General Overview - Wrath
of the
Lich King
By John
"Boomjack" Hoskin
I'm sure it came as a surprise to very few of you that
Blizzard's big announcement from BlizzCON was the next World
of Warcraft expansion, titled Wrath of the Lich
King. The opening ceremonies were the backdrop for Jeff
Kaplan and Tom Chilton to set up this MMOG bomb of a unveiling. They lead us down the
garden path a bit, discussing such things as the upcoming integrated
voice capabilities, but it wasn't long before they brought a roar from
the crowd by announcing the next expansion.
Location, Location, Location
Wrath of the Lich King is no small undertaking. Steeped in
lore and larger than Outland, this is an extensive project. The new
island where we will be spending our leisure hours is none other than
Northrend [
target="_blank">Video],
"Northrend is the icy, northernmost continent of the world
of Azeroth, and the source of the evil Scourge. It is also the home of
Icecrown Glacier, the seat of the malevolent Lich King. It has received
some sort of a capital city in the form of Dalaran flying over there,
where it can act as a base from which the Horde and the Alliance take
on the Blue Dragonflight and Arthas' Scourge." - WoWWiki.com
alt="Borean Tundra" title="Borean Tundra" name="photo_j"
border="0" height="95" width="150" />
The continent of Northrend is harsh and forbidding.
Though previously shown as a snow covered, icy landmass,
there will be zones within Northrend that are lush with forests and
vegetation. With more zones than Outland, there should be plenty to keep
even the most industrious busy for quite some time. [
href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/node/9514" target="_blank">More
on Northrend]
Unlike Outland, which had only one point of entry that caused
congestion at launch, Northrend will give players the option of
starting their journey in either Howling Fjord or Borea Tundra.
Howling Fjord is the home to "13 foot tall Viking badasses" according to the dev team. It will also contain one of the first instances
in the expansion, Utgard Keep.
Borean Tundra [
href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/node/9779" target="_blank">Video]
is inhabited by a nomadic race of walrus fishermen called the Tusker. How
many people will be dressed as walrus fishermen next BlizzCON? I'll
guess many. This zone will take the player through a side story pitting
the Naga versus the Tusker. Man-snake versus Man-walrus. I can't
man-wait.
Another zone, Grizzly Hills [
href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/node/9782" target="_blank">Video]
will contain an ancient Dwarf city and be frequented by everyone's
favourite man-bear hybrid, the Furbolg.
Perhaps the coolest sounding new zone is Dragonblight [
href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/node/9783" target="_blank">Video],
the dragon graveyard so to speak. Dragonblight is where dragons go to
die. Protected by the Blue Dragonflight, it is one of the largest zones
in Northrend.
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