World of Warcraft: Cataclysm

World of Warcraft: Cataclysm
Developer(s)	Blizzard Entertainment
Publisher(s)	Blizzard Entertainment
Series	Warcraft
Version	US 4.0.3a EU 4.0.3a
Platform(s)	Mac OS X, Windows
Release date(s)	NA 20101207December 7, 2010 EU 20101207December 7, 2010 ROK 20101209December 9, 2010 TW 20101209December 9, 2010 HK December 9, 2010 MO December 9, 2010 [1]
Genre(s)	Fantasy/Science fiction MMORPG
Mode(s)	Online
Rating(s)	ESRB: T
Media/distribution	DVD DL, digital distribution
System requirements Windows Windows XP, Windows Vista or Windows 7 (32- & 64-bit supported) Intel Pentium 4 1.3 GHz or AMD Athlon XP 1500+ 1GB or more of RAM NVIDIA GeForce FX or ATI Radeon 9500 video card or better 25 GB free hard drive space Broadband Internet connection Mac OS X Mac OS X 10.5.8, 10.6.4, or newer: Intel Core Duo processor 2 GB RAM ATI or NVIDIA video card with 64 MB Video RAM or more 25 GB free hard drive space Broadband Internet connection

World of Warcraft: Cataclysm is the third expansion pack for the massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) World of Warcraft, following the last expansion Wrath of the Lich King. It was officially announced at BlizzCon on August 21, 2009, although dataminers and researchers discovered details before it was officially announced by Blizzard.^[2] The expansion was officially released on December 7, 2010.

Shortly after the announcement of the release date, on October 12, 2010, Blizzard implemented patch 4.0.1, which included the overhaul of the game's playing systems.^[3]

Gameplay

Main article: Gameplay of World of Warcraft

With the release of Cataclysm, the level cap has been raised from 80 to 85. Kalimdor and Eastern Kingdoms have been redesigned with a changed appearance and some new towns. The quest system has been refreshed with almost 3500 new quests along with new and streamlined low and mid-level quests to complement the redesigned areas of Azeroth. Seven new dungeons and four new raids have been added as well as a new secondary skill, Archeology. The glyph system has been overhauled to now have three types of glyph: prime, major, minor. Furthermore, glyphs are now permanently learned and require a reagent to remove from a slot. Two new races have been added, the Worgen and Goblins. In addition, existing classes have been expanded to be available to more races. The major cities of Orgrimmar, Stormwind and Dalaran have all experienced major changes. Lastly, the existing talent system has been overhauled. Players are awarded their first talent point at level 10, the next at 11, and then once per two levels until level 80. Levels 81 through 85 receives a talent point at every level bringing the total to 41.

Many of these changes were put into place as of patch 4.0.1, which added all the new systems (new talents, glyph system, spell changes, resource changes, pets at level one, removal of stats from items and from the game, mastery, and others). The changes to old zones were made in patch 4.0.3a, which was released to live servers on November 23, 2010.

Plot and setting

The central plot of the expansion is the return of the evil dragon aspect Deathwing the Destroyer (originally Neltharion the Earth Warder). Last seen in Warcraft II, which took place over a decade before, Deathwing has spent that time healing himself, and plotting his fiery return from the elemental plane of Deepholm.^[4] His return tears through the dimensional barrier within Azeroth, causing a sweeping cataclysm that reshapes much of the world's surface. In the midst of the world-wide disaster comes renewed conflict between the Alliance and the Horde, which is now under the rule of Garrosh Hellscream.

The Cataclysm is responsible for a number of political changes within the Horde and Alliance. With the wake of the cataclysm, the Horde's leader, the orc shaman Thrall, stepped down from his duty as Warchief of the Horde to better help the world of Azeroth as a whole. This duty was relinquished to the former overlord of the Warsong Offensive, the Mag'har orc warrior Garrosh Hellscream. The human king Varian Wrynn deployed many of his forces to prosecute the war against the Horde, storming the Southern Barrens and Stonetalon Mountains, while Garrosh, unlike Thrall, embraced war with the Alliance.

