World of Warcraft: The Burning Crusade

World of Warcraft: The Burning Crusade
Developer(s)	Blizzard Entertainment
Publisher(s)	Vivendi Universal
Designer(s)	Rob Pardo Jeff Kaplan Tom Chilton
Released	January 16 2007[1] February 1 2007 April 3 2007 September 6 2007
Genre	MMORPG
Mode(s)	Online
Ratings	ESRB: T (Teen)[2] OFLC: E (Exempt) PEGI: 12+
Platform(s)	Windows, Mac OS X
Media	CD, DVD, Online Patch
System requirements	See System requirements
Input methods	Keyboard, Mouse

World of Warcraft: The Burning Crusade is the first expansion pack for the popular MMORPG World of Warcraft. It was released on January 16, 2007 at midnight in Europe, United States and Australia, and sold nearly 2.7 million copies that day, making it the fastest-selling PC game in those regions.^[3] It was released on January 17, 2007 in Canada, New Zealand, South Africa, and Singapore; in total, approximately 3.1 million copies were sold across these territories in the first month of release, including 1.5 million in North America and nearly 1.2 million in Europe.^[4] It was later released on February 1, 2007 in South Korea, April 30, 2007 in Taiwan, as well as the regions of Hong Kong and Macau.^[5][6] The game was also released in China on September 6th, 2007.

Contents 1 Information 2 New playable races 3 New instances 3.1 Future instances 4 Player vs. Player 5 Distribution errors 6 System requirements 6.1 Windows 6.2 Macintosh 6.3 All platforms 7 Notes and references 8 External links

Information

• New content is accessible to players without the expansion, such as items created with the Jewelcrafting profession which is mainly for making rings, trinkets, and to socket items (A newly added addition to some armor) and any trading items found in Outland.^[7]
• On July 21 2006, it was announced that Blood Elves would be able to play as Paladins, which were previously unavailable to the Horde. Similarly, the Draenei would be able to play as a Shaman, previously unavailable to the Alliance.^[8]
• New endgame instance sprints are capped at 25 members (previous instances had a limit of 40 players).
• New dungeons have two difficulty levels: Normal and Heroic. Once a player reaches level 70 and achieves honored, as of Patch 2.3.0, reputation with the affiliated faction (and purchases the heroic key for the corresponding faction), they may choose to run any Outland instance at the Heroic difficulty. While the harder difficulty will present a much greater challenge to the group, it will also yield better rewards, such as Epic loot (the second highest degree of items in-game), which do not drop in regular instances. The items known as Badge of Justice are now available to when in heroic mode to receive more and better rewards from a factionless vendor in the middle of Shattrath City.
• On December 8 2006, the opening cinematic of The Burning Crusade was shown on Spike TV's Video Game Awards^[9] and subsequently made available on the official World of Warcraft web site.^[10]
• Release and signing were held at the Fry's Electronics in Anaheim, CA. Doors opened at midnight on January 16 2007; the programmers, artists, and other Blizzard employees were there giving their autographs.^[11]
• In just 24 hours, The Burning Crusade sold over 2.7 million copies worldwide.^[12]
• New Flying Mounts are available for both factions when the player reaches level 70, as for an epic version (druids in fact get their flying at 68 as they are their own mount)

New playable races

Both the Alliance and the Horde have received a new playable race. These new races changed faction dynamics by providing each faction access to all player classes in the game. These races are the Draenei (which allow the Alliance to play as Shamans) and the Blood Elves (which allow the Horde to play as Paladins). The Blood Elves are a group of High Elves who seek to reunite with Prince Kael'thas in the Outland. They have rebuilt the city of Silvermoon and are based in the remains of Quel'Thalas. The Draenei are an uncorrupted faction of Eredar who have escaped their adopted home world of Draenor with help from the benevolent Naaru and the Exodar (A Crashed shuttle from the instance group of Tempest Keep), and have settled on the ship's crash site: Kalimdor's Azuremyst Isles which are just northwest of Kalimdor. You must choose your side, thirst for magic and power (Blood Elves) or to regain what you have lost and reclaim your gifts of the Naaru (Draenei)

New instances

There are several new instances in World of Warcraft: The Burning Crusade.

