World of Warcraft: The Burning Crusade

The Burning Crusade logo

The Burning Crusade is the first expansion for World of Warcraft. The main features include an increase of the level cap, the introduction of the Blood Elves and the Draenei as playable races and the addition of the world of Outland, along with many new zones, dungeons, items, quests, and monsters.

Burning Crusade-related content on wowwiki is denoted by the following tagline:

Template:Bc

Confirmed Information

Increased level cap

Level cap increased to 70.
- PC Gamer, August 2006 (p. 61): The amount of time it'll take to get from level 60 to level 70 is equivalent to the time it takes for a level 1 to reach level 60.

Note: Players that do not purchase the expansion will not be able to go higher than level 60. (source)

10 more talent points, expanded talent trees.

Two New Playable Races

Blood Elves
- A faction of former High Elves that wield demonic magic, join the Horde in the expansion. Their capital is Silvermoon City.

Draenei
- A faction of uncorrupted Eredar led by Velen, join the Alliance. Their capital city is Exodar.

Faction-Class Crossovers

Recently confirmed: Blizzard Site

The expansion will allow previously faction-exclusive classes to be played on the opposing faction, with the inclusion of Horde Blood Elf Paladins and Alliance Draenei Shamans.

New Zones

Blood Elf starting zones in Quel'Thalas

Draenei starting zones in Kalimdor

Outland - an entirely new continent/world, reachable through the Dark Portal.
- The playable area of Outland will be about half the size of one of the existing continents. Source: Rob Pardo to GameSpot
- Hellfire Peninsula
- Bone Wastes
- Netherstorm
- Zangarmarsh
- Blade's Edge Mountains (CGW misprinted as Blaze Edge Mountains)
- Nagrand
- Terokkar

New High-Level Dungeons

Azeroth

Karazhan in Deadwind Pass.: Existing long before Medivh inhabited it, it is unknown who these original builders were. It is also unknown who now resides within its walls.

Caverns of Time: Located in the eastern part of Tanaris, contain various portals to different key time periods and events in Warcraft history. The caverns act as a crossroads for the various timelines, and through them one can travel back and forth along the ebb and flow of time. The Caverns of Time are home to Nozdormu and the bronze dragonflight. It is their sacred charge to guard the caverns against the intrusion of mortals, whose interference would assuredly disrupt the flow of time. Opening each of these Portals will be World Events. (Source - PC Gamer Febuary 2006)

Thrall's Escape from Durnholde Keep -- In this wing of the instance you must assist Thrall in escaping from Durnholde Keep where he has been captured by Aedelas Blackmoore.

Opening of the Dark Portal -- In this wing you must protect Medivh as he opens the Dark Portal in the Black Morass

The Battle of Mount Hyjal -- In this Epic Raid wing players must band together to defend the World tree. Battling out with the Demon Lord Archimonde and his Burning Legion Forces.

The Battle of Hellfire Peninsula -- While still in planning stages this is said to be a PvP Battleground where Horde and Alliance battle it out on Draenor in the midst of the Second War.

Zul'Aman: A troll-controlled area, bordering Eversong Forest and Ghostlands.

Outland

Hellfire Citadel located on the Hellfire Peninsula.: A nearly impenetrable bastion that served as the Horde's base of operations throughout the First and Second Wars. The citadel is now inhabited by Magtheridon.

Coilfang Reservoir in Zangarmarsh.: Home to Lady Vashj.

Auchindoun in the Bone Wastes.

Tempest Keep.: Part of Tempest Keep was the "Dimensional Ship" the Naaru provided for Draenei's flight from Argus. The Keep was imbued with powerful arcane energies which allowed it to move from world to world. When the orcs were corrupted by Kil'jaeden, many draenei hid away in the Keep for many decades, until Prince Kael'thas and the other Blood Elves and Naga allied with Illidan Stormrage seized the Keep for themselves. Winged instance home to Prince Kael'thas.

Black Citadel.: Following his defeat at the hands of Arthas, Illidan returned to the Citadel where he resides to this day.

New Spells and Talents

New spells, not only to levels 60 and up, but starting from the 40s:
- "Currently we're not planning any new classes," says Jeff Kaplan. The company is focused to, "Develop existing classes post-40." In short, expect raid strategies to change - Kaplan says there will be "new gameplay mechanics for every class."
- There are going to be 5 new spells and/or abilities available for every class in BC. Source

Source: Game Pro

- They will be rounding out the existing classes better, by adding 4 or 5 completely new spells for the 50-60 level range for each character class. BlizzCon 2005
- Blizzard stated that Mages will be getting some form of [Invisibility] back in the level 60 to level 70 spells. Source: BlizzCon 2005
The talent trees will be expanded. There will be a few more tiers in the talent trees, leading all the way up to 41 point talents. Source: BlizzCon 2005
They are looking to improve racial differentiation by carrying the concept they used in the Priest racial spells over to other classes. Source: BlizzCon 2005

New Profession and Socketable Items

File:Jewelcrafting 01.jpg

A glimpse of the Jewelcrafting/Socketing interface

Jewelcrafting to make fist weapons, rings, trinkets, necklaces and gems to enhance Socketed items.
- GameSpot 31st Mar 2006: The system will be fairly similar to that of Diablo II, along with some nuances that will make it unique to World of Warcraft. For example, we plan to introduce a new type of gem that grants bonuses that depend on the other types of gems your character is using. In addition, players will be able to overwrite gems, but at the cost of the gem they are replacing.
- WoW.com's official page
Current profession levels increase by increments of 75, so the next level up from Artisan (300) will likely be 375. This can be maxed to 390 for Gnome Engineers, Draenei Jewelcrafters, Tauren Herbalists and Blood Elf Enchanters.

