Lich King Hype Kicks Up a Notch

The same thing happened about the same time two years ago - the excitement for World of Warcraft's next expansion has finally been kicked into high gear. With the end of alpha, the NDA (Non-Disclosure Agreement) has been lifted. The beta for Wrath of the Lich King kicked off a week or so ago. All sorts of data from the expansion is pouring in. Blizzard is getting rather generous with new information - including talents and new features. After quite a long while with next to no information, things are finally plowing full steam ahead.

I'd love to get into the Lich King beta, but I have my doubts. I was lucky enough to receive a Burning Crusade beta invite a little less than two years ago, but I consider that a fluke, because I'm rarely, if ever, that fortunate. However, I did actually use the beta for what it is designed for - to test content. I submitted more bug reports and constructive feedback than I can remember - both in-game (they have a handy feedback icon built into test and beta clients) and on the beta forums. It was fun actually being a part of that process, although it meant less time spent progressing my characters on the live realms.

Beta has just begun, and even though I haven't gotten an invite yet, its still exciting to read about all the new information coming out of it - including that released by Blizzard and that which is predominately on fan sites. What strikes me as different between now and two years ago, however, is the list of known improvements to the game coming with this expansion. It seems to me, Burning Crusade was initially more of a "Blizzard expansion", it included things they wanted added to the game, including the bane that is arenas. Eventually, as the months progressed after that expansion, they started progressively realizing more and more content that seemed to be what the players wanted instead of what the developers wanted.

This is the mindset I see in all the new additions to the game in Lich King so far. I see the developers taking a more active interest in what the players want, while still adding depth to the overall game play. For goodness sake, they're even considering giving players two talent trees to switch between at will to help with the fact that many classes have to respect to enjoy various aspects of the game - something they were staunchly against only a few short months ago.

The achievement system, while not something I heard a lot of need for from the players, is definitely something people are interested in, considering how popular similar systems on XBox Live and other MMOs are. Its an excellent addition that adds another layer to the game play, even for more casual players like myself. The fact that all the raids - every single one - are going to have both a 10-man and a 25-man version is also a step in the right direction of getting more players involved in more of the content. I actually have a chance now to experience all the content that the expansion has to offer instead of being limited to two 10-mans and a bunch of badge loot.

I could go on, but the fact is, I'm glad they're leaning more toward fulfilling the players' desires and trying in every possible way to get repeated suggestions into the game, instead of just doing what they want. That says a lot about Blizzard and their current vision for the future of WoW.