• Auchindoun is a "city of the dead" located in the Bone Wastes in southern Terokkar Forest. When they lived in peace, the Draenei laid their dead to rest here. When the Draenei were forced into hiding, Auchindoun became a fortress of the Bleeding Hollow Clan, which was besieged by the Alliance during their invasion of Draenor. After Draenor was transformed into Outland, elements of the Shadow Council destroyed Auchindoun and created the Bone Wastes by summoning Murmur, who is said to be the primordial essence of sound. Auchindoun is for level 64-70 players, and there are four wings: The Mana-Tombs, Auchenai Crypts, Sethekk Halls, and Shadow Labyrinth, all of them five-man instances. Auchindoun provides reputation with The Consortium and Lower City.
• The Black Temple: The Temple of Karabor was the center of Draenei worship until its priests were slaughtered by demonically corrupted orcs. In the massacre's aftermath the warlocks of the Shadow Council seized the structure and gave it a new name: the Black Temple. When the Alliance invaded Draenor after the Second War, the orc shaman Ner'zhul hastily opened several dimensional portals in order to escape. The resulting magical backlash ripped the world apart. Drawn by these portals, the pit lord Magtheridon arrived in what had come to be known as Outland and took the temple as his seat of power. His dominion over Outland remained unchallenged until the arrival of Illidan the Betrayer. The pit lord proved no match for the wielder of the Twin Blades of Azzinoth. Today Illidan occupies the temple, awaiting any and all who would challenge his rule. In order to enter the Black Temple, players must complete a questline that includes killing Kael'thas's pet Al'ar and obtaining an item from Rage Winterchill in Hyjal.
• The Caverns of Time lie below the Tanaris desert in southern Kalimdor. It is where Nozdormu the Timeless One, head of the Bronze Dragonflight and Dragon Aspect of Time, makes his home. The Caverns of Time is actually comprised of three instances, in which players can experience significant events of Azeroth's history and prevent them from being altered by a mysterious foe: Thrall's escape from Durnholde Keep, Medivh's opening of the Dark Portal, and the Battle of Mount Hyjal. Players receive Keepers of Time reputation for defeating enemies in the Old Hillsbrad (Durnholde Keep) and Black Morass (Dark Portal) instances. The Scale of the Sands - a subfaction of the Bronze Dragonflight, led by the Prime Consort Soridormi - is the faction for the Battle of Mt. Hyjal. The ability to enter requires obtaining two keys, one from killing Lady Vashj in Serpentshrine Cavern, and the other from killing Kael'thas Sunstrider in the Eye of Tempest Keep. The end boss of Hyjal is Archimonde.
• Coilfang Reservoir is a subterranean pumping station operated by Illidan's naga forces, sapping water from the lakes of Zangarmarsh. There are three five-man wings - Slave Pens, The Underbog, and Steamvault - and a 25-man raid called Serpentshrine Cavern, which serves as the inner sanctum of Lady Vashj, matron of Illidan's naga. Coilfang provides reputation with the Cenarion Expedition, located at the Cenarion Refuge east of Coilfang.
• Gruul's Lair is the domain of the Gronn overlord known as Gruul the Dragonkiller in Blade's Edge Mountains. It is a 25-man raid, consisting of two encounters - the Ogre Council of High King Maulgar, and Gruul himself.
• Hellfire Citadel was formerly an Orc fortress, and was used in the first two wars by the Orcs as a base of operations. More recently, Illidan has converted it to his own uses, and is breeding an army of Fel Orcs within its walls. There are three 5-man instance wings - Hellfire Ramparts, Blood Furnace, and Shattered Halls - and one 25-man raid, Magtheridon's Lair. Magtheridon's Lair is an Onyxia's Lair-style "quickie" raid, killing a handful of guards before taking on Magtheridon himself. Hellfire Citadel provides reputation with the two outposts in Hellfire: Honor Hold for the Alliance, and Thrallmar for the Horde.

