Exclusive Video
Watch The Burning Crusade in motion in this exclusive video.
In case you hadn't heard, the online role-playing game World of Warcraft from developer Blizzard Entertainment and publisher Vivendi Games is one of the most popular games on the market on any platform. Hopefully, later this year, the studio will release The Burning Crusade, the expansion pack for the game that will add plenty of high-level content for veterans as well as two new playable fantasy races to build new characters with. We took the opportunity to get in depth with the two new races: the fanatical blood elves of the monstrous Horde faction and the mystical draenei characters of the noble Alliance.
Both races should have content available for them that will let them advance to approximately level 20 or so. Players of either race will probably want to join the general populace to show off their new inherent abilities, as well as to tip the scales in competitive player-versus-player battles, since each of the new races belongs to an opposing faction and each race can play as a character class that wasn't available to its faction previously. The draenei may play as shaman--a class focused on using nature-based powers to heal allies, damage enemies, and summon spirit totems that radiate various magical effects in the area. The blood elves, on the other hand, may play as everyone's favorite warriors-who-can-heal, paladins (although according to the game's story, this is only possible through a twisted and evil scheme that involves imprisoning and siphoning power from a holy spirit).
The draenei are tall, mostly pale-skinned humanoids with hooves for feet and haunches for legs and resemble satyrs of Greek mythology. After you create a new character of either race, you'll be treated to the same kind of narrated in-game cinematic sequence that opens the new life of any other World of Warcraft character. According to the narration, the draenei originate from the Outlands (the challenging, otherworldly new land added in the expansion pack), but, inspired by tales of the alliance's heroism, they have come to Azeroth to enlist help for their war against the Burning Legion.
The draenei's spaceship, the Exodar, explodes in the skies above Northern Kalimdor (the realm of the night elves), and the pieces fall to earth on the previously uncharted Azuremyst Isle, off the west coast of the Eastern Kingdoms. Parts of the ship and the remains of numerous escape pods are strewn all over the island, along with irradiated crystals that (presumably) powered the vessel but are now wreaking havoc on the local nature and wildlife. The largest surviving piece of the ship fell on the western edge of Azuremyst Isle, forming the mostly subterranean draenei city, which retains the name of the ship, The Exodar.
The Exodar is almost certainly the largest city in Azeroth, and even as a Tauren-sized draenei, the scale of it can feel quite overwhelming the first time you visit. The city boasts all of the usual districts, along with two banks and two auction houses--which will hopefully cut down on lag in those locations should the new city become a popular place for players to hang out. The Exodar is a city that feels like a combination of the dwarves' Ironforge and the undead's Undercity--the whole city is enclosed within one giant structure (the ship's hull) and has a lot of wide-open spaces that are a little disconcerting at this point but will no doubt feel quite different when populated with players.
In one area of the city, you'll find a crystal mine, which ties in nicely with one of the draenei's passive racial abilities (and a new profession for the Burning Crusade expansion), jewelcrafting. The draenei have a +5 racial bonus to jewelcrafting, as well as a +10 resistance to shadow-based magic, such as that used by priest characters. In addition, the race has two other abilities, "gift of the Naruu," a free healing spell that costs no magic power ("mana"), and "inspiring presence," a passive ability that grants a 1 percent bonus to hit for party members within 30 yards.
Since the crash was very recent, there are still many injured and unaccounted-for draenei. Your early quests, perhaps unsurprisingly, task you with killing lowly beasts (including some great-looking moths--a brand-new beast model, not just a new skin like many of the new beasts) and retrieving items from them that can be used to help the wounded. The draenei use crystals for all kinds of purposes, it would seem, and in a couple of early quests you'll be using them to cure survivors that you find scattered around the Ammen Vale starting area, as well as to purify a lake that has one of the spaceship's giant irradiated crystals polluting it.
