I have to say that one of my favourite aspects of the WotLK expansion has been exploring the new instances in Northend.  Although Utgarde Keep had its moments, it pales in comparison to the Nexus on levels of both look and gameplay.  I personally found tanking Utgarde Keep ridiculously easy.  Without any new challenges presented and the somewhat predictable room-by-room encounter of giant Viking-men thundering towards me, it didn't hold my attention nearly as well as the Nexus.

The Nexus is a series of underground ice caves and tunnels.  Unlike most instances in WoW, you're given some allowance in what bosses you pursue first and what order you explore each section of the dungeon in.  You can go into different wings of the dungeon, although the final boss Keristrasza - a red female dragon you'll want to cut the tongue off of by the end of the fight - can only be released from her prison after you've killed the other three bosses in the instance.  You can then summon her by clicking on all three orbs. 

Anomalus was a fairly easy boss to take down.  He reminded me a lot of the Curator from Karazhan.  Like the Curator, you must kill his adds whenever they come out before continuing to attack him.  Ormorok the Tree-Shaper was pretty much a tank-and-spank for my group.  Just make sure you make your way to him quickly otherwise you'll be overcome by annoying little flower adds.  Grand Magus Telestra is an annoying blood elf boss that does this wacky cloning thing in phase two of your fight with her.  She'll also volley your team around, which you can ultimately do nothing to stop, so enjoy the bouncey ride for as long as it lasts.

I must say, there isn't much about the Nexus that one wouldn't like.  You get to enter a world of ice, bursting with colours and fantastical dragons.  This in itself, at least for me, brought a sort of out-of-this-world epic adventure into being.  In fact, some of the caves even have fascinating magical properties.  In one section my guildmates and I noticed that our health and mana regenerated ridiculously fast.  Overall, I found it just challenging enough to require some strategizing without being too difficult, and I was wholeheartedly entertained by the inside appearance of the entire dungeon.  It will be interesting to see how these instances transform on heroic mode once I've reached level 80. 

It's here.

The long-anticipated expansion has finally hit stores and I, like most WoW addicts, am gearing up for questing my way through another ten levels.  I'm not so sure I'm looking forward to saying goodbye to my beautiful purple epic gear or being placed back on the unequal footing of battling higher levels and being subjected to a repetitive gank fest.  But I am excited about having new terrain to explore, raiding new instances, and finding some wicked looking gear for my little pink pigtailed gnome warrior chick after she reaches level 80.

I think with WotLK, players are going to experience both enthusiasm and stress.  There are new goals to be set, more fun to be had, and for those of us who were hitting a ceiling with our geared-out 70s, we will now have room to advance and grow again.  Unlike the Burning Crusade, which felt more like a mere extension of the original game, I think WotLK is truly bringing a new, epic quality to gameplay and world adventure for gamers.  I mean, how cool is it going to be to see a Death Knight in frosted armor stalking around?

In the same token, for those of us who got too comfortable strutting around on our 70s and three-shotting players a couple levels below us, I expect there will be a feverish rush to level to 80 - players are afraid that the slower they are with the leveling process, the more they are going to get their butts kicked by others that are leveling quicker than them...especially considering experience points are now given even for PVP kills. 

I've noticed a lot of my guild members have been concerned about saving up hordes of gold for the expansion as well, assuming that they will be able to level faster if they have a bunch of gold in reserves.  The impatience to get to 80 and find better gear is being felt by most players.  But where many players had topped-out on gear previously - making it easier for those newer to raiding to deck themselves out in purples - I foresee the competitive spirit for getting new armor making it twice as difficult for players to get geared after the expansion.

Yet in the end, I don't doubt WotLK will be a success.  Blizzard has millions of subscribers for a reason.  The expansions keep the game fresh, new, and exciting.  Despite the stress and struggle of dealing with the unfamiliar content and updates made to the game, I'll admit...I can't wait to download my copy of WotLK and get started.