WoW: Thinking back and looking forward

As I have mentioned previously, my interest in WoW seems to have all but dried up.  I have been playing since its release in '04, which is almost a quarter of my life.  One would imagine that a video game could become a bit monotonous in that period of time.

Since the Burning Crusade expansion was released, the game has quite literally evolved into something that is completely different than it was when I bought and played the original.  Is that a good thing?  In many aspects, yes, it is a very good thing.  But it can definitely be a bad thing in many ways as well.

Cataclysm:  Abyssal Maw

In the days of UBRS and MC raiding, who would have ever imagined that the game would be at the point that it is now?  I can remember when raiding MC it took hours to organize a 40 person raid group.  It took days and weeks of raiding just to get a single piece of T1 gear.  Now people can get tier gear without even setting foot in a raid dungeon.  I guess thats my biggest beef with the way WoW has turned out.  It seems that in Blizzard's successful attempt to make the game more casual friendly and enjoyable for everyone, the enjoyment, wonder, and mystery that the game once had has been watered down to taste more like vitamin water, as opposed to the awesome Hi-C flavor that it once had.

Official Cataclysm artwork

And the worst part?  No longer will we be able to go back and enjoy the game the way it used to be played, running on foot for 40 levels, getting griefed for hours in STV, raiding crossroads just for the hell of it, 24 hour AV matches, and controlling a vent full of 40 nerds.  We won't even be able to revisit the environment that was once the most enjoyable aspect of the game.  After Cataclysm launches, Azeroth will never look or feel the same again.

Cataclsym:  Desolace

But I guess if you look at the other side of things, the outlook changes completely.  I can get off of work, run a few heroics, join a pug or two on the weekend, and dps with the best of them.  I no longer have to worry about finding a guild that has to depend on 40+ people to show up on time for a raid, just so I can enjoy endgame content to the fullest.  The World of Warcraft will be completely different than the way I have seen it (almost daily) for the past 6 years, and that truly peaks my interest.  What will it look like, and what will the atmosphere feel like?  The entire game will be changing, and I will probably be taken back by some of the awesome new things to see - much like I was in the original.

Cataclysm:  The Barrens

Personally, even though I have hardly set foot in Azeroth in months, I am really looking forward to the release of Cataclysm.  I'm excited about being excited to play the game again, you know what I mean?  I think I am going to try to form a small group of folks to prepare for the Cataclysm release with.  Meaning I want to run some of the current endgame content that I haven't yet made an effort to see.  But here's the thing...I want to do it from a fresh perspective and a class that I haven't played to its fullest yet.

So, on that note, in the coming days I'll be introducing you guys to my newest alt/main character, and may highlight some of the relatively interesting encounters that I come across on him.  I am thinking Shaman or Warlock.  What do you guys think, have you played either?  Which did you prefer and why?