Burning Crusade Preview

[CrystalTears]

The Burning Crusade Preview: Karazhan (Medivh's Tower) - Blaze on 1/31/06

Development on the first ever World of Warcraft expansion - The Burning Crusade - continues at a feverish pace, and the dev team has released its first information on one of the new dungeons for the expansion. In this new preview (http://www.worldofwarcraft.com/burningcrusade/townhall/karazhan.html) you see screen shots of Karazhan - the tower of the fabled guardian Medivh - as well as background lore providing the first shadowed hints into the terrible dangers and mysteries that await adventurers:
Between Duskwood and the Swamp of Sorrows lies the desolate region of Deadwind Pass, where jagged, brooding spires of granite loom over petrified, lifeless forests. As its name suggests, it is a land devoid of life.

But it was not always so...

Medivh, the Last Guardian, made his home in Deadwind, in the bright tower of Karazhan. Though he was the greatest wizard of his day (and humanity's intended custodian) Medivh was secretly possessed by the dark spirit of Sargeras, the Destroyer of Worlds. Through Medivh, Sargeras opened the Dark Portal and allowed the orcs to wage war upon the mortal kingdoms of Azeroth. Read More (http://www.worldofwarcraft.com/burningcrusade/townhall/karazhan.html)

[Ebondale]

Lets hear it for more end-game instances. :rolleyes:

[CrystalTears]

Lets hear it for more level 60 instances. :rolleyes:
It's a level 70 instance actually.

[Numbers]

Anyone else see that New York Times interview where the lead designer essentially said that the endgame is raid or quit?

Or notice that all the WoW FAQ's are quietly being changed to eliminate all of the original references to focusing on casual play that made the game so successful in the first place?

[CrystalTears]

Or notice how 3704558 always has something negative to say about WoW?

Heh, you're as bad as an ex-Gemstone player. I wish I knew what scorned you so much. :(

[Numbers]

Ex-GemStone players are usually so passionate because, at one point in time, they loved the game that GemStone was. Which is why they tend to fight so hard when they see it changing for the worse.

WoW's the same way, except the change is much more blatant and abrupt.

[crazymage]

every game ever made has a lousy end game, thats why its the END. Raid/BG/quit and stfu.

[Makkah]

I like crayons. And pie.

[Ebondale]

It's a level 70 instance actually.

lol yeah I realized as soon as I posted that message that they were upping the level cap so I edited my post right away. :) You're quick to reply!

[Emo Emu]

Not that it really happened to me this way, but there is really a lot of pressure to just raid at the end rather than even do BG.

Regardless, what is BG? It's just organized PvP in which it is nothing but a glorified deathmatch or Battlefield 1942 with worse combat mechanics. If they really wanted a better end game then have dynamic world that encourages sacking towns, more free form PvP, or even storylines like Asheron's Call did.

[CrystalTears]

There isn't anything to discourage raiding towns of the opposing faction. Although it would be neat to have relics, totems or special items that you can capture in various towns and bring back to a city for reputation points or something. Something else or other goals other than just to randomly kill people.

[Emo Emu]

Unfortunately, there is pleanty to discourage you from raiding towns. Namely, you not getting high end raiding gear that you can get from either Battle Grounds or high level instances. Now, I know the dishonor system got revamped, but with honor, it's business as usual. If you arn't in BG and getting a high score you are losing rank, add in an accidental dishonorable kill and you really have a nice sting there.

Granted, this might not affect a non-hardcore gamer, but when you have a lot of the high end population trying to get a BG going or a space for a raid, you really have a lower freeform PvP population.e

[Wezas]

Personally, I don't usually have big chunks of time where people are available to do instances. I've been on I think two 2-3 hour instances and a few baron runs.

I wish my capped rogue was on a PvP server. Because that is pretty much all I would be doing. Joining raids to kill people.

Battlegrounds/Raiding is nice for people like me who might get called away at any moment because of kids, etc. You can't do that in end game instances.

Plus you get to kill people. Which is always fun.

[Sean of the Thread]

Sacking towns ftw

[Apotheosis]

Yes, it's fun to take over Astranaar for a while.