The Burning Crusade (Burning Crusade The)

Two new playable races were added to World of Warcraft in The Burning Crusade: The Draenei of the Alliance and the Blood Elves of the Horde. Previously, the Paladin class was exclusive to the Alliance faction, and the Shaman class was exclusive to the Horde faction; these new races allowed Alliance players to play Shaman as Draenei, and allowed Horde players to play Paladins as Blood Elves.

In addition, a new PvP Arena System was introduced as a way for players to fight in 2 vs 2, 3 vs 3, or 5 vs 5 "Arena" battles. While the arena system allows players without The Burning Crusade expansion to partake in skirmish matches, those without the expansion are unable to participate in rated matches, which yield rewards based on a point system. Ladder matches were only accessible by players who have reached level 70. Three arena stages were introduced in The Burning Crusade expansion, including The Ruins of Lordaeron in the Undercity, The Circle of Blood in Blades Edge Mountains, and the Ring of Trials in Nagrand. Arena matches have taken a more prominent role in World of Warcraft's PvP content, and have developed into an electronic sport. One example of Arena matches as an electronic sport is the World Series of Video Games in 2007, where player teams competed in 3 vs 3 matches to earn cash prizes. Blizzard also holds its own seasonal tournament, the World of Warcraft Arena Tournament, which pitches teams from servers all around the world against each other. This tournament concludes with a 5v5 world final event, the first of which took place at BlizzCon ’07 and so ended season 1.

Only 1,600 copies were delivered to Romania, which has more than 10,000 World of Warcraft subscribers.

The Burning Crusade received almost universal praise from critics upon release.

Like in the original, the scenery of The Burning Crusade was highly praised, being described as "occasionally breathtaking," The introductory video to the expansion was described as "hugely impressive." It was generally felt that the new Outland areas were some of the best in the game, with the size of the new areas introduced being similar to the total size of other existing games in the genre. The new starting areas were also liked, with reviewers appreciating the attention to detail in these zones. Building architecture, scenery and creatures were all singled out for mention, despite some disappointment that buildings and creatures from the original game had been "rubber stamped" into these new locations. The uniqueness of each zone, from scorched plateaus to lush forests were praised, each area being described as having its own unique feel. The various small features, such as mechanical settlements or abandoned temples were also well liked. Players were advised that they would spend a large amount of time "just staring at the scenery" in these new locations. That said, it was felt that the game was starting to show its age, with careful use of texture and lighting techniques disguising a basic underlying geometry. This was thought to follow on from the strategy in the original game, where strong art direction and careful choice of colour helped to compensate for a simpler game engine, describing it as a "testament of art over technology.

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