I'm late to the game in general commentary regarding Cataclysm but here are a few overarching thoughts.

Old World Rebuild
I personally believe the rebuilding of the old world is a fantastic idea. I very much like the idea that the launch of the expansion is a discrete point in the history of the game with a "no going back" feeling. In a way it's a relaunch of WoW and there will be much more meaning when someone says, "I started playing WoW before Cataclysm."...

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Tauren Paladins: Coolest thing ever!

If this is true I'll have my pre-order in tomorrow.

I'm curious how it will be explained lore-wise, but I really don't care. Tauren (my favorite race) + Paladin (my favorite class) = 100% awesome.

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If I had to use one word to describe the new 5-man introduced in Patch 3.2 it would be... short.

There is a lot of ceremony during the instance and it's cool to have Thrall, Wyrnn, and Fordring watching as you fight. However, there are only 3 encounters in the instance. The first has you joust/fight 3 champions of your opposing faction. The second you face an Argent Crusade champion and some lackeys. Lastly, you fight Black Knight.

The instance is even shorter than...

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