How will Cata work for those without the expansion?

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Envictus

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I've been thinking about this and come up with a fat blank. It's not like BC or Wrath where the new content is confined to seperate 'map planes' where it's easy to keep people out via portals, ship routes etc. With Cataclysm where the whole 'old world' will be drastically changed, it will be impossible to keep people without the expansion 'out'. If they're allowed in the same 'world'/phase as those with the expansion, how will they interact with quest-giving NPSs? Will they be able to see them, but unable to obtain the quests? I can understand them being locked out of the new dungeons etc, but otherwise it seems like they'll be experiencing most of the new content without the expansion.

Anyone have any idea how this will work?

And lore-wise, what happens to Northrend? Even the new Northrend loading screen shows the 'new' lich king, but will the quests simply play out as if the Icecrown raid events never happened?
 
From what I've read a while back, everyone gets the landscape overhaul, but only people who buy the expansion will have access to things like the new zones, races, dungeons etc.
 
You can only access the new Azeroth once you complete a quest which sends you through some worm hole effort so if you don't have cata you will see everything as you see it now plus what the version 4 patch has added, you will only be able to see the new stuff once you buy cata and unlock the new lvl cap, quests, etc.
 
Masataka said:
You can only access the new Azeroth once you complete a quest which sends you through some worm hole effort so if you don't have cata you will see everything as you see it now plus what the version 4 patch has added, you will only be able to see the new stuff once you buy cata and unlock the new lvl cap, quests, etc.
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This is bull****, don't answer a question by just pulling something out your ass. If you don't know then just keep quiet.

From what I've read a while back, everyone gets the landscape overhaul, but only people who buy the expansion will have access to things like the new zones, races, dungeons etc.
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This is correct.

Straight from the official FAQ:
Will I need the expansion to be able to experience the Cataclysm changes?

When the Cataclysm occurs, it will occur for all players, whether they have purchased the expansion or not--you will no longer be able to play in the original version of Kalimdor or the Eastern Kingdoms. However, certain features such as the new zones, new races, and new level cap will only be accessible to players who purchase the expansion.
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"And lore-wise, what happens to Northrend? Even the new Northrend loading screen shows the 'new' lich king, but will the quests simply play out as if the Icecrown raid events never happened? "

Not 100% I doubt they will change NR just like the didn't change TBC or Classic once you defeated the raid bosses, however they have changed EPL and WPL to reflect the change in leadership. so those zones should be quite interesting to go quest through in Cata.
 
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People should read the Cataclysm FAQ on the wow website. It's pretty clear as to what you get if buy the expansion or if you don't :)
 
I'm hoping that Blizz will use the Bronze Dragonflight to explain the curious reasons for us going to Outlands and Northrend, given the changes in the old world. It doesn't have to be much just a simple letter from Chromie to the effect of: Temporal abnormalities, Need your help in the past, go get epics, k thx bi!
 
erm the revamped 1-60 zones arnt part of the Xpanstion so everyone can play hence the massive patches we had to DownLoad. So you will ownly need the expansion to go past level 80 and what not that go's whit that
 
On beta you need to speak to a NPC that ports you too the new zones. Maybe they'll just block people who don't have cata from using those npc's.
 
Ugh.

As with previous expansions. Even if you don't buy the expansion, you STILL need the most up-to-date patches. For example. Even if you only have vanilla WoW, you can still see Stormwind Harbour even though it only came out with WotLK. Why? Because you're patched up.

Same thing with Cata. You just won't be able to venture into expansion areas. In TBC days if you didn't have the expansion, you simply got ported back to Auberdine if you took the ship to the Exodar...but the ship was still there for you to see.
 
b4 any asks "what about flying mounts in Azeroth?"
Can only be trained if you have Cataclysm activated on your account.

As for the NPCs that port to new cata zones, there are probably like Captain Placeholder, just a temporary fix.
 
I smell fail all over this expansion... it's just too old, the game in general. I mean flying in Azeroth? And no, i'm not trolling. Cataclysm seems like a desperate move to fuel WoW again. If it makes them money then so be it :D
 
dal2000 said:
I smell fail all over this expansion... it's just too old, the game in general. I mean flying in Azeroth? And no, i'm not trolling. Cataclysm seems like a desperate move to fuel WoW again. If it makes them money then so be it :D
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I actually think re-introducing activity to Kalimdor / Eastern Kingdoms is a good move. Look at how Shattrath became a ghost town literally overnight. I think it was a very clever move...

As for flying in Azeroth, I believe it should be done as follows:

You can fly in Green / Contested zones, but not in Red zones.

Therefore, you can't fly into the opposing faction's capitols or within their borders, but they can fly around in it to serve as better defense. Just think how cool it would be to chase someone in your territory if they're on ground mounts and you can fly to chase them down before they reach no man's land.

I was thinking about how ganking would prevail, but when I looked at the terrain, a lot of it is completely under tree canopies...So it won't be as easy as it sounds.
 
fail hey?

i beg to disagree. they hit the 12million mark for subscribers in the last month. its just all the hardcore raiders that are qqing all the way cos they bored, and protective of their little pixels because they grinded over 9000 hours to get and now anyone can get it that are leaving.

i beg to disagree because blizzard is a billion dollar a year company that allows activision to get away with doing jack ***** all

i beg to disagree, when people like Ozzie Osbourne and Tenacious D play the end of Blizzcon, and people actually PAY REAL MONEY to watch blizzcon online (WTF!?)

please, do think before making statements like that. and yes of course, blizzard is a company, with shareholders, who want money, because they put money in it. therefore blizzard needs to make money
 
Not to mention retooling and upgrading the 1-60 levelling experience makes wow far more friendly to first time players thus attracting new players. People say WoW starts are max level but Blizzard are saying, hey levelling can be fun too. They did it in WOTLK and I would bet they've done it in Cata. I know I'm going to enjoy levelling a new char through all the new old content. :)
 
I mean fail in the sense that people will get bored quicker than ever. It's just my opinion anyway, to each his own.
 
Abn0rm4l said:
Not to mention retooling and upgrading the 1-60 levelling experience makes wow far more friendly to first time players thus attracting new players. People say WoW starts are max level but Blizzard are saying, hey levelling can be fun too. They did it in WOTLK and I would bet they've done it in Cata. I know I'm going to enjoy levelling a new char through all the new old content. :)
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I had more fun when leveling characters than actually raiding/spamming.
 
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