The World of Warcraft The Magazine (by Future, Inc) has a new preview of the World of Warcraft: Cataclysm. It starts with a recap on Deathwing’s history since his days as Neltharion the Earth-Warder.

There are other bits of goodies to read about the expansion. The magazine points out the nine key aspects of the Cataclysm expansion. Among them are:

Azeroth Changes

The Barrens, as said at Blizzcon, will be split in half by a giant lava chasm due to the cataclysm caused by Deathwing. The southern Barrens will be forest-like and it’s revealed to be affected by the Emerald Nightmare, so expect some odd bestiary there.

The pirates have been driven away from the eastern coast of the Barrens, and is contested by Alliance and Horde. Baron Longshore will be found now in a cage.

Eastern Plaguelands has been split into two areas and the level requirements have been lowered substantially. The southwest will have level 40-45 quests. The northeast will have level 45-50 quests. This was a level 55-60 zone the past five years.

There will be a new neutral port located roughly between the Hinterlands and the Eastern Plaguelands coastline.

Western Plaguelands is now level 35-40.

Thousand Needles is now level 40-45.

There is a low level PvP potential in PvP servers with the opening of Gilneas as a level 1-10 worgen starting location. That means level 10-20 Worgen players will clash with level 10-20 Undead players, and that’s not counting the myriad of other races who usually hop into Silverpine for their leveling.

I might have missed this at Blizzcon, but certainly don’t remember this. Isle of Kezan will be available in Cataclysm according to Tom Chilton (Game Director):

Blizzard Quote:
Chilton: “The goblins bring that comic relief to the Horde. You’ll really get a taste of their over-the-top humor as you go through the early goblin zones like Kezan, Lost Isles, and even Azshara.”

Guild Talent Trees

In Cataclysm, Guilds will have their own talent tree for PvE and PvP with nice perks. Some of those mentioned in the World of Warcraft The Magazine are: 10% gold drop/honor increase, no more raid-buff reagents, mass-resurrection ability.

The Guild window will display a Guild News, Guild Information and Guild Message of the Day. There are three other tabs at the bottom: Roster, Talents, Recruiting. The Guild News RSS allows you to display the Guild’s latest achievements and history on your own guild website.

Guild Heirlooms

Profession crafters will be able to buy Heirloom recipes to craft items that allow the creation of level-scaling items by using the guild’s currency which is gained the same way as guild experience points.

Check out the entire Cataclysm preview here.