Before we launch: Burning Crusade Q&A

If you’re not busy preparing for the midnight launch party, or perhaps throwing your own Burning Crusade launch countdown happening in your own backyard, perhaps you can lend your ears to Blizzard‘s Jeff Kaplan for a moment as he talks to Firing Squad. See? Even in the middle of all the commotion that is the BC launch, he has time to sit down, have some tea, chew some fat. Or maybe that’s because he’s Game Designer, which means his job’s been done long before, so he has nothing but time. At least until he’s got to design something new again.

Now, some of what Kaplan said is old territory: we’ve been there, done that, such as playable race profiles, or them danged Fel Reavers. But we can draw a few new details from the Firing Squad Q&A, though. Here they are:

• Simply because people have described the Exodar as a “spaceship” doesn’t mean that this game has gone sci-fi, Kaplan clarifies. The only thing which the Exodar travelled is the Twisting Nether, not the final frontier. Consider it an alternative to the Dark Portal – or being a Titan.
• Besides the Fel Reavers, the other Outlandish creatures to watch out for include the Arrakoa, Flesh Beasts, Elekks, and Ethereals. “Each new region of Outland has some creature or other that stands out.”
• “We do intend to continue producing free content updates for World of Warcraft… A lot of (new content) will be realized in content updates, while others may find their way into new expansions in the future.” New expansions? Not so soon, please – we still gotta buy the current one first!
• Finally, Kaplan reveals that there are some unnamed projects under Blizzard’s ambit right now, but no details to reveal yet. Starcraft 2, perhaps? (Or World of Starcraft. –ed.)

If you’re not busy preparing for the midnight launch party, or perhaps throwing your own Burning Crusade launch countdown happening in your own backyard, perhaps you can lend your ears to Blizzard‘s Jeff Kaplan for a moment as he talks to Firing Squad. See? Even in the middle of all the commotion that is the BC launch, he has time to sit down, have some tea, chew some fat. Or maybe that’s because he’s Game Designer, which means his job’s been done long before, so he has nothing but time. At least until he’s got to design something new again.

Now, some of what Kaplan said is old territory: we’ve been there, done that, such as playable race profiles, or them danged Fel Reavers. But we can draw a few new details from the Firing Squad Q&A, though. Here they are:

• Simply because people have described the Exodar as a “spaceship” doesn’t mean that this game has gone sci-fi, Kaplan clarifies. The only thing which the Exodar travelled is the Twisting Nether, not the final frontier. Consider it an alternative to the Dark Portal – or being a Titan.
• Besides the Fel Reavers, the other Outlandish creatures to watch out for include the Arrakoa, Flesh Beasts, Elekks, and Ethereals. “Each new region of Outland has some creature or other that stands out.”
• “We do intend to continue producing free content updates for World of Warcraft… A lot of (new content) will be realized in content updates, while others may find their way into new expansions in the future.” New expansions? Not so soon, please – we still gotta buy the current one first!
• Finally, Kaplan reveals that there are some unnamed projects under Blizzard’s ambit right now, but no details to reveal yet. Starcraft 2, perhaps? (Or World of Starcraft. –ed.)