World of Warcraft: The Burning Crusade Updated Hands-On - A Tour of the New Outland Region
Release day for The Burning Crusade, the much-anticipated add-on to the blockbuster massively multiplayer role-playing game World of Warcraft, is drawing near, and Blizzard has now finished fine-tuning the expansion's various new factions, zones, and instances. Following on from our last
What's more, there are three large eco-domes set across the region, each of which contains a lush jungle environment, away from the harsh weather outside. These are the work of one of Outland's new factions, the Consortium, an organized group of Ethereal smugglers who trade in exotic goods. Players interested in the game's lore may recognize the name of Prince Kael'thas Sunstrider--he's based in Netherstorm, floating just off the eastern edge of the map, in the instanced complex of Tempest Keep. He's joined by his most senior minions and will pose a real challenge to even the most organized groups. Finally, Shadowmoon Valley is home to the remainder of the new endgame content, specifically the Black Temple complex of instances, which Blizzard has stated will be opened in an upcoming patch. The land is dark and stony, and comets fall regularly from the sky, while numerous demons prowl about, waiting for you to stray from the path.
In addition to the Alliance and Horde faction bases, there are also outposts for both the Scryers and Aldor, two new warring groups first introduced in Shattrath City. The demonic Legion Hold, imposing Dragonmaw Stronghold, and the awesome Black Temple all overlook the blasted land below, but to access everything you'll need to save upwards of 5,000 gold coins to buy a flying mount.
One way to fund that particular project might be to further your character's professions. Tailors will be happy to know that Blizzard has finally introduced some new specializations to the craft, similar to those currently found in weapon making and leatherworking. Players will now be able to gather new types of cloth for the Spellfire, Mooncloth, and Shadoweave tailoring professions, and new patterns will be available as quest rewards and world drops, and from vendors. Alchemists, too, will now have the choice of pursuing one of three new directions in the trade, focusing on potions, transmutations, or elixirs.
As you would expect, with so many new things to see and kill, there are new ores and plants, as well as several new types of skins and enchanting materials to be had. It's unclear at this point whether professions will become more effective in terms of the general effort that's required to make any profit. That said, money seems relatively easy to come by in Outland, at least during the late beta phase we played. Most quests seem to yield several gold pieces, and random low-key loot drops (that will likely be useless to you) which can be sold for several more.
For most people, Outland will certainly represent a significant addition of content to the Warcraft phenomenon. Aside from those few who manage to attain top-end raiding or PvP rewards, most players will find they've upgraded some of their currently equipped items within a few hours of play, and probably all of them by the time they reach level 64 or so.
Fundamentally, the way that raiding guilds currently work will have to change in order to accommodate the new lower number of participants, and this is something that should make the game more inclusive on the whole. By designing Outland with the lessons learned in the past 18 months or so of developing Azeroth, Blizzard has tried to include something for everybody in The Burning Crusade.
The new PvP rules, introduced into the current game in a recent patch, will enable less-avid players to build up significant rewards over time, and the quicker five-person instances that are introduced from Hellfire Peninsula onward will also reduce the need for military-precision planning and encourage more-regular ad hoc questing. Yet while becoming more inclusive for Blizzard's army of casual players, the serious challenge posed by the new 25-person raid content, the heroic difficulty settings, and the long, complex path to Mount Hyjal should keep focused players busy for a long time to come.
Blizzard has previously stated that it plans to release an expansion every year for the foreseeable future, and if The Burning Crusade is anything to go by, it's likely that most people will still be knee-deep in Outland when the next expansion moves into beta testing.
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