Please keep your hands and feet safely in the vehicle at all times!

So, around the end of November I received a free week offer from Blizzard.  This was right around the time when the Azeroth was going to be torn asunder.  I took them up on that offer.

During that time, I decided to work on my Warlock (essentially the first character I rolled in WoW) and got her up to level 80.  The recent patches before the Cataclysm quickened the pace of leveling in Northrend.  My warlock was high level before I could blink.  During that time, I found I enjoyed playing again.  This time I was more relaxed because I swore I wouldn't start the gear grind again.  I changed my Warlock's spec from demonology to affliction.  The dungeons I ran her through were relaxing with fellow puggers who weren't hard core.  Most likely because they were working on Alts as well.

I caught the tail end of the elemental invasion which caused more annoyance than entertainment.  Everyone received what gear they needed from these raid like mini-games, so no one bothered to fight the invaders anymore.  That caused the cities to be needlessly closed for about 15 to 30 minutes every few hours.  At least they created portals so low levels could get out of the area without being smashed.  However the event was nowhere near as satisfying as the zombie invasion of Lich King.

Then the Cataclysm hit.  To get the feel of the full changes I rolled new characters on Horde and Alliance.  I created an Undead Hunter and a Night Elf Mage.  I must admit that the new quests in the once older sections were much better.  The leveling more smooth and the difficulty levels a little more even.  I remembered the Undead areas used to go from a difficulty rating of 3 to 10 all in one jump.  It was wild.  The Night Elf area was much worse.  But the new expansion fixed all of that craziness.  The quests are still the same, but the harder ones now give an NPC companion to help out.   Classes that used to have to grind for their pets (Warlock and Hunter) now get basic companions from the start.  Which makes the play much easier.  I quickly ran through the new gnome start area which was sickeningly adorable.  But I enjoyed it.

The most impressive change was the city of Orgrimmar.  Which is no longer a place of tent bazaars but metal clad stone buildings and huge zeppelin towers.  The new factor of Orgrimmar became a point of contention on the forums between Horde and Alliance players.  Alliance players stating that Horde players practically received a whole new city while Stormwind looked the same.

When the official release of Cataclysm occurred (I just ordered the basic internet download), I rolled both Goblin and Worgen characters.  That is where my enjoyment became a bit dampened.  Don't get me wrong, the new zones and toons were very nicely done.  I saw elements in the game play that were taken from other games such as WAR and LOTRO in terms of progression techniques and a bit of art work.  But nothing that would scream out plagiarism.

However, the goblin area in particular just seemed to be one big lampoon of the current popular culture.  Which I don't think will age too nicely.  The Worgen area received a more loving touch with very Lovecraftian themes.  What I didn't like about the new areas (and also the 80-85 areas) was the extensive use of cut scenes.  These new cut scenes don't cause me to feel excitement for the storyline.  They took me out of it.  They froze my character for a minute or two and took control of my game play.  It made me feel as if was inside a Disney World ride and I was just watching the game from the safety of my buggy.

So will I return like the prodigal gaming daughter to the Blizzard fold? No, I don't think so.  I paid for three months of the new expansion.  But I don't see anything for me in Warcraft at the moment.  But I'm an old, washed up WoW has been/never been.  The game is really for MMORPGs newbies.  And if this is the first game of it's type that a new player could pick up, then they could be nothing but impressed.  Azeroth is accessible and enjoyable.  The graphics are cute (although a lot of hardcore gamers complain of their simplicity).  The leveling is simple and non-stressful.  There are some jokes in the game that I think are more than a bit offensive but I think most would overlook them. It is a matter of taste after all.

So yes, I would still recommend WoW as a game for most would be players.  There is still nothing else like it in terms of brand and gaming accessibility.