For the first time in an expansion, the level cap in WoW will be raised by five levels instead of ten. Blizzard is very aware that starting a new character is daunting enough with the prospect of so many levels ahead of you, so this is one of the reasons behind the decision. There won't be any new talents added to the talent trees this time around either, although players will still get talent points added each time they gain a new level. A new Mastery system is also being introduced that will provide players with more choice in how their characters turn out. Many of the stats on gear, such as Spell Power and Defense, is being removed to make gear choice much more straight forward. These stats will instead be gained by choosing talents or points in the mastery system. This is a massive over-haul of the way the system currently works, but Blizzard is certain this will streamline gear and talents while giving more options to customise your character.

Anyone worried that only five more levels means there won't be as much content this time, however, can forget that idea. Along with the re-designed low-level zones, there will be seven completely new zones; the two new levelling zones, Gilneas and The Lost Isles, the others are Twilight Highlands off of the Wetlands, Mount Hyjal, Deepholm, Uldum and the Sunken City of Vash’jir. Deepholm will contain portals to many of the new zones and will act as the new hub city.

Blizzard also claims that Cataclysm will feature more raid content than ever before, and every raid will have 4 options; 10 and 25 man versions, each with Heroic versions.

A brand new secondary Profession, Archaeology, will also be introduced, giving players another way to customise and improve their characters. By unearthing and studying artefacts, players can unlock additional Glyph slots, new profession recipes, paths in the 'Paths of the Titans' system, money and other items such as mini pets. Not much more is known about this profession at this time, but it's bound to be popular.

There was some big news for guilds; a new guild advancement system is being brought in that will benefit players who are part of a guild. In Cataclysm, everything a guild member does will go towards the advancement of their guild. Things like completing battlegrounds, raiding and heroics will improve the guild's standing, accumulating guild experience points and gaining points in its talent tree. There will be 20 levels that a guild can progress through, unlocking abilities such as a group resurrection spell and guild heirloom item recipes.

Finally, after years of pleading from players, Blizzard is introducing the ability to use flying mounts in 'old' Azeroth. This makes sense, considering that the new content will be based here. We could hardly be able to only fly in some zones and not others, could we?. Many players were shocked to hear this news though, as Blizzard has denied the possibility of flying in Azeroth in the past, claiming it would take too much development time to allow it. Many zones were simply never designed to be seen from above, but this news shows just how much work must have gone into re-designing Azeroth. Almost all of Kalimdor and the Eastern Kingdoms must have been totally re-done.

Another big piece of news was the introduction of rated battlegrounds. WoW's Arenas were never hugely popular, and have mainly remained home to only the most elite of players, excluding the majority of the player-base. News of these new rated Battlegrounds, which will reward items similar in quality to the Arena, went down very well with the assembled masses at BlizzCon. This will finally mean that players will get access to superior PvP gear by taking part in their preferred method of PvP. A new Battleground, the Battle for Gilneas, will also be added to the game in Cataclysm, along with a new PvP zone. The battleground will feature a Horde vs Alliance objective, set in the streets of the Worgen zone. The PvP zone, Tol Barad located off of the Eastern Kingdoms, is an island prison and in a similar way to Wintergrasp, winning control of the island will open up access to PvE content for the controlling faction. There will also be a daily quest hub here, like the Isle of Quel'Danas.

Despite the many spoilers before Cataclysm was officially announced on Friday, the speculation that the next WoW expansion would be based in the South Seas and pit players against Azshara herself was incorrect, and Deathwing was a bit of a surprise. However, Cataclysm's new instances on the sea floor such as the great Sunken City of Vashj’ir point to the possibility of the next expansion taking place there, and leading to the Queen of the Naga race after all. But we shouldn't rule out the other expansion candidate, The Emerald Dream, for the next WoW instalment. Malfurion Stormrage has awoken from the Dream, and will aid players in the new zone of Mount Hyjal against Ragnaros, who is attempting to return from the elemental plane and burn down the World Tree. Does the presence of Malfurion indicate an Emerald Dream expansion next?

It's far too early to speculate on that of course, with Cataclysm still likely a year or so away. What we do know is that this coming expansion will change WoW dramatically. Will it drive players away or bring an influx of fresh people eager to try out the most successful MMORPG in the history of gaming? I'm guessing the latter, but time will tell.

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