Q. How much data is in each stage for a full Cataclysm installation?
A. In general, about 5% of the data is red (required), about 70% of the data is yellow (base gameplay), and about 25% of the data is green (extended data).

Q. How is data assigned to each stage?
A. Data is assigned to each stage based on the relative need for that data. Red is required to get into the game, yellow is data needed for base gameplay, and green is for variants of base game data (higher-resolution graphics, alternate sounds, other flavor data).

Q. How do I know when the entire game is downloaded?
A. The progress bar will reach 100%, and then will not be shown on subsequent launches (until there is a new patch released).

Q. Will I still be able to download patches from mirror sites?
A. Yes, standalone patches will still work.

Q. Will the downloader still use P2P / bittorrent?
A. Yes.

Q. Will large patches still be downloadable in advance through the background downloader?
A. Yes.

Q. Will it be possible to download the entire game before I begin playing it?
A. Yes.

Q. Is this mandatory?
A. No. Users will have the option of playing before all game data is downloaded and applied. They may choose to enter the game, or they may choose to wait.

Q. On patch days, will I be able to start the patch download before the realms are back up?
A. Yes.

Q. You are requiring a reinstall of the beta client. Does this mean I will have to reinstall my WoW retail client when I buy Cataclysm?
A. No. As with the prior two expansions, there will be a lengthy patching process to migrate users from the prior major version (3.0) to the new major version (4.0). Data for this patch will be downloaded in advance via the background downloader.

Q. Will I still be able to download a patch once and copy it to multiple machines?
A. Yes, as long as you have fully downloaded the entire patch. However, as with the prior expansions, patches from a previous major version (all patches prior to 4.0) will not work with the new major version.

Q. What if I have a low bandwidth connection?
A. After the initial beta release, users with connections below 1 MB/sec will be required to download all data before entering the game. Users with connections above 1 MB/sec will have the option of entering the game before all data has been downloaded and applied. Users at any bandwidth may exit the game and resume the download if they find the play experience undesirable.

Q. How will this affect new characters logging in for the first time?
A. If a player chooses to enter the game while content is still downloading, data for the introductory race video and zone fly-through will be applied at the loading screen to ensure a smooth game introduction. This is currently only functional for new worgen characters. Other races have not yet been optimized, which may lead to issues with the opening fly-through if they are loaded while content is still being downloaded.

In-Game Footage as Cinematics
Sort of taking it off subject to to start with, but it’s inevitable that eventually computer graphics will reach the point where there’s no such thing as pre-rendered cinematics. But we’ve all been hearing that for a while, and while we are getting closer, we’re definitely not there yet.

We don’t think we are. We don’t pretend we are, and our in-house cinematics department is bigger than ever working on cinematics that are better than ever.

Regarding World of Warcraft – Each World of Warcraft release, including the initial and subsequent expansions, has had a single cinematic. It’s what plays when you first launch the game. This intro-cinematic approach has been done primarily because, as an MMO, pulling players out of a multiplayer environment where anything could be going on at the time they hit the point where the cinematic could play is risky. Say you’re PvP flagged and a cinematic starts to play. Or you happen to be having a very heated discussion in guild chat, etc. etc. It’s not an ideal play space to be popping up full screen videos. The story was intended to play out within the game world itself through text, voice, and effects.

With Wrathgrate we tried something new. Using our in-house video team which had been making many of the machinima trailers for us (most of which can be found here http://www.worldofwarcraft.com/downloads/movies.html) for promotional use, as well as commercials, the South Park episode, on and on, instead used it as a way to show events to the player in a more cinematic approach. We had come a long way and with new technology a lot of the previous concerns were either completely squashed or had working solutions to remove a lot of the potential aggravation caused by interrupting the game.

The response was extremely positive. People really enjoyed it, and so it was used again as a way to give Arthas a more epic and cinematic end. Certainly befitting of a King. (Kael and Illy should have been so lucky…)

So, those are not pre-rendered cinematics, they’re clearly using in-game assets, we don’t claim otherwise. However, we do claim that they are completely kick ass and know that most people enjoy what they add to the game. Key word ‘add’, because they are truly additions which took nothing away from the intro cinematic each release has had.

The Wrathgate and Fall of the Lich King allowed us to really take it up a notch and deliver something spactacular.

Now, on to the subject of StarCraft II – In our opinion it also has amazing cinematics. The in-engine story telling in StarCraft II, which you say has detracted from the cinematics, is comparative to this – http://i616.photobucket.com/albums/t…k/855f805c.jpg from the original StarCraft.

We think we’ve come a long way.

Bottom line, we still have an incredibly talented cinematics team and we’ll continue to produce the amazing pre-rendered cinematics you’ve come to know and love. (Source)

Paladin (Forums / 3.3.5 Talent Calculator / Cataclysm Talent Calculator / Beta Skills/Talents)
Retribution Rotation
The rotation won’t be 121212 under any circumstances.

At the very basic level you could call it 1112111311121113 but almost every class boils down to something similar if you ignore all of the other talents and abilities. What will keep Ret from falling into a rotation that stable are:

1) Having to manage other attacks. Judgement isn’t the kind of button you eventually get around to using.
2) Getting Holy Power coming in at somewhat unpredictable (but not completely random) intervals.
3) Dealing with procs like Art of War.

Seals do way too much damage on live and in Cataclysm. We haven’t worried about that damage yet because we’re still working out a basic rotation that feels good. We also are mindful that deemphasizing white attacks of any kind risks making haste less attractive. (Source)