New World Of Warcraft

Yesterday Omegavondoom stepped into a new Orgrimmar... rebuilt in the wake of the chaotic shattering.

Initially as I logged on I was regretting not being on the night before to take screen grabs of the world as it was before the patch, but as Omegavondoom rode his hog through the cavernous rises of twisted metal and jagged rock that was to be my factions new capital, the only thought that burned in mind was "For the Horde!"

Welcome to Orgrimmar

This is the Horde as it exists in my head... Monstrous and chaotic. Like an 'un-tuned' machine built for serving Death.

As I entered Azeroth 5 years ago... I knew I would align my self with the Horde. But lets be honest, for all his coolness in WC3, Thrall was always more of a Diplomat than a Warchief.

I think with the new look and leadership of Org under Garrosh Hellscream, Blizz is finally getting to shape things more in-line with what the original conception of the Horde was. I hope as the game plays out we hear less and less of this 'uneasy' peace with the Alliance and focus more on Horde domination. Don't get me wrong, I liked the story arc that rode through the series thus far, but I'm hoping it evolves into something with emphasis on the need for one side to take power.

And as someone who has been around for so long... I think Cataclysm is going to be the first expansion that truly feels like a new experience for me. Venturing into Outland and Northrend were awesome adventures, but As I rode from Durator down to Silithus yesterday, seeing familiar places transformed and redone was a head trip.

Desolace

Not to mention all the new classes that were running around last night.

I must admit I didn't take kindly to the idea of Horde gaining Pallies and lending out Shamans and the previous Expansion, but I understood the idea behind it in terms of allowing Blizz to develop these classes without the other side calling foul whenever they saw one of the classes get something they perceived as "OP."

But I can't understand the idea of the new class/race combos beyond it 'being cool.'

If it lasts beyond a fad... The horde is going to be swarmed with Undead hunters and Troll Druids. Although I have to admit the Troll cat-form is kick ass and I was a little jealous of the level 80 Troll Warlocks (race change) I saw running around. I have always been fasinated more with the idea of Trolls.

The whole culture and reference the game has given them is very cool. Plus outside of WoW I am just a huge fan of Cajun folk law and the whole voodoo thing. So the idea of Trolls focusing so much on the dark arts that they manage to actually summon and control demons is pretty kick ass.

I did muck-around a bit with an Undead hunter my self last night. Named him Trigamortis, which is worth playing just for the name. But soon Omega started incinerating the back of my mind ... so I had to log him back in so he could go PVP.

In fact that's one thing I really want to focus on with the expansion, rated BGs and Arena.

With my digital copy of Cataclysm already purchased (thanks Toy Boy), I can honestly say I am really looking forward to the new expansion more than any of the other ones.

Now if you'd excuse me, Omegavondoom has to go stand in the fire.