World of Warcraft - Wrath of the Lich King
World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King is the upcoming second expansion for the
massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG)
World of Warcraft, following
The Burning Crusade. It is set in the land of
Northrend, home of the
Lich King,
Arthas Menethil/
Ner'zhul. It was confirmed on the first day of
BlizzCon 2007,
August 3,
2007.
[3][4]
No official release date has yet been announced, but it is anticipated to be released in the second half of 2008.
[1] Blizzard President
Michael Morhaime indicated that it will be released in late 2008.
[5] The expansion began beta testing on July 17th, 2008. Opt-in beta test keys were sent out starting on August 4th, 2008.
Some of the features announced at BlizzCon 2007 include:
- Level cap raised to 80
- Battle with the Lich King at the Frozen Throne
- One new playable class: Death Knight
- A new continent: Northrend
- The creation of a new profession: Inscription
- Profession level cap raised to 450
- Hundreds of new items, quests, dungeons, creatures, spells and weapons
- Siege weapons and destructible buildings (for PvP)
- Transform your hero's look with new character-customization options, including new hairstyles and dances.
- A non-instanced Battleground.
- Improved Graphics Engine (applied to shaders, flame effects and detailed shadows)
- New factions including the Speartusk and the Taunka, a racial cousin to the Tauren.
Subsequent features announced or confirmed by Blizzard include :
- Achievements for both the expansion and existing content
- New Mount, Vanity Pet and Token Storage
As of July 3, 2008, an opt-in service for the WotLK closed beta has begun.
[8] Players who wish to participate in the closed beta test may enter their account on the official website for a chance to be selected for participation. Opt-in keys began being distributed on August 4th, 2008. Additional keys will be distributed over time as the beta expands.
It has been reported that beta keys and invites have been sent to some European players on July 17th, 2008. Additionally, a beta registration page went live allowing those who had received a beta key to activate a new account and download the beta client.
Noteably, there is no
NDA governing the opt-in beta, so participants are free to discuss their experience openly. There is currently one PVE and one PVP server online for the beta and a seperate temporary account has to be created to connect.
[9]
Thanks to Wikipedia for the info!