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Blizzard's Jeff Kaplan With An Exclusive "Burning Crusade" Update

World of Warcraft PR Manager Shon Damron and Lead Designer Jeff Kaplan have travelled the world demoing a recent build of WoW's premier expansion and answering questions from the international press. Jeff "Ethec" Woleslagle travelled to the Big Apple with your questions, and now we bring you the cutting-edge latest on what will prove to be the biggest expansion to hit the MMORPG genre in years. See the progress since E3 in May, learn about the substantial changes Blizzard has in store for PvP and the raid game, and - of course - Blizzard answers the WoW Ten Ton Hammer community's toughest questions.

"It's true, 25 is the new 40. The largest raids in the expansion will be capped at 25 players. Kaplan explained the rationale: "We felt like we could preserve all the epic-ness and grandeur of the current raid game and difficulty. Our raids aren't going to become any easier, if anything they'll become more challenging, but will require fewer players. We find that once you get over 25, it's not making the game any more challenging, it's just making the logistics challenging." Kaplan promised that, with the raid limit decrease, Blizzard would address the real and perceived class imbalances that keep some players out of the raid game. "We don't end up in a raid of 25 with 20 warriors and 5 priests or something like that. We're reviewing all the classes to make sure everybody wants to be present in the raid game.""

Keep reading to find out what else is in store in the upcoming Burning Crusades expansion. You can find this interview and more at WoW Ten Ton Hammer. Stop the forums and share your thoughts with us.

Is the Warhammer Online game in any way an attempt to be a translation of the table-top war game?

ComputerandVideoGames.com has posted a preview of the upcoming Warhammer Online Age of Reckoning.

Stood in a large hall, surrounded by empty tables where hundreds of undersized battles have been decided with hundreds of handfuls of dice, I ask Games Workshop's licensing manager Erik Mogensen a question that I know is a stupid one, but I feel I should ask. Is the Warhammer Online game in any way an attempt to be a translation of the table-top war game?

"Not at all. It's not about the table-top game, it's about the IP".

Keep reading to find out more. Tell us what you think about this preview at Warhammer Ten Ton Hammer!

Frank Pierce Talks with German Site

WorldofWar.net and their partnersite WorldofWar.de have published an interview with Blizzard's Frank Pierce. This interview took place during the EU Press tour.

You decided to give the horde the Paladin and the community's response to the news was massive. People are concerned about the balancing. Are there any differences in the classes depending on the faction? what's is the future for the game as there appears to be no difference.

There won't be any notable distinction between the classes available to the Alliance and Horde but in terms of PvP, battlegrounds and the war and all that stuff, it's all still there. I don't think that because we have this class cross-over that we're going to see any drop-off in the amount of PvP, because at the end of the day, they are still warring factions. I still hate the Alliance as much as I did before :)

Certainly, the community was very vocal about the announcement and that's healthy. We want to hear what the community has to say, they wouldn't be so vocal if they didn't care about the game and so in that respect it's good to know they care so much about the game.

Read the rest of this interview and then hurry over to WoW Ten Ton Hammer and let us know your thoughts!

Is Conan For You?

Gaming Horizon took some time to preview Age of Conan: Hyborian Adventures recently. Their preview includes some wonderful screenshots that you will not want to miss.

Age of Conan, Funcom's second foray into the MMO market, will trade on the world's most recognizable fantasy hero while thrusting its players into a dark, savage and deadly world of demonology, wanton cruelty and human sacrifice. Going to retail with a Mature rating from the ESRB, a potentially risky move for a subscription-based game, will ensure that players will be able to revel in the gritty (un)reality of the Conan universe - complete with in-game guttings and beheadings. However, that's only the tip of the proverbial iceberg, in this highly anticipated game.

Our fourms are just waiting for you to fill them up with your thoughts about Age of Conan and all your favorite MMOs once you finish reading this preview. Are you planning to play Age of Conan? Tell us why!