves are far from just being a "shorter, skinnier" version of the Night Elves. They have a culture that's completly different from the Night Elves, with a focus on Arcane magic rather then Nature magic. And they will have a completly different set of racial traits.


You know, none of that really matters as far as the game is concerned. All that means is they'll be mages instead of druids. Whoop-dee-damn-do. They still look like Night Elves and even share their animations. So yes, as far as the game is concerned, they are just shorter skinnier versions of Night Elves. The mana tap ability is the only thing that sets them apart

[Tadhg]

I think the fact that Blood Elves are so similar to Night elves is why we're getting two new races instead of one.

[Michael P]

Given that the new continent is Outland, maybe it's penguins.

[lonewolf23k]

I think the fact that Blood Elves are so similar to Night elves is why we're getting two new races instead of one.

I thought it was because if they just added one, then one faction would have an edge...

[Tadhg]

I thought it was because if they just added one, then one faction would have an edge...

My point being, they likely couldn't produce two unique playable races in the timeframe they wanted to release the expansion in.

[Hiromi]

I'm telling ya, Pandarans = Alliance Shamans

Bet a lot of lvl 60s just gave a great big "UGH!" upon leanring their stuff's about to be a bit less uber ^_^

[Zeta]

Ugh...Blood Elves, how incredibly lame is that? They could've put in something far more interesting and horde-like like the Naga or the Werewolves that live near Shadowfang keep. Instead we just get more damned Elves. Like there aren't enough of them running around

That's the whole point. The Alliance has too much of an edge because it has "pretty" races like elves and humans while the Hoarde are all "ugly" races. So people who just want to hack at stuff and stare at the back ass of an attractive character will inevitably chose the Alliance. The Blood Elves were picked specifically to draw shallow, horny people to the Hoarde. :p

Which is why I think the Dranei will be the new Alliance Race. They'd want to give the Alliance an "ugly" race to discourage a surge of new players.

Sad, but that's how I've heard it.

[Doom]

The Blood Elves are far from just being a "shorter, skinnier" version of the Night Elves. They have a culture that's completly different from the Night Elves, with a focus on Arcane magic rather then Nature magic. And they will have a completly different set of racial traits.

Yes, they will have good and usefull racial traits.

Which mean they MUST be on the Horde.

I pity whatever Racials the Pandarans (I hope) are going to be lumped with. Still the expansion pack sounds like good fun.

It's a good thing it's so long away, gives me a chance to get my Benediction and Tier 2 Epic sets (hopefully.) Before Blizzard move all them away from BWL to an even harder instance.(Then again BWL sounds hard enough.)

One thing I will say. Reguardless of what the new races are. When the add on pack is realesed, the next day expect to see dozens of the new guys populating Ironforge/Ogrimar.

[Headhunter]

I'm betting on the Pandaren myself as well. Their race is based somewhere near Kalimdor, right? Because then it would maintain the racial location balance: before it was "three races on one continent, the fourth on the other", and now it will be "three races on one continent, the two others on the other".

...That, and I just prefer the Pandaren over the Draeni.
I suspect that half the new heroes created from the expansion will be Pandas. :rolleyes:

[Xero Kaiser]

Yes, they will have good and usefull racial traits.

Which mean they MUST be on the Horde.

Because shadowmeld and fear ward suck 0_o

[Doom]

Fear Ward's a race spell, not a racial. It's good for one or two situations only (very handy in later boss fights.) but for the majority of fights offers nothing.

Unlike say, Devouring Plauge.

I'm just saying, the Blood Elf racials sound fantastic. And they are all on the Horde side, which has the better racials.

I play a Human, so I know what it's like to have more or less no racials.

[Buddahbelly]

Anyone know of a timeline for when its supposed to come out????

[Gargus]

Ugh...Blood Elves, how incredibly lame is that? They could've put in something far more interesting and horde-like like the Naga or the Werewolves that live near Shadowfang keep. Instead we just get more damned Elves. Like there aren't enough of them running around

Everything else sounds good, but I've been mad about Blood Elves ever since I heard about them

Arent gnomes and dwarves basically the same? Both short only dwarves are wider and tiny bit taller.
Or night elves and humans the same? I mean humans are bit stouter and no pointy ears.

Incase you didnt notice while they share simmilar physical traits they are infact very different. Its charcter presentation and not what they actually look like that seperates them.

Of course if you dont like them you can always not play them, you have that option. Or if its to unbearable then you can always quit the game.

With that said the naga would have been cool, there home city could have looked like atlantis and been all underwater. Would be neat to see big krackens guarding the entrance and such. Or even some kind of demonic race would have been nifty with goat legs, leaving firey hoof imprints behind them when they walk and such.

