Flora Silverwind

Forums: Village pump → Warcraft games → How Cataclysm stacks up...

I was curious, so I added up all the features each expansion had AT LAUNCH. Not flaming Cataclysm or anything, just thought this was interesting.

Burning Crusade

• Raids - 6
• Dungeons - 15
• New Races - 2
• New Classes - 0
• New Professions - 1
• New Reputations - 16

Wrath of the Lich King

• Raids - 4
• Dungeons -12
• New Races - 0
• New Classes - 1
• New Professions - 1
• New Reputations - 11...8 of which are implemented as of Patch 4.0.3a (three sub-factions for the Horde and Alliance expeditions, which grant less benefits than farming Gelkis rep)

Cataclysm

• Raids - 4
• Dungeons - 7
• New Races - 2
• New Classes - 0
• New Professions - .5
  • ....Archaeology..... /wrist
• New Reputations - 6

So in the end, if one counts up the content of each expansion... Burning Crusade - 40 Wrath of the Lich King - 30...27 of which has been implemented Cataclysm - 19.5

--Blacktouch (talk) 05:50, 22 January 2011 (UTC)

You left out the categories in which Cataclysm blows the others away in sheer numbers: quests and zones. -Eincrou (talk) 06:10, 22 January 2011 (UTC)

To be technical, that was pre-launch. I didnt include the Opening of the Dark Portal lol. Im talking about what they launched with and you NEEDED that expansion pack for. You can buy vanilla wow right now and enjoy the new leveling experience. Dont even need BC or Wrath, but that just takes away what those expansions had to offer. Blacktouch (talk) 08:01, 22 January 2011

I had anticipated a response like that; one where the goalposts are moved in such a way that Cataclysm is still at a deficit. I won't challenge you on where you've decided to place them. I'd just ask you to go ahead and tell us exactly what you're wanting to say about Cataclysm. What more do you think should have been included at launch? --Eincrou (talk) 08:40, 22 January 2011 (UTC)

I wasnt moving my goal points, I felt that the situation was demanding more specificity. Not everyone is an "alts kinda guy" and so my point was to show what end-game content this expansion offers compared to others.

I feel that the end-game was a little lackluster compared to the others. It offers no lore for many of the new mobs, and so the Wowpedia community has been a little bereft of information to go on as far as bestiaries go. Im also curious about where the Skardyn of Grim Batol went to. The concept art shows so much that they had planned that was dropped. Also, this is the first expansion where there are no recipes to be rewarded for grinding reputations.

The majority of players sit at the level cap with little to do but level alts.Blacktouch (talk) 08:53, 22 January 2011 (UTC)

I agree about the lore in the new zones, there isn't much history to learn from them. One example that bothers me is that there's no indication if Hyjal Barrow Dens is part of Barrow Deeps, the underground prison Illidan was held in. As far as I know, it's a new and unique barrow den model, but it feels wasted. Overall, looking at the actual work that was put into the expansion, and not deciding that some of it doesn't count, it's clear to me that a massive amount of effort was put into it, at great expense. If the next expansion uses the same amount of resources, it's sure to be impressive. Hopefully, there should be more end-game stuff. --Eincrou (talk) 09:19, 22 January 2011 (UTC)

I hope so. I agree about the Barrow Dens. It was an area with more hitory than alot of the places in the game, but there was very little there. I would have loved to see the Twilights Hammer trigger a prison break, causing all sorts of demons and abominations to be locked in combat with the Wardens. Blacktouch (talk) 00:56, 23 January 2011 (UTC)

Leaving quests and zones out of comparison is just a bad comparison. Even so, I think Cataclysm would be in deficit as far as expansions go. I've been generally enjoying leveling to 85 (only to 83 so far, because I am an alts kind of guy).

My first new Cataclysm zone to level in was Mount Hyjal and now that I've done Vashj'ir also, Mount Hyjal was pretty weak. To be fair, in Wrath, Grizzly Hills and Zul'Drak seemed pretty weak to me also (or maybe they were just annoying). For me, BC's weak zones were probably Blade's Edge or Netherstorm. -- Fandyllic (talk · contribs) 4:07 PM PST 28 Jan 2011

Just wait til you do Uldum. Sacrifices a good deal of story potential for the sake of comedy and posing a tribute to Indiana Jones. I just wish they had at least given us the courtesy ofa bestiary, like the other expansions. Instead we're left going...what on earth is an ettin...? As a lore junkie, Ive been pretty much starved for backstory.

Blacktouch (talk) 03:12, 29 January 2011 (UTC)BlacktouchBlacktouch (talk) 03:12, 29 January 2011 (UTC)