Ask Kayhynn Week 2

First, I want to apologize for this being a few days late.  Okay, okay, almost a week late.  Between work, sick kid, holiday party, more work and a fundraising project that started on Tuesday, this is a few days later than originally planned.  That means, this week you get a twofer.  An article that was due last Friday and another article this Friday.

I had a number of World of Warcraft: Cataclysm based questions come through over the last week via IMs and forums, so I figured I'd dedicate this article to answering those questions.

Question 1 from hhh221: What are some of the things you love about Cataclysm?

Answer:  The world changes would rank in the top five of my likes.  The destruction, leaving things destroyed, the reworking, the new quests based on the cataclysmic changes.  Though, from a logical standpoint, I had a hard time believing a big dragon breaking from below the earth would cause that much destruction.  I suppose it's possible…but what happened to all our heroes?  Why didn't they pwn that dragon and stop him?  That's the problem with stories running on rails with no alternate outcome.  Could have provided for something interesting…but I still love the changes.

Being able to fly in the classic lands and seeing everything from above is amazing too, another definite love.

The new starting quests for all low level characters.  It's no longer the same grind that we've had for the past 5 years.  It's something new, which will get old eventually, but it's fun and it has a story to go with it too.

I also love the new races and the new race/class combos that are available.  I finally made a dwarf character as a shaman.

Question 2 from hhh221: What are some of the things you hate about Cataclysm?

Answer:  I hate the fact that questing out in Northrend gives crap for XP.  The creatures are 77-79 level and there are plenty of quests out there I have not completed yet.  Reducing the XP per kill was insane.  Some of us don't like the crowds and questing out in Northrend made more sense.  Now the leveling is so slow due to the XP per kill being cut out there that it makes more sense to go to the new zones, level then go back to the old zones to get achievements, etc.

I hate the fact that green gear is better than the WoTLK purples.  It was Burning Crusade all over again.  WotLK did it right in my opinion.  The gear improved, yes, but not just by looting simple greens off of creatures.  You got better gear by doing dungeons, heroic dungeons and raids.  And while you might have improved some of your gear off of Northrend drops (if you didn't raid BC), you didn't improve all your gear in a few lucky drops.

I hate the fact my Death Knight isn't uber anymore and can get owned pretty easily in the newbie zones.  Ignore the fact I take on 4 or 5 mobs at once.  I should be able to do that.

Oh, and the fact that us locks were shattered by 12% too.  The rest of you who say your class got nerfed too, I just don't wanna hear it.  This is my complaint fest, not yours.  Locks get nerfed all the time.  We're the red-headed step-child class of WoW.  I should change my lock to a redhead to support that theory….

However, the hates are kinda minor compared to the likes.  I know there will be a lot of patches and hotfixes, just like there is with every expansion, and I expect more nerfing...I mean balancing...to happen as well.

Question 3 from Wraith:  (I would like to preface this question with the note he is a returning wow player) Okay, so I know that Cataclysm is changing the landscape of WoW... but what is it -actually- doing to the  game?

Answer: Aside from the awesome, yet cataclysmic changes to the landscape,, the skill cap is being raised to 85, two new races have been introduced: the worgen and gobllin, skill level caps have been increased, and the old world has been revamped.  A lot. Mt.Hyjal is now one of the starting zones for level 80-85.  There is a new underwater zone (which is pretty as hell, check the screenshots) and some old dungeons have revamped for higher levels and brand new dungeons have been introduced too.  A new secondary skill, archaeology, has been introduced and allows players to find artifacts as they travel. And finally, a long awaited request was granted and with the cataclysmic changes to Azeroth, players can now fly in all the zones (provided they are level 60, paid the 200 gold, have a flying mount, etc.)

Question 4 from Wraith: If I were to start a new character, on a new server, what would it do to my new character experience?

Answer: Oooh that is a fun question and I have an answer for that.  Your experience would be totally different from your other characters, unless you're creating a Death Knight.  That starting experience is still the same.  While some quests have changed, other quests ahve stayed the same, but each race now has a real storyline intro and a storyline to go along.  It's easier to level now (supposedly) and I have loved the changes.  There are more flightpaths now as well.

But there is a definite story progression.  I love the level where my mage is at (she's 57?) and in Ungoro crater, and while some quests are same, others are new or totally different.  Gadgetzan is totally redone, absolutely loved it. 

Question 5 from anonymous: How many 80s do you have?

Answer: I have 4 80s.  A lock, 2 druids and a death knight.  I have a 40 priest and a 58 mage as well as an 11 shaman.  The shaman prolly won't see higher levels till later.  I have a few Death Knights spread around, but don't play often outside my main server.

Question 6 from anonymous: Horde or Alliance?

Answer: For the Alliance.  Of course.

You can still submit questions through our forums, or via e-mail.  Just send me an e-mail with Ask Kay as the subject to kayhynn at eogamer (dot) com