Cataclysm: Opinions and Conclusions

[Confucius]

Well Cataclysm has been released and many people, love it or hate it, have their opinions about it. In this article I first discuss my thoughts on this new release from Blizzard then I interview some of the MMOwned community for their opinion on Cataclysm and what they think about World of Warcraft's latest expansions pack! So without any farther waiting lets get started!

World of Warcraft has been around for over six years now and has been very successful as a business and continues to dominate the MMORPG industry, and with the release of its new expansion pack Cataclysm nothing has changed in those regards. In my opinion Cataclysm is a breath of fresh air after Wrath of the Lich King and the let down many felt upon its release. While I didn't hate WoTLK I did think it could use some improvement and that Cataclysm is exactly what Blizzard needed to release at exactly the right time. Many players were beginning to bore of World of Warcraft after the Fall of the Lich King patch was over and they had attained the best gear. With the release of patch 4.0 many players returned to the game to experience the talent and class changes, and for those still playing it was a type of revival the game needed badly. However while some people did not like patch 4.0, it was met with positive feelings from the general public.

Then came patch 4.0.3a two weeks before cataclysm which resulted in many new alts and race changes to play the new class/race combinations. This patch not only offered the new class combinations but it also shattered Azeroth to its core and many players had fun exploring the new zones and raising their rep with the new races before Cataclysm hit. Of course this patch to was met with criticism but it is impossible to please everyone, personally I felt it was a great patch that really helped revive World of Warcraft even more and brought back a certain awe to the game that was lost after having played the same expansion for so long.

Finally on December 7th Cataclysm was released, within six hours the world's first 85 dinged and many new players stayed up all night to enjoy the new content. My thoughts about cataclysm for the most part are really positive as are most of my friend's or guild mates'. The quests are much more interactive and I find myself reading the text again and having so much fun leveling that I don't even notice the xp bar going up. Another thing I enjoy is that leveling is much faster to the cap than it was in the two previous expansions meaning that there was more room for pure good tasting content rather than filler stuff. I also find myself liking dungeons more than ever, with it being more than kill, kill, kill, boss, kill more. The new guild system is just amazing and the buffs are an awesome perk as well.

All in all I think Cataclysm is the best World of Warcraft expansion so far and if Blizzard continues with this level of quality I can't wait for more. Of course I could keep on raving about how much I like Cataclysm and how great of a release it was, but instead I think it would be more interesting to get other opinions on the matter. So I have interviewed some fellow MMOwned members about Cataclysm to get their opinion on this new release from Blizzard and whether it was for the best or worst, enjoy the interviews below and be sure to thank the members for taking the time out of their day to let me annoy them!

First off on my torture- err interview list is Nothinglol!

Confucius: Hello nothinglol, thank you for taking the time for this quick interview of what you think about Cataclysm!

Nothinglol: Hey Confucius, thanks for talking to me, glad to help.

Confucius: Ok so to start things out we start with a simple question (hopefully)! How long have you been playing World of Warcraft?

Nothinglol: I began playing right before Burning Crusade was released, so a couple of years.

Confucius: That's about the sametime I started playing too! Ok, so moving on to our next question, what do you think about the previous expansions of World of Warcraft and in your opinion how does cataclysm compare/what is your opinion about it?

Nothinglol: Well I have seen alot of changes in WoW, and I think that Blizzard has done a good job with Cataclysm so far. I havn't hit 85 yet, but the questlines in Cata are very well done, and I especially like the focus on the history behind the "World" of warcraft. Compared to BC and WotLK, I think Cataclysm is the best.

Confucius: Moving onto the next question, we have all seen people who stocked up before cataclysm making tons of money. Since you probably had an idea that you would like it before it was released, how did you prepare for Cataclysm?

Nothinglol: Before Cataclysm was released I had actually taken a break from WoW, and I was keeping up with much of the news about Cataclysm on MMOwned. All the changes finally convinced me to check out what I was missing, and I returned during 4.0.3a. I was stunned by the changes, and realized that I only had a few days until release, so I just barely managed to finish leveling my pally to 80 before it hit. Unfortunately, those were the extent of my preparations

Confucius: Well, it's better than nothing! Speaking of the 4.0.3a changes brings us to our next question, How do you feel about the recent overhauls blizzard has made to the game?

Nothinglol: At the moment I have mixed feelings. On one hand, I really enjoy the new questlines that Blizzard implemented, and the changes to some of the zones were really cool. On the other hand, I do miss some of the old zones which brought back a bit of nostalgia. I don't know enough about all the different class changes to make much of a comment about them, but I also really enjoy the revamped talent trees. Leveling my alts is much simpler, while they still maintain enough complexity to satisfy the number-crunchers. Overall, I think Blizzard has done well

Confucius: Well this interview has been very fun and interseting but as all things must it's time for it to come to an end with this final question; What do you think the future of World of Warcraft has in store based on what you have seen from Blizzard so far?

Nothinglol: Blizzard seems to like a challenge, and I think they've shown that with Cataclysm. I'm also sure that they're already looking forward to the next expansion, and I expect some significant things. If Cata was any indication, then I'm sure the future holds some even bigger changes. I don't think that Warcraft is going anywhere though; I see it continuing to remain the biggest and best MMORPG out there.

