You are NOT PREPARED! New World of Warcraft expansion details released!

Woo, you know that feeling you get when you knew something was coming, but you're still surprised it actually happened? Yeah, that's it. I'm getting it now as I think about the forthcoming World of Warcraft expansion that was announced at Gamescom 2015 today. Now, before you go thinking I'm all super giddy about the expansion, wait a minute. I didn't say that I was excited! In fact, I'd say that I'm fairly blase' about the WoW expansions these days. Business as usual. The fever pitch usually grows the closer it actually gets to hitting release and they unveil more of the new features. It was definitely this way for me with the last expansion, Warlords of Draenor.

Anyways, the new expansion, Legion, brings back some familiar faces from WoW's celebrated lore. Yep, The Burning Legion are back in a blaze of glory. The writing was certainly on the wall with this one, and many people (yours truly included) had strong suspicions this would be the next expansion due to the direction the game took in Warlords. As my title alluded to, Illidan looks to shake things up in some form or fashion. I'm hoping that Blizzard sticks to their guns with his character and keeps him as somewhat of a rogue agent with a strong grey moral compass. Anti-heroes are the new black, right? Fittingly, his return also accompanies the introduction of a new "hero class" (starting at level 55? My guess is probably 95), the demon hunter. So you can bet a few WoW tokens that the servers will be crowded with people "rolling" that class on launch day. As of this writing, Demon Hunters are known to have only two character specializations; havoc (dps) and vengeance (tank). We also know that this class will be able to double jump, which is neat, but you have to think there's more in the chute on this one.

I'm back...Miss me?

The setting for Legion will be "The Broken Isles", located in the center of Azeroth. It used to be the a stronghold full of night elves, but now it's been turned into a "graveyard" staging ground for an EVEN BIGGER (I had to laugh at this plot device) invasion of the Burning Legion. I suspect that here is where some of my cynicism and disdain kicks in. I understand that we need some closure in regards to Sargeras and his army of hellions, but make it fresh! Perhaps it will be, maybe I'm jumping the gun. We'll see. Anyways, in another content rehash, the mages of the Kirin Tor will again be *poofing* Dalaran (I assume) into the picture, as it is the main hub of this storyline. Sigh.

Something that did perk my ears, however, was the introduction of a "class order" system. There aren't many details kicking about for this feature yet, but it looks like an interesting iteration of the garrison feature introduced in the last expansion. You know, the things you loved to hate or hated to love? Anyways, now you are the head honcho of the class order and you will be surrounding yourself with powerful "champions" to take on Legion. The champions sound a great deal like followers, but apparently there will be less of them and they will be more important. You will also have access to a garri- I mean, "Order Hall" where you can do...stuff. Well, they have revealed that you will be able to customize and upgrade "artifacts." Whoa!? Sounds cool, right? Maybe!

It's bigger, so it must be more powerful, right?

"Artifacts" are powerful weapons that will be available for each specialization. Basically think of this as a spec specific legendary quest line that grants you a customizable weapon, both visually and effect wise. Now, this does sound neat! It really reminds me of some of the weapon stuff you could do in Lord of the Rings Online, which had a system where you could craft and improve powerful items. My biggest fear is that it will end up being a grind/fetch fest, where you are required to mindlessly complete some raid tier for three months in a row at the whim of maddening RNG. (Random Number Generation) Hopefully they nail this, I really want to like this!

Of course, there will also be graphical upgrades, new dungeons, new raids, and a whole whack of other changes to the mechanics of the game. So far, Blizzard is boasting of nine new dungeons (Nice to see you again, Violet Hold!) and two new raids; The Emerald Nightmare and Suramar Palace. I'm looking forward to seeing how they close out the lore on this one, seems like they are trying to tie up a lot of loose ends here. There will also be a new "PVP Honor System" that will function as a talent tree of sorts, with perks that you can unlock to spice up your encounters with the other faction. I'm sure many people are thinking, just balance the PVP already! It'll never happen!

Anyways, despite my misgivings, you can count me in as one of the people who will play it at launch. What about you? Yea, nea, or hell no? Let me know in the comments below!