Cataclysm Beta: Stormwind Tour pt2

To avoid upsetting anyone all my beta information is going to be hidden from the main page, So if you want to have content spoiled you will need to click the "read more" link further down the page. The only clue will be from the title of the post but these will, I promise, always be vague enough to not give anything away.

My purpose of playing the beta is to try to break the game, I'm not doing any actual content that I am likely to run Evlyxx, or any of my alts through a kajillion times after the launch. I am here for exploration, looking at the older Azeroth content and to see where I need to go to be able to power level professions.

If you have any requests for places you'd like me to go or NPCs to visit drop me a line at evlyxx at evlyxx dot com or leave me a comment below.
Finally, I present to you the 2nd part of my Cataclysm Beta tour of Stormwind. Having covered 4 of the 7 zones of Stormwind in pt1, we only have 3 left, so we'll head straight out west of the trade district and into the Mage Quarter. The entrance has changed very little but the ground detail is much more obvious and there is a clearly defined pattern in the grass that even with all settings maxed out I cannot see on the live servers:

Mage Quarter (Beta)

Mage Quarter (3.3.5 Live)

Moving left nothing else looks to have changed, however a few shops seem to now have rear entrances that were not there before. I assume this is to make travelling around the maze a little easier.

Mage Quarter Tailor (beta) 

Mage Quarter tailors (3.3.5 live)

Those aside everything else still looks the same, no destruction, reconstruction at all. Leaving the mage quarter via the north gate reveals that cannot be said for the Park, a much under used zone by us players and Blizzard alike. It was only really used by druids (there was a trainer here), tailors for the moonwell and of course once a year the elders would send us there for questing and fireworks!!

Mage Quarter to Park bridge (beta)

Mage Quarter to Park bridge (3.3.5 live)

Seems something (or someone!) cataclysmic happened here between 3.3.5 and the launch of Cataclysm.  Moving around the Canal District to the Dwarven District reveals even more destruction...

Park to Dwarven District Bridge (beta)

Park to Dwarven District Bridge (3.3.5 live)

There are no clues or quests as to the story behind this and while it is possible to navigate through the smouldering ruins it only leads down to the harbour with no direct way back up. The fire, is the neutral sort that does no damage.

The Park (east) (beta)

The Park (east) (3.3.5 live)

I am rather sad that this tranquil urban retreat is being taken away from us even though I didn't use it that often. Looking back across from the border with the harbour gives a true picture of the destruction. I'm hoping for a major pre-Cataclysm event to happen here if not I'm going to QQ.

Looking from west to east over the park (beta)

Looking from west to east over the park (3.3.5 live)

The video above show a more accurate view of the destruction much better than a couple of screenshots.

Moving around to the harbour reveals only 1 minor change, a gateway to the new area behind the Cathedral.

Harbour to Cathedral gardens (beta)

Harbour to Cathedral gardens (3.3.5 live)

Moving through the new gateway reveals another massive change to Stormwind. There is a completely new zone full of lakes and couple of mini islands. There is a druid trainer here (since the previous park location was destroyed it makes sense) and a few other NPCs that, at the time of writing, have no defined use. Moving to the larger island reveals many portals only 1 of which is active, teh one to Tol Barad, the new PvP zone which is the Cataclysm equivalent to Wintergrasp. This make me believe that the others are portals for the other battlegrounds, but that IS a guess.