The New Coat of Paint

I've just finished playing World of Warcraft and I have to say, they have done a fine job fixing that old gal up. They have added a lot of new features, some of them completely new, like hairstyles, glyphs and some of them to replace community created mods, like their new agro warning system and in game calendar.

They also decided to spruce up the place a bit, add a new coat of bright paint and change some of the spell effects to give them more visual power. As much as I criticise the way Blizzard does business and treats it's player base, they sure do know how to make the old look brand spankin new again.

I've never done a run thru heroic mana tombs, but tonight, I managed it with my gnome frost mage and I have to say, it was such fantastic fun. The spell effects were dazzling, the colors sharp and enticing. I have to say it was almost like playing a brand new game. They've revamped so much stuff for the expansion, added the ability for glyphs to enhance your spell powers and changed how the talent trees work for all classes that the game just plays differently now. I'm not saying it won't be the same old boring grind, especially for those achievement junkies who will spend tons of time and money filling out everything on the list. But it was nice to be back in Azeroth.

I just have to say that with this small taste of what is to come in WOTLK, Blizzard may stay on top for a good time to come.