There are several new areas the players will investigate and also join in different actions by either quests or endscenes.

Environmental redesign

One of the primary features of Cataclysm is the redesign of the continents of Eastern Kingdoms and Kalimdor introduced with the launch of World of Warcraft in 2004. While the initial game design did not allow for the use of flying mounts in 'old-world' zones, those zones have been completely redesigned with flight in mind for Cataclysm. Flight is still unavailable for Burning Crusade starting zones.^[5]

Major changes were brought to these zones. Each faction has a smoother leveling process, as many of the old quests are scrapped and replaced with new ones that incorporate updated gameplay and mechanics that have been changed or redesigned since the game's initial release. Each zone has its own storyline which can be explored through a series of quests.^[6] Each of the zones that are faction specific, however, cater only to those of the faction that controls that zone. Neutral, or 'Contested' zones, feature a PvP (Player-versus-Player) based quest line, making the player compete against the opposing faction (Horde against Alliance, and vice versa) to achieve the desired goal of their faction. This feature makes heavy usage of phasing, which was first seen in the Wrath of the Lich King expansion.^[5]

Announcement and development

In February 2010, in an Activision Blizzard investor call, Blizzard CEO Mike Morhaime revealed that Cataclysm would be released in that same calendar year.^[7]

On May 3, 2010, it was officially confirmed that the Family & Friends Alpha phase of the testing process for Cataclysm had begun,^[8] fueling further speculation that the open alpha would commence within the coming months. Despite the non-disclosure agreement (NDA), much of the beginnings of the game were leaked onto various sources after the client was distributed across the internet within a few days of the alpha testing phase commencing. On May 11, 2010, it emerged that Blizzard had requested that at least one of these sites remove any alpha content^[9] until the NDA was lifted.

On June 30, 2010, Cataclysm entered closed beta testing, sending invitations to gamers who had signed up through their Battle.net account. Reporting their first quarter financial earnings in a webcast, Activision CEO Bobby Kotick all but confirmed that latest World of Warcraft expansion, Cataclysm, would be out on store shelves by the end of the year.^{[citation needed]}

In August 2010, Blizzard announced the World of Warcraft: Cataclysm Collector's Edition. Cataclysm was already said to be on track for release in the latter part of 2010 prior to this report;^[10] in addition, Blizzard CEO Mike Morhaime went on record saying, "Although an exact release date has not yet been announced, we are on track to launch the expansion by the end of the year. As with all Blizzard games though, we won't release until it's ready."^[11]

On September 7 (8 in Europe), the first pre-Cataclysm quest chains were released to live servers, and a few days later, Patch 4.0.1 was released to public test realms, indicating that a release date might be in the not too distant future.^[12][13]

On September 30, news site MMO-Champion estimated that the game had a target release date of December 7, 2010 based on data-mining which revealed the start of the next arena season.^[14] GameSpot reported that Amazon.com customers who had pre-ordered the Collector's Edition of the game were sent notifications that they estimated the arrival date would be between January 4 to January 18, 2011.^[15] Shortly after other websites such as Kotaku were emailed copies of the notifications sent to Amazon customers and posted it on their website marking the release date as January 5, 2011^[16] Amazon.com for the past two expansions overestimated the game's release date in order to give their sales a safety buffer.

