I stood in downtown Orgrimmar last night, watching what was left of the city burn. The elementals had done a pretty good job of smashing the place up, and most of the buildings were in flames.  Orgrimmar will rise again though, and will soon be bigger and more amazing than ever before.  It’s a very exciting time, but a bit sad too. The familiar world of Azeroth as I’ve known it is about to be changed forever.

Six years ago today, we spilled out into the World of Warcraft as level 1 noobs.  Since then, we’ve seen that world grow and expand, and we’ve spread out across the distance and faced the biggest challenges the game had to throw at us.  Many of the places we visit feel like comfortable old leather to me.  They’re always there to welcome you and to bring back memories of old adventures.

As of this moment, the servers are down.  The massive dragon, Deathwing, is escaping from his prison deep below the world’s surface as I write this.  The blast shatters the world, and his rampage across the continents will change the landscape forever.  Some familiar old places will lie in ruins.  Some will be rebuilt.  New cities will be raised.
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When we log back in tonight, the new world of Azeroth will be waiting for us.  On the 6th anniversary of the game’s release, we’re getting a massive upgrade to the entire experience.  Everything old is new again, and we have days of exploring ahead of us to take in all the changes Deathwing’s escape has brought us.

We have 2 weeks to get used to our new surroundings, and on December 7th, Cataclysm will open new lands and give us 2 new races.  We’ll be taking the fight to Deathwing, and I’m looking forward to it.

I parked all my characters in Orgrimmar and Stormwind, and set most of my hearthstones there, as the portals in Dalaran will no longer function.  Those of us in the city said our last goodbyes this morning as the servers went offline.  I don’t even know yet what I’m going to do first in Cataclysm – there’s so many options to consider!