World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King

We thought we quit World of Warcraft. We thought that grinding for XP, farming reputation and raiding in our underpants till our eyes bled were things of the past. But every time we think we cut ties with our old avatars, Blizzard somehow manages to reel us back in. They got us with The Burning Crusade. They did it again with Zul’Aman in patch 2.3. And after scoring some hands-on time with the latest build of Wrath of the Lich King, it » Read Full World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King preview

First off, the Lich Kings release date is still firmly under wraps, but a public beta running for several months up to the official release is a dead cert. Not only did the The Burning Crusade get one, but Christmas gifts sent out by Blizzard to its most devoted fans came adorned with a beta code for an unnamed product - which suggests it cant be far off. Were putting our money on a beta come mid-summer, and a release before autumn gets under way. The third part of our somewhat hazy guesswork » Read Full World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King preview

If you thought exploring the galactic weirdness of The Outlands was rough, wait until you set foot on the most dangerous continent yet. Northrend is the source of the Undead Scourge, the heart of darkness in the world of Azeroth. Azjol-Nerub The inspiration of the Scourges architecture lies in the ruined catacombs of the Nerubians, sentient arachnids long since conquered (and promptly resurrected) by the Lich King. Now controlled by the Scourge and the mysterious Forgotten Ones, this » Read Full World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King preview

With each successive expansion, the “level-price” of entry is growing higher and higher. The Burning Crusade was designed mostly for characters that were already very high level. And now Wrath of the Lich King requires near-max level as well. So why do you have to be so obscenely powerful to enter Northrend? As lead designer Jeff Kaplan explained on Monday, “Players between levels 30 and 40 already have so many things to do in WOW that they havent run out of content » Read Full World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King preview

One of the most amazing things about World of Warcraft is how well its back story ties in with Blizzards WarCraft RTS games. The level of detail in its stories and characters, and they way they all interact, is astonishing. So a working knowledge of WarCraft III may not give absolute meaning to your endless monster killing, but at least makes you feel part of a glorious whole. The Lich King was the main human character of WarCraft III - the paladin Prince Arthas Menethil. Arthas downfall began » Read Full World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King preview

From his early days as an EverQuest commentator, to the lofty heights of lead designer on World of Warcraft, Jeff Kaplans rise to power has been meteoric. In the flesh hes polite, kindly spoken and passionate, often sporting - as most of Blizzard seem to - own-brand shirts with brightly coloured orcs on them. We cornered him recently and demanded details of our imminent journey into Northrend - and Jeffs promises were exciting to say the least... On geography... “When people heard the » Read Full World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King preview