On October 4, 2010 Blizzard officially announced the release of Cataclysm for December 7, 2010.^[1] The expansion was made available as Standard Edition, Collectors Edition and as a new digital download from the Blizzard Online Store. The digital version of the game has been made available for pre-purchase through Battle.net, and gives gamers the opportunity to play the new expansion pack the moment the servers go live (at 12:01am PST, December 7).^[17]

Patch history

Patch 4.0.1

Released on October 12, 2010, Patch 4.0.1, titled "Cataclysm Systems Patch", prepared the game for the changes in the upcoming expansion. It included features such as:^[18]

• An overhaul of the talent system
• Major class changes
• Reforging
• A new level of glyphs
• Point systems for both PvE and PvP
• User interface updates
• Improved graphics
• A flexible raid lockout system

Patch 4.0.3a

Patch 4.0.3a, "The Shattering", was released on November 23, 2010. Deathwing's return drastically altered terrain throughout Kalimdor and the Eastern Kingdoms, introduced thousands of new quests from levels 1-60, updated level ranges for some zones to improve the questing flow, and many existing races were given new class combinations.

The World of Warcraft: Cataclysm cinematic trailer and login screen were also added to the game.

Patch 4.1

Patch 4.1, "Rise of the Zandalari", was released on April 26, 2011. The changes include the addition of two new heroic 5-man dungeons (revamped from earlier raids): Zul'Aman and Zul'Gurub. The new content revolved around the resurgence of the Zandalari tribe of trolls.^[19]

Patch 4.2

Patch 4.2, "Rage of the Firelands", was released on June 28, 2011. The changes include the addition of new content in the form of daily quests in the Mount Hyjal zone and a new 10-man and 25-man Firelands raid taking the fight to Ragnaros. Also available is the opportunity to create a new legendary weapon: Dragonwrath, Tarecgosa's Rest. A new user interface feature is the Dungeon Journal, allowing players to access information about bosses and loot in Cataclysm instances from within the game.^{[20] [21]}

Patch 4.3

Patch 4.3 was announced on August 17th, 2011 as the final major patch for Cataclysm. The changes will include various brand-new features such as Transmogrification, which will allow players to remodel their armor's appearance while retaining the item's stats.^[22] A new raid is being added, known as Dragon Soul, which Blizzard has stated will be the final raid of the expansion. In a recent article it was announced that the raid would have 7 unique bosses and 8 boss fights; the final two both being against Deathwing himself.^[23] The new raid will come with a third (easier) difficulty option for groups formed through the new Raid Finder tool, which will be similar to the Dungeon Finder.^[24] There will also be three new heroic 5-man dungeons: End Time, Well of Eternity and Hour of Twilight. These will be accessible through the Caverns of Time and introduce the story for the new raid instance. Also included is a complete revamp of the monthly week-long Darkmoon Faire, which gets its own zone.^[25]

Reception

Sales

Cataclysm sold more than 3.3 million copies in the first 24 hours of its release including digital presales, and 4.7 million copies in its first month of release.^[26][27][28] It holds the distinction as the fastest selling PC game, overtaking the former holder World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King which sold 2.8 million copies in its first 24 hours.^[27] It also holds the record for the most number of copies sold for a PC game in the first month.^[28] In the UK, the game placed 3rd on the "Top 10 Entertainment Software (All Prices); Week Ending December 11, 2010" behind Call of Duty: Black Ops (Activision) and FIFA 11 (EA Games).^[29]

Critical response

World of Warcraft: Cataclysm has received generally positive reviews from critics.^[30] At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics the game has received an average score of 90, based on 40 reviews, which indicates "universal acclaim."^[30] IGN scored the game 9/10 saying "Cataclysm is far and away the most impressive expansion to an MMO ever made" with "better content than Wrath".^[31] GameSpot rated the game 8.5/10 and with a critic score of 9.1/10 declaring World of Warcraft "in the best shape of its life" though stating that some of the new content is "mind-numbing and that there aren't enough new zones".^[32] GamePro gave it 4/5 stars calling the game "another solid release" and "much improved in terms of its overall design" but contrastingly stated Cataclysm to be "not quite as impressive as previous expansions".^[33] In addition, GameSpy gave Cataclysm their "MMO Game of the Year"^[34] at their 'Game of the Year 2010' awards.