[Xero Kaiser]

Wow...you're late to the party aren't you?

Arent gnomes and dwarves basically the same? Both short only dwarves are wider and tiny bit taller.

Pretty much

Or night elves and humans the same? I mean humans are bit stouter and no pointy ears.

Pretty much. I have trouble telling NE and Human rogues apart all the time.

Incase you didnt notice while they share simmilar physical traits they are infact very different.

Not really

Of course if you dont like them you can always not play them, you have that option.

I don't intend to. But thanks for telling me that, I thought Blizzard was going to put a gun to my head and force me to play a Blood Elf. What a relief

Or if its to unbearable then you can always quit the game.

Who said it was unbearable? I just thought it was dissapointing and a little lame that the "new" race is just an offshoot of an existing one, complete with identical animations (though that may have changed by now). Something orginal would have been nice. I'm tired of seeing fantasy based games offer up multiple elves. It's fantasy.....use your damn imagination and do something different.

By the way, don't bring up something I said six goddamn months ago just to make some stupid suggestion like this.

[Urusai Wrangler]

Blood Elves make sense in terms of Warcraft lore; the Alliance basically told the High Elves (now Blood Elves) that they weren't welcome and to get the hell out, and since their Sunwell is toast, they need to find a new source of power. The Horde is really their only option left, and Thrall is willing to allow any race that proves themselves worthy into the Horde to help keep the Alliance advance in check. Since the Blood Elves are channeling dark energies now for their power source, it would only make sense that they consort with Horde allies; the Forsaken foremost. In fact, it wouldn't surprise me if Sylvannas Windrunner (Banshee Queen of the Forsaken) herself whispered a little something in Thrall's ear about welcoming the Blood Elves into the Horde; she was once a High Elf herself and still has strong emotional ties to Quel'Thalas where the Blood Elves have rebuilt their city.

Worgen would be ridiculously convoluted and contrived to fit into the world lore since they're pretty mindless and chaotic...not something Thrall would appreciate. According to recent world lore addendums, the Naga are suspected of being in league with the Murlocs, both aquatic races possibly working together to raise what could be some long-forgotten god from the depths of the ocean.

[Dreadstar]

I've said it many times since this news release.

I'd rather play a dozen Blood Elves than one of the rumored new Alliance race: Pandans.

[Hiromi]

Out of curiosity how many races have you heard rumured? I've heard everything from Draeni to Naga to Pandas to Murlocks to Chuck Norris. Thank God Wisps were just an April Fools joke.

[Daemon]

Blood Elves make sense in terms of Warcraft lore; the Alliance basically told the High Elves (now Blood Elves) that they weren't welcome and to get the hell out, and since their Sunwell is toast, they need to find a new source of power. The Horde is really their only option left, and Thrall is willing to allow any race that proves themselves worthy into the Horde to help keep the Alliance advance in check. Since the Blood Elves are channeling dark energies now for their power source, it would only make sense that they consort with Horde allies; the Forsaken foremost. In fact, it wouldn't surprise me if Sylvannas Windrunner (Banshee Queen of the Forsaken) herself whispered a little something in Thrall's ear about welcoming the Blood Elves into the Horde; she was once a High Elf herself and still has strong emotional ties to Quel'Thalas where the Blood Elves have rebuilt their city.

I would disagree with that in that there are still High Elves left that are allied with the Alliance. The Ranger lodge in Hinterlands, Winterlands and EPL.

That said the Blood Elves allied themselves with Illidan who is going to be a raid boss in Outland...so Blizz doesn't really need any reason for whichever race joins whichever side.

[Dreadstar]

Out of curiosity how many races have you heard rumured? I've heard everything from Draeni to Naga to Pandas to Murlocks to Chuck Norris. Thank God Wisps were just an April Fools joke.

The only things I heard were Pandans and a very small mention of Draeni.

[Urusai Wrangler]

I would disagree with that in that there are still High Elves left that are allied with the Alliance. The Ranger lodge in Hinterlands, Winterlands and EPL.

That said the Blood Elves allied themselves with Illidan who is going to be a raid boss in Outland...so Blizz doesn't really need any reason for whichever race joins whichever side.

*shrugs* Blizzard said the High Elves are Blood Elves. Just going by their lore.

