World of Warcraft: Cataclysm (Collector's Edition) (PC, 2010)

World of Warcraft is a mmo done well for casual, hardcore raiding and pvp. That is why there is so many people lol. The expansion as the title states, will only expand the game. The questing is easier and more fun. But there is only so many ways to gain experience but the process of questing is greatly improved by a build in-game quest helper and new quest mechanics such as going into the ocean and saving people after an attack on a ship. There is an expansion on the new races Worgens and Goblins. The graphic were improved is some areas like the water, which is quite nice. But I find myself wondering why didn't they improved the graphics with older character models. If you played WoW, give this game a 10 day trial to test the waters and checking out all of the features. If you never played WoW, it is worth trying out at a least once. If you hate WoW, then you will never try it. The main drawback is the high cost of monthly fees and a lack of innovation in this expansion to really draw your attention.

I bought the product using pre-order to get additional content. The collector's edition is a rip-off. I bought it for $99. I sold it yesterday for $0.06. It is a great reflection on how fleeting value can be and how little we should invest in things called "collector's edition". I learned a harsh lesson but this may help others to not make my mistake. WoW itself and Cataclysm are fun for a while but once you get to a certain point it is just repetition. Crafting and exploring become tedious due to the limitations of the world. The biggest gameplay negative for me was the battle mechanics themselves. Each character has a set spell/technique list and you find yourself clicking them in the same order every time. Most battles of any interest are spent with you looking at health and mana versus onscreen action due to the auto-targeting system. It created for me a lot of boredom. The NUMBER ONE complaint is the other players. Anytime you go into a large population cluster you will be forced to put up with the most racist, sexist, homophobic, ethnocentric speech you may ever encounter. The vulgar use of language is unacceptable for children and I would recommend raising the rating to M so that parents aren't fooled into thinking this is a safe environment for their children's minds. It creates a culture of intolerance where any attempt to stand up for yourself or for non-hate speech will get you attacked verbally and by other characters in the game. People will literally gang up on you and hunt down characters that do not go along with the status quo of sexism and racism.

Having new races is always cool but what's cooler is have the new story lines to go with them. Also, having new content for my previously maxed character is also a plus. I really like how Blizzard redesigned a lot of the original areas with new quests and geographical features! For me this is great b/c the thing I enjoy most about WoW is leveling up new characters in classes I haven't played yet in areas that are fresh and new.

An interesting expansion, adding interesting new features both for newbies and veterans players alike.
It's a bit on the expensive side, since it costs $40 MSRP and just adds more content for an MMORPG with a paid subscription at a $15/month rate (which is usually done for no additional cost since without new content players would stop playing after some time) but, at least, it goes a good way to justify the price. Specially when you need to buy each previous expansion to use this one.
But two new races, a good increase in content, some overhauls on the land and such kinda make up for it, specially when you find the expansion for $30 or less.

Like those heirloom items, World of Warcraft has something for everyone right now. After six years of iterations on what was already a superb formula, this phenomenally popular massively multiplayer online game is in the best shape of its life. Areas of the world that were starting to show their age have been updated, new players are being made to feel more welcome than ever, and Cataclysm has added enough great new content to keep most players entertained for many months to come. It's unfortunate that the new archaeology profession is mind-numbing and that there aren't enough new zones that you can level multiple characters from 80 to 85 without repeating large chunks of content, but most of Cataclysm's content is so great that playing through it a second time isn't a hardship. You don't need Cataclysm yet if you're thinking of getting into World of Warcraft for the first time, but if you've got a level 70-80 character already you certainly won't regret continuing their adventures in this great expansion.