References

1. ^ ^{a b} "WORLD OF WARCRAFT: CATACLYSM IN STORES STARTING DECEMBER 7". Blizzard. 2010-10-04. http://eu.blizzard.com/en-gb/company/press/pressreleases.html?id=2443925. Retrieved 2011-11-11. 
2. ^ WoW.com Staff (2009-08-14). "World of Warcraft: Cataclysm leaked by MMO-Champion". Dulles, Virginia: Weblogs, Inc. http://www.wow.com/2009/08/14/world-of-warcraft-cataclysm-leaked-by-mmo-champion/. Retrieved 2009-08-21. 
3. ^ MMO-Champion (2010-10-11). "Patch 4.0.1 on live servers this week". http://www.mmo-champion.com/threads/771685-Patch-4.0.1-on-live-servers-this-week. Retrieved 2011-04-11. 
4. ^ "World of Warcraft: Cataclysm". Blizzard. http://www.worldofwarcraft.com/cataclysm/. Retrieved 2011-07-01. 
5. ^ ^{a b} World of Warcraft: Cataclysm FAQ Blizzard Entertainment. Accessed April 23, 2011.
6. ^ http://warcraft-guidez.com/wow-cataclysm-zone-changes.php
7. ^ Jessica Citizen (2010-02-11). "Blizzard announce: Cataclysm and StarCraft II in 2010". GamePro. http://www.gamepro.com/news/2010/02/10/blizzard-announce-cataclysm-in-2010/. Retrieved 2010-02-12. 
8. ^ Jessica Citizen (2010-05-03). "WoW: Cataclysm Family/Friends Alpha now open!". GamePro. http://www.gamepro.com/news/2010/05/03/wow-cataclysm-familyfriends-alpha-now-open/. Retrieved 2010-05-03. 
9. ^ Jessica Citizen (2010-05-11). "Blizzard issues takedown on Cataclysm leak". GamePro. http://www.gamepro.com/news/2010/05/11/blizzard-issues-takedown-on-cataclysm-leak/. Retrieved 2010-05-11. 
10. ^ "World of Warcraft: Cataclysm Collector's Edition Announced". Blizzard Entertainment. August 17, 2010. http://eu.blizzard.com/en-gb/company/press/pressreleases.html?100817. Retrieved 2010-08-18. 
11. ^ Sacco, Michael (August 6, 2010). "World of Warcraft: Cataclysm Still on Track for a 2010 Release Date". WoW.com. Weblogs, Inc. http://www.wow.com/2010/08/06/world-of-warcraft-cataclysm-still-on-track-for-a-2010-release-d/. Retrieved 2010-08-18. 
12. ^ 02:27 PM. "Patch 4.0.1 now on Test Realms". MMO-Champion. http://www.mmo-champion.com/content/1966-Patch-4.0.1-now-on-Test-Realms. Retrieved 2010-10-04. 
13. ^ 02:28 PM. "Zalazane's Fall and Operation Gnomeregan now on live servers". MMO-Champion. http://www.mmo-champion.com/content/1962-Zalazane-s-Fall-and-Operation-Gnomeregan-now-on-live-servers. Retrieved 2010-10-04. 
14. ^ http://www.mmo-champion.com/content/1994-Cataclysm-Beta-Build-13117
15. ^ Eddie Makuch (30 September 2010). "Megaretailer Amazon says World of Warcraft’s hotly hyped third expansion will miss its projected 2010 release date.". GameSpot. http://www.gamespot.com/news/6280118.html?tag=latestheadlines%3Btitle%3B1. Retrieved 2010-09-30. 
16. ^ Stephen Totilo (30 September 2010). "Amazon Pegs World Of Warcraft: Cataclysm Release For Early 2011". Kotaku. http://kotaku.com/5652034/amazon-pegs-world-of-warcraft-cataclysm-release-for-early-2011. Retrieved 2010-09-30. 
