World of Warcraft: Cataclysm

3 comments on “World of Warcraft: Cataclysm”

1. 52 of 58 people found the following review helpful:

   
   The most environmentally friendly WoW expansion yet, December 19, 2010

   By 

   Brian Cairns (Boulder, CO) –
   
     

   Fun: 

   This review is from: World of Warcraft: Cataclysm (DVD-ROM)

   Well, what can I say. It’s a WoW expansion, and if you’re on this page you probably already own WoW, BC, and WoLC. Hell, you probably own Cataclysm too at this point.

   I have never described myself as a ‘hardcore’ WoW player, but with over 3000 hours of in-game time over the last 6 years I probably should be classified as one. I’ve run with an arena team to 2450 and done plenty of raiding in ICC. I am not the kind of person who gets every achievement or who is willing to show up at 8PM on a Friday night to raid. If you’re one of those people, this review doesn’t even really matter to you since you’ve already made up your mind on the game – and as someone who has put an average of 10 hours a week into this game for 6 years, I can respect that.

   But what if you’re a casual player, like most WoW players? Maybe you got bored during one of the past expansions and decided to quit. Maybe you’re wondering whether it makes sense to come back.

   And what if you’re a new player, who has never played an MMO before and is wondering what all the fuss is about?

   Well, this review is for you.

   First, to the new player: despite the fact that WoW is described as a “casual-friendly” game (which, for the most part, it is), it’s still probably an order of magnitude more complex than any game you’ve played before. WoW is “casual-friendly” because it’s forgiving – you can screw up a lot and the game doesn’t really punish you for it. But there are still a *lot* of moving pieces here. Long-time players don’t really see it (because they’re used to the complexity) but it’s there. I give people a lot of crap for screwing up things like threat or standing in ‘bad’ or failing to target healers in PvP, but the reality is that it’s not as easy as it looks to get all of this stuff right. What I frequently describe as merely ‘competent’ actually takes 100s of hours to master for people who have never played an MMO before. When you’re playing a game like WoW seriously (e.g. in high-end raiding or arenas) you don’t have a lot of time to react and the wrong choice can mean a wipe for your entire raid or an instant loss for your team. The good news is that you mostly don’t have to be that good. There’s a lot of content for people who aren’t experts, and when you’re ready for a bigger challenge it’s there for you.

   That said, new players shouldn’t buy Cataclysm. Go play the trial first, and if you like it you can drop $20 on the battle chest (WoW + BC) which is enough to keep you busy for 40+ hours. The sad news is that you missed out on the fantastic way this game has evolved: each of the WoW expansions has had a different ‘feel’ to it, and despite my frequent complaining on the forums about balance issues I wouldn’t have it any other way in practice. But you can still have a fantastically good time with the classic, BC, and WoLK content, and Catacylsm will be here when you’re ready. It will probably be cheaper too.

   If all of that sounds daunting, well, this game is a bit daunting to new players. But that’s OK: part of the fun is discovering the world as it is. And no matter what level of time you’re willing to put into it, there’s something for you.

   Now, for the existing (perhaps inactive) WoW player:

   This is the most environmentally friendly WoW expansion yet. Because there’s so much recycled content.

   What can be said here? In many ways this is a half-expansion. 80 to 85 takes no more than 30 hours or so if you focus on XP, which is considerably shorter than BC or WoLK. There are some fantastic new zones, but for the most part questing is pretty much the same thing you experienced in every other WoW game. For serious players that’s OK (because most of the time is spent at the level cap anyway) but it’s disappointing if you enjoy that aspect of the game.

   But in a different way this is the freshest WoW expansion yet. Every expansion ‘resets’ the game in terms of gear, but Cataclysm is much more dramatic because the mechanics have changed. Perhaps in an effort to avoid the ‘hungry-hungry-hippos’ style in WoLK where damage (both player and NPC) scaled much faster than HP (leading to a game that was fast-paced but also infuriatingly luck-based in many cases), Blizzard has decided to slow things down this time. Healers aren’t going to see tanks get killed in two hits, Mages aren’t going to be able to two-shot players, and in general there’s more time to think and more options to consider.

   That’s a good thing. As a healer WoLK was about reaction time and output. Threat was not a factor. Mana was not a factor. Well? Guess what: instead of playing whac-a-mole in Cataclysm, you have more time to focus on being efficient and smart – which you need to do because mana and threat limitations are back in a big way.

   The story for DPS and tanking is the same, too. You can’t just go mash buttons…

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2. 145 of 173 people found the following review helpful:

   
   Blizzard is just getting better and better, December 7, 2010

   By 

   Redswordwolf on Argent Dawn –

   Fun: 

   This review is from: World of Warcraft: Cataclysm (DVD-ROM)

   This review is broken into sections. It is long so just skip to the parts that you are interested in.

