Huge WOW Changes

kingofpoker

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http://www.1up.com/do/newsStory?cId=3152368


No, we're not pulling your chains. Hell, we didn't believe it at first, either. But today, Blizzard announced that in World of Warcraft: The Burning Crusade, the upcoming expansion to their globe-dominating MMO, the two new races would be able to play classes previously faction-specific. That's right: the Draenei can be Shamans and the Blood Elves can be paladins.
WoW as we know it as completely changed.

The official World of Warcraft site has a page detailing how this works within the storyline. As for the Blood Elves:

Back in the capital city of Silvermoon, Magister Astalor Bloodsworn was not content with this idea. After long months of study and experimentation, he and his fellow wizards learned how to manipulate and corrupt the naaru's luminous energies. In the end the wizards devised a process by which the powers of the Light could be transferred to recipients who had not earned such abilities. Instead of feeding upon the naaru's magic, the blood elves would wield the naaru's Light-given powers themselves.
Lady Liadrin, formerly a priestess, had recently renounced her vows, for she felt the Light had abandoned her people. She learned of the wizards' achievement and volunteered to be the first to bend the stolen powers to her will. With her decision a new order was born: the Blood Knights. These renegade paladins are able to harness the sacred powers of the Alliance's noblest heroes.

And the Draenei managed to harness the elements by:

Velen's vision was given substance in the form of Nobundo, a one-time draenei priest who had devolved while the orcs decimated his race and tore the planet apart. Like his fellow Broken, Nobundo had lost contact with the Light, and so he ventured far into the deserts of Outland to meditate and pray for guidance.
After decades of silence, an unfamiliar voice finally answered his prayers. It was not the Light that whispered to him, but the wind. The breeze spoke to him of lost truths, of the might of the elements - of the delicate balance of power embraced by the shaman.


Big, big news here. How does this shake up the game?
OPINION: The news of Blizzard's decision to balance their PvE (player versus environment) end game by giving each faction (Horde and Alliance) access to the faction-specific classes, Alliance - Paladin, Horde - Shaman, will change the balance of World of Warcraft, by balancing it. Where as the Shaman class is an offensive hybrid, Horde raids have long-lacked the blessing system unique and uniquely functional to the Paladin class -- this change ends that imbalance.

The catch, being, that players will have to relevel characters from 1-70 in the expansion to play the new classes. What does this mean for Blizzard's end game raiding community? Well, members from these communities will have to decide if the value of having Shamans on Alliance (which is questionable) is worth the raid slot. In their current state, Paladins are a stronger support class than the Shaman, and as a result, Horde guilds will likely have players level Blood Elf Paladins.

This fix comes on the heels of a controversy about changing the Windfury talent for the Horde, a change which would've done considerable damage to the Horde faction's damage output. However, is this change to the game a well-thought out addition, or does it make Blizzard's World of Warcraft boring and uninteresting as it effectively reduces the Alliance versus Horde conflict to little more than a battle of shirts and skins. I'd tend to think it's the latter -- this is a huge band-aid slapped over a would that is bleeding Blizzard's playerbase at end game
 

cain

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Nice! :up:

I would get this game if it wernt for the monthly cost + cost for the game in the first place.
 

bradas

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cain said:
Nice! :up:

I would get this game if it wernt for the monthly cost + cost for the game in the first place.
same here, my mates at school are now gettin in to it, not for me though:dead:
 
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