Before I know it the expansion is installed so I do what everyone would most likely be doing that night, I launch the game. After being struck in awe at the login screen and sitting just listening to the new and improved music for what seems like a lifetime, I login. Then to my horror i discover it wants me to patch my game. However after reading the forums in the days before the launch I remembered that the patches downloaded in the last few weeks will need to be reinstalled. Luckily for me I kept a copy sitting on one of my hard drives, so I cancel the download and quickily install the patches and relaunch the game. After letting myself get stuck listening to the login screen music agian, I manage to tear myself away and login once more.

With the patches installed I can now choose my character and as always my trusty level 60 human mage answered the call (I play as Alyonos on the server Proudmoore for anyone interested). I successfully log in and find all my addons are still working fine. I take my first steps of playing World of Warcraft on dial-up. The results shocked me, I was easily able to play the game on my trusty 56k modem. So I get on my horse and ride to the flight master to take me to the blasted lands where the dark portal calls home. Upon reaching my destination I once more jump on my trusty horse and begin my journey to the Outlands. I step up to the portal and resist the urge to utter the lines, "One small step for Alyonos, one giant leap for human kind".

Now let me tell you the portal looks amazing, but it is nothing compared to what you see on the other side. Straight away as I make my first journey into the Outlands I see a massive creature blocking the way, sending an endless assault on the Alliance and Horde group guarding the portal. Luckily both sides have been quick enough to put together a flight point on either side of the portal. After picking up a few quests I jump on the nearby griffon and fly to Honor Hold, where shortly thereafter I am hit with a disconnection. I try logging back in and get a few seconds of playtime before being disconnected once more.

On the verge of giving up and going to sleep for the night I decide to give one of the new races a try, and I quickly make myself a Drenei shaman. Once more I begin my new journey with most of my time spent enjoying the sights of the Drenei starting area rather than bothering with the quests, at least till I get my DSL reconnected in fear of being disconnected once more. Now the starting area, for the Drenei at least is supurb, everything is highly detailed and very very cool looking. I think to myself, "how am I ever going to manage to level when I spend most of my time looking at the vast and impressive surrondings".

But the time soon ticks over to 2am and I manage to pull myself away and get some sleep, knowing that the expansion was worth every cent. Knowing that the constant disconnections I suffered were not my own fault but rather the inability for my once mighty 56k modem to handle the stress of an MMORPG.

For anyone who hasn't picked this game up yet, my words of advice are get it as soon as you can. Unlike games such as Everquest where expansions come out every six months, it is clear Blizzard have done what they do best, release a highly polished and enjoyable game. Blizzard are one of the few developers who don't care much for release dates and instead opt for the better "we will release it when it is ready" approach, and you know what? I salute them for it. If there is one thing PC gaming needs, it is well polished games that don't crash and are not so buggy that submitting error reports seems like it is part of the gameplay.

On a final note to anyone still on dial up and wanting to play the game, I do not recommend entering the Outlands otherwise you will more than likely be faced with constant disconnections, which are very frustrating. But that is hardly Blizzards fault.  Now if only the phone company would hurry up and connect my DSL!