World of Warcraft resumes warring in Battle for Azeroth
This time they're really warring for really real
Oh sure, World of Warcraft has seen plenty of fights, scraps, rumbles, scuffles, tussles, and barneys over the years, but proper war will return for really real with the MMORPG's next expansion. Blizzard today announced Battle for Azeroth, which will see the Alliance and Horde gearing up to give each other a right drubbing. This time they really mean it uh huh. Players will adventure to new lands (Zandalar and Kul Tiras) to recruit new allies and play as those races (the Highmountain tauren, Void elves, Dark Iron dwarves, among others), power up to a higher level cap of 120, nab super-fancy new gear, and generally fight a lot. Watch the cinematic announcement trailer:
The new 'Allied Races' sound interesting. Blizzard explain:
"Explore Azeroth as one of six new playable Allied Races, including four you've encountered in your campaign against the Legion. Embark on a quest to earn their favor and unlock each race, adding their strength to your faction. Create a new character and complete the full leveling experience to earn a distinctive Heritage Armor set."
These races will have their own unique abilities, and do look pretty fancy too.
Beyond them, the two factions will be sent to new lands to drum up more support. Alliance players will rock around Kul Tiras, the kingdom Jaina Proudmoore is from, whle the Horde is off to the troll empire of Zandalar. And everyone will get to explore new uncharted islands, three-player encounters that span the world of World of Warcraft, to gather resources.
Also in are new 20-player cooperative Warfronts, PvE scraps about building up forces then going and giving enemy commanders a drubbing. Blizzard say these are "inspired by classic Warcraft RTS battles."
And there are new dungeons and raids and... hit WoW's website for more information.
"Conflict is at the heart of the Warcraft saga, and in Battle for Azeroth, tensions that have been simmering for a long time escalate into all-out war," Blizzard CEO Mike Morhaime said in today's announcement.
Everything they've spoken about so far sounds like the build-up to war, though. Sure, diplomacy and logistics are important but they are still at the level of saying "Yeah? Come on then! I'll do you! Yeah any time!" increasingly loudly outside the pub and hoping their mates will hear and come out to back them up.
Or if you'd rather have old WoW, ooh, Classic servers are coming.