High end game?

[Aabidano]

What does it consist of, more of the same or a radical shift to something else? I'd assume quests will pretty much peter out at some point.

With lots of folks 50+ less than two months after release, I'd assume there's something ongoing\engaging to do at 60 or Blizzard is going to have a problem.

Something besides battlegrounds that is. The thought of fighting an endless stream of paladins makes my stomach churn.

[archeiron]

At present, there are two focuses for the high end: Onyxia and Molten Core. A parallel would be to describe these two as Negafen and the Planes of Hate & Fear combined. The learning curve, gearing up, and challenge to these encounters would be more akin to a Planes of Power level of sophistication, if not much higher. You can assume that this content will keep players occupied for some time, before reaching pharm status. I have been made to understand that the subsequent content additions at the high end will be tiered so that it builds on the progression made with the existing content to provide new challenges with new problems to solve, new strategies to learn, and new equipment requirements to meet to become successful.

There is Scholomance to get class specific armour with a single group or small raid, in preparation for the two listed above, and Argent Dawn faction/quests to work on.

In upcoming pathes, we can expect that content to double or triple in size with the addition of:

• Azuregos (Raid encounter in Azshara)
• Lord Kazzak (Raid Doomguard in Tainted Scar)
• Blackwing Lair (New Raid Dungeon)

to name a few.

In the time between those raids, battlegrounds will provide a "guild level" content ground for keeping people sharp, while the single group content will provide them with a means of pharming gear to better themselves for raid nights.

Spontaneous "ghetto" PvP in Hillsbrad (or whereever) provides an endless source of amusement. There are rare tradeskill recipes, and materials to aquire. There is 1000 gold to save up for the elite, lvl 60 mounts.

It remains to be seen if Blizzard can stay ahead of the players in content, but they have put some strong challenges in place to keep people focused on expanding their strategies, equipment level, and organizational raid planning. Essentially, they provided a rich world with a well thought out progression beginning at level 1 (RC->WC->SFK->BFD->Gnomeregan->RFD/SM->RFK/Uldaman->Z'F->Mauradon->ST->BRD->BRS) to teach people how to play at level 60, without making a tedious 3-4 month grind out of it. At the high end, one is expected to build on that aquired knowledge to progress through the things outlined above.

[masteen]

Don't forget about hero classes.