Christmas is around the corner and Blizzard is as busy as ever. Hitting its One
Year Anniversary mark with World of Warcraft and it's upcoming release of it's
new expansion "The Burning Crusade", they seem to be at the top of their game.
With over a 4 million gamer fan base for World of Warcraft, one might consider
how the this new expansion will affect the in game play of the casual players,
hardcore end game guilds, dedicated PVP'ers and everyone else that has been
caught in its addictive and wonderful wind. As a large WoW gamer myself, I have
been elbow to elbow with all the fans as to what to except in the upcoming
expansion and more importantly, how it will affect my character in the game I
already know and love. For most of us, we know the up to date news on the
changes The Burning Crusade brings; new races, new trades, new level cap,
Caverns of Time, Outland, the list goes on and on. With all the new end game
content and large raid dungeons, Blizzard has promised us a full plate, and has
assured us that it will deliver.



But as the future of the Game shifts before us, I realised that by raising the
level cap an extra 10 levels, it will change the face of the (medium-end) game
as we have come to know it. It will seriously affect many in-game aspects that
few have considered.



Here to talk with us about the upcoming expansion and its affects on level 60
Raids (MC and BWL), average 5-10 man instances, tier rare and epic sets, PVP
ranks and rewards, the affects on structured and hardcore end game guilds, and
the future prospects of the Outland instances, is Colin Darcy. He is head of the
elite end game guild , owning a superbly built Tauren Warrior
named Highbeastman. To people like Colin, The Burning Crusade will change their
in game world the most, and it is up to Guild Leaders like him, to show everyone
the light.



Colin Darcy




"Well Memnok, I want to thank you so much for giving me the opportunity to share
my views about the highly anticipated Blizzard expansion, The Burning Crusade.
Of course, above all before I start into any of my thoughts, anticipations and
problems with the expansion, know that I am first and foremost very excited and
looking forward to it beyond belief as it will give to the players the
experience they should have gotten with the original release of World of
Warcraft.



As for some background information on myself, just to let all the viewers know
who and where I come from, my name is Colin Darcy and am a 22 year old graduate
student who has been a dedicated Blizzard fan ever since the release of the
first Warcraft game. World of Warcraft was introduced to me the day last
November when it was released and have been hooked and mesmerized since. I made
the decision to play the same character and work on it till they eventually made
an expansion and only then would I try out the new race or class.I swore loyalty
to The Mighty Horde and the great Warchief Thrall, and took up the proverbial
sword and shield as a bestial Tauren Warrior named Highbeastman. I have played
through it all. Every instance, n00blar or otherwise, every sized raid group and
every outdoor encounter. I run the Premier Horde Guild on my server called
and have enjoyed and won success with all Blizzard has thrown
at me and my band of ruthless and determined followers. My humble beginnings of
success was in all forms of PVP including starting long before there was ever a
notion of a system of recognition (which in my opinion was the best and most
fun way to PVP). I have seen 300-500 people armies of Horde and Alliance
fighting among the outskirts and inside of towns, leaving heaps of bodies broken
and twisted, which for those of you that can remember it, and had the hardware
to properly participate it, was QUITE the experience to behold. Through these
blood and guts encounters I made my game fortune and carved the most hard nosed
guild my server could muster. From here, we achieved firsts in all raid
instances from the lower UBRS to MC, ZG, and BWL. For us, our favoured few, it
is my solid belief that the new changes to the game (and all other players and
guilds like us) will affect us the most.



