Some new features, but the rest is all the same. Welcome back to WoW.
Pros: Level-cap raised to 70, new zones and dungeons, 2 new races, 1 new proffession, great soundtrack.
Cons: Most of the pre-existing content are now useless, Desperately butchered lore for the game's advantage, no real differences between the player-factions, mediocre story, very repititive quests.
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A little more than two years has passed since the release of the original game, World of Warcraft. Being very simplistic designed World of Warcraft is very user-friendly, both in terms of system requirements and ease-of-use.
This haven't changed in World of Warcraft: The Burning Crusade, which is both a good, and a bad thing. WoW:TBC brings a lot of new stuff to the table; some being- level-cap that has been raised to 70, a whole new continent called Outland and of course, the new proffession Jewelcrafting.
There are many new zones and dungeons, flying mounts(That is ONLY useable in the new continent) and of course the two races Dranei, and Blood Elf. Unfortunately, this is pretty much all the new major content that there is. One would believe that the expansion would include something, revolutionary to cater to their playerbase of 8 millions, but yet, no. It seems like Blizzard's creativity that they had back in the '90ies, have faded away, just like all the original creators of World of Warcraft. There is much that Blizzard have promised for their games during the years, one being guildhalls for Diablo II, that obviously never happened, nor did it happen in The World of Warcraft that was released a few years later. My major aspect of a MMORPG is the community, and I have yet to see anything at all - in a game of Blizzard's - that actually promotes the community, like guildhalls, or player-housing.
As I mentioned earlier in the Pros and Cons section; most of the pre-existing content in WoW are now useless, with many thanks to it's younger brother; The Burning Crusade. As you enter the Dark Portal, the entrance to Outlands, for the first time and see that new "Mars-like" landscape, only to get a big-letdown once you loot your first item - that it is on-par or even better than that epic equipment you have been grinding for months, in the original game. That's not a good first-impression in my opinion - having to realize that all that time, the grinding have been a simple waste of time. Not to mention that you get gear from solo-quests, that is much better than your used-to-be top-notch gear from the original game. In terms of risk-vs-reward, WoW: The Burning Crusade - is kingdom of heaven in the eyes of casual players.
I know that less than 0.001% of WoW's population are hardcore fans of the Warcraft RTS games and takes lore very seriously, unlike a major portion of the population. But lore, isn't something that you simply change with a snap of your fingers.
The game should be based on lore, not the other way around. The quests themselves in the game show a great lack of creativity and ideas..since every quest are basically the same. "Kill X, Get Y - repeat"
Blizzard went the Microsoft-monopoly way: Step 1: Make a product the cheapest way possible.
Step 2: Advertise as if your product is better than it really is.
Step 3: Overprice your product and release it.
Step 4: Force people to upgrade. Step 5: Swim in cash.
Step 6: Repeat. One thing that I actually did find excellent in Burning Crusade was the sound..but that's pretty much it.
Conclusion: World of Warcraft: The Burning Crusade is very simple like it's predecessor, easy to play and easy to learn. I recommend this game to the people that thought the Original World of Warcraft was good, but wants more. World of Warcraft: The Burning Crusade is basically, the original World of Warcraft in a shining new box.