New Hunter Pets

"Someone asked if there will be new tameable creatures in the Outlands, and they responded 'that's a good question... yes'." Source: BlizzCon Art Panel

Flying Mounts Introduced

Flying mounts will be useable in the Outland at level 70.
- Tom Chilton: "We'll put some high-level content in very hard to reach places - effectively places that you'll need a flying mount to reach. It's a dream for explorers, and you can draw lines to the Zelda-esque level construction where a new ability opens up aspects in a previously explored area."
- Due to the graphical composition of Azeroth not being suited for viewing from all angles, the flying mounts will only be available in the Outland, which has been specificially designed to avoid graphical issues associated with multiple viewpoints. Blizzard reps have stated that it would be possible to "rebuild" the existing continents to accomodate for flying mounts, but this would take enormous amounts of time as Kalimdor and the Eastern Continents combined are more than 4 times the size of Outland. It is unlikely they will ever support flying mounts in the near future.
- Flying mounts are probably needed because of the fact that the Outland is the /Floating/ remains of Draenor. Flying mounts will be needed to reach other floating areas.
Official TBCr link [1]

Portals to Other Worlds

From Computer Gaming World Dec 2005: "Things will get even crazier once you open portals into other worlds—three [of these] zones are already planned for the expansion, with seven total that Blizzard knows about."
Chris Metzen revealed in the Developer Panels that Illidan closed all the Dark Portals of Outland. Nevertheless, MagusRogue, a World of Warcraft RPG Game Designer from White-Wolf revealed the following: "The portals were shut down by Illidan, actually. However, some of the quests in the Burning Crusade Expansion have you re-opening these and going to new dimensions, fighting the legion in new worlds. Should be awesome."
"One of the things we're most excited about," says Metzen, "is the chance to create environments unlike anything you've seen in previous games. We really want to ramp it up for the players now. We're saying, 'Hey, you've graduated, you're over level 60 now, so let's get crazy with some really alien worlds and creatures." Even better, this is something that's infinitely expandable for us in updates and expansions down the line. There can always be more portal worlds."

Release Date

World of Warcraft: The Burning Crusade FAQ says:

The target release date will be late 2006 in Europe, Korea, and North America (and those regions that play on North American realms), and we will work to ensure that the launches in mainland China and the regions of Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Macau take place as quickly as possible after that.

Blizzard (always) says: "When it's done."
Nethaera said: "We do not have an official release date as of yet. We are still looking at Q4 2006 however for a target date. Ultimately it will be released when it's ready. " Source
Rob Pardo said: "Sometime in 2006."
Tseric said: "In all honesty, we want the expansion to come out earlier than it likely will."
Caydiem said: "We haven't announced an official release date of any kind -- not to the playerbase, and not to retailers. When a product is set for release and they're offering pre-orders as many PC game stores are wont to do, they need a date of some kind up there. Often times, if there is no official date, they will estimate a date."

Debunked!

No New Classes (or Hero Classes)

Normal Classes:
- Tom Chilton: "The primary reason not to do it is so we can focus more on developing the character classes we already have. As we go from 60 to 70 we can add abilities, extend all the talent trees and work on the concept of heroes. Even though things are going to evolve, it's still very important for us to dedicate enough time to do heroes that feels really good and captures the spirit of the heroes in Warcraft III, and we don't short-change it by focusing too much on new character classes."
- "Currently we're not planning any new classes," says Kaplan. The company is focused to, "Develop existing classes post-40." In short, expect raid strategies to change--Kaplan says there will be "new game play mechanics for every class." Source: Game Pro
- Debunked Class: Spellbreaker – A blood elf unit from Warcraft III: The Frozen Throne. Blizzard has stated that there will be no new classes in The Burning Crusade, nor do they intend to introduce any for the foreseeable future, because of the balancing headaches. Tyren: "I honestly don't know where the idea of a Spellbreaker came from, but I do want players to know that isn't going to be a feature of the expansion." Source: IGN
Hero Classes:
- They are planning for hero classes in the future, but not for this expansion.
- Jeux Online: "Development continues on Hero system, and we're very excited about the Hero system. We hope to shed more light on them before they are released, but it's still a bit early to discuss them at this time."
- "We are still interested in alternate character advancement, but the term 'Hero Class' should probably be discarded. There is way too much expectation carried in the words. The theories and ideas that have been aimed towards alternate character advancement will not likely take the form of 'new classes' and player speculation on such things is fairly divergent from what design ideas have been discussed." [2][3]

No Player Housing

Player Housing will not be coming in the Burning Crusade, but it is still being discussed for possible addition to the game.

Blood Elf mounts not Felhunters

Caydiem: "It is one thing to summon a creature like the Felhunter and pit it against enemies. It is quite another to sit atop one when nothing is threatening and it considers you a delectable treat. The constant concentration needed would probably be too much for the Blood Elves, particularly since the creature would be much larger and thus harder to control. Consider that the entirety of the Blood Elf lands swim in magic -- a Warlock pet Felhunter alone would be nigh impossible to control, and that's with feeding it distractions. A mount? I don't think so."

Debunked Zones

Debunked by Shane Dabiri: "The only new starting zones will be for the new races."
- Redesigned Echo Isles
- Redesigned Gnomeregan
- Undermine
- Northrend - Blizzard has previously hinted that it will most likely be an entire expansion unto itself, and have officially confirmed that players will still be too low-level to fight Arthas at level 70, the new level cap in The Burning Crusade.

Sources

Movie of Blizzard's Burning Crusade presentation at E3

Wowpedia