Black Raven Dragoons

[Zancarius]

There's some speculation over on Slashdot about the next expansion, and they think it is going to be titled Cataclysm. If true, it could very well involve the Maelstrom as some of you predicted (I was wrong; as much as I wanted the Emerald Dream, I guess we'll have to hold off--sigh). I'd imagine this will involve raising the level cap to 90. But that involves some consideration:

First, raising the level cap again will be an admission just like the 70 -> 80 increase was, except that this time, it will be far more telling. One, Blizzard likely doesn't expect that there are any "new" players picking up WoW. Increasing the level cap increases the time taken for new players to reach a point where they can enjoy content with their guild mates. Older content, just like much of the fun stuff in BC we experienced, rusts away, disused, forgotten, and never experienced again. I imagine the egghead analysts at Blizzard long ago decided that it is better to create content to keep existing players playing and canceled accounts coming back; after all, whoever wants to play WoW has already been playing it, I'm sure. And you have to confess, in spite of the experience requirement reductions, leveling is fast only for those who have already leveled: You're screwed if you're a new player.

If indeed this covers the Maelstrom, it'll be an interesting experience. I might even come back for that. Well, unless Diablo III is out--at that point, forget it.

[Sonikku]

The Maelstrom looks like it's it. A few weeks ago there was a "Maelstrom TEST" realm on the realm list for a brief while before being taken down. I've also heard it's revealed near the end of Rise of The Lich King that Arthas has visions of the various raids of past and present in WoW in exact order, with his last two involving a great palace sunken to the bottom of the ocean before a flourishing forest giving way to corruption. I haven't read it yet myself just yet, however so the exact details are unknown to me. "Cataclysm" also refers to the great sundering, which resulted in the creation of the Maelstrom. Provided the word doesn't have a different meaning for the new upcoming MMO, of course. We'll probably learn more at blizzcon.

[Tirian]

Thal, did you quit again?

I'm intrigued by the Maelstrom as it's very likely that a big chunk of the content will be underwater. They're going to have to work out a new mechanic for this, as I would rather shoot myself in the head than play an entire continent at swim speed. Of course, one part of this is the new underwater mounts, but unless they're going to introduce mounted fighting, this can't be it alone. Can you imagine how boring it would be to constantly have to mount and remount to avoiding the swimming speed penalty?

This also presents opportunities to wrap up / finally illuminate some pieces of lore that have been disregarded throughout WoW, like those human island kingdom(s) floating off the west coast of the Eastern Kingdoms.

As for another continent to level through and another 10 levels added to the cap, you're right, despite the reductions in leveling time, this pretty much acknowledges that the focus is completely on the entrenched. This makes sense for the business model -- we are the golden geese, while new players are not a certain bet. I don't think I can imagine starting this game afresh though... that's one of the reasons I don't play Horde. And in my most recent alt-leveling, it is a bit odd how the reduced level thresholds mean that you frequently leave a zone before you've rounded out its quests, let alone the quests connecting zones of roughly the same level. It's fine for us that leveled through in vanilla WoW, but I bet it feels really incomplete to the new player.

On a last point, I agree with something I read on the forums awhile back -- for leveling lower level characters (as a main or an alt), it's so much more fun to be on a new (or really, really poorly developed) server where there are actually people of your own level going through content, not just button-mashing and getting 80 guildmates to finish off their new alts. Can you imagine getting a group together for Stocks or Uldaman without an 80 to fill three spots anymore?

Ok, that was longer than planned. What can I say, I'm swilling coffee in a cafe and trying to avoid my horrible pages of translation to do. Tirian - OUT.

[Zancarius]

Thal, did you quit again?

Yep. People take the game a little too seriously for my tastes.

As for another continent to level through and another 10 levels added to the cap, you're right, despite the reductions in leveling time, this pretty much acknowledges that the focus is completely on the entrenched. This makes sense for the business model -- we are the golden geese, while new players are not a certain bet. I don't think I can imagine starting this game afresh though... that's one of the reasons I don't play Horde. And in my most recent alt-leveling, it is a bit odd how the reduced level thresholds mean that you frequently leave a zone before you've rounded out its quests, let alone the quests connecting zones of roughly the same level. It's fine for us that leveled through in vanilla WoW, but I bet it feels really incomplete to the new player.

That's a really good way to put it. During the few times I've leveled alts recently, I couldn't quite put a finger on the "why" of alt leveling feeling out of place. Worse, since zones become obsolete so soon, it's difficult to plan ahead for your next leveling spots unless you're a fairly seasoned player. And forget group quests (unless you've got the buddy system going).

To that extent, I think it's a shame. New players are really missing out.

On a last point, I agree with something I read on the forums awhile back -- for leveling lower level characters (as a main or an alt), it's so much more fun to be on a new (or really, really poorly developed) server where there are actually people of your own level going through content, not just button-mashing and getting 80 guildmates to finish off their new alts. Can you imagine getting a group together for Stocks or Uldaman without an 80 to fill three spots anymore?

I think that would've been fun, to be honest. The thing is that getting enough people together for long enough to level an alt without interruptions from raids and the likes is nearly impossible.

On the other hand, I didn't think about the water mounts. Whatever those might be. Regardless, I'm sure the cost will be ridiculously high: 10K GP for a mount? 100K GP? Maybe they're attempting to emulate our own stimulus package and create inherent inflation, because if there's one thing increasing mount costs have done to the game, it's exactly that: inflation. When semi-rare JC patterns suddenly hit 8-10K GP, there's something seriously wrong.

And for the record, they damn well better do something about mining. Everyone is a miner, and nodes don't pop fast enough to feed everyone's appetite. It gets cheaper just to buy...

[Damorte]

I am already overwhelmed leveling my toons from WotLK. I only have one 80 and I get bored trying to level the others. I really really don't want to level another 10 levels. I would so not be interested in it.

[Zancarius]

I am already overwhelmed leveling my toons from WotLK. I only have one 80 and I get bored trying to level the others. I really really don't want to level another 10 levels. I would so not be interested in it.

I'm wondering if that's what's going to be the death knell (not the undead place) of WoW. "Here, have another 10 levels because we can't design content that doesn't require you to mindlessly grind again and again and again. Though, I wouldn't mind something similar to the Death Knight chains: Do quests, get talent points.

A max level of 90 is just absurd...

Oh, and not to really freak you guys out, but it's my understanding that the player level is stored in a short int. That means there's a max of 255 levels they can set you up with. Yikes.