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Lots of fun, despite the weak raid game

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 0 / 0
Date: May 29, 2007
Author: Amazon User

"World of Warcraft: The Burning Crusade" is a great expansion pack. The world of Outland is big and beautiful, with plenty of variety and lots to see and do. In contrast to other MMO's, it feels a lot more like a standalone game than an expansion pack; there are hundreds of new quests and items, factions, the Arena PvP system, the list goes on. And while the level cap has only extended from 60 to 70, those 10 levels are a very satisfying journey, as there are plenty of quests to keep you out of the grind.

Blizzard has clearly focused on a "back to basics" strategy with instances, too. 5-man instances abound, and they're all excellent. The intent is to spotlight hybrid classes and small-group tactics, which is a welcome change. All of the 5-man content can be relived later in "Heroic Mode", which raises the difficulty to an acceptably fun level, and provides a good challenge for experienced players to work on.

The only major failure here is the raid game. It's hard to criticize Blizzard for making the decision to spotlight the 5-man game (players were howling for it), but it came as a shock to experienced raiders that they'd have nothing to do on their scheduled raid days. The first raid you encounter, Karazhan, comes with an attunement, requires a cookie-cutter 10-man lineup, and has a serious gear check halfway through. That's no fun. Kara alone has smashed many raid groups accustomed to the more forgiving 40-man game, to say nothing of the road to Serpentshrine Cavern and The Black Temple.

The Collector's Edition is worth having, particularly if you're a fan. There's an excellent coffee table book that shows the evolution of the art & design of The Burning Crusade. I thought the DVD was a little short on content, but well-produced. It highlights many aspects of game design that players tend to overlook. The packaging is great and hey, you get a Nether Drake!

Collector's Edition Specifics

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 67 / 68
Date: January 18, 2007
Author: Amazon User

People who want to know about the expansion in general should also look at the standard Burning Crusade edition. I'm just going to add some information here about what's different with the Collector's Edition.

The most important thing to know is that each copy of the expansion, for either version, comes with a key code that you have to put in to upgrade your account. Without the code, you won't be able to access the new content even if you have the software installed. [Edit: As of January 22, 2007 Blizzard has announced on their forums that they're working on allowing players who already upgraded using the basic expansion to then also upgrade using the collector's edition in order to get the limited edition pet. You'll have to call Blizzard's billing service line with the unused collector's edition expansion key, so it's slightly more work than upgrading directly with the CE, but it can now be done.]

The only real difference between the versions so far as playing the actual game goes, is that those who buy the CE will receive a special pet called a netherwhelp on all of their characters. It's basically a baby version of the flying mounts available in Outland.

Most of the benefit of this version is outside of the game. You get a nicer box with it, of course. Inside that box you'll find that you get the game in both CD (4 of them) form, and DVD form (just 1, so you don't have to mess around with changing the one in the drive).

In addition to the game itself, you get a number of other items. There's a very nice mousepad with a map of Outland on it (though I've heard that the glossy surface works poorly with laser mice). There's a hardcover book of art from World of Warcraft. They include some cards from the WoW collectible card game, along with directions for those who want to play. If you love the music you find in Burning Crusade, you'll also be happy to see that there's a soundtrack included in the box. Finally, there's an additional DVD that contains two hours of behind the scenes material, including things like interviews.

Keep in mind, however, that the only in game benefit is the pet. If you don't want the pet but want everything else, you'll probably be able to get the other items cheaply from someone who wanted the pet and not the rest. Or, you could buy the set and then sell the activation code to someone who wants the pet, while you keep the extra items for yourself.

Due to the need for an activation code, though, be careful about buying this item used. Make sure that you confirm with the seller that the activation code in their set has NOT been used, because it can only be used to upgrade a single account. After that, even if you use the software in the box to upgrade the version on your computer, you WILL NOT have access to the new content. An expansion upgrade code is REQUIRED and it must be one that has never been used.

Review on Collector's Edition

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 33 / 34
Date: January 19, 2007
Author: Amazon User

When I buy a certian edition of software or DVD or whatever on Amazon, I often see people reviewing the actual software or movie and never the EDITION they purchased. This review is more for the Collector's edition, although the game itself is five stars, no doubt.

As far as Collector's Editions go, Blizzard has always done very well, and this is pretty much no exception. Packaged exactly like the WoW CE, this one fits nicely on the shelf next to it, and has the same (cheap but cool) felt on the inside holding everything in place. The extras in this edition are pretty standard for Blizzard.