Where do the worries begin? Simple. 10 Extra levels. What does this mean for us?
Well to the average WoW player, it won't mean all that much. They will look
forward to the extra experience and joy of capping a second time, the new quests
and environments, as we all should. But for the people who have spent many hours
unravelling the end game, it is quite a change. First, expect to see the dissolve
of tier 1 55-60 rare sets (ie. Valour, Beaststalker, Shadowcraft, etc) and 2 epic 60 sets (Ie Cenarion, Wrath, Giantstalker etc). Why will people stop
focusing on the items pray tell? There will be no need to collect them, for with
the new content and cap, the 70's sets will outdate anything available to us
now. People will not farm Strath, Scholo, UBRS, LBRS, to complete sets they
replace with AH or quest items that are 60-70 req. This includes the "end game"
instances we take part in now such as MC. As much fun as killing and working to
Rag was, why do guilds like us go to MC several times a week? To farm the items
to allow an easier time for newer members to take part in newer content that
gets released. There will be no need to farm or run these anymore, for it will
be replaced by the Outland content and the 70 Outland sets. How many of our
toons 55-60 actually went to Strath and Scholo for xp? Not many and in fact would
be frowned upon by 60's in the group. These players were designed for the
specific purpose of getting us to make runs to collect the item sets. These
instances will be next to worthless now, by being replaced by the (hopefully)
5-10 man 70 Outland instances, where we will farm to get our gear to hit the
higher Outland 40 man raids. You may be equipped in epic proportions now, but you
will be crap compared to a blue laden 70. Equipment by far will take the Worst
blow.



Grinding has always been the most efficient way to level your character as many
people have found. To mow through 10 levels is tough for anyone, any class, any
faction. People in my guild have spent months on their characters getting them
to the point where they inspire ABSOLUTE fear in Alliance eyes, and ABSOLUTE
respect on the Horde side. I can say with pride that any one
member is worth 6 Alliance in a fight and what’s more, is that the Alliance
members know this. You have to work very hard to get into the guild and it is
not open for many. The fact you are 60 means nothing to me, its what you can do
with your character and what you have gained along the way, be it items, style
or a mentality. This is the kicker though, many people are only on during raid
times, so how can we hold the same authority and control as before and make sure
that everyone hits 70 together as a united force? There is in my opinion going
to be a huge adjustment period throughout all the servers when the expansion
hits and both sides race for the top. Here we shall see many high end game
guilds start cutting members who were in great positions of power, if they cannot
keep up with the levelling process and COMPLETELY overhaul their gear. We are
going to start at the bottom of the barrel again. We are going to have to learn
every instance trick, every boss fight, everything again for the new instances.
All part of the adjustment period, but for those people who cant be on and
exposed to all the new content, they will fall behind severely. Luckiest people
of all are the casual players or the players who are still leisurely leveling
when the expansion hits. They will continue down their path as though nothing
much has changed, and never quite understand what in the scope has occurred.



PVP is a huge question on my mind. How are they going to incorporate these new
10 levels into the standings and ranks of Millions? Those people who have put in
the WTFBBQPWNAGELASERPEWPEWPEW to achieve the highest PVP standing available
will be the most hurt. The gear and system will need to be overhauled and now
the people at the top of the ranks will have to continue to gain their rank back
and more to receive the level 70 rewards, for they must overshadow the 60 only
gear. New ranks must also be created and stacked accordingly to show the new
levels put in place.



Talents. This will also be quite a big overhaul, for will Blizzard give us just
a extra 10 points on our existing trees, or will they give us new talents or
trees entirely? Things like this were never touched on so far by Blizz reps.



Trades will likely have an extreme overhaul bringing in 10 new levels worth of
goodies to all of the players, including Jewel crafting. This means yes, many,
many hours of farming to up our skill levels which will change and to get the
goods to start producing the new items Blizz graces us with.



Outland, its content, its instances and its raid material will like I said
before, take over all higher game focus. It is here, that we will see people
begin to in the future, play in and farm in to take part in the new end game,
and see the old old end game content fall apart. Flying mounts will be nice to.
The Caverns of Time, from what I have seen will be like a vacation. People will
be able to go there for pure enjoyment and questing, which will be very
refreshing.



There is so much to speculate on, but in the end, only time will tell. Hopefully
everyone can take my predictions with a grain of sand, but above all, ENJOY THE
NEW CONTENT."





Thank you so much Colin, you have put forth many good ideas and have formulated
what a lot of the affects will mean to players. If anyone at all has any
questions, or comments we would love to hear from you!