- GAMES -

- World of Warcraft : The Burning Crusade -

Anyone know really knows me, knows that there is one game company and one game made by them that stands heads taller then the competition. Blizzard...and of course World of Warcraft. One can argue that every game Blizzard has put out has been a huge success, even if you go back to the days of "The Lost Vikings" which in it's day... was a blast to play.

Let me give you a small explanation as to why I "Love" Blizzard as a gaming company. They are tried and true the only game company that will NOT release a game until it feels polished enough to stand the tests of time. Millions STILL play the Starcraft, Diablo, and Warcraft Series each in their own respect quite different and beautifully crafted games.

Blizzard has been known to take upwards of 6 years to develope some of it's games. And with World of Warcraft this was no exception to the rule. You see, I watched with my eyes peeled since the day they announced that the Warcraft Universe would be turned into a new Massive Multiplayer Online Roleplaying Game. I bought up every single magazine that even had a teaser one page preview of this game that I knew would not come to fruition for so many years.

Why have this kind of loyalty to Blizzard some may ask? Quality and fun... pure and simple. For anyone who has played the Warcraft Series, you know the beauty of their cinematics, the fun of commanding a diverse assortment of units to battle, and you know the hilarious things that those units would say as you clicked on them over and over. Warcraft III and it's expansion pack The Frozen Throne was the icing on the cake in this Blizzard compendium of games. Yes I enjoyed the Diablo Series to a certain extent...yes I enjoyed Starcraft which to some is arguably the greatest Real Time Strategy game of all time. But something happened to me, the first time I took and controlled a Paladin by the name of Arthas...something clicked inside me just in the way it did when an elven ranger unit in Warcraft 2 said to me "I live to serve" which just gave.. me.. chills.

...then World of Warcraft finally released almost 6 years after I had seen it appear on "games in development". You see, Blizzard is a company full of employees who enjoy one thing above all others... they love to game. They had played Everquest, Asheron's Call, Dark Age of Camelot, Star Wars Galaxies, as well as a few lesser MMO's... then a brilliant idea came to them. Why don't THEY the great game company Blizzard make an MMO that would incorporate the things they "LOVED" about the other games, with their own Warcraft Storyline(which by this time was quite robust) and leave out most of the stuff they "HATED" passionately about those other games, leaving... well a really fun game.

It was fun. So fun, that they have sold to date over 4 MILLION copies in just under a years time. These numbers confirmed what I had known for years...that whatever Blizzard touches becomes gold.

World of Warcraft lets you choose to play a Paladin, Priest, Mage, Shaman, Druid, Hunter, Warrior, Warlock, and Rogue. Certain classes can only be played by certain races which consist of Humans, Night Elves, Dwarves, and Gnomes for the Alliance...and Orcs, Trolls, Tauren, and the Undead for the Horde. These classes AND races by all rights are really fun to control and embark on journeys of valor, deception, war, craftsmanship, and anything else you can put your mind on.

The world is alive, breathing, and watching your every move. It has the best artwork I've ever seen in a game, and makes you feel epic from the first time you venture into your starting areas. Each aspect of the game is just plain FUN. The possiblities are endless, and unlike any other MMO...World of Warcraft could easily last 10 years, which is very hard for an MMO to have such a long lifecycle.

You can read up on a mountain of World of Warcraft information if you are interested at:

www.worldofwarcraft.com

Recently at Blizzcon, which is Blizzards new Gaming Convention there were 2 movies that were made by players of World of Warcraft that really stood out.

Return was the first-a serious drama found here : http://www.rufuscubed.com/return

and Zinwrath, which is a comedy : http://www.dementiastudio.com

Both Return and Zinwrath were superb, created using the WoW gameworld.

Now we come to the new expansion The Burning Crusade. They just announced this expansion at Blizzcon, and there is only "Some" information available. They have added for the Horde side, a new playable Race the Blood Elves. The Alliance will get a new playable race with this expansion as well, but for now there is not a peep as to what it really is. Blizzard has been insanely closed lipped about it, and there is mountains of speculation by the World of Warcraft Community as to what it will be. With these new Races, there will be new starting areas as well as advanced areas, dungeons, new armor, weapons, and every other thing imaginable that will keep players frothing at the mouth.

You can download the Blizzcon Preview of The Burning Crusade Expansion Pack Here:
http://www.worldofwarcraft.com/burningcrusade/

I for one, am really excited about it. For now I'm focusing on Finishing my CNA Certification and soon will be enrolling in College for my LPN and then RN Nursing degrees. The beautiful thing in regards to the time involved with my family, College, and whatever else takes my time and the WoW game... you can be sure that Blizzard will take all the time they need to polish this new expansion as well as all the rest of the content they have already released. It could very well be NEXT Christmas before we see The Burning Crusade hit store shelves. This makes me very happy...as with the constraints of life, this game has a long time left, which will give me time to still enjoy it... just because I can't play it now, will make it just that much sweeter for when I get to play it in the future.

To Blizzard, my hats off to ya. You've truly made a Virtual World that I would love to jump into any day of the week.