• Karazhan is a solitary tower in Deadwind Pass. Having existed for some time, it was best known as the sanctum of Medivh, Guardian of Tirisfal. After Medivh's death, the tower was abandoned, but the powerful nexus of ley energies beneath the tower remain...as well as the myriad of treasures accrued by the powerful wizard. Karazhan is a 10-man raid instance, and provides reputation with a subsect of Dalaran known as the Violet Eye - which was founded to spy on Medivh and his activities.
• Tempest Keep was created by the Naaru to serve as both a fortress and a means of transportation. However, after arriving in Outland and leaving the keep, Prince Kael'thas and his blood elves stormed in and took over. It now serves as the Prince's base of operations in Outland. There are 3 level 70 5-man instance wings and a 25-man raid. The 5-man wings are the satellite structures of the Keep: The Botanica (blue), Mechanar (white), and Arcatraz (red). The central keep, known as The Eye, is the raid instance, and is the inner sanctum of Prince Kael'thas himself. The Tempest Keep 5-mans provide reputation with the Sha'tar in Shattrath City.
• Zul'Aman is a 10 man raid instance located in southeast Ghostlands. This instance has been released with patch 2.3. It is a winged-instance in which you can choose the order you will kill the bosses. There are 6 boss encounters. 4 of these are avatars of troll animal gods (bear, eagle, lynx and dragon hawk). The final encounter is with the troll witch-doctor named Hexxlord Malacrass and the forest troll leader named Zul'jin. There is no attunement for Zul'Aman. ^{[13] [14]}

Future instances

There is an instance which is being planned for release over the course of the next several content patches.

• The Sunwell Plateau: This instance will have two wings, a 25-man raid and a 5-man dungeon. The 5-man side will feature both normal and heroic modes. It will be located somewhere in the Blood Elf starting area. ^[15] This instance is scheduled to be released with patch 2.4 ^[16]

Player vs. Player

A new battleground, Eye of the Storm, is included with two brackets: Levels 61-69, and level 70. However even though this battleground is made for 70's the usage of flying mounts is not permitted.^[17] As the minimum level is 61 only players with the expansion pack may participate in this battleground.

In addition, a new PvP Arena System was introduced, a way for players to fight in 2 vs 2, 3 vs 3, or 5 vs 5 battles. While the arena system allows people without The Burning Crusade to participate in matches, people without the expansion are not able to participate in rated matches which yield rewards, as ladder matches are only accessible by players who have reached level 70.^[18] Arena matches have taken a more prominent role in the game’s PvP scene as it grows into an electronic sport. One example is its appearance in the World Series of Video Games ’07, where 3v3 teams can earn cash prizes.^[19] Blizzard also holds its own seasonal tournament, the World of Warcraft Arena Tournament, which pitches teams from servers all around the world against each other.^[20] This tournament concludes with a 5v5 world final event, the first of which took place at Blizzcon ’07 and so ended season 1.^[21] Finally, there are several other "outdoor" PvP contests which are different for the zone you are in. (for example Terokkar Forest's PvP contest involes alliance or horde standing near towers waiting for the bar to fill up while fending off other players of the opposite faction, once filled that faction will control that tower. Which ever faction gains control of all the towers they will get a Buff in the Auchindoun instances, which allow the bosses they kill to drop Spirit Shards. Which can be used to buy rewards) most of which involve "capturing" key points to reward same-faction players in the area a damage boost of 5% . This effect lasts as long as the key points are held. The most complex outdoor PvP activity is a town called Halaa, located in Nagrand of Outlands, which can be conquered by either faction. The players who control the town get additional quests, items, and other services.Another example is reputation PvP a town a Thrallmar in Hellfire Peninsula uses towers as a daily quest reward for marks that help your reputation with Thrallmar and nice rewards for sockets and weapons.^[22]

