The massively multi-player online gaming industry has seen a lot of press over the last decade, with the huge success of Everquest and then the release of Blizzard’s unstoppable force, World of Warcraft.  There are also stories of crazy things people have done, or have let happen, because of their involvement in these online games.  

People have paid more attention to the life of their online Avatar, and their second life, and forgetting simple things like eating, showering, going to work, or feeding the baby he or she left in the closet because its crying was distracting.  There are also the stories of people being killed or beaten over stealing or selling digital property in these games, and those who’ve committed suicide over things not working out in their digital world.


In many ways, these online games are providing a medium for players to live vicariously through their Avatars to experience excitement that the monotony of their every day lives cannot provide for them.  When things come crashing down in their online world and with nothing substantial to fall back on in real life, the consequences can be devastating.

Even with the negative press and the association these games have with negative behavioral changes, the industry has grown and keeps progressing, even with some of the now aging games on the decline.  

Gaming is a multi-billion dollar industry even with the economic downturn.  For it to remain that way and for consumers to keep throwing in their dollars to keep the industry afloat, new fun ‘toys’ must be thrown into the mix.

Enter World of Warcraft: Cataclysm.

Blizzard’s new expansion to its beast of a game has the Internet buzzing with gamer delight.  Information on the two new playable classes, Worgen and Goblin, and changes to guild ranking and achievements, as well as player-vs-player improvements has many people anticipating the release only days after the announcement of its release.  

Even with U2 performing at Blizzcon, the Cataclysm announcement drew greater fanfare from the gaming culture.

Other additions to the game are things that have been wanted for years but were never really considered for production, such as Gnome Priests and Blood Elf Warriors.  

After the last two expansions, many players also wondered who would be the grand enemy to fight should another expansion pack be released.  All of the enemies introduced in the original strategy games for Warcraft have been added and sequentially defeated in every player’s quest for better loot and gear.

Blizzard had to tap into the books and lore behind the game, reaching far back (some thousands of years in the lore) to pull out a fiend that has had influence on the MMO game through a child who was one of the early super villains to defeat in the game’s timeline.  

Deathwing the Destroyer is returned for the next, and possibly final, expansion pack for World of Warcraft. If he serves to be the final villain, it will be a proper way to end the game.  Deathwing, in Warcraft lore, was the greatest villian to Azeroth, manipulating the other dragon aspects and even using the Burning Legion for his own devices.

There are a handful of other possible enemies for Blizzard to use in the future, such as the Old Gods or bringing Sargeras, the fallen Titan and patriarch to the Burning Legion, but none commanded the same attention as Deathwing did in the lore.  Others had pervasive influence, with Sargeras being the only one other than Deathwing to actually affect things directly, but Deathwing is a villain born of Azeroth, and the greatest of all.

It almost makes me want to play again.  Almost.