Observations on Cataclysm ( spoliers) and looking ahead.

I have been peering at the screenshots of the various zones in Cataclysm
over at www.mmo-champion.com and in addition to the strains on the vanilla
world we know and mostly love, I see some strains in the relationships of
the various groups, who up until recently, were pretty darn tight.

SPOILERS BELOW- NO FOLD

I see this mostly in the Horde, as we see that the Tauren have now gated
off the little path that leads to Mulgore. In some ways this could be
because of the increased presence of Alliance troops in the Barrens, but
also because Garrosh Hellscream is now running the show over in Orgrimmar.
I think that the Tauren expansion throughout Kalimdor is a good thing,
but it seems like there may be some tension with the more war-minded
Garrosh at the helm. The bit I read about Sylvanas using the Vrykul to
raise new Forsaken has got to be sitting poorly with the other groups
within the Horde, as creating new undead is not really a comfortable
thought for the living. The Blood Elves appear to have redeemed
themselves at the end of the Burning Crusade and are more in line with the
Tauren and Trolls (which could explain the Troll Druids and the Tauren
Paladins.)

I find it hard to believe that the current political structures are going
to remain static for many more expansions, but I am not sure how to
implement a change. I would prefer to see the Tauren, Trolls and Blood
Elves move into their own arrangements, possibly picking up the Draenai as
an unlikely ally, as it seems these groups are all headed in some similar
direction.

Having the Orcs, goblins, forsaken, and perhaps a new race group (Ogres?
Living Vrykul? BOTH??) form an warhorde would make sense as well, though
the reasons for such might have to be looked at closely.

The Alliance would be fine with the current structure (Gnomes, Night
Elves, Dwarves, Humans and Worgen.)

I don’t know that the balance would work out for things like Wintergrasp,
but I think that it would be an interesting change for the game in the
long run. Blizzard has shown that they are willing to kill a few sacred
cows to make things interesting, so I wouldn’t put anything off the table.