If there’s anything I think Blizzard has learned from its past experiences, it’s how to refine their games. Definitely, the production of TBC has shown steep improvements made to the leveling and 5-man side of the game. It always surprises me how they can reinvent parts of a game without fundamentally changing them. Though, not always, considering how the PvP system has progressed. But I’ve already killed that horse. So let’s focus on raid instancing and what Blizzard has done. There are some flaws in this area, but mostly positives.

Upon Karazhan’s release, it seemed Blizzard would repeat some of the same mistakes of old. Here you had a raid dungeon with myriads of encounters only mildly immersing. However, that’s not to say the potential wasn’t there. Rather, Medivh and certain bosses of Karazhan were rife with possibilities, given their backstories. Unfortunately, however, this was only exhibited with the cut-scene involving Arcanagos. But imagine taking a scrying gem from one of the mages outside and witnessing a cut-scene between Moroes and Ebonlocke. Or Aran’s death scene. It would have also been nice to know why Prince Malchezaar makes an appearance.

Luckily, however, Blizzard made improvements in these concepts with both the Black Temple and Sunwell Plateau. Akama personally relates the storyline concerning Illidan and the Black Temple, with voice acting no less! You help him rise to the occasion and rebel against Illidan’s rule. You help him defeat his shade and regain control of the Ashtongue warriors. Maiev’s presence and involvement is also made evident before you enter BT for the first time. And, concluding this story arc, Akama and Maiev are both there to assist you in defeating Illidan. It’s a truly engrossing experience, if you’re into that kind of thing. Something similar is happening with Kalecgos and Anveena in the Sunwell. And it’s heartening that Blizzard is rather cognizant of the progress they’ve made and how they want to produce storytelling in the future. As J. Allen Brack states in the “Fury of the Sunwell” interview:

We now feel that the main villains of The Burning Crusade could have been a little more visible from the moment you entered Outland. For example, players could go all the way to level 70 without catching a glimpse of their nemeses. In Wrath of the Lich King, we’re going to engage players in the conflict with the primary antagonist from the beginning.

Additionally, the game is shedding its mediocrity in style. The Black Temple is definitely the pinnacle of musical development in WoW. Sunwell Plateau is, in my opinion, the pinnacle of WoW visually. And, personally, while its not an achievement in difficulty, Karazhan was a pinnacle of enjoyable raid encounters. There’s nothing like getting turned into a gnome with a red hood and being chased by the Big Bad Wolf, or experiencing such quotable gems as Moroes and Aran.

I’ll leave it to Chris Robinson to close it out:

An important lesson for the artists was that it’s okay to take chances. The art style of The Burning Crusade was very colorful and high concept - a significant departure from the familiar geography of Azeroth - but the response we got was overwhelmingly positive. We took a chance, but ultimately it paid off. If we go far out there, people will respond. Hopefully, we’ll see another positive reaction to the quite dramatic departure in visual style that Northrend represents.

My problems with other parts of the game aside, I look forward to it!