The launch of Burning Crusade

California is having record low temperatures. But for many excited World of Warcraft players, weather would not stop them from getting their hands on the newest expansion pack, Burning Crusade.

EB Games at Universal CityWalk in Los Angeles, CA was one of the many places hosting the midnight launch of Burning Crusade. Lucky for us, at this location Blizzard had some developers there to talk to. Kevin from Joystiq was with me and he’ll have interviews up on their site soon. One guy we spoke with, Jeff, was incredibly nice. He has worked with Blizzard for over 10 years and loves it. He did state that starting at midnight last night, the WoW team would be starting to work on three unannounced projects. Couldn’t get more details than that, but it’s great to hear they are right to work on another great project. No rest when you are that much in demand!

Not sure if anyone here has tried the WoW collectible trade game, but these guys from Upperdeck were on hand to explain the game and the system. They claim it’s easier to learn than Magic. I saw the Leeroy Jenkins card but was unable to get a good photograph of it. Here’s a picture of the box:

What is there to get excited about in the new expansion pack? The Netherdrakes are a new kind of mount that you can use to get around. Some areas will be inaccessible without one, so you’ll really want to get this. Jewelcrafting is a new skill in this expansion. Miners will want to put this in their list of skills. You can turn raw, uncut stones into magical jewelry. Most stuff will be things you can find at stores, but of course there will be some rarities. The new world, Outland, used to be a beautiful homeworld of the orcs. Outland is home to draenei tribes, primitive orcsm and the arcane creatures of the Nether. Of course you cant leave out mention of the new races, Blood Elf and Draenei.

One of the few females in attendance and the only person in costume, Samantha was really excited about the launch. She has played WoW for about a year and a half. Samantha is a member of a guild and has multiple characters and is already level 60, so maybe she’ll be one of the first people to get to level 70. She was really fun to talk to and hopefully she’ll stop by the site and say hi!

Then the clock strikes midnight. The line starts to move forward and the first guy in line (who got there at 6am that morning) gets his collector’s edition of Burning Crusade. He seemed happy but a bit confused as to why we wanted a picture. I think he was looking forward to racing home and working on his character.

Kevin and I got our copies and rushed over to get them signed.

A quite night, but a very excited and dedicated crowd made this launch a fun one. Hopefully we’ll see more great things from Blizzard soon! I’m going to have some hot chocolate and warm up!