*Soundtrack CD
*DVD - The DVD's are getting pretty lame. The more they release for each of their three universes, the less you have to put on each one. This one doesn't have very many features on it, but it is good, nonetheless.
*Game on DVD and 4 CD's plus a couple of codes for 30-day trials to give to friends. (My advice: Wait until they do another offer for a free month of game play when you get someone else signed up).
*Mousepad map - Definately more useful than some fabric map print that will never be used.
*In game pet - Netherwhelp hatchling - Too cute, not cool enough. I like the original CE where we got to choose form three pets, give us back some options.
*Trading Card game - Two starter sets, and a couple of extra hero cards - I don't know anything about the TCG, haven't played this one before, but it's nice to get the cards because God knows the last thing I need is one more hobby to collect, and when they do things like give me these cards for free, I am no doubt going to fork over some money to buy more.
*Book: Art of BC - Nice, but only half the book has new stuff, the other half is stuff on all the old additions to WoW and is freely available on any fan website. Still anice coffee table book though for fans of the game.

To the reviewer below who hasn't gotten their copy yet, I am sorry, but Amazon does get a lot of pre-orders for this, and they have no idea how many copies they will actually get to send out, which is why they cut off pre-orders early, but I hope you get your copy soon. The launch has been smoother than I ever thought possible, so getting on and playing is pretty quick once you get it installed.

The expansion to a great game

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 18 / 55
Date: October 21, 2006
Author: Amazon User

Great game if your into this sort of thing. This expansion will bring people into a whole differant realm. Not for the casual gamer who spends an hour or so a week playing games. If you are like me, I spends hours a day playing this game. I'm addicted and I love it. For me thats ok for others it might not be. This release brings a higher level cap. Which translates into more experiance grinds. Through blizzard boast that this will be more quest oriented so that you are not exposed to the repetivness of killing the same mob over and over again.

An obession in a box

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 18 / 39
Date: November 22, 2006
Author: Amazon User

World of Warcraft is designed to be playable by the once a week player or the die hard gamer. However, once you've hit those first levels, once you beat your first boss, I don't know how once a week will be enough! There is simply so much to explore and do, that getting to the limit cap will seem like a whirlwind. Don't be afraid to try everything, mix it up, classes, races, professions, they all benefit you and they all make it fun. Good Hunting!

From a beta tester

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 13 / 14
Date: January 13, 2007
Author: Amazon User

I was lucky enough to get into the closed beta testing, and can say that this expansion is amazing! The quests are fun, several have funny names and stories behind them. There is also alot of pop culture in the expansion, much of it deserving of a good laugh when you find it.
The scenery in all zones is highly detailed and sometimes makes you just stop and look around. There is plenty of content for casual and hardcore gamers. You can grind endlessly on the amount of mobs around, level on quests, pvp objectives in zones, several new reputations to work on, and new instances for groups and raiders.
The new gear availble to players (from green to epic) helps casual people catch up to their raiding peers; and it will help anyone who wanted to join a end-game raid guild but thought (or was told) that their gear was not good enough.
Money is much easier to come by in Outland. Monster drops sell for quite a bit more, coin drop is higher, greens are plentiful. Save and sell everything! Learning to ride a flying mount is very expensive. 800g first rank of flying, 5000g second rank of flying. The mounts themselves run 100g and 200g respectivley. The mounts are sold by the Wildhammer Clan and at the time of this posting the faction was removed; so there is no faction grinding for a discount :)
All in all, beta was a great experience, and I highly recommend this expansion. See you in Outland!

Review of Amazon... *

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 2 / 17
Date: January 19, 2007
Author: Amazon User

Heh - how can I review the game. Pre-ordered back in October and as of the evening of the 18th my order still states it is in the process of shipping *soon*. I suppose *soon* plus some more mysterious time of *soon* once it ships I can give a more accurate review. I can understand slow shipping but slowness of putting a box in another box? Yup that should take three days plus.

Burning Crusade

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 2 / 2
Date: January 23, 2007
Author: Amazon User

I was pleasantly surprised to find that there has not been too many issues playing the game with this expansion.

I enjoy the new content, yet find it strange to run around with the opposite faction next to you, and no one usually attacks each other.

As for the Collector's extras, the art book is an excellent piece to have, I also enjoyed being able to install via DVD.

I DID feel that the ingame pet was not enough to warrant the price, though I knew what I was getting into. I am into having "extras" but for the most part can easily live with the regular version of the game.

Angry and frustrated.

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 3 / 17
Date: January 18, 2007
Author: Amazon User

Ok maybe not a review of the game but more a comment on amazon and blizzard. How can you take preorders months in advance and not be able to ship on time? As of today the estimated ship date for my preorder is 1/20 4 days after relase with an arrival date some time after that.

Thanks for nothing.

Blizzard does Collector's Editions right!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 3 / 6
Date: January 31, 2007
Author: Amazon User

You'd be hard-pressed to complain about the contents of this edition. I have yet to be disappointed with any Blizzard Collector's Edition. Chock-full of goodies (see details in the product description), it is more than worth the additional price.

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