Confucius: Well thank you for your time and awesome responses to this interview have a good day/night/what ever it is over there!

Nothinglol: Haha, no problem Confucius. Again, thanks for having me, it's always a pleasure to talk with you. You have a good day/night/wahtever as well!



Next up we have Enagic I hope you enjoy his interview as well!

Confucius: Greetings Enagic, thank you for taking time out of your day for this interview about Cataclysm!

Enagic: Hello

Confucius: Well to start things off lets ask a simple question, how long have you been playing World of Warcraft?

Enagic: For about 3 years now I would think.

Confucius: So about for half as long as its been out, a decent amount of time, lets move onto the next question. What do you think about the previous expansions and what is your opinion on Cataclysm compared to other expansions?

Enagic: I never played Vanilla, I started in the release of the Sunwell. Thats where I found WoW to be amazing, and come to think of it, their peak point of the game. Wrath was shit in my opinion, they just threw epics at you and the mechanics to every fight was simply tanking and standing out of ground effects. The modeling on Wrath was just awful, and now that Cataclysm is out, you can see how much better the modeling is. The quests and mechanics are much more fun, and it seems as if they introduced many new aspects of the game.

Confucius: Very nice answer, onto our next question; what did you do to prepare for Cataclysm if you did at all?

Enagic: Simple. I didn't do this elemental invasion shit since waiting around for a few months for Cataclysm to be released was a big waste of time. So I took a break off WoW and did other stuff.

Confucius: Well a break of anything is always good (besides Pandas), so without further ado our next question, how do you feel about the recent overhauls Blizzard has made to the game such as the talent tree and class revamps.

Enagic: I honestly don't like it. Even though they pretty much made it more simple, they did manage to make me angry by setting the last talent point, say Druid's Berserk, a few levels ahead, instead of the normal level 60. But it is much easier to respec now (a lot less clicking!) and I'm kinda bummed with priests, since we burn so much mana trying to heal D; Still, it's nice to see change and some challenge since Wrath didn't require much thinking.

Confucius: Well it's always great to see different opinions, for our final question; what do you think the future of World of Warcraft has in store for us?

Enagic: Hmm hard question. What do you think :P?

Confucius: Hey that's cheating! Anyways thanks for the interview Enagic, it's been fun .



For our final interview I ask Remus a few questions, and as always get some very deep responses.

Confucius: Hello Remus, thank you for taking time to do this interview about Cataclysm!

Remus: Oh herro ;D

Confucius: So lets start things out with a simple question, how long have you been playing World of Warcraft for?

Remus: hmm, tail end of vanilla, started because of my uncle. Been around the block a few times

Confucius: Heh, well onto the next question... What do you think about the previous expansions and what is your opinion on Cataclysm compared to the other expansions?

Remus: Bc was fun, as i didnt have any vanilla raiding experience. Relished in the fact of it took a well coordinated guild to do things. Wrath felt llike someone dropped the ball on progression, even though their valid reasonings of access to everyone i feel it tailspinned with people thinking they were good and little to check up on if they were. As for cata i'm just loving it. Haven't tapped into the raiding scene yet due to enjoying the quests instead of rushing to 85. From what I can see so far it should be far more fun that wrath was, really hoping there will be hard encounters that seperates the weak from the meat. I do miss BC for that reason that was lost in wrath.

Confucius: A very nice answer indeed, my next question for you is how did you prepare for Cataclysm if you did at all?

Remus: Didn't really prepare much as I was already in heroic ICC gear, between college I do what quests i can and enjoy the guild i'm in. Can't wait to stomp into raids after i've experienced what the devs have given us.

Confucius: Me either, now onto the next question, how do you feel about the recent overhauls Blizzard has made to the game such as the class and talent tree changes?

Remus: Love it, I play a mage and recently been diggin Fire. With the stat consolidations they did, it isn't such a pain to switch between arcane and fire depending on the fights. I no longer play the other classes I have, so slim perspective on the subject.

Confucius: Mages are always fun, unless you're a warrior like me, so onto our final question; what do you think the future of World of Warcraft has in store?

Remus: Depends on if you still enjoy the game, I enjoy the game for what it is at the present and don't look at the future of it. WoW is a progressing story and gaining more power (gear/stats/levels) is part of that progression. I hope the game lasts a good bit longer so that I'll have something to look forward to after lectures. (or during >.>)

Confucius: Well thanks for your great answers Remus, this interview has been a pleasure like always

Remus: Tell your sister she can bring the presents over early Just messin, haha. Been a pleasure, thanks for the interview.


As you can see the MMOwned community all have different opinions about Cataclysm and other things relating to it. One thing is for certain though, Cataclysm is impossible to ignore, no one doesn't have an opinion about it yet, even those who have not played it. What is your opinion on Cataclysm and how do you feel it will affect World of Warcraft for the years to come?

Well as always I hope you had a good time reading this article and look forward to bringing you more in the future!

-Confucius

[Sneakylemons]

Remus: Tell your sister she can bring the presents over early Just messin, haha. Been a pleasure, thanks for the interview.

I lol'd.. Remus is a boss