Blizzard Announces the next WoW Expansion

[KenderCleric]

BlizzCon occured this past week and one of the first announcements made was about the next WoW Expansion. Here's the press release that followed:

Originally Posted by Blizzard Press Release

WORLD OF WARCRAFT®: WRATH OF THE LICH KING™ UNVEILED

Blizzard Entertainment® reveals new expansion for its popular subscription-based massively multiplayer online role-playing game at BlizzCon™ gaming festival


ANAHEIM, Calif. -- August 3, 2007 -- Blizzard Entertainment, Inc. today announced plans for the second expansion to World of Warcraft®, its award-winning massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG). Unveiled at the company's BlizzCon™ gaming festival before an audience of more than 8,000 gamers, World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King™ will open the forbidding wasteland of Northrend to exploration by the hardiest adventurers. New levels of power, challenging new dungeons and encounters, an exciting new character profession, and the game's first hero class are just some of the new features awaiting players in Wrath of the Lich King.

"This expansion will add some of the most infamous characters and settings from the Warcraft® universe to World of Warcraft," said Mike Morhaime, president and cofounder of Blizzard Entertainment®. "In addition to new story content, Wrath of the Lich King will introduce a number of features specifically requested by players over the past couple of years. We're looking forward to sharing further details with everyone as development progresses."

Players last visited Northrend in Warcraft III: The Frozen Throne™, when Arthas Menethil fused with the spirit of Ner'zhul to become the Lich King, one of the most powerful beings in the Warcraft universe. He now broods atop the Frozen Throne deep in Icecrown Citadel, clutching the rune blade Frostmourne and marshaling the undead armies of the Scourge. In Wrath of the Lich King, the forces of the Alliance and the Horde will venture into battle against the Scourge amid Northrend's howling winds and fields of jagged ice.

Building on the foundation established in World of Warcraft and The Burning Crusade, Wrath of the Lich King will add a rich variety of content to an already massive game. New features coming with the game's second expansion include:

• Death Knight Hero Class: Create a high-level Death Knight character -- the game's first hero class -- once certain challenges have been met.
• Increased Level Cap: Advance to level 80 and gain potent new talents and abilities along the way.
• Northrend: Explore the harsh new continent of Northrend, packed with new zones, quests, dungeons, monsters, and items -- and do battle with the undead armies of the Lich King.
• "Inscription" Profession: Learn this exciting new profession and gain unique ways to permanently enhance spells and abilities in the game.
• Siege Weapons and Destructible Buildings: Take the battle to another level with new player-vs.-player game mechanics and new battlefields to wage war on.
• New Character Customization: Change how characters look and express themselves, with different hairstyles and dance animations.

Since launching in November 2004, World of Warcraft has become the world's most popular MMORPG, with a subscriber base of more than 9 million players. The game's first expansion, The Burning Crusade, broke PC-game sales records in North America and Europe by selling nearly 2.4 million copies in its first 24 hours of availability and approximately 3.5 million copies in its first month. World of Warcraft is available in seven different languages and, in addition to North America and Europe, is played in mainland China, Korea, Australia, New Zealand, Singapore, Thailand, Malaysia, and the regions of Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Macau.

For more information on World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King, please visit Blizzard's official website at www.WorldofWarcraft.com. To keep pace with the continued growth of World of Warcraft as well as development on other Blizzard games, the company is currently hiring for numerous open positions -- more information on available career opportunities at Blizzard can be found at http://jobs.blizzard.com.

World of Warcraft's Subscriber Definition
World of Warcraft subscribers include individuals who have paid a subscription fee or have an active prepaid card to play World of Warcraft, as well as those who have purchased the game and are within their free month of access. Internet Game Room players who have accessed the game over the last thirty days are also counted as subscribers. The above definition excludes all players under free promotional subscriptions, expired or cancelled subscriptions, and expired prepaid cards. Subscribers in licensees' territories are defined along the same rules.

