World of Warcraft: Cataclysm, 5 Reasons to Freak Out Until December 7th

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Now that we know World of Warcraft: Cataclysm will rend our social lives asunder on December 7th, it’s high time to take stock of the sweetest new stuff en route to Azeroth.

1. Worgen (And Goblins)

There’s no question in my mind that rolling a worgen is the first thing I’ll do when I fire up Cataclysm. I was lured to the shaman class with the promise of transforming into a translucentish wolf when the mood struck, and I’ve never looked back. And yeah…if abrasive, green-skinned money-grubbers are your thing, then you’ll probably find a lot to love with the newly playable goblin race.

2. Old World Facelift

Sure, we all love Azeroth as we know it, but leveling a new alt through the old world grind just to get to the newer content gets increasingly painful each time around. But come Cataclysm, the winds of change will blow across the old world, transforming everything from Orgrimmar to the Shimmering Flats (which are now happily underwater–I hate them). Not only will there be a slew of new quests and new zones, but the terrain and pretty much everything else will be made new thanks to Deathwing, WoW’s latest world-sundering mega-boss.

3. Updated Graphics

WoW’s an amazing, cutting-edge game for a lot of reasons, but the graphics have never been something to write home about. They’re pleasantly stylized and more than adequate for such an rich experience all-around, but one look at a polygonal, swiss cheese-esque leaf on an Eastern Kingdom tree and it’s apparent that the old world is hurting for a visual update.

4. New Race/Class Combos

As a rampant altoholic, new offerings for race and class combinations are right up my alley. Tauren paladin, please, with a side of Troll Druid.

5. Crazy Underwater Zones

While underwater zones traditionally inspire an acute type of full-body panic in me, the new underwater zones in Cataclysm look to buck the trend. And since you won’t have to scramble around for air bubbles to keep you from an untimely underwaterly death, there’s nothing to stand between you and a full-on naga massacre. Also, new underwater zones, like Vashj’ir, will shine with WoW’s long-awaited graphics improvements.

While these are 5 undeniably epic WoW changes, they barely touch the surface of what’s on the way to everyone’s favorite veritable black hole of an MMO. What are you hankering for come December 7th?

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taylor

Taylor has written 136 articles for us.

56 Comments

  7. Does this mean new quests? Because I am SO BORED right now, and I hate Ashenvale and Darkshire and I’m not quite a high enough level for the Arathi Highlands.
    I HATE BEING A LEVEL 38 (i think…)

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  8. I am not excited for this. I’m not even a gamer. I feel like I’ve let autostraddle down… Please stop putting this emotional pressure on me. I’ll make you vegan cookies if you do!

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  10. Seriously I thought I was over WOW I really did. News of the new races tempted me. The idea of a legit holly cow made me giggle, screen shots of bad-ass troll druids that look like a cross between an 80’s care bears and a saber tooth tiger had me jonesing something fierce. Now I hear about an autostraddle guild. Crap, I guess the good news is Bliz still has my credit card on file.

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    • Mine too :( He actually dropped out of high-school because of it. He’s a productive member of society now, but it was touch-and-go for a while there.

      PSA: WoW is fun, it is not life. Thankyou.

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    • You can WoW in moderation! My girlfriend and I used to fight about WoW ALL THE TIME because she’d come home from work and just get stuck in the game what with the raiding and such. Finally when I all but said “It’s raiding or me,” she stepped it waaaay back and everything’s fine again! She just doesn’t raid. I honestly think raiding is the problem. (And whenever people try to get her to raid again, she says, “No. I’m like an alcoholic. I can’t do it at all or I’ll be doing it every night.” lol)

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      • Yep, it’s the raiding. Our guild is currently in a bit of a crisis because the serious raiders are getting upset that us casual players aren’t online to raid ALL NIGHT EVERY NIGHT AS SOON AS THEY CLICK THEIR FINGERS.

        Raiding bored me to be honest, I’d rather play with my engineering toys :)

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    • i don’t play video games EXCEPT MARIO KART, but this question made me LOL because i feel like you are being the technostraddle equivalent of the guy who rants about G-d making it clear that marriage is between a man and a woman on a prop 8 post.

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      • I asked because people commented that it’s like drugs, they “quit” it, etc. I actually got a Pong chip and made the game with a circuit board and components a few years ago, but the appeal was in making it. Ed says it is a social thing.

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        • The most useful theory I’ve seen about why people get hooked on gaming in general (as opposed to e.g. WoW specifically) is because in games you can see what you need to do to get to the next level, and then you do it, and you get that sense of accomplishment and defined progress that can be really hard to achieve in your day job/ everyday life where everything’s a muddle.

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    • For me, it’s fun to get absorbed in an imaginary world after a long day at work/school/whatev. I get the same kicks from reading or watching movies/TV, but games are more interactive.

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      • Depends on what you want to do. It’s not really like a traditional game where you can “win” because there’s always new content coming out. But you can try and get a whole lot of fancy gear from dungeons, do player-vs-player and rack up a lot of honor points or just try and see how many low level characters you can make (which is generally how I play the game)…

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  14. oh god, WoW. Can’t play that.
    I have, uh, issues with mmorpgs. Probably the bestified way to put that. I HAVE to win. I’ve actually managed to avoid WoW like the plague, because I KNOW what would happen if I started.

    but the rest of you guys have awesome fun!

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  17. I have not played WoW in almost a year. I got bored and decided to play EQ2 again with my girlfriend. I am now getting bored of EQ2 so probably going to go back to WoW for awhile after Cataclysm. I am rolling a Worgen! I like to play casually, but do like being in a guild that raids as long as it isn’t mandatory, eat-away-your-life, 6 hour marathon raids 5 nights a week! Underwater zones are scary! I am an old school gamer and remember the horrors of Kedge Keep in original Everquest! I am looking forward to this new expansion and hope I can pull my girlfriend away from EQ2 to come play with me. :)

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  19. I play WoW on the gametime cards only, to force myself to have a break. If I didn’t, there’d be trouble. Crazy-addicting.

    Right now I’m on “break time”. So I haven’t played in about 2 months and won’t ’til Cata.

    But I also don’t really do the raiding thing. Too much pressure, too much time. Plus, there are only so many 11 year-old potty mouth control freaks I can handle. I’ll occasionally pop into bg’s but for the most part I just knock out achievements and play the AH.

    I have toons on Proudmoore and don’t even remember their names. lol (Cairne, here)

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