Distribution errors

Some files on the hybrid DVD disc for the Collector's Edition had the "hidden" attribute flag set. Some users were unable to install the game until they changed the way Windows handled the viewing of hidden files. Blizzard committed a number of errors during the distribution of World of Warcraft: The Burning Crusade in Europe. One such error is the failure to register the Collector's Edition for in-game rewards. As such, players who purchased the Collector's Edition of the game would have to send numerous proofs of purchase to Blizzard by postal mail in order to redeem their in-game awards.^[23] Only 1600 copies were delivered to Romania, which has more than ten thousand World of Warcraft subscribers.^[24]

System requirements

World of Warcraft: The Burning Crusade runs natively on both Macintosh and Windows platforms. Boxed copies of the expansion use a hybrid CD to install the game, eliminating the need for separate Mac and Windows retail products.^[25]

Windows OS: Windows 2000 (Service Pack 4); Windows XP (Service Pack 2); Windows Vista Processor: Intel Pentium 3 or AMD Athlon 800 MHz minimum Memory: 512 MB RAM 1GB RAM is recommended Video: Minimum: 32MB 3D graphics processor with transform, clipping, and lighting, such as an NVIDIA GeForce 2 class card or above Recommended: 64MB VRAM 3D graphics processor with Vertex and Pixel Shader capability, such as an NVIDIA GeForce FX 5700 class card or above External links section below has a link to show other video chipsets Blizzard has marked as supported Sound: DirectX-compatible sound card

Macintosh OS: Mac OS X 10.3.9 or newer required Processor: 933 MHz G4,G5 or Intel processor, 1.8 GHz G5/Intel processor recommended Memory: 512MB RAM 1GB DDR RAM is recommended Video: NVIDIA or ATI graphics processor with 32MB VRAM 64MB VRAM recommended A keyboard and mouse are required. Input devices other than a mouse and keyboard are not supported by Blizzard.

All platforms

• Connectivity: Requires an active broadband internet connection to play. (Note: Dial-up will still work but is no longer supported)
• Mouse: Multi-button mouse with scroll wheel recommended.
• 10GB available HD space is specified on package. Based on tests run, the pack actually requires about 2GB more than your current World of Warcraft installation (approximately 8GB after World of Warcraft: The Burning Crusade is installed). (Patching may account for this difference in space.)

Note: System Requirements are subject to change. Blizzard has stated that, due to the size of the patches, broadband is now listed as required.^[26] Blizzard will still offer tech support to players with dialup, except for patching issues.

Notes and references

External links

• The Official Burning Crusade site
• The Official Burning Crusade site
• Blizzard's Press Release regarding the expansion
• Current Patch notes
• at WoWWiki, a World of Warcraft wiki
• World of Warcraft: The Burning Crusade on ToTheGame
• World of Warcraft: The Burning Crusade at Metacritic

•  • e Video games developed by Blizzard Entertainment
Diablo series	Diablo  · Diablo II (Lord of Destruction)
Racing series	RPM Racing · Rock N' Roll Racing
StarCraft series	StarCraft (Brood War) · StarCraft II
Warcraft series	Warcraft · Warcraft II (Beyond the Dark Portal) · Warcraft III (The Frozen Throne) World of Warcraft (The Burning Crusade · Wrath of the Lich King)
Other games	Blackthorne · Lost Vikings · Death and Return of Superman · Justice League Task Force

•  • e World of Warcraft
Games	World of Warcraft  · World of Warcraft: The Burning Crusade  · World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King
Books	Cycle of Hatred · Rise of the Horde · Tides of Darkness
Other Media	World of Warcraft: The Board Game  · World of Warcraft Soundtrack  · World of Warcraft Trading Card Game
Software	Blizzard Downloader  · Thottbot  · Warden (software)  · World of Warcraft Launcher
Culture	Warcraft universe  · Corrupted Blood  · Criticism of World of Warcraft  · Flintlocke's Guide to Azeroth  · Leeroy Jenkins  · Make Love, Not Warcraft