About Blizzard Entertainment, Inc.
Best known for blockbuster hits including World of Warcraft and the Warcraft, StarCraft®, and Diablo® series, Blizzard Entertainment, Inc. (www.blizzard.com), a division of Vivendi Games, is a premier developer and publisher of entertainment software renowned for creating some of the industry's most critically acclaimed games. Blizzard's track record includes ten #1-selling games and multiple Game of the Year awards. The company's online-gaming service, Battle.net®, is one of the largest in the world, with millions of active users.

[Lord Ravenclaw]

Wow. Now it sounds even more thoroughly mind-numbing.

[Rawrixmoo]

I wonder how many people will go through another expansion, where you level 10 times and then raid for a few months/years.

[Glernaj]

Hero class? My soul is crushed. The sad thing is, I'll buy and play it anyways.

[Snarf]

Thank god my brother and I got over WoW earlier in the year. This doesn't bring even a twitch of want to play it again, which surprises me. CoD2 ftw.

[MrMucus]

New hairstyles and dances are supposed to be a selling point LOL.

I'm still disappointed on how Paladins turned out at in TBC. Healbot I choose you! Bah. Why the fuck should the Paladin outheal the damn holy priest is beyond me.

http://arenacombat.ytmnd.com/ They really need to fix the afk Alterac Valley Horde problem at 70. That used to be my favourite battleground at 60

The death knight does sound cool enough however. Probably the most useful undead hero in Wc3 with the deathcoil and the speed aura.

[Mage]

Yet another $50 down the drain for all the WoW addicts. Doesnt seem like they are actually adding anything that you cant get in WC3 tft, and thats free.

[KenderCleric]

Originally Posted by elvin)

Yet another $50 down the drain for all the WoW addicts. Doesnt seem like they are actually adding anything that you cant get in WC3 tft, and thats free.

That's just about an as assinine of a statement as you can make. Congrats.

[Dark Syaoran]

Yeah, saw this. I thought there would have been more additional levels. Perhaps up to 90, at least. But yeah. I'm guessing after the Lich King, all there is left are the Titans and Old Gods, unless they create something new.

Death Knight sounds alright. Was my favorite hero in WC3.

[The Dark Lord Squash]

Hell if you fight Arthras it won't really be for real I bet. At 70 Blizzard has said Illidan was just playing with you, and Arthras kicked his ass before the fuse. Innless Arthas is like a 80 man raid I can not see it being a "real fight"

[Dark Syaoran]

Yeah, true. Just toying with them bitches.

[Glernaj]

I remember hearing somewhere that Blizzard decided Arthas was gonna be around lvl 90 to challenge him with a full 40 man raid.

[KenderCleric]

Originally Posted by Glernaj

I remember hearing somewhere that Blizzard decided Arthas was gonna be around lvl 90 to challenge him with a full 40 man raid.

There are no more 40 man raids. Blizzard fucked that one up good.

As the Arthas they really haven't said anything other than he'll be one of the Raid encounters.

[Glernaj]

Eh, you can 40 man Doomwalker and Kazzak and still fail. I've seen it happen. It makes me smile inside to run in and fear the healers on both fights.

[KenderCleric]

Originally Posted by Glernaj

Eh, you can 40 man Doomwalker and Kazzak and still fail. I've seen it happen. It makes me smile inside to run in and fear the healers on both fights.

Yeah, that make you cool alright.

[Nobody]

Eh. It's lost its magic for me, but I'll likely come across another game card (my last six months have all been gotten by chance) and buy the expansion later on. This is a huge opportunity for Blizzard to put in some interesting stuff (Undead ----> Shadow Ascendant hero class, for one). So... of course, they won't.

[Antivash]

Lol Wow Sucks!

[DemonDream]

What is odd is that I really tried to get into this game. But I never really did, the monotony was too much for me. I never leveled past 36. So the only reason I have any interest in this is because Arthas is going to be kicking ass and taking names of 20-40 people at once.

[LogrusMage]

I had a level 40 Priest once... but then I remembered how nice it was to have a life.

"Make love, not Warcraft."

[Nobody]

Hah. Having a life is overrated. I'd rather have shiny 1s and 0s.