[Alex]

Out of curiosity how many races have you heard rumured? I've heard everything from Draeni to Naga to Pandas to Murlocks to Chuck Norris. Thank God Wisps were just an April Fools joke.
Oh thank god!
Im giving my account a break for a bit, and last i read was wisps.
As im reading it, im thinking
"alright...i get to be a floating head...how does a floating head wear armor?"
Last i was playing, i heard Worgen being tossed around as an alliance race.
If my game lore is correct, all the worgen are humans, Pyre folk are humans by day, and Worgen are around shawdow fang keep, which is still closer to alliance territory then the major of horde land, and, they have them in Darkshire, which is pretty firmly alliance.
Never talked about a story element for it...possibly they cure the madness, but not the actual werewolfness.
It's more appealing to me then pandarians, but certainly, alliance could use a more animal like race, since right now the Horde has the tauren.
While im not a fan of pandarians, the idea that they could be alliance shamans would be nice. For a few reasons really, im an alliance player, the landscape is just plain nicer, and i want to spend my mind in bright green areas with a lot of waterfalls. As such, we don't get shamans...and, come to think, shaman is horde only, isn't it? Does alliance even have an alliance only class?
And with blizzard saying their are no new classes being avaible....whatever comes around seems likely to be nature tied and able to be shaman.
As to what else it could be, you can knock the Naga out right out. The horde may not be strickly "bad" but the alliance is most definetly the good side, and the naga ain't good.
Murlocks would be a tough sell, as they are apprently dumb and attack everything in the game, with no story evidence to suggest they could be reformed.
As i think about it, there simply aren't as many races that could be alliance, unless blizzard throws a swerve and says one of the new zones has a new alliance race in it (Which, honestly, i wouldn't mind).

[Hiromi]

Well its official, Draenei. Yeah we don't get Pandarans, bah, they still look a lot cooler than I thought they would, so I'm alright, I look forward to learning their racials(they seem to be magic, holy oriented, they can be Paladins and Priests going by the screenshots at least, probably those two along with Mage, Warrior, and maybe Rogue).

http://www.worldofwarcraft.com/burningcrusade/townhall/draenei.html

[hoffmandu]

So, are they gonna make it even more cheesecake easy than ever before? Just wondering.

[lonewolf23k]

Well its official, Draenei. Yeah we don't get Pandarans, bah, they still look a lot cooler than I thought they would, so I'm alright, I look forward to learning their racials(they seem to be magic, holy oriented, they can be Paladins and Priests going by the screenshots at least, probably those two along with Mage, Warrior, and maybe Rogue).

http://www.worldofwarcraft.com/burningcrusade/townhall/draenei.html

Well, I would've liked Pandaren, but they've definetly sold me on the Draenei.

[Hiromi]

Well, I would've liked Pandaren, but they've definetly sold me on the Draenei.

Me too, I was afraid they'd look like the Lost Ones wandering around in that swamp, whatever the zone's name was. Naturally I was pleasently surprised to find out what the PCs would look like.

[Doom]

Yeah the Draeni look far better then the mutant versions in Blasted Lands and the Swamp of Sorrows. (Which is a relief, since those guys looked horrible.)

I'm a bit disapointed that the new race isn't Wargen or Pandarins, but they do look cool. (Though I was shocked by the Palladin/Priest being classes for them. I was sure that they'd get Warlocks.)

Their racials are great, but more suited for PvE content, while the Blood Elves racials are going to be great for PvP. (Much like how the Horde and Alliance are set up.)

I'll definitly pick this up.

[hoffmandu]

Being into the Fantasy Genre of MMO, what do you guys think of the upcoming Vanguard?

[Zeta]

What the hell? I was actually looking forward to the Draenei looking like mutant swamp creatures! Now they just look like Night Elves with horns and tails. Lame.

[Xero Kaiser]

They don't look anything like Night Elves other than being blue
http://i.i.com.com/cnet.g2/images/2006/129/928901_20060510_screen032.jpg

And the fully mutated (http://i.i.com.com/cnet.g2/images/2006/129/928901_20060510_screen031.jpg) Draenei looked retarded. That's why nobody wanted to play as them originally

[Zeta]

See, now if given a choice to play as one of those three, I'd pick the middle one. It just looks to me like they've been genericized into another "pretty/mystical' race.

[Shady Jack]

Q&A with one of the lead designers. (http://forums.worldofwarcraft.com/thread.aspx?FN=wow-general&T=8237329&P=2)

Posts 1 and 3. Not sure if ya'll have seen this already. I thought it was interesting.

[Callie]

I wonder what the designers were smoking when they chose the dances for the races.

Blood Elf Males currently do the Napolean Dynamite dance.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xJJED0DUOLg

Draenei Males do the Tanuk Tanuk.
http://igo.ampednews.com/stream.php?id=6513