17. ^ Citizen, Jessica (2010-10-28). "WoW: Cataclysm Digital Pre-Sale Now On". GamePro. http://www.gamepro.com/news/2010/10/28/wow-cataclysm-digital-pre-sale-now-on/. Retrieved 2010-10-28. 
18. ^ "Patch 4.0.1 - Game - World of Warcraft". Blizzard. http://us.battle.net/wow/en/game/patch-notes/4-0-1. Retrieved 2011-06-10. 
19. ^ "Rise of the Zandalari - Game - World of Warcraft". Blizzard. http://us.battle.net/wow/en/game/patch-notes/4-1. Retrieved 2011-06-10. 
20. ^ "Patch 4.2.0 - Game - World of Warcraft". Blizzard. http://us.battle.net/wow/en/game/patch-notes/4-2-0. Retrieved 2011-06-28. 
21. ^ "World of Warcraft Patch 4.2.0 Rage of the Firelands". http://www.gamew0rld.com/world-of-warcraft-patch-4-2-0-rage-of-the-firelands/. 
22. ^ "4.3 Preview - Transmogrification". Blizzard. http://us.battle.net/wow/en/blog/3309048. Retrieved 2011-9-5. 
23. ^ "Patch 4.3 Raid Preview: Dragon Soul". Blizzard. http://us.battle.net/wow/en/blog/3516572. Retrieved 2011-10-5. 
24. ^ "Raid Finder Coming in Patch 4.3". Blizzard. http://eu.battle.net/wow/en/blog/3038922/Raid_Finder_Coming_in_Patch_43-30_09_2011. Retrieved 2011-10-5. 
25. ^ "4.3 Preview - The All New Darkmoon Faire". Blizzard. http://us.battle.net/wow/en/blog/3390849. Retrieved 2011-10-5. 
26. ^ "World of Warcraft Cataclysm takes PC sales crown". BBC News. 14 December 2010. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-11991041. Retrieved 2010-12-15. 
27. ^ ^{a b} "WORLD OF WARCRAFT: CATACLYSM SHATTERS PC-GAME SALES RECORD". Blizzard Entertainment. 13 December 2010. http://us.blizzard.com/en-us/company/press/pressreleases.html?101213. Retrieved 2010-12-15. 
28. ^ ^{a b} Citizen, Jessica (2011-01-10). "WoW: Cataclysm is awfully popular". GamePron. http://www.gamepron.com/news/2011/01/10/wow-cataclysm-is-awfully-popular/. Retrieved 2011-01-10. 
29. ^ "Call of Duty: Black Ops and FIFA 11 fend off World of Warcraft: Cataclysm, which lands at number three". Gamespot.com. 13 December 2010. http://www.gamespot.com/pc/rpg/worldofwarcraftcataclysm/news.html?sid=6285305&om_act=convert&om_clk=newsfeatures&tag=newsfeatures%3Btitle%3B3. Retrieved 2010-12-15. 
30. ^ ^{a b} "World of Warcraft: Cataclysm". Metacritic. 18 January 2011. http://www.metacritic.com/game/pc/world-of-warcraft-cataclysm/critic-reviews. Retrieved 2011-01-18. 
31. ^ Nick Kolan (22 December 2010). "World of Warcraft: Cataclysm Review". IGN. http://pc.ign.com/articles/113/1138775p2.html. Retrieved 2010-12-28. 
32. ^ Justin Calvert (16 December 2010). "World of Warcraft: Cataclysm Review". GameSpot. http://www.gamespot.com/pc/rpg/worldofwarcraftcataclysm/review.html?page=2. Retrieved 2010-12-28. 
33. ^ Jaz Rignall (9 December 2010). "World of Warcraft: Cataclysm". GamePro. http://www.gamepro.com/article/reviews/217535/world-of-warcraft-cataclysm/. Retrieved 2010-12-15. 
34. ^ "GameSpy: Game of the Year 2010". GameSpy. http://gamespy.com/articles/114/1141516p5.html. Retrieved 2010-12-24. 

External links

• Official website (US)
• Official website (Europe)