Project Lore

The following post contains information on World of Warcraft's third expansion, Cataclysm.  If you don't want to hear about upcoming lore, features or races, then move on to the next informative post at ProjectLore.com.

We may have known a bit about WoW: Cataclysm before BlizzCon 2009 thanks to Internet sleuths, but Blizzard still shook the very foundations of Azeroth with a few of the reveals.  The company confirmed most of the rumors, didn't confirm or deny others, and added a range of things that weren't expected.  But the community's hunger for more information hasn't slowed since the doors closed in Anaheim.  The latest edition of PC Gamer UK should quench some of that thirst, as the company has the first major announcements on Cataclysm outside of BlizzCon in the latest edition of PC Gamer UK. We noted in the Goblin and Worgen previews that our characters started off at level 5 instead of the usual level 1.  Blizzard did this on purpose to shield our virgin brains from experiencing "some very cool stuff."  We weren't able to experience it, but the crew at PC Gamer UK did, and they filled us in on the details. The worgen story is told via a flashback to the good ole days of no curse, the Scourge first encroaching on the lands, and the initial whispers of some sort of plague.  It's at this time that we come across, and join up with, Crowley, a man who believes Gilneas' isolationism will be the fall of the kingdom.  Upon realizing that the worgen you are defending the city's cathedral against are your feral friends, you succumb to the curse yourself.  It's a this point that the story merges with our hands-on experience. The goblin experience continues to intrigue me.  Starting at level 1, we are placed in the role of a well-off entrepreneur that spends his life savings trying to escape the morally corrupt Kezan, the goblin home city.  Following that bit of moral depravity is the fact that our life savings only manages to buy us a one way ticket into slavery.  Thank god the Alliance blew up the ship before we were delivered!  It's here that we pickup in the Lost Isles. It's mentioned in the podcast that the goblins will redesign Azshara severely.  To the point that the goblin city is designed to look like the symbol of the Horde when viewed from the sky.  Those crazy goblins. Some smaller story elements that come to light in the article is include confirmation that Garrosh will become the new Warchief.  His first act, to remove all but the orc and tauren defenders from the center of Orgrimmar.  According to Hellscream, only those races are capable of defending the center of the city.  We're also tipped off to an expanding Undercity, and a change to the fate of Southshore.  According to the piece, the Horde will no longer be responsible for the loss of Southshore, apparently a tidal wave will be the culprit. I've covered the big reveals for you, but PC Gamer UK has some additional details that are of interest.  You can pickup a copy of the magazine for the full scoop, or check out the most recent PC Gamer UK (accents!) podcast for a select discussion.  The WoW stuff is in the early section of the podcast, but is broken up by tangent discussions and comparisons - you got Champions Online in my World of Warcraft!

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Incoming! The short answer is that Boubouille scored.  The data mining machine, who used some other resources for his recent discoveries, received almost a perfect score during yesterday's opening ceremony.  Nearly every World of Warcraft detail that had been disclosed by MMO-Champion.com came true.  Nearly ever one. There's absolutely no way I can take away from the sleuthing that went on to find out Cataclysm's particulars.  Sure, I didn't believe them all at first, but Blizzard confirmed that the company is simply crazy.  Crazy enough to reinvent what MMO gamers, not just World of Warcraft players, will expect in future expansions. Here's what MMO-Champion had spot on:

• Worgen & Goblins - WoW.com independently "confirmed" this before the event ever happened, but it was Boubouille and his mask discovery that sparked the rumors.  The new races' racials definitely sound OP as announced.  However it was later confirmed that all the other races will have their racials revamped.
• Level cap raised to 85 - Seems an arbitrary choice, but Blizzard wants players to focus a bit more on the content leading up to level 85.  Not just the idea of getting there.  Of course that won't stop many people from being level capped week 1.
• Azeroth revamp - The lands as we know them will indeed change drastically.  Barrens is split in two (double the Barrens Chat?!), Grim Batol is now Twilight Highlands and various other lands, coastlines and jungles will radically change.
• Flying everywhere - Yes folks, we will be able to fly everywhere in Cataclysm.  This even includes Wintergrasp.
• Class combinations - Data mining discovered the new possibilities and they've all come true, even Night Elf Mages.  Solving the 2:1 Horde to Alliance druid question is the Worgen's ability to offer a self-standing holy trinity.
• Unfinished original content done - Uldum and Mount Hyjal will both be arriving as part of Cataclysm.  Blizzard stated that Hyjal was never completed because it was impossible to do what they wanted previously.

There's really only one thing I can say Boubouille missed the mark on, and that's the main protagonist of the third expansion.  Deathwing is, without a shadow of a doubt, the bad guy in Cataclysm.  He's the force that lays waste to the lands as we know them.  Not an erupting Maelstrom as so many speculated.  QueenAzshara and her Naga buddies are definitely around, they have a new island to themselves just south of the Maelstrom, but they'll be a distraction compared to The Earth Warderer. "That is their (Goblin) mount" We've also got some additional details that no one guessed.

• New Secondary Profession - Archaeology (a word that will be often misspelled) will be added to WoW.  It'll be the first secondary profession that plays like a gathering profession.  No, fishing doesn't count.  After collecting from nodes of ruins and such, players will be able to discover rewards.  The mechanic to discovery hasn't been disclosed, but the possibility of a mini-game (Bejewled?!) was mentioned.  We will be able to track ruin nodes, and other gathering nodes at the same time.
• Mastery system - A new mode of progression.  The Mastery system is going to work alongside Talents to offer additional character customization, and it won't be class restricted.  This means a Priest can pick up the same Mastery skills (or whatever they are to be called) as a Rogue.  We are going to find out more details during the WoW Game Systems panel at 10:30 PST.  I'll be covering it via Twitter, and I expect it to be live blogged here as well.
• Heroic Deadmines & Shadowfang Keep - We heard dungeon revamps were coming, and now it's official.  These particular dungeons will use the same art and models.  To spice things up these assets will be mixed with new encounters and fights.  We'll hear more at today's Raids & Dungeons panel, which I'll be covering as well.
• Ragnaros - He's indeed back, "bigger and more pissed."  How much bigger can the developers possibly make the Lord of the Fire Elementals?
• So much more - Changes to fishing, Blackrock Spire is back, new PvP zone, rated BGs and the Alliance loses Southshore!

Consider me excited.  What do you think?  Good, bad, lore buster?  Anything that truly shocked you? For the StarCraft II players out there; I'll be sitting down for a StarCraft II interview later today. @iTZKooPA with your questions.  I'll select the best ones and work them into my own queries.

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