New Warcraft Expansion Takes Players Outdoors

Blizzard Entertainment, Inc. has announced the third expansion for its wildly popular online game World of Warcraft: The Great Outdoors.  "We're really excited about this expansion being released, as it promises venues that our players have never seen before," said Mike Morhaime, CEO of Blizzard Entertainment.

The new expansion area, accessed through the feared Front Door, starts players off in The Front Yard.  Then, after they've gained some experience and gotten used to the zone, it sends them all over.  "We've got zones for everyone, like The Park and The School.  These areas will be completely alien to players, and we're exited about that," says Morhaime.

The expansion also adds new specialties as ways to make money with old professions, such as the Sandwich Artist for players who have maxed their Cooking skill.  Blacksmiths will be disappointed to find that their trade is outdated, but Engineers will be overjoyed at the benefits their profession provides them.

Players receive all-new abilities, such as Walking, and Using Your Vocal Cords.  These abilities will upgrade into Running and Having a Conversation once players dive deeper into the expansion.

There are also new dungeons and raids to conquer with your friends, ranging from the five-person Mall instance, to the epic encounters inside the 25-person 19th Birthday Kegger zone, which promises to tax players' skill levels in multiple ways.

The Great Outdoors also includes new player versus player venues that take advantage of the new areas, such as the Basketball arena, and a new ten-on-ten zone called Ultimate.  While the new PvP zones are available as soon as you begin the expansion, the developers recommend waiting until your character has really gotten used to all his new abilities.

Players will also be excited about the new achievements in the expansion as ways to show off how acclimated they've gotten to the new areas.  Achievements such as "Ask Someone Out, "Have a Five-Minute Conversation", and "Run a Quarter of a Mile" are difficult at first, but with sufficient invested time and effort, players will be able to obtain them all.

Players haven't exactly been clamoring for this expansion, but Morhaime summed his thoughts up succinctly: "We know it's a bit abrupt, and it might feel a bit awkward at first, but we're confident that players will eventually be excited to go Outdoors."

-Journey