   ***NEW STUFF***

   * Level cap raised from 80 to 85

   * Players can use flying mounts in old-world Azeroth zones (flying mounts were previously restricted to Northrend and Outland because of design limitations)

   * Redesigned and updated zones within Kalimdor and the Eastern Kingdoms

   * New towns and around 3500 new quests

   * Redesigned low and mid-level quests to accompany updated zones

   * Seven new dungeons:
   1. Blackrock Caverns
   2. Throne of the Tides
   3. Stonecore
   4. Vortex Pinnacle
   5. Lost City of the Tol’vir
   6. Halls of Origination
   7. Grim Batol

   All seven are available in regular and heroic modes at level 85

   * Three new raids:
   1. The Bastion of Twilight
   2. Blackwing Descent
   3. Throne of the Four Winds
   Plus the Tol Barad Prison raid dungeon after PvP zone completion (more raids planned to be released with later patches)

   * Two previously released dungeons–Deadmines and Shadowfang Keep–are re-vamped with an added Heroic Mode for level 85 players

   * New battlegrounds and a new world-PvP zone, Tol-Barad (similar to the Wintergrasp world-PvP zone introduced in Wrath of the Lich King)

   * A new secondary skill: Archaeology

   * An overhaul of the Glyph system with three types of Glyphs:
   1. Prime
   2. Major
   3. Minor
   In addition, Glyphs are taught as a spell and can now be switched around without the purchase of additional glyphs.
   However, you will need a new material called “Vanishing Powder” to replace existing Glyphs with new ones.

   * A rated battleground system, along with associated new rewards

   * Newly accessible zones including:
   1. Uldum
   2. Deepholm
   3. The Sunken City of Vash’jir
   4. Twilight Highlands and Mount Hyjal (previously only featured as a time travel destination within the Caverns of Time)

   * Two new playable races:
   1. Goblins (Horde)
   2. Worgen (Alliance)

   * Addition of new race/class combinations (Tauren can now be Paladins, Gnomes can now be Priests, Undead can now be Hunters, etc.)

   * Introduction of new stats such as Mastery, which will enhance certain abilities (both active and passive) depending on the player’s class and talent specialization

   * Changes to class mechanics, including abolishing the use of ammunition and stand-alone warlock soul shards, consolidation of totems and buffs, the addition of holy power for paladins, an eclipse mechanic for Druids, Rage normalization, changes to the rune system, the change from mana to focus for hunters, and racial bonuses

   * Warlocks and Hunters now attain a combat pet at level 1 without needing to do a quest. Warlocks get an imp, Hunters get a pet based on their race (Dwarves get a bear, Humans get a wolf, Undead get a spider, etc.)

   * Revamp of the stat system, removing such stats as mana per 5 seconds (MP5), armor penetration and defense rating and integrating them in other ways such as talents or the new mastery stat.

   * Major changes to the cities of Stormwind and Orgrimmar, with minor adjustments to others

   * New starting areas for Trolls and Gnomes at levels 1-5

   * Player talent trees have been reworked to a 31 point tree and players will have a total of 41 talent points at level 85. Consequently, the talent trees are being “trimmed”, and will look (superficially) much like the talent trees players had available on WoW’s launch. Although it seems counterintuitive, Blizzard actually says this will give players more options, as the talents they are trimming felt mandatory previously. Instead of the old method of one talent point per level (after level 10) players get one point at level 10, then a point every odd level (e.g. 11, 13, 15….) afterwards.

   * Unlike the current talent system where a player learns his or her first talent point at level 10 and is able to place that point and any subsequent point wherever he or she chooses, in Cataclysm, at level 10 a player must choose a talent specialization (spec) and only spend points in that “tree” until they have reached 31 points. Once 31 points have been spent, he or she is able to use the rest of his or her attained points in any of the 3 trees. When the player chooses a specialization at 10, they will gain one major active skill that sets that spec apart from the others, and 2-3 passive skills that support that particular tree. This was done in order to make players feel as though…

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3. 76 of 91 people found the following review helpful:

   
   Read this before buying this expansion…., December 7, 2010

   By 

   Eric Lind (Longmont, Colorado, USA) –

   Fun: 

   Amazon Verified Purchase(What’s this?)

   This review is from: World of Warcraft: Cataclysm (DVD-ROM)

   If your new to WOW, buying this for a friend or just a bit dense like me…. Keep in mind that you (or your friend) MUST have the previous two expansion sets, “Burning Crusade” AND “Wrath of the Lich King”.

   I’m sure that to long time players of WOW this is not news, but it was to me and it’s something that Amazon and Blizzard need to make just a bit clearer in their marketing.

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