Update on Wrath of the Lich King Release

 wrath of the lich king  1 Response »
Sep 162008
 

As I mentioned previously, the pre-order page for Wrath of the Lich King is up on Amazon.com.

The release date has been moved from Nov 3 to Nov 13 (darn close to my Birthday!) Given that Blizzard is willing to let release dates slide if things need more work I wouldn’t say the 13th is etched in stone, but it’s probably close.

edit: Since it’s on the front page of the official World of Warcraft site that date’s probably pretty well etched. Still, don’t be too surprised if it slides a bit.

Get yours here: World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King Expansion Pack

So just off the top of my head, here’s a reminder of what’s coming in November:

  1. [tag-tec]Deathknights[/tag-tec] are coming, hide now.
  2. All classes will have new talents, changed talents, and the talent trees are being shifted around. Hopefully Bliz gives us all a free respec.
  3. Level 80. Who’s gonna get there first? The guys playing 24/7? The writers of the leveling guides? Nyhm?
  4. New cooking recipes (some of which will be in our cookbook.)
  5. The Inscription profession. Glyphs will be inscribed onto your naked flesh with Raptor Claw pens… Oh, waitaminute… wrong game.
  6. Modified professions
  7. New daily quests and badges from those quests, which will allow you to buy high end recipes for various professions.
  8. Northrend. ’nuff said.
  9. A new BG and Arena to slaughter alliance in.
  10. New dungeons, raids, and some changes to the raiding system.
  11. Various buffs, nerfs, and bugs. Hope they fix the “randomly fall off your mount and die, while flying way up high” one.
  12. And a partridge in a pear tree…

Word has it that Bliz is going to provide a free patch that will incorporate a lot of the Wrath changes. I expect this is to make sure that people who don’t buy Wrath are still on, more or less, the same page as those who do buy it.

This will be a huge download, but will be handled as a background process so it shouldn’t force long waits on people. Estimated time on a dial-up connection is 3 weeks, 2 days… (just kidding, I think.)

When does it happen? Real Soon Now.

Get your Wrath on Amazon, here.

By the way, you DO have to have Burning Crusade installed in order to play Wrath.

Edit: There is going to be a Wrath Collector’s Edition, but it’s going to be hard to find. Here’s the link to the Amazon page, but as I write this it’s only available from Amazon’s 3rd party sellers. For the low low price of just $300.00 (no, that’s not a typo.)
World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King Collector’s Edition

If you want it then check back to the Amazon page every now and then, to get the Amazon price just in case they get some in. Or camp your local game store.

Deathknight Review and Lore

 wrath of the lich king  1 Response »
Aug 192008
 

Lum the Mad has written up a review of the [tag-tec]Deathknight [/tag-tec] starting area, focusing on the lore aspect, and he includes dialog and videos. His feeling is that, until now, Blizzard hasn’t done as good a job as it could have in incorporating world lore into the gameplay.

In the DK area you’ll see that your actions have an effect on the world, which is pretty damn cool. Having played through roughly half of the DK area I’d say it’s fun, different, and if you … well, nevermind. 🙂

I think people are going to really enjoy it. Of course, since it’s a beta, everything is subject to change, but I think the lore will stay pretty much intact.

Here’s what Lum has to say about it:

The presentation of the questlines is nothing short of exhilirating. You are the Lich King’s vassal, the bringer of the apocalypse. You are the primary bringer of death and destruction to the Scarlet Crusade. You work to gather information and destroy their very hearts, minds and bodies. And with each phase, the landscape and figures change to reflect the strides you’ve made. And all of this is presented in a story that has a clear beginning, middle and end.

Keep in mind that Lum’s post does include spoilers. So if you want to discover everything for yourself then just read the first few paragraphs, or skip it and wait for your beta key or the official release.

Here’s the rest of his post: WotLK Beta Review: The Death Knight Tutorial

If you haven’t already you can pre-order Wrath from Amazon.com: World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King Expansion Pack

Wrath of the Lich King Screenshots

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Aug 182008
 

Here’s my troll DeathKNight with a couple of buddies in the upcoming WoW expansion, Wrath of the Lich King.

Here’s my pal, the LK himself:
me and the lich king 02

full size image

And here’s my bud, the Prince:
the prince and me

full size image

Joana, of Joana’s Horde Guide fame, has been touring the beta with, what else? A hunter. Think he’ll have his Horde leveling guide updated for WotLK when it’s finally released? I do. He’s uploaded some screenies, here

Here are a few more screenies, courtesy of Earnest Cavalli, of Wired Magazine.