Ten Ton Hammer - Taking MMO Gamers to the Next Level!

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 [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

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. [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 [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 [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 [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.