NPC models.

From top, left to right. 1. A new, aquatic Faceless ones, likely from Abyssal Maw dungeons. There were two other skins I failed to save. 2. Faceless ones of a caster variety. Textures are clearly unfinished. 3. Gilgoblin. 4. Some form of Shark from Vashj'ir. 5,6 and 7. Parts from a gilnean coach. Epic vehicle mount anyone?


From top, left to right. 1. Carnivorous plants from the Lost Isles. 2. "Merciless ones". Creepily awesome, and feel rather old god-ish. 3. More carnivorous plants from the lost isles. 4. Robotic Bunny rabbit. Likely a companion pet, but may also be the end game raid boss. 5. A fox - there were about 4 other skins I failed to save. 6. Monkeys. Likely from the Lost Isles. 7. Eels from Vashj'ir.



From top, left to right. 1. New Vashj'ir Murlocs (yay!) of which there are nearly a dozen other skins I failed to save. 2. Male naga have been slightly edited - their chests are a little different. 3. Seagull, likely a critter. 4. Seasnakes from Vashj'ir - there were about 3 more skins that I failed to save. 5. Trasher Sharks from Vashj'ir - there were two other skins I failed to save. 6. Toothless shark, which, oddly, looks like it has teeth. Those are primitive spears embedded its side. 7. Twilight Dragons. 8. Whale shark from (guess where!) Vashj'ir. 9. Totally unskinned version of Maiev called "watcher". May or may not be new.

Gear and Weapons

DISCLAIMER:
We are all used to the fancy tier 10 glowing stuff, so this new gear may seem like an anticlimax. However, this is not tier 11 stuff. All this gear is standard leveling gear, likely greens and blues at best, so you should not judge to harshly. For leveling gear, it looks fantastic and is incredibly detailed. Some of the weapons may be heroic quality.



Plate and two handed mace. The boots may not be finished.


Leather(?) and new daggers.


Cloth armor and a staff. Yes, that's a staff, not a mace. You can't see it very well in this picture but the rod goes back quite a ways.



Plate armor and a polearm, front and back. On a personal note, while it may still be only leveling gear, I think this looks totally awesome.


Leather and two fist weapons.


Leather (?) and a old fist weapon.



Plate and a medium to high quality two handed sword. (front and back)


Chainmail and a one handed sword.


Leather and a polearm from one of the Abyssal Maw dungeons.

Twin Peaks - PvP zone

This is a new PvP zone or battleground. Almost nothing is known about it.

The big prize - unbelievable high rez maps of Azeroth

This is the big prize of the Blog. I have two unbelievably high resolution images of the Eastern Kingdoms and Kalimdor after the changes of Cataclysm. They are high enough resolution that you can zoom in close enough to see every lamp post fairly well.

They include several of the new zones as well. The map of the Eastern Kingdoms includes the maps of the Twilight Highlands, Vashj'ir, Gilneas and the unfinished PvP zone Tol Barad. Kalimdor includes Hyjal and Uldum.

The main problem, however, is that the images are so big (40 megabites each!) that I can't host them on this site. I can only link you the download. It's up to you to decide if you actually trust me enough to download that big a package. I promise it is not a virus, although, coming from the internet that's not saying much is it.

If you decide that you actually trust some random bloke on the internet, here are the links.
http://rs971.rapidshare.com/files/385590860/Kalimdor.png
http://rs612.rapidshare.com/files/385589534/Azeroth.png

Goblin Character Creation - Male

This is a compilation of every goblin hair style and hair color. Each hairstyle is viewed from two different angles to better judge how they look.



This is a compilation of every goblin "feature" style. This effects ears, nose and chin. Each one of these are under a single option - you can take the chin from one image and use it with the ears from another. They are all under the same tab.



This is a compilation of every goblin skin color and face. There are 9 faces and 10 skin colors, so the last two faces are the same. The eye coloration is dependent of the skin color, not the face.

Lost Isles - phases one and two

This is the first phase of the Lost Isles goblin zone. It is the second zone in the Goblin starting quest chain, the first being Kazan (kazan is destroyed in the cataclysm. Sadly, I have no saved images of it, but it's pretty small.) The goblins begin shipwrecked on the left island, and eventually make their way to the right side. Ultimately, they make their way to the top of the volcano. This image is incorrectly labeled phase two - it actually should be phase 1.




This is the second phase of the Lost isles, after the Volcano erupts. Little is known about this second phase, but it is sure to be dramatic. This image is incorrectly labeled phase one - it actually should be phase 2.



I also randomly have this screenshot. I don't remember why I saved it, but there it is.

Azshara, Hyjal and Durotar.

Here is a zoom in which centers of Azshara. Azshara has been taken over by the goblins, and now has a green golf course, a miniature city in the bay (not a real capital, it does not connect to trade channel for instance), and all sorts of new buildings, quarries and more fun stuff. Yes, Azshara has been teraformed by the goblins into the shape of the "horde symbol".
Durotar has had a large portion flooded. There is very little new in the flooded zone other then the water. The Echo Isles are now controlled by Trolls once more, and is now a miniature city much like the Goblins. It is very pretty and dramatic close up.
You can also see the new zone Hyjal. The large lava field is the entrance to the elemental plane of fire, a raid zone featuring Ragnaros as the end boss. The zone is supposed to be heavily phased, but this image only shows a single phase.
At the far right is a totally unfinished island. This Island will be the none-instanced version of the Lost Isles, but is currently unfinished and deep in development. It is incorrectly labeled as "Undermine?"

Elwynn/Stormwind - Old and new comparison.

Here is a side by side comparison of the zone of Elwynn forest and the city of Stormwind between now and Cataclysm. Elwynn is so far unchanged. Stormwinds park district has been destroyed, the Keep is completely changed and there are now two lakes beyond its walls. There is currently no Worgen District like Blizzard promised, nor anywhere unfinished to point out where it might be later. The idea may have been thrown out.

Orgrimmar - Old and new comparison

Here is a side by side comparison of the city of Orgimmar between now and Cataclysm. The far left side, including the area of trolls and the portal trainer has been flooded, the main entrance has been covered in a dark iron and a new arm leads into the Goblins Azshara.

Eastern Kingdoms - Old and new comparison

Here is a side by side comparison of the continent of the Eastern Kingdom between now and Cataclysm.

Kalimdor - Old and new comparison

Here is a side by side comparison of the continent of Kalimdor between now and Cataclysm.