Cataclysm Changes

After a recent press tour, we have some new information about some of the features that we were told about at BlizzCon 2009.

Disappointing!

No, let's be fair. I am disappointed that the Path of the Titans mechanic is being taken out of the game, to be replaced by "medium glyphs" presumably created through the existing Incription profession. I was very interested in the "Titan cult" lore behind the Path of the Titans, and in the link with the Archaeology profession.

On the other hand, I can see why they took it out. Tying a mechanic which Blizzard themselves compared to a replacement for the 5 levels of questing content Cataclysm is "missing" compared to The Burning Crusade and Wrath of the Lich King to a secondary profession which everyone will be working on would be like tying it to fishing pools and daily quests: a veritable cock-block for 98% of the playerbase. Gating that content by making it rely upon the progressive release of raids and dungeons in each patch cycle creates further balance issues between patch cycles. It's a complicated prospect.

Still, I hope something remains of the "Titan cult" story in the game. Since they plan to include Archaeology and make it a lore-focused sideline endeavour, perhaps Blizzard can keep the Titan cults in the game and tie it to the minor items and whatnot that we're supposed to still be getting through Archaeology.

On the other hand . . .

. . . I'm pleased by the news that the guild talent system is being dropped. Even a small, coherent guild like has members with very different focuses from each other; some of us care about raid progression, some of us care about PvP achievements, some of us like creating a million alts (guilty), et cetera. Having to make choices about what the guild's talents would focus on would be difficult for us, and not make the game any more enjoyable.

I like the idea of earning "reputation" with your guild, and buying fun things like mounts that can display the guild crest and whatnot. I hope some of the mooted "talents" still make it into the game, though, like raid-wide resurrections or cheaper repair bills.

The other news is all pretty interesting but less relevant to me. I don't care about the new battlegrounds or battleground modes, for instance, nor does it matter that guilds can split one 25-player raid into three 10-player raids, since I'll never be participating in the former.

I'm looking forward to fighting Cho'gall at the end of the Bastion of Twilight raid, and Al'Akir at the end of the raid in Skywall - and in very minor news, the addition of a second "marketplace" area in Stormwind with a bank and auction house in the Dwarven District is good news.

Hopefully the general NDA on the Cataclysm testing period will be lifted before too long! I imagine I'll have more to say when it is.