Every time I try to get out they drag me back in.

Blizzard have been busy boys. At BlizzCon they announced the next World of Warcraft expansion: Cataclysm. The Black Dragon Aspect Deathwing will return from his convalescence in the Earth Elemental Plane of Deepholm to wreak his revenge on the unsuspecting denizens of Azeroth. A result of this will be the sundering of the Azerothian landscape as familiar zones such as the Barrens are rent with rivers of lava.

This redesign of classic Warcraft zones has finally meant that flying mounts will be usable there. They are also adding two new races: Goblins for Horde and Worgen (the previously quarantined human kingdom of Gilneas) for Alliance. Apparently Worgen players will be able to switch between human and werewolf forms at will, except in combat when the Worgen form will be locked. I was hoping for a day/night cycle thing like the poor citizens of Pyrewood had to follow, but I imagine that wouldn’t be very playable. They’ve also opened up a whole lot of new race/class combinations, with every race except the Draenei gaining at least one class.

Blizzard are also using this expansion for some much-needed catch-up on incomplete zones. We will finally be able to access Gilneas, Grim Batol (in the Twilight Highlands), Hyjal and the aforementioned Deepholm beneath the zone just north of Elwynn, presumably accessible through the Blackchar Cave in the Searing Gorge.
[/geek-out]

In an interview with DexX Production Director Allen Breck laughed off the idea of a WoW2, saying the shorter dev cycle on patches and expansions was working fine for them at the moment. I imagine Cataclysm is their alternative: a complete overhaul of the orginal game.